Disclaimer: This story is based up on material created by
George Lucas and owned by LucasFilm, Ltd. It contains
references to places, space craft, and belief systems from
the Star Wars saga. It contains characters created by Lucas
and other Star Wars writers. The events depicted herein
were created by this writer as were certain original
characters. These events and characters are owned by this
writer as is this story. It may be freely redistributed or
reproduced as long as no alterations are made. The
characters created by the writer of this story may be used
only with permission.
Sisters by the Force
The mysterious two part adventure of Tionne, Callista,
Cilghal, and Tarissa, an interesting new character. In
search for Callista's powers, these 'sisters'will explore
Dathomir, the very existence of the Force itself, and
temptations of the Dark Side. Inspired by new information
about the Force in The Phantom Menace.
Title: Sisters By the Force
Category: New Republic
*Chronology: 11 yrs. after ROTJ; 3 after Children of the
Jedi, Darksaber, and Planet of Twilight.
Spoilers: Children of the Jedi, Darksaber, The Phantom
Menace (info but not events)
Author: Mike Milburn masterwindu@starwarsemail.com
Part 2 - Duel of the Fates
[*2 weeks after Part 1]
"You can't win, but there are alternatives to
fighting."
-Obi-Wan Kenobi
Chsshh The lightsabers clashed as Cilghal blocked -
Callista's topaz blade against the Mon Calamarian's blue-
green saber. Cilghal jumped back as Callista lunged with a
kick.
"Callista, stop!" the Jedi Knight beckoned. "The Dark
Side is not the answer!"
Callista glared at her rival with Dark Jedi eyes that
penetrated freely with the Force. "Don't patronize me,
Cilghal. I know this isn't the way, but you have the way,
and you won't give it to me! Until you're willing, this
will have to do." She charged angrily at Cilghal,
lightsaber in hand.
Cilghal raised her blade to block again, locking the
weapons by their own friction. She tried to reach into
Callista's mind, but the fallen Jedi had closed it with the
Force. "Callista", Cilghal begged, "what would Master
Skywalker say?"
Callista pressed her lightsaber against Cilghal's with
raging strength and forced the Mon Calamarian to the hard
floor of the Blind Specter's corridor. She stepped back
momentarily and spoke to Cilghal, "Luke would say the same
thing you are - 'This isn't the way. Come let me help you.'"
She scowled at Cilghal, accumulating that Force infusing
anger. "There's a difference between you and him, though.
Luke can't help me but would try; you can, but won't!"
How did this happen, Cilghal wondered as she
prepared herself for another of Callista's attacks. It had
all started on Calamari...
************************************************************
Midi-chlorians she had called them, Cilghal
remembered at the floating city of Coral Depths. Symbiote
organisms found in every living cell. In her message,
Tionne had said that these midi-chlorians were what
connected all living things to the Force. The more midi-
chlorians you had, the more sensitive to the Force you were.
Cilghal closed her large Mon Calamarian eyes. In all
her years as a Jedi Knight, she had never considered her
powers to come from any symbiotes. Yet they are
there... she observed as she focused in with the Force.
She could sense them. They were physically small -
unfathomably so, but Master Skywalker had taught, "Size
matters not," and Cilghal had learned the lesson for herself
through her Jedi medical training.
The Jedi of the Old Republic had possessed instruments
to determine one's midi-chlorian count from a blood or
tissue sample, but Tionne had said there were no traces of
this technology in the Jedi records, just vague references
to it. That's why Tionne had contacted Cilghal. She wanted
the Jedi Knight to use her medical Force talents to give an
analysis on Callista's midi-chlorians, to see if that was
the human's problem. Cilghal had invited them all to come
to Mons Calamri for the procedure, and they would arrive
soon.
Cilghal concentrated and stretched out toward her own
midi-chlorians again. She isolated her focus on less and
less of them until only one midi-chlorian was left in the
grasp of her mind. She nudged it out of her own curiosity
ever so slightly, ever so subtly.
A sudden flash of fire spazzed upon Cilghal's moist
quarters. She jumped back from it, her eyes racing for the
extinguisher. It was no where in sight; fires were so rare
on Calamari. Cilghal decided to take matters into her own
Jedi hands. She calmed her mind and imploded the fire into
itself until it was nothing more than a memory.
A very mysterious memory...
Apparently, these midi-chlorians were not to be
touched. Identified, maybe, but never altered. What might
have happened if they had been pushed instead of tapped?
Maybe just a larger fire. More likely a planetary
apocalypse, Cilghal surmised.
************************************************************
"Help me, Tionne!" Cilghal begged. "Please! We're
friends!"
Tionne stood by Tarissa, staring at the Mon Calamarian
and Callista as they dueled. Topaz on turquoise. Jedi
against Jedi. Friend against friend. Tionne wanted to help
Cilghal... knew she should...
No, she told herself. Tionne knew what she was
doing. Cilghal wouldn't do the operation, so it had to be
like this. She wouldn't give the Force to Callista.
