Prolog: A Gardener and her Sprout (Part 2)

[Traveler-The Pale Heart]

The Pale Heart, as it turns out, was not peaceful. Many enemies had slipped in through during the time the Witness had invaded this sacred place. As such Argus was in an uphill battle as he made his way through the Pale Heart. 

His Ghost by his side they followed the Hawk as it led them through battlefield after battlefield. He carried his three main weapons of choice as he made his way through the fights.

His primary weapon was an old fashioned hand cannon. The style looked similar to a revolver only the cartridges allowed for 11 shots before reloading. The difference between his and others was he had modified it to wield Void cartridges.

His second weapon was pilfered during their visit to the Last city. The old man who's had his hand on the rifle for a few years now would be searching for it right about now. The sniper rifle was his pride and joy back in the days he was in another universe. 

No Land Beyond was and always would be the weapon of choice for the Old Guardian. The sniper rifle held no scope, only trusty iron sights. If he had any Russian heritage I'm sure they would be proud.

The final weapon in the arsenal was an Old Roar of the Bear. The dusty thing was from his days he was contracted by the Iron Lords. They needed someone to train up new Wolves and he got paid in food and ammo. A welcome trade in those days.

It had only been half a day since he had gotten here and ever since it was fight after fight. From fallen of the house of winter, to the Lucent Hive, to the remnants of the Witness he wrought a narrow path through the trail blazed by his weapons.

The final weapon he carried on him was a blade. Given to him by a Hunter on his 300th anniversary the short sword was more a memento than an actual fighting weapon at this point.

It had seen a long life as it was maintained very well, but time wears all and it had become more or less a decoration. Once filled with light to aid him, it sat dormant on his shoulder holster. 

His armor was another spectacle to witness. It did not confine itself in the three classifications. A mix and match from the different classes. 

For the chest it was A model Swordfight V2.4, an older model given by Shaxx as a gift.

The Leg armor was a gift from the Factions while they still existed back in the city. They were the Titan armor Peacekeepers I had to modify to fit my hand cannon. I didn't like to use Sub machine guns all that much since it required me to be up close more often then not.

My helm was my own creation. Had to put many nights on the line to remake this bad boy. It was an ODST helmet. Decided to make it after a particular fall from the sky in which I was not originally meant to drop from. I made shoulder pads to go with it.

Jumpship was ambushed by a fallen raiding party and had to send off my ship as I fell. As such I decided to make light of that situation with my little homage to those reckless bastards. Since I dropped feet first into hell and had to be revived after all.

The armor was painted a matte black with some red accents here and there to add to it.

The final addition to this ensemble was my own little "Class Item". I had fashioned it from a warlock bond, an old scarf, and an old Titan friend's mark. It fastened itself across my chest as more a mantle or poncho for more fancy people. My left arm was completely visible but it covered half my right arm and shoulder up to my neck. The Bond gave it's own little hologram of a cat silhouette. It shown from my right shoulder from the bond's projector.

Our progress through the pale heart was fine for now as we continued forwards. Sadly our lonely journey would be interrupted by a Vanguard hail on all coms.

"Attention, This is Vanguard Commander Zavalla calling on all frequencies. Guardian Argus, respond immediately." Put me on the spot will you.

A sigh left me as I was just going to pull the trigger on a very far group of lucent Hive in front of me. 

"Spark, key us in to that wide frequency." She responded immediately with a "kay" and the mic sound of us keyed in sounded off. 

"This is Guardian Argus, Responding. Anything you need commander?" I said. My voice steady but low as I did not want the patrolling enemies to hear.

A small pause as he figured out I had keyed in the same wide frequency he started out using and everyone would hear our conversation. A petty move sure... but it was more a nuisance than anything. 

"Argus you have abandoned your post and are declared AWOL, anything to say for yourself?" 

A chuckle left me as I saw saw Spark's shell ruffle. 

"Commander, I wonder... how many times I've been on the record for disciplinary actions?" 

The question brought a pause to the coms as everyone on frequency was holding their tongues. "I don't believe we have anything on record, Argus."

Shouldering my rifle I keyed the mic again... and fired. The Hive were quick to respond to the attack and fired in my direction but I horribly out ranged them. I racked the bolt action with practiced ease. The others on frequency were privy to the sounds of my rifle's gunshots for a few moments as I cleaned up the 3 acolytes and a wizard. 

"Commander, I am considered one of the oldest guardians alive right now. It has been roughly 700 years since the collapse and I have been around for over half of it. I was there when humanity was being eaten by the fallen, I saw the rise and fall of warlords, I was a part of the Ahamkara Hunts, I was overwatch at the twilight gap! I scouted the House of Devils, I waged war against the Cabal during the Red War!"

My voice rose to a crescendo as I spoke my exploits. So long I went without blowing up in their faces of their treatment of me. My anger and frustration bleeding into my words. 

"I manned the American zones, by myself! Facing the rest of humanities enemies by myself! But tell me commander, what do I get from the rest of the Vanguard?"

Silence permeated the frequencies. My ghost rested on my shoulder, calming me from my rant. "I was pushed aside, commander. Ridiculed by the very "Peers" of the vanguard. I was made the butt of jokes and warning tales to the new lights. All because... I-I couldn't use the light."

My voice was shaking as I spoke. But my movements began. Going forwards, as I had always done.

"I came for answers Commander, 400 years of living this life... I just wish to know... Why? Is that so bad?"

a Sigh was heard on the comms. Another voice joined the chat it seemed, and loud and proud he was. "Argus, I still remember your rifle ring above our heads as we faced the hoards of the fallen. I remember how when everyone was retreating, those few who stayed. A lightless guardian... Braver and more reckless than most."

Shaxx had joined the line. "I remember... As my fist filled with lightning was striking my foes, whenever my fellow guardians would fall... a man would be right above us to cover our revives. I can't count the number of times I alone died that day.... Much less the rest of us."

I was picking up speed now, with my comms signal out and about I'm sure they were tracking me through the Pale Heart. But I had a meeting to get to, and the traveler was showing the way.

I answered the words of the last warlord. "I feel no regret in my actions that day. Even after so long... I would do it again. No matter if others were to recognize my deeds that day... I was happy to stand with you." 

Crow's voice came next on the comms. "I've got stories from hunters across the system of you, you know? So many times they had written you off they hoped to find your alleged "stash". They remembered you... The crazy bastard who taught them to survive. If a Hunter nest got a new light? they would send them to you first."

I moved through the caverns resembling a fallen outpost. Stealth bordering the levels of void walkers in my steps. I wrote their book, minus the light, after all.

An old man's voice came next as I remained silent through Crow's words. "I remember... the reports I would get in the early days of the Last City. The newly minted Warlocks would complain about how some "nobody"... could openly debate with them and they would have to concede to the knowledge of this person. The subject was always history." Osiris's words echoed in the still comms.

I could feel the presence of something greater ahead. My vision was filled with pyramid architecture as I continued forwards. The Hawk always showed the way to go as I made my way. The memories of my adventures bounced around as they continued to speak in the absence of my voice.

A random voice joined the line, not one I recognized by any means, "I remember the first assault on the moon. As the Hive were swarming us at every turn a lone Guardian would always be there to pick up the slack. There he was, Lightless, no fancy space magic, but... a force all on his own. I remember a few of my buddies made fun of him after he left but... he saved our asses."

More and more voices joined the call as they shared their stories. Memories flashed before my eyes as I heard their words. It was chaos on the comms as they spoke whenever their was a free mic. Stories from across Sol were spoken about the Lightless man. As he neared his destination he saw a figure. 

The armor a glinting silver and black with red accents. A fur mane on his collar. A titan, one all would recognizable. He was leaning on the doorway to a new structure. It was old... Very Old. From a time long before the Golden age. And I recognized it. It was an apartment building. 

We stood facing one another, our helmets blocking our faces. It was he who spoke first.

"Instructor"

A smirk was on my face as I answered, "Kid" A scoff left him as he pushed himself off the doorway. 

"So I've got orders to take you back, Old man." I propped the sniper rifle to lean on my shoulder facing the sky as I relaxed. "Yeah?"

"Yeah, orders didn't say "when" though. Go on, I'll wait out here. She's waiting."

Nodding to him I passed him and entered the building. Fuzzy memories of a time long since gone were flashing in my mind as I rounded the entrance to climb the stairs. Upon reaching the third floor, I saw the door. Unlike the others it was more... fresh. 

I tested the handle to find the door was unlocked. Spark spoke up next to me. "What is this place Argus?" I paused in my actions and said to my oldest companion, "It was from my first life. This... was my home." I opened the door and walked in. Dematerializing most of the armor pieces into my backpack as I did so.

Nostalgia hit like a truck as I walked in. Ages... Lifetimes! Had passed since I saw this place. The entrance led into a small hallway with a kitchen to the left. Next was an open living room. I stopped as I looked to the shelves of the entertainment center. Pictures of people long since dead.

My face was younger in those pictures. Hadn't made it to my 30s yet then. I was with some friends in one picture. As I placed a hand on one specific picture I felt the tears drop from my face. I was ripped from that world far to early. 

The picture in question was a group photo of myself and a woman. Her name barely a whisper now all these years had passed. 

Spark spoke up, "Argus, I'm reading a strange signature, coming from a room in the back of this place."

