Note: WARNING. This chapter contains major (though canonical) character death. Tread lightly if you're very fond of Tevis Larsen.


There ain't no fixing this, but I like that you tried
Sometimes the hardest part is being right
There ain't no helping me, but I like that you lied
Sometimes it's worth the burn marks to feel the light

Dead Ends – Radical Face


June 06, 2954; Fleetbase Korus, Phobos

Azra spent hours nosing around Fleetbase Korus. Cabal architecture was boring and simplistic, the layouts gridlike. It wasn't the most interesting scouting mission she'd ever been on, but it was considered high-priority. The Vanguard was desperate for any scrap of intel on this new Taken threat. Unfortunately, she wasn't learning much about the Taken by poking at their goo. At least it wasn't a total waste of time. Cabal bases weren't often abandoned intact like this. Spark busied himself with language ciphers and transcriptions of the near-perfect databases. Azra wandered about, trying to get a read on the events that had taken place.

She was expecting a lot of things. She was expecting nothing but silence and stillness and floors covered in dripping Darkness. She was expecting an ambush. A Cabal ambush. A Taken ambush. Hell, she'd even prepared for the possibility that the Fallen would swoop in to take the base for themselves.

She was not expecting an emergency ping. Much less one from Cayde. She opened the feed.

He offered no preamble. "I know you're busy, but I'm officially calling you in on this one. There's a Vex gate in Ishtar that was spewing Goblins everywhere. Tevis went to investigate and dropped off the map."

Cayde couldn't have been any clearer. Tevis is in trouble and he needs your help. The Hunter Vanguard was better with the formalities nowadays, less panicking on the feed, but the urgency in his voice made Azra's stomach drop.

Spark disengaged from his work. Azra didn't bother gathering all the loot she'd been sorting. "Vex gate to where?" She asked. She was already running for the exit.

Cayde was near-frantic if you knew how to listen for it. He kept up the veneer of cool business but he couldn't hide things from Azra. "No idea. I sent that protégé of his after him, but she's still in transit."

"Quantis? Right." Quantis Rhee had a good head on her shoulders. Azra trusted her to hold her own at the very least. "Vex don't mass transport unless something's up. We need to know where- and when, for that matter, they're coming from."

"You're the Vexpert," Cayde said. "Any way to tell where that gate leads?"

Her feet pounded on the floor. Any caution for stealth had been thrown to the wind. "Nearest Vex architecture is planetside with the Virgo Prohibition," she said breathlessly. "And we don't have the processing power to do that kind of search, Cayde. Best bet is the Gate itself. Open or closed."

"Quantis will have boots on the ground in about a minute. We'll see what Tev says when we're in ping range." If he could say anything.

She hit the outer door. Automatic protocols had locked it. "I'm just about to my ship," she proclaimed as Spark got to work, "but the orbits aren't favorable. I'll be at least ten minutes."

The doors opened. Azra slid through as soon as she could fit. Her ship already hovered overhead.

Cayde's voice got clearer when Spark routed the comms through the ship's antenna. "Quantis is there." Had it been a minute already? "Comms are real spotty still, can't hardly make out Tevis. Said he went through the gate. It sounds bad."

"Great. He could be anywhere." Getting lost in the Vex gate system was a wild ride in the best of circumstances. It was just as likely to dump you deep in the Pyramidion or off of a waterfall as it was to just send you to the other side of Venus. "If that gate closes, Cayde, Quantis won't be able to get it open to the same coordinates."

"Will you?" Cayde asked.

The answer? She didn't know. The Vex gate network could be touchy, especially if it was Hezen Corrective hardware. "No promises," she muttered.

Azra's hands were white-knuckled on the controls. Her body was thrumming with restless, urgent energy. She needed to do something useful or she felt she'd explode with tension. "Deputize me for this one. I need to see the combat feed."

"We don't have the bandwidth for full video, but Sundance will send you some stills. There's a lot of dead Vex."

They broke free of Mars's gravity and made to swing under the plane of the solar system. Venus was on the other side of the Sun. Azra let Spark have the controls as the files came through.

