Gonna be rewriting some chapters to make the story better and help it flow better. Been getting a lot of angry reviews that helped me realize how bad I've made this whole thing, so I'm trying to fix it. Also, if you're going to just drop a review saying 'your story is trash,' 'your writing is shit,' 'you're a crap author,' just go somewhere else. Seriously, I can't understand why people feel the need to try and say this stuff to other people just trying to have fun or bring some level of entertainment to others. If all you're going to drop is hate mail without a single word of criticism to help me make the story better, just go find a better story to read, for pete's sake. Stop wasting both our time.

Chapter 1: The Beginning.

The Vault of Glass, a fortified Vex stronghold on the surface of Venus in the Ishtar Sink, as well as the greatest triumph for the Vanguard.

The door to the final chamber of the massive fortress was left open, allowing entrance to any who wished.

As such, a single Hunter of medium height stepped in, the shape of their body male. His armor was covered in Vex plating and turned pure white due to the Chatterwhite Shader he had equipped, the cloak on his back bright red with the white symbol of the House of Devils to match his armor. His helmet was in complete contrast to the color of his armor, the Mask of the Third Man protecting his head as well as forsaking any real sense of matching for the armor.

The lone Hunter looked at the platform floating in the middle of a hole. He chose not to use it as he instead went to the right towards one of two Vex Gates. The Hunter went up the steps nearby and past the Gate, a quick glance at the Gate as if to make sure it wouldn't suddenly activate and let Vex come in.

'You're acting way too paranoid.' A voice, one far too familiar to the Hunter, spoke up in a place out of sight for any.

"Last thing I need is to get stuck in one of those Gates and become lost in the Corridors of Time." The Hunter replied, their voice slightly hoarse. "And aren't you the one who kept telling me to be more careful?"

'True.' The voice agreed. The Hunter let out a groan as he moved one hand to the back of his neck to get rid of an itch he had, the other brushing past the Legendary hand cannon Fatebringer on his hip.

'Hey, the pile of Vex remains. Let's go take a look.' The voice gave a suggestion, one the Hunter shrugged at before complying.

A short hop down from the platform with the Gate put him in the middle of the chamber, a short distance away from a pile of Precursor Vex bodies.

As he got closer, he could see obvious signs of Light being used against the Vex. Marks that could only be left by Solar Light scorched many of the corpses- remains? He didn't know, he wasn't an expert with dead robots. Among them were also signs of Void Light having been used, some parts of the Vex having been disintegrated.

The Hunter held his open hand out to the side, a flash of light allowing his Ghost to appear, one wearing a default white shell with an all too familiar blue eye.

"Someone obviously had a vendetta against these ones. They're severely damaged." The Ghost stated as the Hunter was hardly listening. He instead chose to kneel near the remains and dig through them, hoping to find something that whoever did this left behind with the idea of taking something useful.

Shattered Vex eye, severely damaged arm and leg, a gun…

"Hmm…" He picked up the gun from one of the Precursor Goblins, the Vex's hand still holding a tight grip on its weapon. A click of his tongue was made as he grabbed the fingers and peeled them off from the grip of the weapon to let him take it for himself.

A sigh of annoyance was given when he realized how damaged the weapon really was. The scope was cracked, the slot that looked like a magazine could be inserted was bent in a way that would likely prevent it from ever being loaded again, the trigger was missing, the barrel had an obvious dent in it and several pieces of the gun were missing.

At best he could salvage some parts with the hopes to repair any other weapon he currently has.

"This one's alive!" His Ghost's surprised voice immediately put him on edge, the weapon dropped from his hands in favor of Fatebringer. He jumped forward to get between the corpses and his Ghost, Fatebringer aimed at a dim red eye.

The near dead Hobgoblin looked at the pair in front of it, one arm missing as the other was buried too deep to be of any use. All it could do was look up at the two and send information back to the collective mind.

"… It's not… doing anything." The Hunter said while he kept his weapon aimed at the enemy. "It's just… looking at me."

"Collective Mind, remember?! It's getting information right now and sending it to every other Vex unit in the system!"

