I wish I owned DBZ, but I don't. I own DVD's and tapes, but it just isn't the same. I also don't own the right to Starcraft or any of the music pieces you see selected, just copies of merchandise, such a shame. The artists that created them are geniuses and we all must bow to them.
Chapter 51: Path of the Destined
"I don't mean to be a non-believer or anything, I'm just not so sure on this whole "I'm part of a Protoss legend" thing. It just seems so unlikely," I began as I sat on the ground next to the aging Dark Templar. She was much older than Zeratul, who was ancient by my standards. There was a definite difference though with Raszagal, she looked like she was on her deathbed, barely clinging to a short strand of life rope. It was a bit sad to see one so old to look so frail and know that there was nothing you could do for her to ease any pain she was in. On the other hand, she looked very happy to have visitors, I can only imagine that it may have been awhile since I was the one to open the door. Zeratul stood off to the side, apparently his job was to bring me here and nothing else.
"Much like the prophecies said, a powerful Terran child in doubt about his future," she said like it was memorized. Like I said, really creepy.
"I'm sure you have questions about this, but you will have to follow what you believe is the right road young one. We can only show you the door, you're the one who walks through it," she explained with a line I swore I heard a few times before.
"Yeah I've been hearing that a lot lately," I said with a slight shrug.
"I can see you're confused, and your heart has been shown many paths to follow lately. Many historical figures and legends follow the same road you are taking, unsure of what is right or wrong. While many feel they know their path, some do not. You will write your own destiny much like the ancient script in the great hall you passed through. Know that it is never complete until you yourself complete it, no matter what others say or believe themselves," she said in a very calm tone. I nodded slightly to her kind but knowing words.
"You may be the one to finally vanquish the Overmind and its Zerg. You may not be. I can certainly sense the gift, you have the potential. But it looks like your not quite ready for this challenge," she said, giving me a hard look. I thought about that for a moment, she had a point. I felt ready enough physically, but I have had a lot of mental stress lately, mostly concerning a slight depression.
"Hmmm, I know that look. A warrior's broken heart in need of mending. I have seen it many times in the eyes of our brethren. That hopelessness that has been installed in a warrior so much that he has cracked. The mightiest warriors have fallen to their enemies because of this fatal flaw. A flaw that is so rich in pride and compassion, that it eventually undoes everything the once proud warrior stood for," she spoke softly again, hitting me hard mentally. It sounded a lot like one of Zeratul's speeches, but she was certainly a gifted speaker in comparison.
"Yet it is this flaw of emotions that every great warrior must possess. Never let go of your compassion, or you will pay the ultimate price and end up destroying yourself," she said, more like ordered.
"Yeah I understand, controlling my fear and anger is a major part of controlling my power," I nodded.
"Part of it is that, but most of it is keeping a delicate balance with all good and bad emotions. As you know, anger and rage can be used to one's advantage, especially if you lead a gentle lifestyle that becomes interrupted. However, if one emotion dictates your personality, it will crack very quickly," she said, turning serious. Well that is something new.
"As I understand it, you were recently through a very testing trial not long ago, where your emotions eventually got the better of you. Your darker emotions built up and attracted a lot of negative energy within yourself. This spawned a spiritual form of what you would consider your own dark side, correct?" she asked. I glanced at Zeratul, but he had shut his eyes.
"Don't worry child, I have my own ways of seeing through a person's heart and mind. I do not know the details, but I can certainly see the effects. I've traveled the universe a time or two before even young Zeratul was given life. Every personality must have its own positive and negative sides. A Ying and a yang as some of you Terrans call it. If either side is stronger than the other, this balance is unstable and must be dealt with before the being can resume stability. Some beings recognize this, some do not. Many of them work it out in their own ways. Your friend Goku is a good example of this. He is very much good hearted and kind to all living things. You hardly ever see any negative feelings from him, just by nature. If he were not such a gifted fighter, he would not ever be able to work out his negativity and would fall into despair eventually. His negative emotions and energy is worked out through the evil beings he battles against, rather he wins or not. You, like him, represent the side of light and righteousness, I can easily see that. I can also see that you are a very emotionally balanced individual, you can see things with all of your emotions. Should one side of the pivotal scale gain an advantage on the other, that advantage is dominant," she explained, stopping to breathe for a moment.
"I understand that, but where exactly is this leading to with me?" I asked carefully.
"You should be a bit more respectful, she was getting to the point momentarily," Zeratul interrupted.
"It is all right my faithful servant; he is encouraged to have curiosity. After all, his entire destiny is potentially much more broadened than just here and now on this planet," she said, giving him a look that clearly said to be quiet. He nodded and crept back into the shadows in silence.
