Act IV - Sorrow and Acceptance

[Vault of Glass, Glass Throne]

[Zane's POV]

"Everyone here alright?" Cayde asked them quickly, my gaze resting on the Throne surrounded by Vex of all timelines. "Rookie, you good?"

"No," Being here made my blood boil, but I had to move on, so for once I wasn't okay, I was anything but that. Drawing Lumina forward, the hammer snapped back. "Now I'm pissed."

Vex were drawing closer now, and I wasn't going to let them near, they must have exhausted their Light, and judging by their pouches they had little to no ammo left, guess we showed up in time. Bending my arm back over my shoulder, Lumina brought down a Goblin approaching from the Throne; Twirling around I fired twice, taking down two more Hobgoblins, with the buckshot of Ace beside me as I and Cayde worked in synergy with each other.

Our backs pressed together, my gun faced behind his forward, taking down several Vex that warped closer, lasers flying around us, some managing to hit me but I remained firm, tilting my body back to allow a Praetorian's arm to sail by, Quickfang slicing through the forearm, hooking the blade through its shoulder to wench it down, Lumina slammed against the eye to behead it with a single shot.

Stepping back, I raised Lumina to my right, pointing straight at Vlad, he immediately hesitated, though in a flurry of particles a Hobgoblin took center stage, a bullet now lodged through its Core, bringing it down. "Really, right beside me?"

Pivoting toward the right, I continued to press the advantage with Cayde defending my blindspots, powerful bullets rang true against bronze and gold, lasers burned my unarmored points, but they never made a dent in the Wolf Pelt Weave, thank you, Summer. Channeling surging pulses of Arc through me, I leapt into the air, drawing Lumina down, slotting a new cylinder to dome three more Goblins, rotating my body on impact with a Minotaur below, a burst of lighting channeling into my roundhouse kick, sending the machine sprawling across the ground.

I ducked, spinning around again to perform the same technique on a Hobgoblin, my boot sending shockwaves coursing through the construct, a 'Finisher', if you will. Another round sailed past my face, Cayde bowing his head, avoiding a laser while bending his arm upwards, taking down another Hobgoblin. Dashing forward, my knee crashed against a Goblin, using the leverage to carve in two more Goblins apart with quick slants of Quickfang, sliding under the blasts of a Praetorian.

Slicing quickly the Tibias were severed. The Precursor fell, my body spun around to plunge Quickfang through the back of the abdomen, staining my blade with fluid. Hopping onto its shoulders I jumped high toward the ceiling, pressing my feet to the ceiling, the lightning coursing through me snaking over brass. Bending back down my blade gleamed green, slicing massive arcs through a small gathering of Goblins, carving in a spiral of emerald, seeing parts and glass rain around me, coming back to stand next to Cayde, the two of us reloading.

From the holes and blindspots arose more Vex, Harpies now among them, thankfully no Supplicants, but this would be very one-sided with just the two of us fighting, but not unbeatable. Without a word our weapons pressed against one another, staring down the drones of the Vault. Harrow died to protect them, if anything, I can't let it be for nothing.

*Schhwaff-Schhwaff-Boosh*

We let out a small sigh, seeing the two shadow shots sink into stone, anchoring the Vex and bringing their shields down. With my Arc dwindling over my body, me and Cayde raised our arms, gone were Lumina and Ace of Spades, instead, the molten construct of sunlight took form, burning across our armor, scorching the ground beneath our feet.

Stepping once, our Golden Guns fired once, taking down two Praetorians, the shards erupting to cause a massive chain of Void-infused implosions, followed by three more streams of molten Light through stragglers outside the shadow shot range, then with a slide back-to-back, we pinned down the remaining Hobgoblins with two golden lines of fire, a molten display of fireworks basking us in sunlight.

The fires died out, and the Glass Throne was once again silent, only Atheon parts rested at my feet, granting me a large breath of air I never knew I held, the weight of this place had taken alot on me, it still has a hold though, only until we're all outside, where I can see the volcanos of blue fire and the lush green of Venus' jungle will I feel satisfied.

"I never expected to be down here again... it's ironic really," I humored halfheartedly, turning back to the group and seeing them finally lower their guards, they deserved to after losing Harrow, who I promptly knelt beside, Cayde shaking his head solemnly. Ceres hadn't budged at all from his side. "...The last thing you want someone to say is 'that it's not your fault', but believe me, if it was, then I doubt you would have lifted my gun."

