Welcome to my second crossover with Foxburton99! If you haven’t read about the exploits of his characters yet, you can find them all in his [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/217384398/0/0]ARCHIVE[/url] And if you missed the last chapter of REEF MOB, you can find it [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/224998013/0/0]here[/url], or if you need to find a previous chapter, you can find them all in the [url=https://www.bungie.net/en/Forums/Post/218618986?sort=0&page=0]Table of Contents[/url]. Please give a bump or leave a comment if you enjoy this and any other chapter! ***  The Vitalis has been spinning outside of the Speaker’s Study for as long as there’s been a Tower. The gyroscopic, spinning halos spin dreamily like clockwork, following an unknown pattern that repeats itself ad infinitum. Etched across the halos are a myriad of symbols, many formed from the languages of Old Earth, which some believe contains a secret message inscribed upon them, and that by studying the pattern and aligning the symbols correctly, one can learn the secrets of the Vitalis and understand its true purpose. “I wonder if you can ride that thing…” I turn from my musings to Drew beside me, watching him as he looks appraisingly at the Vitalis. “I mean, it’d be a bit of a climb, but if you could speed up the spin time a little it could be really, really fun…” Behind us, Sierra scoffs. “Do you ever take anything seriously?” “Why should I?” Drew retorts, his smirk apparent across his metal faceplate. “For one thing, it’d turn me into you, and just….no; and second, what better way to fight the Darkness than with lightheartedness?” Sierra returns his smirk as she pointedly pats the sniper rifle she’s currently cleaning. Drew opens his mouth to retort again, but I hold up my hand to stop them. “Have you both forgotten why we’re here already?” Sierra watches me somberly while Drew claps me on the back. “Don’t worry, we’ll find out what screws are loose in your head and tighten ‘em up so you’ll be good as new before you know it!” “If the Speaker ever shows up, that is,” Sierra responds, looking up to his empty study. I follow her eyes and wonder again where he is and why he isn’t here. [i]He’s always here, every time we’ve come to the Tower we know where to find him, but on the day we need him most, he’s nowhere to be seen…[/i] “Maybe he went out for a kebab,” Drew shrugs. “A kebab?” Sierra asks incredulously. “Yeah, they make the best ones down in Old La Rioja!” Drew chimes happily. “How would you know?” “Well, I’ve heard they make the best ones. Maybe the Speaker went to – “ “It doesn’t matter,” I interrupt. “What matters is where he isn’t.” “You’re gonna drive yourself crazy focusing on it so much,” Sierra responds. “We’ll just have to wait until he comes back.” She’s right, but it’s not as simple as she makes it seem. Ever since my vision on the Moon, all I’ve been able to do is think about the crimson Guardian, about the nightmarish fight that ended with all of us dying…. [i]But we didn’t die,[/i] I think savagely. [i]We’re still all here…. ….so why can’t I forget how it felt? I left Drew behind…. And as the red Guardian whispered “Consume”, I left Sierra behind, too….[/i] All of us died, yet here we all are – [i]was it a Vex simulation? A vision of what’s to come? Or something to could have been, but was avoided somehow?[/i] Thinking about it makes my head hurt, but I know there’s an answer here somewhere…. [i]If only the Speaker were in his study…[/i] With nothing else to do, I leave Sierra and Drew downstairs and climb up to the study once more, Rush hovering silently behind me. I feel their eyes watching me, but they leave me be as I ascend the steps, Drew presumably watching the Vitalis again to judge how he could ride it and Sierra returning to cleaning her weapon. As I ascend the steps, I can feel Rush once more looking at me with concern, but I don’t meet his eyes – he’s wisely avoided interrupting my thoughts ever since we returned from the Moon, letting me figure it all out. Entering the study, I look once more at the modest collection of books and artifacts strewn around the open, glittering space – journals, manuals, histories, myths – delicate instruments of unknown purpose, supplies of Warlock bonds, Titan marks and Hunter cloaks cobbled together in the small study, all combing to create the biggest mystery of all: [i]Who is the Speaker, really? And how much does he know that he hasn’t told us?