Why give them the chance?
The choices of some shouldn't dictate an entire race.
But it wasn't some,it was many.
Everyone deserves second chances, right?
But evil is present.
And so is good.
But darkness is present.
And so is light.
Why should I give them the chance?
Maria always woke up before she could answer the question. Her dreams were repeating every day, like the loop of a broken record, but she didn't tell Ghost until a week after they started. When she finally told him they were sitting outside, on the second floor of one of the many crumbling buildings that made up the Botza District, taking in the full light of the Traveler.
"Like your daydream?" He asked.
"Exactly like it. Nothing ever changes, except my answer may vary slightly, but the point of the answer is always the same. I tell it to give them a chance."
"Who?"
Maria shrugged. "I don't know, but my answers are pretty automatic. I don't think twice about it." Maria ate an apple this morning, though it wasn't as sweet as she had hoped it would be, and it didn't satisfy her the way it should've. She stared up at the sphere, the body of the Traveler, looking like something she could reach up and touch, but each time she did she found it was just too far. Everyone else was still asleep. The Endless Night had the lightless waking and sleeping at odd hours, except for exos and except for her where Ghost was able to keep track of how long she was awake and how long she slept, and never did he stray from what was supposedly normal.
There was a shattering sound just below her, somewhere in a corner of the Eliksni Quarters, where Maria knew they kept their Ether stores. She and Ghost exchanged worrying looks. "That didn't sound good." She stated. Carefully, she jumped down and started to run toward the area, but when she did she ran into several humans, who ran right past her, never slowing down.
Maria stopped and stared at them. Why were they running so quickly?
"That can't be good," Ghost whispered ominously.
A whistle caught her attention, like a bird calling for someone. When she turned she saw a familiar Hunter standing in the distance. "Is that Crow?" Ghost asked as Maria ran over without hesitation.
"What are you doing here, Crow? And what was that?" She pointed a thumb in the direction the other humans ran.
"Nothing good," Crow frowned. "They ruined the Ether stores here…along with many other items."
Maria ran her fingers through her hair. "Shit. Shit. Shit. I just got them to start talking to me too." She folded her arms and looked at their feet. How could this happen? How could they have slipped past her so easily. It was easy, she needed sleep unlike the rest of the Guardians. Crow probably would've made a better Vanguard representative than she did. Finally, she looked at Crow. "I'll have to let Mithrax know. Thanks for…taking care of it before it got any worse."
Glint appeared from his hood. "You really wouldn't have shot them, right?"
She frowned and Crow waved away Glint as he started off the way the other humans went. "Hey, Crow, next time I'm near the Tower we should go for drinks!" She couldn't tell if he heard her, he continued to walk away.
She sighed.
"He's…kind of antisocial, isn't he?"
"Yeah, I guess. We should tell Mithrax before…well, he finds out himself."
It wasn't hard to find Mithrax, he was the biggest Eliksni, but when he-and several others-checked out the stores himself he was outraged, and all Maria could do was apologize.
"There is nothing for you to apologize for," Mithrax's voice was oddly calm and steady. He put his top hand on her shoulder. "You did not lead them here, and you did not conspire to do this."
"I'll call the Vanguard as well, Mithrax, it will be less for you to deal with."
"I thank you for your kindness, Maria. I am afraid you are one of the few."
Maria frowned. "I'm sorry I couldn't stop it." She walked away before he could reassure her that it wasn't her fault.
It was Saint and Lakshmi-2 that arrived, much to Maria's disappointment. She didn't hide it either. She had been hoping Ikora or even Zavala would come, but not Saint. Not after their conversation last time.
"I cannot find witnesses!" Saint's voice snapped Ghost back to the problem at hand.
"You're lucky it wasn't worse." Lakshmi drawled.
"Are you kidding me?" Maria's voice drew Lakshmi's attention. "You're gonna sit here and blame them like it's their own fault? They're the victims, not the people still out in the city!"
"Maybe you should stay out of the conversation, dear."
Maria picked up a rock and raised it high above her head but Ghost floated in her line of sight. "Absolutely not."
