Chapter 31

"Are you comfortable Tobias?"

"Uh, yeah, I think so." Tobias replied as he adjusted himself on the white bean bag chair, slightly annoyed as it squeaked is response to his movements. The room he was seated in was completely empty with the exception of his seat, and his only company was a small white orb that had actually requested his presence. "So what did you call me for?"

"Why are you in such a rush Tobias, it's not like I invite you in here that often." The orb responded as it floated around him, coming to a stop behind him. Tobias became stiff as he felt a pair of hands drop down onto his shoulders, but he relaxed a bit as they began to massage him. "You really need to relax a bit more Tobias."

Tobias exhaled as he sunk further into the bean bag chair. Who was he to refuse a massage from the Traveler?

This was the first time he had ever been in here. The Traveler had explained to him that it had found a small little corner of Tobias' consciousness and made it its home. This was the place where the two of them could speak freely.

"See, doesn't that feel nice?" The Traveler asked him, causing Tobias to tilt his head backward look at the form the Traveler used when he was in its presence.

"Yeah, it does. But I've been meaning to ask this for a while. Are you a guy, or a lady?" Tobias asked. He then winced as the Traveler pinched the junction between his shoulder and neck in response to his question.

"You know Tobias, there are some people that would consider that a rude question." The Traveler stated with a huff.

"Ah, my apologies. I'm just curious though. I've never seen as anything more than this ball form you usually have." Tobias explained as the Traveler removed its hands from his shoulders.

"I don't have a gender Tobias, I'm one of a kind." The Traveler responded as it moved around him, situating itself in front of him again.

"So then, why do you sound like a woman?" Tobias inquired.

"This was a voice you seemed to be keen too. But I can alter it if this isn't to your liking." The Traveler went on before clearing its throat. "How about this?"

Tobias shivered as the once soothing voice of the Traveler had been replaced with the booming voice of Oryx.

"Nah, let's stick with the lady voice." Tobias said, getting a laugh from the Traveler as its voice returned to the one Tobias was accustomed to.

"So why the sudden interest in me Tobias?" The Traveler asked him.

"Well to my understanding, you've been in existence for tens of thousands of years. Don't you get lonely being out here all by yourself?"

"Aww, I appreciate the concern Tobias. But no, I don't get lonely. Most, if not all of my time is spent studying the strange creatures that I've run into, like you for example." She explained, causing Tobias to frown.

"Why would you consider me strange?"

"Compared to some of the other species I've seen, humans are indeed strange." The Traveler commented with a laugh.

"Really?" Tobias exclaimed. "Fine then, tell me what you've seen. I'll tell you what's weird and what's not."

"I don't want to go too far off topic Tobias. I did call you here for a reason." She said, refocusing their discussion. Tobias frowned at this, viewing this as a cop out to get out that discussion. He wouldn't let the Traveler escape this subject next time though.

"Right. So what was it again?" Tobias asked.

"I wanted to discuss the Radiant Light with you." The Traveler stated, causing Tobias to straighten up in his seat now.

"What took you so long? I've been dying to talk about this." Tobias said, his lips curved upward. He had been eager to learn more about this since the very first time he had used it against Titus many months ago. But the Traveler had been rather unresponsive to him since then. This was the first the time they had really spoken in months.

"So Tobias, did you notice any differences during the times you used the Radiant Light?" The Traveler asked him as their discussion began.

"Uh…." Tobias remained silent for a moment as he thought back to the times he had called forth this power. "Now that I think about, the second time I used it on the Dreadnaught felt different from the other two times."

"Good, I'm glad you noticed this as well." The Traveler said.

"Noticed what?"

"The first two times you used it, the Radiant Light was only acting as a defense mechanism." The Traveler revealed, surprising him.

"Wait, what do you mean by that?"

"This power responds to being in danger as well. You're housing the Light within your body, and naturally it doesn't want to be destroyed, so it responded to the threats at the time." The Traveler clarified for him.

