Author's Note: This chapter features the return/cameo of a character that I feel could have been involved in this portion of the show, since it would make sense (at least I think it would). Hopefully I made it satisfying for you! :D
Nightsister Fortress - Dathomir
3rd person POV...
On top of an altar placed in the middle of the cavern, Maul had laid out the things he and Ezra would need in order to carry out their task. He had two goblets set up for them, and was mixing up a potion of some sort within the three skinny bottles.
"I have studied the ways of the Nightsisters and found a spell that suits our needs," he explains.
He takes one bottle and pours some of the liquid into the center bottle, causing a glowing green mist to emerge with a hiss. Ezra watches uneasily as he takes the other bottle and pours a few drops into the center once more, causing the same green effect. Maul then swirls the center bottle around and pours the contents of it into their two cups, giving us an equal amount.
"This, this altar is the focus of their ancient power," he says, handing Ezra one of the cups. "Now, to initiate the merge, we must each drink this potion."
Ezra takes the cup and looks at the liquid inside, grimacing at it with some disgust.
"Mmm, you first," he says with narrowed eyes.
Maul shrugs carelessly and then lightly clicks his cup to Ezra's with a smile. He then lifts the cup to his lips and begins to drink it all, while Ezra watches anxiously.
"To complete the spell, you must drink it all," he says once finishing, narrowing his eyes. "Just like me, all of it!"
Looking down at the potion, Ezra reluctantly lifts it to his lips and begins to drink, shutting his eyes tightly. He cringes at the taste of the potion, dropping the cup and coughing once he finishes. Maul brings a hand to his eyes, chuckling to himself.
"Mmm, ha. It's working!" he says gleefully.
Maul opens his eyes to reveal that they're now glowing a sickly green, with mist flowing out from his eyes. Ezra opens his eyes to reveal the same effect, and they take a step closer to each other. Looking upwards, a stream of green light shoots out of both eyes and then connects in between them with a bright flash, merging their minds together.
"Where is he?!" Maul exclaims.
"I want to know how to destroy the Sith," Ezra says.
They both look through their visions for a few seconds, and an astonished, but eager smile spreads across Maul's face.
"I see... I understand," he says slowly.
"Who is that? I know him..." Ezra says, recognizing the person he's seeing.
In a bright flash, the strands of green light disappear as the potion's effect wears off, and they both collapse against the other, their arms against it. Maul laughs to himself in amazement, looking up with a smile.
"Of course! It ends where it began. A desert planet with twin suns," he says eagerly.
The planet he first fought the Jedi, all of those years ago. The planet he first faced the Jedi Master, Qui-Gon Jinn, in his pursuit of Queen Amidala, nearly killing him right then and there. The planet where he first sensed the presence of Obi-Wan Kenobi. The planet where he will finally kill him, once and for all.
"He's alive. I- I can't believe he's alive!" Ezra says in amazement.
Master Kenobi... was alive! He was still around in hiding! He can help them!
All of a sudden, the altar begins to glow green as a dark energy flares to life, and Maul backs away warily.
"It is time to pay our debt," he says uneasily, his excitement forgotten.
"Wait, wait, wait! What's happening?" Ezra asks, alarmed.
He backs away from the altar as well, and the green mist swirls violently around it before converging together in the form of a shadowy green figure, which flies out of it with a shrieking cry.
"What is that?!" Ezra exclaims anxiously.
Two more ghostly forms float outside of the altar, and begin swirling around the pair with hissing cries, looking at them with glowing green eyes. The ghosts are female, looking like decaying witches with gnarled hands and gray skin.
"Pay our due..." one of them hisses.
"The spirits of the Nightsisters must be compensated for the use of their magic!" Maul says in alarm.
"So pay 'em, and let's get out of here!" Ezra exclaims.
"The price is our flesh and blood!" he realizes in horror. "Don't let them touch you!"
"Now you tell me?" he snaps angrily.
"Ezra!"
Ezra looks over in surprise to see Kanan, Sabine, Jarik, and Mara all rushing over to them. Jarik looks up at all of the Nightsister spirits flying through the air, widening his eyes in alarm. Mara falters as well in fright, bewildered by the sight, but the other two just continue onwards and bring out their blasters.
