Chapter 26
Artyr had run like a bat out of hell from the library and started looking for a place to hide. He decided that the cliffs overlooking the gap between the Academy and the Emerald Forest would do. Who would look there? He hadn't had time to recognize whose presences he felt as he had been so busy into watching the holocron, he hadn't noticed.
Who would they tell? Uncle Ozpin would kick him out for sure if he found out what he had! Mom would be pissed and every one of his classmates and friends would know him for the hypocritical shit that he was. He sighed as he realized a lot of people would want their feet in his ass.
'Odin would've had my balls in a vise,' He thought. He stopped pantin.
"By the Force, how could I forget?" He whispered. He had let a day go by without thinking of a clone he considered an older brother. He sighed and shook his head as he put a hand on his back. How could he forget his four 'older' brothers? His first pod?
He missed Loki's jokes, Baldur's sage advice, Thor's bluntness, and of course, Odin himself. What he wouldn't give to have them back.. metaphorically. What would they think of him now though?
Just then, he felt something in the Force... something familiar. As if... it had been stirred from slumber. He looked around, feeling something watch him. There was nothing around him... only the calls of the Grimm, the chirping of crickets and the wind. He sighed.
So much had changed in the span of a month? What could he possibly tell everyone in school? 'I'm from a long-line of inter-dimensional aliens that like to give their kids away to Jedi, by the way, my family is fighting against an evil witch who's plotting to take over the world and guess what? You sorry assholes are going to be fighting her, too!' Ridiculous.
He shook his head.
Ruby would probably stop talking to them... All of them would stop talking to them when they found out what the Jedi had done all those thousands of years ago. Rebecca would probably freak learning that her grandmother's a Sith, as would everyone else. And if he told Pyrrha about her death, Yang about her arm... What then? Disbelief? Shock? Disapproval? Anger?
What could he say to his friends? What could he say to anyone here?!
"Fuck it," He said, putting the holocron in front of him.
"Activate," He ordered. The holocron activated.
"Resume saved recording," He ordered.
"Resume playing," The holocron affirmed.
Vectivus appeared and then began speaking again.
"Of course, I didn't kill my master, actually." Vectivus confessed.
"I know the Rule: the apprentice kills the master, but the master can kill the apprentice in self-defense or for failure and find a new one. However," He said.
"Quite simply: I didn't kill anyone." The man said, shrugging. Artyr blinked and tilted his head as he shifted his body as he sat.
"Surprising, isn't it?" Vectivus grinned.
"You hear about the Sith being all conniving, manipluative, scheming, depraved, murderous and every other terrible word in the dictionary." Vectivus said, crossing his arms. He scoffed and then started coughing.
"The truth is," He said, recovering.
"Not all Sith are like that," He said.
"That's something you have to understand: Most Sith are usually perceived as evil. But there are... good ones, for lack of a better term He said after pausing.
"Now, I know a lot of what my ancestors in the Order did was wrong... along with many others.. but-" He shrugged.
"That's on them, not me." He said, pointing to himself.
"I never raped anyone, never killed or hurt people," He said, counting with his fingers.
"I never took a bribe, though I did end up bribing people so that the mine, which now serves as my homebase simply called 'The Home' would be forgotten by everyone save me, my family, friends, and of course, my apprentice." He said.
"Habits die hard," He laughed.
"I didn't kill my master, as tradition should've dictated." He said.
"In fact, I let him die a natural death and fulfilled his last request." He confessed. Artyr couldn't believe what he was hearing. He figured Sith would be usually arrogant, condescending from the records he heard. Instead, this Sith acted so... human.
"I became the Master, but the thing is..." He said, sighing.
"I wasn't into combat." He admitted.
"Instead, I decided to pursue knowledge." He laughed.
"I know right? A business man first, then a Sith apprentice, then a Sith Master, and then a bookworm." He said.
"Well, I gathered every scrap of Sith lore I could get my hands on... of course, I still experimented. However..." He pursed his lips.
"The Force power I developed is definitely not natural to Jedi," He said.
"Let me explain: the power is what I call 'Force-phantom'." He said. Artyr shook his head. The Sith sighed.
"The trick is, you need a living source, a being such as an animal or yes, even a person (sadly) to power a 'phantom'. You link with that being through the Force and you conjure up a phantom or several of yourself or perhaps even others." He said.
"Now, granted. It can be a bit straining, and very scary to the one whose being linked."
'The use for this power can vary such as decieving enemies or as a punishment to individuals that deserve it, or to serve as a lesson, which I shall use." He said, boldly. Artyr's jaw went a gape as Vectivus described the technique he did.
"You're right: not only is that not natural: it's downright Force heresy!" He barked at the holocron. He then winced as he realized he could be heard.
"Using a living person or animal to conjure up a phantom?! Are you all batshit crazy and high on every drug from ryll to giggle dust?!" He hissed his comment.