*BANG*

The eye was shattered when the bullet pierced the lens, removing the Hobgoblin's sight. The Hunter turned around to look around in an attempt to make sure no other Vex were nearby or about to appear through one of their teleportation clouds he hardly understood.

A few seconds of surveying calmed his nerves as he holstered his weapon.

"Anything good among them?" He asked.

"Yeah. If that unit was alive- and it still is- you know what's in its abdominal area."

The Ghost could almost hear the gears turning inside his Guardian's head when the Hunter then realized what the Ghost was saying.

A knife was drawn as he grabbed the corpse on top of the Hobgoblin, Arc Light pulsing through him to give him extra strength as he pulled the body off to reveal the pure white crystallized liquid holding the Hobgoblin's mind inside.

"How do I extract it? It works like a heart, right?" He asked, unsure how to proceed.

"There are several tubes that let the liquid past through the body and act as the nervous system. Right now, follow my steps precisely and we might be able to get it out with minimal damage." His Ghost instructed him, a nod from the Hunter being the reply. "Alright. First, get that plating off and out of the way. There shouldn't be any tubes or veins in them."

The Hunter knelt down beside the Hobgoblin and immediately put his knife to use. With a precise hand, he dug his knife between the crystal and some of the plating around it, gently twisting his knife in a way that lifted the plating off while causing little damage to the crystal.

"Okay, be very careful with this one. This is a make or break step already."

"That fast?!" His knife twisted in a bad way when he moved his body to shout his surprise.

"I said careful!"The Ghost reprimanded. "Okay, now very carefully, slide your knife deeper in and twist. This should dislocated the crystal while leaving it connected."

The Guardian followed his Ghost's instructions and twisted his knife slowly in a manner that made the crystal pop out, its connections to the tube preventing it from leaving. Immediately, the Hobgoblin began flailing its body when it realized what was happening, the Hunter pulling his knife out quickly to prevent more damage.

"We can't do anything about that without either breaking the crystal or damaging it further to the point the crystal would be useless. We can't let it spill its contents out or it will be contaminated and-"

"Ghost, the crystal's red!" The Hunter stepped back when the crystal slowly began changing from white to an eerie red.

"Self destruct! Get away!" The Ghost disappeared in another flash of light as the Hunter jumped up to his feet and ran for the platform with the Gate to jump up and get behind the pillar for cover.

The Hobgoblin's body cracked with glowing red energy before it exploded, further breaking the corpses around it and throwing the remains around at dangerous speeds.

"Since when did they self destruct?!"

'Since a lot of Guardians begun trying to take out their minds. And remember, Fanatics.'

A groan was let out as the Hunter peeked around the edge to make sure nothing else was happening. Once he made sure there was nothing else going on or about to happen, he stepped out.

"That… could've gone better."

'Very.'

"… You don't think they know I'm here now, do you?"

'No, they've got to know now. It's only a matter of time before-'

A chime of a bell made his blood run cold.

'… Oh no.'

His gaze shot up at the space above the Gate to see nothing there. He looked across the chamber at the same spot above the other Gate to see a far too familiar bright red light of Vex origin convulsing in the air as its light grew brighter by the second.

'Oracles!'

"No shit!" He reached down for Fatebringer immediately and fired at the Oracle. Several shots were needed to destroy it as it fell halfway through his magazine. Another chime echoed through the chamber, his eyes shooting up to the space above him to see a second one.

A quick reload was performed as he fired more rounds into the Vex creation, destroying it much like the one before.

A third chime echoed, followed by a fourth and fifth.

'Guardian!'

"Work on the Gate! Get it working to get us out!" He looked through the chamber, finding one Oracle at the top of the chamber where Atheon would spawn, another in the center.

Where was that fifth one?!

His Ghost appeared and immediately got to work on the Vex Sync Plate nearby to configure the Gate beside the Guardian.

The Hunter reached to his back to pull out a scout rifle he had solely for emergencies- much like the one he was in now. He took aim at the Oracle where Atheon would appear and fired. The magazine was emptied fast as the second to last bullet destroyed the Oracle. Another fast reload was performed as he repeated the process with the Oracle in the center of the chamber.

He reached down for another magazine as pure red shots landed on the wall beside him. He pulled back behind the pillar to use it for cover and peek around to see who or what was shooting at him.

