Chapter 6: The Hidden Wishes

Exos didn't need sleep. Once a month, Calore-14 would need to cycle off and then on for about minute in order to clear his memory cache, but that was about it. Thus, he was the perfect volunteer to wake up everybody for their day long outing in the city.

Exos didn't technically need to blink either, but waking up with a tall blue mechanical Titan standing over and staring at you would be intimidating for anyone. He believed it was referred to as the "uncanny valley effect." So he did so periodically to make it easier on his organic friends

They also didn't need to yawn, or have hair that would require grooming, or mumble while half-asleep as Tikva seemed to do when Calore shook the hunter to try to get her to wake up.

"Alright, alright, I'm up. What's...yawn...going on?" Tikva wondered and rubbed the cruft out of her eyes after some relentless shaking.

"Today's Dakar's last day before he transfers to his new Fireteam."

"Aw, that sucks. Are we doing anything special for him?"

"We're going on a day trip to the City."

"Yes! Awesome. One day where something isn't trying to kill us for once," Tikva smiled with an energy that surprised the Exo considering how sleepy she'd seemed before.

"Alright, the place I've found is a black tie, so go to the Outfitter to find something suitable to wear and be at the shuttle to the Core in thirty minutes," Calore replied sternly.

The moment he turned away and walked out into the hallway, Tikva clasped at her chest, her breathing labored in the shadows of her room. She was lucky that she'd only mumbled while attempting to fight off the nightmares induced by yesterday's action instead of screamed, otherwise Calore would have kept her away from today's festivities. And once she found a corner of light to stand in, the threads of malevolence that still clung at her essence after barbing themselves into her heart were pushed back for now.

Never mind that, though. There was no amount of Darkness that could keep Tikva the Hunter from having fun with her friends, especially in the second brand new place she'd seen in as many days. So she drilled down deep within herself to extract pure resolve, forced herself to stand up ramrod straight for the first time, and got in her armor as she went to see Eva Levante the Outfitter in Tower North.

"Well, hello there, Hunter. To what do I owe the pleasure?" Eva asked in a smooth Eastern European accent once the young Guardian arrived at the small booth she had owned operated for at least a decade.

"What's a 'black tie affair'?" Tikva wondered as her eyes drifted around the vast selection of cloaks, armor, suits, and dresses, wondering which one might

"Ah, shore leave to the City?" This was met with a nod.

"Actually, this is good, very good. Stay right there. I have some things I want to model on you."

Tikva gulped as she leaned against a post.

Dakar was also leaning against a wall, trying his best to hide a sullen grimace as they waited for the shuttle in the Tower Bay. He appreciated Calore's effort in setting up such an elaborate itinerary (and in managing to squeeze his chassis into a suit and tie, which had earned quite the guffaws from his Fireteam comrades.)

He would've preferred to quietly have a few shots of spirit blooms with Ayiana and share war stories. But that wasn't it. As the time that he was waiting for the shuttle shrank, he couldn't help but break out into cold sweats.

This was real.

It was happening soon, whether he liked it or not.

He'd have to say goodbye to the only family he'd ever known.

Ayiana could innately sense her Awoken brother's distress as the minutes bled away, but for the first time in a long while, words failed her when it came to how to make him feel better, and the normally calm and logical Warlock couldn't figure out why.

"Oh, where is she?" Calore-14 grumbled, checking his watch.

"I can contact her Ghost if you like," Calore's Ghost whirred.

"No, let's give her a few more minutes. I'm sure she's on her way," Ayiana replied, to which Dakar gave a stressed sigh.

"We don't have a few more minutes. The shuttle has just arrived!" Calore exclaimed, then pointed at the shuttle, which was a rusted, creaking, ponderously floating ship that could have fit about two dozen.

By Calore's estimate, there were at least sixty Guardians packed into this sardine can, and almost a hundred readying themselves to charge in like. This made the Exo very nervous.

"This station is: Tower Bay. This is the Red Line shuttle to: Tower Core," the mechanical voice wheezed from the worn microphone as it came to a stop. "The next station is: District 125. Step back to allow customers to exit. When boarding, please move to the center of the car."

"Wait! Stop the shuttle!" a female Hunter desperately cried, attempting to sprint with tall black heels on, as her Ghost attempted to communicate with the shuttle driver to hold off just a little bit longer.

