Hey guys, I'm back with this other fic that has been in the making for around 2 years. Took a while yes, but I finally got it out. My Bloodborne x RWBY fic is still got steady progress. Also, Final Shape is lit, am I right? Save for the kicking to orbit. You'll see a lot of references to Final Shape and all other parts of Destiny. And I have changed the story a bit of course. Hope you enjoy!
Destiny's Truth
Introduction
What is a Guardian? Over the history of humanity, many have asked the question. However, they always receive the same answer. A Guardian is a protector. One who lays down their life for those who have only one. They became heroes…legends. Now the Darkness has returned, and three Guardians fought against it. They lost much, but they prevailed in the end.
But the cost of the victory was the life of the Hunter, Jake. He sacrificed his life for humanity. Permanently dead. Or he should have been. The slayer of gods and darkness now wakes up in a new universe with his Ghost, Spark, and a familiar exo stranger who had a hunch he was alive.
Together, they must fight new enemies and forge new bonds. They will be the Guardians of this new universe, and will discover the true meaning behind destiny. However, where light goes…darkness always follows.
Chapter 1
Jake felt cold. Everything was cold. His eyes couldn't see anything, it was endless darkness. A void…limbo. He was alone and very sad. He had sacrificed everything for humanity. His life, his Ghost, his relationship with Elsie. Everything was gone. Tears left his eyes, and they disappeared in the endless abyss. He remembered his funeral, the Vex had predicted it. It had probably happened. And what about Elsie? She had finally opened up to him, confessed her feelings. How did she react to his death? And lastly…his light.
Where had it gone? Everyone burned with a spark of light, no matter how big or small. Jake seemed to be abandoned by the Traveler, his last hope. It was all gone. Now he would drift in this endless, suffocating darkness.
Then something happened…a light…a voice…something he remembered when he had been revived for the first time. His eyes began to see, his ears began to hear. He reached out for the light and felt the warmth of the Traveler. He heard the voice speak, and he recognized it.
"Eyes up Guardian!" The voice said.
—
"That's it, easy does it…just breathe." Elsie Bray watched Spark soothe his Guardian after reviving him.
It took every ounce of her self control to not reach out and hug him at that moment. She looked around and tried her best to recognize where they were, but this planet was unknown to her. She had left behind everyone and everything to find the man she loved. Would he remember her? Would he remember anything? And where in the Traveler were they?
"What happened?" Jake mumbled groggily.
To Elsie, it seemed he had woken up from a deep sleep. She held her breath and waited for Spark to explain.
"I'm your Ghost, Spark. Do you remember me?" Spark asked as the flames dancing around his shell dulled.
"Spark? No that's not possible, the…the Witness destroyed you!" Jake yelled as he looked up at his Ghost.
"Destroyed, not killed." Spark replied.
Jake looked to the side to see a kneeling Elsie looking at him with a small smile.
"So you do remember everything." Elsie said with a sigh of relief.
"Elsie…I-I thought I'd never see you again." Jake stammered as he blushed a bit at how close she got to him.
Elsie's smile widened as she got to see the side that Jake rarely showed anyone. His soft side. She reached out and pulled him into a tight hug.
"I'm so glad to have you alive again." Elsie said as Spark began to scan the planet and stars to see where they might be.
"Okay…so what happened Elsie? We won right? So has everything gone back to normal?" Jake asked.
Elsie looked down, sadness in her eyes.
"Elsie, you're starting to scare me." Jake said with a chuckle.
She hesitantly looked back up and spoke.
"Yes, in the end we won, but the Witness destroyed Spark and to make sure the Traveler could never revive you, it sent you to an alternate timeline." Elsie said.
"You're kidding right?" Jake asked.
"Unfortunately, no I'm not. The Witness, somehow, knew that Spark would come back. So it made sure you would be as far away from your Ghost as possible, but he didn't seem to account for a desperate, angry scientist who didn't get to say goodbye to the one she loved." Elsie said with a carefree look.