"But the third time, when we were all fighting Oryx and Titus…it felt different that time."

"Yes, because you called it out yourself." The Traveler stated. "That's why I didn't instruct you up until now. I had to be certain that you would be capable of using this power on your own."

"Okay, I think I get what you're saying now." Tobias said as he gave the Traveler a slow nod.

"And do you remember what I said last time? The reason why you were able to use the Radiant Light?"

Tobias nodded again.

"Yeah, because I'm the Vessel of the Light now." He stated.

"You say that so casually, but this is a vital role Tobias. The most important role."

"I know, I know." Tobias said as he shook his head. "It's just a lot to wrap my head around."

"But do you understand what made the difference that allowed you to call forth the Radiant Light?" The Traveler asked him, causing Tobias to look up in thought for a moment.

"You told me yourself. I'm no longer Tobias the Guardian, but the 'embodiment of the Light.'" Tobias said, quoting the Traveler word for word.

"And what does that mean to you?" The Traveler pressed.

"I'll be honest and just say, I have no idea what the means." Tobias admitted. Even after saying that himself, he still didn't quite understand what the Traveler wanted him to understand.

"I've been watching you all this time Tobias, so I was able to see when you gained your resolve to fight the Darkness as a Guardian. But as the fighting continued, and you gained the Radiant Light, you may not have known it yourself; you started to understand that the task of destroying the Darkness rested on your shoulders." The Traveler explained to him. "And once you were able to tell yourself that this was your duty, the Radiant Light became yours."

"So you're saying that I realized, that I'm the one who has to beat the Darkness." Tobias clarified, receiving a nod from the Traveler.

"Yes. Because without you, all hope is lost."

Tobias sat still for a few moments, letting all of this sink in. He had never really given it much thought. Any time the Radiant Light had been brought up, he had let it run off his back like water. But now as all of this settled into his mind, he was realizing the magnitude of what he had to accomplish.

"So if I ever fail…it's all over?" Tobias asked.

"…Yes." It replied after a pause. "But don't forget Tobias, you have more power at your disposal than you could ever imagine."

Tobias had to let this sink in now. That if he died, the Darkness would succeed. All of his teammates, all of his friends, allies, mentors and cherished people would be lost. He couldn't allow that to happen.

"I want to know everything about the Radiant Light. Don't hold anything back from me." Tobias said as he looked at the Traveler, his eyes focused and unrelenting. Failure was not an option.

Neo Chicago

The Mulligan

Barrel

Commander Zavala had two posts within the new base of the Guardians. More often than not, he was stationed in the Hall of Guardians, directing a majority of the Titans from there. But if he couldn't be found there, he was at the headquarters of the Mulligan within the lower levels of the base, recognized as the Barrel.

This was the room responsible for tracking everything in the system. Dozens of operators were monitoring Guardians, updating information concerning enemy movements, and creating bounties that were then sent to Xander 99-40. They directed everything from here.

Standing stall on the platform at the heart of the room, Zavala looked around in search of something to preoccupy himself with. With the defeat of Alak-Hul, and the campaign on the Dreadnaught slowing down as it neared completion, everything around the system seemed to quiet down as well.

The Fallen Houses that had remained on Earth had gone into hiding months ago due to the presence of the Taken. The activity on the Moon had come to a halt, and even on Venus there was nothing taking place between the Fallen or the Vex. The Cabal had gone silent on Mars due to the frequent attacks from Rasputin on top of the losses they suffered attacking the Dreadnaught. So for once, all of the enemies of the Light were at rest.

'Perhaps it might be time for me to return to the Crucible.' Zavala reasoned with himself. It had been weeks since there had been any sort of legitimate action, and he felt the need to get out and put some of his weapons to use.

"Hey Commander!" A voice hollered, getting his attention. Turning around, Zavala peered over the edge of his platform to see one of the operators looking up at him.

"Yes!?" Zavala asked almost too eagerly.

