Ghost has a lot of patience for a goof ball like me. Seeing him just floating as I continued to groan in discomfort minutes after the Speaker's message had finished made me realize he was a true partner through and through.

"….ggggggggggggghhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh…" At this point, my head was tilted so far back, I was looking behind myself upside down.

Ghost tilted his body and looked at me with a disgruntled face. "Are you finished, Hana?" He asked.

"Yeah. I just want to take a shower already. Today has just been so icky." Even though my armor had breathing room in it, it was still sort of skintight on the inside, and quite frankly I could feel myself burning up inside.

Whether or not that's from me working up a sweat or my solar light remains to be seen. "So, what do we need to do first?" I asked.

Ghost disappeared as I started heading out of the Summoning Pits. "The ritual could be happening in any one of the Hive's chambers. If we can find cracks deep enough, I can map the entire Hive fortress."

"Well good thing we're already pretty down, right?" I chuckled.

"Sort of." Ghost said. "Although we're already down here, this area is so sparse, I won't be able to get a good reading. I need a good seismic area so I can map the area using vibrations, similar to a sonar."

I turned around and looked at the wide area that we were standing in and sighed. "Alright, Ghost. Lead the way where we can get some solid readings."

"Already on it, Hana. In fact, we can probably transmat out of here and go on the surface of the Moon. From there, we can find the cracks we need to locate."

Wasting no time, Ghost and I found ourselves on the surface of the Moon. And in the blink of an eye, I saw my sparrow waiting for me. I gulped and hoped on it, dreading the turbulent and harrowing speed of it.

As I sped off, Ghost spoke to me. "Up ahead we'll find a crack. Take me over there." When I finally got to the crack, Ghost came out and started to hum with life. After several seconds, he came back to me.

"Good scan, but not enough to locate the ritual yet. Let's keep looking."

"Right. Where to?" Ghost put up a marker for me to follow and I sped off, distant Hive already keeping an eye on me. It was a bit unsettling knowing that at any moment, they could start firing in my direction. It kept me alert, but I won't lie and say that I was having a good time right now.

Once I found the other crack, I hopped off my sparrow and repeated the process. Ghost scanned the crack and when he came back, his tone sounded morose. "I got it, but we have to go deeper into the Temple of Crota."

I cringed as I thought back to when I very nearly died against the Hive for the first time. I readied my weapons and made sure they were loaded. "Sounds… like a plan, Ghost."

I gulped and headed my way to the temple. Thoughts were racing in my head. My hatred and blood lust against the Fallen. The sheer impact the Hive have had on me. I clenched my hand, still wondering about the weird feeling I had.

And then Ghost chimed in. "Still wondering about that too, huh?"

I sighed. "Yeah. I mean, I've never felt anything like that before. And this trip has left me with more questions than answers. I just hope whatever it was doesn't come back in some unforeseen way."

Ghost laughed. "Well as you would put it, that's definitely a flag for something."

I rolled my eyes as we headed on towards the temple. As the temple grew closer, Ghost chimed up. "Someone's trying to establish contact… Could be The Speaker." The signal was static. It was just a load of buzzing without any discernible words. "No luck. Too much interference." Ghost said.

I hopped off my sparrow and my legs were wobbly. Once I found my balance, I readied my rifle as Ghost continued on. "Let's get out in the open. I'll have a better chance of locking this signal."

Once I started to tiptoe my way towards the temple, Ghost shone brightly. In that instant, the static from the radio became clear. "You're interesting. Not entirely interesting, but… you have promise."

It was a voice I didn't recognize. She sounded disinterested and yet enthralled at the same time. Something I really couldn't put a thought into. "Who is that?" I asked Ghost.

"I don't know; I'm losing the signal." Ghost said as he expanded his shell to strengthen the signal.

"Guardian, I know what you're about to do. It's brave. But there are enemies out here you would not believe."

I shudder to think there are even worse things than the Hive and the Fallen. "Out where?" I asked the voice.

"Go down and face the Hive, and if you live, come find me."

"Wait, IF I live?" I panicked.

I turned to Ghost and he was slowly receding back into his shell until he was the same compact polygon floating buddy again. "Signal dropped. I got some broken coordinates… Venus, Northern Hemisphere. Ishtar region."

Although I did know about Venus, I had to wonder what exactly was an 'Ishtar'. Only Ishtar I knew was on a Saturday morning cartoon I'd watch with my dad. What was his name again…?

"Great…" Ghost sighed. "What do we do now?"

I looked at the entrance to the temple and sighed as well. Readying my rifle, I began my long trudge. "We go down."

As we made our way down, I couldn't help but call out to Ghost. "Ghost, that person… Who do you think it was?"

