Destiny: Volume 1 (Completed)

Chapter Twelve

"Venus has been reclaimed by the jungle. Dragonflies flit through tuned academies and abandoned dig sites. Volcanoes smolder. Here and there a line of light marks where ancient Vex spires, thought long-dead, have once more been energized..." (Grimoire: Venus)

          I slept throughout most of the trip to Venus. Dreaming about endless possibilities of what could come about me and my Ghost. I saw the school once more in its former glory when I attended there. At least I think so. "Parrish. Wake up. We're almost there." Alex said. I rubbed my eyes and stretched in my ship. I looked out of the window and soon saw Venus up close. It was stunning. Amazing to look at. "Woah...it's amazing. Let's hurry and land!" I said. Alex drove the ship and soon we broke atomosphere and flew across the surface. "Our new friend must have access to extraordinary methods to have reached out to us like that. The radio message she sent came from the jungles of Venus." Alex said. I looked around at all the plantlife and animals that flew through the sky. "The life of this planet is incredible. I'm surprised that it doesn't have a regular atomosphere so I can take my helmet off." I said. We eventually landed and the ship vanished. I was boots  on the ground on a planet that seemed too familiar to me. I looked all around me. "This place...I know it. I have to have known this place before." I said.
          "You must be recovering memories from your past. We should get moving. There should be an outpost nearby. I hate not knowing about my surroundings." Alex said. I gathered myself and we began to walk throughout the hills of Venus. I could hear rushing water and the wildlife. Dragonflies buzzed all around me and soon Alex and I arrived at what seemed to be buildings and cars littered across an overgrown road. "What the...cars? Buildings?" I questioned. "This colony was built by the Ishtar Collective. Records say that they studied ruins older that humanity itself...we thought it all was lost during the Collapse." Alex said. I walked through all the cars and soon images of what the roads used to look like appeared in my head. The streets full of people going to and fro. Students riding bikes. People sitting and mingling as the buildings stood tall. Then I heard gunfire. I snapped out of my trance and saw Fallen. "Aw space Christ, they're here too?" I said as I pulled out my scout rifle. The Fallen scattered about but I knew how to fight these things. Aim for the head. I started returning fire and taking them out one by one. "That was easy." I said. I put my gun away and we made our way forward. On the opposite side of the hills and pathways, we saw a broken and separated area. Gaps and voids in between structures and platforms that didn't seem safe to cross. Buildings like the ones I saw earlier lie dormant in the distance; surrounded by water and what seemed like volcano openings. "Woah...is this what's left of the Ishtar Region?" I asked. Alex appeared and lead us to an outpost. "What's left of it? There's more to the region that you think. What you're seeing is--"
          "The Academy..."
          "Yes...wait, how did you know what?"
          "I remember something...I used to stay here. I remember this place." I said. Alex scanned the console and got a full map of the Ishtar Region. "Alright. I got a map of the areas that we can explore without any trouble. It's a lot. Let's get moving to where this signal is." Alex said. I walked towards what seemed to be the steps to the academy. Almost being drawn to it. I walked down the chasm that was in the floor to reveal a parking garage. I can remember the students who went there. All their faces from across the galaxy. It was amazing. I hurried forward to another opening which brought me to a library. "Parrish, we're getting ahead of ourselves. We need to stay focused. The signal is still fractured." Alex said. I walked to the center of the room and there was a glowing beam of light in the center of the room. Something very impressive to say the least too as the light was almost like technology. It was moving. I reached out to touch it. Once I made contact with my hand, I was teleported. Not to a different location but a different time period. I saw all the people there. People from different planets. I walked around and saw the different books and various study materials. I walked around and soon I saw...myself. Walking next to a girl. We both had small little necklaces with black pieces on them with a green light flickering on and off periodically.
          "That allowed us to breath...Mara..." I said to myself. I saw us laughing and enjoying ourselves. It made me smile and soon I felt the ground shake under us. "The Collapse...the Fallen!" I said. Right as I turned around the wall exploded and in came blasts from a Fallen Ketch. Vandals and Captains came pouring in. The impact from the explosion sent me flying and it shattered my helmet. I couldn't breath. I tried to reach for my weapons to fight back but they were nowhere to be found. I fell to the ground and watched as everything happened before my eyes. I heard another explosion that was set off and soon I was covered by rubble falling from the ceiling. I cried out but that only made things worse for me. I saw my past self and Mara close by. I tried to reach out to her. I could hear us talking. "Parrish....I-I'm scared..." She said to me. I held her close. "Don't worry. I'll protect you." I said to her. She looked up at my past self. "Promise...?"
