In my initial draft back in November last year I had planned for the Fallen to rebel. Imagine my disappointment when I heard what the DLC for House of Wolves centred around. My own fault for not posting quick enough I suppose!
Chapter 7
Dark hair, dark dress. Dark hair, dark dress. Dark hair, dark dress. Dark hair, dark dress. Dark hair, dark dress.
Feeling like her head was spinning; Elissa steadied herself against a bench overlooking the sea and breathed in sharply.
"Are you okay Jane?"
Head snapping up automatically, Elissa paused to examine the face of the woman in front of her. Dark brown hair slipping past shoulders with clear blue eyes and eyebrows furrowed in concern. Rosy lips parted. Elissa doesn't know why but a tear begins to slide down her cheek, prompting the mystery woman to open her arms.
"Come here love."
Acting like a puppet on strings, Elissa feels her limbs respond. She tries to speak but nothing comes out.
Just as she moves into the embrace, the woman fades into ash. She is briefly silhouetted by dust before it collapses into a heap. Elissa feels her knees weaken as she collapses, eyes stinging from tears and soot.
"Chloe..."
Mara knew she was intimidating. Revelled in it even. The ability to inspire fear in allies and rivals alike was important to ruling any people, but especially the Awoken. Sugar coated words only worked for so long. Gaining power was difficult, holding on to it was even more so. Every action scrutinised, every decision dissected, every outcome debated. If they could sense weakness then inevitably they would also sense an opportunity.
Standing in front of the glass window to the emergency room, the Queen settled her stare onto the Awoken male in front of her and waited.
"Your Grace, I-ah, don't know what to say" The skittish doctor continued, wringing his hands "It's still touch and go for her. We've been hampered by her different physiology but humans do share similar organs with our species. Guardian Elissa's abdomen was punctuated causing serious internal bleeding requiring emergency surgery. We've managed to stop the internal bleeding for now and minimised the chances of infection but..."
Folding her arms impatiently, Mara gestured at the man to continue. "But?..."
"We've had to medically induce a coma." The doctor responded, shifting slightly in place. At the Queen's narrowing eyes, he subconsciously took a step back to explain "Her abilities were becoming increasingly unstable Your Grace. She destroyed some of our equipment and a nurse was injured attempting to restrain her, so it was decided that it was best if she be put under until her control returns."
"Can you not wake her up now the surgery has been completed?" Mara asked, feeling her patience slip.
"I'm sorry Your Grace but she's not responding."
Suddenly grabbing the man, Mara slammed him into the window and pointed at the scene in front of her. "Does that look like she's not responding?" Her voice raising.
Elissa looked like she dying. Covered in bandages and writhing on her bed, her hair wild as she continued to struggle and whimper in whatever nightmare she was trapped in.
"Your G-Grace..." The doctor wheezed.
"Sister..." Uldren whispered, placing a hand on her shoulder.
Sighing internally at her loss of control, she released the grateful doctor from her grasp but continued to stare at the woman who had saved her, now strapped to a medical bed twisting and turning.
"Her brain waves are off the charts Your Grace." The doctor continued. He was brave, she could acknowledge that. "It's possible she will recover consciousness, but she need to be closely monitored."
Mara nodded once before turning back to the man. "Do whatever you can. If you succeed in reviving her, it will not be forgotten."
The doctor bowed hastily before departing. Mara watched him go and in any other scenario would have smiled. Fear alone wasn't enough to demand loyalty; often the mere hint of reward can lead to most pledging themselves to her service.
Uldren placed himself next to her, arms folded and face impassive. "We need to chair an emergency meeting with the nobles. Show them that you are still alive and in control."
Mara hummed in agreement but didn't move.
"Sister. She hasn't expired yet, and I doubt that will change in the minutes we waste here."
Shaking herself from her stupor, Mara turned away from the window and strode down the hallway, Uldren closely in tow. She couldn't stop the same recurring question in her mind though.
Where is her Ghost?
Feeling the world shift around her, Elissa closed her eyes as images flashed through her mind. Memories of waking in the Cosmodrome, meeting her strike team, battling enemies of the darkness; all muddled. She felt herself falling backwards, deeper into her mind, before the whirlwind slowed down and allowed her to catch her breath.
She was... in a dining room?
Glancing round in confusion, Elissa eyes settled on the domestic bliss right in front of her. Chloe was sat at a cosy candlelit wooden table, food on two plates sat opposite each other. Feeling awkward and out of place in armour, Elissa pulled out the chair and sat down, slightly embarrassed as the chair creaked under her weight. Any words she might have attempted were lost, as Chloe leaned forward and begin to pick up the dried food, and placed it between Elissa's lips.
"I know how tired you've been Jane." Chloe murmured, cupping the Guardian's face.
Feeling a weight drop to the bottom of her stomach, the Warlock felt strangely wistful. "Why do you keep calling me that?"
Withdrawing her hands, Chloe leaned back to look Elissa straight in the eyes, face downcast. "It was your name once."
"Am I dead?" Elissa asked calmly.
"No." Chloe responded, shaking her head once. "You need to go back. I know you are not eager to return. All the fighting, death and despair. It doesn't have to be this way."
Elissa had never confronted these thoughts before, and had instead built a wall around herself to ever stop them from leaking out. But as the words tumbled from Chloe's lips, she felt all the walls begin to crash down.
"I... never wanted this." Elissa whispered, tears beginning to form.
