Author's Note: Hello and welcome to everyone. Thanks for clicking on my story. This piece is a one-shot in the Metroid world I have created. This Samus is the same one as in my two other Metroid stories A Moment's Silence and The Ambassador, and it is set after The Ambassador and before the MP3: Corruption game. It draws quite heavily on my previous works and is somewhat abstract, but don't let that dismay you. Reading the others is not necessary to understand this piece but would definitely help.

READ!

Into the Light

The universe was light. It surrounded her, reflected off, and traveled right through her. She was submerged in its radiance, all the energy of eternity filling her body with potency. She was swelling with power, becoming one with the light, with everything. And within that everything, something called to her.

A murmur. A whisper. A sigh.

A message?

Samus's eyes snapped open. She had been that close! She had heard her name within the light, like a call on the wind.

She sighed in defeat.

The Lithiun Sector spread out before her windshield, a system of brilliant stars and coruscating cosmic dust. If she closed her eyes and let her Chozo trained mind focus, she could feel the light. And Samus believed that was the key.

"We have not yet reached the proper coordinates, my Lady Samus. Perhaps if you will wait just another hour, you might have more success in your attempt," suggested Creto, her ship's internal computer.

"Maybe," Samus answered as she put her hands on the ship controls

"I do not think the Luminoth would lead you astray," said Creto.

"Me either," said Samus. "But I don't think I can take anymore disappointment."

The orange huntership sped through the bright space. The Lithiun Sector seemed to exude light. Many had wondered on how this could be, since other sectors had more stars and less brilliance. But it was a luminous sector, and the Federation left it alone. This was partly because of its inability to support life and partly because of the rumor of "other elemental" powers lurking amongst its stars. Regardless, Samus had once wandered here before, and, after her latest meeting with the Luminoth, she had an idea, a hope of what was actually there.

Clad in her red and gold armor, Samus steered her ship towards the Luminoth coordinates. The combination of her green tinted windshield and helmet visor protected her eyes from the blazing light. There seemed to be a star on each side of her, with shimmering dust everywhere that mirrored the light. Despite the brilliance, it was not hot; in fact, it wasn't even warm. Instead, there was something else. It was growing.

A feeling. A shimmer. A voice.

"Twenty-six points and closing," said Creto from overhead.

Samus applied the reverse thrusters, and the ship began to slow. She didn't move; Creto didn't speak. Only the creak of her micro-leather cockpit seat and the hum of the engines were audible.

"We have arrived," Creto said.

The ship stopped, floating in the nothingness of space. Samus exhaled.

"What do the sensors say?" she asked Creto, not taking her eyes off the sight before her.

"It reads no life forms. Every other sensor reads normal. But, Samus, there is something strange. There is all this light around us, but there is no radiation, x-rays, gamma rays, radio waves, or anything of the other forms of light outside the visible spectrum.," the computer paused. "Where is it?"

"Everything around us is light. Pure light," Samus said to herself.

"Please explain, my Lady," requested Creto.

"The Chozo transcended life as we know it. They are an act beyond all we can know--pure light, something we cannot detect. This light we see is a marker. I know it is."

She unstrapped her harness and stood up. She was this close to having her family back. I know you're here. They were out there, and...so was a message.

"Do you hear that?" asked Samus. Creto did not remind her that it could not actually hear but could only sense vibrations.

"Yes," it answered.

There was a hum, more than the engines. It was music, a distant voice. She could hear it in all the octaves of her human capacity and could feel it in all those above and below it. The melody permeated all of her ship, all of her, with allegro and largo tempos, setting all her being buzzing.

"I have to go out," she said.

"What?" exclaimed Creto.

"I have to be closer," said Samus as she powered down the ship.

"Why are you shutting the ship down?" questioned Creto, a note of panic in its mechanical voice.

"I'm not shutting it all down. I'm leaving the sensors on. Whatever happens out there, I want to have proof of it later. And don't give me the 'poor Creto' BS again because you can start the ship just as easily as I can," Samus said.

"Okay," surrendered Creto as Samus left the cockpit, "but be careful."

