I finally beat the game and was thinking, what if Trilla wasn't killed by Vader in the end? What if Cal managed to save her in time? Thus, the birth of this story came about XD (I blame my muse once again)

Summary: Cal Kestis managed to escape Fortress Inquisitorius with Cere and a redeemed Trilla. With the Holocron destroyed to prevent the Empire from tracking down the Force-sensitive children, Cal and his crew begin searching for alternate ways to weaken the Empire. Yet Cal is not safe, for Emperor Palpatine has tasked Darth Vader with bringing him back...with the intention of turning him into his new Inquisitor.

Rating: T

Setting: AU (divergence from main storyline in the game)

Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to the Star Wars franchise aside from my own plot.

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Star Wars Jedi Fallen Order: Redemption

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Chapter XIX

"Are you sure this is safe?" Cere handed Merrin the relic from her coven.

"It is the only way I can think of. Do not worry, unlike the Sith, the Nightsisters of Dathomir have complete control over our powers. I just need quiet and a place where Cal and I won't be disturbed."

Cere gave a nod of her head and closed the door to her personal bedroom aboard the Mantis. Since only she knew the code to get in, it meant others wouldn't be able to barge in to interrupt. Merrin held the relic between her hands, closed her eyes, and took a deep breath to clear her mind. This was the first time she was actually attempting this ritual. Mother Talzin had warned if her mind and will-power weren't strong enough, to not attempt this ritual as it could potentially harm her in more ways than one.

"Mother, Sisters, lend me your strength."

Closing her eyes as she chanted in the ancient language of the Nightsisters, Merrin focused her energy into the talisman between her hands, then used that to amplify her magick as she separated her mental consciousness from her physical body. Following the essence trail, Merrin entered Cal's consciousness.

"Cal! Cal Kestis where are you?" Merrin shouted into the vast darkness.

A red lightsaber came flying her way from the shadows but Merrin blocked the weapon with her magick.

"You are not a Jedi yet you wield the dark side of the Force," a mechanical voice said.

Darth Vader emerged from the void to stand before the Nightsister, calling his lightsaber back through the Force. Merrin dodged the attempted attack as the weapon was recalled.

"Where is Cal? Let him go!" Merrin demanded, her hands glowing green as she threw blasts of ichor at the Sith Lord.

The Sith Lord moved his body out of the way as Merrin continued her assault. Vader reached out through the Force to attack Merrin, but the Nightsister was able to resist his influence. This revelation intrigued Vader since no one was able to do what Merrin just did. Igniting his lightsaber again, the Sith Lord raised his weapon and struck downward. Merrin conjured a barrier to stop the glowing blade of pure energy, straining under the pressure of Vader's strength, the Nightsister tried to push him backwards.

"You are not afraid of the dark side, instead you wield it in ways I've never seen before. You will make a powerful Sith one day if you join me. I can help you amplify those powers," Vader offered.

"My powers are not meant to be exploited by the likes of you!" Merrin declared, shoving the Sith Lord off her as she twisted her hands.

Vader was lifted off his feet via telekinesis as the Nightsister gathered energy in her hand in preparation to hurl it at the Sith Lord. As she prepared to unleash it on her enemy, another whirling blade of a red lightsaber came hurling her way from the darkness. Merrin had to break off the telekinesis to avoid being slashed by the weapon, though her upper right shoulder was grazed by the tip of the lightsaber.

Merrin staggered backwards a few feet from the sudden blow, her eyes enlarging in shock upon seeing Cal emerge wielding a red lightsaber.

"Cal! What did he do to you?!" Merrin said in shock.

"He's done nothing. This is who I truly am," Cal said with a malicious smile.

"Show her your true powers," Vader commanded, stepping back away from the two.

