It took Minerva a moment to realize what Shaxx had said, her eyelashes fluttering a time or two as she struggled to parse it. Kalina had straightened and lifted her chin proudly a moment, but she did not look at the Crucible master, nor toward the others. Her helmet under her arm and Ghost following silently, she strode toward the hole in the wall and disappeared into the smoke.

"Why?" Min heard herself say, and suddenly every helmet was turned toward her. In the group of gathered Guardians, one or two leaned toward their compatriots and murmured to each other.

"Minerva, I will speak with you inside. Return to the Tower," Shaxx said. Minerva didn't move, save to point at the veteran.

"She…you had to see what she was doing," she said. "Why-?"

"Minerva, inside please," Shaxx said. The volume of his voice didn't change but his tone brooked no argument. Looking back toward the others he added, "The rest of you will resume in three minutes."

Slowly the gathered group began to break apart, heading back deeper into the ruins. A few lingered, and their helmets tracked Min as she stalked past Shaxx and headed toward the rent in the wall. She didn't even bother to find or pick up her helmet, nor locate the pistol and shotgun that had been cast aside in the fight.

She walked across the torn up landscape toward the glass door they had passed through to get to the ruins, too distracted to even look up at the Tower or more of her surroundings. Why had Lord Shaxx banned Kalina from the Crucible? Was the sadism of the veteran what was expected of Guardians? If so, then her Ghost had found the wrong person to revive; she wasn't going to have a hand in that kind of cruelty, now or ever.

She may have no memory of her life or the kind of person she had been before she'd woken up on that frozen highway, but whoever that person might have been it was who she was now that mattered. And if being alive meant one day she'd be torturing newborns and laughing while she did so then she had no desire to be alive one moment longer.

Stepping back inside, she saw no sign of Kalina. Both Ian and Rhonda were near the counter where they had procured their armor and weapons. The former was just standing there with a somewhat shell-shocked look on his face. Rhonda was sitting on the floor with her back to the counter, hands covering her face and audibly weeping.

Minerva started toward them, but barely had she shifted her trajectory when Shaxx seemed to materialize right behind her.

"I will speak to them. Wait for me over there."

He pointed across the atrium and without waiting to see if she'd bother to comply, headed toward the others.

Turning on her heel, jaw clenched so tightly it felt as if her teeth would crack, she went to the other side of the atrium. Folding her arms, she glared out the windows where the silent flashes of light and blasts of dust had resumed in the ruins. The Guardians were battling again. Among them was most likely the veteran, continuing on as if nothing had happened…as if she'd done nothing wrong.

Min didn't know how long she stood there, her Ghost hovering silently at her shoulder. He seemed to be at a loss of what to say. The soft displacement of air as he turned drew her attention and she looked over her shoulder. Lord Shaxx was approaching her, and behind him there was now no sign of Ian or Rhonda.

He said nothing at first, only drew up beside her and faced the windows as well. His helmet was as smooth as a mirror, and looked as solid as steel. There was no hint of the face beyond it.

"Normally, it takes a Guardian two or three times passing through those doors and into the Crucible before I am sure to which Class they belong," he said at last. "One in a hundred show their colors immediately. You are that one. You're a Titan, Minerva. There is no question. I suspect that is no surprise."

She wasn't really concerned with his 'official' declaration of her Class. Hell, Kalina had picked up on that immediately, and right now it seemed the least important thing in the universe.

"Ian and Rhonda?" she asked.

"I sent them back into the Crucible," he said.

"What? Back in with that monster? Sir, I'm sorry, but that woman is crazy! Did you see what she was doing? She-"

He finally looked at her. Or rather, his helmet turned toward her.

"Tell me something, Minerva," he said, calmly. "Indulge me if you will."

"I…what?"

"You know what has happened, yes? Humanity is all but extinct, Traveler broken, and all that stands between the Darkness and the extinction of everything are the Guardians."

"I know, but that doesn't excuse-"

"You have no idea what is out there, Guardian. You haven't seen it yet. There are abominations. You call her a 'monster'- no. There are real monsters out there, and someday very soon you are going to have to go out and face them. Rhonda is going to have to go out and face them. Do you think they'll wait politely for the Ghosts to heal you after they've killed you? Give you time to orient yourself? To process what happened? That they'll give you a head start before nobly starting the battle again? No. Out there, if you are killed and your Ghost manages to revive you, it may be the instant before a Fallen or a Hive tear you apart again…you, or your Ghost, or the people under your protection. They know the Ghosts revive us. The moment you are awake again you may need to react in a split second, before your mind has even cleared. That is why we do this, Minerva. That is why the Crucible exists. It's about fear, hesitation. In the field you cannot hesitate, not because of pain, or injury, or fear. Not even because of death. You need to conquer pain, fear, and death before we send you out into the field."