Samus reached the vertical exit platform.

"I have four hours to find out where the Chozo went, Creto. This is my chance, our chance to solve the mystery," she said to the ceiling.

"Good luck, Samus," Creto said.

Samus stepped into the platform and activated her suit's oxygen supply. The platform sealed and raised her up. As she emerged into space, she closed her eyes against the light.

The universe was silence. There was nothing, and, for a moment, Samus doubted if she had heard anything. Where is the music? She had heard it inside the ship, so why was there nothing now?

She opened her eyes.

Samus recoiled, throwing up her arms to shield herself from the fury of the radiance. And all of the vibrations and light waves sped through her, pushing her every which way. The euphoric rush reminded her of Hyper Mode and the power of Phazon. But that had been a corruption, and she could find nothing malign in this power, only that it could and might destroy her through its sheer magnitude. This light empowered her beyond anything she knew or could imagine, gave her authority over all the universe, and, yet, it also melded her being into itself. Samus Aran could wipe out entire systems with a thought, build up stars and black holes with a point of her finger.

The power of the beyond, of the true dimension was spilling over into hers. She was where the layers were wearing thin, where the Chozo had departed, where the planet Creto was supposed to be.

Where is it?

"My Lady, are you okay?" came Creto's voice into her helmet.

"Yes, it's just so bright," Samus answered, her arms still up and eyes closed.

"It seems that my namesake, Creto, is gone. It looks like all of the Chozo have finally left," Creto said.

"I'm not so sure about that," replied Samus.

A pause.

"What are you going to do?" asked Creto.

No answer.

"I know you Samus," Creto said in a nervous voice. "You're thinking of doing something rash. Don't!"

A voice. A whisper.

This power was waiting for her. She just had to reach out for it. She just had to meet it face to face…

It took only a moment for Samus to make up her mind. She placed her fingers under her helmet's latch and released it. In the distance she could hear Creto shout, but her helmet was off and her eyes were open.

She was no more. She was neither human nor Chozo, alive nor dead. For just a second, Samus was granted a vision of the true dimension. For just a second, she understood everything. Her purpose. The meaning of life. Everything. Then it was gone, taken from her grasp at the height of her comprehension. And, though she didn't know how or why, an afterthought of that knowledge imprinted itself on her soul.

The Fountain stood in front of her, its great stone shape wrapped in Chozian symbols. The water inside was clear and fresh, sparkling in the daylight. All around the Fountain were paved stone paths, leading to all the points of a compass. A Mulbird was singing in the distance.

Samus could feel the cool stone beneath her bare feet. Her armor was gone, replaced by a Chozo-made robe, light gold in color. Her hands sprang to her sleeves, feeling the soft cloth and simple patterns, and to her hair, which was clean and draped over her shoulders.

"Are you surprised?"

Samus stood still. She knew that voice. Slowly turning, she saw him sitting in front of a Chozo home, under a gnarled tree.

"Yes," she said softly, lacking all the coldness of the renown bounty hunter.

"Do you understand now?"

"Yes, Leniox, I understand."

"Come sit with me," said the Chozo.

Samus went to him. Her feet gently slapping the stone pathway, and then falling silent as they met with grass. She entered into the shade of the gnarled tree and sat down next to Leniox. She looked at him; then she looked out west at the Qulox Mountains. She turned back to Leniox.

"Is it real?" she asked.

The Astronomer looked at her, his deep eyes smiling. He tilted his head, and Samus took in every single detail of his face, each wrinkle and laugh line, how his gray-blue eyes reflected the sunlight, the way the feathery crest on his head shifted with the breeze. How can this not be real?

"Only partially, Samus," said Leniox. "It is real in that I am here, and you are here, and we are alive. But our modes of existence are separate. You are in the physical realm, while I am in the true dimension. Our essences are meeting here, at the transition point, where the layers wear thin, at the coordinates given to you by the Luminoth. Creto is gone, the Chozo have moved one, but I appear to you as a thing made of flesh and bone. See, touch me."

