"Atheon waits in the Vault of Glass. Just as Atheon sidesteps 'past' and 'future', it is impossible to say whether Atheon created the Vault or the Vault created Atheon. Causal pathways converge on Atheon from every axis in the space-time bulk." - Atheon, Time's Conflux

Unsurprisingly, the Hydra was the first thing that Harley noticed. While the chamber they'd entered was fascinating, he knew they hadn't entered the Vault to look at scenery. The rest of the group came to a stop behind him.

"Ah," said Kaedro, "The welcoming committee."

"What the frick is that?!" hissed Fyr.

"That would be a Vex Hydra," said Bazzle.

"What do we do?"

Harley's mouth set in a line. "We kill it."

"How?"

"Guns work pretty well," said Rogue, "But somehow I ain't confident that they're gonna cut it."

"Well staring at him's gonna do jack shit," said Rae, "I say we attack."

Harley nodded. "We'll shoot together to maximize damage. Heavy weaponry." There was a myriad of shuffling and faint zaps as the team got out their machine guns and rocket launchers. "On my signal… 3, 2, 1, now!" With that, the silence was split with the explosions of rockets and the rattling bangs of machine guns as they assaulted the Hydra.

"Reload!" yelled Bazzle. They reloaded and prepared to fire again only to have the Hydra vanish.

"What!" exclaimed Kaedro.

"It teleported!" said Jade.

"We have to find it!" said Harley.

"Easier said than done."

Harley turned and saw that several squadrons of Hobgoblins had entered the room. He rolled to the side with a curse and the rest of the Chasers scattered as the Hobgoblins began to shoot. He heard Bazzle's voice echo through the space. "Get to cover and take them out!"

He unslung his sniper rifle and shot down three Vex in quick succession. "Hydra on the right side!" called Kaedro. Harley dropped his sniper and took out his rocket launcher. He and the others managed to hit the Hydra with another volley before it teleported again.

He returned to the rock he'd been hiding behind and shot down more Hobgoblins. They seemed to appear in a never-ending stream. The Hydra was found and lost twice more before they were able to kill it. Harley watched with satisfaction as it exploded, pieces falling with a clatter to the stone floor. He reloaded his rocket launcher before Prism stored it away once more. The others were doing the same, catching their breath as they waited for the next inevitable onslaught.

Rae snorted. "Look Ace, your magic shield is back."

Harley turned and saw she was right. The Aegis hovered in the middle of the floor, waiting for him to pick it up. He took a deep breath and started forward. "Be ready," he said, "Last time I picked this thing up, I seem to remember a whole lot of Vex trying to kill us."

"No different than usual then," said Rogue, "We'll show 'em just like we did last time."

Harley nodded and proceeded to pick up the Aegis. There was a sudden flash of light to one side. He looked over and saw that one of the Vex gates had lit up. The Chasers considered it for a few seconds.

"I think we have to go through," said Jade.

Harley nodded. That seems logical. He moved forward but was brought to a halt by a hand on his arm. He looked up and saw it was Kaedro. "Don't do it."

"Kay, man, I'm sorry but I'm pretty sure we have to."

The Exo shook his head. "I've lost one friend to a Vex time gate. I'm not about to lose another. I'm telling you, as soon as you go through that thing, it'll close."

Harley shook his head. "There's gotta be some way to keep it open."

"Yeah!" said Fyr, "What about one of those plate thingies? Like how we opened the Vault?"

"Anyone see one of those?"

"Yes."

Harley hadn't expected an answer. "Bazzle?"

"There is one Vex plate near each gate."

"That means someone's gonna have to stand on it and keep the gate open."

The Titan nodded. "I will do it."

"Ok. Problem solved then." He turned back to the gate.

"I'm coming with you."

"What?"

"I said I'm coming," Kaedro repeated.

"Vex inbound!" called Rogue, turning to shoot.

"We don't have time for this," said Harley.

"Yeah. That's why I'm coming with you. Look, one of my biggest regrets was not going through that gate after my friend. I'm not about to make the same mistake twice."

Harley sighed, relenting. "Fine. Let's go." Together, the two Hunters stepped through the gate. Harley blinked in shock. The place looked almost the same as the one they'd just left except this one looked reddish and reminded Harley a bit of Mars.

