The Queen looked up in surprise at the sound of approaching footsteps. Aria continued to walk confidently towards the throne. Evidently the Prince at her side couldn't see the look of triumph on her face, and assumed that she'd failed.
"There's no shame in running away, Guardian. Aside from the cowardice and failure of it, it's an excellent strategy!" He smirked.
She locked gazes with him and said seriously, "I didn't run." The expression of alarm that crossed his face and wiped away his grin was enough to make Aria cheer. Luckily, she kept her composure.
"Was no Gate Lord slain, brother?" inquired the Queen, looking questioningly at her brother.
While he appeared to be flabbergasted and gave no answer, Echo provided one for him; "Oh, we slayed a Gate Lord!"
Aria nodded at him, and asked, "Echo, would you do the honors?"
Immediately, the Ghost materialized the meter-and-a-half long vex head in the air, and it dropped down several feet to land on the metal catwalk with a resounding thud that echoed off the chamber's walls. Both the Queen and the Prince seemed dumbstruck. Aria followed up the conversation by saying, "I need to find the Black Garden."
The Prince's vacant look was replaced with his usual smug one again. "Ha! They don't even know where it is."
The Queen, who now appeared thoughtful, did something Aria didn't expect; "Let us tell them. Search the Gate Lord for that which gains them entrance."
The Prince rounded on her quickly, enough to make the Fallen guards startle and ready their spears. "Why?! If you wish them certain death, just kill them here!" he cried, spittle flying from his mouth.
The Queen took no notice and calmly said, "Often when we guess at other's motives, we reveal only our own."
The Prince now lowered himself onto one knee, and began to reiterate his motives; "My motive is simply loyalty; to a people, a Queen, and a sister." She turned her head to look at him, a bored and uncaring expression on her face.
"Then please! Take what is required."
The Prince stood up and turned, and Aria could see that several emotions and thoughts were battling against each other in his mind, as various expressions conflicted with each other in his facial features. He walked down the few steps to the catwalk, and drew a knife. He paused a moment, and then proceeded to follow his sister's orders, kneeling next to the head and slicing into its brains. A look of consternation crossed his face as he searched around for what he needed to find.
Finally, he drew out his arm holding the eye of the Gate Lord. As Aria watched, the red glow from the eye remained on, but flickered slightly. The Prince scowled. "Mars. Eighty-four north, thirty-two east. Meridian Bay." He tossed the eye towards Aria, most likely expecting her to be caught unaware, but she reacted fast and managed to grasp it before it flew past her. She noted that if she hadn't, that it would have fallen off the catwalk and down into the abyss below. "The charge on the eye is still active, but it won't last long. Don't expect us to help you again if it dies while you're trying to get in."
The Queen stood up from her throne, and faced Aria. "I have shown you benevolence, Guardian. Should the Awoken ever need an ally, I will call on you… and expect you to answer."
The Prince replaced his blade in it sheath, and translated for her; "She's saying you owe us, Guardian."
Aria nodded and said, "I understand." She bowed towards the Queen. "Your Grace." Without another word, she began to walk out of the chamber. When she reached the midway point however, she turned back and called to the Prince who was starting to walk away; "I was attacked, you know. By a minion of the Darkness known as the Messenger."
The Queen appeared surprised, but the Prince only showed a mock form of the expression. "Really? Isn't that interesting."
Aria glared at him, and tried again. "I only mean to warn I managed to overcome him, as I will overcome and eliminate any ally of the Darkness that seeks to challenge me." The Prince glared right back, and the Queen looked suspiciously at her brother. Before an argument could start, Aria walked towards the hangar, and exited the throne room.
-X-
"I don't think we'll get a second chance at this." Whip looked nervously around the Javelin. "If we pull this off, we can still save the Traveler."
Seraph now flew a bit closer, hovering in Matt and Ash's general vicinity to add to the conversation. "And if not, the Darkness will seize our worlds. All of humanity is at risk if the Black Garden sucks out the Traveler's light." She turned to face Matt who had looked up at her in alarm. "But, no pressure!"
"Uh huh. Remind me to never let you give us a pep talk again." He looked over at Ash. "How are we doing on time?"
She glanced down at the destination tracker on the console. "We're less than a minute out, approaching the coordinates now."
They flew over a rocky canyon wall, and suddenly they saw a vast martian landscape come into view. Dunes of red dust stretched for miles and miles. A few hundred yards before them stood a massive time gate, inactive and partially embedded in the sand. Echo popped up on Aria's shoulder. "That's the gate. We should hurry, or the Gate Lord's eye might deactivate."
She looked at him. "What's the rush? It doesn't look like it's going to die anytime soon."
Echo turned to face her. "Maybe not now, but I assume you want to get back to our normal realm after defeating the Black Garden's heart?" She pondered this a moment before understanding what he meant. "From what I've heard about the Black Garden, it's a separate dimension, locked out of time and space by the Vex to keep it safe. We had no idea it was siphoning off the Traveler's light of course, we just thought it was a fortress or safe heaven for them."
