"How … unexpected."
Clara was pulled out of her shock by the sudden voices behind her. The pain in her chest almost all but forgotten, she turned herself over to see nine individuals dressed in shining white and glimmering blue robes. There was no rhyme or reason to their organization, they were different heights, different sexes- the only thing that was consistent was their garments and the fact that they all spoke in unison.
"Long has the Balance and the Hunter's rivalry raged," they continued. "To see it end in such a fashion was … not a predicted outcome."
They turned their attention to the sounds of battle that still carried over from the wall and beyond, though it seemed to be lessening. "Humanity has not been so unified in centuries. A pity it must come to an end-"
"No, please," Clara pleaded, her heart racing. "Don't … don't do this again."
They faced her with some semblance of curiosity. "You know of us?"
"You're the Nine," she breathed, groaning as she pushed herself up- rising first to her knees, and then fully upright. "You killed the Guardians."
She balanced precariously on her feet, weakened from both physical and mental exhaustion. She knew that if it came down to another fight, she'd be killed in seconds.
"Correct," they agreed. "A necessary endeavor to prevent your own self-destruction."
"Self-destruction?" she questioned confusedly. "What do you mean?"
"Irrelevant. What matters now is exterminating all those who carry the Light-"
"No, please-" she stammered, stepping forward and nearly falling to the snow again, "I'm begging you- just explain why. Why did you do this? Why do you hate the Light?"
There was a tense pause as they considered her query. "We do not hate the Light- we are the Light."
There was a solid ten seconds of silence where Clara tried to process exactly what she'd just heard. Finally, she croaked out, "You … you are the Light? What does that mean?"
They hesitated again, then looked up towards the Traveler above. After staring at it for some time, they returned their gaze to the Guardian before them.
"Long ago, at the birth of the black itself, we were many. Our Light carried far out into the depths of the universe, bringing hope and sanguine promises to all who basked in its illumination. From our generosity, civilizations grew and flourished and thrived under our watch. We asked for nothing in return- bringing life to an otherwise dead void was as great a purpose and reward as we could have asked for.
"But the natural state of the universe is shadow. With our light, we drew the attention of something which crept out from beyond the event horizon of space and time. And it hated us."
"Why?"
"Their very existence is- to them- hell incarnate. They hate reality for being. They hate themselves for being. And they hated us for making them be, for being a something that required the creation of an equal, a great Veil with which to obscure the Light."
"The Darkness," she breathed in realization. Slowly, the Nine nodded.
"They pursued us to every reach of space, drawn by an insatiable instinct to destroy the white mirror of themselves. It was not long before only we remained- and we learned to hide. To avoid detection at all costs, to allow this plague upon reality to corrupt and torment and rape the flower of life that our Light had nourished. Only through our inaction did we survive … but one of our number chose to fight."
Clara's gaze travelled upwards to the white orb hanging in the sky, the implications beginning to dawn on her. "You're … you're other Travelers?"
"Though a a primitive term, it is no less accurate of one," they confirmed. "We scattered ourselves across the universe, fearing total extinction should the Veil find us and only acting through emissaries of our choosing- but our sister rejected such a life. Journeying from civilization to civilization, she uplifted those she deemed worthy of the Light- only for them to fall, time and time again as the Veil hunted her relentlessly. Our sibling ran each time, abandoning those she'd come to call her own- until she met you."
"Us?"
"She made her last stand in defense of humanity, choosing to protect your kind rather than leave you to the Veil." They lifted their hands and gestured to the Traveler. "You can see now how her faith was rewarded. Look upon her glory as she hangs dormant in your sky, the shell of a broken god. That is the only honor gifted to those who defy that which you call the Darkness- death."
They looked towards the distant battle again. "Regardless, she saw something in your race that made death preferable to survival. That makes humanity invaluable, and deserving of our protection."
"Your protection?" she scoffed in disbelief. "You killed thousands-"
"-To prevent the complete genocide of your race," they cut her off. "Guardians, Ghosts, any wielders of the Light- they are beacons which shine out into the pitch and attract the attentions of your would-be murderers. To hide humanity from their eternal watch, the Light here on Earth had to be extinguished."
