I do not own Destiny or any of its characters.
A.N.: Seriously. Votes for the D1 Guardian's race and class. Please.
Restored
She smiled at him as he rested the rifle on his shoulder, her eyes glinting in acceptance of the challenge. She took the rifle and turned, raising it to aim at the empty Vex bodies they'd pieced back together for target practice.
Light shone through the window as he yawned, stretching, then settled with his arm around her again, smiling as he pulled her bare form against his again. He'd miss this feeling. But if it would save her, it was worth potebtially becoming a walking plague.
He groaned as his sight slowly focused, then stared up at her. She looked tired, but she smiled happily at him. He returned the smile, or as close as an Exo could, and held his hand up, taking hers.
He smiled, taking her hand as the lights flickered on in her eyes. She smiled up at him, squeezing his hand lightly.
"Good morning."
He smiled into the kiss, holding her tightly as she did the same. It didn't feel exactly the same anymore, having SIVA as false skin, but that didn't matter to him, or to her. They were together, and nothing else mattered to them.
Hunter hroaned, the lights in his eyes flickering faintly before finally igniting. He blinked repeatedly as the lights grew brighter before his vision finally lightened and sharpened, allowing him to see Spark and the Hero's Ghost above him and Elsie seated at his side.
"Elsie," Hunter croaked, voice choked with emotion, his SIVA forming tears from his eyes, as well as false skin for them to roll down.
"You're back," Elsie smiled, also forming her false skin.
Hunter sat up, pulling her into a kiss, and Elsie sighed, kissing him back, her arms wrapping around him tightly. Finally, he pulled back, smiling, and rested his forehead against hers.
"I missed you," Elsie smiled.
"I'm never leaving you again," Hunter promised. "Never."
"Wait, you remember you past life?" Spark asked.
"All of it," Hunter nodded, pulling back from Elsie, who helped him stand.
"That's amazing!" Spark said.
Hunter nodded. "Where did Eramis go?"
"She escaped," the Hero said.
Hunter nodded. "It's time to finish this. To kill her."
"Not uet," Elsie said. "You," she looked to the Hero of the Red War, "still need to finish your training."
The Hero nodded. "I'll head to the Ziggurat."
Elsie nodded. "In the mean time, there are a lot of things I need to tell you."
Hunter nodded and the three of them headed back to the surface before getting on their Sparrows, Elsie seated behind Hunter again, and headed back to Elsie's camp. As the Hero headed for the Ziggurat, Hunter and Elsie headed inside, sitting down.
"The first thing you need to know is that...I'm not the same Elsie as you now remember," she began. "Not really. I lived through a war with the Vex, and then I witnessed the Darkness' victory. I tried my best to help stop it, but one by one, Guardians fell to Darkness. Ana fell to Darkness. And then, I died. But I awoke again, years in the past, and I've been living in a timeloop ever since. I've seen countless iterations, and they all ended the same way. But you...you were never in any of them. This is the first time Cayde ever found you."
Hunter stared at her in surprise, taking a moment to let whst she'd told him set in, then nodded. "If you ever reset again and live through another timeline, I want you to guide Cayde to me again."
Elsie nodded. "I will."
"What was that thing when we were fighting?" Hunter asked. "You were shooting, and then there was this thing over your shoulder also firing."
Elsie nodded and held her rifle up, tapping the crystal on the end, which glowed softly. "This rifle is from an alternate timeline as well. As it fires, every kill returns one burst to the magazine, and every ten creates a rift that allows fire from an alternate timeline to enter this one. It can only stay open for ten seconds, but it's incredibly useful."
"It sounds it," Hunter nodded. "Where'd you get it?"
Elsie frowned, staring at it. "My father travelled to the future, one possible one, and found it on my corpse."
Hunter paled, but nodded. "I see. So, this timeloop. Can you tell me what happens?"
"Some," Elsie said. "As I said, you've never been active before, so things have already changed. I know that Eramis is stopped, and soon, and I know that these Pyramids are not the last force the Darkness sends. All of the Darkness's forces grow more powerful. Soon. And by now, Osiris is-"
She stopped as the Hero slowed to a stop beside the building, looking over at them as they walked outside.
"I'm ready," he said.
Elsie nodded. "I have something I need to take care of, but I'll try to meet you there."
Hunter nodded, summoning Cayde's Sparrow and climbing on. "My Rocket Launcher and Galliard..."
"The Vex crushed them during your fight," Elsie said.
Hunter nodded. "It's fine. I'm my father's son."
Elsie frowned, then nodded. "Cayde. Be careful, alright?"
"You won't lose me," Hunter said. "I promise."
Elsie nodded and the two Guardians sped off, heading for the facility where they'd first seen Eramis giving her speech. As they drove, Hunter frowned. What had she been about to say about Osiris?
"I wonder what's wrong with Osiris," Spark said. "We should check in with him once we're finished with Eramis."
"Agreed," Hunter nodded. "For now, we need to focus."
Spark agreed and went silent. After another few minutes of driving, followed by a half hour of slaughtering their way through Fallen, he finally reached a room with a holographic display of a pyramid. Eramis stood on the far side of the room, and the moment they entered, she turned to them, the door behind them sealing as several Shanks flew into the room.
"Welcome back," Eramis greeted them. "Time to die."
