CHAPTER 8: TRUTH HURTS

Trinity couldn't sleep that night… So many question he needed the answer to… Niobe told her what happened during her 25 year absence, but still… how could it be? How could she be alive? How come she didn't age? She should be 55 years old… And the war was not over? Morpheus dead? And The Phantom being a threat to everyone? She couldn't wait to visit the Oracle, she knew she would give her all the answers…

Phoenix was exhausted after waking Trinity up. She barely had any pulse when Castor took her into bed. He was so worried that he stood by her side all night.

She woke up late the next day, just when the Oracle communicated with them and announced she would receive Trinity and Phoenix.

"Welcome, Trinity! Nice to see you again!" the Oracle said as the two walked trough the door.

"Oracle, please, tell me what happened! I have so many questions!" Trinity spoke.

Phoenix didn't say a thing. She had many questions to ask too, but she knew it was more important for Trinity to be answered.

"I know you have, dear! And I know you have many questions too, Phoenix. Have a seat and I'll tell you the entire story…"

"What happened to me and Neo?" Trinity asked.

"You and Neo were saved by my…daughter"

"Your daughter?" Trinity asked stunned "You have a daughter?"

"I HAD a daughter. She was a very rebel child, she never liked the fact that she could see the future, read thoughts, she never liked her powers… When she grew up she fell in love and left me. I guess she loved that The Merovingian hated me…"

"The Merovingian? You mean to tell us that your daughter was…PERSEPHONE?" Trinity was more surprised than before. "And you say that she saved us? That SHE saved ME?"

"Yes, Trinity! You see, when you first went with Neo and Morpheus at the Merovingian's castle, to find the Keymaker, Persephone saw the future that you two had, she knew that you were both destined to die. And she also saw another thing, something that neither you nor Neo knew at the moment. That something was the salvation of you two and of the world… And because she had fallen in love with Neo, she decided to help him at any cost… and the cost was to be high…"

"But… what did she see?" Trinity asked, jealous of Persephone.

"Trinity, Persephone saw that you were pregnant! You were to have a child!" the Oracle revealed.

Trinity couldn't believe what she was hearing. She, a mother?

Phoenix suddenly began to realize that Trinity's story might indeed concern her, more than she imagined.

"What happened to the child?" Trinity could barely ask.

"I'll explain immediately… After your ship crashed and you died, Persephone, who had followed you, came and took you to Machine City. She used her powers to bring you back to life and healed your wounds, but she kept you in a come until you gave birth. After that she had the machines keep you in a cryogenic state, knowing that one day you will be brought back. She was the one to heal Neo's eyes and he was kept in cryogenic state too, except that his situation was worse…"

"But you say I gave birth! Where is my baby?" Trinity asked.

Phoenix looked at her and she realized everything that the Oracle was going to say… she could see everything that happened. She closed her eyes and continued:

"Persephone decided to take your baby. But her husband found out what she did and decided it was time that she paid for helping his worst enemy. He went after her to kill her. She knew she would die. So she decided to get the baby in a safe place. She put on a black cloak and came to the Oracle's house. Before handing her the baby, she gave her powers to it, she knew it would need them to save the world. Then she left knowing that she would be shot by the Merovingian as she walks out the door. But that didn't happen. She couldn't see any more, she couldn't see that her husband had been shot by the Phantom while following her… that the Phantom would kill her in the park…" Phoenix burst into tears "That's my story, I WAS THE BABY!"

Trinity was stunned… that young girl was her daughter? Neo's daughter? She waited for the Oracle to give her details.

The Oracle spoke:

"That is right, Phoenix! Trinity and Neo are your parents!

Trinity and Phoenix stared at each other, speechless, crying for minutes… Then they gave each other a warm embrace.

Phoenix had more questions for the Oracle:

"Why can't I remember my past? What did you do with me after Persephone left me here?"
"I knew it wasn't safe to keep with me. I took you to Machine City. I had the Architect make you your own reality, your own world, a world where I had him connect Trinity too, while she was in her coma. You two lived there like mother and daughter, until it was time to get you Phoenix out to do what you had to do: saving the world…"

"You say you connected me…what about Neo? Why didn't you connect him too?" Trinity asked.

"Neo…I'm afraid things are not that easy with Neo. He was severely affected by his last battle with Smith…"

"What happened to him? After all, he is still alive!" Trinity insisted.

"I'm afraid I can't tell you more right now. You'll find out everything at the right time" the Oracle answered.

"Oracle, tell me, how will I defeat the Phantom? How will Trinity help me?" Phoenix asked.

"You will know soon. Just give it a little time. Now you should go back."

"See you soon, Oracle" Trinity said at walking out the door.

"Sooner than you think, Trinity…" the Oracle said to herself.

Phoenix and Trinity were too shocked by what they found out to speak. Phoenix was lost in her thoughts, confused by everything, that she didn't even pay attention to where she was walking. Trinity was also very confused. She just walked behind Phoenix. She paid attention to Phoenix only when she noticed she had stopped.

They were in the park, the same park where Persephone had been killed.

They looked at each other. They had so many things they wished to say, but neither of them had the courage to say anything.

Back on the Neb, everyone was waiting for their return, following them on the monitors, wondering why were they so quiet, what did the Oracle tell them. They saw them stop in the park and look at each other quietly.

Then they heard a gunshot and the monitors went off. Cryptex tried hard to bring the images back, but no use, all they had were the green code monitors. They brought Link to look at the codes and see if Trinity and Phoenix were fine, but it had been a long time since he worked with codes, and he couldn't interpret them so well.

Phoenix pushed Trinity away just in time to avoid her being shot by the Phantom, but he took the bullet in her arm instead. She fell on the ground in pain, while the Phantom was pointing his guns towards Trinity. Then something unusual happened. The Phantom looked Trinity in the eyes and dropped the gun. He seemed very confused. He grabbed his head in his hands and fell on his knees.

Trinity took out her gun and approached him. She pointed the gun against his chest, thinking she had the greatest opportunity to avenge Morpheus' death and the fact that he had tried so hard to kill her daughter.

"Die, you bastard!" she said, slowly pushing her fingers on the trigger.

But as Phoenix watched the scene she suddenly was brought back to the past, back on the alley where Morpheus was shot. She saw him struggle the Phantom, pulling his mask off, she could see his face… NO! THAT couldn't happen! It couldn't be HIM!

"Trinity stop!" she shouted as she jumped to deviate her gun from the Phantom.

"What are you doing? It's your chance to kill him!" Trinity told her.

"Take…his…mask…off…" she could barely say crying "his mask"

Trinity wasn't moving, pointing her gun at him again. Phoenix went and slowly removed his mask. The Phantom was not feeling well, he didn't oppose, it seemed he didn't even notice her.

"This is why I didn't let you shoot him!" Phoenix said revealing his face.

Trinity was shocked. In front of them, kneeling, stood no other but him, The One, the salvation of Zion… him… the man she loved… Thomas A. Anderson.

"Neo! You?" she said and wanted to go hug him.

"No! He's coming back to his senses, we must run. Let's go back to the Oracle, she MUST explain THIS" Phoenix said pulling Trinity away in the opposite direction.

TBC