Wouldn't give it to Tionne herself...
No, Tionne argued inside. That's selfish...
That's not what I want...
No, she told herself again or at least herself was
told. Cilghal is the selfish one. She has the power of
the Force to freely give, but she won't. Callista could be
with Master Skywalker. You could be a Jedi Knight... were
it not for Cilghal's stubbornness.
Tionne turned away from the conflict, trying to cope
with the one inside of her, but something forced her to turn
back and face the duel again.
She remembered that fateful conversation at Choral
Depths...
************************************************************
"You knew, didn't you?" Cilghal asked. "You knew
Callista wouldn't have any midi-chlorians."
Tionne sighed. "Yes," she admitted. "Well, I assumed
so, anyway. I just wanted to get your opinion."
"No," Cilghal observed. "There's something more."
Tionne had failed to physically hide what her powers
certainly could not. It was so difficult to keep things
from Jedi Knights. "I wanted you to - to do something more
if Callista was, in fact, void of midi-chlorians."
"What?" Cilghal inquired with growing suspicion.
Tionne held her breath and gathered strength. Cilghal
wasn't going to like this. "I wanted you to do - to do a
midi-chlorian... transplant."
"Are you insane?" Cilghal exclaimed, but she paused
afterward. Apparently, Tionne wasn't the only one hiding
something. Cilghal continued, "We have no idea what the
repercussions of such an operation could be! Callista could
die for all we know or..."
"Worse," Tionne finished. She sensed an inappropriate
amount of fear in Cilghal.
"Much worse, Tionne."
"But Cilghal, I'm sure Callista would be willing to
take these risks at the chance to finally be with Master
Skywalker. Besides," Tionne continued in that teacher tone
she had always used with Cilghal, "it is morally demanded of
you and I think you understand that."
Cilghal shook her head in disappointment. "Then I
pity your values, teacher."
Tionne gazed at her former student with equal
frustration. Tionne herself had been responsible for
forming much of Cilghal's morals. How could they disagree
on this?
Cilghal explained herself. "Tionne, I know a living
Force," she began in a personal creed. "It allows me to use
it, even control it, but I am not permitted to choose on who
else it will bestow these privileges. That is the will of
the Force, and I will not disobey it."
Tionne sighed again. She thought Cilghal had been
taught better than this. "Not even at the cost of love,
Cilghal?" she asked. "You're preventing Callista and Master
Skywalker from being together."
"Is that all I'm preventing?" Cilghal inquired though
she already knew the answer. Tionne really had to work on
that mind-barrier. "Or is it that I am preventing you from
being a Jedi Knight?"
Tionne looked into herself. It was so selfish... but
was it really? "If the operation is successful on Callista
- I don't see any reason-"
"No," Cilghal reprimanded, reversing the roles of
teacher and student yet again. The Jedi Knight seemed to be
arguing inside of herself. Arguing about something...
"Tell me," Tionne beckoned, identifying the problem
through the Force. "Tell me what you don't want to."
It was Cilghal's turn to sigh. "I didn't want to
bring it up, Tionne. The less known about these midi-
chlorians, the safer the galaxy is," she warned
mysteriously. "When I had watched your message, I decided
to practice for Callista on my own midi-chlorians. I could
sense them inside of me. Out of curiosity, I decided to
move one of them - the lightest touch I have ever dealt
through the Force." Cilghal opened her large eyes wider
than Tionne had ever seen them. "My room burst into flames,
Tionne. I fear that the midi-chlorian disruption involved
in a transplant would bring an apocalyptic explosion."
To Cilghal's extreme surprise, Tionne calmly stated,
"I'm glad you brought that up."
"What?" Cilghal bursted.
"At first, Callista and I were also thinking something
like that could happen. In fact, I had delayed telling
Callista anything about midi-chlorian science because of the
same fears you're having now. But Tarissa brought up a very
good point. If upsetting midi-chlorians is so dangerous,
why wasn't there any apocalyptic explosion when Callista's
midi-chlorians were completely destroyed?"
Cilghal clearly disagreed with Tarissa's keen
judgment. "All I know, Tionne, is what happened when I
tried to move them. And what is Tarissa's knowledge of the
Force? Spells? Hexes?"
Tionne answered patiently, "I know Tarissa may have a
limited understanding of the Force, but regardless of this,
her argument does make a lot of sense." Tarissa's judgment
had been wise so far, and Tionne wasn't about to go against
it.
"No, Tionne," Cilghal spoke. "Midi-chlorians are too
intimate with the Force. When they are irritated, they lash
out in it. When something that immersed in the Force has a
spasm, the results are unpredictable." She made her final
decision. "I will not risk a galaxy on Callista."
Tionne turned her face away from Cilghal. This was a
lost battle. "Then you tell her," Tionne ordered. "I will
not be the one to disappoint Callista again."
