Wren followed Sisre and Franz as they joined with their team on Venus. Storms still raged overhead but the surface of the planet seemed untouched. Wren stared up at the clouds as she walked, noting how strange it was to see lightning but no rain or harsh winds. Shooting stars arced across the sky and Wren paused. They were huge and slower than they would be on Earth. Were they shooting stars at all, or enemy ships?

Sisre called to her and she turned her attention back to the road. Having already been here, Wren jogged up and led the way back toward the Ishtar Collective. The Fallen bodies from before were still laying where they'd dropped. It was strange to see them, bodies sunken in, bones starting to show. She hadn't had many opportunities to see the destruction she left behind. But it was her or them and the Fallen wouldn't mourn her if they killed her, so she couldn't mourn either. She hitched up the strap to the scout rifle and passed over the bodies without a second thought.

"Where are we headed?" Franz asked, trotting up beside Wren.

"The Ishtar Collective had an Archive where they stored their vast wealth of knowledge," Kiran said. "We have to find it before the Fallen take it apart."

"Rorick is waiting for us at the Ishtar Collective already but he says they won't go farther until we get there," Sisre explained, letting Wren lead the way.

"My data says the Archives should be under the rubble of the Academy." Kiran vanished over Wren's shoulder as they rounded the last turn and the cliffs came into view.

The angel statue still stared over the crashing waves below and Wren watched her form as they passed to where Rorick, Beorn, and Flak stood waiting on the steps to the Academy, dead Fallen at their feet.

Beorn and Franz reunited by touching helmets while Sisre informed Rorick on the highlights to their mission, including Wren being held with a blade to her throat. Flak scoffed. Wren clenched her teeth and tapped her fingers on the strap of her scout rifle.

Rorick checked his ammo, then made a signal for Wren to lead, which made Flak stiffen. Wren walked past him without so much as a tilt of her helmet in his direction, and she led the fireteam through the door, down into the dark, waterlogged underbelly, and back out into the room where she'd met the Exo Stranger.

Ahead the sound of gunfire let them know exactly how far the Fallen had gotten. The Vex would be fighting them off, trying to defend whatever it was in the Archives they thought to be important. Rorick had them pause for a few minutes, letting them pick each other off a little before ordering the charge from the open hole in the floor.

Cerulean burst through and caught a few Vex off guard before the energy in the room shifted toward them. Fallen and Vex still fired on one another, hoping the Guardians would defeat more of their enemies than of themselves, but a few of them didn't bother with any strategy past kill the Guardians before they can kill me.

There weren't as many as before and the full fireteam cleared the room in record time. When they were finished Wren kicked a decapitated Vex head toward Beorn's feet.

"That's a lot of dead Vex," he said, kicking it back.

"This is where I met the Exo Stranger," Wren explained. "A lot of these were from before."

Piles of destroyed Vex lay scattered about on the floor from her previous endeavor and Franz let out a low whistle at the destruction. She had to admit, she felt proud of what she'd done. The decision might have been a reckless one, and she would have to learn from her close call, but standing over the head of a Vex, it's red eye dark and cracked, made her feel invincible.

Rorick led his fireteam up the stairs and into the corridors beyond where grass grew in the sands that had blown in and rusted containers and scrap metal were scattered about. The windows were so dirty that light filtered through in a haze and vines had pushed their way through cracks in the wall. One way or another, the planet would devour the buildings.

Sisre hung back with Wren, nudging her with her shoulder as the men walked ahead. She didn't say anything for a long time and Wren's jaw tightened. Did she know about her going out into the wilds with Cayde? Would she be disappointed?

"I ran into Koro the other night," Sisre said, tilting her helmet away from Wren.

"Oh?"

"He said you came into the ramen shop with Cayde but he slipped out as soon as you guys got there."

"Hm."

"He also said you two had dinner together."

Wren picked up on the hint of a smile in Sisre's tone and shook her head.

"Koro insisted on showing me something new is all."

"I think he likes you."

"I don't even know him."

"He's nice." Sisre adjusted her grip on her weapon as they descended stairs that arched against the right wall and into what might have been a common area. The room opened and was full of vegetation. Grass, moss, and vines grew on everything and puddles of water had formed where glass panes from above were missing.

Wreckage from a Fallen ship lay with its nose half buried in the dirt among fully grown trees. The building was eerily quiet as the moved through the rooms with only the sounds of their own boots and the rustling of giant leaves around them. Every once in awhile they could hear movement overhead or behind the walls and Wren's skin prickled with anticipation for a battle.

