Chapter 2 - Before the Fall
Act VI - Wintertide
"I should get it," A Hunter conversed with his partner on the rifle sat neatly on the rack, bathing in the sunlight. Exasperated, the Warlock beside him put her chin in her palm
"Then get it, you deserve to treat yourself every now and then." That answer had him turn, eye probably bright under his helmet
"You're right I should!" He lifted the rifle, then slumped. "But it's really expensive, I shouldn't."
The Warlock's hand twitched under her chin. "Oh for the love of God..."
"You should buy it, compared to the rest of your current equipment, sure, it will cost you," I spoke up, the two Guardians swung round to face me as I smiled, hand on my hip. "But with better equipment comes higher-paying bounties, so it compensates."
Ghost swung out to my left. "Take this from the same Guardian who hasn't let go of a rifle that shouldn't exist for months." That remark made me bashful, scratching my nape
"But it's really good too," I mumbled back, that's when the Hunter nodded, tightening his hold on the rifle
"You're right, better jobs, better equipment, right? Thanks a bunch, Hiveb - Ah, Ceres, sorry." He soon approached Banshee to pay for the weapon, the Warlock sighing as she put her hands together to bow
"Thank you, Ceres, I was beginning to contemplate throwing myself over the Tower wall," Then she grumbled the Hunter's way. "Or throw him over with an anvil."
Daunting as that was, I never doubted what the Praxic Order did, they had a way of following through with their plans, some... not so great, but Taeko was easy-going. With a hand waved to her I took off. "Have fun with that, Taeko!"
"Oh, I will!" Even with the helmet, anyone could tell she wore a cocky smirk
"Should we inform security they'll be having another 'Accident'?" Ghost bobbed his shell to emphasize, and I pressed my lips into a fine line
"Hmm... to them I think it's par-for-the-course at this point." I shrugged as we continued toward the archway leading to the accommodations. We had spent the day doing a few patrols, some skirmishes with the House of Devils, and overall gathered quite the bounty, and so, I decided we take the rest of the afternoon off
"Yo, Ceres!" My head bounced as I craned my neck to the Vaults, seeing a fireteam gearing up with some heavy armaments, clearly, they were going in for quite the battle. The one who called, a cobalt Awoken, and Titan, smiled. "Up for ruining the Vex's day!?"
Smiling gently I shook my head. "Not today, sorry, just got back from the field," To keep their spirits high I smirked. "Show the Collective never to underestimate us, you hear me!?"
The three Titans all did a funny salute. "Yes, Ma'am!" These guys were always eager to please their commanders, and it did rub me the wrong way when they treated me as such, but they insisted
"It's out of respect, far greater than your standing," Ghost replied to my open thoughts as I turned to him. "You've gone and risked your life for the City, Guardians and humanity alike, they look up to you in that regard."
I nodded briefly, moving past a few Guardians with a kind wave. "It can be really embarrassing," I always got flustered whenever someone would praise me, sure, I'm grateful, but I never wanted to be seen as someone who was unreachable. Just ask my fireteam, I'd never want to be treated as their superior, and thankfully, they never did
"Incoming Mood." Huh? What's that Ghost?
"O-oh, hey, Morbin." My kind welcome was mirrored by the blunt Exo
"Likewise," He sounded... off, distracted even. "It is good you're here, I... need a favor - Is that how you say it?" Wow, this was new. Not often he'd ask anyone for help directly
Smiling I replied, "Sure! What is it?" He put a hand up, orange eyes flickering
"Not now, tomorrow, at dawn, I require assistance in rooting out... an issue on Venus, one that I refuse to let fester." The wording of his request, he made it sound personal, was it the Vex? No, that was a sore spot for Zane and Eva. Furrowing my brow, I tapped a hand to my chin
"Morbin... is this to do with the Fallen?" My low curiosity excited no other response other than a hardened glow in his expression. "What do you want with the House of Winter?"
"It's not your concern," Wow, harsh much? "I only require an extra pair of hands, and or guns, to rid them from this system, and unlike the Worst One, I'm not keen on 'talking' about this further," He sighed, turning to face the world through me before he moved aside. "Come to me before dawn in the Hanger if you're in or not - And do not, bring that idiot along."
"Don't you trust him?" My stern tone had the Exo freeze for a moment. "Do you trust me?" I put a hand to my heart
"...It is why I trust you to leave him out of this, and for you to leave your curiosity on the matter this time." With that, the Mood Exo wandered off, leaving me and Ghost to gaze to one another with an idea, no matter what Morbin said, I could still dig around for something myself
"Zane." We replied in sync
[Last City | Accommodations | Tower]
Tapping the door in a quick rhythm, I saw the shadow move by the door a few seconds later, soon, the light from the outside shot into the hallway. Standing before us was a drowsy-looking Dimitri, her long locks of hair poked out at odd angles as she brushed some aside to view us with dull eyes, but did manage a smile.
