Purple streaks of stardust and interstellar particles flew by the cockpit of the Javelin. There were even times when the ship passed right through a large cloud of them, resulting in a mass impact of thousand of tiny, sparkling particles to drag along the windows, opening a space for the ship as it took up volume in their usually untouched area of space.
Aria's heart was racing. She now faced one of the most dangerous tasks she'd been prevented with; having a conversation. It seemed easy enough to simply say it, but to think about the consequences of what would happen to her if she wasn't careful overwhelmed her mind with fear. Plus, the Awoken rarely showed any kind of empathy towards anyone outside of their unique civilization. The only thing she had going for her was the fact that she was also a member of the Awoken, but being Earth-born, she wasn't sure if that would be enough to calm the elitist mentality within the Queen and her people.
Matt turned in his co-pilot seat to face her. "Remember, that button Echo gave you is pinned on your collar. If you're in trouble, just casually reach up to your neck, and press it. We'll come in and get you out." She nodded. Though he'd told her this already a number of times, she appreciated him simply trying to ensure her safety against all odds. "You ready for this?" She wanted to say no, to say anything that would procrastinate the inevitable, but she knew that this needed to be done. She nodded again.
All she could do was go along with the plan. Both Matt and Ash had accomplished great things, had been given the Traveler's blessing of being given a second life, but she felt inadequate next to them, as though they outshone her every feat. This was one of the few things that only she could do, and she was determined to prove her worth to them.
Matt turned back to face the viewport just as they passed through a large purple cloud of dust, and upon emerging on the other side, a small intake of breath could be heard from all three of the Javelin's occupants.
Enormous colony ships, meant to transfer tens, if not hundreds of thousands of people, floated carelessly through the void, inactive and devoid of life. Some had been split in half, while others remained intact though the external damage only hinted at how much wreckage lay inside them. As though reading their mind, Seraph appeared and said, "Every ship that could escape, fled Earth during the Collapse. They made it this far, but I guess most of them died out here."
Aria stared out the windows and uttered, "It's a graveyard."
Ash tried to change the depressing subject, and asked, "How did the Awoken survive out here?"
"No one knows," said Seraph in reply. They continued on until Ash looked over at a beeping noise that began to emit from the console.
"What the- we've got two ships following us, around a hundred and fifty meters behind!"
As if on cue, a voice came through and started to speak over the comms; "Intruder bearing 127, you have crossed into the realm of the awoken. State your business or be fired on by order of the Queen." Ash turned to Seraph, waiting for the Ghost to respond to the hail.
"Don't look at me!" said the young Ghost, "You better say something!"
Aria undid her harness, and walked the view steps over to the console of the ship, between Ash and Matt. "My name is Aria Sorentine. I am an Awoken Guardian from Earth." She added a subtle emphasis on 'Awoken'. "I've come to seek counsel from the inhabitants of the Reef."
Several moments of silence passed, and the trio of Guardians held their breath in apprehension. Finally, the voice came back stating, "Conform to my trajectory. Any deviation will be taken as an act of aggression."
Collectively, the three of them exhaled. Turning back to face Aria, Ash had a slight smile on her face as she said, "Looks like we're in the right place." Seraph only shook her body and asked, "Why is the right place always so terrifying?"
"Because our job mostly consists of eliminating scary, evil aliens so that they don't destroy life as we know it." Matt faced Seraph, challenging her to continue the unintentional debate. She just narrowed her eye, and dematerialized.
The Javelin continued to fly according the the requirements of the sentry's orders, as they descended deeper into the web of the Reef.
-X-
Aria walked down a long catwalk, Reef Paladins behind, and to either side of her. They escorted her down the long platform suspended in the air, stationed high above the ground of the vast cylindrical chamber that was the Queen's throne room. Orange lanterns lit the way, illuminating her face with a soft, flame-like glow. Finally, they reached the end of the bridge, which opened up into a circular staircase that rose up to a platform containing a large, velvet-cushioned throne. Standing next to it was an Awoken male, his long black hair hanging down the right side of his face. She assumed he was the Prince. He greeted them with an icy stare, as though their very presence was disgusting to him.
"So," he called, "these are the trespassers demanding an audience?"
Echo at her side looked up apologetically. "We didn't mean to trespass."
