Chapter One
Belgarath looked up from reading as Garion entered. "You're up early I see," Garion said.
"Something was bothering me; I couldn't sleep."
"Is that the Darine Codex? I thought it was over. We defeated Zandramas and she turned into the constellation to replace the one that exploded. What else is there?"
Belgerath was silent for a moment as he thought through the events of the last several years. True, they had defeated Zandramas. Erriond had replaced Torak, just as Zandramas had replaced the missing constellations. Yet, something just didn't seem right. Belgarath had always known that this world had been created for the ultimate confrontation between the two Neccesities. Now that it was finished there was a New Purpose and a New Neccesity. How was it then, that that voice Garion had always carried around in his head hadn't cease to exist? The Neccesity which Belgarath had spent seven thousand or more years serving was to see the Original Purpose of the universe restored. Once that was accomplished, those conflicting Neccesities would be either desroyed or fulfilled. Either way, they wouldn't be in existance anymore. Yet, although the voice no longer resided in Garion's head, it still existed; and that was what had him tossing all night long. There was still something left for them to do.
"Belgarion," Belgarath said, "Do you know why you exist?"
"Please don't call me that, Grandfather, I'm Garion," Garion replied, a little mystified by the formal tone his grandfather used.
"No, you're not," His grandfather replied, "You've been Garion long enough. Besides, you didn't answer the question."
"Belgarion, do you know why you exist?"
Somewhat startled, and a little perplexed by his grandfather's behavior, Garion shook his head, "I don't understand, what does this have to do with my name?"
"A name means nothing, unless it means something," Belgarath said crypticaly. "Plain language? You were born 'Garion;' you have become 'Belgarion'. I was born with a name I no longer remember. As a child I was called Garath, 'from the town of Gara', in the language of my parents. When Aldur found me and took me as his disciple, I became Belgarath. Din became Beldin. Tira, Kira, Melkor, Sambar, and Zedar became Beltira, Belkira, Belmelkor, Belsambar, and Belzedar. It was Who they were.They were still Din, Tira, Kira, Melkor, and Sambar; but they had become more, and they embraced their new name along with who they were. Belzedar, because of his betrayal, willed himself to become again Zedar. This wasn't an act of rebellion to who he was, it was a confession." Belgarath then paused for emphasis, "Garion, you are Belgarion, disciple of Aldur, and instrument of Neccesity. Untill, you have been released from that, or you Choose to deny it, you are Belgarion. It's time you put away childish names and took upon you the purpose you were created for."
"I thought that was over. I mean, was everything we did for nothing? Do you mean that everything's still repeating?"
"No, not this time I don't think. There is a TASK, an EVENT, and a CHOICE out there yet, but I think these are new. What we did was neccesary, and it was final. The Dark Neccesity is no more. We won. But it's not over. Our neccesity still exists. I think it's like our names. Before, the Purpose we serve was to correct the accident - the star that exploded when and where it should not have. Once that was done, I think that the Purpose changed somewhat. Or maybe more precisely, became what it was born to be in the first place. Now the universe is heading towards the Purpose it was on at it's creation. And that is the Purpose we serve now. I guess what I'm trying to say is that, we still have work to do. You can play king and husband and father all you want - and that's good - but when it's time, you must be willing to become the Child of Light again, and be who you are . . . 'Belgarion'."
"Why me?" Garion sighed.
For the first time in his life Garion heard his grandfather become enraged at him. "Belgarion," Belgarath roared, "I don't want you to ever say 'why me?' again. I've spent seven eons waiting, and sacrificing so you could exist. I lost a wife and a daughter so you could do what you were meant to do. I've lived in poverty, hunger, and cold; I've given up everything in this world for you, and I will not have you make it as nothing by your constant whining! Be a man Belgarion, and grow up!
Shocked, Garion prepared to defend himself, then thought the better. Although events were not repeating themselves in the same manner as before, he realized to his chagrin that this particular conversation had happened before. He remembered the time in Nyissa on the ship with his Aunt Pol and their conversation. He remembered how greatly he had hurt her. He also realized that he never wanted to make that same mistake again. "I'm sorry, Grandfather, and you're right. It's who I am; That's why me. I've spent so much time trying to fix the purpose of the universe that I've been running from my own purpose. Maybe deep down I had hoped that once this was all over I could just be Garion again. But that's not who I am is it? Maybe I never really was. So I suppose the question I should ask is, 'what do I need to do?' I guess that's why you're reading the Darine; what have you found?"
Belgarath nodded. "It's a step," he said, half to himself. Then louder to Garion he said, "Well, Something I read once in the Mrin said, 'And lo, When the Lights that Were, and Were Not, and Are Again are risen from the Place that Is No More, then shall the Child of Light take up the Stone and come to the Land which Lies Away; and there shall the CHOICE decide the Fate of all that is, was, and is yet to be.' When I read this before I assumed that the Land which Lies Away was Riva. When Zandramas transformed into the missing stars she became the Lights that Were, and Were Not, and Are Again. I thought it was merely the Prophecy trying to be funny - saying that now our lives have really begun."
"But something made you change your mind?" Garion surmised..
"It's the use of capitals. The scribes who took down the Mrin lunitic's raveings didn't put any capitals in the text when it came to an EVENT. We were the ones who put significance to them. Yet, for some unexplained reason that I never noticed before, this particular passage does use capitals. I ablosutely hate it when he does this."
"Who? does what?" Garion asked.
"Your little friend. He thinks he's clever. He somehow is able to shut down our brains untill it's time to use the information. I can look at a particular passage for centries and never decipher its meaning until He's ready for me to. I hate it when people tamper whith things!"
"Uh, Grandfather, I thought you said that passage was in the Mrin?"
"Yea?"
"So why are you reading the Darine?"
"I think I've explained this before. The Darine isn't as reliable as the Mrin, and usually doesn't have as much detail; but often, if you can find correlating passages, the Darine is extremely usefull in filling in the missing peices. I'm just trying to see if I can find anything that will shed some light on this. I know it's relevant. I just don't have a clue yet as to how," Belgarath said picking up the book again.
"Well, let me know when you find something. It's not often that I get to walk around on my own; but, since Ce'nedra is in Tolnedra visiting her father, and amazingly enough I don't have any state functions or audiences to give until after noon, I think I'm going to take the advantage of a long hot bath. Come and find me if you make any progress."
"You'll be the first to know" his grandfather replied without looking up. "Oh, and Belgarion, don't forget what we talked about."
"I won't," He replied. Garion noticed that his grandfather was probably going to insist on calling him 'Belgarion' from here on out. 'I guess it's time for me to accept it,' He sighed as he headed to his chambers to grab a towel and change. Still, the universe can get rather heavy sometimes; I'm glad I have my grandfather to help me carry it. And with that he headed to the baths to take advantage of this brief respit. He might not get another one for quite some time.