Chapter Text
Nowhere.
That’s where you found yourself.
This wasn’t the space in which you had communed with the Traveler before. No, this was different, vaguely familiar.
You looked around for anything recognizable. Before you was a starry background, almost like a generic wallpaper from back in your world. It wasn’t space though, because you would have been floating. Which you clearly weren’t.
The floor was almost like a liquid mirror. It had a blue hue, much like water, but more reflective than any you’d seen.
Where have I seen this place before? you thought to yourself, hoping doing so would jog your memory a bit more.
Nothing.
However, once you turned around, your heart nearly jumped out of your throat.
Before you was the upper body of a giant woman, as tall as the Traveler above the Last City.
“We stand at the precipice of history.”
The woman spoke, but her mouth did not move. Her voice carried what sounded like five others, the most prominent being a more female tone.
She continued, “What you do here changes the cosmic balance forever.”
You swore you were listening to what she was saying, but your mind was stuck on every single aspect of her appearance. You had seen her before, you knew it, but for whatever reason your mind just wouldn’t let you remember.
Like the vastness of sky which the lady dominated, her form was suffused with blueness. Lips, hair, and skin all melted into the rich, star-specked indigo. She was almost invisible, save for ribbons of midnight which composed her dress, and a sparkling sliver of orange set into her chest, or so it seemed from your view far beneath her.
She didn’t wait for you to recognize her; “You have made allies of dangerous beings. Gods and god pretenders. How long before your company involves you in something you can’t come back from?”
“Wh-what?” was all you could spout. You were so confused by what was happening, who was this lady? Where the fuck were you? Who is she even talking about?
Your thoughts were cut off as she spoke.
“Those I serve have so much to learn from you. You are their greatest curiosity. The agent on whom all fates converge.”
Your face turned white. A small hint of panic began to form and it would only grow from here. Because whoever “they” were… knew . They knew where you came from. And what you knew.
Your thoughts of worry once again came to a sudden halt as she spoke again. “The Dredgen presents a special prize to the Nine.”
Those two words made you finally remember. “The Dredgen” and “The Nine.”
They know… the Nine fucking know!
Your head practically drowned your brain with the memories. You should have known that all of this was coming. As soon as you got back from the Black Amory with Cayde, you should have prepared.
“He is an anomaly.”
But now the word was out.
“An Elemental balance.”
And the Nine were the first to hear it.
“A grand experiment.”
… You blamed Savathûn.
Just then, chains began shooting out from the great nothingness. They clamped around your hands and legs like snakes, slithering their way up your limbs, tightening their immense hold on you. Fear and panic began to strangle you, but despite your attempts, there was no freeing yourself. Not out of this nightmare.
“We remember his trial…”
And then… darkness.
-------
You immediately shot awake and upright in your bed. You took in a heavy breath of air, like you were… drowning.
L, hearing you, awoke as well and hovered over to face you.
“Y/N! What’s wrong?” You sucked in another breath, trembling. “Was it a nightmare? A vision?”
You truthfully didn’t know what it was. It could have been any of that, but then you began to remember the dream as clear as day. Or was it a vision? Whatever, point being, your mind was racing ten times over trying to make sense of what you just saw. And what was to come.
“Y/N!” L exclaimed, snapping you out of your shortly lived trance. “Are you okay?”
He asked you with so much emotion, you could hear the sudden fear in his voice. It had been months since you’d had any sort of significant contact with the paracausal forces of the galaxy.
“Y-yeah… I… I… Oh fuck.”
You put your head into your hands, gripping your temples.
The Nine… they know… fuck! They fucking know !
“Y/N?”
You looked back up to face L, now even closer to your face. His worries had not subsided in the slightest.
“Please… tell me what you saw. What happened?”
As you stared at the Little Light, you felt a warm wetness roll down your cheek. You were crying— no wonder L was so worried about you.
You found your bearings and spoke.
“L… do you know about the Nine?”
He was taken aback. Whatever he was expecting your nightmare to be about, that was the last thing he would have ever expected.
“I know very little… they’re rumored to exist, but besides what Xûr says… we really don't know much about them.”
“I… think they visited me.”
L’s eye widened. “ What ?”
“I know!”
“W-well, what did they say?”
“They know…” you whispered. “About me. About everything. Somehow.”
L’s eye seemed even wider. “No…”
For a long while it was quiet. Neither of you said much more after that, but then you felt it important to mention the other thing.