"Pay our due..."
"Guys, stay back!" Ezra urges worriedly.
Sabine and Kanan ignore his warning and rush forwards, firing their blasters at the spirits. However they don't have any effect, the lasers passing through them without harm. One spirit lunges towards Sabine and reaches out to her with a sickening cackle, and she screams in a panic as she desperately tries to fight the spirit off, but to no avail. The spirit touches Sabine and then shoves its way into her body, causing Sabine to collapse.
"Sabine!" Mara exclaims in alarm.
"Mara, stay back," Jarik says anxiously, holding her back.
Kanan catches Sabine as he falls, leaving him vulnerable to another spirit, which grabs at his face and then disappears into his body with a delighted cackle.
"Dad, what do we do?" Mara cries out, panicking.
Jarik's mind is racing to think of a solution, having never dealt with Nightsister magic before. He then looks over in alarm to see a spirit lunges towards them, reaching out to Mara. Desperate, he shoves Mara out of the way just as the spirit shoots by, hissing in annoyance. He turns to face the Nightsister and readies his usage of the Force, only to stop upon noticing something about this particular spirit.
She's wearing a black hood to cover her bald head, the coal down to expose her face, and is wearing a familiar outfit...
"Ventress..." he murmurs in disbelief.
The spirit of Ventress then lunges forwards with a shriek, stretching an arm out. Jarik thrusts his arm out to use the Force, trying to manipulate the spirit in some way, but she dashed out of the way and then grabs his head. He groans in surprise and pain as she dissolved into his body. From he position on the ground, Mara widens her eyes in horror.
"Dad!" she screams.
Jarik collapses to his hands and knees, groaning in pain. He then becomes silent, slowly getting to his feet and moving in unison with Sabine and Kanan as they stalk over towards the altar and drop to their knees in front of it.
Mara pants heavily in fear and worry, unsure of what to do, and looks over at Ezra. He's just as alarmed and worried as she is, and slowly begins to move forward. Mara gets to her feet and rushes over to Jarik as well.
"Ezra, Mara! Stay back!" Maul warns them.
"Shut up!" Mara snaps angrily.
Ezra only glances at him before continuing onwards, moving up to his friends cautiously.
"Kanan? Sabine?" he asks uneasily.
"Dad? Dad, please say something..." Mara pleads, crouched in front of him.
I struggle against the dark and oppressive force of the spirit trying to controlling me, shoving against it with all of my might. The spirit hisses in rage and tries to push back, but I can tell it's struggling.
"You have no power, Shan," she snarls.
"I don't submit to dead spirits, Ventress!" I retort angrily.
I growl to myself in rage, fighting back with all of my might even more. I wrestle for control of my mind against her, attempting to assert my dominance. I am in control of myself! Not some witch!
"She will die if you try to resist!" she shrieks.
Mara takes a step back with a startled gasp as Jarik slowly opens his eyes, revealing a sickly green glow. Sabine and Kanan open their eyes as well, filling them all with unease.
Maul narrows his eyes as Kanan's hand twitches, and fingers the hilt of his own lightsaber. In a flash, Kanan is whipping out his lightsaber and striking at Maul with the intent to kill, and Maul ignites his own saber in response to block it. He backs away while Kanan presses his assault, and the other two lash out as well. Sabine smirks sinisterly and then swings an arm out to punch Ezra in the face, knocking him to the ground. Jarik on the other hand, brings out his lightsaber and slashes down at Mara, who barely ducks away with a startled yelp. She gets to her feet with fear in her eyes and brings out her blue lightsaber just in time to block a vicious strike from her father.
"Dad, it's me!" she pleads desperately. "Fight it!"
Jarik shoves her away and swings his lightsaber several times, moving with a speed and quickness that Mara struggles to defend against, moving her lightsaber left and right in a desperate attempt to protect herself. Ezra was having his own struggles, ducking away from laser bolts that Sabine was shooting at him.
"Sabine! It's Ezra!" he calls out.
He backs away and looks over to see Maul battling with Kanan, the latter swinging his lightsaber left and right to try and cut him down, entering a blade lock with him.