"Yo, C, what's up..?" She drawled, and I caught the scent of alcohol in her breath, yep, hangover. "If you want my brother good luck rooting him out of his library - I mean, room... Nah, it's totally a library."
With a nervous look around the vacant halls, I turned my eyes back to the girl, remarking her... appearance. She was only really wearing a large, white shirt that reached down to her waist after that was only her undergarments, leaving her legs bare.
"You sure you should be walking around like that?" I motioned to her get-up, forcing her to do a very long look at herself, Ray appeared next to her, just shaking his shell without a word as I and Ghost briefly locked eyes
"Eh, who cares, my day off soooo... meh," Elegant response from Dimitri, then she snorted. "Bet the Crucible's kicked into overtime without me around, it usually does, gives other veterans a chance to gather what shambles of their standing remains."
"Getting off-topic, Dimi..." Ray nudged her head, exciting a grumble from the girl
"What? I walk around like this all the time when I'm home, you guys are lucky I don't give you a show. There're times I can't even remember to put clothes on, Heh, Zane outright refuses to be in the same room when that happens, the best way to banish the annoying older brother," That was an image I never wanted, and I could only feel sorry for the times Zane had to encounter his sister in such a state
"Can we come in?" Thanks, Ghost. The girl slumped aside and let me pass with a weak arm raised, her heel kicking the door shut as she winced at the sound, shambling toward the kitchen muttering about 'Stupid Light can't erase migraines'
Their layout was the same as ours, though a little messier but given who the siblings were that honestly wasn't a surprise. They had many trophies from what looked like a House of Devils banner. The Gatelord eye we used to enter the Garden now acted as a paperweight. A Cabal helmet marked with the 'Skyburners' colors, I heard of them, how many scouts they've killed on both Phobos and Mars. Then there was... a shard of Crota's soul, resting on the mantle, blackened and without the dreaded Prince's gaze lingering on my own.
A hand then pulled my head toward the right down a hall. Dimitri chugged the glass of water down before flopping onto the sofa to bask in the sunlight, waving dismissively. "Go on, down the hall to the right,"
"Rest easy, Dimitri." I smiled, seeing her one opened eye gaze at me through her hair
"You two start anything and I can't promise I won't start recording," She winked and I quickly stumbled into the hall at her chuckle, my cheeks on fire
"I-Its... just go to sleep already!" I remarked, shaking my head clear of any of those thoughts as I anxiously drew toward the blank, white door, hearing almost nothing inside; Say for the flicker of light from under the doorway. "Just... open the door... to his room..."
"He barged into yours, I say this is fine." Ghost remarked, and I clamped his shell in my hands, feeling nervous
"Yeah, but last time I wasn't exactly wearing anything!" I whispered into his eye. "And what happens if... if he's... erm..." Stop blushing, stop blushing, stop blushing!
Without a second chance to overrule my actions, I twisted the handle and pushed into the unknown, what I saw was... amazing. Zane's room wasn't large, but spacious for one person. His walls were only illuminated by a desk lamp, two large desks hugging the far wall, his bed just to the side of me left untouched say by sheets and books and other pieces of literature.
Sat against the bed in place of a bedside table was a bookshelf, a chest of drawers below while the shelves aligned themselves with different collections divided by titles, tomes, journals, an encyclopedia, and just storybooks.
On the desks was what one would call 'organized chaos', I happened to know what that was like, but sat against both the wall and windowsill were pictures. Nestled into the corner of one was that old photo of Zane and Dimitri when they weren't Guardians but kids. The picture was of our Fireteam and our ghosts.
There were others, some of Summer's fireteam with Zane, and a few of their antics, as well as ours now spliced among the frames on the wall and desk. But sat there, the Book of Sorrows sat wide open on a page, the transcripts of the Hive copied into English, in Zane's hand was a pen, and a datapad left blank, pages sat beneath him as he slept soundly.
The look on his face was reminiscent of when he and Reiner escaped the Hellmouth, and since then, I... haven't been the same. Not in a bad way, just... different when I'm around Zane, I think what Taka and I spoke about long ago had resurfaced the days I waited and worried for the two idiots to return from Crota's ascendant realm, how much I may have taken for granted.
Placing a hand on my heart I breathed slowly, my eyes glancing to the bookshelf. Was it wrong for me to feel this way? Am I just fooling myself? I didn't have an answer, and confronting anyone about this made me anxious, even Ghost kept quiet when the thoughts persisted, guess he wanted me to say something first.
