Disclaimer: I am not Rick Riordan or George Lucas.
Enter Luke and Mara, near the lake.
Mara. I've got training to do. Dinner's at nineteen hundred thirty hours. Just follow your cabin to the refectory.
Luke. Mara. I'm sorry about the refresher.
Mara. Whatever.
Luke. It wasn't my fault.
Mara eyes Luke skeptically.
Mara. You need to talk to the Prophet.
Luke. Who?
Mara. Not who. What. The Prophet. I'll ask Yoda.
Enter aquatic Melodies, waving at Luke.
Luke waves back.
Don't encourage them. Melodies are terrible flirts.
Luke. Melodies. That's it. I want to go home now.
Mara. [frowns] Don't you get it, Luke? You are home. This is the only safe place in the galaxy for beings like us.
Luke. You mean, mentally disturbed beings?
Mara. I mean not human. Not entirely human, anyway. Half-human.
Luke. And half what?
Mara. I think you know.
Luke. God. Half-god.
Mara. [nods] Your father isn't dead, Luke. He's one of the Je'daii.
Luke. That's . . . thermal.
Mara. Is it? What's the most common things gods did in the old stories? They ran around falling in love with humans and having kids with them. Do you think they've changed their habits in the last few millennia?
Luke. But those are just . . . But if all the kids here are half-gods . . .
Mara. Demigods. That's the official term. Or near-humans.
Luke. Then who's your father?
Mara. My father is a professor at Coruscant University. I haven't seen him since I was very small. He teaches Galactic Alliance history.
Luke. He's human.
Mara. What? You assume it has to be a male Je'daii who finds a human female attractive? How sexist is that?
Luke. Who's your mother, then?
Mara. Cabin six.
Luke. Meaning?
Mara. Ashla, goddess of wisdom and battle.
Luke. And my father?
Mara. Undetermined, like I told you before. Nobody knows.
Luke. Except my mother. She knew.
Mara. Maybe not, Luke. Gods don't always reveal their identities.
Luke. My father would have. He loved her.
Mara. Maybe you're right. Maybe he'll send a sign. That's the only way to know for sure: your father has to send you a sign claiming you as his son. Sometimes it happens.
Luke. You mean sometimes it doesn't?
Mara. The Je'daii are busy. The have a lot of kids and they don't always . . . Well, sometimes they don't care about us, Luke. They ignore us.
Luke. So, I'm stuck here. That's it? For the rest of my life?
Mara. It depends. Some apprentices only stay in the summer. If you're a son of Yun-Q'aah or Anima, you're probably not too strong in the Force. The monsters might ignore you, so you can get by with a few months of summer training and live in the mundane world the rest of the year. But for some of us, it's too dangerous to leave. We're year-rounders. In the mundane world, we attract monsters. They sense us. They come to challenge us. Most of the time, they'll ignore us until we're old enough to cause trouble, about ten or eleven years old. But after that, most demigods either make their way here, or they get killed off. A few manage to survive in the outside world and become famous. Believe me, if I told you the names, you'd know them. Some don't even realize they're demigods. But very, very few are like that.
Luke. So monsters can't get in here?
Mara. Not unless they're intentionally stocked in the forest or specially summoned by somebody on the inside.
Luke. Why would anybody want to summon a monster?
Mara. Practice fights. Practical jokes.
Luke. Practical jokes?
Mara. The point is, the borders are sealed to keep humans and monsters out. From the outside, humans look into the valley and see nothing unusual, just a sweetberry farm.
Luke. So . . . you're a year-rounder?
Mara nods and pulls out her necklace.
Mara. I've been here since I was seven. Every August, on the last day of the summer session, you get a bead for surviving another season. I've been here longer than most of the Councilors, and they're in college.
Luke. Why did you come so young?
Mara. That's none of your business.
Luke. Oh. So . . . I could just walk out of here right now if I wanted to?
Mara. It would be suicide. But you could, with Master Q's or Yoda's permission. But they wouldn't give permission until the end of the summer session unless . . .
Luke. Unless what?
Mara. You were granted a quest. But that hardly ever happens. The last time . . .
Luke. Back in the medcenter, when you were feeding me that stuff . . .
Mara. Bota.
Luke. Yeah. You asked me something about the summer solstice.
Mara. So you do know something?
Luke. Well, no. Back at my old school, I overheard Corran and Yoda talking about it. Corran mentioned the summer solstice. He said something like we didn't have much time, because of the deadline. What did that mean?
Mara. I wish I knew. Yoda and the Corellians, they know. But they won't tell me. Something is wrong on Tython, something pretty major. Last time I was there, everything seemed so normal.
Luke. You've been to Tython?
Mara. Some of us year-rounders, Jacen and Saba and I and a few others, we took a field trip during the winter solstice. That's when the Je'daii have their big annual Council.
Luke. But . . . how did you get there?
Mara. The Coruscant Subway, of course. You get off at the Senate District. Imperial Palace, special turbolift to the six hundredth floor. You are Coruscanti, right?
Luke. Oh, sure.
Mara. Right after we visited, the weather got barvy, as if the Je'daii had started fighting. A couple of times since, I've overheard Corellians talking. The best I can figure out is that something important was stolen. And if it isn't returned by the summer solstice, there's going to be trouble. When you came, I was hoping . . . I mean, Ashla can get along with just about anybody, except for Yun-Yammka. And of course, she's got the rivalry with Vader. But, I mean, aside from that, I thought we could work together. I thought you might know something.
Luke shakes his head.
I've got to get a quest. I'm not too young. If they would just tell me the problem . . .
Exit Luke and Mara.