Next to him, Kaedro was experiencing the same bewilderment. "What the hell…?"

Then a voice spoke up behind them. "I think we're in the past."

Harley and Kaedro whirled to find Jade standing in front of the portal. "What are you doing here?" said Harley.

"I thought you might want someone else with you. Extra backup. Besides, Rae-" she cut herself off.

"'Rae' what?" asked Kaedro.

"...Rae said that it was a good idea to have a Warlock along."

Kaedro shook his head. "What were her exact words?"

Jade sighed. "...'Those imbeciles are gonna get themselves killed. You'd better follow them.'"

Kaedro nodded. "That's more like it."

Suddenly, lasers whizzed past their heads. Harley turned. "Guys! There's Vex!" He looked past them. "Aaaaand there's another Hydra… Wonderful."

"You take care of the Minotaurs and stuff," said Kaedro, "We'll get the Hydra."

Harley nodded and moved to engage the Vex, using the Aegis to kill them. Distantly, he was aware of Jade and Kaedro shooting at the Hydra. He both heard and felt the crash as it was brought down. He finished killing the last Minotaurs and saw Kaedro pick up a second Aegis. "What?"

Kaedro looked over. "What?"

"Huh?"

"Why'd you say 'what'?"

"What?"

"Yeah."

"What?"

"What?"

Harley was getting exasperated. "I asked you 'what'?"

"I know. Why?"

"Why what?"

"Why did you ask me 'what'?"

Harley frowned as he tried to remember what had prompted him to say 'what' in the first place. "Uh, I..."

"What?" asked Kaedro.

"Guys!" yelled Jade, "You're giving me a headache!"

"Sorry," said Harley. His gaze lit on the Aegis once more and suddenly he remembered what had caused all the confusion. "Why is there another Aegis?"

"What?"

"No, that was my 'what'. I was confused 'cause there're two shields."

"Ohhhh. Yeah, no clue."

"I think I might know," said Jade. Both Hunters turned to face her. "Remember how I said this was the past?"

"What?" asked Kaedro. Jade turned to look at him. Judging from the set of her shoulders, she was not amused. "Kidding."

"The Vex can manipulate time, remember? This is the same room we were in, just at a different point in time."

"How do you know it's the past and not the future?" asked Kaedro.

Jade shrugged. "That part was mostly a guess. The point is, when Kabr made the Aegis, he made it a part of the Vault. The reason it works is because it's bound into time itself. It must always exist. I think the Aegis Kaedro has is the one from this point in time and Harley's is from our present."

Kaedro scratched his head. "You lost me."

Harley frowned, nodding. It was kind of making sense to him. I guess all that research on the Vex and the Vault paid off.

"Hey, shouldn't we be getting back to them?" said Kaedro.

"Yeah. We'd better go." Upon exiting the portal, they found their teammates in the midst of holding off waves of Vex.

"You sure took your time!" said Rae.

"Sorry!" said Harley.

"So what now?" asked Fyr.

"I think we have to go through the other portal." Jade nodded her agreement. The trio crossed to the right-hand portal. "Same thing as last time!" said Harley, "Keep the gate open and keep the Vex off!"

"One of you needs to stay behind," said Bazzle.

"Yeah," said Rae, "We were getting swamped last time."

Kaedro nodded. "I'll stay back. I can use the Aegis to help keep them clear."

"Ok," said Harley. He turned to Jade. "You ready?"

"As I'll ever be."

The second room was different from the first. Although it too appeared to be the same as the one they'd just left, this room was green and leafy, reminding Harley strongly of Venus. Once again, they were welcomed by a hoard of Vex along with a Hydra. Harley cleared the smaller Vex before helping Jade take down the Hydra. Once it was dead, another Aegis appeared.

Jade picked it up. "Amazing," she said, "To think that this is all that remains of Kabr…"

This time, they didn't linger. After they exited the portal, Harley barely had time to come to terms with the abrupt switch in the scenery before Rae was calling out, "Conflux!" He turned in time to see two Minotaurs heading for it. He sprinted over to kill them.

"Don't let them reach the conflux," said Prism.

"Why?"

"Because I have a feeling that it would be bad."

He shrugged. "Whatever you say. Kay! I could use some help over here!"

