"If the Vex exist in our future - or in a possible future - should we take this as evidence that their defeat is impractical or unattainable?" - Descendants

Harley dodged a blast from a nearby Goblin and shot at the right Oracle before spinning to shoot at the left one. Once both glowing yellow cubes vanished, he dropped his sniper rifle and drew his hand cannon to take out more Vex.

"Snipers!" said Bazzle.

"I gotcha!" Fyr called back.

Harley ducked as the Templar shot at him. The thing was three times the size of a normal Hydra but it could still move with surprising agility. He cursed. "When are we gonna be able to take this guy out?"

"Depends if more Oracles show up," said Rae. The comms went silent as they all listened. Harley sighed in relief at the lack of chimes.

"Where are the Vex?" asked Bazzle. Harley looked around and saw the Titan was right, the Vex had stopped coming, leaving only a few Goblins and Hobgoblins standing around that were soon taken down by the Chasers. Harley holstered his hand cannon then bent to pick up his sniper, reloading it. He glanced at the Templar, trying to stay out of its line of sight. The massive Hydra would fire at any Guardian it saw.

"How the hell are we gonna defeat that?" Kaedro had walked up next to him.

"I'm with Kay on this one," said Rae, "It's not looking any more possible than when we saw it the first time."

Harley turned and discovered that the rest of his team had gathered behind him. "We can do it," he said.

"How?" demanded Kaedro, "The thing's shields are impenetrable."

Jade sighed wearily. "He's right... That was why Kabr's fireteam was doomed to fail."

"There is no alternative way to destroy it," said Bazzle, "We must break through those defenses or die."

Rogue nodded. "It'll wait till our attack fails then pick us off one by one," he stated matter-of-factly.

Jade's tone was apologetic. "...Even with twice as many Guardians, we won't stand any more of a chance than the first team did."

"I don't want to disagree with any of you guys, but Jade...you weren't the only one who read up on the Vault of Glass... I must've spent an entire day in that library at one point."

"He's not wrong," said Prism, "...I advised him against it."

Harley sighed. "It doesn't matter…'cause there's one important part of the story you guys are forgetting… Kabr sacrificed himself so that anyone who came after him wouldn't fail as his team did! He used his Light to create the Aegis!"

Rogue sounded confused. "What's that?"

"It's a shield... A shield that can punch a hole in the Templar's defenses."

Rae scoffed. "Yeah. That's all well and good, Ace, but in case you haven't noticed, we're a little short on magic shields."

"Yeah," said Kaedro, "We're not even sure if the thing is real. How would we know where to find it?"

There was a moment's silence as Harley considered how to answer. Just then, Fyr's voice piped up from the back of the group. "Is that it?" Harley turned to look. Fyr was pointing down into the pit in front of the Templar. Hovering in the center of the circle was a shape glowing with Light. The front was a small bronze diamond-shaped plate with what resembled a red Vex eye in the middle.

"When did that get here?" asked Kaedro, "...That definitely wasn't there before."

"Well it's here now," said Harley, confidence restored.

"Do we grab it?" asked Rogue, "There's no defenses or nothin'?"

"One way to find out…" Harley dashed out from behind the pillar toward the shield.

"Oh boy," said Rae sarcastically, "Here comes the part where Ace does something stupid."

The Templar screeched and began shooting at him. He dodged the blasts, scooped up the Aegis, and bolted back to his friends. "Nice!" said Fyr.

"Um...where's the Templar?" said Jade.

"It teleported!" warned Bazzle.

The group spun to see the Templar behind them. "Scatter!" yelled Harley. He ran off to his right with Rogue and Jade. Bazzle, Kaedro, Rae, and Fyr all went for the left. Harley heard metallic shrieking echo through the Well.

"Harpies!" yelled Rae.

"The Templar's shield is still up!" yelled Kaedro, "Ace, you'd better figure out how to work that thing!"

"Right." Harley frowned as he examined the Aegis. ...If Kabr made this with his Light, I should be able to activate it with mine… It wasn't the greatest idea ever, but he was short on time.

"Any time this century would be nice!" said Rae.

