Lethia had gone sick and cold inside when she took Niki's dead shell, and she hadn't recovered.
The instinct that had served her in reviving Banner and healing Niki once before told her that this problem would take vast amounts of Light. So she harvested it from their enemies, flooding Niki's dead core until his lifeless eye glowed purple.
It still glowed, as she wrapped herself around him. But his spark wasn't there. Her sweet, foolhardy ghost was gone.
Or was he?
Something still burned deep inside that core. She mentally burrowed inside, swimming through the void, seeking that fraction of Niki that remained. He had gone dark, his core cold and hollow. She reached out, seeking that last flicker of Light.
Then she touched the knife.
Ferral's void blade was embedded in the ghost's heart, stuck in the spark itself. Light had harmed Light. It was so immensely wrong. Wrung with pity, she touched the flickering, injured spark. It fluttered against her awareness like the brush of an eyelash. "Niki."
His voice came to her, the whisper of a whisper. "Guardian."
She examined the knife, the energy that shaped it, the sharpness of the blade. So beautifully crafted, honed for death, and delivered to an innocent ghost. It had nearly killed him. It had also trapped him like a moth on a pin, unable to die.
"I can remove this, but you can't fade afterward," she thought to him.
"No ... strength," the tiny spark whispered. "When it goes ... I'll go."
"I'm here with you," she whispered back. "I've filled you with Light. I'll rekindle you with it. You didn't die before, and you won't die now."
"Please, save me," he whispered. "I trust you. And ... and ... do you still ...?"
Too well did she remember his plaintive cry, "I want you to like me!"
"I do like you," she assured him. "I love you."
His spark flared a little on either side of the blade. "Oh," he whispered. "Oh, I had so hoped."
"Now, get ready," she said. "Stay strong for me." And she pulled out the blade.
The knife dissolved into energy at once, flowing into Lethia in a surge of heat and the taste of vinegar. Niki's spark guttered and shrank, no longer held in place by the knife.
"Stay with me!" Lethia cried. She gathered the Void Light she had stored in his core and pushed it all shoved all into Niki's spark.
He flared up in a violet bonfire, making a terrified cry. His spark expanded to its proper brightness, filling his core once more, rippling and flowing with Void Light.
Lethia withdrew her focus and found herself looking into his eye. It still burned purple, but now the pupil focused on her, full of awareness.
"You made it," she murmured aloud.
Niki laughed weakly and floated out of her hands. He rocked sideways and dropped back into her hands.
"Ah, Guardian," he said sadly. "You've brought me back again, but it was too far."
"What do you mean, too far?" she asked, her heart giving a sick lurch.
"I'm ... completely Void Light inside. I think I must be locked into it. I mean, the knife was Void ... and you used Void to save me ... and now I can't feel Arc or Solar at all. I'm afraid you'll never be able to switch disciplines."
"I don't care," she said earnestly, wondering if down the road, she might care very much. "You're alive, and that's all that matters."
His eye blinked off and he leaned his shell into her palms. "My wonderful Guardian. Thank you."
"Use my name," she whispered.
"Lethia," he murmured. "My own, wonderful Lethia. If ... if you don't mind, tell Banner I'm alive. He's very upset."
Banner was still at the instrument panel, just a tiny floating sphere. Lethia uncurled. "Banner, Ferral, I brought Niki back."
Both of them exclaimed in relief. Banner flew up and played a scan beam over Niki. "She pulled it off again! I don't believe it. But ... Niki ... what's happened to your Light?"
"I'm Void aspect, now," Niki said. "I'm locked out of the rest. It feels so strange. Like part of me has been amputated."
Banner stared at him in speechless dismay. He backed away, slowly.
"Don't be like that," Niki said. "I'm still me. The Traveler grants Void Light, too."
"Void Light is part Darkness," Banner said. "That means ... you are part Darkness."
Niki gazed at his brother ghost a long moment, as if stunned. Slowly he turned to Lethia, blinking his purple eye. "Just like an Awoken."
Banner returned to the instrument panel. Niki took his place above Lethia's shoulder, but his sadness touched her through their bond.
Ferral watched this encounter. His blue-gray skin barely had any Light swirling beneath it at all, and his fiery eyes were dim. "I guess it doesn't matter, does it? We'll still have to report in. You'll have to explain why your ghost is Void-only. And they'll still court-martial me."
Lethia wasn't quite so angry at him, now. He hadn't meant to kill Niki - Niki had taken a risk he shouldn't have. But her feelings about Ferral were muddled together, anyway. Yesterday, she had wanted to kill him. Today ... well, she had wanted to kill him, too, but she wanted him to fight back. This crumpled, ashen Ferral was past fighting.
"You could run," she suggested. "You're a Hunter. We can drop you off somewhere and claim I came back alone."
"I'd need supplies," he said, bowing his head. "I lost everything when they wrecked my sparrow. I don't even have my weapons. And it's winter in the northern hemisphere right now." He heaved a groaning sigh and slumped in the huge chair. "I have to go back and face the consequences. Maybe they won't execute me right away."
"They'll execute you?" Lethia exclaimed.
Ferral nodded, digging his fingers into his striped hair. "That's the penalty for killing a ghost. I mean, it was an accident, and you did bring him back. But they'll still punish me. Just ... oh Traveler ... don't let them hurt Banner."
His ghost turned and looked at him for a long moment. "Fer ... they can't kill you without killing me, too."
"You're innocent," Ferral whispered savagely, tears glistening in his eyes. "I lost you once. I could face a final death if I knew they'd let you go."
"A Guardian can't die unless their ghost dies," Banner retorted. "The very best we can hope for is exile."
Lethia watched this exchange with growing pain in her heart. She had assumed that getting off Mars would make everything better. All they had to do was reach the Last City on Earth. But now it seemed that their real trouble had only begun.
