No God Within These Walls

"They really cleaned out this place."

"They…wait, aren't they the one with the Titan that has a thing for puppies?"

"…Cayde?"

"No, he's a cat guy. I mean puppies. The guy that keeps yelling 'for the puppies' every time he kills some Cabal."

"Oh, that guy. Um, yes. His fireteam did it."

"Huh."

"And in case you're wondering, I'm more of a rabbit guy. Thanks for asking by the way."

Artemis ignored the jab. She hadn't asked her Ghost what kind of pets he liked. After all, he hadn't asked her whether she wanted a pet, or anything else for her last three birthdays, said birthdays marking the day he'd revived her in Old Russia. They'd had a solid relationship over the last three years – he'd talk, she'd shoot, and the remnants of Earth's children could breathe easy another day. It was a relationship that had worked out, and even after the Red Legion turned up and kicked them out of the Last City, it was still working.

"A white rabbit. I want a white rabbit."

Somehow.

"One with red eyes."

I'll give you a red eye you overgrown light bulb. She kept walking through the cathedral. The fireteam with the puppy-obsessed Titan had done a number on the Cabal, as their bodies lay everywhere. He and his two friends – all of them human, all of them revived mere hours before the Red Legion had launched their attack. They'd woken up to find a world with all the comforts of the Golden Age gone, and seen what comforts remained go the way of the ahmkara. She couldn't help but be impressed, but-

"Well then," asked Sparky. "Shall we find more aliens to kill? More guns to loot?"

But also aggravated. She'd been there in the Black Garden. She'd slain Crota and Oryx, brought the House of Wolves to heel, and contained the SIVA threat. Yet it was Ghaul who had bested her. Had kicked her aside as if she were nothing. Robbed her of the Guardians and her Light. And now, as she slowly regained it, was this trio who was always ahead of her. People who'd never faced the same horrors she had, but were now taking over where she left off.

She slumped down on one of the cathedral's pews. After hundreds of years, somehow the wood was still present, and somehow it supported her weight. The building was old. Pre-Golden Age. The stone was weathered, its glass windows were shattered, the only thing that was left standing was a single iron cross mounted at the far end of the building. Likely a symbol of some kind, but one she couldn't identify.

"I don't need a rabbit you know." Sparky hovered in front of her.

"I mean, I'd be fine with a guinea pig."

"That's nice."

"Or a mouse."

"I'll see what I can do."

"Or to see you smile again."

Artemis glared at him. It was the opposite of a smile, and her Ghost recoiled. She wanted to say she appreciated the effort, but-

"Don't patronize me."

But didn't, and said something else entirely. And regretted it immediately. Someday she'd tell him that. Someday, she might even get him that blasted rabbit. But not today. Not until she was standing over Ghaul's body with a gun in one hand, and a bloody blade in the other.

"I think people worshipped here once," Sparky said.

He'd broken the silence. Good for him.

"Before the Collapse."

"I know. It's a cathedral," Artemis murmured. "The type that doesn't involve dark gods being summoned."

"Indeed. But likely deities of some kind. Most pre-Collapse civilizations with formalized religions involved deities."

"And then the Traveller came." Artemis lay back in her seat, thinking of the sphere that had sacrificed everything for humanity against the Darkness. The one that she'd fought and killed for. The one that had done nothing when the Red Legion came. "Bit more of a practical god."

"I wasn't aware that you considered the Traveller to be a god."

"I don't. But I could see others doing so." She leant forward, rubbing her hands together – lack of warmth wasn't an issue, even in this broken continent at this time of year. "Do you think people came here back then? Seeking salvation when the Darkness came?"

"If they did…I can only assume that they fared as well in any similar structure in any similar place across the planet."

"No god within these walls," Artemis intoned.

Sparky said nothing and she sighed. For all she knew, her old self had been praying in Old Russia as well. Perhaps she'd believed in the Traveller, or something else entirely. Or perhaps she'd resigned herself to the emptiness of death there and then.

"Are you alright?"

She looked up at Sparky. Hovering there, like he always did. Always talking. Even when she wasn't shooting.

"Artemis?"

"Let's just say…that faith isn't strong for me right now."

"The Traveller doesn't demand your faith."

"No? Well, good. Because right now I don't have much faith in him. Or it. Or any of this." She got to her feet and checked her rifle. "Come on."

She began walking out. Past broken pews, past broken windows, past the bodies of the Cabal.

"I have faith in you."

She stopped and looked at Sparky. Still hovering there.

"Just so you know," he said. "Light or no Light, rabbit or no rabbit…you're still my Guardian. And I have faith in you."

Artemis paused. Bit her lip. Tightened her grip on the rifle. Thought of something…anything…to say.

"Thanks."

That would do. For now. After all, Sparky was the talker, she was the shooter. And there'd be a lot of the latter before the former could be done in earnest.

And maybe, just maybe, that time would come.

A/N

This takes obvious reference from the live-action Destiny 2 trailer, the one that spawned the "puppies" meme. A trailer that's part of a trend I saw for the leadup to Destiny 2, to make the game seem 'whacky' - less Destiny and more Borderlands. To be honest, it kind of puts me off, since there's a sharp divide in tone with how the game is marketed with how it actually is (or seems to be at least). So, anyway, drabbled this up.

Or maybe it's because I'm a cat person myself.