A/N: I know my story postings here have gotten a bit slow and sporadic (though part of that was the holidays), so apologies for that. I have no intention of stopping my fanfics, but I'm still focusing mostly on my original work and that's where the great portion of my writing time/energy is directed. That's just the way it must be. Thank you for your patience and understanding. Hope everyone had a great holiday season!


Mercury was hot.

For many reasons, this was both unsurprising and yet completely surprising. As they transmatted onto the surface, Min felt her pores open up with sweat, and looked upward at the sun. She could easily see the roiling surface of Sol, which itself took up more than half the sky. This close, it should have been a white ball of such blinding intensity as to boil her very eyeballs in their sockets.

For the first moment, she simply attributed the fact she could look directly at it and see that tumultuous surface to the solar screening of her helmet, but that didn't make sense. Mercury had been terraformed by the Traveler during the Golden Age. People had lived here. That wouldn't have been possible if the sun had been at its natural level of blinding and hot when viewed from the surface.

The Traveler had to have done something to the atmosphere itself, to keep out the light and radiation put off by the sun this close to its surface, in order to let people live here, she thought.

Then, realizing that the stubby shapes in the distance, among the ruins, were trees, amended that thought. In order to let life be here at all.

They had appeared in what looked like it had been a courtyard of some kind. All around them were stone buildings in various states of ruin. In the distance, was a desert-like landscape spotted with those few gnarled trees clinging to rock faces and boulders.

One of those buildings appeared to be a large tower, dominating over the others and roughly half a mile ahead of them. It was the only building that appeared to be in any kind of maintained shape, and Min's eyes fixed on it.

"These are the last known coordinates Osiris was known to be in," Gen said, looking around as well.

"Doesn't look like anyone's been here in fifty years," Kalina said, then tapped Min's shoulder, pointing at a sturdier portion of rock wall. "I'm going to get to higher ground, scope things out a bit."

Min nodded, watching as the Hunter hurried up the broken tumbles of stone with the swift sure-footedness of a mountain goat.

"It never gets old, watching them do that," Blayd said, and when Min looked at her, she shrugged a little. "Hunters. Sometimes, I get jealous how nimble they can be."

It had been Kalina's idea that they invite Blayd to come with them to find Osiris, but both Min and Gen had almost immediately agreed. After her help on Luna in hunting for her sister and Omnighul, they knew she would certainly be an asset. More, the time they had spent with her felt a lot like how it had been falling into a fire team to begin with. They worked well together, their personalities meshed, and it seemed pretty natural to include her.

"It's a bit fitting, too," Kalina had told Minerva privately just the night before. "I mean, we have a Warlock and a Hunter. We need a Titan too, to round out the party."

Min had acted affronted at not being a 'real Titan' to Kalina, something that caused a lot of laughter and then a lot of 'making up', which Min had not minded in the slightest. And, honestly, it was the truth. More and more it seemed that Min wasn't a true Titan at all.

'What' she was remained a mystery, and while she still considered herself a Titan and wore the Titan mark, it was plain that far more than they understood was at play.

"It's hard to tell with the level of solar radiation, but I think I'm picking up some energy signatures," Poet said, drifting slightly ahead of them with Lev and Blayd's Ghost Steayl.

"What kind of energy signatures?" Blayd asked.

"Barriers, I think," Steayl said, his voice thoughtful as he scanned. "Consoles, equipment…but its hard to tell. There's something odd, something more than just the solar radiation."

"Yes, I'm getting that too," Lev said. "Scattered and strong signatures, unlike anything I've scanned before."

"Hostiles?" Min asked. "Could it be these Vex?"

"I don't know, but I don't think so," he said, and Poet bobbed a nod.

"I agree. The signatures are too broad. Almost part of the background radiation, not clustered in distinct individuals, like we see with Exos."

