Chapter 3: Dark Choices

Skylar had done a lot in the last five years she'd been alive. She'd traveled through frayed timelines and distorted realities. She'd helped kill gods and stop pledges. She'd seen the City fall and rise again. Seeing Uldren get eaten by a corrupted Servitor with ghostly tentacles… that was a new one, and maybe just a little satisfying. She'd hoped that after Crota she'd never have to set foot back in a Throneworld, but now she had done so twice in under a week. Her nerves were becoming ragged at the ends - the Ace of Spades heavy in her hand as she picked it up from the ground.

It was beaten to hell, a grim reminder of its master's final moments, and her current state.

Everything ached, her body shivering slightly from the battle with whatever that thing had been. It summoned Taken, and she knew enough to know that wasn't good. It was something to take note of for later. The prince groaned behind her and Skylar felt her spine stiffen as she turned on her heels to face him, whatever wonder she'd had over the last few events – even meeting bloody Toland the Shattered as a little ball of light – was gone instantly. Her eyes fixed on him as he pushed to a sitting position and met her stare. His face was contorted in frustration and defeat, a distressing look someone only got when everything blew up in their face.

He would have been better off if the thing really had eaten him.

Her foot splashed in Taken residue as she closed the distance and Sterling removed her helmet, storing it away without having to be asked. Her hand was up, gun pointed at him before she even realized it. Uldren blinked at her and then let out a long, tired sigh.

"So, this is to be how it ends?" he murmured. "After everything I did, I stare at you: a so-called hero?" he huffed, leaning back on his hands. Skylar scowled at him, eyes narrowing, and hand gripping tighter on the gun, the chilling power of her Light ripping up her vanes. Purple lightning sparking over her hands, dancing across the gun in a nearly caressing way.

"That's all you have to say?" she whispered venomously, hardly taking note of Petra as she stepped into the light of the room, her own gun raised for support. "After everything you did-"

"What I did," he snarled out, cutting her off. "I did for love, for family, for my sister." He'd been calling out to his sister when he'd been trapped in that monster. It appeared Petra's theories had been right. The Awoken woman took a step closer, her remaining eye steely.

"She isn't here, Uldren. She never was." There was a tinge of pity in her voice at seeing the man she'd know having fallen so far. Skylar flicked her attention back to the prince, considering his words for a moment. Sterling hovered near her, waiting and spinning his pieces in worry.

"Then we have an understanding," she said finally; drawing his attention, surprise flickering on his face. "I'm doing this for my family, too... for love." For the man she'd been forced to watch die in front of her. Uldren stared at her for a long moment before a humorless chuckle came out of him and he shook his head.

"So, what I'd heard was true: the Hunter Vanguard and the Phantom – together." He rolled his shoulders, somehow more at ease with his revelation. "I suppose you're justified in your own right, but it changes nothing – I did what I had to." His words – still so righteous - felt wrong on her ears, felt like slander. She had thought it would send her spiraling into rage, but the cold in her veins seemed bone-deep and a sense of calm ran across her mind. She didn't really hear what he said to Petra or her words back.

"Then I must do what I have to," Skylar agreed quietly, ending the two Awokens' exchange, and pulled the hammer back on The Ace of Spades. Sterling made a hasty chirping sound.

"Guardian… Skylar – maybe this is wrong. It doesn't feel quite right. I'm not sure Cayde would want this…" he trailed off, his pieces moving in an agitated way. He was right; this hadn't been what Skylar had expected. She'd come to kill a raving, crazed Awoken who'd killed for his own sadistic reasons. What she'd found was a broken but devoted brother willing to do whatever it took to get his only family back and had still lost. For the first time, her gun lowered slightly, hesitating.

Would she have done any different?

"Yes, what would the famed Cayde-6 do?" The prince mused hotly; giving a nearly delirious laugh that had Skylar tensing all over again. He eyed her, amused. "You would know – wouldn't you, hero? But do you know where you stand – the line between Darkness and Light is so very thin." It was insane, but also somehow true. Skylar had walked such a line just as every Guardian did and had heard of those who chose one or the other. Dredgen Yor. Shin Malphur. Toland the Shattered. Osiris. They'd all done what they thought they had to, whether it was right or wrong – it had been right to them. Was there really any difference? Too many answers, too many ideals and people's own take on that question. Too many to ever try and understand, yet only one really mattered.

