The final piece to the most complex puzzle Bree had ever endured, and here she was, standing in the pale light that trickled down through the broken stone, with the last key in her palm. Her hand dug into her equipment until she came out with the other five keys from each of the stages. As if she was seeing them for the first time, her eyes just gazed at them in wonder. Was this real? After all of the fighting, the bullets, the blazing infernos, all of the horrors, the Hell she trampled through, but it was all over now; the feeling was surreal. Bree, without really knowing why, started walking towards the back of the cave that nearly became her crypt. Her boots scuffed softly against the stones until she came to a charred rock spire that came up to her chest. Resting peacefully atop the rock, was a gold polished device, it looked to be metal, but it was definitely something Bree had never seen before. It sat motionless in the air, nothing to support it or hold it up, it was queer in its shape for it was circular with six holes punched in it. A large brightly lit blue gem was wedged in the center, Bree’s eyes looked at all of the holes as she slowly circled the golden plate. It wasn’t until she stepped up onto the little platform and approached the strange mechanism that she realized that all six of the keys had a small stone melted into them, and they matched the main gem perfectly. Her HUD analyzed the holes, scanned the size of the keys, and immediately came back with a diagram of how each key slid into the slots. “You cannot put in one key, without the other being in first. The first key goes in, then, you slightly rotate the plate counterclockwise to lock it in, in doing so, the slot for the second key will open, insert the key and so on and so forth,” Flower said. The virtual keys on Bree’s HUD spun and rotated, one by one, they went into the designated slots until all six were in, but nothing happened after that. “Well? Are you going to do this or not?” “Yeah...it’s just...Brayden died for this, he should be here opening up this vault, not me, this is what he wanted more than anything.” Her eyes looked at the plate, it sat motionless, she could almost hear it speaking to her telling her to open it and see what secrets await inside. “Bree, your brother loved you, he gave his life for you, it’s up to you to finish this,” Flower said, “for the both of you.” “Did you know, Flower, that, Brayden, wasn’t my brother?” Bree inserted the first key into the yawning slot, her hand rock steady as she gently turned it counterclockwise until it clicked into place. “He just happened to be revived at the same time, same place as I was, captured and taken, brainwashed and tortured…” Her words rolled off of her tongue softly as the teeth of the second key bit into the device, turning and locking it her hand slid the third key. “For the longest time, I wouldn’t believe it. All anyone would ever talk about was how great the Guardians of the Tower were, how whenever they were in need they would be there to help them. Fighting against a power so evil and corrupt seemed like the opportunity of a lifetime. I was able to be apart of something that was bigger than anything I ever would have accomplished without them…” Her thought trailed off as the final key fell into place. One final turn, and suddenly, a sparkling light shot up from the base of the spire. The rays ran through the gem in the center and it splintered the beams into six long fingers of light that drove through the blue stones of the keys. The light twinkled and buzzed like fireflies, it danced across her helmet and over her armor until the fluttering lamps gelled together and became one solid beam. It shot past her, all the way to the other side of the cave and into a large circular door that was carved from the same petrified wood as Mar’s tree. The light poured like lava into small intricate carvings in the door itself, it slowly spread across and formed a circular blue ring. An inner ring sat on the inside of its larger counterpart while another ring, smaller still, sat within the second ring. Bree was up on her feet, approaching the door slowly, her eyes watched closely. All of a sudden, the blue rings on the door began to turn, outer clockwise, second inner counterclockwise, and finally the smallest ring clockwise. And even though it was all a beam of light, the soft clicking sound of the inner mechanisms of a lock turned and finally broke free. The wooden door rolled open and revealed the Vault of Mar. Her boots dug into the soft sand as she entered, a couple of lush green trees were scattered throughout. Oddly, even though they were in a cave with completely still air, the leaves on the trees rustled and whispered softly to each other in a tongue no mere mortal would ever be able to understand. The floor was lined with six loot chests a Guardian would find anywhere, the Vandals followed her in and were all looking around with what Bree guessed was bewilderment. She went to each chest and flipped their lids open, and they were filled with gear and weapons, glimmer and raw materials, the treasures were bountiful and beautiful; but the main prize was in the last chest. The Fate of All Fools. The rifle was a gunmetal grey, with bits of pale yellow pieced throughout, the weight of it was that of a feather in Bree’s hands, and after inspected what the Queen was after, Bree realized that it looked eerily similar to a pulse rifle she had seen a long time ago… The three Vandals stood as still as statues until Bree approached them with the scout rifle in her hands. Like a precious trophy, she presented it to the tallest one, nodding her head towards him as he took it. “Flower, tell them that they have my deepest admiration, respect, and heartfelt sympathies for the one they lost...Without them, I wouldn’t be standing here. They saved my life, more than once, and that is a debt that I could never repay.” Bree stood before them while her message was carried over to them and twisted into their dialect. Several long seconds bled off the clock as the three Vandals just stood there in front of her, and in something that Bree never thought she would ever see in her lifetime, or even a hundred lifetimes for that matter, each one dropped to a knee before her. One by one, they each lowered their heads and raised the weapons in their hands, presenting them to her. Now, it was Bree’s turn to stand like a statue, her mouth ajar beneath her helmet, in astonishment and as quietly as she could, she said, “Flower, what are they doing?” “I don’t know...I mean...I’ve only known the Fallen to bow before the Queen, and only the Queen.” Flower’s words hung in Bree’s ear for another second before the kneeling Vandals broke into little pieces and transmatted back to their ship, leaving Bree in the Vault all alone. “What about Dredgen Yor? Why wasn’t he here?” Flower asked Bree. “...It would be impossible for him to be in a place where he never was…” she said as she looked down at the long line of chests. “We were lied too; again…” [i]Thank you all for reading! I appreciate all feedback, comments, likes, or just a thumbs up![/i] [i]Trials of a Guardian: Never Go Back (The Final Chapter)[/i]: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/123605275/0/0 [i]Trials of a Guardian: ALL Chapters (Appendix)[/i]: https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/105589170/0/0