"No idea, Hana. Most transmissions have a designated ID attached to them, but this one had nothing. Not even a redacted or encrypted ID. It was just blank."

"That doesn't make sense. If they want to meet up with them, why not at least give us something more credible than just a set of coordinates? Why not give us a name at least to see who they are?"

"It could be for a number of reasons, Hana. They might not know exactly who we are, and they could think we're someone that is out to get them, like a Dregen."

"A Dregen?" I asked.

"Followers of Dregen Yor, one of the first guardians to uh… turn."

"Oh." I knew that most things in life weren't always black and white. My father taught me that, but there was a clear distinction between fighting for the light and fighting against it. To me, it seemed like these 'Dregen' were definitely against it.

"Or it could be a guardian that is on that side, too. Maybe they think we're part of the Praxic Order."

"Doubtful. I mean, I never really did well wearing dresses. Imagine me in a coat like Da'avi?" I said giggling.

Ghost remained quiet. "Ghost…"

"Hana."

"…"

"…"

"I'm not going to wear a dress."

"But I'm sure that JC would be more than willing to give you a dress of her own! Or even go into the Last City to go shopping with you for one!"

"Unless it's a required dress assignment, I'M NOT WEARING A DRESS!"

"Never say never, Hana."

"Never."

I killed some Hive along the way, the tunnels winding and turning deeper and deeper. Truly this place was going on for miles and if it weren't for Ghost tracking where we were at, I would have been lost long ago.

Turning into a particularly large chamber, I saw a giant spire sticking out of the ground in the middle of the chamber. It looked a lot like the ones I saw at the Cosmodrome near the Array.

"Hive Seeder." Ghost said. "Just like the ones invading Earth. If we don't finish this, there'll be more of these hitting home."

"That's definitely not good. Come on, Ghost. Let's hurry!"

I made my way through more Hive, carving my way to where Ghost was leading me. Along the way, much of my ammo was being used up. Knights, Wizards, and the horde of Thrall and Acolytes were forcing me to be more aggressive than usual. Whatever they were up to, it was clear I wasn't welcome.

Finally blasting my way to a set of doors, Ghost spoke up. "Here it is… The darkest of all the Hive's chambers…"

The doors opened and I was greeted with another chamber. There were three witches surrounding a large object floating in the middle. They appeared to be 'Siphon Witches' as they appeared on my HUD. But the object in the middle of the room had a dark aura around it.

The tingling in my arm returned, and it was clear as day. I winced at it feeling a violation in my arm. "Hana, are you alright?" Ghost asked in a hurry.

I gripped my hand tightly, forcing myself to compose and readied my rifle. "I'll be fine. Once we're done here, we're talking to the Vanguard…" I put it off long enough. I needed to let someone else know about this, but the Praxic Order was living in my mind rent free.

I put that aside for now and got to work. I got ready as the Siphon Witches turned to me. Unleashing a barrage of attacks, they began to charge at me. Nimbly, I got around cover and began to plan my approach.

Tossing a grenade, their shields began to get shredded apart and with some well-placed shots, the first Witch was brought down. It would take a lot more to kill the other two, but I was prepared.

I managed to dodge some incoming Hive and lined up a perfectly placed rocket. The blast was enough to take out the Witch along with the other Hive that were pestering me. Two down, one to go.

I began to feel the solar energy inside of my body and readied myself to summon my golden gun. Taking my opportunity, I readied my light and clapped my hands together above my head, but instead of the intense blaze of my golden gun, a sharp pain emanated from my hand.

It was hard to describe, but it felt like the light was rejecting my hand and it caused me to real back in pain. "Hana!" Ghost cried out.

I gritted my teeth and scrambled to my feet. The Witch was closing in on me fast and I had to get out of her attacks. Otherwise, I'd be…

I didn't think about it. I only thought about living and taking out this Witch. Finding cover, I gripped my hand and breathed in and out. "Come on… Not now…"

"Hana, we've got to get out of here. If you fall here, there's a real possibility I won't be able to bring you back!"

Ghost was right. Even in the first situation where I died, Ghost had JC and Country to protect him. Here… There was no one.

I didn't want to die. I had to fight. I had to live. I had to WIN.

I readied another rocket and began to make my way around the chamber to get a clear shot.

Finding a way to get out of the Witch's view, I ran up the object in the middle. The dark aura made my arm flare up wildly, but I bared the pain and leaped up. I aimed my rocket and squeezed the trigger.

In a magnificent explosion, the witch was dead. I braced myself for a landing and stuck it. Part of me wanted to do a pose but the other part was howling in pain.

"Ghost… Please tell me that's it…" I barely managed to wheeze out.

Ghost didn't have good news. "Enemy incoming, Hana… An Oger."

I dreaded those words. I did my best to scramble up and reload my rocket, but the pain in my hand was flaring up. I couldn't even hold the weapon properly.

