Envy the Sunsinger Part II

"She's still alive, Eriana. Still fighting."

How many times had she asked her Ghost that same question? Anyone else, even Eriana herself, would've lost their patience, even under such extraordinary circumstances. Not her Ghost, not when it was for Eriana.

It had finally been called; the Vanguard were in full retreat. Humanity was abandoning the Moon, their Moon, to the Hive. Evacuation orders and requests for exfil made up a majority of the transmissions that came through Eriana's radio, alongside the usual; SOS signals, inquiries into Guardians missing in action, final goodbyes. One, in particular, caught Eriana's ear while resting in between her interrogations. A tearful goodbye from a Guardian to another man; a lover he left back home. Her body warmed, so much so that the seat beneath her became hot to the touch. Her rest ended early after that and the session went longer than usual. Longer and louder.

Jax worried, not for the first time, about the integrity of their makeshift base. It had seen some damage whenever the fighting drew too close, from Hive spells and Guardian ordnance alike. Eriana knew she wouldn't be able to remain here much longer. Which meant her prisoner would not be able to survive much longer. She needed to squeeze as much information out of it and she needed to do it now.

The Wizard remained where she'd always been, shackled to a table positioned right side up. She sagged in her restraints, the strength to even remain upright having long since left her. She was thinner now. Most of her chitin was on the ground from her thrashing or floating as ash in the air. Eriana watched her through the glass from outside her containment cell. When the Wizard lifted her head and met Eriana's eyes with all three of her own, she grew hot again. Light danced on the edge of her fingers, begging for release.

The Wizard's mind pushed up against hers, whispering its usual threats and curses, showing her whatever she needed to try and put Eriana off balance. Eriana had long since gone numb to them. Her threats were emptier than her.

Eriana no longer yelled or seethed when she spoke. She never let her voice go past even and neutral. "When will your Prince next appear?" She asked.

Silence. "Eriana…" Jax said.

Eriana ignored her, rising from her seat. "Where will he next appear?"

The Wizard continued to stare, saying nothing. Even her psychic communications had ceased. The look in her eye had changed. Penetrating as always but less spiteful, less burning. Eriana saw something more akin to anticipation, like a predator watching her prey jump and prance around before springing from tall grass.

Jax spoke aloud now. "Eriana."

She glared at the Wizard for a second longer before turning away. Before she could ask her Ghost what was wrong, a peal of whining static suddenly ran through her head like a stake, causing her to flinch so hard that she nearly lost her footing.

As soon as it came, it was gone. Though it came with no words behind it, her attention was torn away from everything else in the containment cell and turned upwards.

Eriana bit back the anger welling up inside her. The noise was more than random interference, it was deliberate, a message. And she knew who it was from. She kept her eyes on the ceiling above her head as she asked, "Are you detecting something, Jax?" The sudden weariness in her voice surprised her.

"Hive signals, close and getting closer."

She took one last look at the Wizard. Though their time together hadn't made her an expert in Hive mannerisms, she knew amusement when she saw it. Eriana left without a word or response, grabbing her pistol off the table as she started up the stairs. Jax confirmed it as Eriana made her way to the surface. The Ghost had been right, the damage had allowed whatever transmissions the Wizard was sending to start reaching whoever was nearby.

When Eriana finally reached the surface floor, she broke into a run. Even from the back of the facility, she could see the tombships departing. She could feel herself almost thrum with anticipation. As terribly cathartic as it felt to put the Wizard through what she had been feeling inside for the past several weeks, a target that fought back…

When Eriana shoved her way through the doors, her skin was already alight, flame bursting through her at the seams and leaving red-hot prints wherever her feet landed. A cleaver-bearing Knight turned at the sound of her fury. It roared back, twirling its weapon around before it began to trot towards her, then run, then charge. The closer it came, the more Eriana's Light grew within. By the time it was close enough, she was holding back a conflagration and just barely. She had been holding back so much more and for so long.

A flash of blue crossed her vision and caught her attention. It had come from behind the Knight. Two lines, red and smoking, suddenly appeared just above the Knight's knees and stumbling in its charge, it collapsed, legs all but severed.

