"What are we looking for anyway?" Fae asked as Arizona's shotgun disappeared from her hands after the latest fight.
"Hm?" She turned to Ghost.
Through Ghost, she heart Fynch say, "Oh, you know, what's his name-that old Warlock, Osiris? Yeah. It's his Ghost! Well…was his Ghost."
Everyone but Arizona stopped and stared at Ghost. She couldn't read everyone else's faces through their helmets but she could see Ghost suddenly hover so low she thought he would drop, and she was ready to catch him.
"Sagira?" Fae whispered, then she ran ahead, followed behind closely by Argonaut, and then Ghost. Arizona struggled to keep up with them.
"Yeah! That's the one! You know what happened to her? How she…hm…you know."
"Actually, I don't know." Arizona raised her hand but Argonaut turned on her and immediately she went silent. She could feel herself getting smaller, she could feel that he was glaring at her, and then he moved on, and she followed. "Never mind," she whispered as she took her time to follow them. By now, Fae and Argonaut were ahead, but Ghost lagged behind with her.
"Xivu Arath came for her, backed her into a corner," Ghost filled her in. "But clearly Savathun found her shell…she impersonated Osiris."
"Huh, I see," Fynch's voice came from Ghost again. "That must've been part of her plan-to steal the Light, I mean."
"Sure seems that way." Ghost rolled his eye.
"I'm sensing some skepticism." Fynch said.
"You're very eager to help us, Fynch, and we don't exactly know you or what you gain from this," Arizona started, following a trail of light emanating from mushrooms that closed like skin over a zit. "He's just a bit protective."
"Hey, hey, hey now! I am taking a huge chance trusting you too, you know! I bet you change your tune once you find Sagira."
"If we find her then we can talk trust." Ghost beeped and sighed. "You!" He stopped her from following the mushroom trail, and Arizona frowned seeing how quickly they closed. "You are much too trusting!"
She used a finger to move him out of the way as he transmatted a sidearm in her hand. She shot a mushroom from across the trench and hopped over to the ledge. "And you are much too protective for a Ghost. Want to tell me what that's about?"
He was silent for a long while, following her jumps over the trenches, and when she turned around she found he had disappeared.
"Ghost! Don't ignore me! We need to talk about these issues when we get back to Mars, okay?" She got no answer. "Or at least go to couples counseling or something." She muttered.
She finally caught up with the others looking down a well. "Have a nice chat?" Argonaut mocked.
Arizona didn't acknowledge him, looking down the well with Fae. "What's down there?" She asked Fae.
"Why don't we find out?" Argonaut said in a sing-song voice.
Arizona found herself falling down into darkness headlong. The ground below came from nowhere, hurtling towards her. There was darkness too. She barely heard the cracking of bones, barely felt the burning pain that went up into her head. She barely registered that she was sucking in air and rolling away from a hand that was put on her back. He…he had killed her!
Arizona scrambled to her feet as Fae stepped forward with her hand out. "No, no, do. Not. Touch. Me." She warned. Her whole body shook violently. Argonaut stood with his hands on his hips only a few steps behind Fae, standing in the dimmest light possible.
"You can't tell me you're mad. It was all a bit of fun." He laughed.
How could he laugh? Arizona saw a crack through her helmet. She took it off and discarded it, despite that it didn't distort anything she saw. How could he laugh?
"This is not the time, Argonaut!" Fae scolded.
She could feel hot tears searing her cheeks. Ghost was at her shoulders and she turned to him.
"You want to go." He spoke softly. Softer than she had ever heard. Ghost's presence near her calmed her. She took his whole body in both of her hands and cradled him. He never tried to get away like she always imagined he would. With a sigh she looked at Fae.
"Ikora knows your location." She dropped her hands. "This seems…too personal for me to be part of it. I never knew Sagira, after all." She backed away.
"No, Arizona," Fae came running at her, but it was too late. The warmth of the transmat whisked her away.
Ghost had never seen her this upset, even as Maria. The differences between Arizona and Maria were getting larger and larger as time went on, he realized. Maria was fiery. Arizona…she sat underneath Fynch's ledge, where his dead Lightbearer would never rise again, and she buried her head in her knees. He could feel that she was torn, she wanted to help them complete the mission but after Argonauts actions…she was hurt…and afraid of disappointing Ikora. He couldn't keep her away from many of the rumors that swirled around her, he knew. He knew he failed in that one aspect of trying to keep them separate beings.
"We're all made by our experiences! Your experiences make you Crow!" he could hear Maria yelling at Crow still, a reminder of what had led to his decision.
Arizona sniffed, but wouldn't bring up her head. Still, he could tell she was crying. She didn't say a word either. Neither of them noticed Fynch approaching.
"Oh…I thought I…wait, does that mean you-"
"No," Ghost interrupted Fynch as he came closer, his…well he wasn't sure if they were arms or panels, but they whirred around his body, the front and the back.
"What's wrong?" He asked Arizona.
"Nothing." Ghost hissed.
Fynch's green eye rolled around and he went even closer to her. Poking her with one of his arms, but she buried her head deeper in her knees and arms. "Something happened." He concluded.
"It's nothing, Fynch." She finally looked up, wiping her eyes quickly. "This is something they should finish. They knew Sagira."
Fynch stared at her for a moment. "Ooh I see…you're a New Light, huh?"
One of the corners of Arizona's mouth came up in a slightly smile and nodded, but the smile didn't seem as warm anymore. "A couple weeks ago, right, Ghost?"
Ghost nodded. "Yeah, something like that."
"I see, I see, so there was no closure for you to even begin with…But that isn't it. Yeah, no, it's something else." Fynch shook his whole shell. "Anyway, not that it's any of my business."
"It really isn't." Ghost hissed.
Maria sighed, and stood quickly. Fae and Argonaut approached, but Argonaut stopped at a greater distance than Fae, who held Sagira's shell in her hands.
Fynch's arms whirled. "You found her! I knew it!"
Fae stopped and stared at Fynch.
"Um…This…This is Fynch," Arizona whispered, not taking her eyes off the ground, looking as small as she possibly could.
Fae took a step closer, and held out Sagira's shell. Arizona looked up, her green eyes searching Fae's helmet for a sign of deception. "We've got a lot to work on…we'll figure it out when we get to Mars but, as Ikora's protégé, you should show her the shell."
Arizona held the shell delicately, as if it could break. "Thank you." She looked away from Fae quickly, and then her face contorted.
He heard it before he could ask. It was Savathun's voice! "I stand before a being with a thousand names. It whispers one: The Witness. Remember it. Remember that name."
Ghost looked at Fae, "Did anyone else hear that?"
Fae nodded, "Yeah…it was Savathun. We should take it to Ikora quickly."