Their actions explained, they turned and made ready to commence with their plan. "We found the Balance, informed him of this eventuality, and acted through him to achieve our goals- but it would appear that we must step in to complete them-"
"No."
That single word did something no one had ever been able to do before- it silenced them. They returned their vacant expressions to Clara once more.
"The Traveler chose us for a reason," she continued, a pounding in her ears. "Because we embody the same determination that it saw in itself, the same drive to fight against all odds even knowing we won't come out on the other side."
"And what drive would that be?"
"Hope," she answered simply. "The hope for a better future, the hope that our actions today will give someone else a better tomorrow. Once, you all carried that same hope- but now you'd rather hide away in distant corners of the universe, praying that the Darkness doesn't find you rather than daring to stand against it."
"Would you?" they asked. "Would you defy the nightmares of a god knowing that failure means oblivion?"
"The Traveler did," she answered back. "Guardians did. And we won't hesitate to do so again."
There was a long silence that seemed to stretch to such great lengths that it altered the physical space between them. At long last, the Nine spoke again.
"If you choose this as your destiny, we will not join you. You will stand alone against a foe you have no chance of defeating, an enemy unlike your kind has ever faced before. You will die."
"When the Darkness- or this, Veil, as you call them- comes for us again," she stated firmly, "we'll do what we always do; fight. And if you stand against us, then we'll fight you too."
For a few moments, the Nine just watched her silently and she was concerned they were about to zap her into nonexistence. Then, the emissaries all bowed their heads.
"Your fate is yours, Guardian."
And just like that, they disappeared.
Clara stood there, nonplussed at the events which had just transpired. After a minute of stunned silence, Ghost materialized in front of her.
"So … we're not dead. That's good, right?"
"Better than the alternative," groaned a voice off to her right. Looking over, she saw Sive rising to his feet from the ground. "I heard everything- figured it was best to let you sort things out with them rather than interrupt."
"Thanks," she said dryly, though her voice came out as more of a hoarse whisper than the sardonic reply she'd hoped it would be.
We did it. We won.
"… C-Clara …"
The gravelly voice took her out of her celebratory thoughts in an instant, and caused her to run over to her fallen mentor's side, damn the pain and all. Sliding into the snow next to him, she placed her hands on his chest to apply pressure in a vain attempt to stop the bleeding. The palms of her hands became slicked with blood on contact, further hindering her ability to do so.
"Seraph!" she ordered, resulting in the materialization of Mathias' Ghost. "What are you waiting for? Heal him-"
"I can't," the Ghost said softly, almost in as much disbelief as her. "He won't let me. This is … this is what he wants."
"What do you mean, he won't let you? That's ridiculous, c'mon Matt, everything's going to be alright-"
"Clara … stop."
The command in his voice was unmistakable, and she found herself freezing at her teacher's words, shifting her focus from his wounds to his grizzled face. In spite of everything, he still wore a smile.
"It's okay … it's okay."
She shook her head, refusing to accept what she was hearing. "No, no, it's not okay, it's not okay- you c-can't leave me, please don't leave me-"
"You remember the day we met?"
For his condition, he was speaking remarkably calmly. Hesitantly, she nodded. "It was the first day of my life."
"And it was supposed to be the last of mine." He hummed thoughtfully. "Funny, how things work out, isn't it? I saved you, a-and … and, without knowing it, you saved me."
"I d-didn't do anything," she tried to deny tearfully, but he cut her off.
"She was right- Sara, I mean. She told me on that peak that there was hope left in the world, that I was just too blind to see it." He swallowed hard. "You opened my eyes, Clara. You were the one who gave me someone to learn from, someone to teach, and someone … someone to remember me. You are hope, Clara- you're the hope that … that humanity needs to light the way."
He turned his head back, looking over at the still form of his nephew. "Cerin and I … there was never any place for us in this new world you're going to create. Nothing could move forward until we were gone- it took me far too many years to see that."
"P-Please," she repeated earlier, a sob hitching in her throat. "D-Don't say that- I n-need you here, I need you to g-guide me-"
"No, you don't," he said with a painful chuckle. "I've taught you all you need- and you taught me what I'd forgotten."
She tilted her head confusedly. "W-What?"
