The Light's graceful appearance on Mars changed everything.

The Lightbearers were born, the Last City was built, and The Guardian of humanity was resurrected.

The enemies of humanity fell, one by one. all by only a single Lightbearer.

And now, as the Traveler reaches out one more time, a Young Rose blossoms out of a gravestone once more.

"...Guardian? Ah, I've finally found you."

"You don't know how long I've been looking for you."

"Wake up, and we'll do great things together."

"Eyes up."


Symphony of a Young Rose

-A story of roses and blood-

Chapter 1: The Awakening


The air entered her lungs once again as consciousness returned to her.

Everything was so dark. Where was she? Where was... No, who was she?

Surrounded by this absolute darkness, all she could see, or smell, or feel was nothing. She couldn't feel anything.

Was she dead?

She flinched as a bright light tore through the absolute darkness, making her cover her eyes.

It was so warm. She instinctively wanted to get closer. And so, she walked closer to the bright light.

And then everything changed.


"Ungh... ugh..." Painful groans were the first sound to leave her mouth as everything returned to her. Her darkened sights were slowly getting brighter.

"Guardian? By the Traveler, you're alive!" Something shouted beside her, and she lifted her head to see it...

"AAAH!" She screamed. Something was floating right next to her face and it was talking to her. How could she not have been surprised?!

"Shh! Calm down! We're still in fallen territory. We aren't safe here, Guardian. Although, you were wearing something really unique. Is that your weapon?" It talked once more as it gazed down at the dirty, broken weapon of some sorts on the floor. Now that she thought about it, what was she wearing?

A red skirt. Of course it had to be a red skirt. She kinda liked how it looked, though. It was layered with some tough-looking armor plates, too.

And she was in... Well, a real big yard filled with a bunch of cars. And also, a really large wall. What kind of wall was that? It was really big. Was it meant to stop anything from entering?

"Oh. Right, no memories. Well, I'll have that weapon repaired for you like your armor later, Guardian. It looks like you used it before... Well, last time. Shouldn't be a problem at all." The thing started talking again as it sprayed some kind of a light on the weapon. It vanished soon enough.

Woah.

"You keep calling me a Guardian." She finally remembered how her tongue worked, and spoke the words out loud. "Oh, you speak. Ah, sorry about all this confusion. I am a Ghost, and you are my Guardian. Basically, I just brought you back from being dead." She blinked a few times.

"Wait, I was dead?!" The Ghost nodded. "Yes, you were indeed very dead. It was not a very fond sight, seeing from how young you are, Guardian." The young Lightborn gazed at her Ghost for a few moment, everything was still unbelievable.

The Ghost explained the situation. "I'll keep this simple for you. You were dead until a few minutes ago, while I resurrected you, I repaired your clothing you were making use of until you died, with some extra modification. Basically, you're a Guardian, the beings who were brought back from death just like you. And also... We have to move, we've run out of time." A spine-chilling howl echoed through the winds, alerting her.

The Ghost had also vanished out of thin air by the time the howls were heard, surprising her. "Don't worry, I'm still with you." Oh.

It was like the Ghost's voice was ringing through her skull. Certainly a weird feeling.

"Think you can move, Guardian? The Fallen are chasing us. Better not get shot so soon after I resurrected you. I know you're confused, and I'll answer as many questions as I can once we reach home." Home? What home? She didn't remember a home. she lifted her body and looked around herself.

Now that she had looked at it, she was also wearing a really red cloak with a hood. So, she pulled the hood over her head.

Now done with inspecting her outfit, she tried to stand up from her sitting position.

It feels like I've worn this thing a lot of times before. It's familiar. She thought to herself as she slowly stood up.

"I guess we can't stay here for now. Where to?" She moved her sluggish legs until she broke into a sprint.

"Into the walls, the Fallen won't find us easily in there. Sadly, I wasn't able to make any helmet or helmet-mounted flashlight yet, no more scraps. Be careful, will you?" The young Lightbearer nodded, finding a stair leading to the inside of the large, really large wall.

Well, here goes nothing. Can't be worse than being dead again. Thought the girl as she entered the enormous building, frowning at the rusty metal walls and floor.

It was dirty. Just how old was this building?

Ah, it didn't matter. She needed to explore this place anyway. A little rust shouldn't be a problem!


The Divide

Old Russia, Cosmodrome

-

"Where are we?" A question left her mouth as she walked inside the building, everything was dark. No lights were coming through.

The Ghost appeared out of thin air, again, and brightened the area up with a flashlight coming from her eyes. "We're in Old Russia, near an old Cosmodrome. I think we can find a ship there for us to use... You know how to fly a ship, Guardian?" She shook her head in response.

