Extra
Morik, Ramiks, and Kaara walked through the City, down a main street. Aside from the occasional head turning, no one paid them any mind anymore.
"Tell me again," said Ramiks, "Why we are bothering with something like this?"
Morik looked over at Ramiks for his tone. Ramiks cleared his throat, a deep thrumming noise.
"I do not see the point to it. What do we care if young humans think ill of us? They will learn on their own once they are grown."
"It is precisely that attitude that forced me to bring you along," said Morik.
"It is better," said Kaara, "that the citizens here believe in us than doubt us. You are Guardians too, and we need to make sure that everyone sees you that way. Fighting will not do that. Who you fight will not change their perspective any further than it has. If you want true acceptance, you must be willing to go the extra distance."
They walked in silence after that, listening to the dull roar of the City sounds. Finally, they reached their destination and walked around behind the building to an open field of grass. A fence that came to Morik's waist blocked their way until someone came to let them in. The three proceeded onto a football field, the goals leaned against the wall of the nearby building, bleachers set up.. Young faces peered out of second and third story windows. Doors opened and out filed the "audience," school children led by their teachers. Several classes worth of students took their seats on the bleachers. Morik, Ramiks, and Kaara stood several meters away in a sort of parade-rest stance, fully armored. Morik's upper left hand, behind his back, still leaked ether. When all had been quiet for nearly a minute, Kaara spoke.
"Good afternoon, students. I am Kaara-0, a Vanguard Hunter, here to introduce two fellow Guardians. They are Vanguards, just like me, and they have been very good friends."
She brought her feet together, standing straight, and motioned with her left hand, straight out and palm up, her right hand behind her back.
"This is Ramiks, a Vanguard Hunter. He is an 'Archon Priest,' a second-in-command and very in touch with something called 'ether,' which we will talk about later."
Ramiks brought his feet together like Kaara, bowing with his four arms still behind his back. He grumbled, more thrumming only another Eliksni or one who had spent a long time with them would recognize. To the students, the sound he made was either threatening or awe-inspiring, with mixed response.
Kaara put her left hand behind her back again, motioning with her right hand as well as a slight bow for Morik.
"This is his leader, and the head of the House of Light." That much, they understood. After hearing so much about the House of Devils, how could they not.
Still slightly bowed, Kaara switched places with Morik, putting her right hand behind her back as she did. Morik spoke for himself. He made sure to keep out any accidental verbal ticks, such as clicking noises or odd intonations. He was used to speaking English by now, but enunciating still took a conscious effort. At least he no longer had to think about removing extra words or phrases that came from thinking in his native language first, such as adding "yes" as confirmation to the end of sentences.
Morik bowed as Ramiks had, now standing in front of Ramiks and Kaara, his image flanked by the two Hunters.
"My name is Morik, Kell of Light. I am a Vanguard Titan. A Guardian. I am here to tell you about myself and my House. I promise I won't take long."
"Once, my name was Morik, Devil Baron."
Student shifted in their seats.
"I could not stomach to do as I was told. To lead squads of my fellow Eliksni into battle against humans who had done nothing wrong. I was disobedient, and my Kell saw to it I went without food as punishment for my first offense. I did not wait for a second offense, and left the House of Devils, never to return. I tore off my cape, threw down my weapon before my House, and ran away. I was chased far, until I could run no further, and I fell to the snow. I died there, all alone."
Mixed reactions.
"But my story was not over. By chance, I was the first of my House to turn away, and the Traveler had seen it all. The Light reached out to me, brought me to my feet, and placed me in the care of two Vanguards, the Hunter Azariah and the Warlock Blytz."
The Z's gave Morik some trouble still, having to use almost the same motions to make the ticking noises of his own language, and he couldn't help letting a few escape when saying Blytz' name.
"They saved me from starving, brought me to the Tower, and trained me to be a Guardian. In time, I built a House of one. Azariah and Blytz, as well as Kaara, Enki-0, and Soren; they all helped me do so. Together, we worked as Vanguards, and I grew stronger. But it did not last. On one last mission together, things went very wrong. We six were trapped on Mars, deep underground. As we tried to escape, Enki was wounded, and the two Guardians who had helped me the most were lost to us. Blytz and Azariah never made it home with us. Without them, I would not be here today. They accepted me without question, helped me when no one else knew or cared I existed, and they were the examples I tried to follow as I learned to be a Guardian. I will never forget them."