"The dominancy of the light or dark side can directly determine one's actions, and this can obviously change in the blink of an eye. In long term speaking, if one side is overly dominant over another, the other will build up and cause hot and sometimes violent lash outs of raw negative emotions no matter which side has gained the advantage. For example, if you suddenly become entrenched in negativity due to the pain of loss, you should be able to work through it without being rash. However, if one goes through enough of this anger dominated behavior, it can slowly and perhaps eventually lead to a change in behavior to where one's darkest rage and fear can drive them to madness and insanity. This is quite often the result of a major shift in one person's lifestyle, or like I said, through pain of loss," she explained.
I let those words sink in, before realizing that she had hit on everything I had been through right on the head. It wasn't the whole transformation into a Saiyan she was speaking of either, that hadn't changed my behavior a whole lot. She was talking about the day Trunks had messed up and turned me into an adult with that damned Ionic Pulsar. Most everything that had come about lately was because of that day, though the pain of losing both Videl and Fasha was not helping things. It may have been delayed by a great deal, but I now knew that my darker self would have emerged sometime during the conflict with the Zerg even if the Protoss had never been involved. By either being captured, or seeing a loved one getting captured and/or killed could have triggered the overflow. All of those violent lash outs I had during the trip to the past were all precursors and I never even knew it. Vegeta hadn't known either, he just thought I was displaying Saiyan traits that I was very new with, but they were in fact the signs of my darkest feelings. The way I had injured a few fellow Saiyans, the way I had brutally murdered Frieza and his henchmen. Even the Tremens that I killed, rather they were attacking me or not, none of it should have happened like that. The way I killed Frieza probably would have happened either way, however I certainly would not have been thinking this way back then either. In all actuality he may have deserved it anyway. But all of the others, did they deserve the same fate that I personally handed them with my strength, do I have the right to decide? I allowed my face to fall slightly, gasping a bit for breath as I realized this, a few tears coming down my face.
I felt a cold but gentle hand find my shoulder, "It is all right child, one never realizes their mistakes until it is too late. Understand though, it is never a wrong thing to punish those who have committed the worst crimes, though the method of punishment and justice can be debated. Obviously one who is only committing petty theft should not be stripped of his own life, but one who consistently takes lives without provocation certainly has no right to keep their own, remember that," she said kindly. I sniffled slightly and nodded, wiping the salt water from my face and allowing her to continue.
"Only a strong will can overcome such a shift in emotions, you and others like you have shown that streak rarely found in anyone. Your ability to vanquish your own evil half is the sign of a truly gifted soul. Thus the emotional balance you possess has shifted back to normal, for evil cannot last forever. Good cannot truly last forever either, eventually the two sides must balance each other out, or there is always a conflict. Your will to become a good-hearted person who fights for those who cannot defend themselves is a fine asset. However you must understand that your positive and negative emotional states become a reflection of this, and such an event with your own dark side taking form can happen again given enough time. You must understand and control all of your emotions. It is never a good thing to dwell on negativity, but too much of a positive outlook can be just as dangerous. Realistically, true feelings are not Positive or Negative, it is how we act upon them that make them that way. Breaking a medium within your soul is essential to your development, do you understand this?" she asked finally, taking another exhausted breath. Wow, that is a lot to take in, but it makes perfect sense, and it wasn't quite as vague as Zeratul's speeches.
"Yes I do, I'll try my best," I said, bowing slightly.
"I know you will child. Good and Evil are the only absolutes in this reality. Everything else will fall into place accordingly with that balance. As you progress, you will truly learn to channel the correct emotions with your differing powers. With your Psionic power, positive emotions make those abilities more effective, much like negative emotions make ki energy more effective. The combined energy will draw strength from both as long as you are balanced. Just be sure you know your enemy before passing any sort of judgment on them. You never know when you'll come across a mistaken enemy and improperly react to a situation. Back to the point about good and evil, your friend and teacher Vegeta is an interesting case. He was never completely evil despite what some may think. He was shown that by his upbringing, much like Goku was shown complete love. And at the same time, either one of them could turn to either side of their personality if enough things line up just right. Goku has had his bouts with his negative emotions just as Vegeta has with his positive side. Any Evil being can be shown the light either by attrition or extreme despair. I don't think I need to explain Good turning to Evil anymore, now come over here and look at this part of the text," she said, raising her hand just as the lighting in the dimly lit room shot up dramatically. There were several different displays of ancient text and hieroglyphs broken down into several sections, none of which seemed complete.