Cal split his lightsaber in two and leaped into the air, trying to catch Merrin in between his weapons. Unwilling to hurt her friend, Merrin invoked another barrier to take the blow. Cal didn't give her a chance to react since he immediately flipped backwards and reached out through the Force to yank her close. The Nightsister quickly weaved her hands in an intricate pattern, symbols formed between the waves of green energy as she hurled a blast of ichor at Cal.

instead of dodging like she thought he would, Cal took the blast directly but it didn't seem to faze nor affect him. Merrin tried to slow him down with several more ichor blasts but like before, Cal merely allowed the energy balls to land on his body.

"Cal stop this!" she pleaded, barely managing to erect another barrier as his lightsabers attacked from the right.

Her plea fell upon deaf ears as Cal flipped into the air, threw one lightsaber at her as a distraction then used the other one to attack her exposed torso. Merrin gasped in pain upon feeling the tip of the lightsaber searing through her flesh and immediately blasted Cal away from her. The wound wasn't bleeding since it was cauterized but it was still painful nonetheless.

"Cal please! Fight it! Fight the darkness in your heart!" Merrin said, pressing a hand against her injury in an attempt to heal it.

The Sith Lord placed the Nightsister in a choke hold at that moment, with the latter to weak to fight it off. Merrin was lifted off her feet as her hands grasped at her neck, clawing at the invisible tendrils in a futile attempt to breathe. Vader made a motion with his other hand, signaling to Cal what he wanted him to do. The fallen Jedi Knight walked forward towards Merrin.

"C-Cal...d-don't do t-this," Merrin struggled to say, tears trickling down her face as Cal continued walking towards her.

"End her," Vader ordered.

Just before Cal's lightsaber fell upon Merrin's head, a flash of white light enveloped the darkness, temporarily blinding everyone in the process. Merrin felt the grip around her neck release and she crumpled to the floor, greedily sucking in huge breaths of air into her deprived lungs. Standing before the Nightsister was a small green-skinned alien clad in the robes of what appeared to be a Jedi. Strangely enough, there was a sense of calm and peace surrounding the mysterious Jedi the longer Merrin stared at him.

"Protect him you must. Evil in his heart you must clear," the Jedi said in a strange way.

"How? Teach me please!" she said.

"Light and dark, two sides of the same coin they are. Train Cal Kestis in the dark side of the Force, you must."

"I need to...train Cal in the dark side?..."

"To combat Vader's growing influence on Cal, this you must do. Only then can Cal Kestis reclaim his heart," the alien finished.

Merrin slowly pushed herself back onto her feet.

"I will try my best," she whispered.

"Do. Or do not. There is no try. Save Cal Kestis, you wish, hmm?"

"Of course! I cannot lose another I hold dear to me."

The alien Jedi gave her a cryptic smile and ignited a green lightsaber.

"Help you this time, I will. Break the connection off at the right time, you will need to."

Nodding her head in understanding, Merrin took a deep breath to reorient herself.

"I'm ready," she declared.

Her savior gave another cryptic smile and launched himself at Vader, the Sith Lord clearly wasn't expecting the spectral apparition to show up in their shared limbo world. All Merrin could see were flashes of red and green as they dueled one another fiercely. It became clear to the Nightsister who was gaining the upper hand the longer they fought. While Vader exuded power and confidence, the alien Jedi was the embodiment of grace and elegance. Not a single move was wasted, each had its purpose, every blow had its mark. It was like watching two performers battle for supremacy.

The alien Jedi suddenly reached out through the Force and pushed Cal into Merrin's arms.

"Go you must!" he said.

The Nightsister called her consciousness back to her body and took Cal along with her.

Cere rushed back into the room when she heard the faint thuds of bodies hitting the floor of the ship. Merrin was the first to open her eyes as she gasped in several breaths of air, followed by Cal, the latter clearly in worse shape than the Nightsister.

"Merrin! Cal! Thank the Force you two are safe!" Cere pulled them into a crushing hug.

"What happened?..." Cal groaned, having no recollections of anything that happened after he tried to sleep on the sofa of the Mantis.

