somewhere, about 40 kilometers up, she thinks, oh.
it makes a little bit more sense now.
that is her last conscious thought before the sheer heat surrounding her overtakes her - she can withstand a lot, being the firehawk, but she's burning through the atmosphere at something close to 1000 km an hour and it's too much for any siren to handle. even if that siren specialises in moving really fast through an alternate dimension.
the lights go out.
when she wakes up, she's in the highlands. the moon is gone.
and she is alone.
it's nighttime, and cold. very cold. this isn't any part of the highlands she knows, she realises, and when she looks around, she can't place where she might be.
around her is just empty, blades of grass swaying in a cool breeze; blades of grass covering a mountain, swaddling it in green, cool green. it's all lit by a soft, silver moonlight, coming from a moon that doesn't exist.
wait, the moon-it's gone! she cries out to the empty sky as if that would do her any good. there's nothing, no one to hear her, not even a single star in the sky-
she's so cold.
where did the stars go?
lilith rises to her feet from the prone position she awoke in and nearly collapses. she feels like she died, maybe, finally, but if she's dead why is the afterlife so cold yet so familiar? she starts walking - she thinks she's walking east, east toward the sun if it ever rises - and her legs burn from the exhaustion.
she walks for some time alone in that empty landscape. the grass whispers in the mild breeze. she walks further.
at some point, the whispers pick up in volume, even though the breeze stays as mild as it was when she awoke.
hello, lilith, they whisper, and she wonders how they know her name. she trudges on.
the night only gets darker and colder and longer as lilith keeps walking. maybe i'm in hell? the grass never disappears, and there's always just enough light to see by, but the stars and moon are all gone. the sun does not rise. lilith's feet never stop.
lilith, lilith... lilith, please...
lilith stops.
it's me... it's me... please turn around and look at me... please...
lilith turns around.
lilith!
she doesn't believe her eyes at first. maya? her form is shimmering, pale, translucent. lilith thinks she's looking at a ghost.
maya?! what-maya, what the hell? you're dead! i watched-i watched you die!
maya's soft face shifts into a shadow of a smile.
yeah, lilith. i died.
...am i dead?
lilith is crying. maya shakes her head.
come here. sit down with me.
maya sinks to the ground. lilith comes closer and follows.
lilith... would you follow me? i have a place to show you. i don't think you'll stay, because if you stay you'll be dead, but it's better than here by far, and i know some people who need to talk to you.
she can't look at maya for a minute.
finally, she speaks.
okay, killer. lead on.
she moves to stand. maya shakes her head again, holding out her marked hand, and she waves a small circle in the air. a glowing tear in the air next to lilith appears - it grows larger - it swallows lilith first and then maya-
welcome to- maya utters a word that sounds garbled and unintelligible to lilith -somewhat of an afterlife.
lilith can only stare in shock at the eridian monastery she finds herself in. it's so bright and warm in there; a beautiful glass chandelier hangs from the ceiling, lit with a thousand glowing candles, and it's all lilith can look at for a solid minute. she looks back at maya; maya has lost the ethereal quality she had before, and now looks like she did when she digistructed out of sanctuary three, solid, human, beautiful. lilith has missed her so much.
gorgeous, right? anyways, angel wants to talk to you.
lilith scans the hall and sees angel sitting on the edge of a fountain, talking to some other women.
wait - if this is the afterlife, where's roland?
it's not everyone's afterlife, it's- she says that garbled word again -which is just for sirens.
she notices lilith's fallen expression.
sorry.
look, just go talk to angel, and then you can tell me all the stuff i've missed while i lead you out of here, okay?
a tear finds its way down lilith's cheek as she nods. she walks over to angel.
oh my gosh no way! there's no way you did that! literally it's one of the coolest sculptures out there and you built it by manipulating tech? whoa you're so powerful!
another woman laughs. her markings resemble angel's. lilith presumes she held angel's powers before her.
thanks, sweetheart! it's my proudest accomplishment. did have ta have a bodyguard on me the whole time, though! lots of would-be siren-killers out there! especially back then. i'm not surprised the corporate strife back then turned into a fully fledged war, really. i'm just struck that my sculptures remained!
ah, yes, they did. the old atlas protected many famous works during the corporate wars on our core worlds! isolus among them! says a third woman, who lilith recognises, even though they had but a brief encounter a very long time ago.
commandant steele! lilith is outraged for a moment, but her thoughts are quickly silenced as angel calls her name.
lilith! hi! oh - um - you don't hate me, do you? wait, let's go over there...