"So, from what I am able to take from that…you messed up and we're stuck here?" Jake asked the exo.
"Yes." She responded with a bit of embarrassment in her voice.
"Do you know where we are?" He asked.
"No." Elsie replied.
"Actually…I might know where we are." Spark said.
The couple looked at the Ghost.
"Do enlighten us Little Light." Elsie with a smirk.
Spark shook his shell in frustration at Elsie's nickname for him.
"Well, we are on a planet 80 light years from Sol." Spark said in an excited voice.
Elsie's facial plates shuttered and Jake's blood ran cold. They waited for Spark to finish.
"However, there is civilization on this planet. Advanced civilization, although not as advanced as any we've seen." Spark said.
"Okay…are they human?" Jake asked.
"About half, but there are other alien races that I don't recognize." Spark said as he thought at light speed.
"Well then, shall we?" Jake asked as he got to his feet.
"Before we go." Elsie said.
Jake looked at her waiting for her to finish, but was taken by surprise as she quickly gave him a kiss. This was unexpected, but not unwelcome. Spark simply watched and waited for the moment to end.
"Let's go." Elsie said as she held Jake's hand.
—
Commander Jane Shepard was in the worst dilemma she had ever been in. The Reapers were now waging war on every species in the galaxy. And she had hastily put her crew back together in order to combat this threat. Now she was faced with the worst possible decision. Help evacuate Earth, or investigate the possible destruction of a Reaper over 80 light years away from Earth. She knew that the Reaper invasion was the current problem. But the Council ordered Shepard to investigate the reported destruction of a Reaper on this colony. The planet wasn't supposed to be habitable. Until it was. Something happened to the planet. It was terraformed. Changed for the survival of life.
And when the alliance discovered that a Reaper had attacked the small city, and that it was destroyed in a flash of light, they decided to order her to go there, or she could aid in the defense and evacuation of Earth. Two options. One benefited humanity, and one possibly held the secret to destroy the Reapers easily. She had never been more confused in her life. She just couldn't make a decision. Shepard heard a knock on her quarters door and looked up to see a friend enter.
"It's been twenty minutes and you still haven't made up your mind?" Garrus asked.
Shepard let out a sigh and looked at the time on her Omni-tool.
"I can't decide…my people first? Or a way to end all of this?" Shepard asked with a dull face.
Garrus looked at her and then chuckled as he spoke.
"I'd take the mission over the evacuation. You know Earth will be fine in the end. Especially if we discover whatever destroyed that Reaper." He said.
"So we should set a course for Cephalon and maybe not find anything at all?" The Commander asked.
Garrus simply nodded and Shepard sighed. She opened her Omni-tool and contacted the pilot of the Normandy.
"Joker, we are headed to Cephalon!" She ordered.
"Aye Captain!" Joker replied with sarcasm and a mock accent.
—
Paracausal energy. All three of them felt it. It was here, everywhere. Something like the Traveler's Light, yet it was somehow stronger. Spark had never felt so alive, and Jake had never felt this strong since his battle inside the Traveler. It was…refreshing. Elsie on the other hand, could feel darkness…it was faint, but also strong. Hidden to her companions, but it was sensible to her.
"What is this place? Spark, do you know anything?" Jake asked.
"According to this 'Extranet' that I can tap into…it's a planet called Cephalon, and it was originally uninhabitable, then, all of a sudden, it was perfect for life. Now it is a growing colony. That sounds like something we are aware of right?" Spark said.
"The Traveler was, or is still here. How is that possible?" Elsie said as her scientific side began to leak out.
"Well, why don't we go into town and find out?" Jake asked his Ghost and girlfriend.
"In that glowing armor? You'll stand out." Elsie said.
(Note: Jake wears the fully Kindled Candescent set and wears the Wormhusk Crown [with the Acolyte's Ambition ornament and the Burnished Acclaim shader on it] as his armor set. For his main loadout, he uses Chattering Bone as his Kinetic, Luna's Howl [with the Incandescent perk] as his Energy and Dragon's Breath as his Heavy.)
