Where Flowers Bloom, So Does Hope (CLOSED)

[Brandon Rhea]

The Dark Lord's attack itself wasn't easily predictable, but Jhon did know that some form of strong attack of a like kind would be coming his way. It was for that reason why he had landed on the temple where he did, in the ruins of the walkway. He gave himself a clear out regardless of what the attack was.

With the energy surging towards him, the Grand Master jumped backward and behind the Temple of the Ancients. Landing on the ground, chunks of rock and metal fell down towards him, having crumbled from the temple's walls when Exodeus' attack hit them. Jhon let out a burst of Force energy and made his way, quicker than any mere mortal could move, back around and away from the temple, and away from the falling debris. The Dark Lord would see him do so. There was no question about where the Grand Master was going, a place where Jhon would have an advantage.

The beach.

 

[Demiurge]

The Dark Lord's teeth gritted together, grinding as his controlled anger began to seethe and build. The Grand Master was like an affliction that simply would not disappear, constantly evading, constantly avoiding like a coward. Jhon's life yet again slipped through his grasp as Exodeus' eyes opened in slight surprise. A sharp hiss slipped through his grinding teeth as his eyes narrowed in a near-obsessive focus on the Grand Master. He would see him dead. He wouldn't allow this day to end any other way.

Darth Exodeus grasped his lightsaber into his hand again, letting the ever increasing rainfall create a steaming mist around his blade as he braced against the gale and winds. But even the storm around him could not break his sight through the Force; he saw him. And more importantly, he saw where he was going. Drawing the Force to him in an implosive detonation beneath his feet, the Dark Lord soared into the raging tempest as he brought his lightsaber into both of his hands as he descended over the beach.

As he came down, his downward stabbing motion would be obvious. Using the Force to grant him the clarity necessary, it was over where Jhon would be. Exodeus' blade would fall into him and slay him instantly. Nevertheless, Exodeus channeled the Force through his body, and prepared to collide into the ground while rupturing the beach in his proximity with a telekinetic shockwave into and through the terrain, powerful enough to upheave even the sands.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

At the beach, the Grand Master was prepared for the Dark Lord to meet him swiftly and suddenly. He remained in the sand for a few moments, assuming that the Emperor would try to find him with the Force and make his way to that spot, but he left quickly thereafter. Jhon lept onto the crippled hulk of an ancient Hammerhead cruiser used by the Old Republic in the ancient Sith Wars. No doubt it had crashed there during the battle that destroyed the Star Forge.

To be here now, atop the cruiser, meant more than just standing on wreckage from ancient times. This ship, this very spot, was the legacy of the Jedi, the Sith, and their constant wars against one another. It was the legacy of Xendor, the first of the fallen Jedi. It was the legacy of Ajunta Pall and all the other fallen Jedi who became the first Dark Lords of the Sith. It was a legacy that allowed for Revan, for Bane, for Palpatine, and for the Skywalkers.

It was a legacy that led Jhon Cordatus and Darth Exodeus to being on Lehon right now, in this moment, in this struggle. It was their inheritance, their curse, their destiny; theirs to control and theirs to make what they would of it. A new legacy wouldn't be decided here today, but, if one of them were to fall, it could tip the balance in favor of one side over the other.

Now, though, was not the time for idle dwelling on dichotomy of good and evil. The Emperor soared towards the beach, and Jhon was ready for him. Channeling the Force within every fiber of his being, in and around him like a torrent of energy ready to explode at any moment, he threw his arms into the air. As he did, the ocean rose high above him, water roaring in the air, a tsunami wave ready to strike a target.

When Exodeus was close enough, the wave surged forward towards the Dark Lord. Jhon need not worry about Exodeus noticing where he was and the Emperor's blade finding its mark. One way or another, the Dark Lord's current attack had failed and he would have to shift his strategy. Not that it was likely, of course. The wave was dozens of meters in diameter and dozens of feet high. It was a wall of pressure and oceanic energies surging at one man, and anyone would be knocked back down from it.

The Emperor would survive it, but in what state was another mater.

 

[Demiurge]

Exodeus' eyes never averted from Jhon. For that time and moment, the slaying of the Grand Master was all he existed for, was his sole and only purpose. It was perhaps the ambition of savage creature, but with his determination, his blood ran hot and red as the blade he wielded, carving through the doubt in his mind as it did through the gusts of winds.

It was only the moment before when he finally noticed the maelstrom of Force energy expelled from the Grand Master. His eyes deadened in anger as he retook control of his impulsive and unbridled attack. He'd allowed his mind to be clouded, and ignored true attack before him own eyes. Time seemed to slow until it was almost a crawl, as Exodeus watched as the commanded ocean waves struck him, the mass of pressure colliding into his body as it overcame him.

The Dark Lord's body spiraled in the damning seas as it wrestled control over him. Even as he lessened the impact of the massive waters, pain surged through Exodeus' body like lightning through his veins. And like shock of electricity, the Dark Lord's mind revived in clarity. Controlling his hatred and malice, Exodeus unleashed the Dark Side festering within him in a telekinetic repulse, whirling the ocean waters round about as he repelled it away.

Without another wasted action, the Dark Lord focused on Jhon once again, and combining his seething anger together with his inner darkness, pain and strength of will, took a firm and steady stance. Inhaling deeply, Exodeus then bellowed forth, releasing a cripplingly loud outcry, not unlike a the devastating roar of a beast, as he directed it firmly toward the Grand Master.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

The wave returned towards him, and Jhon had only seconds to act. He called his lightsaber from his belt and it came to life, its hue reflecting against the approaching maelstrom that threatened to overtake him. With only moments to spare, Jhon thrust his lightsaber into the broken, decayed hull of the Republic cruiser and spun around, cutting a perfect circle that let him drop into a damp, dark hallway.