This probably wasn't what Cayde would have wanted in the end. He wasn't one to kill people already beaten. Hell, his own Vanguard Dare stated whoever killed him was supposed to take his place, but Uldren couldn't - he wasn't a Hunter - and even if he could, she wouldn't let that happen. No, maybe he wouldn't want this, but it was what she wanted, down in her bones where the grief caved lines of pain, threatening to fracture her into pieces. They would, she knew, but not yet. Glancing only once at Sterling who seemed to have calmed, seemed to understand, she took a step forward and raised the gun back into place.

'Doesn't matter how good you are — you stay out there too long, you're not coming back. Not the same way you left, anyway.'

Tevis had been right.

"I don't really care," She answered finally, and saw shock, sharp and glorious, riddle his face. "I never really have, and you took the only person from me that made me want to." Standing over him, she met his eyes and a brief understanding passed between them, an understanding that he'd crossed a line and she had no problem doing the same if it meant stopping him. There was an echoing numbness stilling the emotions on her face, in her mind, and she couldn't quite tell if she was pleased or not to finally – finally – end this.

"Don't worry," she stated softly, the words bitter on her lips. "You won't feel a thing."

The look on his face was priceless.

The shuttering bang of the hand cannon firing was relieving, yet so loud; Skylar thought for a moment that maybe she'd gone deaf in the silence that followed.

For some reason, that didn't bother her at all.

None of it bothered her, oddly enough, not until she'd turned and left the room, walking up the stairs and past Petra without a glance. Something skittered across her mind and clenched as she passed through the doorway, the lines on her bone aching with the beat of her heart. A snarling unholy pain rose up in her. She jerked, sharply turning, hand up without thought. The resounding cacophony that echoed the halls as she unloaded the rest of the clip into a wall was only stopped when the hollow click of an empty chamber replaced it. Skylar stared at it for a while, stared and stared as she thought it over.

He wouldn't have wanted this.

Had she wanted this, truly? Maybe, maybe not, the anger, simmering to a lukewarm flood. She was on the ground without her command, knees aching, her eyes locked onto the bullet-riddled wall, cracks fanning out from dark holes that surely reached on into an empty, lifeless hell.

Help me, please, someone tell me what I'm doing. Cayde. Cayde please.

Why are you gone?

She stared unblinking, the wounds on her bones ripping at her mind, until her vision became blurry and she closed her eyes. Clenching the Ace of Spades in her hand, she held on to it as if to use it as an anchor to her sanity.

-Skylar-

Her clan was talking yards away, down the snowy incline next to the large tent-like structure Elsie Bray, Eris, and the Drifter had constructed. Said people were looking towards Skylar's friends and the Hunter takes a moment to linger on them, trying to accept the fact that they can use Darkness. She wasn't sure if the Exo she'd always known as the Stranger could even use Light, or if the Drifter still had any despite his Ghost. Truth be told, she'd never seen the man use any Traveler-given powers, his skill with a gun more than enough the few times he'd needed to use one. Eris, she knew, didn't have any Light, so her having Darkness wasn't much of a surprise, even more so after insisting to commune with it.

It seemed despite their deal, the Drifter had kept plenty of secrets from her. Skylar tried not to take it as betrayal - it wasn't as if she'd been an open book to him either- but that didn't mean she had to like it. Her eyes flicked back to her friends as Z threw his hand in the air, exasperated or frustrated over something. Both Titans looked at each other, and for the third time since they'd broken apart, Skylar glanced around for Corvan. The oldest surviving original member of their clan was nowhere in sight, having briskly stated he needed a walk to think things over.

Skylar had needed time alone too, but she hadn't gone nearly as far, just far enough to let her own thoughts go undisturbed.

So, what's got you all hung up kid?