Jake huffed as Spark switched his armor out for a navy hoodie with the Hunter symbol as well as some nice black pants with some average shoes.
"What about you? Are you going to wear that skin tight armor and cloak in the city?" Jake asked as he smirked.
"Actually yes, I will." Elsie replied.
"Why?" Jake asked.
"Because I look good in it. And you like it." Elsie replied as held a finger to Jake's lips.
Spark simply hummed as he watched the two flirt. He had become used to it back home. Whenever they were on missions it was all they would do through private coms. Spark then sensed something leaving FTL. A ship. One that was about the size of the H.E.L.M. It was also identified as both Cerberus and Alliance Navy. Spark figured he should tell Jake, and then noticed the two already walking towards the city. He simply brushed it off and remembered he had Jake's Wings of the Firebird on standby should they need a quick retreat.
—
Shepard stepped out into the only city on Cephalon. It was called Providence, a name fitting for the situation. She then met with the man in charge of Alliance operations in the city. Major Thomas Juno. A veteran N7. A person she was already acquainted with.
"Major." Shepard greeted.
"Commander." The other replied.
"So, what happened, we got news that a Reaper was destroyed in a flash of light?" Shepard asked.
"To the point as always, yes you are right, although I don't think destroyed might be the right word." Thomas said.
Shephard's gut tied in knots. Was this trip really worth it? The Reaper was still alive?
"What do you mean?" She asked.
"I mean it was just gone, no wreckage, it's like it was incinerated completely." The Major replied.
"Do you know who or what did it?" Shepard asked.
"No, but we know that the light seemed to come from an excavation site." Thomas responded.
"Prothean tech?" The Commander asked.
"No, we haven't discovered any tech or civilization here. But, we broke through to some kind of cave or passageway earlier today." He replied.
"Get ready for us to get out there, I'll get our resident expert on archeology to help out with identifying anything of interest." Shepard said as she looked back towards her crew.
"Liara! We're going to need you for this!" The Commander shouted.
—
Jake and Elsie had heard multiple accounts on what had happened, and all of them pointed to some excavation site a few miles outside the city. Apparently, they believed that this was some sort of technology belonging to a race called the Protheans. Jake found it laughable while Elsie found it interesting.
The small group headed to the dig site and we're almost there when Alliance forces rolled in. Spark told the two that these people were from a ship called the Normandy SR2 and were sent here to investigate the paracausal anomaly. Jake knew that they had to get there first.
Jake used the Void to get them through security undetected. When they got inside, they saw the crew of the Normandy running tests on a large rock. One would expect it to be a rock at first glance. However, Jake and Spark knew what it was. As small as it may be, the rock was a shard of the Traveler. Jake felt Darkness around them and the shard was fighting it off with the Light, yet also accepting it. Jake wanted to make sure that these people were safe. Darkness has a way of corrupting the mind, both he and Elsie knew that.
"Elsie, how do you think that this shard changed this planet?" Jake whispered.
"I have a hypothesis, if you wish to hear it." The exo responded.
"Go ahead, you're the scientist." Jake replied.
"I believe that this shard has been here for decades to maybe even thousands of years. When I opened the portal, I believed that the paracausal energy awakened this shard at a different place in time. As you know, time can be quite complicated when the Darkness is involved." She said with a serious expression.
Jake then noticed that someone snuck up behind them and was cloaked. To be honest, this person was an amateur compared to a Nightstalker. So Jake quickly spun around and disarmed the assailant. And the person squeaked as they struggled to get away. No one managed to hear her because Jake had used the Void to muffle any noise and Spark had cut off her coms.
"Speak, we do not wish to harm you." Jake said as his grip tightened like that of a vice.
"M-my name is Kasumi, I am part of the crew of the Normandy. My commander is right down there, so I suggest you surrender when you have the chance." The thief said.