This cruiser was dead, but the Force was not. The Grand Master ran towards the next hallway, using the Force to shut the door behind him. The roar of the water overtook the other side, crashing down into the narrow passageway he had dropped into. It filled to the top, and the remainder of the water safely fell to the other side of the vessel, rocking its remains only slightly.

With the door closed, no light entered the room. It was total darkness, and yet, with the Force, Jhon could see everything. Eyes were the master of deception; he kept his blade deactivated, using the Force to see his surroundings, every hallway, every room, every dead control panel. The ship called to him; it afforded him an advantage. Like in the Temple of the Ancients only minutes earlier, he knew that while Exodeus was a master of the darkness, Jhon’s own experience let him see through it. The ship was as bright to him as the suns of Tatooine.

It was time for the Dark Lord to come to him.

 

[Demiurge]

Exodeus stood in place as the waves around him subsided, washing away as the hurricane surrounding him reached its zenith of ferocity. He paid no heed to the harshness of it, however. He never felt it. Even as the Grand Master yet again escaped him, he could see his death at his hands, either by the blade or by the Dark Side. It was perhaps only an illusion of his own mind's eye, but regardless of it, the Dark Lord's mind was as clear and luminous and the lightning in the clouds above him, ridding his mind of any lack of clarity. Jhon was there. Jhon was waiting...

Darth Exodeus took off, leaving a spiral eruption of muddied sand on the beach from where he departed. Moving faster than the eye could see, the Dark Lord raced across the beach front, carrying the single minded destination of the wreckage of a warship belonging to the era of the Old Galactic Republic, several millennia ago. As he neared the ship, with only some forty meters between, he took as if to flight, leaping to the top of the cruiser as he dropped in through the hole in a single movement. Returning into the extensions of the waters that had filled the cruiser corridors, the Dark Lord abandoned his air, clutching onto the traces of oxygen in his lungs to sustain him beneath the filled chamber.

His body sank to the bottom as his boots clanked upon the metallic floor. Making his way to the hallway's end, Exodeus extended his power into the water, saturating it with his will. And upon reaching the end, facing the sealed door that held his enemy on the other side, the Dark Lord waved his hand and opened it. Yet as it opened, the waters remained, as if a wall of a different sort were in place, restraining it from entering into the room as he passed the doorway before closing it again. And then, it was absolute darkness. There was no glimmer, no trace of light or visibility. Yet this was Exodeus' nature manifest, his habitat. And with that, Exodeus' eyes laid upon the Grand Master almost instantly, standing there as if he were awaiting him. Not even allowing one moment to waste, Exodeus ignited his blade, and with the Force augmenting his speed again until he became as unseen as the darkness around him, the Dark Lord made a single sweeping blow with his blade toward the right side of the Grand Master's shoulder.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

The Grand Master swung his lightsaber into place, locking the two blades together just before they hit Jhon’s shoulder. He thrust his arms forward and sent the lightsaber back, and the two blades clashed once, then twice, then again, and continued, neither the stronger, neither the lesser. They were two lords of destiny locked in a dance for show. Even with all of the hits they had delivered, they were still the strongest. Jedi Grand Master vs. Dark Lord of the Sith. They had no equals, sans one another.

Blue and red energies danced like a blur through the darkness. Their eyes could barely see, their senses doing the seeing for them, with their faces showing only when their blades swung before their faces. But the eyes of destiny were watching. At least to Jhon, a master of visions, it was becoming abundantly clear that this duel of the fates would not be decided today. Neither would leave a victor, nor would they leave a loser.

They would both win. They would both lose. The galaxy would keep spinning.

 

[Demiurge]

It was like the radiance of a star in the crossbeams of darkness and light. The sound was like the cackling of thunder, striking down again and again around them both. Even though entrapped by the void of light, the room was ablaze with crimson and azure. The Dark Lord loosened his upper body as he bent his knees, performing a spinning series of jung mas, making consecutive 360 blows at the Grand Master as he simultaneously did the same.

Although time seemed to be slow as the flowing waters around them, outside the casket of iron and steel, their blades were as blurs of light, as if a dozen blades were twirling in katas and maneuvers. Even as they stood evenly against each other, their mastery of their blades were the antitheses of the other. Power against finesse. Stability against agility. Even as surely as they were Dark against Light.

Bringing both of his hands to his hilt, Exodeus brought his blade down over Jhon in a two handed strike. The Force fueled his power, fed his vitality and ferocity. Repeatedly, the Dark Lord unleashed his onslaught, pounding down blow after blow, wearing and tearing down his opponent's defenses. Their blades both apexed above them, locked in a crossbeam over their heads.

Simultaneously, in a single fluid motion, Jhon's blade pivoted around the Dark Lord's, forcing both blades down with the Grand Master's blade using the inertia from the raw force of Exodeus' blows against him. As the blades hit the ground, searing the iron floor below into a smoldering metallic ember, Jhon's body lifted from the ground in a rapid twisting motion, not unlike a barrel roll, as the heel of his boot connected with the Dark Lord's face, knocking him back.

A bruise blistered it's way onto Exodeus' face. The strength was beyond the natural, but such was not uncommon with the Force. And even as he was pushed back, the Dark Lord's gaze never broke from the Grand Master's eyes. There were several meters in between them now, but it was as a single step in his eyes. After an instant that felt as several seconds of silence, Exodeus lunged his lightsaber forward and he leapt in a horizontal Force jump toward his enemy, streaking the darkness with crimson light as he spiraled through the air.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

The Grand Master again collected the Force around him, and it surged from the palm of his hands like a cannon, flying relentlessly at the airborne Emperor. Exodeus, predictably, recognized what was happening, and ended his airborne strike. As if to mickick Jhon, perhaps in a form of mockery or just a retaliatory strike, Exodeus repeated what Jhon did, sending the powers of the Force forward.

