After Aunor finished reading over the notes she'd taken during Hayden's interrogation, she summoned Sarren to her office. She wanted to get a second opinion on the case and she knew Sarren had been taking notes of his own during her questioning.

When the other Warlock arrived, she gestured for him to sit in the chair across from hers. "Sarren," she greeted.

"Aunor," the other Warlock replied.

"What's your opinion of Hayden?" she asked, getting straight to business.

Sarren sighed. "It's hard to say. Going purely off what he said and how he acted, I could almost believe he was innocent."

Aunor's eyes narrowed. "'Almost'... Did you read his Light?"

Sarren was a Sunsinger, so he was naturally more attuned to the Light of other Guardians. With training, Sunsingers could read the Light of other Guardians and even Ghosts. Aunor wouldn't give up her lightning for anything, but she had to admit, being able to read Light was useful, especially in the Praxic Order. Sarren nodded in response to her question.

"I did. It felt...different."

"Different how?"

"Well, when I first read it, it felt...raw. Uncontrolled. Almost like a new Guardian's Light."

Aunor frowned. That didn't make sense. Hayden was young for sure, but he definitely wasn't a new Guardian. "You're saying his Light felt untrained?"

Sarren nodded emphatically. "Exactly. Like he could burst into flames at any moment."

Aunor's brow furrowed. "Flames? That doesn't track. Hayden uses Arc Light. His file marks him as a Bladedancer and an Arcstrider."

"It was definitely Solar Light that I felt."

Aunor pursed her lips. It was possible that Hayden had switched elements. Many Guardians had experience with different Light types. But it usually took a lot of training to switch completely. "Is it possible that he started training with Solar?" she asked.

Sarren shook his head. "I don't think so. Any Arc Light in him was completely drowned out by Solar. If Hayden was originally Arc, I should have picked up on more Arc Light."

"Hmm. That's something worth looking into…" She made a note of it on her Holopad.

"But it wasn't the untempered Light that I found concerning," Sarren continued. Aunor's gaze flicked back to the other Warlock. She raised an eyebrow, gesturing for him to elaborate. "It felt...dimmer somehow," the Sunsinger clarified, "Like it wasn't at its full strength. And it was fluctuating. Unstable."

A chill ran through Aunor. She knew of past cases in which a Sunsinger had identified another Guardian as having unstable Light. In every instance, the Guardian had turned out to be compromised in some way. If Hayden's Light was displaying the same anomalies, things didn't bode well for him.

She considered their next move. It was looking more and more likely that Hayden was guilty, but more research would have to be done before they came to any decisions. The medical report wasn't the only part of Hayden's file that was classified. If Aunor wanted to get a full picture of the situation, she would have to get the classified sections of the file unsealed.

"What about Hayden's Ghost?" she asked.

Sarren seemed startled by the abrupt question. "The Ghost was clean," he replied.

Aunor nodded. That was good. Hayden wasn't yet past the point of no return. There was still a good chance that he could be rehabilitated. However, that depended on how severe the corruption was. She made a decision.

"I'm going to type up a report for the Vanguard," she said, "While I do that, I need you to go down to Records and get them to unseal Hayden's file. We need to operate with all of the facts." Sarren nodded. Aunor withdrew her Cormorant Seal from her duster and passed it over to him. "Show them this," she instructed him, "That should speed things along."

Sarren took the Seal with another nod. "When you're finished with that, I want you to head back to Hayden's apartment. His teammates should be returning soon. Interview them. I want their perspectives."

"I will," said Sarren, "Anything else?"

Aunor shook her head. "That's it for now. Thank you, Sarren."

Sarren stood up, nodding to her before leaving the room. With a sigh, Aunor powered up her computer. She had a report to draft.

Jade rubbed her temple with a groan as she walked through the Tower. She was fighting a headache that had begun suddenly halfway through her observation of the physical training. Delta immediately noticed her distress.

"What's wrong?" her Ghost asked.

Jade groaned again. "Headache." She stopped as Delta darted in front of her and passed a beam over her head. Jade sighed in relief as the pain vanished. "Thanks, Delta."

"How long have you had it?"

Jade shrugged. "An hour at least?"

"Jade! Why didn't you say anything," the Ghost admonished, "I would have helped you sooner."