Jake couldn't help but laugh. Surrender? To these people? He could take them on easily if he wanted to. However, he did not want to harm anyone. So Jake switched into his armor, and stood up.
"Elsie, let's say hi to everyone here." Jake suggested.
—
"What is this thing?" Liara asked out loud as she was greatly perplexed by the strange rock in front of her.
"Is it Prothean?" Shepard asked.
"No, I've never seen or heard about anything like this in Prothean texts and sites. Whatever it is, the Protheans were either as confused as we were or never knew it existed." Liara said.
"What makes you say that?" Garrus asked the young Asari.
"It completely offsets everything we understand about mass effect technology. The energy it emits is not related to ezo at all and that energy seems to be unlimited." She responded.
Shepard began to feel a distant string of hope. Maybe this thing was related to the Reaper's destruction. It may be the key to everything. Maybe this is something the Reapers feared.
"Uh, Commander?" Liara asked in a concerned tone.
"Yes Liara-" Shepard froze as she saw the shard shaking and glowing with light.
"I think something is happening!" Liara said.
"No shit! Everyone! Get to cover now!" Shepard ordered.
As soon as she and the others were diving to safety, a man in brilliant glowing armor walked up to the rock. The light from the shard grew brighter and the mysterious man reached out to it.
"Wait don't-" Shepard didn't have time to finish as a bright light engulfed the entire area.
Shepard stood up and her mouth remained agape. This man had possibly messed up everything. Then, she saw him, the light on his armor burning as bright as a star. It was amazing, and it made her afraid.
A person who appeared to be feminine walked up behind him and spoke with him, although the words were lost to her.
Shepard managed to stand up and walk towards him as the light subsided.
"Excuse me, what are you?" Shepard asked cautiously.
"A Guardian." The man said.
—
Jake had never felt so strong, so close to the light. He hadn't felt this strong even while inside the Traveler. Elsie walked up behind him and spoke to him.
"Why is there so much light in this shard?" Elsie asked.
"I don't know…however this shard is doing this, it seems to be glad we are here." Jake replied.
Jake then heard someone speak behind him.
"Excuse me, what are you?" They said in a very cautious voice.
"A Guardian." Jake said as he turned around.
Everyone that was with her aimed at him. They all seemed to tense with each step he took.
"Kasumi, weren't you keeping an eye on the perimeter?" The woman asked.
"I'm sorry commander, but he saw through my every move! He knew I was there!" Kasumi shouted.
This news further tensed the crew. Their fingers couldn't help but hover over the triggers of their weapons.
"Stand down! All of you!" Shepard ordered as she held up her hands to her crew.
"Are you sure about this Shepard?" Miranda Lawson asked.
"It'll be fine Miranda." Jane reassured as she looked back at the pair in question.
She approached them with her hands held in front of her.
"I don't want to fight, but could you please tell me what the hell just happened?" Shepard asked.
"This is a shard of the Traveler." The woman said as she turned to her…if she could call that a woman.
"An AI!?" Shepard shouted as she fought the instinct to unholster her weapons.
However, the supposed artificial intelligence seemed offended and hurt by the accusation.
"AI? No, she's an exo!" Jake responded.
"The hell is an exo?" Shepard asked.
"You know…a former human." Jake replied.
"A former…what happened to her!? Did Cerberus do this!?" Jane asked as she looked at Miranda.
Lawson shook her head in response, just as confused as she was.
"My grandfather did this to me." Elsie replied to Shepard.
The news shook Shepard to the core. She couldn't imagine what this person went through.
"Let's start over. My name is Elizabeth Bray, but please call me Elsie." The exo said.
"Commander Jane Shepard Systems Alliance and the first human Specter of the Council." Jane replied.
Elsie replied with a nod.
"Who is your glowing friend?" Shepard asked.
"My name is Jake. I'm a Guardian of the Tower and part of the Vanguard. And this here is my Ghost, Spark." Jake said as he held out his hand.
Out of nowhere a small little drone appeared and flew up to Shepard's face.
