The dropship descended to the frost-covered ground below, its jets kicking up dirt and debris in the desolate flatland that had once been Messenger's Fall. Upon touching down, its rear door opened and allowed the occupants inside to step out into the bitter air.
The Stag watched the Hunter cautiously, still wary of the latter attempting some sort of escape- but it truly seemed that he had given up once and for all. He hadn't spoken a word on the ride here, and appeared intent on maintaining that silence.
It mattered not. Soon, the Hunter would never speak again.
Standing roughly twenty meters from the ship was an emissary of the Nine. They were waiting patiently where the Stag had instructed them to, watching as their convoy closed the gap between them.
"Is it ready?" the Stag called out, turning around to spy that which he had requested for the occasion.
The emissary said nothing, but turned and gestured behind them with a flourish of their wrist. A pedestal materialized, one with a immobilizing rig stationed upon it; two leg restraints near the floor attached to an arcing metal piece which rose into the air and split off into two restraints for a subject's wrists to be held above their head.
"A gift from the Nine," they intoned, turning back to face the Stag. "You have accomplished what we asked, Balance. Your race's future is secure."
He felt a surge of emotion course through him, his breath catching in his throat. This was what he'd been working towards all his life, the true purpose of his existence- and he'd finished it.
They're saved.
They might never know it, that all of their hardships hadn't been for nothing- but it was worth it. It had all been worth it.
"Thank you," he breathed, bowing deeply. "I am forever in your debt."
"Kneel."
He did as they asked. To the sides of the emissary, more began to manifest. Soon, there were nine of the entities standing before him, all of their gazes set on him.
"You have served your purpose as our instrument," they spoke in unison. "Rise, our balance. Your trials are over."
As he rose back to his feet, light began to surround him. The ragged edges of his faded robes illuminated and began to transform. Their hems sharpened, lengthening into points that fluttered ever so slightly in a wind none could feel. His garments became a brilliant white, ribbons of cyan and dark silver wrapped around each of his arms.
The helmet he wore as a symbol of his leadership in the Trinary Star began to shape itself. The bone of the skull chipped away, replaced with a smooth, white metal. The antlers contorted themselves, straightening first and then curving in on themselves and stretching upwards until they were a large, ornate crown of pristine antlers.
The light faded away, leaving him basking in its purity for a few seconds as he admired his new dressings- the dressings of humanity's savior.
"Fulfill your destiny, Balance," they spoke in unison. "Extinguish the light. Save your people."
He bowed again, then turned behind him to the enforcers who stared at him in awe. One lowered his head and addressed him, "What is your command, Stag?"
"I am the Stag no longer," he began, stepping closer. "The Trinary Star is dust, its leaders dead. Now … there is only the Balance."
The Hunter's eyes were wide with shock in spite of his situation. The Balance took great satisfaction in noting it.
"Now you see, Hunter!" He raised his arms high in triumph. "This is what was foreseen millennia ago- a great balance to calm the tides of Light and Dark."
"It's not too late, Cerin."
Silence fell as those around them heard the Hunter use the Balance's real name. Mathias showed no care for them- he only had eyes for his nephew.
"Your mother and I were shown what the balance would bring, the destruction that would follow in its wake- your wake," he corrected. "I was given the opportunity to change my path, to alter history so that none of this might happen- and still I chose you."
He closed his eyes, sighing deeply. "I've known those who fought too long for a side before they realized it was the wrong one. And all of them were among the bravest people I've ever known." He opened them again, tears forming at the corners. "Please, Cerin. Your mother would never have wanted this for you."
"You dare speak of my mother?" the Balance whispered. "After you killed her-"
"I didn't kill your mother, Cerin," Mathias said quietly. "But … I may as well have."
His thoughts turned to a memory from long ago, a mission that was fated to end in tragedy …
MANY YEARS AGO, THE RED WAR, DOMINUS GAUL'S FLAGSHIP
"Ash, please tell me you've got it!" he yelled into the comms, sliding underneath some pipes as he and Scorch were chased by a pack of Cabal war beasts through the ship interior.
