Legend Of Zelda Fan Fiction / Starcraft Fan Fiction / Batman Beyond Fan Fiction ❯ Tassadar's Legacy: Rebirth ❯ The One ( Chapter 9 )

“Is he going to be alright?” I heard Sheik ask as if from far away. Who's going to be alright? Is someone hurt?

“He's fine. He'll be awake in a moment.” Artanis' voice. He knows I'm awake already, listening to them. I'm doing more than listening though. I can also hear Sheik running a litany over and over in his mind constantly. He's keeping up an act. He's worried sick about me. He's afraid that bringing me here was a stupid move. He can't help but wonder what that white light that enveloped me earlier was. He-

I shut out his thoughts, and inadvertently, everyone else's with a groan. All the thoughts pouring into my head had been giving me a headache. I did NOT need to know what some random Terran female wanted to have for breakfast so long as it involved a certain Terran male and some kind of cream-

I shut that thought out too, glad that I even could. I don't want to hear other people's thoughts. That just doesn't seem right. “Imagine a dome surrounding your mind. An impenetrable sphere.” Zeratul's words cut through the cacophony and I did as he instructed, finding it easy to do so. A memory of learning just that as a youngling just out of my mother's womb filtered through my mind, and the easily learned mental block fell into place.

I let memory come to me and wash over me like a river. I imagined that river as it flowed over me and I recalled everything that had happened. Suddenly I felt like I was drowning and I stopped imagining the river and the memories slowly faded, except for the ones here and now.

I opened my eyes and immediately found Sheik's hovering over me. My head is in his lap as Zeratul and Artanis are standing off a ways allowing some space. I blinked as I could see a sphere surrounding us. Though saying I can see it is wrong. It's like I can feel it. I just know it's there, and knowing that is leaving an after image of something I don't actually see. Like if someone you know sneaks up behind you and you pretend not to hear and you focus on their movements you can almost see where they are behind you. It's a weird sensation.

Zeratul again cut through my thoughts and said, “That is a psi shield you constructed when I told you to envision a sphere.” Sheik looked up and asked, “When did you tell him that?” Zeratul said, “A few moments ago. I choose to speak in such a way that you may hear me, Sheik of Hyrule. I can also choose to speak in such a way only one can hear me. I knew this boy was special from the start. He heard me speak to Artanis back at the Gateway when I had spoken only for Artanis to hear.”

Sheik looked down at me and asked, “Is that true?” I nodded. At first I wasn't sure what he was talking about, then I remembered how surprised he'd looked when he told Artanis he wasn't wrong and I had wondered what he hadn't been wrong about. It felt like that had been almost a hundred years ago.

Eyeing the sphere surrounding me, I realized that it needn't be so big. With just that thought it suddenly shrank down and settled over me like a second skin. Artanis and Zeratul both looked surprised. Sheik asked, “What happened? It felt like something just passed through me.” Artanis answered, awed, “He shrank the psi shield to fit directly over his skin. I've only ever heard of the most powerful templar being able to do so. You truly are Tassadar…”

Sheik looked even more alarmed and I imagine the litany running through his head was now saying, stay calm, over and over. Sheik asked, “Matthew?...” I gave him a small smile and said, “Don't worry Sheik. Everything happened exactly as it should have. That power you felt within me was actually the tinkering of a Protoss trying to survive. I'm still Matthew… but I'm also the Protoss Tassadar as well now.”

Zeratul gave a small bow and said, “Old friend. It is good to have you back among us. There are things I wish to share with you.” I nodded and said, “You mean to tell me of the Hybrid you found on that moon.” Zeratul nodded and said, “Yes.” Artanis looked shocked. I glanced at him and said, “I imagine you didn't tell anyone where you went or what you saw?” Zeratul shook his head and answered, “What I saw is frightening beyond comprehension. My people need not know of the terror that faces us when the Queen of Blades is still searching for our whereabouts.”