"Tikva, you made it!" Ayiana cried as dozens of Guardians attempted to pour into the overflowing bucket that was the shuttle. "Hurry!"

Calore used his metallic body as a battering ram to push through the crowd and give Ayiana, Dakar, and Tikva some space to try to enter.

"Stand back doors clo, clo, clo, clo, clo, closing," the automated doors stuttered as they slammed on his broad shoulders again and again, scuffing his suit until he finally squeezed himself in and pulled his three friends in with him. Him and Dakar were pushed off to one side of the car and Ayiana and Tikva went off to another side.

"Well, this is quite cozy," Tikva's Ghost chuckled as it floated up to the ceiling with the other Ghosts and rested its chassis on the metallic beam going across it where dozens of Guardians were hanging on for dear life, their arms put through the most painful test of their lives as the lucky few who were sinking into the decaying seats looked on in fear.

"Wish I could say the same thing," Tikva gasped as her arms were pinned at her sides for. "On the upside, though, I don't have to hang in order to stand up," she added with a small smile.

"True, true," Ayiana laughed into Tikva's hair as the two of them were crushed together. "Oh, by the way, in all the confusion, I didn't get a chance to say that your outfit- you look...cut, I mean cute." She said this while looking at Tikva's long, flowing black dress and thought that nice was quite the understatement.

"Thanks. I'll have to talk to the Outfitter about these high heels though. They're impossible to walk in." But then again, Tikva had only ever worn combat boots. While not comfortable, she also didn't have to balance on her toes every time she

"We're going to a nice part of town, so I don't think that'll be a problem."

"That's good. I should also thank her, though, for picking your outfit. It looks gorgeous on you!...I, I suppose anyway. I wouldn't know, I mean...yeah," Tikva blushed when she remarked about the white dress that went down to the Awoken woman's knees.

"Thanks," Ayiana beamed, Tikva forgetting how to breathe as the two women were pushed together even more. At the same time, though, when that happened a small glimpse from the windowsill of the shuttle at District 125 became visible as they were moved closer to it, alongside a holographic advertisement that said, "The Crucible. Do it now."

Tikva chuckled at Lord Shaxx's dry and direct mannerisms, then stood with her mouth agape as her eyes absorbed the entirety of the District below through a closer view than she could ever get. It was an endless sea of tin roofed shanties piled high, bisected by arterial highways towering over dirt pathways that barely resembled roads and had to accommodate thousands of centuries old cars grunting as they crawled along to their destinations. Off in the distance, she could barely see even more worn and faded signs in Russian, several stray dogs and cats begging for food alongside people wallowing in filth, and tiny, frightened eyes of children

That awe turned into worry rapidly. Her heart felt stabbed by those invisible barbs again as one of the main roads was blocked by two lines of a few hundred protestors each, each carrying signs made of soggy cardboard with slogans crudely scribbled in charcoal.

"We want food!"

"Down with the Speaker!"

"Traveler go home!"

"Dead Orbit will bring us to safety!"

"The City Police will take care of this. It's not a matter for Guardians to get involved in," Ayiana replied firmly as she knew what Tikva was thinking. She was thinking it herself.

"But why not?" Tikva asked, trying to keep herself calm. After all, weren't Guardians supposed to help keep the peace? What was the point of just doing so across the Solar System if nobody in the city saw the benefits of that peace, she wondered?

"I...don't know, really," Ayiana sighed. "But look, here they come," she said, pointing out dozens of Sparrows carrying CPD officers who attempted to. She seemed insincere in her confidence that things would turn out alright.

Tikva only responded by placing a gentle hand on Ayiana's shoulder in a feeble attempt to reassure her friend. However, Ayiana appreciated it, as evidenced by a small, closed smile.

A pall of silence fell over all the Guardians as the ship rumbled on to its appointed route unaware of the tensing of the fabric of the City below. A few minutes later, the ship arrived at the Core and Tikva's awe returned as she saw the underside of the Traveler.

She'd figured the ancient, sentient structure would be bigger up close than seeing it from the Tower, but it was incredible how much more imposing and grand it was in person. She felt just as insignificant as those small rodents she'd occasionally seen scurrying across Old Russia's steppes when compared to the towering abandoned structures they lived beneath. At the same time,

"Now arriving at station: City Core. Please watch the gap between the shuttle and the platform. Thank you for riding with CityAir, and have a good day," the ship wheezed before unceremoniously dispensing with the remaining Guardians to enjoy their shore leave and chugging away to the next station.