"...I-I'm so... so sorry..." Her head turned to me, seeing tears trailing down from under her helmet made me agitated for some unanswerable reason

"I am too, but... we need to go, I don't want to leave him here but we can't get him out of this Throne, let alone the Gorgons' maze," My head turned slowly to Sparrow, while I expected him to interject, he held onto Harrow's rifle, nodding once

"él entendería." I have no idea what he just said but I could take a few guesses, judging by how he was standing and his tone of voice. Just then, two sets of footsteps came toward us, less metallic, with slight grunting too

"You know, next time, let me do the killing and you can be a crutch." Dimitri was complaining, I'm surprised, given how she didn't seem to mind before

Held upright against her left side was the recently saved Taka, Dimitri wrapping an arm around her back to hold her up, while draping the Titan's arm over her shoulder. One look at the blue-haired girl's weak smile made everyone's spirits rise.

"Taka!" That made Ceres twitch next to me, her head peering up beside me, tilting to look their way. Taka did the same, one eye closed but she could see it, Harrow's body, Ceres' blood-stained hands, and from there she struggled out of Dimitri's hold, my sister tried to tell her otherwise but against the stubbornness of a Titan it was futile

"Geez, don't strain yourself, idiot." Her whisper went unheard by most. Still, Dimitri was a softy at heart

"...you're alive... I... I should have done something - I-I couldn't even save you... o-or Harrow-" Ceres' voice broke, Taka limping down to quickly pull Ceres into a tight embrace, silencing her desperate attempts to apologize. Even from where I sat, Taka bit her lip, holding onto Ceres for dear life, even though her hands were shaking

"Shh, it's okay, you did really well, Ceres, don't you EVER blame yourself for what happened, don't ever do that." Taka scolded her, and Ceres only crammed her head into Taka's shoulder, softly weeping while I turned to Cayde, seeing his jaw drop, his and Artemis' eyes wide

"Zane... you... might want to look." Even Rika was aghast at whatever had them spooked

"Huh? What's up, Cayde?" Standing back up, my hand rested on Lumina, expecting to see whatever did this to Harrow, or maybe another Axis Mind. My gaze followed his, mainly because his hand clasped my jaw, turning it in the same direction

!

Something caught in my throat, while my feet tripped a little, while the armor was strange and not something I've seen before, the helmet was gone, revealing to me a face I... I thought I'd never see until the day I died, or worse. I knew this wasn't the Vault's work, no matter how you look at it, there was no way she was standing here, yet, it made sense that she was, her fate in this strange place was never confirmed, only an assumed worst-case scenario.

Her smooth feminine features and dark purple plating, with pink eyes and mouth accents, combined with those four, small antenna poking out from the back of her scalp were still engraved into my memories, so much so that something in me melted away, the guilt I harbored myself had finally broken down a little more.

"Eva! I-It really is you!?" Instead of tears I instead jumped high with pure joy, running over to embrace the Exo with all my might. "You really are alive! Hahahaha! S-Summer was right, she was right!"

"Tisk, 'course she was, when has that ever been debatable," Eva snorted, and I half expected her to shove me aside, but I felt it, a soft pat on my back, that only made my heart jump higher. "You did it, Runt, you actually pulled through."

"Couldn't have made it without Summer and Echo, but..." She and I parted, a hand rubbing against her head, eyes downcast

"I know, Atheon made that reality far too many times, I'm sorry that you had to go through that." Now that creeped out, stepping away

"Why are you so nice, this is kind of creepy." Her hand whacked me on the back of the head. "Ah, there it - Ow!"

She breathed slowly, glaring back at me. "Watch it, Runt - Now, we can work out everything later, won't be long until more Vex arrive, and I've had my fill for rest of my life, thank you."

"She's right, Guardians," Cayde took it upon himself to make the hard choice. "I don't want to just move on out while everyone's still wound up, but if we don't move we'll be next, that's a pill we all need to swallow."

"...While I don't like the idea of just moving on while we process this situation, if that entity comes back I doubt we have the firearms to deal with it," What did Vlad mean by that? What 'Entity'? "Still, what's your choice?"

"...Why me...?" Ceres murmured, clearly dumbfounded by his question. Her head bowed again, still holding onto Hard Luck tightly, which made me smile a little. "Why would any of you trust me?"

"Are you kidding me? How in this universe could you have predicted that thing would show itself and try to take us down? Tell me, what are the odds?" Morbin demanded, stepping toward her with his arms crossed

"I... don't know-"

"Right, you don't. So stop feeling sorry for something that was never your fault, if anything, none of us were to blame, even he said in his dying breath for you not to blame yourself," Morbin grumbled, pointing dangerously at our leader. "So shut up and tell us how we're going to get out of this alive, or so help me I will punch you, Red."

While harsh, his words seemed to cut deep, seeing as she mulled it over, head peering up at me, Dimitri, and Cayde hopefully. "Please, take the vanguard, those with ammo left, take the rear, anyone injured or without much ammo left should stay between both groups and only use your weapons when absolutely necessary."

