Chapter XIII: Filling In The Void

Absolution Arc


The following day…

For the Traveler's sake, even if I was out of the medical bay do I have to run through the physical and shooting tests? They already saw what I did in the Battle Royale, so what the hell? Then again, Zavala had to make sure that I was still fit for duty especially after all that torture I went through. Now I know what Lightning felt when she was captured and experimented on…

As I stood in the Speaker's observatory, I looked out towards the open world and the City below. I remember the first time I've been introduced to the Speaker after I was 'resurrected' by Primus, and how I've been fighting the Darkness ever since. Both my Dark Knight heritage and the enemies of the Traveler. My hands held onto the railing. Already was I feeling nervous and the tension was killing me. I haven't felt this way since I had to report to either the Cyphers or my adoptive father back when I was still in Red Veil. I suppose my acts have exiled me and the kazoku from Red Veil. We haven't reported in for at least three weeks now.

And you know what? I don't even give a damn whether we're exiled or not. As long as we don't kill each other, it's fine by me.

I hope Teshin will be okay with this… Then again, knowing him would result with an earful if I stuck around even if he knew that I wanted to be here.

"We hope you understand how grateful we are, Pendragon," The Speaker looked up from the reports of my tests and put a hand on my shoulder. "Not just of your deeds in the past two years, but also of showing how a generation can change from the last."

"Sir, I well accept your gratitude towards me and my team. But not all us Dark Knights see Guardians as our brethren. I never considered Guardians as our backstabbing brothers in arms,"

"A fact that you reinforced when you were among us."

A small smile formed on my face, looking at my engagement ring from Vesper on my finger. "I… I just don't know now. Whether or not I should be on active duty or recuperating. I fought when I shouldn't have." But then again, I did it to protect my sister from herself and her tendency to make poor, life-threatening decisions when my life is on the line. Cheers for an almost telepathic link between siblings. "But whatever the reports on my tests say, I will agree to whatever is said no questions asked."

"Spectre, you know I am not one to lie. So I will be honest with you right now," I held my breath as the Speaker looked at me, hand still on my shoulder. "Your physical tests mark you fit for duty. Unfortunately, I cannot say the same for your psychological evaluation. We thought you were psychologically fit for duty from the start, but you were hiding a deep pain and scars."

Damn, guess he ratted me out. I thought I was so good at hiding it, but I guess they were smarter than I thought. The psychological evaluators, not the Speaker himself.

I tightened my grip on the railing. "You must've thought we Dark Knights were stable compared to you Guardians. I'm not the only one with a psych that was slipping away. You heard from Primus that Lightning was tortured and experimented on to the point that she had to be sedated whenever her hysteria or rage gets the better of her."

"Yes, I have read the case file."

"Let me ask you this, sir," I let go of the railing and face the Speaker in his masked face, "Do you feel sympathy for someone that has been through a hell of their mistakes? Someone who had grown up not knowing their father because he died the same day they were born, and then their mother passing away from a fatal illness when they were only a little child?"

"I did not know you had been through such tragedies." The Speaker calmly spoke.

"What about the cruel and unforgiving training since they were kids to become Dark Knights? And then killing their best friend because their superiors suspected that friend of going AWOL years since they started the training?!" I yelled. "And then… And then…!"

"And then came the killing of someone you cherished deep in your heart," I looked up at the Speaker, his mask giving me an expressionless look yet one of sympathy. "I noticed that ring on your finger. You loved someone so dearly that you were about to be married."

"Why would you care?! You weren't there when I killed her! You don't know what it's like to reluctantly kill your fiancée over being ordered to by your superiors!"

The Speaker put up a hand in peace. "Calm, Spectre. True I may not have been there, but I have seen many tragedies to know what it is like."

"…But you're right. I… I trust you enough for those words," I had to recompose myself and breathe. "I kept that to myself as reconciliation for my mistakes. I'd rather have a curse to bear with me for my mistakes." I held up my hand bearing the engagement ring, letting the Speaker look at it. "There's no use to change what the Vanguard and the Consensus think about me returning to field work, is there?"

"I did not say that you are to be permanently stationed here due to your actions. There is a loophole in the majority decision from the two parties. I am allowed to override the vote should the parties be divided in the matter," I looked up at the Speaker once again, hopeful yet afraid of being stuck here. "Your combat discipline and strategic methods are vital to us is just as equal as your heritage as the result of a Tenno and Dark Knight union. On the grounds that your actions are my responsibility, I can allow you to return to the battlefront."

