From Flames, I Soar

by Kurenaino

With the Empire at the height of its power and the shadow of a greater threat hanging above all those who would oppose Palpatine, the Specters, led by former Jedi Padawan Kanan Jarrus, are forced to contend with the Sith Lord that set the galaxy ablaze. Sequel to In Chaos, I Thrive.

50. Valley of the Dark Lords

AN: I know this one took a long time to update, but trust me, this bitch was making me fight to make it worthwhile. And boy do I think it is. I worked VERY hard to bring this one to you guys, and I'm finally happy with it. I'm pretty sure you guys are going to like this one. As always, let me know what you think, and a quick thank you to all you guys that leave me your thoughts. I might not always get back to you guys, but I read them all, and when I have a hard time writing, I run through them and it helps me remember why I'm doing this. You guys are the best. Thank you. You're what keeps me writing.

Give me a little to update this one, I need to update some of my other things, and I need to toy with the idea of the next chapter of this before we get deep into The Shit. Or just jump right on in. Not sure yet.

Also! STAR WARS REBELS IS BACK! BO-KATAN IS BACK! WOOOOOOOOO!

Chapter 50: Valley of the Dark Lords

"Come on, Kenobi..." Kanan practically whined, the blue image of his hologram flickering with the interference of hyperspace. "Zeb isn't the last of his kind, and there might be a planet out there filled with his people! The Lasat home world, one the Empire hasn't destroyed. He might not be the victim of a genocide!"

"I'm certain the smell is atrocious," Obi-Wan said with a roll of his eyes. "The one is bad enough. I can't imagine what it's like having three of them on that ship, to say nothing of an entire planet infested with the beasts..."

"...alright, the smell isn't great," Kanan confessed. "But this is important to Zeb. You should be here."

"What's important to Zeb isn't important to my survival, Kanan, and my time is limited," Kenobi mumbled. "Besides, I promised the Gemini I'd take them to Moraband. Not the typical spot for a family vacation, but they have wanted to go since they were very young."

"Not the safest place for children..." Kanan said pointedly. "Not the safest place for anyone, especially not you. You sure that vision of yours doesn't happen down there?"

"Of course I'm not sure, but the safest place for them is at my side. Nothing, nothing will ever happen to them so long as I am around." Obi-Wan crossed his arms and sneered when the Jedi looked at him sympathetically. He hated it when Kanan did that, and he was so very good at it. "Speaking of safety, how good of an idea is it to let Hera fly through uncharted territory and who knows what out there in Wild Space? She just recovered from her injuries."

"You want to tell her no?" Kanan growled, clearly not happy about it either. "Hera insists she's fine. You know she calls the shots..."

"It's precious you allow that woman to own you like this," Obi-Wan gently chided. "But then, you Jedi have always craved chains, haven't you?"

"You want to tell her she can't do this?" Kanan asked flatly, and for a long moment, Obi-Wan simply stared at him.

"...no, absolutely not." Obi-Wan grinned broadly when Kanan arched an eyebrow and sighed in irritation. "Oh, I bet that woman ties you up and has her way with you, doesn't she?"

"She would..." Kanan bitterly agreed. "If you hadn't interrupted us the last few times, Kenobi!"

"And good luck getting laid with those big smelly beasts on your ship, Kanan!" Kenobi laughed at the scowling Jedi. "I don't think I have anything to worry about while I'm gone. The time you two get alone is scarce enough, but mark my word, when you do get the chance, I will be there to ruin it."

"You spiteful piece of shit..." Kanan grumbled. "It was one time, Kenobi! How was I supposed to know that you lack the self-control to not try and have sex with a woman during a mission?! In the middle of an enemy camp!"

"I'm a Lord of the Sith, you Jedi moron, when have I ever had self-control?!" Obi-Wan snapped. "And that meeting was a long time coming and you ruined it."

"How many times do I have to say I'm sorry until you let this go?!" Kanan groaned, his hand running over his face. "In the hopes that this time you'll have mercy, I'm sorry, Obi-Wan, for keeping you from having sex with your girlfriend."

"She's not my girlfriend, Jarrus, you know that," Obi-Wan casually said with a roll of his eyes. "We are just two people coming together in violent mutual destruction. It's a brutal, beautiful thing, and you're a little shit for interrupting."

"Oh, please, it's not like you didn't just take Vitios and Vehemis and throughly use them the moment you got back."

"Mm, that isn't the point," Obi-Wan drawled. "And it was mostly instigated by them. I'll say this for you, Kanan, your tastes are excellent. The Twi'leks certainly know how to pleasure a man."

"Oh, Force help me, Obi-Wan..."

"Tell you what, Jarrus," Obi-Wan chirped, leaning in toward the holotransmitter and grinning wickedly when Kanan drew back. "I'll leave you and Hera alone if you beg and call me Master."

Kanan scoffed, rolled his eyes, and flashed a devious grin at the Sith Lord. "Not outside the bedroom, Master, you know the deal..."

"Oh, this is why I keep you Jedi around..." Obi-Wan groaned. "We're coming out of hyperspace, lover, I need to go. Be safe out there. I'll see you in a few days."