That flash took the form of a person, a Guardian, standing with her back to the Knight and her front to Eriana. Without a word, the Guardian twirled the buzzing blue tip of her lengthened Arc Blade and stabbed it into the Knight behind her, catching it deep in the eye without so much as a look back.

"You're welcome," said Sai Mota, ripping her Blade out from the Knight's head. Her irreverent tone did more to snuff out Eriana's fire than any Hive magic ever did. Eriana's attention had been so focused on the first Hive she had seen that she failed to remember the platoon it would have arrived with. But as soon as she remembered it, she noticed their absence and upon noticing that, she noticed why. Sai hadn't come alone. Two other Guardians were further down the rocky hill her base sat upon, a Hunter and a Titan, surrounded by dead Hive and making quick work of those still living.

Eriana looked down at the crumbled Knight at her feet. This was who the Wizard called to save her. Now, nothing would.

Sai sobered up quickly. "I know you've been tracking Vanguard transmissions, even out here on your own. You heard the order. We've gotta go."

Eriana holstered her weapon. "I will go when that thing is dead."

"Once that…Eriana, are you serious?" Sai put her hands up to calm herself. Then, she asked, "Do you know how?"

Eriana kept silent.

"Do you know how to even find him? Where? When?"

Eriana leaned in and seethed, "I'm working on it." Sai's arms fell, as if that was the exact answer she was expecting. Eriana turned on her heels and headed back into the facility. Growling under her breath, Sai rushed to keep up. Her companions trailed, having no idea what else to do while the two teammates argued.

"You were almost overrun by a platoon of Hive, Eriana! You would've been if we hadn't arrived in time." Sai's voice echoed off the stone walls, as did their footsteps, as she followed Eriana down multiple flights of stairs.

"I'm more than capable of taking care of myself."

"You've barely slept, barely eaten…"

"I don't require either." Eriana had questions about how she knew anything about her situation but she had no patience for the argument. The slight tinge of guilt she felt within that did not come from her told her everything she needed to know.

"Eriana. Eriana, where are we going?" Sai asked but continued to follow her nonetheless. Further down into the dark until they finally reached the lowest level. Sai went quiet then, as did the others. Her friend's head went to her then to the dying Wizard and back, her eyes likely full of concern.

Eriana still wasn't asking forgiveness.

"Eriana…"

"She has a connection to the Knight that attacked Mare Imbrium." Eriana strode into the cell, the Wizard's hateful eyes following her. "I've been trying to…coax information out of her."

Sai's gaze turned back to the Wizard. She dared a step closer, moving further into the room. The others didn't. She lifted her boots and saw the thin layer of ash coating its sole. "What have you learned?" Her voice was uncharacteristically soft.

"She communicates by reaching into your mind. It's likely how she called the other Hive here," Eriana said, rounding the upright table. "That Knight of theirs? She called him their Prince." She stopped in front of the Wizard. "And he's coming back. Soon. I know it."

Sai shook her head in disbelief and then grabbed her arm, pulling her off to the side. Eriana doesn't relax but she makes no attempt to free herself. "We can come back. Better organized, better prepared…" Eriana remained silent. "Eriana…" Sai pleaded.

Another burst of static ripped through Eriana's head and she groaned, feeling the pain behind her eyes. Sai's hand went from her arm to her shoulders, holding her when she appeared to stumble. Just as before, it was gone almost immediately and just as before, it left behind an echo of a word.

Hellmouth.

Eriana looked back at Sai and found her attention elsewhere. She followed her eyes to the Wizard, who was shaking in her restraints.

Not to escape, she quickly realized. The rasping, the rhythmic heave of her shoulders. The Wizard was laughing.

Jax's voice came through all their comms. "Guardians, I'm getting emergency reports of Hive amassing in the Hellmouth. Thrall, Acolytes and many, many Knights."

Eriana could feel Sai's eyes on her. Jax continued, "A few Wizards have been spotted as well. They…they seem to be performing some kind of ritual. The other Hive must be gathering to protect it."

The Wizard erupted into raucous, violent cackles. Outside, Eriana's radio was bursting with chatter, panicked voices issuing warnings and orders. Among them, only one seemed the most defining.

Evacuate! Evacuate! Do not engage. I repeat, do not engage! Evacuate!

Run for your lives!

