"I will go on forever. I will understand everything. There is only one path and that is the path that you make. But you can make more than one path. Break your cell's bars. Make a new shape, make the shape from its path, find your cell's bars, break out of the bars, find a shape, make the shape from its path, eat the light, eat the path." - L: Wormfood

Kaedro had been right. Their journey had only gotten more difficult from that point. Each encounter seemed to require more coordination than the last. They took on a colossal Knight using three different plates and the only reason they didn't die was because Jade had noticed the runes. And because they'd all had the common sense to take cover when the giant sphere of light had appeared.

Once they'd gotten past the Knight, they had to find their way through a dark confusing labyrinth. They kept close together and though it took a while, they found their way through. The room after the maze had them fighting a massive Ogre, which they got through by largely remaining in cover. Three of them died to the sheer amount of Thrall and Acolytes, but luckily the others were able to get them up quickly. The only really bad moment was when Taken had started appearing, causing Harley to almost lose his nerve. Fortunately, his team cleared them all pretty fast. Once the Ogre was dead, they ran out into a large open area, following one of Oryx's probes. They jumped between platforms and overall it wasn't so bad except for the parts of the wall that moved like pistons and could easily launch an unsuspecting Guardian into the boundless void below.

From there, they found their way into a huge chamber with no walls. Inside the chamber were six different platforms in two lines. The middlemost platforms were a bit higher than the other four and hovering above them were two gigantic Wizards. They fanned out to investigate the surroundings, but Harley barely had time to take anything in before his vision was overcome in shades of grey and white as though the color had been leached from the world.

The contrast between shades made his head hurt, the black appeared like a void and the white shone harshly against all else. Harley looked down at his hands and nearly cried out. His limbs appeared insubstantial, a mere outline as though he was no longer fully there. Had his dreams bled into reality? He sank to his knees, unable to tear his horrified gaze away from his ghostly hands. He sucked in breath after breath in rapid succession, until all he could hear was the air whooshing in and out of his lungs. Voices rang out in the distance, calling his name, but it was as though they were speaking through deep water. Faint and far away.

A pair of hands came down on his shoulders and he flinched away. He dragged his eyes away from his hands and was met with the black and white high contrast image of Kai kneeling in front of him. "Hayden."

"Wha- where are the others?"

"They're around. This room is pretty big... We didn't know where you were. It's hard to spot you."

"What happened to me, Kai?" he asked in a small voice, "Am… am I not real anymore?"

The Titan shook her head. "Could I be touching you if you weren't real? Idiot."

"But then why am I… like this?"

"Wrong person to ask, buddy. Come on." She stood up and gave him a pointed look. Harley got to his feet and followed her back to where the others were.

"Ace?" Kaedro sounded uncertain. "That you?"

"It's me."

The other Hunter reached out to place a hesitant hand on Harley's arm. "What happened?"

Kai answered for him. "No idea. We were hoping you or Wrythal had an idea."

"I might," said Jade, a frown in her tone, "This could be one of the mechanics of Oryx's Throneworld… A rule we have to follow in order to finish this. Do you notice anything different?"

Harley shook his head. "Everything just looks weird... Like the contrast was dialed up."

"Hmm. Well, I'm sure it'll make itself apparent eventually."

"Jade, what if I'm stuck like this?"

"Don't worry. Whatever it is will probably clear up once we leave the Ascendant Realm."

Harley nodded even though he didn't quite believe her. "Who are those Wizards?"

Jade glanced back over her shoulder at the towering Wizards on the middle platforms and shivered slightly. "Tristan and I are pretty sure they're the Deathsinger daughters of Oryx. Ir Anûk and Ir Halak."

"Huh," mused Kaedro, "I think I might've seen them before?"

"What?" exclaimed Jade and Tristan simultaneously.

"When Liv and I infiltrated Crota's funeral to steal his soul, they were there."

"Oh yeah," said Liv, "I remember that."

"Why do they look like they're inside of bubbles?" asked Harley.

"Some kind of shielding," answered Jade, "I'm guessing we won't be able to do a thing to them until the shields are gone."

"Right," affirmed Kaedro, "Well, there're four unoccupied plates and I'm betting that based on previous experience, we'll have to stand on them."

"All at once?" inquired Tristan.

"Probably… It's been that kind of day."

"What about the two extra people?" asked Kai.

"They can just help out wherever's needed. Alright… Ace, I'm gonna be at the front right one so why don't you stick around there. Until we find out why you're like that, I don't wanna risk anything. Everyone else can take their pick."

A few moments later, everyone was standing at their respective plates.

"Ok," said Kaedro, "3, 2, 1, go!"

Harley watched as they all jumped up onto the plates. Instantly, one of the Deathsingers began glowing a violent red. That can't be good. Then he looked up and noticed a series of platforms forming a path around the plates. Following his instincts, he jumped up next to Kaedro, using his plate to get onto the first one.

"Ace, what're you doing?!"

"A bunch of platforms just appeared! I'm gonna follow them!"

He started jumping along the platforms, from one to the other, around the room until he wound up above Tristan's platform, which was opposite Kaedro's.