"So," began Ash, the truth dawning on her, "If the eye dies while we're in there, we'll be stuck forever?" The Ghost began to shake its body. "Not exactly. See, the heart is likely holding the Black Garden together, keeping all of its reality in place outside the time stream. Once it dies, I assume that the Garden will begin to collapse. If you're stuck inside when that happens, then you'll collapse along with it and be erased from existence when it completely dissolves in time."
All three Guardians stared at Echo. He quickly said, "Or, you know, I could be totally wrong."
Matt shook his head. "Well, thanks for that." The Javelin slowed down until they hovered in front of the gate.
"Seraph?" She turned to face Matt.
"Yes?"
"I want to scout out the land a moment. This won't take long, I just want to make sure there aren't any Cabal around. I haven't run into one yet, and I'd rather we don't meet them on this mission."
She nodded. "Of course." She and Matt instantly transmitted down to the surface. Ash turned to look at Aria.
"Since when have we ever scouted the land before?" Aria shrugged.
"Maybe he's getting smarter, being more careful? It is true that we should have as few risks as possible here." Ash looked back at the console, a look of puzzlement and worry on her face.
-X-
"Why do you want to know?" Seraph narrowed her blue eye in worry.
"Just in case it needs to be done; you might be busy, and someone might need to get us out of there manually." Matt looked at her, hoping she'd take the bait. "So, how would I do it?"
She still seemed suspicious, but replied all the same. "Here, I've updated your wrist interface. All the members of the team are there; you can now choose to transmat them if the need arises. " He'd just asked her how to force a transmat like the Ghosts could. He would need it for the later part of his idea.
He nodded. "And it'll just transport us back here?" Seraph hesitated a moment before bobbing in agreement. He hated using the 'us' pronoun, but at least she wouldn't have any idea until the time came for him to enact his plan.
Matt's helmet speakers crackled to life. "Hello? Matt, what's taking so long?" He looked up at the Javelin hovering in the air still.
"It's all good to come down, Ash! Sorry for keeping you guys."
After a moment, both Ash and Aria materialized in the air, and landed on the sandy ground. "Took you long enough," said Aria, and both Guardians joined themselves at Matt's side.
"You ready?" Ash asked.
He looked at her. "Let's finish this."
Seraph moved up to the ring and presented the eye. Nothing happened for a moment, until blueish white waves of energy began to rupture the space in the center of the time gate. They spread until they reached the structures that contained it, and the portal opened. Light began to emit from it, and it shone on the Guardians, bathing them in blinding white color.
Seraph returned to Matt, the eye back in her storage. "The Portal will only remain open for a bit, you'll have to have the Gate Lord's eye to reopen it!"
He nodded, and faced the other two in respective glances. "For the Traveler!" He began to sprint into the portal, Ash and Aria following without even the slightest hesitation. So tightly bonded had they become in their travels that each Guardian had complete faith in the others' abilities, and had no qualms about following each other to the end of time… as they were technically about to do.
Matt felt his body push against the membrane of the portal; it felt almost like a liquid, and had slight resistance. He broke through it, and immediately found himself in a dark and badly lit corridor. Ash and Aria's footsteps followed a moment behind his, and the sounds echoed off the walls.
"Where are we?" asked Aria.
Seraph pulsed a few lights out, attempting to answer. "I don't really know. All of my navigation systems are going haywire from being in here. It's not on any known map of space and time, that's for sure." Mossy plant life covered much of the stone around, which appeared to resemble the Vex building blocks that now inhabited Venus. The portal behind them remained open.
"Alright, we haven't got much time." Matt began to set off down the hallway, Ash and Aria following behind. They rounded a corner and immediately readied their weapons at the sight of a Vex Goblin. But something was odd about it, and it did not move.
"It's in some kind of stasis," said Seraph in curiosity. "They all are." At her wording, they turned to look at the rest of the hallway to see rows of the odd Goblins all frozen and inactive. They wore loin-cloths, and moss dangled from their heads. They appeared to be older, more worn than the Vex they'd faced before. If it was true that they were locked out of time currently, these Goblins could have been from the past, stuck for millennia in this state.
They once again began their journey towards the heart. After navigating through some more passages, and ascending a long staircase, they were greeted by a stunning view.
"Whoa," muttered Ash. For miles upon miles, rows and walls of flowers and plants lined the interior of the Black Garden. Off in the distance, Matt could see mountain ranges, emphasizing how vast the garden truly was.
"I think that's where the heart is," said Seraph, indicating a large mass of black shadow that rose out of a pit situated roughly a half mile from them.
Massive rock walls formed a spherical container, almost as though they were inside the core of a planet, or large asteroid. Matt didn't really care where they were, only that it ceased to exist soon. "C'mon," he said, and they began to walk towards the right, the only real path they could take towards the heart.
