Lightless

The Exo dragged me by the arm to where he left the others before opening a portal made of Void energy. It was a true work of art, and something I could never hope to replicate even if I spent the rest of my life working on it. Wraith walked through and I quickly followed. Wraith had examined Akina earlier and said he had to stop at the nearest city to get her medical attention, so I also had a few questions for the mysterious man.

I found myself inside of a large building with white marbled floors, walls made out of what seemed to be quartz with golden patterns, and immediately felt a sense of nobility permeating through my body. I clicked my tongue and adopted a disgusted face, for I had always hated Nobles and their customs, as I followed Wraith toward a room with a sign labeled "OPEN" on the front.

I opened the door for Wraith and saw a large room with a multitude of machines meant for treating illnesses and the like while a man in a white coat hunched over a desk as he furiously scribbled things down on a piece of paper. Wraith coughed and said "Hey doc, I got a special case today..." in a low voice.

The man turned his head while saying "I don't need another mentally r-" but stopped as soon as he saw the unconscious Akina laying in Wraith's arms. His bushy black brows began to furrow as he pushed his glasses up his nose and muttered "It can't be... there hasn't been a single case since the collapse of Kaz Narzek..."

Now it was my turn to furrow my brows as I glanced at Wraith with a questioning look. Wraith had told Akina's parents and my mother to follow Suki toward the coordinates he gave her, but wanted me to follow him. Now I have the feeling that whatever is about to happen won't be good. The man noticed my glance and his face turned dark momentarily as he said "Boy, what is you relationship towards these two...?"

I looked at him and said "Wraith-2 saved, not only my family's life, but also hers, from a horde of Hive soldiers, so I haven't known him for long but I am very grateful. As for Akina, I've known her my whole life, and she is someone I would do anything for." The man nodded his head with a grave expression before saying "Boy, have you ever heard of the Guardian exclusive disease called "Lightless"?"

I nodded my head as the information about the illness resurfaced in my mind. The man sighed and said "Well, I'm afraid that you friend here is indeed a Guardian without Light...she has used up every last bit of her Light, making her a possible cripple and no Guardian..." A wave of guilt and frustration crashed against my consciousness as I watched Wraith put Akina down on a nearby bed, watching her breaths come out in ragged gasps as sweat drenched her long hair.

I looked back and the man and asked "Is there anyway to help her? Isn't there supposed to be a treatment for this!?" in a desperate voice. I was desperate, desperate to rid my mind of this guilt that I so shamefully tried to throw away. It was my fault that she had used all of her Light, so why can't I take responsibility for it...?

The man shook his head as he said "Sorry, I can't do anything with the current power of the Traveler. It's not like I can just pull a bunch of Light out of my ass..." The man sounded dejected and frustrated, but all I saw was a man who had given up before he had even tried. I clenched my jaw and said "You bastard, you haven't even tried yet so how can you give up so easily!? You have to try something, anything!"

Wraith put his hand on my shoulder and said "That's enough, young Blake. It's not like we can just pull a bunch of Guardians in here and use their Light to bring back a single Guardian. It would only make matters worse if several Guardians lost their bright, shining Lights only to rekindle a smaller Light that can barely rid the world of the Darkness that we still face. All you can do is be there for her when she wakes. I'll see you later..."

Wraith disappeared and the man apologized before following shortly after, leaving me with Akina. I moved over to the side of her bed and pulled a chair out before sitting down. I gingerly grasped her hand as I stared into her face. She was a cripple because of me. She could die because of me. All because I was too weak to protect her and those I cherish. I'm too weak, and I have no idea how to get stronger...

I wallowed in self pity on the inside, but on the outside I had nothing but a kind and worried expression as I watched Akina's breathing slowly stabilize. I gently stroked her hair before turning to Jack, who was floating behind me and staring at the floor. I smiled and plopped my hand on top of his metallic shell and said "Don't worry bud, she'll be back before you know it. I promise..."

