"This is the universe figuring out what it should be in the end. And it is majestic. Majestic. It is the only thing that can be true in and of itself. And it is what I am." - XXXII: Majestic. Majestic.
Kaedro, Jade, and Liv flew toward the transmat zone they'd set up on the Dreadnaught.
"You guys ready for this?" he asked.
"I was revived ready!" said Liv.
"Same here," agreed Jade, "We'll make Oryx pay for what he did to Harley."
"All of this was set in motion long ago," said Eris, "He calls out, and the Darkness answers."
"Ok!" said Cayde, energy high as ever, "Creepy sidekick, check. Rogueish commander, check. And then we have you three… I'd say we're ready to get this done."
They transmatted down into the Hull Breach.
"Here we go," Kaedro muttered.
"Push back the dark," said Eris, "End it."
"She's right. There's no doubt in my mind this could possibly work. Now, get to that rupture."
Outside the Skyburner ship, the Cabal and Hive fought their neverending battle. Kaedro followed a trenchway around the side, avoiding the conflict. They had enough to do already without getting entangled in another fight.
When they emerged into the Mausoleum, they were met with a host of Hive and Taken waiting for them.
"Should've guessed we'd have company," Kaedro remarked.
"Get that rupture open," said Cayde, "Once you're there, send your coordinates. We'll lock down your position and send in reinforcements."
Kaedro chucked a grenade into the squadron of Knights and Acolytes guarding the rupture. It burst into a wall of purple fire, burning several of the aliens to ash. Three more Acolytes appeared as he shot down the survivors.
Liv took out the first with a headshot as Jade meleed the other two with Solar Light. A Wizard swooped in, barraging them with blasts of energy until Jade hit it with a grenade.
In front of them, the rupture expanded into a glowing portal.
"It can sense the soul you hold," Eris declared, "You are Ascendant!"
"Time to go kill a king, eh, Guardians?" said Cayde, "Good luck."
Kaedro glanced at his companions. "You ready?" They nodded and he sighed. "Right… Well, let's go."
They stepped through the portal, emerging into a dark hallway. They were definitely still on the Dreadnaught, but it was an area he hadn't seen before. At the end of the hallway was a circular room with a large pit taking up most of the floor. A pillar protruded from it, pocketed with strange coffin-looking capsules.
He heard a burst of static as the comms cut out. "Great. There go our reinforcements." Not that he'd held out much hope for those anyway.
"My scans aren't returning anything," said Rhys, "We're… somewhere, but I'm not finding Oryx."
Kaedro sighed. "Well, I'm sure we'll find something if we keep going."
They moved down the hallway into the circular room. Another hall branched off to the left — this one much longer and darker. However, as he took the first few steps, lanterns on the walls lit up to illuminate the space.
"Motion-activated lights?" said Jade dryly, "I didn't know Oryx would be so energy-conscious."
Kaedro snorted. "I'm sure whatever's powering them's a lot more diabolical than normal electricity."
They passed through another circular chamber. At the end of a short hallway, he saw the strange dancing orb they'd seen when they first boarded the Dreadnaught.
"I guess Oryx knows we're coming… Not that there was much hope of surprisin' him on his own ship."
As they continued forward, the orb vanished. They entered a large area with a pair of tall doors at the opposite end. Kaedro spotted the orb once more, in the middle of a lower platform. Further along, three Taken Hobgoblins waited, snipers at the ready.
He studied their weapons critically. "Yeah? I've got one of those too," he muttered.
Setting down his auto rifle, Kaedro retrieved his sniper rifle from his back. He aimed carefully at the first Hobgoblin's head. Bang! It disintegrated in one shot. He took down the following two quickly, then switched back to his auto rifle before pressing forward.
Arrayed in front of the stairs leading up to the doors was a squad of Taken Psions.
"Leave those to me," Jade told him.
Dashing forward, she charged up her fusion rifle. When she fired, she jerked it in an arc, burning most of the Psions to a crisp. After making a follow-up sweep to finish off the rest, she led the way up the stairs.
As they approached, the great doors slowly slid open, revealing a large chamber that held another portal frame.
"Looks like another rupture," said Liv. Kaedro could hear the frown in her voice.
Then, a large shadowy form sprang up, blocking the rupture. A form that Kaedro recognized. A shiver went down his spine at the sight of it — the same creature he'd seen first on Phobos and then in the Cosmodrome.
His jaw clenched. "Oryx."
"That's Oryx?!" exclaimed Liv, "We have to fight that?! "
The projection spoke, its voice rumbling with power. "You are the last hope of the Light? I have taken entire worlds! You are not worthy to face me!" And just like that, it vanished.
"What?!" said Jade.
Kaedro was stunned. "Is he really not gonna fight us?" He shook his head, grip tightening on his gun. "I find that hard to believe."