"You better not hurt him!" Ezra calls out.
"We cannot defeat the spirits of the Nightsisters!" he exclaims, shoving Kanan away. "Follow me. I will show you how to save your friends."
Maul disengages in his blade lock with Kanan and makes a run for it, and Ezra swiftly follows after a moments hesitation. With teary eyes, Mara smacks away Jarik's lightsaber and then flips to the side to avoid another strike, sprinting after the others. However she's suddenly yanked off of her feet from a Force pull by Jarik, who lunges towards her. Mara cries out in terror as Jarik moves to cut her down with his saber, and Ezra turns back with a look of horror on his face.
"Mara!" he shouts in a panic.
I see Mara about to die, at my very own hands no less, and a rush of intense anger flows through me like a gushing river.
"You... will... not... TOUCH HER!" I roar in outrage.
I blast against Ventress with all of my might, and she lets out a startled cry of pain and rage.
Mara shuts her eyes tightly as Jarik swings his lightsaber, but to her surprise the sound of the blade's movement comes to a halt. She cautiously looks up, astonished to see Jarik frozen in place, his whole body shaking. She widens her eyes upon realizing that Jarik was fighting back.
"Dad...?" she breathes out hopefully.
Jarik's eyes flicker between normal and glowing green, settling on her for a second in their regular form. Panic and worry is present in his gaze.
"...R-run!" he manages to say.
"Dad-" she replies, reaching out to him.
Jarik's eyes revert to glowing green once again as a snarl emerges from his face. He lunges at her with an inhuman shriek, and Mara just barely flips backwards to avoid the lightsaber.
"Mara, come on!" Ezra calls out.
"Faster! We must reach the cave entrance!" Maul exclaims.
Glancing back at him, Mara turns to face Jarik and then thrusts her arms out, shouting angrily as she unleashes a powerful blast of the Force. He's thrown back with a yell from the power of her attack, but Kanan and Sabine sprint in her direction.
Turning around, Mara runs after the others as they make for the cave entrance, being chased by the Nightsisters. Seeing the entrance, Mara makes a wild leap to the outside just in time, narrowly missing a lightsaber slash from Kanan. She looks up in a panic to see him and Sabine both standing above her with glares on their faces, Jarik not too far behind. However they don't venture beyond the cave, and instead back away into the darkness.
"Wait. Why aren't they coming after us?" Ezra asks in confusion.
"The altar is the source of their power. They cannot venture beyond the cave," Maul explains.
Mara gets to her feet and stares into the cave, her heart breaking at the sight of Jarik staring at her with a look of hate.
"It is unfortunate about your friends, Ezra. But this This is your opportunity to embrace your destiny, as my apprentice," Maul suddenly urges.
Mara whips around incredulously, rage filling her at the comment.
"WHAT?!" she shouts angrily.
"I told you, that is never going to happen!" Ezra snaps, glaring at him as well.
"We are not leaving them behind you selfish piece of bantha fodder!" Mara exclaims furiously, snarling at him. "You're sickening!"
"I do not care for you, girl! Do what you wish!" Maul snarls at her in contempt, turning to Ezra. "Forget the past! Forget your memories! Forget your attachments. Our futures converge on a planet with two suns. We can walk that path together as friends... as brothers."
"My friends are trapped in there because of us! I can't just leave them!" Ezra retorts angrily.
Maul clenches his hands into fists and lets out a growl of frustration, glaring at him.
"You disappoint me!" he scowls, turning away before chuckling to himself. "Ezra Bridger..."
Mara and Ezra watch him leave with glares on their faces, and once his ship takes off into the air they turn back towards the cave.
"So... what next?" Mara murmurs anxiously.
"I guess we'll figure it out on the way," Ezra replies with a shrug.
Glancing at each other, they ready themselves by taking a deep breath a calm their nerves and make their way back into the cave.
"You can't resist me forever, Jedi."
I growl in frustration and shove out with my mind, expanding the bubble that I'm still in control of against the dark swirling force that is Ventress.
"Oh I certainly can Ventress. You don't control my destiny!" I retort firmly.
"You're right... I control my own! And you are the instrument I will use for that!" she hisses.