"Sorry, Delta. I was preoccupied with the training."

It hadn't even crossed her mind that her Ghost could have healed it for her. She supposed that was a side effect of not going into the field. She resumed walking. Bazzle had elected to stay late in the Training Center to make sure he was caught up on the material and grading. Fyr had gone to the City to visit his girlfriend, Jia.

Halfway through the Bazaar, Jade noticed a small crowd blocking the entrance to the apartment building. She increased her pace. Something was clearly going on.

She wove her way through the crowd to get inside. Upon reaching the Chasers' quarters, she saw the doorway was barred by a narrow holographic sign. CRIME SCENE DO NOT CROSS. Jade's heart thudded in her ears. She saw Tristan and Rogue standing in the hallway nearby, along with several other Guardians. Tristan looked nervous and Rogue looked annoyed.

She hurried over to them. "What happened?"

"Not a clue," said Rogue irritatedly, "The Praxics didn't tell me jack."

"Praxics? You mean the Praxic Order is here?"

Tristan nodded. "Yes."

Jade looked around. Sure enough, she spotted a few Warlocks with Praxic badges standing just inside the apartment. She swallowed. The door to the apartment lay practically shattered on the floor. Jade turned back to Tristan.

"It says crime scene. You don't think…"

"No one died," Tristan reassured her, "A permanent Guardian fatality would attract much more attention. It must be something else."

Jade couldn't help but notice that the other Warlock didn't sound particularly confident. Then she heard someone call her name. "Jaedryth Wrythal."

The voice was male and unfamiliar. She looked around for the source and spotted a Warlock wearing Praxic robes making his way toward her. He had short blond hair and fair skin. As he got closer, she noticed that while one of his eyes was light blue, the other was a dusky gold.

"Who are you?" she asked as he stopped in front of her.

"Sarren Windrunner of the Praxic Order," he said, "I have some questions for you and your friends."

"What kind of questions?" Jade asked. She figured it had to have something to do with the fact that their apartment building was currently a crime scene.

Sarren glanced around at the various other Guardians. "It might be a good idea to do this somewhere more private." He gestured to the cordoned-off doorway. "Would you follow me, please?"

Jade found it more than a bit odd to be invited into her own apartment, but she followed, Tristan and Rogue behind her. As she made to step through the holographic barrier, another Praxic Warlock moved to intercept her but was waved off by Sarren.

"It's alright," he said, "They're with me." The Chasers followed Sarren inside to the kitchen area. "I thought it best to do this away from prying eyes," he explained, "It won't be easy for you to hear."

Apprehension rose inside of Jade at his tone. "What happened?" she asked, "Why is our apartment a crime scene?"

Sarren sighed. "Harley Hayden was found to be in possession of a Weapon of Sorrow. He is currently in Praxic custody."

Jade's mouth fell open.

"What?!" barked Rogue. In an instant, the Exo's hand was clutching the front of the Warlock's robes, lifting him off of the ground. "If you Praxic space pixies did anything to him…"

Jade managed to find her words. "Rogue, let him explain," she said.

The Titan grumbled in annoyance but released Sarren. The Praxic Warlock looked a bit shaken as he straightened his robes. "Hayden was found with a hand cannon imbued with Darkness." Suddenly, his golden eye lit up. Beams emanated from it, displaying a glowing hologram of a hand cannon.

"Your eye is a bionic implant," Tristan observed. Sarren nodded, causing the hologram to wobble slightly.

"You've got a robot eye?" said Rogue skeptically, "Why?"

"I'd prefer not to talk about it," Sarren replied, "...This is the gun Hayden had on him. Have any of you seen one like it before?" The Chasers shook their heads. Sarren let the hologram dissipate. "Could it belong to Hayden? Recently acquired, maybe?"

"...I suppose it's possible," said Jade, "But it would have to be pretty recent because I've never seen Harley use a gun like that before."

"Hayden was missing for six months, correct? Is it possible that he could have acquired the gun in his absence?"

"Maybe," said Jade doubtfully, "But a Weapon of Sorrow...that doesn't sound like Harley at all."

"You might not know him as well as you think you do..."

Jade didn't like how grim Sarren sounded. He couldn't be right about the gun. If he was right, then it meant that Jade really didn't know Harley as well as she thought. There had to be something else to explain the presence of the Weapon of Sorrow.