************************************************************
The darkness... That ultimate blackness... Tarissa's
spell could feel it emanating from the duel. Her plans
were working better than she could have possibly let herself
hope. Where were the mighty Jedi now? They were nothing
more than pawns in the hands of the feared Nightsister
Tarissa.
Callista had given in to the Dark Side she had so
tried to repulse. The Jedi Knight Cilghal was in a fight
for her life against a former ally. And Tionne - Tionne
was in the very grasp of Tarissa's commanding power. The
envy spell was working like a charm... a particularly evil
charm.
And Tionne was becoming passive... vulnerable. Soon
the final spell would at last succeed. Tionne's petty will
was already under control, but soon it would be positively
irrelevant. She would be powerless to stop Cilghal and
Callista from destroying each other.
A Jedi slaying another Jedi is the sweetest site I
ever hope to see, Tarissa fantasized. She gazed hungrily
at the dueling Jedi, allowing herself complete connection to
the sacred spell of the Dark Ecstasy. Each slice was
becoming fiercer; each thrust, more deadly. The Dark
Ecstasy surged bliss through Tarissa's mind and body with
every wrongful clash of the sabers.
The darkness... that erotic blackness...
All part of Tarissa's supreme plan that had started
when the Jedis' ship was docked at that wretched planet of
water...
***********************************************************
"She's not going to do it, Tarissa," Tionne informed
with weak melancholy.
"Why not?" Tarissa asked. Other than the fact that
Jedi have no respect for love, she thought angrily. The
release of Ammahak would be revenged. No - it would be
avenged.
"Cilghal has the same fears that Callista and I had at
first. She thinks moving midi-chlorians can lead to some
sort of unpredictable chaos."
Ignorant historian. "Did you not tell her my
argument?"
"Yes," Tionne answered, "but she did not see its
wisdom."
Good. Tarissa did not actually care about the midi-
chlorian debate. All she wanted was a conflict among the
Jedi, a gateway to further vengeance. Cilghal had just
presented one. "How selfish of her," Tarissa observed.
Instigation was such a delightful challenge.
"I know," Tionne agreed. "I thought we had taught her
better than this."
"We?" Tarissa asked in that untruthful ignorance. I
smell a betrayal...
"Master Skywalker and I."
Tarissa had figured as much. "How terrible of
Cilghal. She's betrayed her teacher."
Tionne agreed again. It was becoming a useful trend.
"I don't see how she can keep Master Skywalker from Callista
like that."
"I wasn't talking about that teacher, Tionne." The
pathetic Jedi drooped her head, not wanting to admit what
she knew she deeply desired. "Ala shaka lomarshek,"
Tarissa whispered. Let the envy grow within you, Tionne.
Embrace it. Do not attempt to fight it.
"I hate to think of it, Tarissa," Tionne explained.
"It seems so wrong, but..." she trailed off in thought.
Tarissa cast the spell again with small frustration.
Do not deny yourself, Tionne! Your envy belongs to you!
"It's not fair," Tionne stated hastily.
You belong to it.
"I deserve to be a Jedi Knight more than any of them."
I deserve my revenge more than anything.
"I have dedicated my life to the Jedi."
So have I...
"I know more about the Jedi than any of the others.
Why don't I have the potential to be a Knight?"
Because you are unfit for power, weak one... but-
"Don't worry, Tionne," Tarissa falsely consoled. "Our
dealings with Cilghal are far from over."
And Tarissa's control of Tionne was just beginning.
************************************************************
The turguoise blade singed Callista's hair, barely
missing something a little more vital. Cilghal jumped back,
surprised by the accidental damage.
"Damn you, Cilghal!" Callista hissed. "Just agree to
the transplant and end this conflict!" She was losing
herself in her anger, sloppily swinging her lightsaber at
Cilghal with every word. It did not matter. Cilghal had no
intention of killing her enemy.
The same could not be said for Callista.
"It's too dangerous, Callista!" Cilghal tried to
explain.
No. It wasn't too dangerous. Tarissa had explained
all that. "You're wrong Cilghal. You're just being
selfish!"
Tarissa had explained all that, too...
************************************************************
Callista crept along the Blind Specter*'s passageway.
She heard something... argument.
Sure enough, she found it at the ship's entrance.
"What do you want?" Tarissa asked Cilghal. That
was odd. Cilghal was here to help. Why was Tarissa so
angry?
"She's here to tell Callista her decision," Tionne
explained with equal contempt towards the Mon Calamarian.
Tionne was angry, too? What was going on?
"I can't believe you aren't going to do the
transplant, Cilghal," Tarissa hissed.
"What?" Callista outbursted, finally revealing her
presence to the others. Oddly, everyone was surprised
except Tarissa.
Cilghal looked into Callista's eyes. She tried to
explain herself, "Callista, I - "
"Why the hell won't you do the transplant?" Callista
yelled. What was the matter with Cilghal?
"It's not safe," Cilghal answered sternly.
"No," Callista scolded as she activated her
lightsaber. "My midi-chlorians were tampered with before -
what makes it any different now?"
