It was painless as it was before, nothing necessarily new to him. As he fell, he saw the panicked stance the other soldier held before his composure was regained and then he was running towards the fallen one. Then it appeared, hovering above his breathless, lifeless body, small diamond-like body preventing the others from reaching his corpse as he passed off into peaceful oblivion.
Waking in the Other side was always unnerving, no matter how many times he had gone through it. He pushed himself off the ground where his body would be laying, walking around the still forms of those frozen in time as they still lived. Looking over where it would be, there instead was a small sparkle of Light pointing to a trail that led through the caves behind his enemies.
With practised ease, he climbed over and around the rocks, being careful not to touch those who had not passed into the Other.
As he strolled through the caves, he looked around at the sprouting, glowing nature. Vines protruding from the walls and trees usually dead in the real world bloomed profusely with silver and gold leaves. The cliffs and rocks sparkled underneath the azure-silver sun cast upon them, the crystals chiming in the air softly. Not all was right, however, these sights he was indeed used to but he felt the presence of another, someone else in the Other; looking around cautiously, his eyes fell upon a humanoid form on a distant cliff, watching him intently. He couldn't tell who or what it was but he did know that they didn't belong; as soon as he spotted it, however, he blinked and it was gone. A frown fell upon his face as he continued along the sparkled path, was someone intruding in his version of the Other? It would have to be a matter to discussed later.
He walked underneath colourful flowers that sang happy greetings and through the shadows they cast, words scrawled upon the ground, dark words that he dared not to utter. And once he reached the edge of the path, he dived into the Shores of Time and swam down, deep, deep down towards the bottom where it shone, never reaching the point where he was gasping for breath; reaching out, his hand broke through the surface and his whole world tilted, throwing him out of the Shores.
The water receded from his body, crawling back to the Shores as he got to his feet and looked around, immediately, he recognised the Black Garden, devoid of Vex and in all of its untimely, displaced glory but as he walked through the Gate leading to the Black Heart, he, instead, walked into the final resting place of Atheon. The Time's Conflux. He looked at the empty Timegates and the empty halls leading to nowhere, and at the empty plates. The only thing that wasn't empty was the centre of the Conflux.
Peeking out of the ground, on a single, strong stem, sat a black flower in the shape of his Ghost. A single yellow stripe ran horizontally down it and the Light glowed softly from the middle, travelling through the stem and giving it small pulses every now and then.
This was not new, this was something he was used to, having done it twice before. He would pluck the flower from its delicate stem and then he would return to the living, leaving the Other behind once more.
What was new was what stood behind it. With its left appendage raised to the skies of the Vault and its gaze fixated on him, there stood Atheon. It's body glowed but the Light it had was in stark contrast to the Light that the Ghost flower carried, it was dim.
Hesitantly, he stepped forward, reaching out for the Ghost flower but jumped back when Atheon moved, stepping in front of the flower with a low rumble, its parts emitting a low whine and he stepped back once more, keeping a respectable and cautious distance from the Vex Ultra.
"We are connected, you and I," it uttered, voice echoing violently around the hollow area. It was undefined and came from everywhere yet nowhere at once. "The Time's Conflux does not come without a price, creature of the Light. I am lost in time and you are lost in history. I exist only within your mind for you have sought my power and wretched it from my grasp."
"I only sought to end the Vault and all who dwell within." His voice was muted and not the grand comparison to the Vex before him. "You nearly took the lives of my comrades. You took the lives of Guardians."
"They are forever lost to the dark corners of space and time, they have not perished. A consequence for ill-preparedness and attempting to disturb the Conflux."
"There are worse things than dying."
"You and I both know what these 'worses' are."
"What do you want?" Atheon turned its head towards one of the empty Gates before looking back at his face, the glow almost significantly getting brighter at the question.
"We are at an impasse, Guardian. You wish to be resurrected and I want my power. I have been infected with your Light and you have been burdened with the Time's Conflux and my Darkness. I know what you are, Guardian, I have delved into your mind as you wander. You are dying. The imbalance is killing you. Every time you use the Conflux, the Darkness weakens you."
"Are you offering to prevent this?"
"When you die of the growing Darkness, you will die permanently. I do not care for this. However, when you do die, you will take the Conflux with you. You will kill my power."
"Sounds like a good plan."
"I am a creature of Time, Guardian, and I have seen your possible futures. Should you die, they will not extend into your Golden Age you so covet."
"How do I know you're not lying?"
"Let me guide you. Turn the Conflux into a Weapon of Light."
"Right, because I need the one being that threw me here in the first place to save me from a terminal illness."
"You will command entire armies of the Vex!"
"Step aside." He sidestepped the Vex and towards the Ghost flower yet his way was once more barred by the giant synthetic-organic.
"You will not defy me!" He glared up at the Vex, the area darkening significantly in answer to his equally darkening emotion.
"I could turn the Conflux into a Weapon of Light myself, I do not need your assistance ," he growled in a scathingly low voice. "I do not confer to Vex with god complexes. The Golden Age is a fixed point, nothing can prevent it and Humanity's ascension, not even you. Not me."
Drawing up his chest and holding his head high as he fixated the Vex with an irritated and threatening gaze, he continued in a soft, dangerous voice,
"If I see you here again, Traveler knows how you even got in here, no one will remember that you existed. I will erase you myself."
"You wouldn't dare-"
"I have nothing to lose." Atheon paused, seemingly contemplating his offer before it whirred.
"I have given you an offer, Guardian, yet you refuse. So be it. You will die by the Darkness and I will be reborn once more, superiour to all."
"The grass will grow, birds will fly, air will blow, and the sun will shine. The Universe continues to rotate and no one gives a shit." He scowled and jumped around the Vex, plucking the flower.
Upon leaving the stem, the flower let out a loud whine followed by the growing glow of Light; the sound clashed with the roar of Atheon as the Vex lunged forward only to be pushed back by pure force of Light.
Just as he was about to step through the portal the Light had formed, a yell made him take pause and he turned hesitantly to see something - no - someone running towards him and the Light. He didn't have time to register who it was as the Light pulled him in but the familiar voice rang out as a desperate cry,
"Callixtus, don't leave me here!"
The Light launched him to his feet, reforming his body, and he smoothly leapt back into action, ignoring the cries of confusion and the cries of outrage from either side. It wasn't time yet. He wasn't going to let the Conflux kill him, he wouldn't let Atheon have the satisfaction of his death.
Rolling back and away from the barrage of plasma grenades, he felt his back come to contact with the super-soldier, the Master Chief.
"You died," it was more of a statement rather than a question and he nodded.
A/N: Final time I'm going to rewrite this. No more rewritten prologues. This is also posted on AO3 under the same penname.
As you've noticed, the name and summary changed. Editing is going on while simultaneously posting because it'll be a long time until this story is finished so I'm editing as I go.
It's also official that this is part one of a series I'm starting called The Vault of History so stay tuned and hopefully tag along for a great ride.
Thanks for reading.