Speak to self
Speak to Ghost


Joseph leans on a trunk of a large tree that concealed his body. With his pink Apostate on hand, he scans the arable field that is filled with crops and demi-human workers.

"Holding this position until the gang gets here. Good thing there's not a lot of Guards in this area." Joseph said as he sat down behind the large tree.

Xeno materializes next to Joseph as he sees the Demi-Human slaves working. "Seems like they're suffering, wish we could do something, but things'll get worse if we do." he said.

Joseph does a single nod, "We don't know if they're sufferin X. Takes a lot on your body to take care of a field like this, humans don't have the tech we have today. Heh, we do have it easy when it comes to simple stuff that was hard for those in the past." but Joseph sat in silence for a long minute, he did a single nod, "but… you're right about one thing X, we do something and all hell breaks loose. And Racism still exists in other worlds. Ethnocentrism, you know what it is?" asked Joseph.

"No, I've only heard of the word… which… was from you..." Xeno said.

Joseph chuckles, "heh, something I know that you don't? That's rare. Well, ethnocentrism is a belief that one's culture is superior to others. This can be applied to races. Humans in this world believe that they are the superior race than the Demi-Humans, that's stupid. The diversity is so visible, I can compare it with the racism during when Lincoln was alive in the sixteenth century or even in the 1960's." Joseph said.

"What happened during those times?" asked Xeno who seemed intrigued.

"In the 1800's, Europeans made a three-category system of races. Caucasions, Mongolians and Blacks." Joseph said. "Caucasions were like those white-skinned and European origin, so like Great Britain, Germany, America, Ireland and ect. Mongolians are those who are Asian origin. Example, China, Korea, Philippines, Japan, ect. Blacks are those who are in African origin." Joseph explained.

"So there were different human races? Like Exo's and Awoken?" asked Xeno.

"No not at all. Scientifically, Race does not exist, how humans see "race" is by skin deep. In this world's case, it's not about skin, it's literally about two different races. But the treatment is all the same." Joseph stated. "The inferior race will always get shitted on, not allowing a certain race eat at a restaurant, or not letting them go to their holy areas or even something preposterous where they are forced to leave their home. Shit like this happens even in the present time, in my world, but it's not about race, but what religious, ethnic or cultural group you are in." Joseph explained. "If you can't assimilate into the dominant culture or religion, bad shit happens. That's why people migrate where their culture or religion is tolerant or dominant."

"But back at the Demi-Humans, I feel that the slaves in this world were like the African Americans during the time when Lincoln was alive. Whipped, chained, only ate a little once a day, poor clothing to the point where they would die due to exposure to the elements, during the industrial revolution, children were literally expendable since there were a lot of them and they were not even slaves. I fear that Demi-Humans are going to face a troubling future if something like this continues." Joseph said

Xeno was surprised that humanity was like that in Joseph's world "Humans were like this in the past?" he asked

"They still are, and they are even humans that are way worse. The only reason The Last City does not have these kinds of people is because, Humanity is at stake of extinction, there is other shit to worry about than "killing each other." My world isn't in that situation and even yet, I doubt that a similar event like the Collapse, happens in my world, humanity might not come together as a whole. Different powers have different beliefs and ways of doing things, and if they ever did come together, they might just cause an internal conflict with one another due to disagreement on how to do things and they might just split again." Joseph said.

"Oh… I never have thought there were people worse than the Blood Devils…" Xeno said.

"Blood Devils were civilians that were brainwashed to do a man's bidding, these people are people who believe that their view of a paradise will have to come at a cost of blood and loss. They have no regard for life and they will do anything to reach their goal. Even sacrificing their own men as a bomb, and as an example from my past, they'll even use children." his voice darkens.

Joseph hears rattling from the bushes in front of him, he draws Ace and aims at the bushes, waiting what comes through the bushes. Joseph sees Naofumi and the girls walking through the bushes, he lowers Ace. "Hey, this place is clear, enough shade for us to be undetected." Joseph said. He takes a peek past the tree, "Look at this, lots of Demi-Human workers. Xeno and I suspect them as slaves." Joseph turns his head to Melty, "Hey Melty, places like these have a governor of some sorts right? To rule over the region they are in." Joseph said.

Melty nods, "Right, the ruler of this region is a good man. He might be able to help us!" Melty said.

"See X? These Demi-Humans are in good hands in this region." Joseph said. He turned his attention back to Melty, "what about the lord? There should be like a hierarchy in things like this, like the queen and king in royalty." Joseph asked.

"Yes, the lord of this group was a wonderful man, He was the lord of the domain of Sayete. But after he died in the first wave all the nobles who had sided with him were banished under father's orders to the most remote regions in the kingdom." Melty said.

"A fate better than death at least." Joseph said.

"What's the king's problems with demihumans?" asked Naofumi, then Naofumi looked at Raphtalia, she looked sad "Raphtalia? What's wrong?" asked Naofumi.

Before Raphtalia was able to speak, Joseph butts in, "Sayete was her home." Joseph said.

Raphtalia perked up and looked at Joseph, "How did you-"

"Though you're silent, your body and how it acts speaks for itself, hence, body language." Joseph said.

"I heard after the first wave the Sayete region was badly hit by rioters." said Melty.

"I'm afraid it was. My village was attacked by a mob of Melromarc soldiers that were fully out of control." said Raphtalia.

Joseph didn't feel surprised, "makes it more of a justice for me to kill those corrupted bastards." Joseph snarled.

