Hashladun and her sister Kinox with their items in hand floated towards their uncle and bowed in respect to him. The last time either of them saw of Nokris was many Millennia ago when their grandfather, Oryx, discovered his heretical practices and banished him, wiping all knowledge of him from the Worlds Grave Record and a proclamation that no member of the Hive sect were to contact him. But times have changed.

"Greetings to you Nokris, uncle, brother of out father Crota, son of Oryx, leader of the Grasp of Nokris Hive Sect, Necromancer and Herald of Xol." Hashladun said, listing off the titles that he wore.

A rumbling from up above tore their eyes from their uncle and they bore witness to the emergence of his patron, one of their Worm Gods; Xol, Will of the Thousands. They bowed their heads lower in reverence to the Worm God.

"We greet you too, Xol, Will of the Thousands." They said in unison.

The gigantic entity simply growled in acknowledgement before burrowing into the ground up above, coiling around as it observed their conversation.

"Greetings to you, Hashladun and Kinox, daughters of my brother Crota, what brings you here?" Nokris replied as he moved around his two nieces. "Have you come to pledge your allegiance to a heretic like myself?"

"In a way, yes."

He stopped in his tracks, shock for a moment, turning to excitement. "Oh? Last time we saw one another, you stood right by my brother and sisters as my father, your grandfather cast me out! Declared me heretic, lesser, weakling!" He grew angry as her rounded back in front of the two, memories coming to the surface of his mind.

00000

He was throttled to the ground as energy bathed his form, making him cry in agony.

"Lesser! Weakling! Heretic!" His father shouted at him from the top of his throne. The ruler of the Hive pantheon and Taken King Oryx unfurled his wings in anger making him look bigger, his three emerald eyes burning with fury.

The Champions from the lowest to the highest of the Court of Oryx were assembled all around watching as the scene unfolded. Not only they were in attendance; for his first born son and heir, Crota was also there. He was sharpening his blade without a care, waiting for the order from his father to behead the heretic that was his brother. Nearby were his sisters behind his consort, Omnigul and his daughters watching. Observing as well were emissaries from his aunts, Xivu Arath and Savathun. Heresy of this magnitude required all members of the pantheon to be in attendance.

"I did what you did long ago! I sought communion of the Worm Gods! And I succeeded!" Nokris shouted getting up.

"And succeed you did. And what did you do? You gained knowledge on necromancy and willingly practiced it! A violation of our Sword Logic!" He brought up his blade and pointed at Nokris. Nearby, Crota stopped sharpening his blade, anticipating the order.

"The only reason I don't order your execution is because of your patron. Killing you might anger him and jeopardize our dynasty." Crota slumped down in disappointment.

"I hereby banish you and your sect from my Court! All records of you will be wiped save for a single statue. A reminder to what a failure you are." He slammed his blade down, a portal opening behind Nokris. The blade released a wave of energy which propelled Nokris back into the portal which closed with a snap!

00000

"True, but much has changed." Hashladun hefted the clothed gift in her claws. "Consider this your coronation present."

"Coronation?" He asked in confusion.

"Yes. As you might be aware, your brother, our father, Crota was slain by a Lightbearer by the name of Summer Rose…" She was interrupted by a hiss from her sister Kinox. Said sister was silenced with a look from Hashladun. "And our grandfather, your father, Oryx along with your sisters, our aunts, Ir Halak and Ir Anuk were killed by the same Lightbearer as well." She continued.

"I have felt it, even in my frozen prison." Nokris admitted as he briefly looked away. He remembered feeling his brother's death long ago, his scream echoing even from his frozen prison. Quickly followed by his sisters and his father. During a brief moment, he felt saddened by the loss. But that was soon extinguished by memories of his banishment.

"And the one who slain them both has not taken the Osmium Throne, leaving us without a king." Hashladun concluded. "With both Crota and Oryx dead, despite your status as a heretic, you are next in line for the throne."

"And thanks to our newest patron, we can make it a reality." Kinox said as she floated alongside her sister.

"Patron?" Nokris asked as Hashladum unveiled what was in her claws. Removing the cloth covering it, revealing a long pole made of bronze with an obsidian blade at the end of it. A Glaive.

Recognizing it and what it symbolized, Nokris looked to his nieces. "Where did you get that?"

"From our patron. He hopes you can do a service for him." Hashladun said as she bid her sister to uncover the chest.

From above, Xol coiled backwards and gave a roar that shook the cavern. Nokris looked at the contents in shock and horror.

Residing in the chest was a decapitated head. A head of black flesh with seven eyes in the center with horns that curved upwards. Nokris knew who's head it was. All members of the Hive were taught the greatest wielders of Darkness, The Disciples.

