Cautiously, Eager removed various vision filters for his optics as they adjusted to the dim light in such contrast to the blinding whiteness they'd just run through a few moments ago.

"Everyone, acknowledge?" asked Scorch. He knew she was trying to take a head count, so he quickly flashed his green light on his HUD. Four other green lights appeared next to his.

One of them did not. Rather than flashing green or red, it simply stayed gray. He got a sickening feeling from seeing that.

"Where are we?" he heard Dawn ask from off to his left. Looking out at their surroundings, he saw that they were in a vast void-scape; they were standing on one side of a large chasm, a castle-like structure situated on both their side and the opposite one. But outside of those facilities and their mountainous foundations, there was nothing but greenish black space for as far as the eye could see.

Eris turned to everyone.

"After the first trial, you will finally arrive in Crota's throne world. Your second test will determine whether you are worthy enough to face Crota; should your champion best the gatekeeper, you will be granted access to Crota's sanctuary. Only there, in his throne world, will he be truly vulnerable."

"Champion?" asked Eager.

She looked like she was about to bite his head off, but then realized halfway through that it was a valid question. "Yes. Only one of you may face the gatekeeper. The others must channel their light into them, and pray that their support helps tip the scales in your favor."

"I think we're in that 'throne-world' Eris was talking about," he replied. "Maybe-"

"First thing's first," Scorch interrupted. "Ghosts, I want all three of you to scan for a signal from Seraph and Matt. Try to find anything you can."

Whip, Echo, and Spectre all expanded into their spherical forms, and began pulsating on different frequencies to find any trace of their friends.

Nothing but static played through them.

"I'm sorry, but… Guardians are tied to their Ghosts, and if we can't raise a signal from Seraph then… I don't know what else to do." Echo muttered.

Whip sighed deeply. "There are plenty of reasons why we can't get a signal from them; we're too far away, the signal is getting corrupted, too much interference, et cetera. There's gotta be a better explanation than… you know."

Spectre said nothing. He already knew what they were all thinking, there was no reason for him to voice it aloud. Silently, they turned to look at someone who had separated from the group.

Ash stood away from the rest of them, hugging herself in a protective posture. Not a word was said, but everyone understood just how much impact this was having on her. They'd seen how badly Matt had freaked out when Ash had been injured; how was she going to react with the grim circumstances surrounding her best friend? They couldn't afford to have her mind straying from the mission right now.

Eager heard Scorch sigh next to him. "We can't dwell on it. He's survived worse things-"

"No he hasn't."

Ash's interruption caught them off guard, but Scorch refused to let this stop them. "Look, the best thing we can do right now is to finish the mission. I doubt that Matt would have wanted any of us to come this far and then stop for his sake. He would want us to rub it right in Crota's face, to show him that-"

"-that Guardians never die," whispered Ash. Scorch was taken aback. "He said that once- that we never die, not really. That we live on in our friends' hearts, as legends."

She turned to the Hunter. "What's our next move?"

Scorch nodded appreciatively. Truthfully, she wanted nothing more than to hand off leadership to someone else right now; she wanted to break down just as much as Ash wanted to, felt broken like everyone probably felt right now. But that wouldn't help them; clear thinking would.

"We need a champion, remember? Someone to challenge the gatekeeper across the chasm. Any takers?"

Dawn was gung-ho, but even she looked a bit unsettled at the prospect. Scorch was too busy leading the team and trying to hold everyone together, Ash was emotionally broken, Aria looked like she was trying to comfort Ash ever so slightly, which left-

"Ah, hell."

A roar sounded behind them. All five Guardians turned to look at the source of the noise, a Knight-shaped hive with angry orange scars criss-crossing its form, like lava was cracking it from the inside. It held a sword in one hand.

"Better get that sword, Eager. 'Cause you're going across."

-X-

Groaning, Matt lifted his head off the ground.

He had been face down on the hard rock before he'd stirred. Everything around him was shrouded in darkness and shadow. He could hear the distant screeches of Thralls in the gloom, and his heartbeat began to increase in pace.

"Seraph, w-what's the damage?"

He waited for an answer but received none. Slowly, he raised himself up with his arms, and then sat down.

"Seraph? Re… report."

Again, no answer. Now worried, he held open a hand and allowed the Ghost to materialize in it. Silently, the chassis of Seraph fell into it.

"Seraph?!"

He raised her up to his helmet's visor to see better. The blue light of her eye was barely visible, faintly flickering. He remembered how she'd talked about the Ghosts being affected by the pure Darkness down here. She wasn't going to die, but he was totally alone down here. No friends, no Ghost…

No one.

He was beginning to grasp just how much strength Eris had if she survived this for years, and he felt newfound respect for her. With a flick of his hand, he allowed Seraph to dematerialize back into him.