The Prince gave a small huff, and replied, "The Queen herself judges who may, or may not enter the realm." He began to descend the small set of stairs, continuing as he did so, "Me? I see no reason why she should be available for whatever washes up at the reef." He made it to the same level as Aria, and again gave her that cold, displeased glare. "But here we are."
Aria noticed that he wore Hunter clothing, but was obviously not a Hunter. She tried not to think about how he'd gotten his hands on that armor, and instead attempted to sound as sure of herself as she could before starting her side of the negotiations. Her mind thought back to her first meeting with the Vanguard's, and Ikora Rey's lesson in confidence asking, Are those statement, or questions, young one?
She drew her breath. "I've come to ask for help." Before she could even get her next sentence out, however, a pair of familiar looking hands grabbed the side of the throne and pulled the creature they were connected to into view.
"Fallen!" yelled Echo. Aria reacted instinctively, and turned to a Paladin beside her. She reached into the holster of the guard, and grabbed the sidearm inside. She began to bring it back again, intending to open fire on the Vandals which were -
A knife appeared at her throat. She froze, and looked to see the Prince holding it, his eyes practically begging her to give him a reason. She held completely still, refusing to give him one. Though whether her lack of movement was purposeful, or from being petrified in fear, she had no clue. Echo looked on at the spectacle, helpless.
"It is afraid of the Fallen." Suddenly, a beautiful Awoken woman with blonde hair walked up to the throne from behind it. She gave Aria a look over, as though analyzing her for weaknesses to exploit. "It does not understand that these ones are mine." As she sat down, the Fallen Vandals who had remained in defensive positions, now left their alert stances and appeared to be waiting for commands.
The Paladin walked over to Aria, and jerked the sidearm back from her. Once she was unarmed, the Prince removed his knife grudgingly, as though he were reluctant to allow the Guardian to live. He turned to the woman on the throne. "Apologies, your Grace." She looked up at the Queen who appeared to be bored, waiting for Aria to speak. She swallowed.
This is where it was going to be difficult.
-X-
Both Matt and Ash sat in their chairs silently. She stared up at the ceiling while his eyes darted around the viewport, looking for any sign of trouble to come. He didn't expect anything immediately, but that didn't mean that things couldn't change in at any moment. Vigilance was key here.
She leaned against the backrest, thinking about everything that had happened in recent times. All of these clues and missions, leading up to this; a meeting with the mysterious Awoken queen. So many motives and agendas in this war; she was having a hard time keeping track of them all.
Not to mention that she was also trying to deal with her own relate
He looked over at her as she continued to stare with a bored expression above. He smirked. "Not good at waiting around, are you?"
"Is it so obvious?" she replied dryly. A sigh escaped her mouth. "I'm just better at dealing with stuff up-front; I'm not a fan of politics and diplomacy. Looks like it's right up Aria's alley, though," she said looking out the viewport to the doors which Aria had disappeared through earlier.
Whip materialized out of the blue. "Oh, really? You prefer to deal with things up-front instead of dancing around them? Well, then you shouldn't have any problem with telling-"
"NOT ANOTHER WORD." Ash's arm was completely outstretched and pointing accusingly at her Ghost. She looked over at Matt. "Sorry, he's just a bit of a blabbermouth about sensitive topics." She practically hissed the last part, turning once more to stare at the Ghost who moved his segmented parts in a 'shrugging' sort of manner.
"Uh huh." Matt continued to look curiously at her, and she could tell that he was reading her and the situation; did he look a little downcast? Instantly, her mood shifted.
"Hey, is something wrong?"
"What? No, of course not." He sounded like even he didn't believe his own answer, and crossed her arms, waiting.
He gave in with a sigh. "It's nothing really; I just thought it was funny how similar you act to Sara sometimes."
She felt a tightness in her chest; was that a good thing? Bad thing? On the one hand, Sara had been a good person from what Matt had told her, and was definitely someone he enjoyed being around seeing as she was his best friend. That was good. But on the other hand, she didn't want to be compared to Sara again; she'd already done enough of that herself, contrasting the two of them when she was alone at night, able to work with her own private thoughts. She wasn't sure that she wanted to go all of her friendship with Matt being compared to Sara.
"How so?" she decided to ask. He shrugged.
