Not much to say about this chapter. Except of course that I have to thank all the people who left a review and read this story so far. And a special thanks goes to my beta-reader, bjlu0900. Thanks, man.
Chapter 20
The Things that we rather wish to forget
You know what's a bad idea? To be the bearer of bad news. As any messenger whoever delivered bad news to a king. Even if it wasn't the guys' fault who spilled the beans, his beans were usually spilled afterward. So you had to be either very brave or very stupid to do something like that.
Another bad idea is to reject the so-called "natural order of things". You know, speaking up against politicians, religious leaders, or anyone who has powers and doesn't want to accept that things are changing. That too is a great way to end up with one head less than the average person.
So yeah, you either had to be very brave or very stupid.
But deliberately pissing off a goddess?
That was on a whole different level.
"PAULA IZSHA KERRIGAN!" the voice of a certain person with abilities that could be considered "godlike" boomed through the empty corridors. "HAND OVER THIS IHAN CRYSTAL AT ONCE!" When she heard that, Paula pressed the green crystal even harder against her chest.
"SORRY MUM!" she yelled back. "NO CAN DO! I GOT PLANS WITH IT!" No one said anything about good plans though. Honestly? Right now, Paula realized that she should have thought things a bit more through. Yeah, she was used to making things up as sheen go. Bad habit of being a Raynor it would seem.
"Meh, plans are for people...who care about...consequences..." she panted as she ran as if the devil herself was after her. Which would have been preferable in all honesty? At least the devil wasn't related to the thing that was after her. Still, as Paula heard the light footsteps behind her, a smile appeared on her face. Ha, she made her mother run! And then that smile vanished from her face.
Oh, crap...she made her mother run!
Sarah Kerrigan, at least in this time and age, never ran. If anything, then she "walked with flair". The fact that she was actually using her feet instead of her powers could only mean one thing:
Right now, she was too angry to use her powers.
Well, that couldn't be good.
Paula had to buy some time, at least until the next part of her plan would happen. Gosh, she really should have taken notes. Remembering stuff was so hard, especially if there was a cranky goddess right on your heels. And so, she slid past the next corner and ran as hard as she could. Which was surprisingly fast given the fact that she had never actually trained herself that much. Good genes most likely. But even though she was surprised by her own stamina, Paula was no match for her mother, with or without psionics. So her impressive burst of speed turned into a pitiful huffing and puffing as she tried to outrun someone who could run a marathon without even breaking a sweat. And so...
"Paula, stop right now!" her mother barked as she ran after her child. When the young Kerrigan realized that her mother was right behind her, she eeeped in terror and tried to run faster.
"Young lady! Stop this nonsense right now or I will have you help Karax clean up Ulnar!" Sarah declared, which was the closest equivalent to "...or you will clean your room until it is pristine!"
Well, there was no way to go back now. She might have been able to explain everything to her folks and come out unscathed (unscathed for Paula's standards anyway). But now that her mother had seen the Ihan crystal...
As Paula ran, she pressed the crystal against her chest. All she had to do was to buy some more time. Time until the next phase of her plan would come to fruition. Oh, right now she was so proud of herself! A plan! Her plan! And it was coming along so nicely! Mostly. Partially. Occasionally...
Okay, let's just agree that more things were working that weren't.
Behind her, Paula was having no problems following her daughter. The older Kerrigan was still a pinnacle not only of psionic prowess but had managed to keep and maintain her physical condition over all those centuries. And so Paula had to come up with something new, something to stall her mother long enough for her plan to succeed. So how would she achieve that? By doing what she did best:
Creating more chaos, of course!
You know, this probably sounded weird, but wasn't this how a pantheon worked? It sure did! Oh, Paula would be an awesome goddess of chaos! She could already imagine how there would be songs about the goddess of chaos, the spawn of the goddess of life!
"Young lady, stop this "goddess"-nonsense right now!" she could hear the furious voice of her mother behind her, which caused her to eep in terror and run even harder when she realized that her mother had no trouble reading her mind. And so Paula concentrated on the thing at hand: Running like crazy. But even that was less successful as she hoped it would be...
"Hey." a certain redhead said when she pulled alongside her daughter. "How's life?"
"He-hey...Mum..." Paula gasped and panted.
"You know..." Sarah mused. She was running just as fast as her daughter yet it didn't even seem that she was a little bit out of breath. "...I'm not saying that I'm furious. Or worried. But how about we slow down a bit and have a talk, huh? How does that sound?"
"Sounds...nice..." Paula replied. "...but...can't...do..."
