Hello everyone, thank you for your support and review for "The First and Only" I've seen some of you drop by and followed and favourite my story. Thanks It means a lot to me
Also I wish to know whether you all happy with the progression of the story, do you feel it's too slow? Or perhaps you have any ideas let me know, I need feedback since this is the first time I have ever write a story since high school
And here's my response for the reviews
ProjectIceman: Yea, I guess it IS stupid and cringe, sorry for that though, I tried to finish the chapter as soon as possible so I could get some rest and basically write anything that comes first into mind. I've change it to a less dramatic ending. Let me know whether you are okay with it, and thanks for always review my chapter
Musizlover2008: I think it is my fault for that, I do not mean a fool, like a foolish idiot. More like arrogance, or misguided? For me The Witness and the Traveller are the hands of "Aria" the one that tends the garden.
Traveller meant as the fertilizer of the garden and The Witness are the scissor that prevent abnormal growth or rot to the garden, However, The Witness believe that the garden's shape is not desirable, so they decided to act on their own. Killing many civilization before the Traveller could even tend them, he forget that he and Traveller supposed to work together as part of "Aria".
Anyway I guess it's my choice of word is the one that's wrong here I'm sorry for that, also please let me know if this explanation is okay for you since you seems to know more about the destiny lore than I am
Enjoy the new chapter, and please give a feedback to me so I could improve my story
Chapter 07 Revelation
Every lie we tell incurs debt to the truth. Sooner or later, that debt is paid
-Valery Legasov-
TICK* *TOCK* *TICK* *TOCK*
The living room is silent, only the steady ticking of the clock can be heard, the air is full with tension between me, mother and Izumi, it's still six in the morning plenty of time to talk before we go to our own daily routine. I promised to explain Izumi about me being a guardian so here we are.
And then she tell mother about my abilities, my "quirk", of course she shocked and fainted, again, I have to settle her down an promised to explain everything tomorrow.
"Before I explain everything I need you two to promise that what I will tell you, WILL NOT!, Escape this room" I said with a stern voice glaring at both of them
"But why Izuku? Why I cant tell that my son have finally develop a quirk? What is the danger of bragging for a little bit?" my mother ask, I taste some fear in her voice but also a sense of proud to her son
"Because my power does not come from here, from this world" I said crossing my arms
"What do you mean by that nii-san?" Izumi asks with uncertainty "You mean your power comes from out there? You know… aliens?"
"If it was then it would be more simpler to explain it to you all" I dryly replied
"Izuku, the what do you mean with outer world?" my mother asks again
"I will not say anything until you make the promise…" I said sternly, leaving no room for discussion
Both mother and daughter look at each other for several seconds before agreeing to my terms.
"Very well, we agree" she sighs while rubbing her temple,
"Okay then" I said, my expression softens a bit as I open my palm and summon Aria
"Aria show record Alpha 01" I said as Aria projects a video
"it will be a long story, starting, with the day I died…
But death do not came for me, instead I found myself in a frozen tundra, a cold place devoid of life, and in my face floats an object I have never seen before, it's the size of a fist polyhedron-shape drone.
I hear her voice said "Ah you're finally awake, I have spent decades finding the right guardian. I'm a ghost by the way, well not just a ghost I'm YOUR ghost. Ah but anyway, it's not safe here come on I need to bring you to the tower"
And so covered in a drab I have never seen or wear before I quickly jump out, running dodging, doing everything I could to outrun a robotic army, The Vex. But I do not just running away, with an old weapon from old humanity I fight The Vex Until I finally reaches the Last City
The Last City, the cradle of mankind after the collapse old humanity over there, I stay for the time being, trying to find a way to return to gather my bearings and perhaps hoping to return to my home. In the Last City I met several important individual"
"Ikora Rey, whom going to be my teacher in the future a Vanguard Warlock" Aria shows a projection of a dark-skinned woman with a purple outfit that with a high collar
"Cayde-6, brothers in arms and a Vanguard Hunter" The image changes to a tall figure, he wears a brown hood, brown vest and brown khaki. However his face is robotic with a blue eye
"And Zavala, leader of guardians within the Last City" This time the image depicts a bald blue skinned man with a red sweater covered by a thick chest armour
"But in the Last City, that is the first time I managed to found a mentor, the one that changes my perspective, the one that sees something within me… a hero"
The image shows a figure with a mask that covers their face with only a visor to see, a brown tattered cloak, a brown vest and a belt of bullet on his hips
For a moment I closed my eyes, reminiscing the past, the meeting with Shin Malphur, his teachings, his guidance, and his last words to me before I took off to the unknown. I summoned Last Word to my hand, delicately touching the hand cannon with care, caressing it.
