Lady Luck

Eyes Up, Guardian

An eye slowly opened, adjusting to the light as darkness began to fade away. Layer after layer of color and form returned to the eye as a second opened. Stiffness plagued the arms and legs of the body as it pulled itself upright, leaning heavily against the frame of the car. A floating thing came into their sight, catching them by surprise. It was somewhat small but flew with ease without the use of wings or an engine. Twitching its backside every so often a degree or so. Its blue center blinked, and the shell twitched in the front as it spoke, moving with words in place of lips.

"It worked!" It twitched, its shell extending slightly, "You're alive!" The body tried to push away from the car, only to slump against it again in a rush of vertigo, legs still stiff as stone. "You don't know how long I've been looking for you..." The little thing lamented, floating closer to their face, "I suppose you have no idea what's going on..." They shook their head slowly, studying the little machine. "I'm a Ghost." A soft, warm chuckle escaped it, "Actually now, I'm your Ghost." It trailed off as they looked around, studying the snowy area around them. The cars left on the interstate, every single one rusted, rotten and left to crumble with the faded memory of a time so lost it was merely rumors. "You've been dead a long time." The little blue eye like thing blinked and seemed to glance down their body. "Let's get you dressed."

The shell extended again, and the body felt a tingle before warmth settled over them. When they looked down, they could see a set of clothing over them, slightly too small, but it granted more warmth than what they had been wearing a moment ago. Closer inspection told them it wasn't simple clothing they were wearing but armor, complete with a helmet on their head.

"You're going to see and hear a lot of things you won't understand at first, but you'll learn." A roar in the distance caused it to drop down low and on instinct, so did their guardian, taking refuge behind the car. "We won't last long out here alone," It twitched, "I have to get you to the Last City, to the Vanguard and the Speaker."

Another roar echoed across the land and the spooked guardian silently agreed, nodding their head. The ghost flew away, slowly climbing higher before dropping down to their guardian's head height and tilted in a way that resembled a nod. "Normally I'd tell you to get on your sparrow but we don't have one...yet..." It twitched again as the silent guardian stared at them, his reflection in the helmet blinking. "And no ship to fly either...this isn't good..." He sighed again and tilted his shell to the ground, flying in small circles as if pacing.

"If only we had some help..." A thought must have come to the little drone, as it froze in place and then flew up close to the helmet excitedly. "Maybe we can find some other guardians nearby! The Cosmodrome usually has someone milling about!" The ghost flew backward and extended itself again. Smaller pieces of its shell twisting and rotating in the back while the larger pieces floated in the front on the edge of the blue light. "Hm...I'm picking up on some signals, but they're too weak. They wouldn't be able to hear me from here." It replaced its shell and twitched, fitting it back into its preferred place. " If we get closer, they should be able to hear us. Hold still." The ghost vanished in a blink of light. The guardian jerked around, trying to find their strange companion. "Don't worry, I'm still with you. Just think of me as being in your backpack for now." Their guardian relaxed, flexing their hands in the gloves as they moved away from the car and into the open, scanning the area around them.

Cars dotted the nearby area, but nature had succeeded in reclaiming what it had lost. Trees, bushes, flowers, and dirt had erased all but the frames of the vehicles left behind. They stumbled down a small knoll, adjusting themselves once again to their own limbs. "We need to move, fast. If we don't the Fallen will catch up to us. But we should be relatively safe once we get inside The Wall." The guardian turned left, "No, to your right." The Guardian turned slightly, "Right." They turned again, "Right." The patient ghost told them again as they kept turning. Then they saw it.