"Fair enough." her mother replied. "Still, I have to ask you to hand over that Ihan crystal. Now." The way she pronounced that last word left no doubt about it that this wasn't a request but an order.
"Hey..." Paula then suddenly panted. "...did you...do something...with your hair?" When Sarah heard that, she brushed one of her long flocks of hair behind her ear.
"Oh, you noticed? How nice. No one else did. Also: No stalling. Hand me over that crystal, now."
"What...are you...gonna...do with it?" Paula wanted to know, still busy stalling like crazy. From the corner of her eye, she could see that they were approaching something. It was an elevator shaft, and the door was just wide enough open for one person to fit through.
"Destroy it." Sarah declared.
"I was...afraid...that you would...say that." her child muttered. By now she was drenched in sweat and looked as if she was about to keel over. Sarah, who seemed to notice her daughter's rather pitiful stamina, suddenly turned around and ran backward.
"You know, this is actually a good workout. Reminds me of how I trained your namesake. She would pant and whine like crazy too. Even vomit from time to time." Sarah mused, remembering a certain young woman that she had met a very long time ago. And even though this Paula was no longer around, her memories remained. Memories that Sarah always remembered fondly.
"Tell you...what...how about...we go back home...and you tell me...about her?" Paula huffed and puffed. "...and then...Dad can...cook for us..."
"Yeah, good times." Sarah mused. "Also: Stop stalling. The crystal, hand it over. Now." Her voice sounded slightly annoyed now.
"I don't...wanna..."
"What do you even want to do with that thing? Hold on, wait, don't tell me. I don't want to know any details anyway." Sarah sighed. "Just give it to me."
"No... can't...do..." The elevator-shaft was close, so very close. Just a few more meters and-
"If you think that you can push me into that elevator-shaft, then you're a couple of centuries too young to get away with something like that." When Paula heard that, she nearly choked and looked at her mother both hurt and embarrassed.
"You said...you would respect...my privacy...and never probe...my mind..."
"You're a Raynor. Bad plans run in your blood. I don't even have to read your mind for that." Sarah just explained. Ouch, that hurt. "Enough fun and games, Paula. The others are starting to worry. And you don't want your father to be worried, right?"
"I... don't know...kinda like...the attention..."
"I'm sure you do." the older Kerrigan mused while her daughter was about to collapse and suffer a heart attack. Jeez, Paula sure as hell had no stamina whatsoever. "Ever thought about workouts? I could teach you a thing or to."
"Now who's...stalling?" Paula panted.
"Fair enough." her mother replied and reached out with her hand, hellbent to end this stupidity. She grabbed the green crystal that Paula pressed against her chest. Both women stopped, yet Paula did not yield and had no intention of handing the crystal over to her mother. And so they did what every serious adult with godlike powers would do.
They played tug-of-war with it...
"Hand the crystal over, young lady!"
"Nu-uh! I found it first, it's mine!"
"This is not a toy! You have no idea what to do with it!"
"Well, I tell you what I won't do with it: Destroy it!"
"Some things are better left in the past, Paula!"
"Yeah? Like your hairstyle maybe!"
"You said you liked it!"
"Yeah, sure. If you like 1000-year-old hairstyles!"
When Sarah heard that, she could feel how her eyelid started to twitch. The line between having a child and having a brat was a very thin one. And right now, Paula was definitely crossing the line.
"Young lady!" Sarah growled. "For the last time: Hand over this crystal!" she demanded and pulled it towards her, yet her daughter continued to fight back.
"Just let go, Mum! I got this! I know what I'm doing!"
"I'm sorry, Paula, but right now I have my doubts about this. This thing is not a piece of Ulnar you can mess around with." And then Sarah decided to stop wasting any more time. She did no longer try to rip the crystal out of her daughter's hands, yet she still continued to touch it. And then Paula's mother closed her eyes and focused her mind on the Ihan crystal. It was old. So very old. It had rested inside the abandoned Hyperion for over 1000 years. By now almost its entire energy had been depleted. And even then, she still could sense something familiar, something that she hadn't felt in over one thousand years. No, not something...
...someone.
Sarah started to pour some of her energies into the crystal. Not much, only the tiniest fraction. But it was enough to make the crystal glow as it was infused with fresh energies. At first, her daughter stared at her in confusion. Wait, was her mother trying to help her? That's when suddenly a crack appeared on the surface of the crystal, and when Paula realized what her mother was about to do, she started to panic.