"Just a lot of the same traits; you're very bad at patience and waiting around, like she was." He chuckled. "Once, we were at a carnival together as kids and she wanted some cotton candy. The line was so long, that she ended up just asking someone at the front for theirs once they'd bought it; even paid the person extra for it. Sometimes it got her into trouble, but it was definitely one of her more memorable aspects."
He let his eyes drift over to Ash smugly. "You also seem to get pretty embarrassed about 'sensitive' things too. God, for all the things that she was direct and to the point about, she could be the shyest person around when it came to discussing stuff like her feelings. I swear, she was more scared of that than a groundhog is of its own shadow."
Ash narrowed her eyes in confusion. He smacked his face with his palm. "You don't get that reference of course. It's just a thing with winter, where- ah never mind. The point is, I just saw some similarities between the two of you."
With that, he turned back to the viewport, and stopped talking. She knew it wasn't her fault, but she couldn't help but feel guilty over his silence. Later, she'd try to patch things up with him, make it right. For now, they had a mission to carry out.
-X-
"I am a Guardian, from Earth. We're looking for the location of the Black Garden." The Prince, who had been walking away, sharply turned back to face Aria.
"Why?"
"We seek to end a ritual of the Darkness, draining the Traveler of its light," she responded.
His eyes widened for a moment, before reverting back to a disappointed, but unsurprised look. "You want to turn it into a battleground? How unimaginative!"
"Do you know where it is?" She asked, pushing forward to find answers.
"Everyone knows where it is!" he snapped. "The hard part is getting in."
She tried again. "Can you help us?"
He began to get very close to her, and his voice was low as he spoke, menacing; "And why would we do that?" Spit flew from his mouth in obvious distaste.
Her hand was slowing inching towards the button on her collar before the Queen called out, "The Queen requests counsel with her brother."
With an expression that said, this isn't over, he spun around to walk back towards his sister, the Queen. He knelt down beside her, and she whispered commands into his ear. Aria couldn't even hope to imagine what they were, aside from praying that they hadn't decided to execute her.
The Prince stood up muttering, "That's good." She feared whatever the Queen had said to make him happy, but her worried were cast aside as he turned and said, "Why not? We'll make you a key! How's that?" She was about to accept gratefully before he continued, "All we need is the head of a Vex Gate Lord."
"A Gate Lord?" asked Echo in shock. He turned to face her. "Uh, w- we-"
She interrupted him, "Why do you want a Vex head?" She was curious as to the possible motivation behind such an odd trophy.
"Oh, we don't," the Prince replied in a snide manner, "and I doubt we'll get one either. But it's your only hope of getting into the Black Garden."
With determination in her voice, she said loudly, "I will return." Hopefully the Queen had heard her, and knew that the Guardian meant it.
The Prince either didn't notice, or chose to ignore it, and quipped, "Or die on Venus. Either way." He scowled at her, signaling that it was time for her to go. With an outward appearance of cool composure, but shaking like a leaf within, she turned and began to head back towards the docking bay where Ash and Matt were waiting.
-X-
"Hope you guys weren't too bored in here." Ash's eyes shot open. She looked over to the entrance of the ship where Aria had just entered, and then sat up in her chair.
"Hope you actually got some useful intel out of this trip, I can't stand just sitting around doing nothing," replied Ash.
"They said that we need the head of a Vex Gate Lord." At this, the Awoken teen shrugged. "As for why, I have no idea."
"A Vex Gate Lord?" asked Whip in surprise. "Well, that's going to be quite the enemy to take out." Matt turned to Seraph. "Can you find us a Gate Lord?" She nodded. "Next stop, Venus!" A navigational map pinged on the console, and Ash took hold of the controls, lifting off from the floor of the docking bay, and slowly backing out into the void of space.
Matt looked over at the space between their seats. He hadn't been telling Ash the whole truth earlier; the similarities between her and Sara were definitely there, even some that he'd decided not to share with her. But in reality, he'd been downcast because he felt conflicted.
It was pretty obvious that Ash had at least some sort of feelings for him; whether they were truly romantic or just affectionate in general was yet to be seen. But the fact remained that she did have them; so why did she work so hard to not let him know?
Every opportunity she had to discuss her feelings, she pushed it away- pushed him away. Did that mean that she didn't want a relationship?
Should he even seek one? It had only been a month or so into his new life. Obviously, she was his best friend right now, but that didn't discredit the detail that they hadn't known each other very long. Would it be right of him to invite a romantic interest this early into their friendship? Probably not.