He attempted to stand, only for pain to blossom all across his chest. Gingerly, he felt around with his hands. Yup, a broken rib from the fall. Why was he always the one getting hurt on these missions?

Suddenly, another one of those Thralls' screams pierced the air, setting his teeth on edge. That one was a bit closer. Could they smell him? He didn't want to find out.

As hurriedly as he could, he forced himself to his feet, ignoring the pain as much as he could. Holding his chest with one arm, he staggered forward and away from the cries of the insane Hive.

-X-

The sword bearer sank to its knees from its injuries, and then crumbled into dust. The only thing left behind was the massive sword it wielded.

Scorch looked at Eager. "Well? Go on."

He exhaled deeply. Stepping forward, he reached out to where it hovered just a foot above the ground, and grasped the handle. Immediately, a small whitish aura surrounded him, and a bridge appeared connecting their side of the chasm with the gatekeeper's.

Aria poked a hand at the odd bridge. Her hand phased right through it. "Looks like only the sword wielder can cross, at least until that gatekeeper is dead." She stepped backwards. "Have at it, Eager!"

He groaned. Across the gorge, he could already see the gatekeeper readying itself for the fight. He supposed that there was no time like the present, and much like Scorch would have, he proceeded to charge straight into the fray.

As soon as his foot left the bridge and touched the gatekeeper's side, it roared at him. He paid it no mind, and decided to take the first swing. It sidestepped, and he felt the blade cut through nothing but air. The gatekeeper followed up by attempting to stab straight down, but he rolled out of the way, and came back on his feet.

"You've got this!" he heard Scorch say over the comms. He rolled his optics.

"Thanks, that's very reassuring." He barely had time to say that before another swipe from the gatekeeper forced him to either duck or be decapitated.

Opting for a different tactic, the gatekeeper turned the blade so that the flat of it faced Eager rather than the edge.

"Wait, really? Pretty sure you're supposed to use the sharp side there, buddy-"

The gatekeeper swung and hit Eager in full force, now that it had more surface area to hit him with. Eager felt himself fly backwards and tumble until he slammed into a wall near the closed door that eventually led to Crota's lair.

"Ouch… okay, maybe I need to stop running my mouth."

He felt the vibrations of the gatekeeper's footsteps as it approached him. Scrambling to get a better position, he just managed to upright himself before he dodge yet another swing of the sword.

This one, however, was different. Having been aiming for Eager's head, the sword was now embedded in the wall, stuck and immovable. The gatekeeper roared with frustration, but Eager didn't care; this was the opportunity he'd been waiting for.

Raising his own sword high above his head, he let it fall and felt it cleave through the arms of the gatekeeper as it gripped the handle of its weapon, trying to remove it from the wall. It roared with pain, but was quickly put down when he shoved the sword through its face next. Falling backwards onto its back, the blue-cracked Knight disintegrated as it impacted against the ground.

Suddenly, a distant rumbling could be heard, and Eager looked to see the massive doors slowly opening. The aura around the bridge had disappeared, and it looked like it had become fully solid now. The four Guardians across the gap quickly made their way over to him. The Hunter in front came up to him and patted him on the shoulder.

"See? Told you."

And with that, they entered.

-X-

He did not know how far he made it before he fell for the first time against the slick stone path, moving both hands to stop his sudden descent. The jolt it created for his rib could not be helped, and he once again forced himself to stand, grinding his teeth with determination.

He made a promise that he would find his way back. There was no way he was gonna break that if he had a choice. Unfortunately, he wasn't sure how much of a choice he actually had, considering how tired he was getting. Running through this place with six people had been hard enough, but running through it alone and with a broken rib? This was probably suicide.

He tripped again, this time failing to stop himself completely, and he landed hard on his shoulder. Yelping a little, he once again tried to rise.

Which way was he even going? Was it the right direction, or was he just wandering in circles? He couldn't see in front of him at all without the lanterns, and his head was jumbled. He couldn't remember Eris's directions worth a damn if he tried. And all the while, those screams were getting closer…

He tripped for the third time, and didn't even try to stop himself as he crumpled to the ground and slammed his injured chest into the hard surface.

Oh, hell. Who was he kidding? He wasn't making it out of here. He scrunched his eyes up tight. Every fight he'd been in, whether it was against the Messenger in the core of the Traveler, or trying to stay sane in the Vault of Glass, it had always been about not giving up; about staying determined no matter what and persevering through it.

But this was the end of the line. He wasn't immortal, he knew that. He'd already died once, and that hand't been a pleasant experience. This time though, there wouldn't be any saving grace. There was no light here, nothing to save his soul from corruption. He would die, and then be resurrected later by a Wizard as some god-forsaken Thrall, doomed to haunt this place for the rest of his life. He'd never see his friends again, probably wouldn't even remember them, would never see Ash again, never tell her that she was wrong and that there could be a future for them, a future that he'd never get to experience now-

That's new. Funny, I never thought I'd experience anything different after so many… well.

