I. MADRIGAL
"She came in upon a storm and a sea of stars."
"Promise you won't forget about me," there was a soft voice humming distantly against the whir of the ship, it was sad to hear against the mechanical drone. "promise me that you won't forget."
Beneath closed lids eyes stirred with the running images of a dream. They were hazy, a blur that brought the smell of rust, and as the Titaness chased after flickering memories her heart raced. Her blood heated up the walls of her flesh and her breathing became heavier, deeper. Sometimes these thoughts would come to her in a way that forgotten specters would come to an old haunt to revisit past pains. The chill was ever-present and it made for a deep ache in both her heart and soul. That way they could never be forgotten, never be let go of, to be forevermore until the end of time.
To Madrigal these images would be forever, even if sometimes her memory began to fail her. Lately the lovely thing of soft blue was beginning to forget certain things that left her reeling for particular places or people that she couldn't remember wanting in the first place. She had indulged her worries to none but had learned of such things occurring to other Guardians from her passings at the tower. It was peculiar that there was no recollection of the speaker but the words were crystal clear.
"Sometimes when your Light weakens you begin to lose yourself to the Darkness that once held you." It was a crystal clear day that day, the sun was bright and it reflected the light with a golden warmth. "It's what keeps us as Guardians. It's a forever thing otherwise everyone would choose to freely walk away if they have been given multiple chances to live."
All Guardians have died at least once and it is the somber truth that connects them all. It was a disheartening thing to some but at the same time it made others strong. They were like the fire birds of legend, they die and are reborn in the Light of their Traveler. To know death and the darkness it beholds, to know what exactly it is that they are keeping at bay and to strive to put an end to it, that's what truly made them Guardians. And though Riga knew very well of this truth she couldn't help but to stray from her calling more frequently than she had cared to admit resulting in some negative neurological effects. Riga, as much as she hated to acknowledge it, followed her heart a little too often.
Suddenly the Titan's eyes opened and she stared into the vastness of space from her chair in the cockpit of her ship. There was a flicker of pure starlight as the pretty creature's eyes moved to the side, the soft ringing of the voice fading with the dream as she caught sight of her Ghost.
"We are reaching the Reef! Hopefully you slept well, my Guardian?" her Little Light mused from off to the side as she had suddenly fully appeared before the Titan. The Ghost was programmed to be happy, helpful, to keep much of the silence at bay when they had been off fighting the good fight. Her Little Light bobbed around the Titan's head in a way that a young child gets excited over being acknowledged and useful. Madrigal smiled with a deep furrow of her brow though, pleased but unwilling to show it. Instead her Ghost bobbed once more to acknowledge her keeper.
"Ghost, play memory sixty-five, please." Riga had said softly while taking control of the ship as her companion complied happily to her Guardian's request.
"Playing memory sixty-five!" As the ship drifted toward the endless sea of purple that was the Reef, Madrigal stared into the heliotrope void grimly. Her Ghost floated and skittered from the woman's sight as noises began to emanate from the curious little thing like one of the old music machines that were all the rage during the Golden Age. "Sometimes I don't understand why she does what she does," the voice murmured from all around her with a bittersweet mechanical buzz. "Does she not realize that I'm risking everything to make sure that she's ok?"
As the ship glided through the riptide of broken and long forgotten vessels Madrigal closed her eyes for but a moment to make her memory live once more. With the drone of the voice the sweet smell of wild daisies roared into her mind while her heart pounded to the thought of an accompanying rainstorm. Memory sixty-five was one of the woman's most fond in spite of the pretense of underlying sadness. It was a good day that day, one of her best to date, and she would always recall it hastily before running head first into danger. One last good thought before something potentially terrible, of course. It's how the Titan made sure she remembered what she was fighting for.
"I guess ultimately I will always care about her even if I don't know why I do anymore. But... that's how it is to be, I suppose." Then just like that it ended and the creature born of pure starlight reopened her eyes to the sight of the large docking bay. With the recent uprising of the Fallen her Queen had ordered all of the visiting Guardians to report to a woman named Petra at the Vestian Outpost. Most of the Reef-born awoken were cautious if not critical to the light-bearers as if they were something harmful or dangerous. They acted hostile and at best most Guardians were to be dealt with with extreme mistrust. For creatures that had lingered so close to the edge of darkness it would have been something to assume that they were most welcome to the light but like all things that fester in shadow, they refused to stay with the Traveler's keepers for long. Instead they stuffed them in one area to make sure that they knew their place regardless of all efforts in proposed help.
The little Ghost had phased Madrigal onto the steel surface of the outpost then, her boots meeting the rough floor with a hard fall after a soft pause. The smell in the air reminded her of something fetid that had been thrown into a steel grave to rot further. It was old, melancholic almost, and from the dreary haze of purple it made Riga a little on edge. Sometimes the creature of soft violet would forget of her inner-light and even at times completely disregard it but in instances where she was to be thrown at the mercy of the darkness, well, it was a quick reminder of what grace she needed in her life to function properly. It was very unsettling to say in the least especially considering her last visit wasn't that long ago.