"Finally, something I can do," Morbin flipped Judgement, a slug now loaded. "Let's get the [BEEP] out of here."

"Amen!" Dimitri waved her arms high, hoisting Taka back around her shoulder

"I can walk, Dimi, it's-" A hand was placed over her mouth, making the Striker blink

"For once, stop being so modest and lean on someone, I'm okay with that..." Dimitri tried to keep her head turned away from Taka after that; Aww, so sweet, even Taka looked surprised, her eyes finally resting again with her head against Dimitri's shoulder, though Dimitri did look back. "You've done enough, old man... thank you."


[Flashback]

So... not to sound uncaring, but how is it you survived, Mi amigo?

Oh! I can answer that, it's a little stressful though... Taka?

It's... fine, Zane, go ahead and tell them.

The darkness of this abyss made it almost impossible to see ahead, say for looming shadows and the ever-constant flow of a stream in the distance, even with the old map I had of this maze, avoiding the Gorgons was stressful, having to hide in waiting for so long made my patience wear thin, I couldn't waste time, not now, I had to reach them, to find Ceres and keep them from Atheon's wrath, or atleast aid in stopping all this time manipulation.

"This place is just creepy, to think this was under our feet all this time." Dimitri whispered to us, my eyes fixed on the rudimentary path the Gorgon took, how close were we to being erased? Would the outcome have been different? Would we have called it all off and just gone home? Would I had vanished in their place?

Shaking my head clear of those dark thoughts, I motioned for them to follow, in a way, it was awkward leading Cayde of all people. usually, he'd take the lead but I guess I did know this place better, still though, very strange events we find ourselves in sometimes.

"Rookie, how's it look? These things are giving me the creeps, brrr, is like staring into Zavala's eyes when he's angry... well, angrier." I didn't reply, holding my hand out while we remained against the far right of the maze, nestled between two boulders while the blue glare arced our shadows, but no alert was made. "...That will never not be creepy."

"Almost at a point the Gorgon's don't go down, just through... here?" My head tilted, the doorway was wedged open, a large rock had pried the doorway ajar, usually, this meant they triggered- Oh no! "They alerted a Gorgon!?"

"Wait! Won't that mean we - h-hey, Zane?" I ignored Dimitri's hushed yell, scrambling through the crack as light poured into the large chamber, a chest sat untouched up top, down the stairs in the center of the curved wall floated a ghost, not one of those phantoms, and I recognized the design anywhere

"CT?" Hearing my voice, the ghost turned with a wide shell, flying straight toward us, Rika appearing alongside Artemis, and Ray. "Hold on, if you're here then where's-"

"Z-Zane, thank goodness you're here! I-It's Taka, she... she's... I-I don't know what's happening!" CT flew off in a panic, the six of us followed her around a small wall, to my horror I felt as though my heart sank with rapid beats. "Taka! Taka! Open your eyes!"

Taka's armor was stained with blood and strange, golden code, the same snaking, cubic design the Oracles were constructed into. Her armor looked to be shifting in and out of reality itself, with her helmet gone her eyes cracked open, cheeks dry with tears, teeth biting down on her lip against what I could imagine was unbearable torment. Dimitri never hesitated to move to her side, reaching out to touch her.

"D-Don't t-t-touch... b-b-bod-d-dy... p-p-pai-i-in," Her eyes weld up with fresh tears, a tiny, pitiful smile on her lips as Cayde knelt down beside her, taking a look at the golden code diligently, though his expression was hard to read, and I hadn't a clue as to how I could resolve this, how can you keep someone from being erased from time? "O-o-others... o-okay-y-y."

"That's good and all but we're more worried about you," Cayde grimaced. "I'm not an expert but from what I can tell your Light has been drained significantly, but what's left is keeping you... stable, along with CT here - To put it bluntly, you-"

"Don't say it, we can fix this!" Dimitri bellowed, her fist slammed against the wall, I couldn't see her face through the visor, but I couldn't begin to imagine how she felt. "We can't just let her die, I can't..."

"D-Dim-m-mi?" Taka's voice was hoarse, hand reaching out to touch her visor, despite the pain that flared up in her eyes, that smile didn't dissipate, even while the code continued to course through her very existence

"The Gorgon," All eyes drew to Ray, his shell floating back at bit at our looks. "R-Remember, the Vex are like any other machine, overload their circuits with electricity and it's bound to fry something, r-right? S-So that's what Taka did, she did something that stopped her from disappearing! If we take out the Gorgon, w-we might negate the effect!"