And what of the differences between them? How were these issues not first and foremost in his mind? She was an Exo, he was a human. From what he'd been told, Exos now had souls just like humans; just not the bodies. I mean, the bodies definitely looked humanoid in appearance- but they were still metal and circuit, not flesh and blood. There would be problems to work through, so many confusions to dissipate…
Look, he told himself, she seems to want to keep her feelings under wraps. If she doesn't want to come out about them, then that should tell you something. Let it go.
With that in mind, he continued to remain silent for the remainder of the trip.
-X-
The trio walked through the swampy marshes of Venus. Several times, they passed by blocky looking structures, which the Ghosts had said were ruins of the Vex older than humanity itself. Bits of the hills and mountains were also transformed from once green and living grass to machine, lights pulsing along them. As humanity had left Venus to the machine race, the Vex's terraforming went unhindered, and it wasn't bad motivation to stop them so that the garden planet could possibly be returned to its luscious state.
They'd gone to ground a while back, and followed a trail of Vex signatures that Seraph had picked up. Apparently, the Gate Lord was kept in stasis until woken by more Vex or an intruder. They guarded the time gates that the Vex used to move through, in, and out of time. And they were about to challenge one head on. Matt couldn't see how this was going to help them reach the Black Garden, but he wasn't going to say no and risk losing the Traveler simply because it didn't make sense to him.
Eventually, they reached a large open area. Vex swarmed the hillsides and a massive circular ring stood vertically at the top of a long stone path of stairs. Blocks of stone stood everywhere, as though they grew out of the ground. It looked like some abstract artist had taken tile art to a whole new level.
"Where are we?" asked Matt.
"The 'Endless Steppes'. According to records I've accessed from the City, the last sighting of a Gate Lord was here at this particular time gate. It's up to you to lure it out." Seraph said 'up to you' as though she were absolving herself of all responsibility of anything that may happen next. He didn't like that, or what it implied about the Gate Lord's durability.
"Are we ready?" The question came from Ash who was looking at him and Aria expectantly.
Both of them nodded. "Let's do this," muttered Matt.
They began to engage the Vex guarding the time gate. Though the numbers were staggeringly against them, the Guardians had the element of surprise, and within ten minutes, they were walking over the broken and destroyed bodies of various Goblins and Hobgoblins. There even lay a Minotaur or two nearby, a testament to their fighting prowess.
Another ring was stationed in front of the enormous one, but instead of being placed upright, this one was flat on the ground. "That's how you're going to summon it. I hope you're ready." Seraph sure didn't sound ready, but what could Matt do? This was the only course of action they could take.
Stepping inside the ring, he watched as white cubic lights began to rise from the edges of the ring. They formed a white wall of light around three feet high, each square constantly fading in and out. Once the wall had reached its maximum height and was completed, the larger ring standing upright began to activate, and a swirling mass of light and particles began to emit from it. Matt began to step back from the ring, whatever he'd set in motion was already done, and there was no reason for him to be standing so close when-
Then the Gate Lord appeared. Three stories tall, it looked like a Minotaur that had taken steroids far too long. It materialized through the time gate as segments and separated limbs, but once through, they all connected and formed the walking death machine. It stood upright, and turned its large red eye to face Matt, its summoner. A series of squeals emitted from it, and he knew what it was thinking.
"Move!" he yelled, and he dodged out of the way as a large purple projectile shot from the Gate Lord's arm and splashed around where Matt had been standing just a moment before. Ash and Aria had taken defensive positions behind a row of blocks, and were firing in bursts at the Gate Lord's white center of its torso. It turned its attention to the puny threats that dared to shoot at it, at fired off a few cannon rounds. The two women were forced to evacuate cover immediately as the large explosions practically melted the blocks, as it would have their bodies had they stayed.
Matt unslung his sniper, and aimed for the white center. He got a few rounds off before it noticed him, and though it had probably done more damage than his hand cannon, it still hadn't made a dent in the thing. He rolled away to avoid splash damage from a nearby explosion, and called out to his team mates; "We need a lot more power going into this thing than our weapons! We need to super up!"
