Chapter Text
He had shouted, anything to get her to react, to do something . He felt her conflicting emotions smashing against each other. Anxiety had seized his processors when she had blankly stared at the gun in her hands.
She didn’t know how to use a gun.
This would have plagued him like a meteor shower in the Reef if it wasn’t for how quickly she reacted when the gun hadn’t registered. Her speed left him speechless. He had a hard time keeping up when he realized a Fallen was beside her, bringing a knife to her abdomen. The sob that had escaped her throat nearly broke him in two and left him physically aching. So much fear, it was the petrified scream of impending doom. He had never wanted her to experience it, Traveler only knew. He knew that bringing her back was part of it, but...Light, it would be so hard to see her in that state again.
What she did next left him dizzy. She had severed the Fallen - used her entire arm like a knife blade, wielding it with harsh precision. He had noticed a flash of purple, a pull that had propelled her and the Fallen together to meet in deadly matrimony. She had torn at the air and chucked a violet ball of void into the center of three more Fallen, vaporizing them.
And that is what the Exo did until she found the exit, twirling and whirling her way through crowds of the buggers, bringing death upon them with her void. Melee and grenade type attacks rained supreme. She sustained cuts and scrapes, but the Ghost had fizzled himself into the space between her armor and skin so he could immediately tend to them, healing quickly so she wouldn’t feel much pain. If she did, she didn’t let it get to her - she kept her jaw clenched, eyes set forward, searching for light from the exit. When they finally came to it, she stumbled out of the doorway and fell to her hands and knees, panting in the cool sand.
Before he materialized, he did a quick scan of the environment - no more heat signatures, and before them was a barren field of rock and patchy grass. Across the field was a smaller, inconspicuous grouping of buildings. He mentally tapped her.
Hey, do you think you can make it to those buildings? It’s safe there, I checked.
She lifted her head from the sand. “Yeah. Alright,” she huffed, and got to her feet.
They marched across a small desert and inspected the buildings, which turned out to be old hangars. There wasn’t much inside but mounds of blown sand. Once in the shadows, the Ghost materialized himself in a flurry of movement. She plopped herself down on a mound, legs sprawled.
“That, my dear Guardian, was incredible.” He whirled to face her, segments spinning. His voice shook with excitement.
Her eyes flicked to him, glowing mouth giving him a wry smile.
“You think?”
“Wh - of course I do! I have never seen such mastery of void energy so early on, oh you should have seen it!”
She chuckled, glanced down, slightly shaking her head. But when she looked back up at him, her smile was gone.
“What do you mean ‘void’?”
He slowed his movements and descended, blue eye meeting her. “We’ll get to that.”
They scouted the area and came up empty handed. The Ghost insisted that the rooftop would be the safest place to camp, so she humored him. He had meandered up to a flat portion of the roof, and the Exo was left on the ground.
It dawned on her that she could...get up there somehow? Taking a few steps back, she stanced like a marathon runner. With a deep breath and two strides, she jumped.
Focusing, she zeroed in on the part of the roof she wanted to land. It was her intention that propelled her forward, like the air simply gave up and pardoned her of physics. A wild grin spread across her face.
Wobbling, she alighted on the roof with a few unsteady steps. “Did you see that?!” She exclaimed, holding her arms up like she had just won a trophy.
The Ghost had witnessed her entire ascent, following her glide. “Well done, well done!” He chortled, mirth in his voice.
“Athank you, sir,” and she took an exaggerated bow.
He laughed more, and she smirked. She made a mental note to get him do that more.
“You’re getting the hang of things, for sure.”
He clicked a few times, made a few mechanical whines. “I’d say this is a good place for the night, don’t you agree?”
The hangar had a normal section of roofing below its large domed roof. Windows from the taller part of the hangar offered them the advantage of seeing anything that might approach them from far away. She sat next to an old ventilator shaft, which offered a bit of cover. It was the best they could find at night, and she nodded in satisfaction.