They came into a new room that arched to the left around a blind corner. Stairs led up to a balcony on the left and a room underneath swarmed with Shanks that were picked off by scout rifles as Sisre circled left and up the stairs with Rorick, sniper rifle and rocket launcher at the ready.

Flak pushed forward to lead the lower team toward the stairs on the left and the dark room beyond, keeping close to the pillars but Beorn stiff armed him to the side to take point. Flak balked but fell into line right after the larger Exo as Wren and Franz sprinted across and took cover behind a Fallen cargo crate an instant before a massive Void energy round exploded on the other side, sending blobs of purple flying around them.

"What the—"

"Servitor," Franz said, taking a moment before peeking his head around the crate. Beorn yelled at them to come back but it was too late. The Servitor was edging closer and Dregs were firing all over the place. A Vandal from the upper room shot a round between their heads before Rorick's arm wrapped around its neck and yanked up, snapping its spine.

The Vandal's body fell from the balcony and Wren looked up to see Sisre taking aim at the Servitor, but she was too late. Rorick rocked back on his heels as the rocket exploded from the launcher. Shards of metal and fire rained down on Franz and Wren but the Warlock only laughed and kicked his feet with excitement. He hopped out from behind the crates and whooped, gun in the air.

"You should have got one sooner!" he yelled up to Rorick as sniper rounds ripped through his robes. Wren grabbed his belt and yanked him back down beside her while Sisre took out a couple of larger Vandals guarding the door. Beorn and Flak ran over their bodies to make sure the next room was clear before signaling it.

"What the hell were you thinking?" Beorn quietly hissed, slapping Franz' back.

"Keep moving," Rorick said, slinging the rocket launcher over his back.

Sisre shook her head as she joined Wren. "That thing might be a problem."

"We're here," Brix said, floating out to a control panel. "This should open the Archive."

"Untouched Golden Age secrets," Kiran added. "Who knows what's been locked away in there all those centuries."

"Do you need help?" Beorn's Ghost, Ziro asked.

"It's Radial-A encryption," Brix said. Ziro and Kiran went to help him.

"Someone didn't want anyone getting in," Kiran said.

"We can handle it."

"Ah, there we go!" Kiran said as the doors on the opposite side of the room began to lurch open. Plumes of dust rose but as the doors forced back on their metal tracks, ripping apart vines that had long overgrown. "After you."

The area beyond was out of place. Clean white floors greeted them, and Wren hesitated to walk on them. Seeing the pristine stairs leading down into the dimly lit corridor made her feel out of place somehow. Who had been the last person to walk these steps?

Cerulean wound their way down through the wide corridor, faintly blinking lights guided them to a massive room with a walkway toward the right-hand wall with a stairwell that led up to catwalks above. Huge pillars rose from the center, a pale fog rising up from below to be lit by rings around the pillars, but Wren couldn't tell where they were coming from or how far down they went.

"I can't believe there's still power down here," Beorn said.

"Welcome Dr. Shim," an AI's voice rang out, echoing from the chamber walls and setting Cerulean on edge. "Please enter your security clearance code."

Wren's heart nearly beat out of her chest, but she took a few deep breaths and released her grip on the Better Devils, letting it slide back down into its holster.

"Dr. Shim?" Sisre asked.

"We'll worry about that later," Rorick said. "There seems to be a terminal ahead. Let's see what we can find there."

Lights flickered on as they moved toward a large screen over a terminal where the Ghosts proceeded to float about in the open, buzzing with anticipation.

"Look at the size of this place!" Ziro said.

"It's way bigger than the Archives in Old Accra," Kiran said.

"Ghosts, this place isn't secure," Rorick stated and the Ghosts grumbled and disappeared. Only Brix remained to investigate the terminal.

After a few minutes, the AI's voice returned. "Thank you, Dr. Shim. Shall I begin correlation of Vex Mind Core samples?"

"So polite," Sisre said under her breath, a faint smirk on her lips.

"Let's see what they're got," Brix said.

"Dr. Shim, security alert. Intruders. Initiate Protocol 19," the AI said, her voice urgent.

Wren drew her weapon and ran toward the edge of the platform that dropped off into nothingness. A shot whizzed by her and she stopped so fast she nearly lost her balance. She ducked behind a pillar and holstered the Better Devils in favor of a scout rifle and took aim as Sisre joined her, dropping to a knee to steady her sniper.

