6 Years Ago
Use the darkness.
"How is she to do it?" asked Brya, speaking for Eris as she healed her from the latest impalement. Eris tried again to use gunslinger but as before, the tomb absorbed her light almost immediately. It left her drained and near death, but never truly killing her. Keeping her wounded and on the verge, in pain, forcing Brya to use the light and heal her and thereby powering the barrier.
The warlock has corrupted her body, once made of light, to accept the darkness that came with her eyes. She must accept it willingly.
"No-" Another spike went though her, stopping Eris from protesting. Brya watched as Eris writhed in agony as more spikes impaled her. If accepting this kind of corruption can save her, to give her peace after all this agony, then... she will encourage it.
Traveler forgive her.
"Eris," spoke Brya, as she healed her, "When I finally found you all those years ago, I promised that no matter the hardships, I will stay by your side. I am here to fight for the light, as are you, but this tomb is keeping you alive. It's not allowing me to revive you outside of it. If this is the way we are going to escape and avenge our family by exposing Eriana as the snake that she is, then we must do it."
Listen to her, O bearer mine. Use the darkness to free yourself. Accept it. Embrace it.
Eris struggled to make sense of what she was being instructed to do. To accept darkness into her heart? To corrupt herself even further in exchange for freedom? Her initial response is to reject such perversity, but the more she tried to think on it… the angrier she got.
Sai. Omar. Vell. They didn't deserve the hand that was given to them. They deserved to celebrate their victory. They deserved to go back home. To live their lives as the legends they deserve to be.
Eriana-3. That treacherous viper. Selling their lives as though they were worth the loss of lives. As though all those years as friends were nothing to her. Eris gritted her teeth as another round of spikes impaled her through her, the pain burning with new fury as she thought of Eriana for abandoning them and using them. For deciding to leave her in this hell and go Traveler knows where.
"How… do I?" she asked, a thin line of blood rolling down the side of her mouth to paint another line across her face. How frightful she must look now that Brya couldn't give her a new and improved body after every death.
Look within. Focus your power. Allow yourself to give in to it. The Darkness will invade, it will purge, and it will try to destroy your light, but you are the master. You are the one in control.
Eris waited until she was almost healed fully, using the small lull in between the cursed tomb's spikes to try and find it. With every impalement, however, Eris lost her focus and pain once again shattered through her meditation. Every time she lost her focus, the small fire within her grew as she obsessively began to think about her friends and Eriana.
Their mission was complete.
Crota is dead.
They had their revenge for all the lives lost at The Great Disaster.
They all could have been home together.
Eriana deserves to die.
It felt as though the hot agony that pierced through her body was cooled. Her breath calmed, the spikes piercing her but… they didn't retract. In fact, the spikes began to fall apart around her. The tips crumbling before the rest of the body
Focus your power.
"Eris?" Brya, still floating above Eris, watched as the tomb began to crack, shards of crystal falling to the floor as Eris accepted the Darkness around her. Eris couldn't tell what was happening, her only indicator that it was working was the cold creeping through her body. The red crystals began to morph into a dark ink as it crawled around Eris's body.
"Eris!" Brya began to shine her light onto Eris, witnessing black veins of ichor move around her body. Where Brya shone her light, it retreated away before rerouting around the light. Eris screamed as a new fire burned within her. Her light, strengthened by Brya, is rejecting the darkness.
Stop fighting it.
"It's going to consume her!" argued Brya, instantly regretting her decision to allow Eris to accept the Darkness. The tomb gone and Eris falling into the liquid as it wrapped around her still. Brya tried again to repel it, but it didn't work.
You're making it worse, Light. Let her be the decision maker.
Brya wanted to scream at the bone, to separate it from Eris and make distance between it and themselves, but just as she was about to attempt it, Eris raised her arm to get her attention. Trying to reassure her.
"I'm… here! I'm… here!"
"What is happening to her, worm?" asked Brya, floating down to where her raised hand is and allowing her fingertips to brush against her shell. Her eyes stared up at her as she writhed, the liquid entering her through her eyes. Eris screamed louder, limbs lashing about now that she had the space for it.
The final step. Quickly Light. Be with her and do not leave until it is over.
Taken aback by his order, Brya quickly merged back with Eris and did her best not to be repulsed by the invasive dark power that is now within her. It has been a year since she's been separated from her and now a dour energy flowed around her, as though it were looking for a release somewhere. Brya kept close to Eris, sending flashes of light in her to show her support.
