A/N: Aaaand I'm back
One more chapter until VoG!
DISCLAIMER: The following is a non-profit fanfiction. Destiny, Destiny 2 and their expansions are all owned by Bungie, Activision, High Moon Studios and Vicarious Visions. I only own Kayla had other OCs. Please support the official release.
Saga 01: Guardian Rising
Arc 04: Fruit of the Garden
Chapter 026: The Black Garden
Earth
The Last City
Kayla stared into the mirror, watching her reflection intently. Her emerald green eyes stood out against her pale skin, her messy black hair hanging just above her shoulders. That reminded her, she needed to cut it at some point. Upon closer inspection she could see a couple of shrapnel scars dotting her face, frowning on the discovery.
After getting undressed Kayla got in the shower, yelping slightly as it shot freezing cold water against her bare skin. After fumbling with the temperature she stood under the water for about 20 minutes. Today was the day, and she was nervous. Finally deciding she couldn't put it off any longer Kayla picked up the black flannel and lathered it up with shower gel before gently scrubbing herself clean, counting all the scars she had acquired over the last few months and singing to herself.
"And now I'll never turn back
I'll never turn that way
No matter how life will face me
I turn the other way
Now and then, my head starts to spin
But I'll never turn back again
From this moment on, I moving on
And I'll never turn back"
"Kayla you won't believe this!" Ghost shouted, teleporting into the bathroom.
"Aaah!" Kayla screamed, instinctively throwing the shampoo bottle at the intrusive drone. "What have I told you about barging in on me when I'm in the shower!"
Ghost looked at her, confused. "I don't see why you insist, it's not like you've got anything worth covering."
That earned him a bottle of body wash in the eye.
"Ow!" Ghost yelped as he spun in the air. "What I meant was it's not like you've got, oh, I don't know, a tail or something."
Kayla stared at him in disbelief.
"What?" Ghost asked innocently.
"What am I going to do with you?" Kayla sighed, turning off the shower and drying herself. "Humans are sensitive about showing their bodies to other people, you need to learn to respect that."
"Oh…" Ghost said, looking down. "Why is that?"
"Various reasons, some people feel embarrassed because of how their body looks. Some people feel ashamed, while others feel vulnerable. Even confident people get shy about it."
"So…it's like showing your real self?" Ghost asked.
"Eh, sort of," Kayla shrugged.
"Well…I think you have a very nice body," Ghost said with a nod.
Kayla laughed and pet him. "Don't ever use that on a first date. But thanks."
"Humans are so strange…" Ghost said quietly.
"We are what we are," Kayla said, putting on her underwear. "What's so urgent anyway?"
Ghost thought for a moment. "Hmm…Oh! Yes, that's right," he said quickly. "The Vanguard wish to see us before we depart."
Kayla smiled and nodded. Ghost nodded in returned then turned to float out of the room. Before he did so, he turned back to look at Kayla. "Expect some attention on the way there. The whole tower knows what we're going to do."
"I can only hope it works," Kayla said with a wry smile, zipping up her Warlock robe.
The walk to the Hall of Guardians was filled with a mixture of worry, anxiety and anticipation. Every Guardian she passed turned to stare or whispered amongst themselves as she walked by. The amount of pressure weighing on her to pull this off made her stomach churn with anxiety, and the fact that everyone knew about it didn't help quell her worries. The anticipation though gave her an itch of excitement about the task ahead of her, like staring over a ledge into a gloomy, dark abyss.
She closed her eyes visualising the rocky outcrop in the dark. She could hear the crunch of the grit under her boots, feeling the icy wind whip against her back. She could hear something calling her below…
"Kayla!"
"H-huh? What?" Kayla said, breaking out of her daydream.
"We're here," Ghost said.
Kayla glanced at the Vanguard emblem above the door. The time drew closer. Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly she entered the Hall. The Vanguard were huddled around a holographic of the Valley of Kings, murmuring to each other. Although she couldn't quite hear what they were saying, Kayla could make out the words 'Vex' and 'blockade'. That seemed to tell her all she needed to know.
"Ah, here she is!" Cayde said, grinning when he saw her. "The hero of the hour!"
"Don't call her that until she comes back, Cayde," Zavala said sternly.
"What? Can't I give my Guardians a pep talk?"
