Post by Helix Crust on Jan 20, 2017 3:57:15 GMT
When Helix opened his eyes, he felt as if his lungs were about to burst. The struggling namekian looked down at his clothes and found they were damp and dark with moisture… In fact, water was all around him! The namekian was completely submerged!
Helix abruptly struggled to surface his head, but he found that his arms and legs were shackled, the chains just short enough that the namekian couldn't push through the waves. With each second of struggle, his lungs tensed more and more, and the namekian's eyes widened in agony as he shrieked out into the abyss of the waves, bubbles pluming from his throat as he gasped.
But just as the namekian was about to pass out, the chains suddenly snapped and Helix was thrust to the surface by some unknown force from below. The namekian splashed outwards and saw land nearby. For some reason, he was unable to remember how to teleport in this moment.
As Helix frantically thrashed towards the land through the silvery green waves, the dragon caste suddenly realized that he was on his home planet! Three moons in the sky, brilliant emerald waves and blue coasts… Even though the shore was miles away by his last estimation, he suddenly felt his hand clasp rock and pulled himself up, completely drenched in the thick heavy water.
What was going on? How had he gotten to namek? The prophet stood up and looked left and right, desperate to scope out any settlement, but found himself completely lost. "Hello!?" Cried the namekian in an agonistic whimper, "Please, someone!?"
Suddenly, what had formerly been blank namekian wilderness sprouted into buds of white, and the ground oozed full namekian villages from nothing. No, wait: those had been there all along.
Confused and in dire need of explanation, Helix ran towards the nearest white dome and knocked gently at first, then pounded more desperately on the door with both fists. Inside the blue orb of a window, the prophet could clearly make out a fat dragon caste and his son, the elder looking out at Helix with terrified ambivalence splattered across his countenance.
Why… Why was he afraid?
Helix frantically ran to the next house and knocked more gently now, five quick flicks of the wrist on the door, but this time there was no answer. What was going on? Why had his people turned against him?
It was then that Helix felt a dark presence, as if he was being watched by a vicious cougar from just out of his field of vision. Spinning around and desperately searching for souls, Helix found that his senses had gone numb, and he was unable to psychically detect anything around him.
In deeper fear, the dragon caste despairingly knocked on the door of yet another pearly white dome, only to find that this time, the door flew open with a fright, and caused Helix to stagger backwards.
"P-PLEASE!" shouted the frightened dragon caste who had suddenly appeared in the entrance, "STAY AWAY FROM US!" Completely discombobulated, Helix staggered backwards and fell to the ground, and when he looked up, the house in front of him was gone. In fact, all of the houses nearby had entirely disappeared… Or were they never there in the first place? Was Helix hallucinating?
Scanning the horizon as if namek's distant plains and far oceans held the answer to his plight, Helix suddenly noticed a jarring structure not fifty meters away!
Bursting from the ground like a massive thick vine was a tower of rock, and perched on top precariously was none other than the palace of the grand elder! Immediately, Helix leapt to his feet and clambered towards the sanctuary; if anyone knew what was going on here, it was Nai!
Helix blinked, and then realized that he was no longer walking on the solid blue grass of namek, he was now pacing vertically up the side of the cragged tower! And with another blink, the prophet was standing on the top of the pillar, completely confused.
The palace in front of him seemed to shimmer with blinding light, and Helix almost felt in danger of taking a step backwards and falling down to his death below. But the beam of light encompassed only a fleeting ephemeral moment, and the dragon caste was soon able to make out the silhouette of the building he had come to know deeply when studying under various dragon clan scholars.
One foot in front of the other, Helix suddenly found himself completely naked, and just a child again. The ground was only inches from his head, and his steps took him only inches forwards. Terrified, the boy toddled forwards, stumbling as he finally collapsed right in front of the massive door of the palace.
Helix looked up, and the door slid upwards, mist pouring out from within like a faucet. The child crawled into the abyss like a needle disappearing in a haystack, and the fog encompassed his vision so deeply that he might as well have been in an entirely different world. In fact, the walls and door of the palace seemed to evaporate, giving way to the infinite black misty abyss.