I took a deep breath and looked at the remnants of the scar Samson left me. "Before I make my decision, what happened during my hospitalization?"

"While you were hospitalized, and both your Fireteam and Dark Knight Fireteam were on standby, Fireteam Capital infiltrated the resting place of Crota's crystal and took a shard of the crystal as per request of Eris."

"And I assume the Hive didn't take to it kindly and ambushed them with both Taken and Hive." I predicted. Well, I wouldn't call it a prediction and more of an out of body experience. Wherever the Taken or Hive were en masse during my coma, I saw what was going on. Another perk of being the son of Trionus Pendragon that awakened his Dark Knight heritage. "They took James but I can't tell if he's still alive or Taken. He's still in this plane of existence."

"The spawn of the Disgraced One, carrying the ability to see into the Darkness of the Hive," I whipped around to see Eris standing at the bottom of the stairs, her eerie blindfold glowing with the Hive's green. She made her way up the stairs menacingly, yet of no hostile intentions. "You have been touched by the sorcery of Oryx as well. Yet, the Darkness a Dark Knight carries has molded it onto itself and absorbed such a curse."

I clenched my marked fist and glared at Eris. "What are you talking about?"

"Samson has marked you as one of the Taken. His equal. As long as he is alive, one way or many, you and your team are in grave danger. Both from his minions…and you yourself, should you not adhere to your path."

Now I was pissed off. That bastard marked me as a high priority target for the Taken?! No wonder something made me not feel like myself at times!

Dragunus, what the hell did you do?

I merely devoured the Taken that Samson had during our conflict with him. Dragunus said emotionlessly, but I knew the full story.

You just couldn't resist adding more power, could you?!

Whatever do you mean, Sparda?

Don't give me that bullshit! Why'd you absorb the Taken membrane when you saw what it could do to Guardians!? I swear, it's making me look like I'm having an argument with myself…

Did you really think I would let such power go to waste? That kind of power could be beneficial to us.

Damn you and your hunger for power… I blocked further communication between me and my familiar. I want to purge the Taken membrane from him, but then again he'd just hold onto it like a child refusing to let go of a toy.

"And if I want it ridden of?"

Eris looks at me with her signature ominous look. "You must kill Samson and his minions if you are to stand against the Taken King. Only by besting Samson and his minions will your mark be lifted," she looms closer and my heart beats faster in near fright. "Do not think I will allow a Dark Knight with a Hive curse to run rampant. I will keep an eye on you, Pendragon. To make sure you do not repeat the mistake your father made."

With that said and done, Eris left to return to her post my heartbeats starting to slow down as Eris's invisible grip on my heart was gone. Breathing a sigh of relief, I jammed my hand bearing my dead fiancée's engagement ring in my jacket's pocket.

"Is there anything else I need to be informed of, sir?"

"Yes. Triton has informed me that Samson has been broken, demoted from his position as Taken General. He has subjects known as the Influenced but Fireteam Dragon has the Influenced under control alongside their own problems. They are doing their part, and now it is time for you and your team to take action against the Taken King. However, it is your decision whether to return to the front lines to lead or to take command from your post in the Hall of Guardians."

I knew my answer before I could ever make the choice.

"There is a storm coming, sir. In time, it will not be just the Taken we will worry about. I can feel it. And the Guardians will not know what to do when they face the storm when it arrives. So, I will return to the battlefront. In due time, I will train the Guardians to stand against the storm. But for now let us focus on the Taken."

If I could see the Speaker's face, I would see him with a warm smile at my words. "Spoken just like your father. Very well then… Nero Pendragon, it is my privilege to deem you worthy to return to the fight. Lead with honor, and be cautious."

I felt pride return to me like it was my life returning to my body. I saluted the Speaker, the memories of when I had to salute either the Cyphers or Teshin before leaving my debriefings returning. "Sir, I will not let you down. I swear it."

"I know you will never let us down. You are a Pendragon; known to keep promises and fighting for the right cause. Good luck, Pendragon, for your admirable courage and honor has given us hope once more. Wield your Light and Darkness well, Guardian of Equilibrium."

I nodded and broke from my salute, trudging down the stairway as the Darkness formulated around me and formed into my armor. It's time. No turning back now.

I made my choice.