She could feel her jaw flexing and forced herself to speak as calmly as he did. "You banned Kalina from the Crucible for helping us, for stopping that…that woman. Is that a 'lesson' too? Are we to abandon our fellow guardians out there as well, everyone for themselves?"

If he said 'yes', if even the hint of the word 'yes' reached her she was done. If that's what Guardians were about then she wanted no part of it.

"Of course not," he said instead. "I did not ban her from the Crucible because she helped you and took down your enemy. If that is what you believe then it is no wonder you are angry."

"Then why?"

"Because she sent Rhonda and Ian back to the Tower," he told her. "They were out there for the same reason as you were- to face fear, and more importantly- to defeat it. By sending them back to the Tower she instead reinforced their fear, fed it, and made it grow. What we do in the Crucible is very touchy, Minerva. It is carefully designed to help you and those like you conquer both yourself, and that which will not only get you killed but others as well. What Kalina did by sending them back may be seen as a kindness, but it was no favor. They will now have to endure even more of the Crucible than they would have had before, and at this moment they are further from conquering their fear than they were the first time they walked in that door. I suspect in Rhonda's case she did permanent harm. She may never become ready to go into the field now, which robs the Tower of yet another Guardian between the City and what seeks to annihilate us all."

Minerva shook her head. "I don't…I can't agree. Not when it comes to Kalina."

"And why is that?" he asked patiently.

She was silent a long moment before she said, "That woman was laughing."

He was silent just as long, then he said, "I understand. For now, as a Titan you will be reporting to Zavala."

That was it. Minerva might have only been born a few days ago but she knew a dismissal when she heard it. Knowing it would do no good to speak again, she turned and walked away, back toward the lift where she and Kalina had arrived what felt like years ago now.

His 'I understand' was so carefully schooled she had no idea what he meant by it. Had he been unaware that the veteran had clearly been enjoying Rhonda's torture? Did he mean to address it? Or was it that he simply was acknowledging Minerva's concern, but neither shared it nor intended to do anything about it?

Was there even anything he could do about it?

For that matter…

"Ghost," she said as the lift doors shut. The silent oculus floating at her shoulder turned toward her. "Would the Traveler ever send one of your kind out to revive someone who was mentally unbalanced?"

"I…don't know," he said after a thoughtful pause. "I would like to think not, but when you consider what it is Guardians do…perhaps it takes the 'mentally unbalanced' to be able to cope with it all? Though if you are referring to that Guardian back in the Crucible- no. No, I can't help but think there was something really wrong with her."

"Me too. And…"

And there was something wrong with her rifle.

She just stopped herself from saying it. Even thinking it sounded nuts to her; saying it out loud would only be even more ridiculous. That weapon was just designed to look menacing, and it was that menacing look that caused her to apply 'feeling' to it. Of course rifles couldn't be repulsed. Of course they had no mind or will of their own. They were just tools, objects- they weren't alive.

Trying to turn her thoughts away from it, she realized she had no honest idea where she was going. She'd been told to report to Zavala but she had no idea who that was or where they might be found. Kalina had told her that she'd probably spend several days doing nothing but eating, sleeping, and Crucible, but Min didn't know if that remained true anymore. Shaxx hadn't sent her back in, and she had no idea if he intended to or not. If the Crucible was designed to help them conquer their fears and eliminate hesitation before going into the field, it both seemed and felt unrealistic that she was already done with it. None of her fears felt conquered. Just thinking about that pain and the slamming, impenetrable black again was enough to make her nauseous- and that wasn't even taking into consideration the rest of her fears and concerns. Even having experienced death several times now she had no desire to do it again- so much for overriding the survival instinct.

With no direction she decided merely to return to the same floor that she'd woken up on. From there she'd see if she could find anyone who knew where this Zavala was and how to find them.

As the lift halted and the doors opened, however, a set of open arms greeted her. She stood in stunned stupefaction for a moment as the Exo from the café- Cayde was it?- beamed at her as if he were greeting a long-lost family member.

