"That was incredible!" Egon exclaimed, having been fascinated by the Hybrid from the moment they had seen Arska. He happily moved to more closely observe Xerxes' mandibles and teeth, which almost disappeared when relaxed and his lips closed. Xerxes humoured Egon's curiosity, albeit a bit sheepish and nervous himself when asked to open his mouth. Egon would pause to enter an observation into his tablet, Xerxes simply holding still and doing his best not to bite down on Egon's arm when the Terran gently touched the roof of his mouth to better gauge the size of his teeth, and to better count the many layered rows of teeth. Egon quickly withdrew, bobbing his head once as an apology, stepping back. Xerxes gladly closed his mouth, then his mandibles, tongue briefly showing to realign his teeth, as some had actually flared out a bit when he strained.
"You said you're a Primal Hybrid, right? Do you have a sense of taste?" Egon asked, completely forgetting the earlier conversation and near fight that had just occurred. Xerxes looked to Valerian who shrugged, smiling, as Rohana chuckled at Egon's enthusiasm, all welcoming the distraction.
**I do, though I don't think it's quite as… refined, as that of Terrans. I do eat, on occasion, however it's usually not necessary as I can absorb what I need from Sunlight.** Xerxes answered, glad for the change in conversation, however he did remain standing, if his four-legged posture could be considered such. Rohana and Karax, concerned for Vorazun as she had shut all of them out, soon returned to Artanis' side, Valerian also watching them with concern.
Rohana then realised one thing that had not yet been addressed during Xerxes' share of memories, that also aroused suspicion. Xerxes' father, Khaaslyrous, had beaten him, but why? None came to aid Xerxes and his brothers. None had even attempted to interfere, as Zyl'Orr had admitted.
**Xerxes… Why did your father hate you so?** Rohana carefully hazarded, Artanis looking at her quizzically, nothing in his memories revealed a reason, having only witnessed the one event, other than seeing bruises on Xerxes as he had been in the Palace. Xerxes drooped visibly, taking in a deep steadying breath before formulating a response, Arska and Taluth uncurling from their two-Hybrid cuddle-pile to attempt to comfort him.
**I had hoped to have time to explain that later…** Xerxes sounded on the verge of tears, quickly reining in his emotions to keep them from overwhelming the others. **While pregnant with Artanis, our mother Sabine had been having problems with her blood pressure and migraines so severe she would often black out. We learned later it was due to how he was positioned within her, and that she likely would need surgery once he was ready.** Xerxes paused, taking another deep breath, though it could be seen that he quivered once as he pushed his upset down.
Artanis frowned, such surgery was minimally invasive, though frowned upon as it could cause permanent harm to the female reproductive organs. He had been the third-born, her second pregnancy, and such would be seen as understandably necessary to save both lives. Xerxes chuckled at this, psionically and physically, the deep rumble helping Xerxes calm further.
**Sadly, no. You were her third Pregnancy…** A pause, now he appeared ashamed? Now, after everything he had shared thus far, he appeared ashamed by this admission. **We were supposed to have a sister, however she was like I had been; small, fragile, different.** He said the last word as a curse, hate wafting over them for those who would see being different as being aberrant. **She had been kept in the care of a Khalai who I did not trust, despite their closeness to our Father, as she had been very close-minded about how appearance could be life or death for some. I visited more often than Father or Mother had, and one such occasion I found that this Khalai had been poisoning our sister with an inhalant. Father had been with me, and swiftly retaliated against the Khalai publicly. I spent the rest of the day with our little sister, before she passed.** Xerxes nuzzled Arska as she pointedly bumped her head against his chin, trying to help him cheer up. None spoke, the pain of his loss briefly transmitted to those in the prison, feeling like a knife sliding under his ribs into one of his three hearts.
**The Khalai was punished?** Karax hazarded after a moment of silence, bashfully as he still felt kinship with his fellow Khalai, if only as a form of respect for those who risked themselves to heal others. Xerxes nodded, gaze not rising to meet any of theirs, too ashamed to do so as this series of strange events unwound his inner calm and left him reeling.