"I'm picking up some unusual seismic activity coming from the center of the Earth." The operator explained as Zavala quickly approached his console so that he could take a look at the information this operator had. "We haven't seen seismic activity like this in centuries."

"Bring up a comparison to the last time there was activity like this." Zavala ordered.

Soon enough the operator brought up some of the records, but the activity they were seeing right now was far beyond what had been recorded years ago.

"What's going on?" Zavala asked himself softly. This wasn't something to brush aside. One of the operators displayed a simulation for him, providing him with an example of what was going to take place. The tectonic plates were beginning to shift again, causing a natural disaster that hadn't been experienced in centuries. "Earthquakes? That can't be..."

"The last recordings of an earthquake predate the Golden Age." An operator called out.

"Check this out Commander." Another stated, getting Zavala's attention. "I've been scanning the Earth's crust, and I noticed that those tunnels the Hive had dug while we were away, some of them go deeper into the Earth. A lot, deeper."

Zavala's straightened up immediately at this. Someone, or something could have gone down those tunnels. Could they have also been responsible for this?

"I want a fireteam to investigate these tunnels ASAP. Tell them to proceed with caution!" Zavala declared.

"What are we going to do way out here?"

Tobias found himself a few miles to the north of Neo Chicago under the direction of the Traveler.

'We're going to begin practicing your use of the Radiant Light.' The Traveler responded as Tobias looked around. He stood on the shoreline of a massive lake that stretched out into the horizon.

"But why did you make me go so far from the city?" Tobias asked as he focused on the tremendous city in the distance.

'You still don't understand the magnitude of how powerful the Radiant Light is, so I took you this far just to put it into perspective.' The Traveler explained. 'Just having the Radiant Light creates a weight around you Tobias. It goes unnoticed by your fellow Guardians because they will adjust with exposure to it. But once you actually begin to use the Radiant Light, that pressure you put on your surroundings becomes something that you can bend to your will. It's like a stasis field.'

"A stasis field?"

'Yes. You could say that it's like…time stops for someone who couldn't even begin to fathom your power.' The Traveler declared. 'And with practice, you'll be able to manipulate this stasis field to lock down an area and those in it if you chose to do so.'

"Well that sounds pretty dang sweet!" Tobias exclaimed with a nod of approval. Now they were talking.

'Don't get excited over that. You gain this just for calling the Radiant Light, on top of a number of other things.' The Traveler pointed out.

"Like what?"

'You have super regenerative abilities, in case you forgot about the fact that-that right arm of yours is pretty new.' The Traveler explained to him, reminding him of his first clash with Titus. He hadn't forgotten the fact that his right arm had been severed by Titus, but he had never thought to attribute its instant return to super regeneration. 'Now think back to when you were on the Dreadnaught, what else did you experience?'

"Hmm." Tobias recalled his last battle within the Ascendant Realm. His mind had been going a mile a minute, but now as he sat back and reexamined the battle, he began to notice some things. "Hey, wasn't I flying when we were out in space?"

'Indeed. You'll have the gift of flight when using the Radiant Light as well.' The Traveler stated, causing Tobias to smirk.

"Oh~, this is unreal." He exclaimed. Flying would be so cool!

'And there's also that sword you created.' The Traveler added, causing Tobias to perk up. He had summoned that weapon twice now, and he had felt so powerful using it. He could wait to use it again. 'There is so much more I want to discuss Tobias, but I feel like it's time you started to put all this into practice.'

"You and me both. Let's do this." Tobias declared as he closed his hands into tight fists. This is what he would need to defeat the Darkness. This would be his key to victory.

'Imagine that the Radiant Light rests at the bottom of a well. Reach down to access this power Tobias.' The Traveler explained to him.

Tobias was suddenly snatched from the open shoreline he stood on, and now found himself standing on an empty plain, similar to the room he had been speaking to the Traveler in earlier. But the only other object present was the same well the Traveler had been talking about. Approaching it, Tobias eyed the bucket and rope that rested beside it, immediately realizing what he would have to do. Collecting the bucket from the floor, he then peered into the well where he saw a blinding light. Lowering the bucket down into the light, Tobias felt it make contact with something before he was overwhelmed with a surge of power. It was unlike anything he had felt before.