"She's just being selfish," Tarissa explained.
Tarissa was right. How dare Cilghal! Callista sliced
at her with the golden lightsaber. She could taste the Dark
Side flowing through her. The Force was returning to
Callista at last. She could feel it, and it felt so right.
Cilghal refused to deploy her weapon against a former
friend. "I advise you to draw your lightsaber," Callista
warned with a new dark edge to her voice. "For if you will
not give me back the Force, I will readily kill you in the
coldest of blood."
************************************************************
The dancing sabers cast eerie shadows across Tionne's
silvery hair. That was it. This was wrong. It was dark.
Tionne had to help Cilghal.
No, she was firmly reprimanded.
Anything but this again. Who are you? Tionne
demanded.
I am your conscience. I am you.
No, Tionne thought. You're evil.
Exactly.
Tionne opened her mouth to scream but nothing came
out. She was not permitted the solace of her own frightened
voice.
Tionne had to get control of her terror. Who was in
her mind? Had to concentrate. Who was in her mind? Had to
feel the Force. Who was in her mind?! It was so obvious
but so elusively hidden...
You're Tarissa! Tionne screamed inside herself.
YOU are the Nightsister spy!
Tarissa smiled naughtily beside her, but Tionne could
not turn to see it. She couldn't do anything.
Tarissa's final spell had paralyzed her.
************************************************************
Callista! a mind screamed. Callista!
"Stop it!" Callista yelled unto everyone in the room.
"You're distracting me." She swung her lightsaber at
Cilghal, taking chunks of the Blind Specter's walls with
her. Cilghal's constant blocking was becoming dangerously
more offensive. Callista had to focus the dark energy.
Callista, it's Tionne!
Callista whirled around and faced Tionne, purposefully
leaving her back unguarded. She wanted to see what Cilghal
would do. "Well, out with it, Tionne!"
Tionne didn't say anything. She just stared into thin
air.
"What is it, Tionne?" Callista demanded.
Nothing.
"Tionne?"
She's paralyzed me, Callista!
Callista's eyes widened. "Who?"
No answer, not even through the Force.
Callista's eyes met those of Tarissa. Of, course!
But no, of course not. Tarissa was a friend. Cilghal
was the enemy. She had done this to Tionne.
Callista tried to think. Everything was swimming
through her mind. The anger of the Dark Side was clouding
her judgment, and she knew it.
So she let go. She let go of the Dark Side - let go
of the Force itself. Let go for Tionne.
Cilghal was not the enemy. That much was clear now.
Tarissa had probably been the enemy all along, even when she
had supposedly tried to help Callista with the Force spells.
But Callista refused to allow herself anger just yet.
Tarissa had betrayed her more deeply than anyone ever had
before, but Callista would not give in to the Dark Side
again.
"I advise you to stay back," Tarissa warned, raising
her staff like a shield. "I am the only one who can undo
Tionne's paralysis, Jedi."
"Not so," Cilghal informed Callista. The Mon
Calamarian stretched her arms out and closed her eyes. Inch
by inch, regions of Tionne's body started showing movement.
Cilghal's medical talents were working. They were breaking
Tarissa's spell.
Cilghal was not the enemy.
************************************************************
Epilogue ---------------
Tionne walked out into Yavin 4's intense night air.
Sleep was impossible, one of those past things that Tionne
wasn't allowed to have any more. The memory of Tarissa had
taken it along with so many other things.
It might of been easier if Tarissa were dead, but she
wasn't. She was at Dathomir, awaiting trial by the Force
witches. That had been Tionne's own decision, though. It
was the Jedi thing to do.
But I am not a Jedi, something in her mind stated.
I am evil.
"No!" she screamed as she let the tears return. She
knew it wasn't Tarissa, but somehow she still couldn't get
control of those thoughts. She just didn't have the
discipline. Tarissa's mark had been left upon Tionne's
spirit and maybe it would never leave.
Tionne let herself collapse to the ground as she
succumbed to her sorrow and terror. "Why?" she screamed.
"Damn you, Tarissa! Damn you!"
Tionne wept into the long hours of the night as though
there were not enough tears on the whole moon to satisfy her
torment. But gradually, a calming sensation came to her
like soft rain to a desert. At first, it was through the
Force, but then -
"It's going to be alright, Tionne." Tionne opened her
soiled eyes to find Master Skywlaker standing next to her.
"We're going to get through this," he assured her.
"Master, I-" Tionne tried to explain her behavior.
Master Skywlaker would have none of it, though. He
consoled in his wise, gentle voice, "You don't have to talk
about it yet, Tionne."
She was relieved to hear that. If only she didn't
have to think about it yet...
"There's just one thing I want to know," Skywalker
admitted. "When I gave you leave from the praxeum, you
never told me who you were going to be with."
Tionne thought of all of them... even Tarissa in some
odd way. "My sisters," she answered.
Master Skywalker looked confused. He had never known
Tionne to have a family.
"No, Master," she told him. "My sisters by the
Force."