"When I was finally fully grown, a Kell as I am now, I met Ramiks. He was just a Vandel, but he was made a Hunter and sent to work by my side. Shortly after, the Tower announced my House. They gave me this armor, gave Ramiks a Hunter's armor, and together we grew the House of Light."
Morik paused.
"One day, the House of Kings wished to speak with me. They wanted my House to spy on the Tower for them. To lie to and betray the Guardians who had accepted us and worked so hard to help us. I sent them away immediately, but I angered them by refusing and they attacked the City. It was a battle to rival Twilight Gap, and we even fought them in the streets of the City."
Everyone knew what had happened next, with the Ketch disappearing and reappearing randomly. They had all heard how Morik had "died."
"Of course, we were victorious that day… But the story grows stranger still on that day. As you can see, I did not die. Nor did Ramiks or my other Archon, Viksis. Instead, we were captured by Osiris and taken to Mercury. Once again, we were asked to betray the Guardians. Once again, we refused, and it cost us. This time, it did not cost us an attack on the City, or the Tower. It cost us Viksis."
Morik paused again, huffing a breath before going on.
"Like Ramiks, he was an Archon. He was a Warlock, served with the Vanguard, and was a close friend of mine. Like Blytz and Azariah before him, he influenced and taught me a great deal. He was quiet and stern, and his wisdom was something I relied on many times. Without him by our side, escape from Mercury seemed more and more unlikely. We were in a fight I thought we would lose, but Ramiks held himself together and turned the tide in our favor. We took Viksis' body and ran."
Nothing but rapt attention now. The students didn't see Morik the Fallen, they were listening to a Guardian's story.
"In our escape, Enki, Kaara, and Soren rushed to our rescue. The five of us even ran into Saint-14 as we desperately tried to return to the Tower. We were separated, far from home, and I was the only one who knew where to go."
Morik held out his upper left hand.
"One day, you should ask your teachers of Pujari, a Warlock who had the same vision as I did. Thanks to Pujari, I was able to find and rescue the others, and together we returned home at last. We held a ceremony for Viksis' passing, we rested after our long fight, and soon we were called to aid in the fight against The Taken. These days, rest is hard to come by, but House of Light exists to serve alongside the Vanguard to protect the city. To protect all of you."
Kaara and Ramiks then took time to explain ether, and how Eliksni needed ether as well as Light. Then the three took questions from the students themselves, ranging from eight to ten years old. For the final planned event, Morik removed his helmet. Kaara directed him to kneel down and the students walked past him on their way back inside, to see him up close, cradling his swept-back helmet in his lower left arm. He wasn't close enough to touch, his pride keeping him from acting like a petting zoo animal, and he kept the glow from his eyes, but it clearly separated him from their view of other Guardians. The act, along with his story and his armor, painted an odd and disjointed but accurate picture of who he was to the City. As the last line of students passed him, Morik replaced his helmet and stood. His eyes glowed in his helmet as he watched the doors to the school close behind them.
A/N:
I just wanted to do something else with this. It was probably stupid and unnecessary, but something was nagging me to add something to the story somehow. I didn't want it to be a Crucible match, 3v3, of our Kell and a bunch of Archons. Not more fighting, the series has enough of that. I also was always interested in showing how the City saw Morik, and how much they knew about what he did. His modified and simplified version of his story is basically how I did that. How he said it is how they knew it, without details and whatnot. With this, I feel a bit better about leaving the project behind. I'm REALLY concerned about how I haven't had any negative reviews the entire time, especially after…
Well, anyway, on a related note to negative reviews, now I'll be putting all my time into rewriting a certain major project of mine (Twin Humanities) in preparation for writing the sequel I've wanted for so long.
As for this story, I must say, don't expect a sequel or anything. I may update it and continue it if Destiny offers something new and interesting in the future, but nothing's set in stone. My practice for this series was character dialogue and tone. I wanted it to be possible to tell who was talking without me explicitly saying who it was. Not that I WOULDN'T say who it was… "My dialogue needed work," is the bottom line… Thanks for sticking with it, all you silent readers, and I really hope I've been able to create a satisfying experience.