"Whatever happened to you? Is this what Vos would want?" I shoot back.
Ventress falters, and I take the opportunity to push against her even more. She snarls in fury and shoves me back, wrestling for control.
"What did you say?!" she demands furiously.
"Would Quinlan Vos want you to be like this? A broken witch attempting to kill people through someone else's body?" I tell her.
"You know nothing of him!" she shrieks.
"I know what it's like to fall in love," I respond fiercely. "What you're doing now betrays the very reason you gave your life for him!"
As Mara and Ezra made their way deeper inside of the cave, they began to brainstorm ideas of how to help their friends.
"Okay. The altar is where their power comes from," Ezra recalls.
"And they cant leave the cave apparently," Mara adds, and he nods his head.
"Right! And that means we just have to get Kanan, Sabine, and Jarik outside of the cave!" he says joyfully, grinning at her. "How hard can that be?"
"Really hard..." she replies nervously.
Mara looks forward where she can see Jarik standing directly ahead of them, glaring with his glowing green eyes. Ezra widens his eyes nervously and they both come to a stop, only to turn around upon hearing sounds behind him. Sabine drops to the ground after crawling along the wall, igniting the dark saber in her hands.
"You're unwise to reenter our sanctum," she says, although her voice is a horrible hiss, not her own.
"That doesn't belong to you," Ezra growls, igniting his lightsaber.
"Then take it from me, Jedi!" she shrieks mockingly, lunging forwards.
Mara watches in concern as Ezra gets in a quick duel with Sabine, and turns around upon hearing two lightsabers igniting. She swallows nervously as she watches Jarik march forward with both of his lightsabers activated, and she ignites her own blue blade in response, backing up warily.
"Dad, I know you're in there. You just have to keep fighting!" Mara urges.
"He is no longer here, foolish girl," he replies.
Mara cringes at the way his voice comes out as a horrible hiss, completely different to his usual voice. Despite her anxiety and fear however, she glares back at the witch.
"Then why did he stop you from killing me?" she retorts.
Jarik falters, his lightsabers lowering, before shaking his head angrily as the Nightsister reasserts her control.
"You are mistaken!" he snarls.
He lunges forwards with his lightsabers, and Mara rolls out of the way with a startled yelp, bringing up her blue lightsaber. He whirls around with his green saber in a horizontal strike, and she deflects it before parrying a blow from his second blade. He slashes and strikes at her with vicious intensity, leaving Mara struggling to keep up as she continuously backpedals away from him.
Whoever was possessing her father was really good at lightsaber combat, Mara realized. The Nightsister also seemed to be using Makashi, just like Jarik does. The only difference is really that her form is hilariously sloppy compared to his, and makes him look ridiculous from how she's seen him fight. She raises her lightsaber and catches both of his, struggling for a moment against his much greater strength.
"So, you use Makashi like my Dad..." she remarks, managing a grin. "You make it look like he's fighting drunk!"
I laugh at Mara's taunt, incredibly amused by it simply because of the fact it is so true! Ventress used a Makashi form, but from what I know she was infamously sloppy in her version, which is ironic considering she was Dooku's apprentice.
Mara's knack for jokes and taunting definitely came from me.
Jarik shrieks in fury and shoves her saber away, lunging forwards to stab her lightsabers down. Mara just barely rolls out of the way and pops back up, bringing her saber up to deflect the next few strikes. However he thrusts his arm out and blasts her with the Force, slamming her against a wall. Mara looks up in alarm, but before Jarik could attack her a Nightsister spirit shoots by directly between them, shrieking with a mocking laugh.
"You cannot destroy us! You'll never save your friends!"
Jarik turns to watch the spirit leave with a surprised expression, and Mara takes the chance to leap forward and kick him in the face, sending him sprawling.
"Sorry Dad!" she apologizes.
He shakes his head and gets back to his feet, hissing with anger, a fierce glare on his face. She readies her lightsaber again with an uneasy expression, trying to figure out how to get him outside. This spirit seems to have a firm grasp of using the Force and a lightsaber, a complete contrast with how Kanan and Sabine weren't nearly as skilled in comparison. Whoever this spirit is, she trained as a Jedi or Sith.
