Descent
My name is Ragnar-4. I am a Warlock Thanatonaut who seeks the omens of coming threats. This is the documentation of my most recent endeavor.
In what was once the United States of America, mining coal for use in creating energy to power cities was commonplace, especially in the Appalachian Mountains. Some of these mines were thousands of feet below the Earth’s surface. The deepest of these was the Black Diamond’s Mine No. 11. It was 1.17 miles below the surface. This is where I went. I made my way to the bottom-most part of the mine, where there was absolute darkness, and I meditated in that crushing abyss until I felt prepared to die.
It took days. For an hour at a time, every six hours, Frigg (my Ghost) would emit red light to help me keep my sanity. She insisted I ate, but fasting felt more proper. The pain was intense after the first three days. Then, on the fourth, I felt it no longer. These are the moments where being an Exo is advantageous to my pursuits. I don’t have to worry about dying from starvation impeding my studies.
I finally found myself in the headspace I desire to be in during deaths like this, and I made my journey out of the realm of the living. My vision began as it always does; falling slowly through an endless sea of black. Then, the unexpected. The black depths turned into white fire. My body burned. I screamed, but no sound came out, only tendrils of Stasis reaching out towards infinity. I squeezed my eyes shut, and the burning stopped. All sensations stopped. And then slowly, I began to hear. The rustling of pines. The hooting of an owl. I opened my eyes and found myself sitting at a campfire. I was in Colorado. I did not know how I knew that. I did not even know where Colorado was, but it felt familiar. It felt right.
I quickly realized I was not alone. I tried to stand, but found I could not control the body I was in. I started to wonder if it was even my own, or if I was looking through another’s eyes.
“You still think there’s another way? After everything we saw?” The figure looked at me as he inquired. I could not see his face, but his eyes glistened in the fire. They did not glow like an Exo or Awoken’s. A human.
“I do,” my body replied. The voice was deeper than my own. Gruff. Yet, familiar.
The human, who sat to my left, sighed. “I wish I shared your optimism, my old friend. But I have seen the truth. I have seen what happens when we allow others to be in control of our destiny.”
“You mean in the Ziggurat?”
The man nodded, but did not speak.
My heart felt heavy, and it was hard to decide if this was my own reaction or the other’s. “So Kyrus was right. You have been corrupted.” The other leaned forward and placed our hand on the man’s thigh. “Don’t shut me out, Shunsui. We can still do this together.”
The man shook his head slowly. “It’s too late for that, Ekusas. We both know what must be done.”
We withdrew our hand as our eyes widened. “No…don’t make me do that. I won’t!” Our fists clenched so hard, I could feel the nails of our fingers digging into our palms.
Shunsui shook his head. “There’s nothing I can make you do. Your choices are your own. Your will is your own. But you know what could happen if you do nothing. We both have our duties.”
Tears began to stream down the other’s face. Our body racked with sobs as we stood. We pulled a long, one-edged sword from a sheath on our back. “Then I will do mine.” We positioned ourself in a fighting stance and stared down Shunsui. Our friend. Our lover.
He stared back, focused and emotionless. “They will honor your sacrifice,” he stated flatly. He produced a blade in his hands made of Stasis and cleaved us asunder. The burning white fire sensation was back. I wanted to scream out in pain, but the other did not. How could he be so strong in a moment of such agony? I envied that strength. I looked upon the face of Shunsui, and for a moment, I swear I saw a single tear fall. We died, and my vision ended.
I gasped for air as I was snapped back to the darkness that was my current reality. It was an odd feeling that I had forgotten. My theory is that I wasn’t fully separated from my vision, from the other, when I was pulled back initially. This is neither here nor there.
This finding was disturbing. Had I just witnessed the rise of a new tyrant? A new evil to rival Dredgen Yor’s? Whatever this was, the Vanguard and my fireteam needed to be made aware. Perhaps this was just a glimpse into the past. Or perhaps it was an avoidable future. What chilled me to the bone, however, was the thought and sinking suspicion that I had just witnessed something occur in our present.
