It was her first funeral, the first she can remember anyway, but she already hated the sensation of it.
As it was tradition, all Guardians available were called to attend Eris's burial. However, almost no one was here. Only the Vanguard, Queen Mara, the Drifter and some friends of the latter. In fact, the only reason why Louise was here in the first place was because Kirwan was a friend of the Drifter and Ikora.
"How do you feel ?" The pink girl looked up her mast- her father. She decided that maybe it was time to accept what she truly felt about the man who gave her so much.
"Sad. Heavy. Tired. only I hadn't saw these anomalies in the EDZ during my patrol. If only I hadn't told the Vanguard about it." Louise signed her answer with trembling hands, her eyes filled with milky tears.
"You only did the right thing Louise. Eris death is not your fault."
A few months. It took only a few months for Louise to experience a Taken incursion after she joined the Guardians ranks...and it led to the death of Eris Morn.
Deep inside, she knew it wasn't her fault. She knew that she did the right thing. She knew that Eris chose to go to the Dreadnought because she was the only one who had a chance to understand what was happening inside.
But her heart didn't want to listen. It told her that she failed and it was enough to make her feel guilty and miserable.
Kirwan didn't know what to do to console the crying girl in his arms. He always knew that Louise had a fear of failure and it wasn't a secret for anyone else either.
All these months of training and patrols helped her recover physically but her mind was still fragile. Even after all this time, she still had the bad reflex of self-loathing herself if something go against her plans and calculations. He supposed it was a consequence of her vex-altered brain mixed with some forgotten event in her past that clung to her heart.
Now that he thought about it, Louise was quite similar to Eris in a way. Two half-human half-alien traumatized girls. Both without a ghost to revive them and yet...both were the most dedicated in their work.
However, Kirwan would not allow Louise fate to follow that of Eris. Since the first day, he swore to protect her and, by the Light, now that she became like his daughter he would double this promise.
"Hey...Kirwan..." A gruff voice interrupted his thoughts. Lifting his head from Louise pink mane, he found himself looking at Ikora and Drifter. "Can we talk for a moment ?"
"Alright I guess." With a sigh, he stretched his his hand, summoning his Ghost. "Edelweiss, can you escort Louise back home ? I'll join you as quickly as I can."
"Fine, I suppose. But you better be telling me everything tonight." She said before hovering next to the pinkette. "Come Louise. I'll order you some of your favorite pastries."
"You want me to what ?!" He shouted, making the rest of the guests looking at him.
"Lord Kirwan...please calm down." Begged Ikora.
"Calm down ?! You dare asking me to calm down ?!" He then turned to the Drifter. "And you ?! You agree with this ?! I can understand your need for revenge but what you're asking me is just suicide ! Is this how you deal with the death of a loved one ?! By sending a friend to hell ?!"
"Of course not..." Drifter answered while looking at his feet, clenching his fists. "But-"
"But what ?! I am the only one who can do it ?! Your last hope or whatever you justify this farce ?!" Interrupted Kirwan. "Destroying the Dreadnought's anchors in the acendant plane...what a joke...if Eris was here to hear that-"
"She would have agreed with it." Said Ikora with surprisingly calm voice. "Void Light is the ability to control space and matter. With it, you will be able to destroy the ancors. Then Queen Mara and her Techeuns will make it sink in the acendant plane, guiding it to it's depths and banishing it to the far end of the universe."
"A good plan on paper ideed Ikora. But in reality ? As soon as I will be close to one of those anchors, every Taken, Dread things, Tormentors and Omens will gather and litteraly reduce me to nothing ! Even a whole veteran raid team would killed in less than five minutes ! I can't...no...I won't do it if I am to go alone." Having heard enough, the old Lord began to leave before doing something he might regret.
"That's why we'll also need Lil' pinky." Said Drifter, making Kirwan stop.
"If you don't want me to erase you both from reality in the next ten seconds, you better have a good reason to suggest sending her there too."
Ikora quickly tried to explain. "She is part Vex. After Maya Sundaresh left, a lot of her...upgraded units...where left alone on Nessus."
"Oh don't I know it ! It's the same Vex that tried to turn her into a Light producing machine !"