Harpies.

He hated Harpies.

"Speed up the process! I can't find the last Oracle and there are Harpies now!" He shouted at his Ghost, the edges of his vision slowly fading to black due to the Oracle's effect.

"Trying!"

A purple orb flew by him and landed a short distance away. Immediately, the Hunter dove away as the grenade from the Vex detonated. He shot a quick glance at the Harpies to see Hobgoblins among them, Goblins appearing from behind as a Minotaur was not too far. The Goblins began their march forward to pursue him as he still could not see that last Oracle.

"Vision fading fast, Ghost!"

"I said I'm trying! What do you think I am?! A miracle worker?!"

"I think you can work faster than this!" He pulled his head back when another shot from a Hobgoblin almost hit him. He ejected the current magazine to load in a new one and pull the hammer back to load a round into the chamber. The Hunter reached down and pulled out a grenade that he also pulled the pin from. He threw the grenade from behind his cover, a wall of burning Void Light erupting at the stairs leading up to the platform to try and slow down the Goblins that were coming for him.

He really hopes they don't telepo-

"Beside you!"

'Fuck you, lady luck!' He sprang into action, his weapon dropped to let him punch the Goblin that appeared beside him in the core. It stumbled backwards but remained standing. He immediately pulled a knife out and flipped it into a different grip that let him throw it straight into the Goblin's core.

It exploded on impact as the Goblin fell over with the lack of a mind controlling its body. The Guardian leaned against the pillar as he felt his strength slowly disappear as his vision continued to blacken.

"How far are you?!" His voice sounded weaker than before, his strength fading fast due to the Oracle's influence.

"I'd say somewhere around 62%! I can turn it on and get us somewhere, but I can't put us anywhere specific right now! At best, we'll still be in the system wherever we end up!" Ghost replied.

The Guardian tried to click his tongue in annoyance, but the sudden appearance of the Minotaur stopped him. It brought on arm down and struck him straight in the head to break his Shield and make him fall over.

"Launch it! Launch it and move!" He coughed as his Ghost complied. The Gate was activated right beside the Hunter who stayed down and instead rolled on his side into the Gate.

His Ghost flew away from the Sync Plate and into the Gate to follow his Guardian, leaving the Vex alone in the chamber as the Oracle finished its purpose.

He felt like he was… floating?

No, like part of him was floating. His lower half more specifically. His upper half felt somewhat fine as his body felt like it was moving slightly by some outside force.

A cough erupted from his throat as he slowly regained consciousness. His body felt sore, a large sum of pain on his back that was slowly disappearing due to his Light healing him.

"Let's… never do that again…" He forced his eyes open to see a night sky above him, few clouds obstructing the stars. He short movement of his head to the side let him see trees full of leaves with some grass as well. "… Ghost… you there?"

'I'm here.' His Ghost replied, most likely back in his hiding spot on his Guardian. 'We appeared in the sky for some reason. We were lucky there was a lake, but you hit your back against the water and lost consciousness almost instantly.'

'Lake? I don't remember any lakes on Venus with trees and grass this green nearby.' He focused his attention on the sky above him, a scene familiar to him. 'And this is… Earth's sky too. I can't see a moon, but this has to be Earth's.' "Are we back on Earth?"

'Yes and no.' His Ghost replied in a way that confused him.

The Hunter pulled himself up, his lower half forced under the water as it explained the floating feeling he had earlier.

"What do you mean 'yes and no?'"

'Well,' Ghost reappeared over his Guardian's shoulder, his lone eye drooping somehow. "You've been out for a few hours. It was late in the day when we appeared, and the sun set some time ago."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Okay. Yes, this is Earth. I've checked with all known constellations we have and they all match for here. Currently, we're in Japan."

"Japan?" He was shocked to hear that. He hadn't been in Japan in years. Not since he was a kid. "What Prefecture are we in?"

"… Prefecture?" Ghost sounded confused before his eye widened. "Oh, the regions. I forget sometimes you're Japanese."

"Well that's not insulting at all." He coughed. One hand was pulled up to his throat to rub it, a feeling of soreness inside. "Should look into something for my throat. I haven't caught anything, have I?"