And that was when he saw him. Sitting upon the massive throne in the center of the palace, was a colossal namekian, aged and sagging, his flesh pouring over the sides of the chair.
"G-Grand Elder Nai," Helix gasped, finding himself speaking in complete namekian, with the inflection and pitch of a new born child. But the prophet could not utter another word, he was trapped inside his own thoughts now.
It was almost as if the grand elder knew this and reacted accordingly: he began to melt. Helix crawled forwards with love and terror in his eyes but collapsed, unable to even crawl any further. Helix felt himself curling up into fetus position, and his flesh began to harden around the edges. His body became smaller and smaller, and the grand elder turned further and further into thick green liquid.
Helix's body was almost completely overtaken by the hard shell, his former tall frame now reduced to that of a fresh namekian egg. But just as the namekian's vision was about to be muffled by the shell, something miraculous happened.
Nai's eyes, almost eternally closed, flashed wide open. His body swirled back into prime condition, completely solidifying.
"Helix Crust!" Coughed the grand elder with an urgent but benevolent echo, "I am here beside you!"
And with that, Helix lurched forwards, his meditation completely broken. The dragon caste lurched forwards from his cross legged position, catching himself before he slammed face first into the ground.
Helix was panting heavily, and looked around frantically to make sure the vision had completely dissolved. Yes… He was where he belonged now. The dragon caste looked upon the surrounding tournament grounds with a newfound love, and leapt face first onto the soft grass, hugging the ground and kissing it gratefully.
The vision had done severe damage to him, and he was unsure that his psychic force would've made it out of it unsheltered if it weren't for the sudden intervention of the grand elder. How had he lost control of his meditation so deeply? How had he forgotten that he was inside of the vision entirely, and lost touch with his ability to control his own mind?
Whatever the answers were, Helix was eternally grateful to be back in reality. Dark visions and prophesies like that could only mean turmoil was brewing on the horizon. Wrapping his fingers around the earth below, Helix dug into the ground and panted, and suddenly realized that his clothes were drenched entirely in sweat.
It would take a long time to recover before the prophet could meditate like that again.
It took Helix all the effort he could muster to push himself to his feet. The namekian's legs and arms were still quivering, and he felt as if he might collapse at any moment. Looking up, his eyes treasured the sight of average dead people doing average dead things, wandering about unconcerned with their surroundings and attending the tournament.
Helix almost teleported back into the tournament grounds to watch the next fight, but he found himself completely nauseated at the thought. Though still, something was drawing him back to the asteroid looming above in the sky. It was almost as if he was being drawn skywards…
Beginning to pace the grassy fields of heaven below the tournament grounds, the prophet completely lost in his own thoughts. Where was grand elder Nai? Was he dead now, and trying to communicate with Helix through his visions? Or was he alive, and trying to translate some dire need on namek? The fact that the vision was based on his home planet pushed Helix to believe that something was awry.
What could it mean? Were the people of namek turning against their values, were— What was that?
Oh Porunga, what was that? Helix's senses were suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of warmth, as if his entire body had become completely refreshed. The dragon caste reveled in the ecstasy of the energy that was flooding into his atennae. What on Namek was that beautiful pure aura? Helix hadn't felt a warm presence like that since he was just a boy on namek, first getting training from… The grand elder.
The grand elder! Helix's eyes opened wide and he looked around for any sign of him, before following the source of the energy on foot, each step forwards bringing him closer into the benevolent light. It wasn't until he reached a small crowd of people and weaved through them like water that he emerged on the other side and saw the sight.
Sitting upon a massive throne, with a short warrior caste attendant was none other than Grand Elder Nai, out here in the fields of namek. Helix's eyes immediately teared up, and he fell to his knees with respect and love for the guru. "G-Grand Elder-" Helix stuttered with marvel, unable to form the words to express his happiness as his mouth quivered into a smile.