"Yeah yeah!" Feeling like the biggest idiot in existence, he stepped out into the open and aimed the center of the shield at the Templar. Closing his eyes, he drew on the power of the Light within him as though he was preparing to enter a Bladedancer's Trance. The Aegis hummed with energy. It's working. He opened his eyes and released the Light. He felt a thrum go through the Aegis as a white glowing projectile was launched toward the Templar. It hit with a loud bang and the Templar's shield vanished. He heard cheers from his friends as they assaulted it with a barrage of rockets and grenades. But all of a sudden, their cries turned to dismay.

"What the hell?!" Harley turned and saw Jade encased in a glowing bubble-like shell.

"Anyone else just get stuck?" asked Kaedro.

"How do we get out?!" said Fyr.

"Shoot it!" said Rogue.

Rae groaned. "That's your solution for everything!"

"What? It works!" Rogue shot at Jade's bubble with his shotgun. It shattered, letting her go. "Told ya."

"Yep… Shooting it works," she said.

The team went back to shooting the Templar until it's shield came back a few seconds later. "Damn!" Harley was preparing to take down the shield again, when it vanished, appearing right in front of him. "Holy shit!" He scrambled away from it, still clutching the Aegis. Two chimes rang out, signaling the appearance of Oracles. "

The Oracles are back!" said Rae.

"Find them!" commanded Bazzle, "Quickly!"

Harley searched for a few frantic moments around the nearby area before he spotted it. For some reason, this Oracle was red instead of the yellowish-green they'd seen previously. "Found one!" Jade and Rogue converged on him to take it down.

"Got the other one!" said Kaedro. Harley sighed in relief. They'd found out the hard way what would happen if the Oracles weren't destroyed. It had taken both Kaedro and Rae dying to figure it out.

Rogue shot down more Harpies. "Whenever you're ready Ace!" Harley nodded and got into position. With another blast from the Aegis, the Templar's shield was down again. His team damaged it and this time they were ready for the bubbles. Then the Templar teleported to the other side as two more chimes rang out. Harley called out a warning to the others. "Watch for Oracles!" This was met with cursing as they scrambled to find where the Oracles had appeared.

"Hayden! Get in position!" said Bazzle.

"On it." Harley jumped up onto a pillar, allowing him a clear shot at the Templar. Unfortunately, the Templar also had a clear shot at him. Shrieking, it turned to face him. Harley looked around, but there was no cover in sight. The Hydra fired, sending a blast directly at his chest. Panicking, he held up the Aegis in front of him to block the projectile. To his surprise, the shield created a bubble around him, protecting him from the Templar's blasts. That's useful. "I'm about to lower its shield! ...Get ready!"

Blam! The shield went down, allowing his friends to damage the Templar. Suddenly Harley found himself contained in one of the huge Vex's bubbles. He smacked it with his shield, breaking the shell. That worked?! The Templar's shield came back up and it vanished, appearing in the middle again. His team took out the Oracles and he moved to a new position, pausing to kill Harpies along the way. He took down the shield again, watching as his friends threw everything they had at the Templar. Fyr summoned his Golden Gun, shooting the Hydra in it's massive eye. Just as he thought it's shield was about to come back, the Templar collapsed, hitting the ground with a crash that shook the whole platform.

Harley moved to join the rest of the team, all of whom were congregating in the middle. As he approached, the Aegis vanished from his arm, leaving him feeling strangely lonely but also slightly relieved. It was kind of a backward thing, to use a piece of another Guardian's Light. After all, he'd used the Light of the Aegis almost as much as his own, relying upon it to defeat the Templar. Their victory over it proved that his faith in Kabr's creation was not misplaced. But although the Templar was dead, he knew that something much worse lay ahead of them in the heart of the Vault itself. He recalled a quote he'd read in the Pahanin Errata, months ago when he'd first met Rae. "...In the Vault time frays and a needle moves through it. The needle is the will of Atheon. I do not know the name of the shape that comes after the needle."

He looked around at his companions. They seemed oblivious to the fact that they would soon have to face something much more powerful than the Templar. Only he and Jade hadn't joined in on celebrating the Templar's death. The Warlock stood apart, seemingly watching him. Her helmet concealed her face but he was pretty sure it was as solemn as his own... After all, she had also researched the Vault of Glass and he was willing to bet that she was thinking of the very same thing he was. He looked back toward the others. "Is everyone ready?"