George Lucas and owned by LucasFilm, Ltd. It contains
references to places, space craft, and belief systems from
the Star Wars saga. It contains characters created by Lucas
and other Star Wars writers. The events depicted herein
were created by this writer as were certain original
characters. These events and characters are owned by this
writer as is this story. It may be freely redistributed or
reproduced as long as no alterations are made. The
characters created by the writer of this story may be used
only with permission.
Sisters by the Force
The mysterious two part adventure of Tionne, Callista,
Cilghal, and Tarissa, an interesting new character. In
search for Callista's powers, these 'sisters'will explore
Dathomir, the very existence of the Force itself, and
temptations of the Dark Side. Inspired by new information
about the Force in The Phantom Menace.
Title: Sisters By the Force
Category: New Republic
*Chronology: 11 yrs. after ROTJ; 3 after Children of the
Jedi, Darksaber, and Planet of Twilight.
Spoilers: Children of the Jedi, Darksaber, The Phantom
Menace (info but not events)
Author: Mike Milburn masterwindu@starwarsemail.com
Part 2 - Duel of the Fates
[*2 weeks after Part 1]
"You can't win, but there are alternatives to
fighting."
-Obi-Wan Kenobi
Chsshh The lightsabers clashed as Cilghal blocked -
Callista's topaz blade against the Mon Calamarian's blue-
green saber. Cilghal jumped back as Callista lunged with a
kick.
"Callista, stop!" the Jedi Knight beckoned. "The Dark
Side is not the answer!"
Callista glared at her rival with Dark Jedi eyes that
penetrated freely with the Force. "Don't patronize me,
Cilghal. I know this isn't the way, but you have the way,
and you won't give it to me! Until you're willing, this
will have to do." She charged angrily at Cilghal,
lightsaber in hand.
Cilghal raised her blade to block again, locking the
weapons by their own friction. She tried to reach into
Callista's mind, but the fallen Jedi had closed it with the
Force. "Callista", Cilghal begged, "what would Master
Skywalker say?"
Callista pressed her lightsaber against Cilghal's with
raging strength and forced the Mon Calamarian to the hard
floor of the Blind Specter's corridor. She stepped back
momentarily and spoke to Cilghal, "Luke would say the same
thing you are - 'This isn't the way. Come let me help you.'"
She scowled at Cilghal, accumulating that Force infusing
anger. "There's a difference between you and him, though.
Luke can't help me but would try; you can, but won't!"
How did this happen, Cilghal wondered as she
prepared herself for another of Callista's attacks. It had
all started on Calamari...
************************************************************
Midi-chlorians she had called them, Cilghal
remembered at the floating city of Coral Depths. Symbiote
organisms found in every living cell. In her message,
Tionne had said that these midi-chlorians were what
connected all living things to the Force. The more midi-
chlorians you had, the more sensitive to the Force you were.
Cilghal closed her large Mon Calamarian eyes. In all
her years as a Jedi Knight, she had never considered her
powers to come from any symbiotes. Yet they are
there... she observed as she focused in with the Force.
She could sense them. They were physically small -
unfathomably so, but Master Skywalker had taught, "Size
matters not," and Cilghal had learned the lesson for herself
through her Jedi medical training.
The Jedi of the Old Republic had possessed instruments
to determine one's midi-chlorian count from a blood or
tissue sample, but Tionne had said there were no traces of
this technology in the Jedi records, just vague references
to it. That's why Tionne had contacted Cilghal. She wanted
the Jedi Knight to use her medical Force talents to give an
analysis on Callista's midi-chlorians, to see if that was
the human's problem. Cilghal had invited them all to come
to Mons Calamri for the procedure, and they would arrive
soon.
Cilghal concentrated and stretched out toward her own
midi-chlorians again. She isolated her focus on less and
less of them until only one midi-chlorian was left in the
grasp of her mind. She nudged it out of her own curiosity
ever so slightly, ever so subtly.
A sudden flash of fire spazzed upon Cilghal's moist
quarters. She jumped back from it, her eyes racing for the
extinguisher. It was no where in sight; fires were so rare
on Calamari. Cilghal decided to take matters into her own
Jedi hands. She calmed her mind and imploded the fire into
itself until it was nothing more than a memory.
A very mysterious memory...
Apparently, these midi-chlorians were not to be
touched. Identified, maybe, but never altered. What might
have happened if they had been pushed instead of tapped?
Maybe just a larger fire. More likely a planetary
apocalypse, Cilghal surmised.
************************************************************
"Help me, Tionne!" Cilghal begged. "Please! We're
friends!"
Tionne stood by Tarissa, staring at the Mon Calamarian
and Callista as they dueled. Topaz on turquoise. Jedi
against Jedi. Friend against friend. Tionne wanted to help
Cilghal... knew she should...
No, she told herself. Tionne knew what she was
doing. Cilghal wouldn't do the operation, so it had to be
like this. She wouldn't give the Force to Callista.