"You are right. However, Louise is no more the weak and broken girl that you found. She is strong, she is one of us, she can fight for control and impose her will to-"
"To who ? The Vex ? To the voices who took her memories, her old self ?! I know she is strong, I trained her myself. But her mind..." He shook his head in sadness. "It will never recover from that. I see it everyday, every nights. Her empty eyes, begging to be held close, to be loved. I will not let you tarnish what semblance of life she has left. I never will."
With these words, Kirwan left.
"So...hum...may I ask why you called us here Lady Vallière ?" Asked a curious Henrietta who was staring at the most ominous door she has ever seen in a basement.
Karin ignored her before rising in the air to reach the skull that embedded in the steel door before the small group she gathered. It was composed of the Queen of Tristain, Marianne, her daughter Henrietta, the professor Jean Colbert, his now personnal maid and assistant Siesta, her husband Pierre and her two daughters Eleanor and Cattleya.
After long days of thinking and trials to formulate a wish that could not be strongly altered by the Ahamkara, she had finally found one that would work well enough.
"You certainly took your time, oh dear Storm of mine." Said the desincarnate voice of the wish dragon in everyone's head. "And this time you brought quite a large group. A shame, truly, your daughter was such an angel. So pure and kind, it almost made me wish for her to join your lost youngling."
"Silence you shameful creature. I have no time for your jokes." Answered the Heavy Wind through gritted teeth before picking his skull and gliding down to the others.
"Karin, was that wandless magic ?" Asked her husband.
Knowing it was time to finally reveal herself, she took a deep breath before answering.
"Yes. It was...in a way. It's what we Lightbarers called a Glide. A technique that allow us to fly for a limited time in a similar way of your levitation spell."
"Lightbarers ? Karin my dear...what are you talking about ? You are a mage right ?"
"Pierre...I'm sorry but no. I'm not a mage. My powers do not come from what you call magic." A small gasp escaped from almost everyone.
"Are you sure, my friend ?" Asked Marianne.
"Yes. It's the only way. Besides, Cattleya already knows so... I felt it was unfair to ask for your help without some explications about me and what I want to do." She took another deep breath before turning towards the door. "It's time for Halkeginia, to learn the truth about me and the world that rest behind that door."
She placed a hand on it, making it shine with a pure white light for a few seconds before taking a step back. For a few moments, nothing happened. Then, slowly, it opened. The heavy steel door moved by itself to show what was sealed for years.
It was a gigantic room, shrouded in darkness. With a spell from Colbert and Kirche, the torches that lined up the walls lit up. Most of the space was occupied by an altar made of black iron. On it was the rest the Ahamkara's skeleton, arranged in a sleeping position. The path to it was surrounded by two lines of black iron armors holding large double-edge axes engraved with wolf heads.
"Oh my. It's been so long since we came here Karin. I almost forgot that we made it so...grandiose." Said Marianne with a small smile.
"It was your idea. If it was me, I would have burned down these horrible bones before tossing their cinders into the deepest pit of the sea." Retorted Karin.
"And loose your only way home ? Your only hope to find your spawn ? Surely you don't mean it, oh dear Storm of mine." Teased the dragon skull.
Having enough of him, the Vallière matriach tossed the skull to the altar with force. "Can't you just keep quiet ?!" She looked back at the others. "Anyway... Welcome to the Iron Crypt. A temple made to be a memento of my old life."
At that, Eleanor was about to ask her first question but was cut by her mother. "Please, Eleanor. I can understand if you are all confused by this but don't worry I'll explain. Just please let me finish before asking questions, alright ?"
After a nod of confirmation from everyone, she began her story. "I am not from this world. My family name, no, my whole noble family was an invention created by the Queen and my dear friend here, Marianne to help me getting accepted into your society.
In my world, I am just Karin. A Lightbarer, chosen by the Traveler to use his Light and protect Humanity during it's dark ages. If you need a comparison, the Traveler is to me like Brimir is to you, a goddly figure who granted power upon chosen individuals.
However, unlike mages, Lightbarers are not chosen when they live. To become a Lightbarer, to need to be resurected by one of the Traveler's Ghosts. In a way, you could say that I'm some kind undead."
Everyone gasped at that revelation.
"Yes. Not very appealling right ? But it is what it is and I have accepted what I am. Besides, the process of resurection also errase someone memories so... Difficult to hate what I am when it's all I remember being.
