It was a few minutes before they were pulled from their passionate moment and Dalia walked around a corner to find the two busy, she instantly turned to leave before sighing as she realised she had to break them up to help deal with the shade. She reluctantly walked over and cleared her throat loudly 'uh, guys...'

This didn't make much of an impact, the two broke apart with a laugh 'Yes Dali?' Elsie mused, playfully running a hand through the warlocks hair, her gaze didn't leave her lover.

'Shade of oryx... or whatever it is... we gotta go deal with it...' she muttered 'so can you do that later?'

Skye turned looking irritated 'I don't feel like it, go away'

Dalia groaned internally 'please? You can have all the time you need later, promise'

Skye turned to float in front of the titan defensively and hissed angrily 'I order you to leave'.

Dalia briefly looked dazed before shaking it off with surprise and instantly understood 'right... you've gone mad...' she sighed 'of course you have...' she muttered. Dalia looked thoughtful before she raised her hand and drew a Smokey circle in front of her and clutched her fist before throwing it forward and the smoke streaked forward to wrap itself around the warlock tightly making her give out a surprised cry as she became tied up. Elsie instantly moved to her defense but Dalia finished with a loud clap and the two paused before elsie looked confused 'now you guys want to help or not?' Dalia sighed.

Skye looked unsure 'help...? Oh... the shade...' as she tried to move, she vaguely realised she was tied up 'what happened...' she muttered before giggling 'oh right... the power...'

Dalia released her constraints before walking up to skye 'I get it, the power is nice, but I need your focus for like five minutes, ok? Stay with me skye' she sighed 'please'.

Skye nodded 'I think I can do that..' she murmured 'but the voices are just so loud... their will...' she took a deep breath 'they are summoning the blight...' she looked unsure.

'How can I help?' Elsie asked, refocusing on the problem at hand.

Dalia crossed her arms 'well anne is rallying the light walkers, it won't be long until their ready to help'

Skye frowned 'in that case... I know what I can do' she looked to elsie 'protect me and I'll control the others to slow them down, when the light walkers come, they can help destroy the shade and blight, hopefully they do it before this kills me..' she sighed.

Dalia looked unsure 'what do you mean? I thought you had another day yet..'

Skye nodded 'I did, but that was before I took in way too much darkness...' she looked a bit pained 'it feels good to be this powerful, but I feel it destroying my form' she chuckled and clutched her stomach tenderly 'but I'll manage...' she shifted to wave her hand to the side, opening a new doorway and she moved through it followed by elsie. Dalia watched them go with quiet concern but didn't follow since she couldn't really do much, she wasn't nearly as powerful as her family.

On returning to the light side, Skye gathered her mind before breaking into a giggle, it was hard for her to stay focused but she did her best as she flew back up to the top level of the courtyard, much to some surprise and she looked determined as she held out her hand and let out another high pitched screech. Darkness gathered around her and she stole the attention of all the taken guardians as they once more fell under her sway.

this however annoyed the shade and it raised a hand to start shooting dark projectiles toward her and elsie teleported to her side, popping a bubble safely around the warlock. Skye held a hand over the titans head and the titan started burning with blue fire as she stood her ground protectively beside Skye. Anything that did escape skyes control was taken care of by elsie as she held her bubble for much longer than she probably should have.

Despite skyes help, holding the bubble in place as the shade peppered it with heavy projectiles begun to affect elsie quickly. Since she was already wounded, unlike the others, it became obvious that her physical form was crumbling as she started bleeding, slowly at first before it slowly became heavier. When Anne finally returned, the titan was bleeding pretty heavily from her mouth and eyes as well but other than her outside wounds, she stood her ground fearlessly as she continued to protect the warlock who floated in place, concentrating hard on holding the guardians attention.

Anne had brought her own unconventional army, they looked taken, but it was obvious they were not on the shades side as the guardians spread out to start attacking the shade. Skye on noticing their arrival held her arms forward in a silent order and the taken under her control split up to assist the attacking lightwalkers. It turned into quite a short fight as every weapon in the vicinity aimed at the shade and within a few minutes at most, the shade let out a pained screech as its form broke before being sucked into a vacuum and it was gone.

The lightwalkers made short work of the blight which had hung heavily over the chasm and it too popped and faded into nothing. A dark shadow like feeling faded from the area and the lightwalkers let out a cheerful cheer much to the takens confusion. It was clear by this point however that both Skye and elsie had done the most they could do and while elsie barely managed to stay standing, Skye collapsed to the ground looking as though she was on deaths door, the black mist that seemed to surround her, much like a taken wizard seemed to crack and fade leaving just Skye and she could barely hold herself up anymore as she threw up dark poison with a pained whimper.