Five seconds and her hands were back on the stick. Azra turned the ship so fast the inertial dampeners struggled to keep up. The air was forced from her lungs as physics pressed her back into her seat. "That's Sol Divisive," Azra ground out. The plant growth was a dead giveaway. "Those Vex came from the Black Garden, Cayde."

"That's… not good," Cayde said.

"No," she admitted. The Black Garden was no place to go lightly, and Tevis was alone. "I'm going to the Valley of Kings instead. I can use the gate there. Easier than trying to pull Sol Divisive logs from a Hezen Corrective structure. And faster. I'll be planetside in sixty seconds."

"You should hurry," Cayde said. "Quantis just reached the gate. It's closed. Tevis's Ghost…" The Gunslinger hesitated.

Azra's stomach dropped. "Spit it out, Cayde."

"She's dead. We're getting telemetry, but…" The rest didn't need to be said. If Tevis died, he'd stay that way. And he was alone.

"I'll bring him back, one way or another," Azra promised.

Cayde sounded unconvinced. "I'm sending Rhee in as your backup, but don't wait for her."

Her ship entered atmosphere at full burn. "ETA to the Valley of Kings: 40 seconds," Spark announced. "We're coming, Tevis."


Half a minute from the landing zone to get to the gate. Another twenty seconds obliterating the Vex guarding it. Five connecting to the network. They didn't waste any time pulling logs. A brute force algorithm with Tevis's telemetry data had the gate opened to the correct place in fifteen seconds.

Just over a minute after her feet touched the water-starved sands of Mars, they stepped through the portal onto rain-drenched stone.

Azra wasted just three seconds taking it all in. The cool, humid air was a shock after the baked heat of Mars. So three seconds to breathe deeply, scan the horizon, feel the shifts in Light the Garden produced and the fractured timespace the portal behind her was still shedding. Three seconds to lock onto Tevis's locator signal.

Then she started sprinting.

She'd been in the Black Garden before. Of course. She'd been everywhere. That didn't make the rock she ran over familiar ground. Normally she delighted in new, unsounded places, but there was not a thought in her head now beyond find Tevis. He could be gone already. There were Vex everywhere. Mostly dead ones. Azra didn't have time to mop up the rest. She blazed past them in a Light-fueled blur.

She almost ran right past him, too. Tevis Larsen was down but propped up against a stone block, Auto Rifle still in hand. Several Goblins were focused on him. Azra sent a vicious trail of Arc urgency along the floor and they scattered into bronze dust and radiolarian ash.

She stumbled the last few steps. The cost of her speed was catching up with her. As she looked down at Tevis, the cost of her sluggishness was clear as well.

She knelt.

Tevis had his helmet off already, so she could see how pale his face was. "I'm okay," he insisted. "I'm fine." That obviously wasn't true. He was sitting in a pool of his own blood.

He's not talking about that, Spark whispered. Tevis grabbed her wrist, looking her straight in the eye. He was collected. Ready.

"Tevis-"

He interrupted. "Jesus Christ, you look like you're the one bleeding out." Spark informed her of three major wounds, each of which would be fatal on their own. Azra pulled out the bandages, but…

The shots had passed through his abdomen. Limbs, simple things like muscle and bone, she could deal with. She couldn't sew up intestines or lungs.

"I'll die before you can get me anywhere," Tevis acknowledged. Azra nodded and applied pressure anyway. Even if it only bought a few minutes. Her hands were oddly steady.

"You're hurt, too," Tevis pointed out. Azra had been so frantic, she hadn't even noticed one of the Goblin's lasers had punched through a weak spot in her armor.

"I have a Ghost," she said. "You…"

"I know," Tevis said. "Thetis died before I went through the gate."

"Why," Azra said. Why take such a risk?

"Guys gotta die sometime, right? And Black Garden Vex don't just flood Ishtar without reason." He couldn't keep the pain off of his face, but underneath that, he looked oddly humorous. "Go stop that for me, will you?"

"Tevis," Azra groaned, half in grief and half in exasperation. Like she was going to leave him in his last moments to go chase down some random Mind.

"It's important," the Nighstalker insisted.

"After this," Azra said. "Don't you dare ask me again to do it before."

He seemed resigned to it. Something in his eyes shifted. "Quantis," the old Nightstalker commanded. Azra hadn't noticed the other Hunter approach (proved how distracted she was). The willowy Awoken took the last few paces and crouched on Tevis's other side. Her eyes were wide.