With a quick movement, the Ghost was at her side, and she once again had the dirty blanket draped over her. His light dimmed, along with the volume of his voice.
“Now that we’re officially settled...time for those burning questions I’m sure you have.” He fixed his diamond shaped iris on her.
Her yellow lenses grew wide and she swiftly crouched, hands on the ground, and leaned forward with anticipation. The Ghost inwardly flinched, sensing he might get pounced on.
“You keep calling me Guardian. What is that? What am I ?” This was the most stern he had heard her voice thus far.
“-And what the heck are you supposed to be?” Energy radiated from her like a small sun.
He tilted himself up and down in a nod.
“Ah yes, of course. You are my Guardian, and I’m your Ghost.”
She was listening with rapt attention.
“A Guardian is an individual brought back from death with the Light of the Traveler to wield power that will protect humanity. That power is given to them by the Traveler.”
He did a few merry twists in the air.
“The Traveler is in The Last City, and we’ll be going there eventually,” he added.
“...you said you brought me back.” Her voice was hardly a whisper now.
He focused on her. “Yes, indeed I did. With the Light of the Traveler. Ghosts are a conduit, if you will, for the Light.”
She seemed to take a moment to consider this. She wanted to get the broad questions out of the way, the ones eating at her brain. Yet these answers only raised new ones.
“You seem much more than just a conduit,” she finally said. Her eyes leveled him an insinuating look.
He shuddered a moment, flailing in his memory banks for an apt response. Did she just..compliment him?
“Eh, um,” his gaze meandered to the side, and he did a quick circle in the air.
Nervous laughter. Yes, that is always the safest option.
“Y-yes, I am.”
Her eyes dropped in the darkness. She poked her chin thoughtfully.
“And me? You said I was..technically human?” She broadly gestured to her entire self.
Relieved for the change in subject, he nodded. “Yep.”
That short answer wasn’t enough for her - she doubted this was the whole story. It wasn’t adding up. She began to chew the inside of her mouth with agitation.
“You are an Exo.”
Her eyes were glued on him again, and he swore their brightness grew.
“An Exo is somewhat self explanatory - similar to exoskeleton . Exo’s have the mind and soul of a human. They are much the same as humans, experiencing the same sensations a human would. Possibly more so, like touch sensitivity, for example.”
He continued.
“They are also sturdier and can withstand much more physical exertion. I would say the closest thing to describing an Exo would be biomechanical.”
He averted his gaze to the ground and scooted almost bashfully.
“I know a bit more about Exos, but there is a lot I don’t know - it’s a continuing study.”
She slowly sat down.
He continued. “About void: ‘void’ is one of the elements a Guardian can learn to wield. And, considering the way you used void, I would say you’re a warlock.”
“That’s a lot,” she finally announced, rubbing her neck.
“All in good time,” he replied. “It is a lot of information to take in, especially right after resurrection. We can talk about it later, if you prefer.”
She continued to sit there.
“For now, Guardian, rest. A lot has happened in just a day,” he flew a wide arc around her, arriving to her opposite shoulder.
She glanced at him, and he paused, shifting in thought. “Guardian...do you want to be called Guardian ?”
Her eyebrow plates raised. She hadn’t considered what she wanted to be called, not once in the short while she had been - er, re-alive.
“Oh, heh. Okay…” she trailed off, sprawling her legs further in concentration. She tapped a finger to her lips.
The Ghost’s faint light reflected off of the jumble of letters and numbers on her thigh. 0M10SGHKT.
“What does this mean?” She pointed.
He got closer and inspected the marking giving it a quick scan.
“Hmmm.” His triangles turned, single eye narrowing.
“Exos typically have a name, along with a number beside it. The number stands for how many times they have been rebooted. Yet…”
She could hear the perplexity in his voice growing.
“Yours doesn’t appear to be a name, or a number in the traditional sense.”