"What? Oh no! Nononononono!" she shouted, closed her eyes and gritted her teeth. Two can play this game! Only that she sucked at playing this game. Oh, and she was up against the best darn player in the whole galaxy and maybe the known universe.
Par for the course then!
"Paula, stop it!" her mother hissed yet didn't stop her. Her energies were about to disintegrate the crystal. She didn't just want to blow it. An exploding crystal was generally a bad idea. No, she wanted to make sure to wipe it from existence. Unfortunately, Paula had different plans. While Sarah's energies were focused and controlled, Paula's were, well...
...the exact opposite.
And yet they were still easily as potent as those of Sarah. Under normal circumstances, Sarah should have been able to handle this situation. But the fact that Paula was pouring almost all of her energies into that crystal came as a surprise to her, and so Sarah had to make sure that her daughter wouldn't blow them all up by accident. They both kept their eyes closed, so they couldn't see how the crystal started to emit green light.
"Child, stop it!" Sarah snarled yet kept her eyes closed.
"I can't! I still need that crystal! I gave my promise!" Paula replied.
"Who did you promise what?" her mother demanded to know but that's when another crack appeared on the surface of the crystal. And then another one. In her panic Paula did the worst thing she could; she started to pour even more energies into the crystal. Unfortunately, this was like pouring gasoline into a fire and soon Sarah was trying her best to keep things from getting any worse.
Naturally that wasn't going to work.
And so...
"Can't...allow you...to do that...Mum!" Paula panted. Sarah felt how her daughter's mind slipped into the crystal. This was bad. Really bad.
"Paula, stop it! Are you insane? This is beyond dangerous!" Sarah yelled and opened her eyes. She stared at her child, cursing Paula's recklessness. Just what had gotten into this child all of the sudden? But all she saw was Paula's determined look on her face. Sarah could feel how Paula's mind entered the crystal, how she started to access it with her powers. That also meant that she had formed a connection to it, and as a result Sarah couldn't just disintegrate it. Not without risking her daughter's mind, something Sarah would never dare to do. And so Sarah, knowing that this was probably the most idiotic plan of all times, did the only thing she could come up with.
She followed her daughter inside...
Darkness. As Sarah opened her eyes, all she saw was...darkness. Her senses seemed dull, yet she didn't panic. Experience had taught her that this was just an illusion, the insides of an Ihan crystal. As she looked down at herself, she could see her own body, surrounded by eternal darkness. Her mind told her that this body was just an image and not real, even though it felt that way.
"...Mum?" she could suddenly hear a familiar voice in the distance.
"Paula?" Sarah shouted back. "Where are you?"
"...Mum, is that you?"
"I am here. With you." Sarah replied and turned around. She couldn't pinpoint her daughter's location, not by sound and not by using her psionics. "Paula, it's okay. Just stay where you are, I'm going to find you." Easier said than done. Just when Sarah was about to step forward, suddenly a bright and painful flash appeared inside her mind. She grabbed her head and winced in discomfort. And then...
"Raynor..." an all-too-familiar sound suddenly boomed inside her head. Someone that she hadn't heard in over one thousand years, yet whose voice Sarah recognized immediately.
"Ze-Zeratul?" she whispered in disbelief.
"...the hounds of the void are closing in..." the dead Prelate continued. It was as if his voice was coming from everywhere at the same time. "I impart my memory – my very essence – into this Ihan crystal...so that you will see what I have seen...and that the future...may yet have hope."
Sarah looked around. She knew that this place wasn't real, yet she still tried to find the source of the voice. Technically it wasn't even a voice, just the fading psionic imprint of an ancient memory within the crystal.
"...Mum, can you hear that?" she could hear Paula's voice. "It's him! He's still here!"
So that was the reason why Sarah's daughter had come all the way out here. Curses. Sarah gritted her teeth and felt something that she rarely felt these days: Frustration.
"She so got this from her father..." the older Kerrigan growled before she took a deep breath. "Paula, stay where you are! Do not go any further! Your mind is in danger if you do that!" While Sarah was no expert on Ihan crystals in general, she was no dud either. With more than one thousand years of life experience under her belt, her psionic abilities, and a certain phasesmith that had turned out to be an excellent teacher, she knew enough about this place to know that it could be potentially dangerous if you didn't know what you were doing.
And there was not even the slightest doubt in Sarah's mind that Paula had no friggin' clue of what she was doing.
That's when suddenly Zeratul's voice echoed through her mind once more.
"Friend Raynor..." he began. This thing was so out of juice, it probably didn't even recognize that it wasn't talking to Jim. Tough luck.