"You think you can get rid of me like her?" he hisses.
"Yeah, I really do!" Ezra suddenly exclaims.
Jarik whips around to block an overhead slash from Ezra, and then lashes out with one of his sabers when Mara runs forwards to help. Snarling, Jarik pulls back and then thrusts his arms out, blowing them both away from him.
"See if you can get me now, Jedi!" he taunts.
Deactivating his lightsabers, Jarik turns around and runs deeper into the cave, much to their alarm and frustration.
"No!" Mara cries out.
"Come on, we have to get him!" Ezra tells her.
He sprints after Jarik, and Mara quickly follows. Jarik jumps over rocks and crevices, flipping around with surprising agility and moving in a way that is much different from Mara's perspective of him. She tries following after him in the same manner as well, being more agile than Ezra, but at one point Jarik jumps up higher into the air and ignites his lightsabers, flipping around at quick speed to slice through some rocks on the ceiling. She cries out in alarm and jumps to the side to avoid the rocks, grunting as she tumbles to the ground.
"Mara!" Ezra says, rushing over to her. "Are you alright?!"
"Yeah, I'm good," she groans in response. "Did you get Sabine?"
"Yeah, I did. I told her to wait outside," he replies.
"As if she'll wait," she mutters quietly to herself, but nods her head in response. "Ok, so one down… two to go. And we don't even know where Kanan is."
"How're we going to get Jarik out?" Ezra asks with a frown.
"I don't know," she replies, getting to her feet. "I think whoever has my Dad used to be a Jedi, or a Sith. They know lightsabers forms and used the Force strategically."
"Well that's just great," he groans. "Alright, we'll figure it out. I have an idea, but we have to go back to the altar."
"Ok," she nods her head.
The two resume their journey into the cave, extremely tense and anxious in case Jarik or Kanan were to jump out and attack them. As they go further they return to the old Nightsister fortress, spotting a green glow up ahead where the altar should be.
"Ventress, please… just stop this," I plead with her.
"You really think I'm going to listen to you?" she scoffs. "You're pathetic. Once your friends are dead, then you will follow as well as I crush your mind to bits!"
"But why?" I demand in frustration. "I never knew you like Ahsoka, Anakin and Obi-Wan did, but I do know that you changed! You rejected the dark side in order to save Quinlan Vos, and now you've given yourself to evil once again!"
"You think it's that simple, Shan? I am trying to bring back my sisters, my people! And once we have rebuilt, I will be able to reunite with him!" she tells me. "Like you said, you don't know me."
"You can't save Master Vos. He's dead!" I exclaim angrily, taking her by surprise. "Do you know why? Because Sidious won. He wiped out the Jedi Order, and established his Empire! Like all the other Jedi, Vos is dead!"
"He would have survived the coming Purge! Vos was smarter than most of you fools!" she argues.
"He was killed by Vader himself, months after the Jedi Purge. I saw the records myself," I state firmly, although with more sympathy.
"You lie!" she snarls.
"I'm not lying," I retort calmly. "Even if I was, would he really want for you to return to needless killing, and lose yourself to the dark side?"
Silence for a while.
"…This is for my sisters. Not the dark side," she finally declares in finality.
Ezra and Mara cautiously make their way towards the glowing green light from where the altar sat, reentering the open cavern that serves as the main chamber of the Nightsister's fortress. As they stalk closer, the sound of lightsabers igniting gets their attention, and they whip around just in time to block Jarik's lightsabers from cutting them both apart.
"You should have left while you could, Jedi," he tells them.
He separates for a second and then lashes out once more, swinging his lightsabers at them both in vicious arcs. They block and deflect his attacks, and Jarik kicks his foot out to knock Ezra onto his back, where he grunts in pain. Mara retaliates by rolling underneath his lightsaber strike and thrusting her hand out, blowing him back with a Force push.
"Go get Kanan! I can handle this!" she exclaims.
Ezra glances between her and Jarik in concern for a few seconds, but reluctantly nods his head and scrambles to his feet, making his way over in the direction of the altar. Mara readies herself with her lightsaber by her side while Jarik stalks forwards, scoffing at her.