She huffed and threw it down at Lakshmi's feet instead. Mithrax put a hand on her shoulder, as if to say 'let me handle this'. Saint visibly stiffened, his hands balling into fists.
"This destruction helps no one but the Vex. Please, instead of teaching your people to fear us, tell them the truth." Mithrax pleaded.
Lakshmi still held her head high, almost making her look as tall as Mithrax. "The truth is that your kind preyed upon us for as long as we can remember. There is nothing that can make them forget."
"House Light has never raised arms against humanity!"
Now, Maria put a hand on Mithrax's hand, which still laid on her shoulder, and gave a gentle squeeze, and Ghost could feel the tension coming off of Saint.
"Your houses and titles are layers of politics. You are still Fallen."
Mithrax stepped forward, and at first Ghost thought he'd attack her. "You promised us protection!"
Lakshmi never backed down. She never even flinched when Mithrax took that step forward, standing her ground and still staring down at him. "And you've had it! We allowed your brood to squat and chitter here in our city but still the Vex simulation persists! If you are displeased with how you have been treated for your failure, then I suggest you camp elsewhere."
"Nice to see that politicians never change, Lakshmi. Your words are pretty but your intentions are far beyond clear. They have nowhere left to go!"
Lakshmi folded her hands in front of her. "If I remember correctly: you faced that very same dilemma once, as did humanity." She stepped ever closer, looking up at Mithrax and yet also looking down at him. "We banded together and built a city with walls to keep our enemies outside, where they belong." With that she turned around, and walked away.
Maria shook her head. "An absolute bitch." She looked at Saint. "And? What's your excuse? No witnesses my ass, I am a witness! Even if I don't know who did it…" She turned her back to him, folded her arms, shaking her head.
Mithrax sighed, "We hear her broadcasts, but more than that-we feel the energy of her words in the air. Sharp as blades pointed at an enemy. At us."
Saint folded his arms, looking from Mithrax to Maria, and back again, "You two cannot ask people to live alongside their monsters."
Maria turned on her heels, and opened her mouth, but Mithrax stepped between them, "Listen to me now, Saint. Let me tell you something about monsters."
The story he told was something Maria had read, and Ghost knew that it continued to loop in her mind over and over again. She heard the children share the story of the monster they now lived under, and had heard it from Eido as well. She had seen the statistics of the deaths they've endured because of the monster they now had to pray to for protection, and at the same time they hoped they never would come.
Maria watched Saint carefully and, also, watched the children carefully. One broke away from their caretaker and ran toward Maria. Ghost watched Saint closely, but couldn't tell if he watched Mithrax or the child from under his helm. Maria picked up the child, and held her on her hip, the child whispered something in her ear, and Maria whispered back, just barely audible. The brave child was one of the children that Maria had shared her secret with, a secret even Ghost hadn't known until that moment.
"If we wish to survive, we must all learn…to live alongside our monsters." With that, Mithrax walked away. Maria turned toward the direction Mithrax walked in and put the child down, and the child followed him closely.
She watched with a fond smile, "Do you know what's so precious about children, Saint? Children are the most untainted form of life. They unknowingly carry around a little bit of light in the darkness that we adults see everywhere, because we have seen the darkest corners of the world." She looked at him and put a light hand on his still tense arm. "Just…think about Mithrax's words, okay? You are not the one that has something to fear here." She nodded and walked away, one of the children called her name-or at least they did their best to pronounce her name, which she smiled and laughed, but never corrected them. They gathered around her.
Saint watched as well. "You know, little light, I don't think I've seen…so much light in such a dark corner of the city."
Ghost nodded, "She does carry the Light around…wherever she goes."
"No…not just Maria…the children too. That is why they are drawn to her. Maria…she may not be a lightbearer like me…but she is a Guardian…and I am…" Saint looked down at his hands. His helm could never act as a mask to hide how he felt, he always expressed it.
"A Guardian, Saint, Maria would want you to remember that you carry the Light as well."
Saint chuckled, "Her wisdom has rubbed off on you."
"How do you know it isn't the other way around?"
Saint nearly bellowed in a laughter, and had he been in a better mood he likely would have. "Keep her out of trouble."