A/N: I'm back!

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When Min, Blayd, Kalina, and Gen returned to the Tower thirty hours later, they found the whole place in a thunder of celebration.

They didn't feel particularly triumphant. Though they had searched nearly all that time for any sign of Nara, not a single clue as to where she'd gone presented itself. It was like trying to find a minnow in a planet-sized ocean.

Omnighul, as well, had made an escape. And while they had gleefully taken out every pocket of hive they could find, Min knew the Vanguard were correct- it would take years to free the moon from them completely, if it were even possible.

The four of them were almost mobbed the moment they set foot on the gantry, and it was only through Amanda's and then Ikora's intervention that they made it back to their various rooms and collapsed. Whatever inexplicable energy boost Min had gotten after the Ascendent Realm had vanished quickly, and barely had she slumped down to the sofa in the Den than she was asleep.

After she woke, it was a talk with Ikora and Zevala. She outlined everything that had happened in the Ascendent Realm that she could recall, including how Lev had been split in half and then somehow repaired. The Ghost had denied this was possible, but after Min went into further detail, his protests grew quieter and more hesitant.

Ikora was, of course, fascinated with this and the 'white' paracausal powers that seemed to have worked in that Realm, but had no answers for what it could have been. Zevala was more troubled, but as well held no answers.

Once again, there would have to be research. Min's life as a Guardian, it seemed, was to be a never-ending journey for answers.

Cayde was not present at the meeting, and neither of his fireteam gave an explanation for why. Min didn't really ask. She knew Cayde well enough by now to know that if there was any way he could get out of anything even remotely resembling his job as a Vanguard, he'd do it.

Sure enough, after departing from the Hall and finding the Tower was still celebrating their victory at the moon, they found him in the courtyard plaza.

Paper lanterns and cobbled together lights had been strung all around. Several long tables been transmatted into the plaza, and both guardians and Tower civilians alike were gathered around them. It was getting into summer now, and the limited food supplies of winter were not currently an issue. Still, the platters of food that had been laid out seemed a bit indulgent to Min.

Music was playing. Some of it by some actual live musicians, some artificially produced, adding to the clamour. The loudest, though, was coming from Cayde himself.

When the trio first saw him, he was crouched on top of the centermost table, holding out a large, wooden beer stein. Two Guardians, a hunter and a warlock, were filling the stein with two large bottles of beer, and making something of a mess of it.

"What is he doing?" Gen asked, making a tsking sound. "Exos can't drink beer!"

As soon as his stein was full, Cayde popped up to his full height, and lifted the stein – dripping and foaming – high above his head. Then he began to stomp his foot on the table to a beat, and sing.

Rahool makes books on the corner

Zevala makes second-hand gin!

Ikora cracks wise for a dollar!

(wait, that's me!)

My God how the glimmer rolls in!

Rolls in, rolls in!

My God how the glimmer rolls in!

Now we'll give a good bow for Kalina!

And cheer the unstoppable Min!

Gen's winning charm

Keeps you newbies from harm!

My God how the glimmer rolls in!

Every time he hit the chorus, he'd punctuate every 'rolls in!' with stomps from his boots, as the Guardians' around him slammed their own mugs or steins or fists down on the table and echoed him. Kalina, laughing at Cayde's wild antics as he danced and sloshed and stomped his way up and down the table, roared until tears squirted out of her eyes when he worked the three of them into the lyrics. Min just colored and covered her face.

Nearly everyone in the square were on their feet now, cheering him on. So fixed were their eyes, so loud was the singing, that no one noticed the three figures that had appeared in a shift of transmat energy near the far railing.

Then something gold sang through the air, flashing as it whipped end over end. Cayde jolted to a halt, stopping mid-lyric, as the handle of a dagger appeared in the side of his stein, gold beer spilling out from around it. Almost as one, every head there turned and looked at the three strangers.