The massive namekian shifted his head downwards slightly, his giant eyes shut but his smile shedding light all over Helix's soul. "Ahh," creaked the wise old namek in a deep murmur, "Helix Crust, my boy…" His tone was kind and slow, each syllable holding more weight than the last.
Helix didn't know what to say. He was overwhelmed with joy at meeting the grand elder once more. He had communicated with him with the help of Earth's guardian, Bing Gan, alongside his loyal companion, Lusca, but he had not felt the presence of the guru in ages. His psychic conversation with the guru had been all too brief. "Grand Elder, I don't know what to say… It is so good to see you in flesh again!" Helix could barely contain his reverence.
"Indeed, my son… In all honesty, It is a shame to see you here," confessed the elder slowly, "I had hoped you would have succeeded me after my passing…" Helix nodded, wiping away his tears of awe from the beginning of the interaction.
"Yes… I…" Helix tried to form a coherent thought on how to talk to his respected elder. "The dark namekian you spoke of in our last conversation, Xylo… He turned out to be my brother, bound to my life force by fission." Helix continued despairingly, "Although he was defeated on namek, and the lives of countless dragon caste's were saved, I fell alongside him on earth."
The guru didn't seem incredibly phased by this new information, it was simply as if a conclusion he had already come to on his own was being confirmed. "I see," lamented the elder, "But you have been doing well in this world. I have seen your battles in this tournament, and for a member of our clan, it seems Lusca's training has done you well." As the grand elder spoke, his massive hand raised into the air and rested gently on Helix's forehead. His marking began to glow, and the elder began to sift through Helix's mind, with the complete consent of the prophet.
"I've been doing much more than just fighting," Helix assured his mentor, hoping for his approval, who nodded as he absorbed the memories of the comparatively young guru, "I descended to the darkness of Hell, in order to learn from the less fortunate and understand their struggle."
The grand elder smiled and chuckled heartily. "You've been up to quite a lot," laughed the massive namekian with a cough, "And all in good faith as well. It is rare that I find one following so deeply in my own footsteps!"
The compliment warmed Helix's heart more than the elder could know, and the massive namekian sat back with a sigh of ache. "Grand Elder," asked Helix, suddenly feeling the need to subvert the conversation in favor of discussing the guru's health, "Is something wrong?"
Breathing in deeply, the guru's chest inflated for a few moments and then released the air, sighing. "My son," began the elder, "This state is weary for me to maintain. Even in the life after life…" The elder was visibly wearied. "The fall and revival of Namek has lead me to understand the nature of death, and even now my mortality fills me with a wearying sense of temporary." The grand elder spoke slowly, and only now did Helix realize just how tired the old legend was. "I wish…" muttered the elder, prompting his attendant to put both hands on his arm tenderly, steadying him, "I wish to pass on my knowledge to another, and to rest in peace."
Helix nodded respectfully, and then asked the burning question on the tip of his tongue. "So then, lord guru," he asked, "Why are you here? At this tournament?"
The seemingly intense question of the prophet prompted a hearty laugh and then several coughs from the elder. "Even an old man like me can enjoy a little bit of excitement, Helix Crust!" He smiled warmly at the young dragon caste and took his heavy hand off of Helix's head. "Could you say why you were drawn to this place? Is it ever ours to say why we go where we go?" The elder asked more of a rhetorical question, but ti tumbled the prophet into a long series of questioning himself.
"I do not know what to say," replied Helix with a look of conflicted emotions up at the elder, waxing into the old namekian speech patterns. The elder nodded to his attendant, who stepped back to the side obediently.
"You have had a vision of fear, haven't you, my son." the elder spoke with intuitive knowledge, and Helix nodded in awe. "You were always one for prophesies, were you not? I can't remember a single day of our old training in which you didn't bumble most of it away in quiet meditation!" The guru teased Helix before smiling kindly. "Helix," he spoke suddenly with intensity, causing the prophet to perk up. "I wish to pass on my knowledge to you."
