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It was the dead of night in the Last City. The air in the Tower was still and quiet, missing the usual hubbub of life during the day. Helio watched Leviex-4 sleep, the gentle rise and fall of his chest (while nothing but a cooling mechanism) still reassuring sign of life . Leviex’s face rarely looked as peaceful as it did currently. These days, ever since Cayde’s death, he has been quieter, withdrawn, angry. And now this...this entire mess on Europa. The dark power that his Guardian now wields. The changes Helio had seen in his Guardian scared him, and after weeks of worry and deliberation, he decided to take action .
He slowly hovered upward and out of the room, careful not to wake the sleeping Exo. Once he cleared the door frame, he picked up speed, heading for the office of Commander Zavala. Helio’s shell twitched with anxiety, he hated going behind his Guardian's back like this. But he truly did not know what else to do.
The entrance to the office was open, soft light spilling into the corridor along with the gentle murmur of voices .
Helio slowed to a stop just outside, cautiously peeking in. Commander Zavala and Ikora stood at the desk, their discussion too quiet to be picked up by his audio sensors . It didn’t take long for Zavala to notice Helio’s arrival. He and straightened up, causing Ikora to look back to see what had captured his attention .
“Helio, is something wrong?” his deep voice rumbled in the night air as Helio floated further into the room, “and where is your Guardian?”
Helio twitched, looking away from Zavala’s face. “Commander, I wanted to talk to you. About Leviex”
Ikora took a step back and nodded. “I can come back later then”.
“No!” Helio exclaimed, before drawing his shell in closer, as that came out louder than he meant. “No, it's ok I...would like you to hear this too”.
Zavala and Ikora shared a concerned look at the Ghost’s obvious distress. “Of course,” she inclined her head, gesturing for Helio to come closer. “What’s wrong?
For a few seconds, Helio floundered for words.
“I’ve worried about him!” he blurted out. “He’s...changed.”
At this Zavala leaned forward, placing his hands on the desk.
“You believe it is the Darkness? That this new power is corrupting him?”
Helio shot up.
“No!” he hesitated before his shell drooped “at least, not entirely . It first started...well..” his voice lowered “when Cayde died."
Both Vanguard’s gazes lowered at the mention of Cayde-6. Cayde might have been a good friend to Leviex, but to them, he was family. His death caused a rift between them that had yet to fully heal. Privately , Helio didn’t think the tension between them helped his Guardian’s deteriorating mental state .
“I don’t think this new power has corrupted him as it did to Eramis,” Helio admitted, thinking back to the power-mad Eliksni .
“Eramis was filled with hate, her judgment clouded by her fury. It drove her to destroy instead of protect. Leviex just seems...very troubled.”
Helio looked down, not wanting to meet their eyes. After a few seconds of silence, he heard Zavala sigh. “Ikora and I shall discuss what you have told us.” Helio looked up in time to see Ikora smile sadly at him. “Thank you for telling us,” she murmured.
Helio backed out of the room, “I just ...couldn't see him go on like this.” Turning, he flew out of the room, hoping he had done the right thing.
“What?” Leviex rasped, shock rippling through the quiet Exo Hunter's circuits. He looked from Zavala’s grim face to Ikora standing next to him, looking sadder but no more yielding.
“I’m sorry Guardian, it won't be forever,” she attempted a smile. “We just feel that a break from the action may do you good.”
Leviex looked back towards Commander Zavala, trying and failing to keep the devastated confusion from showing on his face .
“Effective immediately you are banned from active service.” Zavala’s face could have been made of stone for all the emotion it showed.
“I’m sorry Guardian. It’s for your own good.”
Leviex clenched his jaw at the obvious dismissal, stiffly turning and exiting the office . He knew that he and Zavala had not been seeing eye to eye recently. After he disobeyed his wishes by hunting down Cayde’s murderers, it seemed that every conversation was laced with disapproval . The recent events on Europa had not helped the situation. He just didn’t think that Zavala and Ikora’s trust in him had been shattered so thoroughly .
And it felt like something in his chest had shattered along with it.
So caught up in his turmoil, Leviex did not notice the anxious fidgeting and silence of his Ghost until they were halfway across the Tower . Leviex slowed to a stop, Helio floating on for a few seconds before noticing and whirling around. The Guardian furrowed his brow-plates and tilted his head, silently questioning Helio’s behaviour . The Ghost looked away, continuing to fidget for a few seconds before-
“I’m sorry!”
The anguish in his Ghost’s voice startled Leviex, though it was quickly replaced by shock...and then anger.
“Last night I went to talk to the Vanguard, I...was worried about you Guardian, and I thought that they could help !”
At every word, Leviex felt the slow ball of anger expand, and the fragile, shattered thing in his chest somehow broke even more . He had noticed that his Ghost had not been speaking to him as often, that he was more withdrawn than usual. Leviex just presumed he needed some space to process Europa, and the new powers he gained there .
The fact that his first friend, his closest companion, had apparently lost so much faith in him that he conspired with his superiors behind his back snapped something inside .