"I also find it difficult to believe that he would use a Weapon of Sorrow," said Tristan, a frown in his voice, "Harley was Taken by Oryx once. He despises the Taken and the Darkness."

"Actually, the Praxic Order has found in the past that exposure to the Darkness usually makes Guardians more susceptible to it," said Sarren, "And I can confirm that Hayden's Light was unstable."

Jade's eyes widened. How could he know about the fluctuations in Harley's Light? She hadn't even had the chance to tell Harley himself about it.

"You expect us to just believe you?" said Rogue skeptically.

"I'm a Sunsinger," replied Sarren, "I can feel the Light of other Guardians."

That explained it. Sarren would have found out by himself in the same way that Jade did. She dropped her gaze to the floor. If only she'd been able to talk to Harley about it sooner.

Sarren's eyes locked onto her. "You knew," he said.

Jade could only nod.

"What?!" exclaimed Rogue.

"I only discovered it recently," she mumbled, "But for all we know, it could mean nothing."

"Maybe," granted Sarren, "But my superior doubts it. And I tend to agree with her. I was tasked with gathering more background information on Hayden. That's why I'm here. I need to know if he's ever exhibited instability or any other concerning behavior."

"Nope," said Rogue shortly, "And if you Praxics keep diggin' into it lookin' for somethin' that ain't there, you'll just be wastin' everyone's time. Put that in your file." Having said his piece, Rogue walked away to assess the damage that had been done to their front door.

"I haven't noticed anything either," said Tristan, "I'm not sure what you're expecting to find, but I can't help you. Now if you'll excuse me, I'm going to keep an eye on Rogue before he decides to do something that he might regret later."

Jade watched as Tristan made his way over to the Titan, who was standing near the other Praxic Warlocks, intentionally intimidating them.

"Miss Wrythal, do you have anything to add?" asked Sarren.

Jade sighed. She knew cooperating with the Praxic Order was their best move. She wasn't sure what they would define as "concerning behavior" but she was certain that Harley's background would support him. He had done a lot for the City, after all. All of the Chasers had.

"I don't know what you want to hear," she told Sarren, "Harley has always worked to defend the City and eliminate the Darkness and its agents... He killed the Heart of the Black Garden, you know."

"Yes, all of that information is public record," said Sarren somewhat impatiently, "I'm talking about what isn't in the database. Hayden's journey to the Infinite Forest is known to him and his Ghost alone, but he had teammates with him when he traveled to the Reef. Do you know anything about what happened while he was there?"

Jade's heart rate quickened. She did know some of it. She knew that Harley had almost been corrupted by the Mindbender. And that was something the Praxic Order would surely take note of. She forced herself to calm down. "I wasn't there with him," she said, "I only spoke to him once he'd returned. I don't know anything about what happened over there."

She barely refrained from shivering upon meeting Sarren's piercing gaze. It was as if he could see through her, all the way to the core of her being. The contrasting colors of his eyes were throwing her off, too. One a warm gold, the other, an icy blue.

"You're lying," he said. It wasn't an accusation, but a statement spoken as fact. "The parts about you not being with him and only talking to him when he got back were true. But you do know something about what happened." His lips twitched into a faint smile at Jade's astonished look. "It's the eye," he explained, "It does a lot more than just see."

"You read my vitals," Jade realized.

Sarren nodded. "It comes in handy a lot in my line of work… What do you know about Hayden?"

Jade sighed. Clearly, it was pointless to attempt to keep information from him. If she continued to do so, she would likely only get into trouble herself. "It was the Mindbender," she said, "When Harley was hunting him, he got into Harley's head and nearly corrupted him. He would have succeeded if Kaedro and Bazzle hadn't been there. They know more about it than I do."

Sarren nodded. Jade wondered if he was going to write any of it down when she realized that his bionic implant probably had some sort of recording function. "Thank you," said the other Warlock, "The Praxic Order appreciates your cooperation." He turned to leave.

"Wait!" said Jade.

He turned back. "Yes?"

"Can I… would it be possible for me to visit Harley?"

"I'm afraid not." Sarren sounded slightly apologetic. "But if you'd like, I can pass along updates as our investigation progresses. As long as they don't contain classified information or jeopardize the investigation in any way."