"There you are! Looking all rugged and stunning from the Crucible. I think I can still smell the napalm."

His hands clapped down on her arms and he gave her a slight shake, then stepped back. "Come on, let's get you sorted."

Following him as he started away she said, "I'm sorry, I'm a Titan."

"Well, we can't all be perfect, but you should never apologize for the misfortunes thrust upon you," he said, without missing a stride.

"I thought you were the Hunter Vanguard?"

"Oh I am," he said, then looked askance at her. "Which means Kalina is my concern. I hear there was a bit of a kerfuffle down in the Crucible. When one of my Hunters gets a lifetime ban from Lord Shaxx I tend to pay attention."

"You want to know what happened."

He made a sound as if she had literally wounded him. "Ah, ya got me."

"Didn't you ask Kalina?"

"She was disinclined to chat."

"Could you talk to Lord Shaxx?"

"I could," he said, then gave a theatrical shudder. "But why?"

She stared at him. He glanced at her, and after a moment prodded, "So…what happened?"

She told him about the veteran, and what she'd been doing, and how Shaxx had finally put a stop to it only to ban Kalina from the field. Cayde listened quietly and when she'd finished he nodded.

"Yeah…that'd be Nara."

"Nara?" the name rang a bell, but it took a moment before she remembered. "That's one of the Twins isn't it? The one that Kalina doesn't like?"

"Yeah, and you've probably figured out why."

"Sir, I'm sorry, but that woman was unstable. I don't know if Shaxx understands that or even cares-"

"Oh, I'm sure he both understands and cares," Cayde told her. "The thing is, Nara…well, Nara is a special case."

"A special case?"

"Yeah, and it's not my place to tell you the details- so of course I will. The Twins are two of the best Titans we have…two of the best Guardians, honestly. A few years back there was a large fire team that attempted to take back the Moon from the Hive. First Guardians- hell, the first human beings- who'd set foot on the Moon since the Golden Age. Well, it went bad. Really bad. At least, we think so. Interrupted transmissions, some incredibly disturbing…then total silence. The Twins decided to go in and see if they could find them, or find out what happened to them. We lost coms with them, as well. Six days later, their ship limps back to the Tower and Blayd is practically dragging her sister, both half dead."

"Half dead?" she blinked. "How is that even possible? Were their Ghosts destroyed?"

"No, their Ghosts were all right. They weren't wounded, not physically."

"Then I don't understand how they were-"

"Yeah, welcome to the club," he said, looking at her. "No one understands it. No one knows what happened up there, not to them or to the original fire team- which by the way remains vanished without a trace. Blayd claims not to remember anything helpful. The Ghosts claim not to remember anything either. They were extensively debriefed and examined, and I for one am inclined to believe them."

"Them…but not Nara?"

"She's never said differently, and she refuses to speak about it, but…" He shrugged. "The Guardian that came back from that mission was not the same Guardian that left on it. Personally, I think Nara remembers everything."

"You think that's why she's-"

He nodded.

Her brows knotted and she looked at the dull concrete floor as it swept past under their boots. "You can't be the only one who thinks that."

"I'm not," he said.

"And they still let her fight? They still let her do…what she did? Whatever happened to her…if she's mentally damaged then she's a danger-"

"Yeah, she is," he said, a bitter laugh in his voice. "And that's exactly why she's still in the field. Her sister seems to be able to temper and channel her, and when she's in the Tower Nara has never so much as littered. She's not breaking any rules, and when she's out in the field, she's a juggernaut. So long as the danger she poses is aimed at the threat against the Tower and the City they'll keep right on pointing her at them."

"It just seems wrong," she said with a scowl. "At the very least, she needs help-"

"Oh I know," he said. "So does Zavala, and Ikora. Her…condition is not being ignored. We're doing our best to figure out what happened and to help her but it's slow work."

"And her sister? Is Blayd…?"

"Oh, Blayd's normal. A bit quieter than she used to be but otherwise her old self." He stopped walking and she realized they were outside an arched doorway. They could hear voices inside and from the echoing sounds, the space past it was a decent size. "Well, here you are. Zavala's inside. Big, bald, blue, you can't miss him. I'm going to see if I can't track down Kalina."

She didn't make an immediate move toward the arch. "Will she be ok?"

"Oh, yeah, she'll be fine," he said. "She wasn't a big fan of the Crucible anyway, I doubt she'll shed too many tears over being banned."

