The next day cosmic lights awoke Zy up in a cozy bed for once. The guest bedroom held everything he had missed while being locked up at Kylon III’s Penitentiary. It had space, and walls, real walls not the padded stuff, and finally the best feature, the bed! It was a glorious duvet of Sploose feathers. The lightest fabric in the galaxy!
It was also firm enough that it held his weight with minimum effort. He was in love with it. He cuddled one of the pillows cracking an eye open and turning onto his back. No nurses. No role call. Nothing. Freedom. This is what freedom felt like and then his door was opened and Lithelios appeared with a warm drink in hand.
“Get up. Today We show you why we released you,” he said tossing a fluffy robe at Zy and motioning through a set of doors.
“You’ll find everything you need in there. Take some time, but do hurry, We have other things We must show you.”
Zy nodded and headed for the metal door that swept open when he neared. “Good morning Mr. Zyros Niall,” said the computer as it scanned him from top to foot with a laser.
“Zyros Niall. Kylon III humanoid species. No wings yet. Temperature running 102.9; normal for Zelians. Step to the discus to be washed.”
Zyros blushed. “Discus? With my clothes on?”
“With clothes though you will change yours so your choice.”
Zy blushed. He didn’t know where the AI was yet. His eyes searched and found a bright red light shining a few meters away. “I-I’ll disrobe but please don’t look.”
“Very well. Shutting ocular controls and starting the discus. Please step up.”
Zy disrobed and stepped over to an oval opening on the floor. Something was broken over his head, and he felt the gel-like substance seep into his hair. It didn’t wet it, however. More capsules broke over him, and the same substance washed him. A spray cleared the air and a towel was presented.
“To the next room, please,” said the AI.
Zy stepped out and folded the towel around himself, hiding his thin, almost starved body. The next room held all sorts of outfits. The AI emerged, red laser scanning for his size, and found a blue robe with the insignia of House Galaxys and black gi pants. Zy tried them on. They fit. He didn’t waste time admiring himself in the mirror, instead deciding to comb his rat's nest of blue hair and don the black slippers. He was shown through a door to a dining room where Lithelios was dining. He looked up.
“I see Centarous has done its job. Eat. We must leave soon.”
Zy nodded and sat grabbing a piece of bread and juice and serving himself a bit of the exotic foods displayed on the table. He ate with relish, thanking Lithelios silently again for taking him out of the hospital.
A few minutes later found both walking down the halls and making for a deep dank part of the ship. Cells covered the walls and held many people. Most of which glared at them.
“Pay them no mind,” said Lithelios as they traversed to the very back.
“Who were they?” he asked as they took a left.
“Relatives,” smiled Lithelios as he pulled up against a dark space. Zy leaned in wanting to see what it held. A huge eye opened, dwarfing them.
“What is that!?” Zy screamed, terrified. Lithelios smirked as the cell lit up and a magnificent creature was shown kept in black chains.
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“These chains minimize its size and its usage of something very special called the Dao. It is this creature that you saw that day through your escape pod. You are not ready yet but I want you to touch it and see what happens,” said Lithelios as he stared at Zy.
Zy quaked in fear and anger. THIS was the reason for all his suffering? He’d gladly help Lithelios destroy the thing if that was what he wanted. He stretched his hand out and made contact with the beast’s beak.
“I shall return. The Empire shall fall. Blood will spill. My return is decided. Be my herald, Zyros Niall,” growled the voice inside Zy’s head. “I spared your life for a reason. Fulfill the purpose I have given you.”
ZY gulped, then he heard a voice like a bell. “Child. The Dao speaks to you. You are in great peril. You do not see it now, but when you do, find me, and together, we will free one another.”
“You killed my mother!” Zy whispered under his breath.
“More was going on that day than you know. Trust the Dao. Let the dreams come. Do not be afraid.”
“I–”
“The vermin comes.”
“Who–”
“I’m going to cut you short as We still have the master to meet,” said Lithelios as he took Zy’s hand off the Sunbird’s beak. The creature gave a weak chime-like sound. Zy retracted his hand and nodded.
“It was about to show me how my mom died; it said it wasn’t at fault.”
Lithelios glared at the creature and it glared back. “Be careful, for it shows lies.”
“What is the Dao?” asked Zy as they passed the full cells. He glanced at a little girl crying. That sight gave him pause, and for a brief moment, he stopped moving. He gulped and looked back but he continued walking.
“The Dao is everything—the very energy of the universe. The Phlacians call it The Grand Stream. It has many names, but it is the Dao. We come from it and we return to it when we depart this plane of existence.” Lithelios explained as he and Zy kept walking. He noticed Zy was farther back than he was when they first left the Sunbird. He frowned.
“You saw the girl,” Lithelios commented, and Zy hesitantly nodded. “Though We may yet seem like the bad guy, it was needed to get her parents here, who are over there in a few cells to your right. They botched up the assignment The Emperor gave them with their greedy ways. Their punishment for endangering the Empire shall be served for up to four generations.”
Zy glanced a few cells down where a plump man and woman sat on a dirty floor crying. He winced. “Well maybe…”
“It's being arranged for an aunt to take Sybiline, don’t worry,” Lithelios said as he ignored the cries of the imprisoned couple.
Zy nodded and they left. “The creature said the Dao speaks to me. That the voices I hear are the Dao communicating with me.”
Lithelios grinned. “You are in luck, there is a master on board today. They are the one I want you to meet.”
They said no more as they walked to another area of the ship, lit by cosmic lighting and a fake sun. It was a rock garden, much like what his uncle had shown him pictures of. White rocks were located in a spiral pattern that led further into a decorative fish pond, where a red-shelled individual was floating over a white flat expanse of earth.
Zy could only stare at the floating crab.
They wore beige robes and a black toga under. They were a Krostan, with eight legs bent beneath them and large pincers in a restful position. Their eyestalks were closed. Their shell was a spiral cone, fit with small barnacles, and seaweed slung from the inside.
“Kh’ klii’ kha klu kh’lng, kh klii klu kh’lng,” they muttered. Slowly, their legs touched earth again, and their eyestalks fluttered open before she giggled. Her voice had a feminine cadence male voices could never reach in this species.
“Why hello there My Prince, young Zyros. The Dao told me of your coming,” she said. She floated down the rocky incline and stood three feet nothing. Now closer she seemed fragile with cracks in her shell.
She looked up and giggled. “Looks are deceiving, young one. You are very naive in certain aspects, but I can sense the Dao flowing strong within your spirit,” she pinched Zy’s leg and he flew backward surprised. She turned her eyestalks to Lithelios. “Do you want him trained in the Dao?”
Lithelios smiled. “Yes, Asna. You are the one most capable. Please work on the dream-sharing aspect. He receives visions but isn’t shown enough to see anything of import.”
“Mmm ok. Leave the little humanoid to me,” she pinched the air. “I’ll turn him into a fit Dao user in no time.”
Zy gulped as Lithelios left him with the mad crab.