Then Lev spoke again, but his voice was Kalina's. {Well, you beautiful gals and…Gen. We're not alone. I've got eyes on three figures down near the foot of that tower.}

"Vex?" Min asked.

{Nah. They look human, but they're wearing protective helmets and rebreathers so it's hard to tell for sure. No weapons I can see, but they're talking together and looking up this way. I think they know we're here.}

"No visible weapons, and not Vex. I say we go introduce ourselves," Blayd said, looking at Min.

"Agreed. Kalina, you got a scope on them?"

{Cake. I can drop them if I need to, no sweat.}

"Stay where you are then until we establish hostility," Min said, then glanced up at the wall where Kalina was crouched. A breeze had lifted, and she was silhouetted against the massive sun, her cloak billowing. "Besides, you look extremely cinematic up there and I know how important that is to you."

{Do I? Ooh! Lev, get a picture!}

Min chuckled as she started toward the tower, the faint 'click' from Lev lost in the sound as he actually took the Hunter's photo.

They headed toward the tower courtyard under Kalina's watchful gaze. The trio of strangers there made no hostile moves, but shortly before they were in view Kalina's voice came through their Ghosts again.

{They know you're coming. They all just stopped what they're doing and looked your direction.}

"Weapons?"

{No, they're just watching. Curious I think, more than anything.}

A moment later, Min could see them for herself. They did indeed seem to just be watching, but as the three came fully into sight two of them turned and went into the tower door behind them. The third, smaller and a woman by the shape of the robe she wore, just continued to wait.

"Greetings, Guardians," this final figure called. She held her hands out in a gesture that was somehow simultaneously welcoming and prohibitive. "We are surprised but not displeased to see you. However, I must tell you, none are allowed in the Lighthouse unless they have passed the Trials."

"Trials?" Gen asked. "What Trials?"

"The Trials of Osiris. A test of strength and worthiness, similar to your Crucible."

"You want us to shoot each other to get in to the tower…uh, Lighthouse?" Blayd asked, sounding amused. Before the woman could clarify, she shifted a little.

"Ah, another one. Welcome, Guardian."

Min didn't bother to look around, knowing it was Kalina joining them. As the Hunter stopped by her side she said, "I get dibs on shooting Gen first."

"It's about time," Gen teased back.

"Ma'am, I'm not sure we even need to get in the Lighthouse," Min told her. "We're here looking for Osiris."

"All who come here seek the same. It is the very dedication of our own life's purpose to come to an understanding of Osiris," the woman replied. Min's brows knit.

"Uh, I get the sense that when I say 'we're looking for Osiris', we mean it a bit differently than you do," Min told her. "We just want to talk to him. He might have some information we need."

Before she could respond, a man had emerged through the tower door again, gently touching her arm as he stepped past her. He was focused on Min. Though he carried no weapon and exuded no real threat, the intensity of his attention was palpable and discomfiting.

He didn't seem to be one of the same ones that had retreated through it. He was taller, and his hooded cloak was a bit more ornate. "You," he said to Min, his voice hushed. "Who are you?"

"My name is Minerva," she said. "We're Guardians from-"

"No," he said, and as he drew a little closer Min could see his eyes were covered with tied bit of cloth just as ornate as his robe. He gestured at Kalina, Gen, and Blayd. "No, these others are, but you are not. You're…something else."

"I'm a Guardian," Min replied firmly.

"Some call her the Valkyrie," Kalina said, and when Min shot her a look, she replied with a lightly amused shrug.

The man didn't seem to have heard of the name. Leastways, he reacted as if he hadn't heard Kalina speak at all. "You…shine. Minerva…" he said her name as if checking its flavor for quality. "You shine with the Light so strongly. I have never experienced the like!"

Min didn't know what to say. What did one say to that? An apparently blind man had just told her she shone. Feeling she had to say something, however, she cleared her throat.

"We're looking for Osiris," she said.