The Chasers spent the next few minutes keeping the Vex away from the conflux. Finally, it vanished and they seemed to stop coming. Harley yelped in surprise as the Aegis vanished, hearing similar cries from Kaedro and Jade. There was nothing but dead silence for a long moment. Then Harley heard the footsteps of something approaching. Something big. Slowly, reluctantly, he turned to face their next challenge. Standing some distance away was one of the biggest Vex that he'd ever seen. It resembled a Gate Lord, except this one had horns on its head and its plating was glassy and reflective.

"Ohmygodwhatthehellisthat?!" hissed Fyr.

"I'm not sure," said Jade, "But...I think it might- it might be…"

Harley's mouth felt dry and he swallowed a few times before speaking. "Atheon."

Jade nodded. As though Atheon had heard them, he turned and opened fire. The Guardians scattered to the sides to avoid the blasts. Harley opened his mouth to tell them his plan of attack, but before he could, Rae, Fyr, and Kaedro vanished from in front of him.

"What the shit?!" yelled Fyr.

"Korrin! Kaedro! Where are you?" asked Bazzle.

"What the hell?!" said Kaedro, "We went through the time gate somehow!"

"Grab the Aegis!" commanded Rae.

"Oracles!" yelled Fyr.

Rae swore. "Kay! Take care of those Hobgoblins!"

"On it!"

"Ace we got Harpies!" shouted Rogue.

"Crap!" Harley turned to help the others shoot down Harpies. One flew towards him, moving much faster than normal Harpies tended to. Bang!

"Careful," said Rogue, "These suckers explode!"

"Ace where the hell is the exit portal?!" Rae demanded.

"Which side are you on?"

"How the hell should I know?"

"What does it look like where you are?"

"We're in the green room!" yelled Kaedro.

Harley ran to the right side to stand on the plate. "Keep those Harpies away from Hayden!" said Bazzle. Harley saw the grid of light slowly build up around him. Finally, it reached the top. He heard yelling as Kaedro, Fyr, and Rae spilled out of the portal.

"Now what?" asked Kaedro.

"Well we're all here," said Harley, "I say let's teach Atheon not to mess with Guardians." There was a chorus of agreement.

"We'll get clearer shots from down there," said Bazzle. He was pointing to a small platform that floated by itself in the center of the room. It had a direct line to Atheon.

"You kidding? We're toast if we go down there!" said Fyr.

"Not quite," said Kaedro, "We still have the Aegis."

Rogue nodded. "Let's do this thing." Moving together, the Chasers jumped down onto the central platform. Kaedro used the Aegis to shield them.

"Hit that bastard with everything you got!" yelled Rouge.

"All I got's my primary and secondary!" said Fyr.

"So does everyone!" said Rae, "Now less talking and more shooting!"

"She's right!" said Harley, "I'm not sure how much longer that shield will last." He was by now well aware that the Aegis needed a period to 'recharge' itself after each major use. Sure enough, the bubble collapsed a few seconds later and they jumped off the platform, back to relative safety.

The cycle soon repeated itself. They couldn't seem to go very long without half the team being teleported to one of the two other rooms. They gathered in the middle for the second time and shot at Aethon again before returning to the main platform once more where they prepared for the next teleport. Suddenly, Harley's vision went white and he braced himself as he was transported. When his vision cleared, he found himself standing in the past or the 'red room' as it had affectionately been dubbed. He looked around and noticed that he was alone. "Guys?"

"Ace, where the hell did you go?" demanded Rae.

"I was teleported! Weren't any of you?"

"We're all here," said Jade.

"Well, it looks like I landed in the red room."

Jade sighed, the sound crackling as it passed through the comms. "Sorry, Harley but I think you'll have to take this one by yourself. We can't get to you right now."

"Great." Harley picked up the Aegis, giving a start of alarm as the first Oracle appeared. Taking out six Oracles with his team was stressful enough. Facing them alone while being shot at by Hobgoblins was something else entirely. After all the Vex were dead, Harley leaned against a rock next to the exit portal, breathing hard. "Alright guys, I'm ready to get outta here." There was no reply. "Guys? You can open the portal now."

He waited but was only greeted with silence. "This really isn't funny guys. Save the practical jokes for when we're back in the Tower."