Zavala glanced at Kayla, who seemed a little taken aback by Zavala's sternness. The Commander sighed then switched off the map. "Sorry. I…we lose too many Guardians to the forces of the Darkness. Please don't take it personally. You've done well, for a rookie."
"I understand," Kayla said, standing firm.
Ikora then walked over to her, handing her the Gate Lord's eye. "My Warlocks have ensured it will work without trapping you in there," she said, chuckling a little. "I must say, out of all the Warlocks I've overseen it has been an honour to watch you grow. When you first arrived here you were a trembling mess. You've become so brave. It's been a pleasure to work with you against the Darkness."
"Don't worry, I'll come back," Kayla said, staring at the grim, worried faces of the Vanguard. "I'm coming back."
"Please do, who else will I play Mah-jong with?" Cayde said cheerfully.
"Before you go," Ikora said, pulling a machine gun of a nearby weapon rack. "Please take this, as a gift from us."
"O-Oh!" Kayla said, taking the gun and looking it over. "Thank you so much."
"The gun's name is called Harm's Way. I pray it will help in the coming fight."
"Godspeed, Kayla Ashcroft," Zavala said with a saluted.
Kayla returned it, turning on her heel and walking out. As they headed for the hangar Ghost appeared next to her, staring at the floor.
"You ok?" Kayla asked.
"Y-Yeah, just…didn't think we'd actually be doing this…" Ghost replied, worry evident in his voice. "Is it possible for a being made of Light, encased in a robotic shell, to feel dread in the pit of his stomach? Cos I'm pretty sure that's what I'm feeling."
"You're scared," Kayla said as they entered the hangar.
"Aren't you?"
"Yeah," she said, smiling and petting Ghost. "But we need to be brave now."
"O-Oh…" Ghost said, looking away. "I-I'm not brave, not like you."
"Hey," Kayla said softly, gently turning Ghost to look at her. "One thing I learned about this world, since you found me, is…being brave isn't acting without fear. It's acting despite that fear. And you're braver than you think."
"Ikora was right," Ghost said, looking up at Kayla. "You have grown."
"Yo, Champ!" came the voice of Amanda by the ship bay. Kayla and Ghost both turned to see the blonde shipwright waving at them. "Zavala called ahead of you, you're ship's all prepped for ya!"
Kayla gave her a thumbs up, then turned to Ghost. "You with me?"
Ghost thought for a moment. "We got the eye. We found the gate. We charged the eye," he said. "And the Vanguard gave us their blessing…for what that's worth…" Ghost paused before giving a firm nod. "I'm with you Guardian. All the way down."
The pair sat in silence as they journeyed to Mars. As the Red Planet drew ever closer Kayla's heart began to race ever faster as the anxiety twisted and pulled at her mind. Ghost watched on as Kayla's nails dug into the leather around the ship's steering wheel.
"Nerves?" Ghost asked.
Kayla quickly looked at Ghost, then her steering wheel. She took her hand off, watching it tremble slightly before holding it in her other. "Yeah," Kayla said. "But we can do this."
Ghost nodded, looking out as Mars grew bigger and bigger. "Nearly here."
"Yeah…just us…and the silence."
"Come in Archon-Slayer, are you receiving?" came a voice that Kayla recognised.
"D-Delta?!" she asked in shock, speaking into her comms unit. "H-Hi!"
"Got a few people here, they have something to say to you," Delta chuckled.
"K-Kayla?" said the timid voice of Hayley-13. "You there?"
"Hayley?" Kayla replied, stunned. "Y-Yeah, I'm here!"
"I-I just wanted to say thank you so much for helping me out! I-I'm still a little nervous of stuff, but just being with you gave me so much confidence! Oh, a-and good luck!"
"Hayley…" Kayla said with a small smile.
"Hey, sexy," came the smooth, womaniser voice that caused Kayla to chuckle.
"You're still not getting a date, Jaeger!" Kayla said.
"Worth a shot," Jaeger laughed back. "We should get drinks some time when you get back!"
"Shots?"
"You know it! Go get 'em, Kayla!"
"Looks like I'm next," came a gruff voice.
"Shifter, how are you doing?"
"Not bad. Same old. Listen, I'm not one for words or big statements, so…good luck."
"Oi, rookie!" came the lilt of Anora. "Ya best not forget what I taught ya!"
"Haha, I won't!" Kayla said.
