From Dusk to Dust (Destiny Fan Fiction)

24-True Bonds

London had fallen long ago.

The guardians arrived shortly after the last battle. Echo IX welcomed them to an abandoned five star hotel. Half the building had been torn down, but everything in it still worked fine. All three guardians had been sitting in silence since.

Echo IX struggled with putting Tanis' mauled arm back on. He played around with some special tools, counting them one-by-one as if he were checking them off a list before starting the procedure. Malachi played with his knife and threw it at the wall like a dart, aiming for the same mark every time. Macey floated back and forth, dematerializing his knife and rematerializing it in her guardian's hand. Alaura wrote down the places that had been taken over, clicking her pen many times in frustration. Jarvis hovered over the paper and used a hologram to show her other places that went under.

"We can hear your thoughts, you know," Dinklebot spoke up. He rested on Tanis' leg and peered up at him with his big blue eye. I got you. We're in this together. He thought, pushing those words into Tanis' mind.

The Warlock ignored him and looked away. He was so close with Dinklebot, but something like this couldn't go unnoticed. He thought he could learn from The Traveler and its vast knowledge. Then he witnessed it leaving humanity to defend itself. Now? Now he had to live with its decision to let those people die. When will the death end?

One thing he knew for sure was his team was destined for something great, and that could only mean he had to help as many people as he could. That's what Alaura said. That's what they all agree on. Humanity shall not die. Tanis shook his head. "We can't just let this go."

Malachi added onto that point, "You three were so worried about being loyal to your creator that you obeyed without a second thought." He pointed at the three ghosts before throwing the knife into the wall.

"What were we supposed to do? Ignore it?" Macey projected graphically and bobbed around quickly to express her emotions, well, if she had any.

"Yes!" The Hunter lowered his voice and massaged his brow stressfully, "God, there were women and children out there..." The thought of his sister popped into his mind. All those emotions he had felt at that fatal moment were so clear and fresh in his mind. Imagine what it felt like to lose a child? Or a mother in front of your own eyes? Losing a dutiful father? He couldn't fathom that pain.

Tanis contemplated for a long moment. He shushed Dinklebot's thoughts in his head and silenced him altogether. A tinge of annoyance spawned in his system. His ghost was invading his privacy after what he did. They once shared the same views on The Traveler. It was something great. Something godly, even. They both felt an energy, a connection, to it. They almost considered it their father, something that gave them their light, and ultimately, their life. I thought we were in this together. We aren't on the same page. "I get why you ghosts did it, but it doesn't make it right."

Alaura broke the top of the pen on accident and threw it down on the floor. She let out a long breath, calming her nerves down a bit. She grit her teeth for a second before emphasizing, "We abandoned them. You could've left me there."

Dinklebot boosted himself into the air and narrowed his eye. "So you could get killed? Are you hearing yourself right now?"

The Titan yelled out without holding back, "I've been through much worse than that!" The ghosts flinched and looked at each other warily. Alaura pinched the bridge of her nose and sighed, frustrated with all of the emotions she contained. She apologized in a softer tone, "I'm sorry, but I don't know how you expect us to feel okay about this decision."