In the space of Andromeda, sits the Messenger. In the time she had been there, she was calm, and anticipating the arrival of Zelus, so that her, Recon, and the Others could leave. The arrival, to the Messenger's surprise, came early.
She can't move. She can't breathe. She can't feel.
Delilah watches Echo and Gate fight eachother. She is just a spectator, in perfect denial of what has happened. She looks down at her gut, and the blood pouring out of it.
She stays silent, just watching.
Echo tackles Gate, ramming into him as they collide together into a nearby wall, in rage. Echo had believed Gate to be struggling, yet, he thought Gate would be able to push through. He was a fool for believing so.
Echo holds Gate in a motionless position.
"Why?!" Echo yells in Gate's face.
Gate just stares at him, not saying anything through vision. Echo throws Gate across the chamber, forming his Stasis axe while he did so. Gate lands on his feet, and then throws his knife at Echo. The knife lands in Echo's eye, blinding it. Frost quickly appears to heal the eye, but is grabbed by Gate. He backs up, gripping Frost's shell tightly. Echo attempts to charge Gate, but stops upon seeing his Ghost.
Delilah's glowing eyes are reflected from Sev's shell. He was healing her, but her pain never faded away.
"Let her go Gate..." Echo pleads with Gate.
Gate stares at Echo, then looks over at Delilah. Echo notices.
He shatters Frost, killing her. The shockwave from a Ghost's passing fills the room, causing Echo to stumble, but has no effect on Gate as he stomps towards Delilah. Delilah doesn't try and stop him.
Echo, his mind fogged, sees this, and throws his axe in an attempt to save Delilah. The axe slams into Gate's back. Gate grunts and rips the axe out. He glares at Echo.
"You missed.." He tells him, kicking the airlock behind him's release.
The airlock opens, dragging anything not bolted down to fly towards the empty abyss of space. Echo dives towards Delilah, grabbing her. He places his hand on the floor and reinforces his grip with Stasis. He watches as Gate simply steps out of the airlock, violently pulled out of it.
After a few minutes, Echo feels as if he isn't able to hold on any longer. When he grip fails, the vacuum suddenly stops. The airlock was still open of course, but nothing was pulling him any longer.
Echo places Delilah down, then carefully walks over to the opening in the airlock. There, lies the Messenger. Echo hadn't realized how big she really was.
"I'm sure you didn't intend to save me." Echo speaks.
The Messenger shrinks down to the size of a human, just barely taller than Echo.
"It is time. It had begun."
"What has?"
"The Exodus. The Other's and I's time is coming close."
"What do I do?"
"Go to your Traveler. Relish what time you have left."
Echo looks back at Delilah, who is awake, but clearly broken. He then turns back to the Messenger, who is beginning to fly away.
Echo watches her until she is out of sight.
"You need to get up." He says to Delilah.
Delilah looks at him with her glowing eyes.
"Why.."
"We need to go home, Delilah." Echo tries to help her up.
"I need to find Gate.." She stands, Echo puts his hands on her shoulders.
"You can't. He's...gone now. We need to go back to the City."
"Fuck the city." She tries to push past him.
"Delilah. Something is going to happen, something bad. We need to stop it. Going after Gate will damn us all."
Delilah falls back down and begins crying. Echo looks down at her, shameful.
The journey back to the Solar System was a quiet one. Echo had contacted Acreo and the Royalists, but the Royalists decided to stay in the Erobra system to rebuild and begin new lives without the Leviathan, and without war. This was unusual for Cabal, but Acreo and Echo had much more pressing matters to worry about.
When they returned to the City, the whole place was quiet. The Tower was empty and depressing.
Echo escorted Delilah to her apartment, where they talked for awhile, with Delilah deciding to rest afterwards.
When Echo shut the door of Delilah's apartment, he began having a deep feeling in his head and chest. He began breathing rapidly and became dizzy. This was the first time Echo had been truly alone. Without Frost, he became afraid.
Delilah sat in her bed, alone. She would forget that she now had the whole bed to herself, and didn't need to sleep on just one side. She was cold, no longer feeling the warmth of Gate next to her. Sev would try and cheer her up, but his words were drowned out by Delilah recalling the moments that transpired previously.
After a long night for both Echo and Delilah, Echo walked down to the Vanguard office, where Ikora stood.
"What's going on? What happened in Andromeda, Echo." Ikora asks, feeling his presence.
"Something is going to happen, Ikora. You can feel it?"
"Yes."
Recon and The Messenger watch as a fleet of Pyramids approach them. The Messenger looks down at Recon.
"Be not afraid. We will leave soon." She tells him.
Ikora backhands Echo. The anticipation of disaster fills her mind.
"Something is wrong, Echo. What did you do?! What happened to Gate?!"
Echo stays silent.
"Nothing to say?! Dammit! You should have killed that fucking Hunter when you had the chance."
Echo takes it. Waves of Light and Dark begin to fight for balance, and the Traveler begins to move.
"He did nothing wrong.." Echo is barely able to speak.
Ikora turns.
"What?"
"You heard me."
"Echo you have no i-"
Echo grabs Ikora and slams her head on the desk. Ikora forms a Nova Bomb and attempts to throw it at him, but it does nothing. Echo kicks her in the leg and wraps his cold hands around her neck.
"You have damned us all..." She tells him.
The only thing that Echo hears is the loud screams of Guardians and Civilians as the disaster begins.
Ikora's Ghost appears, hiding to wait for healing, and then it looks out of the window at the Traveler. It is gone.
Ikora's eyes roll into her head as her Ghost falls over, dead. Echo stares into her soul as she passes, gone.
Echo looks up at where the Traveler once stood, the feeling in his chest returns. He falls to his knees, looking at the hands that have just murdered Ikora Rey.