Samus reached out her hand and touched Leniox's face. She exhaled as she felt the softness of his downy skin, warm and manipulable under her hand. You're real enough for me, she thoughtAnd then she abandoned herself to the pleasure and relief of having found her childhood friend. She wrapped her arms around the Chozo, and he returned the embrace, enclosing her with his long limbs.

"I missed you so much," Samus said, her voice waiving. "I was all alone. I've been searching, waiting, hoping to meet you again. I love you, Leniox."

Burying her head into this chest and silver robe, Samus breathed in his scent. He smelled of mountain air and Doda fruit. How can you not be in my realm? How can all of you have left? she asked herself. I want you to be real.

"I am real," answered Leniox to her thoughts. He slowly pulled her away from himself, holding her at arm's length. "And I can see you. You light up my vision, steal all the attention for yourself. You are beautiful and strong. For I see you as you truly are, how your essence appears in the beyond. You are the Newborn, our Hatchling. My prophecy has been fulfilled."

He gazed at her with all the love a friend could, and Samus felt the message, the voice from the light filling her, telling her this was the reason for her being. And at the same time, she sensed how much more mature and solemn her friend was; she glimpsed Leniox as an enlightened being.

"Yes, I have become one with the Cosmos, but come, I cannot keep you to myself."

Leniox stood up and helped Samus to rise. As they did, Samus saw the sun setting in the east, as it did on Creto. Crimson rays were spreading over the land, creating long shadows on the lawn. Creto's twin moons were rising in the east.

There was a jingle, one of metal on metal. Samus turned away from the sunset and found Leniox dressed in an elaborate robe of twilight argent. Patterns and symbols spread out from his sleeves and danced their way around his body. Worth more than entire sectors of the Federation, Leniox's headdress was made of a secret Chozo metal called garbol that reflected every color of the sunset as it twisted and entwined itself with the feathery crest on his head. As if braided in, strands of the priceless metal, embedded with precious gems, flowed down in a cascade until stopping in the middle of his back.

Samus was similarly arrayed. She searched herself and found her golden robe was augmented by several more layers and patterns. A band of gold adorned her forehead, with a small crest of gold leaf sprouting from it, and she could feel its strands in her hair. But they were not in anyway hindersome or uncomfortable.

She gave Leniox a questioning look, but the Chozo only nodded and started to walk north.

They went in silent. Leniox set a slow pace, and Samus was content to walk besides him as wave after wave of nostalgia hit her.

The red sunset gave way to rose and periwinkle hues. Soon the moons shown victoriously above the Qulox mountains, and Leniox's headdress reflected the blue and gray tones that matched his eyes so well. The night deepened, and the stars were suddenly all in the sky. Samus, the true one, not the lonely, cold one, gazed up at them. The constellations welcomed her home, and a thought came to her mind. She saw stars all the time through her windshield, looming just ahead of her, but only at home did they become forms that echoed of times past and told the story of the Cosmos. Out there they were formless and meaningless. Only here, on Creto, were they her friends. She was home.

As she marveled at this epiphany, a blanket of clouds came and blocked out the sky. They came slowly, but, like a ship, they had great momentum. Creto became dark, like every abyss Samus have ever ventured into, but she did not fear this blackness,

"Leniox?" she calmly called out, confident that he would answer.

And he did.

An orb of orange appeared in the dark. It grew in size as Leniox coaxed it with Chozian phrases. Illuminating their immediate vicinity, Leniox held it high above his head and looked out north towards the Assembly Grounds. And there, out in the night, came another answer. A multitude of orbs lined the pathway on both sides, each held by a Chozo, who was ceremonially dressed. The spheres of light intersected each other and lit up the mountain top like a cluster of tiny stars.

Leniox walked towards the other Chozo, and Samus followed. His mutterings had built into a strong voice. He commanded the light to grow, and then his words changed. Samus strained to comprehend the Chozian. She heard repeated over and over-- 'Born of the dark to bring the light. The Newborn. Our Hatchling. Our Chosen Warrior.'

All the Chozo joined in, their different tones all blending into one rhythm and phrase until it felt that something must burst. And something did.