"While an amazing idea, how would we know which Gorgon to take out? There's eight in this maze and all our extremely durable." Rika reminded us, and if it were true, the chance to save her could lay in defeating the Gorgon still enacting the Oracles' power

"Not true," Cayde pointed to the doorway, raising Ace of Spades. "I caught sight of some strange Harpy having a dance party for one near the far left, could be the one we're after."

"Then let's go!" Dimitri stood back up, hesitating at the sight of Taka staring back at us, flabbergasted. "Ray, stay here with CT."

"B-But what about you!?" The frightened ghost shivered, but Dimitri tapped a finger to his shell

"I need you to help CT in keeping that code from spreading, and if danger comes, just use that lightbulb and blind them, duh," It was abnormal seeing Dimitri acting this way, but given her closest friend is practically being eaten by time I'd say that was a good motivator. She didn't deserve this, not after managing something I've only ever seen Marco - I get it now

"Marco the Nerd strikes again, heh," Finally managing a small laugh after coming down here, I pointed to Rika. "You stay here too, we'll be back."

"I can always count on you to put me a worst spot than before, and I live in your backpack." Rika rebutted, Cayde pushing Artemis toward the group

"Got to have someone to keep them in line for me, try not to blow a bulb." Artemis simply nodded while Cayde took point, reloading Ace of Spades while I turned back to Dimitri, her gaze lingering on Taka, her eyes closed with labored breaths. "Let's roll, Guardians! Dimitri? Rookie?"

"Come on, we can fix this," My hand touched Dimitri, her body shifting away, hands brimming with crackling, purple energy

"..." She was determined, and it was a chilling sight. Instead of Cayde, Dimitri ducked under the doorway, stepping through as we followed suit, leaving our ghosts to watch over Taka, and hopefully, it wasn't too late to stop this, I failed to be fast enough to save Echo, but I won't this time

I raised Lumina proudly in both hands, holding on as though my life depended on it. "Please, Echo, I could really use your strength right now."

"-the Gorgon they encountered must have been -"

"There it is," Dimitri pointed ahead sourly, the Gorgon was actually only a few feet from the doorway, the course of its watch disrupted thanks to the significant damage dealt to the chassis, bumped and chipped around the broad plates, while the eye was cracked, spitting blue light constantly. Dimitri automatically stood up, though the Gorgon had its back to us

"You thinking what I'm thinking?" Cayde humored, wiggling his metal brow, the two of us looked to each other, then scoffed

"Totally." That still creeped him out how we did that so perfectly

The Gorgon released a distorted cry, instigating another chorus with the rest in an eerie choir of robotics. Dimitri took the lead, sprinting from behind the boulder with her body bursting with Void, brighter and brighter with each step, while I myself went to the left of Cayde, the two of us springing off the walls, hands cast high with the brilliance of a Golden Gun in hand.

"Grrraaahh!" Wave after wave, Dimitri slung smaller Shadowshots aimed perfectly toward the eye, the body of the Gorgon flaring red, but each bolt that struck only weakened it more with the one that followed, this did more than enough to breakdown the Vex from within, pulling parts in a multitude of directions it shouldn't

Dimitri had unleashed four by the time I and Cayde landed shoulder-to-shoulder, Golden Guns raised, one round in the chamber and the mechanism drew the fire from our bodies into a single chamber

*BLAM-BLAM-Schhwaff!*

Two more spearheads flew above us, Dimitri's form flying through the air, while two precise Golden rounds connected with the bolts, igniting a chain reaction of miniature blasts, sending flaming shrapnel and wisps cascading around us, alongside many bioluminescent pieces of machine, the eye of the Gorgon landing by my foot, so while blowing out the smoke from my Golden Gun I crushed the eye completely with a satisfying 'crunch'.

Taking a breath, the sounds of echoes made no indication we were going to expect trouble, these Gorgons worked in singular directives, only ever coming together by the off chance they happened to cross paths, so trouble certainly wouldn't follow. But now I realized it, how strong I've become since back then, Summer was right, even if I didn't fully agree, if not for her I'd have never gotten to where I was, or without Cayde's 'training'.

"Well, that was a thing," Cayde mumbled, not really knowing what to say, so instead he turned to look at Dimitri, her arm against the wall for support. "You good, Guardian?"

"Y-Yeah... I really needed that," I stepped in beside her, linking my arm around her waist with hers on my nape. "I-I can walk!"