He lifted his head, shaking from the effort. Who the hell was that? The voice sounded feminine, familiar. He just couldn't place it…

I guess it's a measure of your strength that in all my years, the one thing that I never saw you do was give up. Until now.

"Who are you?"

Alone, shivering in the dark. The voice changed, becoming more sorrowful. It hurts to see you like this.

He had no response. It's not like he had a set reaction for some entity suddenly appearing to him in his darkest hour.

Darkest hour? No. The worst is yet to come. The voice sighed. I wish it weren't the case; but here I am.

Suddenly, in the corner of his vision, he saw something light up in the distance. A little pinprick of blue, glowing in the darkness. He reached towards it with his hand, try to grasp any lifeline he could. Those screeches rebounded off the walls again.

Go.

He didn't need to be told twice. Gathering what strength he had, he made his way towards the light. He stumbled like a drunk, following the light like a moth to the flame. To be fair, it's not like he had any other hope than this.

He reached the light to see nothing but a small blue orb hovering in the air. He cautiously reached out to touch it, some odd force compelling him to do so…

His fingers had barely scraped it when it winked out of existence. He turned every which way, only to find that it had reappeared higher up above him somewhere, and had expanded its light to reveal a hill in front of him. Without hesitation, he began to scramble up it.

It took every ounce of strength he had, but he finally pulled himself to the top. Leaning against a large boulder, he watched as the blue orb did not disappear this time, but rather flew over to where he now saw the bridge that they'd built earlier was. It was still there, just waiting for someone to cross it. The only problem was, there were several Knights, an Ogre, and a horde of Thralls between him and it.

He almost thought about turning back, but hissing from behind him forced him to turn around. He saw that a large number of those crazed Thrall were at the bottom of the hill too, eager for a chance at him but kept at bay by the light of the blue orb.

"Did… did you just trap me?" he asked incredulously.

No. Had I not intervened, you would have given up. I just showed you the way out. Now, it is your choice. Will you still choose to die, or will you fight for your freedom?

He thought back to what the voice had said earlier. It was true, he hadn't ever given up before, even when every odd had told him it was better to do so. He still had his determination in him, he just needed the voice to remind him of that. Still wished that he knew who it was.

Grinning, he pulled the Hawkmoon from its holster held it in his hand.

With that simple movement, the blue light disappeared, and the Thralls down below began to claw their way up the hill. Alerted by the screeches behind him, the Knights and Ogre ahead of him roared in anticipation of a new challenger.

It was alright; he was ready.

-X-

Scorch led the way as they walked through the long and massive hallway. More of those grave-like structures were here, and the group had grown silent with the all-too-real reminder of their likely dead friend. Ash stared straight ahead, refusing to show how she felt. Ironically, it was because of that action that everyone had a good idea of how she was feeling about now.

She thought back to the journey here, where Matt had tried to talk about what had happened with her on the Javelin. I'm sorry. If I'd known this would happen, I wouldn't have shut you out. She hoped he could hear her, wherever he was.

Had he meant what he'd said? That he really did think she was wrong to throw away that idea of… them, so fast? Even if he had been, these events only solidified in her mind that she'd made the right choice. In their line of work, there was no point in forming personal attachments; they could be stolen away from you at any time.

All too soon, they came across a massive hole in the ground. Without talking, they all jumped down into a pool of black liquid below. It splashed, but did not stain their armor; rather they simply felt chilled to the bone as they stood in it. Hurrying to get out, they all stepped out and shivered involuntarily a few times.

Their bodies worked like a machine now; barely registering where they finally were. As they stepped outside into an arena of sorts, they could hardly process all of their emotions and exhaustion; the fear of the Thrall infested abyss, the pain of losing Matt, the walls they were putting up so that their grief didn't overtake them, and their triumphant spirits as they finally breached Crota's last stronghold.

"What the hell is that?" groaned Eager, pointing at the massive orb hovering behind the arena a few miles away. It was massive, the size of a small moon. It looked like a black hole surrounded by the debris of a planet, like a shell. Red liquid-like substances floated by in the void, occasionally getting sucked into it like some creature slurping down a drink. It was disturbing to say the least.

"I think that's the Oversoul," muttered Aria. "I heard Eris talking about it towards the end of the plan, while you were too busy being afraid to ask any more questions." He snickered slightly. Even Ash felt a small dot of positivity in her at hearing that.

Suddenly, a swirling vortex of green gas and magic began to spin on the top pedestal in front of them, the center of attention of the arena. After a moment it stopped, and where there had been nothing now stood a massive Knight-looking entity. It was green and turquoise, glowing with unnatural light; as thought it weren't one solid being, but rather layers upon layers of one ghastly creature copied over one another.

"Is that…" Eager whispered.

Ash supplied the answer this time.

"Crota."