Of Homecomings and Reunions
Of all the faces she expected to see on Europa, Clovis-43– 'Banshee-44,' Elsie firmly reminded herself— was not one of them, though it was something that she definitely should have seen coming.
The two were sitting across from each other inside the little hut she had built for herself. Her fellow Exo was shifting around a little, as if unsure of what to say. The act was so unlike Clovis that, had she not known his true identity(being his granddaughter and all), she would have wondered if this was truly the father of all Exos.
"I'm not her, you know." Banshee shifted some more, but seemed to relax slightly when she broke the silence between them first.
"I know."
"Then why come here?" He shrugged. A casual gesture, were it not for the weight of his next words.
"Answers, mostly." Elsie silently cursed, and a small knot of worry started to grow in her stomach. "Memory ain't so good these days. The sword helped, but only a little. 'Can remember you, or the other you, I suppose. Fighting the Vex, too. Beyond that… 's all fuzzy."
"And you thought that going to the old man would help you find those answers." Banshee nodded, a quiet 'mmhm' resounding in his throat. The knot tightened. "But…"
"But?"
"The Guardian convinced me otherwise. Told me to go to you instead." And just like that, all her worry dissipated. He smiled, or at least made the Exo equivalent of a smile. Seeing it once again struck her of how different Clovis and Banshee were. Despite the contrary, Clovis did smile often, but it was full of arrogance and dark, twisted hunger, like that of a tyrant. But Banshee? His was warm, if a bit reserved and hesitant, as if he didn't smile often. There was no sign of that monster of a man that was Clovis Bray.
She mentally thanked the Guardian for their actions. If there was anyone she could count on to change something, regardless of the timeline, it was them. There was nothing she could do that could ever repay this debt.
"I see." Her voice remained neutral, thankfully, managing to hide the large amount of relief at the fact that the Exo didn't plan on going to see the old man anymore. "What do you want to know first, then?"
He frowned a bit, his brows creasing as he thought it over. After a minute he said, "Alright, how about…"
He asked, and she answered to the best of her abilities. Some things were fairly easy to answer, or at least easy enough compared to what else was asked. Other things they didn't touch, either because it was too sensitive or she genuinely didn't know the answer. Those were best left forgotten, for now at least. By time they finished, it was already nightfall.
"I think it's time I get back, now," he said, getting up. "People'll start wondering where I am if I'm gone for too long. Same time, same place, next week?"
"Of course. I'll see you then."
As he exited the small hut, the Guardian walked in. They gave a nod to him, seemingly unsurprised to see their resident gunsmith so far away from the Tower. He nodded back, and disappeared out the door. The Guardian sat down in the chair he had occupied earlier. "So," they said, a rare smile bleeding into their voice, "is it everything you hoped for?"
She thought it over. Truthfully, being able to hold a somewhat casual conversation with her… grandfather was amazing in and of itself, even if he wasn't exactly the same as that blasted AI down in the Creation facility. But if she had to be honest? "Not yet."
Despite herself and her answer, she smiled anyway.
"But it's a start."
Okay, one thing I forgot to mention: most of my works are posted on r/DestinyJournals on Reddit, and they're under the same username that I'm using here(u/Questoris). I'm more likely to update there too instead of here. I may begin cross-posting some of my works, but Fate/Guardian Light is strictly staying on FFnet and Ao3(I need to update that too, now that I think of it).