The Tower had been its normal quiet atmosphere, business as usual. Eris's return held no ceremony, nor applause, as if she had never left in the first place. Eris's position at the edge of the Tower to conduct her business worried Ikora, as do to her recent night terrors, but Eris assured that all was fine to the Warlock. The Hunter thus continued to spread the word of Crota's awakening and that a raid against the Moon was all worthwhile; but then again, just as before, her business was slow as nobody wanted to risk taking on a Hive God. All in all, it was Eris alone with her thoughts and the stray voices who jumped along for the ride. The lone Hunter leaned against the railing, holding the ghastly emerald orb against her person as if it were treasure. While her sight failed her, her hearing was impeccable and almost every sound to be heard around the Tower Plaza came to her before much of anyone else.
The 'Special Orders' had come today, she could hear Tess Everest punching in the information to each individual package as well as her mumbling to help herself keep up with the overwhelming amount of orders. Eris gave a slight chuckle at the Awoken woman, for some reason it amused her to hear such bustling behavior come from a single person.
"Eris!" A voice called from not too far. It was Tess, quite possibly seeing Eris distracted by who knows what. She knew the Hunter did nothing all day but stand and stare at her orb. Perhaps she thought, this will keep her busy.
Eris jerked her head to the Special Orders kiosk, heart jumping when she heard someone other than Ikora call her for once. She must've assumed Tess beckoned her over with some hand gesture, so at that thought, she walked over quiet and curious.
"Good, you heard me." Tess said, relieved at the sight of possible help. "Could you do me a favor since I still have my hands full with these orders?"
"Depends on my task."
"If you could send this package over to the Crucible Quartermaster for me," She planted a sizable box on the counter of the kiosk, its contents jumbled around within. "It would mean a lot if you could do me the favor."
"…Couldn't you find someone else?" Eris seemed reluctant to even consider carrying such a heavy looking item.
Tess gave a small sigh. "Usually I have a Frame or Guardian do the carrying around but all the Frames are having a routine system check today and tomorrow and it's a slow day, so Guardians aren't as frequent as they come."
Eris had nothing against Tess, but physical work other than gathering Hive intelligence was something she seemed to dread. "I have to watch my ship…"
"I'll watch it, I doubt it'll go anywhere."
"My Relic─"
"I'll guard it for you." Eris's excuses were no more. She had no choice.
Eris handed the glowing green relic to Everest, who smiled in return. "I'll be back I guess… Do not drop that relic."
Tess's smile was reassuring. "I won't, you can count on me."
The Hunter picked the package up in arms and toted it down to the Hall of Guardians, muttering curses with each step. Eris inched down each step leading to her destination, in fear she might miss a step and fall, but luck was on her side today.
The Hall of Guardians was competitive paradise, all Guardians from every corner of the system came here to pledge their allegiance to none other than the Crucible himself, Lord Shaxx. The man was practically built of fire tested iron with the might of fifty bulls in rage with a heart of gold that shimmered in pride. He noticed Eris walking past with the large package she struggled with and immediately jumped in to assist.
Shaxx stopped the Hunter, who made it obvious that she did not want to be stopped just feet before her goal. "Pardon me, but this looked awfully heavy, mind if I help you?" He asked.
Eris smiled about to hand the package over but quickly turned back into the direction of the Quartermaster, brushing off Shaxx's offer. She dropped the package off on the Quartermaster's counter and began to walk back to her post at the railings.
Shaxx placed a hand on her shoulder to pause her travel back to Tess; He cleared his throat before speaking. "Allow me to introduce myself, I am—"
"Lord Shaxx."
Shaxx paused a moment before continuing. "Yes," He chuckled. "Perhaps more people know of me than I thought originally." Shaxx noticed Eris's face which looked back at his, completely uninterested by his enthusiasm, he coughed to grab her attention back. "—And you're Eris Morn, you're the one who survived the Hellmouth for all those years?"
Eris stared back at him, a mixture of emotions began to rush to her face, swelling her eyes and biting her inner cheek. She'd begun to block out those feelings of the Hellmouth with help from Ikora, but the images of her former fireteam meeting their demise was enough to break her structure with guilt. Eris knew she was strong to overcome these episodes of depression, but how strong, was a question that lingered at the back of her head every day. All of a sudden, she felt small and feeble, she needed to hide. This instinct was great, too great, her heart running a mile a minute something she was quite used too. It was at that second, she began to run. She ran so fast away that it took Shaxx a moment to realize she was already running up the stairs. He wanted to run after her, he too began to feel a wrong was done in his action that he perhaps was not aware of at first.
Shaxx had felt a presence rush up from behind him, the sight of the rushing figure was like that of Eris, almost unnoticeable. He could hear the figure shout: "Eris!" It was then that Ikora had registered in his mind. The whole situation had been a blur to the man, he exhaled a bit anxious deciding his next action, he thought perhaps Eris could use the space for now. Shaxx thought he was wrong, maybe he could do more, he wanted to help the newly acquainted woman in some way or form for a reason he was unsure of, but he was sure he would soon speak to her again, maybe in a new fashion with different words. This was something to sleep over.
Dazed and frightened was Eris, she had stopped her frantic running at the lounge in the Tower Hanger, she was next to Ikora who held her tight on one of the available couches as a mother would to her child, consoling her. Others there glanced on, almost pitying the tri-eyed woman for the extreme anxiety episode she was experiencing. Seeing Eris cling for dear life onto the Warlock Vanguard was too painful to watch, her previous screaming upon entering the lounge was dumbed down to mere mumbling and sobbing, which some of the loungers considered to be an improvement, but overall thought was pathetic... But what did Ikora care? She cared all too much, perhaps it was she knew Eris a bit more than any other in the Tower or that she hated to see such a sad existence. Whatever the reasoning, she felt compelled to assist Eris in these dark times. The warlock knew she was in a rough situation after Eris's second arrival in the Tower, she was exhausted with dealing with Eris. Her late-night therapy sessions, calming her in the wee hours of the morning, making sure Eris was eating and bathing, trying to improve her friend's overall health as well as keeping herself in good health along with working in her own position as a Vanguard. As much as she would want to go back to work and sleep at night, Eris remained as her top priority, she knew letting Eris go on her own right now would mean devastation for the both of them. It wasn't as if she could just pass her on to another and make Eris someone else's problem, because nobody else would deal with it. She was crazy enough to take on this severe case of depression and trauma, but she knows she cannot do this forever, she must think about her own wellbeing.
Ikora often used the phrase: "If she's happy, I'm happy." To explain to others why; Why she often sits with Eris when she cries, why she goes days without sleep, why she often fights with others for the sake of Eris. In her mind, there is no happiness when Eris is unhappy.
After all, she made a promise.