Or mostly undisturbed anyway. Grimacing, she turned around, her eyes catching the end of her pitch black hair, some of it having fallen out of the band holding it back. Standing in front of her was a face she'd never met in person, only seen in holoscreens, videos, and pictures. Skylar saw him all too much these days now. Brown hair pulled back lazily, sharp dark eyes, scruff around his jaw, and posture holding the type of swagger she was sure Cayde had learned from him. The cloak hanging in Amanda's shop hung unmoving across his shoulders.

Andal Brask.

Yet not, at the same time.

The chilling green glow that ringed his irises flickered into sight for a moment, as if to remind her of that. The former Vanguard leader cocked his head and raised a brow. Think too much on this and you'll only cause yourself more pain, Hunter. So tell me, what's on your mind?

Skylar scowled at him, not in the mood for this at all. "You already know what's on my mind, you live there, don't you? So, stop acting like you don't."

A smirk twitched at his lips and that green glow returned, casting a sheen over his eyes. Skylar forced herself not to tense up, but her hand did reach up and clench the strap across her chest plate holding her most powerful gun in place. The Whisper.

I can't read your mind little Light Bearer; our link doesn't work that way. I have told you as much before. Only when you allow it may I hear your inner voice, just as I for you. Andal cocks his head the other way and crosses his arms loosely over his chest. You are weary of her offer.

"I thought you said you couldn't read my mind?"

It's not hard to guess.

She huffed. "Right." Eyeing him quietly, she wondered again about the man in front of her. She'd never known Andal, she wished she had, but he'd been dead a long time before she was risen. She didn't have a connection to him, Cayde had, so why would he be the one standing there as a medium? Maybe he knew better, maybe he knew if it was Tevis, or Cayde, or one of her dead friends, she might very well threaten to lock the gun away in some dark hole for the rest of eternity.

Still, somehow it felt like his acting was spot on, as if she were talking to the real ghost of the former Hunter Vanguard. Skylar used to listen to Cayde talk about his friend - his near brother - all the time, but she wasn't sure if those memories were enough to do something so complex. Plus, hadn't he just told her he couldn't read her mind? If so, where did he get this complete identity from? It was a mystery, to be sure.

"I think I have a right to be hesitant of such an offer," she answered finally, thinking about what Elsie had said once again.

Wield Darkness.

It might be the only way to take Eramis down. Skylar and her team had tried but their Light had done nothing against the brutal force that was blackened ice. The Pyramids were here, right above them and Skylar forced herself not to turn around and look to the altar she'd been told about. She didn't like turning her back on her… friend, which was stupid, seeing as he wasn't really there at all. Not to anyone but her. Andal was giving her an even look, waiting, and she sighed quietly. When had she decided to openly take council with him?

"Last time we came into contact with the Pyramid ships, you did everything you could to keep that power from me... You said the power was a poison, said that the Hive had been drawn into something just like it too quickly by your own people. It's why you were shunned, and why Oryx stripped the name of his own son from history." She raised a hand to her hood as a strong wind ripped at her cloak, pulling it to the side along with the hair over her shoulder. Andal's didn't move one inch of course - the wind couldn't touch a ghost. "Why the change of heart?"

The imposter gave her a chilling look, the green ring in his eyes brightening. He took the needed steps to close the distance, and stopped at her shoulder, his face near the edge of her hood as he faced back towards her friends.

For power, oh bearer mine, for you do not have enough to defeat your enemies. Taking what is given freely will be different from when it was nearly forced upon you like on the Moon. His words sent a shiver up her spine at the distorted wrongness in his voice. She jerked away, taking a sidestep and turning to face him again, scowling. His eyes narrowed as his smirk widened and Skylar was surprised that his teeth weren't sharp. It is the reason you came for me, claimed me, was it not? For the power to keep that promise?

Yeah, he totally couldn't read her mind. Asshole.

"And the Traveler's Light?"

Andal hummed quietly, the green flickering out as he shifted his weight back into a loose stance. What good has it done for you as of late, Phantom? You can't win this fight with one side of a coin – not this time. His voice was back to what she had heard in video clips, the hissing chilling edge gone once more, his lips turning up into an easy-going smile. We're Hunters, gambling with high stakes is what we do best, right? Time to deal the cards out.