As they strode along the walkways, Matt marveled at the lack of resistance. Apparently the Vex had never expected anyone to ever breach their sanctuary here, and hadn't taken the time to place defenses. Goblins in stasis continued to appear in the hallways, their eyes devoid of any glow, and almost peaceful looking. Occasionally, breaks in the walls allowed them to see the Garden, and Matt had to admit, it looked like quite the beautiful place. Why the Vex had need of beauty when they hated all life, he had no idea. It reminded him of the lotus flower, luring you in with appearance, but consuming you with the Darkness. He shook his head to clear out the bad thoughts.
Eventually, they came to a large circular door, with layers of metal providing cover for what lay beyond. A single conflux stood in front of it. "Beyond that is the heart. Let me scan the conflux." Matt allowed Seraph to fly over, and begin analyzing it. Thin blue beams shot from her eye into the conflux as she attempted to open the door. "There! All we need is permission to enter… as a Gate Lord."
Seraph materialized the Gate Lord's eye, and allowed the conflux to scan it. Suddenly, a rectangular blue monolith formed at the top of the conflux, marked with various lines and patterns. They felt a rumble, and turned to see a spire constructing itself out of the cubic white light that seemed to be associated with Vex structure. Once it was fully built, they watched the blue monolith rise into the air, until it split along all the seams in its glass-like material, separating along the lines that traversed its surface. The pieces moved around to create an intricate web of glass shards hovering in the air. A beam of light shot out of the spire, and hit a cylindrical piece of glass. It then split into several other beams, refracting and reflecting off the other shards until they came back together and entered a circular slot in the massive door.
The reaction was immediate, and the layers of the door began to shift and peel upwards to reveal an entryway. Greenish yellow light poured out from it, and washed over them, giving off a sickly appearance in color. The Guardians stood shoulder to shoulder, realizing the significance of what they were about to do. Matt took a few steps forward, with one hand back to signal that the other two should wait a moment. Then he turned back to look at Seraph.
"Alright, Seraph. The eye?" Seraph flew closer to him confusedly, and handed him the eye, its red light now beginning to flicker on and off.
Ash narrowed her eyes, trying to work out what was going on here. "Matt? Why do you need the eye?"
He looked at her, and she felt that behind his helmet he was giving her a sad sort of smile, one of regret. "I'll need to to activate the time gate again, assuming I survive killing the heart."
She held a hand up, trying to stop him from saying what she thought he was saying. "You mean when we kill the heart, right?" He looked down slightly, and then looked back at her and Aria.
"No. Just me. If what Echo said is true, then it's way too dangerous to risk all three of us; I'd rather only have to lose one of us than everyone."
Now Aria entered the conversation. "What, you don't think we can handle this?"
He rounded on her directly. "It's not that I don't think you can handle this. It's that I'm not sure if we can do it without running out of time or dying in the process. And I value you two too much to allow that." He faced Ash again, and this time Ash knew that he was giving her the smile she'd thought he had been before. "I want you to know that I really do wish I could do this with you. But I won't have any more loved ones deaths on my conscience." Without another word to either of them, he held up his wrist interface and tapped a few times.
A blue light materialized, and Ash saw herself, Aria, and Seraph surrounded in the familiar grid that signaled a transmat. She tried to escape, to run to Matt and go with him, to face whatever enemies dared to think they could break their team apart, but her efforts were in vain.
Matt watched his companions disappear, including Seraph, and suddenly he felt more alone then he had in all of his new life. Even as a newborn Guardian, he'd had Seraph for company. But now, nobody walked at his side. No one would be there to help him up if he fell. With a sigh of acceptance, he turned and peered into the vault-like opening. Beyond the green mist that poured out, he could see a silent and still ceremony, witnessed by frozen Vex Goblins and three ancient statues. In the air was a pulsating, blackness oozing object that appeared to be more fluid than solid, and he could almost feel hatred radiating off of it. It was definitely the heart of the Black Garden.
As he walked through the opening, he noticed movement in the ranks of the Goblins. Frozen in stasis for so long, he could hear the squeaking of aged metal, and watched as mossy growth swung from their heads as they turned to face the being intruding upon their sacred ritual.
He took a good look at all of them, sizing up his opponents. He nodded to himself, satisfied, and looked at the eye in his hand. Its light continued to blink until it faded away, and winked out of existence; dead. He sighed. "Well, only one course of action here." Before he did anything else, he pulled out the photographs that he'd kept in a pocket of his belt. He held them up to his visor, looking at the expressions on his, Lucas's, and Sara's faces, as well as the twins'. All happy, all smiling. A ghost of a happier time.
He muttered, "I'm coming, guys. Just be patient for a few more minutes."
He clenched his fist in emotion, and stuffed them back into the pocket he'd pulled them out of. Then, he readied his hand cannon, looked at the heart, and gathered his courage. "The Traveler sends its regards, and would like to tell you to burn in hell."
He charged into the fray.
-X-
Aria felt her feet land on metal. She looked around to see the interior of the Javelin. Whip and Echo were nearby, hovering over the console, and turned in surprise to see their Guardians back on the ship. Ash balled her hands into fists in frustration, and then turned to Seraph. "What the hell just happened?!"
The young Ghost seemed at a loss for words. "He- he just forced a transmat on us. He… lied to me."