Grasping the Warlock's hand tightly, Chloe leaned forward. "I know darling. But you were chosen because no one else could. But you have the ability to decide your own destiny now. You have more options than you realise." Letting go of Elissa's hand, Chloe placed her hands on either side of the Guardian's face again, the gesture so familiar it ached. "You can be happy."
"How?" Elissa asked. "I will be a Guardian for the rest of my life. I'll fight and fight and fight, until the one moment that I am too slow, and the darkness consumes me."
Leaning in so their foreheads touched, Chloe brushed a strand of hair out of Elissa's eyes. "Guardians are not slaves. They are people, no different from those that they protect. If you wish an end to the conflict, you only need to step away. You have earned your peace." Sensing Elissa's doubt, Chloe kissed her softly above her eyebrow. "You can be happy." She repeated.
Elissa felt hope take hold in her breast as she broke down, hands clasping Chloe's as if her life depended on it. "Thank you..."
The two sat in silence for what felt like hours, until eventually Chloe pulled away. "It's your time to depart, Guardian Elissa." Circling the table, the dark haired woman pulled up the red head. "You may feel trapped, but remember; a Warlock is never disarmed." Elissa tilted her head, a silent question.
"Find your centre. Escape this place, you know what to do."
As Chloe turned to leave, Elissa grabbed her hand. "Wait. What were you to me?"
Chloe smiled sadly. "Would knowing make things easier Guardian?" At Elissa's pleading eyes, she sighed and continued. "The time I spent with you was the most special of my life, and we shared everything. But that time is over now, we both need to find happiness."
At that, another woman entered the room and stood next to Chloe. Elissa felt her knees begin to shake as a woman wearing her face stood opposite. Red hair and green eyes, her body more rounded than Elissa and there were no scars marking her, but it was her, she knew it.
Chloe smiled brilliantly at Jane before leaning forward to kiss Elissa on the cheek. "Be safe Elissa." And with that, Chloe and Jane left the room, leaving the Warlock standing alone. Conflicting emotions raced through her as she processed what she had learned. Fulfillment at knowing some of her past mixed with a nostalgic longing struggled to demand Elissa's full attention, before the Guardian decided to take the knowledge as a blessing. No matter how painful, it was always better to know.
Kneeling down, Elissa settled into the familiar act of mediation and began to empty her mind. She was vaguely aware of the room around her beginning to fade away. After what felt like an eternity, the Warlock found her centre. Breathing slowly, Elissa felt herself open up. She didn't know if any of what just happened what real or simply a figment of her imagination. In the end, it did not matter. She was in control of her destiny.
"Finally!" A relieved voice broke through her concentration, causing her to fly to her feet in surprise. A very pleased looking Ghost floating in front of her. "I thought you would never let me in. Let's get you back on your feet."
It was a surreal experience listening to Ghost talk while standing in a white room with no floor or ceiling. Slowly warmth began to creep up her limbs, as if standing next to a fire after being frozen cold. The warmth didn't stop at her arms and legs though, as the heat began to enter her torso. Dimly Elissa was aware of her stomach slowly knitting together.
"Oh I almost forgot! You may have some excess energy built up after all this time being unconscious. You may explode when you wake up."
Jerking her head in Ghost's direction as he floated around her, Elissa looked at him incredulously. "What?"
"Don't worry Guardian; I've made sure no one will in the blast radius when it happens." Ghost informed her cheerfully.
The heat became too much, burning through Elissa and becoming more painful every passing second. Opening her mouth to scream, the Warlock felt herself being thrown before landing with a thump. Fire raged across her body as she was lifted up, incinerating everything in the room as she burned brightly. Stepping slowly from the tattered remains of the bed, Elissa slowed her racing heart and concentrated on getting the torrent of fire under control. Feeling her power creep back into her, the Warlock opened them again to see a dozen people staring at her wide eyed through the glass panel on other side of the room.
"Oh, hi."
Mara had seen a lot of things in her time as Queen of the Reef, but this was new. She watched in awe as Guardian Elissa levitated, wings of fire forming as she stepped onto the floor. Her sharp green eyes replaced by a burning light. She looked like a warrior Goddess, and Mara felt something stir within her as she watched.
The affect was somewhat dampened when the Guardian sheepishly rubbed the back of her neck before stammering a simple greeting, but Mara knew she was smiling anyway. It fought to dominate her face, but the Queen managed to battle back and only concede the corner of her lips rising slightly.
Moving away to return to her throne room, Mara asked one of her guard to stay and direct the Guardian to her when ready. Snapping off a smart salute, the guard stayed behind as the Queen left the hospital. The relief of Elissa's awakening had been sorely needed. After a week of meetings with the nobility, she was close to snapping.
Her control was slipping. Instead of annihilating the Fallen as some had demanded after she had led the Awoken to victory in the Reef Wars, she had attempted to collar them, trusting in her own ability to command. But it had horribly backfired. Skolas had escaped confinement somehow and rallied his people to stage a coup. With thousands of warriors and civilians alike dead, the noble families were rounding on her, denouncing her decision making. Her political rivals banded together while her allies stayed silent, too timid to stand for their Queen.
Mara's lips curled in disgust. She would survive, as she had always done. And then there would be a reckoning. Every word would be remembered and revisited. Those that were too cowardly to side with her would not escape her wrath either.
Guardian Elissa though- she had performed above and beyond her duty, and had proven herself as a sole ray of light in a troubled time. Settling back onto her throne, Mara half listened as her brother listed the houses that were likely to move against her should concessions not be made and Civil War instigated.
Fools. Mara Sov bows to no one.
AN: Short chapter. Sorry about that, but it needed to be written.