"Take this, and go," Tevis growled. Azra felt a familiar tingle rush over her skin. With a good deal of effort, Tevis summoned his Bow. It was long, jagged, curled with secrets and straining against its own strength. He thrust it into Quantis's hands. "Don't look back."

The young woman looked a bit startled to be holding her mentor's Bow. She opened her mouth to say something, then closed it again, at a loss for words. After a moment, she found them. "Thank you. It's… been an honor." Quantis Rhee placed a familiar Ghost shell in the old Nightstalker's hand like someone placing an offering at a shrine. Then she rose fluidly, eyeing her new weapon, eyeing Tevis still half-sprawled on the ground.

She nodded. Then she turned and left, determination set in her shoulders.

She didn't look back.

"Kid'll be a better Nightstalker than I ever was," Tevis rumbled. "All she needed was a push. Here, help me sit up."

Azra hooked an arm behind his back and helped him shift his weight. Unrestrained Void Light sparkled and flared around them. "Never understood why you started taking apprentices again," Azra grunted. She moved back to tending his wounds as best she could. Tevis clutched his dead Ghost.

"Maybe someone showed me how… unterrible it could be," He mumbled. Azra smiled weakly. The Nightstalker hissed and grimaced as she stuffed gauze into the hole in his stomach. "God, this sucks. The dying part. Why's it always gotta hurt so much?"

Azra didn't have anything to say. Too many emotions were battling for space in her heart. Anger, sorrow, grief-

"That's not how it's supposed to be," Tevis said. She looked at his face and saw the way it was supposed to be: acceptance, peace, and not a hint of fear.

"I'm not a Nightstalker," Azra spat, feeling the tears finally forming in her eyes. "For all I can pull the Bow, Tevis, I'm not a Nightstalker."

"Could have sworn," Tevis said. His voice was growing unsteady. "When the Light was right, I couldn't tell the difference."

Shiro's voice interrupted them on the comms. He was half-drowned out by the wind and the hum of Sparrow engines. "I'm here. I'm coming. What's the emergency?"

There was a moment of silence on the channel. Azra was the one to break it. "Tevis… isn't going to make it. His Ghost is gone, and, well… he's lost a lot of blood."

"How long?" Shiro asked.

The bandages were soaked. "Minutes," Azra said.

Not long enough to actually get here. There was another pause. Azra heard the whine of Shiro's Sparrow wind down to idle in the background.

"Listen," Tevis said. He shifted, grimacing hard and gripping at his chest. Spark was sorting through the medkit, looking for something.

The Nightstalker continued. "We all knew this was gonna happen eventually. My will's fresh. It's in the network. I'm ready. This doesn't need to be a big deal."

"'Course it's a big deal, Tevis!" Cayde finally interrupted. "You're dying, for Pete's sake!"

"You thought I was going to live forever?" The Nighstalker answered back. Cayde had no retort.

"I have something," Spark whispered. He deposited a shiny tube on the ground by Azra's foot.

"The morphine?" Azra muttered. "That's… oh." They kept it more as a last resort than for any medicinal purposes.

Tevis made a small confused noise, so she explained. "It's used in hospitals for… you know, people in a lot of pain." She rolled the syringe in her fingers. "I started looking into medical stuff after that business with the kidnapping, after Elyksul, and Mare Ibrium, and, well… there was a situation after the Vault I was unfortunately shorthanded of good ways to end things. Too much of this will kill you, but not… in an unpleasant way?"

"Better than this, right?" Tevis said. He nodded impatiently.

Azra's hands shook just the slightest bit as she administered it. She felt better moments later when Tevis let out a sigh of relief and let his head rest back on the stone.

"I swear if you pull that same bullshit you did with Andal on me…" He murmured. His breathing was getting shallow.

She shrugged. "This time I get to say bye, at least." Azra paused for a moment. "Oh, goodbye, by the way."

Tevis snorted. "You're a pain in the ass. I'll be glad to be rid of you."

"Say hi to Andal for me," Azra said. Tevis looked at her with obvious disbelief in his eyes. He had little faith in anything, anymore. Azra leaned close, near-whispering, like there was anyone around to hear that couldn't already. "I've been everywhere, man. I seen things." Tevis averted his eyes and grumbled something unintelligible.

