The following morning, Tyfoonica and I got up and prepared to go to Xeria. I felt like crap. I hadn’t gotten much sleep the night before and had to get up early to leave. Tyfoonica and I were a few hours away from Xeria. We had a decent ship that we used when going to other planets. The dimension we lived in occupied the same space as another planet, but since it was in a different dimension, the two worlds we unseen to each other. The name of the planet was Fiora. It was the entrance and exit point to my dimension. Our ship was kept at a port there.

We left our dimension early, around 6am, boarded our ship, and departed for Xeria. The flight was going to be about two-and-a-half hours, so I took the time to meditate and mentally prepare myself for my meeting with the Council. I wanted to be at peace when I met with them so I could present myself as a calm and collected warrior. If they decided to discuss the possibility of me being the Chosen One, I didn’t want to seem like a nervous wreck. I tried to keep myself grounded. I didn’t know for sure what they wanted to talk to me about, it was possible it wasn’t even about being the Chosen One. I didn’t want to get me hopes up. But the truth was, I wanted to be the Chosen One…I wanted it so much. It wasn’t because of the power, or the authority, or the prestige that came with the title. None of that mattered to me. It was because…it was the best way I knew to honor my parents. They gave their lives to the cause of protecting the galaxy, and my entire life I’d been trained to follow in their footsteps. I wanted to honor their legacy, and I wanted to make Tyfoonica proud, He had been like a father to me, and I didn’t want his years of dedicated service to my training to be in vain. All that pressure started to unsettle my stomach. I reached in my shirt and took out my necklace and held on tightly to the crystal. I felt peace wash over my like a cool mist. I tried to just relax and ignore the pressure I was feeling.

Hours passed like minutes and before I knew it, we had arrived at Xeria. After docking out ship at one of the holding stations, we made our way out flew over to the conference center where the galactic meeting was taking place.

Tyfoonica looked toward me as we were flying to speak. “They have already began the meeting with the galactic officials. We can meet with the Council after they recess. For now, we can sit in the back and catch the tail end of their meeting.”

“Ok,” I replied. “Sounds good. I wonder what their meeting is about?”

“From what I understand, there is a lot of concern from several leaders over some whispers they’ve been hearing…”

“Whispers?” I echoed. “Whispers about what?”

“Well…some people believe the Doomaki are starting to recruit members…they believe the Doomaki may be preparing to resurface.” Tyfoonica said soberly.

“What?? But…no one has heard anything about them whatsoever for nearly 20 years!”

“True,” Tyfoonica said, “but when they disappeared, they were far from defeated. In fact, they were the closest to gaining galactic control they had ever been. It was extremely odd that they seemed to vanish. We always knew there was a strong possibility they would eventually come back.” Tyfoonica cleared his throat. “But it’s important to note, we don’t know anything for certain. These are just rumors at present.

After a bit more flying, we arrived at the conference center. We landed and walked inside. We headed to the main arena and quietly walked in the back and sat down. It was packed with hundreds of people sitting throughout the arena. This wasn’t a casual meeting; most of the galactic leaders were here representing tens of thousands of planets.

“I had no idea there would be this many leaders here!” I whispered to Tyfoonica.

“Nor I. From what Troy told me, this was a reactive meeting to address the concerns of the Doomaki returning. There are a lot of very worried people out there, and it is causing a fair amount of chaos on some planets.” It seemed strange that so many people would be so bothered by just rumors.

“Why?” I asked in bewilderment. “They are just rumors…why get so upset about it?”

“It’s hard for you to realize the gravity of even rumors regarding this since you grew up after the Doomaki had already vanished. But for those who lived during the time of the war against the Doomaki, there is a scar left on them that burns at even the mention of the Doomaki. The war wasn’t just against the Peacekeepers. It was against the entire galaxy. Entire worlds were destroyed for sport by the Doomaki. And many other planets fortunate enough to not be a target by the Doomaki still had violence and anarchy from their own people from those betraying their people and claiming to fight in the name of the Doomaki. The Doomaki themselves weren’t a large group. There were only about 20-30 of them…we don’t know the exact number. But there were many people who cause problems in the name of the Doomaki. As a result, the shockwave of the Doomaki’s destruction was felt throughout the entire galaxy. Imagine every day, for years, waking up and wondering if your entire planet would be destroyed. This is the life people had to live for many years.