"The more I hear about these scum, the more I'm disgusted." said Naofumi,

"Those shits shouldve helped them, Demi-Humans are people as well, not, fuckin property to be stepped on." Joseph said.

"I'm so sorry." said Melty as she did a bow to Raphtalia.

"Melty, it was not like it was your fault." said Raphtalia

"As royalty, there must have been something that we could have done." she said squeezing a part of her dress "But we did nothing to help." Melty then looked at Raphtalia "Raphtalia, tell me everything that you remembered about those soldiers." said Melty. "Once things have been cleared up, I'll make sure they're brought to justice!"

Raphtalia closed her eyes and smiled "Thank you." said Raphtalia,

Joseph smiled, "Heh, spoken like a true crown princess." he takes another look at the field, making sure no one is coming towards them, "So, the nobleman you speak of, he's close yes? The question now will be that can we trust him?" he asked.

"You are indeed correct." said a man behind us.

The group turns as Joseph aims his rifle toward a man, who has blue raven hair, a long white cape with a dark blue over coat and dark pants, he had a smile that did not look menacing. Joseph looked at the man's attire, still with his rifle pointed towards the mysterious man, he asked him a question.

"Are you the nobleman that Princess Melty spoke of?" asked Joseph.

"Why yes I am." said the nobleman who still kept his smile,

Melty took a step forward, "It's been too long hasn't it Reichnatt?" Said Melty

"Princess Melty, it's so good to see you again." said Reichnatt.

Joseph, lowered his rifle, "Seems, you two are good friends. Good thing I didn't shoot you, would've gotten an earful from the little miss princess here!" Joseph said as he chuckles.

The nobleman chuckles and turns to Naofumi, "Very pleased to meet you. You may call me Van Reichnatt. I am the reigning lord of this region." said Van.

Joseph was quite relieved that they have an ally of Melty. Joseph looks past the tree towards the field as he sees two Melromarc knights pointing towards our position. "Shit," Joseph turns to the group, "Two knights coming our way! Van, if you could take us somewhere secretive, that'll be great." Joseph said.

"Right, follow me, we'll talk in the house." said Van as he started to move.

"Go, I'll take care of these two, I'll catch up." Joseph said.

Naofumi nods as the group follows Van as Joseph stays behind.

The two knights arrive at the scene as they search the area, Joseph whose above them crouched on a branch of the tree.

"I swear I saw the Devil here." said one knight.

"He must have run off! We should catch up, they shouldn't have gone far!" said the other knight.

Joseph lands behind them, he encroaches behind one knight and covers his mouth and stabs the knight's calves making the knight lose his footing while Joseph then stabs his neck.

The other knight takes notice and starts to draw his sword but Joseph uses his solar light to make a weighted throwing knife and throws it at the knight's eye. The knife then dispersed in solar light as the knight's face was then burnt into a crisp.

Joseph gets up as he dusts his hands, "well that takes care of that… right, lets catch up to them." Joseph said.

Joseph ran to the group as they traverse past some trees. "Heya." Joseph said as he caught up with the group. "They won't be bothering us for now, good thing you guys kept moving, they were tracking you guys." Joseph said.

Naofumi looked at Joseph, he noticed that his rifle that he is using is all pink "Hey Joseph," Naofumi said.

Joseph turns to Naofumi, "Yeah, what is it?" he asked as he tilted his head.

Naofumi points towards Joseph's Apostate, "Your rifle…" Naofumi said.

The girls looked at Joseph's Aptostate as well.

"Yeah, your weapon, I never knew you liked pink." said Melty.

Joseph grabs his Apostate off his back, "Oh right… my rifle… it's pink…" Joseph said. "Well it's not like I never liked pink… it's uh…" Joseph scratches the back of his head as he chuckles,

Xeno materializes next to Joseph and flies around the whole group, "He likes the color pink, he just doesn't like to admit it." Xeno said.

Joseph sighs, "true on that. Though we agreed upon not sharing about that X." Joseph said.

"Well we did, but didn't promise." Xeno chuckles,

Joseph tries to counteract what Xeno just said but relents, "fair enough." Joseph said.

Filo who went close to Joseph as she inspects the Apostate. "Why would you put pink on your weapon?" asked Filo.

"Well… funny story, I am friends with this Guardian Exo, his name is Echo." He chuckles, "Loves Alcohol. Anyone who goes against him when he's drunk, well… safe to say that Echo won them all, cept me, kicked his ass. Wanna know a secret? Echo is a Titan enthusiast, punch first ask questions later, it becomes literal when he becomes SUPER drunk. If you're able to parry or dodge his flaming punches, you'll survive." Joseph laughs as he remembers Echo and his tendencies of being drunk all the time,

"He wrecked Shaxx's favorite bar after a successful Raid Operation, holy shit, never seen Shaxx pissed off at another Titan. Literally had Echo's drunken ass square up with him." Joseph starts to crack up, "Wh-when heh, when Echo threw the first punch, he-" Joseph tries to contain his laughter, "he punched Jarachi across the face and he was behind Echo!" Joseph started to laugh as the group were confused as hell. "Ho man, after that fight, my whole fireteam had to cover for Echo to repair the bar because he used all his glimmer for beer and vodka. I swear, Echo can be a handful. But he's a good man." Joseph said.

"Does this tie to anything about why you have a pink weapon?" asked Melty,

"Oh, uh no, not at all. Ahem, Echo and I had a bet, who could drink a gallon worth of beer in ten seconds or under. Cheeky bastard knew I was going to lose." Joseph said.

