If you missed the last chapter, you can find it [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/219477443/0/0]here[/url], or if you need to find a previous chapter, you can find them all in the [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/218618986?sort=0&page=0]Table of Contents[/url]. Please give a bump or leave a comment if you enjoy this and any other chapter! ***  Long ago, the Hive’s homeworld shattered as it collided with Fundament, forming new continents across its planet-wide ocean. The Hive then was a weaker species than what it was destined to become, and those that survived the catastrophe managed to scratch out a living among the rocks. But then the Traveler arrived, and everything changed. The Ammonites were chosen from one of Fundament’s moons to receive the Light of the Traveler, and the Hive was left abandoned. The Ammonites rose as the Hive subsisted until the day came that the Osmium King, the Hive’s ancient leader, became convinced that the Traveler’s presence and the Ammonites’ works had altered the course of Fundament’s moons. Fearing that they would change the tides of the planet and destroy their species, the King’s brood dove into the deep, pushed past the Traveler’s guardian Leviathan, and struck a bargain with the Worm Gods kept imprisoned in the darkest part of the sea below. [i]Give us the power to save ourselves, and we will serve you forever.[/i] The Worms exalted the Hive, and over the years, they pushed back the Ammonites, the Leviathan, and the Traveler itself. Fundament was theirs, but it wasn’t enough for their new lords. And thus the Hive reached out among the stars, spreading the Darkness as their masters commanded. I know all of this as I fall into the effervescent ocean of the Hive’s Ascendant Realm, falling beneath the waves before clawing my way back to the surface. I don’t know how I know, but the moment I crossed the barrier between our world and theirs, I knew. Looking around, I see the shifting, insubstantial nature of their spirit world, touching nothing and everything at once, and recognize the inspiration for their new reality. A howling, haunting songs drifts to me from across the ocean, and in the absence of anything else I swim toward it. The strange substance of the sea both pulls me down and keeps me afloat, like swimming through memories. [i]~ Consume Enhance Replicate ~ I don’t know[/i], I honestly answer, trying to keep my focus on reaching some sort of solid ground. [i]Whatever it is, it feels…. ~ Consume Enhance Replicate ~ Yes[/i], I agree, [i]like that.[/i] We keep moving forward, me swimming as SIVA tries to stretch out in this alien environment. For the first time, I feel a slight edge of panic coming from her as she finds she can’t grasp onto anything. [i]Maybe that’s a good thing[/i], I tell her. [i]~ Consume Enhance Replicate ~ Well, you wanted to come here.[/i] She goes silent, moping like a spoiled child as I focus on swimming faster. The sea goes on for what feels like forever, but even forever must end – before long, I finally approach the rocky, insubstantial shore and drag myself onto it. The eerie howls of the Hive continue around me, moving through me, filling me with… [i]Hope,[/i] I realize suddenly. [i]Their song is one of hope. A dark hope of conquest, but hope nonetheless. ~ Consume Enhance Replicate ~ Yes[/i], I agree quickly. [i]The Tower is wrong about the Hive, about all its enemies. But none of its Guardians question their crusade.[/i] I move forward, walking cautiously across the rocky beach, a blinding green-black mist hovering around me. The Hive’s song grows louder, and as the pitch changes I recognize a new part of the melody I’d never heard before, saying [i]* ….across the waves of time, we summon our strength Again and again, we fall to rise and fall again Gods of the elements, gods of time, gods of memory, We sing in honor of those who’ve fallen and wait to rise again… *[/i] “It’s beautiful…” I find myself saying, tears springing into my eyes. [i]Such a sorrowful determination, a will to power born from suffering. ~ Consume Enhance Replicate ~[/i] I nod in agreement, having just been thinking the same thing: [i]they speak of existence like the Guardians do. I wonder if the Speaker knows this, or if he cares.[/i] I push the thought away as I move forward – that life is far behind me now. Ahead, the song reaches its pitch as I come upon a great elliptical stone structure, wavering like a mirage. Around the center, four Deathsingers hover in meditation, their song rising and falling around a lone figure kneeling in the middle. He turns his head to greet us as I approach, looking at me strangely, wondering what I am as at the same time I realize with a thrill that he’s human. I look through his eyes to see myself once again: as a red demon. But he doesn’t look at me that way. His scarred face shows only curiosity. Confused but curious myself, I approach him as he rises, straightening his robes with dignity. He’s very old, made from the same insubstantial material as I, and seems completely at peace in the midst of the Deathsingers. * [i]Hello[/i], * he says, voice calm. [i]He’s speaking their language[/i], I realize as I hear him. [i]How? Does everyone only use Hivespeak here? * Hello,[/i] * I respond, not wanting to be rude. * [i]Who are you? * * I am me,[/i] * he answers cryptically. * [i]Who are you? * * My name is Djido,[/i] * I reply. * [i]What’s your name? * * Toland,[/i] * he answers, and my heart skips a beat. [i]Toland? The Shattered?