Two titans were locked in place, the energies of their Force strikes pressing against one another's. Jhon's eyes met the Dark Lord's and watched as the fiery rage within him fueled the engines of his power, his attack, his hatred. It was a wonder Andraste ever fell for such a man, one so filled with darkness that even the slightest bit of light left within him seemed more like a memory of a past life than a true sign of the possibilities of redemption.

The Grand Master felt sorry for him. Jhon did not claim to be better than anyone else, but to live such a loveless, hate-filled life could not be easy. The idea that he could love, that he could create a child, seemed alien to the Jedi Master. Yet here it was.

The attack finally broke. The combined energies of their power exploded, sending a cascading shockwave of pure energy in all directions. Jhon burst through the door, through steel and decacy, and through the hole from which he'd first entered the ship. He flew outward, meter after meter after meter until the ship started to look like a speck in his eye.

He could feel the fall now, and he readied himself for oblivion. Falling down towards the ocean below, he closed his eyes, putting his mind to rest. Life flashed before his very eyes. His parents stood beside him as he was Knighted. He accepted the mission to Ardos. Fighting side by side with Imperial Stormtroopers, he rescued the princess of Oro Prime. The Ardosian facility exploded, and he watched as countless thousands were killed in a war that began because of his actions. Exile. Return. Masterhood. The Council. Visions of the return of the Sith danced through his mind. He met Andraste, and then found her again. The Jedi Temple exploded. Thousansd upon thousands of candles lined the streets of Coruscant in a solemn vigil.

So few years and so many tragedies he'd seen, yet so many happy moments. There was no longer anything to regret. Whatever faults he'd had, whatever darkness had once been in his heart, he finally felt completely at peace with it. He'd always been at peace, but never with this certainty.

If this was the end, then he would die at peace, with himself and with the Force.

-------------------------------------------------------
(To speed this along, and to make sure Sreeya isn't waiting any longer since her character has been stuck this whole time, I've gone ahead and NPCd Exodeus in this part of the duel. Exodeus can now go back to Andraste on the assumption that Jhon is dead.)

 

[Demiurge]

The Force was all things, as if the most primal forces of nature were standing in opposition to each other. And unstoppable force, and an immovable object. The Force resonated and cackled around them, as if Exodeus and Jhon had embodied darkness and light itself... or as if darkness and light had been embodied with them. The energies splintered out, as if the screeching and howling of a spectre had surrounded them until it reached its summit as the culminated Force attacks detonated, unleashing a vile shockwave that shook to the very core of the Dark Lord.

His back collided into the wall, rippling through the old sheeted metals and circuits. Electricity from ancient and dormant mechanisms and terminals sparked out, overloading and exploding as the Dark Lord's body plowed through wall after wall, bursting through them as if they were glass until he finally reached the collision in the sands.

Suddenly, Exodeus was in cage. Of metal and bars, stone walls and icy cold grounds despite the heat flowing to give him air. Like an animal - a savage beast - he was restrained, chained. In subjection. Inferior. Weak. Broken. Lost. Blind. Deaf. Without power. Without understanding. A slave. A burden. The strokes of a whip struck his back as he was curled into a ball, bleeding out onto the ground. He saw only a figure. Above him, shrouded in the light behind him. His tormentor. His oppressor. Yet as he stared up, all he saw was... awe. He saw strength. He saw supremacy. He saw all that was there, all that he needed to see. He saw destiny. He saw... himself.

At that, Exodeus' eyes shot open. His body lie face down in the thickened sand. His body was, for the first time in his life, heavy. Weighed down. His body was wracked with pain, but he never felt it as it was. Not as the negative sensation; only the fuel of his strength. The suffering that first gave his life purpose, reason to continue living, continue to go on. His hand became planted into the soft terrain, pressing down several inches as the Dark Lord pushed his body up, revealing fractured armor that had splintered. Shrapnels of metal had sprayed into his flesh, and his chest bore a large crack diagonally across his torso.

Without any reaction besides pure instinct, Exodeus simply walked toward the wake of energy belonging to Jhon. He paid no heed to the violent storm around him, even though he could hear nothing else around him but the roar of the wind and downpour of the deluge. Within moments that passed in fleeting, the Dark Lord stood from afar, some ten meters away from the corpse that laid before him. His senses were dulled somewhat, but even he could perceive it. The absence. The vanished light within. The foul stench that only one tied to the Force could smell through the air. Death.

It was over. It was done. At that, Exodeus stood in position for some time, until finally he simply stared upward into the volatile rainfall, allowing the harsh weather to saturate him, even as all he saw as he stared up were black clouds. Yet, moments later, the rainfall ceased. Silenced, as a massive cyclone spun around over him. The eye of the storm. Without another moment, Exodeus simply walked away. There was another matter to attend to. One that had lingered and festered at the back of his mind, yet never emerged dominant. He had nearly allowed it to become forgotten. Her. Andraste.

The walk back was in utter silence. Not only from the outside, where the distant thunders and rumbling echoes of the tempest around him bellowed like an untamed beast, but from within. His mind carried no thoughts, no plan of action. Only the singular destination. Only the instinct of her, tied to him by the bond between their two souls. How long it was, the time that had passed, he did not know. Nor did he care. Time was irrelevant. His focus was everything. Finally, he arrived at a metallic door, touching it lightly with his hand as he channeled the Force into it, causing it to crumble.

The were the sounds of sadness, fear. The wailing of a small child, even as her cries fell upon his deafened ears. He saw only her frozen eyes, her dead lips and non-existent breathing as her body and mind were locked into a catatonic state. The Dark Lord at that reached out with his hand, just as he reached into the deaths of her mind with his own, deeper and deeper until he found his mark. His curse. His affliction that trapped her away from the galaxy around her just as surely as he saw the retraction of it, purging the burden cast upon her as he freed her once again from a prison within her own mind.