Hell, that sounded just like something Cayde would say, something she was sure Andal would too. It was all too easy to forget who she was really talking to and it didn't make a whole lot of difference in who he was at all anyway. Truth was, he had a good point. She hated when he was right, or at least she wanted to hate him. How could she truly do so when she'd welcomed him to her side over a year ago?

"Skylar?"

She flinched, glancing behind Andal and finding her best friend had come up the hill without her even noticing. Too wrapped up in talking to a spirit. Z watched her carefully for a few moments, his green eyes concerned as they always seemed to be these days. Andal hummed again, leaving Skylar to walk up next to her friend, looking him up and down like some predator before pausing on Z's left arm and the bones that covered it.

Their singing is quiet today, he told her, looking back at her. Like a whisper, as it were... I wonder if he can hear it? A Wish Dragon is always singing. His eyes didn't glow, but the serious tone in his voice made Skylar think the Vanguard leader knew more than he let on.

"Sky?" Z tried again and she blinked, looking back to him. "Everything alright?"

"Yeah just…" she rubbed her neck, glancing at Andal again as he moved to stand beside the older Hunter, leering at him. She grimaced. "Just tired. It's a lot to take in." The statements were true – it was more than just a lot to take in by far – but her friend knew her well. He didn't buy the excuse for even a moment. He cocked his head to the side, in the direction she'd glanced and looked right at Andal as if he could see the ghost.

"He's… standing right next to me, isn't he?" he grumbled wearily. Skylar made a small sound of affirmation and Z wrinkled his nose but didn't move away. He wouldn't back down from something he knew couldn't hurt him. Didn't stop him from fidgeting with the gold earring in his left ear, the red light on it blinking as always.

The Red Wolf was one of two members in her circle of friends that knew her gun was haunted – that she was haunted – by the remaining essence of a Worm God who happened to talk to her in the form of a past Hunter. The only other person who knew was Corvan, and the two Hunters only knew because she'd known they would understand – not that she'd willingly given the information out at first – after all, both of them wore the bones of an Amankara and even their bones had power. Hell, Z's still breathed on his arm, flexing and relaxing in a calm tempo.

Her best friend heard whispers, just like Andal said, when he wore them and was too tired to block them out. The few times he'd fallen asleep with them on, he'd apparently talked to the owner of the remains in dreams, where it taunted him, holding out desires and wants and needs out to him on a silver platter. The cost is always too great, he'd told her once. They're a greedy, powerful race of beings, it's the reason they were hunted to extinction.

Corvan, on the other hand, claimed to hear nothing from his Bone of Eao, but Skylar wasn't sure he was telling the truth. Andal claimed he wasn't, but she preferred to trust her friend. Funny, how all three Hunter founders of her clan were haunted, and they'd purposely allowed it to happen. Maybe their class was just more prone to being self-destructive, or maybe they were more willing to take the risks.

Maybe it was why so many of them ended up dead.

"I suppose you two have been having a nice little chat about our predicament?" her friend asked, glancing sideways to where Andal still stood again. Skylar just nodded her head. "Come up with anything better than what we all know is the only real option?"

She sighed and shook her head.

"There isn't any other option," she murmured, trying not to feel too defeated. "Haar almost lost his Ghost today - I think that pretty much proves that we've been out matched."

Something no one had ever truly thought would happen. Sure, they'd been knocked down before, like with the Red War, but they'd always had a chance, always been able to fight back. As a group of Guardians that had killed gods, walked through broken timelines, and stopped plagues, maybe they'd bought into the Vanguard's expectations a little too much. Even now, when they weren't working for the tower in the direct sense these days, it was a blow to them all, that they couldn't do their job – not as they were. Tevis had told her once, years ago, that the Light had always been weaker than the Darkness. Skylar hadn't believed him, now she did.

She'd never felt so helpless, not since that day in the prison.

"The only question is who will make that choice?" They all had to make it for themselves, this wasn't something she could pull rank in as leader. She wouldn't doom her family to this. "I'm guessing Corvan is back?"