"We're a block away from our reservation. Let's move out," Calore said with almost grim determination.

"This looks pretty nice," Ayiana mused as she saw the Viva Romana Italian Restaurant building, which was decorated in chrome and gaudily colorful plastics with a picture of a strange, meaty sandwich with twin pieces of bread and thin slices of potatoes adorning it.

When they tried to enter, though, a short and portly man barked at them, "The end of the line is this way, chuckleheads!" Then he added under his breath, "Guardians..."

The line stretched for several blocks in the opposite direction. Calore was content to grumble to himself about this as they were jammed into yet another crowd, while Dakar stared at and occasionally kicked rocks into a small puddle near his feet.

Tikva could sense the silence descending over everyone again, and in response she piped up, "So, you guys were going to tell me about that one annoying strike you were on?"

"Oh yes, I remember we were...no, wait, Dakar, you tell it. You always tell this story better than me," Ayiana chuckled.

"OK," Dakar said sheepishly. "Well, our mission on that strike was to take down UKTAR THE MIGHTY!" he then boomed.

"For those of you who don't know UKTAR THE MIGHTY was this huge Hive Knight under the Cosmodrome with a sword as big as a ship!" he then cried as an audience of small children and their parents gathered around to see the Guardian tell his legendary tale of heroic exploits.

"After landing just outside his lair, we fought a hundred Fallen and Hive at once and defeated them all handily. Turns out the Fallen were interested found a big, dark, and spooky cave there didn't seem to be any Hive there, at least until my friend Calore found what appeared to be a dead Hallowed Thrall lying on the floor in front of him.

"Hey, there was no way I could have known," Calore grumbled.

"Suddenly, the Thrall shrieked its last and I tackled Calore before it could explode in his face. Then three dozen Wizards-"

"One dozen," Ayiana coughed. That number of Wizards was one dozen too many in her, hence her coining of the operation as "that annoying strike."

"Ahem, ONE dozen Wizards popped into view, with horrifying shrieks, and had us surrounded and were firing off lightning everywhere. We fought them and what seemed like a Finally who should crash through the wall but-"

"UKTAR THE MIGHTY!" the kids squealed in horrified delight. Tikva smiled at this. She'd only heard from the Speaker about how "the children were frightened anyway" by the stories of what evils lurked in the Darkness. But if they were afraid, they didn't show it now.

"And he clomped, and he stomped, and he ROOOOAAAARED and swung his colossal sword!" Dakar proclaimed. The kids were on the edge of their toes trying to lean in and listen in on what happened next. "And you know what we did?"

"WHAT?"

"I backed into a wall which accidentally set off my grenade! Thinking fast, brave Ayiana-" his sister giggled at this- "spun around and kicked my grenade right at him. Just as he tried to bring down his sword, ended up swallowing the grenade and then BOOM! His sword barely missed our heads and landed in a wall. UKTAR THE MIGHTY was not so mighty any more!"

"Yaaaay!"

"And that's the story of the Great Annoying Strike," Dakar said as the kids and parents in the crowd (and Tikva) gave a resounding round of applause and cheered.

"That was awesome!" Tikva cried as everyone else began to dissipate.

"I suppose it was..." Calore mumbled. "After you saved my life," he then grinned.

"Hey everybody," the manager cried as he realized that he could keep the crowd that had been drawn in. "We have a legendary discount on every item on the menu, in honor of the heroic Guardians!"

Then he whispered to Ayiana, "Oh, and you guys go on ahead. A table just opened up."

"You should tell stories of your bravery more often," the Warlock teased her brother as a few people grumbled when the Guardians cut the line.

"Yeah, yeah, sure," Dakar grinned.

Tikva soon regaled him with a seemingly endless barrage of questions about their past war stories, and Dakar realized as he spun even more yarns of his and his team's near misses, epic sniper kills from a thousand yards away, that maybe this outing wasn't going out with Ayiana for drinks, but this wasn't so bad.

Even the new girl wasn't AS annoying as he'd thought at first. And at least her wide eyed curiosity kept him from thinking about all the anger and sadness and despair. For a moment, he got to pretend for this one eager new audience member that he had actually made a difference. And she also felt more included as a result...