Jade sighed but nodded. "Thanks."

Sarren nodded back to her before making his way out, gesturing for the other Praxic Warlocks to accompany him. "The Praxic Order will cover any damage done to your apartment," he called over his shoulder.

"They sure as hell better," grumbled Rogue as the Warlocks left.

All of a sudden, Jade felt very tired. She sat down on the sofa with a groan.

"What's wrong?" asked Tristan.

"Nothing. Just a long day… Which reminds me, we'd better make sure to tell the others about what's going on with Harley."

She rubbed a hand over her eyes. If Harley's fluctuating Light was as concerning to the Praxic Order as Sarren had made it out to be, what did that mean for Elijah? She remembered a promise she made to herself that she would turn him into one of the best Guardians in City history. If she didn't do something to intervene, was she really living up to that promise? But with how busy training kept her, she wasn't sure if she could devote enough time to look into it. Especially with the new Praxic Order situation.

"Are you ok?" asked Tristan, "Do you need something?"

Jade let her hand fall away from her face as she regarded the Warlock. He looked concerned. She gave a moment's thought to what he said. "Actually…" she began, "There is something. When I first started training new Guardians, there was a student named Elijah Joviac. He's a fully-fledged Warlock now, but when I was training him, I detected fluctuations in his Light." Tristan's face went from puzzled to serious in the span of a second. "You know why I'm concerned," Jade guessed.

The other Warlock nodded. "Anomalies like that in a Guardian's Light suggest an increased risk for corruption."

"That's what Bazzle told me when I mentioned it to him. I wanted to check in on Elijah and help him, but I haven't been able to find the time… Do you think you could do it for me? I was thinking it could give us some insight into Harley's situation as well..."

Tristan nodded. "Of course." He smiled slightly. "I can take Rogue with me. If he stays in the Crucible for much longer, it's likely he'll drive the other Guardians away."

"Take me where?" Rogue demanded, in the process of digging through the kitchen cabinets.

"I will inform you later," said Tristan. The Exo shrugged and continued with his rummaging.

Jade sighed. "I guess all there is for us to do is wait for Bazzle and Fyr to get back so we can fill them in." She had a feeling that whatever the situation was with the Weapon of Sorrow, it wasn't going to resolve itself anytime soon.

Aunor made her way down to the Records Department, glad of the opportunity to stretch her legs. She preferred being out in the field to sitting behind a desk all day, but with the way Hayden's case was looking, it didn't seem like fieldwork would be required. In fact, she expected it to be over soon. They'd finalize the charges, Hayden would go through rehabilitation, and she'd finally start her case against the Drifter.

She knew full well that the Vanguard weren't concerned by him, but she knew better. He was dangerous, both as an individual and as an influence. And his game was dangerous too, no matter what Lord Shaxx and Shin Malphur thought. It was only a matter of time before Gambit blew up in all their faces and Aunor would be damned if she let it happen without a fight. But for the moment, the Drifter would have to wait until the Hayden business was settled.

Upon entering the Records Department, she approached one of the Guardians at the desks. A Titan by the name of Darryl Lin.

"I'm here for the Hayden file," she said briskly.

Darryl looked up. "Aunor Mahal. Straight to business, as usual. This a priority case?"

Aunor eyed the way he leaned back in his chair. Obviously, he was preparing to chat. "I just want to close it as soon as possible," she replied, "I don't know how things are run down here, but we don't have time to lounge around in the Praxic Order."

Darryl rolled his eyes. "Unlike what you seem to think, we can't spend all day running errands for you Praxics. I don't know if you noticed, but the Red War has buried our department in extra work for months. But Light forbid the Praxic Order doesn't get a classified file unsealed in the blink of an eye..."

Aunor quickly realized that Darryl was building up to a full-on rant. She had to nip it in the bud before he could get too carried away. "Alright, alright." She waved him off. "I know you've been busy. The Red War's shaken everyone up... And I suppose you were pretty quick about unsealing that file, considering the circumstances."

"Thank you," said Darryl, "Any chance I could get that in writing?" Aunor shot him a look. "Right." He held up his hands in surrender. "Not pushing it… You can use one of our research rooms to view the file. Here's the decryption key." He passed a small drive over to her. "I'll be needing that back, by the way."