"Why is that?" asked Raphtalia.

Joseph shrugs his shoulders, "I don't drink beverages that have Alcohol in it." Joseph said.

"Really now?" Naofumi chuckles.

"Yeah, someone has to carry or drive a whole group's worth of drunken asses back to their home. Also, I tried alcohol once, I hated the taste and I knew what overdosing on Alcohol can do to you. No thank you, Alcohol is a no bueno for me." Joseph said.

"So because of you refusing to drink Alcohol… you lost the bet?" asked Filo.

"Yup, and because of that, he demanded that I had all of my armor, half of my vaulted guns, my sparrows, and jumpships have sunset warrior or pink in your terms. Heh, had it all on for a month, new weapons, armor, vehicles were never safe as soon I acquired anything new Immediately turned into pink. Heh, even X here had to be pink." Joseph said.

"I thought we agreed that we wouldn't talk about that!" Xeno said.

"Yeah we did, but we didn't promise." Joseph said as he smirked towards Xeno.

"Touche" Xeno said.

"So why isn't your armor pink?" asked Naofumi.

"Well since I had it for a month, as much I didn't mind the change, I lost a bit of dignity when I saw a Hive knight laughing at my outfit and I hate Hive with a passion. They to me are a definition of darkness itself. They wiped out thousands of Guardians on the moon. Killed legends and even made a friend become Hive to survive to tell the tale of the Great Disaster." Joseph said.

"What are the Hive?" asked Melty.

"Hive are pretty much minions and warriors of the darkness, as a Guardian are warriors of the Light. They are dangerous to fight if they are in a swarm and being alone. Though even being in a group you can be overwhelmed." Joseph said.

"These Hive you speak about sound terrifying…" Melty said.

"They can for New Lights, those who are experienced in the field can take on a large group with no sweat. Their army consists of royalty, their Gods are their kings, queens, princesses and princes. To the Hive; they are like gods to them." Joseph said.

"Have you faced Hive royalty Joseph?" asked Melty.

"Yeah, I faced a fuck ton of Hive royalty and killed them all. I can still remember all of their names and how my team or just myself killed them." he faces the group, "This might kill some time until we get to Van's house. You wanna hear it?" asked Joseph.

"Sure, let's hear it." said Naofumi.

"This is all jumbled up, but I killed Besurith and Hashladun, daughters of the Hive prince, Crota. My team went to the moon and killed them both, Taro killed Hashladun with a thundercrash while I killed Besurith with Dawnblade, and I know you guys don't know what the hell Thundercrash or Dawnblade is, it'll be more complicated if I explain it to you, maybe another time. Anyhow, my team also killed Omnigul, Will of Crota, heh was almost killed by that screeching bitch, but was saved by a Guardian named Blake. Killed Omnigul with a Gjallarhorn. Heh, I've always wanted one myself." Joseph sighs, "I got one, but the cost… it was never worth it." Joseph said.

"After Omnigul, came Crota. He had the whole moon to himself, yet it wasn't enough to prevent his demise. I hate Crota. He killed my team and Blake… he was impaled by Corta's sword, just like Wei Ning… and the light couldn't save him… same goes for the rest of the team. Crota had an attack that nearly killed me but I wouldn't say the same for the rest of my team… out of rage, I supercharged my golden gun like never before and decapitated his arm that wielded his sword and I used that very sword and thrust it down his neck, killing Crota and ending his reign or treachery on earth and the moon." Joseph's voice softens, "The worst part, I couldn't recover the bodies, they were nothing but dust from their remains. The only thing left from my team… was Blakes Gjallarhorn. I changed greatly after that incident. But let's not talk about that." Joseph said.

"After I killed the Prince, then came Oryx, the Taken King, father of the Hive prince, Crota. Oryx had a power, said to be gifted by the Darkness. Oryx had the ability to take, he takes a physical entity and makes it a minion of his army. He was a dangerous God, but with the help of Eris, Cayde and Mara Sov, I was able to storm their Dreadnaught and shut down it's weapon system so Guardians were able to storm the Dreadnaught. I took a team with me and killed Malok, pretender to the throne and Son of the witch queen, Savathun. I killed Malok with a weapon I once had, Black Spindle. When the time presented itself, I dualed with the King and remained victorious. Although, I was unable to kill him… he retreated, grinning at me. Something was off, I could tell. With what the King had remained was shard from his sword, Willbreaker, hah, what a fool leaving such a shard in my grasp. With the help of Lord Shaxx and Eris, we reverse engineered the shard and fused it with Solar Light and made myself my first sword, Raze Lighter." Joseph grinned reminiscing the good times he had with Raze Lighter.

"You know, we can always ask Lord Shaxx for our Raze Lighter back." Xeno said.

"Yeah, but… nah." Joseph said.

"What about Oryx?" asked Raphtalia.

"We'll do him, but before Oryx came Alak-Hul, the Darkblade. Shiet heh, the area we were in was so dark, I had to risk Xeno out to be my light and how he was able to teleport right in front of us and attack us with his large ass axe, heh, that was literally a recipe for disaster, oh and we shouldn't forget about when he shot his helmet off." Joseph chuckles.

"He went berserk and started to run at us!" Xeno shivered.

"He started running? That's scary…" said Filo.

"It was, good thing I was skilled with my Raze Lighter, heh, broke Alak-Hul's blade in half and did a fiery uppercut with Raze Lighter to finish him off." Joseph said.

"Wow, You fought a lot of Hive…" Raphtalia said.