"Well, can't you just transmat him too? Bring him back here if you can't bring us to him?" Ash was searching for any way to come out of the situation on top.
Seraph glowed blue for a moment in an attempt to do just that, but the light disappeared just as fast as it had come. "He's locked himself out; I can't transmat him!"
Ash walked forward a few feet to look out of the viewport, and saw the time gate into the Black Garden deactivating. The waves of energy that formed the portal had begun to shrink with idle activity, and disappeared, leaving behind nothing but an empty ring. Ash turned around and punched a corner of the Pilot's seat. The metal dented, and crumpled beneath her force.
"Goddamn it, no! We can't just leave him in there!"
Seraph looked at her. "Didn't you just see that? Only the Gate Lord's eye can activate it now, I can't do anything!"
Whip now flew closer, curious. "What's going on?"
Ash took a deep breath, trying to calm herself. "Matt just decided to one-man-army the Black Garden, and now we can't get back to him. He forced us to transmat."
Seraph faced Whip. "He said that going alone was the only way to protect them."
Aria watched Seraph spin around to indicate Ash and herself, and she realized that Matt was only trying to place his friends lives above his, however misguided he was acting. Ash wasn't having any of it.
"We need to go back! He'll die if we don't help him!"
Seraph's eye closed sadly. "There's nothing I can do."
Aria thought to herself, agreeing with Ash that they needed to get back to Matt. But how?
"Seraph, how does the Gate Lord's eye work?"
She looked at Aria. "It acts like a key; it unlocks the portal like a door." Aria closed her eyes, trying to think.
"Okay, the eye unlocks the portal. But now that it's already been unlocked, can't we just- I don't know, tell it to open manually? Every door has a doorknob, however odd that analogy seems."
Seraph looked down, pondering. Then she snapped up to face Aria again.
"I'm not sure, but there is something I can try. If it works, then by all means, let's go save him. Lord knows I don't want my Guardian dead."
Aria locked gazes with the Ghost. "Do it."
-X-
Matt crouched behind a block of stone, his cloak smoking in several places from Vex fire that had singed holes through it. His armor was peeling in several places from the wear that their many weapons were placing upon it. Luckily, he only had a few more to go.
He popped back out from behind cover, and summoned what light he could being this close to such a dark entity. He entered his Blade Dancer's trance, and sprinted at the various Goblin that shot at him. He tore through the ranks, metal limbs flying in every direction. He spun and attacked, dodged, attacked again with a swipe, dodged, weaving in and out through the dangerous opponents. He felt the exhilarating rush of light that coursed through him while in his trance leave his body, and he felt drained. Fortunately, he'd managed to kill every last Vex enemy in the area. He pointed at the heart in a 'what now' sort of gesture.
"Is that it? Don't put up much of a fight, do you?" He almost laughed, before he saw an aura of sickening yellow light expel itself from the heart. It traveled towards one of the statues, the one on the far left side of the arena, and he watched it seep into the cracks and crevices of the stone. Suddenly, rumbling noises began to emit from it, and he saw the cracks in the statue widen and spread across the surface. He noticed now that the statues were of giant Vex beings, larger than the Gate Lord that his fireteam had faced, and with a roar, the massive Vex broke free of its stone prison. Chunks of rock flew everywhere, and it stepped onto the ground, looking around to land its gaze on Matt, the only threat in the room.
"I had to open my mouth, didn't I?" he muttered, and the oversized Vex enemy emitted a series of squeals in his direction before charging towards him.
He rolled to the right side of it before it brought its massive arm down on the area he'd just been standing in before. The stone cracked under the pressure, and Matt felt the ground quake from the impact. He spun to face it, and he moved to summon his rocket launcher that Seraph kept in storage, before realizing that she was gone, and he had nothing but a sniper and a hand cannon. He swore loudly, and ducked to avoid the Vex's fist swing in an arc that would have decapitated him. After it swung, he saw that it too had a white center like all Vex. On a hunch, he used his hand cannon and fired off multiple rounds into the glass cover that protected the wiring inside.
It took but a few shots before the glass shattered, and he jumped onto its waist, holding onto its sides to keep from falling off as it swung itself around in an effort to fling him free. Pulling out his knife with one hand, he reached into its interior, and began randomly slicing with excess force, cutting through vital wiring and machinery that allowed the machine to function. With a loud and drawn out groan, the Vex sank to its knees, and pitched over to the side, unable to continue working.
He let go of it, panting from his effort to hold on, only for another cloud of yellowish light to travel into the statue directly behind him, to the far right of the chamber. He turned, and tried to ready himself, though he now felt unsteady on his feet. His only consolation was that the heart appeared to be pulsing more frantically now, more desperate than it had appeared to be at the beginning of this confrontation. Perhaps if he kept killing these things, the heart would die.
The new Vex enemy sprang to life from its entombment, and it immediately began to focus fire on Matt. He rolled to avoid a blast of purple energy it fired at him, and he unslung his sniper. He fired round after round into its chest cavity, breaking the glass again and sending one round tearing through the core. It obviously damaged the creature, but it wasn't enough, and it attempted to flatten him beneath its feet. He dodged again, and summoned every ounce of light he had to bring forth his Golden Gun. He shot off all his rounds into the central wiring of the Vex, and now smoking through various holes in its armor, it too crumpled like the first.
