The dark prince took the ornate wine goblet he had been drinking from and threw it, with force, at the guard speaking to him. It struck the guard painfully in the chest, and he had to struggle to stand.
"Please, my prince," the guard begged. "I did not mean to disturb you. I only came to report that the mission to Brackus 5 was a success. We were able to mine 200 tons of lazon for your father. That was 50 tons more than expected," the guard added hastily. The guard expected this news to please the prince, but instead Lotor rushed forward and grabbed the frightened guard by the throat.
"I don't CARE what successes you have managed for my miserable father!" The guard stared, his eyes wide in surprise and horror. "It won't help him in the end, anyway," the prince cryptically informed the guard. The guard reached up to grabbed the prince's arm, in a purely automatic response, to free himself from the strangling grasp. It was to be his last mistake.
"Insolent fool!" the prince cried. He released the guard and unsheathed his laser sword in a swift motion. Lotor brought his sword down with incredible force and sliced the guard across the chest. The sword sank to the bone, and the guard was dead when his body hit the floor. Blood splattered on the prince's boots and it made him even angrier. His rage had been building for hours and would find its release now.
He went on a rampage through the castle's rooms. The maids and guards had never seen such an explosive furor before and they had seen many. The prince looked like a madman, and many thought he had finally lost his mind. Still others thought he was possessed by an evil spirit. His long white hair flared about him wildly, and his eyes glowed with an unnatural light. He raved in another tongue and broke objects and people as he went. Finally, he was outside the throne room, and as he placed his gloved hand on the door to push it open some sense of lucidity returned. "NO!", he roared. "It is not time. I must know first." He turned and stumbled from the castle into the velvet night. Those who had witnessed the events stood silent in terrified awe.
The prince tripped over rocks and slid down the steep hills of Doom. He fell several times, but continued on. He knew what he was looking for. Finally, he was at the base of a steep cliff. He got down on his hands and knees and dug through the dirt. "Where is it?" he wondered, searching frantically. "Where is the necklace?" His beautiful mother had died here on this spot after casting herself down from the cliff above in despair. She had always worn a lavish ceremonial necklace given to her by her own mother. Every woman of her people was given one, such as hers, at a sacred ceremony upon becoming a woman. She NEVER took it off. Zarkon had requested she give it up once they were wed. He said it made her look like a savage, not a Queen. In truth, Zarkon thought the necklace held magical powers and wanted it for his own. She had declined, and Zarkon had relented for a time. The necklace had not been with the body when it was discovered that misty, gray morning, and no one had questioned its whereabouts, until now! Lotor continued his search in a frenzy. If it wasn't here then SOMEONE must have it, and his vision might be true.
Lotor had been using the crystals earlier that day and had been drinking heavily. His father was growing suspicious of him, and he had been unable to go to Arus to see the princess again. While in his study that afternoon he had been overcome by a overwhelming sense of foreboding. His vision had clouded, and he had feared that he had gone blind. His vision had cleared again, but he had no longer been in his study, but standing at the top of the cliff. His father and mother were both there too, arguing, and he could hear what was being said.
"You are not sending him to the Academy! He is too young! Kaila screamed at her husband.
"No son of mine is ever too young to learn about the ways of war! I have called in a favor to get him in two years early and he IS going!" Zarkon shouted.
"I wish he wasn't your son! You are detestable and evil. I HATE you, and I will take him from you!" Kaila raised her hand and struck Zarkon.
"Woman, you are NOTHING! You have produced my heir, and I am finished with you!" With that Lotor had watched Zarkon push Kaila forcefully. She had tried to grab for anything to stop her fall and had caught the sleeve of Zarkon's robe with her fingertips. Zarkon had reached out to push her away and then her necklace caught his eye. "You won't be needing this!" he bellowed and then snatched it from her throat. He had struck the arm that held him, and she had tumbled with an awful scream to the bottom of the cliff. Her wounds had been fatal, and she died staring into the soulless eyes of King Zarkon. After witnessing the murder, Lotor had been struck blind again, and when his sight had returned he was back in his study. There he had seethed and searched his mind for a way to prove if the vision had been true or only a dream. His father's guard had burst in then with that untimely report and gotten himself killed.
Now Lotor searched all about, but the necklace simply wasn't there. He opened his eyes to the truth and sat heavily on the ground and leaned his back up against the face of the cliff. Dust settled upon him and he resembled a statue, so still did he sit. His father had killed his mother. There was no other explanation. Suddenly, pain engulfed him and filled him. It was a living, breathing entity, and the weight of its presence threatened to crush him. It was unlike anything he had ever experienced before either emotional and physical, and he suffered. Madness, like a nightmare monster, gathered him into its arms and tried to make the prince its own. Instead, Lotor dropped his face into his hands and years of unshed tears sprang forth, unbidden. He had not wept in 15 years, not even for Intaya, but now he wept for them all. Two guards found the prince in that same position several hours later. He had been so overcome by grief and the effects of the wine and crystals that he had fallen into a trance-like state. The guards picked him off the ground and carried their prince back to his apartments in the castle where someone could care for him.