"Hi, I'm Spark! I'm Jake's Ghost, and I'm sorry about the misunderstanding with Ms. Kasumi, my Guardian can be a bit…jumpy." The Little Light said.
"Keelah! An unshackled AI!" Tali exclaimed.
"Um no, I am a Ghost. We were born of the Traveler." Spark said.
"What is the Traveler?" Shepard asked as she desperately wanted the situation to calm down.
"That's what that shard came from, although how it came to be here, I have no idea." Elsie said.
Shepard then got a transmission from the Normandy.
"Commander, you got Reaper forces inbound on your position!" Joker shouted over the coms.
"How much time until contact?" Shepard asked as she motioned for her crew to group up.
"No time they are already on top of you!" As soon as Joker finished, the Reaper forces breached the doors and began to pour into the excavation site.
"Everyone, hold those things back and fight your way out of here. Grunt I want you to carry that thing out of here!" Jane shouted as she pointed back at the shard.
However, as she looked back, she saw the Traveler's shard disappear as Jake reached out to it.
"Don't worry! I got it!" Jake yelled as he ran straight towards the incoming Husks and Chargers. A few Banshees even approached them.
"Hey! Get back here before you get yourself killed!" Shepard exclaimed.
Shepard felt a hand on her shoulder and saw Elsie kneel down beside her.
"Forget about it. He knows what he is doing." Elizabeth said.
Jane attempted to protest, but she looked at Jake and saw something impossible. He began to take on so many enemies at once. He threw a fan of flaming knives that incinerated three Husks and then threw a grenade that forked out and burned a Banshee and four Husks. Jake then took out what appeared to be an improvised bomb and tossed it at multiple Chargers and Husks and he then shot it with Luna's Howl. It exploded in a brilliant ignition of fire and scorched many others which took down their kinetic barriers.
The Normandy crew stood in awe. This man was single handedly taking on a small army and winning with ease. They had seen their fair share of impossible stunts, but this definitely outdid everything they had seen and done.
Tons of Husks rushed Jake only to be killed in spectacular explosions on their deaths. This caused a chain reaction of ignitions that spread to many of the Husks. However, Chargers and Husks rallied and rushed him again. Shepard watched as he ran to the opposite side of the room and reached into the air as a firey gun that shines with golden brilliance appeared in his hand. To everyone present, he appeared to be a miniature sun. As he turned around, he fired rapidly, all his shots hit their marks and caused magnificent destruction. The Reaper forces were now destroyed.
"What the hell did I just witness?" Shepard asked.
"A Guardian in action." Elsie answered.
"All right everyone, we are heading back to the Normandy! You two better come with us so you can explain more about this Traveler thing." Jane said to them.
—
Back on the Normandy
The entire crew kept glancing at the two guests they had, and everyone couldn't help but feel uneasy at the little drone flying around scanning the entire ship with enthusiasm. Shepard was having a headache because of these two. The Council wanted to meet this 'Guardian' she had picked up ASAP. What was she going to do? This man had come out of nowhere and killed a ton of Reaper forces by himself.
On top of all that, she couldn't understand how he did what he did. He was literally on fire, and his weapons were really destructive. Where did he come from? And how was his companion a literal robot that used to be a human? His existence was physically impossible in this universe. Then the two strangers mentioned something called the Traveler? What was that? Well, she was about to get some answers.
"Is everyone here?" Shepard asked as every crew member of importance filed into the briefing room.
"Yes ma'am, everyone is here." E.D.I. answered.
Shepard glanced at the new arrivals and then gave them her full attention.
"Alright, I need you two to tell me everything you know about this." Shepard said as she motioned towards a hologram of the shard.
"Hm, Spark…why don't you take this one?" Jake asked his Ghost.
"Okay! So, that is a shard of the Traveler. The Traveler is a gigantic spherical machine god that can terraform planets, create life and turn people into immortal warriors of the Light called Guardians. The Traveler propelled humanity into a Golden Age. That is until the Collapse. When that happened, humanity nearly went extinct." Spark explained.