Elsie didn't look much better as she attempted to kneel down to assist Skye, her strength however failed her and she fell down at her side and couldn't find the strength to get up again.

Anne was the first to appear beside them and she kneeled down looking guilty 'you guys ok? You can come back right?'

Elsie nodded 'I'm fine' she murmured before smiling 'it was fun'

Skye looked unsure 'I think so' she whispered weakly 'I need to get rid of the extra darkness, it's destroying me... at this rate..' she chuckled 'I might not be able to come back..'

Anne looked worried and shifted to take off her cloak, setting it in her lap before letting Skye rest there 'you did well... how can I help you?'

They were interrupted as another taken warlock approached and kneeled down but with a fizzle and a show of void, the armour turned from black to purple and Ikora took off her helmet 'is it over?' She asked Anne.

Skye nodded with a whimper 'all that's left to turn them all back to the light' she murmured 'although I'd suggest suppressing the remaining taken before I die and lose control of them...'

Ikora nodded and after a moment, nodded as the lightwalkers moved into action, she however looked at the warlock and titan with concern 'can you respawn?' She asked.

As she spoke, elsie smiled as she let out a final breath and became lifeless, her body instantly turned to smoke as it faded in front of Ikora who looked shocked. Skye clutched her chest with a painful whimper 'hope says she can't... I'm too powerful..,' she chuckled 'she can't hold the amount of power she'd need to bring me back... quite the irony...'

Ikora looked worried 'is there anything I can do?' She asked.

Skye shook her head 'unless you can take it away... no... only light can take the darkness away...' she trailed off before coughing up black sludge.

Ikora looked thoughtful 'will you survive turning back to the light?'

At that Skye laughed 'of course not... I'm done for' she murmured.

After a moment of thought, Ikora nodded 'good to know, now sit still, trust me, let me return a favour' she carefully took the warlocks hands and concentrated, as she did, her hands glowed purple and Skye instantly cringed before gasping painfully, Anne offered silent support. Skye barely lasted a minute before going limp and also fading into smoke and Ikora looked concerned 'I wonder if that was enough...'. She then looked to where the titan had laid 'is elsie gone too?'.

Anne nodded 'she will be back, Skye is the only one I'm worried about' she sighed.

'What happened to her?' Ikora asked.

Anne picked up her cloak and put it over her shoulders once more 'she sacrificed herself, taken have a hierarchy based on power and the more powerful one is, the more taken that will follow her' she sighed 'she took all the power the singers gathered for herself which made her the major of them all, but in doing so, she held more darkness than her body could physically handle' she looked uncomforable 'I mean it happens to us all, we have an average life span that depends on how much light we have access too... the more light, the shorter it is because the darkness feeds and festers...'

Ikora looked disturbed 'I don't understand, aren't you made of darkness? What difference does light make? If darkness feeds on it, why is it bad?'

Anne looked unsure before pulling out a knife she dug it into her side before pulling it out with a pained groan, she then held it up as black sludge dropped off the blade 'let me explain this way, this would normally be blood right, but for us, it's not, it's essentially poison' she cleaned her knife 'this poison is a side affect of the darkness eating the light around us, the more light we consume, the more of this we create and it pools up inside us. this isn't natural and as such, our body cannot stand this poison forever and it slowly eats through our physical form, kinda like acid which naturally, eventually kills us' she shrugged 'We are all slowly dying a most painful death'.

Ikora looked horrified 'that's so cruel... why?'

Anne bit her lip 'well we were never supposed to be dark, call it an allergy or something, it's just how our body reacts to the darkness' she then smiled and got to her feet, putting her knife away 'I'd still choose this life though' she admitted 'it's freeing to be able to do what I want without the moral quandary'

Ikora stood looking unsure 'you would really choose a life of torture over light?' She looked confused 'surely you would prefer the light?'

Anne shrugged 'not really, it's fun weilding this power, you see a different side of things, with nothing holding you back' she chuckled 'I turned some guardians today but I don't care, all these morals are tiring, guardians are cool and all but what, we spend our lives looking after people who depend on us for their continued existence, I just want to look after myself, take a bit of light here and there and just do my own thing, hell, killing some people sounds fun' she smiled 'I don't have to be a nice person like this...'

Ikora looked deeply disturbed but sighed 'I suppose I can see some wisdom in your words... but to throw away your purpose...' she shook her head 'the darkness must be a powerful thing...'