"What? And have your heroic return be with your face in the dirt, what kind of awesome brother would I be to let that happen?" Again she grumbled, knowing I was right, though that did make her raise her head as we walked back

"You're taking all of this too well, more than I was expecting?" Ah, that made sense. I hummed, seeing them both with eyes on me, so I nodded, tapping Lumina

"Well, I think it wasn't for the fact I have you two here, and for all the people I've met now I probably would be more... unstable, it still hurts being down here, facing all of my sorrows and fears again, but... I'm not alone, and the more time I spend making my wrongs right again I feel happy, like I really am moving on, even if just a bit." My arm squeezed around Dimitri a bit for some comfort, Cayde's hand tapping my arm. "Thanks, little sister."

"Hmm, let's just make sure Taka's okay... Big brother." I resisted the urge to coo, though Cayde had it harder trying not to laugh, igniting a fury in Dimitri that tightened around my nape. "Argh! Bite me you stuck up Exo!"

"I didn't say anything!" He waved his hands while squeezing through the gap

Entering the safe zone, our ghost returned, with CT looking rather elated, her shell apart to beam a large light over her Guardian, Taka's arm resting against the crook in the wall, panting heavily. "You shouldn't move! But... I think that's fine for now, just sit still."

"T-Thanks C-C-CT, still a l-little weak." I sighed at her voice, seeing the Oracle code gone, but her armor was clean, I guess it reversed time on her gear, it now looked brand new. Taka's eyes reached us, widening with a smile. "You did it? Or am I..."

"You're A-Okay, Guardian! Though I don't know how I feel about saving a Titan - Well, I've done stranger." I nudged Cayde's side to just call it quits, with Dimitri looking far less tense at the sight of her friend being as fine as the day they met, though now a few locks of her hair had turned white, while her left eye was no longer onyx, instead, it shined a soft gold

"Jesus Christ, don't ever have me worry like that again!" Dimitri scolded her, hands on her hips. "You think watching my best friend nearly turn to nothing was stress-free!?"

"Your... 'Best Friend'?" Taka sounded lost in that state of thought, so much so Dimitri hardly noticed

"Yeah! Grah, I hate worrying for people! It's just so... frustrating!" By now, Taka had wrapped her arms around Dimitri, making my sister go completely rigid, Taka's head against her chest

"Then I'm sorry to have worried you." It wasn't often to hear someone who according to Dimitri was 'calm and collected' sound as though they were ready to breakdown at the seams. Of course, Dimitri looked to me and Cayde, and I did a 'hug' guestre while Cayde slapped a hand to his face, my sister didn't get social cues often

"I - mmm, don't worry about it, idiot." It was cute to see her get sentimental but we still had a job to do, and time was never on our side here, but if we could beat a Gorgon with ease, then I wasn't so unsure of Atheon's fate now


[Present Day...]

"The rest you can fill in I *grunt* guess - up you go!" I pushed Sparrow up the ledge, using my triple jump to make the final push, they were all exhausted that they could barely do more than a large jump, let alone a glide, getting out would take time, and we needed them to conserve their strength for the chasm in the Templar's Well ahead. "Honestly, seeing Marco's suicidal tactic again had my heart tick a few beats faster, but it paid off like back then, so good job, Taka!"

"Thank you, he did always think outside the box, like you." I waved off her compliment bashfully, taking point with Cayde, Ceres, however, hadn't said a word, it was clear Morbin's words got to her, but it wasn't guilt riding through her, this was something else

"You know I really did try," I stopped just before the sharp cliff, hand holding onto Lumina tightly. "Those recordings you had to get through this place, the Vanguard didn't have them."

"What?" Morbin murmured

"I did, I kept them so that they'd have no reason to send others down here, to... die, but when I heard all of you were coming here despite that, I gave them to Ikora," It surprised me, to see them all here, they lost someone close, but still did him justice by making it out alive, so with a hand to my chest, I bowed fully toward them all, Rika joining me. "You did what we couldn't, thank you, from the bottom of our hearts."

"Don't mention it, we did this knowing the risks, our Guardians knew the stakes, so did we, but we're glad you both can find closure in all of this chaos." Ghost answered, Deus, CT, Torus, and Skoll all giving their own nods or hums of unanimous agreement

Then from the corner of my eye, a familiar ghost with about several shades of purple stripes appeared beside Eva, eye concealed slightly by the shell. "T-Thank you for coming here, Zaney, I-It's nice to see you too, Rika."

"Save the nervous greeting until 'AFTER' we leave, okay, Freya?" The little ghost nodded, vanishing back into Eva who rolled her eyes at Rika. "What? You know I'm right."

"Well true but she hasn't exactly been talkative in the last... uhh, how long has it been? Well, point is, she hasn't."

"Was she ever?" I rebound, Eva this time said nothing while we approached the gateway into the Templar's Well, scraps of Vex still littering the area, though no more Fanatic pools

"Would you look at that, Guardians, nearly home free!" Cayde broadened his arms with a smile, all of us stepping into the Well, weapons ready for any last-ditch attempts on our lives, though the Darkness Zone had lifted, it still kept me on edge, we thought the same until - !