Hearing a blood curling roar, I knew that the Ogre was approaching. I reached desperately inside of me to pull out anything. I wanted a grenade. A knife. A golden gun. Anything that will keep the Ogre away from me as I tried to figure out a plan of attack.

But it was no use. Nothing was manifesting inside of me. Only pain. Only darkness…

I collapsed from the pain. I saw Ghost manifest himself from thin air, but I couldn't hear anything he was saying. All I could see was him scrambling. Something inside made me point to a place inside of the chamber.

Ghost must have picked up on it and went over to it. I thought I was telling him to get away. To stay safe. But it must have been something else.

Whatever it was, a bright light shone down on me. It felt warm. It felt familiar. Almost instantly the pain in my hand had dwindled. I was still delirious, but I knew for a fact that I could do something now.

Without even preparing myself, I clapped my hands and my golden gun manifested itself into my hands. I aimed at the Ogre and did not hesitate one bit.

Squeezing the trigger, I fell deep into an unconscious state just waiting for Ghost's light to bring me back from death.

But the light never came. Instead, I found myself in a very dark room. There was no light, but I could see myself. Well, standing outside of myself. Almost as if I was watching what I was doing.

Curiously, I began to walk forward, looking for a way to find myself out of this dark space. It felt strange. It felt as if I was walking through a heavy pool of water, desperately trying to cling to something.

I couldn't hear anything or feel anything. I just kept walking. Soon enough, I found a light. It was something that felt familiar and close to my heart.

'Ghost?' I thought out loud. I reached out for the light. Holding it in my hand soft and tenderly, I grasped it close to my chest. A brilliant flood of light surrounded me, and I found myself gasping for air.

"…ana? Hana? Are you alright?" Ghost was asking me.

I shook my head groggily. I looked around and found myself laying back on the floor, no Ogre in sight and the mysterious obelisk nowhere to be seen.

"Wh-what happened…?" I asked deliriously.

"Well… I think it's best that you steel yourself first, Hana. You um…"

Ghost didn't need to say anything for me to understand. I guess that makes two. "I see… But the obelisk."

Ghost shook his body. "It wasn't an obelisk, Hana. It was a shard of the Traveler!"

My eyes were wide open. "A shard? Of THE Traveler?" I asked.

Ghost nodded. "The Hive were using it against the Traveler, devouring its Light. But we freed it." Ghost zoomed around me and nestled himself on my open palms. "It was a good thing you told me to go for the terminal to stop the ritual. Otherwise, it might have ended up worse."

I raised an eye. "What do you mean?"

"The terminal. You pointed towards it, and I was able to stop the ritual. The Light from the shard must have imbued you with enough strength to use your powers again. Isn't that what you were telling me to do?" Ghost asked.

I shook my head and answered honestly. "No. I was telling you to get out. Get away and stay safe, if I'm being honest…"

Ghost was taken aback. "Hana…" He nuzzled my face, and I gladly embraced him. "You know I could never leave you behind."

"I know, but I would rather you live another day. Besides, if it comes to it, you can revive me, can't you?" I asked.

"But that doesn't mean we should resort to it…" Ghost said.

True, the trauma of dying would never go away. I would always be afraid to die no matter what, but it doesn't mean that it isn't an option.

Sighing, I dusted myself up and stood up. I looked at my hand and grasped it tightly. The pain felt far away now, and I could feel the light flowing into it. The shard must have pushed back whatever that was for now, but I definitely needed to figure it out sooner rather than later.

I looked at Ghost as we started our way out of the Chamber. "So, the Stranger…"

"Yeah, I was thinking about that." Ghost said. "There are enemies on Venus worse than this? Great…"

Once Ghost and I finally made it to a point where we could transmat to the ship. I knew I was postponing something that was of grave importance when it came to my hand, but the Stranger… What did she mean by "I was interesting?"

I needed answers. Something told me that this would be one step closer to finding a way back home.

"Ghost, can you do a full body scan on me when we get back home? I want to make sure that whatever happened to my hand does not happen again. At least not for a long time."

"Are you sure, Hana. I think it might be better to get it looked at." Ghost responded.

"I know… But I don't want to lose any time if it means I might be able to find some answers…"

Ghost sighed, but agreed. "Alright, Hana. We'll rest up at the Tower and get you all sorted out. Once you're ready to go, we'll go to the Ishtar Sink and meet up with the Stranger."

With that, Ghost and I headed back to the Tower, not knowing what kind of sinister beings awaited for us on Venus…

Author's Note: Thank you very much for reading! Arguably, not my best work, but I finally managed to push this out. Been feeling very sick lately, but I'm almost back to a full recovery! A review and favorite would be greatly appreciated!