"Well, you're gonna have to learn quick. Also, we should fetch some scraps on our way if we want to repair your... unique weapon." She made her way through the first staircase, entering a large corridor with absolutely no functioning lights, again.

She hated being in dark places, it made her feel anxious.

"The Fallen, you keep saying that name. What are they?" Another question left her lips. Was it to lighten the mood with a conversation? Well, she didn't know herself.

"Well, let's say they're a bunch of space pirates with four arms. Sometimes two, but mostly four." Her Ghost responded as she lit the room somewhat brighter again. That was so much nicer.

A silent thank you left her lips as she began making her way through the corridor again, cutting through the room much quicker owing to the Ghost brightening up her passageway.

"So, what's your name? I'm... Well, I don't really remember mine." The Ghost stared back at her when she asked the last question.

"I'm a Ghost. Well, technically, I'm now your Ghost. I didn't really have anyone that named me yet. So, I guess you can call me a Ghost." A Ghost? She did mention that there were multiple more Guardians like her... Hmm.

"But that would make it so boring! How would I call you when you're with other Ghosts? It's going to be really awkward." A sigh came from the Ghost before she replied back: "Then, why don't you give me a na-"

Creak... A spine-chilling sound of metal creaking under pressure rang out through the hallway.

"What was that?" The young lightbearer asked out loud. Maybe she shouldn't have said it out loud, because...

CRACK! The walls rang with the sounds of something crawling inside them, and the sound of something impacting the walls. That wasn't good.

"They're inside the walls! Hurry through the hallway, we might be able to find a weapon!" Her Ghost alerted her through her... head, as she vasished again, advising her to run faster through the hallway.

She gasped in surprise when two pairs of glowing blue eyes stared at her through a crack in the wall. That had to be the 'Fallen' Ghost was talking about.

Hurriedly running past the creature, she came to a really large chasm-like area, although the lighting was so dim that nothing was really visible. That was bad. Fighting in the dark was bad.

"It's so dark... Woah-ah!" She skidded to a stop once she noticed that she was indeed on an edge of a platform, any more step forward and she'd fall into the deep darkness below. That promised to be unpleasant, and also lethal.

"Phew, That was close... I almost fell off." Mumbling to herself, the young lightborn wiped off a bead of metaphorical sweat on her face. Her Ghost appeared right next to her.

She tilted her head in question, looking at her Ghost who floated away from her, deeper into the chasm. "I'll search for a power source. It should be somewhere around here..." The Ghost mumbled as it floated around the chasm, scanning the walls with the blue light from her single eye. "Ah! Found it."

"Let's switch this thing on, and..." The lights of the building slowly turned on one by one, each revealing a group of four-armed, four-eyed creatures hanging on the walls. They all howled at her and the Ghost. "Aah! We have to go, now!" Her Ghost was next to her in an instant, vanishing into... wherever it went. That wasn't important for now.

"Ah!" The important thing now was staying alive. She ducked down, barely managing to avoid a blue bolt of energy flying over her head. These guys were no joke!

"Over there! Grab that shotgun!" Quickly following the instruction, she ran away from the deadly blue energy rounds chasing her as she sprinted through a doorway, now opened thanks to the power having been restored. Her eyes locked onto a shotgun placed on a rusty old crate. It was an old gun, but it'd have to do for now.

"I hope you know how to use that thing. I brought you back for a reason, Guardian. You're a... unique one, but you used to be a good fighter before. I know it. Show me what you got!" Her Ghost cheered her on as she ran through the room, which was apparently connected to another hallway dimly lit by orange lights.

Out of all the bad things that happened today, getting shot was not something she wanted to add to the list. Or being killed again.

Something warm moved inside her. It was a weird feeling, but it didn't feel so bad.

CREAK-CRACK! A metal sheet was ripped off from the roof as a two-armed creature crawled out of it suddenly, howling at her as it pointed its pistol at the freshily-resurrected Guardian.

BANG! It was knocked off from the roof it was hanging to as metal pellets impacted its body, killing it. The young Lightbearer quickly ejected the spent shell, as if she already knew how to use the gun. Well... she didn't, but somehow, she did. It was hard to explain after having no memories at all!

I'll probably have to ask about that later. She thought to herself as she sprinted through the dimly lit hallway, and more of the creatures crawled out of the walls and roofs.

"Oh no- Ah!" An energy bolt grazed her arm as she instinctively dove behind a metal panel, keeping her safe from any more bullets flying at her. That hurt! And it had just grazed her arm.