"Hmm, it seems we have to make the jump though," Morbin pointed out the chasm at the opposite end of the Well. "~NO MORE JUMPING~!~

"I agree, if I have to deal with any more stress I will forcibly reset myself." Vlad fell to his knees, taking a breather. "Made of metal yet Light exhaustion somehow affects us, what kind of design flaw is that anyhow?"

"You sure there's no other way, Rookies?" I snapped my attention to Cayde, himself waiting on an answer

"No, there's no opening close to this ridge, if we tried to use the floating platforms we may end up more lost than before," I quickly surmised, drawing Quickfang instead of Lumina, this was bad, something was seriously bad

Echoes of Venus hummed ominously through the cavern, winds of static and dew continued to pass through the wind tunnel. Echo was first, taken down and thrown to the void below, her ghost never came back, and we never saw the attacker, until Summer took a blow for me, defending me as I claimed Kabr's Aegis, but in the end we only succeeded in drawing it back to the Vault, and I lost Summer there and then, because I hesitated.

I hesitated back then because I was weaker. I am not weak, nor am I afraid to face down this Vex again.

"Ceres!" I dove over Vlad, shoving Ceres aside as her hand reached toward me with surprise, her body falling behind the silver wall that divided us, my visor painted clear on the blade, that edge twisting toward me. With a powerful lunge, my body was sent flying through the air, slamming up against the wall next to the gateway, it tore through my armor, leaving me gasping from the air as blood rained, Rika appearing as my vision faded away

...

...

"*Cough-Cough* Ow..." My body was pinned between the metal and stone of this Well, but I still got a clear view of the attack fading away

Appearing in the crossroads of the central staircase, demolishing the wall hiding the small flight toward the Chasm stood the silver and gold Vex that had been driven into my memory for months. Its weapon appeared from a small rift in time, that was how it got Echo, sending its weapon to a different point in our time to strike her, and it killed me, but I was okay, Rika went unnoticed.

This Vex was unlike any Gatelord though the Axis Mind shared the build of one. A Precursor that safeguarded Vex strongholds, mainly the protector of the Citidel. Unlike most of the Hezen Protective, Its body was covered in silver plates, gold joints clear through more translucent pieces of armor. Vex code adorned its shoulders and the front of the waist like a warrior's mark. The head concealed within a curved, vulture-shaped helm, the eye's glow peering through two slits on either side of the nose.

Clasped in the right hand was a long naginata, a staff of metal decorated with the same coded marks between the blade and staff, a long, rectangular blade radiated with arc energy, skating the edge dangerously. If the Vault of Glass had the Templar then this was the Citadel's protector.

Talos, Spire Overseer

"Z-Zane!" Ceres' voice kept me calm, she must have thought the worst, but I was alright, physically anyway, but with Quickfang low, brimming with bolts of lightning and a slight rumble in my boots, I hadn't dared to take my eyes off Talos, the machine waiting like a warrior would to its enemy

"Don't interfere." My raised hand made the several weapons lower, their owners dumbfounded by my request

"You got this, Rookie?" I looked to Cayde, seeing him stand with a frown, eyes lingering on my helmet sternly. I nodded once. "Then make it pay."

"Right," Turning back to Talos, I felt Arc course through me, my hair standing on end. "Do you... have any idea..." My foot slammed against the edge of the platform, body burning with all the Arc I had, my heart thumped in my ears, and every fiber in my fingers itched with unrestrained fury, boiling my blood. "Where we're standing right now!?"

Talos made only a loud racket of synthetic metal, naginata arching back, slicing the air with a large crescent of Arc, so I remained rooted, slicing upward with my own burst of Arc, pushing myself back a bit from the strain of negative bolts against my blade, but the energy dissipated. Bending at the toes I flew to the left, sprinting across the wall, then from there, I flipped toward the upper right, avoiding a silver gleam that swooped from below, followed by a slam that threw me faster onto the ground next to Talos.

I raised Quickfang before me, a field of umber shrouded me with a crackling effect of the powerful lightning that took a toll on my stamina, but I had his blade locked with mine. So I skated his weapon away, fly kicking the hand with a large burst of Arc, pushing him back.

Again, his naginata rose, the arm swinging the weapon far from its side and across in an arc, then again twice, yet each ring of steel was met with either air or my own blade parrying his. Talos grasped it in both hands, slamming down against my sword, uprooting stone and dust that I quickly retreated to, springing up on a wall, then high to the pillar to my right.