"You haven't been talking since the botched Mercury mission. That was almost 7 months ago. Of course your throat hurts to speak again."

"True… Again, what Prefecture are we in?"

…

…

…

"… You don't actually know, do you?"

"… Nope."

An exasperated sigh escaped his lips. His hand moved from his throat to the side of his helmet to push a button to activate his communication unit.

"Anyone on this channel? This is Guardian Saka Hikari, Hunter class. I went into the Vault of Glass and got attacked by Vex and was forced to use a Gate and I've somehow ended up on Earth in Japan. My ship is still in the orbit of Venus and I'm requesting help."

Radio silence.

"… I said hello. This is Saka Hikari, Hunter. I'm currently stuck in Japan with my ship on Venus after diving into the Vault of Glass and getting attacked by Vex. I need help."

There was still no reply.

"Ghost, switch the channel for me."

"That… won't help." Ghost seemed to shrink a little when he said that.

"What do you mean?" He tilted his head in confusion. He normally didn't see this behavior from his Ghost unless it was something dire-

… Oh no.

"Ghost, what's happened? Are my comms damaged?"

"No, it's not that."

"Okay, then what is it? There's got to be something for you to be acting like this."

"Remember how I said we were on Earth but not at the same time?" A nod from the Guardian was given. "Well… We are in Japan on Earth, it's just… not our Earth or our Japan. Well, it will be one day."

"'Will be one day?' Ghost, what… are… you…"

His words slowly died as his brain began processing what he was just told.

"… Ghost. What year is it right now?"

"… 20XX."

A deep breath was taken in and then released. His hands came up to his helmet and slapped the sides of it.

"20XX. The Twenty First Century. Are you positive?"

"Yes. It was weird at first since these are old, OLD radio signals going around, but I managed to tap into them after some trial and error. This is Japan on Earth in the year 20XX. The date itself is currently August 21, 20XX." Ghost informed his Guardian, who in turn took in another deep breath that he exhaled shortly after.

"Great. Just… great!" He threw his hands into the air. "WHAT THE HELL?! HOW AND WHY ARE WE IN THE PAST?!"

"Vex Gate, remember?"

The Guardian tried to say something, but ultimately fell silent. His arms slowly fell back down to his sides. "… What do we do now? Just wait a few centuries for the Traveler to come back, wait for the Collapse, then go back to killing Fallen, Hive, etc.?"

"That would take forever. Especially since you'd get bored waiting that long." He knew his Guardian too well for that kind of plan- if one could even call that a plan. "Right now, I say the best thing we do is… either stay out of the public eye completely, don't approach anyone, and only help out when we have to, or just… go incognito and merge with the humans of this century."

"Oh, yeah! Let's just put a 20 year old Hunter that's been fighting for his life for the past 3 years against several different races that wanted the Human race's extinction so they could get the Traveler and whatnot and just put him in the society of Japan in the Twenty First century. WONDERFUL idea." He put heavy emphasis on the 'wonderful.'

"Look, ultimately, it's up to you for what we do. I'm just going to stay as close as possible to keep you going so we might be able to figure out a way back. If you follow through with the idea of merging with this society, I can probably hack into Government servers and make you a registered citizen."

Silence fell over them, the sound of wind blowing through the trees surrounding the area as the occasional sound of insects came in.

"… Okay. Just… give me a little bit, alright? Give me some time to process everything that's happened."

"Will do." Ghost disappeared in another flash of light, leaving the Guardian alone to sigh once more.

"… How do I be a normal citizen again?"

'You had years of practice, didn't you?'

"You think I remember the boring parts of life? I died before I even turned 18, didn't get to live a normal adult life. How do I do taxes and stuff if I get a job? How do I buy a house or some kind of living area? Do I need an ID for stuff?"

'Since when were you this paranoid about stuff?'

"Since I apparently went back in time."

"Hello?" A voice made both of them freeze. The voice didn't sound too far, and the sound of leaves crushing under some weight told them that whoever said it was approaching.

'ARMOR OFF AND REPLACED WITH CLOTHES, NOW!'

Ghost complied, the Guardian's armor disappearing in a flash of light to reveal the man underneath.