They looked back. "Ready for what?" asked Fyr, "'Cause if you're talking food, I'm always ready!"

Bazzle seemed to be studying him. "I believe Hayden is asking if we are ready to continue." There were many groans and complaints at this.

Finally, Rogue gave a heavy sigh. "Aw hell… Let's just get this over with. Where to?"

"I only found one mention of the way out of the Well," said Harley, "This way." He led his friends through a gap in the wall, following the long path as it sloped downward into deeper darkness. After many dimly lit tunnels and long falls, they emerged into a larger space. Water covered the floor beneath them.

Fyr shivered. "Kinda reminds me of when I was revived…"

"Shh!" Rae hissed, "Do you want to get us all killed?"

Fyr seemed confused. "How can I kill you by just talking?"

"Normally I'd make a joke about your annoying voice, but I'd rather not end up dead, thanks."

"We're in the Gorgon's Labyrinth," whispered Harley.

Fyr sounded even more confused. "Gorgon? What's a Gorgon?"

"...As far as we can tell, they look like Vex Harpies," said Jade.

Harley nodded. "The thing is, they're apparently extremely hard to kill, so it's better if they never knew we were here."

Rogue groaned. "So now we gotta sneak around?"

"Yeah. That means don't shoot, don't talk, don't run, and don't use any of your abilities...even the special jumps."

"We can't even use our jumps?" complained Fyr.

"Doesn't 'labyrinth' mean 'maze'?" said Kaedro, "How the hell are we gonna find our way through a maze without making any sound?"

"Yeah," said Fyr, "We don't even know the way."

Rae sighed. "That's why it's called a maze, stupid."

"There must be a record of the correct path," said Bazzle.

"You don't think any of us checked?" said Rae. Bazzle sighed, but he had known Rae for too long to rise to her sarcasm.

"I looked," said Jade.

Rae nodded. "Yeah. Ace looked too. Wanna know what he found?" She looked at Bazzle pointedly. "Nada. Short for 'nada damn thing.'"

Harley was pretty sure she'd made that up and decided to intervene before their bickering drew the Gorgons. "Look...they always tell you to stick to the left when doing a maze, so let's try that first."

"'Cause there aren't any drawbacks to that plan," Kaedro muttered.

Rae nodded. "Preaching to the choir, Kay... Ace, if we die, we're blaming you."

"Fine, whatever... Just follow me." Moving cautiously, he stepped out of the water, slipping between two rocks. The space opened up slightly and he looked around. Luckily, there were no Gorgons in sight. Even without looking back, he could tell the others were just behind him. He led them along, following the wall, until he rounded a bend and saw his first Gorgon. The Gorgon indeed looked like a Harpy, though it was white and blue instead of red and bronze. Long waving tentacles protruded from it, moving like snakes. Harley hissed a warning to the others. They stopped moving. No one spoke. Harley felt as though a hand was grabbing his throat, restricting his breathing. The Gorgon did not appear to be looking at them. Even as he watched, it drifted off to the right, passing out of view. He looked back at the others. "Keep going," he whispered.

He moved forward, dodging between a rock and the right wall. He felt along the wall as he went, noticing another tunnel opening. On the other side of the gap was another Gorgon. This one was looking in their direction. Goddamnit. Slowly, carefully, Harley peered around into the right tunnel. The Gorgon they'd seen was moving down it, facing away. He looked ahead again and saw the other one turn. This is our chance. "On the count of three, we're gonna sprint."

"Are you crazy?" hissed Rae.

"Won't running alert the Gorgons?" said Bazzle.

"Well, it's our only chance to make it before the other one comes back around." Harley studied the path ahead of them. "Look, there's a big rock ahead of us... We're gonna jump up so the Gorgons won't see us."

"Fine," grumbled Rogue, "I'd rather kill 'em though."

The other Gorgon was still looking away. "Now." Harley ran out, trying to keep as quiet as he could. When he came to the rock, he launched himself as far as he could without using his Hunter jump, then turned to help the others. Once everyone was there, they waited with baited breath as the Gorgon ahead of them went around to the left of their rock.

"It will probably make a loop," whispered Jade.

Harley nodded. "There's another rock ahead. It's not too far."