"Now, remember when I said that it can serve as a sort of punishment?" Vectivus asked. Artyr nodded, slowly.
"The thing is: if it or any and all of the phantoms die, then the being that serves as its source dies as well." Artyr shook his head in disbelief.
'That is some scary shit, my Sith friend." Artyr told him.
"Oh, it may seem scary, but it's actually very useful if you have enemies." Vectivus admitted.
"Of course, over the years, I actually married." Vectivus confessed. Right at that moment, he heard a door open from off the holoimage. The Sith Lord turned.
"Morik? What are you doing here? Grandpa is busy." Vectivus said in a much softer tone as he crouched to someone's eye level. Then, he saw a boy, no more than about seven years old walk up to him. He had short hair and a tunic. Artyr realized that this was the Sith Lord's grandson.
"Grandma says 'dinner's ready'. She says to get your keister back here or she'll-"
"Morik! What have your grandmother, parents and I told you about using threats like that?" The old Sith Lord said, scolding him. Personally, he thought the Sith Lord would've either force-choked the kid or tossed him out the room with a force push. Instead, he was lecturing like an everyday family man.
"'That gets you nothing but trouble,'" The boy said, repeating what he told as he looked down shamefully.
"Good, now tell your grandmother and your mother that I'm on my way back. I just need to finish up something, alright?" He told his grandson.
"Yes, Grandpa." The boy said, nodding.
"Good," The Sith Lord said, nodding back.
"Now, run along back now." He said, ushering him gently out. The door closed without Artyr seeing the boy go out. Artyr shook his head.
'Did those who weren't monsters have families like this?' He wondered. It made him think of the families that must've suffered during the Sith Holocaust. He sighed as he shook his head.
How many families had been murdered that day and afterwards? How many Sith, both followers and the race, had been killed as bombs were dropped on them, armies coming through the country side slaying everyone in their path, and even his own Jedi ancestors slaughtering them.
Tears started to fall down his eyes as he thought.
The Sith turned back to him.
"As you can see:" The Sith said, crossing his arms.
"Not all of us are monsters, if the person's viewing us is narrow-minded like a Jedi... or perhaps is a Jedi." He said, looking intently at the viewer. Artyr felt as if the man was reaching across time to speak to him.
"I have a lot more information on this holocron, if you want to know more. This is the only one I decided to put in every knowledge about every subject I could get my hands on... including our order's history with the Jedi, the powers known down to my own day, the greatest and worst of Sith lords, life in the various Sith Empires throughout history, every war known along with every civilization as well..." He said and then paused.
"Including some subjects not well known to anyone." He said cryptically. Artyr leaned forward.
"Now then, as to what will happen after I die," He laughed.
"Well, I've lived a good life... gathered a lot of friends, family, and other such things." He said, nodding.
"My friend and doctor told me I have uh," He said, sighing. It looked like it was hard for him to deal with.
"I haven't long left to live. I may have a year or two." He admitted.
"I'm struggling with it. Of course, I could use Sith alchemy to further my life span or other..." He stopped himself and closed his eyes.
"No," He told himself as if stopping the thought. He shook it as his hood moved along with him.
"Never should've even considered it," He said aloud.
"I apologize, had a very unpleasant line of thought." He confessed.
"I have gone to the dark side, yes." He said.
"But, thanks to the ethics I had from my time as an administrator:" He smiled.
"I pulled through without going into any... darker roads, shall we say?" The Sith asked.
"I guess it was my parents' upbringing," He said, taking down his hood, revealing thin and wiry head.
"Stars and galaxies, I miss them." He whispered as he his eyes became distant.
"No matter, soon I shall join them." He said, looking at the viewer.
"I have several words of advice as this is my autobiography portion of this holocron." The Sith Lord said.
"First: If you do go into the dark side, at the very least try to have some semblance of conduct. Find a tether to reality. Anything like a code of some kind (except the Jedi Code because kriff the Jedi Code). Or in my case: my business ethics" He said, raising a finger.
" And Second: Be human. Don't be an emotionless droid like a Jedi." he said, raising a second.
"As to my fate?" He chuckled.
"I shall spend these last two years or less with my family, friends, and of course my apprentice. I would've loved to have at least seen my great-grandchildren." He confessed, smiling.
"I hope that my apprentice follows my path... along with others after him," He said, hopefully and then became sad.
"Though, knowing human nature, that may be a bit unlikely." He said, woefully. His face then brightened.
"Well, there you have it: That's my story. I hope you enjoyed the lesson. I have many other such things available." He said, happily.
"Now, if you'll excuse me:" The Sith Lord concluded.
"I'm late for dinner." He said.
"Stop first recording," The Sith Lord ordered. The image then shifted and then Artyr found Vectivus standing again, looking younger.
He then started learning history from a Sith point of view. He watched as much as he could before seeing the dawn.