[b]The Bismuth Temple, Fields of Glass, Mercury.[/b] Switch had been stripped of almost everything he cared about. He had been cast out of the city, forced out of his home, the only home he had ever known, the home he had soley sworn to protect until his last life. All of it was gone, harshly and unjustly taken from him. As for the city itself, much of it laid in ruins, strewn with the corpses of guardians and innocent civilians alike. The city needed all the help it could get, and Switch was no longer permitted to provide that help. And there was only one name to blame: Aries. While trying to defend the city from him, and in the process of also trying to thwart his ability, Aries had almost entirely corrupted Switch's very being and essence. He had tried to stop Aries by recombining him with all the abominations he had birthed and then killing him, but it had failed. He departed before the process was complete, and in doing so, Switch had absorbed the entirety of Aries' sorrow. Now, darkness ebbed and flowed throughout his body, weaving between plating and joints and wiring. It felt like some parasite crawling under his skin, penetrating his mind and thoughts, tainting his very soul. And of course, there was the voice... Switch wasn't so sure who's voice it was. Aries? Sorrow? The darkness itself? Regardless, it was quiet but menacing, always lurking in the back of his mind. Switch was always used to knowing what was going on with himself and around him, such is the way of a Warlock. But this was entirely unexplainable. He and Aries didn't even have much of a history, yet Switch had been chosen to bear this curse. It didn't make any sense to him. Why him at all? It all boiled back to a simple crash. Being in the wrong place at the wrong time. Fate and luck couldn't have unfolded worse. Although, there was a faint glimmer of hope on the horizon. The process of becoming a dark guardian was reversible, at least for Switch. Difficult, but not impossible. He had managed to store and protect his light somewhere far from Aries' clutches, somewhere he would never be able to touch, no matter how far he reached. But, he would have to fully purge himself of darkness before returning to his own light. Perhaps what shocked Switch the most was how easy it was to gain a hold of his dark abilities once he had them. Within moments of being corrupted he was already capable of fully manipulating Aries' abominations. It had felt almost natural, like second nature, which was horrifying just to think about. It was almost like he was meant to be bestowed with this... Gift? No, this was certainly a curse. Switch had been hiding on Mercury, away from the city, away from the old and better life he once had. He had decided to stay at the Bismuth Temple: a massive Vex structure the size of a metropolis, floating kilometres above the scorched surface that was the fields of glass. He was outside the temple near the edge, just lying down in the sun's heat, tossing and turning in his own despair. Aries had broken everything, except his will. Switch knew that this ordeal was far from over: that Aries was still out there and likely amassing more allies, perhaps even corrupting more guardians. Switch's will however was unphased. He was going to fight on behalf of the city regardless, even if it had spat him out like poison when he needed it most. But he needed guidance to cope with his curse. Guidance from someone who was familiar with the ways of the darkness; someone who he could rely on; someone who could teach him restraint; someone like Erik. ((Indub, and anyone else if they want to join Smokey's story arc)) [spoiler]told you it was looooong[/spoiler]