Parting his lips slightly, Tobias inhaled for just a moment. It was unreal how he was feeling at the moment.

It felt as though, he had been attuned to literally…everything. He could feel the sand shifting beneath him at his slightest movement. He could feel the breeze as it wrapped around his body. It was so much for him to take in at once, and yet it didn't bother him at all. It felt…natural.

'How does this feel Tobias?' The Traveler asked him curiously, eager to hear his response.

"What…what is this?" He asked as he looked around. There were things that he was noticing for the first time that he never even paid the slightest attention. Studying the stand for a moment, it was almost like he could see every individual grain of sand. Glancing up at the coastline, he could see the patterns of the waves as the tide came in.

'You could say that the Radiant Light, unlocked the hidden potential you possess.' The Traveler responded.

"What do you mean by that?"

'If you recall in our discussion earlier, I've seen and interacted with various life forms in my travels.' The Traveler reminded him. 'And I blessed most of them with the Light. They all reacted differently to my power.'

"How so?" Tobias asked. He wasn't quite sure where the Traveler was going with this, but he would wait and see.

'Some of them used my power to enhance themselves physically for combat. Others chose to use the Light to enrich their lives from an agricultural standpoint. And then mankind chose knowledge, taking all of the wisdom I've gained to improve their livelihood.' The Traveler explained, surprising him. 'I find it fitting that you all chose knowledge rather than riches or power.'

"So I don't get it. What hidden potential do I have?" Tobias asked, trying to put all of this together.

'This isn't something that you have specifically Tobias. The human brain is unlike anything I've ever encountered, yet you all can't seem to use it to its fullest.' The Traveler went on. 'You all came close to unlocking your full potential during the Golden Age, but that was cut short.'

Tobias remained silent at this. It was clear that the Traveler was alluding to the Collapse.

'But since you possess the Radiant Light Tobias, those limits you had are now gone.' The Traveler declared to him. 'What that means exactly, I'm still uncertain. But I'm certain that a combination of our two powers will be the key to defeating the Darkness.'

"Yeah, we're in this together." Tobias said with a nod agreement. "So what about these new powers you were going to teach me?"

'You've been using one of them already.' The Traveler pointed out to him.

"Oh…" Tobias furrowed his brow before he recalled what the Traveler had shared with him earlier. "The stasis field, right?"

'Yup.'

"But there's no one out here. How do I know if it's working?"

'Believe me, it is Tobias. Look back at the city.' The Traveler said to him, causing him to make a one eighty. The cityscape of Neo Chicago was far out in the distance from him. 'Everyone…except for the Guardians actually, are frozen at the moment. Because of you.'

"Are you serious?" Tobias exclaimed.

'Completely.'

Neo Chicago

"And I thought after killing Oryx there wouldn't be any more weird stuff happening." Niko muttered as he looked around.

He was standing on street corner downtown, with dozens of people around him. But all of them had become frozen in place a couple of minutes ago. At first he thought was he imagining things. Then he began to pinch himself to make sure he wasn't dreaming.

But after all that, Niko had no choice but to admit that this was really happening.

"Ghost, do you know what's going on?" Niko called out to his companion who took shape beside him.

"I don't have an explanation for this, but it could possibly be connected to this energy signature that appeared at roughly the same time everyone froze." His Ghost explained.

"So what is it, Fallen, Hive?" Niko asked, stretching his fingers a bit. He was itching for a battle.

"Neither. It's the Light. But it's so dense. The only time I've ever seen it like this was when Tobias entered that special form back when we invaded the Hive fortress. So that would mean…" His Ghost trailed off as Niko nodded his head.

"Tobias has something to do with this." Niko mumbled as he deflated a bit.