"You didn't mean to kill Niki?" she asked.
"No!" Ferral exclaimed. "My shadow knives hit whatever I focus on. Niki appeared just as I threw them, and it distracted me." He dragged a hand down his face. "Light. Maybe if I explain it to the court, they'll decide not to execute me. Maybe."
They discussed it over and over as they entered Earth's orbit. Niki joined Banner in piloting the huge, unwieldy ship through reentry. They neared the Last City and saw the Traveler on the horizon. The white globe seemed so small and fragile in its place above the City, even though it was quite large as they drew closer.
The Tower hailed them, and their ghosts responded. "Yes, this ship was captured by Guardians. Isn't it wonderful? Free Cabal ship parts!"
They were allowed to land in the hanger, far apart from the other ships. A number of Guardians and humans surrounded the ship, curious and cautious. They didn't relax until Lethia and Ferral disembarked, attended by their ghosts.
"Where do we go?" Lethia asked, gazing at the other ships and the watchful Guardians nearby. Their armor and weapons made her conscious of her tattered clothing and dirty face and hands.
Ferral hesitated a moment, bouncing on the balls of his feet. "I suppose ... we could get cleaned up and eat dinner. Before ... you know ... I report in."
"Cleaning up would be great," Lethia said. "And ... did we eat today? I'm starving."
Ferral nodded. "Right, then. We'll pick up food on the way to my apartment."
Ferral's apartment was below the Tower, down inside the wall, where the other dormitories were built. It was all one room with a tiny bathroom, perfect for a single Guardian.
They sat at his minuscule table and devoured noodle bowls. Lethia was used to the heavily spiced dishes of the Reef, so the spicy Ramen was a pleasant experience. Hot food was a great after days of cold, canned soup.
Ferral ate with one hand and attached a new shell to Banner with the other, wielding a tiny screwdriver with finesse. By the time they finished eating, Banner was dressed in a dark green shell with silver trim.
By comparison, Niki looked neglected in his bent, dusty shell. He floated stoically beside Lethia, his eye glowing a steady purple.
"I'll get you a new shell as soon as I can," she promised him.
"Oh, I'm not worried about that, Lethia," Niki told her cheerfully. "You take good care of me."
Lethia and Ferral exchanged a guilty look. It was hard to tell if Niki was really that naive, or if he honestly believed what he said.
"This is probably the last time we'll see each other," Ferral said, poking around in the bottom of the bowl with his spoon. "You'll be assigned quarters and gear, and start your training. I'll either be court-martialed or shipped back to the front. Did you see how empty the Tower was? Everybody's out fighting the Dreadnaught."
Lethia nodded, heart sinking. She had come to rely on Ferral to guide her through this strange new world. More than that, she cared about him as a person. He was a fellow Awoken, too ... and if not for her, he wouldn't be facing possible execution. The very thought sent wild panic beating through her.
"Couldn't you just ... forget to file your report?"
"I can't," he replied, looking pained. "I have to tell my commander about finding you, and the Taken in the Reef, and losing my ship, and the Hive working with the Cabal to destroy Vanguard holdings. That's all valuable intelligence. I can't keep it to myself."
"Could you leave out the ghost part?"
He sat back in his chair, wearily running a hand through his hair. His blue-gray skin was a shade more gray than usual. "I could. But you'll have to explain why your ghost is Void-locked. If our accounts don't match, I'll be in bigger trouble."
They stared at each other for a long moment. Lethia felt so many things and didn't know how to say them. Concern. Fear of the future. And a growing desire to run her fingers through his hair, smoothing the loose strands away from his forehead. "Keep in touch, whatever happens. I want to know what they decide."
Ferral nodded and forced a smile. "They'll keep you so busy, you'll forget all about me in a few days. Until the trial, I suppose. I'll have Banner send Niki a message now and then." He gestured at the bathroom door. "You can shower first. I'm going to start on my report."
A hot shower was sheer luxury after days on Mars. Lethia felt alive again afterward. If only her clothes weren't so disgusting. She shook them out and put them on, hoping the Vanguard would assign her new clothes immediately.
Ferral sat at the table, typing away on a tablet, which was already filled with text. He glanced up and smiled. "You look Awoken again."
"I feel so much better." She returned his smile, and again felt so many things, she didn't know what to say. Tenderness, sadness, a bit of frustration. She thought of him chained in the cell, thought of the expression on his face as he handed her poor, dead Niki, remembered the way he had gently wrapped tape around Banner's cracked core.
But what words went with those feelings? She couldn't seem to connect her mouth and her heart.
"I guess I'll go sign in," she said, even though it wasn't what she wanted to say.
Ferral stood up. "I'll show you where to go."
They walked through the Tower together in silence, their ghosts escorting them. Lethia kept trying to say something - anything - to express how she didn't want Ferral to fade from her life. But the words wouldn't come.
All too soon, they reached a door marked New Guardian Orientation. Ferral halted. "Here you are. They'll take care of you from here on."
"Oh," Lethia said faintly, looking at the door as if it were the gate to a Hive den. "Well. Thank you. For ... for keeping me alive. Getting me off the Reef."
"Annoying you," Ferral added with a wry smile. "Murdering your ghost. The usual."
"No," she exclaimed. "That's not what I meant."
He opened his mouth, then shook his head. "You know what, don't. Just ... don't. I don't know what my punishment will be. Until then ..." He nodded at her ghost. "Take care of her, Niki."
"I will," the ghost replied.
Ferral walked off, shoulders hunched and hands shoved in his pockets. Lethia watched him go with a sinking sensation in her chest.
"Don't worry, Lethia," Niki reassured her. "I'll help you figure things out."
"I hope so," Lethia said, and opened the door.