He knelt down to regain his strength, now feeling as though something had sucked the life out of him. He nearly passed out from exhaustion, and only through sheer luck managed to register the sound of stone crumbling in his vicinity.
He spun around too late to see that the third statue had come to life, and it reached down to grab him in its oversized fists. He found himself struggling against its grip, and try as he might he could not escape. It began to squeeze, trying to break him with sheer force. He felt something crack in his chest region, and realized some of his ribs had just splintered into small pieces.
He gasped to get air, and felt a stabbing pain in his lower back and rib area. The Vex turned, and threw him nearly fifteen meters onto a raised platform that acted as a bridge between stone pyramidal structures that adorned either side of the massive chamber. He slid several feet, and hit his head against a wall of stone that connected to the bridge. He saw a flash of blackness in his vision, and felt his mind shutting down from pain. With a grunt of effort, he forced himself to stay awake, and refrain from entering unconsciousness.
Though he was easy pickings now, the Vex seemed reluctant to come any closer, and almost appeared confused. He remained curious of its change of heart, until he heard a familiar voice say, "Come on. It's not over yet." He turned his bruised head to see Ash leaning forward, and extending her hand to him. Aria stood behind her, watching their exchange.
He asked, "Is this one of those parts in movies where the hero hallucinates of his closest friends accompanying him before he faces death?"
Ash smirked, but he could tell she was still pissed. "Only if he's about to die because his best friend is gonna kick his ass in anger after she saves his life. Now hurry up, my arm's getting tired." With a sigh, he took her hand, and she pulled him up slightly so he could sit up straight with his back against the stone. He looked at her.
"How did you two even get back here?"
Ash gestured to Seraph. "Apparently the Gate Lord's eye activated the time gate for an extended time, rather than just as a one off. It only deactivated to save power. Seraph just approached it, presented a digital imprint of the eye that she'd collected, and the portal opened again. Since I'm assuming that the eye is dead, we've only got a few minutes perhaps before it closes for good." She nodded her head towards the Vex. "Aria and I'll take care of him. You've done enough." With that, she turned and sprinted towards the large Vex, Aria following behind her. It shrieked, and moved to accept their challenge.
Seraph moved closer to him. Her blue scanning beam shot out from her eye, and she analyzed his body. "You've got minor fractures all over your bones, your lower two left ribs have completely shattered into splinters, and several sharp pieces of them have punctured your left lung. You've also got a dislocated shoulder, a concussion, and possible brain damage from head trauma. I can't believe that you thought this was the best course of action."
Matt watched his friends fighting the Vex, and though they were powerful, he still felt the need to help. He looked over at Seraph. "I need my rocket launcher, quick. I might be out physically, but I can still contribute."
Aria dodged multiple swipes of the large fists that were connected to the powerful Vex being. She jumped into the air, and summoning her void energy, launched a Nova Bomb at it. It missed by a few feet but managed to land close enough to disintegrate part of its lower leg, and stagger it. She watched Ash fly into the fight, and use her arc powered fists to channel her Fist of Havoc into the ground at its feet. Electric surges rode up into its circuits, and several mechanisms in its legs stopped working, forcing it to fall to its knees.
"Hey, metalhead!" Aria heard the hoarse voice of Matt call out to the Vex, and it turned its massive head towards him. Sitting against the stone rock that they'd left him on, he now wielded his rocket launcher. He fired two rounds into the chest of it. The first impacted against its armor, and broke the plating that protected the vital machinery inside. The second rocket slammed through the interior, and ripped through its wiring. The projectile then exploded, incinerating the entire torso of the enormous Vex in one fell swoop. Its arms and head fell to the ground, now unsupported by a chest or upper body at all.
"That should do it!" cried Seraph. Aria looked to see the heart now ceasing to pulse, and instead begin to slowly disintegrate. Black ashes began to fly off of it, and she saw that not only the heart, but the stone and surrounding area were beginning to dissolve as well.
"The Black Garden's reality is falling apart!" she yelled, and Ash nodded, jumping and using her thrusters to land next to Matt. Without a word, she slung him over her shoulder, and began to run back towards the entrance to the heart's lair. Aria followed closely behind, noticing more and more black ash filling the air as reality itself began to erase and dissolve in the time stream.
Ash and Aria continued to run through the entrance, and entered the labyrinth of corridors and passages back towards the time gate. The dilution of the dimension itself continued to chase them, urging them forward to avoid being erased from existence. After several minutes, the other side of the time gate came into view, and Seraph flew ahead to present the digital imprint.
"Hurry, the gate's nearly dead!" she shouted. White waves of energy began to weakly create the portal, and it now appeared to be unstable, drawing from its last reserves of energy to sustain itself. Ash and Aria said nothing, and instead continued to run towards their escape, with Matt still hanging on Ash's back.