Niko had-had little to no action as the campaign on the Dreadnaught grinded towards its end. There was nothing for him to do, and he was beginning to suffer from action withdrawal. He needed something…anything!

"Can you tell me where he is?" Niko asked.

"It's difficult to pin point where he is exactly. It's like he blanketed the whole area in the Light." Niko's Ghost went on. "This Light is densest outside of Neo Chicago, heading north. That's a general direction we can work with for now."

"This is amazing!" Tobias hollered as he raced over the surface of the water. He wasn't on his Sparrow though. It was just himself, hovering parallel to the water. He was actually flying!

When he had last fought Titus, he had been so caught in the battle that he hadn't even noticed that he had been flying. But now that this was his only focus, he couldn't deny that this was an incredible experience. It was entirely different from flying in a jumpship, or jumping off a cliff on his Sparrow. He felt so free!

"It's good to see you got a handle on flight so quickly Tobias." The Traveler noted, receiving a nod from him.

There wasn't really much of a trick to flying for him. The core aspect of it was manipulating the Arc Light or kinetic energy in the same fashion as Hunter would to jump multiple times, even while airborne. While in Stormtrance, Stormcallers could also fly as well due to their mastery of Arc Light granted to them during the duration of this ability.

"So in principal, shouldn't all the other Guardians be able to fly too?" Tobias asked the Traveler. "I mean, this is something that Warlocks and Hunters have gotten close to it already."

'In theory, anyone who understands how to manipulate Arc Light could develop the ability of flight. But to attain that level of mastery is something that few Guardians have reached.' The Traveler explained to him.

"I see." Tobias said quietly before sensing movement approaching him. Coming to a stop so that he could float upright now, he looked out into the distance. Tobias inhaled sharply as his vision seemed to zoom in on the person who approaching him, allowing him to identify them as Niko riding his Sparrow. He was still a long distance from Tobias, but it was nothing a Sparrow couldn't cover in a few minutes.

'One of your friends is approaching.' The Traveler said to him. 'Now might be a good time for you to experiment with your stasis field.'

"Okay, so what do I do?"

'It's just like what you've been doing to fly. Now though, you're going to manipulate the Light around the individual rather than yourself.'

"So I can like, control them?" Tobias inquired.

'No, they won't become a puppet for you. But you can restrict their range of motion, or remove it entirely if that's what you wish. Just start to apply pressure on them like you would if you were trying to hold something down.' The Traveler said.

"Dang, where is he?" Niko muttered as he looked around. The coast to the north of Neo Chicago was completely barren. No signs of life at all.

His Ghost still couldn't narrow down Tobias' location for him, so he had been hoping to find something that would help him locate his teammate, but there was nothing of the sort.

"Huh, what's this?" Niko's Ghost said suddenly.

"What's up?" Niko asked in return.

"The Light, it's starting to gather around…you." His Ghost revealed, causing Niko to furrow his brow.

"What the heck does that-" Niko began before he was suddenly yanked off his Sparrow. Or rather, he was frozen in midair, as if he was still seated on his Sparrow. But the vehicle he had been riding continued forward, dipping forward due to a lack of a driver which caused it to spiral out of control after making contact with the sand. "Whoa!"

"Astounding." His Ghost exclaimed as formed, beginning to examine Niko closely. "It's as if the Light is…"

Niko's Ghost trailed off as an overwhelming energy signature was now above them. Looking up, the small drone spotted Tobias descending toward of them, shining white once again.

"I figured you had something do with whatever's going on in town." Niko said to him. He could still move his mouth and eyes, but he couldn't actually raise his head to look at Tobias directly.

"What happened back in town?" Tobias asked.

"Everyone is frozen like this." Niko's Ghost stated, causing Tobias' eyes to widen.

"For real?" He exclaimed.

"Ye-up." Niko said. "Now if you'd kindly let me start moving again, that would be much appreciated."

Feeling the pressure on his body that had held him in place suddenly vanish, Niko dropped to the sandy shore with a thud.

