Chapter 4: The Ways of Light
Clea emerged into the plaza alone as Bella had left to go to the shooting range. She was nervous, no, scratch that, she was terrified. She was to report to the vanguard's command room, where Ikora would begin her training. Bella's efforts to reassure her on the way back to the tower had only put her more on edge.
As she sat down in a chair outside the command room and took off her helmet, her hands wouldn't stop shaking. Polari materialized and put her helmet in storage, saying, "you'll do great..don't worry, every guardian learns at their own pace
"But what if I can't use my powers? What if Ikora can't help me?" Clea questioned in a shaky voice.
Polari's eye was filled with empathy as she said "From the moment I found you on Europa, I could feel your light. Ghosts can revive any sample they find, but I chose you because your light was a perfect match for mine. There was nothing left of you but a single bone, but yet your spark, your light, was still there. You are my guardian Clea, and I know you can do this!"
Clea's shaking hands slowed slightly, as she nodded and said, "thanks Polari…what do I need to know about Ikora?"
"Ikora Rey is one of the most powerful guardians in history, famous for her actions in the battle of Twilight Gap. She has been mentoring other guardians for centuries, and I've had many long conversations with her ghost Ophiuchus. He's one of the older ghosts, and a good friend." Polari admitted.
Clea gave Polari a curious look and asked, "centuries…how old is Ikora?" remembering the Warlock Vanguard only looked five or six years older than her.
"Oh, around 550…guardians don't age; as for why some guardians look older, Guardian's appearances are determined by their age when they die" Polari explained.
"Ah ok, then again I probably haven't seen enough humans to know the difference" Clea admitted.
"Human lifespans tripled during the Golden age, but then the medical technology that allowed that was lost, now the average human lifespan is around 93 years old. While many awoken believed they would age once they returned to the solar system, they don't; once they reach physical maturity, they stop aging" Polari finished.
Clea gave a sigh and said, "Well, that's one less thing to worry about."
Polari then stared off into space as she said "the years go by so fast when you're as old as me…or at least when you're not focusing on it…still, I wish I could tell her I found my guardian…."
Clea noticed her ghost's longing tone and asked, " who do you mean by her?"
Polari jumped, or in her case floated back rapidly as she was snapped from her thoughts and said "oh, a ghost that came online in the same batch as me; she and I were really good friends and talked a lot throughout the years"
"Did she have a name?" Clea questioned.
"Oh yea, Sagi…." Polari was cut off by Ikora exiting the Vanguard room, as she looked at Clea and smiled saying "ready to begin?"
Clea gave the most confident look she could muster and flowed Ikora to the plaza and then into one of the elevators.
Soon enough, the two warlocks arrived at a floor Clea was in awe of almost immediately. There were bookshelves all over the floor, packed to the brim with books that ranged from thick to thin and old to new. Off on the sides were workbenches and a few warlocks practicing their powers.
Ikora then directed them to a back room that was akin to an office with a desk and a table to the left of the desk covered in books and strange artifacts. Most eye-catching was a large white crystal with two metal rings rotating around it on a stand.
Ikora smiled and said "I take it you're a fan of the study floor; this is where guardians can come to study the light at their own pace, and this is my private study.
Clea gave an enthusiastic nod before Ikora picked up the crystal device and said, "this is the arbiter, a device created by the speaker to find a guardian's light affinity and help with more complex uses of the light."
"What do you mean by light affinity?" Clea questioned.
"There are three types of light that guardians use for combat, and most guardians, while capable of using all three, most have a certain type of light that comes easier than others, and is where their strongest attacks are found " Ikora explained.
Clea nodded and said "ok, what are the three types?"
Ikora held out her hand as orange flames danced around it, saying, "first is solar light, as hot as the sun, it can be used for both inflicting damage and healing wounds."
Clea nodded again, following along as Ikora's hand was filled with blue electricity.
"Arc light allows you to short-circuit machines, enhance your speed and amplify your weapons even further than light normally does, it's the most common among warlocks," Ikora continued.
Finally a small swirling orb formed in Ikora's hand as she said, "finally is void light, which is essentially the underlying energy of all things; it's the most difficult to master, but can allow for powerful vortexes, energy-draining and even control over gravity."
Ikora then motioned to the arbiter and said, "hold out your hand; focus your power."
Clea was unsure how to respond, her hands beginning to shake before Polari said, "don't worry, I'll help you!"
Clea's ghost dematerialized as she said, "I can control your light output, so take in how this feels"
"Close your eyes…focus," Ikora instructed.
Clea did as she was told; Polari spoke on interns coms with "all right, here we go!"
Then, Clea felt it, a small warm feeling spreading up her outstretched arm; she felt the energy flowing all the way till it emanated off her fingertips and opened her eyes.
White light was flowing out her fingers, and as soon as the light touched the arbiter's crystal, it turned a brilliant orange, so bright in fact that it blinded her and caused Ikora to briefly cover her eyes as well.
Solar flames erupted from Clea's hand, though there was no pain, she gasped and the flames flew all over the room, but Ikora quickly absorbed them into her hand before they could do any damage.