Hunter's Hand Cannons snapped up instantly, beginning to blast Eramis as quickly as he could as the Hero made very short work of the Shanks. Several Vandals entered, but Hunter dropped the middle one with the Ace of Spades, the resukting blast killing the other two as well. Then, he dove to the side, the Hero going the other way as a trail of ice spikes burst up from the floor in a wave between them. Both regained their feet, firing at her rapidly as they closed in, and she hurled a Stasis Grenade at Hunter, forcing him to dive out of the way, before firing her Scorch Cannon at the Hero. The Hero stepped into cover just as Hunter hurled a fan of Solar knives at Eramis. The explosions sent her staggering backward, but as she stopped, he growled in annoyance. As with Phylaks, Stasis Crystals had shielded her.
"Your chains are showing," Eramis said. "All that power, wasted serving false gods."
The Hero charged, but just as he did, Eramis waved her hands, ice flashing into existance to encase both Guardian's feet. Ice began to grow up their bodies instantly, and both of their Ghosts appeared to try to help.
"This...This is..." Spark trailed off, Hunter nodding.
"I can't," the Hero's Ghost said. "I'm sorry."
Then, Eramis froze both Ghosts, leaving them to drop uselessly to the floor. The Hero grabbed his shard, but Eramis snatched it, then held out another hand, Hunters streaking to her palm.
"Look what I've done for you," she glosted. "No more Light, no more Dark." She crushed both shards.
The Hero struggled to move as the ice reached his shoulders, but Hunter merwly narrowed his eyes.
"'No more Dark?'" he scoffed, yanking an arm forward, then the other, the ice coating them and his torso breaking away easily. "Are you serious?"
"No!" Eramis shrieked as Hunter stepped forward with his left leg, the ice on it shattering as the ice on the other leg cracked. "It's impossible!"
"I've known Darkness as long as I've existed in this body!" Hunter snarled, stepping forward with the other leg and freeing that one too. "My whole life, I've possessed Darkness! Hatred!" He swung an arm, hurking an ice shuriken, only for Eramis to block it. "Anger!" he hurled another, this time scratching her cheek. "Resentment!" He hurled a third, and Eramis stepped out of the way. "Hell, my body is made from combining Vex technology and Radiolaria with Darkness!"
He swung his arm out to the side, his SIVA instantly racing to his hand and forming a spear, along which his Darkness Energy began to form Stasis Crystals.
"SIVA!" Eramis panicked. "But...It was supposed to have been destroyed!"
Just then, the Hero burst free of his ice, finally. "And I'm the one who destroyed it, so what are you?"
"The perfect Exo," Hunter said, just as four Captains charged into the room, lining up in front of Eramis. "Get out of my way!"
Four long, shining red tentacles made of SIVA burst from his back, driving their pointed ends through the Captains heads before flinging the bodies out of his way. Eramis shrieked in fear, hurling a Stasis Grenade at him before turning to flee, but he swiped the shaft of the spear through the air, shattering the Stasis Grenade and collecting its energy as well, completely encasing the spear in Stasis Crystals. Through a door ahead of them, Eramis reached a landing pad and looked back at him in fear as he stalked toward her, shrouded in darkness except for the glowing of his eyes and mouth.
"No!" Eramis seethed. "It will not end this way!"
She slammed her fists into the ground, and Hunter formed a Stasis Grenade, tossing it to the ground and forming a wall of Ice formations, blocking her attack. Then, they shattered and his spear flashed through the air, impaling Eramis through the heart. Instantly, Stasis Crystals began to spread over her and the black shard on her arm began to shimmer before flashing and crumbling as his Stasis overpowered hers. She turned away from him, staggering several steps before reaching up toward a pyramid hovering in the sky before her. Then, she was frozen. A moment later, cracks began to form before the spear exploded into a swarm of SIVA drones, shattering Eramis before returning to him and sinking back into his body.
"You're a plague," the Hero accused.
"I'm perfected SIVA," Hunter said. "No more infectious than any other Exo."
"It's true," the Hero's Ghost confirmed. "His SIVA are stabilized. His body may be SIVA, but it's nothing like the SIVA you destroyed."
The Hero glared at Hunter for a moment before sighing, nodding. Just as he did, Elsie sprinted into the room, only to stumble to a stop.
"You did it," she sighed, smiling. "I was hoping to not be late."
"You know him," the Hero said. "Did you know he's SIVA? That he csn use his SIVA to fight?"
"You can?" Elsie asked.
"You didn't realize how literal you were being when you said SIVA used to be my weapon," Hunter said, forming a SIVA tentacle. "I can do more than make blades out of it now."
Elsie smiled and nodded. "Good for you."
"Any other important information I should know?" the Hero asked.
"After we're done whatever else we need to do on Europa to clean up Eramis' mess, I need your help to kill a Taken Ahamkara," Hunter said. "Yours, too, Elsie, if you want."
Elsie nodded instantly and the Hero sighed, nodding.
"Sure," the Hero sighed. "Why not. And speaking of, what else do we have to do?"
"First up is killing Variks," Hunter said.
"Not yet," the Hero said. "Let me check in with the Vanguard first."
"Fuck the Vanguard," Hunter spat.
"I know you disagree with them, and I don't blame you, but they're still the Vanguard," the Hero said.
"Not mine," Hunter said. "Not anymore."
"Hunter, what are you saying?" Spark asked. "You're giving up being a Guardian?"
"The Vanguard didn't make me a Guardian," Hunter snorted. "The Traveler did. I don't need to answer to the Vanguard to be a Guardian."
Spark sighed in relief and agreed.
"Well, if you have some free time, there's a personal matter I'd like your help with," Elsie said.
"I'll always have time for you, Elsie," Hunter promised.
Elsie nodded as the Hero warped away to his ship.
Leave a review.