"You couldn't put me down nicely?" Niko asked him as he shook himself a bit, beginning to dust of the stand from his cloak.

"Sorry." Tobias said with a chuckle.

'It's best you stop calling on the Radiant Light for now Tobias. We'll continue tomorrow.' The Traveler said to him.

Taking a deep breath, Tobias found himself standing in front of the well within his mind again. The bucket he had lowered earlier was in his hands, about half empty now. Tipping it over, he emptied the contents of the bucket back into the well, feeling the power leave him.

Opening his eyes now, Tobias found himself resting on his bottom, and Niko was resting on his side. And the ground was shaking!

"What's going on?!" Niko demanded to know.

"It's an earthquake!" His Ghost declared.

The Mulligan

The Barrel

The occupants of the headquarters of the base were in a state of panic as they struggled to keep working while the room shook. None of them had ever experienced an earthquake before, and it was truly terrifying. In not for the information they had gathered beforehand, none of them would have been prepared for this.

"Commander, the strength of tremors goes way beyond the old Richter scales we pulled up from the Golden Age. This city is going to be destroyed at this rate!" One of the operators declared to Zavala who was fighting to maintain his balance on the small platform he stood on.

Despite their conditions though, Zavala was deep in thought. This couldn't be a natural occurrence. There hadn't been an earthquake in centuries; the previous scales used to measure these disasters were of no use for this one. Something or someone was definitely responsible for this.

"What about the teams that went down to investigate those tunnels? Has there been any word from them?" Zavala asked as he looked around, hoping for an immediate answer.

"We're contacting them right now Commander! One moment!"

Zavala anxiously waited as a connection was established between the headquarters and the fireteam that had journeyed below the Earth's surface earlier today.

"This is Commander Zavala, come in fireteam. What's the situation down there?" Zavala asked now that a comm line had been set up.

"This is Captain Prusa. We've got a situation down here. We're sending you a visual now." The leader of the fireteam declared. The largest monitor in the room became the focus of everyone attention as they began to see the feed from the fireteam. And just about everyone froze at the sight of this.

It was a clear image of the Earth's core, but there was a pair of black spiraling whirlpools on each side of the core, siphoning energy from it. Each of these whirlpools extended out from the core, back to a pair of large beings who floated with their hands together, as if they were praying. Eris Morn was the first to identify both of these creatures.

"The Daughters of Oryx!" She exclaimed over the comms. What had started out a private line of communication between headquarters and this fireteam, had been opened up to every Guardian present in Neo Chicago. Once the earthquake had started, all of the Guardians were assigned to aid with the emergency response units around the city, all of which were unresponsive at the moment.

"Eris, do you know what they are doing?" Zavala asked her. Her knowledge had been invaluable during the last several months, and it seemed as though this trend would continue.

"They've…transformed the chamber containing the Earth's core. It's, almost like a Throne World." Eris said as she studied what she could from the live feed. "What they're doing to the Earth's core, not even I know. But it's clear that they must be stopped, right now!"

"We've already tried that. None of our weapons or abilities are effecting them." Captain Prusa responded, getting an irritated sigh from Eris.

"They possess the Aura of Immortality like their father. There is only one person who can help you all with this." Eris stated. "You need the Hivebane, Diana Amano."

A/N

Hello everyone, long time no see. I didn't quit or anything in case you were wondering. I just had a really long case of writer's block, so I started working on another fic and became obsessed with it resulting in PotL taking a backseat for a while. I intend to start posting this other fic in the future, but for the time being I'm coming back to Destiny.

I actually really hated this chapter and it was the cause of my writer's block. I've rewritten it about four times now and this was the version I settled on. I'm still not too happy with it, but I can't sit at this point in the story any longer.

I'm just going to give you all a forewarning that my time is divided between two fics now so my already irregular updates will probably be even more inconsistent. My apologies in advance, and for those of you who put up with the pace of my updates, you have my thanks.

As always, thanks for reading everyone, and hopefully we'll meet again sooner rather than later.