Little Lights in the Darkness, Part 1 (2/2)

[i]...and now the conclusion.[/i] “Halt, Guardian,” a nearly monotone, clearly artificial voice called out. For a long second nobody moved, and then everyone did, Roy included. They scattered every which way in the hopes that one of the others would be followed. Only Luminita risked a glance back before she too disappeared around a corner. Alone and unable to see much less run, Natela slid to a sitting position low against the wall as she did her best to control her pained breathing. “Do you require a medic?” The oddly calm, almost detached voice asked her. “No,” she replied in between coughs. “They were… they were trying to rob me…” she said, wisely not mentioning that she had just finished playing the part of the robber. “Hmm, I’m not surprised. You’ll have to learn to keep better company, Guardian. Well, maybe not. But you should at least consider it.” “Guardian?” Natela asked as she continued wiping at her face and eyes. It was starting to work. Soon she was able to squint her eyes open wide enough to see who had saved her. What she saw would have made her jump back in shock if she hadn’t already been pressed up against the wall. In front of her was not some oddly voice patrol bot or a flesh and blood member of law enforcement, but the strange, small, angular, [i]floating[/i] shape of a Ghost. She’d seen them in vids and heard about them all her life, but to have one so close to her, and have it speaking to her… To say she was startled would have been a vast understatement. “I think you’ve got the wrong girl…” she protested weakly. “No. I don’t,” the Ghost said in return. “You are Natela Tamaya Murk, one of the ‘little lights in the darkness.’ I’m curious, do you think your parents knew you were destined to become a legend when they named you?” “My parents are dead,” Natela answered bitterly, “and legend nothing. The only thing I’m becoming is [i]out of here[/i],” she said. “You’ll need to try harder than that,” her Ghost replied as she shakily pulled herself around the corner. It hovered in place for a moment, looking on with amusement at her less than rapid departure. “We can do this one of two ways,” the Ghost said as it effortlessly moved to block her slow, clumsy exodus. “Either you come now with me, or I flood this sector with law enforcement. I think you’ll find I know a thing or two about The City’s security protocols.” “Come with you… and become a Guardian?” Natela asked incredulously. “Correct.” “Right, that’s how that works?” she laughed. “Do you always pick starving thieves living in the slums?” “Not typically. More often we select from among the heroes of your past… but your natural talent was too good to pass up.” “Well… uh…” Natela said, searching for an excuse, “I can’t leave without my sister. She gets sick and there would be no one else to care for her.” “I fully expected you to bring her along.” “Bring? I don’t even know where’s she’s gone!” “I do,” her Ghost replied. It flexed its angular plates in such a way that might, maybe, indicate a knowing smile. Natela turned to follow its gaze and there, peeking around the corner, was her thirteen year old sister. “You were supposed to run!” Natela tried to say, but her inflamed throat couldn’t yet support her angered tone. “I was scared,” Luminita offered softly. “I was too…” Natela admitted. She held open her arms and in an instant Luminita was in them, burying her tears on her big sister’s shoulder. “If I went with you she would be taken care of?” Natela asked the floating intelligence. “Of course. As would you,” it replied. Natela bristled. “I can take care of myself!” she complained, before descending into another painful coughing fit. The Ghost just stared at her, not even bothering to speak. “Most of the time…” Natela conceded as she recovered. She stroked her sister’s head for a few moments before making a decision. “All right” she said, “but I’m doing this for her… not for that,” she gestured to The Traveler, “or to become your legend.” “Understood,” her Ghost said in reply. “If you two will follow me, I already have transport waiting for you.” The two sisters helped each other off the ground and began to follow. They didn’t make it more than a block before Natela froze and urgently turned to look back down the street. “Right here,” her Ghost told her before she even had the chance to ask. She marveled as her old knife rewove itself out of bright motes of light right before her eyes. She grasped it out of the air and was further surprised to feel its unfamiliar heft and balance. It had been remade good as new! Maybe even better! “What else can you do?” Natela asked, her voice a mix of awe and suspicion. “No sense revealing everything all at once,” it replied. “Now come on, I need to tell some friends that I found you.”