He had a youthful look, his features not really attractive as he was of medium height. His midnight black hair stuck out in every direction due to how long he'd been wearing his helmet as some strands fell between his bright green eyes, their shine rivaling that of emeralds. His skin was a light shade of pale as his form was athletic at best, some obvious muscle development on his arms and legs, even his torso, but there was only enough for one to realize he was fit. He was wearing a purple shirt with the Nightstalker symbol over the left chest, a pair of dark green cargo pants on his legs with a pair of black boots with purple straps.

He quickly looked over his body to ensure no signs of him being a Guardian were on him, his hands running down his body to make sure he wasn't missing anything.

He didn't have long as a figure appeared from the dark, the figure stepping out into what faint light there was to reveal…

… arguably the most beautiful woman he had ever seen.

She was, without question, beauty- no, she was gorgeous. Her curly blonde hair fell down to her hips, her hair even managing to frame the edges of her beautiful features perfectly as if to draw more attention to her beauty. Her eyes were the brightest shade of blue he'd ever seen, on par with the day sky with their brightness. Her skin was a healthy shade of white in comparison to his light pale as her figure was voluptuous. She was wearing a white blouse with a blue skirt, a pair of white shoes for her feet.

'Holy-'

'That woman is… wow. I had no idea Twenty First century people were like this.'

"Hello?" The woman's voice was soft, but it sounded absolutely heavenly to hear. "I heard some screaming earlier from around this way. Are you alright? Is anyone hurt?"

'Screaming? I didn't do it when I was falling, did I?'

'No, you were out cold moment we appeared. You didn't make a sound.'

"I'm fine. As for screaming, I… don't think I heard any of that recently." He was telling the truth. He hadn't heard any since he woke up.

"Really? I swore I heard someone screaming just a little bit ago." The woman leaned to the side to look around him, moving to the other side as if to make sure there wasn't anyone else. "Well, if you don't mind me asking, why are you so far out of Akihibara?"

'I'm near Akihibara?'

'Familiar with it?'

'Been there like, once or twice. I was growing up in Kyoto before I had to move to Russia for… family reasons.'

'Should probably answer her question also.'

"I'm… out here to… take a break from the city life, you know? Spend some time outdoors." That one was a hard lie. He just hoped it was believable enough for the woman.

He also really needed to work on his lying skills.

As… bad as that sounds.

"… Your voice sounds a little hoarse. Are you sure you're okay?" She asked with a level of concern in her voice that only a mother could have for her child.

"Y-Yeah, sorry. I just haven't been talking much for the past few months, so my throat is feeling the comeback of my voice in full force right now. I'm sure it'll fix itself in a day or two." 'If I don't start shutting up.'

He was considering taking up his vow of silence again.

"Well, okay. If you say so." She accepted what he said without any hesitation, but the concerned expression on her face still remained. "I'd be careful out here. There have been a lot of disappearances lately."

"Thanks for the warning. Guess I should start heading home now." He had no idea where he'd be going after this. If he was lucky, there was an abandoned building somewhere in Akihibara he could crash for a while.

"Would you like me to accompany you to the nearest station? I should be going back now too."

'A chance for you to walk a woman home? You seem to be fitting in easily.' Ghost joked about his Guardian, earning a small level of ire from said person.

"Sure, I've been wandering around for so long, I'd almost gotten lost." To add to his lie, he scratched the back of his head in a nervous way while also releasing a matching laugh- which made his throat hurt more.

He needed something to help with his voice.

"Thank you." She flashed him a smile that could illuminate the darkness with how bright it was.

'If it weren't for my lack of hormones, I swear, I'd fall in love with this woman.'

"Oh, I almost forgot. My name is Gabriel." She did a soft bow towards him to go with her introduction. "What's your name?"

"Hikari, Saka." He introduced himself in response, a deeper bow to go with.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, Saka. I hope to see you one day in my café."

"Likewise." A second went by before he realized all of what she said. "Wait, café?"

"Yes, Heaven's Door Café. It's in Akihibara."

"I see. I'll be sure to come by some time." 'If I ever get money.'

Both of them left the lake to move for the closest station, unaware of the other's true origins.