Artanis interrupted then, asking, “What is this terror you speak of honored Zeratul? Should we not be prepared for everything that is to come?” Zeratul shook his head and said, “There is nothing that will prepare us for what is coming.” I shook my head and said, “There is.” I looked over at Sheik, who appeared to be completely lost, and said, “We better get comfortable. I think we're going to be here for a while.”

I sat down, cross legged, next to Sheik. Artanis took up similar positions across from us. I said, “Before we get into too much detail, I think it'd be best if we explain to Sheik what is going on.” Zeratul and Artanis exchanged a look, then Zeratul said, “Is it wise, to involve more people in this war?” I shook my head and said, “Everyone is involved anyway. What we're facing will be the end of everything as we know it.”

I turned to Sheik and said, “There are a lot of things I'm going to tell you now that I need to stay strictly with you ok? There's a saying on we have on Earth, `Take care of problems the way you eat, one bite at a time.' Do you understand?” Sheik nodded and said, “I understand.” I took a deep breath and proceeded to jump into the longest explanation I've ever given.

“A long time ago, a race of beings called the Xelnaga, or Wander's from afar, traveled the stars. They sowed life among planets they came across. They were trying to create the perfect race, a race with purity of form and purity of essence. They tried again and again, but they kept failing to create what they desired to achieve.”

“Finally they created the Protoss. It was the nearest successful creation they'd ever made. They steered the Protoss' evolution till they achieved what they believed to be purity of essence. At that moment, they made contact with the Protoss. The Protoss loved their creators, almost too much. They ended up fighting each other for the love and attention of the Xelnaga. The fighting escalated and the Xelnaga ended up leaving the Protoss, having thought they'd failed their creation.”

“The Protoss then turned on each other for driving off the Xelnaga. The Aeon of Strife, a bloody civil war occurred and lasted for a very long time. The war drove the unity and the Purity of Essence that the Xelnaga had cultivated in the Protoss to all but extinguish. It was a terrible time.”

“Then one day, a protoss by the name of Khas discovered the Khaydarin Crystals, and through them, he felt all the minds of the Protoss people, touching the unity and connection that the Protoss had long ago. Khas worked hard and drew the Protoss together, tribe by tribe to discover what he had. He called the connection the Protoss shared, the racial unity the Xelnaga had strove for them to reach, the Khala.”

“Through the Khala, the Protoss again began to thrive. The war ended, and peace and prosperity was reached. It became a golden age for the Protoss. During the early days of this golden age, some Protoss refused the Khala, claiming rights to their individuality, saying the Khala erases that individuality with unity of minds of the entire Protoss race. In a way they're not wrong.”

“These rogues hid themselves from the rest of the Protoss, seeking peace so long as they could keep their individuality. They received help for this from a very powerful Protoss warrior named Adun. He taught the rogues to use their abilities, but without the khala, their power grew out of their control. They were no longer hidden from the rest of the Protoss and were banished in secret in order to keep the peace and keep the knowledge of the rogues from public knowledge. Thus the Dark Templar came to be.”

“Meanwhile, The Xelnaga had continued on their journey and decided to try to create the perfect race once more. Using their knowledge gained from their attempt with the Protoss, but trying a different route, they decided instead of creating a race of individuals linked as a whole, they decided to try creating a race focusing more on perfecting form and evolution physically, while keeping the entire race under one being overseeing them all. Thus the Overmind was born.”

“The Overmind set about doing exactly as its creators had dictated. It had almost a manic drive to become the perfect form of being. Using it's abilities, it created underlings and assimilated the best of traits from the creatures around it, integrating it into itself, and creating smaller extensions of itself at the same time. The Overmind controlled these smaller creatures like an extension of itself to do it's bidding, bringing more and more to itself to achieve perfection. The Overmind grew so quickly and was so perfect in its form. The Xelnaga were overjoyed, thinking they'd finally accomplished their goal. They never saw what came next.”

