Unbound Fates Volume 1: Awakening

Part 2

"Something bothering you?" Belladonna is startled by Lucy's voice, surprised to find her staring quietly through one half-lidded eye, "Sorry. Should've coughed or cleared my throat. You were staring at the floor rather intently. I couldn't help but feel that you're overthinking something."

The Ghost shakes off the shock and flits to her Guardian, "You can expect to find me regularly distracted by flecks of dirt. It's a terrible habit. How are you feeling? Did you sleep okay?"

Lucy sits up and groans while stretching, "Well... I don't have much reference to what constitutes good sleep, but I don't feel like I'm being electrocuted anymore. Everything is just... sore."

"I can help with that!" Her colorful, star-shaped shell opens up, and Light flows between them. Lucy feels warmth sweep across her body, easing the dull ache that permeates it, "Ohhh... that's nice. Thank you, Belladonna. Now... I know you have many questions for me, but I have one I need to ask first."

The Ghost eagerly nods, "Of course, Guardian, I'll answer any questions as best I can."

Lucy claps her hands, rubbing them together in a strangely familiar gesture, "Great! What the bloody hell is going on? All I can remember before last night is a lady crying over me, begging me to wake up. You keep calling me Guardian and talking about Light and Fallen and this wanderer that I'm supposedly connected to, and none of it makes any fecking sense."

Belladonna's shell slides back, giving her a wide-eyed look, "Oh... Right. Well, that's a long and complicated story, so I'll start with the easy part. You've been dead for a long time. Since before the Golden Age, I think. When I found your grave, your Light called out to me, and I connected it to the Traveler's. In doing so, your body was remade by the Light into a shape of power. You are now a conduit of that Light and can channel it into extraordinary things. Like your manifestation last night. Those abilities mark you as a Guardian."

Lucy's eyes dart back and forth as she tries to process this information, "Dead. I was... Dead? And this Light revived me. How is that even possible?"

Belladonna laughs nervously, "Uh, well... Light is a paracausal force that permeates most of the universe, and the Traveler is what drives it. In the right hands, it can manipulate the fabric of the cosmos, from transforming matter to harnessing the elements to warping spacetime. For instance, to wake you, the Traveler reached back along your Light's timeline and found an imprint of you at your prime. That snapshot enabled me to regenerate you cell-by-cell. Interestingly, the process brings back speech patterns and motor functions but not much else. Most Guardians don't even know their name. Let alone any details of their previous life. Which is why you intrigue me. You say you remember something from before waking up in the cemetery. I assume that's how you recalled your name?"

Lucy nods absentmindedly, "When you revived me, I heard a voice. Then last night, I dreamt of a woman cradling me while holding something to my throat. She was clearly distraught, sobbing while begging me to wake up. She kept calling me Lucy."

The Ghost wafts back and forth for a bit, "How strange... When we get back to the Tower, I'll see if I can find anything similar in the Vanguard records. For now, our top priority is getting home in one piece. You'll be safe to get a handle on your new situation there."

Lucy stands up, gathering her newly acquired gear, "Better get going then because I am in way over my head." They slowly step out into the cool morning air. Lucy is briefly enamored with the billowing condensation of her breath, "It's a whole new world for you, isn't it?" Lucy blushes at the comment, sensing the amusement in Belladonna's voice, "Don't worry, we'll have plenty of time to explore it all. Come on, Guardian."

The pair head north through a little town, Belladonna doing her best to bring Lucy up to speed on humanity's current situation. To her surprise, Lucy does not balk while discussing the Fallen and Hive that plague Earth and its moon. In fact, she seems enthralled by their existence, despite their distinctly deadly dispositions, "It's a shame we can't find common ground. I would very much like to speak with them. It sounds like both species have things we could learn from them."