"Guys, the effect's gone but there're no more platforms!"

"Those Deathsingers are still shielded," said Jade, "Maybe you have to break the shield."

"It's worth a try. Question is: which plate do I jump to?"

"The glowing one," replied Jade just as Kai said, "The one that's not glowing."

"That didn't help!"

"If it's glowing, that could be its way of telling you to jump to that one! Like a signal."

"Ok. I guess I can see that… Kai?"

"It's glowing red," said the Titan, "Red is never a good color in situations like this."

"Good point… I'm going with Kai's idea!"

Jade sighed. "Fine. I just hope you're right…"

Harley inhaled, then jumped down to land on the not-glowing plate. This was obviously the right move, because as soon as he did, the air around him lit up in a circular aura, not unlike the ones they'd used to open the doorway in the first room.

"Nice job Ace!" said Liv, "Her shield's down!"

"Great! Everyone get inside my shield-thing!"

The others leaped off their plates and grouped up next to him, shooting at the unshielded Deathsinger for all that they were worth. It was only a matter of time before she unleashed an awful shriek and disintegrated in front of them. There was a blinding flash and Harley saw the aura had been taken away.

"Um… so this happened," said Liv. Harley turned and saw that it was now she who appeared insubstantial and wraithlike.

"One down, one to go," said Kai, "I'm guessing we have to take her down the same way."

"Probably," said Jade.

"Ok. Then Hayden, why don't you take Liv's spot and the rest of us can just do what we did last time?"

"Sounds good," said Liv, "Except I have no idea what Ace did last time."

"When the plates are activated, a bunch of platforms will appear in the air," said Harley, "You have to jump around them until you reach the last one, then jump down onto the Deathsinger's plate."

"Right. Got it. Let's roll."

The group dispersed to their original positions, with the exception of the two Hunters, and the sequence began again. Like the last time, they pulled it off and soon the other Deathsinger was gone as well.

"Awesome," huffed Liv, "So did we do it? Are we done?"

"No," responded Jade, "We haven't faced Oryx yet."

"Look," said Kaedro, "There's one of his probes."

Harley followed the Hunter's gesture down to the end of the walkway, where a bouncing orb floated in the air.

"Should we… approach it?" asked Tristan haltingly.

"We probably have to," said Harley. He started walking forward.

"I have a bad feeling about this…" said Kai.

Harley approached the probe, stopping when he was only a few feet away. The probe disappeared in a flash. "Ok…?" He leaped back in alarm as a giant hand grabbed the edge of the platform and an all too familiar figure pulled itself up.

Harley found himself staring up at a supersized Oryx, who was so enormous that he could probably crush all six of them in one fist. His heart was pounding so hard that it blocked out all other sounds. He was completely paralyzed by fear, unable to move a muscle. Someone grabbed his arm and pulled him backward.

"Hayden, snap out of it!"

Harley felt something impact the side of his helmet, causing his head to snap to the side. He blinked and looked around, examining his arms and legs.

"You didn't have to slap him, Kai," admonished Jade.

"Someone had to get him moving. Now let's go. We have a god to kill."

What ensued was the most confusing, fear-inducing stretch of Harley's life so far. So much so that he barely had time to register anything before he was hit with something else. It started with Oryx slamming his fist down on one of the plates. Then the whole situation disintegrated into madness.

Oryx was towering above them on the side of the platform, Taken were constantly warping in, people were jumping on the hidden platforms, Ogres were spawning, shields were forming, and everyone was yelling nonstop. Directions, accusations, and exclamations flew through the comms at top volume.

They were moving continuously: sometimes on the plates, sometimes grouped up in the center, sometimes shooting at Oryx, sometimes dodging attacks in a strange misty room. Then, when they were grouped together shooting at Oryx, he suddenly disappeared, warping to the middle. They turned and waited for his chest cavity to open up before going at him with all they had left. Bullets were flying, ammo synths were being exchanged, and nearly everyone was shouting. Light flashed violently as Oryx clawed at his chest. The cavity inside him exploded in a violent burst and his form stilled, drifting away toward Saturn in the distance.

The Guardians stopped, their guns falling to their sides as they watched the remains of the Taken King float away into space. Harley felt himself collapse back onto the ground, his hands shaking as he stared at the sniper rifle he still held. "Holy shit…" he whispered.

"YES!" cheered Liv, "WE DID IT! IN YOUR FACE, ORYX! YOU SUCK!"

"Woohoo!" Kaedro exclaimed, joining in, "We did it!"

"We did it!" yelled Jade.

Soon all three of them were jumping, their hands on each other's shoulders.

"Holy shit," Harley repeated, "I… I can't believe it. He's really dead."

"Damn right he is," affirmed Kai, "That's what he gets for messing with Guardians."

"I don't… What do we even do now?"

"We go back to the Tower like the damn heroes we are," boasted Kaedro, "Then we get drunk."

"You have my support!" called Liv, "Let's fly!"

"Delta, will we have any problems getting our ships out here?" asked Jade.