Immediately, Helix was energized up and nodded feverishly, "Yes grand elder, I would be honored to learn by your side—" but the namekian's words were cut off by the elder, uncharacteristically. "No, I do not wish to teach you, my son."
"Please," smiled the massive namekian, as if what he was about to say didn't hold incredible gravity, "Be my heir."
The namekian standing beside the elder's eyes suddenly widened, and he instantaneously moved close to the guru, clutching his massive arm reverently, "Grand elder, please be cautious—" But he was cut of just as Helix was. "Please, Moll," insisted the elder with sudden conviction but the same slow dictation of his age, "This is what needs to be done."
The prophet dropped to his knees, his pupils dilated completely as he comprehended what the elder namekian had just said. When a namekian was designated as the Heir of another, the legacy was not simply symbolic. "Lord Nai," pleaded Helix, almost afraid of the responsibility, "Are you sure this is what you want?"
The elder namekian nodded, then coughed a few more times, before replying: "Helix Crust, use your visions and use your talents. I will be with you every step of the way. I can sense that you will not stay here among the lost souls of Heaven or Hell. Follow your brother back into the world of the living, heed his plan." He paused briefly, before lifting his massive hand and taking Helix's own, placing it on his chest and holding it there. The two elders were in complete embrace.
Moll looked up at Helix with fear and respect, but turned away, nodding with tears in his eyes. "And take with you," finished the elder, his voice tapering out, "Take with you this knowledge and love."
Suddenly, the elder namekian began to radiate bright white and blue light, flashing forwards as Helix's palm pressed firmly against his chest. Helix Crust held on to Nai until the very last second that he could, when the beautiful aura flashed for it's final time, and the elder evaporated into air.
The prophet fell to the ground, crippled by the loss of his mentor. Moll ran to his side, putting an arm around the sobbing namekian, but he was blasted back by an uncontrollable burst of kiai. Helix writhed on the ground for a moment in front of the empty throne before he suddenly began to feel nauseous, and burst upwards.
Helix began to grow and grow, his flesh pouring over the sides of his frame and darkening, wrinkles cracking across the surface of his body and his flesh growing thicker and thicker with weight and size. The prophet's skull elongated upwards as his eyes were lulled shut by exhaustion, and he felt years of age stick to his bones as he expanded hundreds of years into the future.
When the transformation was complete, Helix was nearly the spitting image of the former grand elder, and every grand elder before him, the only difference being his holy black markings still engraved deeply into his forehead, now serenely glowing with white energy.
"E-Elder Nai?" Gasped Moll, standing up and running to Helix's side as the massive namekian took a step forwards and then collapsed in the chair where Nai had sat.
"No," Helix stuttered in a deep mutter, the force of the knowledge of Nai overwhelming his mind, his epiphanies shattering his previous world views, "I am… Neither Guru Nai, nor Helix Crust…" His massive hands slowly folded around the arms of the chair, before clenching them deeply. The prophet's entire body was quivering, and he nearly collapsed down off of the chair.
Suddenly, Helix's body turned into pure white, and his silhouette rapidly shed weight and size, reducing him into a skeleton of his original form, and causing him to collapse to the floor. By this point, the warrior caste Moll was completely shocked and unable to comprehend the repeated series of transformations. "Helix..." the namekian picked up Helix's unconscious body, and felt for a pulse. The namekian that had formerly been Helix Crust's forehead still glew faintly with the incredible energy of the grand elder, and Moll could feel the life force of his former master inside of the prophet.
The energy and knowledge of Nai had merged with Helix's mystic force, catalyzing an incredible transformation which aged Helix hundreds of years into his future in a matter of moments. But within seconds, the transformation had collapsed, and turned Helix comatose, delving him into a deep vision. Moll somehow understood this all at once, weather by psychic influence of the unconscious prophet or by his own conclusion... and vowed to keep the namekian in his arms safe.
It would be what Nai, his only brother, would have wanted.