“L… that’s not it. Not all of it.”
L refocused as you said that, his shell spinning slightly in place. “What is it?”
“It’s—...”
Nothing.
Whatever you had been planning on saying had been replaced with blank static. You could remember the Nine and who they were, but you couldn’t remember anything past that. Nothing that pertained to them anyhow. It was like someone had taken an eraser to the chalkboard of your brain, removing all details and leaving behind just the broadest streaks of information. You could kind of recall what was to come afterwards, but… for the Light of you, you just couldn’t remember anything exact .
“Y/N? What is it?” L asked quietly, like he was trying not to scare you off. Your silence began to frighten him even more than he already was.
You finally found the words to say, as difficult as they were, but you had to say them.
“L, I… I can’t… remember.”
-------
Somewhere in unknown space…
Aboard a freight hauler, two men sat across from each other. A table was the only divider between the two, cards being the only neutral ground they walked.
First there was the guest, a masked man who wore old, rusted green armor, with his hood over his head in order to conceal himself even further.
“It’s about time someone taught you respect, little man,” the guest stated, seemingly and entirely out of nowhere.
The man across from him saw no need to hide who he was. He had met most everyone in the entire system. And if he didn’t, they would certainly know him. He went by many names, none of which ever seemed to really stick, but his appearance was all that remained the same throughout the countless millennia.
The iconic short black beard adorned his face and upper lip, complemented by the many scars that ran along the sides of his face. He only wore a black bandana atop his forehead, presumably to keep his hair out of the way. Fur-covered pauldrons adored his shoulders and a revolver was stuffed into his belt. Beneath those was his dark blue robes with red accent markings around them. Beneath that was his black tunic, but around his upper chest it had some green to it. Most notably of his appearance was around his neck, a jade-green pendant— twin snakes entwined together hanging from a thin string.
He was a Lightbearer, but held no class. He was not a Titan, nor a Warlock or even a Hunter. He was his own. A man who time and time again was driven by one thing;
Survival.
In his iconic wit, the host huffed out a single chuckle. “Heh! Someone like you?” he shifted his gaze down to the card he was holding, “I know you all keep tabs on me.”
“Yeah… you’ve been straying,” the guest stared at him. Before he placed his next card down, he muttered, “You don’t even use his name no more.”
He set the card down, revealing its other side and the design upon it; it seemed as though it could win.
The host of the evening shifted, scratching at his beard.
“Well, that’s why I’m still breathin’ brother.” He shifted to face his guest closer. “Gambit is a chance at salvation.”
He placed down his card, revealing it to be a higher amount than the guest’s. “Take it.”
In a split second, the silence was cut short as the guest rose to his feet, unholstering his hand cannon and pointing it at his gracious host of the evening. The host acted accordingly, putting his hands up in the air for the guest to see.
“You were always so afraid Shin would get you,” he cocked the hammer. “Sorry old friend.”
Before the guest could do what he had come to do, the host had one last card up his sleeve.
With his hands still up in the air, he pointed with his left hand to his right one. After a few simple movements of the wrist, a small bright object suddenly appeared. It was triangular in shape, but the guest didn’t recognize it.
The host smiled at his guest. “Behind you.”
Slowly but surely, the guest turned his back around to face what had, apparently, formed directly behind him. Its dark form seemed to absorb the light around it while it growled like an animal, jerking frantically like it was in pain and not at all like the Fallen Captain it used to be.
He didn’t even get the chance to scream as the being roared out and swatted him aside like a housefly, knocking him over the guard rail and down to the floor below. No doubt he was out cold.
The host let out a “ whoa, ” as to be expected when watching a fully grown man get reduced to a ping pong ball. The humor only lasted for a moment however, because despite being the one to summon the beast, the host could not control it. It seemed that he was about to become its next victim as the Taken stepped towards him.
“Wh-whoa boy. Easy. Easy now.”
His attempt at diplomacy was in vain, as the Taken beast roared out to its captor and lunged an arm out to Take him as well. Right at the last possible moment, a light appeared behind it and seemingly sucked it into a hole, like water pouring down a drain.
Once it went quiet, the host cautiously faced back to where the Taken Captain had been ready to strike him down. However, what appeared before him was not what he was expecting. He rose up to his feet, stepping forward, just to make sure what he was seeing was truly real.