"I did, mostly with a team, as this situation gets resolved and my world continues it's flow of time, I am more than happy to show you my fireteam, Fireteam Elipson! My wife Lillie, my friend Taro and I. There's some other teams I know, like Fireteam Wheelchair Symbol or Fireteam Foreheads." Joseph chuckles, "though the names can be questionable, they are good people. There's also Fireteam Noble Six… this guy I know… Unknown… we havent spoken in a while… We had a disagreement and we kinda split. I hope he's alright. Then there's Fireteam Wildfire, very competitive on crucible but very chill when with Fireteam Foreheads and Wheelchair Symbol." Joseph said.

"Well, where was I? Oh! Now, I gathered a team which consisted of the following, Taro, Jarachi, Wraith, Drake, Riley and Unknown. We stormed into the deeper depths of the Dreadnaught to assassinate Oryx for good. But before we faced Oryx, we faced his champions, first was Warpriest in this area of the Dreadnaught called the Basilica. The Warpriest was a difficult cookie, but we were able to combine our fire that consisted of Taro using Ice Breaker, Unknown, Drake and I using Black Spindle, Wraith using Zen Meteor and Riley using Sleeper Simulant." Joseph explained.

"Sounds like a lot of fire power," Naofumi said.

"No kidding, the weapons we had would kill a dragon or even worse." Joseph said.

"Who was after the Warpriest?" asked Van who was also listening.

"After the Warpriest, came Golgoroth in his cellar. Such a fat fucker… when we started to shoot Golgoroth, Riley and Wraith had to provoke him by shooting a large sack on his back while the rest had to shoot his stomach. After killing him, it made Riley almost hurl. Could you even take your helmet off in the Dreadnaught? Eh anyway, I Wouldn't blame her, that Ogre was pretty damn disgusting, worse than a normal hive Ogre. I think I'll take Phogoth rather than that thing. After Golgoroth, we challenged Oryx's daughters, in the Threshold in the Dreadnaught, Ir Anuk and Ir Halak. There was nothing more satisfying than killing the sisters of Crota. Took them both down with a Golden Gun, finally the journey almost over. Finally, I was going to kill that God, the reason why my old team died, to kill the Taken King, Oryx, who gave birth of that bastard Crota." Joseph clenches his fist and exhales.

But before Joseph could talk about the final battle, Van started to speak. "I'm sorry for the interruption, but we have arrived." he said.

Joseph looks up and sees the house, and is surprised by the size of the house and field. "hah, more like a mansion! Forgot rich people get lots of luxury…" he said.

Xeno looks at Joseph, "You're rich yourself you know." he said.

Joseph chuckles, "would you be surprised that I forgot?" asked Joseph.

"Oh boy, what am I going to do with you?" said Xeno.

"Be the best personal pocket-buddy/brother like you've always been?" Joseph chuckles.

Xeno sighs, "Sometimes you're just hopeless. Good thing I'm here to pick up your slack." Xeno chuckles.

"Heh, good one." Joseph sighs and looks at the group, "sorry folks, storytimes over. I'll share the final battle of the Taken King at another time. For now, I guess we can relax, well, I'm gonna rest. Staying up all these nights and continuous fighting and moving can really take a toll out on ya." Joseph said as he stretched his back. He yawns, "you have a chair or bench to sit on Van?" Joseph asked.

"Yes, right this way please." Van said. As he enters the house, Joseph follows behind.

Filo began to pout, "aww! Really!? I wanna hear the final battle with Oryx!" Filo cried,

"Filo, he said he was going to talk about it more later. Just be patient and he will continue with his story." Naofumi said.

Filo was still disappointed with the fact Joseph had stopped to rest. "Hmph fine," she crossed her arms, "Hey Mel, let's go adventure around the house!" Filo said as she grabs her arm and enters the house.

"H-hey! Hold o~n!" she said as she was being dragged in by Filo.

Raphtalia walks to the entrance of the house, "Lets go Master Naofumi, we can finally rest for now!" she said cheerfully. She looks back as Naofumi was in a train of thought. Raphtalia walked to Naofumi and grabbed one of Naofumi's hand which made him step back into reality, "Master Naofumi, what's wrong?" she asked.

"Oh, uh nothing really. Sorry for worrying you. But, I was thinking about Joseph's journey." Naofumi said.

"What about it?" asked Raphtalia,

"Joseph's journey revealed that the beings that he faced, the Hive… I fear that neither I or the others would be ready to face them in the state we are in. Now looking at Joseph's strength where he could take on Glass and all three of them, Ren, Itsuki and Motoyasu… it's kind of scary to think about how we would face Crota or Alak-Hul…" Naofumi said.

"Now that you think about it, Joseph's world is pretty scary and how he is able to face Glass and the three heroes. It's scary to think about Joseph's true strength." Raphtalia said.

"Good thing he's on our side…" Naofumi said.

Joseph yawns as he lays on the couch, "gotta say, the luxury life sure does have high tier sofas." Joseph chuckles, "I wonder how long we can stay here until shit hits the fan…" Joseph said.

Xeno materializes above Joseph and lands on his forehead. "Do you doubt Van as an ally?" asked Xeno.

"Kinda, that smile seems so calm yet scary… hahaha, to be intimidated by such a smile, but never intimidated by a God of Destruction like Beerus. I think that kinda says something about me." Joseph chuckles.

"What does it say?" asked Xeno.