-Destiny: Skyfall-

"So you're allowed back? ¡Gracias al Viajero! Thank the Traveler!" I hear Rez exclaim when I told both the kazoku and my Fireteam in the Traveler's Walk. "Finally, esé! Now we're talking! Nero Bianco's ready to kick some Taken ass again!"

"Don't celebrate yet, Rez. On the condition that the Speaker takes responsibility for whatever happens that doesn't fit with the mission, I'm allowed back." I faintly chuckle.

"¡Ningun problema! No problem! We're here to back you up! Me, Silver, your fam, and even the pinche perr—!" Rez was interrupted by both Silver shocking him in the back of his neck and Reaper stomping him on the foot with her heeled boots, both clearly pissed off. Well more Reaper than Silver. He must get a kick from seeing a girl beat up Rez… "What did I dooooo?!"

"Say I'm a bitch. Yatte miro yo! I dare you!" I hear Reaper say, taken slightly aback by her sudden shift in personality. More so her Japanese than her personality shift.

"Riapaa-san, juubun desu. Reaper, that's enough." Cloud places a hand on her shoulder to stop her from causing more damage to the sniper of the team. Defeated, Reaper stood down and moved her heeled boot.

"Spectre, what's our course of action now?" Silver asks me, dusting his hands.

"Dragon's dealing with their own problems to clear a path for us, so we need to set out for getting through the Ascendant realm. Fireteam Capital got us a shard of Crota's crystal, but we need Crota's essence to use it as a key without me and the kazoku using the Darkness."

"Spectre's right. The Hive could sense us when Dark Knights use the Darkness to cloak themselves and we'd be in trouble." Aqua said, putting her hands on the table holding our strategy that both the Vanguard and us Dark Knights will use to assault the Dreadnaught. "We may need an alternate method to get what we need from the Hive."

"Suggesting using stealth drives again? There's nowhere else to get one. And besides, we know what happened to the last one." Silver stared at the Nightstalker.

"Hey! Not my fault the damn thing broke! It was old to begin with!"

Leon scoffed unamused and lifted himself off the wall. "I might have an idea where to find another stealth drive."

I looked at him. "Planning to go back home, Leon? Might want to prepare yourself for a cold reception if you do."

"Who said I was gonna head back home? I'm headed back to my newly acquired stash." The door leading to our temporary base of operations in the Traveler's Walk opened, Leon taking his leave with my authorization.

I turn to Aqua to which we share a look of concern regarding Vesper's little brother. "Aqua, go with Leon to keep an eye on him. I have a feeling he's gonna do something both reckless and stupid."

"I'm on it." Her helmet formulated in a water-esque fashion from her neckguard and solidified, arming herself with her Stormfall rapier and Castanas electrical throwing charges and making her way towards the door.

"Watch yourself out there, and may the Darkness guide you to the Light."

"I'll keep you posted on our search, Spectre."

As soon as Aqua left, the rest of us kept our focus on the reports coming in. The fact that they're not looking good isn't helping us, me specifically. I wanted to punch the table from these reports showing how terrible things are, but I can't afford them to know that I've been marked by Samson. So, I restrained myself from doing it. Lightning saw the look of restraint in me and threw a look of concern my direction. I mouthed 'I'm okay' to her and she nodded. Out the corner of my eye, I saw Reaper leave for the door and when she saw me, she gave me a gesture to talk in private.

Sighing, I excused myself from the reports to check on the Ancient Vanguard and how they're doing and they acknowledged that. I don't know how long that excuse will last for them, but I need to check on Reaper. She's a part of this now and I have to be there for her. Just as I did with Vesper.


I slipped into her quarters and silently shut the door, walking in to see her sprawled out on the couch like a teenage girl in her casual wear. I smirk at her behavior and made my presence known to her. She's not Vesper, but I somehow find this very cute of her. My armor dematerialized back to my casual wear and I didn't bother to remove my engagement ring. Besides, its dragon etching in comparison to Vesper's rose etching might make her think its not what it really is.

"What's wrong?" I hear Reaper squeak in surprise upon hearing me.

"I just can't get over the fact I fell in love with a Dark Knight. And that you felt the same way for me, a Huntress who has a tendency to leave on short notice," She responds muffled due to face being buried in a pillow. "Funny how love works between a Guardian and their Darkness-wielding counterpart, especially if they disguised themselves as a Guardian first. I just don't feel okay with this. I feel tainted."

