a/n - hmm. hello, everyone.
do you understand? do you understand? do you understand?
SHH. I UNDERSTAND NOTHING. I CHOOSE NOT TO UNDERSTAND.
sacrifice then. sacrifice then. sacrifice then.
SHH. SACRIFICE WHAT.
the people who abandoned you. the people who abandoned you. the people who abandoned you.
SHH. YOU CANNOT CHOOSE THE SACRIFICE.
i can. i can. i can.
YOU ARE NOTHING. YOU ARE NOT DECISION. YOU ARE BARELY A THOUGHT. SHHHHHHHH.
he screams when he wakes, flails and kills someone with a harsh backhand. they hit a purple wall and stain it an oily red and he chooses not to understand what he killed when they pounce and hold him down.
he screams again, he has too many arms for them to deal with, and flames singe fur, singe meat, and the smoke permeates lavender air tenderly. there is roaring and hissing and yelling and it makes him struggle as his fists clench and open and beg for fire.
his haunting screech fills hallowed halls as a hand wraps around a familiar handle and he flails and kills someone again. they don't hit a purple wall, however, but rather seize up and burn and cry as they are turned to ash. it feeds him, the ash, and allows the fire to spread along his body in a familiar heat, and with a final scream, he burns away the arms that hold him down.
standing is a task, his lower arms brace himself on the ground unsteadily as he waves around his hammer, the flames licking the armor of those who get too close.
a bright light in front of him is all he needs for a distraction, even as a green guardian rolls out. he doesn't hesitate, he throws his hammer at the closest set of red armor and knocks its head clean off. he hears plasma fire behind but doesn't feel it on his back, sparing him a moment to grab one of the shotguns attached to his thigh and immediately blast the next red armor charging at him.
it teeters for a moment, looking stunned at the gaping hole in its chest, before falling forward, and opening the path for its brethren to join it. he doesn't know what they look like, his rage matches the armor, and all he wants is them to be GONE. burned and torn apart and OBLITERATED.
and when they are, when silence settles, and the blood drips, does he turn to the green guardian. he snarls when he focuses and realizes his mistake on the label.
in an instant, he has the green armor pinned to a gory wall, pressing the shotgun into their gut and the hammer to their neck. they sit there limply, plasma rifle pressing into his gut, and barely twitch as he hisses lowly, "ARE. YOU. HUMAN?"
a gravelly voice rasps shortly after, "yes."
he lets him go. the green human's feet are light despite the weight of the armor as he lands on the ground. he thinks he would be a hunter.
no. something else tells him that he would be a titan.
he turns away from the green human before he ponders it further and stares down the hall. he does not understand. he chooses not to. the world is purple. he thinks of saint.
"who are you?" the green human asks from behind. he begins walking away, compelling him to follow.
"REVELATION-20." the human pauses. after a moment, he grunts curiously. then he continues down the hall.
"what did the covenant want with you?" and revelation snarls. the human does not press the subject.
"ARE WE LEAVING?" comes the question moments later. they leave the hall. there are more halls, painted myriads of purples and blues and reds; in the distance, there are battles filled with plasma and crystals and grenades. he does not recognize the bodies; they are strange, like him.
the human stops walking after a longer pause and turns to look at revelation. "why do you care? that i'm human?"
"WHY WOULD I NOT?" the human doesn't expect that, it seems, but does not reject his trailing footsteps as they continue. the silence is unfulfilled.
where are we.
SHH. I DO NOT KNOW.
who is that.
I DO NOT KNOW. SHH.
he has an ai.
SHH. DO NOT DISTURB IT.
i will watch.
The Master Chief isn't quite sure he entirely trusts this... Revelation-20. They're helpful, if the indicator of them ripping off a Brute's arm and beating another Brute to death with it means anything, but the Chief isn't entirely ready to trust an alien yet. Especially one never seen before.
Cortana made it a point to mention that the book of Revelation, chapter twenty, verse one said, And I saw an angel coming down out of heaven, having the key to the Abyss and holding in his hand a great chain.
"Maybe he's a Chosen One," she jokes. Of course, it falls a little flat, earning a huff. "Anyways. Just let him tag along, I'd rather him follow you than end up in the hands of the Covenant. Again, from what it looks like."
The Chief merely grunts as he guns down a few Jackals.
"You're not thinking of leaving him to the Flood, are you?" He nearly reels at that, startled as the idea never crossed his mind.
"Cortana!"
"Sorry, just covering all of our moral bases. I know it's weird to be working with an alien, but you have to admit, he's pretty fascinating! Nice armor, too."
"Something tells me the story would be different if I wasn't Human." The pair cross an artificial chasm, assaulted almost immediately by a terrified sect of leftover Grunts and Jackals. "You don't suppose..."
"It's not a possibility we can rule out," Cortana finishes as the Chief crushes the last Grunt's skull. "Another reason for him to tag along, though."
"Where are we," comes the low rumble of the Chief's unexpected companion, flanged by a distant whisper. He looks up from where he was grabbing a moderately charged Brute Plasma Rifle and sees Revelation standing nearby. The helmet is a deep purple nearing black, scratched and scarred , and lined with lavender-silver - there's a sharp crest at the top of the helm, still dripping with blood where Revelation had vivisected a Jackal sniper.
"High Charity," the Spartan answers simply as he turns away and continues toward their designated path. "Let's go."
Revelation falls into step behind him, quiet and thoughtful. The alien doesn't ask anything beyond simple questions and, for that, the Master Chief is grateful, but it doesn't stop the chills he feels when he knows that Revelation is looking at him. Although hidden, the alien's gaze is piercing and dangerous as though he can piece together everything about the Chief in an instant, and every look is a memory lost.
