#descember

“I spoke to Ikora,” she says, taking a single calculated step into the room. Zavala keeps their gazes locked for a brief moment of silence, then closes his eyes and nods slowly.

“What is her take on this?”

“We have learned so much already. The messages…” Eris dares another step. A firework shot from somewhere nearby explodes and paints her face an orange-pink hue. “We must know why it happened. What’s the meaning behind these attacks.”

“We’re still assessing the losses,” Zavala turns to one of the screens, where dozens of message boxes all scream ‘NO SIGNAL’. “Scouts are on their way, but all sensors are going wild, communication is off and on…” Shadows creep onto his face when he bows his head, voice weaker, “Still no reply from the outer moons.”

Music coming from the Bazaar can be heard even with the doors closed, the basses booming through the walls. It is 2:30 AM and the entire City has been in a state of wild ecstasy for several hours now. A series of bangs and shrieks of laughter above make Eris wonder whether fireworks have just been shot from the Tower roof.

“People are celebrating.”

Zavala nods again, avoiding her gaze.

“We are keeping the information confidential, for now.” He glances at the City, blazing with light and flares under the once again whole Traveler. “Let them be happy for a day.”

The burden of the secret weights down his shoulders, deepening the lines on his forehead as he is looking down upon this tiny scrap of earth that he loves, that seems so much smaller now with the Darkness closing in on them. Every laugh echoing through the walls is like a slap to his face and Eris can well see the pain he is desperately trying to hide.

“I am leaving in twenty minutes,” she announces. The tension squeezes her guts in an iron grip, and she knows they have wasted enough time already.

Zavala turns from the window to face her. Their eyes lock; a minute of uneasy silence, a wordless fight. She can hear him saying she does not have to, maybe she ought not to, maybe she should rest – but there is no strength to it, no urgency like there was when she confronted him a few hours before. He gives up.