The view from the upper deck had been spectacular as they circumvented the Reef and now it seemed they were headed into deep space. Mara Sov had asked Ayane to join her on this trip, but she hadn't said where they were going or why. It didn't seem to matter to her though, everything seemed different now. She hadn't simply remembered her past, she had lived it. The experiences changed everything. The Speaker had been right all along; whatever she had been was not important. It was what she did now that mattered.
The elevator door whispered open behind her and the Queen walked onto the deck. Ayane stood and bowed to her as she approached. Mara sat and gestured for Ayane to join her.
"Are you well?" She said.
"Yes your grace." They sat and looked out into the black for a time. Ayane had been waiting for a chance to thank the Queen for what she had done, but as she searched for the words Mara Sov spoke first.
"I want you to know that the moments I shared with you are all that remains of your human life. You have no other memories of it within yourself." The Queen turned to face her and let the news sink in before she continued. "These memories defined you," she looked out into the void again, "but now that you have returned to this reality, will they still define you?" Ayane joined her, staring into the black.
"Are you asking if I can fight the Darkness in me?" She said.
"I believe you will resist Guardian," her tone was grave, "but can you defeat it?"
"I want to defeat the Speaker." Ayane said.
"As do I," said the Queen, "but what will it achieve?"
"What else can I do?" She said.
"Your memory of him is from hundreds of years ago. It seems to be the same man, so either he died and returned as you did."
"Or he was made of light, even then." Said Ayane.
"If he is a creature of light, will we be able to kill him?" Mara stood and began to pace.
"If we kill his ghost first." Said Ayane. "If he even has one."
"His collusion with the Fallen may be just one play in a larger game." She stopped and folded her arms. "If we succeed, we may never know his whole plan or be able to prevent it."
"What about the Vanguard," said Ayane, "do you trust them?"
"Most humans and guardians revere him as their leader," said Mara, "they will not take a challenge to him lightly and we must tread carefully around them."
"Surely they'll listen to the Awoken Queen."
"If I move against the Speaker, many will see it as an act of war and our cure may be worse than his disease." The Queen walked over to the window and looked out.
"What we salvaged of the Exile's potion will not hold for long, soon you will want to kill me again." Mara said. "I cannot allow you to remain in the Reef or return here until we have undone this sorcery."
"If you can't help me with it, then I have no reason to be here." Said the Guardian. Mara turned her back to the glass and hesitated before she spoke.
"Years ago, a group of Guardians journeyed into Earth's moon to destroy a Hive god. They did not succeed, nor did they return." Ayane tried to manage her expectations of how the Queen's story would end. "One of these Guardians was said to be quite mad, but his knowledge of the Hive remains unsurpassed."
"But they all died?" Frustration or desperation forced the words from Ayane's lips. "Years ago?"
"By all accounts, yes." The Queen walked back to the Guardian, holding her fist in the centre of her chest. "But I feel him, even now. He lives somehow, somewhere down there in the dark." Ayane stood.
"Can he help me?" she asked.
"Perhaps. Perhaps not." Mara said. "But you will not survive what lies ahead of you in this condition and that," the Queen's eyes seem to burn brighter, "I may be able to help you with." Ayane felt the ship begin to decelerate.
"At last." Said Mara. "Come with me." They took the elevator to the lower deck and walked to a room with an airlock. A couple of attendants stood by with vac suits. They helped the Queen into hers and then Ayane. As they suited her, she caught sight of her reflection in the tinted visor of the Queen's helmet. Her skin was palid and pulled tightly over her gaunt features and her hair was dreadfully thin. She traced the line of her cheek with her fingertips and for a moment she was lost again in the memory of nausea.
"Guardian?" The attendant was waiting to fit her helmet and carry out her suit checks. The two then walked into the airlock and closed the inner door. Mara opened the buddy channel.