"Is there no mute-button?" Sarah growled.
"...long has it been since we stood together against the Swarm." Oh hell. Sarah felt how an icy chill ran down a spine when she heard that. Only then she realized that this had happened so very long ago, back when she had been not the same person that she was now. When she had been...
"Crap." Sarah whispered, bending her own rules on not cursing. "Paula! Get back here at once!"
"...I think I found him, Mum! Don't worry, once I-AGH!" That's when suddenly Paula's voice stopped. Sarah's eyes widened in surprise and shock.
"What? Paula? PAULA?!" she screamed. Sarah could still feel her daughter's presence, both inside the crystal and in the real world. She was alive. But aside from that...
"Since then I have wandered the Void in solitude – seeking an ancient prophecy rumored to foretell the return of the Xel'Naga." Zeratul spoke. Images filled Sarah's mind. Images of empty space, a desolate world, and a Protoss vessel traveling there.
"My sojourn led me to a remote world known as Ulaan..." the dead Prelate continued.
Ulaan? That name rang a bell but Sarah couldn't really tell why. All she knew was that she could sense Paula's presence deeper within the crystal, from the place where Zeratul's voice was coming from. She gritted her teeth, knowing that she was about to do something stupid. But if your own child is in danger, then you gotta do what you gotta do.
"Just wait for me, young lady. You will be grounded for life!" And then Sarah closed her eyes and opened her mind to enter the deepest part of the crystal, knowing full well that she wouldn't like what she was about to see.
"...where I discovered fragments of the prophecy." Zeratul continued. "Yet I was not the first-"
"Oh, just shut up!" Sarah barked.
To call this place desolate would have been an understatement. It was dark, cold and wet. Water was dripping from the dark stones. Ragged edges and cliffs formed the landscape, broken up by ravines that were so deep that you couldn't see the bottom. It was the last place where you would go if you had a choice.
Perhaps that was the reason why the Xel'Naga had built their temple here? To hide it, knowing that only those brave enough to face the danger would come here? Or desperate enough?
Green light was falling on the ancient runes, carved into stone. They showed familiar forms. On the left side, ascending steadily, you could see claws and teeth.
"The zerg swarm came as was foretold..." Zeratul's voice echoed through the void. On the right side the runes showed a different species, one he was all-too-familiar with since it was his very own.
"And the protoss, first born of the gods rose to fight them." Both sides were meeting in the middle, where something else was waiting, presiding over them like a, well, god. The being that the runes showed looked both strange and familiar at the same time.
"Now the Xel'Naga that forged us all, are returning." Zeratul spoke to himself as he used his psi-blade to cast some light on these runes. His eyes glinted in the twilight as he mused the meaning behind these inscriptions. "But do they come to save...or to destroy?" That's when suddenly a new voice echoed through this place.
"Yeah, well, spoilers: A bit of page one and a bit of page two." behind Zeratul a certain young woman mumbled. Paula was unsure of what to do. There he was, in all of his glory. Zeratul. The Dark Prelate. The Protoss revered him. It was one of the things Artanis had made sure of. His name stood among that of the heroes and paragons his species had produced. Adun, Tassadar, Zeratul, Talandar...every single one a legend in their own rights. The only reason why Artanis wasn't among those was the fact that he was still alive. Probably.
Paula tried to keep her distance, yet at the same time she felt drawn towards the huge Protoss. Much to the annoyance of Sarah Kerrigan her daughter had grown up hearing old stories about these great Protoss-heroes, like Tassadar. And Fenix. Oh, especially Fenix! Her father loved to tell stories about him. And so Paula, the daughter of the former Queen of Blades, had turned into someone who was fascinated by the Protoss, their culture and their history.
Talk about irony!
The young Kerrigan watched how Zeratul studied the inscriptions on the wall as he was looking for clues. All of this had happened one thousand years ago. It was ancient past, yet Paula felt the urge to tell him so he wouldn't waste precious time. It just looked and felt so real...
"You know, this place is actually pretty creepy. Can't believe you came here on your own." she muttered but Zeratul didn't reply anything. He couldn't, he was just a memory stored inside the Ihan crystal. Or so she thought.
Suddenly Zeratul turned around and looked at her.
"Holy hell." Paula muttered, not noticing that something was going on behind her. "Can... can you see me? Is this-" But then Zeratul made a step forward and simply walked through Paula as if she was thin air, his psi-blade raised high above his head to light his way.
