Hello, everybody, here's part 56 of Into the Hellmouth! Sorry if this one's a little short, but it was bumping up against the character limit, so I had to go ahead and cut out the next scene. Sorry about that, but you'll see it soon anyways. In any case, here's [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/213517569?showBanned=0&path=0]part 55[/url] if you missed it, or, if you're looking for a different part, here's the [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/209303839?showBanned=0&path=0]master post[/url]! Stay classy, Guardians! An hour later, Eris stumbled down a rocky hallway, struggling for breath. She took several stumbling steps forward before bracing herself against the wall. She heaved several times, and regurgitated what was left of her last meal onto the cave wall. Then, she backed into the other side of the cave, and slid down. For a few moments, she simply stared at the opposite side of the cavern, and caught her breath. Then, she slowed down, and simply stared. Dead. Omar was - No. He was still alive - when she’d left him he’d been still alive - Still alive still alive still alive still alive - Eris hoped he was dead - wished he was dead. Because she couldn’t bear the thought of him screaming - still screaming, all alone in the dark. All alone. Alone. “I’m going to die down here,” Eris said. I’m going to die down here. Simply saying the words aloud made the concept somehow seem more bearable. It was almost comforting, in a way. She would die alone in the caves of the Hive, and she would never again have to watch a friend die, and be able to do nothing about it. No. She didn’t want to do that ever again. Eris reached down to her belt, and, with her trembling hands, pulled out a knife. She held it up to her face. She would not die like Omar had, or like how Omar was dying. No. She wouldn’t give them the satisfaction. She yanked off the ribbons of armor that still clung to her wrists. She would die her final death on her own terms. She pressed the knife up agains the bare, pale skin. Not like Omar. Not like Omar. Not like Omar. Eris paused. If she died now - alone, in these tunnels - no one would ever know how Omar had died. They wouldn’t know how Vell had sacrificed himself so that they might finally take their vengeance. No. They would simply fade away into time. Their killers would go unpunished, and would one day assault the Tower once more. And then more Guardians would come, with no clue as to what they faced. Eris put the knife back in her belt. Fumbling, she reached into her pocket, and pulled out Toland’s journal. The little device came to life, and she spoke into it. “Record this,” she said. She closed her eyes, and took a deep breath as she prepared to recount the horrors that she’d witnessed. “The Heart of Crota.” “It is her blood that feeds their fury.” “I thought Omar dead until I heard his screams. I followed them down, to the darkest night of the caverns below. What I saw —” her voice caught, “—I witnessed all we fear—the villainy of the Hive on full display.” Eris shook her head, and took a deep breath. She remembered the sea of cocoons of the unborn Hive - the spawn writhing within them as the Heart nurtured them with Omar’s life. “Among a sea of cocoons, and surrounded by thousands more freshly spawned hordes, the Heart held Omar’s broken body in a vice of bone and pain. She was peeling the Light from his body. How? I can’t imagine, and I have tried. Tendrils of luminance tore away like flesh.” Eris squeezed her eyes shut, as though it would somehow drive the image of poor Omar from her memory. But she couldn’t. She could picture every crevice in his contorted face in horrifying detail. “With every strand Omar’s scream cut the dark and was met with a chittering chorus from the unborn. I can’t say if they were feeding off the Light itself, or the pain, but my guess is both—somehow, both.” She’d watched as the unborn had writhed in their slimy cocoons, with the ones closest to the broken Guardian cutting their cocoons open with their claws, screeching as they came into the world, Omar’s emaciated body before them. Eris shook her head. “The Heart, though I can’t believe she actually has one, seemed to be conducting some nightmare orchestra, nurturing Crota’s children, with the echoes of Agah’s Light.” She took in a deep, shuddering breath. “The Hive must end for all they had done, and some day, by my hand or another’s, the Heart will meet with an end fitting of the pain she, herself, has dealt.” This I swear. Eris stopped the recording, and stood up. Her new task had given her fresh strength. The same thing that had dragged her down into the pit would be the thing that pulled her out of it. Vengeance. Edit: [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/214236236]Part 57: [/url]