Before them, the rupture opened, disgorging a Taken Cabal Primus. That would have been bad enough, but the Primus wasn't alone. Following it through the rupture was a massive Taken Ogre.
"Shit!"
"We're screwed," said Liv, raising her weapon.
Drawing a breath, Kaedro reached for the Void. He bent the Light and fired a projectile into the space between the Taken. As tendrils of Void latched onto the creatures, sapping their strength, the Guardians opened fire.
"Why did I agree to come on this mission!" Liv demanded, shouting over the sound of gunfire.
Finally, the Primus and Ogre were defeated, imploding in swirls of white.
"Where do we go from here?"
Jade nodded at the portal. "Through the rupture."
They stepped through, finding themselves in a circular chamber with a rotating pillar. Navigating down a narrow hall, they stepped out onto a wide ledge. Across the dark gap stood another set of doors that glowed red, the entrance patrolled by several Hive.
"Come to me, warriors of Light," the voice of Oryx echoed around them, "I will finish what Crota began."
"So, not much of anything, then," Liv quipped, "At least from what I heard."
A bridge appeared before them, spanning the gap.
"Hope Oryx doesn't just drop this from under us," Kaedro remarked as he stepped onto it, "That'd be one way to a quick end. Save him the trouble, too."
But Oryx didn't drop the bridge from under them. In fact, they got across to find that the Hive on the other side had vanished, leaving the path to the doorway clear. Shoving down the feelings of "trap," they continued forward, passing through the doors to find themselves in a pitch-black room.
A short distance away, a small white flame burned on the ground, though it provided no illumination to the surrounding space.
As Kaedro neared it, it raced away from him, leaving a line of white fire behind it as it traveled across the floor and up the opposite wall. It traced Oryx's sigil into the surface, which shone white for a few seconds before smoldering into red. The sigil split down the middle as a previously hidden door slid open.
The room beyond was almost as dark as the first, though, at second glance, it was a deep red rather than black.
Then the walls began to move.
Kaedro stumbled back as a section of the wall melted into the shape of a winged figure with a huge sword. Behind the figure, the visage of Saturn loomed in the background.
"At last!" Oryx bellowed, "I will have vengeance!"
He raised a hand and Kaedro was overcome by a peculiar sensation.
"What the-" He cast out for the Light but found it beyond his reach.
A horrible feeling blossomed inside him — the sudden realization that they might be out of their league.
"Kaedro, something's wrong!" cried Jade, "I can't activate my Radiance!"
It was a confirmation of Kaedro's worst suspicions. "I know," he said grimly, "Looks like we'll have to do this the old-fashioned way."
He raised his auto rifle and opened fire on Oryx. Despite having been caught off-guard by the suppression of their Light, Jade and Liv were quick to join in. But as good as shooting Oryx felt, Kaedro wasn't sure how much damage they were actually dealing to the Hive god.
He switched to his rocket launcher but only managed to get off one shot before Oryx vanished.
"What the hell?!"
But the Taken King was only gone for a few moments, reappearing at the other end of the room.
"Your Traveler's Light cannot reach you here," he taunted, "I will take your worlds as you took Crota!" Oryx spun his sword, whirling it over his head.
Kaedro looked up to see a swirling mass of Dark energy above him. Acting on instinct, he rolled to the side, just as a bolt struck the ground where he'd been a second ago.
As the Guardians resumed their assault, Oryx shot at them with orbs of Darkness, seemingly conjuring them out of thin air. Kaedro ducked behind a rock as he reloaded, but before he could rejoin the fight, his vision went black.
Panic rose inside him. For a split second, he wondered if something in his processors had shorted out. But then everything came back into focus and he saw that they seemed to be somewhere else.
A dome of energy enclosed them, moving like fog. Inside the dome were four stone pillars. Anything beyond its borders was almost impossible to make out, but when he squinted, Kaedro could make out the flapping of two huge wings.
"Your Light will die!" said Oryx, vanishing. Kaedro looked around wildly but couldn't see him anywhere.
Suddenly, a blast of energy knocked him off his feet. He rolled away, aiming his gun at where it had come from, and shot into the fog. Oryx barrled into the dome without warning, sword at the ready as he swooped into the clearing.
Kaedro scrambled to his feet, backpedaling as he fired at Oryx. Oryx slammed his sword into the ground, sending the three Guardians reeling. Then he shot into the air, out of sight.
Kaedro reloaded, checking on his companions. Liv and Jade's postures were tense, their guns at the ready, but they didn't seem injured.
"The Darkness is a gift," Oryx told them, "Let my will set you free as it has freed your companion."
It wasn't difficult to tell who he was referring to. Anger boiled in Kaedro's chest at hearing Oryx describe what he'd done to Harley as freedom.
"How unfortunate that he could not be here for this," Oryx continued, "I would have enjoyed having him fight at my side."