Joseph chuckles and sighs, "I don't know. Guess I'm afraid of the simple things in life while danger is like my home? Heh, been out in the field for a long time, but we have yet to take care of the threat in the Black Garden so we can't go back to Remnant or home yet." Joseph said.

Joseph exhales deeply as he sinks deeper into the sofa. "Damn, this re~lly relieves the stress on the body!" Joseph said. "Welp, break times over." Joseph said, he grunts as he gets off the sofa.

"Let's go and see what the group is doing," he said. Joseph walks out of the living room and sees Van walking to the living room.

"Ah, perfect timing, come, the rest are waiting in the dining room." said Van.

Joseph nods, "alright, following your lead." Joseph said.

Van lightly chuckles, "Right this way please," said Van as he walks to the dining room.

Joseph enters the room with Van and sits down on a chair next to Raphtalia.

Van walked over to a window, "Would you kindly explain to me what happened?" asked Van.

Naofumi agrees and proceeds to explain to Van about the past events that occurred during our journey.

"I see… so you reached my domain after escaping Melromarc's forces, is that it?" Van asked.

"Yeah," said Naofumi.

"The knights have informed me that you were the one who started the wildfire in order to cover your tracks Sir. Shield Hero, would you consider that account to be accurate?" asked Van

"I have to kindly butt in, but the Bitch, Malty, Myne whatever her name is, lied, she was the one who started the fire with the rest of those knights. Thank the Traveler that we caught wind of the fire, I was able to put it down by using technology from my world." Joseph said.

"Thank you for clearing out the fire Joseph, there would've been a lot of animals being homeless if you didn't intervene. When I ran into your party in the woods I was patrolling the area out of concern for Princess Melty." Van said.

Two maids opened the door as they pushed in a cart of food for them to eat.

"You must be exhausted from your travels, you're more than welcome to rest for a while if you wish." Van said.

Joseph looks at Filo, who's ready to dig in at any time, "Ooooohhh, wow! May I eat now Master? Please can I eat?" asked Filo

"No, wait." said Naofumi, who is still unsure if they should trust Van, "Not until I'm convinced if we can trust this guy." he said.

Van then takes a piece of bread and then eats it, "mmm, absolutely exquisite, rest assured, the food isn't poisoned." he said.

Filo then grabs two pieces of bread, "Okay everyone! Time to eat!" she said cheerfully.

"Filo!" both Raphtalia and Joseph said.

"Where are your manners? Put that down!"

"There's forks for a reason, this isn't Indian or Filippino food where you use your hands!" Joseph said.

"Kay…" Filo said as she puts back the bread and starts to use her fork and knife.

Raphtalia turns to Naofumi, "come on Master Naofumi, I'm sure it's safe to eat." she said, trying to convince him.

"It's incredibly rude to cast such doubts on his gracious hospitality," Melty said.

"We're not gonna be here that long." said Naofumi, still not trusting Van, "Were leaving tomorrow morning at dawn." he said as he proceeds to take a bite in the food.

"But why so soon?" asked Melty,

Naofumi with his mouth full answers Melty's question, "the longer we stay, the higher the odds of us being sniffed out." he said.

Joseph takes a bite on the steak, "He's gotta point, better to move than staying put. Better to keep moving than letting the enemy track us down while we are still here." Joseph said.

"Well yes, but I was- I was hoping to be able to rest a little more." Melty said being a bit bummed out.

"Princess Melty, if you allow me to say so, it appears you've grown." Van said to Melty. "In the past, you used to act in a mature attitude that went beyond your years. However since you've been traveling with the Shield Hero I'd say, it's helped you to grow, and I mean that in a good way." said Van.

Melty then blushed

"I'm pretty sure you mean it in a bad way," Naofumi commented,

"What!? You keep quiet you!" Melty said to Naofumi.

"Quit making such a racket, were trying to eat here." said Naofumi

"Whos do you think that is!?" Melty argued,

Joseph sees Raphtalia who sighs in a bit of jealousy, Joseph laughed, "Looks like you have competition Raphtalia," he said, smirking towards her.

Raphtalia blushed, "What? I-I… I don't know what you're talking about!" she said.

Joseph laughed fairly loud, "I sure do love interaction like these where we can talk, make jokes, and laugh. Best part when eating with a group." he said as he ate asparagus. "Not bad, for food to be like this in the medieval times, the food is surely not that bad. You have talented maids Van." Joseph said as he wiped his lips.

"Thank you, are you also a cook?" asked Van,

"In a way yeah, I love cooking. Whenever I am not out on the field fighting for humanity's sake, I cook. Funny thing is, I was called a housewife once by Lillie and a bunch of other guardian friends of mine, since I cook, wash dishes, do laundry, clean the area but I aint neat though. I tend to take care of a lot of my friends when they are drunk or hurt. Nurse 'em back to health and I'll be on my merry way fighting for humanity's sake." Joseph said.

Joseph lightly put down his utensils and grabbed a piece of bread off his plate, why would you need a fork and knife for bread? The things I say can be so stupid. He eats the whole thing and starts to drink water. He puts the glass cup down and puts his hands together and closes his eyes, "thank you for the meal." Joseph said, he gets up and stretches and sits back down.

"Hey X, get the comms tablet please." Joseph said.

"Okay, what do you plan on doing?" asked Xeno

"Something stupid." Joseph said.

Everyone watches Joseph as he begins to set up something.

Xeno materialized Joseph's tablet and initiated all channels in the World of the Traveler. He pushes a button on the tablet and begins to speak.