"Seriously tho', give 'em hell!"
"All You guys.." Kayla said quietly, wiping her eyes as emotion overcame her.
"And last, but certainly not least, me," Delta said. "Haha…I think everyone's already said what I was so…come back, won't you? You're my best mate."
"Yeah," Kayla nodded. "I will."
There was silence, and she could feel everyone's smiles through the radio. "Good luck, Kayla," Delta finally said. "We'll see you starside."
As the skies of Mars came into view Ghost looked at the Kayla. She was beaming with a fierce determination. "You ready?" Ghost asked with equal determination.
"Always," Kayla grinned, hitting the thrust and speeding off to Meridian Bay.
Mars
Meridian Bay
It was quiet across the red dunes when Kayla landed, and the lack of gunfire from Freehold and Firebase Rubicon unnerved her. Only the sound of the wind remained, and what sounded like a distress call from somewhere nearby. Kayla looked at Ghost, who motioned a shrug then nodded to the Cabal base.
"It's coming from there," he said.
The pair headed to the base finding it eerily devoid of life. Everything was pristine and in perfect condition, like the base had never been lived in in the first place. The only things of note were the weapons scattered around the base floor, and on the various tables and crates she could see mugs of some sort of Cabal drink. Kayla placed her hand to one of the mugs.
"Still warm," she murmured, looking up as the distress call repeated itself.
"This is Outpost Lucis, we need urgent support! The machines have us surrounded! We have been compromised and we can't escape! If you can hear this, stay out of the fog! I repeat, stay out of the fog!"
"Seems like the Vex have been busy with the Cabal," Ghost said, checking the record logs on a nearby computer.
Kayla walked up to it, eyes widening in horror at the screen.
PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM
PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM
PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM
PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM PRAISE HIM
"This is bad…" Kayla said in shock. "We need to go. It seems the Vex got what they wanted."
The pair quickly left the base and headed back into the dunes. In the distance at Freehold she could see a mass of the Vex's electrical fog, her blood running cold.
"We won't get another chance at this," Ghost said as Kayla summoned her Sparrow. "If we pull this off, we can save the system. If not…"
"The Vex will seize our worlds," Kayla finished, speeding off to the Valley of Kings.
Once Kayla entered the valley she could see that the gate to the Black Garden was active, and guarded by several Minotaurs and a Hydra. Kayla hesitantly left her sparrow and headed down to the Gate. Before she had a chance to engage a large fiery ball came crashing from one of the surrounding cliffs, slamming straight into the Hydra and creating a massive explosion that knocked the Minotaurs to their knees. Kayla's face widened into a grin as the fire cleared, revealing Athena holding her Hammer of Sol.
"Athena!" she cried out, charging in with her scout rifle. "What are you doing here?"
"I figured you'd need some help getting in," Athena replied, smashing the Hydra with her hammer, backflipping off it as it slammed its base into the ground. "And I wanted to wish you good luck."
Kayla nodded, firing into a Minotaur with her PRI. The Vex raised its weapon to melee her but Kayla quickly struck it with a Palm Strike, stunning the machine and allowing to fire into its chest. The Minotaur fell, dead, and the Warlock turned to another oncoming Minotaur as she pulled out her Matador and fired into it. The second Minotaur collapsed into the sand.
Athena on the other hand grabbed the Hydra beneath its eye, balancing on the Hydra chest as it frantically tried to fire on the Titan, and began smashing it with her hammer. As the eye gradually broke the Hydra screamed, falling to the ground as its shell cracked from the sheer force of the impacts. Athena jumped back as the Hydra exploded in a spectacular fireball, taking another Minotaur with it.
The Titan turned as the last three Minotaurs teleported towards her, only to be taken out in a hail of bullets from behind her. Athena turned, seeing Kayla stood with her machine gun, the barrel still smoking a little.
"Nice, is that new?" Athena asked, walking up to her.
"A gift from the Vanguard," Kayla replied. "So…what are you going to do now?"
Athena looked at the gate. "I'm gonna stay here, make sure nothing follows you in," she said, turning to Kayla. "Good luck, Kayla."
"Thanks," Kayla said, walking towards the gate. In her mind's eye she could see the ledge again, her feet teetering over the edge slightly. As she neared the gate, she stopped.
"You nervous?" Athena asked.
"Yup," she replied. "Scared too. There's this itch; go on, go on, go on, go on."