"This is his last and final words to me, Last Word, and I hoping to find a successor. Much like he inherit Last Word from his father Jaren Ward, much like I inherit Last Word from Shin Malphur, perhaps one day I would trust someone to inherit this." I said, finally open my eyes, and letting a single drop of tear
"After my mentor left I decided to keep improving myself, doing quests, jobs, and participating in a tournament for each guardian to hone themselves, it's called 'The Crucible'
But then, I met the Exo Stranger on Venus, she warns me about a "Black Garden" a place of darkness and told me to rip out its heart so that the Traveller could heal. And so I did, after some assistance from "the queen of the reef" Mara Sov I managed to enter the "Black Garden" and destroy the heart, allowing the Traveller to finally heal"
The image shows the Guardian fighting a titanic battle, shooting his Last Word with accuracy they have never seen before, and then changes to many other weapons, one that strike them the most is a sword-like sniper with a Japanese writing and two koi fish circle each other each of the side
"After I managed to kill the black garden and allowing the Traveller to heal, I stay in the tower for a while resting, before going out again doing missions.
I would not bother you since it is just a regular missions, delivery, kill some aliens like vex, hive, cabal, etc. One of the missions ended with me killing an offspring of a god. The god for some reason got angry and decided to invade earth, so I replied with boarding his ship kill him, and go to his ascended plane, it's basically a backup if he died, and kill him right then and there"
I remembers when Crota comes causing ruckus and, me, not appreciating what he's doing decided to give him a gift in a form of a bullet, to his skull, and he died, which upset his father for some unknown reason and decided to invade earth, and me, along with Omega-11 and Sir D form a strike team to take him down
"And then there's a mission about Siva, a self-replicating nano machine created during the old age of humanity. It was here I met an Iron Lord, a title lost to time, only few earn the title, and fewer live long enough to meet another Iron Lord.
Saladin, the iron Lord I met asks me to aid his effort to contain the Siva, apparently, they escape from their containment because of those pesky Vex. It is in this mission he named me as Young Wolf and make me an Iron Lord
For some time, things just go as usual, mission after mission, boding with Cayde-6, Ikora took me in as her pupil, and going to Crucible, training with every guardian I met"
'Ah, this is also the time where Aria starting to call me as her "Beloved Warlock" or "Dearest Guardian' I reminiscing my past with Aria, my companion
"But then comes the Red War….."
"The day began as usual, I was away when I sense the sky darkens, something's wrong, so, I quickly got back to the Last City hoping everything's alright, but was met with a ruined city. A cabal, Dominus Ghaul came to us, destroy our defenses and the tower, kill many of innocent civilian, and he managed to capture the Traveler"
I shuddered remembering the destruction he bought with him, the screams of the civilian, the smell of ash, blood, and burning meat and how helpless I am when they capture the Traveler… perhaps it is the first and may the-one-who-tends-the-garden allow it, the only time I feel hopelessness
"Sorry, it just aside from the death of my brother, this is the one memory I dislike to revisit, the smell of ash and blood, the screams of civilian, and how weak I am without the light…
In short during the beginning of the Red War we lost the Last City, our leader, the vanguards scattered throughout the solar system, and us guardians are without light, without our power we lost everything.
But I was found by several group of resistance, basic human without light but proficient in shooting lead by a lady named Hawthorne in the European Dead Zone. It was here I managed to regain the light by touching a shard of the Traveler"
I remember that time when I feel the light came back to me, my strength, and along my side Aria, flying here and there overjoyed she was, and with our light return to us, we determined to get our home back at all costs
"And off we go from the European Dead Zone, to Titan, to take Zavala. And to Io to gather my teacher Ikora and to Nexus for Cayde-6. Meanwhile the base in EDZ became a safe haven for many guardians, seeking refuge from Ghaul.
At first my plan is to simply just launch an infiltration assault to the Last City, took down its defense system and with everyone make a final assault to Ghaul, but that bastard has a weapon to destroy stars, the named it almighty, the weapon could annihilate stars and you know how devastating a supernova would be to earth
So, the vanguard and I made a plan, I would hijack a Cabal ship and take disable the almighty while the Vanguards and the other guardians make an assault to the Last City. And it worked quite well, The Almighty disabled and I raced back to earth, crash landed on Ghaul's ship and fight him"
The projection changes to a scene where the Guardian's ship enter earth's orbit and falling like a meteor and struck massive ship and battling a lot of big cabals before standing alone in a large chamber. In front of him stood a three-meter-tall figure with white armor.
The figure started to monologue, which cuts short when he realizes the Guardian pulls out an ornate Rocket Launcher and began firing at him and the two battles. However, even with the help of his cabal subordinate he still loses, the Guardian is simply too fast and wield too many weapons for him to adapt.
