Not much is known of the Reef anymore. The Awoken isolated themselves from the rest of the Solar System long ago in the centuries past. Many have attempted to learn more of our history and the validity of the legends that speak of Guardians by venturing out into their space and seeking an audience.

Few return. And of those that do, none survive for long.

There are severe penalties for any who leave Terra. Though enforced by the City, it was the Trinary Star who first proposed such regulation over the populace. And while the results cannot be argued with, it is the motivations which we can analyze.

Are the sanctions in place to set a precedent, to act as a deterrent in an effort to discourage curious wanderers from running headfirst into grave danger? Or do the Awoken know a horrible truth, one which the Star will go to any lengths to keep from being revealed?

- Last known writings of a Keeper executed for her attempts to leave Earth

The walkway to the Queen's throne was long, quiet, and rather precarious. No railings adorned the sides of the lengthy bridge-like structure; nothing to stop one from simply leaning slightly too far over the edge and falling into the void below.

The whole chamber was swathed in purple light as most of the Reef was, its space forever stained by the clash of Light and Dark so many centuries ago. It had been made from the hollowed-out carcass of a colony ship. It gave quite the mysterious (and ominous, Clara thought) flair that she imagined the Awoken intended for any visitors.

She remained close to Woods, trailing behind him nervously as the royal guards' helmets hid their eyes and mouth, keeping their faces a mystery and their stances stoic and unyielding. Though he'd assured her that they were allies, she couldn't help but feel that not one of them would hesitate to kill her if she made a wrong move.

"Approach, Hunter."

Her attention was torn away from the guards and towards the throne which they'd finally arrived at. It rested upon a large circular platform which the bridge fed into and widened out to support. In the center was another cylindrical platform which had stairs upon the side, leading up to the top. Finally, there was a large velvet felt chair which appeared almost alien in nature. There were spikes which rose into the air from the back of it, yet another sign that these people were not to be trifled with.

Sitting almost lazily upon it was an Awoken woman who stared at them from the shadowed canopy of her throne with glowing ice-blue eyes. It was hard to make out specific features, but she appeared rather fair-faced from what Clara could see. Her hair was short, looking more like a choppy pixie cut than anything else where it rested in layers upon her scalp, occasionally drifting over her eyes. It was lightish in color- either white or a faded lilac. If Clara wasn't so anxious about their situation, she might have labelled the Queen as rather beautiful.

Next to her was a hooded guard, one who was wrapped from head to toe in robes that covered every inch of their body. They stood attentively, watching the newcomers with interest and awaiting to see how the situation would play out- likely to discern whether they'd be needed. She heard Woods clear his throat to speak …

"Being a little dramatic, aren't we? If I'd known this was the welcome I'd receive, I might not have come."

Slowly, Clara turned in shock to look at Woods as he mouthed off to the Awoken's leader. Was he insane? The woman led an entire race of matriarchal warriors, and he wanted to open a dialogue like that?

What was even more surprising was the woman's reaction. Instead of ordering her guards to seize them, she simply narrowed her eyes and … laughed.

To Clara's bewilderment, the Queen's face lost all traces of anger and she threw her head back in laughter. Standing up, her laughter slowly ebbed away and was replaced with a smirk which she mischievously flashed at Woods. "You were the one who taught me that before the battle of the weapons comes the battle of the mind, hence the need for a dramatic entrance. I've still got to maintain some level of stoicism, right?"

Ghost, hovering off to Clara's right, glanced at her in confusion. "I … have no clue what's happening here."

That bewilderment only escalated as the Queen and Woods approached each other, and threw their arms around one another in a mutual hug. They stayed like that for several seconds before pulling away. The woman placed her hands on her hips, smiling brightly at Woods. "So Uncle, what brings you here?"

Clara blinked rapidly, at a loss for words. Somehow she managed to choke out, "Uh … Uncle?"

Woods turned to address her. "Clara, this is my niece, Talia … Queen of the Reef."

"Yes, my scouts did mention something about you taking on a ward," Talia muttered, stepping forward and seemingly analyzing her. "Clara, is it?"

The poor Exo had no idea how to react in the presence of royalty, and simply conformed to her first instinct- bowing low in respect. As she arched over forward in submission, the Awoken woman chuckled and gestured for her to stop. "It's alright- I'm not one for that sort of thing, though I appreciate the intent."

Embarrassed, Clara rose back up and mumbled an apology. Talia continued to scrutinize her- but this time, it felt as though there was a deeper layer to her probing. She appeared to be taking note of Clara's appearance, looking for specific details and confirming suspicions upon seeing them there in her face.

Finally, she stepped back and looked to the Hunter for answers. "You've never brought anyone with you before now. What changed?"

"The truth of my existence has been revealed."

At once, the tone in the room changed. Royal guards, which had before stood upright and unmoving, suddenly turned to look in awe at what he'd just said. Talia's eyes widened in disbelief.

"What?"

"I came to the temple. There was a crowd waiting for me, and the Trinary Star assaulted the mountain." He pointed at Clara. "She stood against them, trying to keep the Stag from reaching me. I saved her life and took her with me- it's no longer safe for her there."

Talia sighed and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I can't believe … we need to discuss this in private." Turning back towards the throne, she gestured for her hooded observer to follow them. Woods fell into step behind her, and Clara mirrored him. The Queen turned left on the throne pedestal and began ascending a flight of stairs which led deeper into the infrastructure of the derelict ship.

Clara tried to remain silent, but her mind burned with a multitude of questions. Quietly, she sidled up next to the Hunter and whispered, "So … your niece. How did that happen, becoming Queen of the Reef and all?"

"It's a long story," he muttered back, keeping his voice low as well. "But unlike the last one, I don't have the time to tell it. Maybe she'll humor you if you ask her."