"The docks are just past this grove! Truth's still there, if you hurry, you should be able to catch him!" Cortana urges, and the Master Chief changes his jog into a sprint, bowling down a surprised Elite Minor, and finishing it off with a Plasma Rifle to the head. "I've picked up two additional IFF tags, too - looks like they've got Johnson and Commander Keyes with them!"
The Chief almost snarls, at this rate, he wouldn't be able to reach them in time. All these enemies were just fodder to slow him down and he hated the realization that it was working. Honor Guards poured through the far door, energy swords flashing, and their scratched roars filling the air-
-until it's interrupted by a bright purple disc slamming into one of their faces. It bypasses the heavy shield entirely, seeming to vaporize the Elite entirely as the disc bounces heavily between the line and then ricocheting back to the outstretched arm of Revelation.
"GO!" the alien roars as he splits his shield into two and leaps at the remaining Honor Guard. One shield bounces off an Honor Guard while the other blocks plasma fire, the bulk of Revelation providing the Master Chief with good enough cover to slip past the emerging battle without a second glance tossed at him.
He doesn't wait for Cortana to show up on the pedestal next to the lift, jumping down the transparent anti-grav tube just as the envoys enter the Phantoms, and he scowls as he lays eyes on what they've left behind. Just as he lands on the floor below, a black form lands heavily next to him, and he stares over at Revelation as the alien dusts himself down casually.
"Not a problem," Revelation clarifies in regards to the Honor Guard. His gaze wanders around at the spores already gathering on the ground and then to the struggling form of Mercy ahead. They both approach him slowly, careful of the small Infection form wrapped around the fragile neck of the Prophet.
"Your pal," the Chief says, gesturing to the disappearing Phantoms. "Where is he going?"
"Earth," Mercy sneers and Revelation tenses next to the Chief. "To finish what we've started." The Prophet's cataract gaze fixates on Revelation and he manages to gasp out, "Please, my Lord, do not let this fool-"
Revelation snarls as he crushes Mercy's head under a heavy boot, Infection form and skull crunching audibly as Revelation makes sure to grind the head into a gory pulp onto his boots.
"Live a fool, die a fool," Revelation grumbles as he stands on the gored pile of Mercy.
"That..." Cortana hesitates as she appears on the nearby pedestal, "...was a bit unnecessary."
"Cortana," the Chief says, bringing her back on track, and ignoring the unnecessary brutality Revelation displayed, "is there anyway we can catch up to Truth?"
The AI turns, pointing to a spire in the distance, "That's where he's heading. It's a Forerunner ship - if he leaves in that, he's gonna lead the Covenant straight to Earth and we won't stand a chance. Either you're gonna have to stop him, or hitch a ride on that ship."
"That Brute - he has Miranda and Johnson, and the Index," the Spartan points out.
"If he activates the Ring," Cortana picks up, "I'll detonate the In Amber Clad, the same way I did the Autumn, combined with High Charity, it should provide enough power to destroy Halo." She looks over at the crashed ship in the distance, "I can't chance a remote detonation, though, I'll have to stay here and activate it manually."
The Master Chief tenses at that, hesitant, his hand already outstretched to invite her back into his armor. This is different from letting her roam in foreign systems before, he's gotten her back every single time; he doesn't like how willing she sounds to stay behind, to...
A loud crash draws their attention toward one of the further landing pads - the Chief activates his internal zoom, hands twitching at the sight of the spores all over the Pelican and the flailing Flood forms that spill out afterwards.
"Looks like you'll be wading in muck on your way there," Cortana offers one last tease before gesturing him forward. "Go, you've already got a friend to back you up."
The Spartan had nearly forgotten that Revelation is with him, but the alien hadn't necessarily moved while he was conversing with Cortana. As they move away from the pedestal, however, the Chief swears that he hears Revelation murmuring quietly behind him until the Flood screams, a haunting sound that will never fail to make the Chief tense, and he gets ready for a long fight to the ship.
you do not have to stay behind.
Who are you?
a friend.
Revelation?
no.
I have to stay.
the bomb?
Yes.
you lie.
the hallowed halls have long since been drenched in the blood of the covenant and the spores of the not-hive, but they forge on. gardens have become swamps and careful paths have been trampled, but not-hive burn in the light as revelation ignites the way. he murmurs a prayer under his breath as bodies burn in the light, following the glow of the beautiful spire, and wonders what tinges at the edges of his mind that feels like the dark-not-dark.
"THEY WHISPER," he says into the roaring silence, startling the spartan. "YOU HAVE ANGERED THEM."
"i have." is all the spartan affirms and they keep going.
the screams of the dying have been replaced with the shrieks of the undead, new parasites breathing toxic life into the air of a blackened city. revelation does not doubt that they are the last heartbeats to grace these stained halls. a garden turned tomb turned mausoleum, a world he is familiar with and treads mournfully.
the ship is a strange kind of salvation to see, ominous and looming, and he thinks of the scarlet keep and scowls.
but he is lifted off his feet before he can speculate the ship, and he watches as the spores continue to grow and consume, and he thinks he can hear a voice cry below as the black city rises. like the collapse so long ago, the shipworld falls quickly, before his very eyes, without flame and haunted by a shriek from the depths of the enemy.
the purple shipworld disappears abruptly as they're thrown into the shipspire. he shivers at the thought and hopes it cannot tear through worlds.
he bows his head and prays again as the shipspire shudders, murmurs past steel lips for a goddess who cannot hear him. he misses her.
another shudder and he lifts his head, disturbed and scowling as the spartan speaks to an unheard voice, and when revelation peers out and down at the planet below, he roars in anguish and betrayal,
"THIS IS NOT EARTH."