The orb Leniox held exploded into a myriad of fireflies. They circled him in an expanding and contracting ellipse, then began to circle Samus, flicking her face with their wings. The other Chozo transformed their lights into waterfalls, eagles, fireworks, weeping willows, and orchids that sweetly reached out to passers-by with their long tendrils. As the forms changed, so did the colors. The clouds rolled back to reveal the stars, and all the Chozo light danced beneath them with joy.

The procession danced their way to the Commons. Suddenly, all the orbs flew up into the air and surrounded the Commons in a circle. They slowly descended and took up watch in the arms, jaws, or crowns of Chozian statues that encircled the party.

A note. A voice.

The Chozian choir broke into song, a group of nightingales playing for the night sky. At the forefront was Chonena, Samus's Chozo mother. Wrapped in a robe that echoed the red sunset, she directed the Musicians in a song of welcome. 'Hail our Warrior, who returns to her guidance. Born of the dark to bring the light, she is our Hatchling, our Newborn, our Chosen One.'

"Samus!"

Uirlow approached her, his face beaming with excitement.

"I have looked forward to this day for eternity. Come!" he said and took her hand.

Every Chozo that had once dwelt on Creto, Zebes, or Tallon IV was present in the Commons, but it was neither crowded nor loud. Only the Musicians' music was heard, and it filled all the air up to the stars, leaving the Chozo free to listen, eyes closed, hearts living in the melody.

"We are all here, every one of us, but not all of us will be speaking to you. It would take too long," he told her.

Strange, thought Samus, I thought we were in eternity. We should have all the time there is.

Uirlow led her to the center of the Commons.He brought her to a noble Chozo, bowed, and gave Samus's hand to this Chozo.

"Dearheart," said Kerune.

He placed her hand on his heart and gave her a Chozo kiss, on the forehead.

"My daughter, you have become a Warrior like none we have never seen."

"We are all so proud of you," said Staxit, who came and knelt beside her. Samus couldn't help but remember that Staxit had done the same thing in this same place during the evacuation.

"A mother's love follows to the ends of the universe, to the deepest pits and foes," said Chonena as she approached them with the beautiful Benach at her side. "I have been with you all this time."

"And I have beseeched the Cosmos everyday on your behalf," added Benach.

"Thank you," said Samus, her eyes misting.

"There is one more who wishes to see you," said Leniox, "follow me."

Chonena hugged her child as Kerune placed his hand on her shoulder. Then the entire group escorted her inside the Room of Council. Its walls rose up in front of her, and the Chozo Elder above its entrance gazed down on her. She may have been mistaken, but Samus could have sworn that it smiled. As she stepped into the room, she thought of the words- 'May the truth guide you'.

Light flooded the Room of Council through its high windows. Dust was visible in the bright shafts as they lit up the vast cavern and revealed the Chozo script lining the walls. Samus had entered this room hundreds of times; it was the beginning of all her missions--her life amongst the Chozo, her "Proving Worthy", her leaving the Chozo...

Tubela the Grand Councilor sat in her white stone chair, waiting. She had the most magnificent headdress and robes on, ones that seems to give off light. The other Council Members sat in their black stone chairs, while all of the race's Chozo Elders stood around them. Waiting.

"This chair has the name of every Grand Councilor engraved upon it," said Tubela once they had reached her, "and mine is the final name. See, there is no more room."

She stood and gave them full view of her throne. Every square inch was covered.

"I, we, own this to you, Samus the Warrior. You have fulfilled the prophecy of Leniox the Astronomer and that of Gorbeta the Councilor. Thus, you have ended our search for enlightenment."

At this, she bowed to Samus. Every other Chozo in the room followed her lead, and Samus felt herself blush.

"Please, don't," she said.

"Do you deem yourself unworthy?" asked Tubela. "You have proven your worth a hundred times over."

"Have I?" countered Samus, the warm fuzzies in her stomach dying. An impulse of uncertainty took her over, and the red on her cheeks turned to the red of anger. "When did the Way of the Chozo declare that murder was okay? How does the destruction of your own creations please you? And what about the others? The other enlightened, the Chozo ghosts, the ones that died before this?"