"In my lifetime, few have learned of this place and none from beyond the Reef." Ayane nodded inside her helmet. "You can never speak of it, to anyone." The Queen switched back to ship comms. "Proceed."
A klaxon sounded and the outer door opened. Mara walked to the edge of the airlock and looked out. The remains of a vessel hung there in the dark, illuminated only by lights on the Queen's ship. It wasn't like anything Ayane had seen in the Reef or anywhere else. It was sleek yet the surface was irregular, as if it had scales. Almost half of it was missing. It had been torn away by some massive force she couldn't imagine. The Queen stepped off the airlock and used her thrusters to head toward it. Ayane did her best to follow. It took a little while to get the hang of the suit, but after some experimentation she was able to fly straight and caught up.
As they got closer to the ship, their radio began to buzz. Mara reached out to take Ayane's hand and pointed to the centre of the breach. Not long after, the thrusters in Ayane's suit began to splutter and failed, along with the radio. The Queen appeared to expect it and Ayane just went with it.
They drifted into the remains of a deep shaft. It seemed completely dark away from the lights, but after they alighted Ayane noticed a faint light at the far end. Still holding hands, the Guardian and the Awoken Queen used the walls of the tunnel to drift toward the light. As they approached, a weak gravity began to pull them down and soon it was possible to walk.
They reached the end of the tunnel, but there didn't appear to be a door of any kind. The light was bleeding through gaps between the overlapping tiles which formed the exterior of the ship. Mara raised her hand and rested it on a tile. It seemed to pulse and a faint ripple of energy radiated out from it. It travelled across the whole wall and down the length of the tunnel behind them. The Queen pressed her hand into the tile and it gave way, along with the surrounding tiles. Her hand sank into the wall, then her arm and she walked forward, disappearing into the structure. She gripped Ayane's hand tightly and pulled her through.
Ayane found herself in a large empty room. The walls, ceiling and floor were polished black and separated at regular intervals by lights. Other than that, the room was devoid of anything. They walked to a passage, which ran straight and through a series of similar rooms, but there were no features or markings in any of them. Finally, they reached a door. It was polished black like everything else, but convex and door shaped. As they approached, it silently slid open and led to a small, round ante chamber. Mara ushered her in, but didn't follow.
"Leave everything in here," the Queen spoke through the open door, "except this." She took Ayane's ghost from the side pocket in her suit and handed him to her. He was lifeless and Ayane set him down carefully before undressing. She was becoming increasingly aware of the toll the Fallen had extracted from her. Her body was wasted, it was being consumed by the Darkness. She self-consciously tucked her hair behind her ears, as if to make herself more presentable in front of the Queen.
Mara pointed to a door on the opposite side of the room. "There is light beyond that door." She said. "It may give you what you need." Ayane took her ghost through the door into a second round room that was larger than the first. The centre of the room held a broad column, but otherwise, it was as stark as the others.
As she stepped forward the central column began to rise. Immediately, Ayane was pushed back by something and nearly lost her balance. There was no sound or wind or any sign of the force. Her bare feet slipped on the polished floor and she struggled to stand her ground. As it rose further, it revealed a black sphere made of the tiles from the outside of the ship. It turned slowly.
Ayane looked back at Mara, but the door was closed behind her. She began to press forward toward the sphere and after her third step, a tile broke off from the sphere and flew at her. It struck her on her shoulder, but instead of hurting her, it attached itself. A shaft of brilliant light, shone from the sphere where the tile had been and flashed around the room as it turned. The tile had shaped itself around her skin, as if it were part of her. She pushed ahead and two more tiles flew at her, then a fourth. They moulded to her leg and stomach. More intense light beamed from the sphere and she had to look away to protect her eyes.
Although the force was still powerful, she seemed to be growing stronger with each tile that attached to her and as they neared the sphere she was almost completely covered in polished black. Squinting from the brightness, she looked down at Ghost, but he showed no sign of life.