"Yeah."

"Then I guess it's time."

As she started down the hill, her friend caught her shoulder and she paused, looking at him with a raised eyebrow. Z let out a small sigh but didn't drop his hand.

"I meant what I said before: leaving was a mistake. I'm not going to do that to you again – so you already know my answer, and I'm pretty sure I know yours."

Conviction.

It was something Skylar knew her best friend to have, but not show very often. The first time he told her those words, it had been out of guilt. He'd left her when she'd needed her friends the most and when he'd come back, he'd been faced with the fact that who he'd left behind had changed. She knew he blamed himself for a lot of things, for the black hair and the worsening nightmares.

She understood why he'd left, why he'd felt he had too. In a way, he'd been grieving over Cayde like every Hunter was. They hadn't been super close until Skylar had come into both their lives, but after that her friend had taken to the Exo more. She'd never forget the ridiculous sight of the tripmine-happy Hunter threatening his Vanguard leader when he'd figured out the Exo had gotten together with her.

'You ever hurt her; I'll make sure you end up with a fear of blinking red lights.'

Cayde dying had hurt a lot of people beside her, and everyone dealt with it in their own way. The only reason Z hadn't left right away was probably because he felt like he couldn't just leave her. Once he had a reason, he'd been gone.

I find it kind of interesting, Andal mused, circling both of them. You've only been around… almost eight years now? The two of you formed a rather close bond in that time, yet he still left. It might have been because of Cayde but why would he do something so drastic? Don't you ever wonder what his thought process was pertaining to all of that… or if that was his reason at all?

She had. Many, many times.

Z was her closest friend, but like everyone, he had his secrets. He was a little over 150 years old, so he hadn't lived through the Dark Age, but sometimes he got this look on his face that said he'd seen something just as bad. When she'd ask, he'd blink, shaking his head and say he'd just been spacing out. Part of her believed him, the other part wasn't sure if he was lying, or if he really didn't know.

Andal was right though, they were very close, but surely after eight years that was normal? She had close bonds with all of her fireteam, they were family. In the beginning though, why had Z just stuck around? Their first interaction had been rather… explosive in nature, but a lot of Guardians didn't like dealing with freshly revived comrades. Then again, he wasn't exactly like 'most Guardians'. Maybe she was thinking about this a bit too much, trying to make it more complicated than it was. Maybe she was buying into a spirit's words too much. Making friends just kind of happened, and Z was her first real friend in this world. Maybe he'd known she was lonely.

So why had he left?

The real reason – if there was one - she wasn't sure she wanted to know. Maybe it was just because Cayde had died. Maybe he'd needed a mission when there was no one to give him one. Or maybe it was something else.

She shook her head, reaching up and touching the gold loop that pierced through the upper part of one of her ears.

"We both know I don't hold what happened against you, Z. Don't do this just because you feel like you owe me something." The hand on her shoulder squeezed for a moment and she looked into his piercing green eyes. He was serious, completely serious.

"I'm not. We both know this is the right thing to do. I'm just letting you know you're not doing anything like this ever again, not alone." He'd let her walk into the Tangle Shore to kill Uldren alone once he'd found out and it had nearly broken her.

Somehow, that had affected him the most out of every person she knew. It was like he was seeing something he couldn't let happen, like he was seeing a ghost.

Maybe I was wrong, Andal mused, looking at Z more closely. Maybe those bones already did something he agreed to.

Skylar really, really hoped he was just being an asshole and that he was wrong. Her hand fell from her ear and covered Z's.

"I know you've got my back." She didn't care about those months he'd been gone, not in the long run. He was here now, that was what mattered. It was what she focused on. "Now come on, let's not keep the others waiting."

After a moment of hesitation, Z gave her a grim nod, and together they made their way down the snowy hill. Skylar felt the moment Andal retreated back into the gun and the recesses of her mind. There was always a dual echo of a voice, one that sounded like the Hunter, and one that sounded like the god – and they were always laughing.

I had the plan for The Whisper and Xol for years. So happy to finally get to share it!