Alright, everybody, here's Part 28 of Into the Hellmouth! Here's [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/207409231?sort=0&page=0]Part 27[/url] if you missed it! And also, with this part, the story has hit 30,000 words. Thank you all so much for your kind words in the comments, it really does mean a lot to me, and is the main reason that I keep on posting these chapters. As usual, if you like this one, give it a bump, and I'll have the next part out soon! Stay classy, Guardians! She wasn’t dead. Of that much, Sai was certain. She looked around. She appeared to be somewhere on the moon. Earth was a blue dot in the sky. “Ghost?” she said, “where exactly are we?” No response. “Ghost?” she said, looking around. Her ghost was nowhere to be found. She was completely alone. “Sai?” came a voice. Sai’s eyes widened. No, she thought, That’s not possible. She turned around, and saw a woman with luminous green eyes staring at her. Despite her smooth, white hair, her face seemed young. No more than thirty. “Sylvia,” she breathed. The guardian smiled. Her hair floated in the low gravity. And that was when Sai realized something. Sylvia wasn’t wearing a helmet. Come to think of it, she wasn’t wearing one either! “Is this a dream?” she asked, her voice trembling. Sylvia smiled. “Something like that,” she said. She placed a hand on Sai’s shoulder. “And yet it’s also something different.” Sai looked around the surface once more. “Where’s my ghost?” she asked. Sylvia dismissively waved a hand, snorting. “The Ghosts cannot reach us, Sai,” she said, “this is not their realm.” “Then whose realm is it?” she asked. Sylvia turned around, and looked out at the horizon. “A place for neither the living nor the dead,” she said. “A place where we can both be, because it is a place where neither of us belong.” Sai began breathing heavily. “Then - then how am I here?” she asked. “Because it is where you are,” Sylvia replied cryptically, still facing away from Sai. Sai frowned. “Then why are you here?” she asked. Sylvia froze for a moment, and then turned around. Her face was blank. “We are here,” she said, “because we have been sent to tell you something.” Sai frowned. “Wait,” she said. “Who’s we? Who -“ her voice dropped off as she looked around. Oh no, she thought. They’re here. They’re all here! There they were, surrounding her. Every Guardian that had died on Luna’s surface. All of them. Sai backed up, looking for an escape route. But there was none. And they were coming closer, and closer, and closer, and closer! She looked towards Sylvia, utterly terrified. “I’m sorry!” she said. Tears were streaking down her cheeks. “I’m sorry! I’m so sorry that I couldn’t save you!” Her voice was broken by sobs. “I’m so sorry!” “That’s not why we’re here, Sai,” Sylvia said. She placed a hand on Sai’s shoulder. “We’re here because you need to let us go.” Sai blinked. “What?” she said. Sylvia looked her in the eyes. “We’re dragging you down, Sai,” she said. “Let us go.” Sai looked at the Guardians around her. At their blank faces. Human, exo, awoken, hunter, warlock, and titan. “Let us go,” they all said, murmuring disjointedly, “let us go.” Sai looked back at Sylvia. She blinked. She opened her mouth to speak. And then, the ground began to tremble beneath them. Sai fell to the ground, and looked up. In front of her, the ground was crumbling away, into the giant crater that they’d discovered while doing recon on Luna’s surface. The one that seemed to have no bottom, seemingly filled with green mist. The Guardians turned towards it, and began walking into it, one by one, falling into the Hellmouth. Sylvia herself turned around, and began walking towards the crater. “No,” Sai shouted. “No!” She ran up to Sylvia, grabbing her hand just as she toppled into the crater, pulling Sai with her. Sai grabbed the edge of the crater. Her body strained with the exertion - and it seemed as though Sylvia was only growing heavier. She looked down at her friend, panicking. “I’ll save you!” she shouted. “No, you won’t,” Sylvia said calmly. “Sai. You have. To let. Me go.” Sai shook her head. “No,” she said, “No!” “Let me go, Sai,” Sylvia said calmly. Sai squeezed her eyes shut. “No,” she whispered. “No.” “Sai,” Sylvia said. “Look at me.” Sai refused. “Look at me, Sai.” Slowly, Sai opened her eyes, and looked down at Sylvia. Her face was calm. “Sai,” Sylvia said, “let me go.” Slowly, Sai nodded. She loosened her grip on Sylvia’s hand, and then the warlock slipped from her grasp, plummeting into the Hellmouth. “NO!” Sai