"Stop!" She ordered at the humanoid form as the Guardian beside her rushed to limp form laying on the deck. The sights of her weapon remained fixed on the Vanguard's apparent killer as they froze. The Barons that Cayde and his Hunters had worked so hard to imprison lined up menacingly before the transmat ring, mandibles clicking and weapons bristling. "Do you know what kind of devil you just made a deal with?"

She knew if she or the Guardian made a move, they were all dead. But perhaps it would be worth-

"Petra Venj. Ex-Corsair, disgraced Emissary, Wrath and Regent of Mara Sov." all the breath was sucked out of her, replaced by cold dread and a heavy wave of it-can't-be. The figure continued talking, tipping his head almost thoughtfully. "All I've done today is secure the costs were necessary, and I think the return of the Queen will be an end result that pleases you."

Uldren was alive.

"Murderer!" the Guardian accused, lifting her rifle. Petra raised on fist in a silent order not to fire. Her hand shook, and her gun threatened to lower.

"They killed hundreds of our people. Is your control so absolute you can stop them from doing so again?" she asked coldly.

"With the death of the Guardian who put them here? Oh yes, Executioner." he said, turning around. There was a sly smirk on his face, the arrogant kind she was used to seeing. His armor was so tattered and dirty, she could barely recognize it as the Crow pilot uniform. His hair was oily and overgrown, and there was a spark of madness in his golden eyes.

Everything else was no surprise, but the madness? It was so apparent, there was no doubt in her mind he was every bit of crazy as the Hangman. Her Prince. Her would-be King, in another life, where he had returned after the Battle of Saturn.

So while the part of her that had sworn fealty to the House of Sov told her to bow, the soldier inside of her resisted, and reinforced her aim. Stopped her hand from shaking.

Prince Uldren was alive.

"Why didn't you return?" she choked out the words through the lump in her throat. She didn't know if it was because that goofball Hunter was dead, or from seeing what her Prince had become, and knowing every truth that came with his being alive. "We needed you, you were Crown Heir! We were broken, we needed a ruler. And you, the would-be King, were what? Chasing the impossible?"

Queen Mara was dead. Months of denial during the Taken War had cooled into icy acceptance. Her Queen was dead, and nothing that Uldren claimed would make her believe otherwise.

"This, this is what I was warning you about!" Uldren hissed, commencing a strangely manic burst of pacing before stopping to glare at Petra. Who is he talking to? Did he have a comm link to someone else? "I feel her, Venj! She lives; the voices call! Come with me! Come and you'll see her returned to the physical, returned to the throne. The Reef will be strong again!"

"You're mad." she shook her head. He was spouting utter nonsense. And hearing voices was never a good thing, unless you were a Techeun and trying to. "You're feeling ghosts, Uldren. You've committed one murder, and signing off on dozens, perhaps hundreds, more."

Uldren Sov, the Last Heir, was alive.

And she could not let him leave alive, even if it cost her her own life.

She fired, shot after shot, as did the Guardian. Uldren's eyes glowed like golden rings of fire, and the bullets stopped mid-flight. Her eyes widened; he had the same psychokinetic potentials as others in the Sov line, but Pallas was the only time she'd ever seen or heard of him using them; and even those had been simple illusions.

An invisible force hit her like a sparrow at high speed, and the feeling of flight was cut short by the pain of landing. Her head smacked sharply against the floor, and she blacked out for several moments, before her soldier instincts reminded her that a man who went down in this kind of situation usually didn't get back up unless they were fast.

She rolled, simply to change her position in relation to where any enemies would have been aiming, but her gun was in the other direction. She unsheathed her boot knife, and staggered to her feet. Uldren was striding to the ring, almost casually.

"It's never too late, Venj." he said as he walked, voice raised so it would carry. He twisted to look at her one last time, a small smirk on his face. "After all, the line between Light and Dark is so very thin. Do you know which side you're on?"

She threw her knife as an answer, and the Guardian threw a grenade. He backed into the ring, and it deactivated before either could reach him. The Guardian's Ghost said something, but she didn't hear him. Head ringing, she let herself fall back, let all the implications of what had just happened hit her all at once.

Uldren was alive.

She tore off her eye patch, and rubbed at the old injury to try to stem phantom pain as she tried to control her breathing.

He was still alive.

Months of grieving, the full force of their armada wiped out by one weapon. And then in the night, Hallem comes to her door to tell her Queen Mara, hail her but curse her, had left the regency to the Queen's Wrath.

Her.

Petra Venj, who had nearly started a war between the City and the Reef. Who then spent months searching in vain hope that their ruler was alive. That maybe the Prince was. Anyone. But no. And between assassination attempts, dysfunctional Paladins, manipulation of Guardian resources, and disgruntled Techeuns, they had somehow formed a routine of life as the search for a rightful ruler began. The Dreaming City, becoming strangely infested with Taken, had to be declared off-limits(oh, how the people had rioted at her decision) while the Corsairs tried to peg an origin point and wipe the threat out. Tracing the familial history of the line of Sov. Finding them.

Then, the Red Legion. Everything stopped for a few moments, while everyone watched on in shock as Guardians, struck weak by the Cage, were slaughtered. by the hundreds. And when the search for a ruler started anew, the Barons showed up. And the Royalty, hidden at the Origin Libraries, were destroyed in the single most violent afternoon in Awoken history.

All hope lost, with lives being taken daily, she'd had no choice but to call in the Guardians.

Cayde-6 had arrived an hour later, with almost an army of his most trusted Guardians at his back- Marcus Ren, Enoch Bast, Quantis Rhee, Chalco Yong, Cron-8, and several others. Their hunt for the Barons had been like an old earth western legend playing out in real time, right down to the end.

And now, Uldren was alive.

In another universe, he came back instead of... whatever he had been doing these past three years. In another life, she had bent her knee to King Uldren; King Uldren, who instead of being driven to madness by voices and ghosts, grew more thoughtful, wiser, stronger through the task of leading their people. King Uldren, who would still have disliked Guardians, but wouldn't deny it when they needed Guardian support. King Uldren, who, thought still riddled with faults, wasn't a bad leader, nor a legendary one, but would never consider murder, let alone a path that would lead to innocent Reef blood spilled.

That version of Uldren Sov did not exist, nor would it ever. The devil wore a face that she once knew, and the man he'd been before could never return, not if he was this far gone.

With a shaky breath, Petra accepted the Guardian's offered hand. The Hunter pulled her to her feet.

"We-I have a job to do." there were still prisoners loose. She had to make sure they didn't reach any civilians. "Prepare Cayde for transport, I'll deliver the news."

She cast one last look at the Exo. I'm so sorry I called you here. She knew what side she was on. She walked away, stopping only to pick up her gun, and cast her own feelings into a mental jar that she could open and examine later. Petra Venj was not a Queen, no matter what Hallem or Variks said; she never would be. At heart, she would always be a soldier, and the enemy was afoot on her homeland.

But not for long.

Sorry. I just have so many feelings about Petra right now.

In the Dreaming City trailer, the tone of her voice just screamed 'I'm done with this Sh**, come help me kill this giant monster because if you want something done right...'

Oh, Petra you are SO the new Queen of the Reef. Your just the... erm, bad&$$ kind that takes matters into her own hands. In a direct-approach shoot-it-point-blank kind of way.

...

I think she's my new favorite character...

Fare Thee Well!