Aunor nodded as she accepted the drive. "And I suppose I can't take this back to Praxic HQ to look at it?"

Darryl shook his head. "We can't allow classified files to leave Records. And this one is highly classified. I don't even have clearance to see it."

Aunor sighed. "Very well."

With another thank you to Darryl, she headed into one of the research rooms adjacent to the desk area. The room contained several terminals with chairs in front of them. The walls and ceiling were covered in soundproofing and the floor was carpeted. As the heavy door swung shut behind her, the ambient office noises were suddenly cut off. It seemed like a lot of precaution just for looking at files, but Aunor knew that Records handled any number of sensitive documents. The terminals ran on a hardwired connection with a firewall that was second to none. No one without the proper clearance would get anywhere near the information contained in the Records Department.

With a sigh, Aunor sat down at one of the terminals. She used her Praxic login to get into the database, then inserted the decryption key into the terminal. As the file decrypted, she leaned back in her chair, fiddling with the hem of her duster.

"What exactly are you hoping to find?" her Ghost asked.

"I'm not hoping to find anything, Bahaghari," she replied, "If anything, I'm hoping not to find something. It would be in everyone's best interest for this case to close quickly."

"Do you think Hayden's innocent?"

"The evidence we've collected so far points to his guilt. I base my theories on facts, not feelings... However, I can't discount the possibility that we may uncover evidence supporting his innocence."

"Sarren said he wasn't lying about the gun," said Bahaghari.

Aunor frowned. "When did he say that?"

"I asked him after the interrogation."

"Hm. The problem with that is Hayden could just be a good liar. Sarren's bionics have been fooled before."

"Not that often."

"No, but even if he wasn't lying, it could be because he believes it to be true, regardless of whether it actually is."

"I suppose… The decryption's finished, by the way."

Aunor sat up and rolled her chair forward to look at the file. As she read through it, her apprehension increased. It was a lengthy file, so she was silent for a good fifteen minutes while looking it over. Once she had thoroughly read and processed the information it contained, she leaned back again with a groan.

"What did you find?" asked Bahaghari curiously.

"A lot of info," replied Aunor, "Not all of it good news. In fact, I find most of it troubling."

"For the investigation?" Aunor nodded. "What exactly did the file say?"

"You didn't read it?"

"I tried to but my access was blocked. I'm not about to hack into the Records Department."

"Well, Hayden was revived on Mercury, which is public knowledge. What isn't public knowledge is the fact that the Vanguard suspected him to be an incarnation of Osiris." Aunor could feel her Ghost's shock through their bond. "Their suspicions turned out to be unfounded, but Hayden being compared to a renegade Warlock doesn't exactly help his case. I saw the medical report from when he'd been Taken by Oryx. Apparently, he attacked several Guardians while under Oryx's influence. He was cured, but a note was made in the report to keep an eye out for 'adverse psychological effects.'"

"To be expected," said Bahaghari.

"Yes, but it does cast his mental stability into question. Additions to the report suggest that Hayden was later treated for PTSD but that he stopped treatment abruptly after about a month or so. But that's not the most shocking thing in his file."

"What do you mean? What else was there?"

"It says that Hayden was Cayde's biological son from the Golden Age."

"What?!"

"My thoughts exactly. It's not impossible for something like that to happen but…"

"There's no precedent for it." Aunor nodded. "What is your conclusion?"

She pursed her lips. "Hayden's file doesn't exactly fill me with confidence. And there's still more that isn't in there. We need to find out exactly what happened in the Reef...and I think I know where to look."

"Lead on, then."

With a nod, Aunor closed the file and extracted the drive. After emerging once more into the common area of Records, she swiftly returned the drive to Darryl. "Find everything you needed?" he asked.

"Not yet," she replied, "But I will soon."

"Right," Darryl muttered, "I should know better than to expect straight answers from the Cryptic Order."

Aunor ignored his comment as she made her way out. She had to debrief Sarren. Hopefully, he would have a lead from one of Hayden's associates. And if not, she was sure that she could dig one up herself. The answers she sought would soon be within her grasp.

A/N: I feel like the Praxic Order has a lot of potential in the game story and I hope we get more lore about it in the future. Thank you for reading! You can find me on tumblr, twitter, and instagram arcaneglitch :)