Two were in a strange sort of dark leather armor. Belts crossed their chests, and they wore what almost looked like padded Titan marks. Over this, on their right flank, was sewn a bright purple, gold, and white standard. Their helmets covered their entire faces save in a strip that showed their glowing, Awoken eyes.

A third Awoken stood just ahead of the other two. She was built like a hunter, wearing dark leathers as well. She had a cloth cowl edged with fur draped over her left shoulder and across her chest and throat, affixed with a bright gold shape that looked similar to the standard on the others' marks. Her dark fuscia hair was gathered into a tight bun at the nape of her neck, and what was left loose to frame her face was short, and asymmetrical. It almost hid the eye patch over her left eye.

The right one, steady and pale, regarded the gathering coolly.

Seeing her, Min had no doubt as to who had thrown the dagger.

As the group looked at this lead woman, she folded her arms slightly. "Now that I have your attention - "

All around the plaza, weapons appeared in Guardian hands, and the air was filled with the sounds of ratcheting as no fewer than three dozen pistols, rifles, snipers, and shotguns fixed on the three strangers.

Only Cayde was not looking at them. His eyes were fixed on the stream of beer leaking from his stein, the puddle at his feet.

"Aww," he said. "I was looking forward to not drinking that."

"I am looking for the Valkyrie," the woman continued, as if she wasn't surrounded by Tower Guardians bristling a large armory's worth of weapons at her. As looks were exchanged, Cayde lowered his now empty stein and walked to the end of the table. He waved a hand in a clear 'put them down' gesture, then hopped down. Pulling the dagger from his stein he went over to the trio, flipped the dagger in his hand, and offered it back to her.

"I think you dropped this."

She took it without looking, sliding it back into a sheath hidden on her waist.

"They're not Guardians?" Min asked her companions. Gen shook his head.

"No. From the look of them, they're from the Reef."

"You know, if we're being too loud and keeping the Queen up, she could have just called," Cayde was saying to the woman. Her eyebrow lifted ever so slightly.

"You must be Cayde."

He planted a hand to his chest. "Ah, ya got me. And you are?"

"My name is Petra Venj."

"I see," he said, clearly recognizing the name. "And the Queen has sent her Wrath because…"

"I am looking for the Valkyrie," she told him again.

"Who's the Valkyrie?" Min asked Gen, but he and Kalina both only shrugged.

"I know I don't much like my job," Cayde told Venj, "But there are times I agree with doing it. This is one of them. You've come without invitation or announcement, interrupted a really good song, and spilled my beer. I'm going to need a 'why' before I just drag one of my Guardians up to talk to you."

"Word of your victory on Luna has reached the Queen's ears," Petra told him. "It has perked her interest. She asked me to come and fetch her the Valkyrie, and so I have."

"She couldn't have called?"

"You're wasting my time, Vanguard," Petra told him.

"Only a little," he said. "You wasted my beer."

Turning his head, he looked around at the gathered group, then gestured over one of the nearest Warlocks. He whispered in her ear and she nodded and started through the crowd, heading their way. No doubt she meant to go into the Tower and fetch this 'Valkyrie', whatever that was.

The crowd parted to let her through, and as she neared them Min and her small fireteam started to do the same. To the Titan's shock, however, the Warlock didn't step past them but instead gave Min a head nod and gestured.

Min actually turned around and looked behind her, before blinking in surprise at the woman. "What?"

"Cayde and the Awoken want to see you," the warlock said, looking as confused as Min felt. "Did you not hear?"

"Uh, Min?" Gen said, putting it together. "I think you're the Valkyrie."

"What?"

The warlock took her arm lightly and tugged her forward, and feeling dazed, Min followed her back through the crowd. Naturally, Kalina and Gen were in her wake.

As they approached Cayde and the strange trio, Venj unfolded her arms and planted her hands on her hips, a smile appearing. "Ah, and here she is. I…well, that's unexpected."

Her smile had faltered, and she straightened a little as her eyes fell on Kalina. Not liking the look on her face Min frowned a little. Whatever had made her pause, however, she threw off quickly, her eyes quickly returning to Minerva. "I am Petra Venj, Wrath to Queen Mara Sov. I have come on the Queen's behalf to extend to you an invitation to join her at the Reef. She would like to speak to you."