She stepped forward and looked up into the face of Tubela.

"What about me? What did the Cosmos say about my soul, how I have ripped it apart in this duty? About how I have been corrupted!"

"The others are taken care of," answered Tubela calmly. "Yes, they will not come and live with us, but they are full in their own way, in the afterlife. The others will eventually reach enlightenment, but not in your lifetime. And what we have left behind cannot be destroyed. As to yourself, oh Samus, you know what the answer is."

Kerune gently took her hand and squeezed it.

"Nothing is perfect except the truth," said a deep voiced Chozo from Tubela's right.

"That is why we ask you to let it guide you," said Gorbeta, who had risen and strolled over to Samus. "Not everything you have done is perfect, yet you are not corrupted. Not everything we have done was perfect, and we have been perfected. But, as we no longer interact in that respect, you must continue to hear the truth. You are the greatest Chozo Warrior."

"Yet, your quest is not over," said Tubela.

"That's why you were led here," said Leniox, getting in on the tag-team speaking.

"You needed reassurance that you were on the right path, my daughter," said Chonena.

"Well, we're here to tell you that you are," said Staxit.

"So be content," said Uirlow.

"And be strong," said Benach.

"For you cannot stay here," said Kerune, "no matter how much I want you too."

"You must go back," said Tubela. She extended her right arm and touched Samus's forehead, pressing the golden band into her skin. "Fight the corruption of Phazon and any other kind you will meet; you alone can stop it, but you will not be alone. Know that we are always with you. The truth will guide you."

And Samus was falling backwards. The light of the Room of Council was fading as her vision blurred. Tubela's face was indistinguishable from the sand colored walls. She was crying out to them, to her father and mother, to let her stay. There was nothing behind her; she was plunging into a void. The only thing she felt was a pressure on her hand. It squeezed, and then was gone.

"Samus?"

She opened her eyes and quickly shielded them with her arm.

"Samus, I was so worried about you!" said Creto from overhead.

After her eyes had adjusted to the stark artificial light, Samus sat up and found herself laying on her bed, aboard her ship.

Panic and confusion rushed into her. She was wearing her armor, her helmet by her side on the bed. She felt her forehead, and could feel something, but she didn't trust her suit's sensors. She had to be sure. She rushed to the bathroom, turned on the light, and looked into the mirror. It was there, the imprint of her headdress's golden band.

"It wasn't a dream," she said out loud. She wheeled and exited the room.

"How did I get back here?" she asked of Creto.

Silence.

"Tell me!" she demanded.

"There was... an-an apparition, of-of a Chozo It carried you inside. It's on the video if you don't believe me, which I would understand."

"I believe you, Creto," said Samus.

She made her way to the cockpit, fully aware of how awesome her experience had been. The Chozo had met her here, had touched her here, and she had proof. But when she reached the cockpit, things were different. The Lithiun sector was dark. All the brilliance was gone. The stars, the dust, the music, everything. Gone.

"And then that happened," said Creto. "If I were not made by the Chozo, I believe all of these abstract happenings would have fried my circuits cycles ago."

"Well," said Samus, "let's be glad you're still here."

Samus pressed a series of buttons on the control panel, and the main screen lit up with the most recent feed. Samus saw herself take off her helmet and then...nothing.

"Please, no more," moaned Creto.

She was moving, floating towards the ship on nothing. She was positioned as if someone were carrying her, but there was nothing. Her helmet followed behind like a loyal puppy.

"My Lady, that data hasn't been touched. It is one hundred percent uncorrupted. I cannot explain this," said Creto.

Samus exhaled, a smile on her face.

"I can. The Chozo have truly left; I am the last one. But they did not leave without saying goodbye."

"I wouldn't call that a good explanation," said Creto, "but my sensors tell me that you are unperturbed by this mystery. Perhaps you have a destination in mind, or would you prefer to stay here?"

"Set a course for the Galacitc Headquarters. I need to see Maelos," said Samus.

"Are we accepting his request?"

She sat down in her chair and buckled her harness.

"Yes we are. Time for our next mission."