- Joined
- Nov 27, 2005
- Messages
- 67,946
- Reaction score
- 3,859
- Staff
- #1
There was a side of Jhon that always wanted to get away from it all. No, not just recent troubles of destiny and self-loathing, but everything; galactic affairs, Jedi diplomacy, Alliance politics. All of it. He would sometimes imagine himself lying on the warm beach of a deserted planet, awash with the tranquility of solitude as he watched the waves break upon the shore. Cool mists would gently dance across his face while the tides nipped at his heels. The hot sand would morph around his body, and he'd just lay there, basking in a simple, peaceful life.
He imagined himself there now. All the worries and cares he carried for so long were gone in his mind's eye. It was in this place that he knew that the burdens he shouldered were unnecessary. He did not need to weep for past mistakes, nor fret about future struggles. All he needed to do was make the best of the present, living in wisdom and following the Way.
Such a revelation was something Jhon wasn't used to, after his time in Imperial Space. Now he felt a calm, a peace he hadn't known for... well, forever. A weight was lifted, one that had been there for decades, ever since the disaster on Ardos. He never really moved on from that, yet now he felt more in tune with the Force. He felt detached from his self, from his ego, seeing only the currents of the Force and the peace that the light could bring. It was a sense deep within his soul, into the very fiber of his being. Not one he could put into words, but a tranquility that could only be felt.
It was when he experienced that feeling, just now, when he realized something was very, very wrong. He shouldn't have felt that peace. He should have felt nowhere near centered. The last thing he remembered, his soul was twisted into knots, wallowing in self-pity over his mistakes with Andraste and everything else. He was standing in a rainy back alley, watching Ebberla Daw leave, returning home to the Jedi where he, pretending to be Darth Vitium, goaded her into returning to.
Darth Vitium. It was a name that the galaxy knew him as now, even though no such man existed. The illusion that the Jedi suspected was conjured by Geist Weiss, a master of Sith deception and propaganda, spread like wildfire across the galaxy. Whereas Jhon had gone into hiding, faking his death, to protect himself, the Sith took it upon themselves to destroy his legacy and public reputation.
He was losing his centering now; not by much, but enough for his mind to be ripped away from the peaceful shoreline. Now he was somewhere different. The stench of decay and garbage was everywhere. The defeaning buzz of tens of thousands of speeders and people was overhead. There was an artificial breeze close enough to the real thing to be passable but far enough away from a true breeze that let him know exactly where he was: Coruscant.
"There is still no word on the whereabouts of the missing Jedi Master," a voice from a loudspeeker said. "As we've reported, Jedi Master Jhon Cordatus was believed to have been killed at the hand of former Emperor Darth Exodeus, but he recently broadcast a HoloNet transmission revealing to the galaxy that he had, in fact, become a Lord of the Sith called Darth Vitium. We will continue to bring you all updates relating to the former Grand Master's whereabouts."
His eyes slowly opened, seeing that he was, in fact, in the streets of Coruscant. He looked up to find an image of him right smack in the center of the screen, letting all of the HoloNet news viewers remember what he looked like. He looked back down, seeing the eyes of the people lock onto him. It was then he realized that his hood was off, and he was in plain sight. The only natural response from the people around him quickly followed.
Panic. Sheer, unadulturated panic. Dozens, and soon hundreds, of Alliance citizens ran away in terror at the sight of a so-called Sith Lord. He, too, only had one option.
Run.
He imagined himself there now. All the worries and cares he carried for so long were gone in his mind's eye. It was in this place that he knew that the burdens he shouldered were unnecessary. He did not need to weep for past mistakes, nor fret about future struggles. All he needed to do was make the best of the present, living in wisdom and following the Way.
Such a revelation was something Jhon wasn't used to, after his time in Imperial Space. Now he felt a calm, a peace he hadn't known for... well, forever. A weight was lifted, one that had been there for decades, ever since the disaster on Ardos. He never really moved on from that, yet now he felt more in tune with the Force. He felt detached from his self, from his ego, seeing only the currents of the Force and the peace that the light could bring. It was a sense deep within his soul, into the very fiber of his being. Not one he could put into words, but a tranquility that could only be felt.
It was when he experienced that feeling, just now, when he realized something was very, very wrong. He shouldn't have felt that peace. He should have felt nowhere near centered. The last thing he remembered, his soul was twisted into knots, wallowing in self-pity over his mistakes with Andraste and everything else. He was standing in a rainy back alley, watching Ebberla Daw leave, returning home to the Jedi where he, pretending to be Darth Vitium, goaded her into returning to.
Darth Vitium. It was a name that the galaxy knew him as now, even though no such man existed. The illusion that the Jedi suspected was conjured by Geist Weiss, a master of Sith deception and propaganda, spread like wildfire across the galaxy. Whereas Jhon had gone into hiding, faking his death, to protect himself, the Sith took it upon themselves to destroy his legacy and public reputation.
He was losing his centering now; not by much, but enough for his mind to be ripped away from the peaceful shoreline. Now he was somewhere different. The stench of decay and garbage was everywhere. The defeaning buzz of tens of thousands of speeders and people was overhead. There was an artificial breeze close enough to the real thing to be passable but far enough away from a true breeze that let him know exactly where he was: Coruscant.
"There is still no word on the whereabouts of the missing Jedi Master," a voice from a loudspeeker said. "As we've reported, Jedi Master Jhon Cordatus was believed to have been killed at the hand of former Emperor Darth Exodeus, but he recently broadcast a HoloNet transmission revealing to the galaxy that he had, in fact, become a Lord of the Sith called Darth Vitium. We will continue to bring you all updates relating to the former Grand Master's whereabouts."
His eyes slowly opened, seeing that he was, in fact, in the streets of Coruscant. He looked up to find an image of him right smack in the center of the screen, letting all of the HoloNet news viewers remember what he looked like. He looked back down, seeing the eyes of the people lock onto him. It was then he realized that his hood was off, and he was in plain sight. The only natural response from the people around him quickly followed.
Panic. Sheer, unadulturated panic. Dozens, and soon hundreds, of Alliance citizens ran away in terror at the sight of a so-called Sith Lord. He, too, only had one option.
Run.