Soon, all stories came to a close when the menu was brought forward.

"Oh, this Italian fried chicken looks really good," Ayiana smiled.

"Or how about the really authentic Italian cheeseburger with ketchup? Ooh, tempting," Dakar grinned as well.

"I've never tried anything spicy before- the Italian ribs with spicy barbecue sauce look really delicious," Tikva added.

"Now THIS is the kind of new thing you should be trying," Tikva's Ghost chirped at her.

"Ha. Ha," Tikva replied dryly while also chuckling silently to herself.

"Just don't be surprised if it comes back to bite you later," came the teasing voice of Dakar's Ghost.

"It was one time, guys," Dakar blushed at his Ghost. "And I'm sure she'll be fine. I'm pretty sure the problem was that it wasn't properly prepared, not just that it was spicy."

"Well, I can't fault them for the decor. It looks very...Italian," Ayiana said sarcastically as the chassis of a dead Minotaur hung over the table, which was bathed, like the rest of the place, in garish yellow light

"Hello my name is...um, AHEM, and I'll be taking care of you today," said a blue armored Exo woman.

"Good to meet you, Umahem," Calore said as he suddenly found himself caught up in her gaze and tried not to stare.

"I'm ready if you want to take my order," Tikva said, and everybody else nodded.

"Um...hrm...I'll just have a can of oil if you please, Ahem," Calore said after the rest of the Guardians ordered their organic food. "My throat seems to be a little dry."

Ten minutes later, the Exo woman returned with their food. While everybody else found it amazing that their food was ready so quickly, he admired how graceful she looked while carrying three plates of food- one on each arm and one on her head.

"Oh, yes! Thank you," Dakar said. But before he could dig in, she took her robotic arm, chopped the burger in half, and took one of the halves

"Wait, what's going on?"

"This is I was told I would get a whole, authentic Italian cheeseburger for 40 glimmer," Dakar said.

"Normally it would be 80 glimmer for the burger," the server glowered at him.

"But like I said, it's a half a burger. And-" he said, lifting off the bun- "it has no condiments on it. I wasn't told that would be the case when I ordered this item," Dakar grumbled.

Tikva had half the barbecue ribs she'd been promised and no sauce, and Ayiana's chicken wasn't even fried. Plus Calore complained that the oil was really greasy.

"You can all get the rest back if you drink a verification can made of real Italian energy drink for another 40 glimmer," the waitress replied. Then she shoved the blood red concoction in his face and he coughed.

"That means I'd basically get no discount and I'd have re-buy something I already paid for," Dakar said.

"I could pull up a picture of the rest of the burger and you would throw money at the screen."

"And why do you say that?"

"We're a fine dining establishment that prides ourself on top notch food and decor."

Dakar scoffed as he looked around the dark place full of confused, angry, and noisy customers and Minotaur corpses. The rest of them were fuming at all this.

"You could drink it, wait for three hours to order the rest of the food, or leave."

"Why?"

"Just drink the verification can!"

"Can I please talk to the manager about this?"

"No."

"Why in the world can't I-?"

"I have no time to explain why I have no time to explain."

"But you could have just explained why that was the case in the time it took you to say that!"

"Undercover mission or no, this isn't worth it! Goodbye!" the waitress muttered under her breath as she disappeared into thin air.

"Let's leave," Calore grumbled. "Sorry about that. Looks like my sources were wrong."

"Psst...over here, Guardians. Sorry the restaurant wasn't that great," a Frame said to them as they left the restaurant. They approached it cautiously, as normally Frames weren't found outside the city. "There's a great place you can go to for 20 glimmer. Follow me."

Skeptical and readying their supers if this turned out to be a trap, the Guardians followed the Frame.

"Here we are," it smiled when they arrived outside the place, as much as Frames without movable mouths could smile. "That will be 20 glimmer, please."

Calore sighed as he and everybody else handed over the money, hoping against hope that maybe he wouldn't be screwed.

"Welcome to The Wish Dragon."

"Wish Dragon? What are you on about?" Calore wondered.

"Tell your deepest desires to the Wish Dragon, and he will make them come true," the Frame said.

"You're crazy," Tikva laughed.

"That's saying something coming from you," Ayiana teased.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Tikva teased back.