Aria briefly turned to see a horrifying sight; nothing remained of the black garden behind them besides the corridor they were running in, which also was beginning to convert to ash, the time stream eating away at the very fabric of space and time here. It left behind nothing but pitch black void that swallowed up all the light in the realm. She faced forward again, and entered an even faster sprint to carry her through to safety. The portal started to flicker in and out until she pushed through the membrane with Ash at her side, and-
She fell forward, tumbling through the rusty sand dune of Mars that they'd landed on, Ash falling as well and losing her hold on Matt. Both the Titan and the Hunter rolled down the incline to slide into place next to Aria at the bottom. She turned to watch the time gate as the waves of energy began to shake in place, and suddenly the structure of the gate itself exploded in reaction to its sibling being erased from existence itself. The burning bars of metal curled in on themselves, and cooled in the Mars climate.
"Ow." Both Aria and Ash looked to see Matt groaning in pain, his dislocated arm pinned under Ash's weight.
"Sorry!" Ash rose up, and began to pull him up as well, into an upright position. Without warning, she gripped his arm, and shoved it back into place in its socket. He yelped from the shock. "Oh, you're lucky that's all I'm gonna do after the stunt you pulled," she growled. "That was one of the dumbest things you've ever done, not to mention that you left me and Aria thinking you were dead for sure."
Aria joined in now. "Yeah, what the hell were you thinking in there? We thought we'd lost you!" He shrugged in response, his nonchalance all the more infuriating.
"Well, I'm right here, so no need to worry." He gave a tired laugh, but Aria knew that neither she nor Ash were gonna be laughing for a while.
"Indeed, you're right here. Such a perfect opportunity, especially in the condition you're in."
Aria spun around, and though she was tired, she geared up for another fight at the sound of the all too familiar menacing voice. Ash immediately placed herself between Matt and the newcomer, shielding him from attack. Standing a few meters in front of them was the Messenger, and several Cabal were situated around him and them. The stood taller than any of the enemies they'd faced before, massive eight hundred pound mounds of muscle and armor, ready to squash her at the slightest inclination. She realized that they were surrounded in a circle of foes, and summoned what energy she had to prepare for a fight. Fire danced around the palms of her hands, and she entered a battle stance. The Messenger held up a hand.
"Before we begin, I'd like to discuss a very important matter, if it's all the same to you." He faced Ash now, and his metallic features contorted themselves into a genuine expression of- was that sadness? "I can't believe it's you, after all this time. I had my doubts, but I have seen for myself that it is true. You've returned!"
Ash kept her weapon raised, but replied back, attempting to get some answers. "I don't know what you're talking about, but you're more than welcome to explain. Who are you, really?"
His face looked pained at her lack of recognition. "I understand that it was likely you wouldn't remember anything if you were gallivanting around with this lot, but I still hoped you at least would recall me."
Ash's visor depolarized, and Aria watched her eyes narrow at the Messenger. "Still doesn't explain much, and I don't know where your path and mine intersect. Please explain, before I lose my patience."
He nodded. "Very well."
"There were three of us, three chosen soldiers, bred for battle. The Darkness can't make life in a natural organic form, as life is its opposite, but it can certainly fill beings with its own power. We were old and forgotten carcasses, robotic companions that had long since rusted and died, thrown out by the humans that had no need of dysfunctional machines. We were dead, empty shells that continued to erode until the Darkness found us, and brought us back for its own purposes. We sought revenge against the light which had cast us out and left us to rot, and the Darkness provided exactly that possibility. It repaired us, redesigned us, and gave us new purpose and life in the goal of unleashing death." He shrugged. "It saw that Guardians were the apparent pawns of the Traveler, used to fight its battles, and considering how effective a strategy it proved to be, decided to make its own Guardians, its own wardens of the Darkness to oppose the blinding and insufferable light spread by the Traveler and humanity."
Ash stood steady on her feet, but her voice shook as she asked her next question; "Who was I? What was I called?"
He looked at her, his face full of hope that she would be converted to his side. "We had no names, save for our purpose. Mine, the Messenger, created to talk and command the armies of the Darkness in movements against the light. Another, the Assassin, used to eliminate troublesome Guardians and high value followers of the light that threatened to oppose our mission. She left quite a while ago, tainted by pathetic feelings of remorse and guilt, instead opting to once again work for those who had so mistreated her in her past life." He gestured at Ash now. "And you, the Warrior. Valiant defender of us and the Darkness, you prevented any major opposition that carried the potential to throw our plans off track."
A pained expression returned to his face. "That was how you died. I advised you against it, but you stubbornly said that you could handle a rumored uprising we'd heard about, and that some jobs needed to be done by those willing to place themselves below the needs of their allies. You did always put me and the Assassin before yourself, often placing yourself in the line of danger to stop us from a stray bullet or two. You set out that day intending to crush a minor force of the City, but you weren't ready for the full-fledged ambush that awaited you. You took nearly everyone down with you, I could tell from the body count, but you were beyond recovery. The Darkness may have said to leave you, but I admit that was the one time I felt reluctant to obey." Now a smile came onto his features, and Aria found it oddly disturbing. "But now, you're back! Back after nearly two decades, and I promise that we can still win this war."