"The thermal exchanges weren't enough- Whip says we need to disrupt the electron reservoir at the core with a fusion cell!"
The string os science jargon nearly gave him pause, which would have been a death sentence with the Cabal hounds' gnashing teeth and eager claws behind him. "What?"
"We're going to put a glowing thing in the engine and make it explode!"
"Good plan!" Scorch shouted, turning and firing at one of the beasts that had nearly caught up with them. "But could you hurry the process up a bit? It's getting dicey here!"
Diving onto a lift, she turned to provide covering fire while Matt activated the platform's power. Rising slowly up a cylindrical shaft to the top of the ship's exterior, the beasts were left below to growl angrily after them.
"We've nearly gotten cooked alive up here- I think you two can handle whatever it is you guys are dealing with!"
That was Dawn, Ash's partner on the mission to destroy the Almighty. Eager and Aria were leading the other Guardians in the ground-fight, shutting down defenses and helping evacuate civilians who were still trapped in the City with the Red Legion.
Matt and Scorch were covering what was potentially the most vital objective- eliminating Ghaul and freeing the Traveler. The Vanguard hadn't been able to accompany them through Cayde's modified Vex teleporter, and so the everyone's fate was in their hands.
As the finally reached the top, and they saw what was waiting for them, Matt gave a low whistle. "I hate to say it, Dawn … but I think we have you beat."
The Traveler loomed before them, nearly its entire surface covered in panels that had slowly been constructed over it by the Red Legion, suppressing its Light and allowing the flagship to harvest it. And all of that Light was being funneled directly into-
"Fitting your Traveler would send you to face me once more."
That guttural voice that they'd come to hate spoke from within a flurry of dark fire and pure Light. As they watched, the inferno died down and revealed the form of their enemy, the one who'd come to steal their god.
"Look upon me," the Cabal subjugator said proudly, admiring himself as energy traveled up and down his limbs. "Dominus of the Red Legion. Annihilator of Suns. Razer of a thousand worlds! Slayer of gods, and conquerer of the Light!"
He lifted his arms up, rising to his full height. "I. AM. GHAUL!"
Reaching to his side, he withdrew his weapon. "And I have become Legend."
"Can he say that?" Matt asked aloud. "Can he really just steal that line from us?"
"Wouldn't put it past him," Scorch growled. "Take cover!"
The pair of Hunters rolled to opposite sides of the walkway as Ghaul lifted off into the air via a booster on his back, and blasted the spot they'd been standing just a moment before. Rising up to one knee, Scorch took aim with the Last Words and began emptying the chamber into him. The bullets pinged harmlessly off of his armor, but did force him to move to avoid being hit in his uncovered head.
"What's the plan here?" she yelled out to Matt on the other side as she ducked behind a barricade right before Ghaul fired at her again. She could feel the heat of his gun's energy bolts bleeding around the sides of the metal.
"We can't beat him conventionally," he shouted back, making his way towards the nose of the ship and the funnel that Ghaul had stepped out of. "Not without our Light!"
"So we unleash the Light, use it to kill him?" She darted out of cover, evading a blast of solar energy from Ghaul as she did so. "I like that plan!"
"YOU WILL FAIL!" Ghaul bellowed at them, void Light beginning to emanate from his body. "I WILL LEAVE THIS WORLD A LIFELESS ROCK-"
"You talk too much," Matt muttered, taking aim with the Hawkmoon and firing at one of the jets that propelled the Cabal through the air. It took a few rounds, but they managed to punch through the outer casing and resulted in an explosion that sent Ghaul careening across the ship and to the floor out of sight.
The two Hunters took their newfound opportunity while he was grounded to run to the place where Ghaul had first appeared. There was a circle of specialized vents, and a glass platform through which they could see the Light flowing within.
