Chapter Text
"Technically, you are human."
The Ghost's words fell into an abyss that was threatening to take her back.
The newness of everything - like she had just woken up from a deep sleep, except she couldn't remember before that. Or much of anything.
But those things on her head, that was what did it. She knew those shouldn't be there.
Her vision began to tunnel and she could distinguish up from down, nothing made sense. Her entire body felt raw, like an open wound. Every sensation was magnified. Bubbling within her was a horrific, sickly realization that crept into her veins like ice.
Her breathing came in ragged gulps, her body quaking. She dug her fingers into her skull. A hard, slick surface that her fingertips wanted to be soft. What little bit of pain this caused did nothing to break her from the awful ultimatum that was growing inside of her.
Thoughts smeared into a jumble until it was screaming, ringing, a pure silent scream of agony -
Hey, shhh. Shhhh .
Someone spoke, but not quite with words.
Shhhhhhhh …
It spoke again. A drop fell and bloomed in her center. It was warm, comforting. Within the darkness clouding her mind, blue light spidered outwards.
I'm right here. Focus on my voice , the light said.
No, this definitely wasn't her - it was someone else, but from within. There was something familiar about the gentle energy that soothed her. So familiar, that she swore she knew it, had known it for a long time.
It felt like a being, an individual, full of their own thoughts and emotions. It pulsed with light, the life that had called to her -
"I'll always be here."
She could make better sense of.. his words, his voice now. His voice was calm, melodic, some kind of chime undertone. Pleasant to listen to. She felt her breathing slow. The blue light spread, clearing the darkness, and then -
She was staring into an odd symbol. It was unbelievably bright and blue , like the sky she had seen, but filled with tiny, moving pricks of that light.
It blinked at her.
"..Are you okay?" It asked. The same voice, his voice, but clearer now. Real. It was gentle, laced with concern.
She blinked back at him. She honestly didn't want to stop ogling that beautiful light, but she became aware of a slight sensation on her head, her protrusions. She angled her eyes upwards and saw that the floating geometric was touching her head bumps to his own segments.
Her breath hitched. "U-uh...yeah. Yeah, I think so."
She brought her head back, righting her posture. Taking a moment, she closed her eyes and exhaled. Things didn’t feel so terrible anymore, thankfully.
He backed away a little, watching her closely. He flashed a beam over her, then a second one. The second one left her skin feeling tingly.
“Hey, what was that?” She mumbled, rubbing her arm. He could have warned her before doing that to her body.
“I scanned you,” he stated a-matter-of-factly. “The second one was a healing beam.” His segments spun. “Scans give me information on your physical well-being. Physically, there is nothing wrong with you...”
He swooped down, getting very close again.
“Can you please tell me what happened? You were so scared, I could feel it.” His voice was quieter.
She slowly cocked her head at him. He pulled his shell tighter and backed off, averting his eye. He made an odd throat clearing sound. “I was very concerned.”
Her face plates shifted into a tiny smile.
“I...I think these just…” she brought her chin down and gingerly poked at her forehead. “Freaked me out a little.” She finished sheepishly.
The Exo didn’t know what had overtaken her. She never wanted to feel that way again, and truthfully, it was her head-things that had brought it on.
“Oh. Those?” He zoomed in, inspecting her head. “They are a kind of...style, so to speak. You had them when I brought you back.”
She went back to prodding her head. “Wait...brought me-“ a shiver passed through her body, and she scrunched herself into a small ball. Wind had started to stir the sand around them, and it had passed straight through her. She hadn’t realized how cold the air was.
“Oh! It is a bit chilly with the sun setting, and you - you don’t have any clothes.”
He wouldn’t look at her when he said the last part.
“I have just the thing!”
Another bright beam shot out of his eye, but this time, the air around her grew heavy. Within a second, she had an old brown blanket draped over her.
“Whoa!” She exclaimed, taking a few shakey steps to stand. She grabbed the new material and inspected it. It was musty and covered with questionable stains.
“I found that a few moon cycles ago. I know it isn’t much, but it will help until we can find you some proper clothing. And, Ghosts without a Guardian are only capable of carrying so much,” He chuckled.
She wrapped the blanket tighter around herself.
“Thank you,” she murmured, giving him a genuine smile. Warmth, the same she had felt during her earlier lapse, grew in her chest.
“Oh, it’s the least I can do,” He laughed nervously. “Now, er, come along - we need to find you armor, clothes..let’s see, weapons for sure…” he zipped off, thinking aloud to himself as he scanned around rocks and debris that were obviously not what he was looking for.
The Exo stood there, wrapped in her dirty shawl, and watched as he hunted. His voice had grown distant, but he hadn’t gone far. She could feel his elation, his concern.
A breeze stirred a nearby dried bush.
She had so many questions that they all threatened to pour out at once, but his restlessness told her it would be better to wait for the right moment.
She smiled, then began to trudge after him. Even if everything was strange, she had a hunch that as long as he was nearby, she would be okay.