"All channels of the Last City, this is Joseph Anderson from Fireteam Elipson, I repeat, this is Joseph Anderson from Fireteam Elipson, do any of you hear me?" Joseph said.

But there was nothing but static.

"What's he doing?" asked Raphtalia.

"I think he is trying to communicate with the people in his world." Naofumi said,

"Okay… let's try Mythrax's frequency." he tunes up the frequency to Mythrax's frequency, "Mythrax, you there bud?"

Nothing but static.

Joseph grumbles, "Shit… hmm… Vanguard private channels that might do something." Joseph said. He proceeds to tune in the vanguard private channels just like the one that Anastasia used when she contacted Joseph on mars.

"Vanguard, this is Joseph Anderson of Fireteam Elipson, do you copy?" Joseph said.

A long anticipating silence came through the speakers, then a voice emits.

"Joseph? Is that you?" said a familiar male voice,

Joseph cracks a smile and starts laughing, "Holy shit! It worked!" Joseph cheered. "Osiris! Good to hear you're beautiful fucking voice!" Joseph laughed.

"Someones happy to hear from you," said Sagira.

"Happy to hear yours as well Sagira!" Joseph's laughter died down and he took a deep breath. "Sorry for my improper tone, but it's good to hear from you guys. The World of the Traveler's time has suddenly stopped. I am currently in another world where time is flowing here. Wait, if you're talking to me, is the World of the Traveler's time back to normal?" asked Joseph.

"Not at all. Time here is still still, we figured that the Vex is up to something, so we are investigating what they are doing." said Osiris.

"Vex? There always up to no good… is this about the Undying Mind?" asked Joseph.

"No, far from it, another Vex contraption, we are suspecting another Vex mind, similar to Panoptes, is causing the trouble. I am having my reflections to investigate the mind." Osiris said.

"But something is preventing us from looking further in," said Sagira.

"What do you mean by that?" asked Xeno

"It's hard to explain, but… the origin of the interference is coming from… ah! It's coming from the world you are in, Joseph!" Sagira said.

"That so… I will investigate it as soon as possible, once the interference is out, you can start making your move Osiris." Joseph said.

"Alright, we'll be waiting for your results." said Osiris.

"Oh and, hope you don't mind, we might call back from time to time, it's good to hear from you guys again, sometimes it can be a drag being with Osiris, but at least it's better than without a Guardian." Sagira said.

"I heard that." Osiris said.

"Alright, call in anytime we'll answer." Joseph said.

The call ended, and Joseph started to cheer "FUCK YEAH! We have a lead!" Joseph said.

"What was that about?" asked Melty

Joseph smiled out of joy, "A legendary Guardian back in the day. I helped him from time to time. He is uh… exiled due to his motives back in the early days in the Tower, home of the guardians." Joseph said. "Obsessed with the Vex but his intentions were always good. Some believe that he is the strongest Warlock to ever live. I too think that as well, he is strong, stronger than you think." Joseph said.

"Woow! Stronger than you Joseph?" asked Filo.

Joseph scratches his head, "uhh… lightwise, probably I am unsure, I have an ability where I can copy powers and I even learned a thing or two in other worlds as well. In some ways, some deemed me as the strongest Guardian to ever live, Ikora believes that and she kicked Shaxx's ass! But I don't want to think that, I hate to think of that." Joseph said.

"Let's not talk about whose strongest kay?" Joseph asked.

"Sorry that I asked about that Joseph" apologized Filo.

Joseph sighs and lightly smiles, "No, it's okay Filo, ain't your fault. When I was in my early years as a Guardian, I admired the strength of these legendary Guardians, I admired Cayde's cunning and swift Golden Gun draws, I was impressed how Zavala could take on a powerful volley of missiles using his Ward of Dawn, I never seen such ferocity of Ikora's Nova Bomb, I heard tales of Shaxx's heroic push in Twilight Gap using his Fist of Havoc, I was amazed and shocked on the pile of Vex bodies when we found Saint-14's grave, he fought to the death… I wish I could save him… I heard Lady Efrideet's battle with the Red Legion, killing over two hundred Cabal combatants alone, without her light and without any injury! I… admire these Guardians and to think I'm stronger than them, makes me feel guilty that a person who hasn't been alive as a Guardian for over a decade, makes me feel like I am cheating." Joseph said.

"Why is that?" asked Melty.

"There's a world I traveled to where I met this one man who is capable to wipe an entire planet with a single energy blast, his name is Goku, he taught me a technique called the Kaioken, it amplifies your strength but at the cost of your body being strained if not physically trained enough. I learned so much from him, how to shoot energy blasts from the palm of my hand, how to teleport, how to read energy from other warriors and how to fight more effectively." Joseph said.

"A man who is capable of destroying a planet? That's terrifying…" said Raphtalia,

"It is, but he's too kind hearted, he will never do something like that." Joseph said. "I learned lotsa stuff, but we can talk about that another time, for now, Xeno and I will need to discuss the "interference"" Joseph said.

Xeno flies around the area trying to think, "Well… Osiris is saying something about a mind just like Panoptes? Is interfering with time and that's why time is still?" asked Xeno

"Yeah and Osiris talked about sending in Reflections to investigate the situation, but Sagira said the problem is that there is interference from this world, blocking the Reflections to investigate the Mind." Joseph said. Joseph's voice softens, "but what could it be…" Joseph begins to hum has he thinks,

"Wait… why is Osiris and Sagira not affected?" asked Xeno,

"Probably the Infinite Forest… but, this might tie to an artifact in this world, I am unsure what it might be, but we'll have to scan whatever we see." Joseph said. Joseph stretches his back, "but let's investigate tomorrow, let's use this time to rest up." Joseph said. He gets up and begins to walk out of the room, "gonna go outside and sit on a bench," Joseph said. He closes the door and walks to the exit.