"All of the preordained destinies you see in this room are in regards to the Protoss race. Some revolve around prosperity and other great things. Others circle around suffering and darker events. Some don't even have a future, because they end abruptly. Many of them can hit a crossroad where even the smallest decision can affect the outcome. There are two different futures in this room that will cross paths very soon, and the path chosen will directly determine the fate of our species as well as the universe as a whole. Many people consider the universe to be of one lone place where everything and everyone there is real and everything else is imaginary. However I believe the actual universe is made up of all people, all matter, all energy, all dimensions and all time. You already know part of this, you have been to other places that never existed other than in the imagination of the mind. You are currently living part of that imagination to a degree, therefore it is real! What you see on these two inscriptions here is only part of the path you will potentially travel. For there to be a road for everyone to travel, you must stop the ones who would ruin it for everyone. The Overmind's ambition to rule our race is only a stepping-stone in what it believes its path is. Its path of destruction and chaos is a selfish one as you know," she said. I gave her a strange look, was she reading my mind this whole time?
"I do not possess the ability to read minds, however the expressions you Terrans use to silently communicate can pierce any thought process easily once you've been around it long enough, you to will know this with experience. The things I know about you and your friends is, private knowledge," she said with what had to have been a smile. Yeah, right. She now pointed out the two "futures" she had been talking about. They were similar to the hallway wall's ending for a prophecy untold. They both featured a similar tale. Only this time there were several humanoid figures with aura like drawings around them with the Zerg hopping around between and ahead of them. On the other side were many of the Protoss like drawings, as well as the smaller humanoid with a tail and a sword, leading them to battle with an aura of his own. There were a few more humanoid figures like this roaming with the Protoss as well, but were drawn back a bit. The ending of the piece was different, only with the simple fact of one side or the other winning. Both sides featured a humanoid warrior with a huge aura winning at the end, one represented good and one evil.
"As you can see, there is a fierce battle on the horizon, whoever wins is up to you now. Your friends will help you in your time of need, but it is still your decision on which future is true. While it may seem easy to decide now, keep in mind the intangibles, the unexpected possibilities. Proceed with caution, and do whatever you must to see your true path clear!" she finished as she backed off while I stared at the ancient text, letting her words and knowledge flow through me.
I heard heavy wheezing and coughing a moment later. It wasn't a normal cough like a human or Saiyan would have had, but it definitely wasn't good.
"Matriarch, don't tell me," I heard Zeratul utter carefully. I spun around to see that the strong and proud old woman was once again withering away in her old age.
"Yes, it seems my time has come. My one true destiny in this world was to pass on my knowledge to the one responsible for either our salvation or our collapse. It seems you were correct, this is the chosen one," she rasped heavily. I felt her strong mixed energy signal break apart, showing a distinct Psionic and ki signal separately now. Her ki was dropping very fast in only one direction that I knew so well, death.
"I can heal you, you don't have to die," I said, stepping towards her.
"You do possess that ability, however you must save your strength for the battles ahead. Trying to keep me alive will only drain you, and I have gone long past the life expectancy of any Templar, light or dark. It is my time, I knew this a long time ago when I first became a Templar," she said with a definite weakness in her voice. She limped over to a bed with Zeratul's help while I stood by, trying to figure out what to do, follow another's wish or do what I believed to be right.
"Please let me help you," I offered.
"You already have young one, I know now that my life was not a complete waste. My greatest moment in life was being able to pass on my knowledge to those who needed guidance. You and Zeratul have been my own guiding light, and I pass to the Kalah's will with great happiness in knowing that I could help you follow the hard road ahead, thank you my friends. I shall always watch over you both with the love and compassion you have bestowed upon me," she said, collapsing into the bed. Her eyes closed, and her ki signal vanished in the blink of an eye.
"Matriarch? MATRIARCH?!" Zeratul shouted now, his own grief washed upon him in an instant. I needn't check her energy signal again, I already knew she was gone. He fell to one knee, muttering his own language so fast I couldn't make any translation, not that I knew it past a few choice words. I felt a warm wash of energy coming from her lifeless form, her spirit was rising.
"Remember your teachings, and follow your hearts and you will succeed!" I heard in the air. Zeratul rose to this, he had heard it as well.
"Farewell," he said in a sad voice.
-
"Are you ready to proceed?" the shadowy form asked. I couldn't help but sulk a bit in the presence of her lifeless body. I had barely known her, and yet it was if she had spent a lifetime watching over me from afar.
"Can I have a few minutes?" I asked.
"Take all the time you need, a warrior should always meditate and reflect on his experience before a battle. I will be above, I sense that our time is running thin," he said, leaving the room quickly. The door remained open, but the light had long sense faded out, more than likely due to the recent loss of its caretaker. I lost track of him quickly as he left the area, leaving me in a slowly darkening room as the torches around me slowly began to fade to blackness one by one. 10 in all, some yellow and some blue, all of them destined to fade out like so many I had seen. All of them passed into the wind's of change much like my life as I reflected upon it.