“As the Overmind grew, so did it's abilities, and soon, it discovered the Xelnaga. Following its instinctive drive to become perfect, it attacked the Xelnaga, destroying most of them. The rest of the Xelnaga left. Meanwhile, the Overmind assimilated it's masters, learning of their plans, and the Protoss, and the goals that they had for it. The Overmind knew that if it could reach the Protoss, then if Purity of Form could assimilate Purity of Essence, then the perfect race would be created, and the Overmind's ingrained strive for perfection would be satisfied.”

“So the Overmind waited, biding its time, continuing to grow, until it detected creatures that could travel through space. The Overmind lured them to it, and assimilated the creatures. Now the Zerg truly came to be. The Zerg travelled back the way the Xelnaga came, in search of the Protoss, continually invading and assimilating planets in their search, growing stronger.”

“Then came the day the Protoss discovered the Zerg. A Protoss scouting party found a Zerg probe and discovered it to be of Xelnaga origin. The Protoss would keep an eye out for these Zerg, not liking what they found already with the probe and the thoughts running through its head, an echo of the Overmind's will.”

“Meanwhile… a race of people called Humans that have nothing to do with the Xelnaga lived on a planet they called Earth. They were very technologically advanced, and soon came together under one government for the world. This government sought unity and believed humanity to be the sovereign race. They destroyed all opposing religions and political uprisings, as well as humans who had genetically altered themselves into being something they're not, basically mixing human genetics with that of animals and such.”

“Many of those genetically altered humans and dissidents were scheduled for execution, but a human scientist was able to free some of them for his own plans. He foresaw problems of over population and strove to solve them by colonizing other worlds with humans. He gathered these prisoners and shipped them in cryosleep to a planet just outside their solar system on gigantic ships.”

“Unfortunately the lead ship malfunctioned and sent them far past the planet they were aiming for, and they ended up travelling like that for 30 years. Finally the ships were on their last legs and they each crash landed on the nearest hospitable planet. These humans, genetically altered and former prisoners, dubbed themselves Terrans and created for themselves a new life.”

“The Protoss were aware of the Terrans, as were the Zerg. The Zerg sought the Terrans to assimilate them in order to gain an edge in fighting the Protoss. The Protoss had taken the Terrans under their wing along with many other planets and beings. When the Zerg began infesting the Terrans, the Protoss were there to stop them, but their methods were extreme, and the Terrans were in a panic. Thus started a great war between the three races.”

“Tassadar was the leader of the Protoss armies at the time. He lead the fight against the Zerg and burned a number of infested Terran planets. But it also cost a lot of people their lives. Tassadar felt he was doing wrong, and when he was ordered to burn another planet, he refused, deciding instead to help the terrans defend themselves against the Zerg.”

“Unfortunately, all the Terrans saw was the burning of one of their homes. They retaliated and Tassadar was forced to fight back. He ended up withdrawing and following the Zerg to their new home, a planet called Char, lead by the mental calls of a very powerful creature, a successful zerg and terran hybrid created from a terran who was descended from the genetically altered humans, and therefore very powerful with psionics, or mental powers.”

“A group of Terrans also followed the call, bent on rescuing the Terran before she became a part of the Zerg completely. Those Terrans were lead by a man named Jim Raynor, a friend and love interest of the captured Terran, a woman named Sarah Kerrigan.”

“Jim had been a resident of that second planet that Tassadar had burned. He decided to fight the Zerg and had been arrested for it by the Terran confederacy, the oppressive government that the Terrans had at the time. Jim was rescued by the Sons of Korhol, an anti Confederacy group, that Jim Raynor then joined. Jim then met Kerrigan, who'd been rescued, like Jim, from the confederacy. Together, the Sons of Korhol took the Confederacy down, but their leader, Arcturus Mengsk, replaced the Confederacy with the Terran Dominion, an oppressive government no better than the Confederacy.”

“It was Arcturus Mengsk who betrayed and left Kerrigan to the Zerg to be captured, despite Jim's protests. Jim left Mengsk and the Sons of Korhol soon after. That was when he heard Kerrigan's psionic calls and went to rescue her. Even Zeratul and his Dark Templar heard the call and attempted to discover what it was.”

“All three failed in rescuing Kerrigan though. She became a fully fledged Zerg, and the Infested Kerrigan proved a very dangerous enemy to them all. Jim, Tassadar, and Zeratul ended up stranded on Char together and formed an alliance, striking against the Zerg. During one of those strikes, Zeratul destroyed a Cerebrate, one of the extensions and creatures the Overmind created to control a Zerg brood. Unfortunately, when Zeratul did this, the Overmind learned the location of the Protoss homeworld, Auir, and immediately went there.”

“Once there, all out war ensued. The Conclave, the head of the Protoss at the time, were inept and full of themselves. They believed they were invincible and winning, when in fact they weren't, especially when Tassadar contacted them about a sure way to defeat the Zerg through the Dark Templar. The Conclave view it as Heresy to fraternize with the Dark Templar and they sent an entire fleet of their army to secure him and the Dark Templar.”

“Artanis, the new Executor, or leader, of the Protoss army, was the one sent to capture Tassadar. But Artanis was a warrior. He knew what the Conclave was doing was foolish. He helped Tassadar, but ultimately he stood by the Conclave and what he thought was right. Tassadar turned himself in. Once they reached Auir though, Tassadar attempted to make the Conclave see reason. When they wouldn't Tassadar attempted to overthrow the Conclave for the good of the Protoss, but he couldn't go through with it, unable to stand seeing his own people slaughter one another. He turned himself in.”

“Zeratul and the Dark Templar then freed Tassadar and they left. Those who believed Tassadar followed him and they struck at the Overmind. The Overmind was close to being finished, and opened a portal to escape, but Tassadar sacrificed himself by turning his ship and himself into pure energy, both Templar and Dark Templar. He crashed into the Overmind, destroying it and himself, but the portal was still open, so the remaining energies, both of Tassadar and the Overmind where sucked into the unstable gateway.”

“Because it was so unstable, Tassadar and the remnants of the Overmind were flung a long ways, following a stream of energy from the Void. This energy morphed Tassadar's spirit and the Overmind's remnants, making them one. It was there that Tassadar learned that the Overmind had never wanted to destroy the Xelnaga as it had or go after the Protoss. It had no choice to follow the ingrained instinct to reach perfection that the Xelnaga had placed within the Overmind. Once again, they were their own downfall.”

“The Overmind fought it's instinct as best it could, but knew it to be futile. He foresaw the destruction of all creation if this were allowed to continue. He foresaw the creation of the hybrids and the wrath of the Xelnaga that would follow afterward. So he manipulated his own actions so that two things would happen that would ensure a way for the rest of us to survive.”

“The first was to create a replacement for himself that would be free of the instinctive drive for perfection. No cerebrate or Overmind would be free of such directive. So he chose the next best thing, a creature that had the potential to be more powerful than himself. The self proclaimed Queen of Blades, otherwise known as Sarah Kerrigan.”

“The second thing he did, was to ensure his own demise as well as the cerebrates who follow him. So what did he do when he learned the location of his worst enemy? Did he station himself close by and launch wave after wave of unstoppable force? No, he placed himself directly upon Auir, in harm's way, rationalizing that he was untouchable, when in truth, he was hoping just the opposite. Thanks to Tassadar, his dream was realized.”

I paused in my explanation to rub my jaw. I'd never talked so much before. Sheik looked amazed and both Artanis and Zeratul had a look that told me that if they had jaws, they would be falling off right now. I suppose the bit about the Overmind would be a bit hard for them to swallow.

Clearing my throat, I continued, “While in that stream of energy, Tassadar finally came out of the stream near a planet, also known as Earth, but a far cry different from the one the Terrans came from. My Earth does have humans on it, but I imagine the likelihood of us developing like the humans from the Earth that the Terrans came from is very slim.”

“When Tassadar finally exited from that energy stream, he was also very weak. He had little time to lose or he would end up dying without being able to warn anyone about what he had learned. So quickly, he searched for a host among the humans that would be compatible enough to not die upon joining him. It may have been sheer luck that he not only found me, but when he did, he discovered me in a situation where if he hadn't done anything, I would have died. We were both dying, so it was a rather just act for him to enter me and keep us both alive long enough to do what we need to do.”

“So he spent the next eight or so years of my life steering along my evolution, changing things within me here and there where he could, preparing me so that we might be able to fuse souls. He knew it was a long shot of it working, and it might only work long enough for him to send a message to you, but he had to try. Luck again was on his side though, when a certain prophecy had a dark lord named Ganon sending assassins to certain people to kill them. Sheik here rescued them all, including me.”

“Sheik had known about the prophecy. He didn't tell me though for understandable reasons. I was reacting rather badly to what he'd already told me in the first place. He didn't want me having a mental breakdown, and if he'd told me the prophecy then, I probably would have. I know the prophecy since I could hear it loud and clear from his mind when I woke up before I remembered from my memories as Tassadar to throw up a psi shield. Would you tell it to all of us now out loud Sheik?”

Sheik looked at me, then at the other Protoss, then said, “The prophecy is a very short excerpt I found in my studies of the Xelnaga who visited my planet. It was extremely vague. Its words are as follows;

One shall rise above the rest

Two shall follow at his back

Three will join together forever

Four shall be the One's first company

Five shall be the One's Elite Guard

Six shall keep the light in check

An army shall follow and be power manifested

I don't know what Ganondorf read himself, but my continued study of the prophecy and works related to it lead me to believe that he was trying to secure his position as the One. He then sent out four groups of assassins one by one. I followed each and rescued two warriors of renown from each planet visited. The last assassin's group left with instructions to destroy those who would usurp Ganon's title. He then went after this boy. There is no doubt in my mind thanks to Ganon that he is the One from the prophecy.”

I nodded and said, “I agree with you. Everything that has been happening seems to have followed a pattern of fate that I saw for myself in the stream of energy I followed to Earth. Everything is as it should be.” Artanis leaned forward and said, “What of the knowledge from the Overmind? The Hybrids and Kerrigan? Things have not gone well since you disappeared, Noble Tassadar.”

I shook my head and said, “Just call me Tassadar, Artanis. As for what has happened after I left, would you care to fill us in?” Artanis took up the tale, “After you left with the remnants of the Overmind, the Zerg were left leaderless and in disarray. They all turned on each other and us. It was complete and utter chaos. We knew it to be hopeless, Auir was lost. Zeratul offered us sanctuary here on the Dark Templar Homeworld of Shakuras.”

“Unfortunately, Zerg followed us here. We were unable to destroy them and required the power of this very temple to destroy the Zerg off the face of Shakuras. In order to do so, we required the Uraj and Khalis, crystals infused with Dark Templar and Templar energy respectively. The Queen of Blades came to us and offered us help in the quest, claiming to be free of the Overmind's influence. In return she wished for us to destroy the rest of the Cerebrates and the fledgling Overmind they were creating so that she might be free of them completely.”

“We believed her words, all of us but Aldaris, the last living Judicator of the Conclave. After claiming the crystals, he discovered a hidden treachery the Queen of Blades had been weaving around the Dark Templar's matriarch Raszagal. When we had returned from retrieving the crystals, it was to Aldaris inciting rebellion against us and the Queen of Blades. We defeated and cornered him. He spoke of the treachery of Kerrigan and she killed him for it. We banished her from the planet after that.”