Her brow plates furrowed. “Really?” She tried looking at her leg from different angles, but it didn’t work.
“They don’t match a semblance of a name in any language I know of. Old Russian or a dialect similar? Germanic perhaps?”
He turned to her. “Does it seem familiar to you in any way?”
Sure, she knew what the letters were - she had a basic understanding of those types of things, at least. Nothing about the engraving rang any bells. She shook her head.
The Ghost turned back to her leg, studying it pensively. She felt the soft puffs of air his quirky movements made, he was so close. When he was just above her skin, she felt an odd tingle of static electricity. The thumping in her chest grew louder.
She hadn’t realized she was staring when his blue eye-light blinded her. She hastily pulled her leg closer.
“Um, you really can’t tell anything about it? What if it...is my name somehow?”
He seemed to grow a little indignant at this, and went back to eyeing her leg.
“What if...we made the one into an i, the zero’s into o’s...om-i-os. Omios?” His optic gleamed.
She rolled the name around in her mouth. “Omios...still not familiar, but I like the way it sounds. Omios it is, then,” she shrugged, but couldn’t hide her grin.
“Yes!” He exclaimed, doing a triumphant spin in the air.
Omios laughed as she felt waves of happiness pulse off of the Ghost. He was doing something that resembled a jig when she reminded him that it was his turn.
“You, you want to give me a name?” He asked timidly.
She snorted. “Of course! You need a name, just like I do.”
He lapsed into silence. “Okay,” he mumbled.
She angled her jaw plates in a frown. “Only if you want one, that is-“
“Yes, I do.” His segments twitched.
The newly-named Omios regarded the rooftop, then layed down, facing the sky, arms folded behind her head. She gazed at the night sky in deep thought, searching her short memory for a fitting name.
However, the beauty of the night sky kept distracting her. She found herself lost in the millions upon millions of stars she could see - yes, she knew what stars were too, which was refreshing - some brighter than others. Some of them had different colors, some of them white. They sort of reminded her of the tiny lights she had seen in her Ghost’s eye.
She cocked her head when she noticed a few of the brighter, white stars seemed to form a rough line.
“Hey, Ghost...do you see that line of stars in the sky?”
He peered upwards. “Yes, that’s a constellation. A collection of stars in the sky humans have given a name and story. Some are quite interesting…”
“What’s that one called?”
“That one is Cygnus.”
Her movements stiffened. She sat bolt upright and went to grab him, but faltered and tweaked one of his armored points instead.
“Cygnus!” She exclaimed in a stifled squeak. “That’s perfect! How do you feel about being called Cygnus?”
The Ghost bobbed from her awkward poke in stunned silence.
“It’s...it's wonderful, Omios,” he murmured.
A wave of warmth ran up her arm and she almost jolted backwards. It had come from Cygnus - so amiable and pure. She shifted her jaw and tried to act nonchalant.
“So you want to be called Cygnus?” She asked expectantly.
He wiggled with a few clicks. “I would be honored.”
Omios wanted to celebrate as well, but now-Cygnus interrupted.
“Gaur- I mean, Omios, you really should get some rest. I’ll be on the lookout. We have another big day tomorrow.” His existence phased into nothingness, but she knew he was still there.
“What about you? Don’t you need to rest, too?” She asked, looking around, trying to find a hint of his light in the darkness.
“I do, but I still have quite a bit of energy, I’ll be fine. Plus, I’m camouflaged now so nothing will see my light. Just focus on getting rest.” His voice hung over her shoulder.
She sighed, but had to agree that her mind was starting to throb with fatigue. She settled a bit further under the vent and pulled the blanket over herself, clutching it to her chest.
“Just...don’t go far, okay?” She mumbled, on the edge of unconsciousness.
“I won’t,” he whispered, a smile in his voice. Her mind drifted and settled into the comforting darkness of sleep.
“Wouldn’t dream of it.”