**She eventually committed suicide as she was shunned by all for what she had done. Primarily that it had been done to an infant, secondarily as a child of a Monarch. None stood with her as causing harm to another intentionally had been regarded as sin.** Xerxes slowly calmed, yet sighed deeply, painfully, as he moved on with his tale. **They waited a few years before attempting again, thankfully there were no health concerns during the time she carried Artanis, other than I mentioned previously.** Another pause, Xerxes briefly glancing to Artanis, his eyes pained yet continued despite the reopening emotional wounds. **Khaaslyrous had been away on business when she went into Labour, Khrillian with him as I had some academic project I was working on and needed to finish at the time, so I remained with Mother. I helped get her to the Khalai, remained with her until they learned a bleed had developed that threatened both their lives and I had to make a decision or risk losing both. You know my choice, though it was at her behest.** Xerxes stopped, as nothing further needed to be said. He had saved Artanis at the cost of their mother's life, and Khaaslyrous blamed him for it. Xerxes omitted, though expressed wordlessly, that he had argued with Khaaslyrous for years afterward, their loss creating a rift that led them to blows. Xerxes refused to retaliate, for a long time feeling as though he deserved it, even though Khrillian did not share the sentiment and neither had their archivist and teacher Zyl'Orr.
Xerxes fell silent, tense, as he fought down the painful memories of his past. He had not acknowledged much of it for a long time, being in this prison, barely able to feel anything but pain, having only had the ability to hear for over three thousand years. Now, faced with the sibling he had worried would have been lost to him, he remembered his past, at first hesitantly, as he was not certain how it would be received.
Artanis remained quiet, his thoughts reeling as this all did seem to add up as Xerxes explained it, though how Monarchs who had some form of station over other Protoss could have existed and not had anything documented by the Khalai unsettled him. Xerxes sighed, picking up on the fact Artanis and Vorazun both remained skeptical of his tale.
**The Conclave had much expunged from records when they took power. Anything that could be seen as a threat to their control over the populace, even mention of another former ruling power, would have been removed. The Spear of Adun and the Obsidian Flare both have unredacted archives, including much of what was lost with the loss of the Khala and the Preservers.** Xerxes welcomed the change in topic, glad to change from his pit of despair to more hatred toward the Conclave and their sins.
Vorazun then narrowed her eyes, remembering the sin of the Conclave that forced her mother and the first Nerazim from Aiur, turning to look at Xerxes.
**If you had loved her, why let her go?** She demanded, eyes flashing red briefly. Xerxes cautiously rose from his cowering position and padded closer, Egon stepping aside to let him pass as he continued entering information into his tablet. He had paused at one point, the loss and despair of the Hybrid Judicator almost driving him to tears as he had felt similar when he had been left on Bel'Shir.
**I tried to keep her on Aiur, tried to convince the Conclave that she and others were simply wishing to keep herself to herself, as many would like to without the scrutiny of others pushing into their thoughts from the Khala. I've never truly been connected to the Khala as others were, not as reliant nor deeply attuned, and in her I felt a kinship I never expected to find again.** He explained, gaze lowered and head held low in shame. **I pleaded for her to stay, to simply accept that, if she wished to remain on Aiur, to learn to push back on her connection and push others out who had not been invited, and that I would help teach her to do so. She declined, and I would have gone with her had she not pushed me to stay for the benefit of those who were not able to make their voices heard amongst the cacophony within the Khala. When the Conclave had tried to destroy the ship they had been herded into, and Adun sacrificed himself to spare them, my relief at seeing her safe turned into a determination to change things. Even if I could not benefit and even if it took me many lifetimes to achieve.**
Vorazun shook her head, fists clenched.
**I cannot accept that my Sire would have abandoned-**
**I did not abandon her.** Xerxes interjected, recoiling as though he had been slapped, wide-eyed, head raising up and back, curling his neck akin to a long-necked bird. **And you do not have to acknowledge any relation.** He accepted her rage as disgust, repulsion and hate, for not trying harder to keep Raszagal with him, to keep her from her fate as Outcast. Vorazun blinked, she had not expected him to be willing to ignore possible blood relation between them, and yet he just gave her permission to treat him as an acquaintance.
Artanis seemed surprised, Vorazun so viciously protecting her mother's honor against the one that suggested he had sired her. Xerxes did not meet her gaze, ashamed that he had not known Raszagal to be pregnant and further that he did not search for her after the Scion incident. Rohana, Karax, Valerian and Egon understood what was going on, as Xerxes had included them via his own psionic link, which he connected to each when he had been relaxed. Even Alarak had heard everything, felt the emotions being directed at Xerxes, idly watching the rest from the corner of one eye.