"It feels cold…" Joseph opens his eyes, a vast, clear field of snow and ice with an ominous blue sky fills the area, he looks around and sees a Kell from afar, he then sees a Hunter with ragged clothing behind him.

The hunter lifts his hand cannon, Thorn as the Kell lifts her shotgun.

Joseph looks at his arms and something strange surrounds him, ice but not normal ice, he looks at his hands as he holds an ice-like two handed scythe. Echos began to fill his ears.

The distorted voice began to repeat over and over, "Kill them, that is your Salvation..."

A flash as he sees a man with a golden gun aiming at Joseph as he has his back on the floor looking at him. "You shouldn't have followed him…"

The man pulls the trigger as Joseph wakes up.

"Joseph! Are you okay?" Xeno asked with concern.

Joseph breathes heavily as he has Golden Gun activated and aiming at a bush art.

"Did you have another nightmare?" Melty asked who is next to Filo.

Joseph looks at the two as his body and eyes still ablaze. Joseph lowers his Golden Gun as he exhales, the flame then disappearing.

He chuckles, "hah, I-I guess I napped…" Joseph said.

"Are you okay? When you were sleeping, we saw something on your arm." said Melty.

"What… was it?" asked Joseph.

"There was this blue wavey ice on your arm! It was so weird! I have never seen anything like it!" Filo said.

Joseph felt well aware now, that dream was not a random nightmare. "Really now?" Joseph laughed, "Must be nothing! Worry not, whatever it is, it's gone right? So nothing to worry!" Joseph said.

Melty and Filo looked at each other.

They're concerned… "Let's talk once we get inside." Joseph said to Xeno "Come one girls, if it's that bad, it's nothing that Xeno and I can't handle!" Joseph said.

Still with concern they knew that they can't pry for answers. "Okay…" said Melty.

Joseph nods and walks away and enters the house into the room where Naofumi and Raphtalia is.

Joseph opens the door as Raphtalia greets him, "hey Joseph," she said. Raphtalia tilts her head knowing that there's something wrong with Joseph, "are… you okay?" she asks.

Joseph walks to a bed, and begins to take off his utility belt, "Just a silly nightmare, nothing more." Joseph said as he takes his chest and waist holster off and places it on the drawer.

"Alright, you want some water?" asked Raphtalia.

Joseph began to take his cloak off and fold it neatly and set it next to the pillow, "Yeah, sure." Joseph said. Joseph then begins to take off his sheaths. Two that were on his back waist, one on his chest, one on his left waist and one on each side of his greaves.

"Okay, I'll go get you some water," Raphtalia said.

Joseph then takes his gloves off, "Thanks Raphtalia," Joseph said.

"No problem," Raphtalia said as she leaves the room.

He takes his boots off and lays on the bed. He puts his hands behind the back of his head and exhales, "The nightmare was different this time." Joseph said.

"What was it about?" asked Xeno

"This time I saw a Fallen Kell and I think a Shadow of Yor on Europa. Then… the ice… it wasn't cold… but it felt like when we entered the Pyramid… then I wielded a weapon… a scythe, large as Ruby's Crescent Rose. The scythe was all icey, but not cold… then, I saw him… Shin… he said "You shouldn't have followed him…" he had me gunpoint with his Golden Gun." Joseph explained.

"I… feel like I experienced something like that as well… i-it's all a blur… I am not even sure if it actually happened when we set foot on Europa. But when I think about it, all I think about is when we woke up on our Jumpship." Xeno explained.

"Won't blame you, something happened and we saw something that we shouldn't, only appearing with nightmares… heh, I guess we'll know when we need to go to Europa…" Joseph said.

"When will we know?" asked Xeno.

Joseph went silent, knowing the answer, a chill crawls up his spine "When the Darkness tells us to…"

Raphtalia enters the room with a glass cup of water, "I got your water Jo- oh… he's sleeping…" she said. She softly chuckles as she walks to Joseph and puts the cup of water on the drawer next to him. "When you wake up." she said. Raphtalia then moves the blanket up to Joseph's shoulders, "Such a scary yet friendly person you are Joseph… just like Master Naofumi…" Raphtalia said. She then notices a long scar on the side of Joseph's neck that seems to continue down to his shoulders. "But it seems you have suffered more than him…"

Joseph wakes up as he hears a ruckus, "huh?" Joseph yawns as Xeno materializes and begins to look at the window. He looks at the drawer as he sees the cup, before Joseph could reach for a drink, Xeno fell into a panic.

"Melromarc knights! They're about to enter the house Joseph!" Xeno said.

Joseph leaped off the bed and looked at Xeno, "What!?" Joseph runs to the window as he sees the knights running to the house. "Shit…" Joseph runs to his equipment as Xeno scans it as it all equips onto Joseph's armor, only to put on his cloak. Before Joseph could reach for the door, the door knob rattles and turns. He draws Ace as the door opens then to see that he was aiming at a maid.

She was startled when seeing Joseph but she was too worried to be startled, "The Shield Hero needs to leave now!" she said.

Joseph holsters Ace as he passes the Maid, "they're about to wake up, help them get ready!" Joseph said as he paces down the hall with his M1911 in his hand.

Naofumi and Raphtalia rushes down the hall as they follow the maid.