Anyway, after I came back from the dead, I discovered the dire situation Humanity was in. A great cataclysm destroyed everything and the survivors struggled to survived. We called it the Collapse, the end of our Golden Age.
During the first years of my existance, I followed a small caravan of people, helping them find food, water and of course protecting themselves from bandits and pirates.
Then, I met the one who would become myteacher and brother in all but blood. He was Lord Kirwan, the leader of a small village hidden deep into a small valley. He took me and my little group under his arm, offering everyone a home to live in. For a few decades, there was peace and I was happy with my life.
But then, I started to feel...envy...towards the normal folks. They all had families, children to hold, love... And I wanted that too.
There was no man in my life but it didn't stop me to try. I managed to talk some of friends into helping me. I tried so hard, almost everyday. But nothing ever happened and that's when I learned from my Ghost, Henry, that when one is revived to become a Lightbarer, they loose everything deemed useless for our duty as immortal wariors. And obviously, the ability to concieve a child is one of them.
I tried to push past this, to live accepting this. For a moment, I did manage to forget about this and continued with with my life.
And then, the Ahamkara came. Wish dragons, with the power to change reality to make everyone's dreams real. At first, we though that they could help us. However, we soon learned the truth. Every wish grented diverged slightly from what was expected of them.
The reason was easy to understand, the wishes were too open to interpretation. And what one might hope for is way different from what really happened.
Lord Kirwan, banished everyone to try to use the dragons powers, deeming them too dangerous.
It worked for a time but the lust for power won in the end. To keep our people safe, we started hunting them. To help us, we were approached by the Iron Lords, a group of Lightbarers who took an oath to protect everyone from all dangers that the universe could send us.
Together, we killed countless Ahamkaras. Some lone Lightbarers even joined us in our quest too...but the most dangerous with these dragons aren't their force or their powers over reality. It is their voice. They can talk to convince you to make a wish, sometimes even take the voice of your friends and loved ones. And when I was fighting Samkhya'a, the one on the altar and who spoke earlier, I made a mistake. He talked me into a wish that brought me in your world."
"She appeared right in front of me when I was still a student in the Academy. I helped her and when I became Queen, I gave her a fake past and a title." Explained Marianne, making Karin nod with a small smile remembering when she met her best friend in this primitive world.
"But...you said you were unable to have children right ? So...how did you gave birth to us ?" Asked Cattleya who was visibly confused.
"It was what she wished for." Answered the skull from his spot on the ground. "During her battle, she wished to be able to create a happy family and in a generous act of mercy I gave her both her fertility back and sent her in a world still untouched by the Darkness."
"That was not what I wanted ! You took me from all I had ever known ! Because of you, I lost my duty, my people, my friends and Kirwan ! You took everything !" Raged Karin, launching a bolt of lightning to the skull, making it crack in the process.
"And yet I gave you the family you wanted." Replied the dragon. "And may I suggest that you keep your Arc Light far from me please ? You still need me to find your spawn, oh dear Storm of mine."
"Then get to it already ! Open that damn portal, align the time flows or whatever !"
"Is that how you want to formulate your wish ? Very well then."
"No wait ! I have a real wish ! Just...just please don't twist it too much...I took all precautions I could but I know your kind. I know you will try..."
Samkhya'a sighed loudly. "Do mistake the needs of my kin for signs of malice. We Ahamkaras feed of the difference between your wishes and the results we provide. Should we do exactly what you ask of us, we would simply die of starvation." He explained. "To be honnest, I really want to help you find your little one. During your hunts, I heard the cries of brethren who lost their clutch to you Humans. I know the pain it can bring and despite the conflicts and misunderstandings between our spieces, I find myself liking you. So much determination and power...you have my respect oh Storm of mine."
Karin felt lost from his confession. "I...alright. I guess I can understand that...in a way. Very well, I wish for you to open a permanent portal between the Iron Crypt in this world and the Iron Temple in our world."
Soon enough, the altar flickered before an iron arch appeared on it. It started to light up slightly. Then, in front of everyone, another room appeared inside. A large room with giant statues and an unlit copper brazero.
"Karin...is this-" Started Pierre.
"It is...I know this room. It's the center of the Iron Temple." She said. "I can go home. I can find Louise..."