I do not own Destiny or any of the characters.


Eternity

Hunter glared at the black hole before them as they sped closer rapidly. He hated this place. He had never wanted to return.

"What is this a prison for?" Spark asked.

After Hunter had told him it was a prison, he'd told him to wait and see and he'd understand.

"What would require being trapped at the center of a wormhole as a prison?" Spark asked.

"Death," Hunter said. "Eternity is Death's prison."

"Death?" Spark asked. "You mean Darkness?"

"No," Hunter said, shaking his head. "Darkness and Light are two sources of paracausal power, not inherently good or bad, dependent on the use. Darkness is more seductive and harder to control, but it's not inherently evil. But Death has no use for a source os paracausal power. He's Death. He is a paracausal power."

"So...how did this become his prison?" Spark asked.

"A long time ago, Death was at war with another being of immesurable power, Life, along with all of Life's children," the Slayer spoke up. "Death simply wanted to fo his job, and Life simply wanted to exist. It only became a war because Death didn't know when to stop working. It didn't matter to him how old Life's children were, Death came for all of them. Eventually, Life was forced to fight back. Life's children, the more powerful ones, joined him, and after a long, devastating war, they managed to use the combined destructive power of Life and Death clashing to tear open a wormhole and trap Death inside."

"The prison was named Eternity because of how it functioned," John explained. "The closer he gets to the edge, the more points he has to pass through first. It's fractional mathematics. No matter how many times you divide a number in half, it will never reach zero. It will simply be a smaller and smaller fraction or decimal, but never zero. Eternity works in the same way. As such, he can never escape."

"But he didn't need to," Hunter took over. "Death had outsmarted Life. In fighting the war, Death had taught Life's children to do his job for him, and even today, they continue to do so."

"So Death became a part of Life?" Spark reasoned.

"No," Hunter said. "Death remained sealed away. Life's children simply acquired a taste for killing."

"I see," Spark nodded. "So, how do the Blademasters know all of this?"

"That came later," the Slayer said. "Sometime during the Golden Age, we were at war. History forgot about our war in favor of celebrating their so-called god's arrival and gift of Light. So we were left to fight our war alone. We were losing, horribly, and eventually, we ran out of ammo. All of it. We were chased down, but we found Eternity before they could finish us. With no other choice, we fled into Eternity."

"Inside of Eternity, the laws of physics don't apply as they should," John continued. "Gravity, momentum, even time. What for us inside of Eternity was an entire year to adjust, learn to manipulate the laws od physics, and prepare, was merely seconds before our enemy had chased us into Eternity to them. And so, when they arrived, and were unable to fight through the corrupted laws of physics, we had an overwhelming advantage."

"The laws of physics weren't corrupted, they were broken," Slayer corrected. "Once we had mastered being able to bend them to our will there, we could walk faster than bullets, go up walls, fly, or even simply teleport. We were outnumbered a hundred to one and wielding homemade knives, swords, and spears, but they never stood a chance. We slaughtered them all without losing a single person on our side. And for our display, our mastery of combat, Death was amused. He granted us a gift, a fragment of himself placed inside each of us to grant us our Blademaster abilities, and so we all left as the first Blademasters, the apostles of Death. And then, we returned with more recruits later, trained them in Eternity, and Death granted them a piece of himself as well, and also granted even more of his power to the more senior Blademasters. It wasn't until Hunter that we realized what was actually going on."

"I had a greater affinity than the rest of the Blademasters, so I was granted a larger fragment of Death," Hunter said. "But with it, I caught a glimpse of Death's plan. We weren't meant to be his servants, we were his transportation. He couldn't leave Eternity, but we could, and we could bring Death with us. However, no mortal, no matter who they are, could ever contain all of Death. Death is infinite. So he could only place fragments. Eventually, he had planned to place enough fragments to rebuild himself outside of Eternity, and then break Eternity open from the outside to reclaim his whole self. However, once I saw that plot, and reported it to the others, we stopped going to Eternity. Blademaster training became training to learn to wield the fragment we already had, and when a Blademaster died, they were cast into Eternity, along with their fragment of Death. We kept the number of Blademasters allowed to exist low in order to keep Death confined. And then, the Collapse happened. The Blademasters were wiped out in their entirety, and Eternity vanished, likely to keep Death from ensnaring a new group and using them as he'd tried to use us."

"And now, for the first time, Eternity has returned," John said. "The Nine and the Starhorse sent Xur to summon us to it."

"And we have no idea why," Slayer said. "But it can't be good."

"So, what are we expecting?" Spark asked.

"Best case," Hunter mused, "the Starhorse has a way to remove the fragments of Death without killing us or removing the benefits. Worst case, we're meant to fight Death."

Spark shuddered, but remained silent, so everyone else fell silent as well. Then, a few minutes later, they finally arrived. They all flew into Eternity, and stopped above the first thing that passed as a landmass inside, warping down to it. It was a sort of bunker where the Starhorse resided, Warden of Eternity, and where Xur was waiting for them.