Hearing the name, the memories come back again
I remember when it started happening.
I'd see you in every thought I had and then,
The thoughts slowly found words attached to them.
And I knew as they escaped away,
I was committing myself to them and every day
I regret saying those things cause now
I see that I took what I hated and made it a part of me!
And it never goes away…
One. I thought about my previous life. It seemed so long ago that I left my planet, and yet it had been about two years including the time in the hyperbolic chamber. My human mother and all of my family from my home world, my friends that may or may not have been there for me, I felt I had not always been there for them and that I should have been.
Two. All of that life, gone in barely 48 hours, my life completely changed and flip flopped. Everything I had dear was taken, no, stolen from me by a heartless monster! To have that back, I was sure I would sacrifice anything to do it.
Three. A new life given to me by that same monster that had stolen my old one. New family and new friends, eventually I would care for them in the same way. I had to give up that old part of me to realize and gain the new one, and that had healed my damaged soul in a way that I had never realized until now.
Four. Losing that new family igniting a new spark in me during the Majin Buu crisis. The fact that Supreme Kai had blocked my mind from accessing what may transpire became a prime factor in the slow release of my hidden potential. Another monster was trying to take my family and friends away, and I fought against it along side them, eventually winning.
Five. A series of strange twists regarding my life and my potential. My more potent Saiyan aspects were made known to me by negative emotions that as I understood were supposed to be held back and in check. Trying to be the good-hearted warrior was impossible because I never understood how to deal with conflicting emotions that built up over time, not too mention the sharpening of my body and soul without time. I almost feared what may have happened if Elder Kai had released all of my power.
Six. My mind, body and soul restored after some horrific things had been done against my enemies whether they deserved it or not. Once again a child, but forced to under go the stress of dealing with a threat to peace. A trait I will probably forever have, and maybe now, for the first time, I will truly understand what my life may consist of. I had to let go of my darker emotions and the potentially guilty feelings that came with them. I didn't need to be the equivalent of Buu blowing his stack.
GET AWAY FROM ME!
Gimme my space back you gotta just
GO
Everything comes down to the memories of
YOU
I kept it in but now I'm letting you
KNOW
I've let you go
Seven. The Zerg. I could write several books on them based on opinion of what I now knew. Always I had known that they were a threat to peace. Their chaotic and consuming will to please their master, the Overmind, the driving force behind them. Its undying ambition to power had even awoken a part of myself that I never realized. I had been taken and twisted by its will for control, and my dark side had become my own worst enemy. I barely survived it, and had learned my first true lesson in knowing my own emotions, especially fear. He was everything I wasn't, yet his own fear turned into my ally in vanquishing him. I could still feel traces of him there, knowing I would never be truly rid of that aspect just like any other life form. My previous mistake of not knowing the demons I may have deep down, had cost me dearly, both in grief and anguish. The Cerebrate had warned me about letting him out, but my good heartedness had believed it to be a cry for help. His liberation had eventually taught me to look past the choices I make, and that not everyone is what they first seem. I suppose that previous lesson paid off when I met Kline for the first time, as I had nothing but suspicion for him.
And now…
You become a part of me, you'll always be right here
You become a part of me, you'll always be my fear
I can't separate, myself from what I've done
Giving up a part of me, I've let myself become you!
I've let myself become lost inside these thoughts of you
Giving up a part of me
I've let myself become you.
Eight. The last torch that blew out represented to me the lifeless form in front of me. Living out her life to a destiny that wasn't realized for many years more than I thought possible. Her kindness to a total stranger no doubt, going only on assumption that turned out to be truth in shadow. Her last words of knowledge and encouragement have revealed the meaning behind the last two candles before me, sitting on either side of her resting place.
The Last two. One represented a future that relished in a hopeful peace that I had to bring about. The other represented what may happen if I failed and the evil I faced became the dominant force in everyone's life. Even if there would be another to put a stop to it, I couldn't count on it. I knew in that moment that I must do everything I could to make sure that the 2nd passage didn't come to pass. I rose to my feet with a serious glare at the last two candles, only one of these is going to go out, and it is not going to be by my failure! I will take whatever action I must to prevent the evil from spreading. I'm ready! I felt a few shockwaves go off far above ground, filling the room with falling dust. Some of the cave behind me got the worst end of the deal when I sensed some larger rocks fall into the dark path. Great, that will slow me down, but I've got to get to the surface! I sense my friends might be in trouble!
A/N: If you recognized that last part to be the prologue, you are correct, with a few careful wording changes of course, plus a stronger ending. I typically don't like to supply a prologue that teases future events like that, but it seemed appropriate. Next chapter features a battle most have wanted to see and the cliffhangers will end temporarily.