But, from his body a small beam of light emits, his body started to break apart as if he's a ceramic vessel and from it rises a new Ghaul bathed in light, however the cage surrounding a giant ball shape object started to break apart.
"You do see me…"
That's the last word of Dominus Ghaul before obliterated by the light, the aftermath shows five figures, standing on top of the tower a happy smile Ikora, Zavala, Cayde-6, Hawthorne, and the Guardian
"After that the rebuilding began, it took several months to return the Last City to a condition before the invasion. But I was not there, I was out from earth, killing Vex, Caba, Hive and once saving the teacher of my teacher, Osiris…
Osiris is the first Vanguard Warlock, exiled for his experiment for the Vex tech. He's trapped in an alternate reality where vex would win. I found an object in a desert of Mercury, and brought it to Ikora since it looks like a ghost.
The ghost named Sagira asks me and Ikora to go to Mercury and help Osiris and shut down the whole vex technology, which we did"
'Or maybe YOU did my dearest guardian, mine beloved warlock. I have no doubt those two at the sideline eating while you go alone' I hear Aria's voice in my head clearly still unhappy with the whole ordeal
"But then I lost my brother…." I said with a heavy tone.
I summon Ace of Spades, looking at her beautiful design, her white body, black grip and her signature ace of spades symbol on her round
"Cayde-6 is one of the first guardian that shows me the ropes when I first come to the Last City. Indeed, it was Shin Malphur who mentored me for several month, but after that Cayde is the one that came for me.
He's an easy-going person, a cheerful one, for me his jokes always there to comfort me whenever I struggled. And one day I hear that a prison that contain several aliens and they ask for a help so me another girl named Petra Venj and Cayde-6 went there to investigate and contain the prisoners
In a battle between him and a troop of prisoners, someone shoots his ghost weakening him and despite he, in the end, managed to kill every single alien he's killed by the leader of the group, one Uldren Sov…"
The projection shows Cayde's last stand, from him going in a pristine condition until his inevitable demise when he lost his ghost. And then a man came for him they exchange several words before he shot Cayde-6, then the Guardian came in, holding his body before Cayde-6, Vanguard Hunter, Rogue Leader, best friend, brothers in arms died in the hand of the Guardian
"Until this day I still shed a single tear for him, my only brother, my best friend, and that bastard took him away, so I did what I have to do. Vengeance, the Vanguard would not allow me to kill Uldren Sov and decided to threaten me with banishment. I care not for it and went to hunt Uldren alone.
Tracking was and still is not my greatest weapon, but, Shin and Cayde insist for me to learn tracking to survive in wilderness and their teaching proves to be quite fruitful I managed to find Uldren when he's trying to summon and Ahamkara, so, I kill the Ahamkara and kill Uldren"
Aria shows a scene of a young man with blue skin and yellow eye, Uldren Sov, in front of a large circle with runes on it, before the man gets eaten by a large ball of flesh and the guardian battling said sack of meat.
After several hours, the meat exploded and from it shows Uldren Sov, and the Guardian along with Petra Venj all three of them exchange conversation before a deep grumbling voice said
"Not Yours"
And this Uldren Sov died, I the hand of the Guardian, killed by Ace of Spades
"It has been a while ever since I kill Uldren Sov when I Eris Morn called me to explore to Luna or moon, inside I see a massive pyramid ship, I enter and that's when I finally met the darkness. It entices me with its promise for strength, power, the will to live. It said that in light there's only weakness, in light there's only death. That darkness is the truth and the light lie to us; the truth is in the dark.
I was struck with a vision, another me that embrace the darkness he told me that he's my salvation, and said the future is the darkness and those who stays in the light will perish, he offers his hand asks me to join him in the darkness
I replied with an 'I'll think about it' answer and wake up and walking to the exit of the black pyramid. Unfortunately, as soon as exit the pyramid I forgot about what the darkness said to me and continue my missions."
I remember the meeting with my other half, and how excited he is for me to join him in the darkness, and then I regained consciousness and began walked out of the pyramid, either I have dementia or the black pyramid have something that prevent anyone to remember on what happened inside….
I'll go with dementia, considering most of my time in the Tower revolves on trying to find my weapons cache
"Then I clean the black garden, again, helping Osiris time travel to rescue his old partner, Saint-14, a legendary Vanguard Titan before Zavala from the Vex menace.
