"And armed with my past, and my future, and my present, they will mantle me, Oryx, the Taken King. They will become me and I will become them, each of us defeating the other, correcting the other, alloying ourselves into one omnipotent philosophy. Thus I will live forever. I'll make sure." - Verse 5:9 - I'll Make Sure
The next couple days provided some well-deserved relaxation. Or at least Harley guessed they did for most of the team. And it was true, it felt good to have some time to spend on other activities. They watched movies, played card games, and ate at the Tower ramen shop.
The downside to everything was that Harley still wasn't sleeping. At night, images of Oryx and the Dreadnaught went through his head and he'd always wake up at some obscene hour feeling that much less rested. He didn't know how to make the dreams stop, so the best he could do was try to hide how they were affecting him. But he always seemed to be bouncing between extremes. He was either hypervigilant or spacing out. Irritable or apathetic. And so far, this day was shaping up to be like the others.
He woke up at 4:31, had coffee for breakfast, and waited for his friends to join him. Finally, at around 9, they started rolling in. Rae frowned at him as she grabbed her coffee. "Is that really what you're wearing?"
Harley shrugged. "What's wrong with sweatpants and a hoodie?"
"Nothing. If you're a moody teenager."
Prism sighed. "Give up now, Rae. It's pointless."
"Oh, I know... I feel bad for you."
The rest of the team began showing up and as they did, the conversation grew more lively. Harley looked on with some confusion. Something about how they were acting was off. They kept shooting each other significant looks. At least, he was pretty sure they were significant. On the other hand, he was also extremely tired.
Then Jade got up. "I have to go to the bathroom," she said.
Harley frowned. He couldn't remember Jade ever announcing when she went to the bathroom before. Maybe he hadn't caught it?
Then Rae stood up as well. "I gotta go too."
As the two Warlocks left together, Harley looked at the other Chasers but none of them seemed to have noticed anything.
A few minutes later, Rogue got up. "I'm gonna go, uh, check on my Crucible ranking."
"Ooh! I'll come too!" said Fyr.
"I will join you," said Bazzle, "I just remembered I needed to speak to Commander Zavala."
After the three Guardians were gone, Harley turned to Kaedro. "What was that all about?"
The Exo didn't seem particularly concerned. "What was what?"
"What's up with everyone leaving all at once?"
Kaedro shrugged. "No idea. They must've forgotten they had stuff to do or something."
"I guess…"
"Wanna help me build a card castle?"
"...Why not."
Five minutes into building the castle, Harley stopped. "I don't get it. They should've been back by now. All of them should've been back."
"You wanna look for them?" asked Kaedro.
"Yeah."
The other Hunter got up. "Alright. Is it cool if we make a quick stop in the Hangar first? Amanda was looking at my Sparrow for me."
"Sure."
"Great. Let's go."
Harley rose to his feet and followed the Exo out of the mess hall. They walked through the plaza and into the Hangar entrance before finally coming out into the main space. Harley stopped in his tracks.
The Hangar floor, currently free of ships, had been thoroughly decked out. Brightly colored ribbons hung off the walls and balloons were tied to the railings. A small table was placed in the center with a spherical cake on it, decorated to look like the Traveler. Grouped around the table were the other Chasers and Amanda Holliday, all of whom yelled out, "Surprise!" with huge smiles on their faces.
Harley looked around in bewilderment. "Uh… what?"
"Happy Revival, Harley!" said Prism.
"It's...what?"
Kaedro patted him on the back. "It's the day you were revived, buddy."
"Prism told us it was coming," Jade clarified.
"C'mon," said Kaedro.
Harley let the other Hunter lead him down to where everyone else was waiting. "I'm still not completely sure what's going on."
"We put together a surprise party for you, moron," said Rae, "Now blow out the candle so we can have cake."
Harley blew out the candle to cheers and clapping. As Bazzle cut the cake, he looked to his friends for an explanation. "How- when did you have time to do all this?"
"We talked about it in secret," said Kaedro, "Lots of planning behind your back."
"I… wow." Harley wasn't sure what to say. The surprise party had really thrown him for a loop. Then he tilted his head. "Hang on…"
In the distance, he could hear a series of faint popping. Like explosions. He turned to look out at the City. Fireworks of different sizes and colors shot into the air around the Traveler, bursting bright, even in the sun.
"Ok, how'd you do the fireworks?"
His friends looked confused. "We have fireworks?" said Fyr, "Where?"
"The ones over the City ain't us, Ace," explained Amanda, "Today's a holiday for the people down there. It celebrates the return of Light and hope."
"And it's on the same day I was revived? That's a pretty crazy coincidence."
The Shipwright shook her head. "Not a coincidence. They're celebratin' because of you, Ace. You were the first new Guardian to appear in over six years."
"They're celebrating… me?" The thought made him more than a bit uncomfortable.
"They call it 'Revival Day,'" said Rae with a scoff, "How cheesy is that?"
"It's just something you gotta get used to, Ace," said Kaedro, "Guardians by themselves get a lot of attention. But start doing things like killing Crota and surviving the Vault of Glass? You're bound to get noticed."
Rae snorted. "It's worse for you 'cause all you had to do was exist."
"Thanks," said Harley sarcastically.
"Who cares about them anyway? You wanna see your presents, right?"
"You guys got me presents? You really didn't have to."
"Well, we did. That's what friends do. And I'll go first. Here." She shoved a book into his hands.
Harley looked down, reading the brightly colored cover. "'An Idiot's Guide to Saving the Galaxy.'" It made him chuckle. "Thanks, Rae."
"Don't mention it."
"I...also got you a book," said Jade, "I swear it's not just because I'm a Warlock." She handed it to him.