"Unwise," he says.
"The only thing I want to see my Dad doing is what he would do. Not doing things as your puppet!" Mara snaps.
"Jarik Shan is a weakling. He cannot help you," he mocks her.
"He would do everything for me," she retorts confidently.
Frowning in irritation, Jarik dashes forward once more and swings his lightsabers down. Mara raises her lightsaber to block his swings and then pushes back, spinning around to slash at him with her blade. He deflects the strike, and they parry back and forth with each other, Jarik attempting to kill her while Mara either defends or evades him. Jarik slashes one saber upwards and swings the other horizontally, and Mara deflects the first blade while ducking to let it harmlessly pass by over her head. She then jumps up and knees him in the face while simultaneously kicking her foot out to remove his green lightsaber from his grip.
Jarik stumbles backwards with a snarl and then jabs his lightsaber forward, which Mara just narrowly avoids. He quickly follows up with a lightning fast punch with his prosthetic arm, the hydraulics whirring. Falling back on the training he gave her however, Mara spins around to let his fist fly just by her head, and jumps to kick off of his chest and push herself away from him. Jarik dashes forwards with a fast diagonal strike at her, but she then performs one of the moves he taught her, leaping into the air and flipping over his head while slashing her lightsaber in his direction.
He just barely deflects the saber due to his surprise at the maneuver, and then Mara uses her grappling trick that Ahsoka taught her before. Only this time Jarik isn't the one she's actually fighting, so he doesn't counter it properly. She swings her lightsaber down hard to smack his blue blade out of his grip, purposefully releasing her hold on her own lightsaber at the same time. Latching herself onto his shoulders, Mara grabs at his head with her arms and then brings her legs up to wrap them around his neck, hooking her left leg under her right knee.
Jarik flails around in surprise, reaching up and trying to grab at her but Mara uses one hand to shove his left arm away, and refuses to budge as his right hand grabs her in an attempt to throw her off. She holds fast, trying to choke him to unconsciousness with her legs in order to subdue him fully. He stumbles around, slamming against rock walls in an attempt to dislodge her, while attempting to also grab her with his left arm as well. Due to the awkwardness of the reach angle his prosthetic isn't able to overpower her as effectively, which works to Mara's advantage.
Mara cries out in pain as he grabs her hair and yanks on it harshly, attempting to pull her off. She swings her other arm out momentarily to knock his hand off and then returns it to his head, smacking it over his mouth and nose to cut off his air even more. Jarik backs up quickly and Mara shuts her eyes tightly, bracing herself for hitting the rock wall. She's unable to help groaning in pain as her back is slammed against the rough and unforgiving rock, but still refuses to let go. Jarik's movements become a bit more sluggish now and, sensing this, Mara tightens the grip her legs have around his neck, grunting furiously as the tries to knock him out.
Finally, it seems that despite the Nightsister's relentless fury and frustration, Jarik's body becomes physically unable to remain conscious with the serious lack of air, and he slowly topples over on unsteady feet, collapsing to the ground. Mara hisses through clenched teeth to prevent herself from crying out as her back impacts against the rocky surface once more, but after one more pitiful attempt at raising his arm to her, he falls unconscious, his entire body becoming limp.
Mara remains tightly latched onto him for a few seconds more to make sure he's out, and then relaxes her grip with a sigh of exhaustion, lying down on the ground. She pants exhales heavily in order to recuperate, and then removes her legs from around his neck and crawls up beside him, overlooking him with a concerned body.
"Dad?" she murmurs anxiously. "Please be alright…"
She takes her fingers and places them on his neck, looking for a pulse, and then leans her head down to place an ear to his chest, desperately seeking. She sighs in relief when she feels that he's still alive and well, just knocked out.
A loud shriek followed by an eruption of glowing green energy from his chest has Mara jumping backwards with a startled exclamation of surprise, and she crawls back with wide eyes as the spirit of the Nightsister rises out of Jarik's body, glaring down at her with furious eyes.
"You little wretch! Perhaps you'll be more suitable than him!" she snarls furiously.