"The kitchen's the only safe way out!" said the maid.

"Wheres Filo and Melty?" asked Naofumi

They stop to a corner as they see two Melromarc knights talking to each other.

"This way quickly!" said the maid as she runs to the kitchen as the two followed.

The two enters the large storage area just before the two knights enter the kitchen.

The maid acting like nothing happened, starts to prepare for lunch.

"Hey! You there!" called one of the knights, "what are you doing!?" he questioned.

"I'm preparing lunch" the maid said.

"Well forget that! Come here!" said another knight as he aggressively grabs the maids arm.

The two watch the scene unfold as they hide from the knights,

"What do you think your doing?" said Melty who is at the entrance of the kitchen. "I am Melty Melromarc, second princess of Melromarc! Let her go right now! I command you two to stop this right away!" she demands the two knights.

The two knight talk to each other, unsure what to do. Then, a fat man with a purple cape walked to Melty, "my my, if it isn't Princess Melty." he said.

Raphtalia recognizes the voice, she grits her teeth as her breath becomes aggressive and her tail spiking up.

Naofumi takes notice of Raphtalia's angry behavior. He sees Raphtalia going for her sword but Naofumi puts his hand on the handle of the sword, "let's wait and see what happens." Naofumi whispered.

The man walks to Melty, "I'm glad to see you're alright." said the man, "I rushed right over here because I was worried of your safety." said the man.

"Idol Rabier, I heard rumors that in the past you had disagreements with my father." said Melty.

"True," Idol said.

"May I assume that these soldiers are with you?" asked Melty

"They are indeed." answered Idol

"Then have them withdraw within these premises immediately." Melty said.

"Before I do something like that, tell me where the Devil of the Shield ran off to." said Idol.

Before Melty could say another word, Joseph appeared at the entrance, "So you want to track down the Devil eh?" he said.

The knights draw their swords, "y-you! You're the one who murdered our brethren!" one knight said.

Idol looks at Joseph who is just standing there, not even holding a weapon. "You must be one of the Devil's partners in crime," said Idol.

Joseph chuckles and nods, "why yes I am. Heh, looks like he got away, guess I overslept." Joseph said as he shrugs his shoulders.

"And it seems you have nowhere left to run, now, come with us before anything bad happens." Idol said.

"Heh, whatever you say boss, can't fight my way out anyway." Joseph said

"Joseph…" Melty said softly, she looked worried, Joseph butted in which was nowhere near her plan.

Joseph looked at her and winked, assuring that everything is going to be okay.

Naofumi and Raphtalia watched as Joseph was being cuffed and all his weapons were being stripped away from him.

"What the hell are you doing Joseph?" Naofumi whispered.

Melty was escorted out of the house while the knights began to push, punch and kick Joseph out of the house. Leaving Naofumi, Raphtalia and Filo safe from Idol's grasp.


So… HOLY SHIT! This chapter is over 8k words and over 20 pages on google doc. I hope you guys dont mind these long ass chapters from time to time, if the majority of you don't like this, I will change it. In the beginning, I began to talk about slaves and how it related in the real world both past and present, I also hope you guys don't mind that as well, y'see, AP Human Geography is a hard subject to me, I wanna test myself if I could add it into my story and make sense of it. If you see any error to that beginning, please if you can, criticize me. AP Human Geography is tough, but, doing a comeback, I hope…

So, Happy Dawning to you all! Nothing better to give cookies to the best grandma ever which is Eva Levante! The grind for that Glacioclasm (I hope I spelled it correctly) god roll is on! Also, has anyone noticed that the Cold Front has Dragonfly? Ain't that y'know, an energy weapon perk? What do I know, Bungie do be doing some wacky stuff.

Last week was Iron Banner and oh boy, I hated it when being alone, freelance playlist was a welcome one but all I ever experienced was plenty of sweats on the opposing and idk even know anymore for my team. All I ever wanted to do was to chill and relax in IB, and when I thought about it, what a damn idiot I am! But matches aside, I love the new rolls for the Steady Hand! Like, this thing maps people! As a controller user, stability all the way! I wish I had a well stable Steady Hand while the final perk was Iron Gaze, that was my other goal but no, I got no Iron Gaze, so maybe next time.

Also, context on them Fireteam names, I am terrible at making made up characters, I think I make them bland and boring. So I asked, with the consent of my friends, if I could put them in the story, they make their own name, their favorite exotic weapon, and what class they are, their race, and the character's personality ties in with what my friends personality is. Same kind of goes for Joseph and I.

Next chapter will be Idol trying to pry some answers from Joseph. This'll be bloody so get ready. In this chapter and the chapter, Knowing Joseph, shows Joseph's nightmares, sounds familiar right? Well, in the other story that I took a pause on, talks about Joseph's secret mission going to Europa to find a Shadow of Yor to track down Shin Malphur, but thats all I am going to say.

Before I make the next chapter, I will be publishing a Dawning special chapter on the 25th! Stay tuned! This will NOT tie into the story, but something fun because I always wanna share some shenanigans that my friends and I do. So this will have Destiny, Dragon Ball, Genshin and plenty more anime and games.

I love doing shit like this, making stories and sharing them even though they can be… cringeworthy. Doing this can be like a Job, but a Job I enjoy. Those who read and enjoy this story, thank you. You guys are the best! And I HOPE! You all have a wonderful holiday and new years. I think I have extended this outro long enough so I'll stop blabbering and save it after the Dawning special.

Enjoy your morning, day, or night wherever you live!