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| WhiteShadow sat, scowling at Zedd the entire time. Zedd, however, crossed his legs, took a drink from the spring, and generally looked relaxed. "You'd better get comfortable, Motavian, it's a long story." Zedd's voice had gone from zealous to almost benign. This story was obviously one he enjoyed telling. "It begins many, many years ago... When this world was a very different one. The populace was a happy one, their lives guided by the wisdom and kindess of Mother Brain, and the people prospered. Unfortunately, however, some of the people were unhappy, spiteful creatures, and they sought Mother Brain's destruction. The fools! Among their number was a creature spurned from Mother brain herself, the betrayer - Nei! The treacherous child who turned her back on her Mother to aid the filthy malcontents... But she met her match when she had to face her superior predecessor - NeiFirst. NeiFirst managaed to destroy the little upstart in that skirmish... That grand battle took place in this very bioplant, although the passage of years has changed the landscape somewhat, along with Mother's attempts to hide this place from the world. Anyway, Nei's co-conspirators managed to damage NeiFirst enough after Nei's death to think that they had destroyed her; in truth, they had won the day, and went on to battle with Mother Brain* herself, but NeiFirst was far from death." |
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| * See Phantasy Star 2 for details |
| "Indeed, NeiFirst was saved from death's cold embrace by the very bioplant she inhabited... The systems restoring her shattered form, but not her shattered mind, unfortunately... But luckily, Help came in the form of Father - Zio, known to your kind as the 'Black Magician'." At this casual mention of the name, WhiteShadow gasped. Even he had heard of the dastardly Zio - but he was dead, wasn't he? And he certainly wasn't over a thousand years old! "I see you are surprised, Motavian, so I shall explain. Just as Lutz is an emissary of the Great Light, Zio is the harbinger of the Dark Falz's arrival on this plane. And just as Lutz is not immortal, but instead the mantle is passed from generation to generation, the black magic of Zio passes from damned creature to damned creature... This 4th Zio found NeiFirst, her body restored but her mind a desolate plain, and educated her, restored her to her former self, for he knew that she worshipped his Dark master... Unfortunately for the Dark Force, Zio eventually fell in love with his charge, and gave up his evil ways as the light of love warmed his heart... And NeiFirst also fell for him... Displeased by his harbinger's betrayl, Dark Force smote that Zio and passed the mantle on to another, but not in time for that one to intefere in Dark Force's defeat... Anyway, the NeiChildren were the offspring of that forbidden love affair. "Without her true love, and with Mother Brain destroyed, NeiFirst found her existence without meaning, until she gave birth to Aie - the first of the NeiChildren... Just as NeiFirst and Nei were female, Aie was female, but she had attributes of both her mother and father... Palman as well as Newman traits... But NeiFirst was afraid that without a companion, her spawn would die out, and Mother Brain would never be avenged... So she used the last of her days, devoted to using this Bioplant to create a male Newman. Using Zio's cells in the process, she eventually created Beta, Aie's male counterpart. And so our line began. "With Beta's creation, however, came NeiFirst's passing, and Aie and Beta had to rely only on their instincts and the technology inherent in their surroundings. Over the following years, many earthquakes shook the Earth, changing the landscape, and causing life to be a struggle for the naive Aie and Beta. As the technology failed around them, and they became trapped in the formation of a new mountain range, they had to learn to fend for themselves. Luckily, we NeiChildren are hardy creatures... And so we survived, and our numbers grew. "So the children came, both male and female, both bearing characteristics of Palmans and Newmans, all born with an instinctive knowledge of Mother and Father. Being solely of neither race, we called ourselves the NeiChildren, and our physiologies changed to adapt to our habitat, hence the large, pupiless eyes to see in the absence of light, the sensitive hearing to warn of far-off cave-ins... But I digress, for this evolution was all before my years. "So now the stories turns to Mother's great return... It was a glorious day, and I was privileged to be there... "It all happened when Em and I were deep in the lower passages, hunting food for the next meal, when Em fell down a crevasse, and I lost sight of her... Dropping down after her, I slid down the crevasse, and entered a room much like the decontaminator you were in before. Of course, the difference was that that room had ceased functioning centuries ago... But when I found Em knocked out on the floor, I used my inherenet healing abilities to wake her... And the room sprang into life! The voice of Mother rang out all around us... 'Newmans detected... Scanning...' When the lights stopped flashing and the alarms blasting, Em was completely healed. But we both recognised the voice - it WAS Mother, the great NeiFirst! Suddenly, the room rumbled, and we began moving upward... We learnt later that we had entered the depths of the Bioplant, and had entered an 'elevator'. As it returned us to these upper levels, all the dormant circuitry reawakened, all because I had used my Newman powers... But that wasn't the most shocking thing, the most shocking thing occurred when we found Mother, reawakened at last... Follow me, and I shall show you." Rising to his feet, Zedd lead WhiteShadow back into the "decontaminator". Heading to a panel of circuitry on the wall, the walls began to shake, and metallic doors came down at either ends of the room. WhiteShadow felt his stomach lurch as the elevator shot upward, its gears groaning on solid rock formations. "You'll be glad of your education once we reach our destination, WhiteShadow. Your sacrifice will help sustain the NeiChildren for many years to come..." WhiteShadow couldn't help but notice the change in the way Zedd referred to him. Instead of heartening the captive Motavian, it made him fear even more. He struggled to free himself of his bonds. Suddenly, Zedd struck WhiteShadow a strong blow to the face, sending him sprawling to the floor. As the elevator stopped, the doors opened and many more similarly built beings came in and lifted WhiteShadow effortlessly. "Don't struggle;" Called out a smug Zedd. "You're going to LOVE Mother..." Zedd's laughter echoed in WhiteShadow's dazed head as he was carried through the dark tunnels toward NeiFirst, and possibly death. |