"Where did you get that?!"

"You would be surprised by what Fallen scavengers leave behind after raiding the Pyramid beneath the Earths moon." Hashladun said, confirming the identity of the head. "The Disciple of Nightmares found a new vessel for his mind and essence to reside in. He knows of your necromancy and believes you can reanimate his head and perhaps…"

"Regrow a new body for him?!" Nokris finished. It was not a question that he can do it. Even a single piece of chitin from a Hive long dead is all it took for him not only to regrow a new body, but reanimate it. So far, he reanimated Hive, a few Cabal soldiers and Fallen. He was unable to reanimate Vex. But the dead body of a Disciple? First time for everything.

He bent low to examine the head. Muttering an incantation, he brought his hand to touch the flesh. The second his digit touched the flesh, a green glow manifested around it. Green threads encircled the head, Hive script twirling around it. Frowning and shaking his head, he stared at his nieces.

"It looks like our trickster of an aunt placed a bit of a curse on the remains. Even with my necromancy, I won't be able to resurrect him."

Kinox closed the chest with a sigh. "Unfortunate, but not unexpected."

"Even if you can't do it, he still wishes for you to claim this Glaive. With it in hand and with the backing of a Disciple and patronage of one of our Worm Gods, you can claim the throne as our new King." Hashladun said.

"But isn't it against the Sword Logic itself that power cannot be given, it must be taken by force! For if something is given, it has no power and thus worthless!" Nokris said quoting one of his father's laws.

"True, but times have changed. Other Hive champions have tried and failed to claim the throne. There was even Hive Knight by the name of Zulmak who tried to take it by slaying a couple dozen other contestants before the Disciple…finished him. But with the backing of a Disciple as powerful as him and a Worm God would be more than enough to overlook that. Your so-called heresies will be law."

"And what of my nieces, my brother's daughters? What do you gain?"

"We will gain a new king to the throne, with me and my sisters as your humble advisors." Hashladun and Kinox bowed their heads to him as their bodies sank low to the ground, the Hive Wizards way of bowing before those they swore allegiance to.

Nokris stood still and looked at them, silently contemplating their words. His gaze drifted to the Glaive and he grabbed it. Feeling the weight of the weapon, he gave it a twirl in his claw before pointing it at a wall. A stream of Solar Fire erupted from the blade and to the wall, molten rock dripping down to the ground.

"I will contemplate this before I give my answer."

"Take your time dear uncle, the weapon is yours. And we will await your answer."

00000

Out on the bray Futurescape grounds near one of the landing pads, Zavala along with Ace-Ops members Harriet Brie and Clover Ebi stood near Zavala's personal Jumpship. It was a standard Arcadia-Class Jumpship painted silver with red markings. Hunter Vanguard Cayde-6 jokingly called it Zavala's Authority, and it stuck.

After a long discussion with Ana Bray, he had no choice but to allow her to assist Rasputin in dealing with Nokris and his Hive sect. He even assigned Prometheus-23, Penny Polendina and the Ace-Ops to assist and deal with them till he got back from the Last City with reinforcements. He would have stayed and assisted, but Targe, his Ghost received some news.

The first being reports concerning Vex on Mercury and the news of a Guardian by the name of Saint-14 found there. The second being reports from a collaborative of Hidden and Agents of the vanguard having found the heads of New Monarchy, Dead Orbit and Future war Cult that went missing during the Red War. Just their heads.

"With the death of the Speaker, the Consensus was already teetering with the factions, representatives of Remnant and House Light. But with the deaths of the heads of those factions, new members must be selected. And now the revelation of Nokris being the brother of Crota and son of Oryx…"

"No need to explain sir, politics come with the territory." Clover said, having experienced the same thing with Ironwood. Several times, Ironwood wanted to be more hands on in the initial Op, but with him being the head of the Military, Councilman and Headmaster, he had to focus on those. So, with Zavala having to take care of Last City politics was understandable. "We'll hold the line as long as possible sir." Clover and Harriet saluted.

"Good. Keep me informed of everything that goes down."

Clover and Harriet turned to leave, as Zavala transmatted back into his ship.

Unbeknownst to them, a small drone was filming and recording everything they said and done, sending them back to the source. That source being Arthur Watts and his scroll. "Very interesting."

A/N: And there you go! I was originally going to have Zavala promote Harriet as a temporary Deputy Vanguard Commander to serve as his eyes and ears while on mars, but it didn't fit so I dropped that idea. The Glaive is a symbol for all those who show promise in the eyes of a Disciple or the Witness itself. Every Disciple has a Glaive of their own. ialso gave a reason why Zavala didn't stay and assist during the Warmind campaign.

Next chapter will be training between Nora and Saint-14!