[Heavy Weights]
Unlocking temporary transformation: Caste Hero (x7)
Flavor name: "Nai Incarnate"
Helix abruptly struggled to surface his head, but he found that his arms and legs were shackled, the chains just short enough that the namekian couldn't push through the waves. With each second of struggle, his lungs tensed more and more, and the namekian's eyes widened in agony as he shrieked out into the abyss of the waves, bubbles pluming from his throat as he gasped.
But just as the namekian was about to pass out, the chains suddenly snapped and Helix was thrust to the surface by some unknown force from below. The namekian splashed outwards and saw land nearby. For some reason, he was unable to remember how to teleport in this moment.
As Helix frantically thrashed towards the land through the silvery green waves, the dragon caste suddenly realized that he was on his home planet! Three moons in the sky, brilliant emerald waves and blue coasts… Even though the shore was miles away by his last estimation, he suddenly felt his hand clasp rock and pulled himself up, completely drenched in the thick heavy water.
What was going on? How had he gotten to namek? The prophet stood up and looked left and right, desperate to scope out any settlement, but found himself completely lost. "Hello!?" Cried the namekian in an agonistic whimper, "Please, someone!?"
Suddenly, what had formerly been blank namekian wilderness sprouted into buds of white, and the ground oozed full namekian villages from nothing. No, wait: those had been there all along.
Confused and in dire need of explanation, Helix ran towards the nearest white dome and knocked gently at first, then pounded more desperately on the door with both fists. Inside the blue orb of a window, the prophet could clearly make out a fat dragon caste and his son, the elder looking out at Helix with terrified ambivalence splattered across his countenance.
Why… Why was he afraid?
Helix frantically ran to the next house and knocked more gently now, five quick flicks of the wrist on the door, but this time there was no answer. What was going on? Why had his people turned against him?
It was then that Helix felt a dark presence, as if he was being watched by a vicious cougar from just out of his field of vision. Spinning around and desperately searching for souls, Helix found that his senses had gone numb, and he was unable to psychically detect anything around him.
In deeper fear, the dragon caste despairingly knocked on the door of yet another pearly white dome, only to find that this time, the door flew open with a fright, and caused Helix to stagger backwards.
"P-PLEASE!" shouted the frightened dragon caste who had suddenly appeared in the entrance, "STAY AWAY FROM US!" Completely discombobulated, Helix staggered backwards and fell to the ground, and when he looked up, the house in front of him was gone. In fact, all of the houses nearby had entirely disappeared… Or were they never there in the first place? Was Helix hallucinating?
Scanning the horizon as if namek's distant plains and far oceans held the answer to his plight, Helix suddenly noticed a jarring structure not fifty meters away!
Bursting from the ground like a massive thick vine was a tower of rock, and perched on top precariously was none other than the palace of the grand elder! Immediately, Helix leapt to his feet and clambered towards the sanctuary; if anyone knew what was going on here, it was Nai!
Helix blinked, and then realized that he was no longer walking on the solid blue grass of namek, he was now pacing vertically up the side of the cragged tower! And with another blink, the prophet was standing on the top of the pillar, completely confused.
The palace in front of him seemed to shimmer with blinding light, and Helix almost felt in danger of taking a step backwards and falling down to his death below. But the beam of light encompassed only a fleeting ephemeral moment, and the dragon caste was soon able to make out the silhouette of the building he had come to know deeply when studying under various dragon clan scholars.
One foot in front of the other, Helix suddenly found himself completely naked, and just a child again. The ground was only inches from his head, and his steps took him only inches forwards. Terrified, the boy toddled forwards, stumbling as he finally collapsed right in front of the massive door of the palace.
Helix looked up, and the door slid upwards, mist pouring out from within like a faucet. The child crawled into the abyss like a needle disappearing in a haystack, and the fog encompassed his vision so deeply that he might as well have been in an entirely different world. In fact, the walls and door of the palace seemed to evaporate, giving way to the infinite black misty abyss.