He began to sprint towards a spot around fifty feet in front of the Gate Lord, and hoped they'd heard him. Evidently they had, because they too ran to meet him at the same location. They turned to face the Gate Lord, and began to summon what light they had. Matt's hands and body began to radiate heat, and Aria's hands began to emit a purple aura of Void energy. They continued to charge, but it was too late.
The Gate Lord had seen them run into an easily attackable position, and fired no less than five rounds directly at them. Splashing on the ground and around them, they caused so much damage to the area that the stone ground caught fire from the energy of the blasts, and smoke billowed into the air. It was sure that the insignificant life forms had been neutralized. But it hadn't waited until the smoke cleared.
The smog began to part in the wind, and standing in the center of the cloud were the three Guardians, protected by a purple bubble-like shield. The Gate Lord's weaponry hadn't even scratched the surface. It stood shocked for a moment, giving Matt enough time to yell, "NOW!" and jump into the air with his now golden hand cannon. He fired three shots of pure solar energy into the Gate Lord's center. The damage level was severe, and it knelt down, attempting to recover. It never had the chance to, as Aria floated up and hurled her Nova Bomb directly into the mass of the Gate Lord, completely obliterating its body structure. Its body exploded into several pieces, including its head.
The cranium of the Gate Lord flew up in the air, and landed, smoking, at their feet. Damaged, but mostly intact. Seraph flew over, and dematerialized it, storing it for later. "Well done, you three. You managed to kill a Gate Lord, one of the most infamous foes humanity has ever had to face in this war."
Matt and Aria panted, trying to force air into their lungs from their quick use of their supers. Ash had already collapsed on the ground. Though her Ward of Dawn was impenetrable, all the damage inflicted upon it sapped her of her strength the longer she'd kept it up, and five shots from the Gate Lord's cannon had nearly caused her to pass out. She felt a shadow block out the light above her, and she reached her hand up to grab Matt's extended one, helping her to her feet. She tripped as she stood up, and fell into Matt's arms as he caught her. They locked gazes for an instant, and then let go quite suddenly. Matt coughed awkwardly as she looked away.
"I do hate to interrupt, but I'm afraid you can't leave quite yet."
The three Guardians turned to face the unknown voice. Standing roughly ten meters away from them, was a newcomer. They wore short Warlock robes, black with red highlights. They pointed their hand at Seraph, implying they wanted the head. "I'm going to have to take that. Can't have you three getting any closer to the Black Garden."
The voice was definitely male, though somewhat synthetic sounding. Matt narrowed his eyes, wondering. He faced the mysterious individual. "And why is that, Guardian?"
"Oh, well for starters, I'm not a Guardian. At least, not the kind of Guardian you are." The stranger took a few menacing steps towards them. "And second, because my master would become quite displeased if you three did manage to reach it."
Matt started reaching for his hand cannon. "You're the Messenger."
The stranger shrugged. "If you're talking to the Hive, then yes. Like I'm sure you've seen already, each army has their own name for me. I'm a Diplomat to the Fallen, an Ambassador to the Cabal." They began to pull a knife from a sheath on the left side of their waist, and a gun from a holster on the other side. It was a hand cannon, but it didn't look like any kind of hand cannon that Matt had ever seen. "To you? I could be your worst nightmare." Wicked edges and blades lined the exterior of the gun, as though it would hurt just to even pick it up. It could have been used as a secondary knife instead of a gun.
"Oh, you like this?" asked the Messenger, gesturing to the hand cannon. "It's got quite the bloody history behind it… going from hand to hand, each owner having killed the last. I am no exception. As the saying goes, 'birds of a feather, flock together', and this gun is just as dark as I am. I like to think of it as a little 'Thorn' in the side of my enemies." He gave a short laugh. "And I'm sure that you'll all know how it feels in just a second. It was a pleasure while the adventure lasted, but unfortunately all good things must come to-"
Matt flipped his hand cannon out of its holster as the Messenger spoke, and immediately fired off several shots. The Messenger reacted with the agility of a cat, as though he'd been expecting him to shoot the whole time. He leaned out of the way, and began to shoot several rounds of the 'Thorn' in Matt's direction. He just barely evaded them, and watched as one of the rounds hit a chunk of the blocks behind them. Imbedded in the stone was a nearly four inch, pointed blade. It looked like the 'Thorn' literally shot thorns. He probably should have expected that.