"C'mon Reap, my parents were on two different sides of a war and they fell in love in due time. I don't see how different it is between us," I sat down next to her and stroked her silky hair lovingly. Memories of me and Vesper came back and I thought this was a good time to treat her just as I treated Vesper.

"How did that work, Spectre? Your parents, I mean."

"Funny thing was, my mother was supposed to assassinate my father since she was the best the Tenno could ask to get the job done during the war. Plot twist, she was trained in assassination by my father when he was still a Tenno."

"That's… a little confusing."

I gave her a mock scowl. "You're a lovable woman. You definitely got my attention the day we met, and I admit it that I was intrigued. You have a certain flair about you."

She peeks up from the pillow and then sinks back. "How old do I look? Be honest with me, Spectre."

"Physically or by Golden Age logic?"

"Either one."

I took a good look at her. Before I knew it, Reaper crawled her head up to my lap and sighed, taking my hand that was on her hair now to her cheek and nuzzling against it like she spent too long out in the freezing snow and my hand was the warmth she needs.

"That's a tough one. You're not older than me physically, and you're not a teenager. Your face shows a youth of beauty and wisdom, like you had stepped out from being a teenager and became a young adult. So physically, you're like twenty and sixty in Golden Age logic."

"And how old are you?"

"At this point? I'm seventy-three and a half. That's twenty-four and a half physically."

Reaper snaps out of it and looks at me lovingly, yet with a slightly disappointed look. "Doesn't that seem wrong to you? Some girl dating someone who's older than them?" I caress her cheek with my hand, thumb brushing against her cheek and smiling affectionately.

"I don't see anything wrong with that. As long as they're within a ten year gap difference physically, it's fine with me. What really matters between us is that we're here, together. Don't worry, Reap."

"Thank you, Spectre. Aishiteru. I love you."

"I love you too." We lean in to kiss. I stop when my lips brush against hers to tease her, but I didn't expect what comes next.

I felt my body be shoved down onto the couch back first. Groaning like I fell thirty stories, I look up to see Reaper looking at me lovingly and with a glint of lust in her eyes. How cheeky. She got on top of me and took the lead, kissing me with everything she has. Sneakily, my hands pulled her in deeper and her look of surprise turned to a smug one. She moaned into the kiss and I massaged her back to get more of a reaction out of her. In an unexpected turn of events, she deepened her kiss and took my face in her hands making sure I won't pull away. Not that I was going away just yet.

Even if we were kissing, my mind couldn't leave the thought of my dead fiancée. Would she be okay with what I'm doing? I'm not the cheating type, yet the circumstances that led me to where I am now makes it somehow feel right. A woman I've known and loved since childhood versus another that I knew for about a month now and quickly fell in love with. Regardless, I don't think it's time to tell Reaper I was in love with another before her. In due time I will.

"That was payback." She said after pulling away from our deep kiss.

"Oh, and whatever for?" I asked, using my Excalibur identity's English accent to add a bit of familiarity.

"For the day you finally snapped out of your hospitalization and pulled me in for our rather…interesting first kiss, love." She replies in her London accent she made up. "Besides, you planted a tiny idea in my head during the Battle Royale. One that I found rather unlike me but I had to use against Rez."

"And now you're using it on me."

"Only because we're together. But don't expect anything beyond that act."

I scoffed and flipped her over, hearing her yelp as she became the one with her back against the couch. And to add more to the change, I pecked her on the lips and ran my hand against her cheek. "Who said I was thinking of that? It's better to take things slow."

"Glad we're on the same page," she traced a finger along my scar, her touch close enough to Vesper's. "If I didn't know any better, you're a regular James Bond."

"Well, I suppose there is some minor truth to that. You weren't the first to compare me to James Bond."

"Show me then."

We leaned in to share another deep kiss, and just as I feel her breath…

"You know, I really, really hate to break the moment here, but…"

I pull away from Reaper and growl in Primus's direction. Damn him for ruining the moment!

"Primus… Just what the hell do you think you're doing?"

"While you two were having your heated moment, we got trouble brewing." Like I was an enraged Captain, Primus backed away afraid of what I'm capable of doing to him. "Light's been trying to contact you but I didn't want to piss you off. She's getting persistent. And irritated. We both know that's not good."

Guess I can't really blame him. I think I'll let him off the hook this time. Reaper and I looked at each other and I saw a look of disappointment in her gray orbs. She whined and pouted, giving me the puppy dog eyes as she playfully pounded her fists against my arms and I grinned.

"Maybe after the mission, babe. You coming along?"

