Destiny: Legend Untold, Chpt 15 Pt 2

[u]Chapter Fifteen: A Royal Request[/u] Part Two The hall that awaited on the other side was grand, and I couldn't help but stare in wide-eyed wonder at the space around me. It was much more vast than I had expected in such a location, and a single walkway crossed through the center with huge portions of empty space below, above, and to its sides, leaving room for massive banners and cords that dangled down from the high ceiling. In what I assumed to be the center or near-back of the room was a circular platform holding a throne that was elevated on a short flight of steps leading up to it. Red cushioning padded the seat of the throne which was otherwise grey, and behind its bulk were rows of pikes and poles that jutted out in a semicircular display that I found to be quite regal and symbolic of both grandeur and importance despite their plain and crude build. A single Awoken stood halfway up the wide steps to the throne, looking down upon me as the guards stopped us at the edge of the circle platform. He was the first male I had seen here, but instead of a uniform like the guards he wore a grey and purple suit with brown armor over it that resembled the lightweight Hunter gear as well as a purple cloak with its hood down. A strip of long black hair draped over the right side of his face, while the left side of his head was cut very short. Eyes of golden light glared out from his blue face, which was marked by a few streaks of white paint that formed a rough X shape, and his expression showed contempt and some level of annoyance. "Two Guardians in one day," his voice dropped with ire as he began strolling down the stairs towards me, "I wonder why we have been so..." The man paused for a moment, searching for the word, before continuing on sarcastically, "...[i]fortunate[/i] as to be honored by such visits." "Did you speak with the other Guardian who came here?" I questioned. "Maybe I did," the Awoken responded, coming to a stop a few steps before me so he could lean forward over me oppressively, "Maybe I didn't. Is the City playing games with us? Spying, probing, aggravating, so on? Or can their little children not resist running around into other people's homes uninvited?" "I came of my own accord," I answered calmly despite his demeaning words, raising a hand to Rush to calm him as he drifted forward angrily at the man, "Are you the only representative of the Reef I will speak to, or will my request to speak with the Queen be granted?" He straitened back up, his scowl reverting back to a distasteful frown as he decided his attempt to anger me hadn't worked. "Why she has decided to speak with all you rodents that wander in, I do not know," he drew a knife from its place on his right hip and began twirling it casually in his hands, "But yes, you'll get the honor of speaking with her." "Are you her assistant or body guard?" I asked, curios as to why he had bothered speaking to me in the first place. Unfortunately, he seemed offended by my question and his eyes narrowed. "Aren't you a little short for a Guardian?" he sneered, completely disregarding my question. "Aren't you a little ugly for a Queen?" Rush suddenly jumped in, clearly sick of how he was mistreating us. "Rush!" I gasped at his rudeness. "Oh how sweet, you named your little pet," the Awoken man countered. "Pet?! Why I oughta-!" Rush began to threaten, but choked suddenly and refocused his single eye to something other than the man. Turning away from Rush and following his gaze, I saw what had startled him so. Two Fallen Vandals had climbed out on either side of the throne, each wearing armor of blue and grey and bearing a tall metal pole topped with a spear head. They stared down at me and Rush, possibly with disdain, but made no move to pass further than the throne. "Odd," the man's voice brought my attention away from the Fallen. He had switched his grip on the knife, holding it at the ready to use against me, but now lowered it uneasily. Turning my head, I saw that the two guards behind me had their hands on their sidearms in anticipation. "The other one tried shooting them," he muttered, although clearly not for the sake of me knowing. "Why would I?" I shrugged, "They made no move against me, and they obviously wouldn't be here without the Awoken's consent." "It realizes that they belong to me," a female voice rang out across the throne room, "It is not like the other." With that, an Awoken woman entered from behind the throne, walking by one of the Vandals and to the front of the large throne. This Awoken wore clothing of fine purple cloth with a grey vest and large grey belt, along with a plate of armor on each shoulder and a fur collar that started at her shoulders and went around the back of her neck. A purple cloth was worn around her neck, along with a small necklace. Her hair was white and pushed back out of her face, falling down to her shoulders and framing her head like a lion's mane, but she had dark eyebrows and eyelashes. Vibrant blue eyes shone amongst the stern and eloquent features of her face, brighter than those of any other Awoken I had seen. "They're all the same, my Queen," the man dipped his head respectfully as he spoke. "They are just as similar to each other as you are to I," she spoke smoothly, her voice stern, deliberate, and emotionless. As she finished speaking, she sat back onto the throne and lounged across it, leaning on her left arm on the armrest and crossing her legs out to the right side of the great seat. Realizing she was the Awoken Queen, I placed my left arm behind my back and slid my right foot backwards a little, bending in half at the waist and sweeping my right hand down just above the ground and then up to my left shoulder in a flourishing bow. "Your majesty," I acknowledged as I paused in my doubled-over position for a moment. When I brought my head back up again, my eyes met hers, and they became all I could see amongst a curtain of black. The light from her eyes diverged, turning from two spots to seven, and then they grew and grew along with the sound of a hoard of shrieking, terrified people, but by the time the fiery lights had taken up all of my view, the screams of the dying had become the guttural and inhuman sounds of the Fallen. The blue glow receded and transformed into sheets of green fire that danced across my vision. A figure bearing a crown of horns that I remembered seeing once before loomed out, silhouetted by the flames and weilding a great sword that pulsed with the same green light as the fire and the beast's three eyes. This image passed by in only a moment, leaving the echoes of screaming victims, but the three eyes stayed and their fire spread into another figure, turning red and malevolent as a creature laughed, flaring it's great wings to match the horns that jutted out from each side of its head. The laughing figure exploded outwards and I tried shielding myself with arms that did not exist, my eyes filling with blinding light. As my sight returned, I found three more eyes of green watching me curiously, along with a single eye of golden fire. The four grew distant and again I stared into the two infinite blue eyes of the Queen, her voice seeming to rebound throughout the inside of my skull and her gaze piercing my body. [i]That was not yours to see[/i], her voice was cold and commanding of my entire being, [i]But what you showed me also was not mine. We are alike, you and I, yet also not alike.[/i] I tried to speak, but found that I had no mouth to use, so I tried solidifying my thoughts. [i]What is happening?[/i] somehow I formed an audible question, although it was segmented and slow, [i]Who are you?[/i] [i]I am the Queen Mara Sov. Starlight was my mother, and my father was the dark, she answered, But you will tell me your name shortly. This moment is over, we will speak in our world now.[/i] Before I could even piece together what she had said, I was suddenly back in my body, coming up haltingly from my bow as I reacquainted myself with my normal functions. My eyes were still on the Queen, who now looked at me curiously, and I lowered them respectively as I finally found myself standing upright once again. The Awoken man had a somewhat puzzled look now, although it seemed as if no time had passed at all while I had my visions. No one else in the room seemed to have been aware of what had happened. ___________________________________ Leave it to Rush to insult the people we want to like us Link to Ch15 Pt 1: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/229311527/0/0 Link to Ch15 Pt3: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/229311839/0/0 Link to ToC: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/212710816/0/0