"Oh, nothing...you silly person," Ayiana smirked and elbowed her friend in the arm.

"When have I ever- never mind," Tikva laughed uncontrollably now as she remembered all the times she'd been a little bit nutty.

"Well, if you're done horsing around, what should we do about this?" Calore wondered.

"Well, it doesn't hurt to try it out, right?" Dakar wondered. "

"And," Tikva pointed out, "if it turns out they're lying, we can arrest them."

"No, we actually can't. The City Police are the law around here, remember? We should call them if we find anything suspicious."

"Makes sense," Tikva nodded with a sigh.

Calore shrugged, hoping he wouldn't regret this. But this day couldn't get much worse after the beautiful Umahem had simply up and disappeared.

"Right- Exos first," Dakar chuckled.

"Come in, oh traveler mine, and give to me your most buried dreams," a voice rumbled from deep within the completely dark building.

"Who are you?"

"I am the Wish Dragon. That is all you need know."

Calore grumbled as he attempted to figure out how the convincingly reptilian voice could be manipulated by human devices.

"So..." Then he paused.

"So. You are a man of few words, it would appear."

Calore-14 started to correct him, but then thought better of it.

"Something is...off about this place," Calore's Ghost, normally analytical and exacting, trembled. "I can feel

"I wish that I could have the power to protect everyone on my squad," Calore said in his mind in a brief moment of vulnerability. "I don't know long I can continue to do that for."

"I will help you fill the world with strength."

"Hey! How did you...?" There was no logical way that it could have known what he was thinking. Unless

"But in doing, you will be forced to make a choice that you will always regret."

The Exo's processes froze for a second.

"I agree," Calore said firmly to his Ghost, without showing whoever- or whatever- was in there that he had been rattled in the slightest. "Let's get out of here."

"Come in, oh traveler mine, and give to me your most buried dreams," the Wish Dragon next told Dakar.

"So how does this work? Do I just say I wish..." the Hunter wondered.

"No, you cannot wish for more wishes. But yes, that's the general formatting of a wish, oh traveler mine."

"Then, then I wish that I can still see my old Fireteam when I get transferred to my new one,

"How very straightforward of you," the rumbling, ancient intonations replied. "I will help you fill the world with camaraderie."

"I've read stories of genies and Rumpelstiltskin that survived the Collapse, and there's no way that you can twist this wish using double meanings or fine print or anything like that."

"No, you're right. There's no way I can 'twist' your desires, as you say."

"Well, that was a waste of 20 glimmer."

"But as for you...we shall see..." the Ahamkara laughed as the Awoken man left and it chafed against its chains, waiting for the next wisher to slip up.

"Come in, oh traveler mine, and give to me your most buried dreams."

No sooner had Ayiana entered then the edges of her vision started to turn black, and she knelt to the ground, her lungs burning up from the inside.

There were also insistent voices that called out to her, "REALITY IS DELICIOUS!"

"I wish, I wish to know how to cross the Void, to uncover its secrets," she boldly proclaimed as she stood up, leaning against the wall while feeling like the whole world was leaning back on her.

"I will help you fill the world with knowledge. But be careful of pouring the ocean in a cup."

"Guardian, are you alright?" her Ghost wondered.

"I just need some air," Ayiana coughed. She held her head for a little bit to stop the world from spinning, pushed the dust out of her hair, and then attempted to compose herself and slowly stumbled outside.

Tikva had immediately become nervous when she saw Ayiana look very pale. She rushed to her friend's side and held her shaking form. The Warlock had insisted to her that she had encountered some sort of allergen- pollen or something like that? In any case, Tikva was skeptical, but curiosity led her to get her 20 glimmer's worth and step inside, her Golden Gun at the ready.

The darkness inside the building reminded her of the stench, of the screams, of the fear that had almost consumed her on the Moon. But she had to be brave. She'd come this far, and she would never, ever even entertain the thought of running again. Especially not for something as simple and probably fake as a talking dragon.

"Come in, oh traveler mine, and give to me your most buried dreams," something hissed at her.

"I- I have no dreams," Tikva stammered helplessly.

"Come now, surely you do. All of the race of humanity have wishes. It is what makes you human," this strange Wish Dragon chuckled.