And that was when he saw him. Sitting upon the massive throne in the center of the palace, was a colossal namekian, aged and sagging, his flesh pouring over the sides of the chair.
"G-Grand Elder Nai," Helix gasped, finding himself speaking in complete namekian, with the inflection and pitch of a new born child. But the prophet could not utter another word, he was trapped inside his own thoughts now.
It was almost as if the grand elder knew this and reacted accordingly: he began to melt. Helix crawled forwards with love and terror in his eyes but collapsed, unable to even crawl any further. Helix felt himself curling up into fetus position, and his flesh began to harden around the edges. His body became smaller and smaller, and the grand elder turned further and further into thick green liquid.
Helix's body was almost completely overtaken by the hard shell, his former tall frame now reduced to that of a fresh namekian egg. But just as the namekian's vision was about to be muffled by the shell, something miraculous happened.
Nai's eyes, almost eternally closed, flashed wide open. His body swirled back into prime condition, completely solidifying.
"Helix Crust!" Coughed the grand elder with an urgent but benevolent echo, "I am here beside you!"
And with that, Helix lurched forwards, his meditation completely broken. The dragon caste lurched forwards from his cross legged position, catching himself before he slammed face first into the ground.
Helix was panting heavily, and looked around frantically to make sure the vision had completely dissolved. Yes… He was where he belonged now. The dragon caste looked upon the surrounding tournament grounds with a newfound love, and leapt face first onto the soft grass, hugging the ground and kissing it gratefully.
The vision had done severe damage to him, and he was unsure that his psychic force would've made it out of it unsheltered if it weren't for the sudden intervention of the grand elder. How had he lost control of his meditation so deeply? How had he forgotten that he was inside of the vision entirely, and lost touch with his ability to control his own mind?
Whatever the answers were, Helix was eternally grateful to be back in reality. Dark visions and prophesies like that could only mean turmoil was brewing on the horizon. Wrapping his fingers around the earth below, Helix dug into the ground and panted, and suddenly realized that his clothes were drenched entirely in sweat.
It would take a long time to recover before the prophet could meditate like that again.
It took Helix all the effort he could muster to push himself to his feet. The namekian's legs and arms were still quivering, and he felt as if he might collapse at any moment. Looking up, his eyes treasured the sight of average dead people doing average dead things, wandering about unconcerned with their surroundings and attending the tournament.
Helix almost teleported back into the tournament grounds to watch the next fight, but he found himself completely nauseated at the thought. Though still, something was drawing him back to the asteroid looming above in the sky. It was almost as if he was being drawn skywards…
Beginning to pace the grassy fields of heaven below the tournament grounds, the prophet completely lost in his own thoughts. Where was grand elder Nai? Was he dead now, and trying to communicate with Helix through his visions? Or was he alive, and trying to translate some dire need on namek? The fact that the vision was based on his home planet pushed Helix to believe that something was awry.
What could it mean? Were the people of namek turning against their values, were— What was that?
Oh Porunga, what was that? Helix's senses were suddenly overwhelmed by a wave of warmth, as if his entire body had become completely refreshed. The dragon caste reveled in the ecstasy of the energy that was flooding into his atennae. What on Namek was that beautiful pure aura? Helix hadn't felt a warm presence like that since he was just a boy on namek, first getting training from… The grand elder.
The grand elder! Helix's eyes opened wide and he looked around for any sign of him, before following the source of the energy on foot, each step forwards bringing him closer into the benevolent light. It wasn't until he reached a small crowd of people and weaved through them like water that he emerged on the other side and saw the sight.
Sitting upon a massive throne, with a short warrior caste attendant was none other than Grand Elder Nai, out here in the fields of namek. Helix's eyes immediately teared up, and he fell to his knees with respect and love for the guru. "G-Grand Elder-" Helix stuttered with marvel, unable to form the words to express his happiness as his mouth quivered into a smile.