"...or not." the young woman muttered. Seriously, for the fraction of a second it had looked as if he could see her. She turned around and watched as Zeratul walked down a long staircase, carefully. Behind him the mighty Xel'Naga temple rose from the ground all the way into the ceiling. It almost seemed as if it had grown into the cave.
"Whoa...Karax would love to see this." Paula whispered. Who knew, maybe this place still existed. She could tell her uncle about it, maybe this would be a good reason for him to finally leave Ulnar, or what was left of it, behind for some time and go and see the galaxy. There were still plenty of relics of the Xel'Naga around. Thankfully most of them were within the territories of the Protoss and the Zerg. The Firstborn did no longer worship the Xel'Naga as gods, at least not most of them. But they still had respect for them. And as such their temples and ruins were still considered sacred. Or at least too dangerous to be exploited. As for the Zerg? Well, they didn't care about those ruins but just didn't like it if people came to their home uninvited. Or at all.
"Guess I have to ask Mum where this place might be once..." She then looked over her shoulder and noticed that Zeratul was gone. "Crap!" The young Kerrigan ran down the stairs, trying to find the reason why she had come out here in the first place. Thankfully she could see the green glow of Zeratul's psi-blade in the distance. And so she did her best to catch up with the Dark Prelate. What she noticed after a while was that she was no longer huffing and puffing as if she was about to collapse.
And so it was surprisingly easy for Paula to catch up with Zeratul. And when she did, she slowed down right next to him as he walked past several sharp rocks sprouting from the ground like they were thorns growing from a Zerg's carapace.
"You know, we actually met once." Paula started to talk as if Zeratul was able to hear her. "Then again it wasn't really you. More like a mental clone that was left behind in my father's mind after he used the Ihan crystal. Guess you couldn't have imagined that back then, eh? Or that you are the reason why I am here in the first place." Only then she realized how weird that sounded. "I mean you helped my parents! You're not my daddy or anything like that!" And with that she made it even weirder.
Zeratul moved carefully. It was as if he was looking for something. A threat maybe? Yet Paula wasn't really paying attention to their surroundings. Not even when they walked past yet another rocky spine. A rocky spine that started to move once they were past it.
"Anyway, the reason why I'm here is actually...hey, are you even listening? Hey! I'm talWHAAAAAAA!" Paula screamed in terror when suddenly something big and scaly emerged from the shadows right behind them. Zeratul turned around and the moment a creature straight from the realm at nightmares hissed at them, he turned around and sliced through the huge creature with his deadly psi-blade.
Everything was happening so fast that Paula had barely any chance to react. She stumbled backward as the two halves of the dead creature landed right before her feet. Yet while she only managed to stare at the dead corpse in shock (realizing that it was still twitching), Zeratul threw himself around and attacked the creature that had approached them from the other side, slicing this attacker into pieces as well.
The second hydralisk fell, yet the Dark Prelate didn't even waste one more glance into the creature's direction. Instead he stormed towards another hydralisk that was about to attack him, with another Zerg appearing right behind that one. Paula had no idea what was going on. Suddenly she bumped into something soft and warm.
Soft and warm?
Paula's whole body tensed up when she realized that there was something alive right behind her. She could even feel the warm breath of the other creature touching her neck.
This was the exact moment when Paula Kerrigan realized...
...that hydralisks scared the living hell out of her.
Zeratul was the exact opposite. Paula saw how he jumped in the air, performed a somersault, only to land on the closest hydralisk, producing a backbreaking sound as he rammed his heavy feet into the creature's backside, breaking its spine in the process. Without wasting any time, he threw himself towards the next creature within his reach. The hydralisk had its maw wide open, ready to bite the Dark Prelate and tear him into pieces. Instead of tender Protoss-meat, it was rewarded with a hot and sizzling psi-blade as Zeratul smashed his fist forward, burying his weapon deep inside the zerg's throat. The hydralisk struggled, but it was pointless. Mortally wounded all it could do was to slow the Dark Prelate down so others could go in for the kill.
The hydralisk behind them, the one with the broken leg, ignored its own pain and got back up. It threw itself forward, ready to tear Zeratul into pieces. Yet as it reached its razor-sharp forearm, Zeratul freed himself from its dying brother, turned around and detached its arm from its body with a clean cut.
Blood sprayed, and the hydralisk screamed. Not in pain, but in rage. Its severed arm flew through the air, until it was caught by Zeratul, who took aim and smashed the sharp tip through the Hydralisk's skull, pinning it to the ground with its own appendage. The death-scream of this creature sounded like the howl of the damned, and while Zeratul was busy laying waste to the Swarm, Paula only managed to squeal in distress.