"Let me take a look at this," Seraph said, materializing and floating forward to examine the vents.
"Might want to hurry," Matt panted, looking behind them where he heard Ghaul's roars of fury drawing closer.
After a quick scan, Seraph backed away. "Oh no."
"What's 'oh no'?"
"The Red Legion has devised a way to trap the Light, but only barely. It's become volatile, unstable- it's trying to escape, and grows in ferocity with every second that it can't."
"English, please?" Scorch demanded.
"You can't use this to regain your light, the raw power of it would destroy you both," she explained. "Ghaul is strong enough to withstand it in small bursts, but for you two … it's a death sentence."
The two of them looked at each other wordlessly, realizing what this meant- they couldn't kill Ghaul, and they couldn't release the Light without dying.
At least … one of them couldn't.
"I'll do it," Matt said firmly. Scorch move to argue, but he simply turned around with his gun at the ready. "This isn't up for debate- if we don't do this, everyone dies. Wear Ghaul down until I have a chance to blow the vents apart, and then get the hell out of here."
"Your dead god won't save you now!" Ghaul howled. The massive Cabal Dominus was fast approaching, and he was pissed.
The two Hunters took either side of him, taking shots where they could. Once or twice, they managed to graze his pale, albino flesh- but it only served to anger him further. Ghaul flew into a rage, holding his hands out and casting arcs of electricity that slithered through the air and found their marks.
Matt was flung backwards to the floor, the front of his armor smoking from the electric contact. As he pushed himself up, groaning, Seraph spoke in his head.
You know that if you do this, I won't survive either. This will really be the end.
"I don't have a choice," he murmured, rising to his feet again. "It's us or everyone else."
Scorch danced just out of Ghaul's reach as he now hurled flaming balls at her, each one impacting against metal and slowly melting it away. Knowing that he wouldn't get a second chance at this, he ran to the vents.
He came to a stop, now standing atop the largest concentration of Light he'd ever seen. It swam beneath him, hot with the pressure of so much energy contained in this metal cage.
He held out the Hawkmoon, aimed at the glass below his feet, placed his finger over the trigger, and … and …
His mind flashed to everything he'd built for himself in this life he'd been given, the life he'd chosen when he rejected Sara's offer. He had a loving wife in Ash, a family in those he'd fought alongside for years- Aria, Scorch, Dawn, Eager- his best friends.
He thought of his niece, Talia, and his nephew, Cerin, the latter of which was still too young to speak. He thought of their faces, the joy that each visit brought him when he saw them every week. He thought of Ash and the life they'd finally built together, in spite of all their hardships and the City's prejudices. He thought of never being able to see any of them again.
He thought of how afraid he was of losing them- and in spite of all his accomplishments, in spite of all he stood for, in spite of everything he'd ever learned and taught others about being a Guardian, he did the one thing that should never be done when faced with a choice to do the right thing.
He hesitated.
A single moment, a split second of hesitation where he was completely, utterly selfish, where he was afraid to lose what he'd been given, where he chose his own happiness over that of those he'd sworn to protect- that was all it took.
He heard a grunt of pain from behind him, and jerked backwards at the sight of Scorch's body landing hard beside him, then skidding a meter forward where she stirred feebly. The Last Word was sent spinning off the edge of the ship, falling into the City below. He turned around, and found himself face to face with the Red Legion's soul.
A massive arm swung at him, and Ghaul caught him with a mighty backhand that sent him spinning backwards through the air and into a wall. He slid to the ground, enormous pain flaring in his chest, as the front of his helmet split apart from the force and both half halves slid down to the floor.
"You're not brave," Ghaul taunted, stepping towards him menacingly. "You've merely forgotten the fear of death."
"We did it!" came Dawn's voice through the comms. "The Almighty is destroyed- heading back to Earth now!"
