We Stand Together

Chapter 17: No Memories, but All Feelings

Eden's falling. She's falling and falling and falling.

Briefly, she catches a glimpse of Jaren looking over the edge at her, his body tense. A muffled call echoes after her but with how fast she's falling, she can't hear or see him anymore.

A cold sweat forms on her brow.

Eden's never been in a place with a lot of Darkness but the farther she falls, the heavier and thicker it gets. It's like a blanket trying to suffocate her Light.

She has to pull herself together. If she dies here, it'll be her last death. Eden needs to stop that from happening. Fast.

"Uriah!" She shouts, trying to maneuver her body around toward the direction she's falling.

The little Ghost comes out beside her, looking panicked.

"I need you to transmit us to a ledge!" She yells.

"What? I don't know if there are any here!" He calls back, desperation in his voice.

"Find one! If you don't, it's not looking good for either of us!"

Uriah quickly extends his shell from his core and begins to scan the surrounding area. As he's doing so, Eden notices that she can finally see the ground now.

It's constantly shifting. One second, it looks normal and the next it's filled with craggy, needlepoint rocks. And it seems to be shifting to the rocks faster and faster.

"Uriah, if you could hurry..." Eden begins nervously.

"I'm trying!" He stresses, turning more quickly now.

She's mere feet from the ground, watching as the sharp rocks stick out and point up toward her.

"URIAH!" She shouts.

"There!" He yells and then she's disappearing just as one of the ends stabs through her helmet, inches away from her eye.

There's disorientation but it goes away quickly as Eden realizes she's on a large ledge thousands of feet up from where she'd been. A sigh of relief leaves her mouth and she pulls her helmet off her head.

A gaping hole sits in her visor and she frowns before tossing it off the ledge.

"You saved me from a very, very painful death. Thank you, Uriah," Eden says earnestly, turning to her Ghost.

His shell sags and he eyes her with an exhausted look.

"Yes, well, let's not do that again."

"No objection to that," She agrees.

Eden looks up and around them but the only thing she can see is pitch blackness and metal, Vex converted walls.

"Uriah, where are we?" Eden asks, turning back to her Ghost

He beeps and responds, "Miles below the Endless Steps."

Eden sighs. "Is there any way that we can get back up?"

"No, not that I can tell."

A longer sigh falls from her lips and she crouches, glancing around. Silence befalls her and her Ghost and they sit there for a few moments before Eden hears someone call her name.

She looks up just in time to see Jaren hop onto the platform next to her.

He's quick to reach a hand out to her until he realizes what he's doing and snaps back. Eden looks at him curiously as he seems to battle with himself for a moment. Then, in an instant, he's back to himself.

Jaren turns back to her, helmet searching her body. Probably for wounds, if she had to guess.

"You're not hurt, are you?" He inquires.