“You what.” The deep baritone of his voice scraped out over metal vocal cords and Helio spun his shell and drifted a few inches closer .
“I was worried ! Ever since you started using this Stasis ability...I...you’re not the same person I-” Helio cut himself off, seemingly cringing at his own choice of words . “W-what I meant is-”
“ Enough ”
Leviex stared at Helio in undisguised rage and disbelief.
With words stuck attempting to claw up a throat closed with fury, he could do nothing but whip around and stalk off, surrendering to the emotion-driven need to get as far away as possible .
“Guardian, wait!”
“ Leave me! ”
Leviex did not stop to check if Helio had listened to his snarled command, too consumed by his spiraling emotions to even pay attention to the direction he was heading .
He eventually found himself in the Tower’s hanger, the huge space empty and quiet at this time of night. Upon seeing the familiar sleek sides of his jump ship, Leviex made a reckless decision.
Helio floated in the corridor where Leviex left him, battling emotions of his own. He pulled the sides of his shell close and sank lower in the air.
Despite his attempts, he could not shake the feeling that he made a terrible mistake. The Ghost tried to convince himself that Leviex just needed some space, that he had not completely ruined his relationship with the person he was closest with . His Guardian, the one whom he had spent centuries searching for. Together they had faced down countless terrifying foes, and even taken down Gods. Helio could not face a future without him. So, with a determined spin, he flew off in search of his Guardian.
He was halfway across the courtyard when familiar engines screamed overhead. Helio looked up in time to see the blue and silver shape of their jump ship streak upwards, the hull glowing hot as it exited the atmosphere .
A bolt of fear slammed into Helio, as painful as any physical wound. For precious moments he was frozen in place, the potentially fatal consequences of Leviex being alone, and in danger running through his processor . As the glow of the ship disappeared, the panicked Ghost snapped out of it, spinning and shooting off to find Zavala .
He blasted into Zavala’s office, rebounding off the door frame and spinning into the room.
The Commander’s head snapped up from his terminal with a concerned frown, “Helio, what-”
“He’s gone! I- I told him that I came to you behind his back, he was so angry, we fought and I just thought he needed space but then I saw the jump ship leaving the atmosphere and I-”
Zavala cut him off with a curse, a flash of genuine worry crossing his face as he rose from his desk. He strode towards the door, summoning his own Ghost and bringing up comms.
“Do you know where he’s going?” Zavala’s voice was sharp as he headed for Ikora.
“No he didn't say”, Helio gave another anxious spin, following Zavala down the corridor. “The last place we went was Europa, so perhaps...?”
“Go meet Holliday in the hangar, she will take you.” He commanded, without slowing down. “Ikora and I will contact Guardians out in the system, we shall see if they spot a sign.”
Breaking off, Leviex's Ghost sped towards the Hangar, praying to the Traveler that he would not be too late.
The ice of Europa glowed in the setting sun.
Beautiful, thought Elizabeth Bray, scanning the landscape with the scope of her rifle.
Shame it’s due to the radiation .
Finding it clear, she stood, wiping the build-up of ice off her metal face. The weather was turning as night fell, the telltale signs of a blizzard on the wind. Blizzards on Europa hit hard and fast, lowering visibility to barely a metre around you. Thankfully they did not tend to last long, though she still wanted to get back to camp before it hit.
The Drifter raised a hand in greeting as she trudged back into camp, relaxed back against a crate. He and Eris Morn were sat in their usual positions around the fire, the smell of food drifting in the air.
Her greeting was cut off by the rumble of engines, the polished sides of a jump ship swooping down to land on the expansive ice field that stretched out from the camp .
“Well, looks like our Guardian friend has returned.” She murmured.
Elizabeth thought it strange that the Guardian would bother landing. Usually he would transmat down and have his Ghost send the ship off, but she did not give it much thought as the familiar figure of the Hunter made its way towards them .
“Hey, if it isn’t my favourite Guardian!” The Drifter smirked, flipping a token between his fingers. “What brings you back down here?”
“Drifter” Leviex rumbled, nodding to the others in greeting. “I...it’s a long story.”
Elizabeth raised a brow-plate. It was rare to hear the Guardian speak, he usually left it up to his Ghost to do the talking.
The Drifter apparently picked up on it too.
“Hey...uh, where’s your little light?” He asked with narrowed eyes.
With a barely audible sigh, the Guardian all but collapsed by the fire, dropping his combat bow next to him. “He's back at the Tower”
“What!”
“Are you crazy!”
The combined outbursts of Eris and the Drifter echoed off the sheer ice cliffs as Leviex tiredly removed his helmet to reveal downcast optics .
Elizabeth herself was no less shocked, unable to think of a reason why a Guardian would not be with their Ghost, unless that Ghost was dead .
She lowered herself to sit beside him, the Guardian not making eye contact and staring into the fire.
“What happened?”
The silence stretched out so long Elizabeth honestly thought he was not going to respond. But eventually , the quiet rasp of his voice was heard .
“I have been banned from active service...and Helio was apparently behind it.”
Elizabeth leaned back in surprise, but Eris beat them all to the question on all their minds.
“Why?”
Leviex let a few more seconds pass before replying.
“He thinks I have...changed. That I have not been the same since Cayde, since…” trailing off he gestures vaguely at the looming, black pyramid on the horizon .
“I got angry. We fought. I left.”
The Drifter let out a low whistle. “Well damn.”
Eris shot him an imposing glare before softening the sharp downturn of her mouth to look back to Leviex.
Looking at the Guardian hunched by the fire, Elizabeth privately thought that his Ghost may have a point . She remembered him as a new guardian, blasting across the system to save the world for the first time. He’s quieter now, events weighing heavily on his mind.
Elizabeth slowly placed a hand on his shoulder, and Leviex sagging under her touch.
“Helio...he cares about you Guardian. His methods may not be...the best and I know you’re angry, but his heart is in the right place.”
After a moment the Guardian nodded. “I know.” he sighed, “and I’m not angry. Not any more. I’m just…”
He shakes his head before finishing his thought, Elizabeth's hand slipping from his shoulder as he stands up, grabbing his bow .
“Whoa where are you off to?” the Drifter exclaimed, raising his hands.
Swinging his weapon onto his back he grumbled out, “To shoot Vex. I need...some time.”
As the Guardian strode away into the gathering storm, Eris called after him. “Getting into a fight without your Ghost is not a good idea, Guardian.”
Though just before Leviex disappeared from view, he turned.
“If Commander Zalava or Ikora ask...I would appreciate it if you didn’t tell them I was here.”
And with that, The Guardian disappeared into the swirling snow, and Elizabeth quietly wondered if that was the last time she would see the tired Guardian .
The freezing gale almost swept Helio away as the transmat assembled him on the surface of Europa.
The static laced voice of Amanda Holliday sounded in his mind as the comms signal fought its way through the blizzard's interference .
“Call me when you want to be picked up.” Her worry was palpable through the static as the ship shot back into orbit. “I hope you find him down there.”
“So do I Amanda.”
Not wanting to waste time, Helio immediately began to struggle against the whipping winds towards the faint glow of the campfire .
“GUARDIAN?” he called into the howling snow, fighting against the raging storm around him and within.
“Damn is that the little light?”
“Drifter!”
With one last burst of speed, Helio broke into the bubble of warmth that protected the occupants and campfire from the elements . He found the trio by the fire, Elizabeth and the Drifter on their feet looking at him in...relief?
It took Helio a moment to connect the dots before he was also hit with the emotion.
“He’s here? Please tell me he’s here!” he pleaded, flying over to the group.
Elizabeth nodded, “yes he arrived not too long ago, just before the storm began, but-”
“I would hurry Ghost.”
Helio turned to look at Eris, sat by the fire, face unreadable as she stared at her Orb. “He went into the storm to fight Vex. A lot can be buried in these conditions.” She looked up, her voice dropped to a whisper.
“Find him.”
Helio needed no prompting, the fear that had abated back tenfold. He turned and plunged back into the biting storm, scanner flashing, trying to pick up any sign that would lead him to his Guardian .
It was 20 minutes until he found the first dead Vex. Then another. And another. They formed a trail, all punctured by Leviex’s arrows. At first they were just Goblins, but as he moved further up the steep hill he started seeing Harpy’s, then Minotaur's. Scorch marks and craters littered the snow, lit by the frantic flashes of Helio’s scanner. A pit of cold horror opened within him as the massive unmoving chassis of a Wyvern loomed out of the snow in front of him. Leviex had been killed by the deadly monsters before, and upon seeing it, Helio shot forward, racing for the top of the hill and calling for his Guardian .
A shadowed form became visible as the swirling snow began to subside. It took Helio a few seconds to recognise Leviex, sat at the very edge of the cliff with legs dangling over the long drop.
Helio slowed as Leviex looked up, regarding him with glowing blue eyes. The Ghost stopped roughly a metre from him, fidgeting for a moment. In the rush to find him, he almost forgot the reason his Guardian was out here in the first place.
“Guardian...I-”
“I’m sorry”
Helio twitched in surprise, not expecting to hear Leviex’s low voice.
“Guardian?”
“I’m sorry I was angry at you.”
The Guardians optics flicked up to meet Helio's gaze.
“I’m sorry that I hurt you by going after Stasis.”
“I’m sorry that I drove you away...enough that you felt like you couldn’t talk to me. That you felt like you had to go behind my back”
Helio knew that Exo’s weren’t able to cry, but judging by the shake that had entered his voice, he may be proven wrong.
“I’m sorry that you don’t even want to be near me”
He gave a sad, self-deprecating huff of laughter
“I’m sorry you got such a terrible Guardian.”
With a wounded noise Helio launched himself forward, colliding with the side of his Guardians neck in the closest thing he could manage to a hug .
“Leviex...I promise, I wouldn't wish for a different guardian. I'm just worried because I care...and please know that I'm here for you.
No matter what."
Leviex didn’t answer, simply tilting his head to gently rest on Helio’s shell. Together they looked out over the moonlit ice fields... and the looming black pyramid on the horizon.