The further Spark got into his explanation, the more questions everyone had for him.
"So let me get this straight. You're a little robot made by this Traveler, and he is an immortal warrior called a Guardian?" Shepard asked the Ghost.
"Yep! Oh, and Jake is also a god slayer and breaks reality on a regular basis." Spark said as he began scanning the table.
"Wait…he's killed gods?" Liara asked with a shaking voice.
"Yes?" Jake replied.
That was when everyone lost it. Miranda stood demanding that he stop spouting nonsense while Tali wanted to know if Elsie was actually a human or not while Garrus, Thane and Liara piled question on top of question on Jake's head. Shepard had quite enough of it and stood up.
"Everyone be quiet!" She yelled.
Silence fell on the room as she looked at the man in front of her.
"As much as I would like to deny it…I believe everything they have claimed to be is true." Shepard said as she clenched her fists.
Maybe the two in front of her were the key to everything. Maybe they could stop the Reapers. Maybe they could propel all of the galaxy into a true Golden Age.
"Would you believe me if I said that there was a fleet of sentient, giant murder robots on its way to kill everyone in the galaxy?" Shepard asked.
"It wouldn't be a normal day if there wasn't." Jake said with a sigh.
"What are they called?" Elsie asked.
Shepard was stunned that they just accepted it so easily. Then again, his…Ghost did claim that he was a reality breaking god slayer. Oh, now she really believed them. But what made Shepard unnerved was the fact that Jake said this was basically a normal day. Which meant that he dealt with extinction level events on a daily basis.
"They are called Reapers, and may I ask you something?" Shepard responded.
"Sure!" Spark replied.
"Do you mind helping us fight the Reapers?" Jane asked as she braced herself for a quick rejection.
"Of course!" Jake replied as he transmatted his helmet away.
"I know it's not a-wait what did you say?" Shepard had to do a double take.
"I said of course. I am a Guardian, and my duty is to lay my many lives down for those who only have one. It doesn't matter if they are human or not." Jake replied as he balanced a knife on his index finger.
"I see…so you're going to help us? I mean there is only one of you." Shepard said as she pointed at Jake.
"Yes, and it took a god killing, universe ending amalgamation of an entire race to kill me…and guess what, I still didn't stay dead." Jake said with a smirk.
"Okay I guess. Welcome to the Normandy's crew." Shepard said with an extended hand.
"Glad I can help!" Jake replied as he shook the offered hand.
Elsie watched with a smile as she and Jake joined yet another battle. This was how their life was going to be now huh?
—
"What do you mean she's just gone!" Ana Bray yelled as she was held back by Crow.
Mara and the Vanguard plus the two remaining members of Fireteam Raven stood in front of a modified vex gateway that Elizabeth Bray had used to find the body of the one she loved. Ana was currently in the process of trying to break the neck of Mara for not telling her or the Vanguard why she was doing this.
"It's as I said, she is gone, leaving not only this reality, but this entire plain of existence. In short, she's in another universe. A completely different one mind you." The Awoken Queen replied.
I wish she had told us. We would have helped." Gilroy (the Warlock of Raven.) said.
"Yeah, we could have helped, who knows where she is. Vex could be swarming her or something." Tom (the Titan of Raven) said as he cracked his knuckles.
"Well, whatever the case, let us find a way to get to that exact universe. We may not have a connection to guide us. But we do have fractured lay lines to go by." Mara said as she looked towards her Techeuns.
"I'm helping." Gilroy said as he walked towards the console and let his Ghost do a sweep for remaining data.
"Same here." Ana said as she got to work.
"Ikora, get every Warlock of high standing here now. Let's bring our friend home." Zavala ordered.
"I am not going to lose another friend." Zavala said with a determined expression.
Chapter End
And there we go! I really hope you liked it! If you guys want, drop a review for your thoughts. Anyways, until the next chapter! The Elder Sprite Knight.