What if? [DESTINY OC STORY]

5- Arjun

My condition had only gotten worse. The sludge continued to produce, and at this point whichever paths I tread were now thick with black slime and splotches of Taken energy. I attempted to pump my stomach in the hopes of getting rid of it, but the pumps would often break, and when they didn't break only more would be produced. I resorted to making a mask that would clean the vomit the moment it left my mouth, and at the same time opened my lungs to help grant me a breath of fresh air. I was tempted to look in the mirror, but I feared what I might see- I could only imagine what I looked like in my horrendous state.

The black, after some time, seemed to melt into the plastic, growing odd fauna in the damper corners near my desks. I didn't like that, and nor did Bray it would seem, so when I couldn't clean it small vacuums would come by to try and clean it. More often than not they failed and even broke on a few occasions, so I began to manufacture a system of tubes that ran along my exoskeleton to help keep the sludge in check. It went surprisingly well, and when I finally got the chance to collect some samples, I found it had traces of radiolarian fluid and other fuels, along with its Hive substances.

I was at my desk, sitting back and exhausted when I heard my computer ping. Letting out a hum, I flicked through it with a pair of carefully crafted gauntlets, making sure not to damage the tech. On the screen flickered the image of Vulkan and Kilgharrah, traveling down the halls at an ample speed. My breath hitched, anxiety forming in my belly. Kilgharrah was the last person I'd like to trust with being vulnerable, but he was the only one I could go to when it came to anything Hive.

Rising from my chair, I went to greet them at the entry hall, one of my Vex arms reaching back to collect a datapad as I left my desk.

"So, Kilgharrah, I'm going to have to ask you not to freak out." Vulkan told the warlock, the two of them stepping closer and closer to the open space of Clovis Bray's head and Arjun's workspace. "I don't "freak out." If anything, you should be the one worried about "freaking out."" Kilgharrah retorted, only to freeze upon seeing Arjun's form. "What-" Vulkan frowned, only to immediately look to where Kilgharrah's eyes stared, finding himself even more shocked at their appearance.

Tubes filled with the thick inky substance were attached to their body, interweaved with it and dumping the sludge into a backpack. A mask covered their mouth, also filled with the black, leaving only their mucked-up eyes and sticky hair to be seen.

Kilgharrah was the first to move, starting forward with harsh steps. "What did you do?!" He asked, reaching out, almost furious. He stopped before touching Arjun with arms still suspended in the air as though he wished to test the substance with his own fingertips. "I touched Oryx's soul, I believe." Kilgharrah was taken aback by the surrounding voices that seemed to emanate from everywhere and nowhere, but knocked himself out of it, yelling at Arjun for the first time since they've met- Arjun wasn't sure the exo even had it in him to yell, with how composed he always was, but now seemed reasonable enough. "With your bare hands?!" Arjun's eyes flickered away guiltily. "It was disappearing in front of me. I didn't have time to think."

"You couldn't even manage a shield of Light or something to keep it from touching you?"

"I had my gauntlets."

"Normal gauntlets?"

"Yes?"

"You could have used the Dreambane gauntlets Eris crafted for you! That would have at the very least prevented-"

"It's too late now to prevent anything. Kilgharrah, I asked for you here in the hopes you could help. So can you help or not?"

Kilgharrah huffed, letting out a hum as he frowned, recomposing himself and clasping his chin in his hand. "So, you said it was disappearing in front of you, right?" Arjun nodded. "That... that's odd. That means this may have been meant to happen."

"What?" Two voices overlapped, but this time the voices were Vulkan's and Arjun's, confused expressions clear in the curves of their brows. "Yes. Oryx's soul could have been dying, and in that case it would have called out for a host to keep it alive. You very well could have been meant to be its host."

"But why?" Vulkan asked, stepping forward. "Why Arjun?"

"Well, they were the one to vanquish Oryx's soul. They took his soul and forged the... what was it? "Touch of Malice?" Wish you had shown me that beauty before it was destroyed."

"We didn't know each other when I lost it in the Red War."

"Nonetheless-"

"Hold on-" Vulkan held a hand out, interrupting Kilgharrah's thoughts. "But Aurora also killed Oryx. Why not her?" Kilgharrah frowned. "Two people couldn't have killed Oryx." Kilgharrah stated matter of factly as Arjun and Vulkan made eye contact, Arjun shaking their head at him to keep him from explaining the whole "colliding timelines" issue to the warlock. Vulkan's eyes widened, only to turn into a frown, as if to say, "you didn't tell him?" Arjun sighed, crossing their arms and shaking their head.

"The only way to fix this is to fully morph with it, or to depart from your body. If you died and your Ghost revived you, you might be cleansed of its effects."

Arjun grimaced painfully. "About that... Silver is a part of this... uh..." they gestured towards themself, wiping away a blotch of sludge from their chest. "This "mass."" Kilgharrah blinked, looking Arjun up and down as if scanning them. "Huh." He hummed. "That's odd. I didn't know that was something that could happen." Arjun sighed as Vulkan came forward, more frustrated than the one with the ailment. "What else can we do? There's got to be other ways to fix this." Kilgharrah tapped his chin. "Well..." He murmured, deep in thought. "You could go see one of Oryx's temples. You could find an answer there. And in the meantime, we could see how the Hive react to who may be the closest thing to their resurrected King."

"Vulkan." Kilgharrah turned to the titan abruptly. "While Arjun and I go to Oryx's temple, I need you to collect some samples for me- from superior Hive specimen, to be exact." Vulkan nodded, crossing his arms. "Alright, where do I start?" Kilgharrah gave him a blank look. "Nessus, of course-" The warlock rolled his eyes, tone thick with sarcasm. "Where do you think you'd get proper Hive samples? Luna, obviously." Vulkan let out an annoyed huff. "Of course." He replied numbly, turning to leave. "I'll go get your damn samples. Good luck Arjun- and by the way," He turned back towards the two, still backpedaling towards the exit. "Try to stay out of sight. I still haven't notified the Vanguard. Yet. But if this goes on any longer, I may have to so we can get Eris involved." Arjun, with tightly pursed lips, nodded. Vulkan gave them a salute, transmatting out of the lab.

Arjun couldn't blame him for leaving so soon- that place was filled with nothing but torture for the exo. The fact he willingly came inside was something Arjun couldn't even quite understand, but they tried.

"So, we'll head to the Dreadnaught's remains first, and then reconvene on Luna with Vulkan to see one of Oryx's bigger temples." Kilgharrah stated, typing out a set of runes into a tablet as his cryptographic Ghost popped out, readying him for transmat. Arjun nodded, gesturing for their own Ghost out of instinct, only to be met with an empty palm of black. A depressed sigh escaped them, the guardian closing their hand into an angry fist. They had to make it up to Silver. They had to find a way to get him back in any way they could.

Hopefully Savathun could wait another day before committing to whatever plans she may have had.