All the tiles had transferred to her now, and unrestrained, the sphere began to expand to fill the room. It engulfed her silently, but she immediately felt its power. The light felt so intense, it seemed to transcend the visible. She could feel it around her, trying to penetrate her skin and seep into her bones. She was blinded, but as she focused on the sensation, she felt the tiniest flutter in the light. A rhythmic pulse, the brightness stuttered somehow and in those almost imperceptible gaps she caught glimpses of the Last City and the Tower.
"Guardian." It was a voice she had heard before, but couldn't place. "Come to us!" the voice commanded and she felt a coldness begin in her chest. No! Her rage caused a rush of energy to race down her arm into her hand, shaking Ghost violently. She started to step away. "Ayane!" The voice made her name sound like a threat and she started to panic, stumbling backward. As she fell, tiles began to leave her and return to the centre of the sphere. She shuffled back toward the door and more tiles flew away, but she was losing the strength she'd gained and began to falter. The light began to recede though and as she approached the door the last of the tiles had returned and it was sealed again.
She lay there on the floor for a while and tried to catch her breath. For the first time, the floor felt cold against her skin.
"Umm, excuse me for interrupting whatever this is, but where exactly are we?" Ghost said.
As Ayane entered the dock, Petra was waiting for her.
"If it wasn't for the armed guard, I wouldn't have recognised you." Petra dismissed the escort with a nod. "You look well."
"Petra." Ayane said.
"I imagine you were hoping to have someone else see you off." Her smile was both playful and condescending. "I do come bearing gifts though, to avoid a total disappointment." She opened a box resting on a crate beside her. "Shiro was called home by the Vanguard, but he asked me to give you this." She took out the Silent Fang cloak and handed it to the hunter. "Apparently, he risked his life several times over to get it back, blah, blah, blah." Ayane smiled at the thought that he would not let her forget it, if their paths should ever cross again.
"I don't know what it is you are about to do Guardian, but my Queen has asked me to help in whatever way I can." For the first time since they'd met, there was no hint of intimidation in Petra's manner. "The Vanguard has allowed me to visit the Tower for a while, which should be interesting. I'll wait for you there until you say otherwise."
"Thank you Petra." Ayane felt the strength in her own voice again.
"Also, you're going to be needing this." Petra picked up a rifle from behind the box, it was well worn and its dull grey paint was flaking in places. "It doesn't look like anything special, but it may surprise you." Ayane slung the rifle over her shoulder and Petra held her gaze for a moment, her smile turning a little at the corners of her mouth.
"Thank you, it's very kind." She said.
"Oh, I almost forgot." She stepped back and with a mock flourish, presented the ship anchored in the bay behind her. "Courtesy of Her majesty Queen Mara Sov." It was an Awoken fighter of a striking design. "We've sent the keys to your ghost, hopefully everything is to your liking."
"Is there anything else?" Ayane said.
Petra walked up close to Ayane and placed a hand on her shoulder. "One last thing Guardian," she leaned in closer and spoke softly into Ayane's ear, "if you come back here without my permission, you'll be dead before you land."
Ayane tamped down the soil around the last of the blue flowers. Who knew if they would grow here on Venus, but they had a fighting chance and that was more than many others. She took a few steps back from the wreck.
"It looks nice, you did a good job." Said Ghost.
"I don't know why I feel sad," she said, "my body's down there, but I'm still here." The drizzle had collected in her hair and a drop ran down her nose. She looked up at the clouds and smiled.
"Maybe it's for the ones you had to leave behind." He said. She picked up the rifle and slung it across her back.
"I hope this piece of shit works," she said, "or it's going to be a while before we see the sky again."
The Angel's Return will continue in 'The Light Below'
Many thanks to all those who took the time to read any or all of my story, I hope you enjoyed it. If you're able to leave a brief comment about anything you liked or didn't like, it'll really help me improve my writing and would be much appreciated.
Take care,
modonn.