Still the Titan shook off the trembling sensation that wracked her soul and set herself to work. It was time to find out what exactly the Wolves had done and to see if her sister was all right considering the recent uprising was a bloody matter. To the left the Titan had spotted a curious but lovely woman who was seeing to a few others at hand and it was in this instant that the Titan knew where to go. Quickly with a proud step she walked, challenged by only a few stares that had eagerly been disregarded. Most didn't wish to tumble with a creature who harbored a perpetual scowl like a vulture that anxiously awaited the death of it's prey. Madrigal was very solemn to put it lightly and made a mountain look gifted in the art of expression.
Yet as Madrigal neared the pretty thing it became obvious that this woman dressed in the Queen's guard uniform was missing an eye yet chipper in a way that made Riga slightly cautious. There were only few things that made the Titan second-guess herself and generally that was pretty, lovely women and empty guns. Both were quick ways to death and most of the time Madrigal strove to steer clear of such things. Unfortunately as both a Guardian and living thing with desires, it was hard to. Especially when they looked this good and you'd want to go to battle for them in a heartbeat. But then they met eyes and Riga knew her time was up.
"Guardian!" as the first word slipped through pretty lips, Madrigal stood to attention and nodded her head confidently in an acknowledging way toward the woman who Madrigal assumed to be Petra. There was a glint in the creature's singular eye that made the Titaness curious but questionable. She had seen looks like this before and she knew she'd gotten herself into a world of trouble. It was only ever more apparent from the smile that lingered upon the guard's lips.
"I assume that you are Petra Venj?" Madrigal asked then before too much time slipped by.
"The one and only!" the woman replied with an even larger grin. "And is it safe to assume that you are here to hunt Wolves?"
Softly Madrigal hesitated with the sudden thought of her sister. She wouldn't have been here if it weren't for Mira's need to whimsically follow whatever it is that suddenly popped up. There was a grimace that followed after the pause, it made Petra study her further. "Actually, I've come to make sure someone is still here." Riga replied then. "Do you know of Mirala Valdis?"
It was Petra's time to pause then followed by a look that twisted Madrigal's insides up. Looks like these were never good and if by chance Mirala had been dead...
"I'm sorry, but have you not been told?" Petra began then which solidified the Titan's aching stomach. "There had been reports of her running off with the Wolves when they had fled. The Queen was displeased to hear of such things as there were quite a number who did. There's a bounty on Mirala now, Prince Uldren had placed it upon her himself."
The words made Madrigal clench her fists as she stared Petra in the eye.
Now, where Madrigal would have fallen to pieces over this it became evident that the Titan was fuming. Her sister, her own little sister, ran off with the House of Wolves? Madrigal didn't wish to believe it, couldn't really, but even as doubt rapped against the walls of her heart the Titan couldn't help but to think of how typical this was of Mirala. Riga would have rather heard of her death than this but even then it wouldn't have been different. This same feeling would have lingered and this same feeling would have been there. It made her angry all the same and now she wanted nothing more than to find answers.
"What do you mean she ran off with the Wolves? Wouldn't they have killed her, not let her join in their ranks?" The Titan asked causing a most curious look from the pretty Awoken. There were others that had lingered off to the side, both Guardian and Awoken alike, and as Riga raised her voice it gained them onlookers.
"Prince Uldren said he had seen her speaking to them before the uprising, he said that she was bargaining with them. She had always been a Wolf sympathizer to begin with, I had seen so myself while in Court. Whether or not the Wolves let her join, well, she's with them now and it calls for all the same justice for slain sisters."
Hearing the words made Madrigal even more furious. Her sister had been branded a traitor for a trait that had always gotten her into trouble; kindness. And though Madrigal would have eagerly enjoyed setting the records straight now was not the right time nor place. Instead she quickly sought to righting this wrong as quick as possible by going to the root of the problem.
"Where are the Wolves now?" Madrigal had asked curtly which provoked the Awoken woman to turn to a little hologram map.
"They were last spotted heading for Venus. They are looking for something there and I'd suggest for you to go quickly if you wish to collect the bounty. There are many who wish to reap the Queen's riches in exchange for blood. And the bounty upon your sister is high, considering." Again, Madrigal politely ignored the woman and instead turned away to fix all of this. Her hands began to grow sweaty from all the clenching that had ensued from the conversation and Riga was eager to head away from this cesspool that had been her home once. She hated the Reef and would die hating the Reef.
It was time to go get her sister back and to make sure this wouldn't happen again.
Then she'd kill the Prince regardless of her love for the Queen and that was a promise.