[/i] I shake my head, overcome with the dark thoughts. [i]This is heresy, thinking like this – Osiris once pondered these very questions, in this very room… The red Guardian’s armor bore the sigil of the Disciples of Osiris. Could he have pondered these questions, too? How did he succumb to the Darkness, and where did his power come from? Is this the path I’m supposed to take? Is that what my vision means? …am I the red Guardian?[/i] I clutch my head tightly, overcome with all the questions. [i]Where is the Speaker when I need him?[/i] And then suddenly, the bookcase nearest to me rumbles, turning around, and the Speaker steps out of the tunnel hidden behind it. Acting surprised to see me, even behind his mask, he folds his hands piously as he greets me. “Hello, Guardian,” he says. “What can I help you with?” *** It doesn’t take long to relay everything, Drew and Sierra hanging out on the stairs as the Speaker listens to my story attentively. As I fall silent, my tale finished, he folds his arms across his robes, thinking. “This….red Guardian, he bore the mark of Osiris?” “Yes,” I answer, nodding. Rush bobs in the air next to me, watching all of us intently. “And he had….” “Powers, you said,” the Speaker offers sagely. “The ‘red growth’.” I nod again as the Speaker seems to disappear into himself, almost wearily. It’s the first time I’ve felt how old the Speaker must be, how much he knows and how much he’s had to carry. [i]Osiris was his protege once[/i], I think as I watch him. [i]Could the red growth have something to do with him?[/i] “Thank you for bringing this information to me,” the Speaker finally says, looking at me. “But I wonder – how did you come to perceive these events?” “He gets visions,” Drew interrupts. “It’s weird, but William’s a weird guy.” The Speaker looks at Drew, seemingly bemused. “What sort of visions?” “Different kinds,” I supply vaguely. “I…I don’t really know how they work exactly yet, but this one….it felt so real, like it was happening to us right then – “ “He passed out during a patrol,” Sierra replies. “We couldn’t wake him, it’s like he was completely gone.” “I see….” the Speaker says, folding his arms in front of his robes again. He seems to be thinking of….something, I can tell, but before I can ask what, he unfolds his arms and nods to us. “Thank you, Guardians. I have an assignment for you.” [i]An assignent?[/i] “An assignment?” Drew asks curiously. “We going back to the Moon?” “Not the Moon,” the Speaker answers. “To the Reef.” [i]The Reef?[/i] “Why would we go there?” Sierra asks incredulously. “What the hell does any of this have to do with the Reef?” The Speaker folds his arms in front of his robes. “Do you trust me?” he asks simply. I start to answer, but pause instinctively – [i]Osiris trusted the Speaker once….perhaps even this red Guardian, too. There are many who question his motives, who wonder what secrets he keeps from us, what he knows that he keeps hidden….[/i] “Sure, why not,” Drew answers for us with a shrug. “I don’t see a reason why we shouldn’t trust the guy who always wears a mask.” The Speaker looks at Drew curiously for a moment, then begins to chuckle. The sound throws me off as I realize I’ve never heard the Speaker laugh before. “Very well,” he chortles, regaining his dignified composure. “I can’t promise the answers to all your questions, but I have a hunch that what we’re looking for will be found in the Reef.” I nod to the Speaker, unsure of what else to say – I could spend the rest of my life questioning the enigmatic figure and get no closer to any answers, so I take what I’ve been given and lead my team out. As we descend the stairs, I feel the Speaker’s eyes upon me, Rush bobbing in midair beside me. “Why the Reef?” he finally asks, quivering from everything he’s held inside since we got back. I look at him and smile wanly. “I have no idea,” I reply. “Looks like we’ll just have to trust him.” [i]But should we?[/i] I push the thought as best as I can from my mind. Despite my misgivings and questions, I still believe that what we’re doing is right, that we fight for the Light against the Darkness, that we are the last line of defense between order and chaos… [i]But the red Guardian had to have believed this, too, once… As must have Osiris…[/i] I push the thoughts away again. [i]But I’m not them. I’m not.[/i]