::Awaken::

 

[Sreeya]

A deep gasp erupted from her, as if one taking in air for the first time. Her body was weakened, and she felt as if she had been in ice, remnants of it still melting away. Life came back to her all at once, as a tidal wave. She could see, smell, hear, touch. It was overwhelming, almost making her crumble from the onslaught. It took her a moment to adjust to this newfound freedom, and her first instinct was to clutch the baby in her arms close to her chest. She did so before she could see properly or understand her surroundings.

After a moment, a word lingered into her mind. It was the voice of terror, one that made her heart sink. She loved and detested the voice, and it rang within her mind, a testament to the result of the battle she had been tossed aside from. Andraste gazed upon him with pure terror. The baby had stopped crying, the presence of the Dark Lord distinct enough to where even she felt something was amiss. Andraste took a step back, and then another, her eyes wide in shock.

"W-Where is...he.."

Her words were quiet, barely above a whisper. She couldn't trace Jhon's signature. Her heart dropped, a sick feeling rising within her. Andraste felt weak, paralyzed by terror and hopelessness. She was here alone, with Exodeus right across from her.

"Please..please tell me where he is.. please.."

 

[Demiurge]

Exodeus stared down on Andraste as she revived from her stasis. Indeed, he could feel, both through the Force on its own, and even greater so due to their bond. He felt the rush, the influx of the senses she'd been blinded to all suddenly rushed back into her mind and body. It was a strain on the mind more than anything else, and left her disorientated, as if she were experiencing vertigo.

Yet despite all of it, she still endured it. Regained herself and her will. Even then, she was reaching out with the Force, calling upon it all the more in spite of only just literally regaining her own senses. She whispered, her voice near silent but more than audible to him. If not verbally, then her desires and queries were made manifest through her feelings, emotions.

And yet, Exodeus stared down upon her as he would nothing else. A peculiar expression had been locked onto his face. It was unreadable, like a melding of the influx of anxiety, adoration, despair, hated, indignation, disorientation, displacement, all paradoxically penetrated through in a shroud of indifference. And as it was, the Dark Lord continuously stared down, no longer at Andraste, but at the other life there with her. From what he saw as a creature in her arms, Exodeus never deviated his sight, even as he himself spoke in a ghost-like whisper.

"Who is the child... Andraste.."

 

[Sreeya]

He was deaf to her pleading. He didn't answer her question, his demonic eyes lowering to gaze upon the child. The child faced away from him, nestled against her mother's chest. Andraste stared ahead at Exodeus. His gaze upon her baby was as if a cursed taint were being cast upon her. Andraste kept backing away, though she had nowhere to go. Her steps backwards caused her back to press against the ship's wall.

"This child is...mine.."

Ours. The word resounded within her mind, but she could not bring it out to speech. She wanted to run away, to escape. Andraste lowered her gaze, noting his injuries. It pained her to see them, but it pained her more not to know of Jhon's fate. Andraste looked down at the ground.

"She is my daughter.."

She closed her eyes, visibly trembling.

"Please let me go.. please let me find Jhon..please, I beg you.."

Andraste gazed up at him, her eyes brimming with tears. When she spoke, it was a labored whisper.

"Please, Daemon.."

 

[Demiurge]

The Dark Lord listened as she spoke, taking in her words as he also felt her yearnings through the Force. It was back, towards him. Towards the Jedi again. He could sense her worry, her pity and sheer desperation. And yet, all the while, all Exodeus did in response was lower himself down on his knee, bending over Andraste as if to look down compassionately upon her.

The Jedi was on her mind, occupying her thoughts just as surly as the child was. But still, there was a sense of familiarity about it. His senses and powers were dull and drained, but even he could not deny the clarity surrounding the child. His facial expression remained clouded and congested, yet at the same time devoid of all emotion and feeling. An unreadable face. It couldn't be known - was he angry, intrigued, saddened, anxious, or anything else.

"What you hear is the call of the dead, and what you'll find is the corpse of the damned. Or would you have me simply call him 'Jhon'? Now then, then tell me... who is her father?"

 

[Sreeya]

Andraste visibly trembled, backing up and cowering into a crouch, shielding the baby from view. As he drew closer, her fear amplified. She once again felt as a child, when he had first found her. He had been towering over her, a faceless mask that haunted her dreams. It was crippling fear, one that made her want to permanently withdraw within her mind, one that made it seem like daylight would never come again. The fear was tenfold with the concern of her baby. She could never allow any harm to come to her, and the man that could end her life on a whim stood inches away. As Exodeus spoke, it took a moment for the words to register. Andraste suddenly looked up at him.

"What? NO! That's not true!"

She rose to her feet. Andraste reached out with the Force, felt for his presence. She could find no traces of him. Her denial was giving way to dread, and with it, immeasurable anguish. Tears began to flow freely, her breathing erratic. For a moment, she couldn't think. All she could think of was the pure agony of losing him, of a star forever extinguished from the sky. It made her sick. Her mind was in disarray, refusing to accept it.

"No...no....no.."

Andraste withdrew into her mind for a moment, warped to their first meeting. She heard the voice of a child within her mind.

"Are you here to tell me I'm crazy?"

The child was met with a smile, smile in the face of suspicion. In the face of doubt. The man took her away from there, away from solitude, away from her past.

"..Surrounded by vast rivers, beautiful hillsides...and gardens full of flowers.."

The child was a woman now, standing within those same gardens. There was sadness, pain and regrets. The man was there once again, as a beacon of hope, a glimmer of light piercing through an abysmal void. It was a breath of warmth among a barren valley so cold and frozen. It was life brought into the lungs of a dead soul. He had handed her a flower.

"This is perhaps the purest and most beautiful thing you’ve ever cherished in your life. Never let go of that cherishing, as it is your nature."

She gazed upon the flower, gazed at it for eternity. And the flower blossomed. It blossomed into a beautiful baby with eyes as red as the petals. The woman understood then, understood what it meant to cherish. She understood what it meant to bloom in darkness, understood the faintest traces of life amid a dead land. She knew then. She knew because he had guided her. Because he had shown her the way. Since she herself was a child. And now..

"..He's gone.."

Andraste whispered the words. She slowly gazed up at Exodeus, pain clear upon her features. His last words rang through her mind, poison to her ears. They landed another heavy blow on her as she was down. She was numb, both physically and emotionally.

"He's gone..you've killed him.."

She felt anger slowly beginning to well up inside her. It was faint, but it was there, and it was slowly growing. The beast was stirring, feeding off the sudden conglomeration of emotions swirling within her. Andraste met Exodeus's gaze.

"...you think I...?"

Doubt and suspicion emanated from him. He hadn't thought twice before accusing her. Accusing someone he claimed to love. Andraste's anger began course through her veins, and the child in her arms began to whimper.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

And in the end, as darkness takes me, I am nothing.

Memories of a small boy came flooding back. Jhon was a child, no more than eight years old, walking through the halls of the great temple on Tython, happily standing beside his Jedi Knight father. The marble floors were covered in their typical Jedi insignia and symbols from eons ago. The stone walls led to the outer walkways, overlooking the great waterfalls and the mountain pass that led to the ancient ruins that housed the ghosts of the great Force Wars long since passed.

"What does that mean, father?" the youngling Jhon asked. "'I am nothing.' How can someone be nothing?"

"It's about how we all feel significant until we realize how grand a scale the Force exists on," Kaldor Cordatus told his son. "Thousands of years ago, a terrible Sith Lord called Darth Malak said those words when his former Sith Master, the redeemed Jedi Revan, killed him in an epic battle over a lost world called Lehon. Centuries later, Revan too saw he was meeting his end, and finally understood what the words meant."

"What did they mean?" Jhon asked inquisitively.

"That even the Dark Lord of the Sith or the savior of the galaxy pale in comparison to the grand sceme of things," Kaldor said. "Even the war Revan and Malak were fighting at the time was just a front for an even greater conflict, the Great Galactic War."

"When Coruscant was sacked," Jhon said. "Right?"

Kaldor smiled with pride only a father could feel. "You're mastering your history lessons well, my son. That's correct. When the true Sith Empire returned, they brought about a war the likes of which the galaxy had never seen. Yet legend says that those Sith weren't the only lost people living in the great unknown, watching, perhaps waiting, for their time to return to the Republic, or even the Alliance. The legend says that there were others once lost who returned again before the Sith Empire returned."

Jhon stopped, puzzled, and looked up at his father. "Who were they?"

--------------------​

Present Day

Jhon's body laid still on the shores of Lehon. The tides moved in and out, washing his bruised and bloodied body as he lay there. The salt water gently smacked against his lips, causing him to stir, every fiber of him aching from the duel with the Dark Lord. He had no idea how long he had been out; in reality it had only been for a few minutes, but it felt like he was waking up from an eternity of forced sleep.

Like he was waking up from death.

Finally he opened his eyes, seeing the rain still falling down upon the landscape, but the sun was beginning to shine through the clouds. The storm wasn't gone yet, but it was beginning to break. The Force was finding a new light. Perhaps that was just nature, but perhaps it was a sign. A sign that the Emperor had not won, a sign that even with all of the beatings the beacon of light had just taken, the bringer of darkness couldn't win in the end.

The Grand Master looked around as he stood up, getting a sense as to where he was. Beside him were ancient rules, dark brown stones crumbling beneath the power of the ocean. He knew from his studies that the descendants of the Infinite Empire lived on this world even in the time of Revan and Malak, but they had disappeared long ago, never heard from again.

Something called out to him. Something ancient, something eternal, a power that he'd never felt before. It drew him towards it, into the ruins, through the dust and rubble. It was as if he barely had control over his own body, like the fall into the ocean had killed him, and now he was floating towards the netherworld where he would rest for all of time.

Flashes of memories hit him like a tidal current. No, not memories. Visions. Glimpses of the future...or the past? A duel, right here on Lehon, long ago, when the ruins were still standing buildings. Even the Temple of the Ancients was less corrupted. There was a Chiss, one wielding the blade of the Sith. Confronting him was a human man, his hair long, his face covered with a thin beard. He wielded a simple sword, but perhaps one resistant to a lightsaber's strike. But who were they? What were they? Why was he seeing them?

When the flashes of fragmented echoes of the ancient battle ended, he stood before a computer terminal not used in millennia. His fingers worked across the panels, activating it. Something told him that this vision was more than just merely feeling the ancient presence of a battle between two Force users from long ago. He remembered dreaming, while unconscious, about talking to his father as a small boy on Tython, hearing about a mysterious group that existed in the Unknown Regions and returned to the Old Republic even before the true Sith Empire.

<<Terminal activated. Scanning lifesign for known languages. ... Galactic Basic Standard. ... Greetings, Human. State your query.>>

"What exactly are you?" the Grand Master asked inquisitively, not having lost that quality even into adulthood.

<<The sum of knowledge left behind by the Rakatan Elders, heirs of the terrible legacy of the Infinite Empire and a people forever indebted to a great warrior for the Rakatan people.>>

"You mean Revan?" Jhon asked.

<<Affirmitative. The Jedi Revan destroyed the Star Forge and freed the Rakatan people from the burden of their ancient legacy.>>

"Fascinating," the Grand Master whispered. "My name is Jhon Cordatus, Grand Master of the New Jedi Order. I'm looking for information."

<<I am programmed to be most honored by the presence of a Jedi. State your query, Master Jedi.>>

"I'm looking for any galactic records the Rakatans may have kept about events on Lehon between the years...let's say 3,956 and 3,681 BBY," the Grand Master said.

<<Processing... My apologies, Master Jedi, but that dating system is not recognizable by my databanks. Please restate your time parameters.>>

"My apologies," Jhon said, kicking himself for the assumption. "Between Revan's destruction of the Star Forge and his return during the Cold War between the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire."

<<Processing... Two records found. They... Oh, my apologies, Master Jedi, but they appear to be somewhat corrupted.>>

"Corrupted?" he asked. "How?"

<<Not within my knowledge. There are two clear results: the name 'Ussej Padric Bac' and the word 'Lettow.' A more extensive search reveals no further information about these subjects.>>

"And they have to do with this planet?" Jhon asked.

<<My system prefers not to speculate, but, if the Rakatan Elders felt it prudent to record such subjects in their history, then it would be logical to assume that the subjects did have some form of contact with Lehon. May I be of further assistance?>>

"No, that's alright," the Grand Master said. "Thank you for your help."

<<Always a pleasure to help a Jedi.>>

As the computer shut down, Jhon felt like he'd run into a brick wall. Why was this important to him? Why was he even finding out about it, and why now? Perhaps it was a greater destiny, one that he'd only just been put onto the trail for. Were that the case, then everything he had done was only preparation for a higher calling. And that's what Revan and Malak must have felt; Jhon was so close to death, and with this new information, the great possibilities that had yet to be uncovered, the Grand Master felt he was less significant than ever.

And then the Force kicked him in the gut, knocking him backward, forcing him to clutch a wall to stay standing upward. There was a disturbance in the Force, very nearby. What was it? Where was it coming from?

He closed his eyes, reaching out with his senses. His mind overlooked the entire area, the entire world, and his thoughts descended back down to the Temple of Ancients. There, Exodeus freed Andraste from her stasis, and he asked questions too dangerous for him to learn the answers to.

Jhon ran from the ruins of the Rakatan settlement, kicking the air behind him for a burst of speed that sent him past the ocean, mountains, rancors, and all manner of rubble from ancient Republic and Sith vessels, before he finally arrived back at the temple. Neither Exodeus nor Andraste saw him approaching. They may not have even felt him, as their focused remained on their own conversation, and the Emperor believed Jhon was dead.

Yet so did Andraste, and it was killing her inside. He felt her sorrow, the emotional tidal wave that roared like a hurricane within her. It was her humanity, the humanity he always told her was inside of her, at its best, but also at its most dangerous. Andraste was fragile, and such emotions could break her.

"He's gone...," Jhon heard her say, "...you've killed him... You think I..."

His lightsaber snapped back to life, and he said, "The Force watches over its servants, even in the most harrowing of times."

Jhon smirked, perhaps a bit too happily, ready to finish this one way or another.

"You can't kill the light."

 

[Demiurge]

Her words were short, broken as they carried on and forth from her mouth. Scattered thoughts, yet all centralized, focused. It was as if she could think of nothing else. No one else. But him. Yet, as he glared at his, his gaze was constantly shifting, as if something were drawing his attention to... the child in her arms. Exodeus had always carried on the belief that the Force was something sentient, existing with a will, knowing and at times even insidious. And it was at times like these where he could not help but wonder if some forces were at work on him, turning his focus to the child. Was he to kill it? Was the Dark Side warning him of something? Or perhaps was this simply his instinct, manifest in a way he'd not comprehended.

"Do I think? Or shouldn't I?"

He asked the question without a hint of emotion. No anger, no hate. Not even curiosity. It was as if he was deadened. And at that, Exodeus returned to stare into her eyes, which were more coherent. He could see it, sense it, the animosity in her heart. Growing and festering like a malignant affliction. It was something that had always been there, but it emerged like something new. Something being born anew... or simply awakening from a deep slumber.

"You clutch the child like it was your own life, threatened. As if it were slipping away from you, and you couldn't find a way to save it. You heard of the Jedi's death, you've felt it - I know you have - and you only sought to prot-"

At that, Exodeus' eyes shot toward the small child again. This time, something had changed. In the child. In himself. Was it a revelation? The Dark Side of the Force again imparting him insight, as it had so many Sith from ages ago? Was it simply his power beginning to return to him? His senses finally sharpening from his duel with the Grand Master? Or was it even something else entirely? He said no words, nor did she. He didn't need them. The Dark Side whirled within him like a maelstrom, and his gaze continued locked on only the infant. There was no doubt in his mind as the Dark Side spurred within him; there was something... wrong, even dangerous, about a mere child.

As he began reaching for it, the words from a voice he never thought to hear again penetrated his ears.

"The Force watches over its servants, even in the most harrowing of times."
​

The sound of a lightsaber sparking back to life echoed as Exodeus slowly rose and turned around. This was the second time now. Over and over again, this man. This one man... simply would not die. It was as if death refused him.

"You can't kill the light."
​

Opening his fist-clinched hand, Exodeus drew his saber telekinetically to his hand, igniting the blade. His rage spiked within him so desperately even Jhon would not be able to help but sense it, despite the calmness of the Dark Lord's voice. Now was the end. And Exodeus would not even allow his relentless Jedi opponent to fall until he held his beating heart in his hand.

"I see. Then our impasse has a common solution. If the torch cannot be put out... slay the torchbearer."

At that, Exodeus used the Force to disappear in a burst of speed, making a diagonal sprint to the right of the Grand Master, then making a sharp double-back toward Jhon's right side, delivering a lunging thrust to Jhon's heart.

 

[Sreeya]

Andraste clutched her baby closer as Exodeus' attention kept reverting back to it. She could sense that he was slowly catching on, that despite his suspicions and accusations, something was off. Andraste knew it was too obvious to hide. The moment his rage from the battle left him, his mind would be clear and allow him to deduce exactly who the child was. And then, without a moment's hesitation, he would strike down upon her and destroy the fleeting life. The life Andraste had grown to cherish beyond her own.

"Perhaps one day, Daemon, you will find the beauty in cherishing the life of another above your own.."