The laughter ceased suddenly, startling the Guardians and pulling all their eyes away from the radio. For the very first time, the Wizard spoke aloud. "He comes," she rasped loudly, the sound grating their ears, "The Prince is come. Crota has returned!" A wheezing exhale. "And you will all die screaming!"

She erupted in laughter once more and the heat building up within Eriana burst. Solar flame emanated from her hands and condensed into a golden, roaring ball of flame that went flying.

The impact incinerated her on contact, her laugh becoming a scream, shrill and short-lived. The explosion, one that had Sai and even the others standing further away, shielding their eyes, ripped the table from its base and sent it hurtling into the back wall, shooting out a cloud of dust and stone.

The flames surrounding her died but Eriana's body refused to relax. Her head rang with noise and she could feel the stares of the others boring into her. She twisted on her heel, shoving past the others, out of the room and back up the stairs. Jax transmatted her radio back to her ship, the scratchy and panicked transmissions suddenly giving way to silence.

Footsteps followed her out of the room. "Eriana…" Sai was pleading now.

The tone in her voice was what made Eriana stop in her tracks. But not for long. "I'm going," she said quietly. "I need to do this. I need to, Sai. I need to."

Eriana held her gaze for only a few seconds more before she returned to climbing, breaking into a jog. A few seconds later, she heard the sound of multiple feet running after her. Part of her feared what she was leading them into but was quickly suffocated by the memory of Wei-Ning and the Knight. The Prince. Crota.

This needed to end. She would never know peace until it did.

Sai had followed her, as did the Hunter and Titan. The four of them head through the pass that would lead out of the Archer's Line and into the Hellmouth. Once through, they saw a scene befitting the name. The Hive swarmed the entirety of the landscape. Interspersed between were downed Guardian ships, destroyed weaponry and bodies. Bodies under heel, bodies slumped against boulders, bodies being triumphantly held aloft by Hive Knights, all with shattered Ghosts crunching beneath their stomping feet.

Eriana hurriedly searched the carnage before them, while the others murmured barely-suppressed disgust and horror. Her eyes fall onto the Wizards reported, far in the background, just underneath the looming image of Earth. Arranged in a circle, on the ground was a large, shimmering rune, etched into stone by green soulfire.

She fired her Sparrow into the swarm, ignoring Sai's calls for her to stop. Approaching the first Acolyte, she pushed the throttle to its max and rammed into its back, sending it flying and cracking a piece of her vehicle. She weaved through the roiling mass, blazing past Hive and the few Guardians who remained. Those that noticed her did not hesitate to start attacking and though she avoided the weapon fire the best she could, a single shot from a Hive Boomer was all it took.

The engine exploded and the vehicle was blown to pieces. Eriana was sent flying several feet through the air and skidding painfully across the ground for several feet more. The nearest Knight had been ready, its face and cleaver appearing in her still-swimming vision. Her hand comes up with her pistol, almost of its own volition. She lets off a single round into the Knight's chest, staggering it and giving her precious half-seconds to readjust.

The Knight righted itself and came roaring back, its sword in both hands now. Eriana threw herself to the side just as it came down and cracked the stone beneath. This time, it was her who recovered quicker. Just as the Knight lifted its sword again, Eriana darted back towards it. She thrust a palm of Void into its chest and let it burst, sending it flying away. When it landed, she fired her gun again. Two shots this time, directly into the head.

She looked back where she came, saw Sai, the Titan and the other Hunter fighting through the crowd themselves, either to reach her or to keep the Hive off the Guardians struggling to reach their ships. To Eriana's front were more Hive, their attention now solely on her. At the swarm's back, the Wizards continued their ritual unhindered. She could feel the power building in the air, like a sick miasma.

Reloading her weapon, Eriana let them continue, turning herself onto the Hive between them. Light and gunfire exploded from her in equal measure. Eriana tore her way through the swarm with what she herself would have considered reckless abandon. In every face, she saw the Prince. On every blade, she saw her heart, impaled and Lightless and silent forever.

The world became a blur and she was unsure how much time had passed as she tore through Hive after Hive, spattering herself with so much ichor and ash that her vision was almost entirely obscured. Still, she continued to fight and kill, just barely dipping into the pool of fury and grief she had been holding back for so long.