"Don't tell me..." said Kaedro, "We're gonna jump."

Harley nodded, moving to the edge of the rock. He gathered himself, then crossed the gap, softening his landing so the Gorgons wouldn't hear. He made sure everyone else made it before continuing along the new rock. He saw an even bigger one up ahead. "Ok. We'll have to do this again. Ready?" He took their muffled groaning as assent. Just as he was about to make the leap, a Gorgon crossed below. Harley froze, hoping it wouldn't look up. Fortunately for them, it kept going along the path. He waited a few seconds to make sure it was out of range, then jumped across. Soon, they were all on the other side. Harley looked around, not sure where to go next.

"Wazzat?" asked Fyr.

Jade looked over. "...There's a glow coming from over there." She pointed.

"A glow?" Harley looked over to the right. Sure enough, a soft glow emanated from behind a small boulder. "I'm willing to bet that's our exit." He scanned the area. Don't see any Gorgons… "Ok. Three...two...one...go." He leaped down off of the rock and ran for the light, dodging around the rock in the way. He heard the rushed footsteps of the others behind him. The opening let out into another tunnel. They followed it down and eventually they found themselves standing on a ledge overlooking a huge space. As they looked on, stone platforms blinked into their view, lingering for only a few seconds before blinking out again.

"Well...shit," said Fyr.

"We gotta jump on those?!" said Rogue incredulously.

"Looks like it," said Harley.

Kaedro sighed. "Fantastic."

Harley watched the platforms, trying to get the timing right. "Don't worry," said Prism, "I'll count your jump." He nodded. "Ok. Everyone, we move on Prism's signal!" Discontented muttering told him they'd heard.

"Three...two...one...jump!" Harley launched himself forward, using his Hunter jumps to get him to the first platform. He heard muffled whooshing as his teammates followed.

"It's about to disappear," Prism warned, "Move in three...two...one!" They jumped to the next platform. Harley looked around but couldn't see anywhere else to go. "There's a ledge at 12 o'clock," said Prism, "About seven meters down." Harley peered over the edge. The ledge she'd mentioned couldn't be more than a foot wide.

Rae's voice cut in, sharp with disbelief. "That's where we're landing?"

"You have your glide," said Bazzle, "You will be fine."

"...That doesn't make it any better."

"We can't stay here," said Harley, "It's about to vanish... I'll see you down there!" He jumped off, letting himself fall for several seconds before using his Hunter jumps to land on the ledge. Bazzle and Rogue landed a few seconds later, setting down heavily.

Kaedro was next across. "Move down so they have room."

Harley nodded and they all shuffled further along the ledge. Rae and Jade were gliding down toward them, landing gently. Then it was just Fyr. He took a running start, then he was falling toward them. "Use your jump!" yelled Harley. He saw the Hunter jump towards them, but it wasn't far enough. Fyr dropped past them with a shriek.

"Guardian down!" said Spark.

Harley looked around but saw no way to get down. "How are we supposed to get to him?!"

Spark manifested in front of them in expanded form. "I can use the Light to retrieve him."

"I'll do it," said Kaedro.

Harley watched as Spark drew from the other Hunter. Fyr appeared on the ledge next to them. He sat up, looking extremely confused. "What just happened?"

"You missed," said Rae, "Now let's go."

The group continued along the ledge, trying not to look down.

A/N: Hello, my friends! Welcome to the next part of Chasing Fate! I know this story has been long awaited and honestly, it's proven the most challenging to write by far. I've never had a worse case of writer's block before this, but I managed to get through it. I'd like to give a HUGE shoutout to my beta, EmeryldLuk, for making this mess of a story into something coherent. I don't think I've ever had a rougher first draft.

A few things before I go: I'm currently beta reading a story by CallOfTheLoneWolf called The Light of the Sword Logic. I highly recommend giving it a read. It can be found on both this site as well as Archive Of Our Own.

Also, I've recently made a tumblr upon which I'll be posting random stuff about the characters in this series, as well as some canon characters. Just search up "arcaneglitch" and you'll find me ;)

Finally, my upload schedule won't be as consistent as usual, so just bear with me through that. Many thanks to everyone who read my oneshots, including my triubute to Cayde: Retrograde. I'll see you in the next chapter!

- TheWolfParadox