"Ceres, come look at this." His inquiry drew me away from the slumbering Hunter and toward his shelf of many archived books, all with titles and numbers. One, in particular, was marked in gold, the very symbols of the House of Devils, Kings, Exile, and Winter. "An entire written and pre-written collection of documents detailing... everything! I thought the Cryptarchs held most of our history but this is... amazing!"
"He wrote most of this...?" I murmured, finding my hand to guide my eyes toward the Fallen-marked book, and while I felt this was an invasion of privacy, I couldn't resist looking into what I may have to fight tomorrow with Morbin
The hardcover, the maroon book sat heavy in my arm as I grazed the golden symbol of the Vanguard imprinted on the front, the title, 'Fallen Eliksni' told me of the context I was after. Opening to the first page, I noted the credentials written by hand, and in... another, symbols of the Fallen added amongst Zane's.
Volume I - Before the Fall
Chroniclers
Zane, Hunter of Horizon
Variks, House of Judgement
"Listen long enough and you will hear stories of great Eliksni heroes. When the Great Machine was still with us."
Fixated on what exactly Zane and Variks had recorded, something I never believed Zane had an interest in, due to his research on the Hive, I knew took him as someone who would compile all this history and text, and the Fallen, their origins. Something about them I knew only Zane would tell me, but maybe I can learn a little more of why the Fallen are as they are now, and the 'Great Machine', did they mean the Traveler? Had it graced them before us?
Turning the page, I felt my world fall away, as my mind envisioned the words told from a third perspective, as I found myself whisked away to another world entirely. But before my mind could construct anything, there was only a blank canvass for me and Ghost to observe.
Beyond our universe, lay countless, untouched, and sometimes dark worlds of old. Some claimed by shadows as others thrive on lack of omniscient, growing only with what they know. And others lost to the darkness that encapsulated them. But before what was piracy and shattered honor, lay a world meticulously built around pride and honor lay whole. These people were called the Eliksni.
Then from the details that followed, sculpted a world of magnified beauty, unlike anything the Fallen today have displayed. Valleys of radiant, iridescent glades, starkly colored trees, and wildlife that made Earth pale in comparison. Rivers ebbed and flowed across the land, passing a pink horizon adorn with faint flickers of stars, some crossed out by trade ships that carried goods instead of death and steel.
What many perceive as a race of pirates and bloodshed was once a world of peace, tranquility, and exploration, all sourced by that which the revered as a God of spherical alabaster. The Great Machine, the Traveler.
My mind conjured the readings of their Golden Age, exceeding the lengths of which humanity gained under its Light, their world thrived with ether, details of a cloaking tech worn by children as a mere play-thing. The houses, vast and guided under the scribes bearing an emerald green banner with white markings. House of Judgement.
No longer brawled in what was called the Edge Wars, ended by the Kings and Judgement. The House of Rain would see and envision that of prophecies, while House Judgement would act as advisors and keepers of law, their scribes aiding in the rule of House of Kings, who reined with fairness.
As the book stated, I could see the banners of their races many more Houses, all towering before the colors were Fallen of power and formidable might, all with a one bearing green cloth that would stand by their sides, offering aid to the severity of their roles. The Kells and their Scribes worked hand-in-hand to ensure peace and order prevailed.
However, even today, Fallen would sing and whisper of whom who stood above all other Kells; Chelchis, Kell of House of Stone. His very name talked by those today, speaks of his legend, of his strength and selflessness. But that alone wasn't enough to prepare a proud people for the calamity that darkened their skies, a fate of which none could surmount.
A devastating force that their people could only dream of, a power so ferocious that it would leave a single word imprinted in those that remained, they called this great catastrophe, the Whirlwind.
My mind's eye saw a world dressed in beauty turned to basalt and ash. The blood of billions formed rivers of blood as fires consumed their technology, their history, and almost all that had built the people into who they were over generations, lost in a blink of an eye. True Fear tore into the hearts of those that used the very ships that remained to flee. That day, they faced true Darkness.
It is believed by those who were fortunate to observe, that the Hive were the ones to raze their world, the swarm with gnarled teeth and bloodied claws slew countless and left only remnants of a once blessed world. A fleet of many blackened the skies, all while a dark visage of space loomed with mighty wings and a thirst for dominance. The Taken King, Oryx.
The name gave me chills, Crota's father did this? And with such ease that Crota almost succeeded in completing months ago, had it not been for us... but Oryx, that title... 'The Taken King'... what was he? Anxiously, I flicked the page, and my eyes only delved further into the tales, as I felt an empty light fill my chest.
Countless more Eliksni would have perished, if not for, Chelchis, braving this Whirlwind with blade in-hand. His swords swept the hordes, powers unseen by the Eliksni mattered little in slowing his will to survive, to prevail against what was a looming shadow. But all this was for naught against the Taken King.
