Sister's Destiny

Second Chance

"The Fallen!" I yelled as I shot the head of a Fallen Marauder off. Gushes of grey liquid, presumably Fallen blood, squirted from the neck.

"Saying the name again doesn't explain what the hell is going on!" Houka yelled as she launched a missile at a large group of the Fallen.

"I'll.....I'll explain later, dammit! Just fight!" I yelled as I switched to my submachine gun. I fired at two tall Fallen with six arms. They fell to the ground in whispery hisses that, even in combat, sent chills down my spin.

Zivaya was shouting and babbling incoherently as she shot multiple grenades out furiously. One Fallen nearly stabbed me with its large spear, and I pulled out that special knife and swiped at it. A large bolt of flaming lightning crashed down and ignited all of the Fallen. The screeched in agony as they burned. The air become putrid with the stench of their burning bodies. Houka and Zivaya looked at me with unrecognizable expressions. 

"I know, I know. I didn't want to use it unless we were in a perilous situation. I still don't even know what this is, or what it can do." I said.

"Well, why didn't you tell us about it?!" Houka freaked.

"I....I...honestly don't know..." I said thinking. I truly didn't know.

"Blech!" Zivaya yelled as she waved her hand in front of her nose.

"Those Fallen weren't wearing any house colors I've seen before.." Gigani said. Houka rolled her eyes at Gigani and Zivaya and gave me a look that I couldn't read.

I motioned for everyone one to follow me. We went past the small pool and further into the cavern. Besides the homing stench of burnt Fallen, the air smelled pleasant. Water dripped from the ceiling of the cavern. I saw a light of some kind ahead and ran up to it. It was some metal spike sticking from the rocks, and two brightly shining white tubes stuck out from the metal spike. They were so bright at first that I had to shield my eyes so they could adjust.

"What is that thing?" Zivaya asked.

"Hell if I know." Houka said shrugging.

"Come on." I said waving my hand.

We continued forward. The further we got, the more rocky it became. I then noticed a dull, rusty, orange crate. There were small lights on the sides of the wall. There were metal pillars erupting from the ground. There were moldy pallets in a variety of sizes leaned against the wall. The smell of burnt Fallen had left, and now the air started to smell musty. As we got further, we could see some faint light.

"We're in the Quarantine Sector Two Hundred Thirty-Six." Gigani said in a weak voice.

We rounded a corner and then we saw a crate similar to the previous one we saw, but it looked like it had been torn in half. There were pallets that had been torn to shreds too. A thick grey cloud shrouded my vision. The way it moved....almost reminded me of....of...tentacles.. They waved around from side to side. I felt a slight wave of nausea and exhaustion for a brief moment, but it quickly left. We suddenly were under what seemed to be a mine. There was a metal roof holding the rocky ceiling up, and small broken sheds were in various spots. There were piles of rocks and.....and...bones.... I quickly moved past them, not wanting to see what...or who...they belonged to. The hallway was dimly lit, but it was still better than the soul crushing darkness from further back in the cavern.

"Be careful. This place is known as the Blackened Forest, and it's a restricted zone. Light knows what dangers could be lurking around the corner..." Gigani said in a fretful tone.

Small purple, bioluminescent plants stuck up from the rocky ground and waved side to side in a hive sort of way. I just then realized how exhausted I was, and how sore my....everything....was. I wanted nothing more than to rest, but I knew I had to go on. I accidentally stepped on one of the strange plants and I heard a faint pop. I looked down to see a blue gel-like substance splattered on the ground. A disgusting odor that smelled like spoiled milk and rotten eggs shot into my nose. Zivaya groaned, but Houka quickly shushed her. We followed a tight tunnel that had some sort of light shining from the end. We went further and more groups of the strange plants appeared. I looked forward and saw windows on a wall somehow. There was the biggest mushroom stem I'd ever seen growing from the ground to the right. Its stem seemed to almost be as big and wide as an oak tree trunk. At the base of it was a large metal chest of some sort. It was silver grey and had a big green rectangular light on the base of it. The light slowly dimmed and brightened. I signaled for my sisters to stay back and I slowly looked past the corner for any danger, but I didn't see anything. I then carefully opened the chest and peered inside. There were five iron gauntlets and one backpack. It looked like it was once pink, but it had since turned mostly brown from mold and age. I zipped it open and inside was a busted pair of binoculars, a moldy notebook, and a broken pair of sunglasses. I opened the notebook and picked as much mold off as I could. Inside, the most of the pages were decayed. I could still make out what was on some of them. There was a cute messy drawing of a little girl holding hands with what looked like a female Awoken and a male Exo. There was text at the top of the page. Most of it was covered in mold and I was afraid that I would ruin the paper. From what I could make out, it said: