Halo: Primordial

Epilogue: Depths

We meet again, young one.

Another meeting. And the last one. Though I suspect it already knows that. That's why it doesn't fall into insipid rhyme. Why it remains silent. Because it's spent this time telling me 'stories.' Accounts of the Flood, of humanity's aggression, all lies to hide the true reason for their belligerence – their very nature. Whatever truth may exist in these creatures my wife has found, it matters not - humans need no excuse to commit genocide. Likewise why I don't need to justify my actions to this abomination.

But I've come anyway. I have lost friends, and children. I have seen worlds burn, and the stars bleed. And for all that, I will not bow to the savage part of my nature. I will speak. And this beast will listen.

"We're sealing you."

It still sits there. Or stands, it's hard to tell given its size and dimensions.

"In essence, your circumstances will not change. Charum Hakkor is now quarantined, its people have been…dealt with. At the least, you can expect no worse treatment than us."

And still it remains silent. Through every visit it's prattled on, telling me the story of a group of humans who played with fire, and as far as I can tell, got burnt. Not that I expected anything else. Or would have done anything differently. I've burnt thousands of their worlds. I'd burn another two as easily as they killed my own kind.

"You won't see me again," I say. "I've asked questions, you haven't provided answers of use. So if you have anything to say, do so now."

And still it sits there. With the size of a war sphinx, but without any of its grace. I'm glad I have my helmet on. Protection from its spores and telepathy aside, I wouldn't want to give it any satisfaction.

"Farewell."

So I turn. Once I return to the surface, a Forerunner timelock will be activated. More secure than anything humanity could provide, and just as effective as keeping their prisoner. I walk, and the door to the chamber hisses open. Before me is a long corridor, bereft of any signs of life bar Sentinels. Replacements for humanity's own version of floating automata. For a moment, I consider yet another parallel between our species. And then disregard it – it's a reminder that I could do without. And to banish all thoughts of monsters aside, I turn back to another one. The monster I can't understand, or even be sure that it is a monster.

"What are you?" I ask. "Tell me that."

It still remains silent. It alluded that such questions had been asked before. And had not been answered. Or if they had, kept hidden.

"If you want silence, fine," I say, turning back to the exit. "But if you don't tell me-"

I am the last of those who gave you breath and shape and form, millions of years ago.

I stop short. I turn. I stare.

I am the last of those your kind rose up against and ruthlessly destroyed.

More lies. Is it in the creature's nature, I wonder? Or has humanity's own nature rubbed off on it? If it would only tell me what it is-

I am the last Precursor.

What?

And our answer is at hand.

What?

It sits there.

"What?" I ask.

It sits there.

"What?!"

It sits there. Prisoner. King. God.

It can't be true. Precursor…monster. Precursor…god. Precursor…creator. And this thing…claiming to be one of them. This thing…who the humans imprisoned. Precursors…gods who humans worshipped as well, believing that the Mantle was bequeathed to them, not us. Precursors…gone from the galaxy. And this thing…claiming to be one of them. Impossible. And yet, real.

I close the door. I walk forward. My eyes meet its gaze. Understanding. And I want more of it.

I am the Didact. Protector of the Ecumene. Defender of the Mantle. Voice for my people.

I'll have your answers.

I'll have all of them.

The End

A/N

The writing of the previous chapter and epilogue gave me some pause, in that I was left with a conundrum. Go the full way in ch. 4 with the Primordial reveal, and thus effectively repeat the reveal in the epilogue, or leave the reveal to the epilogue but leave ch. 4 on a pseudo-cliffhanger. I went with the former option in the end because, let's face it, anyone could see the reveal coming in the first place.

Anyway, that's that. Thank you to everyone who reviewed, and special thanks to Garrett Post for letting me use his Primordial fan-art as the cover image.

Entering shameless plug territory, I've decided to try formalizing the process, so here's the obligatory "but wait, there's more!" blurb:

Current Halo stories on "to write" list: Alpha (adaptation of Nicole-458's role in Dead or Alive 4), Sanctuary (sidequel to Halo 4), The Orion Chronicles (collection of oneshots)

Current writing focus: Elysium: Facing the Music

Note (21/09/13): This story will be left as is despite the canon issues. My mistake was in thinking the Primordial was encountered before the Flood, that the Flood-human conflict ended much earlier than it really did. In canon, the Primordial was found only forty years before the end of the Human-Forerunner War, the Human-Flood War ending forty years before that. Ergo, the timeframe and context of this story is no longer applicable, and I can no longer include it in personal canon. This will be reflected on my homepage.