//------------------------------// // Chapter 29 Awakening // Story: Warframe: Relic Hunters // by UnknownEntity743 //------------------------------// Warframe: Relic Hunters Chapter 29 Awakening *Location: Relic Hunters’ HQ, Coms Room* The entire room was silent, the only sound was the buzzing of the monitor behind Excalibur as he sat on a chair, wires funnelling from his head as he waited for the calibrations to be precise. “Ordis, is about to replay my memories from as far back as it can allow, to the point that the Void had begun to make an effect on my body and mind,” Excalibur explained as every Tenno and the mane 7 waited for the screen to play “Now, if anyone wishes not to see this, I won’t blame you, my memories are… unpleasant,” Excalibur spoke with a sigh as Rhino spoke up “We know, but that’s why we want to know, so we can help you,” Rhino responded as they all nodded, bringing some reassurance to Excalibur as Ordis piped up “The memory unit is ready Operator ~THIS WILL BE BLOODY~ oh, sorry about that,” Ordis apologised as he nodded and the screen came to life “Here we go again,” Excalibur thought as they watched the scene unfold -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- *Location: Zarimen Ten Zero* As the doors finally sealed shut, the voices mumbled and cried through-out the halls which had a new red paint job, their golden and white coat, now tainted with what was once filled with the war cries of children and adults. some moved away from the doors, still hearing the sounds of hollow thudding as some of the deranged tried to break through, but failed to even make a sound. However, a much younger Excalibur, sat with a girl with long orange hair as she cried into his chest, his shirt becoming mildly damp, Excalibur, however fought back the tears as he tried to stay strong, but what plagued his mind most, was how he was going to tell Valkyr. “Why!? Why did they have to…” the girl tried to ask but couldn’t as Excalibur held her close “It’s ok, Ivara, I promise, it will be ok,” Excalibur said softly as he sighed feeling the guilt slowly tear him apart from the inside. “I didn’t… want to… but we had no choice, none of us did,” Excalibur looked around at the others as they comfort each other, knowing that they only had each other now, so Excalibur grabbed Ivara in his arms as he carried her away from the war zone. but as he walked, many gave him looks of fear, surprise and disgust as he kept his gaze ahead. As he slowly walked down the halls, Ivara cries were nothing more than a mumble as he slowly walked to the sleeping quarters, then he heard footsteps from behind. When he turned, he saw a boy, no older than 18 catching up, his hair was blonde and combed as his blue eyes looked at to pair with despair. “How are you? Both of you?” He asked as Excalibur glanced at his scarred friend before beckoning him to follow “Honestly? i feel empty inside, not just about what we did, but about how I’m going to tell my sister, how can i!? I just… killed my parents, all of us did,” Excalibur chocked up as the teen sighed Excalibur then looked at his hands that carried Ivara as he felt something inside him move, almost like an invisible force he couldn't see. "I still don't understand, what was that? how did i do that?" Excalibur asked as the teen just thought for a moment "I don't know, this 'Void', it's changing us, and at this rate, it might not be long before the rest can do something similar," He thought as his mind kept jumping back to his decision. This made his stomach turn and Excalibur could see it "We... didn't have a choice," Ivara spoke softly as they both looked at her. she wiped her face as she looked at them. "...None of us did," “I didn’t want to either, but if didn’t, than we would have died, making these last 2 months pointless, I didn’t want to make the call, but someone had to, and I’ll carry that burden, so you don’t have to,” He explained as he sighed in defeat “EP, I… I’m sorry… you shouldn’t have needed to do that,” Excalibur apologised as he shook his head “It’s ok, for now though, take care of her, and your sister,” EP asked as Excalibur nodded and they parted ways "Do you think we'll become them?" Ivara asked quietly as Excalibur looked to the side. "Animals..." "No... atleast, i hope not, for now though, i just want this nightmare to fuck off," Excalibur cursed as Ivara just closed her eyes -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- “Who was that?” Twilight asked as Excalibur stopped for a moment “Excalibur Prime, he, like the others, were the oldest, so naturally, they took charge after that whole incident, but to me, he was like an older brother, to me and Valkyr,” Excalibur explained with a smile as Valkyr nodded “Still… to kill your own parents, I’m so sorry Excalibur,” Rarity commented as she wiped her own tears away, much like the others “You haven’t seen anything yet,” Excalibur said coldly as the watched the screen flash again -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- As Excalibur set Ivara down on his bed, he turned to face a small girl with black hair and orange highlights looking at him with fear, his clothes still had dried blood on it, not surprising honestly. “Valkyr… I…” Excalibur tried to say, but he felt the words snag in his throat, his hands started to shake as he just stared at Valkyr, who looked at him with worry “Bro, what… happened!? Why are you covered in bl-blood?” She asked with fear as he felt his armour breaking, he couldn’t, how could he tell his only family that he just killed their mom and dad!? That’s when he felt his armour break, he fell to his knees as his hands rested on the carpet, tears began to fall as he couldn’t bear to look at his sister. “I’m sorry, I’m so sorry, I couldn’t let them harm anyone, I couldn’t…” Excalibur cried as he shook with fear, not knowing that Ivara silently listened to his part of the fight “I tried to stop them, from hurting the others… but I… I had to… I murdered them… mom and dad are gone… I’m sorry!” Excalibur choked out as he felt his face damped from his tears As his tears fell, he waited to hear Valkyr to shout at him, to call him a monster, a murderer, but what he got instead was a silent embrace as he felt Valkyr wrap her arms around him, she didn’t mutter a word, only held him like her life depended on it. But what he did see, was the one tear falling off to the side. -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Excalibur’s memory faded as he looked to see some looking away, crying, or hanging their heads in shame, knowing what they did, many trying to forget what bloody still rested on their hands. “To this day, I can remember using the ‘Void Blast’ on them, killing them, that will never fade from my memory, and I know that if I didn’t, many more could have died,” Excalibur said coldly as he hung his head “I never blamed you,” Valkyr spoke out as everyone looked at her sad smile. “that’s why I didn’t speak, because I didn’t blame you, it hurt, a lot, but I know you wouldn’t hurt them, you love them as much as I did,” Excalibur smiled at that as he drew a shaky breath, knowing the worst was yet to come. The screen buzzed once more, this time displaying a hall, filled with claw marks that were a bright orange. "Now its time to show you all, why i didn't trust the Orokin from the get-go," Excalibur spoke with venom To Be Continued… They lost their minds to the Void, I had no choice, I couldn’t let them hurt anyone