Apertureing Destiny: Week 4 - Hideaway (Destiny)

by Morpheus , High Charity, Tuesday, March 20, 2018, 12:53 (2384 days ago) @ Ragashingo

We were inseparable since childhood. Syerren and me.

We would play Guardians; running around on invisible floating speeders, exploring the ruins of the old church in the center of town, and always sneaking off from home to find places to hide. Of course, this was all inspired by the incredible stories of the real heroes, blessed by the Traveler's light. All the impossible odds that they thwarted, one after another, seemingly effortlessly! Syerren wanted to be a Guardian with all her heart. I wasn't entirely excited by the prospect of limitless danger, but I tagged along regardless—anything to spend more time with her, of course.

As we started to grow into our adolescent years, she studied the Light and Guardianship through all her waking hours. We were too old to play now, but we still would visit our favorite hiding places; we did so mostly to admire the scenery of the nature around us. Their quiet hidden locations were perfect to talk together, to catch up on studies, or even to just relax and drift off to a warm nap.

One afternoon, Syerren had called me excitedly and demanded I meet her in the Outskirts, past the city limits. I remember my shoes getting wet walking through the swampy area looking for her.

"Morexis! Down here!!"

Looking around, I finally noticed her, sunken down in a cavernous hole and grinning from ear to ear.

"How did you find this hole?"

"I was looking for a dead ghost so maybe I could fix it and have him make me a Guardian, and I almost slipped in here!"

I couldn't help but laugh at her attempt. "Still battling your looting addic--"

She cut me off, too hyperactive to remain interested; "Never mind that, come down here! It's incredible!"
Carefully climbing down into the cavern, Syerren escorted me into a dark corner. As we turned past the next wall, my jaw dropped.

Above us were hundreds of blue specks of some strange liquid, seemingly melded with the cave surfaces. The ceiling, the walls and even under my waterlogged boots. What was breathtaking was that all of the specks of liquid were aglow, casting a beautiful visage of millions of stars, illuminating the entire cave from the inside. We walked to a small elevated shelf above the water, and we both sat down, silently awestruck by the near-magical scene set in front of us. We both immediately agreed to nickname this place Night Sky, as the chill from the rest of the underground added even more ambience to this perfect hidden corner of the world. It remained a special place to us for months.

I was thirteen, and Syerren fifteen...when the tides of the war started changing.
The Fallen were hitting closer to home. News reports were everywhere; How a Fallen Archon and an entire army breached defenses at Bannerfall. The SIVA transformations, destroying an entire section of the Wall keeping darkness and evil out of Old Russia. Most of the adults I heard were clamoring about how it was only a matter of time before they came here. A few days later I received a shaky voiced message. From Syerren.

She told me to meet her under the Night Sky.

I don't think I ever rushed so urgently in my life. At that point, I thought I could actually outrun a Sparrow—A real one. When I got there, Syerren was sobbing uncontrollably.

When I asked her what was wrong, she shattered my world with just two words:

"We're leaving."

She stammered out how her mother was terrified that the war would come to them, and that she was taking the family somewhere far away, and that they wouldn't be coming back. I was wracked with heartbreak, and the sudden dragging feeling that this would be the last time we saw each other ever again. I hugged her, trying to stay strong, but my resolve faltered quickly.

When I pulled away, she wasn't shuddering anymore, but the tears still rolled freshly down her face.

"I don't want to go...", Syerren whispered to me.

"I don't want to lose you either!" I whimpered, loosing a few tears of my own. She took a deep wavering breath, and I stopped her. "Listen, listen--we can figure something out. Talk to your parents and I'll talk to mine. Maybe we can take you all in, change your minds, something! Something to..."

I trailed off and sniffed, the inevitability setting in. She must have known by the look in my eyes, as fresh tears emerged. I placed my hands on her shoulders and shushed, trying to calm her down. We pressed our foreheads together. I kissed the tears on each cheek away, noting the salty filmy taste. She looked up at me, and her eyes widened, a spark of realization painting her face. I knew it was that emotion, because I shared the same expression on my own.

There aren't anywhere near as many lights now as there were back then. They seemed to glow brighter, too. Or maybe it's just my tired eyes.

Syerren and her mother had packed everything up and left only a few days after. We stayed in contact with each other for weeks. I almost seemed to know before she did. I hoped and hoped that it wouldn't happened, but my wishes went unanswered. They were right; at least partially. SIVA and the Splicer cult were just a distraction. The Cabal attacked the entire planet soon after. Syerren's relocated town were hit at some point after the Tower fell, and the Traveler was drained uselessly. Thanks to a strange polka-dotted lady who fully knew the run of the land, Guardians—real Guardians flocked here, to train themselves and defend the city. She would've been thrilled. In a sense of irony, they could have stayed and would more than likely have survived.

It was her everlasting lifelong dream to become a Guardian. But things changed. And now, I have become a Guardian for her.

For you.

With all my love,

Morexis the Herald