From Dusk to Dust (Destiny Fan Fiction)

30-Worries and Flurries

Alaura rested comfortably in a chair, exhausted from the last battle. Her mind still raced with different thoughts and the aftertaste of adrenaline. The aches in her joints and wounds burned intensely, causing her to scream on the inside. Her fiery eyes locked onto Tanis, who sat on his bed as if nothing happened just an hour earlier. Alaura sighed in frustration, still lacking on a hint of why that ordeal happened in the first place. "What were you two thinking? You could've died. Tanis did die! If I hadn't-"

Malachi cut in sharply, "But we didn't. Okay? You can stop yelling at us like we're children." He rested his head back on the wall he leaned against as the sinking feeling of dread kicked around inside of his stomach. If I dragged Tanis out of there when I said we should turn back, none of this would've happened... Malachi thought bitterly to himself. Macey peered up at him from her spot on Tanis' bed, but didn't say anything.

"I'm not talking down to you. I was worried. Do you know what I heard when I woke up? Shooting. Yelling. Screams from the Hive. All of it was broken pieces coming through communications, and I couldn't tell if you two were in grave danger or not."

"D..." Tanis paused immediately. His blue optics were stuck on the lifeless ghost shell in his hands. Pure self-hatred rose in his circuits, increasing by the second. His optics failed to rise to look his fellow guardians in the eyes. He gave his life up for me... Agreeing to go into the temple was a horrible mistake. Tanis clenched his fists. "He said we could do it. I believed him. We thought we could handle it."

The muscles in Malachi's body screamed for rest. He allowed his mind to wander as he sunk into a chair on the opposite side of Tanis. Without thinking, he spoke out loud, "We're trying to save the solar system...but what if we can't? We've lost again, and again. How many more times are we going to lose? What if our efforts are for nothing?"

An undertone of anger seasoned Tanis' words, "We were sent here for a reason: to save humanity. It's our destiny." He forced himself to look up at his so-called-friends to see if they noticed what he meant. They remained silent and couldn't even look him in the eye. Were they tired? Defeated? Scared? Worried if Tanis ever found out what they did to him? The Warlock grimaced in his mind, bottling up all of the anger.

A tense silence kicked in. Not even the ghosts uttered a word out loud, or in their guardians' minds. Nothing stirred outside, leaving the land of Earth peaceful for once. Malachi had led them to an old home of his, which had been built over long ago. A huge home sat in its place, probably belonging to somebody important in this abandoned section of the country. Alaura reached up for the dogtags around her neck, yet hesitated for a moment. She clenched her hand and set it back down to her side.

Malachi put his head in his hands. "We are so fucked..." The way he muttered the sentence, so broken and hopeless, sent chills down Alaura's spine. This man wasn't the one to be broken. Hopeless, sure. But broken? It wasn't like him at all.

Alaura sat up straight, pushing down any pain that shot up her ribcage. She instantly shot back in a defiant tone, "So what if we are? This isn't the end of the war. There will always be more fights. There will always be enemies. The Intergalactic Empire is facing death. Not humanity. We are here to save as many as we can." The odds were highly against them, but what difference did that make? They were all going to meet their maker whether they liked it or not. Might as well do something while they still could.

A scoff escaped Malachi's throat before he could stop it, "Always the optimist." He lifted his head and looked over at her, waiting for the bickering to begin.

Jarvis spoke up from behind Alaura, "Someone has to in a time like this." He flew up into the air and rested himself on the bed next to Macey. These guardians were given a purpose. Dinklebot sacrificed himself for his guardian, and by the Traveler's Light, Jarvis was not going to let that go to waste.