Merrin's response was to slap Cal across the face, leaving the Jedi Knight stunned as to what he had done, only for the Nightsister to throw her arms around his neck to hug him tightly. Her body trembled against his and Cal could feel the unmistakable wetness of tears staining his shirt.

"Never do that to me again Cal Kestis," Merrin said through her cries.

"What did I do?" Cal was beyond perplexed at this point.

"You were lost within the Force. Merrin went in to save you before you could completely fall to the dark side because of Vader's influence," Cere explained, frowning at the Jedi Knight for what he had nearly done to the Nightsister.

"All I remember was...falling asleep and...battling a specter of Vader and then everything goes dark after that."

Removing herself from around Cal's neck, Merrin wiped her eyes with the back of one hand.

"You...the you in the Force fell to the dark side. I was forced to battle you and Vader, until he held me hostage and ordered you to kill me. I would have very well died if that actually happened, but this bright light appeared and a strange green-skinned alien Jedi saved me, saved us."

Upon hearing Merrin say green-skinned alien Jedi, both Cere and Cal came to the same conclusion as to who the Nightsister saw within the Force.

"Master Yoda," Cere said quietly.

"He was the one who saved me?..." Cal couldn't believe it.

Even after fleeing to Dagobah to hide from the Empire, Master Yoda was still able to Force project himself to guide his fellow Jedi from falling to the dark side. Cal closed his eyes and sent a silent whisper of thanks, hoping the Force will carry his message through to the hidden Jedi Master.

"Cal, this Master Yoda left me a message before helping me free your consciousness from Vader's grasp."

Emerald orbs locked onto amber as Cal gave her his full attention.

"He told me to train you in the dark side of the Force."

-Dagobah-

Yoda slowly opened his eyes to gaze into the night sky overhead, having exhausted himself from helping the young Jedi Knight and his companion free themselves from Vader's influence through the Force. Since he fled to this swamp planet which was now his home, Yoda had been constantly meditating and communing with the ghost of Qui-Gon Jinn, learning the secrets of becoming one with the Force should he die in the future.

Thanks to the planet's overwhelming dark energies, he was able to hide himself from the Empire with relative ease since the execution of Order 66. The time he spent on the planet allowed him to search the Force for any survivors of the Order and guide them on the right path if they were straying from the light.

Cal Kestis was no exception when Yoda felt the Force resonate strongly within the boy.

Knowing it would be a risk to expose himself like that to the Sith and Empire, Yoda couldn't let Cal continue down the path he was going.

Thus he intervened.

The only thing the Jedi Master could hope for now was his companion to heed his words and train the young Jedi in the ways of the dark side, to help combat Vader's influence on the boy's mind.

"Master Yoda wants you to what?" Cal asked again, afraid he heard wrong the first time.

"Wants me to train you in the dark side of the Force so you can combat Vader's influence on your mind," Merrin repeated calmly.

Cal didn't how to react.

Why would Master Yoda want Merrin to train him in the dark side of the Force? Her understanding and utilization of it as a Nightsister was completely different from the way Jedi used it. Would there be any benefit to her doing what Master Yoda said? Still, part of the Jedi Knight was still in denial that Master Yoda protected him from Vader's attempt to coerce him into the dark side.

Maybe he should've taken more time to get to know the Jedi Master back when the Order still existed.

"Cal?"

"Merrin...can you give me some time to think this over?" he finally said.

The Nightsister gave a nod of her head and left Cere's room to give him some privacy and time to think.

To be continued...

I honestly haven't expected to receive all the love this story has gotten so far from my readers lol.

I originally wrote this because I wanted to see how it would go in my head if Trilla survived Vader killing her at the end of the game.

I feel like she deserves some screen time instead of always Cal/Merrin being written lol

Maybe I'll do a few chapters of her inner conflicts with the dark side despite redeeming herself to the light.

See you next time.

Note: I have decided to do weekly updates since daily ones really sap my brain juices dry lmao. Next chapter will be up next Monday!

Celsius Fate~