A taken sparks appeared beside Anne looking thoughtful and with a burst of dark mist, elsie landed with a thud and stretched 'much better' she was in perfect condition now, Unwounded and cheerful, on noticing Ikora, she chuckled 'ah, you made it to the fight, I wasn't sure if you'd come out of your office' she teased.

The warlock vanguard almost looked offended but glanced at Anne and after a moment sighed as she thought about what the hunter had described, she gave the titan a nod 'I would never make my guardians fight alone if I have the chance to join them' she replied 'a leader fights with her soldiers, you would have understood that once'

Elsie grinned 'so noble... no wonder people call you space mum'

Ikora blushed a bit at that and cleared her throat 'well regardless... are you ok?'.

Elsie nodded 'im perfect' she replied 'is Skye back yet?'

Anne looked uncomfortable at that 'uh, elsie... she might not be back... I don't know if we did enough to allow her to come back...'

Elsie seemed to take the news slowly and her cheer flickered into uncertaintanty 'what do you mean... she won't be back?' She asked carefully.

The hunter took a deep breath and put her hands on the titans shoulders 'I just don't know yet, she might be back, but the darkness was destroying her...'

Elsie looked stunned for a long minute before breaking into tears and sweeping the hunter off 'I don't believe you...' she muttered 'she has to be back, without... I need her...'

Anne looked guilty 'I know... all we can do it wait...'. Elsie gave her a tearful glance before walking away and leaning against a wall looking upset.

Ikora watched in silence before looking to the hunter 'will she be ok?'

The hunter looked uncertain 'well... as crazy as the two were together... they kept each other busy and happy rather than destructive and... well evil... I don't know how stable elsie will be without Skye to be honest and turning her back to the light just for her to learn she is gone a second time...' she looked guilty 'I just hope that hope can bring Skye back'.

Ikora looked a bit torn at the prospect 'I heard that elsie went on a rampage much earlier... is this true?'

Anne nodded 'of course she did... she still thought that Dalia was dead by her own hands, she can't just shrug off that guilt, she also remembered who was responsible and almost killed Skye because of it... she could have died if I didn't somehow manage to calm her down...'

Ikora looked a bit unsure 'why bother... from what I understand, you don't care about anyone else...'

Anne looked at her 'I never said I didn't care about anyone else... I just care very little' she muttered before bringing a hand to her hips 'look' she looked uncomfortable 'elsie was never meant to be taken... sure we started out wanting too... but even when we were the worst, she looked after all of us... she hated us when we took Dalia... I mean sure, I wasn't in control at the time, but she hated us, you could see the poison in her eyes and that's fair' she looked awkward 'a day later she still treated us well, even after everything, she even let us get close to her despite knowing my tendencies, especially Skye... she's crazier than me...' she looked guilty 'I care about my fireteam exclusively because they care about me... mostly' she looked awkward 'before she was crazy, elsie straightened me out a bit I guess'.

Ikora softened 'I guess there are some things darkness cannot break' she smiled gently 'you have a bigger heart than you let on'

Anne pulled out a knife and started playing with it 'well don't tell anyone, I have a reputation to keep' she muttered.

The conversation paused as hope finally appeared before another burst of mist announced the revival of Skye and she staggered a bit before straightening up 'that's so much better' she smiled before giggling and looking around 'where's my bear?' She mused as elsie pulled her into a tight hug.

'Your back!' Elsie enthused happily 'I was so scared...'

Skye chuckled and cuddled her lovingly 'i was too' she admitted before placing her hands on the titans cheeks 'but I'm back and that's all that matters, I love you my bear...' she pulled the titan into a kiss and elsie replied happily.

Both Anne and Ikora looked relieved to see Skye return but sighed as they immediately became all lovey dovey and Anne clapped to get their attention 'can you guys do that elsewhere? Come see me when your done alright' she waved them off with a playful sigh and the two laughed before stepping back into the darkness and vanishing.

'Well I like hearing about a happy story' Ikora admitted 'are they always like that?'

Anne nodded 'it's gross' she admitted 'but while they are happy, it's fine' she smiled before looking thoughtful 'so what's the vanguards master plan , how are you going to turn us all back?'

Ikora sighed 'well we have been making a facility here to do exactly that, it's being set up as we speak... or it was before everything started happening, in a day or so, it will be ready to use and hopefully we will have found a way to stop the virus affecting the ghosts' she looked thoughtful 'however given what you've said, I question if some will want to come back to the light... I did not realise the taken thought like you do' she admitted looking concerned.

Anne looked thoughtful 'well that's a problem for you to solve' she shrugged 'I'm sure you will figure it out'

'Will you come back to the light?' Ikora asked carefully.