He held out his hand, offering it to her. "Join me once more, and I will never allow harm to come to you again. You didn't understand what you were doing in the Black Garden, and all can be forgiven if you just repent and come back to your true side, your family."
Ash now shook in both shock and moral agony of learning what she had once been. The Messenger had spoken of her slaughtering Guardians, fellow members of the light, easily and without mercy. Had she truly been such a sadistic worshipper of the Darkness? If she was such a monster, perhaps she did belong with the Messenger and the Dark.
She heard a noise, and turned to see Matt moving slightly behind her. Sitting up on the bank of sand behind her, he reached out and placed a hand on her shoulder. His visor depolarized as well, and she could see an expression of pleading in his eyes. As she stared into his face, she thought back to the Exo stranger's words; Perhaps I fought for a side too long before realizing I was on the wrong one. Ash knew now that she'd once been an ally of the Darkness, but that didn't mean she'd been right the first time. She didn't have to be 'the Warrior' anymore, she was Ash; Guardian of the Traveler.
Slowly, turned again, and shook her head at the Messenger. His eyes narrowed in concern, and he hurriedly said, "Please don't do this. You have no idea how long I've missed you. Don't make me destroy you!"
She placed her gun on her back, but raised her fists, saying, "Easier said than done."
The Messenger lowered his head, reluctant of what he was about to do. From his despairing appearance he muttered, "Very well." He waved his hand, and immediately the Cabal around them fired their cannons directly at the Guardians.
Aria closed her eyes, but felt nothing, and opened them again to see that Ash had placed a Ward of Dawn around them. Her face was screwed up in concentration, focusing on blocking out the missiles. Aria turned to Seraph and asked, "Where's our evac?" The Ghost looked at her and replied, "Already on their way. Should be here in a few seconds."
Indeed, the scream of the Javelin soaring across the sky could be heard mere moments later, and Aria prepared for a transmat. She had but a second to see the Messenger yell, "NO!" before she felt herself falling into place on her seat. She fastened her harness as they accelerated out of the atmosphere, and looked at Ash piloting the ship. The Titan remained silent, but her hands gripped the controls exceptionally hard, and the Warlock wondered if the Exo was just trying to keep herself from breaking down at the moment.
Matt finally passed out in his seat, finally succumbing to his injuries, his head lolling to the side as the Javelin rattled from the speed they were using to escape the planet's gravity. Aria gripped the armrests as she feared that the ship would shake itself apart if they kept up this pace. Finally, it ceased, and they continued on their journey home. A beeping noise emitted from the console, and Ash looked over to peer at the radar. She swore. "We're being followed! There's a ship a few hundred meters behind, gaining fast!"
Aria leaned forward to indeed see a white dot moving closer and closer to their own dot in the center of the radar. When it looked like it was nearly upon them, Aria glanced at the external monitors of the Javelin, to see a dark grey and odd looking ship catching up to them. To her incredible shock, she watched it pull up alongside their ship, and then a hatch opened at the top to reveal the Messenger. He began to stand on the exterior of the ship as they flew through space, and he made his way to their ship, hopping aboard. He began to approach the engines on either side of the Javelin.
"Shit, he's going to try and sabotage our engines! He's gotta be magnetizing himself to the metal of the ship to keep from flying off!" Ash began to unbuckle herself from her harness, but stopped at the feeling of Aria's hand on her shoulder.
"I can do this, just keep flying," said the young Warlock, and without waiting for an answer she turned to Echo who was looking nervously at her. "Can you do the same thing Echo, magnetize my boots to the exterior?"
He moved towards her feet, shot a few beams of blue light at the metal soles of her shoes, and looked up again. "You're good to go." She nodded, and grabbed a sturdy metal cable nearby.
"Come with me, I might need you." She made sure her helmet was sealed to keep in oxygen, and began to climb up out of the hatch that allowed access to the outside.
There was no wind, but she felt herself beginning to lean towards the rear of the ship as momentum against the ship's trajectory caused her to angle backwards. She fully climbed out as the power of the engines provided some sound by reverberating throughout the metal plating of the ship, sounding like low hums and echoes. Once the hatch door was closed, she spied the Messenger still struggling to move towards the engines. She changed her channel frequency to open so he could hear her, and yelled, "Don't touch it! If this ship goes down, Ash goes down too!"
He turned to face her. "Oh, once I take out the engines, I'll make sure to collect the Warrior before the ship explodes. I won't allow her to die the death that awaits you and the disgusting human!" He then looked back to the engine's propulsion, and grabbing a grenade from his belt, he jammed it into the spinning rotors of the propulsion intake. After a second's pause, a somewhat muffled explosion appeared, and vanished, the lack of oxygen in space immediately stopping the fire in the vacuum.
