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Chapter 2: Answers

Nix wiped his brow with his gloved hand as he and the Ghost finally reached the outskirts of the ruined city. The sun in the sky was just beginning to set upon the horizon, casting the tall and run-down buildings in a golden orange glow with shadows that seemed to stretch on forever. Nix let his glowing blue eyes scan over the ruined buildings as he and the Ghost began to make their way down one of the main streets which seemed to run through the city. It all felt a little surreal to him. He may not have had any memory of this place, but he did know that city's were meant to be busy places full of people. His gaze was drawn to his right as a small piece of a nearby skyscraper's stone exterior suddenly hit the ground and turned to dust, having fallen from far above the two of them. Ahead of them, Nix saw the rusted out remains of several vehicles, most of them still containing the remains of their occupants, scattered across the roadway.

"What happened here...?" Nix asked softly, his jaw going slightly slack as he took in the ruined city around him.

"The collapse happened." the Ghost replied just as softly.

"The collapse?" Nix repeated questioningly.

"Yes. When the Traveler came to humanity, it shared with them all the knowledge it had. Technology improved by leaps and bounds, human lifespan tripled, and it was a time of true, lasting peace. This was your kind's Golden Age." the Ghost explained, hovering out from behind Nix and over to one of the ruined cars in front of them, its glowing blue eye examining the skeletal remains within. "But there was something that humans didn't know... That the traveler had a terrible enemy. The Darkness."

"And because the Traveler was here, the darkness came?" Nix asked, coming up behind the Ghost while it continued to hover near the vehicle.

The Ghost turned at Nix's question, blue eye focusing upon him for a moment before he replied. "Yes, the darkness came. Humanity wasn't ready, and despite their best efforts their colonies on other worlds were consumed by the darkness one by one. This was the collapse, a near-extinction level event."

"So what happened? How are we here now?" Nix asked.

"I'm afraid my knowledge of what exactly happened is limited. You see, the Golden Age and the Collapse both occurred before Ghosts like myself even existed. What I do know from what records I have found is that the Traveler stopped running. This time it stayed and fought back against the darkness. It took everything the Traveler had to push the darkness out of the solar system, but it managed to do it. This was not without terrible cost, however. The traveler was badly damaged during the battle and with its dying breath it sent out the Ghosts, tiny remnants of its own light to seek out the 'Chosen', those who could use the light of the Traveler." Ghost explained, its single blue eye turning back to the skeletal remains in the car once more and looking them over. "All ghosts are born knowing exactly the person they are meant to find, just not where they will find them. When I found you today I had already been searching for countless years...so many I had lost count."

Nix was silent for a long moment after the Ghost's explanation of the Collapse and how the ghosts were born, those glowing blue eyes of his focused upon the Ghost while it looked over the skeletal remains in the car. "So... The Guardians are the 'Chosen' that can use the Traveler's light. But..." Nix would trail off before gesturing around to the ruined city that surrounded them. "What are we 'Guardians' of? I've yet to see a single sign of life aside from that Fallen back where you found me."

At his question the Ghost's gaze returned to him and hovered a bit closer to his face. "Why, humanity of course. The collapse was near extinction level, but not quite. The remnants of humanity still remain out in the world, seeking to rebuild the world that was taken from them by the Darkness."

Nix nodded. "Alright, so what about that Fallen then? Just what exactly are they and why are they here?"

"The fallen were like humanity once..." the Ghost began. "Not in a physical sense of course, but because they too were visited by the Traveler. The data I've managed to gather about them is very scarce, but from what I can tell when the Darkness visited the Fallen, the Traveler abandoned them."

"So why did it stay and fight when the Darkness came here?" Nix asked.

"I'm afraid I don't know the answer to that question. The best I can surmise is that the Traveler saw something in humanity that it didn't in the Fallen, something it deemed worth fighting for. Eventually, the Fallen tracked the Traveler here to Earth and they have been at war with the remnants of Humanity ever since. They want it back." the Ghost said, turning to gaze around at the ruined building around them once more as the cry of a Fallen echoed somewhere in the distance of the city.

Nix's eyes strained as he tried to see if whatever had made the cry was close enough to be a threat, though after a few moments he determined that he couldn't see any Fallen, at least for now. "...That didn't quite sound like a happy cry, did it?" Nix asked, still looking towards the direction the cry had come from.

"No, no it didn't. My guess is that something is going on up ahead that the Fallen are a bit upset about." Ghost replied.

Nix's eyes narrowed after a moment, determination flaring up in his gaze before he walked past the Ghost and began heading towards where the cry had come from. The Ghost on the other hand watched as he made his way past it and then immediately hovered up next to his ear, seeming to protest.

"Hey! Aren't you forgetting you don't even have a weapon? The last thing we need to be doing is picking a fight with the Fallen right now!"

Nix looked over at the Ghost from the corner of his eye and smirked. "Well, I'm a Guardian right? Gifted with the Traveler's light?"

"Yes, but you haven't even the first clue about how to use it yet!" Ghost replied, worry evident in its voice.

"Doesn't matter..." Nix replied with a soft shake of his head. "Ever since you found me earlier today I've been wondering why I'm here, what my purpose is. But for the first time today I finally know what I need to do. Whatever is going on up there the Fallen don't like it, and if the Fallen don't like it that might mean there are Humans here in the city. If there are survivors here then that means I have to protect them. That is my purpose as a Guardian!"

Ghost stopped hovering beside him for a moment and watched him as he continued towards the disturbance ahead. "I hope this crazy idea doesn't set the tone for the rest of our relationship..." the Ghost muttered to itself before catching back up with Nix and transmatting itself into one of the storage compartments on his space suit.

Nix's glowing blue eyes burned with a fire in them as he continued forward. The unseen force that seemed to be guiding him towards the sounds of the Fallen cries would see him through, he just knew it somehow.

"Hold on up there... Help is on the way!"

-To Be Continued-