She produced a knife from her bomber jacket and threw it in Primus's direction, the A.I most likely trembling in fear even though it passed through his holographic form. When I look down at her, she smiled sweetly. "Did you forget? I live for the thrill of the hunt. Of course I'm coming."


"It's worse than I thought. They're spreading faster and much more alarmingly. At that rate it will be hard to contain this,"

The Heir and their companion stood on a cliff overlooking the Hellmouth, the Guardian lowering a pair of binoculars from their helmet's visor. From the microphone module in the binoculars linking to their helmet's audio receptors, the Heir was able to make out the sound of something snarling and screeching. Not Hive, nor Taken or Fallen. It was something else entirely. Truthfully, it chilled them to the bone. But this was what they were hunting. To contain. They raised the binoculars again. To the entrance of the Hellmouth, the Heir found a growth spreading at an alarming rate. Hive were fleeing from the area, only for a majority of them to be dragged into the abyss from whence they came by some unknown force.

"Looks like we'll need more than a cascade bomb to get rid of this mess." They put away their binoculars and heard the dog growl in a tone ready to fight and lowered its body, tail raised. "You ready, boy? Things are about to get really messy."

The canine barked affirmatively.

Here goes nothing… The Heir put on their hood from their cloak and prepared their psuedo-Jade Rabbit, slamming in a new magazine and cocking the bolt. In the shimmer of the light from the sun, one could see the insignia of a dragon's head imprinted where the rabbit would typically be and another of both sides of the magazine, bearing a seemingly burning flower with Japanese kanji 'ローズ' forming from the 'flames' instead of a dragon's head. There were even numbers and a designation code imprinted along the barrel, the numbers like a serial number. But the Heir knew it was their mother's tendency to do this. She was good at her job after all.

They rested the custom-built scout rifle against their shoulder, index finger against the trigger and others against hidden buttons in the grip. It took them a while to master their weapon's special features, but they asked for an all in one weapon in the first place. Remembering their training and the warnings from their mother, they loosened their fingers' grip on the buttons and engaged the safety.

The Heir took a deep breath and stared out into the cosmos. More specifically Earth. Storm's coming. Time to get ready. "They're coming, buddy. Let's make our move and lay out the welcoming carpet."

Their canine companion barked again and they leapt off the cliff, the Heir sliding down the rocky slope like they were snowboarding as their companion leapt from rock to rock.

In the distance far from the Heir's reconnaissance point, another watched from the darkness of the moon. So, she sent his Heir after all. A mere child? To stop me? How…disappointing. A look of death crossed their face, pulling out an impossibly sharp throwing dagger from a thigh pouch and spun it. They were ready to throw it at the Heir, but they felt like they were stopped by an unseen force. Heeding an unheard voice, they returned the throwing dagger into the pouch.

They reached for a bow strung across their back and nocked an arrow, pulling it back with everything they had and aimed towards the Hellmouth. A sinister mist enveloped the arrow and their hands, seething to the brim with Taken energy.

Is that all you can accomplish? Corrupting your victims with the power of the Taken? Pathetic. Prove yourself worthy of my power, my Stalker!

Grinning evilly under the corrupted helmet, the Stalker let go of the string and let it fly. The Taken-enhanced arrow screeched like a Taken dragon until it made sound no more, vanishing into the pits of the Hellmouth and out of sight.


Wow guys, I can't believe this. I've done this story for a year now and the current one to focus my time on. A whole year! Imagine that much commitment, writing every day but eventually turning it into a full-fledged chapter! For the year of writing Destiny: Skyfall, I thought I would do something not action-oriented and focusing on Spectre and Reaper commemorating their first meeting that eventually blossoms into a romance.

Guys, I cannot thank you enough. By the time I post this on November 25 of this year, Destiny: Skyfall has amassed nearly 10k reads (9,750 to be exact!), 24 followers, 20 favorites, and 37 reviews. That is insane! I had lower expectations given the ratios on my previous works, but you guys blew my expectations out of the water!

And to commemorate this, I would like to thank my favorites and followers from November 25, 2015 to November 25, 2016:

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-The Crimson Commando (Favorite/Follower, II-XII: There's your debriefing for Spectre there, bud. And where you have the Influenced covered, I got the Stalker covered pretty well.)

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Thank you guys so much for this. And don't worry. Nero Bianco and the kozoku aren't done yet! Not by a long shot! Until then, Guardians!