"'Inside the Vault of Glass' by Jaedryth Wrythal. Jade! I didn't know you finished your book!"
Jade blushed. "I did. It took a while. Long nights and all that. Included in that book is all of the information about the Vault there is. The Pahanin Errata, theories, legends, and everything we saw and did while we were there. Look at the inside."
Harley opened the book and felt a warm feeling blossom in his chest. "'Dedicated to Harley Hayden, the person who taught me what it means to be a Guardian'..."
"Oh Traveler," said Amanda, blinking rapidly, "I think I might cry."
"Jade, I don't know what to say... Thank you so much." He pulled the Warlock into a hug.
"Alright!" said Fyr when they separated, "My turn! He ran to the stairs and grabbed what looked like a dark green blanket. He held it up, shaking it out, and Harley saw that it was actually a cloak with a golden tree on the back. "Iron Lord cloak!" Fyr announced, "Boom!"
"Whoa," marveled Harley, "Thanks Fyr!" He fastened the cloak around his shoulders.
"The color suits you," affirmed Jade.
Rae laughed. "Yeah, but it sure as hell doesn't go with your outfit!"
"Shut up," said Harley, "It's my birthday."
"Oh boy, the power's gone to his head," joked Kaedro, "Uh… here's my gift." He handed over a small box that Harley instantly recognized as a deck of cards. Opening it, he shuffled through them, noting how glossy they felt.
"These are great, Kay!"
"I thought about getting you a custom deck, but I figured you'd appreciate the classic design."
"I love them. Guess I'll have to play more poker now, huh?"
"Bet on it."
Harley laughed. Then Bazzle stepped forward. "Hayden, in terms of your gift, Rogue and I took a different route. We both contributed towards custom Sparrow parts, which we brought here so Amanda could build you a new Sparrow. So, this gift is from all three of us."
Amanda grinned and walked over to a lumpy shape that had been stashed off to the side. She pulled the cover off to reveal a maroon Sparrow decorated with hints of bronze. The design was sleek and streamlined. Harley could instantly tell that this was a vehicle meant to go fast.
"It looks amazing! Thanks, guys."
"Damn, I'm jealous," remarked Rae. She nudged him. "Looks like I'll have to get you into my SRL matches sometime."
"Sounds like a plan," said Harley.
"Is it cake time?" asked Fyr.
Harley frowned. "I thought you already cut the cake."
"I did," said Bazzle, "But it hasn't been served yet."
"Before we get to cake, there's one last present," Amanda interjected, "It's from Cayde." She tossed something to him.
Harley caught it and brought it closer to inspect. It was a set of Hunter socks. Each pair was covered in a different symbol. Orange guns, blue knives, and purple bows. Harley chuckled. "I'm definitely gonna wear these."
"Please don't," groaned Rae, "Also can we have cake now?"
"Yeah. Let's have cake."
"Woohoo!" yelled Fyr. The cake was passed out and soon the Hangar was left in silence as everyone ate.
Harley made his way over to the edge of the Hangar and sat down, his feet dangling in the air as he ate. "So what did you think?" asked Prism, "Was this a good birthday?"
"Uh, well, I really can't compare it to any others. Y'know, the whole 'forgetting my past' thing…"
Prism rolled her eye. "You know what I mean."
"It was wonderful, Prism... As long as I don't think about the fact that it's also a City holiday."
"I'm sorry I didn't get you anything," said his Ghost.
"Prism, you gave me a second life," said Harley, "What more could I ask for?"
"I suppose I did…" she said thoughtfully, "And look at us! Look at everything we've done in one year."
Harley nodded. "Escaped Mercury."
"Survived the Vault of Glass."
"Twice."
"Defeated Crota, the scourge of Mare Imbrium."
"Yeah. And his dad."
"Started a fireteam, formed incredible friendships, and never let the odds win out," his Ghost finished, "I'm proud to be your Ghost."
"And I'm privileged to be your Guardian." He paused. "But you know there's more coming, right?"
"There always will be," said Prism, "And when it does, we'll pull through, just like every other time."
Harley nodded. "Yeah. We will."
But deep down, he couldn't shake the warning the Stranger had given him all those days ago. The promise that his skies wouldn't stay clear for long.
"A war is on the horizon, Hunter. It is a war of many battles and on many different fronts and it will take more from you than anything you have encountered before. I cannot share details but know this… your battle will come in three parts: a truth, a betrayal, and a loss."
A/N: A few things to cover here:
First of all, Story 4 is ready to go, but because of the structure, I want to upload it and Story 5 fairly close together. There will be a bit of a break before stories 4 and 5 start coming out as I have a couple of art pieces that need to be finished first. However, there will be less time in between chapters.
On the shipping front. You may have noticed that none of my stories have ships in them. This is in large part due to the fact that I'm aroace and don't particularly care for writing shipfic. However, I promise that the Jade/Harley dynamic will be resolved. While I find writing romance difficult, I'm willing to give it my best shot.
Thirdly, I'd like to make it clear that I have absolutely no problem with other people using my characters. In fact, I encourage you to use them if you want to. The only thing I ask is that you let me know because I'd be super excited if someone wrote a story with my characters ;D
If you'd like more consistent updates involving story progress, a good place to go would be my Twitter ( ArcaneGlitch). I also have a tumblr under thewolfparadox and my DMs are always open on any platform.
Finally, I run a discord server called Creation Station. If you're a creator, there are plenty of places for sharing ideas and works. If you're not a creator, the server is a great place to hang out with a bunch of friendly people. If you're interested in joining, simply enter the invite code (BFyxyzD)
Eyes up, Guardians!