Wouldn't give it to Tionne herself...
No, Tionne argued inside. That's selfish...
That's not what I want...
No, she told herself again or at least herself was
told. Cilghal is the selfish one. She has the power of
the Force to freely give, but she won't. Callista could be
with Master Skywalker. You could be a Jedi Knight... were
it not for Cilghal's stubbornness.
Tionne turned away from the conflict, trying to cope
with the one inside of her, but something forced her to turn
back and face the duel again.
She remembered that fateful conversation at Choral
Depths...
************************************************************
"You knew, didn't you?" Cilghal asked. "You knew
Callista wouldn't have any midi-chlorians."
Tionne sighed. "Yes," she admitted. "Well, I assumed
so, anyway. I just wanted to get your opinion."
"No," Cilghal observed. "There's something more."
Tionne had failed to physically hide what her powers
certainly could not. It was so difficult to keep things
from Jedi Knights. "I wanted you to - to do something more
if Callista was, in fact, void of midi-chlorians."
"What?" Cilghal inquired with growing suspicion.
Tionne held her breath and gathered strength. Cilghal
wasn't going to like this. "I wanted you to do - to do a
midi-chlorian... transplant."
"Are you insane?" Cilghal exclaimed, but she paused
afterward. Apparently, Tionne wasn't the only one hiding
something. Cilghal continued, "We have no idea what the
repercussions of such an operation could be! Callista could
die for all we know or..."
"Worse," Tionne finished. She sensed an inappropriate
amount of fear in Cilghal.
"Much worse, Tionne."
"But Cilghal, I'm sure Callista would be willing to
take these risks at the chance to finally be with Master
Skywalker. Besides," Tionne continued in that teacher tone
she had always used with Cilghal, "it is morally demanded of
you and I think you understand that."
Cilghal shook her head in disappointment. "Then I
pity your values, teacher."
Tionne gazed at her former student with equal
frustration. Tionne herself had been responsible for
forming much of Cilghal's morals. How could they disagree
on this?
Cilghal explained herself. "Tionne, I know a living
Force," she began in a personal creed. "It allows me to use
it, even control it, but I am not permitted to choose on who
else it will bestow these privileges. That is the will of
the Force, and I will not disobey it."
Tionne sighed again. She thought Cilghal had been
taught better than this. "Not even at the cost of love,
Cilghal?" she asked. "You're preventing Callista and Master
Skywalker from being together."
"Is that all I'm preventing?" Cilghal inquired though
she already knew the answer. Tionne really had to work on
that mind-barrier. "Or is it that I am preventing you from
being a Jedi Knight?"
Tionne looked into herself. It was so selfish... but
was it really? "If the operation is successful on Callista
- I don't see any reason-"
"No," Cilghal reprimanded, reversing the roles of
teacher and student yet again. The Jedi Knight seemed to be
arguing inside of herself. Arguing about something...
"Tell me," Tionne beckoned, identifying the problem
through the Force. "Tell me what you don't want to."
It was Cilghal's turn to sigh. "I didn't want to
bring it up, Tionne. The less known about these midi-
chlorians, the safer the galaxy is," she warned
mysteriously. "When I had watched your message, I decided
to practice for Callista on my own midi-chlorians. I could
sense them inside of me. Out of curiosity, I decided to
move one of them - the lightest touch I have ever dealt
through the Force." Cilghal opened her large eyes wider
than Tionne had ever seen them. "My room burst into flames,
Tionne. I fear that the midi-chlorian disruption involved
in a transplant would bring an apocalyptic explosion."
To Cilghal's extreme surprise, Tionne calmly stated,
"I'm glad you brought that up."
"What?" Cilghal bursted.
"At first, Callista and I were also thinking something
like that could happen. In fact, I had delayed telling
Callista anything about midi-chlorian science because of the
same fears you're having now. But Tarissa brought up a very
good point. If upsetting midi-chlorians is so dangerous,
why wasn't there any apocalyptic explosion when Callista's
midi-chlorians were completely destroyed?"
Cilghal clearly disagreed with Tarissa's keen
judgment. "All I know, Tionne, is what happened when I
tried to move them. And what is Tarissa's knowledge of the
Force? Spells? Hexes?"
Tionne answered patiently, "I know Tarissa may have a
limited understanding of the Force, but regardless of this,
her argument does make a lot of sense." Tarissa's judgment
had been wise so far, and Tionne wasn't about to go against
it.
"No, Tionne," Cilghal spoke. "Midi-chlorians are too
intimate with the Force. When they are irritated, they lash
out in it. When something that immersed in the Force has a
spasm, the results are unpredictable." She made her final
decision. "I will not risk a galaxy on Callista."
Tionne turned her face away from Cilghal. This was a
lost battle. "Then you tell her," Tionne ordered. "I will
not be the one to disappoint Callista again."