"We'll be fine, Tevis," Shiro soothed on the feed. "And you'll be fine, too."

Cayde took in a deep breath, like he was about to say something important, but then he just held it. He was afraid saying anything would make it too real.

Azra let her crouch slide so she and Tevis were sitting together against the stone block. "What's it like?" Tevis murmured. His grip on her hand was weak. "Where you've been?"

She propped his head on her shoulder. "It's peaceful. Like taking a walk out in the black, but with no suit. You don't need a suit, 'cause you're dead, right? Everything is less sharp. It's… hard to carry specifics." Tevis's eyes were hazy and unfocused. His dark eyelashes were in stark contrast with his deathly-pale skin. The background noise from Cayde and Shiros' feeds was like a physical presence. Azra could almost imagine them looking over her shoulder.

"More Nightstalker than I thought," Tevis muttered.

"It'll be alright," Azra said. She meant it.

"G'bye, Azra." His face scrunched with the effort of saying the words. "Cayde. Shiro."

"So long," Shiro said. He'd be alright. He could take this without breaking.

Cayde choked on his words. Tevis snickered quietly. His hand squeezed hers, so faint, but Azra understood. She translated. "He's laughing at you, Cayde. 'Cause you're a big dummy."

Cayde let out a sigh, sounding relieved somehow, and it was Azra's turn to chuckle. She fondly brushed the curls from Tevis's forehead. "Bye, Tev. Stay safe."

He hummed in response, a low, barely-audible note in his chest. His grip on her arm released. His eyes fluttered shut.

He lay there breathing for a few more minutes, but he never regained consciousness. Slowly, the breaths grew slower, more shallow. The faint pulse faded under Azra's thumb. Tevis's Light dimmed and faded. It flared just for a second at the end, a miniature nova, then it was gone.

The destruction of the Undying Mind seemed more like a footnote after that.


THE LAST WILL AND TESTAMENT OF TEVIS LARSEN:

The date's December 31, year 2953. Just pretend I said some legalese here that makes all this official. It seems every time I look up the damn words they change. Sound mind and body, yadda yadda. Straight to business.

For the testament: I know I've said all this before, but it bears repeating, 'cause it's important.

Maybe I died in some tragically heroic way. Maybe I tripped and knocked my Ghost into a Flame Turret. It doesn't matter. Death is cheap. I've died thousands of times, prob'ly tens of thousands. This one's no different from the rest, in my mind. It's just the end. One moment.

Whatever I died for isn't near as important as what I lived for. And I've lived for centuries. I've seen babies born, grow, age, and die. I've seen civilization collapse and rebuild itself. I've had a longer life than most could dream for and I've used it the best I could.

If there's one thing I can leave behind, let it be that. Your last choice isn't any more important than all the choices before it. You have more impact every single day than you know. I've seen it. I've seen seeds planted grow and bloom, kindness lead into kindness to trust and hope. I've seen hate sow hate and come up bloodshed. I hope there's more flowers than fields of corpses left behind me. That's all anyone can hope for.

If you've been listening, you've been listening. I've lived my life well and good. However I died, even the fact that I died, isn't as important as that. I don't know how much more obvious I can be. Maybe now that I'm dead, some of you fools will finally unstop your ears and hear me.

That's all I got as far as parting sentiments, least publicly available ones. I got private notes for you three. But for my personal affects:

Nobody's getting my cloak. None of you need it and I'm not letting it haunt no-one. Burn it with me if you can.

Quantis Rhee gets first pick of the guns. 'Cept the Icebreaker, Cayde, you can have that one. I stole it from you, anyhow. If Azra really wants that Auto Rifle with the bayonet she can have it, but I doubt she does. Anything Rhee doesn't take and you don't want, give to the Kinderguardian fund. Plant a few more flowers.

I lost a bet nearly eighty years ago to Cayde that I leave all my liquid assets to New Monarchy. Joke's on you, hotshot, 'cause now you can't have my Gimmer. Tell Hideo if he uses any of it for campaigning I'll sicc Azra on him. Still not fond on his policies.