Anne looked a bit torn before nodding 'I owe it to elsie' she muttered 'even if she is insane right now'

Ikora looked thoughtful 'and what of your fireteam...'

'Convince one of them and they both come back' Anne nodded 'your probably best starting with elsie but you might need help unless someone forces her to stay put and that will just make her angry so you better hope your fancy room isn't breakable'.

The vanguard nodded before sighing 'so what's the best way to deal with you since we can't...' she looked unsure before looking defeated 'for lack of a better word, control you. How can we speak to you?'

Anne chuckled 'well your not controlling me' she smiled playfully 'I'm going to enjoy my freedom while it lasts, but if you want to contact me, I'll probably be at either my place or Elsie's, or someone will be around... I'd be careful around elsies place but don't start a fight and you will be fine' she shrugged 'for the light walkers safety, I'd suggest leaving me and my fireteam alone unless your concerned about something' she turned to leave 'admittedly though, I've almost enjoyed our conversations, so thanks for not immediately shooting us'

Ikora gave a small smile 'we owe you, we will trust you all, I only hope I don't regret the decision'

Anne gave her a playful salute 'I'd rather not get killed, so don't worry, we will behave... mostly' she gave a cheeky smile and stepped into the darkness leaving before the vanguard could argue.

With all the fuss over and the remaining taken suppressed and disappointed, things went back to normal, or as normal as things could get anyway, the taken hung out mostly at their respective houses under watch like before or most of them did, Anne enjoyed flaunting her freedom and would go out of her way to hang around and make the light walkers suspicious but they could never prove she was doing anything wrong because she hid in the darkness before they could, Skye and elsie seemed more content to just keep to themselves and stayed together mostly, although elsie did go out and have a bit of fun with Anne as well.

It took another few days before they figured how to beat the bug that had affected the ghosts so seriously but once they figured that out, they begun to return the taken guardians back to the light, beginning with the willing ones. It took another few days to cycle through and allow the various guardians to recover. Anne and her fireteam subtly avoided being called on to begin with, lightwalkers would drop by to try and talk to them only to met with no one. When the finally caught up with them, it was Ikora who found them. The four had gone up to the courtyard and sat on the very top walkway, watching the light walkers go about their business.

Most lightwalkers were still quite disturbed by their appearance and didn't really appreciate being people watched but didn't bother complaining since they knew it was pointless. There was the odd guardian who approached them and asked questions with interest but they didn't hang around long as Anne started purposely freaking them out with amusement.

When Ikora finally approached them, elsie sat against a box of supplies with Skye in her lap looking content, they held hands lovingly as they laughed at something Anne said. Anne herself sat cross legged on top on the box elsie leaned on and had her hand cannon out, she was carefully cleaning it out thoroughly with an equally taken set of tools. Dalia seemed to be happier now that her family had forgiven her a bit and she sat facing her family.

'-you know if you didn't put so much power into it. Your weapon wouldn't get clogged up' elsie teased.

'Look, I can't control the amount of darkness that naturally chills in my hands, that's where I control It' she leaned forward to look down at her 'I'll bet your stuff is the same, in fact, where's your hammer, I bet that thing is gross' she replied playfully.

Elsie waved her off 'well that's because it naturally buffs whatever energy it takes' she smiled 'it would make a great turning device' she added thoughtfully.

'If you didn't kill whoever you hit with your strength alone, your a monster' Anne chuckled.

'What you'd want to do is use all the extra poison by itself' Skye looked thoughtful 'something that potent would turn someone very quickly if you used it right'

'I could just throw it at people' elsie smiled 'like a dirty snowball fight'

'That sounds desgusting' Dalia laughed.

'Well it's not like taken are clean' elsie replied 'I mean look at this' she brought a hand to the corner of her mouth to sweep away the black sludge that slowly escaped her lips without her control.

Ikora subtly stood nearby and listened with amusement before finally speaking up 'well it's certainly not the most charming thing' she admitted 'it really sells the condition' she gave the guardians a small smile.

'Oh, welcome' Anne smiled 'you guys finally caught us'

Ikora nodded 'you sound like you've been avoiding us' she observed.

Anne gave her a wink 'perhaps' she reloaded the weapon in her hand before clicking the clip into place 'so I suppose your here to talk us into being a science experiment' she mused.

'You sound like you have no faith that we can bring you back to the light?' Ikora sighed.

Anne looked thoughtful 'well no, I know you can do it, but; that doesn't change the fact we'd be an experiment'.

'You know, I think I speak for all of us, we've become quite comfortable' elsie admitted.

Skye nodded in agreement 'it's much more interesting in this form'

Anne nodded 'So start selling' she mused.

