Ghost had never seen Arizona hesitate so much. "I know." She said.
"Then why are you hesitating?"
"Because…I feel like this is less information than I've ever received. It's great that there's a city here but what's the significance of it? Why did Savathun show Osiris Neomuna? What's so important about this city? And don't tell me it's because we aren't really The Last City, Ghost, I know that already." She began to pace, and Ghost suspected that she was lost in her thoughts as she continued aloud, "What if Savathun is leading us into a trap? But that wouldn't make sense because then what was the point of her death and coming back as a Lightbearer? So what's here? What did she want us to know? It can't be just the city. She's much too cunning for that. So…what if we killed Savathun and she wasn't really our enemy after all."
From somewhere inside of himself he could feel a connection and could hear Osiris and Saint-14. "Arizona." Ghost said, but she kept going.
"And how do we know Osiris hasn't been compromised? And what's the green stringy light? Where did it come from? Is it some natural phenomenon?"
"What is she on about?" He could hear Osiris demand, but despite transmitting the message Arizona continued to mumble her questions.
"Arizona!" Ghost said sternly.
She stopped and looked at him almost offended. "What?"
Ghost huffed, "It's Osiris."
"Oh…sorry, Osiris, what is it?"
"Have you found anything? Ikora says you're the only one that hasn't checked in yet."
"I haven't been gone that long, Osiris. I only just arrived a few hours ago."
Saint sighed, "He is…very impatient."
Arizona's eyes searched through Ghost, trying to find the right words carefully, "I see. These things take time, Osiris. Give me a few more days. By the way, what exactly is supposed to be in this…city in your vision?" Arizona started to pace again.
Osiris said, "It's called the Veil."
"Uh-huh. What is it? What's so…important about it? What does it look like, more importantly?"
"It's a tool that the Witness can use against the Traveler."
Arizona stopped and stared at Ghost. "Then we shouldn't be disturbing it."
There was silence for a while. "What?"
"Don't push it." Ghost whispered.
Arizona said, "We shouldn't find it, Osiris. We should leave it be. If we find it and disturb it we could inadvertently lead the Witness straight to it."
"And what if the Witness finds out and gets to it before we do, all because you wouldn't look?"
"But what if we find it and he finds it because you wouldn't let it go?" Arizona's voice echoed through the room, and the poukas scattered away. Ghost could feel Osiris getting angry over the outburst.
Saint stepped in, "It's important to him, Arizona."
Arizona inhaled deeply and pinched the bridge of her nose. "I'm only doing this for your sanity, Saint. Can't imagine it's easy to love such a-"
Osiris interrupted sharply, "Just find it! Ikora ordered you to do so, didn't she?"
"Technically-"
"We'll find it, Osiris." Ghost interrupted but he broke the connection before Osiris could answer. He glared down at Arizona.
"What?"
"I told you not to push it and you didn't listen!"
She folded her arms, "He's being unreasonable!"
She stared him down, and he stared her down, but inside he wanted to laugh. She was Arizona, yes she was different, but somehow she held the stubbornness of Osiris. She was so much like Osiris, and she didn't even know it. He couldn't contain the laugh anymore. It ripped out of him.
"What? Why are you laughing?"
"It's nothing. I think you wanted to check out a green light, right?"
Neptune became dark so quickly. "Why is it so dark?" She asked as they navigated through the jungle of concrete and neon lights, neon trees made of light, and darkened glass that perfectly showed her and Ghost's reflection. Ghost's shell looked more worn in the reflection. The orange paint started to show the metal shell and the white looked more grey than white. Little lights that looked vaguely human scattered and disappeared as she approached.
"Neptune has 16 hour days rather than 24." Ghost explained.
"Oh...that's…fast."
"Most of the outer planets are. Jupiter only has 10 hours, and Uranus has around 17 hours."
Arizona pointed at a plaza that was empty of all life. "That's where it ends. Come on!" She ran on the road towards the plaza's bar. She could feel something tugging in her. It felt like the whispers that beckoned her.
"I sense an anomaly here." Ghost whispered.
Arizona grinned, "It's the light I was telling you about. It looks like thread." It was green, and what the thread was attached to looked like a spool of thread. She ran her hand across it and it shivered and moved with her. "Wow…" she breathed. The threads wrapped around her hand and slowly traveled up her arm. She didn't fight it. It tickled her beneath the armor and beneath her skin. It wrapped around her body but it didn't confine her.
She looked around. There was nobody around. Out of instinct she flung her hand out and a needle threw itself at the wall, but nothing happened. "Cool." She looked at her hands. All around her she could feel the threads that kept Neomuna-that kept life together. It could be woven and unwoven. She grasped a handful of these threads and pulled herself to the other side of the plaza. She flew over it and landed on her feet, nearly falling over the edge of the railing. Arizona laughed and turned back to look at Ghost. "That was fun," she huffed, trying to catch her breath.
"Your body can't handle much more." Ghost said.
"How?" She bent over with her hands on her knees. How is it that it felt like she ran for hours? Her legs felt wobbly. She barely did anything! How was she already exhausted?
"I don't know. For now, it's best if you stop."
Arizona nodded. At least she knew, but she wanted to learn more. For now, though, she was satisfied.
It took them hours to walk back to the Strider's Gate. Nimbus waited at the entrance with his arms folded.
"What? I just went exploring a bit."
