Much like the Heart of the Black Garden, Crota's death was felt much further than just the moon.

Deep in the vast reaches of space, onboard the mighty Dreadnaught, Thralls, Acolytes, and even Knights ran from their king's chambers as Oryx roared, reality itself shaking as his anger became known.

Black and white portals opened up around the chamber, and through them stepped a multitude of creatures, monochromatic themselves, jittery and wrong. With a swing of his blade, Oryx slew them all venting his anger and hatred to them, as the walls of the Dreadnaught shook from the force of his fury.

When it was over, the portals closed, and Oryx once again was alone in his chamber, his blade stabbed into the ground as he stared out into space, towards the pathetic ball of stone that Crota had been murdered on, the ripples of his power being diminished as something defiled his son.

Something dared to try and take his son's power for their own. It brought Oryx nothing more than pure, unending hate for whoever this betrayer was. But if they thought it was over, if they thought they were safe, with Crota slain.

Oryx would take the opportunity to show them how pitiful they really were.

While the father raged, Xivu Arath pondered.

She pulled her blade from the chest of the creature she had slain. She didn't even know what it was called, but now that it was dead, she supposed it didn't matter. She could barely feel the power drain into her, the majority of the kill siphoned off to her worm.

But it wasn't just that one kill that flowed through her. All over the valley that she fought in, her brood slew the creatures as well. These creatures were brilliant. Just strong enough to provide a meaningful battle, but far enough beneath them that their victory was certain.

"Acolyte. Bring me the name of these creatures. I shall have their epitaph written in my hall of conquests."

She watched a nearby acolyte heed her command, and frowned, staring up at the sky as something reached her.

The vibration that tore her as she overlooked the fight was a morbid one, more than usual. She could feel the death of her nephew, the energy that Crota had built up throughout his years of conquest rippling through the ascendant plane.

While she herself had refused to create a 'proper' Throne World for herself, she was still sensitive to the energies of the world. Something had killed Crota and stolen part of his power. Inhaling, she could quite literally smell the sweet energy that came from the battle.

It must have been glorious, to create such a pleasant scent. Perhaps another one of the light-born had fallen to temptation as Dredgen Yor did so long ago? It was in the right solar system for the light-born, and they made such wonderful combatants.

No, it couldn't be a light-born. They were distinct, the power that she got from their fights always had the scent of the traveller on it. This was something else, but she couldn't tell what. It was like a void in space where a creature's soul should be bare to her.

What an interesting thing. Savathun must be having a ball figuring it out.

She was.

It was an odd feeling for her, knowing that someone had understood what she was thinking. It lacked the growth in power that her Imbaru usually gave her when people tried.

Such a delightful thing a proper mystery was. The way that information hinted at things, the way the pieces slowly came into place to reveal the entire, satisfying whole. Oh, how she loved a mystery.

Savathun floated through her realm, listening to Quria work, its simulations and hypothesis informative and entertaining. She brushed her hand over the pools of pure black water, before lowering herself down and standing atop it.

Crota was dead.

It was a shame, in her eyes. She had manipulated the Knight many times, more than anyone else actually knew, and found him to be quite interesting. His strength was far above what she or her siblings had been at his age.

Oryx had once bragged to her that Crota's power was proof that the system they had set up was the correct path, that the Sword Logic was truly the way they were meant to go. She still wasn't truly convinced, especially not after Oryx had revealed the trap their worms had set for them.

Humming to herself, she ignored Quria for a moment, focusing on the ripples Crota's death had created. She almost laughed as she realised that something had absorbed a chunk of the prince's power for themselves.

And better yet, she wasn't able to sense the mind of whoever had done so.

The drain was sloppy, inefficient, but Savathun was delighted either way. Something devious was on the Earth's moon, something that didn't follow the rules. She loved scheming, and she loved her plans, but truly...

There was nothing more interesting than a rogue element.

"So, you have succeeded, o' friend mine"

Even from inside the Dreaming City, with its padding from the rest of the universe, Riven could feel it. Her gilded cage resonated with the death of the Hive Prince, and Riven could do nothing but laugh.