************************************************************
The darkness... That ultimate blackness... Tarissa's
spell could feel it emanating from the duel. Her plans
were working better than she could have possibly let herself
hope. Where were the mighty Jedi now? They were nothing
more than pawns in the hands of the feared Nightsister
Tarissa.
Callista had given in to the Dark Side she had so
tried to repulse. The Jedi Knight Cilghal was in a fight
for her life against a former ally. And Tionne - Tionne
was in the very grasp of Tarissa's commanding power. The
envy spell was working like a charm... a particularly evil
charm.
And Tionne was becoming passive... vulnerable. Soon
the final spell would at last succeed. Tionne's petty will
was already under control, but soon it would be positively
irrelevant. She would be powerless to stop Cilghal and
Callista from destroying each other.
A Jedi slaying another Jedi is the sweetest site I
ever hope to see, Tarissa fantasized. She gazed hungrily
at the dueling Jedi, allowing herself complete connection to
the sacred spell of the Dark Ecstasy. Each slice was
becoming fiercer; each thrust, more deadly. The Dark
Ecstasy surged bliss through Tarissa's mind and body with
every wrongful clash of the sabers.
The darkness... that erotic blackness...
All part of Tarissa's supreme plan that had started
when the Jedis' ship was docked at that wretched planet of
water...
***********************************************************
"She's not going to do it, Tarissa," Tionne informed
with weak melancholy.
"Why not?" Tarissa asked. Other than the fact that
Jedi have no respect for love, she thought angrily. The
release of Ammahak would be revenged. No - it would be
avenged.
"Cilghal has the same fears that Callista and I had at
first. She thinks moving midi-chlorians can lead to some
sort of unpredictable chaos."
Ignorant historian. "Did you not tell her my
argument?"
"Yes," Tionne answered, "but she did not see its
wisdom."
Good. Tarissa did not actually care about the midi-
chlorian debate. All she wanted was a conflict among the
Jedi, a gateway to further vengeance. Cilghal had just
presented one. "How selfish of her," Tarissa observed.
Instigation was such a delightful challenge.
"I know," Tionne agreed. "I thought we had taught her
better than this."
"We?" Tarissa asked in that untruthful ignorance. I
smell a betrayal...
"Master Skywalker and I."
Tarissa had figured as much. "How terrible of
Cilghal. She's betrayed her teacher."
Tionne agreed again. It was becoming a useful trend.
"I don't see how she can keep Master Skywalker from Callista
like that."
"I wasn't talking about that teacher, Tionne." The
pathetic Jedi drooped her head, not wanting to admit what
she knew she deeply desired. "Ala shaka lomarshek,"
Tarissa whispered. Let the envy grow within you, Tionne.
Embrace it. Do not attempt to fight it.
"I hate to think of it, Tarissa," Tionne explained.
"It seems so wrong, but..." she trailed off in thought.
Tarissa cast the spell again with small frustration.
Do not deny yourself, Tionne! Your envy belongs to you!
"It's not fair," Tionne stated hastily.
You belong to it.
"I deserve to be a Jedi Knight more than any of them."
I deserve my revenge more than anything.
"I have dedicated my life to the Jedi."
So have I...
"I know more about the Jedi than any of the others.
Why don't I have the potential to be a Knight?"
Because you are unfit for power, weak one... but-
"Don't worry, Tionne," Tarissa falsely consoled. "Our
dealings with Cilghal are far from over."
And Tarissa's control of Tionne was just beginning.
************************************************************
The turguoise blade singed Callista's hair, barely
missing something a little more vital. Cilghal jumped back,
surprised by the accidental damage.
"Damn you, Cilghal!" Callista hissed. "Just agree to
the transplant and end this conflict!" She was losing
herself in her anger, sloppily swinging her lightsaber at
Cilghal with every word. It did not matter. Cilghal had no
intention of killing her enemy.
The same could not be said for Callista.
"It's too dangerous, Callista!" Cilghal tried to
explain.
No. It wasn't too dangerous. Tarissa had explained
all that. "You're wrong Cilghal. You're just being
selfish!"
Tarissa had explained all that, too...
************************************************************
Callista crept along the Blind Specter*'s passageway.
She heard something... argument.
Sure enough, she found it at the ship's entrance.
"What do you want?" Tarissa asked Cilghal. That
was odd. Cilghal was here to help. Why was Tarissa so
angry?
"She's here to tell Callista her decision," Tionne
explained with equal contempt towards the Mon Calamarian.
Tionne was angry, too? What was going on?
"I can't believe you aren't going to do the
transplant, Cilghal," Tarissa hissed.
"What?" Callista outbursted, finally revealing her
presence to the others. Oddly, everyone was surprised
except Tarissa.
Cilghal looked into Callista's eyes. She tried to
explain herself, "Callista, I - "
"Why the hell won't you do the transplant?" Callista
yelled. What was the matter with Cilghal?
"It's not safe," Cilghal answered sternly.
"No," Callista scolded as she activated her
lightsaber. "My midi-chlorians were tampered with before -
what makes it any different now?"
"She's just being selfish," Tarissa explained.