As soon as Matt had fired, Aria and Ash had unleashed their own weaponry against the corrupted Warlock. The Messenger began to move his hands in front of him, faster than the eye could follow. Short trails of purple followed them, and he could see that the Messenger was literally deflecting bullets and casting them away with void energy. "How come you can't do that, Aria?" muttered Matt. She gave no answer, as she rolled to avoid a burst of purple that had threatened to explode in her face. Matt continued to fire at the Messenger, not hoping to hit him, but at least attempting to stall him from firing off that devastating Thorn again.
"Ash, keep firing! Wait until I get close!" "What?!" she called, but Matt was already moving. True to his command, she kept suppressing fire up long enough for Matt to reach the Messenger. Unfortunately, his actions hadn't gone unnoticed, and right as Ash stopped firing, the Warlock brought forward the knife that he'd equipped earlier.
Matt raised his left forearm to block the descending arm. Using his right fist, he threw a punch into the Messenger's stomach, hoping to stagger him. The Messenger, his right hand still trapped above Matt's forearm, now dropped the knife into his left hand waiting below, and swiped. The knife dragged across Matt's chest plate, and Matt used his right hand to grab the wrist of the Messenger's now knife wielding one. His attention distracted, Matt wasn't able to brace in time for the Messenger to swing his now unguarded arm directly into Matt's helmet. The Hunter flew back a few feet, but still managed to stay on his feet.
"Impressive." The Messenger crossed his arms, and stood at ease. "Your skills are clearly not exaggerated. I almost hate to kill you, but orders are orders."
"In that case, you won't mind if we return the favor." Ash stood behind the Messenger, having looped around as he'd focused on Matt, while Aria kept her aim trained on him at all times. Her shotgun was aimed directly at the back of his head, and he knew it.
He sighed. "Oh, come now. Surely even you know that this isn't an even fight."
Quick as a flash, he ducked and brought his arm behind him, knocking the barrel of Ash's gun aside. He ripped it out of her hands by the barrel, and then swung the gun with mustered force right back into her helmet. The impact was so great that it shattered the visor, and as she flew backwards, bits and pieces of plexiglass landing all around her form.
Matt wanted to rush to Ash's side, but he had to focus on the task at hand. Aria opened fire as soon as she'd registered his movement, but his action had lasted less than a second before he'd begun to deflect the bullets as normal. Matt saw movement out of the corner of his eye, and had to focus to keep his gaze on the Messenger rather than checking on Ash, as he knew what was about to happen.
The Messenger looked bored deflecting bullets, until he heard a voice to his side yell, "Hey asshole!" Reacting out of instinct, he turned to face the noise, and Ash's arc powered fist met the front of his helmet, creating a miniature shockwave. The Messenger's punch may have hit Ash like a truck and crushed her visor, but her force slammed into him like a train, and completely destroyed the helmet. It flew off in pieces, and the Warlock tumbled backwards from the impact.
Now on his stomach, the Messenger looked up. It was a male Exo, but was surprising was his face; just like Ash and the Stranger, his paint scheme was white with silver accents. He looked up to see Ash standing a few feet from him, and his mouth dropped. Her visor was completely destroyed, and it allowed him to see her face properly.
"No… it can't be…?" he began. He didn't have a chance to get any other words out before a sniper round fired from Matt's rifle caught him in the torso and exited out his back, as the Messenger's guard had been temporarily lowered. The Messenger clutched at his chest, and cast a small void shield to his side, to prevent any other surprise attacks. Glaring at Matt from behind the shield, he spoke; "Though you may escape today, do not think that you are lucky enough to evade me forever. We'll meet again."
He faced Ash, and repeated, "We'll meet again," though this time with a somewhat softer tone. As soon as he'd finished, black and green light surrounded him, and he vanished in a flash of sickening colored light.
Matt walked over to Ash, Aria following behind. "You alright?" he asked tentatively. She turned to face him, surprise and shock in her eyes.
"He… he recognized me, just like the Exo stranger did. And his face, and her face, they're both like mine!" She gave Matt an expression of helplessness and confusion. "How do they know me?! Why would I know either of them from before? I'm so lost!" Matt thought about what she needed, and reached out and pulled her into a hug.
She fell silent for a second, unsure of how to react, but then reciprocated and accepted by hugging him back. "We'll get this sorted out, I promise you. Before this is all over, we'll solve this mystery," he assured her.