It was her. He stopped himself from saying the name that first came to mind— the woman before him was not the one he remembered. She slowly floated towards his frozen form.
Once again she spoke with unparted lips.
“Dredgen.”
“Nah, not anymore… It's Drifter now.”
Unphased by this update, the Emissary continued, “You have proven yourself worthy. The Nine propose an agreement.”
The Drifter’s eyes narrowed in confusion. “What kind of agreement?”
The Emissary remained stone-faced. “The Nine have come to find something in their system that simply cannot be. They wish for you to remove it. Immediately.”
Drifter gave his signature grin, the one the woman had used to love. “And what’s in it for me exactly?”
As if right on queue, the Derelict felt a tremor shake throughout its systems.
“Consider it what you call a ‘down payment’.”
Drifter didn’t know what the cause of the tremor was, but he knew it was big. He could only assume the payment would match the job.
“Okay… who’s the mark?”
The Emissary lifted her left hand and out flew four particles of light. When in position just ahead of The Drifter, they formed a glowing frame, inside which was an image of a woman. Unremarkable, though clearly a Guardian, probably a Titan considering those shoulder pads.
This Guardian was the last thing the Drifter was expecting to see. He was thinking more along the lines of a Vex time god or another offspring of Oryx.
But a random Guardian? Not even one of the Vanguard? What made her so special?— and in the eyes of the Nine no less. Why was eliminating this girl so high up on their secret agenda?
So many questions raced through Drifter’s mind, but he knew he would get no answers if he asked. They would simply take their ball and go home. He would have to find out on his own, one way or another
“Do we have an agreement, Drifter?”
He chuckled, hearing the Emissary of all people call him by his new moniker.
“Yeah sure… why not? It’s just another Guardian.”
She’s anything but just another Guardian. Keep cool, you’re gonna need it.
“We expect to hear from you soon.”
As quickly as she came, the Emissary disappeared without a trace.
“Yeah… I’ll do that…” Drifter finally turned his attention to where his guest had landed. The water mirror had disappeared without a trace, if it had ever been there to begin with. He hopped over the railing and landed in front of the mysterious figure. He was groaning, most likely from being knocked into unconsciousness.
Drifter walked forward, but bumped his foot on something. He looked down— it was the figure’s hand cannon. He snatched it from the ground, finding it to be in serviceable condition. He continued walking over to where the figure laid out on the floor, phasing in and out of wakefulness.
Drifter raised the gun for his guest to see. He did, his eyes widening.
“Memories man… take it this ain’t the original? Nah… could never figure out how Dredgen Yor did it all those years ago… could we?” Drifter cocked the hammer back, aiming it towards the figure.
“W-w-wait…”
Bang!
Drifter stared at the man’s body, watching his Ghost appear to revive him. Bad move. In just a heartbeat, the drone was clutched in Drifter’s palm. He stared down the little bundle of Light, tightening his grip.
“Might surprise you to know… this ain’t my first time crackin’ open a shell.”
The Ghost struggled in Drifter’s grasp, eyelight flashing in panic, yet…
Crack!
It was all in vain.
Drifter stood there for what felt like hours, unpleasant memories running through his head. He was the man who ran from both the living and the dead. Hunted by enemies and haunted by those he couldn’t help. As his mind sank deeper and deeper into the black matter weaving through his brain, Drifter looked at the Thorn. An Exotic hand cannon, used only by the ones he once called friends. No, comrades. Colleagues? Suckers? Idiots? It certainly felt like his life was one big cosmic joke.
Drifter forced himself to snap out of his trance. Now was not the time to reminisce. Now was the time for answers. He tucked the Thorn into his belt and quickly made his way to the Derelict ’s cockpit.
But like a bad rash, all those thoughts he was trying to push down kept resurfacing he sat down into the pilot’s seat and prepared the ship for take off.
Haven’t been to Earth in how long… wonder how the ol’ rock’s doin’. How everyone else is doin’.
He looked over to a picture that he had placed onto the pilot’s console. It showed him and an Awoken woman. They looked happy.
Drifter paused, grabbing the top of the picture with his thumb and index finger, flipping it over.
Long trip to Earth… don’t need no distractions… don’t need no… hope.
Once more he paused, before snapping out of it and setting a course for Earth. Still, despite his attempts, Drifter couldn’t help but ask the big question—
“Who exactly is this Guardian?”