**I… I will contemplate this admission.** Vorazun said simply, still unwilling to accept her Mother's transgressions, though Vorazun thought a bit harder, realising that her mother had been with no other companion, even Zeratul's relationship with Raszagal had been platonic, though he had been the only one to fight to retrieve her. Artanis seemed to deflate at the brief mention of Zeratul, Xerxes snapping his attention to him, as he realised, Artanis had been taken by Amon, albeit briefly. Rohana explained wordlessly that Zeratul had been the one to save him, at the cost of his own life.
**Amon has taken much, from far too many.** Xerxes said, looking to Kul who seemed to be lazily lounging next to the Ultralisk and Queen, leaning against them. He perked up, nodding at an unheard question and began going through control holo-screens on his gauntlet. Karax noticed this, surprised that Kul could connect to the Obsidian Flare even this far underground, as the Spear of Adun did not have the same reach.
**I wish to be gone from this prison… As my… Brood, wish to as well.** Xerxes expressed, hesitantly, as the implications of admitting relation to the Hybrids here raised yet more questions. All eyes turned to him again, to which he groaned audibly.
**There are going to be more and more questions as I explain, -that-.** He sighed, Artanis frowning deeply, roused from his thoughts.
**If you are capable of… Creating more Hybrids, I cannot allow you to leave. Not with the possibility of Amon gaining control of you or them.** Artanis announced, sweeping a hand toward the Hybrids nearby. Xerxes shook his head solemnly.
**He will never and can never take control of me, nor my offspring.**
**I cannot take that chance.** Artanis warned, clenching a fist. The Hybrids had been mindless monstrosities that would darken entire solar systems with their Void energy before moving to the next. They swarmed with their mind-controlled underlings, Terrans, Zerg and Protoss alike, some Protoss even converted into more of their number. Artanis refused to take that chance, not after Zeratul's sacrifice, and the countless others who had died in the End War.
**Amon is not truly gone, that is true. I can feel him at the edges of my psionic range, but he would rather have seen me rot here, than attempt to use me further.** Xerxes explained, Rohana and the others shaking slightly at the implication that Amon had not been destroyed within the Void, nor within their universe. Artanis tensed, still uncertain, Xerxes held something back, though hinted at being used by Amon for some purpose before being locked away here.
**Ready.** Kul announced before closing his mind off again, having been fiddling with his control gauntlet while they spoke.
**I'm sorry, however, you do not have a choice.** Xerxes bowed his head, stepping back as first he, then Arska, Taluth, followed by the other two Hybrids were teleported away. Kul waving sheepishly as he too, disappeared in a flash.
**Karax!** All eyes turned to him as Artanis demanded he track them. Karax shook his head, frown deepening.
**I cannot seem to get a reading on their ship, nor can I teleport us to the Spear from here.** Karax exclaimed. Alarak, realising he had been left behind in the Prison, let out a bellow of rage. He unleashed his energies at the prison around them, destroying the platform, the walls, everything.
"I believe that is our cue to leave…" Valerian then hurried through the doorway, none of their little group objecting as they all began to flat out run out of the prison structure, Alarak decimating the entire thing before quickly void-blinking to join the rest, dusting himself off as he relaxed a bit, rage sated temporarily. Artanis simply stared at him, Karax then teleported himself away, and the rest to the surface near the Dropship as the ground continued to shake as the prison collapsed, the crater where Amon's attempted resurrection occurred sinking down into deeper and deeper tunnels as the entire underground tunnel system collapsed.
Wincing at the sudden brightness of the sunny sky and the almost deafening rumble from deep below them, all unsettled and concerned by the sudden disappearance of the Hybrid they had just freed. Before they were able to relax a bit, Egon found himself wanting nothing more than to be in his room, curled up in bed, reading a book. Valerian chuckled, frowning that he somehow knew Egons thoughts without him saying anything.
"Oh, sorry sir." Egon blushed, having expressed his desire psionically without intending to, the openness of the Protoss around Xerxes had brought down his guard.
**I believe we are all guilty of that…** Rohana hazarded, blushing slightly herself, the colour flushing her cheeks blue briefly.