With no time to waste, she began to move as fast as she could towards him. He turned, and began to shoot void projectiles at her, much like she had with the Minotaurs on Venus. She brought her arms up, and created a flame shield, incinerating the shards before they reached her, and remaining unharmed. With a yell, he began to summon a large ball of void energy to throw at her, but she had prepared, and concentrated on controlling the void energy in his hand. With some focus, she managed to make it explode, and it threw him backwards, detaching his feet from the hull of the ship. With a wild swing, he managed to grasp onto a handle that was meant to be held in external repair situations, and held on while Aria still moved forward.
Echo appeared at her side, and she began to issue orders. "Hey, start working on the engine and fix it! I'll deal with him!" The Ghost flew over to the damaged mechanism, and began repairing it, removing shards that were blocking the rotors from spinning. She kept walking until she stood next to the Messenger who was hanging along for dear life. She brought her hand up to push him off, but a sudden lurch in the ship caused by the unequal power distribution between the engines knocked her off her feet as well. She too gripped a nearby handle to prevent herself from flying off into space.
The Messenger took the opportunity to use his free hand to try and punch Aria, in an attempt to knock her loose. She retaliated, using her corresponding hand to block blows, and attack him as well. She spoke over the comms, directly to Ash; "Start rolling the ship!"
"What?!" came the reply. She yelled into her speakers, "He's almost loose! Start spinning to fling him off!"
She heard a groan of worry on Ash's side, but sure enough, the Javelin began to enter a barrel roll. The centripetal force began to throw Aria and the Messenger out into the fringes of the circle the ship was making. They continued to punch at each other, both refusing to give up. Fortunately, Aria had backup.
The engine that had been filled with blockage had started up again, having been fixed by Echo. After doing his job, the Ghost made his way over to where his Guardian was fighting for her life against the Messenger.
Echo moved over to them, trying to help Aria. He began to emit a harsh white light from his eye, burning through the handle that the Messenger was holding onto, and melting the metal. The Messenger now focused on the Ghost, trying to swipe at him and stop him, but the damage was done. With a final slice, and a kick in the chest from Aria, the Messenger's handhold fell away from the ship, and he spun out into the emptiness of space. The ship that had been next to the Javelin had stopped, so that it could retrieve him. The Javelin moved on unhindered.
"Ash, stop spinning, and enter warp-space!" shouted Aria. Ash gave no response, but the ship indeed stopped spinning a moment later. Aria took a moment to fasten the cable she'd grabbed to her handhold and to her armor, so that she was prevented from flying off. She hugged the hull of the ship, and as the bluish white light of warp-space began to envelop the Javelin, she allowed herself to pass out.
-X-
Matt opened his eyes.
He was in a white bed, with the walls and decor of the room he was in reflecting the same color. He supposed he was in an infirmary. He heard the door open, and looking over to his left, he watched Ash walk in. She had removed her armor, and just wore her black jump suit.
"Feeling better?" she asked.
He tentatively moved his body around. His arm now felt fine, but there was still a lot of pain in his rib area and head, albeit a lot less than right after he'd been smacked by the giant Vex. "Yeah, somewhat."
"Seraph fixed what she could while we were on the Javelin. Once we arrived at the Tower and brought you here, one of the medical Warlocks came in here and used a portion of radiance on you. Though since you're not a Warlock as well, and not really made to handle abilities like that, she could only give it to you in bits and doses." Ash sat down on the bed, and a serious expression adorned her face. "You were so close to dying, it was scary. Your heart actually stopped once while she was healing."
She looked like she was about to cry, though obviously she couldn't. She sat down on the bed next to him, and he felt the need to comfort her. "It's alright Ash, everything's gonna be okay."
"No, it isn't." She sounded a bit choked up. "Didn't you hear what the Messenger said? About what I used to be, who I used to be?"
He nodded. "Of course I heard it, but that doesn't change anything. You never killed anyone, the Warrior did. And she doesn't exist anymore, you do."
She looked at him with pain in her eyes. "But we're the same person! Different memories maybe, but still the same! How could I have been so evil, so… dark?" Her electric blue eyes were staring into Matt's, as she sought for any possible answer that could quell her fears.
He tried. "That's the thing, you're not the same. Had you been the same, you wouldn't have saved us from the Messenger, wouldn't have allowed us to escape, wouldn't still be fighting for the Traveler even now!"
Apparently it wasn't enough. "That's no excuse. I could still have some remnant of her inside me, just waiting to be released. And both you and Aria are in danger as long as I remain close to you." He opened his mouth to begin the next stage of his argument, but stopped once he'd registered what she'd said. "Wait, as long as you're close to us? What do you mean?"
She gave a sad and regretful expression. "I mean, that we can't do this anymore. For as long as I'm a risk to the two of you, I can't take the chance of allowing any past form of the Warrior to take hold."
He grabbed her hand fiercely. "That's a risk I'm willing to take. Regardless of who you used to be, think of who you are now! You're my best friend, one of the only constants I've had in my new life. Please don't do this!" he pleaded.
She just shook her head. "I'm sorry, Matt." She then stood up from the bed, and walked out the door of the room. Matt still sat upright, stunned from the recent events, somehow now feeling worse than he had before she'd come in.