"Why have you summoned us?" John asked.

"Death has found a new apostle," Xur said. "The Starhorse bids you kill it."

"Where is it?" Hunter asked.

"At the center," Xur said. "The celestial horse has prepared your way, and will bring you back, should you succeed. However, it warns that your Ghosts must all stay here. They would be unsafe were they to accompany you."

Hunter nodded and all of the Blademasters' Ghosts appeared and floated over to the Starhorse and Xur.

"Be careful," Spark pleaded.

"See you soon!" Daisy said cheerfully.

"Don't take too long," John's Ghost, who'd changed their name to Cortana after altering their own personality to match an AI partner John used to have, said.

All of the Blademasters nodded to their Ghosts, and the Starhorse brayed loudly before light enveloped them all. A moment later, they reappeared at the top of a long slide through the void within Eternity. They all jumped on instantly, streaking along the slide as they drew their firearms. Sure enough, enemies begsn to appesr around them instantly. Except, they weren't all from this dimension. Mixed in among the Fallen, Hive, and Taken that appeared were odd, greenish insects about the size of a human's torso, waist-high aliens with large, spike-like objects extending up behind their head, grey skin, and breathing masks, and tani-skinned aliens with snouts filled with fangs, spikes in a line down their backs, digitigrade feet, and glowing energy shields, reminding Hunter of anthropomorphic raptors.

"What are those?" Hunter asked as he shot several of the insectoid aliens with his Pulse Rifle.

"Drones!" John called back. "From my old dimension before the Nine brought me here!"

"They're a nice change of pace!" Hunter chuckled, leaning aside from a pathetically slow plasma ball and killing the raptor thing that had fired it, the swarm of SIVA killing the Hive Acolytes on either side of it.

They continued to race along rhe slide as it wound and wove its way through the floating chunks of ground their enemies occupied. Nothing survived their passage, and none of them suffered a single hit the entire way, but as they reached the end and landed on a massive, flat chunk of ground, a few hundred meters wide and almost perfectly round, they all swore harshly. There was Death's newest champion. It was a Hive Knight, but there was something wrong with it. Its body looked misshapen, and it was moving in an oddly jerky fashion. As it turned toward them, however, they understood the discrepancy. The Hive Knight was corrupted. Its right arm transformed into a Vex's arm starting at mid-bicep, then finishing its transformation just below the elbow, its right leg was entirely that of a Vex, and so was the right side of its head. Its left hand held a Hive Knight's axe, and its right bore the glowing blade of a Gegeines. Hunter's gut dropped before he focused, forming dagger blades along his forearms, along with drawing his melee daggers.

"Be careful," Hunter warned. "That Vex blade will cut through you like mist."

Everyone tensed, but rather than attack, the Knight emitted a piercing screech and stomped its Vex foot. Instantly, the world around it distorted, shadows, lines of light, and even small wormholes opening. Then, enemies flooded through. Some were bipedal creatures with four mandibles forming mouths, hands with two fingers and a thumb both above and below their hand, and digitigrade legs, others were massive things looking like a cross between a human and ape, and others were simply Hive and Vex. The Blademasters stowed their firearms and drew their blades, charging as one. Hunter and the Slayer reached the oncoming enemies first and shredded their way into them. The Slayer's massive, Solar Energy blade tore through everything in his path with no resistance. Hive Knights, Vex, the odd ape aliens' massive hammer, which matched John's, even the Arc energy swords the other kind of unknown aliens were wielding, which were identical to John's. All who moved to engage the Slayer met the same end. Against Hunter, however, they had even less of a chance. Whereas the Slayer was fighting by a method of brute, unstoppable force to cut through both wielder and weapon alike, Hunter fought using speed, moving as a storm of unstoppable blades. He spun, slashed, flipped, and hurled the daggers on his forearms. He pirouetted around one of the massive apes, allowing its hammer's axe blade to crash to the ground as his melee daggers shredded it at the same time as the dagger blades on his forearms came loose, flashing out in fans and slaughtering a dozen others. One of the aliens with the Arc swords charged, slashing overhead at him, only for him to jump over the alien, turning his body horizontal to the ground and spinning, slashing the alien down the back as he fell, then landed on his feet and spun, swinging his arms and sending knife blades streaking into the oncoming enemies, slaughtering even more. He darted forward, ducking past several and slashing them, every sweep of his arms sending a dozen blades flashing into the crowd.