"Zeratul, help!" she screamed as the creature behind her placed her soft hands on her shoulders and leaned forward. And when the hydralisk in her back talked to her...
"That's enough, Paula!"
...Paula realized that it wasn't a Hydralisk.
She was just able to notice how angry and worried her mother looked.
"Mum, I-"
But that's when her mother started to laugh.
Only that it wasn't her mother.
"...hahahahahaha..." the voice of Sarah Kerrigan echoed through the cave. Paula knew her mother's laugh. She loved that sound. But this...it sounded wrong. Cold. Cruel. She looked away from her mother and towards the source of the sound, a figure nearby emerging from the shadows. And while Paula's eyes widened in shock and surprise, Sarah Kerrigan seemed a lot less shocked. Instead the look on her face was resentful.
"I knew you'd find your way here..." the leader of the Swarm announced as her yellow eyes glowed in the darkness. "...eventually." Both Paula and her mother witnessed how Zeratul and the once feared Queen of the Blades came face to face.
"Your very presence defiles this place..." Zeratul growled. "...Kerrigan."
"Do you hear them, Zeratul?" the Queen of Blades cooed, a faint smile on her face. "Whispering from the stars?" And then she leaned forward. "The galaxy will burn with their coming!" Paula could feel the warm hands of her mother on her shoulders, and how she tightened her grip. Sarah wasn't hurting her daughter, but it seemed that this whole scene was starting to get to her as well. Who could blame her?
Probably everyone who had lived during that time.
"Perhaps..." Zeratul replied while taking a step backward and vanishing from everyone's sight. The Queen of Blades frowned and looked around. She probably knew that he was about to strike from the shadows, but from where? No matter how powerful the Queen of Blades, the first Queen of Blades had been, Zeratul would make a formidable foe to pretty much anyone. Or so she thought. For when he reappeared right above her, clinging to the rocky ceiling, she had already spotted him.
"But you won't live to see it!" Zeratul yelled and jumped down. He re-ignited his psi-blade as he descended upon his most dreaded enemy while the Queen of Blades focused her psionic energies, ready to throw them against her foe. And then-
"That's enough." Paula's mother said, and suddenly everything around them came to a halt.
At first Paula didn't understand what she was seeing. Zeratul hung in the air, frozen, as if held up by someone's psionic powers. Only when Sarah's daughter noticed that the Queen of Blades wasn't moving either that something was wrong. Even the surrounding Hydralisks were not moving at all.
Slowly Paula looked over her shoulder.
"Mum..." She was about to say that she was sorry when she noticed that her mother wasn't even looking at her. Instead, Sarah Kerrigan was staring at the Queen of Blades. Her daughter could still feel Sarah's hands on her shoulders. And she could feel how her mother's fingers were trembling.
Paula had never seen her mother trembling.
"Mum?!" she gasped when Sarah stepped to the side and slowly walked towards the Queen of Blades. "Mum, are you okay?" But her mother didn't answer. She walked past another frozen Hydralisk, ignoring it completely. And when she reached the Queen of Blades, when she stood in front of her, she did something that was against her very own beliefs these days...
She cursed.
"Shit..."
Paula knew how to be the perfect daughter. She knew how to behave, and she knew how to cause no trouble. Unfortunately, she rarely did that because it was boring. But this right now was one of those rare moments when common sense prevailed.
"Mum? Are you...okay?" Paula muttered. "You're not going to go crazy now and become her again, are you?" Much to her relief her mother didn't intend to go old-school again.
"I can't even remember this moment..." Sarah Kerrigan whispered as she looked straight into the glowing eyes of the Queen of Blades.
"Mum?"
"This moment. I can't remember it." Sarah explained. At first Paula was unsure if her mother was actually talking to her, but then Sarah gestured her daughter to come closer. When Paula hesitated because of all those hydralisks around them, Sarah confirmed that there was nothing to be afraid of.
"None of this is real, Paula. Nothing in here can hurt you. Come here, I want you to see this." And so Paula did as she was told. It still took her quite some time to reach her mother since she tried her best to stay as far away as possible from all those hydralisks. And when she finally reached Sarah...
"Come here." Sarah whispered. This time her daughter knew better than to drive her crazy. "Look at her." her mother ordered and Paula did as she was told. What she saw was...frightening.
"She doesn't look like you." Paula mumbled. Oh, she looked like Sarah alright. But only on the outside. "That's not you. You're-" she started.