Mara widens her eyes in fear and scrambles backwards, the spirit shooting forwards an reaching out to touch her. Before she could however, a sudden explosion of flashing green and white light gets their attention, followed by all of the other Nightsister spirits screaming in anger.
"Nooo!"
Ventress widens her eyes in shock and looks down at her own wispy form, seeing her start to fade away. She whips her gaze back over to Jarik and then looks down at Mara, a hint of fear in her eyes. However, unlike the other Nightsisters shrieking in horror nearby, Ventress closes her eyes with a look of despair and regret, before fading into nothingness as well as her spirit disappears from the physical realm forever.
Mara breathes heavily for a moment, shocked and bewildered, but then looks down as Jarik gasps in a needy breath of air, coughing violently.
"Dad!" she cries out in worry, rushing over to him. "Are you alright?!"
"I- I'm…" he says, still coughing. "I'm okay."
"Oh my gosh," she exhales in relief, hugging him tightly. "Thank the Force."
Jarik hugs her back, and they hold each other comfortably for a few moments before separating, and he looks at her with a smile.
"I gotta say, you did really good," he remarks.
Mara widens her eyes in surprise.
"You saw the whole thing?" she asks.
"Sure did, as terrifying as it was. And you did that all on your own, so that's something to be proud of," he tells her.
Mara blushes sheepishly, looking away in embarrassment.
"Oh, thanks," she replies, glancing up at him. "Sorry for choking you."
"Are you seriously apologizing for that?" he demands with a raised eyebrow, scoffing. "Honestly, that was a smart move. Besides, I couldn't feel any of it since I wasn't in control."
His smile vanishes the moment he says that, and he rubs his neck with a pained grimace, which Mara takes notice is a bit red.
"Actually… now I can feel it," he grumbles.
Despite her concern, Mara can't help but giggle in amusement, and she loops his arm around her shoulders and helps him to her feet. At the same time Sabine comes rushing out of the darkness of the cave, coming to a stop upon seeing them.
"Sabine?" Mara asks.
"You guys are okay! Great," she says in relief. "Where's Ezra and Kanan."
"Just around the corner I think," she answers.
The three of them start walking together, and after a few long steps Jarik moves off on his own, gesturing to Mara that he's feeling alright now. They enter the open space where the now destroyed altar is sitting, and Ezra looks over at their approach.
"Jarik, you're alright!" he says happily, before doubling back as he notices Sabine. "Wh- Sabine, I told you to stay outside!"
"Hey, I've never listened to you before. Why start now?" she retorts.
Mara rolls her eyes while Jarik scoffs in amusement, crossing his arms.
"Well, was it worth it? Did you find out what you wanted to know?" Kanan asks, standing up.
"Yes. The answer to my question of how to destroy the Sith… is Obi-Wan Kenobi," Ezra reveals.
Jarik's smile falls at the statement and widens his eyes. Mara turns to look up at him, also surprised, and looks back at the others.
"What?!" Jarik asks, baffled.
"You think he's still alive?" Kanan asks.
"He must be," Ezra replies.
"What do you mean that Obi-Wan is the key to defeating the Sith?" Jarik demands with a frown. "What exactly did you see?"
"Not much really. I only saw him, and then the holocron told us about a planet with two suns," he explains.
"Well that narrows it down," Sabine scoffs sarcastically.
"Kanan… Maul's also looking for him," Ezra adds worriedly.
Jarik narrows his eyes with an unreadable expression while Kanan frowns in concern.
"Well, we're gonna have to figure it out, because if we don't find Master Kenobi before Maul..." Kanan says.
"There won't be any way to stop the Sith," Ezra replies grimly.
Kanan turns his head in Jarik's direction questioningly.
"Jarik, do you have an idea of where Master Kenobi is?" Kanan asks.
He doesn't answer for a long while, a troubled expression on his face as he tries to determine how to respond.
"I need to think about this for a little while," he finally says.
"Seriously? What's there to think about?" Sabine asks incredulously.
"Think about what?" Mara asks, confused.
"It's not as simple as you'd think," he replies cautiously.
"But Maul could be on his way to Master Kenobi's location right now!" Ezra argues anxiously. "You're the only other person who would know where he is!"