          My vision began to fade. My chest hurt as the skin on my face turned purple. "I....pro....mise...." I said. I passed out. Nothing but an empty void filled my mind. I discovered my past. An important part at least. I could feel myself fading away but soon I began to wake up from my trance. I opened my eyes and then shot upright as I took a gasp of air but I was soon interrupted by looking to see a gun pointed to my head. "You've got three seconds before you lose your head." The voice said. It was slightly robotic. Actually, it was robotic. An Exo. I backed away quickly to notice that my helmet was off but yet I could breath. So many things in my mind were going off at the same time like a huge alarm. I took a breath in and calmed myself and exhaled as I stood up straight. "No need to fire. I'm a Guardian from earth." I said. The Exo lowered his gun and took off its hood. It appreared male in structure. "I just so happened to have found you near the Ishtar Academy. Your ghost was trying to communicate to anyone for help and I discovered your signal from there. You appeared hostile since you have that Warlock bond." He said. I looked at my left arm to see the symbol of the House of Devils.
          "O-oh! Sorry I got this from when I destroyed Sepiks Prime a few days ago." I said. "Wait...YOU took out Sepiks?" He asked a bit shocked and surprised. I laugh nervously and scratch my head. "Yep. That's me. My name is Parrish." I said to him. "Well then. Nice to meet you. I'm Oxalyde but you can call me Ox for short. Any Guardian from the Tower is a friend of mine in my book." Ox said. I smiled and shook his hand and asked the obvious question. "How am I able to breath? I thought Venus didn't have the same atmospheric make-up like Earth." I said to him. He pointed to a small device in his little hut. It was pumping oxygen into the air around us. "I pulled it out for you. I took off your helmet and made sure you were still breathing under there. It's like your entire system was shut down when I found you." Ox said. I grabbed my helmet and sat it next to me. Alex soon floated into the hut. "Parrish. You're awake!" He said happily. I smiled and brush my hand across the top of his shell. "Missed you too Alex." I said. "Did...you just pet me?" He questioned. I laughed and so did Ox. I began to remember everything that had happened. It all came back to me. Clear as day.
          "Alex, I figured out who I am! I was here during the Collapse. I was here! I used to have a loved one. Mara. We both went to school here." I said. "Woah woah woah. Slow down Parrish. What are you--"
          "I have to go back to the Academy." I said as I got up from my seat and grabbed my gear. As I stepped outside and put on my helmet and summoned my sparrow, Ox came out. "I'll go with you. I need something to do anyways, I know this place like the back of my hand." He said. I smiled to myself even though he couldn't see it and we both drove off back to the Academy. "How long have you been on Venus?" I asked him. "I've been here a few months. I've been searching for something big and Vex related." Ox said. "Vex...? Where do I know that name." I said. "The Vex are native to this place in some areas. I need info to search the Vault of Glass." He said.
          "The Vault of Glass?"
          "Yeah. It's a giant vault with Vex technology. Some say it's outside our own timeline."
          "Then how do you plan on finding it?" I asked. We pulled up to the Academy entrance where I first went inside with Alex. "That's what I'm here to find out." Ox said. We got off of our sparrows and walked inside again. The beam of light was still in the center of the library. "I'll be the one to mess with it this time." Alex said. He floated over to the light and scanned it. "I touched it and was taken back in time. I saw myself here with a bunch of others before the Collapse happened. Fallen attacked this place during an ambush." I said. "You were pulled through time. That's something that the Vex can do." Ox said. "Alex, found anything yet?" I asked. "This all is facinating. It's a conflux of non-baryonic streams of Vex energy going...where?" Alex said. I looked around and soon a cloud of electrical static and smoke appeared in front of us. "No, no, no, no, no! It's the Vex! Better find some cover!" Alex said. Soon robotic structures teleported inside. Huge in numbers. I floated above them and channeled some void energy to throw but instead I threw a solar grenade. My powers were acting up again which caused me to take a few hits from their guns as I floated there like a sitting duck. I fell to the ground and Ox pulled me to safety.
          "Damnit...why now?" I said as Alex healed my wounds and gave me some more energy. "Welcome to Venus. Where everything from the Fallen and he Vex are here to mess you up." Ox said. I sighed and the battle began.