A blade through time dispersing the dust, revealing that I was eye-level with Talos, blade slicing across the nose, followed by multiple strikes that kept me elevated, slamming every strike I had against the helm of the Vex, breaking parts off the armor, my body diving down to avoid his arm. Overclocking Quickfang I swung upward with a large curve of pure currents, exposing the Mind Core through a number of scores through the plates.

*Kiiiin!*

I grit my teeth, my blade bounced off the surface of his own weapon, his recovery was much faster now, and in a flash of white and red my chest took the brunt of his right fist barreling into my chest, my back striking the wall toward the lower level, falling down in a heap where the Aegis would reside.

"Ah, son of a-" I bit the inside of cheek as I pushed myself up again, seeing Talos stomp to throw me against the wall below the rest, hearing some call out to me though through muffled ears. This was just like before, and that clicked so easily, it was like before, only I was not going to die, I had to live, I need to live for them. "Sorry, Rika, but I have an idea so crazy it might just work."

"What do you have in mind?" Can't say now, need it weaker. "...Right...?"

"Just a little longer." I scrambled up, using the force of that stomp to throw me back to where I started. Talos lunged, so I did the same, prodding his slash to disrupt the flow of Arc, causing a backlash on both of us, but I was overcharged with Arc so it didn't matter. Bounding forward I struck up with a powerful uppercut, pressing my feet to the wall I lunged back, slicing between its arm, hooking my fingers into a plate to plunge Quickfang through the lower vertebrae

Pushing back I landed on the stairs, a blade narrowly grazing my helmet, carving electrical, white lines through the stone, a foot slamming me back atop the flight, and with unwavering amount of speed his body had jumped high above me, naginata poised down with a powerful wave of energy lighting up the Well below where I once stood.

His blade was now poised above my head, reaching up I guarded, taking a massive brunt of the force that fractured something in both forearms, though his own armor cracked too, clearly not a wise tactic either. With the chance to cut the backs of Talos' ankles I twirled through, only managing to break away at the plated parts by a small margin. My Arc enhance was gone now, and the strain had struck me, I never exerted my energy like this until now, this was... new. Though behind me, Talos' left hand suddenly begun to crepitate with temporal light.

*Shiiiin*

I couldn't restrain a bloodied gasp from a second blade, more rusted and withered by time surfacing from far below, it drove across the first wound through my armor, tossing me into the air for the present blade to thrust through my armor, shattering the remains of the Wolf Pelt into pieces, while my body soared high, slamming painfully past the group that watched my blood-stained body tumble past them, twitching from how I landed, my face to the floor.

"ZANE!" I heard them all cry out, one of which squeezed with fright, and my vision was slowly dotted with spots, but I remained in the land of the living. To think... it had a blade hidden in the past... just for me? Or did that happen to Summer? Echo? I strained to hold it together, my hand clawing at the ground

You know, if you ever doubt yourself, even if the world is against you, remember that you can be whoever you strive to be, good, bad, Human or Guardian. But if you're lost or can't find a reason to continue, take a step back and see all that you have lost, and all that you have left.

"...Zane... please get up!" My eyes twitched, again, I was lost like back on the Moon, and Ceres and Morbin were there for me, as they are now, I had the strength to take a stand for us back then, so if I can do that now, we'll live, we can see more of this world together. That's all I want, to be with my friends again, just as I was back then

I don't know what kind of thoughts are swimming in the collective right now, but I hope you miserable excuses for machines are pleased with yourselves. Through-out this whole universe, I doubt I could find anything a fraction as evil as you.

My hands pushed under me, blood dripping from my already sealed wounds, Rika herself floating back into my body as I moved above Ceres, her expression still covered by her helmet, mine was too, hiding the scowl I had for the Vex, I hated every one of them, just the sight of them makes my insides turn, they're vermin that needed to be erased from every aspect of time, right here and now.

"Rika, you ready to do something really reckless?" I had a plan, it was suicide but I didn't care, I knew how this was ending, so all odds were completely irrelevant

"I am but - Wait-Wait-Wait, you... don't mean?" It's dumb, isn't it? "Yes... but we're professionals at being dumber than others." That we are, if we live, scold me all you want. "And if we die I will kill you."

Stepping back toward the lumbering form of Talos, both naginatas rose before us, ready to send a concussive wave of Arc toward us. Arc pulsated around me, graced by embers that now flickered around my right hand, both elements conjuring with strange results of unity and instability. Lightning ebbed-and-flowed through my bones, while fire hugged my body, an embrace of warmth consuming my skin.