angel trails off as she slides off the edge of the fountain and walks to a nearby column. lilith reluctantly follows.
yeah, so, first off. do you hate me?
no.
oh, good. i'm - crap, i'm sorry.
lilith suddenly feels very uncomfortable.
anyways! maya said you guys killed jack and were on a mission to open a lot of vaults! you know, this place is loads better than life was. i think this is like, an eridian pocket dimension, but i just. i really just wanted to apologise to you. for everything. i wish i'd betrayed my father sooner.
it's... thank you, says lilith, crying.
angel pulls her in for a hug.
well, this is where you'll come when you die. but you aren't dead completely, are you? also, i have something for you. angel fishes something out of a pocket of the robe she's wearing. here. it's - well, i shouldn't tell you. when you get back, open it.
she hands the small crystal to lilith. taking it, lilith wonders how she's supposed to open a solid piece of rock, but whatever.
um, thanks, killer.
she pockets the crystal inside her jacket.
who's got my powers?
tannis.
angel looks surprised at that.
and... um, how's gaige?
lilith gets the feeling that gaige was supposed to receive angel's powers.
gaige? oh, she's probably fine. haven't heard from her in a few, but the girl's a born tiger. she's probably killin' it out there.
...that's good.
do you know what that... hell-space was that i was in? she's feeling bolder, now, asking questions.
angel's face is completely blank. oh, great. she has no idea what i'm talking about, thinks lilith, scowling internally.
darn. you went to a hell-space? did you not just wake up in the courtyard?
the courtyard?
aw, shit. maya?
when did maya walk up?
angel, she's gotta go. like i told you. she isn't dead. she's got a world to get back to. she'll wake up in the courtyard when she's an old crone! now stop spoiling the fun for her.
angel sighs.
what?
don't worry 'bout it. let's get you home.
placing her hand on the small of lilith's back, maya starts pushing lilith toward the other end of the hall, near where they were when they first appeared. they pass an entire indoor garden, an area filled with exercise mats, what looks like a lab, and a mess hall, all in the middle of the long and slightly curved vaulting hall that they're in. the curve is gentle but consistent, and lilith realises it's a giant circle.
you know i won't live to be an old crone, right?
oh, shut up and lemme have my fun. it's good to see you, lilith. even if- again with the garbled word -isn't nearly the same without everyone.
lilith doesn't think she could ever get used to an afterlife without roland, brick, moxxi, or mordy, but it's a small consolation to know one exists for her, at least.
they pass through an area with grass and sod for floor instead of the regular white marble. a small stone path leads away towards the outer edge of the circle where a small door sits shadowed between the columns that flank the hall. maya leads the way to the door, stopping right in front of it. she doesn't touch the door.
just open this door and it'll send you where you need to be, she says. her fingers twitch at her side.
lilith is crying.
i don't want to go; i just got you back and now i have to leave you? dammit, killer, tell me why!
maya pulls her in for a giant bear hug.
oh, lilith, if i could i would. but i can only be an apparition, a ghost when i'm outside these walls. i don't belong in the realm of the living any more than you belong in the realm of the dead.
she tenderly wipes the tears from lilith's cheek, stepping away momentarily to do so.
lilith just sobs harder at that.
hey. snap out of it.
she forces herself to look at maya's face. she's crying too, but maya, as always, looks as calm as ever.
lilith can't help it - she cracks a smile. maya's calm demeanor, even in this afterlife whose name she can't understand, reassures her that she's real. that all this is real. and it'll be waiting for her.
killer, never change, she thinks, and then steels herself for whatever lies beyond that door.
tell me what to do, she says.
just open the door, maya answers.
so lilith does.
light, overwhelming light floods the ruins of sanctuary one. if anyone were there, they would definitely have been permanently blinded by the searing light, but nobody goes to these ruins. scavengers, bandits, and vault hunters alike stay far, far away. after the explosive death of plant-man-hybrid colonel hector of the new pandoran army, the area has been infested with enough parasitic spores to instantly kill even the most badass goliaths. nobody is foolish to come within five kilometers of the crash site, not even native wildlife. so when a miniature supernova occurs in sanctuary one's old engine room, nobody even notices. no-one sees the lithe figure rise from the dead center of the explosion. no-one sees her leave. no-one sees where she goes.
by the time anybody thinks to come check out these ruins looking for lilith, she'll be long gone.
because she's doctor lilith cashlin, mercenary scientist. she knows who she is. she's the firehawk. and the universe needs her.