"On your left, Guardian!" Thanks to the Ghost alerting her, she managed to shoot a two-armed Fallen that was trying to flank her. She peeked out of her cover, and took out another one that had similar appearances. However, there was a four-armed creature that took a shot at her, forcing her to drop behind the cover again.

"Uh-oh, I think my gun's dry..." The newborn mumbled out to herself disappointingly as she noticed that no extra shells were in the tube. "I've got an idea, though."

She waited, waited and waited until the footsteps got closer, until...

WHACK! She slammed the butt of her shotgun into the creature's face as she quickly stood up and lunged at the thing, easily knocking it out and sending it flying back at a wall. The poor thing was knocked out cold. "Great job, Guardian! I think you're getting used to this. Don't get overconfident, though." She pouted.

"Come on, don't ruin the mood! And I did so well right there. I feel like a fully-fledged Guardian already!" She proudly declared for a moment before she began making her way through the hallway once more. Her Ghost simply let out a sigh. "I don't know how many Guardians overconfidence killed... Please, don't get yourself killed so fast. Not that you'd like to die, though." She rolled her eyes, then inspected the empty shotgun.

"Wait, is there any spare shells I could load into this thing? I mean... I don't have any on me." A handful of shells suddenly materialized on her hand. How convinient. "Thanks!" She quickly finished loading the shotgun before she began moving again.

And by the time she had made her way through the hallway, she noticed that the hallway lead to more hallways. How nice.

Well, better than bullets in my face, I guess. She thought to herself as she relaxed, slowly proceeding through the hallway.


The rusty metal floor creaked underneath her boots as she ran through even more hallways, this time, without any engagements. Thankfully.

"Over there! There's a doorway. Think that leads somewhere outside?" The Lightbearer pointed at a doorway that lead to a place lit somewhat brighter. She could see some rusty crates, and something glowing in there.

"Mayb-" The Ghost's reply was cut off as a two-armed Fallen dropped from the roof, pouncing on her with a knife drawn. She fell on her back briefly in surprise, before she grabbed the hand swinging the knife and kicked it away from her.

BANG! The creature received a handful of lead soon enough.

"As I was saying, maybe it leads to a room with their leader. The lights seem artificial, and I saw something valuable in there, I think." Something valuable. That caught her interest.

"Well, why don't we go inside, then? Let's go!" Something valuable was worth investigating. Who didn't like something valuable? Maybe it was more guns!

And she could appreciate some guns. In fact, lots of guns.

However, her nerves tensed and her grip on her shotgun got tighter as a massive howl rang throughout the giant room. There seemed to be some caches in it, and a large hall in the wall. And of course, something large had crawled out of the wall. It was a massive Fallen with a massive gun. Why did it have to be so massive?!

The gun soon turned out to be a rocket launcher, a semi-auto rocket launcher.

Because she was shot by it, of course. She had almost no time to react to the red bolt of energy flying right at her, and the explosion had knocked her away quite a bit. She hissed in pain. Owowowow! It burns! It stings!

Thankfully, the explosion had knocked her right next to a cache she could hide behind, so she quickly rolled behind it. She wasn't being shot again with a rocket today, thank you!

"Guardian! Draw out your Light, use it to fight back!" The advice of her Ghost was not helpful at all. Draw her light outside? How was she supposed to do that?!

"How?!" She cried, around three rockets impacting the cache she was hiding behind and rattling her teeth. That thing was seriously powerful. A good hit would take her out, no doubt.

"Uh, uhm...- The warm feeling in your guts! Focus on it!" Now that she thought about it, she felt something move inside her stomach before. Something warm. Maybe if she were to reach out, and...

Her focus was broken by a stray rocket flying past the cache and pelting her with the fragments from the explosion. She yelled in pain. The armor was not enough to block all of the hits. But there was no visible damage to herself yet, so she could keep fighting. That didn't stop it from hurting, though.

Quickly scrambling outside of the cover, she shot a few shells in the giant Fallen's face. It didn't do much but anger it. "Uh-oh..." She braced herself for the rocket that hit the floor right next to her, knocking her away in an deafening explosion.

Now dazed and thrown off balance, she managed to roll away evasively before any more rockets could hit her. One good hit, and she was probably done for. The urge of the thing inside her stomach got stronger, as if it was just begging to be released. It was getting uncomfortably warm.

She ran off behind a pillar, hoping that it would last a little bit more than the small cache she had to hide behind. Then, she gasped in pain as she inspected her own body, checking for any injuries that might have missed her notice earlier.