"Shut up!" yelled Kaedro, "He'd never fight for you!" He knew it was a lie before he even said it. Harley had fought for Oryx. And if he and Jade hadn't gotten him back to the Tower, he would have done so again.
"Come now, Child of Light. We both know that isn't true." Oryx had no right to sound so amused, the bastard. "Even now he reaches for me — reaches for the Dark. He will know freedom again. You will all know true freedom!"
"You want us? Come and get us!" He scanned the edges of the dome.
Away to the left, he could just barely see the outline of a winged figure. He nudged the others, calling attention to it.
They turned, opening fire just as Oryx sailed in. This time, Kaedro jumped clear before he slammed his sword down again.
As Oryx flew off, he called, "Crota fell. I will not!"
That was all the warning they got before energy blasts sailed out of the fog, causing them to split up and dive for cover.
Kaedro glimpsed one of Oryx's wings to their right a split second before the Taken King charged.
"Get down!"
Jade and Liv dropped to the ground, shooting upward as Oryx flew overhead. He saw the shots connecting — saw Oryx stagger briefly as they punched into him. Oryx plunged his sword into the ground. But something was different.
Kaedro watched as Oryx slowly sank, reaching for the hilt. He stopped just short of actually grasping it, though. Instead, Dark energy climbed up the blade toward Oryx. It gathered in his palm, coalescing into a pulsing orb.
Oryx turned, his three burning eyes boring into Kaedro's. He raised the orb aloft in triumph. And plunged it into his own chest.
Before Kaedro's eyes, the Taken King's body lifted from the floor. Oryx convulsed as he floated upward, his body slowly dissolving. Right before his face crumbled to dust, he laughed — a dark, menacing laugh that promised retribution.
"Why the fuck was he laughing?" Liv demanded, "We just decked him!"
"He's not dead yet," said Jade gravely, voicing the very thought that had crept into Kaedro's mind.
"Whaddaya mean Oryx's still kickin'?" asked Cayde disbelievingly, "He turned to dust. Sounds pretty dead to me."
Ikora shot him a look. "You don't think Oryx has a throne world?" she pointed out, "Who do you think showed Crota how to create one?"
"I knew he went down too easy," said Kaedro, thankful that he and Jade had been on the right track. "Of course he'd wanna finish it in his throne world. He's stronger there."
"He may be stronger, yes," Eris conceded, "But he is also vulnerable. In his throne world, he can be killed permanently. As Crota was."
Liv looked confused. "Doesn't he know that? Why would he risk it?"
"He is aware of it. However, he does not deem Guardians a threat to him in his throne world. He has had untold millennia to build up defenses."
Jade nodded. "And he's been attacked there before. His own sisters tried to get in."
"Great," said Kai irritably, "So how do we succeed where Hive gods failed?"
"We go in together," Kaedro declared. He looked around at the others. "When we killed Crota in his throne world, we were all there as a team."
Understanding dawned on Jade's face. "You want another Crota team."
Kaedro nodded, turning to Liv. "We might not have Bazzle and the others right now, but we have you guys. The six of us should be able to-"
"Whoa whoa, wait," Kai cut him off, holding up a hand. "The six of us? Last I counted, there's only five of us here. You, me, Wrythal, Liv, and Tris."
Tristan gave a resigned sigh. "I'd really prefer if you didn't call me that," he muttered, though he didn't sound too upset over it.
"Point is, you miscounted."
Kaedro shook his head. "No, I didn't," he asserted, "With Ace, we're a six-man team."
He pretended not to notice the way everyone else in the room exchanged glances.
"Ace?" said Kai disbelievingly, "In case you haven't noticed, Ace has been Taken."
"I noticed," Kaedro shot back, "Which is why we're gonna fix him before we start this throne world business."
The members of the Vanguard had remained silent through the exchange, but now Zavala broke the silence with a sigh. "Kaedro-"
"No," Kaedro cut him off sharply, "I am done waiting for 'a good time' to work on this! We can't wait for the City to not be under attack 'cause there's always gonna be another 'Oryx.' Ace is my friend, he's important to me and to this team, and because of that, we're gonna start looking for a way to fix him!"
His gaze swept the room, daring anyone to say otherwise.
When no one raised an argument, he nodded. "Good. Starting first thing tomorrow, Ace is our number one priority." With that, he turned and stalked out of the Hub.
A/N: Sorry for the long wait, my friends! I just want to ensure quality in my work so update times won't be as certain as with Darkness Ascending. As you may/may not know, I'm taking part in Destcember. There's a list of prompts for the whole month. The first one went up on my Twitter and tumblr yesterday, as well as on this site. More will be joining as the month progresses. Also, thank you all for your support, especially those who reviewed! Reading them never fails to make my day.
S0UL SURVIVOR: Thank you!
olliexdiscord: Aw ty. Also, you got it, sister!
Catch you on the flipside!
- TheWolfParadox