Ikora looked unsure 'you are really that comfortable?'. At her audiences nod, she sighed 'I see'

Dalia got up 'well I'm about finished staying like this' she admitted 'so there's one to make you feel better'

Ikora looked a little surprised at that 'I am glad to hear that...' she looked unsure 'why are you different?'

Dalia looked thoughtful 'it's complicated' she smiled 'my job is done so I don't have to stay like this anymore, where do I go?'

'The library, the warlocks will help you' she walked over to her 'I can't wait to see you walk in the light once more' she admitted 'I can only hope your family will follow'

Dalia smiled 'they will eventually, they just need the right motivation' she assured 'give it five' she mused before walking past to head down 'I'll see you later'. She stopped briefly to look at her family 'I'll see you guys at home' she gave them a lazy wave before continuing.

The three gave her a nod and Skye shifted to sit up and reposition to face elsie 'so we know Anne's stance, what about you?' She asked, putting a hand lovingly on her cheek.

Elsie let out a relaxed sigh 'I'm just happy to stay with you' she admitted with a smile 'the darkness doesn't phase me' she shrugged 'it's not that bad'

Skye blushed lightly 'then I'm staying with you, we can be mad together' she mused.

Ikora watched them thoughtfully before looking a bit distant as she pondered the situation before pausing and sighing with defeat 'it seems as though I'm needed elsewhere... perhaps you might change your minds in time'.

Anne looked curious 'oh, is something interesting happening?'

Ikora looked indecisive before looking to the three 'well honestly your family is quite troublesome' she looked to elsie 'your children have flown back without permission...'

Elsie looked a bit confused 'children?... I don't... Dali is my only child...'

Anne leaned over to look down at her 'your memory is a bit short, you have twins, don't you remember scaring the hell out of them?'

The titan just looked even more confused 'what?'

'When I shot you?' Anne prompted 'you went all psycho on me...'

Ikora looked a bit shocked 'you don't remember your children?'

The hunter looked up to the vanguard once more 'not as strange as it sounds, there's no point for her to hold onto the imformation'.

Skye nodded 'I wondered why you had decided to stay, no wonder' she leaned forward to place a kiss on the titans forehead and elsie looked frustrated before she looked shocked.

'Right... children...' she muttered 'how could I forget that...' she looked unsure.

'Its not your fault' Skye soothed 'it's just a side affect of your job' she promised 'your supposed to be a mindless soldier so you forget things'.

The titan looked frustrated at this before looking defeated 'I don't want that...'.

'You could come back to the light' Ikora suggested gently.

In the time that Ikora had become distracted, they had killed enough time for people to approaching them and the twins stopped looking a bit surprised 'wait, we thought it would be over by now... da...uh, we were told it's over' nisra muttered with confusion and the twins shared a look.

Ikora gave them a sigh 'you two were supposed to wait for orders before you returned to the tower, no order was sent' she looked stern.

'But we did get... well not from..' Varun trailer off awkwardly with a sigh 'ok, so maybe we didn't listen to you specifically, but we were told to be here' he admitted honestly 'we are sorry, we were just keen to get home, you know...'

Ikora looked indecisive before looking at the group 'why is is always this group' she sighed 'who told you to come back?' She looked expectantly at the twins.

Nisra looked awkward 'you will never believe us... uh, it's complicated... but Dalia did, but not the taken Dalia... the real Dalia, she said we had to come back'

Anne looked surprised before smiling 'oh that's dirty... using you guys like that...'

Elsie looked confused and stared at the children looking puzzled before getting up and walking over to the two happily 'right, I remember you, welcome home' she sighed with content 'I'm sorry, my memory is terrible' she muttered.

Ikora looked confused 'explain' She motioned and repositioned to stand more complicated 'humour me'.

The twins looked happy to see elsie even if they were a little uncomfortable with the fact she was taken, they greeted Skye happily as well and since they were busy, Anne put up a hand 'so my daughter died, I'm sure you know that, but she came back as a guardian, right?' Ikora gave a nod and Anne shook her head 'no, she never did' Anne sighed 'she was replaced with a new soul essentially, a replica of her and my Dali, she stayed in the light'

Ikora looked surprised before a looking sad 'how do you know this?'

'Because She is the one who contacted us from the light... the one who knew about and told us everything...' she looked depressed 'I didn't know until... well before Dalia turned, she told elsie the truth in case she used the information against us' she bit her lip 'Dalia was the one who turned on elsie... it was sudden, she hadn't done anything up until that point but we couldn't stop her' she pulled out her knife to play with it looking guilty.