The massive namekian shifted his head downwards slightly, his giant eyes shut but his smile shedding light all over Helix's soul. "Ahh," creaked the wise old namek in a deep murmur, "Helix Crust, my boy…" His tone was kind and slow, each syllable holding more weight than the last.
Helix didn't know what to say. He was overwhelmed with joy at meeting the grand elder once more. He had communicated with him with the help of Earth's guardian, Bing Gan, alongside his loyal companion, Lusca, but he had not felt the presence of the guru in ages. His psychic conversation with the guru had been all too brief. "Grand Elder, I don't know what to say… It is so good to see you in flesh again!" Helix could barely contain his reverence.
"Indeed, my son… In all honesty, It is a shame to see you here," confessed the elder slowly, "I had hoped you would have succeeded me after my passing…" Helix nodded, wiping away his tears of awe from the beginning of the interaction.
"Yes… I…" Helix tried to form a coherent thought on how to talk to his respected elder. "The dark namekian you spoke of in our last conversation, Xylo… He turned out to be my brother, bound to my life force by fission." Helix continued despairingly, "Although he was defeated on namek, and the lives of countless dragon caste's were saved, I fell alongside him on earth."
The guru didn't seem incredibly phased by this new information, it was simply as if a conclusion he had already come to on his own was being confirmed. "I see," lamented the elder, "But you have been doing well in this world. I have seen your battles in this tournament, and for a member of our clan, it seems Lusca's training has done you well." As the grand elder spoke, his massive hand raised into the air and rested gently on Helix's forehead. His marking began to glow, and the elder began to sift through Helix's mind, with the complete consent of the prophet.
"I've been doing much more than just fighting," Helix assured his mentor, hoping for his approval, who nodded as he absorbed the memories of the comparatively young guru, "I descended to the darkness of Hell, in order to learn from the less fortunate and understand their struggle."
The grand elder smiled and chuckled heartily. "You've been up to quite a lot," laughed the massive namekian with a cough, "And all in good faith as well. It is rare that I find one following so deeply in my own footsteps!"
The compliment warmed Helix's heart more than the elder could know, and the massive namekian sat back with a sigh of ache. "Grand Elder," asked Helix, suddenly feeling the need to subvert the conversation in favor of discussing the guru's health, "Is something wrong?"
Breathing in deeply, the guru's chest inflated for a few moments and then released the air, sighing. "My son," began the elder, "This state is weary for me to maintain. Even in the life after life…" The elder was visibly wearied. "The fall and revival of Namek has lead me to understand the nature of death, and even now my mortality fills me with a wearying sense of temporary." The grand elder spoke slowly, and only now did Helix realize just how tired the old legend was. "I wish…" muttered the elder, prompting his attendant to put both hands on his arm tenderly, steadying him, "I wish to pass on my knowledge to another, and to rest in peace."
Helix nodded respectfully, and then asked the burning question on the tip of his tongue. "So then, lord guru," he asked, "Why are you here? At this tournament?"
The seemingly intense question of the prophet prompted a hearty laugh and then several coughs from the elder. "Even an old man like me can enjoy a little bit of excitement, Helix Crust!" He smiled warmly at the young dragon caste and took his heavy hand off of Helix's head. "Could you say why you were drawn to this place? Is it ever ours to say why we go where we go?" The elder asked more of a rhetorical question, but ti tumbled the prophet into a long series of questioning himself.
"I do not know what to say," replied Helix with a look of conflicted emotions up at the elder, waxing into the old namekian speech patterns. The elder nodded to his attendant, who stepped back to the side obediently.
"You have had a vision of fear, haven't you, my son." the elder spoke with intuitive knowledge, and Helix nodded in awe. "You were always one for prophesies, were you not? I can't remember a single day of our old training in which you didn't bumble most of it away in quiet meditation!" The guru teased Helix before smiling kindly. "Helix," he spoke suddenly with intensity, causing the prophet to perk up. "I wish to pass on my knowledge to you."