“Now that there is talk of them returning, people are frightened. I don’t blame them. And as if that weren’t enough to cause people to fear, there is currently no one assigned to the role of the Chosen One, who has always brought a sense of security to the galaxy. And not only does the absence of the Chosen One cause worry for the galaxy, but the reason for the absence is even more unsettling. Don’t forget, your father disappeared during the final battle with the Doomaki. The Chosen One has always seemed to be untouchable. What happened to your father was the first time a Chosen One had been…neutralized by an enemy.” Neutralized was an interesting way to put it. The truth was, “neutralized” was probably the best way to describe it. We don’t know if he was killed, abducted, or what. Not only had the Doomaki caused a lot of damage throughout the galaxy, they had also overpowered and the strongest warrior in the galaxy, my father, the Chosen One. The thought of that made surges of emotions course through my body. On the one hand I felt sad, and angry, about the abduction of my father, who I had never met. And on the other hand, I felt a tiny glimmer of hope. If the Doomaki were to resurface, perhaps I would finally be able to find my father. No one knew if the Doomaki even captured him, but it would be an explanation as to why no one ever found him.

“I understand your concerns. I, as much as anyone, remember well the last time we saw the Doomaki.” Troy was speaking in the center of the room, addressing everyone. Troy often times spoke on behalf of The Council, who were sitting behind him. Troy was very well respected and trusted throughout the galaxy. “But,” he continued, “As of now, all these concerns are from rumors. We have no actual evidence provided by any of you that there is any reason to be concerned.” A light over one of the galactic leaders lit up to indicate they had a question or comment. “Yes leader Orismas,” he said, allowing the leader to speak.

“If these were nothing but rumors, how do you explain the fact that there have been reports that the Doomaki are recruiting from all over the galaxy? Many of these places are unable to communicate with the other planets who are also reporting this, so it is unlikely that this is a ruse to just gather attention and scare people. These are all unrelated accounts and should be taken seriously!” He said emphatically.

“I couldn’t agree more.” Troy said calmly. “These reports should be taken seriously, and let me assure you, they are. It might be easy to think that the Peacekeepers have moved past the threat of the Doomaki and are no longer watchful for them, but this couldn’t be farther from the truth. Ever since the Doomaki disappeared, myself and the other Peacekeepers have been trying to find their location. We have kept that as a priority among all our other duties for the past 18 years. Believe me when I say that we are working very hard to find them. And given the concerns presented here today, we will be even more fervently trying to find them.”

“You haven’t been able to find them for the past 18 years.” Orismas retorted. “Not to be too blunt, but that doesn’t give our people much hope that you’ll find them now. What else can be done??”

Troy smiled sympathetically. “I understand your concern. I realize it is unsettling that we have not been able to find the Doomaki even after 18 years. However the galaxy is a large place. We aren’t talking about finding a needle in a haystack. We are talking about trying to find a needle in the ocean. There are an infinite amount of places they could be hiding. And the Doomaki are as dedicated to their cause as they come. The only people who know anything about them are the ones in the actual organization. Take these rumors for example. There have been hundreds of reports from across the galaxy that the Doomaki are recruiting members for their organization, yet no one is able to identify the ones behind these supposed recruiters. That means one of two things. Either they are just rumors, or they are that good at concealing their identities, which only proves my point that it is a very difficult task indeed to track these people down.”

“Then I’ll ask again, what else can be done??” Orismas repeated, clearly upset.

“I’m afraid right now there is nothing else that can be done. Since we have no hard evidence to point us to their return, and no leads about who they are or where they may be held up, we cannot do anything other than try to scrounge up anything that might lead us to their whereabouts. In the meantime, we Peacekeepers will do what we have always done: keep the galaxy safe. If the Doomaki do resurface, I repeat if the Doomaki do resurface, we will gather our forces and our allies and do everything within our power to defend the galaxy and defeat the Doomaki. For now, please trust us and reassure your people that they have nothing to worry about at this time.”