Eris couldn't make heads or tails in her environment, writhing on the floor as her screams echoed around the room. It was only until the last of the ichor entered her that she finally felt relief. Gasping for air, Eris looked around the room.
She was no longer in the throne room, but rather in an antechamber with the only exit showing a stairway going up. Gingerly testing her arms and legs, Eris cautiously crawled towards the stairs until she could support herself on her legs.
It felt… strange to walk again after… so long… to be free. Eris looked up the stairs to see where she could make her escape when she realized that this… is not Crota's Temple… at all. The stairs only led towards a large statue of a veiled woman with her arms and hands outstretched towards her, welcoming her in. She glanced around the room, a large chasm on each side of the stairs while the walls of the room slanted towards each other into a triangle.
We've been waiting for you. We have heard your cry for help.
Eris jumped. That wasn't Brya or the Ahamkara bone. Looking around, she can see that she is the only one in the room. Making her way up the stairs, tripping a little here and there as she is still adjusting to her legs and feet again. The higher she walked up towards the statue, the colder the air around her felt.
Steady yourself, Guardian of mine.
A shiver went down her spine, assuring herself repeatedly that she hasn't made a wish on the bone. Gripping it tightly in her hand, Eris continued upwards until she reached the top where she spotted an altar in front of the statue. She felt small, knowing that something is watching her but has yet to reveal itself. Looking up at the statue, Eris wondered who this could be when her knees buckled underneath her. Her hand ripped the altar, stopping herself from falling when she felt something latch onto her. Hurriedly removing her hand from the altar, she watched as ice particles retreated.
We offer you salvation. The truth. You only need to open yourself to us.
Eris backed away from the altar, unsure. This is far beyond what she expected by escaping.
You only need to wield it and harness it, Guardian of mine.
Eris, I am here for you. Every step of the way.
Touching her heart where she can feel Brya's pulsating light, Eris took a deep breath and laid her hands upon the altar. She watched as the ice particles crept up, covering her in its power. Eris shivered as she could feel it, the darkness settling itself in her now. Brya twitched nervously inside Eris, feeling as her light is now halved to make room for this new power.
Eris felt the last of this new power enter her and gasped when she found herself back in the throne room. Confused, Eris looked around to be sure when she spotted hand cannon shells littering the ground. She recalled when Eriana had continuously opened fire on her to keep her inside the tomb as Toland completed his ritual.
"Eris? How are you feeling?" asked Brya, materializing in front of her to gauge her feelings. Eris's three eyes rested on Brya, black ichor falling from her eyes like tears, when Eris cupped her hands delicately around her.
"I'm… ok. Brya?"
"Yes?"
"Thank you for not leaving me." Eris held Brya close to her, feeling the light Brya pulsated in answer.
"From beginning to end, Eris. Never forget." Brya merged back into Eris, intent to get used to this invasive new power for Eris.
He still remains in the temple.
"Who?" asked Eris, pulling the bone out from the pouch. The bone glowed green briefly before it spoke again.
The warlock.
Even after this past year?
He's been colluding with the wizards. He wishes to harness the hive's power.
For what purpose?
To be their salvation.
"Eriana mentioned of a greater threat than Crota. In freeing myself, have I welcomed it towards this system?" asked Eris, wondering about the ramifications.
For now, we are safe. For now, the king is unaware that his prince has fallen.
A violent shiver went down her spine, wondering about the new power, when Brya asked the bone a question.
Where is Toland?
In the final chamber, where they still lay to rest.
Lay to rest? Is that where Sai, Vell, and Omar are? A new fury emerged from Eris as she looked around the room. Her weapons were not in sight, which meant that either Toland or Eriana might know of their location. Walking to the doors, Eris pushed against it but found it to be locked. She pushed again and again until she wore herself out, leaning against the door to catch her breath.
Use your new powers, Guardian of mine. It is time to bear witness of a new age.
Unsure about it she held her hand over her heart, Eris waited for Brya to send a pulse of light in reassurance before she focused in on her new power. Standing up, Eris faced the door and tried to focus on it. The effect was almost immediate, her body temperature dropping as ice particles began to show on her hands. The ice crept up towards her, intent on consuming her. She could feel the apathy of it as the power grew, uncaring that the host might die. A flash of fear went through her mind at the thought of being consumed by such power when Brya sent another reassuring pulse of light.