The first shot from Wren clipped the Vandal's shoulder, Sisre's shot dropped him. Rorick held their back as Flak broke off on his own, running left around the curve of the wall while Beorn and Franz headed left. Fallen poured through the door, led at first by Shanks which dispersed themselves as diversions while Dregs had no hide, choosing places to shoot from or wait for ambush. The room was a flurry of movement.

Flak cried out from the catwalks above them to the left and Wren clenched her jaw as her head instinctively whipped around at the noise. She didn't want to help him. Gunfire lit the catwalk and she caught a glimpse of him on his back, scurrying away from Dregs and Vandals who had somehow taken over control of the upper level.

"Dumb son of a bitch!" Franz said, running past Wren and Sisre to help Flak.

"Dammit," Wren said through gritted teeth, feeling an obligation to keep Franz safe, even if Flak could suffer. Sisre gave her a nod and Wren took off after Franz, the pair of them moving side by side, Franz a little ahead, clearing the Fallen as Flak tried to crawl away.

He must have been taken off guard by their numbers. His left arm dangled from its socket, blood leaving a smeared trail behind him as he tried to escape with his free hand. In his fear and desperation, he clung to Franz's robes but Franz stepped over him.

Arc energy streaked across the platform like a bolt of lightning and caught Franz in the chest. He staggered back and Wren dropped to one knee in front of Flak but beside Franz's leg, rounds from the Better Devils tearing into the Vandal until it fell over the railing and into the dense fog below. Wren never heard it hit.

Flak's Ghost healed him, the arm mending together in a tangling mess of ripped muscle but soon the look of pain was gone from his face and he was able to stand. Franz's robes were burned across the chest from Arc bolt but otherwise he was fine. Flak didn't give them so much as a thank you before running off into the darkness at the far end of the catwalk where Wren assumed there were stairs leading back down to the main level.

"Are you alright?" Wren asked and Franz exhaled a shaky laugh, then shoved her playfully.

"Did you see that chicken shit?"

Wren smiled and shook her head. "Get back to it."

The lights went out with a sound like a giant breaker being flipped, leaving them with emergency lighting only. They dropped to one knee as the AI said, "Remote hub failure. Routing disrupted."

"They must have a Servitor feeding off the power," Franz said. "You stay here and keep low. I'm going to tell Rorick to get his new toy ready." Franz kept down and ran back toward the stairs, using his Warlock glide at the last minute to descend from the catwalk down to where Beorn stood with Sisre, the pair of them knocking out as many Fallen as possible as they came through the door.

Franz was right. The glow of a Servitor emerged from the gloom on the lower level and Wren immediately started taking shots at it with her Better Devils from above. The Servitor exploded and Rorick's voice came over the comm, ordering someone to the terminal near the door but Wren only caught some of the message. A Stealth Vandal snuck up behind her. She barely had time to turn her head before she woke in that same dark place as before.

The quiet was disorienting. She sat up from the water and looked around before standing. There was no one. Nothing. For as far as she could see. Last time she had been afraid in a way, but Cayde had been there. He'd led her home, whatever that meant.

"Cayde?" she called out when she realized he wasn't there now. "Cayde? Where are you?" Her bootsteps were silent in the water, the strange liquid that reflecting but didn't saturate or splash. At least not here. Not now.

"Lost again?"

Wren turned to see Cayde standing behind her, flipping a knife with a smug look on his face. She tried not to show her relief.

"Take a wrong Turn? Get it? A Turn… it's a bird." He chuckled but Wren just stared at him with a faint smirk.

"That's bad."

He shrugged. "You made me. Here. For whatever reason." He tilted his head and leaned in closer, tucking the knife into a pouch at his belt. "Why did you make me here?"

"I— didn't mean to," she stammered.

He held out the hem of his cloak. "Yeah yeah. C'mon kid. Let's go home."

Wren reached out the grab the cloak but her hand went right through it and Cayde crumbled away like ashes in the wind as the abyss became ever lighter until it was blindingly white, then she was on her back in the Archive. She inhaled sharply and Franz helped her up.

"I thought I said to stay down," he smirked.

"Stealth Vandal got me."

"Eh, you didn't miss anything. Hey, you okay? You look a little pale."

"I'm literally blue, how can I look pale?"

"You're usually like a mid-sky blue but now you're like a sad sky blue and it's just, screw it, nevermind."

Wren followed Franz down to join the others, but her mind was back in that dark place and the question remained. Why was Cayde always there when she died? The chamber was calm once more and the Ghosts were free to investigate as long as they remained close to the main terminal, but Wren's mind was a million miles away, caught up in the tattered hem of a cloak.