"Is he!?" Vlad figured it out but made no comment I could hear over the static and roar of flames in my ears. It was perplexing, I almost felt a hand guide across my right, as if to aid me in reaching for my weapon, the smell of roses or was that just me? Whatever the case was, I had charged everything I had into my right arm, the sensation tore at every conceivable nerve in my limb

I reached for my left hip, lightning slicing the air with bolts of Arc snaking between my fingers to form a blade, reaching back around I held it to my right, fire manifesting in a burst of embers, crystallizing into the handle, receiver, and barrel of a gun. With a leap, my right arm reached out to the elements shrouded in darkness, conjuring a Golden Gun coiled with lightning and fire, while the blue blade poked out from under the barrel, the sight now jagged and blue.

Uniting both elements of a Gunslinger and Bladedancer into one, I leveled the iron sights with the Mind Core under Talos' armor, refusing to acknowledge the agony flaring from my arm and shoulder. Again, the sensation of an arm crawled along mine, holding onto the bottom of the gun gently, my eye trained on the core with a single breath.

"Goodbye, Talos!" A final time I pulled the trigger back, feeling a force so deadly and precise that it vibrated through my arm violently. The bullet had the punch of a handcannon interweaved with the high-pitch 'ching' of a blade

A single round was produced in two large rings of orangy-yellow, and bluish-white. The bullet's blowback threw me from the air, but my eyes never left the bullet, lightning, and fire separated, forming a double helix at near light speed, disintegrating both naginatas and punching through the Mind Core with a drilling effect tearing through the other end and into stone, splashing Mind Fluid in a large radius.

An infinity mark was engraved in metal, Talos falling apart with a dramatic eruption from certain points across his body, but it finally fell apart, bringing this cycle of death to a close, it was over. And as I flew back into the earth, I let out a shaky breath. "Goodbye... Fireteam Caelus."

Digging my left hand into the ground I slowed my tumble, my right arm draped low, the armor was torn apart, a large, fresh scar like a lightning bolt snaking along from my wrist to the tip of my shoulder, the right side of my helmet burnt away to reveal my eye and a few locks of my hair. Burns still coated my forearm and hand where the Golden Gun had scorched me, and my Light had all but drained down to the point my vision was slightly hazy.

"Are you that stupid!?" My gaze drifted up to Vlad, seeing him stand above me, probably fuming for what I just did, but I was alive so it meant I kept my personal vow, so I simply lowered my head with a small scoff at the scolding to come. "Summer spent years attempting that trick and you thought you could pull it off on a sheer fluke!? You could have died, forever!"

"I know, but..." I shakily stood back up, clenching my fist. "I couldn't sit back and watch anyone else die," That made Vlad flinch then I did myself. "Ngh! Ow-ow-ow-ow, Rika! Help! Pain!"

"*Sigh* Hold still..." Rika worked her magic and started the healing process on my arm, the pain gravitating to a dull sensation, the skin had reformed though the scar remained, forming a white pattern over my arm, I could move my fingers again, though my lapse of pain made some of them chuckle, even Rika. "You honestly scare me sometimes, dummy."

"Even at the foot of Death's door you still manage to make light on the situation... I'll admit, I missed this." Eva replied in a reminiscent tone. "It's finally over, huh? Never expected to say that after... dammit, how long has it been again? Eight weeks? No... okay, I'll just not ask."

"Eight months, and while that party trick was dazzling, we shouldn't rest ~I AM VERY UNHAPPY WITH THIS PLACE~, so yes, please let me leave." Morbin sighed wearily, while I walked over to Ceres, seeing her stare up at me with an awkward silence between us

"Come on, Titan Lady," My hand reached out to her, still tender but I could bear it for now. "Let's go home."

"Together." I blinked, seeing Morbin with his hand down beside mine, and he looked at me for a moment, nodding, before we awaited our leader to take our hands again

The world could be against us, the Darkness can try and divide us but I know where I want to be, and I will never let go of the two greatest people I have ever met, an Exo with a blunt, logical attitude, and a Best Friend I could never trade for the world, and of course, a ghost I'd never forget for her sass. I'm okay where I am now.

We heard her sniff a bit, both hands reaching out for ours. "...Okay... let's go home, Horizon."

To Be Continued...


And at long last the Vault of Glass is finally over, and I have loved every word and every emotional moment within, with their situation, so many emotions have been thrown around at once that there's hardly time to take anything in, but I think that works best here, since time is against them. I hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter!

Next Chapter: New Light

A day since the success over the Vault of Glass and Zane goes about his day with some strange results, while members of the Raid Team and associates start to move forward, with a little push from Zane's optimistic attitude and Rika' sass of course.

Author's Notes: The use of Bladedancer and Golden Gun together is called 'Light Unity', the hybrid Super is called, 'Golden Dancer', we will see more of this style in the future ;)