He was starting to get a tight feeling in his chest. They would have said something by now. His gaze strayed to the shield he still bore. At least the Aegis didn't disappear. Suddenly he frowned. The Aegis seemed to be moving slightly, almost trembling. He drew it closer and immediately saw the reason for it. It wasn't the Aegis but rather his hands that were shaking. He flexed his fingers in an effort to make it stop. When it persisted, he shook them out a few times. Prism, apparently having noticed his odd behavior, spoke up.

"Harley? Are you ok?"

"Yeah yeah. I'm fine. It's just nerves." He waited for her to say something else. When she didn't, he shrugged and sat down, taking her silence as acceptance. Why shouldn't she believe me? After all, there's plenty of reasons why I'd be nervous. Not the least of which was the fact that being stranded in the Vex room was bringing back uncomfortable memories of the period following his revival. Not wanting to linger on those thoughts, he cast around for a different subject. Unfortunately, that was easier said than done. It seemed the more he tried to distract himself, the more the unwanted thoughts cropped up. Visions of swirling sandstorms and red Vex eyes flashed through his mind and for a moment he was lost in the echoes of the past.

Then Prism's voice broke through, calling to him. "-ley! ...Harley Hayden, you'd better not be ignoring me!"

Harley shook himself out of his thoughts. "...Sorry Prism."

"I should think so," said the Ghost, "Are you sure you're alright? You're acting very strange."

"Yeah. Just got distracted for a second there. That's all. Any word from the others?"

Prism sighed. "Nothing yet."

"...You don't think they're dead, do you?" Before she could reply, he hastened to explain his reasoning. "I mean, we haven't heard from them for a while now and they're stuck out there with Atheon."

Prism started to say something. "I-"

Harley rushed ahead, cutting her off. "I have the Aegis too! There's no way they can protect themselves from Atheon if the Aegis is in here! Oh God Prism what if they're dead and it's my fault?!"

"Calm down... I'm sure it's nothing that drastic."

Harley shook his head. "I'd never forgive myself if something happened to them."

All of a sudden, Rae's voice came through the comms. "Ace, you fall asleep in there or what?"

Harley jerked to his feet. "Rae?!"

"No, it's the Speaker! Who do you think, numbskull?"

"What happened? Why couldn't I hear you guys?"

"Something happened to the comms," said Jade, "We think it was some sort of Vex interference."

Harley was so relieved at hearing their voices, he completely forgot to ask why they hadn't opened the portal. But as it turned out, Bazzle answered that for him. "We attempted to open the time gate, but there were too many Harpies. We had to retreat and take them out from a safe distance."

Harley nodded before remembering that they couldn't see him. "Ok. Are you opening the portal now?"

"You betcha," said Kaedro, "It should be opening right...now!"

There was a flash of light as the portal opened. Harley sighed in relief as he stepped through the portal. Never thought I'd miss seeing the Vault of Glass. "Group up on mid!" yelled Rogue. Harley jumped down onto the small platform, hearing his friends land next to him. No one spoke. Everyone was focusing on wearing down Atheon.

At long last, Atheon staggered and was brought down with a ground-quaking crash. Harley felt the Aegis vanish from his grasp.

"I don't believe it," said Jade.

"He's dead…" said Kaedro.

"Woohoo!" cheered Fyr, "We did it, guys!"

"We did it," said Harley blankly. He couldn't believe what he was saying, what they had done. "We beat the Vault of Glass."

A/N: Ok. It looks like I should be able to stick to my regular schedule for the time being. But don't be surprised if I'm late at some point. Anyway, we finally got through all the Vault of Glass stuff! Feels pretty good. Writing raids is such a headache since there's a lot of stuff that can't carry over to the "real" world.

Once again, many thanks to my beta, EmeryldLuk, for making this possible. Before I get to the reviews, I'd just like to remind you that all of these stories are in the Chasing Fate Community, which you can subscribe to for alerts on new additions. Also, my tumblr and Twitter are ArcaneGlitch if you're interested in seeing more frequent updates as well as digital art pieces and (on tumblr) a bunch of posts about the characters in CF.

If there's enough interest, I can compile the posts into a work on this site and upload it after this story is finished.

To the guest on the first chapter: Thank you so much. Raids are annoying for me to write so I'm glad you enjoyed it.

Chapter 3 is where the rest of the story becomes clear, so I hope y'all are ready ;)

- TheWolfParadox