Tarissa was right. How dare Cilghal! Callista sliced
at her with the golden lightsaber. She could taste the Dark
Side flowing through her. The Force was returning to
Callista at last. She could feel it, and it felt so right.
Cilghal refused to deploy her weapon against a former
friend. "I advise you to draw your lightsaber," Callista
warned with a new dark edge to her voice. "For if you will
not give me back the Force, I will readily kill you in the
coldest of blood."
************************************************************
The dancing sabers cast eerie shadows across Tionne's
silvery hair. That was it. This was wrong. It was dark.
Tionne had to help Cilghal.
No, she was firmly reprimanded.
Anything but this again. Who are you? Tionne
demanded.
I am your conscience. I am you.
No, Tionne thought. You're evil.
Exactly.
Tionne opened her mouth to scream but nothing came
out. She was not permitted the solace of her own frightened
voice.
Tionne had to get control of her terror. Who was in
her mind? Had to concentrate. Who was in her mind? Had to
feel the Force. Who was in her mind?! It was so obvious
but so elusively hidden...
You're Tarissa! Tionne screamed inside herself.
YOU are the Nightsister spy!
Tarissa smiled naughtily beside her, but Tionne could
not turn to see it. She couldn't do anything.
Tarissa's final spell had paralyzed her.
************************************************************
Callista! a mind screamed. Callista!
"Stop it!" Callista yelled unto everyone in the room.
"You're distracting me." She swung her lightsaber at
Cilghal, taking chunks of the Blind Specter's walls with
her. Cilghal's constant blocking was becoming dangerously
more offensive. Callista had to focus the dark energy.
Callista, it's Tionne!
Callista whirled around and faced Tionne, purposefully
leaving her back unguarded. She wanted to see what Cilghal
would do. "Well, out with it, Tionne!"
Tionne didn't say anything. She just stared into thin
air.
"What is it, Tionne?" Callista demanded.
Nothing.
"Tionne?"
She's paralyzed me, Callista!
Callista's eyes widened. "Who?"
No answer, not even through the Force.
Callista's eyes met those of Tarissa. Of, course!
But no, of course not. Tarissa was a friend. Cilghal
was the enemy. She had done this to Tionne.
Callista tried to think. Everything was swimming
through her mind. The anger of the Dark Side was clouding
her judgment, and she knew it.
So she let go. She let go of the Dark Side - let go
of the Force itself. Let go for Tionne.
Cilghal was not the enemy. That much was clear now.
Tarissa had probably been the enemy all along, even when she
had supposedly tried to help Callista with the Force spells.
But Callista refused to allow herself anger just yet.
Tarissa had betrayed her more deeply than anyone ever had
before, but Callista would not give in to the Dark Side
again.
"I advise you to stay back," Tarissa warned, raising
her staff like a shield. "I am the only one who can undo
Tionne's paralysis, Jedi."
"Not so," Cilghal informed Callista. The Mon
Calamarian stretched her arms out and closed her eyes. Inch
by inch, regions of Tionne's body started showing movement.
Cilghal's medical talents were working. They were breaking
Tarissa's spell.
Cilghal was not the enemy.
************************************************************
Epilogue ---------------
Tionne walked out into Yavin 4's intense night air.
Sleep was impossible, one of those past things that Tionne
wasn't allowed to have any more. The memory of Tarissa had
taken it along with so many other things.
It might of been easier if Tarissa were dead, but she
wasn't. She was at Dathomir, awaiting trial by the Force
witches. That had been Tionne's own decision, though. It
was the Jedi thing to do.
But I am not a Jedi, something in her mind stated.
I am evil.
"No!" she screamed as she let the tears return. She
knew it wasn't Tarissa, but somehow she still couldn't get
control of those thoughts. She just didn't have the
discipline. Tarissa's mark had been left upon Tionne's
spirit and maybe it would never leave.
Tionne let herself collapse to the ground as she
succumbed to her sorrow and terror. "Why?" she screamed.
"Damn you, Tarissa! Damn you!"
Tionne wept into the long hours of the night as though
there were not enough tears on the whole moon to satisfy her
torment. But gradually, a calming sensation came to her
like soft rain to a desert. At first, it was through the
Force, but then -
"It's going to be alright, Tionne." Tionne opened her
soiled eyes to find Master Skywlaker standing next to her.
"We're going to get through this," he assured her.
"Master, I-" Tionne tried to explain her behavior.
Master Skywlaker would have none of it, though. He
consoled in his wise, gentle voice, "You don't have to talk
about it yet, Tionne."
She was relieved to hear that. If only she didn't
have to think about it yet...
"There's just one thing I want to know," Skywalker
admitted. "When I gave you leave from the praxeum, you
never told me who you were going to be with."
Tionne thought of all of them... even Tarissa in some
odd way. "My sisters," she answered.
Master Skywalker looked confused. He had never known
Tionne to have a family.
"No, Master," she told him. "My sisters by the
Force."