After that I went for Rasputin after Zavala, realize a group of cabals and vex hijack the Almighty and set it to collide with earth. It when I consult with Rasputin I see several pyramid-shaped ships near Pluto, it was when I realized…
They have arrived… the darkness is here…"
"On the icy lands of Europa, things changed for me, and for better or for worse my perspective… On Europa I met the Exo Stanger, Eris Morn and a guy named The Drifter, at first, I thought it was a simple mission of extermination of fallen, but it soon realized that this is not a normal fallen, no…
They wield the darkness granting them the ability to freeze everything they touch, in my struggle against their leader, Eramis, I was frozen by her, but somehow, something within me awakes and I was washed with a feeling of nostalgia, of memories that I have never had before. The freezing ice did not freeze me, they embrace me, making myself stronger.
That's when I began to wield stasis the first darkness-based power and the first a perhaps only guardian that capable of sustaining darkness and light inside, a balance of harmony"
I can feel the chilling breeze of Europa, how beautiful of. Landscape it is everything I just so pristine, so quiet, so serene… It was also here I learn the stasis, and acquiring a tome of old with a title "Unveiling"
The book describes a conversation between two individual, one called The Gardener and the other The Winnower, the Gardener laments that they always lost in the game of life and death, the Winnower replied with it is how the way it is. The gardener than create a symbol of life, growth and complexity while the winnower refused such creation saying that it'll upset the balance that he will create a tumor of civilization that was not ready and civilization that should not exist, to exist and for him he will create something called 'The First Knife'
'This never happened my dearest guardian' Aria speaks within my head, her voice echoes through my mind radiating authority
'There is no Winnower nor Guardian, this book is merely a perspective of a mortal about the beginning of Light and Dark. There is only "The Garden" and "The-One-Who-Tends-The Garden" as simple as that'
"In the event of "Witch Queen" mission I and several other guardians strike into a depth of mars, trying to dislodge a hive lead by their goddess, Savathun, and discover the name if my nemesis The Witness…
Savathun and her hive, for some unknown power now wield the light, either that the Traveler chose her, or she stole the light. But after reviewing some missions to review Savthun's reason to be able to be a light bearer, we found out that the Traveler, the one that provide us, humanity, the light decide to give our enemies the light….
Savathun, enemy of guardians, once wielder of power of darkness, the Witch Queen of hive, Goddess of cunning and lies, became a light bearer by the will of the Traveler"
I still feels the sadness, the shock, the disappointment of other guardians, Lord Saladin, Lord Shaxx, Anna Bray, Osiris. But Zavala is the one who got struck the most in a mere moment, not he displayed hopelessness, weakness.
But for me and Ikora, we need answers on how to stop Savathun, Ikora reminded all of us in the room that we need to protect humanity, to prepare for the darkness.
For me, I just want a brand-new weapon and Savathun's soul is strong enough to be forge into an exotic weapon, if we kill her in the process, the it's just two birds in one stone
"And so, we use some reverse phycology, what is it I do not care, I just want to end this three months long mission and never hear the word 'Hive' or 'Savathun' ever again. She got angry and fight me and my strike team, we killed her, and that's that"
Of course, I cannot say that I brought her corpse to the an Eliksni named Omnissiah and forge Osteo Striga out of her body, the gun is quite good, perhaps a little too good. There are some instances where in a pinch the gun would keep firing bullet when I run out of ammo. Or jammed just because I do not clean her enough.
Some of Osiris even joked about the gun possessing a soul, a spirit of light inside of it.
"But then everything, ALL of our journey is for a naught, The Witness is here and with them, comes the black fleet and darkness is here… at our doorstep. The second collapse is here…
We venture into Neptune following a distress signal that although unmistakably human, is quite old. There on Neptune we found Neomuna, a city far advance than the last city that's the refuge of some human after the collapse.
In Neomuna we here trying to find out something called as The Veil, it's something that The Witness needed to win, but the city is under siege by a group of cabal lead by Emperor Calus and his Shadow Legion, and finally found a way to the Veil by "The Vault"
There we fight the last disciple of The Witness, Emperor Calus, and finally kills him, we thought we have won, we thought wit it we have thwarted the plan of The Witness…
How wrong we are..."
I took a moment to stabilize my bearing, Izumi and mother seemingly shocked with me suddenly gotten pale, sweaty and…… desperate
"As we defeated Calus, the Veil suddenly activated, and from it The Witness opened a portal near the Traveler, and told the Traveler to be free, what ever that means. And enters, to where? I do not know… I do not care… And I only wanted vengeance…… and loot"
I can hear Aria exasperatedly sigh in my head, seeing that my "Loot Goblin Syndrome" still have not cured, and perhaps never will
"So, I after making preparation and some final massages to my friends, my. Hopes and dreams for them, I went after The Witness, and into the Light, to the portal. That's when I awoke, for the first time after nine years. I awoke and spoke not as the Guardian…
But as Izuku Midoriya"