"Well, I had wished to hear a talking dragon. Wish granted," Tikva said, fortifying herself with sarcasm as she clenched her fists, searching for whatever this thing that had clearly hurt Ayiana was, and where it might be hiding.

"How clever. But I am not talking about that kind of wish."

"I wish that all those children, all those people in the city can have food and support from the City. Otherwise, what's the point of this war? If everyone becomes miserable, then life can't be anything more than despair for them. If that's the case, hasn't the Darkness already won?"

"Not even that kind of wish. Something deeper lurks within you. I cannot help you, traveler, if you will not give me anything to grant."

"Maybe I don't want your help," Tikva said as the very folds of her grey matter gave off warning signals that something intangible was poking and prodding her subconscious.

She took a deep breath and said, "How could I wish for anything? I was dead and alone for centuries. Then I was found, brought into the Light. I now have helped make a difference in this war against the Darkness. I have people who care about me, who I would do anything for."

"Then why don't you leave?" the Wish Dragon purred, sensing there was something missing in her words that his telepathic magic began to dredge around for.

"I- I..." Tikva squeaked and began to cry as her mind's defenses buckled.

"Guardian, are you there?" Tikva's Ghost whirred worriedly as she stood in place. Even the tiny robot that had been bonded to her very soul could not figure out what was going with her psyche right now.

"Hmmm...what have we here?" the Ahamkara grinned. With a flick of its centuries old, wormy tongue it fished her thoughts to the surface. "I will help you fill the world with-"

Tikva was filled with warmth when she remembered Ayiana helping her out of the muck she'd put herself in. A warmth that she couldn't describe, but was mixed with pure joy. She blushed as some part of her, consciously or no, realized what he had found, and then snapped.

She pulled out her Golden Gun with a fiery crackle, pointed it at whoever this was, and demanded, "Alright, what's the big idea here?!"

"Put that away!" the colossal dragon, its face covered with scars and toughened white scales, roared at her.

"Get out of my head!" Tikva yelled and then shot the monster in the eyes with three bullets made of pure Light.

"You'll pay for this!" the dragon yowled in pain before

"Get out of here! It's-" Tikva cried. Then the ramshackle building exploded around her as rusted chains fell out of the sky.

"Oh dear. Master Tenri will not be pleased with this at all," the Frame said just before it was picked up with

"Hear me now, trespassers upon our domain!" the blinded Ahamkara shouted while circling in midair. "You thought my kind was destroyed in your Great Hunt, but we will hide in the shadows no longer. You thought you could seek your vengeance upon us, but I will show you REVEEEENGE!"

"GAAAAHHHH!" Ayiana yelped as her gaze was drawn irrevocably into its golden eyes, her own turning into purple flame and her hands doing the same thing before, without any warning, a Nova Bomb was flung by her into several parked cars nearby as she fell over, causing civilians nearby to run in terror from the Guardian.

The rest of the Guardians and the City Police opened fire on the dragon, but their gunfire merely bounced off its shell. A glowing ball of fire from within its belly portended a horrifying counterattack, but when some Guardian ships blasted it, it beat a hasty retreat and dissolved into blue light within seconds.

"It's okay, sweetheart," Tikva cooed as she sat next to Ayiana. "You'll be alright. I'm gonna get you out of here, and we're going to get you some help." In truth, though, she was just as terrified as the hyperventilating Awoken woman she called her closest friend was.

"You're all under arrest for disturbing the peace!" was the last thing that the Guardians heard before they were tasered and knocked out by batons, then dragged away.

Come in, oh reader mine, and give to me your most buried reviews. I will help you fill the world with chapters.

Hey guys! Sorry about the two week delay between chapters. I had a family event and some friends to see, the train to and from work has become congested lately, and what little free time I had got sucked up by playing Destiny with my friends (got to level 34 yesterday- man, the level 34 arena is so annoying!) All that combined to create some serious writer's block.

I soon found some inspiration from the ridiculous way Bungie has handled The Taken King's pricing (as you can clearly tell- not sure how I could have been any more subtle :P) and plan to have another, more plot related chapter up just before July 4th weekend. Happy holidays, Guardians! :)

Also, look up the Ahamkara and the Great Hunt. Yes, there are dragons hidden in Destiny's lore. I found a couple Grimoire cards that I can't remember off the top of my head. Then I looked up the rest on the wiki... ;)