**Fools.** Alarak chided, standing off to the side with his arms crossed over his chest. Ignoring the fact that he too had been made vulnerable by Xerxes.
**No more than you, abducted Highlord.** Vorazun jabbed, earning her a scowl, which she eye-smiled at to herself as Alarak had nothing to retort with.
"I suppose you no longer need our assistance, though I am rife with unanswered questions at the moment." Valerian chuckled, holding out a hand to Artanis in farewell. Artanis grasped it, shaking gently as he understood the Terran custom from his time working with Jim Raynor.
**I would be happy to answer them, though not at this moment.** Artanis nodded.
"Fair. If we come across them, we will let you know immediately." Valerian nodded, releasing his hold. Egon said his farewells to Rohana, bowing respectfully to the others before following Valerian back to the Dropship. Karax, aboard the Spear of Adun in orbit, waited for the Dropship to begin its ascent before teleporting his fellows to him, bringing Alarak up and instead of bringing him to the bridge, put the Highlord in a cargo area to give Karax a chance to talk to Artanis and the others without him being present.
Rohana, Vorazun and Artanis instantly looked at the Phasesmith expectantly.
**They warped away, however I believe Kul sent us the coordinates of their jump for us to follow…** Karax announced, bringing up a brief written message that had been sent to him specifically. The coordinates would put them deep in Zerg Territory, yet on the fringes even further than Zagara had claimed to need.
**Perhaps that is the Zerg Homeworld?** Rohana guessed, looking to Artanis.
**He is already Primal, why… Of course. He had to consciously resist the urge to bite Egon, he must need Essence, or whatever it is that Primal Zerg that had worked with Kerrigan had desired.** Vorazun added, Artanis remaining quiet for a long moment.
Artanis briefly touched his recovered memories of his childhood, finding they had been wrought with pain, not his own, but Xerxes'. Their own father had beaten him and fled, yet Xerxes somehow knew why, attributed it to the Void and alluded to the fact that Amon had not been fully defeated.
Xerxes had shown them only small snippets of his past, but what had made him come to the decision to willingly become Primal Zerg? Why did he have offspring that looked more Zerg, yet were obviously Hybrids themselves?
Artanis fought with his desire to chase after Xerxes, to demand a full explanation, and to remain with his people. Alarak finally reached the bridge, glaring pointedly at Karax.
**I wish to take out my ire on that prat Kul. Where did they go?** He demanded, unaware that Artanis had not yet decided to go after them. Vorazun and Rohana both turned to glare, Karax watching Artanis expectantly. Before he could respond, the Hyperion, which had yet to make a move to depart, hailed them. Karax opened the comm-link, Matthew moving aside as Valerian, still in his exo-suit, entered the bridge behind him.
"I believe it best to alert you, we received a communication from Zagara, Void Thrashers and several ships with Amons followers just appeared near one of her outpost worlds. They haven't engaged her yet, but are fighting something else." Valerian explained, nodding to Matthew who forwarded the message from Zagara, provided through Izsha, a single image with a brilliant glowing streak lancing through a Void Thrasher.
The recording took a moment to finish sending, as the Zerg to Terran to Protoss technology differences with information had some inherent latency, the streak continuing through the image as the Void Thrasher was sucked back through its portal to the Void. The light streak seemed to spin around, avoiding the other Thrasher attempting to strike it and issuing several bolts of golden light that exploded as they struck the beast before it streaked away, guiding several ships away from the Thrashers only to flip around, charge headlong into them, destroyed them in an array of explosions, and raced back toward the Thrashers, two more Voidlings appearing and attempting to stop the strange golden streak.
**That can be no coincidence. Xerxes must know about this, being.** Artanis reluctantly admitted, nodding.
**It must be where they went, what are the coordinates that Zagara sent you?** Karax asked. Matthew could be seen working controls next to Valerian. They did match the ones Kul had sent, which caused Artanis to frown. Leading them on some tangent to show what Xerxes had been doing for all those years before his disappearance, before he was left for dead with his loyalists on Umbra. Was that Xerxes' intent?
**Very well, let us find out what this creature is.** Artanis nodded, Karax quickly turning and Valerian and Matthew nodding, their crew readying to follow as the Spear leapt into Warp.