'Why did she suddenly turn on elsie?' Ikora asked with shock 'is that when she went on her rampage?'

Anne shrugged 'well Dali, my Dalia... she ordered her to do it because she insisted that elsie needed to help, and yes, it was...' she looked to elsie 'but it wasn't her fault... when she turned, one of the last things she had done was killed my Dali... that's the last thing she remembered and naturally she just fell to pieces again...' She motioned to skye 'Skye went through the same thing, but to a lesser degree. technically it was skyes fault, she made the order and elsie was just following it... she's a titan; she's good at that'

Ikora looked to the taken warlock 'so what did happen?'

Anne hesitated for a moment 'well skye wanted her... I don't remember what for but that was the order, to capture her... we both tried to capture her but elsie taught her well, she fought me off easily, but we threatened her friend so Dali stopped fighting so she could pop a bubble and protect her friend. The problem was that in getting away from elsie, she had to hurt her really bad, it was an impressive feat, she had the helm of saint 14 on and elsie had her in a bear hug essentially, so she put all her effort into a headbutt and with the Mohawk, it did the trick, probably would have killed a normal person, but it only made elsie mad' she sighed 'Titans are terrifying' she muttered.

Ikora shifted to move over to the hunter 'why did Dalia bring her friend?' She asked gently.

Anne chuckled 'well that's because she's wasn't allowed to leave alone and her friend was dressed up and looked like just another guardian, people recognise Dalia, but not necessarily the people she is with, and so her friend was the reason she could leave the tower in the first place, like mother, like daughter I suppose, we find a way to do what we want' she looked distant 'she never left her friend in danger... she held the bubble until the ghosts could take her somewhere safe and then it was just her and elsie... and by then' she chuckled weakly 'well she deliberately made sure elsie didn't look anywhere else...she challenged her as if she was a guardian, like she could come back even though she couldn't, she never hesitated for a second...' she looked proud 'and even as she died, she had nothing but love for all of us...' she teared up 'she was a guardian in every respect' she muttered.

Ikora seemed quiet and sat down beside her thoughtfully 'you never did end up telling the vanguard about that' she admitted 'we gave you time to mourn and I wasn't entirely expecting you to talk about it, but it's nice to know' she looked to her 'she was always considered a guardian before she became one' she smiled 'knowing everything you have just told me... I have a great deal more respect for you and your family' she admitted 'of the many new guardian families, yours has always put your guardian loyalty first and I don't think we've ever thanked you for it. perhaps this isn't the right time to say this, but thank you'

Anne looked amused 'I guess you can be indebted to the darkness' she teased gently before looking a little unsure 'I never told you?...' she looked thoughtful 'I suppose I'm not that surprised, my memory of the light is limited in places so perhaps my memory of the darkness is equally as limited, and perhaps I'm more private when I care more about people'

Ikora nodded 'so what happened after... if it's not stepping on your toes'

Anne sighed 'well... it sounds cold, but I recovered quickly... it's not like there was anything I could do if I tried, but it was then that I decided I wouldn't come back... the risk of losing dust and Dalia... I wasn't prepared to take that risk, I merely had a job to do so I would just do it... I despised Skye, but she was more powerful then me and the laws dictate that she leads and I would be forced to follow her' she bit her lip 'I was going to find a way to get away and leave, to disappear into the darkness forever' she looked to elsie 'I took it well compared to elsie... she simply broke'

Ikora looked unsure 'broke?'

'She couldn't think, move, walk, she could barely see anything other than what she did on repeat, she didn't want to exist anymore' Anne looked guilty 'you had to force her to do anything and when I say that, I mean take over, you had to force your will on her before she'd do anything and she was like a zombie, if you didn't hold it she wouldn't do anything and she would fall apart anyway, the strength of her guilt was that strong, just being around her... it made it so much worse because she couldn't get over it, not like I could... and that was the last thing she remembered before she was turned back to the light...'

'Why did you take it so much better?' Ikora asked gently.

Anne looked to her 'death is part of both darkness and light... but particularly darkness, when a guardian is taken by the darkness, it will eventually kill them, sure a taken ghost can bring them back, but we will simply die again, the darkness that makes up our very form is the thing that will kill us, while light does not have the same affect, to have light is the same, you go out, fight and die.. death is always on our shoulder and if we considered Dalia a guardian than she inevitably had the same fate, I was devastated, but if that was her time to die, than I could accept that because she died for us, she died a hero and I could never take that away from her' she looked to the titan 'elsie however killed her with her own hands, she might not have been sane, but she knew that she was at fault and to lose her only daughter because of something like that... it killed her'.