"I'm not so sure Obi-Wan would be the key needed to defeating the Sith," Jarik responds in disagreement.
"But the holocron said he was!" he insists.
"If you know where Master Kenobi is, then why aren't you saying anything?" Kanan asks in confusion.
"There's a lot at stake here that you don't understand... and I can't explain it to you either," Jarik sighs, but leaves no room for argument.
"And what about Maul? You're just gonna let him go after Master Kenobi without a fight?" Sabine demands with a frown.
"Obi-Wan can handle Maul," he retorts sternly. "It's not his well-being that I'm worried about."
"So who's is it then?" Mara asks.
Jarik glances down at her warily at the question, she and the rest of the group anxious to know the answer.
"That's what I can't say," he replies sternly. "And I'm not saying anything else!"
He interrupts Ezra and Sabine before they could protest, and after a few moments Kanan nods his head in resignation, and the others reluctantly back down as well.
"Ok... if it's that important," Kanan says.
He and Ezra slowly start to make their way out of the cavern and, while she follows them at first, Sabine stops and picks up something from the ground. Mara heads over to her upon noticing, a look of curiosity on her face.
"Is that a lightsaber?" she asks.
"...Yeah. It's more than that..." Sabine murmurs in reply, staring at the hilt with a look of wonder in her gaze.
Jarik narrows his eyes when he notices the dark saber in Sabine's hand but doesn't comment, and the three of them move to catch up with the others. As they do so however Ezra slows to a stop and turns to look at Jarik, an uneasy expression on his face.
"Jarik... there's something you need to know," he says.
Noticing his unease, Jarik frowns at him in concern.
"About what?" he asks carefully.
Ezra glances over at Sabine, wordlessly asking for her to help him out, and she frowns in confusion but nods her head in support.
"It's probably better if I show you. It's... something Maul had," Ezra says.
Raising an eyebrow in curiosity, he glances at Mara and shares an intrigued look with her before nodding his head.
"Alright, lead the way," he says.
Satisfied, but still anxious, Ezra turns and heads back over towards one of the houses in the cavern, the rest of the group following. He leads them to one house in particular and walks inside, where they're met with a wide assortment of things. Jarik looks around with a thoughtful expression, still a little confused.
"What's this about Ezra?" Kanan asks.
"So, this room of full of things Maul's collected, from what he told me," he explains, looking over to Jarik. "He has something here that... I think, is really personal for you."
"Like what?" Mara asks curiously.
"It's... it's a set of old armor," Ezra says anxiously, glancing at Sabine.
Sabine furrows a brow before widening her eyes in disbelief, grasping the implication he's trying to give her.
"You mean... so it's..." she stammers, shaking her head. "Where is it?"
"Near the picture of that woman," he informs her.
They all look over to one of the walls where the picture is set up, and Jarik's expression becomes a little anxious as he recognizes it.
"That's Duchess Satine..." he says.
Sabine rushes over when she spots the set of armor, surprise filling her at the sight of it. Jarik looks at the armor and furrows his brow, an uneasy feeling filling his stomach as he starts to think about it.
"Mandalorian armor?" he says slowly, anxiety starting to fill him.
"Yeah, it is," Sabine replies.
"Can you tell whose it is?" he asks hesitantly.
Sabine glances up at him, the tension in the room starting to build as everyone begins to realize the implications being made. She then crouches down in front of the Mandalorian armor, checking along its plates and then removing the helmet. She turns it over and looks inside, finding what she was looking for.
"I've got it! This armor belonged too..." she trails off, looking up at him with wide eyes. "...Marcus Sohl."
Jarik's heart stops while Mara gasps in shock, widening her eyes and gaping between him and the armor. Bafflement fills Kanan while Ezra is more uneasy and subdued, having already guessed it. Jarik slowly processes the revelation with wide eyes, unable to fully think straight.
His father's armor...
Suspicions about Obi-Wan's location are arising, and more questions are being asked. And now it is revealed that Marcus Sohl's mandalorian armor was in the possession of Maul this whole time, and Jarik has finally found it. This is quite the revelation for him, and the first real clue he's ever received in regards to his past and who his parents were.
Mandalore Arc is fast approaching!