A few cuts here and there, minor burns. But other than those, she was surprisingly fine. How? I've been shot with a rocket so many times... It'd be normal if I died anytime sooner. Although it would be much more than just minor cuts and burns if she were to get directly hit. "We've got more incoming! Fallen Vandals, they've got snipers. Duck!" A bright blue flash caught her attention, before something so fast that she couldn't catch a glimpse of impacted the pillar she was hiding behind. That had to be the sniper Ghost was talking about.

"We're surrounded... Damn it, I don't want to die here, Guardian! We need to do something!" Trying to peek out received her a sizzling cut on her cheek as another round passed by the pillar, she hissed in pain. "I'm trying to do something! Do you have any good ideas?!" Her eye scanned the environment for anything useful. There was nothing useful aside from a few scraps on the floor, and few covers she could move to.

But doing so would be a suicide with all those snipers taking their aim at her. She'd be pelted the moment she stepped out of the cover. "Ugh, uhh... Hold on! I'll think of something. If my Guardian needs help, then so be it!" After saying that, her Ghost flew off from the area, into the facility rooms. What was she planning to do?!

Whatever she was planning, she knew that she was the only one who could buy some time for Ghost to finish her task. So, she raised her shotgun with determined eyes. She wasn't planning to die here, after all.

She threw herself out of the cover in a risky dive into the fire, managing to dodge several streaks of blue light that passed inches away from her body. After returning fire for a brief moment, the buzzing of an energy rifle being charged told her that she didn't have much time left, forcing her to dive behind another solid pillar.

Her shotgun wasn't doing her any good; It was nothing but scrap, and the chokes weren't functional, making it even worse in longer ranges like this. "Hurry up, whatever you're doing...!" She checked the chamber and tube for the amount of shells left in her gun. Only two shells. This was bad. Really, really bad.

The young lightbearer brushed the blood on her cheek away, then braced herself before she leaned out of her cover, firing off one shot at the larger Fallen that was close by. Thanks to the shorter distance between her and the creature, its head recoiled back as the rocket was sent to the sides, completely missing her and the cover. However, the snipers didn't miss their mark this time.

She screamed as a bolt of energy tore through her shoulder, piercing a hole through it and rendering her arm useless. The blunt force of the shot knocked her over, exposing her to any other spare rounds that would hit her. She couldn't do anything but run now, and the situation was desperate.

The young lightbearer covered her face with her good arm when she heard the already-familiar buzzing of a rifle charging up. She realized she didn't have enough time to roll away from the shot.

BZZZT-BZZZZ

When the rifle was about to fire, the lights of the room flickered before completely shutting off, and she heard a familiar voice beside her. "By the Traveler, Guardian! Are you okay?! Hold on, get back inside cover!" She followed Ghost's lead, barely managing to roll her body over and lean on the pillar.

The Fallen seemed to be searching for her. What had happened? "What did you do?" She gasped out in pain, clutching at her punctured shoulder with her good arm. Her voice was croaky.

"I took control of the local power. It's all ours to control now." Her Ghost explained as it inspected the hole in her shoulder before it sprayed some kind of blue light on it as it seemed to expand. She immediately felt better as the wound closed itself. "There, good as new!"

"The pain... It's gone! What did you just do right now?!" Moving her previously injured arm in surprise, she gasped when no traces of her wound were left. She felt refreshed and powerful. The warm feeling inside her had turned into a burning urge, the urge to release the strength inside her.

"I just healed you. Isn't it useful? All Ghosts can heal their Guardian in no time! It's a blessing of the Light." Ghost's voice rang out in her head as she struggled to reach for a stray shell, loading it into her shotgun. One last shot. She couldn't afford to miss.

...Or, did she need to shoot it at all?

"...Focus on the warm feeling inside me... That's what you said, right?" Her Ghost nodded. "Use your Light to fight back."

She closed her eyes, focusing on the burning feeling that was inside her. It was so warm and comforting, but also, harsh. She reached out for it. When she opened her eyes again, something else was in her hands.

It was a bright red scythe, seemingly created from nothing but warm energy. She could feel its power surging through her arms, empowering her.

She could feel the weapon as if it was just another part of her body. She was one with the scythe. Rose petals drifted around her. She willed to protect herself, and so she did.

Dashing out of the cover in a blink of an eye, she sidestepped not three, not four, but five explosive energy bolts in a row, each dodge leaving a wake of bright red petals. At blinding speeds, the Fallen leader's head was cleanly severed off from its body as her scythe spun once more in her hands, deflecting off a shot from the snipers.

Her body reacted for itself, weaving her head away from a bullet before sliding under another shot. She gracefully dodged each bullet fired by the Fallen.