"You taught me what it means to be a Guardian again."
He smiled before being overcome in a coughing fit- she held him tenderly as his breathing returned to normal, though much fainter than before.
"You're going … you're going to see a lot of things you won't understand," he whispered. "You'll face challenges you won't know how to beat- the life of a Guardian is never easy."
He reached out for her with his hand, a gesture which she quickly reciprocated by grabbing and holding it tightly in her own.
"But I know that … that when the Darkness returns, when this Veil comes … you'll be waiting f-for them. And you'll show them … what it means to be a Guardian too."
His grip began to fade, and she clutched it tighter.
"I know … you'll lead us … to our … destiny …" he breathed out, his voice barely audible. Nothing else was heard but for the labored sounds of his inhalations.
Finally, she felt the strength leave his hand. His chest did not rise again.
—X—
Matt felt Clara's grip on him suddenly vanish. He looked over to his left to see what had happened, only to see that she was no longer there. He inspected his hand, suddenly realizing it was no longer gauntleted. Looking down at himself, he found that everything about his outfit had changed- he wore simple clothes in the form of dark pants, and a familiar jacket. He was busy trying to further examine himself when a voice tore him out of his thoughts.
"Took you long enough."
He glanced upward, all rational thought abandoned. Striding towards him as gracefully as she had done in life was the love of his life, her blue eyes as bright as the day he'd met her.
"Ash …"
He pushed himself up onto his feet, an uncontainable passion growing in his chest. Holding his arms out, he ran towards her and caught her as she leapt into them with a laugh, the two of them spinning in a circle with unbridled joy.
"Weren't you ever taught not to keep a girl waiting?" she joked, a mischievous glint in her eyes.
"Do we need to give you two a moment?"
The second voice drew his attention to the left where he saw a group of the oddest makeup approaching him- two Exos, one almost identical to the woman standing next to him, an Awoken girl with a rebellious hair style, and a woman with a scorch mark across the right side of her face who tenderly held the hand of the Awoken beside her.
Wordlessly, he stepped closer- then, opening his arms, he threw them around the quartet enthusiastically.
"I … I've missed you all so much …"
"The feeling's mutual," Aria laughed, her eyes closed with contentment. "We've been waiting for you for a long time."
"What?"
"Every hardship you faced," Dawn explained, a smile as wide as his on her face, "every challenge you overcame- we were with you every step of the way."
"We've watched you ever since that day," Eager added in agreement. "Doing what we could to make sure you were never truly alone."
"Some might say it was creepy," Scorch snickered. "We thought it was endearing."
"We've always been with you," Ash finished with a soft expression. "Even if you never knew it- best friends don't abandon one another, and we never gave up on you."
He became wracked with sobs and a flurry of emotions- guilt, relief, grief, happiness- and they were there to see him through to the end.
Wiping away his tears, he looked around at the landscape, noticing its oddity for the first time- they seemed to be in the Tower, but everything was a brilliant white. He took in all that he could, then turned to his companions.
"Where are we?"
"Not the question you need to ask," Aria answered. "What you should be asking is, 'where are we going?'"
"Where … where can we go?"
As if in response to his question, a glowing doorway suddenly appeared in the air near the balcony of the courtyard. It shone with a blinding light that did not extend past its angular boundaries, and was impossible to see through. All six of them looked at it with varying degrees of interest, apprehension, and curiosity.
"What's beyond there?"
"We don't know," Dawn replied truthfully. "We've all been waiting here for you."
"Why?"
"Because we have a hunch that it's going to take us On," explained Eager.
"On?"
"On," Scorch agreed. "On to the next adventure that awaits us."
"And we weren't about to go on such an adventure without our fearless leader," Ash finished, looking up at him with admiration and love. "Wherever you go, we'll follow. There's nowhere we'd rather be than with each other."
They all nodded their heads in agreement, looking to him for a decision. His eyes passed over each one of them, loyal beyond all bounds of life. He could not have asked for a better family.
"Legends …" he started, turning back to the doorway with a grin. He looked once more to the right to see Ash beaming at him, her hand reaching over and entwining her fingers with his.
"Let's do this!"
Running together excitedly, they all ran forward through the doorway and On into what awaited them beyond.