John reached the army next and began to fight using a combination of speed and force, forming an effective middle-ground between the two ahead of him. With his bladed hammer, he smashed opponents aside or split them and their weapons both in half with the blade. With his sword, he deflected strikes or dodged them, slashing them and killing them in a single strike. Behind him came the rest of the Blademasters, and any enemies that the first three left behind were swept away in a flood of blades. Within seconds, they'd cleared the entirety of the small army, and all that remained was the corrupted Hive Knight. It let out a bellowing shriek and charged, and Hunter moved to meet it. He swiped both arms across his body, sending the entirety of his remaining knife blades at it, but it blocked them with its axe. Then, they had reached it. It shrieked again, slashing with its Gegeines blade, but they all avoided it and struck. The Slayer amputated its infected leg, but it remained standing. Hunter flipped over its axe, slashing rapidly. It shrieked and leapt backward, away from them all, but John's axe slammed into its back, carving into it deeply and hurling it back toward them. The Apprentices swarmed inward, striking with a multitude of various kinds of blades. Except, the Hive Blademaster slammed the blade of its axe down, catching itself on it before spinning. Shouts of surprise and dismay rang out as the Gegeines blade carved through them, splitting half a dozen in half. Then, it flipped into the air, bringing the axe with it. As it landed, it set its axe down, picking up a fallen axe hammer instead and drove the handle into its amputated leg. Instantly, cords and tubes filled with Radiolaria surged out, coiling around the hammer and attaching it in place of its missing leg. Then, it hefted its leg again and shrieked. Hunter focused, forming his monomolecular blades again and charged with the Slayer, but this time, the monstrosity was ready. It leapt into the air, flipping, and brought its hammer down on Hunter's back, shattering all of the monomolecular blades and shattering his body, then brought the axe around at the Slayer. He ducked under it, slashing, and the top half of the axe spun away, only for the behemoth to spin, the axe of its new leg slamming into him and hurling him away in two pieces. Several of the remaining Apprentices shouted in shock and fear, only for the shouts to turn into screams as the monster crashed down among them, crushing two, then spun, its Gegeines blade and the remaining half of its Hive axe slaughtering them all. John charged just as Hunter regained his feet. They were two of the last four still standing. Only the Council remained.

Despite a Blademaster's ability to wield any bladed weapon near-flawlessly, each of the Council specialized in a specific weapon. But even wielding their weapon of choice mattered little before this foe. One councilmember, who wielded a scythe, was the first to fall after his scythe got caught on the Hive axe. The next fell when his own axe was smashed by the monster's new leg. John fell when the Gegeines blade sliced through his own sword. And then, Hunter was alone. The Hive Blademaster turned on him, growling lowly. Hunter narrowed his eyes and formed his monomolecular blades once again. Then, as the behemoth roared and charged, Hunter launched himself to the side. The creature exploded down where he'd been, and its axe swept out toward him, but Hunter spun and stepped to the side, using Void energy to turn intangible, passing through the axe. As soon as it had passed, he shot forward. The creature's Gegeines blade swept down at him, only for him to flip over the blade, the blades forming claws on his right hand severing it. He landed on his feet and shot forward, slashing with his left hand's claws as his right crumbled. The creature swung its hammer up, smashing the claws along with Hunter's left arm, only for Hunter to jump, flipping and slashing with his heel blades, carving out the creature's eyes. It shrieked in pain, staggering away, and Hunter reabsorbed all of his monomolecular blades, reforming the SIVA into a single, double-edged one with a two-handed hilt. As he charged, the creature struck out blindly with his hammer, only for Hunter to slash it off above the head, allowing the sword to shatter. Then, as the creature fell, Hunter doubled over, four sharp tendrils of SIVA striking out and impaling the creature through the head and torso. The tendrils broke off, the swarm of SIVA drones carrying it into the air before exploding, blasting it apart. Finally, Hunter sighed, straightening up as he felt Death's presence close in around him.

"Well done," voiceless words hissed in his mind. "I knew you were my favorite."

"Fuck off," Hunter said. "I'm not your apostle. I have no need of your power."

"Then why do you still harbor a part of me within you?" Death hissed.

"Because I can't take it out without dying," Hunter said. "Now leave. You have no new apostles today."

Death's presence faded, and a few moments later, the Starhorse appeared with Xur and the Ghosts. The Ghosts all rushed to revive their fallen Guardians, Spark helping, and once they were finished, everyone scraped themselves up, gathering their weapons.

"You have done well," Xur commended them. "The Starhorse is pleased. Now, he will prepare your exit."

Several portals appeared, one in front of each Blademaster.

"These will return you to your ships," Xur said. "A reward for your service awaits each of you on them."

Everyone warped back to their ships, and when Hunter arrived, he found his reward waiting. It was a glowing silver wolf pup, which barked enthusiastically at him, running around him before jumping into his arms, the entire thing about the size of his head.

"I don't recognize the energy it's made out of," Spark said. "But it seems to be generating its own energy. I think it will live for a while. A few hundred years, at least."

"Can it be hurt?" Hunter asked.

"I don't know," Spark said. "I don't even know what it is. It's definitely not actually a wolf pup."

Hunter nodded and sat down, keeping the puppy in his lap. "Let's just go home. By now, I'd imagine something's gone horribly wrong with Savathûn."

"Probably," Spark agreed.

Hunter turned his ship around and started back toward the Last City, all of the other Blademasters following.


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