“But Kerrigan's treachery ran deep. She returned and captured the matriarch. In exchange for her safe return, we would destroy the last of the Cerebrates and the Fledgling Overmind. We did this, but the Matriarch would not return to us. Zeratul… lead a rescue attempt to save the matriarch, but it was not enough. Kerrigan had poisoned her mind so that she would not return. Zeratul had no choice but to slay her in order for her to be free.”

“Kerrigan then left. We only had to retake this temple and place the Uraj and the Khalis inside. The result was a massive explosion, destroying everything on the planet's surface. The only survivors were those who sought refuge within the temple, or the temple housing the gateway you came through. We survived and rebuilt this land, and it has become one of the last strongholds of the Protoss and the Terrans lead by Jim Raynor.”

“According to the Terran's we have spoken to, a force from the Earth they had come from had appeared and quickly made enemies of nearly everyone in the sector. They were the ones who captured the fledgling Overmind and enslaved some of the Zerg before we destroyed it. Because of their actions, the Terran Dominion lead by Arcturus Mengsk fell. He lived for a time, and tried unsuccessfully to rebuild his empire, until the Queen of Blades killed him, and all survivors fled to join James Raynor.”

“Since then, The Queen of Blades has been systematically wiping us out, world by world. If what you say is true, and she is truly the last hope to bring peace and save us all from the coming destruction, are we to be destroyed first by the very one who is to save us?”

I cleared my throat to answer Artanis' question and said, “Sarah Kerrigan will save you, but in a way you will least expect. But she will not be the only one. I have a part to play as well, but I have something I must accomplish first. I will be returning with Sheik to Hyrule and finishing the task set out for me and the others there. While I do that, you must do your best to survive and keep hold of Shakuras. Do whatever you have to, but Shakuras must hold. Do you understand?” Artanis nodded and Zeratul finally broke his silence by saying, “Rest assured old friend, Shakuras will be here when you return.”

I nodded and stood up. The others followed suit and I said, “Sheik and I must be getting back now. The sooner our task is finished the better.” The others nodded and we left the Xelnaga temple and boarded the shuttle that had waited for us. As it took off, I turned to Zeratul and asked, “What will you do, while I'm gone?” Zeratul looked grave and said, “I have seen much. These hybrids are of great concern to me. I believe I have an idea of how Kerrigan may end up helping us, but I must see to some things for it to happen.”

I nodded and said, “That's good. While you're out there, if you come across any more Hybrids in stasis, it would do well for you to destroy them.” Zeratul nodded and said, “I believe so as well.” I turned to Artanis and said, “There's something else that you should have your people do while I'm away. Though it goes against our culture, I believe we have little choice. Our race has dwindled and we must bring more Protoss into the world in order to keep from being wiped out. I'm sure you've witnessed the Terran's penchant for mating? I'm suggesting the Protoss mate just as much if not more, in order to keep from dying out.”

Zeratul closed his eyes and shook with silent laughter while Artanis looked fairly scandalized by the idea. Even Sheik looked a bit amused. Artanis sputtered and said, “You would have us rutting in the streets!?” I shook my head barely hiding my own grin and said, “No, I would have you rutting in the privacy of your own homes. Drastic times call for desperate measures Artanis. The Protoss must survive.” Artanis sighed and nodded.

Not long after, the shuttle touched down at the temple housing the gateway that would take us back to Hyrule. Zeratul bid us farewell and stayed on the shuttle, while Artanis, Sheik, and I walked into the small temple. A small crowd of Protoss started appearing and words of Tassadar being alive started to spread like wild fire. I grimaced and said, “We better go before we get swamped and are unable to leave.” Artanis nodded and activated the gate for us, saying, “This will lead you back the way you came. En taro Tassadar.” I nodded back, and said, “En taro Tassadar. Make sure to share what I have told you.” Artanis nodded, and without another word, I took Sheik's hand and we went back through the gate.