"In a practical sense, not a spiritual one," Gen clarified immediately, and Min knew he'd picked up on the odd way the woman had mentioned Osiris as well. "Is he here?"

The blind man inclined his head a little, and addressed his companion. "Thank you, Sister Lupe. Please go inside."

As she did so, he turned back to them. "My name is Brother Vance. I am Osiris's greatest disciple."

"Disciple?" Blayd snorted. "You act like he's a God or something."

Vance's mouth gained a wry, amused, twist. "Well, they do refer to us as the Cult of Osiris," he said lightly, and Blayd blinked in surprise.

"Do you know where he is?" Min asked.

"Yes, and no," he said, and gestured off to the west. "Many years ago, it is said he entered into the Infinite Forest. None have seen him since."

"Infinite Forest?" Kalina asked.

Vance seemed irritated at having to address anyone but Min, his mouth giving that twist again as he slightly turned toward Kalina. "Do you think that you stand upon a planet, Hunter?" he asked.

Kalina looked down at her feet as if half expecting to see she stood on marshmallow instead. "Uh, yes?"

"This is no longer a planet, Lightbearer," he said then to Minerva, in a far more engaging tone. "Where your feet rest is not Mercury. You stand upon one of the Vex's machines. Over countless centuries, the Machines have hollowed out and replaced what was once the first planet from the sun, and transformed it into a vast machine-world, a computer of infinite power and ability. Osiris called it the Infinite Forest."

As the others exchanged looks, Min frowned. "So you're saying he's gone into a gigantic planet-sized computer?"

"Yes," Vance said evenly. "And none have been able to go in after him. Saint-14 tried, soon after Osiris vanished, but he as well never returned."

"How did he get in?" Min asked.

"I can show you the door, but it will serve you no end. You will not be able to follow. The key to opening the door was lost with Osiris and Saint. It is impossible."

"Min does the impossible," Gen said, and Vance let out a snort.

"I cannot comment on that, but it will do you no good," he said tersely to the Exo. "It took Osiris decades to figure out how to open the door and they took the keys with them. If the 'Valkyrie' as you call her did manage to get the door open and enter, she would be as lost in infinity as Osiris and Saint. Your friend shines with amazing Light, but if returning was beyond Osiris's will and ability, then I promise you, it's beyond her as well."

"We haven't got a choice," Min told him. "We need to find the Black Garden, and Osiris was the only one who may-"

"Oh. Why didn't you say?" Vance asked with a chuckle. "That is amongst Osiris's greatest writings. I have his tome inside. Come."

He headed to the tower door, but when the group started to follow he pointed at them sharply. "No! Only her. If the rest of you want into the Lighthouse, you will have to pass the Trials."

And with that, he disappeared back inside.

"You know, I was unsure at first, but now I'm convinced," Kalina said in an annoyed voice. "I really don't like this guy."

"I second that," Blayd gruffed, folding her arms. "What an ass."

Min touched Kalina's shoulder. "I'll go in and get what we need," she said.

"If you're not back in thirty minutes, we are storming in there after you," Kalina said. "I don't trust anyone who willingly admits they belong to a cult."

"You do realize I'm a member of Future War Cult," Blayd said with a grin, and Kalina rolled her eyes.

"That's not like a 'religious here's your cup of Kool-Aid cult'," Kalina said. "That's more a 'get ready for an inevitable war by becoming unbelievable bad-asses' cult. And you guys are weird too."

As Blayd laughed and Gen started to argue that actual definition of the word 'cult', Min shook her head and gave Kalina's elbow a squeeze before she started toward the door.

"I'm with Kalina," Lev said as she reached it. "Just be careful. I don't like this guy either, and I don't trust him as far as I could throw him. Given that I don't have arms, that's not far at all."

"I'm not worried," Min said with an affectionate glance at the Ghost. "I've got you to protect me, Lev. What could go wrong?"

"That's both sweet and terrifying," he said. "Yeah, no pressure at all."