Until something exploded. Eriana felt a wave of power wash over her from the back, eliciting a sense of pressure and overwhelming dread that made her stop in her tracks. She turned to find the Wizards had broken formation, turned to face her and the other Guardians. The rune on the ground behind them exploded again, shooting emerald green fire high into the air.

The tower of flame dropped and condensed. It formed a tall column, one that sprouted legs, then arms and whose top rounded into a head and then whose head sprouted thick, thorn-like spikes. Like a crown.

The creature raised its arms and roared so loudly, Eriana could almost feel the soundwaves beating against her frame. The Hive surrounding her ceased in whatever they were doing and joined in. Jax began picking up new transmissions, requests for reports on the Hellmouth from places as far as the Archer's Line and Mare Imbrium. The sound could be heard for miles.

It stopped, all at once, leaving only an eerie silence and ringing in Eriana's ear. The glowing creature took on solid form and when it opened its hand, a cleaver boomed into existence directly into its palm.

Eriana screamed. Forgoing her gun, her entire body erupted into golden Solar flame that scorched and cracked the stone beneath her. A fiery bomb incinerated the Hive closest to her and drew the Prince's attention.

Her vision was all red now. The fire blasts out from every part of her body but with what little awareness she maintained amidst the ocean of rage, she used to direct it towards her feet and back. Her body was propelled forward and up through the air by Light, Radiant wings spread across her back wider than Crota himself.

Time slowed and her vision tunneled. The only things she saw were Crota's shimmering green eyes and her own hand, outstretched towards him as she drew closer and closer. She doesn't see the other Hive, moving in to assist their Prince. She doesn't see the remaining Guardians, using the distraction to escape what would have been their final deaths.

She doesn't see his sword raised. She doesn't see it begin to come back down.

Something small but solid collided with her midair, catching her in the chest, ripping her from her charge and her fury. Thin arms wrapped around her torso as her momentum was interrupted. Time resumed as normal and suddenly, she was flying back the way she came. Crota's blade swipes through the air where she would have been and lands, creating a massive crevice in the rock and shifting a large section of the land out of place.

Eriana hit the ground hard and rolled, arms still wrapped tight around her. She cracked her helmed head against the ground and felt a ringing within that was different and familiar.

A burst of static ripped through her once more and she cursed it and its source. She ignored what it was trying to tell her, just as she ignored the raucous shouting of the Hive, Sai Mota over her, her hoarse, panicked voice screaming in her face. Her eyes and ears were only for Crota, who had lifted his sword from the ground but hadn't moved. He was staring at them; a curiosity more than a threat.

Rage building up in her throat again, Eriana tried to push Sai off of her, return to her feet but Sai grabbed hold of her arm again, tried to pull her away.

Crota's alien rumbling, Jax's shrill warnings, Sai's incoherent pleading, the calls of the other Guardians as they fought tooth and nail to give Sai and Eriana a path out. So many voices surrounded her, within and without and she couldn't help but still feel that stabbing pit of emptiness, for the voice she would never hear again.

Then, one cut through them all. Imperious and thundering. It gave a command that was singular and so absolute that Eriana actually felt compelled to obey.

Duck.

The stone mountain behind them that stood between the Hellmouth and the Anchor of Light exploded, destroying ancient Golden Age derelicts in its wake. Eriana and Sai turned just in time to see a roaring ball of metal and flame hurtling towards them, already so close, it blot out the sky. This time, it was Eriana who grabbed Sai and threw her down. They hit the ground just as it flew overhead. When it landed, both Guardians were sent flying back. Shields shattered, more than a few body parts broken but alive.

Crota and his Hive were less fortunate. The impact crushed those who had been the closest to it while the rest were destroyed by the friction-born heat. Even the Prince was sent staggering backwards, shielding his face from the cloud of dust that came rolling his way.

Sai's weak groan snapped Eriana out of her daze. She pushed herself to her knees and crawled over the best she could manage to examine her. Aside from internal injuries, her ankle was twisted and with the Prince so close, her Ghost was having trouble using her Light to put everything back into place.

"Jax, my ship. Quickly." She took Sai's limp arm and wrapped it around her shoulder. When she looked up again, her ship was already in sight.