"I never found an answer to that question." her mother interrupted her.
"Question? What question?"
"If that thing is truly me. If I've been lying to myself all this time." Sarah explained. She took a deep breath and for a moment it seemed as if she was about to start to cry.
"I don't understand..." Paula said.
"I don't remember this moment." her mother explained. "Convenient, isn't it? Paula, you know that I did a lot of horrible things. Your father and I never kept that specific part of our past from you. But that doesn't mean that we, that I, managed to overcome all those things." A sigh escaped her lips before she grabbed her daughter's hand and gave it a soft squeeze. "Even now, even after all this time, I barely remember anything from my time as the Queen of Blades, back when the Overmind took me and turned me into the agent of the Swarm. I never actually tried to find out wherever if those memories are truly lost, or if I'm just fooling myself and live in some sort of self-denial."
"I saw it, remember? I saw how you were back then. All of you. It was-" Paula tried to reason with her mother.
"You saw a glimpse of the past, Paula." her mother interrupted her. "Yes, you saw me when I was broken. When your father was broken. But you didn't see me at my all-time-low. You didn't see me when I was..." She pointed at the frozen version of herself. "...this." Sarah bit on her lip and seemed to struggle to find the right words. "I know this sounds wrong, but I'm glad that you haven't seen me like this. Even if I can't remember much...I feel so much shame right now, Paula. Because I'm too afraid to figure out wherever all these horrible actions I committed were because I was a mere puppet or tool...or out of my own volition." And then Sarah looked her daughter straight into the eyes. "I am a coward, Paula. I never dared to go there."
"You are no coward." Paula protested. "The things you did...you fought and bled and battled against things that I can't even pronounce!"
"My dear little Paula." Sarah sighed. "There comes a day when a child understands that its parents are just as flawed as everyone else." She then placed both her hands on Paula's cheeks and offered her daughter a sad smile. "I can only hope that you will learn from my mistakes, and not repeat them. But in the end, it will be up to you, it will be your choice. Come here." And then she grabbed her daughter and pulled her into a tight embrace. The world around them started to vanish and soon the only thing that remained in the darkness were the two Kerrigans hugging it out.
"I'm sorry..." Paula whispered. "I never wanted to make you worry about me. The others yes. Especially Dad. But not you." That caused Sarah to chuckle.
"Heh. Sounds about right." She enjoyed the moment for a while longer before she released her daughter from her embrace and looked her into the eyes while wiping a golden tear from Paula's cheek. "Now, what is this all about?" It seemed that Paula would again not tell her mother about what she had planned. Not until she sighed.
"I made a promise to someone. It's important."
"And you need an Ihan crystal for that?" Sarah asked.
"Not just any crystal. I need this one." And when Paula's mother heard that, she too sighed.
"Well, I guess I now know who you made that promise to." she muttered. "And what exactly did you promise?"
"Well..." Paula started. "...you probably won't like it. You see, it's like this..."
And in the end Paula was right. Sarah didn't like it.
But sometimes you have to let others find their own way.
"...and then she would just look at me, all serious and stuff, tilt her head to the side and say: "May I come inside?" And I was like: Whoa! So I honestly didn't know what to say, which is pretty rare for me, you know." Sitting next to him, Professor Jerome Allagan sighed when he heard that. Right now, he seriously had his doubts that this man even understood the concept of shutting up.
"With all due respect, Mister Brent, I don't think that I-"
"And you know what she said after that?" Joseph simply continued as if he hadn't even heard the Professor complaining. "She then said: "My eyes are up here." Ha! Just like that! Ah! That came so out of the cold. Ahaha! Aaaaaaahhh...good times." The real question right now was if he was actually talking to Allagan or himself right now.
Probably the latter...
"After that she-" Brent continued, but that's when Allagan finally snapped.
"I'm sorry, but is there a reason why you keep tormenting me with this stuff?" he protested. Allagan was a friendly man. And it was not in his nature to be rude. Or aggressive. But this man...he was testing the Professor's patience.
"Whadda'ya mean?" Joseph asked before he grabbed something beneath the table they were sitting at. Allagan watched in horror how the sickly-looking man pulled an ancient bottle out and opened it.
"Are you insane? This is an artifact! It may be of archaeological value of untold magnitude!" the desperate Professor yelled. But Joseph just opened the bottle, took a quick sniff, and then drank some of the liquid inside.
Only to spit it out mere fractions of a second later.