I nodded and moved my hand. Cleaning my face I started to walk into the adjacent hallway leading to the bedrooms. I instantly knew which one to go to. Opening the door I found my old room. It seemed just as I left it before coming to this universe.

Spark began to scan everything around the room. From the cat tree to the bed. I only had eyes for the console on the desk in the corner. It was the same one I used to play the game centuries ago. 

"I can't seem to find anything out of the ordinary." 

My response was to press the power button on the Tv and console and as it turned on It changed the screen. The Traveler was on the screen in front of me. Then I noticed spark's shell begin to glow. 

"Argus" 

The voice was much more mature than sparks. As I looked into the eye of my Ghost I knew who it was. A being who I wanted to speak with for far to long. In the end I could only eke out one word.

"Traveler"

"You have suffered, Argus." She stated as fact. I felt myself tearing up as her feelings were sent through the air. Her remorse, her sadness, her Regret. 

"W-Why?" Was all I could say as I heard her words. All Of my feeling bottled to infinity as I toiled and fought and Died time and time again. 

"Argus, it was no mistake you were chosen by her." I shut up and listened. I had that thought many a times throughout my time as a "Lightbearer". That If Spark had chosen another she would have a genuine bond with her guardian. Not what she had with me.

"The reason you are unable to wield the paracausal forces is due to your own. A man reincarnated from another universe. If you were to be compared to anything in this universe... it would be the Ahamkara." 

Stunned I sat on the bed. Paracausal forces of my own?

"When I was revived a few years ago I tried to reach out. But I was unable to. Then I saw through your ghost all that you were. and I was proud."

I looked to her, Inside my ghost but I could see and feel the changes in her. Her last statement made my tears fall again. I had thought I had ran out of them but this day has shown me otherwise.

"Due to your own natural energies my own wouldn't take root. Only the connection between Ghost and their Lightbearer was able to be there. That was in my dormant state." 

I stared in hope. Dreams I had as a young Lightbearer of wielding the light as a centerpiece to my hopes. 

"I would ask of you a task in return. No matter if you accept or not I will make the connection." She clarified. "I would ask of you to traverse the universes again. A new domain, connected by a string in this infinite cosmos. To explore a new frontier."

I closed my eyes as I thought of all of the Vanguard, of the kid standing outside. What would they respond with in my situation? 

So I asked, "Where would you have me go?" The traveler inhabiting my Ghost said, "A world that converges new worlds unto it. It gathers them, and I have sensed a threat. An Old nemesis, he resides there. I would see him vanquished for the safety of all."

"Can I say goodbye?" I asked softly. "Of course." she stated. "I wouldn't have it any other way. The bonds they carry with you are your strength." 

Taking a deep breath I then asked, "This paracausal power I posses. What is it really?"

A swirl of pink light surrounded me as I could feel it inspecting me. "The power you posses, I can feel it. A way to "persist" is what I can detect. The power itself is resonating with my light's ability to restructure. This is the reason you are capable of it." 

"So the reason I came to this universe was this?" I asked in disbelief. Because some power reincarnated me?

"Make no mistake, it is your power. No one else gave it to you, Argus." She both comforted me and confused me in a moment's notice. How could I posses such a thing?

I let myself fall back on the bed. Trying to piece together this puzzle that formed by my reincarnation. If I died here would I reincarnate again? Would I have been subject to another life after this one if I wasn't a Guardian?

The traveler in spark's shell floated and rested on my chest causing me to look down at her. 

"Argus, It matters not the why or how this came to be. It only matters what you do with it going forwards." 

Solid argument, but counter argument, "What the hell am I supposed to do with it in the first place?" 

"I know not, Argus. But I know you will blossom into the strongest you can be."

I was reminded of the name another being had given her, The Gardener. "So, how will I be able to use the light?"

"The light and the Dark, Argus. I have seen what my chosen has been capable of with it. What countless Guardians have also done with those powers. I would not deprive you of them either. What I will do is more or less simple. I will place a seed. Your Ghost Sparkles is an extension of my very being. With a seed inside you she will be able to connect once more with you. A bridge by which the light and the dark will flow.

It will take time though for it to grow. Argus. The powers will be weak in the beginning, but as the seed grows, so will you." 

I couldn't describe the feeling of elation going through me. 

"I will begin Argus." And she did. She rose into the air and a projection of light and dark energies. They formed a familiar shape as it became a seed of a silverwing tree. Only the middle intersection held a small bead of pink. It was a tiny, but I could vaguely feel the energies. 

It drifted into my chest and I could just make out the barest feeling of something awakening. It was small, almost insignificant. But it made centuries of waiting just the littlest bit sweeter. 

The Light began to flow from Spark as she finished. She spoke once more, "I wait for you Argus. When you are ready."