Immediately, Helix was energized up and nodded feverishly, "Yes grand elder, I would be honored to learn by your side—" but the namekian's words were cut off by the elder, uncharacteristically. "No, I do not wish to teach you, my son."
"Please," smiled the massive namekian, as if what he was about to say didn't hold incredible gravity, "Be my heir."
The namekian standing beside the elder's eyes suddenly widened, and he instantaneously moved close to the guru, clutching his massive arm reverently, "Grand elder, please be cautious—" But he was cut of just as Helix was. "Please, Moll," insisted the elder with sudden conviction but the same slow dictation of his age, "This is what needs to be done."
The prophet dropped to his knees, his pupils dilated completely as he comprehended what the elder namekian had just said. When a namekian was designated as the Heir of another, the legacy was not simply symbolic. "Lord Nai," pleaded Helix, almost afraid of the responsibility, "Are you sure this is what you want?"
The elder namekian nodded, then coughed a few more times, before replying: "Helix Crust, use your visions and use your talents. I will be with you every step of the way. I can sense that you will not stay here among the lost souls of Heaven or Hell. Follow your brother back into the world of the living, heed his plan." He paused briefly, before lifting his massive hand and taking Helix's own, placing it on his chest and holding it there. The two elders were in complete embrace.
Moll looked up at Helix with fear and respect, but turned away, nodding with tears in his eyes. "And take with you," finished the elder, his voice tapering out, "Take with you this knowledge and love."
Suddenly, the elder namekian began to radiate bright white and blue light, flashing forwards as Helix's palm pressed firmly against his chest. Helix Crust held on to Nai until the very last second that he could, when the beautiful aura flashed for it's final time, and the elder evaporated into air.
The prophet fell to the ground, crippled by the loss of his mentor. Moll ran to his side, putting an arm around the sobbing namekian, but he was blasted back by an uncontrollable burst of kiai. Helix writhed on the ground for a moment in front of the empty throne before he suddenly began to feel nauseous, and burst upwards.
Helix began to grow and grow, his flesh pouring over the sides of his frame and darkening, wrinkles cracking across the surface of his body and his flesh growing thicker and thicker with weight and size. The prophet's skull elongated upwards as his eyes were lulled shut by exhaustion, and he felt years of age stick to his bones as he expanded hundreds of years into the future.
When the transformation was complete, Helix was nearly the spitting image of the former grand elder, and every grand elder before him, the only difference being his holy black markings still engraved deeply into his forehead, now serenely glowing with white energy.
"E-Elder Nai?" Gasped Moll, standing up and running to Helix's side as the massive namekian took a step forwards and then collapsed in the chair where Nai had sat.
"No," Helix stuttered in a deep mutter, the force of the knowledge of Nai overwhelming his mind, his epiphanies shattering his previous world views, "I am… Neither Guru Nai, nor Helix Crust…" His massive hands slowly folded around the arms of the chair, before clenching them deeply. The prophet's entire body was quivering, and he nearly collapsed down off of the chair.
Suddenly, Helix's body turned into pure white, and his silhouette rapidly shed weight and size, reducing him into a skeleton of his original form, and causing him to collapse to the floor. By this point, the warrior caste Moll was completely shocked and unable to comprehend the repeated series of transformations. "Helix..." the namekian picked up Helix's unconscious body, and felt for a pulse. The namekian that had formerly been Helix Crust's forehead still glew faintly with the incredible energy of the grand elder, and Moll could feel the life force of his former master inside of the prophet.
The energy and knowledge of Nai had merged with Helix's mystic force, catalyzing an incredible transformation which aged Helix hundreds of years into his future in a matter of moments. But within seconds, the transformation had collapsed, and turned Helix comatose, delving him into a deep vision. Moll somehow understood this all at once, weather by psychic influence of the unconscious prophet or by his own conclusion... and vowed to keep the namekian in his arms safe.
It would be what Nai, his only brother, would have wanted.
[Heavy Weights]
Unlocking temporary transformation: Caste Hero (x7)
Flavor name: "Nai Incarnate"