Ikora looked thoughtful 'you say that like Dalia was her daughter'

Anne smiled 'I never was a great parent, I was never good with the whole thing, talking, teaching, even affection, I don't remember a lot in this form, but I remember that much. I Loved her so much more than you could imagine and it was my only desire to come back and see her one last time... even if it lead to my death, but I was never her main parent' she chuckled 'elsie was and sometimes I remember getting jealous... but seeing them together, it never lasted' she sighed 'elsie taught her almost everything she knew, and she never asked for any of it... I was the one who forced everything on her, but she took it without complaint' she nodded 'when elsie saw Dalia fall, she must have seen her whole life collapse around her because Dalia was her everything and in that momentary lapse of control it was gone, even now, she forgets the children she herself created but never forgot Dalia, I think it's security thing now' she admitted 'something she does to protect herself from what happened to dalia'.

'So why did she go on a rampage? I heard she was rather angry... but it sounds like she was sad?' Ikora looked confused.

Anne nodded 'well none of us realised how dangerous she would be, none of us wanted her to be taken, but since she was, well it simplified things, she was confused at first but it hit her hard, she immediately broke down into pieces, she remembered everything and it was like stepping back to that moment for her... Skye had gotten over it and went to try and help her feel better; she tried to explain that Dalia wasn't gone anymore but elsie wasn't having it' she sighed 'at first she simply ignored Skye, but then she just snapped, she almost killed Skye right there, she threw her across the room like a doll by her throat and she was furious, another word and Skye was dead without hesitation, elsie has always had an explosive temper... I don't know how I know, but I do, I think it's just one of my perks, but she certainly exploded and I think all of her self control went into not killing Skye immediately, she however wanted to leave and since we couldn't let her out ourselves, she forced a way out just to get away from us and be alone'

'Would she have killed someone else?' Ikora asked with worry.

'I think she would have' Anne admitted 'which is why I went after her, I didn't care so much if someone got hurt but the thought of losing her without knowing if sparks could revive her... I couldn't stand the idea of losing her for good after all the kindness she had shown us despite it all... and knowing what she was going through, she was just angry at skye, at herself, and so endlessly guilty and sad, she doesn't deserve to die just because a light walker or two was scared'.

'And that's why you turned on us?' Ikora clarified.

Anne nodded 'Admittedly, I didn't want to actually take anyone's life... elsie is persuasive as I have said, she trusted us even if we are a twisted form of ourselves and she treated us like her fireteam anyway. she could make anyone see the light, but beyond that, I just wanted them to leave her alone, and on the same note, leave us all alone, we didn't want to actually hurt anybody but I would not have hesitated if I needed too'.

Ikora nodded with a sigh 'I can understand that, Zavala wanted to punish you both but we both realised that there was no point, especially when you stormed the situation room, it was clear there was nothing we could do if we tried' she looked to the hunter 'I'm impressed by your humanity' she admitted 'I did hear reports of a gunshot, can you explain that?'

Anne nodded 'of course, I shot elsie' and ikoras confusing she continued 'see with elsie, her taken form is basically a thrall. she is stripped down to a basic need to follow the most powerful figure around her with a bit of self preservation sprinkled in, and she will do anything for that figure, although she can't always control herself and her emotions' she sighed 'elsie didn't want to be shackled because she was afraid that if she became a prisoner, she would be killed. she thought that if she allowed herself to be weakened, she wouldn't be able to protect herself'

Anne turned to face Ikora 'now that she had calmed down, she realised a few things. One, she was at the tower and she knew that's where the guardians lived, she realised she was in danger and she didn't want to die, although I don't think she quite realised the reason why until she met her children. Two, I explained that Dalia was technically alive and she felt like she could forgive herself a little. Lastly, she hadn't quite forgotten her children at the time, although that might be different now, while she couldn't recognise them right away, her heart knew that she had to stay safe'.

'Where did the shooting come in?' Ikora asked with confusion.

Anne sighed 'Well, since she refused to be tied up, the light got to her. too much light is like being drunk or drugged and is eventually deadly because the darkness gets too hungry and destroys our form quicker than normal' she smiled 'it's a good way to control a taken enemy because it affects things like our thoughts down to our ability to walk or fight' she looked thoughtful 'well eventually, the kids Managed to talk her into the shackles and it was fine until she realised what they'd meant. then she got annoyed and angry because she'd been tricked. this time she couldn't escape the house, last time she blew the defences with arc, but not this time so she was angry and wouldn't calm down until I was forced to show her that I was a higher rank than her and she had to submit to me essentially, she challenged me and so I shot her to put her in her place'

'And that worked?' Ikora asked with shock.