My words were meant to calm me down just as much as Jack, who looked at me with a satisfied beep. I continued to pet Akina's head while sending as much Light as I could into her body to, hopefully, stabilize her condition. The day soon turned to night as I continued to sit next to Akina, refusing to leave her side even after Wraith had come looking for me.

"Look, kid, you've got a family to take care of, so pull yourself together! Once you take my portal, head West and you'll find a large building with wooden columns at the front. I need you to register there and apply for any jobs that you think you can do. It's an easy way to get money, so go!" Wraith literally kicked me out of the room as a portal appeared in front of the door.

I fell through and found myself on the busy streets of whatever city we were in as a variety of people from all races walked around, joked, and seemed to be in an overall pleasant mood. I looked toward the setting sun and shrugged my shoulders before walking off down the road. Many different women called out to me a few times, some even outright asking me to stay at their house for the night, but my glare was enough to shut them up.

I didn't feel like playing games today.

A couple minutes later, I had stumbled upon a large, two story building with wooden columns in front. The building itself was made out of bricks, which were painted white, with a large wooden sign hanging over the slightly ajar doors that read "House of Boars" in bold letters.

I sighed and walked in the doors, immediately drawing the attention of everyone inside as they stopped talking and turned to stare at me. I walked toward the counter as I ignored their stares and spoke to a rather beautiful woman with red hair tied up neatly into a bun, and two dazzling red eyes.

"I was told that I could come here for easy money." I said as I stuck my hands into my pockets. It was impossibly cold inside of the building. The woman stared at me for a second before everyone burst out in laughter, one burly man with scars covering his face and body walked up to me and put his hand on my shoulder before saying "You really think you can handle these jobs we have? We'll yer shit outta luck buddy, go and play with your daddy while we handle the hard work, ahahaha!!"

I felt a vein pop on my forehead as I calmly said "Get your hand off of me." The man stopped laughing and looked me in the eyes as he asked "What, gonna do somethin about it eh?" I clenched my jaw as I grabbed the man's hand and crushed it, leaving it mangled and bloodied as fragments of the bones in his fingers fell to the floor. He must've been a regular civilian instead of a Guardian.

The man's cries were the only thing that could be heard in the room as everyone else had fell silent at my display. I looked back to the woman and once again asked "Can I get some work?" in a calm voice, almost like nothing had happened. The woman's eyes went wide for a second before she eagerly nodded her head and said "Oh, uh, yes. I just need you to register your name before we test you strength in order to give you a rank. Ranks are used for the various jobs that we have on display, the higher the rank the more dangerous the jobs you can take, but those jobs pay much more than the average ones that most people are authorized to do."

She slid me a piece of paper, which I promptly went over before signing my name at the bottom. The woman took the paper from my and stored it under the counter before gesturing for me to follow her to the backroom. I walked into a large room with Light infused metal lining the walls. The woman turned her head and said "Show me your strongest attack. Just aim it at the wall and it'll do the rest." in a nonchalant voice.

I held my index finger up and summoned a large sphere of orange-black flames before launching it at the wall. The fireball exploded and sent dust and debris flying everywhere and, when the dust settled, there was a massive dent where my attack had landed. The woman had a shocked expression, but she was able to reign in her bewilderment as she handed me a coin made out of pure platinum.

She blinked a few times before saying "That coin symbolizes your rank, which is the highest available meaning you can take any job you want from our list. If you want to take a job right now, then I can arrange one for you." I nodded my head and she lead the way toward a large board back in the main room. The board had a wide variety of jobs from picking weeds to slaying mysterious beasts that various people had seen across the world.

I was perusing the lists when I saw a job that really piqued my interest. "Help wanted! Villagers keep disappearing in the middle of the night. Usually there would be large tracks that resembled the tracks that would be made by a humanoid creature, but the tracks show signs of clawed feet. I would prefer having a few silver or gold ranked hunters help with the investigation."

I ripped the sheet off of the board and handed it to the woman, saying "I'll take this job." The woman looked at me and raised her brow before saying "Are you sure? You can get a lot of money from the higher ranked missions..." I cut her off with my hand as I repeated "I'll take this one..."