“Thank you Troy, as well as leader Orismas and all others who spoke regarding your concerns.” Tinjur said, one of the members of The Council. “I realize that many of you still have concerns that you wish to discuss regarding this, and I don’t want anyone’s concerns to go unaddressed. We are going to take a short recess to attend to some other matters, but we will be continuing this in one-and-a-half hours to address any remaining concerns you may have. Thank you, you are dismissed.” Hundreds of feet began to shuffle at once as people began to make their way to the doors. I turned to Tyfoonica.

“Did you know there were this many reports of the Doomaki possibly resurfacing?” I asked.

“No…” Tyfoonica said. He paused for a moment before continuing. “I knew there were reports, I had heard from Troy. But I didn’t realize there were so many. Over a hundred reports from different parts of the Galaxy, that is not likely to be a false alarm. Troy is doing a good job at remaining calm, but I guarantee he and the other Peacekeepers are shaken a bit. If the Doomaki do resurface, it will put the Peacekeepers in a very difficult situation. They haven’t had much luck over the years in finding suitable replacements for the Peacekeepers that died many years ago. However, the Doomaki didn’t suffer as many casualties to begin with, and they have also had time to recruit new members in secret.”

“In secret?” I echoed.

“Yes.” Tyfoonica must have seen the confusion in my face and knew what I was thinking. “There is no doubt in my mind that the Doomaki have been recruiting new members throughout the last 18 years. I am sure the reason we are only just now hearing reports of the fact is because they want people to know. Their time of secrecy may well be coming to an end. They want to intimidate the people of the galaxy so they will be paralyzed with fear. Fear can be a more powerful weapon that the most powerful warrior.”

“Do you really think people will be that frightened over rumors?” I asked in disbelief.

“Look at the leaders gathered here today.” I looked around the room. Hundreds of bodies were making their way out of the center. They all had a look of dread and terror on their faces; some looked as if they were queasy. “What do you think?” Tyfoonica was right. These were the leaders of the galaxy, those who were supposed to be a pillar for all the people throughout the galaxy to lean on. If they were this concerned, it was certain that their people would be too. As we followed the crowd out, I remembered why we were here to begin with.

“Tyfoonica? Do you think the Council will have time to meet with us in lieu of what’s going on?

“Sure, they knew what this meeting was going to be about when they invited you to meet with them. There is always something crazy going on in the galaxy, but life goes on. Besides, given what I think the topic will be,” He said, nudging me on the shoulder suggestively, “the timing seems to be very appropriate.” He was of course referring to the fact that with all the talk of the Doomaki, now more than ever the galaxy needed The Chosen One. Tyfoonica, Troy, and Drake all believed The Council wanted to meet with me to discuss just that. Great, I thought. Just what these people need. For The Chosen One to come along only to find out it’s the son of The Chosen One that failed to defeat the Doomaki.

When we made our way into the foyer of the conference center, we heard out names called out from a familiar voice. “Tyfoonica, Tyfoon!” Came the voice of Troy from across the foyer. We made our way past the crowds of people to where Troy and Drake were both standing. “Thanks for coming, it’s good to see you.” He greeted the two of us.

“Thank you,” Tyfoonica and I both said in unison. “Quite the party you guys are having in there.” Tyfoonica said, motioning to the conference room.

“Yeah, that’s one word for it.” Troy said with his voice low, trying to keep himself from being heard from the people around him. “Let’s get out of here, The Council are getting together in a private conference room to discuss what we’ve been hearing all morning. They would like to talk with you, Tyfoon.” I swallowed hard. I felt like I had a lump in my throat and a pit in the bottom of my stomach. This is it, I thought. I had imagined meeting with The Council for this reason so many times. I had waited 18 years to have a chance at being The Chosen One…and now that it was here, I didn’t feel I was ready. I subconsciously clasped my necklace through my shirt. “I’m ready.” I lied, and we made our way to the room The Council was in.