Soon the energy stopped, and Ikora gave her a smile saying "it looks like we have a Sunsinger on our hands, and a very powerful one at that."
Clea smiled back and said, "wow…I did it"
"YES! I was hoping that would be your affinity!" Polari said with glee.
"Now try to do it without your ghost's help; focus on what you felt before" Ikora instructed.
Clea closed her eyes and focused; surely enough the energy flowed again, but at her command. She opened the palm of her hand and created a small flame.
"Yay! You did it on your own!" Polari praised her as she rematerialized.
"That's a relief…I was worried this thing might be broken," Ikora admitted.
Clea and Polari gave a confused look as Ikora said "I saw how nervous you were, so I certainly didn't want to tell you this beforehand, but the last time I tried to help a guardian find their light affinity didn't work out…"
"What do you mean?" Clea asked meekly.
Ikora sighed and said, "when a new guardian tried to find his light a short while ago, the arbiter didn't light up, and no matter how hard he's tried, he just can't manifest any type of light."
"What was his name?" Clea questioned.
"You know him already, Ash has been struggling from the moment he arrived. According to his ghost, he has enormous reserves of light, but he just can't access them, no matter what his ghost or I try," Ikora conceded.
"Oh, I didn't know…" Clea said in a sad tone.
"He can still use the basic hunter abilities like using the light to rapidly dodge and boost his jump, so he's far from helpless…but now we need to get you a dawnblade" Ikora announced as she changed the subject.
Clea gave her a confused look as she once again followed Ikora to the elevator. The Warlock vanguard scanned her hand on the panel next to the elevator door, her light flowing into the panel in place of her fingerprints.
After a ding, Clea rode up to the next floor, one that even Polari had never seen.
"This is the vanguard's private floor…." Polari admitted.
Ikora chuckled and said, "yes, but you're here with me, and there's something I need to give you."
Clea followed Ikora to her section on the floor; aside from a large round table in the center, each of the Vanguards had their own section of the floor. Zavala's was clean and organized with a simple desk and computer, though Clea swore she could see a pair of knitting needles on the shelf behind his desk.
Cayde's space was messy, with no desks and full of chests. The only thing resembling furniture was a whiteboard covered in post-it notes marked "stashes" and "loot here."
Finally, Ikora's section of the floor had a few small bookshelves and one of the orbs in the Speaker's room, but the centerpiece was four swords on a rack behind her desk, along with a few other exotic and ancient-looking weapons and objects on the walls. Each sword was intricately engraved, and Clea didn't know what to make of them.
"These are dawnblades, the signature weapon of a sunsinger warlock. These allow a warlock to channel their solar light more effectively and play a major part in their super moves" Ikora explained.
Clea gave a confused look and asked, "super moves?"
Ikora chuckled and said, "super moves are essentially powerful light-based attacks guardians use when they need a massive amount of damage on a target or get in a tight spot. Originally they were called ultimas..but the name eventually caught on when the previous hunter vanguard coined the phrase during Twilight Gap."
Clea nodded and said, "fair enough…will I need to make my own?"
Ikora shook her head and said, "usually you would, but I haven't seen the arbiter glow like that in centuries… you'll need one to control your powerful light, so you can have one from my collection."
"Are you sure…I don't want to take one if it's yours.." Clea admitted.
Ikora waved her hand in dismissal and said, "none of these are mine, and they're only collecting dust. Now hold out your hand, and summon your light; only your light can tell which sword is best for you."
Clea nodded, and within a second of the flames appearing in her hand, one of the dawnblades flew into her hand, her light swirling around the blade and infusing into it.
Ikora smiled and said, "the blade has been chosen, now imagine it dissolving into flames."
Clea gave a confused look but did as instructed, and the blade vanished.
The young warlock gasped as she said, "what happened to it?"
"Now visualize it appearing in your hand," Ikora instructed.
Clea once again did as she was told, and soon enough, the blade returned in a small burst of flames.
Clea then took a moment to examine the blade's appearance; it was a gleaming gold blade with a black grip and hand guard engraved with a rising sun symbol.
"That's an incredible blade, I'm so happy you have one!" Polari exclaimed.
Ikora then noticed it was dark outside as she said, "that blade is named apollo's will, keep it safe…that will be all for today."
Only then did the Awoken notice the lack of sunlight and said, "ok… will you teach me about how to use it?"
Ikora nodded and replied, "oh yes, I will continue training you as long as you like, but you have everything you need to go on your first mission, with some other guardians supervising, of course"
Clea didn't know if she should be excited or terrified…
Author's note- Another slow chapter, but I hope it was entertaining!
1. Some more character development for Polari and Clea, people have liked their interactions so far, so I am making sure to keep those going
2. Ash's light struggles are for a reason, don't worry; he'll unlock his powers eventually...hehe
3. Some more foreshadowing and a name that's never been uttered in-game as far as I'm aware. Much like Ophiuchus's name, I will be trying in lore from destiny 2 to flesh out elements.
4. The lore about dawnblades is my own creation. Im sure I'm not the only one curious about those golden swords Warlocks use.
Leave a review, and feel free to submit an OC guardian and ghost name, I need two or three for members of Clea's eventual fire team. Requirements are at the end of chapter 2