The words were pained, defeated. Andraste felt a great sense of loss. The man she loved stood before her, yet she had never felt so alone, so abandoned. She wanted to crawl into a hole and disappear forever. With just her child, and no one else. She wanted to shield her daughter from the horrors of the galaxy, and take her to a place so divine that nothing could touch her. Sadly enough, that was a place Andraste could never reach. She would have to let go of her daughter to find the path on her own, without Andraste's darkness tainting and obscuring the road.

"The Force watches over its servants, even in the most harrowing of times."

Andraste's heart skipped a beat. Her head jerked up, her eyes wide. She could sense him again, see him in the distance, past Exodeus. Andraste's eyes lit up, joy at seeing him alive clearly betrayed upon her features. The moment was only fleeting, however, as Exodeus had also taken note of Jhon's arrival.

The sick feeling returned to Andraste at once. For a moment, she could say nothing, couldn't think. However, it wasn't from helplessness. It was from anger and rage, from the knowledge that this was about to happen all over again. Andraste gently set the baby down on her bedding, the beast rising within her as bile. She felt it crawl up her spine, course through her blood, twist and corrupt every breath of air she took.

Andraste closed her eyes and tapped into the Force, submerged herself into its depths. She did not open her eyes physically, though she could see in the alternate plane of existence. She saw Exodeus, a black abyss and Jhon, a piercing light shining right past him. She saw the hatred whirling within Exodeus, and the life resonating within Jhon. She saw the threat that came from Exodeus, the danger that he was bringing. Andraste knew she would not allow it. She felt it in her bones, felt it roiling within her as a tempest.

As Exodeus darted forth for the attack, Andraste moved as well. She was a nothing more than a brush of the wind, nothing more than the blink of an eye, a fleeting image that could have been a hallucination. She moved as the Dark Lord's shadow, skirting around him at once with unmatched grace. It was too quick to notice with the naked eye, but she saw simply through the Force.

Without opening her eyes, Andraste abruptly materialized in front of Jhon, facing Exodeus. Her palm had jutted up with lightning speed, catching the incoming saber directly in the middle of it. The Force obeyed her every command, accumulating to both her hands. Despite all of his strength, the barrier posed within her palm was impervious, a true testament of her untapped strength. The Force whirled around her as a tumultuous wind, her hair and robes carried by the sheer energy suddenly emanating from her. It was then that she slowly opened her eyes. They were not her eyes, but the glowing white eyes of a being immersed within the Force. Andraste held his saber in her palm, slowly lowering it so she could gaze upon the face of her lover. Upon the father of her child.

"Not this time."

She did not speak with words, her voice echoing through the Force. The ground began to tremble as she gathered the Force from all forms of life around her, and it heeded her call, drawing into her. Andraste's right hand slid down the plasma blade of his saber, slamming down with force upon the hilt to cause it to shatter within his palm.

Andraste did not give him the luxury of marveling at his now destroyed saber. Her left hand suddenly whirled in, the energy gathered into it. She slammed it directly into his chest with a piercing cry, causing a concussive blast to erupt under her hand and upon the broken remnants of his armor. The force was enough to send him sailing back a long distance, far away from the ship.

Andraste did not move, remaining within her position. The Force continued to spiral around her, as if she were an otherworldly entity. She glanced back at Jhon, gazing upon him for a moment. Her eyes continued to glow pure white, as she was drunk off the energy, lost within its oceans. However, hints of her humanity remained, and only he would be able to see past the transformation she was undergoing.

"Take the child and leave this place, Master."

With that, she turned and took steps away, fully intending to keep Exodeus at bay. However, she paused once again. She almost turned to face him, but only halfway. When she spoke, she used her voice, and not through the Force. It was her own soothing and gentle voice. Her human voice.

"...Please tell her one day...tell her when the time is right..she will always be the flower I cherish.."

Without another word, Andraste faced forward again, sensing Exodeus recovering rapidly. She dashed forth, leaving a dust storm behind her as she disappeared from sight. Andraste knew the Dark Lord would return to finish off the Jedi, and she would fight him to the death before allowing that.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

Stunned.

That was all Jhon was. In that brief moment, a distant echo in the grand scheme of things, he wasn’t the Grand Master. He wasn’t Andraste’s old master. He wasn’t a Jedi. He was nothing. He was a man, stunned in disbelief. His eyes remained locked as Andraste attacked her Emperor, the father of her child. His hands trembled. Sweat beaded down his face and arms.

He could never have prepared for this moment, no matter how calm he wanted to be. He cared for Andraste, perhaps more than she could ever know. How could he watch this? How could he watch his old apprentice—no, she would always be his Padawan, even now—grab hold of everything she feared? He could feel the darkness growing inside of her, even as her actions were a self-sacrifice of the light. Perhaps it was the monster she talked about that lived inside her, that threatened to bubble to the surface and consume her destiny.

When Andraste’s eyes went white, Jhon began to understand this was the case. There was perhaps no greater metaphor than her eyes now. White eyes were a sign of catatonia, like a comatose patient no longer in control over their own bodies. Andraste was still there, she was speaking to him, but the darkness was taking hold.

What was Jhon to do? This was a no win scenario. He couldn’t save Andraste from Exodeus and take the child at the same time. His first inclination was to go after Andraste, but he couldn’t. Something drew him towards the child, a calling, a desire to save more than just an innocent young life. The Force willed him to save the child instead of Andraste, but could he? Could he sacrifice her? Why this child?

It was her pleading, more than just a mother’s desperate cries for help, that told him Andraste knew why the Force would want Jhon to sacrifice her. It was why Andraste would sacrifice herself, why she would be willing to leave her child motherless. It was because this was more than just a child to her, to the Force, to the galaxy.

This child had a destiny, and the Force told Jhon what it was.

No longer did this present him a choice. Now he knew what to do. Using Andraste’s attack as a distraction, he ran up the ramp of her ship, stopping only to look back. He looked out at her, still locked in combat with the Dark Lord. He wanted to call out to her, but he couldn’t let the Emperor hear. He would speak through the Force.