"It was my understanding that the Reef didn't allow outsiders," Min said. "Certainly not Guardians. What does she want with me?"

"She did not enlighten me as to the nature of said discussion," Petra said. "And it is true, the Queen does not usually allow outsiders, but as it is her rule, she is free to break it. I do not question her motivations on such matters."

"Min, this is really unprecedented," Gen told her, his tone not so subtly suggesting that it would probably be a bad idea to turn down such an invitation.

"Would my companions be able to join me?" she asked. Petra's eyes flickered over to Kalina so slightly and quickly that Min wasn't sure if she'd seen it.

"That might be…complicated," she said, and Min felt her jaw tense.

"Then my answer might be equally complicated," she said.

"Min, can I talk to you a second?" Cayde asked, taking her arm and excusing them as he drew her over to the side, down the railing. Tucking his head in close to her he said, "I understand your distrust. I share it. Someone's had to have leaked information to the Reef. Not that it's a bad thing, but well. Gen's right. She's never asked to see a Guardian in person before. It could be this opens up relations a bit between the Tower and the Awoken."

"Are you getting diplomatic on me, Cayde?" she asked back, and he gave a weird little shiver.

"I know, it feels really creepy," he said. "I'm not telling you what to do. This may be really good for the Tower and the City. On the other hand, it may be really bad for you. But you did just kill Crota. And the Might. And-"

He gestured expansively, as if crediting her with single handedly building the Tower itself.

"Why does she call me Valkyrie," she asked, and he looked a little sheepish. "Cayde, why does she call me Valkyrie? And how is it that everyone here except me knew who she was referring to?"

"I don't know if you're aware of this," he replied. "But when you light up, you get…well, wings. And kind of a crown thing. With your helmet and your armor, you just…"

"Look like a valkyrie."

"Well, yeah. Some of the others started calling you that and…" When she looked at him again he waved his hands. "Ok, I started calling you that. Just go with it. It's cool."

"I want my fireteam with me."

"Hey, no argument here! But it's not up to me. It's up to the Queen. If she says no, though, I just…well, consider it. Imagine I said something all inspire-y and moving and just go with it."

With a wry twist to her mouth, she turned back to the others, only to find Venj had stepped off a little herself, and appeared to be talking into her wrist. Gen and Kalina were whispering together. Of the audience of gathered Guardians, only a few had returned to the revelry. The rest seemed eager to see what happened next.

As Min stepped back to Kalina's side, the Wrath turned with a slight cock of her mouth. "I have word from the Queen. I have explained things and she is…amenable to allowing your two companions here to accompany you. Only her two companions."

She said this last to Cayde, who had stepped up eagerly. He seemed to visibly deflate.

"We have transportation in orbit," Petra said, returning her eyes back to Minerva. "May we transmat you?"

Min glanced at Kal and Gen, who both nodded to her.

"At your convenience, then," Min said. For a brief moment, she saw Petra and her two silent guards shimmer as transmat energy claimed them, before the familiar rushing tingle passed over her body. A flash of that endless gray, and she was suddenly standing on soft purple carpet in an elegant room.

No, not a room. A ship!

She had thought that meant to bring them digitally to the Reef. Very few of ships at the Tower had the capacity to carry more than one person in physical form. It seemed the Awoken had at least one ship that could carry them as normal.

Great portals, outlined in gold and crystal, showed endless stars and the blue curve of Earth below them, and captivated by the sight, Min strode over and looked out.

Kalina whistled low, and smiled at Min when she looked around. "This is nice."

Petra gestured her two guards away with a flick of her fingers, and with another flick a pair of Awoken, swathed in white silk, came forward and began to set out and pour drinks on a delicately engraved table.

"Welcome, Valkyrie," Petra said, spreading her hands with a smile. "Welcome to the Luminous."