I've seen you making eyes at Graviton Forfeit, Azra. She's yours. Not like it'll fit on Cayde's big head anyway. Same with the rest of the armor. If it fits, take it. Else sell it and give the money to the Vanguard.

Sparrow goes to Shiro. Cayde can have the nice sword. Draw lots for the knives between the three of you, I've got too many at this point to keep track of year-to-year.

This is assuming all of the aforementioned people are still living. Follow their wills if they aren't, I guess. If all this posthumous gifting causes you trouble-

Well, joke's on you. Ain't my problem anymore.

Tevis out.


Cayde.

You've been a pain in my ass for 182 years. I don't think I need to say how privileged I've been to know you. We've thrown a lot of shit, but I've always known exactly where I stand with you, and that's been important to me. Solid ground's harder to come by than you think. I've always felt steady with you at my back.

You know how I feel already. Make sure you don't forget it.

There's only one thing I haven't said, mostly 'cause you've been too afraid to ask it- I think you're a good Vanguard. Andal would be damn proud. Sometimes life gives you a shit hand and you have to figure out how to put the cards down. I'm glad you haven't cheated your way out of this one. You're doing good, Cayde. Your Hunters adore you. I've seen you doing your best by them.

I know the comparison's going to be made. You're no Andal. I know that, you know that. We don't need another Andal. Azra and Shiro- assuming they haven't died with me- they don't need you to look after them like that. They're both grown in their own rights. They just need someone to have their backs. Someone to come home to. Stable ground, you know? Ikora and Zavala need perspective and boldness, lest they rest on their laurels.

The only thing you need to do for people is just keep being yourself. You do that, you're gonna be fine.

You still owe me a drink.

-Tevis


Shiro,

Everything's already settled between us. Don't rightly know what to say to you that won't just be rehashing things I've already said. It's been an honor fighting with you. Seeing you come into your own. How come I've been alive three times as long as you have and you still speak better Fallen? And you track better, too?

Don't let your talents go to waste. And speaking of talents-

This responsibility's only yours if you take it. I know you're much more of a Bladedancer than a Nightstalker, but you understand the world. And you're approachable. There aren't a lot of friendly faces around for people new at the Void. Keep an eye on them for me? Lot of 'em you can't help, most of those you shouldn't try, but you've got Lee-4's perspective and you know mine. Even better, you have your own. That even-tempered heart will do you more favors than you think.

And keep Azra close. Assuming, you know, she's not dead too. I know you both run a lot of solo missions, I know Cayde's always on her line, but she'll get lonely out there. That fireteam of hers can't keep her tied down like you can. And let her look after you, too, huh?

Live well, Shiro. That's all I can really ask of you.

-Tevis


Azra,

Every year, I'm just happy I have to make one of these. I didn't for nearabout six decades. Do you know how damned lucky we are to have seen each other again? I know you know. Just think on it. You were dead, gone, then you appear again out of the blue and go about laughing in the face of death again. If there's one thing I've learned from you, it's belief in the impossible.

That being said, don't keep any candles burning for me. You know my position on this. I think you understand it best, out of the three of you.

I've asked Shiro this. I've been on the fence with you. You know what fame's like, you know the kind of people will come calling after you, but all the same. You know what it's like to not be understood. We lose as many new Hunters to rigid doctrine and tunnel vision as we do to the Cabal. I was there for you when you needed someone to listen. I'd like you to be that for others. So many Nightstalkers stumble on their paths.

Talk to people, would you? Share yourself. I know you do a lot of thinking in that head of yours. I know most people don't know how to listen. Make the effort for those who do. They'll surprise you. I've only known you for a sliver of my life and you've made a pretty sizeable impression on me.

I know you only ever kept one big secret from me. Only fair I kept one from you. Now I'm gone, here's the tit for the tat: I know. I know you see things. I can feel it in your Light sometimes when it happens. I know why you wouldn't talk about something like that, so I haven't pushed it. I don't need to push it. I know you, Jax. Ain't never told anybody, but… it must have been some time after Twilight Gap I realized. So all this time, someone understood.

That's the best gift I can offer you. Normally I'd speak some doubt about what happens after this, but… if you've taught me one lesson, anything is possible.

I'll see you on the flip side. Maybe.

-Tevis