"That's what I hear. The whole CloudArk is talking about it and Rohan isn't too happy." Still, Nimbus was grinning. "Did you find what you were looking for?"
Arizona shrugged, "Well…no, not really." She followed Nimbus inside. "What about you? Did you ask around?"
"Most of the people I talked to aren't too happy that you're here. I never had the chance to ask."
"That's okay. I think I have all the answers I need." Rohan was by the pond, his arms folded.
"I told you to stay here." Rohan huffed.
"I've been told that listening hasn't been my strong suit recently." She quipped, but Rohan only sneered. "I'm not going to tell anybody about your city, Rohan."
"How do I know that? How can any of us trust a stranger?"
Arizona stared into his cloudy-grey eyes. They looked like a newly formed storm. "You can't, but you don't have a choice. You can't keep me here because Ghost can always broadcast my location to anyone nearby. But I've also gotten some new information recently and that information made me come to the conclusion that Neomuna is safer if I don't tell anyone what's really here."
"The city, you mean." Nimbus said but his brows were furrowed.
"The Veil."
Rohan's eyes widened slightly. He and Nimbus made eye contact, like they were privately speaking without words.
"It's a long story. One of the Guardians told me he had seen The Veil being placed somewhere in the city, and insisted that we had to protect it at all cost. The problem was that this city was all I had to go off of for a lead, and keeping it safe will prevent another Collapse."
Nimbus searched the ground as he said, "The coming of another Collapse is why the Neomuni citizens went into the CloudArk, Rohan."
"We can prevent it by making sure The Witness doesn't get his hands on the Veil, but if I tell my commander the location of the city…"
"The Witness might find out where it is." Rohan finished.
Arizona nodded, "This may at least buy us time. In the event that the Witness does discover where the Veil is then…at least I have information about the city." She searched the clear waters, where some pouka were swimming under. "I will be staying for a little while longer, though, Rohan, even if you don't exactly like that idea."
"And what will you tell your commander?" Nimbus asked.
"I've got a few ideas. My stubbornness isn't really a secret."
Weeks went by, at least Neptunian weeks went by. Ghost watched as Nimbus and Arizona talked daily and their talks became longer and longer. Slowly, they'd begun to talk about mundane things and about their past. Arizona often laughed at the poor jokes he made. He laughed at her stories. It was a bond he'd never seen even in Maria. When she learned that Cloudstriders only lived 10 years she became disheartened and moped for hours after he left.
Sometimes Ikora would check in and Arizona said she would have to keep looking, claiming to have found possible pieces of a city that once was, but there was no piece of debris. There was only the city.
As they wandered the city to find more energy from what they were now calling Strand, the vague humanoid lights started to stick around and allow her a bit closer. One in particular, which she found when she wandered into what must've been a nice bar. "Quinn Laghari," she said almost too excited to meet the pair. "Wow, so that's a ghost, huh? I must admit, I thought maybe Nimbus was imagining things. He didn't mention that a ghost was basically a machine."
"I think it's more complicated than that." Arizona said sheepishly. Quinn was a bit pushy at times, but Ghost found her more tolerable than Nimbus.
"They're called Avatars," Nimbus explained when Arizona asked. "So that they can safely wander Neomuna, even if there's a war."
Even Rohan was beginning to like her in a way. Rohan was much more careful with his trust, but he began to answer her questions as she asked earnestly about the CloudArk and Neomuna's history. She learned with eagerness the history of the CloudStriders, and even visited with Rohan the Hall of Heroes. "This is where we all go. When my time comes, my core will be carried here by Nimbus."
Her practice with Strand was going nowhere, however. She always ended her practice within a few minutes, nearly passing out several times. "Damn it! What am I doing wrong here? Am I weak?"
"No." Ghost answered her.
"Then why isn't it easier to wield than Stasis?"
Ghost had no answers for her.
One night during her talks with Nimbus, Ghost felt a mass message. "Arizona."
"What?" She was still laughing at a poor joke.
Ghost played the message. It was Zavala. "Calling all Guardians. You are needed back to Earth immediately. The Witness is here. The Traveler has gone to fight it head on."
Arizona's smile was wiped from her face. It looked as if her heart had stopped but her mind was going a million miles an hour.
"I repeat: all Guardians are needed back to Earth immediately."
Nimbus stayed silent for once.
Finally, Arizona's bright green eyes snapped into focus and focused on Ghost. "Connect me to Fae."
Ghost tried to connect, but Nymph refused to meet the connection. He tried for Juggernaut. She, at least, was more willing. "Now's not a good time, Ghost." She said.
"Juggernaut, how far in is the fight?"
"We've lost many Guardians already, and Amanda's ship has gone down too." There was a loud bang and the background filled with wailing alarms. Then there was silence. "Juggernaut?" She didn't answer, but Ghost could still feel the connection.
Soon, they could hear Argonaut's gasping breath. "Damn." He said.
"Are you alright?" It was Ikora.
"Fine, but damn. Did he have to blow up my beautiful ship?"
Arizona breathed out a long breath she had been holding, but her body went rigid. Ghost didn't break the connection, but Arizona felt far out of reach. "Arizona?" He whispered. Her eyes didn't look like hers, they looked empty. It was like her soul had been sucked out of her.
She gasped. Nimbus jumped back. "You okay?"
"No." She looked up at Ghost. "Neomuna's in trouble."
Ghost broke the connection, but he feared Juggernaut heard already.
"What do you mean?"
"They're coming."