For the Ghost, it looked like a deadly dance between a storm of rose petals and blue streaks of energy.

With three swift motions, the snipers that were targetting her all fell on the floor, now split in two pieces.

"...By the Traveler, I've never seen anything like this! You're something else, Guardian! I can't wait to tell the others in the Tower about this!" Her Ghost shouted in surprise and cheered as she stared at her hands.

Rose petals? A scythe? I don't know what that was, but... it felt really familiar. Like I was home. Like... like I was... She couldn't think of anything after that. What was she trying to think of?

...Whatever. She probably had to move before more of them came for her. She felt spent after using that... Scythe, thingy, which had disappeared in her hands, leaving a handful of rose petals behind. But before that... she had something to take for herself after such a hard fight.

"There! It's an unlocked cache!" In the middle of a room stood a small chest-like object with strange spikes attached to it. Maybe it was a design the Fallen used? Anyway, she walked closer to it and reached her hands out, placing them on the cache and taking a deep breath. "...How do I open this thing?"

"Just give it a little kick. It usually fixes everything." How simple. She kicked the thing lightly, and it indeed opened. An old looking revolver was laid inside the cache, which she reached for and fished it out of the crate. She inspected the handgun closer.

It had an antique design to it, with some engravings of petals on the side of the barrel. "...Huh, it looks cool! I like it. Is it mine? I hope it's mine." She expectantly looked at her Ghost.

"It's all yours, Guardian." She cheered, raising both of her hands skyward and smiling. "Yeah! So cool!" Of course, she immediately regretted her action as she clutched at her shoulder and fell on the floor, groaning in pain. Ghost gasped in surprise, flying close to her before she checked her Guardian's injuries.

"Oh no, did I heal you wrong? Did I miss a wound? What's wrong?" Now worried, her Ghost was flying around her as the young Lightbearer coughed, crawling over to the opened cache and leaning her back against it. "I'm fine... I... hah, really, I just need a minute... I'm exhausted." Her Ghost didn't look convinced.

"Hold on, I'm calling for a backup. Maybe there's somebody on the Vanguard that can help us... just, sit tight!" And so, with her Ghost's allowance, she was able to close her eyes and slowly relax her body.

Maybe she could sleep and recover a little...


Old Russian Airspace

Earth

A shining silver ship with engravings of feathers flew across the clouds at blinding speeds, tearing through the clouds as it ascended through them.

The person who was piloting the ship was indeed no other than the Guardian, a legendary Hunter who had stopped not one, not two, but multiple cataclysmic events all by herself.

"I take it back! I take it back! I always told you that you fly too fast, and you do!" Her Ghost shouted out in a panicked tone as she stared at him with a blank gaze. She shrugged, and bent forward to propell the ship even faster. "Oh, nonononono-" She twisted the handle, making it spin and roll even faster. "AAAAAAAHHHHHHH!" The Guardian wildly chuckled as she took control of the ship from a wild spin.

Breaking out of the roll, the ship now spun vertically, to the horror of the Ghost inside the ship. It was hellish for him to be on a ship that was spinning and flipping around as if they were inside a circus.

Once the spinning had stopped, the Ghost sighed. "Not funny. Pleae don't do that again..." The Guardian shrugged as she set the ship to auto-pilot again. It was funny.

The light-mooded prank was cut off quickly, however. "Hello? Is anyone listening on this channel? I- We need assistance ASAP, we're inside the walls! I repeat, we need assistance!" The ship's radio transmitter received something, making the Guardian frown before she reached over to the transmitter and turned it up.

"Hello?! Is anybody there?! We need help!" The Ghost reseponded to the radio. "Who is this? This is City Hawk seven-two-three. We are receiving you." The voice behind the radio sighed in relief before she began. "Oh, thank the Light. Listen, my Guardian is unconscious. She's spent all of her Light, and I think there are still some Fallen remaining here. We need help. I'll send you our coordinates, please, hurry!" The message was cut off, only the silence filling the ship.

"...Think we should help them out? Sounds like a newly resurrected Guardian." The Guardian shrugged, taking control of the ship and heading towards the Divide.

The Cavalry was coming.


Alright, I'm alive!

For once.

Anyway, I'm back to writing more experimental fics that I'd surely abandon after awhile.

Don't worry, the first three stories are still undergoing updates.

I just want some refreshing stories to write every now and then, however. And this one's supposed to be that way.

Anyway! Hope you guys enjoyed the first chapter of this lil' story I got going on.

Next one is coming soon, maybe?

Changelogs: Fixed a few typos.