Before he could expand on that, the four of them entered a large room as the doors shut behind them. It was ornate, in blatantly better shape than the condition of the ship it resided within would have led her to believe. She would have expected gold, but it seemed as though silver or platinum were the more prized materials in the Reef. It capped the ends of table legs, and the headrest of the large bed that sat in the center of the back wall.

Talia turned and gestured to the room in light of Clara's awed expression. "Welcome to my chambers. I guarantee there's no more secure a place throughout the Reef than right here- so let's get down to business."

Woods nodded and turned to the fourth occupant. "I'm sure you noticed the similarities when you first saw her?"

"I did," came a voice from under the shawl that Talia's personal guard wore. This was the first time they'd spoken- Clara heard a distinctly feminine voice, one full of hard edges and distrust from years of experience. If the Queen had frightened her before, it was nothing compared to the unease that this particular character gave her.

Slowly, a hand pushed its way out of the robes- one that was silvery and metallic.

"Hang on-"

Before Clara could finish her sentence, said hand grabbed the edge of their cowl and pulled it back. What was underneath had not been what she'd expected at all.

"Hello, Clara."

Underneath the hood was an Exo like her- in more ways than one. The two of them shared the same white coloration, the same silver accents running along their bodies, and the same glowing blue eyes that now stared at one another.

Ghost looked from the stranger to Clara repeatedly. "Uh … am I seeing double?"

"Clara, this is Amelia," Woods introduced, gesturing towards the guard. "She's an old friend, and someone who might know more about your past."

"It's been a long time since I last saw you," Amelia began, stepping forward and analyzing her from several different angles as Talia had done. "I believed you to be dead- but it would appear that I was wrong."

"Happy to disappoint," Clara muttered, narrowing her eyes a bit. Amelia didn't seem to notice, or else she simply didn't care. She furrowed her metallic brow, tilting her head in curiosity.

"How many wipes have you had?"

"One."

"What do you remember?"

Clara shook her head. "Nothing. The only remnants of my memory were that I'm an Exo … and my last instructions to myself had been to walk out and die in a frozen tundra."

"Yeah, it was a real chipper moment when she told me that," Ghost snarked.

"Interesting," Amelia stated. "Your situation makes you quite complex, to put it plainly."

"Why?"

The other Exo paused. "You've only had one wipe, and you chose to erase all of your memory rather than parts. That leads me to believe that some event must have triggered enough desperation in you to warrant such drastic action- and with how the timelines correlate, I imagine that I have a good guess of when that must have been."

Clara blinked. "Really?"

"Yes. With the death of the Guardians."

The room became silent. Woods said nothing, but she could sense the tension radiating from him. She'd learned by now that it was very much a touchy subject for him. She decided to steer the conversation towards less specific, but equally important topics concerning her.

"How does that make me complex?"

"If you'd never wiped before, then you would have had all the aggregate knowledge of your life's experiences until that point," Amelia explained. "You would likely have been one of the wisest and most well-versed people alive at the time. But with your wipe, you lost all of that wisdom … and now you stand here, innocent and ignorant as a child."

She was willing to ignore the 'child' remark for now as the revelations of her past piqued her interest … and chagrin. "So you're saying I went from being some kind of philosophical sage to being … me?"

Her tone was tinged with disappointment, and it was not lost on those around her. Ghost hurriedly flew in front of her. "And what's wrong with being you?"

"I was just told I used to be a savant- and the only useful thing I've done so far is nearly get myself killed. You can imagine why hearing about my past might be a bit of a letdown," she muttered, bitterness seeping into her tone.

"No," she heard to her right, and felt herself light up with surprise as she felt a strong hand on her shoulder. She looked to see Woods staring at her fiercely. "You're inexperienced, yes- but that didn't stop you from standing up for what you thought was right. Even after you watched that Keeper die, you were ready to share his fate if it meant protecting me, someone you didn't even know … that's the mark of a Guardian."

She was speechless, honored by his comforting praise. He retracted his hand and nodded to her. "You have a good heart- don't let yourself believe otherwise."

"Mathias is right," Amelia agreed, drawing Clara's attention back to her. "I've wiped many memories in the thousands of years I've been alive- but I've never erased the important ones. I remember you from the facility on Mars. We didn't know each other particularly well, but what I do know was that you were loved by all. You were there to support the others when we needed help, there to comfort us in our times of fear. We had many worries- concerns that the project would fail, that we would never see our loved ones again … but you always set aside your own misgivings to ensure that ours didn't overwhelm us."

Looking down slightly, she continued. "If I could every describe you in one word, it would have been 'hope.' Perhaps the reason you finally wiped … was because you lost it."

She held a hand up as Clara moved to speak. "That is not to say that hope is dead, however. Now, with you here … it has been reborn. You may not be a well of knowledge any longer, but your role in this tale is no unimportant one."

Talia nodded in affirmation. "Well said. And if your presence here is any indication, we may need hope more than you know."

Crossing her arms, she looked at Woods with an expression of worry and resignation. "Does she know about him? My brother?"

Clara raised a brow-plate in confusion. "Your brother? I'm sorry, but I don't know anything about your-"

"Yes … you do."

She felt a chill run up her spine as she faced Woods, his head lowered and his voice dropping to match. "You asked me before what my connection is to the Stag … why he wants to kill me."

He looked up at her, and she felt nothing but pain and regret emanating from his remaining green eye, wetness forming at its corners.

"He's my son."

A/N: I'm sure some of you are going to look at that family tree and scratch your heads. Yes, there is a logical explanation. Chill.

Reviews are always appreciated, and I'd love to hear your guys' thoughts on the chapter. Trying to get my rhythm back for writing GND, slowly but surely.

Until the next time,

- Matteoarts