screamed, but it was too late. She could only watch as Sylvia fell, her face calm, her hair whirling around her head. Until finally, the mist took her, and she was no more. Sai blinked. After a moment, she grabbed the edge of the crater with her other hand, and pulled herself up out of the crater. She looked around. And then, she fell to her knees, and began to sob. Eventually, she stood up, and looked back at the Hellmouth. “Why?” she asked. “Why did you leave me?” Then, she thought about Sylvia’s words. Let us go. We’re weighing you down. Let us go. A calm descended over her as her tears dried on her cheeks. She walked over to the Hellmouth, and looked down into the green mist. “Goodbye,” she said. She grabbed a lock of her hair, and cut it off with her knife. Then, she tossed it into the pit. She watched the strand fall. No matter what, a part of her would be in that pit. Gone, and lost forever. Just like her companions. She closed her eyes, and took in a deep breath. . . Sai breathed deeply, coming too inside her helmet. “She’s awake! Her ghost said. Vell stopped running, and carefully put Sai down. The Guardians gathered around her. “Sai,” Eris said, “are you okay?” Slowly, Sai nodded. “Yeah,” she said, “I’m fine.” Her ghost popped up. “Here,” he said, “let me get your telemetry working for you.” Sai shook her head. “No, it’s alright,” she said, “I can see.” The gravity of what she’d just said took hold of her. “I can see,” she whispered. The Guardians froze. Toland leaned forward. “Sai?” he asked. “What happened to you?” Sai looked up at the ceiling, pondering her vision. “I don’t know,” she said. No one quite knew what say after that. The Guardians were engulfed by silence. Vell cleared his throat. “Well,” he said, “I think that we should get moving.” “I agree,” said Eriana, “let’s get out of here.” Omar frowned. “What about Crota’s soul?” he asked. Toland shook his head. “The Hive have spent the past several centuries hollowing out Luna,” he said, “there are thousands of miles of tunnels. We’d never find Crota’s soul.” Vell nodded. “In that case, we should get out of here,” he said. Omar inspected the walls around them. “I might know how to do that,” he said. “Ghost? Are you thinking what I’m thinking?” “I’m scanning the walls now,” his ghost said, casting a blue light on the walls of the Hive fortress. Omar nodded. He turned to the Guardians. “Your grenades,” he said, “give them to me.” The Guardians obliged, handing over several grenades to the young hunter. Omar looked over at the wall. “Ghost?” he said. “Found a place?” “Right here,” the Ghost said, highlighting an area on the wall. Omar nodded, and began placing the grenades against a nearby support beam. “Omar,” his ghost said, “my analysis says that these containers are explosive. The ghost highlighted a set of three black containers with glowing orange stripes. Omar nodded, and leaned them against the wall. Then, he took out his rocket launcher, and popped out the shell. He put it with the rest of the grenades. “This is for good measure,” he said. Then, after inspecting his handiwork, he nodded, and stepped back. “We should get back.” The Guardians nodded, and ran off, taking cover behind a nearby wall. Omar grabbed his incendiary grenade, and pulled the pin. Then, he dropped it, and ran. He dove behind cover just as the grenade exploded, taking the rest of the ordinance with it. When he looked up, there was a massive hole in the side of he Hive fortress, leading to the Luna’s surface. Omar smiled. “Let’s go,” he said. The Guardians walked out onto the moon’s surface, and summoned their sparrows. All of them, that is, save Sai. “Sai?” Omar said. “Come on!” Sai looked out at the Hellmouth. All she could think of was Sylvai’s words; We’re dragging you down. Let us go. The memory of her teammates had been pulling her down into that pit - pulling her down so fast, they’d come back from the dead to tell her. Now that she knew the truth, how could she head down into the pit? “Hey -“ she began. Then, she stopped herself. “What is it?” Eriana asked. Sai took a deep breath. At least now, she wasn’t being dragged down there by the weight of her emotions. She was going in willingly, and with a clear mind, so that no one would suffer through what she had. She would end Crota. Once in for all. “Nothing,” she said, “let’s go.” And with that, she summoned her sparrow, and sped off around the pit, as Toland took the lead. Edit: [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/207800409]Part 29[/url]