He couldn't tell them that it was all for nothing- that he'd failed. That this was the end … of everything.
Behind Ghaul, Scorch inched her way towards the glass and vents. Crawling on bettered hands and knees, ignoring the broken bones that screamed out for her to stop, she focused her mind on a single thought- a single connection.
Traveler- you made me a Child of Light. You had a purpose for me. If this is it … if this be my destiny … then help me fulfill it.
She looked back at the Traveler, the panels nearly finished with their surface coverage. She reached a hand out, begging for it to see her.
Give me the strength to free you. Give me the will to do what must be done.
There was nothing- and then, there was the smallest of white light that seeped from a crack in the seams of the panels, the minutest of vapor trails that pirouetted through the air until it met her outstretched hand. She watched as the Traveler gave the last of its remaining light to her, trusting in her as she had in it.
She could feel the Light flowing through her once more, its power rising within her. There wasn't much time- this was it.
Her ghost, Spectre, materialized and hovered sadly in front of her. "Lyra … it's been an honor."
Ghaul still approached Matt, preparing to finish what he had begun when he'd first stolen the Light. The fallen Hunter's attention wasn't on the Cabal, however- it was on Scorch, now kneeling on the glass. The Dominus, curious at what had taken his attention, followed his gaze to see his fatal mistake.
Lifting one hand up, Scorch tore her helmet away from her head, and made eye contact with Matt, her amber eyes speaking to his green ones. His heart leapt into his throat, realizing what she was about to do.
"Take care of them," she whispered. "For me."
Raising one hand into the air, she used the Light she'd been given to summon an electric staff of arc energy, and then drove it into the glass.
"NO-!" Ghaul screamed, but it was too late.
The reaction was immediate; the cracked glass created a pressure point that the rest of the trapped Light pushed against to escape, and then there was a beam of energy the likes of which had never seen. It erupted into the air, vaporizing Scorch and Spectre instantly, and continued out and into the air where it began to flow back into the Traveler.
Cracks in the artificial carapace the Cabal had built began to appear, blinding white light emitting from within. As the cracks grew wider and more numerous, their glow seemed to focus in on Ghaul, bathing him in a spotlight.
"You … do see me," he breathed in awe, his voice prideful.
Then there was an explosion of radiance, the shell around the Traveler burning away as it disintegrated Ghaul where he stood, and the air was filled with pure Light as the Traveler broke free.
As Matt gave in to his injuries and fell unconscious, his last thought was one remarking on what it had cost.
"… Your mother gave her life to save the Traveler," Mathias finished. "All because of my moment of weakness- a moment that I've wished I could take back every day since." He looked into his nephew's mask, refusing to let its barrier separate them. "I promised her that I wouldn't abandon you. I've never given up hope that there's good in you, despite everything you've shown me to the contrary."
Cerin remained silent.
"As far as I'm concerned, you're my boy. I know you saw me as a father once- let me be a father to you again."
He raises his cuffed hands palms-up, pleading for his adoptive son to take them in his own.
The seconds stretched on, the enforcers and Nine alike watching Cerin for his answer. Finally, he spoke, "If you truly chose me- if you truly don't want to break your promise, then I offer you one last chance as a show of mercy- recant your faith in the Light. Help me save humanity."
Cerin's voice had taken on its own tone, almost mirroring that of Mathias'- he was desperate for the Hunter to accept his olive branch, to make amends for past wrong-doings and join him with the Nine.
"This is the only way," he urged, his voice betraying his emotion.
The Hunter looked at the Nine, standing behind Cerin as they awaited his response. As poised and graceful as the day they'd murdered everyone he loved.
His hands lowered. "I chose you, Cerin. Not the Balance."
A cold silence descended on them. After a few seconds, the Balance waved to the enforcers on either side of the Hunter. "Place him in the restraints."
They followed his command, and led Mathias to the pedestal. The Balance looked at the Nine, and gave a small nod.
"It's time to end this."