He turned to Aria as Ash rested her head against his chest. "Hey, nice job with the Gate Lord. Without your Nova Bomb, I don't know how we could have gotten him down in time." He gave her a nod, and Aria felt her chest swell with pride, having finally done something to prove her worth. Regardless of how valuable it had actually been, his praise warmed her heart, and she was satisfied.
He turned back to Ash. "And your Ward of Dawn saved us. Not to mention that sweet knockout punch of yours. You practically knocked his head off!" Ash smiled a little, and he felt good for getting at least some kind of positive reaction. She definitely needed a pick-me-up right now.
"Alright, we've got the Gate Lord's head. Let's head back to the Awoken, and give them-"
"Oh, I don't think so!" Seraph interrupted Matt with an authoritative tone. She flew closer towards him, and turned to his hand still holding Ash close to him. "We're not going anywhere until you three have gone back to the Tower. You all need to rest up, to relax for a bit."
"Seraph, you do realize that humanity's existence is at stake?" asked Matt, his helmet covering up his raised eyebrow and quizzical look he was giving her from behind it.
"Yes, I'm fully aware, but one day isn't going to make it die any faster." Without another word, she looked up at the sound of the approaching Javelin, and dematerialized, presumably aboard. A moment later, the other three were teleported into their seats, and Whip began to fly them back towards Earth.
-X-
After a lengthy debrief to the Vanguards for their extended absence, the trio had walked to their respective rooms. But Matt couldn't fall asleep. Tossing and turning, he tried to find some way to get comfortable and pass out, but his mind wouldn't stop processing information. Why did the Awoken need the Gate Lord head? Who was this Messenger Exo that had recognized Ash? For that matter, how did he even know her, or the other Exo female, the one dressed like a Hunter? Questions swam through his mind, and he just couldn't stop thinking of all the possibilities.
Suddenly, his door opened, though quietly. He turned to face the intruder, and saw none other than Ash walking towards him. She wore her black jumpsuit that she usually had on in place of clothes, and rubbed her hands together in a nervous kind of fashion.
"Hey, what's up?" asked Matt, wondering why she too was up so late. "Can't sleep?"
She shook her head. "I have too many questions in my head for me to deactivate. I just needed to get my mind off things for awhile, I hope you don't mind."
"No, not at all," and he sat up in bed. "I can't sleep either." He spoke in whispered tones, as to not wake Seraph. "All I can think about are possible connections between the Messenger and you. You two are so drastically different, I have no idea what you two could possibly have in common."
She just stared sadly at the bed, her past so close and yet so far to being discovered. He looked at her, and had an idea. "Hey, do you want to get out for a bit?" She looked at him curiously.
"Out? Out where?"
"Just to walk around a bit, maybe see some of the City. You up for it?" There was a moment's pause before she smiled and nodded.
"Alright, go change, I'm going to grab some clothes."
-X-
Ash laughed playfully, and shoved Matt's shoulder away. They walked down a street of the City, him telling her stories of the twins. He now wore his blue sweatshirt and jeans, and she wore her jacket and boots. They'd been walking for nearly an hour now, and had yet to become bored of their conversation.
"So I hear this weird noise, and I head into the laundry room to find bubbles and soap coming out of every crack in the washing machine. The little twerps had overloaded the thing with cleaner, and the volume of the washer was too small for it to handle, so it just started seeping out the sides and sending bubbles into the air!" He laughed at the memory. "I think I covered for them on that one because they hadn't actually been trying to prank anyone; they'd just been trying to help out, and got the amount of soap wrong."
"Your siblings sound like they were a lot of fun," reflected Ash.
"Yeah, they could be. They could also be annoying little shit-stains, but the positives almost always outweighed the negatives with them." Matt stopped talking for a moment to just enjoy the silence. He looked in his peripheral vision to see Ash smiling and walking next to him.
He thought about their friendship again, and the gnawing feeling for something more inside of him that he'd felt earlier. Inwardly, he shook his head; that wasn't what right now was about. She just needed the comfort of a friend; he could afford to be patient. For now, Ash was his best friend, and that was enough for him. They walked down the street comfortable in each other's company as unbeknownst to them, a Hunter-dressed stranger stood on a rooftop observing them and smiled as she watched the two enjoy their night together.