[/i] Remembering Eris’ stories, I study the old Guardian cautiously – he looks as she described, but she said he was lost to the Darkness in the Temple of Crota, lost during her disastrous campaign against the Hive. [i]How is he here then? Do the Hive take all their victims here?[/i] Remembering my own resurrection, I realize they don’t, and the question plagues me again. * [i]How…how are you here?[/i] * I finally ask. * [i]How are you here?[/i] * he responds. I get the feeling he’s going to do this a lot. * [i]I came from the Moon,[/i] * I answer, and that finally gets a reaction. Toland’s eye twitches slightly, the word bringing back memories, but he pushes them aside. * [i]So you are Ascendant. How did you accomplish this?[/i] * I can feel his curiosity rising, see a twinkle in his eye at the prospect of learning about me. [i]He’s just as Eris described. An eternal scholar. * I don’t know, I…just passed through. But it’s likely because a Golden Age piece of tech called SIVA. Have you heard of it? * ~ Consume Enhance Replicate ~[/i] Toland thinks as the Deathsingers continue to sing, as SIVA tries to speak to him – she moodily falls silent as she finds he can’t hear her, nor can she reach him. * [i]I can’t recall. Perhaps, before I came here. * * How did you come here?[/i] * He considers my question again, hesitating. * [i]I befriended the Hive,[/i] * he finally answers. * [i]So that when my body was destroyed my mind came back here with them to learn.[/i] * I look up at the Deathsingers, the memory of my horror and hatred of them in my mind, but no feeling behind it. Like this world itself, I’ve become detached. Toland sees me looking at the Deathsingers. * [i]Ir Halak,[/i] * he begins, introducing them to me as they continue their song, ignoring us. * [i]Ir Anûk, Ir Yût and Ir Mal.[/i] * * [i]I know these Deathsingers,[/i] * I reply in both fear and awe. * [i]Those two killed me, and I led a team to kill Ir Yût back when I was a Guardian. * * Yet here we all are,[/i] * Toland answers calmly. * [i]Death is merely a different state of being, and life is merely learning how to die. * * So they resurrect themselves… * * When necessary.[/i] * I turn my attention back to Toland. * [i]There are so many things I could ask you… * * And so few I can answer.[/i] * I think of something simple to elicit a straight answer from him. I point to the Deathsingers. * [i]Do you know what they’re doing? * * Oh, not even I fully understand what they’re doing. You’d have to ask them – but I wouldn’t interrupt. They don’t like to be interrupted.[/i] * I watch the Deathsingers calmly, simply curious about the purpose of their song. I listen, and through the haunting melody, a name is spoken, reverently, lovingly… * [i]Oryx?[/i]* Toland smiles. * [i]He waits, Guardian. He waits and builds his strength… * * For what?[/i] * Toland looks conflicted as he answers, caught between the giddy excitement he feels for the Hive’s machinations and the existential terror of what those plans mean for our realm. * [i]To take.[/i] * I don’t understand, but I’m not sure I want to. I’m not even supposed to be here, if it wasn’t for SIVA – * [i]I don’t understand,[/i] * I tell Toland, *[i]I just came here by accident. I was trying to find a way to save my friend, and…[/i] * As I unconsciously start to back away slowly, the Deathsingers stop singing. All four turn to look at me in unison, silently judging. I can hear their thoughts: * [i]Stay.[/i] * * [i]I’m afraid you can’t leave,[/i] * Toland says dispassionately. * [i]They won’t allow you to return to your realm once you’ve stepped into theirs. Accident or not.[/i] * The Deathsingers hover toward me, claws stretching out – * [i]Trust me,[/i] * Toland continues. * [i]I know.[/i] * I back away further, the Deathsingers following – I wish no violence against them, I just learned to understand them – my foot slips into the waves as I realize I’ve back up to the edge of the rocky shore, the ocean hidden in the mists that surround us. I look back into the faces of the Deathsingers, the memory of my death forcibly returning to my mind. I look into the face of my killers, and see only Darkness gazing back at me, welcoming me as one of its own. [i]~ Consume Enhance Replicate ~ I’m not planning on finding out,[/i] I snap back.