My mind shuddered under the image of a black silhouette towering over this Kell and greater than Crota, a cleaver shattering blades under ascendant might as the words depicted their Kell standing defiant against this King, all toward a hope for the Traveler it thanked for such blessings, and... it wasn't there, fleeing in the face of damnation.
With what remained of his Light, Chelchis cried out toward the blackened skies, 'Where is the Great Machine!? Where is the Great Machine!?'. His final breath silenced and ensnared upon an edge.
His sacrifice to allow his people salvation would ring out for the generations, a legend who stood against the might and maw of Oryx, and who brought them hope for a brighter future. His name sung with pride even today, a solemn vow to never forsake his name. Chelchis, Kell of House of Stone.
"...And yet, the death of Chelchis was merely another piece added to the fall of the Eliksni..." I paused, flicking the page and finding only notes and test words for the missing context, there was no continuation only a blank canvass that had filled my mind. "Where's the rest?"
"I haven't finished." The voice behind me excited a yelp from me as I slammed into the bookshelf, the Fallen book falling into the waiting hand of Zane, his left hand rubbing his eyes. "Like it? Took me forever to get most of that written down professionally." He then smiled with a wary chuckle. "Y-You see, the Awoken are kinda starting to figure out how I keep sneaking into the Reef to talk with Variks and so I've been laying low for the month, so no new stuff."
Even though he was smiling I felt my head lower shamefully. "Sorry, f-for barging in." Ghost bowed his shell too, or until Rika's tapped against his and Zane flicked my nose to pull our attention back.
"For what?" His hand waved to his room. "Not much in here besides books, ink, and leftover tea," With that, he pulled the blinds open to illuminate the room, as pictures, maps and other posters stuck to his walls. "Welcome to my madhouse, also called the 'Libary' if you ask my sister."
Since it was fine, I decided to ask, pointing at the book. "What else is there?" He and Rika glanced at the book then me as I felt a frown cross my face with uncertainty. "The Fallen... what happened to them, I get it, why they are who they are. The Traveler abandoned them to Oryx, the Darkness... did it nearly try the same with us?"
"Yeah, basically." Rika blurted out as I blinked, shock slowly taking over my face. "Don't freak out, but us Ghosts wouldn't be around if not for Rasputin literally firing upon that big hunk of machinery, if it escaped during the Collapse, we wouldn't be here."
"It... tried to run?" Now I truly understood the resentment the Fallen have for us, why did we get to keep the Traveler when it abandoned so many to die? Somehow, nothing feels so black and white anymore, and I hated that
Zane chuckled, sitting back on his desk. "Yep, you've got the same look me and Rika had, and Summer, yeesh that was a day-and-a-half, and... well, just about everyone we told," My eyes lingered on his, and that easy-going smile as though nothing were wrong. "I catalog all of this because the history we all share, be it directly or not deserves to be known, not right now, but someday, I want to spread the secrets and mysteries of this world with everyone, to show that not everything is so black and white, that the Fallen are just like us, remnants of a species forced by calamity."
His smile turned to a daring glare, tapping a hand to the Book of Sorrows. "And if Oryx, his sisters, the Darkness, the Cabal, anyone wants to take away that future, the history of our existence away, then it's worth fighting for." He put his fist out to me. "It's what I love about being apart of your Fireteam, I get to fight for that future head-on, no matter the consequences."
That brought out a calming smile as I reached over to tap my fist to his, our ghosts copied with a bop of their shells. "Hey, Zane?" He tilted his head. "Mind if I keep reading some of this stuff? Your storytelling in really amazing." I really felt it, like I was standing there as their history unfolded, both the good and the bad
I noted his change in looks, having turned back to his desk to begin fiddling with pages, seeing a soft tint of pink on his cheek. "S-Sure, t-thanks, that... that's good to here." It was cute seeing him flustered, but with his permission I and Ghost delved into his small archive, humming softly as I searched the list, pulling out a book titled 'Crucible', bet this will have alot to do with Dimitri
Out the corner of my eye, I spotting Zane smiling brightly as his eye look away from me, fixing it back on the book while I sat down on the floor to dig into the mayhem that was the Crucible. I wish there was more on the House of Winter, but maybe I can pry that out of Morbin tomorrow, I wasn't going to let that go, even if he wanted me to.
After all, prodding into where you don't technically belong is a habit of mine, and if it can help Morbin, so be it.
To Be Continued...
This was... powerful, how similar the Fallen are to us, and the sacrifices made by their true Kell of Kells, using both lore and Byf's lore video I hope I did this justice. I hope you enjoyed, seeya in the next chapter Guardians!
Next Chapter: Long Overdue
Morbin and Ceres traverse the yellow caverns of Venus in search of the House of Winter, but why is Morbin so adamant about their demise?