Chapter 21 – The Prophet of Truth

Zenlo the Vortigaunt Prophet lay wounded on the floor. His human friends surrounded him. Gordon, Alyx, Adrian, Chell, Barney, and his Vortigaunt brothers Lo-gen and Rezlan all stood around him. Gordon sat next to him supporting his head. The G-Man and GLaDOS were defeated. The Combine had no chance of winning the war.

"Freeman…come here." Zenlo muttered. Gordon leaned his head closer to him. Zenlo could only whisper. "I used the last of my power…on the demon. I am fading."

"No. No I won't let you die too." Gordon said. He turned to look at Lo-gen and Rezlan. "Isn't there something we can do?" The Vortigaunt brothers shook their heads no.

"Freeman. It is my time…I saw this day coming…I've known it for years…there is nothing that can stop it." Gordon sadly accepted the fate of the dying prophet. "There is however…a tradition." Gordon leaned in again to listen intently on the prophets next words. "It is a Vortigaunt tradition…that when a prophet dies…they pass on their memories to…the last being to see them alive. Be it a friend…or enemy. The Vortigaunt brethren…believe that these memories…keep the prophet's soul alive in life…as well as let them pass on to…Paradise." Gordon was partly excited at what Zenlo was suggesting.

"Do you mean…?" Gordon asked.

"Yes Freeman…my friend…would you like to bear…the memories of a prophet?" Zenlo asked.

"Nothing would please me more than having the honor to bear your memories." Gordon replied. Zenlo gestured for Gordon to lean forward. The Vortigaunt lifted his left hand and placed it on Gordon's neck. Then, Zenlo took his middle, third, arm and placed it over Gordon's chest. Instantly Gordon felt a warm sensation hit his chest. He felt a flowing force coursing through his body and back to Zenlo. The memories filled Gordon's brain and he witnessed them as if he were experiencing them himself. Zenlo had had a hard life filled with sadness and regret, and Gordon felt these feelings in his own heart as the memories filled his mind. The process took about three minutes and ended exactly then. Gordon jumped backward from Zenlo. All the memories of Zenlo's past and the visions of the future had been copied into Gordon's mind.

"Keep those…memories sacred…cherish them…and use them…wisely." Zenlo croaked. "The visions of the future…can be devastating…if used improperly." Gordon nodded in agreement. "Goodbye…my friends. My…time…has…come…" Zenlo's eye faded and seemed to turn gray. He closed his eyelid and took a final gasp of air. He was gone, his soul moved onto Paradise. The last proof of his existence being the memories he passed on to Gordon.

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With Zenlo's memories, Gordon finally understood who the G-Man was. The Vortigaunts were a race that had been around since the dawn of time. Xen was the first planet in all the galaxies. It was prophesized that an evil force would one day be born that would cause devastation across the universe and end the time of peace given to Xen at the dawn of time. The Demon would be a Vortigaunt who would be imbued with immortality and power over time and space. It was also prophesized that a select few would be able to force the Demon into a battle that would strip him of his powers and decide the fate of everything. It was over 600 million years until the Demon was born. By then, Xen had prospered as a race of kindness, peace, and love. Certain Vortigaunt children were born with the powers of an oracle. These children were taught to hone their abilities and one day hold high power as Prophets. The Prophets advised the entire Vortigaunt race in almost every aspect of life. Zenlo was one of these children. He would soon rise to the highest ranking Prophet the Xen culture would allow, Prophet of Truth. The Prophets of Truth held the highest amount of power on Xen. Only three held power at a time. Zenlo held power until 100 years before the Black Mesa incident. This was the year that the Demon came to power. Zenlo was devastated as to the identity of the Vortigaunt Anti-Christ. It turned out to be one of his best friends, one of Zenlo's fellow Prophets of Truth. This Prophet broke away from the Vortigaunts after he began preaching of the Apocalypse. The Demon left Xen and created a new planet, the Combine home world. The Demon returned to Xen in a new, more human-like form with the Combine and the Nihilanth to enslave the Vortigaunts. Zenlo and a select many rebels, Lo-gen and Rezlan among them, escaped Xen and fled to nearby planets. 100 years later, The G-Man discovered Earth. He saw the prosperity that the Earthlings had and decided to meddle with it. He used the Xen crystals to allow his Combine to come to Earth, utilizing the portal storms the resonance cascade would cause. Zenlo and the other rebel Vortigaunts then came to earth along with the other Vortigaunts the Nihilanth had brainwashed. The Vortigaunts were later freed by Gordon Freeman, who killed the Nihilanth. Adrian Shepherd later stopped the attack by the Race X aliens that the Nihilanth had created as a breed between the Combine and the Vortigaunts. The Demon hated that the duo stopped his plans, so he lured them into false trust and put them both to sleep. In the twenty years that Gordon was asleep, Zenlo and the others became involved with the human resistance. They helped in any way they could. Zenlo knew what was going to happen, but he believed that revealing the future would cause devastating things to happen when people tried to change it. He stuck by the defense until finally revealing himself to Gordon at White Forest. After this encounter, Zenlo returned to Xen to try and rally the Vortigaunts that remained there. Unfortunately, Zenlo found that the Vortigaunts that had remained loyal to the planet had been slaughtered by the Demon. While on Xen, The G-Man appeared and fought with Zenlo. During the fight, Zenlo lead the G-Man to believe that he had triumphed and killed the Prophet. This satisfied the G-Man because he believed that the future could be changed and Zenlo, the one prophesized to defeat him, had died. The future however, did not change. Zenlo returned and took the G-man's power away from him and allowed Gordon and Adrian to deliver the final killing strike, just as it had been prophesized at the dawn of time. Unfortunately, the power it took to destroy the Demon had taken all that Zenlo had and ultimately cause his death.

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Zenlo's funeral was respectful. He was buried right next to Judith Mossman and Eli Vance. The group of rebels stood around all the graves. Like with Judith's funeral, Gordon had put his HEV suit put away and wore regular clothes. He now wore sunglasses as well over his prescriptions. They all stood in front of the three graves in respect of the dead. Flowers and pictures littered the burial plots.

"Here lies a Free Vortigaunt. Prophet Zenlo. Friend of the Rebels of Earth." Gordon said. This was the inscription on Zenlo's grave marker. "It's fitting. Judith and Eli would have been good friends with him." The funeral ended a half hour later.

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Later, Gordon and Adrian were sitting at the main desk of the control room in White Forest. Dr. Kliener and Dr. Magnusson were off in a lab somewhere arguing once again while Lo-gen and Rezlan did the work that the two doctors were supposed to be doing. Alyx and Chell were off locking up the Portal gun and Gordon's HEV suit in a vault that Kliener had built. Barney was outside working on cars with DOG. Gordon and Adrian just sat there watching the security camera monitors in the control room.

"Hey Gordon, can I ask you something?" Adrian asked.

"Go ahead." Gordon replied.

"When Zenlo transferred his memories to you, was there anything there like the way any of us was going to die?" Gordon paused. He knew what the answer was, but he was trying to find a way to explain it to Adrian.

"Yes. Unfortunately, I know how all of us are going to die." Before Adrian could open his mouth again Gordon stopped him. "I know what your next question is going to be, and the answer is no. I am not going to tell you how you are going to die."

"Why not?"

"Zenlo's final wish was for me to use the memories carefully and he warned me that visions of the future could be dangerous." Gordon turned his head to face Adrian. "No one should know how they are going to die. They need to live and not worry when their final day is coming. Live every day like it's your last." Adrian chuckled.

"I know you're serious, but that line is so cheesy."

"I know." Gordon and Adrian laughed.

--Next Chapter: Epilogue--