Eriana looked back at what had crashed behind them. The dust fell slowly but Eriana did not need to see to know what had landed between her and the Hive, nor to know who had landed it there.

A Warsat, red and smoking from reentry, blue sparks flew off exposed wiring. Eriana doesn't get long to stare before a massive blade swipes through the cloud. Eriana twisted around and carried Sai the best she could as the ship came closer as the booming footsteps grew louder. The world around her changed. The carnage of the Moon was replaced with the interior of her jumpship. She could still practically feel Crota on their tail and hear his approaching footsteps but the ship twisted quickly in the air. The thrusters fired, catching the Prince in its blast before taking off, far out of his reach, even as his Knights tried to shoot them down.

She heard the voice from before but this time, it came with no commands, only unintelligible muttering. Muttering that drew her eyes to a window that still faced the Hive.

The Warsat exploded, killing Hive by the dozens. The flash of light forced Eriana to flinch away, even as her ship flew higher into the air. Eriana finally let herself breathe. She let Sai down gently into a chair, her healing accelerated by their growing distance from the Hellmouth, though she remained quiet.

"Jax…the other Guardians…"

"Both made it off-planet. They're in orbit and prepping to jump."

"Do the same."

Eriana went back over to the window to see the Hive swarm growing smaller with distance. A black stain marked the place where the Warsat last stood. Within the crater stood the Prince, staring up at their ship until even he was too small to make out from above.

Eriana turned to Sai and found her asleep. Going over to the pilot's seat, she dropped heavily into it, her head coming down into her hands.

Everything was so quiet now. Her body had gone cold.

Eriana downed the last of her drink and promptly left the bar, a goodbye mumbled to Eris Morn beside her, clutching her own drink as if she could crush the glass. It was meager and half-hearted, less than she deserved for being one of the few to seek her out. The lounge was full and silent, except for the murmuring and the occasional drunken sob. A few eyes followed her but averted when she met them. Her outburst had turned heads.

The quiet. It was something she never expected she would have to endure rather than enjoy. Eris' silent companionship, Sai's quiet grief for her passed teammate and concern for her living one. The gravitas of the Vanguard, as they reported the disaster that had been the Moon. The stunned silence of the people of the City as they listened and realized.

Eriana paused in the middle of a dimly lit hall. It took seconds to realize where her feet were taking her but when she did, she turned immediately. She was willing to endure the silence out here but the quiet of an empty bedroom? She wasn't…she couldn't…

Maybe she never would.

Eriana forced her mind back towards the last events on the Moon, just to fill the silence. The results were almost immediate; anger began to simmer deep in the pit of her stomach and like heat, it rose. The constant interference. The Warsat.

She had asked him to leave her alone. Demanded that she be allowed to live her own life, be the person he was preventing her from being. And he ignored her, as he always did.

"Have my ship readied," she murmured to Jax, "We leave at-" She stopped. Voices catch her ears, from around the corner and she moves closer to hear better.

She recognized the voices as the ones from before. The two Guardians who had helped her and Sai on the Moon. She remained in place, not wishing to be seen, a part of her still ashamed of her behavior in the Hellmouth, and how it had endangered them all. They spoke of a funeral service to occur. It would happen in a few days; the Guardians' dead were high and still rising.

Leaning close to the wall, Eriana dared a peek and found their backs to her. The Titan was helmetless and revealed himself to be Vell Tarlowe. That fact surprised her. She hadn't even recognized his voice or frame back on the Moon. Had she been so far gone as to not recognize a friend?

The other, the Hunter, she did not recognize. He was a pale, gaunt man, with dark brown hair that reached his ears. Vell put his hand on the other man's shoulder and squeezed just once before leaving him. The Hunter remained, turning only slightly to watch Vell Tarlowe leave. She saw that he was holding something and with Vell gone, she could see.

A Titan mark, burnt and torn. The ring of a Warlock bond, broken and dimmed. The Hunter cradled them like they were the most precious things in the world and when Eriana looked into his green eyes, she saw the fight that she had with herself near constantly. The fight to keep together, to not break down. To not fall apart forever.

"Eriana…"

"Forget it, Jax. It can wait a few days."