"If he banned her for sending Rhonda and Ian back to the Tower to protect them from Nara, I'm surprised it hasn't happened before now," she said. "I mean, she's had to have done that before, right? Saved newborns from Nara torturing them?"

"Oh, no. She tends to avoid the Crucible altogether if the Twins are even rumored to be inside," he said.

"Then why didn't she stay away today then?"

"I don't know, she's weird. She must like you," he said. "Don't keep Zavala waiting."

He started to turn to go when the sound of running footsteps approaching the archway, several of them, reached their ears. A moment later a dozen figures appeared through it, led by another walking wall (big, blue, bald…must be Zavala, she thought) and a petite human woman with dark skin and close cropped hair.

"What's going on?" Cayde said, immediately falling in with the group, none of which had slowed their stride. Not wanting to just remain standing there like a baffled idiot, Minerva could think of nothing else to do but follow along as well.

"Patrol's been tracking an incoming ship," the woman said. She had a soft and subtle accent that Minerva could not place. Her Ghost captured it in his Russian translation perfectly. "Came from the Moon. It's Hive."

"A Hive ship? And we didn't shoot it down?"

"It's transmitting Guardian codes," Zavala said. His voice was deep, but not as deep as Minerva imagined it would be before she heard it. "Not mimicked or stolen, the encryption is directly from a Ghost, verified by our own."

"One of our people landed on the Moon and stole a Hive ship?"

"Yes, but apparently there are about five years between those two events."

"Wait, what? Are you saying-"

"The codes belong to one of the Vanished," Zavala said. They topped a short stairwell and Minerva suddenly recognized where they were. Doors slid open and they were rushing out onto the same landing deck where she and Kalina had arrived that very first day. A crowd of mechanics and robots were clustering near one of the gantries where a ship every bit as vile and ugly as the rifle Nara had been using floated anchored. It was beaten and scorched and though no fluid seemed readily apparent, Min had the distinct impression it was bleeding.

"Clear out, back up," Zavala said, and the crowd moved and thinned, parting to allow the group forward.

A human woman, pale and blonde and peppered with freckles, was standing and staring at the ship with narrowed eyes. In her hand she held a spanner the size of a small club. She only half glanced at them as they approached, slowing as they took in the ship.

"I don't like this thing on my gantry," she said. "It stinks."

"Has anyone-" Zavala began, but was interrupted by an AI standing at a nearby console.

"We have transmat signature," it said.

Dancing motes of light swept out of nowhere and formed into a figure already in motion. As it solidified it stumbled and nearly fell.

There were gasps around Min, from the crowd. The freckled woman took a step back, her dirty hand tightening on her spanner. The only ones that seemed not to move at all were the three Vanguard.

The figure recovered from its stumble and continued forward. It was hunched as if in pain, limping and weaving. Pale skin holding a faint hint of corpse gray was visible only on the lower face and hands. Everything else was shrouded in tattered dark clothes, the soil-grimed remains of what looked like a Hunter's cloak. A strip of this filthy material had been tied over the face- over the eyes, and thick black streams of some kind of smoke or liquid poured from it like tears.

Those eyes. Those eyes. They were hidden behind the blindfold but they were still visible, glowing a bright but sickly green like fairy lights, like will o' wisps deep in the shadows of a swamp.

There were three of them.

The woman with the dark skin and the short hair reached a hand toward the figure as it stumbled forward, but Zavala gave a 'wait' gesture. The figure kept on two steps, three, did not even look at them or the gathering crowd. Those three ghastly eyes were fixed on Minerva.

It stumbled again and Minerva's body did two things instinctively. The first was to reach out and catch hold of the creature's arms to stop it from falling. The second was to simultaneously lean back away from the thing as if it were a leper, writhing with contagion.

Holding the arms felt like holding heated wires, corded and wrapped in cloth, and filthy fingers scrabbled at her forearms a bit before they clamped hold and dug in. Knees went weak, but Minerva kept the creature upright.

Then it spoke.

Then she spoke.

"Their voices, screaming in the dark," she said. Her voice was deep, mournful, yet heated with a passion. Her broken fingernails were digging into the pads still on Minerva's forearms, hard enough the ragged ends began to bleed. Then, the corded arms beneath Minerva's hands loosened and as the tattered thing collapsed forward into her arms and into unconsciousness it gasped.

"You silenced them…"