I am here, Eris .
Focus on it as though it were your other abilities. Feel the power and master it.
Eris breathed out and crushed the particles in her hands, forcing it to obey. She is the one in control. Honing her focus, she could feel the flow of the Darkness running through her body. It wasn't comforting like the Light, but rather it was… longing. Longing to be used.
Brya could feel the eagerness radiating off of the Darkness, eager to be unleashed. Sending out a few pulses of light, Brya managed to help temper it and manifest it. Focusing on the door, Eris felt it rise in her before crackling sounds of ice breaking and shattering echoed the room as the howling wind blew around Eris. She jumped in the air and manifested a tornado of ice to blast the doors open. Leaving an ice trail in its wake, the tornado continued to howl through the hallway before dissipating away.
Wielder of Light and Darkness, it is time for your revenge.
Present Time
Amador patrolled around the area that used to be Crota's Temple. The rubble is all that's left of it, a broken monument to a once great threat towards humanity. Circling around on his sparrow, he kept an eye out for hidden entrances or for any straggling hive that got in his way. While not nearly as threatening as they used to be, much of what Ikora has mentioned about the moon is that the remaining hive tends to fight tooth and nail to remain a relevant threat. Without Crota and his court however, they were left to drift and be picked off by Ikora's agents. He stopped at a ridge that overlooked the entirety of the rubble to see if he could spot anything new. Ghost emerged from his place and also took a look around the area.
"What do you think happened inside the temple?" asked Ghost, looking towards his Guardian as he continued to scan the area with his thermal setting on his helmet.
"Not sure, but… hard to imagine it took a fireteam of six to go down there willingly and face Crota himself."
"I can't imagine the heartache she must've felt to lose all her friends down there. Now she can't even go back to retrieve anything of theirs with all this rubble."
He might be a lone wolf, but he does enjoy the company of others when he needs to do certain strikes or raids. Amador thought about the friends he had made with several other Guardians from all the classes and honestly couldn't bring himself to think about them gone. Gilgamesh-1, a large Exo Titan who loves to laugh, and Lyra, an Awoken Warlock who loves to play around, are about the only two Guardians that don't treat him as a hero and rather a friend. He can't bear to imagine losing them the way Eriana lost her team.
"I don't see anything popping up from the rubble. It seems as though the collapse of the temple had driven them out or trapped them at the very least. I feel safe to say that the area is secured for the time being." said Ghost.
"Send the message out to them," instructed Amador, "I'll go one more time around the area to be sure that nothing is here."
Ghost relayed the message back to the Vanguard as he merged back in with Amador. He rode around the perimeter, Ghost scanning the area every now and then to be sure they didn't miss anything. The moon remained silent with the occasional gunfire from the distance, Hunter Guardians already scouting and wiping out any enemies that stood in their way. The Fallen don't have a strong hold on the moon like the hive once did, while the Vex often teleported onto the moon to try and merge the region as their own. Small hive factions still existed around the moon but Amador has yet to come across them. They were plentiful on Earth due to the arrival of Omnigul and Ir Yut, but after they had been taken down then they too started to fragment.
"Guardian," Amador stopped his patrol to listen to Zavala through his earpiece, "I am relieved to hear that the Temple remains dormant after all these years. Eriana-3 will be relieved to hear it."
"Nothing to worry about, Commander," said Amador, "With the hive at such a low number, it'll be a sight to see the moon back under our hands."
"Indeed, Guardian."
"Is it done?" Eriana's voice entered the chat, asking Amador or Zavala about the temple.
"Yes, and the Guardian has reported that the temple remains quiet."
"Good… Good."
Amador could hear the relief in Eriana's voice as she heard the information, probably afraid of the idea of another Crota, and said, "Ghost and I are patrolling one more time to be sure. We don't want anything to surprise us."
"Good idea. Once you're done, report to Cayde-6 on the temporary base we have established in Archer's Line. He'll be overlooking moon base bounties and missions for the time being until we can have a proper hold."
"We're on it, Commander." Turning the sparrow back to redo the perimeter check, Amador raced around the temple once more before heading off towards Archer's Line. The thought of exploring the moon excited him and he can't wait to discover the mysteries and secrets.