"Nope! The signal is clear and your ships are on the way!"

"Excellent," approved Kai, "I'm looking forward to taking a break from all this nonsense."

"You're telling me," sighed Kaedro, "I never thought I'd say this, but I've missed doing normal missions."

"Me too," agreed Tristan.

Even if he didn't verbalize it, Harley couldn't agree more with the sentiment. Ever since he was revived, the only missions he'd been on were ones where the fate of the world/solar system/galaxy was at stake. It would be nice to experience what Guardians usually did when there wasn't widespread war against all-powerful deities. Although, the Darkness might well be included in that list. Harley still wasn't sure what exactly it was, only that he hadn't come across anything resembling it so far. Not as an entity, at least.

He was jolted out of his thoughts by his Ghost. "Harley. The Star is here."

He blinked and looked around. Kai, Tristan, and Kaedro were gone. "Where'd the others go?"

"Their ships already came," said Liv, "Let's go."

Harley got to his feet. "Ok. I'm ready, Prism."

"Transmatting." Instantly, Harley was back inside his ship. He sighed tiredly. "I think I'll just use autopilot. Setting course for Earth…" He input the coordinates and leaned back in his chair. "How long since we left?" "Approximately 6 hours and 17 minutes." "Really? Damn." "At least it'll be over soon." "True." They entered warp space. "It'll be good to see Rae and the others again," said Harley, "It's been a while." "Yes, it has." "I hope they're having good luck, whatever they're doing." "So do I, Harley. So do I."

Harley trudged through the Hall of Guardians, stifling a yawn. They'd just gotten back to the Tower and all he wanted to do was rest. But that was off the table until he gave the mission report.

"You know," said Prism, "If you hadn't insisted on giving the report, you could be relaxing with the others right now. Or taking a shower. Traveler knows you could use one."

"The Dreadnaught's not exactly the nicest smelling place, I know," sighed Harley, "Look, the sooner I get this over with, the happier we'll all be." He entered the Hub.

"Ace!" exclaimed Cayde, "Good to see ya, kid!"

"Hey… I've got some good news."

Ikora arched an eyebrow. "Oh?"

"This morning, Kaedro, Jade, Fireteam Calypso, and I flew to the Dreadnaught and defeated-" He took a breath. "Oryx. For good."

The Vanguard looked astonished.

"Congratulations, Harley Hayden," said Eris, "You have put an end to Oryx's incessant crusade through the cosmos. The Taken will cease to spread… At least for now."

"Um, thanks…" said Harley.

"Damn, kid!" said Cayde, "You're puttin' me to shame!"

"I couldn't agree more," concurred Ikora, "...I know I sought to keep you out of the field, but I daresay you proved me wrong." She gave him a warm smile. "Well done."

"Thank you."

"I would like to say the same," said Zavala, "You and your team have accomplished an unprecedented feat. While I'm sure you are eager to return to the field, I'm giving you and your friends the next few days off. What you do with them is up to you, however, I strongly urge you not to take on missions during that time."

Harley nodded. "Understood. And thanks, sir."

Zavala nodded back. "Dismissed, Hayden."

Harley left the Vanguard and made for the mess hall, where he encountered the rest of his friends sharing a drink. As he approached the table, Kaedro looked up. "Ace! Please don't tell me something's wrong."

Harley's lips twitched and he shook his head. "Not unless you think getting a few days off is wrong."

"Absolutely not. I just got this weird feeling of deja vu when you walked in. Reminded me of after we beat Crota. There we were, having a drink just like this and you waltz in with news about Oryx."

"Right…" Harley rubbed the back of his neck. "I remember." He sat down in between Kaedro and Kai, who slid him the bottle.

"Different story this time though," said Kaedro cheerfully, "A vacation. Just what the doctor ordered. Or I assume they would if I wasn't a Guardian and visited a doctor regularly."

"I thought the Tower medical staff did semi-regular checkups," said Jade.

Kaedro nodded. "They do, but how pointless is that? I mean, we're Guardians! Anything that happens to us gets healed and if something kills us, our Ghosts bring us back. That's why no one goes to those."

"I do," mumbled Jade and Tristan in unison.

"Ok, no one besides you two."

"We can't be the only ones," protested Jade, "Harley, you go to the appointments, right?"

"...Sure, yeah. I definitely do. Because I definitely knew those were a thing."

Jade looked between Kai and Liv.

"Don't look at me," said Liv, "Why would I go get a checkup when I could be catching up on City shows?"

"Medical exams are pointless," stated Kai, "And stupid."

The Guardians continued to drink and chat for another couple hours before heading back to their quarters. Harley gave a contented sigh as he stepped out of the shower. He normally dreaded going to sleep, but things had changed since the night before. Oryx was dead and would never be coming back. While he wasn't exactly sure what repercussions there would be for the Taken King's death, he might actually get to sleep in peace for the first time since he got out of the med bay.

A/N: We're coming up fast on the end now. The remaining chapters have been double-checked and are ready to go. I'll be posting them over the next few days.

Keep your eyes up, Guardians!

- TheWolfParadox