"BUAAAARG!" Joseph gagged. "Oh God, it tastes just as bad as I remember. Well, you know what they say about medicine! Down the hatch!" And so he took another mouthful. But that too only stayed in his mouth for roughly two seconds before he spat it out on the dusty floor. "ACK! No! Bad idea. Bad idea! Uh, how did I manage to drink that stuff back then? Whoa!" Joseph then wiped some ancient moonshine and drool off his chin and gagged a few more times until he was okay again.
"This...what is this?!" Allagan gasped, talking about the absurdity of this situation, and the blatant disregard of how important every artifact inside this derelict husk truly was.
"Moonshine." Joseph coughed. "Or at least that's what it was called by the guy who made it. Though you know what? I never tasted anything like that in all of my life. I'm pretty sure that he actually put some battery-acid in it..." Once he had calmed down, Joseph took a deep breath and shook his head. "Anyway. Where was I? Ah, yes! "My eyes are up here." And did you know what she did next? She-"
"I DON'T CARE!" Allagan suddenly yelled, which caused Joseph to look at him in surprise.
"'Scuse me?" But the Professor was in no mood for excuses.
"No! You've been stalling me for hours now! While your buddies are running around inside this ship, doing God knows what! But you know what the worst thing is? The utter bullshit you've been telling me in the last couple of hours!"
"Bullshhhh...gha!" Joseph gagged. For a second it seemed as if he was having a seizure, but then he just looked up at the ceiling. "Oh, come on, Sarah! Why is he allowed to curse and I'm not?" he yelled.
"This is not funny!" Allagan protested.
"Yeah, I agree." Joseph replied. "I don't have to be insulted like that. I just wanted to have a conversation with you. There's no reason to go all commando on me. Could have told me if you didn't want to hear my life's story."
"Your life's story?!" the Professor moaned. "You told me nothing but lies and overblown fantasy-stories so far!" When Joseph heard that, he looked at the Professor with a shocked expression on his face.
"Say what? Dude, I told you nothing but the truth. Honestly!"
"Really?" Allagan replied. "So you are over one thousand years old. You used to work for the founder of the Empire, Valerian the First-"
"No." Joseph interrupted him. "I said: I worked for his buddy, Admiral Horner, and-"
"Yes, Admiral Horner, the hero of the Great War. Of course. And then you told me that you were killed, revived by...a space goddess-"
"She doesn't like it if you call her that..." the sickly man mumbled.
"...who happened to be the Queen of Blades before. Who also happened to be a human before that. Who was infested, de-infested, re-infested, ascended by becoming a Xelphaga-"
"Xel'Naga." Joseph corrected him.
"...fell in love with a Zerg-"
"Former Zerg, thank you very much."
"...and have over 400 daughters. You, dear Sir, need psychological help!"
"Don't forget my garden." Joseph just mused. "It is my pride and joy. Well, except for my daughters."
"That is ENOUGH!" Allagan roared and stood up. Whatever was going in, this man was insufferable. The Professor was so in a rage that he didn't realize how the door to the cafeteria was opened and someone entered the room. "None of what you said made any sense. If you want to lie to me, fine! But stop insulting me with such obvious stories that are absolutely retarded!"
"You just called my garden retarded?" Joseph mumbled. "Dude, never insult a man's garden. Seriously. That's worse than calling my mother a rotten Zergling." Yet Allagan was in no mood for this bullshit.
"What did you do the Marshal? Who are you guys? And what do you want to do to this relic? I demand answers!" Allagan did not notice how something tall stopped right behind him. Something very tall. And something that didn't walk but slithered. A goofy grin appeared on Brent's face when he noticed who it was.
"And why are you smiling? Do you take me for a fool? Do you think this is funny?" the Professor yelled.
"Joseph, what have you done again." the voice of Izsha suddenly reached them. Only then Allagan noticed that she was right behind him. He pointed his finger at the man, not even bothering to look over his shoulder.
"He wasted my time telling me one idiotic story after the other! That he's ancient. That he's in love with a Zerg-"
"Former Zerg." Izsha corrected him.
"That's what I said..." Joseph mumbled.
"...and then he claimed to have over 400 dau...wait, what?" Allagan stuttered when he suddenly realized that Izsha had indeed confirmed Joseph's story. The Professor then finally decided to face Izsha. "Professor Brent, please, I think I deserve to know why...you...are...really...here..." His voice turned into a whisper when he stared up, straight into a noseless face and yellow eyes that were glowing. He went pale in an instant, opened his mouth...
...and then simply fainted.
"Heh, and I didn't even tell him about how I wrecked Ulnar yet!" Joseph joked.