Her little distraction had proven more capable than she had expected. To slay Crota was a stunning feat. He might have had assistance, but still, Riven was impressed. She chuckled as she felt footsteps running towards her, and created an eye on the side of her head to look at the wall.

Gunshots rang out, echoing through the gaps in the walls, and symbols showed up on the screen as the Queens Techeuns made a wish. 3 symbols flashed one after the other.

A wish to grant knowledge.

Rivens form rippled with her amusement. Such waves her little human was making, that even the Awoken Queen was intrigued! Mara Sov thought herself so clever, but if she was making a wish to her, then even she couldn't figure it out.

How wonderful it was!

Riven spoke, and the fabric of reality rippled around her as she fulfilled the techeuns wish. She left out her little humans name, of course, but Mara Sov knew better than to press her for the information Riven didn't want to give her.

As she floated around her chamber, finishing the wish, she allowed some of her focus to fall on her little human. The poor, lucky, determined child. He lay on his bed in the so-called 'Last City', as he had since the Light-bearers had returned home.

The wish was completed, and it let her devote her full attention to her little human, and the new arm he sported. She had not been able to witness the fight, but it seemed that he had lost his original.

Such an unfortunate thing it was, to be dependant on the shape one was born with. Had she lost an arm, it would have been a little worry to create herself a new one. Mayhaps he would ask for it back with a wish?

That would be interesting. She had warned him off making a wish before he had gone to fight the Hive Prince, as her little human hadn't been strong enough to bear the brunt of the consequence of making a wish to an Ahamkara. It would have been a shame to lose her new favourite creature so soon.

But now, now, he might be strong enough for a small wish. Minor things. It would be a long time until she could do his original wish for him without the backlash killing him, but a small boon might be possible here and there.

Chuckling to herself, she spoke, fulfilling a wish, one not technically for her own sake, and therefore within the rules of her powers to fulfil.

"Awake and arise, relaxed and refreshed, O' entertainer mine."

Izuku's eyes flew open.

"Riven?"

His eyes adjusted to the dark of the room almost immediately, showing him that Riven was in fact not in his bedroom. Which was weird, seeing as he had heard her voice just then. Actually no, her actually being in his room was definitely weirder.

He leaned over and tapped the base of his lamp, blinking as it turned on. He pulled the cover off of himself, revealing that he was still wearing his combat gear, with (most) of his weapons sitting on his desk to the right, his pack and boots next to them.

Throwing his legs over the side of the bed, he moved to stand up, pushing on his knees with his hands, before yelling out in shock as something reminiscent of an acolyte's claw touched his knee.

He moved to grab it, only to see the claw reach out and snap closed around the air in front of him. He stared at it in shock for a moment, before memories started flooding back to him. He barely felt himself rise to his feet as he stared at the hand, no at the whole arm, from the middle of his bicep down.

Oh god, what had he done? What would this mean for him? What about his Quirk? Would integrating Hive biology into his body destroy the barrier his Quirk gave him? Why why why why why-

He was pulled from his stupor by a knock echoing through his house from the front door. "Kid? Kid! I thought I heard you say something, you awake in there? I got a cookie for ya if you are!"

Izuku got the door to his bedroom open before his shaking knees forced him to the ground with a thud. Almost a second later, his door was kicked in as Cayde busted it down, eyes darting around to find him, zeroing in on him almost instantly.

"Kid!"

Izuku barely had time to look up at him before he felt metal arms wrap around his body. "Hey kid, you alright?"

Izuku opened his mouth, trying to say something, only to choke on his breath. He shook his head as his mind kept shouting worst-case scenarios at him, and Cayde patted his back.

"It's okay Izuku, You're safe now. You're here, in the tower. Nothing can hurt you right now, Izuku."

Izuku nodded, his arms squeezing Cayde slightly. Cayde ruffled his hair a little, chuckling as he pulled back, tapping Izuku's forehead with his horn. "Mikumo and the gang told me what happened."

Nodding his head, Izuku's spoke involuntarily, his voice shaky. "You lied about the cookie."

Cayde laughed, letting Izuku go and plopped down next to him. "That I did. Sorry about that."

He smiled, patting Izuku on the shoulder. "It's ok to not be ok right now. That was a hell of a thing you did, Ace."