"The urge to jump," Athena chuckled. "An ancient sensation meant to test us, see if we can make it to the next branch as it were."
"No, no, it's much deeper than that," Kayla said, turning to Athena with a grin. "It's the urge to fall."
Ghost appeared beside her. "You ready?"
"No," Kayla replied, taking a deep breath and stepping through the portal.
?
?
Kayla woke against something cold and rocky. She looked up, quickly getting to her feet, finding herself in a dimly little cavern. It was made of grey stone and covered in vines, grass overgrowing out of the cracks in the floor and it seemed to be fashion like a Vex structure. Kayla groaned, shaking away the aching pain in her head and readying here weapon.
"Ugh, teleporting sucks," Kayla grumbled as Ghost appeared beside her. "Where are we?"
"I don't know…" he murmured, floating around. "Wherever we are, it's not on any known map of time and space…"
Kayla put on her helmet, noticing the digital clock in the corner of her HUD. The seconds were stuck. "I think that's because we're outside time and space…"
Ghost looked at her, then down the cavern. "We need to work quickly then. Lets go."
Kayla set off down the cavern, her footsteps echoing as she pushed onwards. It was cold and Kayla could feel a gentle breeze brushing against her. In the gloom of the cavern she felt a strange sensation. Kayla felt very isolated in this strange place, every shadow making her jump, but she couldn't help but shake the feeling she was being watched. Every corner she turned, every step she took, she could feel something watching her and in the darkness she could swear there were eyes peering out of the walls.
"I don't like this," Kayla said, picking up the pace a little.
"Me neither," Ghost replied. "Something's making my shell shiver."
"Mmm…" she murmured as she turned a corner. "If we can get out of…oh, my god!"
Kayla immediately backed up, aiming her gun as the outlines of Vex Goblins came into view in the gloom. Ghost flew up to them, scanning them, and when they didn't move, Kayla walked up to them. The first thing she noticed was that they were made of stone, and covered in vines. They looked like the hadn't moved in eons.
"Are they dead?" Kayla asked.
"I don't think they were ever alive," Ghost replied quietly. "But I don't think they're for show. Let's move."
Kayla headed through the tunnels as more Vex statues cropped up in the tunnels. Kayla sped up a little, noticing some of the Vex statues were beginning to twitch. As one reached out for her she broke out into a run, firing as the Vex broke free.
"There's a door up ahead!" Ghost shouted over the gunfire. "Go!"
Kayla dashed for an opening in the tunnels, powering through the corridor while destroying any Vex in her way. Throwing a Vortex Grenade to slow them down she dived through the exit, Ghost heading to a panel in the wall and closing the door shut. Like the rest of the cavern it was made of stone.
Kayla got to her feet, panting. As she stood she found herself on a rocky ledge overlooking a garden of roses that seemed to stretch on forever. The sky was an eerie green and Vex structures littered the area. In the centre of the garden was a black, pulsating orb surrounded by half-built Vex gates.
"I think we've found the heart of the Black Garden," Kayla said, reloading her gun.
"The Vex will do everything they can to keep us from destroying it," Ghost said. "We'd better be ready for anything."
Kayla set off along the ridge, keeping an eye out for the Vex, while Ghost looked through his database.
"It seems these Vex are classed as the Sol Divisive," he said. "That's according to our friend."
"Iris contacted you?" Kayla asked.
"Not as such. But my database was updated on our way here, only one person we know has this much knowledge on the Vex."
"So…Sol Divisive?"
"Yes, they're apparently the only Vex that actively engage in religious worship and are central to the Vex's plans here. I think they're meant to be an invading army."
"The Vex worship this thing?" Kayla asked.
"Apparently, when they found the Darkness they decided the best way to harness its power was to worship it," Ghost said, a little concerned. "I'd like to know the circumstances that led to that…"
Kayla looked out at the Black Heart. How powerful was the Darkness if the Vex, creatures that could bend reality to their will, would worship it? As she climbed some rocky stairs she could see a large contingent of Vex defending a barrier. Kayla looked at Ghost, then at the Black Heart again.
"It's gonna be a tough fight," she said, rush towards the Vex.
Next Time: Kayla arrives at the heart of the Black Garden. Can she overcome the Darkness itself? Find out next time in Chapter 1-29: The Sol Progeny