In this world or the next, I will save you, Padawan.

Slowly, painfully, a feeling he hadn’t felt in decades, yet with no regret, he turned away, not knowing whether he would ever see Andraste or her dark master again. The door of the ship slid shut and locked, and Jhon strapped the baby down so she wouldn’t be injured during the flight, and he fired up the engine. Rising the ship off the ground, he passed over the Temple of the Ancients, over Andraste and Exodeus, and flew back towards where he had left his own ship.

With his ship in visual contact, he fired a barrage of missiles from Andraste’s vessel, and his own exploded into a massive fireball, taking with it any and all information about the Jedi and the Alliance that Exodeus could have used against them, and he made his way into the vacuum of space.

 

[Demiurge]

It was as a strand in the stream of time, merely one fleeting moment lost to naked eye. And as it came to the fore, it was as if time had stopped. As if the Force itself had cast some divine intervention of this single event. He saw it all, perceived it all as it unfolded in front of his very eyes. And yet, he could not stop it. Could not fight the impulse and restraint that only she could induce in him. And as he was thrown back by her assault, his mind continued on as he grasped the moment with only one word, one dismal thought etched in the shell of his psyche... Betrayal. Sacrilege. Taint. Desecration... Love.

His body collided into the dorsal fin of a fallen space craft, thousands of years old, as he continued on, crashing into the debris. Blood covered his face as it did his body, scars being born anew from his injuries. But even such pain was nothing to the treachery that struck his spirit. His mind roamed like the chaos of the universe itself, seeking, searching, desperately trying to find a reason as to why her, the only thing in the galaxy he'd come to even... cherish, would do this. The purpose behind the betrayal of the bond that tied them together as one. Slowly, gently, the rain picked up again, gradually increasing faster and harder as the eye of the storm passed, and the wall came back over them.

The Dark Lord merely stared up, in disarray. From her, for attacking him. For defending the Jedi. From himself, for hesitating. For not stopping the Jedi. She didn't understand. She wouldn't understand - and he could not comprehend why. Suddenly, his hand stiffened, and clinched into a fist, grasping and bending the metal at his fingertips. A shockwave echoed throughout the Force like a great outcry, freezing the rain of the storm in its place. It was as if frozen in time, displaced from the galaxy known to man. The metal graveyard of scraps and fragmented vessels began to vibrate and resonate, as hunks of scrap metal and ship segments lifted from Lehon's surface, rising levitating from the ground to dwell amongst the halted rain.

And yet, the wind continued. Hastened and grew stronger. It never stopped, never slowed or paced. And as it's ferocity grew, the Dark Lord rose from its ashes again. His eyes remained closed, sealed as if he were blinded until finally he stood erect, before Andraste. And as he stood firm, he opened his eyes to reveal... darkness. The red irises, which were inflamed like a fiery star, were gone. As black as the quasars roaming the galaxy. And yet, it was as if the darkness itself... glowed, in his very eyes, a window into the deepest crevices of his hardened heart. He was no longer simply one immersed in the Dark Side. Now, he was one with the Dark Side. As an embodiment. An avatar.

"The question... is always there."

As he spoke, his voice carried on like the speech of a spirit, sepulchral and ghastly as if many voices were as one, even as truly as he spoke through his mouth as he did equally through the Force itself.

"If I were to ask it here, ask it now... If I would have been in a thousand times in a thousand lifetimes, would there have been an answer? Would it have mattered?"

At that, the metal scrap and chunks began imploding, as the Dark Lord's telekinetic field began crushing all within, from iron to steel, to the wood of trees to the stone of the earth.

"The Force was guiding me, directing me towards destiny - I could feel it at work within me, showing me the way. Paving it at my feet. It had never led me astray before, never withheld anything from me. Not a one. I thought I'd understood it all before.... until here. Until... now."

At that, Exodeus began slowly walking towards Andraste as the sand at his feet spiraled and spread out, as if parting way for his very feet to tread.

"The Dark Side is the Force. Is everything. I listened to it, heard it's call and answered it with a cry of my own. I tempted it... and it rewarded me. I challenged it's limits, and it challenged mine. I'd found my destiny. I was willing to walk this path alone - and then I found you. You'd come to mean something... more to me than you could possibly ever know.... and now, here you stand. In front of me. As an enemy. As... a betrayer."

Force Lightnings began to culminate around his body, surging and resonating like the beating of his own heart as his voice began to raise.

"Not since first I'd found you on that abysmal world had the Force guided me towards it's will as it does on this day - in this hour. And now, I - I - have heard it's cry again. I hear it's will and I answer its call. I'd always thought you would be here. You'd be by my side as the only one who ever could... I cannot conceive why the Dark Side of the Force is directing me toward that one Jedi and your child, but not only my destiny, but your as well! And it could mean the very fate of the galaxy - and for that purpose! To that end, for the sake of the future I beheld - I cannot allow even you to stand in my way!"

At that, the Dark Lord disappeared in such blinding speed it was as if he'd traveled through space. With an explosion of sand particles at his feet, the Darth Exodeus flew upwards into the air, using the Force to keep his body in flight. As he transcended the ground beneath the Dark Lord of the Sith summoned the power lurking him, tapping into the terrible chambers within his spirit, and unleashed a devastating telekinetic explosion, directed downwards at Andraste.

The concentration of the Force was so immense tactile ripples of pure telekinetic Force energy became visible, bombarding down like a wave of pure hatred in visible, tangible form, the intensity of which began smoldering the surrounding sand to glass and the grasses to ashes. Within that same swift motion, Darth Exodeus turned his other hand, and unleashed a blinding barrage of Force Lightning, a turbine of thunderous streams and beams of electric power, like the full power of an immense storm projected at a single target; Andraste's shuttle.