Anne nodded 'if I pointed a weapon at you would you push the point? Even more so if I clearly didn't have a problem with shooting you as a warning shot'

Ikora nodded 'that's fair' she admitted 'were the children safe?'

'They retreated behind the house defence systems so elsie couldn't reach them if she wanted too' Anne assured.

After a moment of thought, ikora stood 'so to change the subject, why did the children come back?'

'Easy, to make sure elsie and Skye returned to the light' she mused 'a dirty trick for sure because she would have a hard time resisting them' she assured 'in fact I wouldn't be surprised if she has already decided to go back to the light' Anne chuckled 'Dalia knows that she won't leave her children without a mother, elsies loyal like that'

Ikora looked understanding 'what if they got hurt?'

'Again, she probably knows they are the only people who are truly safe from us' she smiled 'I for one couldn't do it... too much of elsie in them... I'd feel like I'm betraying them, I couldn't even raise a weapon to them' she admitted 'not even to threaten, I don't have the strength, I owe elsie too much' Anne sighed 'Skye potentially could but I think at the end of the day, she would stop before she did anything and well, elsie isn't going to kill another of her children' she looked thoughtful 'she would have no problem fighting a war, but she would lose her mind the second she lost one or both of them, and if it was her fault...' she shook her head 'she wouldn't exist anymore, she'd make sure of that'

As the two had been chatting, the others had remained chatting happily a bit further away. despite her spotty memory; elsie listened to them enthuse about how cool the farm was with proud admiration, it was clear that they still meant a lot to her. Skye herself was equally as enthralled as she listened with interest and questioned them, eventually It seemed that they had decided to head home as they walked over to the two and Varun looked to Anne 'we are heading home, what about you?'

'And where is Dalia?' Nisra asked.

Anne looked thoughtful 'the library apparently, she will likely make it home soonish, and as for me, I don't know' she admitted.

'The library?' Nisra asked curiously 'I thought you guys were living encyclopaedias'

At this, the taken chuckled 'only Skye is' Anne teased before sighing 'the library is where they are turning the taken back to the light' she explained 'Dalia doesn't want to be taken anymore' she smiled 'so you get your sister back'.

At this the twins looked surprised and excited 'great! that means you guys are going to come home soon too right?' Varun enthused before looking confused as a mix of unsure faces 'you guys are coming back to the light right?'

Elsie looked uncomfortable 'not sure yet' she admitted 'I'm not sure I...' she trailed off looking guilty 'it's complicated'.

Skye looked unsure 'and I will go where elsie goes...' she muttered.

The twins looked upset before having a realisation 'that's why we are here... Dalia knows you don't want to come back' nisra accused looking upset.

At this elsie looked to the floor with guilt 'I... Yes..' she muttered 'it's complicated'.

Varun crossed his arms 'no it's not, your coming back with us' he replied 'there's no way we are leaving you like this'

Nisra agreed with a nod before stepping forward to take elsies hands 'mum, come back to us... what's stopping you?' She asked gently.

The titan looked to the girl for a moment before tearing up 'io' she replied quietly 'I don't...' she paused briefly looking for the words 'I don't want to forget... to simply get away with it...' she looked guilty 'and to return to the light after that.. it seems... I don't think it's fair, not to mention...' she looked almost frightened 'I don't want to wake up alone..' she finished weakly.

Varun looked a bit surprised 'are you afraid?' He asked quietly.

Elsie looked reluctant to answer but that was answer enough 'what if we were with you?' Nisra offered before looking Ikora 'can we do that?'

Ikora looked a bit unsure 'well... I suppose you could... there's been a few cases where some guardians won't go through with it without company... but some guardians fight until the end, there's some risk' she admitted.

Varun looked to both of his parents 'how about we go together? Please?'

'Or at least think about it, maybe we could go pick Dalia up and we can think about on the way' nisra continued.

Anne watched quietly before sighing 'why don't we all go then, come on, there's no rush' she stood and stretched before motioning to her two companions 'it can't hurt to look right'.

Ikora nodded 'well I must be off, but perhaps I will see you later, take care guardians'.

Anne nodded 'if you feel like a tea, feel free to visit later if you would like to relax with a friend'

Ikora paused at that before giving the hunter a small smile 'I'll consider it, thank you' she replied, she left looking a bit prouder than she did before.

Anne looked to the twins 'well, let's go see dalia' she mused.

'Thank you' they replied with a smile and that was enough to get the party moving. Anne changed the subject to the twins ghosts after a few minutes of awkward silence and immediately everyone felt more comfortable, making the trip to the library much more comfortable.