"Take care, Kenobi," Kanan said softly, the sympathy back in his expressive eyes. "I mean it. It's too soon to lose you."

"I couldn't possibly agree more," Obi-Wan growled as he shut off the com, the sound of Luke and Leia running through the ship closely coming closer until they burst into the cockpit, out of breath and grinning from ear to ear and decked out in their Mandalorian armor.

"Is that it, Father?" Leia asked excitedly, pointing out the viewport at the planet hanging ominously before them, deep red and splattered with chalk white cloud cover that made it look eerily like -blood and bone. "Is that Moraband?"

"It is..." Obi-Wan said quietly. "The home world of the Sith."

"What can we expect to find there?" Luke asked, leaning forward and squinting at the planet as it grew larger in the viewport. Through the Force, Obi-Wan could feel Luke withdraw behind his iron defenses as the touch of the Dark Side grew stronger, while Leia slowly opened herself to it.

"Tombs to ancient Sith Lords," Obi-Wan said almost reverently. "A Sith academy, ancient Sith Temples, all located in the Valley of the Dark Lords. But mostly, expect the Dark Side like you've never felt it before and the restless spirits of Ancient Sith."

"Like Qui-Gon?" Leia asked, looking behind her as Vitios and Vehemis ambled into the room, their hands lightly brushing over Obi-Wan's shoulders.

"Nothing like Qui-Gon," Obi-Wan whispered, leaning back in his seat and breathing deeply as he felt the Dark Side coil around him, cold and oppressive and stirring the growling beast inside him to life, the soft, seductive whispers of darkness filling his mind with promises of pleasure and power, devoid of any of the pain he knew that strength to cost. It was liberating. He had spent so long in hiding that he had almost forgotten what it was like to fully turn himself over to the darker tides of the Force.

They were silent on the rest of their way down to the planet, each one of them slipping deep into meditation to prepare themselves for whatever awaited them down on Moraband. As they drifted closer, as they cut through the atmosphere toward their destination, Leia had to close herself off to the oppressive darkness, her head beginning to throb as it became almost too much. Even Vitios and Vehemis seemed woozy and unsteady, clutching tightly to the back of the Sith Lord's seat as the Umbra made a rapid descent into the valley far below.

Obi-Wan slowly ran through the landing checks when he set down to give the twins and his dark siders a chance to adjust to such a powerful Dark Side nexus, and he could feel all four of them reaching out to him through the Force to draw the strength they needed to fortify their defenses. They gradually began to adjust, slowly finding their centers even in the depths of the darkness that surrounded them, and evening out their ragged breath and frantic heartbeats, they slowly straightened, testing out the feel of the Force and their bodies under the oppression of the Dark Side. When they found themselves suitably balanced, they checked that their weapons were firmly on their belts and quietly followed the Sith Lord to the Umbra's closed boarding ramp.

"Cody," Obi-Wan said quietly as the clone approached the Sith Lord with Kenobi's two droids at his side. "At the first sign of anything, you are to contact me. I am leaving you with HK for safety."

"Protest: Master, I should be coming with you for your protection!" HK said with a mechanical whine. "K-2SO can be fixed of he is broken, but you, Master, are a squishy organic. Horror: there is no fixing you if you break!"

"Your entire arsenal will not help you here," Obi-Wan said, laying his hand on the intimidating blaster rifle the droid held and lowering it. "Our lightsabers won't help us here, this is the realm of the Force. They're a precaution here. Nothing more."

"Take care, brother," Cody said quietly, laying his hand on the Sith Lord's shoulder. "We'll be ready to fly at a moment's notice."

"With or without me, Cody," Obi-Wan whispered in the clone's ear. "Like we discussed." They could feel the twins looking at them, but neither adult would meet their eyes.

"I promise," the clone said quietly, his hand affectionately squeezing his shoulder. "May the Force be with you."

"A hope I am in desperate need of at the moment..." Obi-Wan growled, his hand slamming on the ramp release, and with a hiss, the airlock disengaged and the door slid open and the Sith Lord strode out, followed closely by Vitios and Vehemis. With a great deal of hesitation, Leia took a deep breath and swallowed her apprehension, her gait confident despite how nervous she was. With a heavy sigh, Luke gently took the clone's hand.

"Don't leave without Father, Cody," Luke softly pleaded. "We all need him. It's...not his time yet. I have to believe that."

"Trust me, Luke, I won't be leaving your Father," Cody said with a sigh as he ruffled the boy's blond hair. "Not unless there's no other choice..." He nudged the boy toward the boarding ramp. "Go on. Cheery Moraband awaits, can't imagine why you're hanging back here..." With a small chuckle and a wry smile, Luke squeezed Cody's hand briefly before jogging down the ramp to catch up with the dark siders. He sidled up next to Leia when he rejoined the group, flashing the nervous, uneasy girl a tight smile and gave her arm a reassuring squeeze. He was less susceptible to the Dark Side than his sister, and she was keenly feeling the effects of the soft whispers in Ancient Sith that the very air seemed to carry.

"F-father," Leia began, trying to sound more confident than she felt. "I don't understand. You're a Sith Lord, but you're..." She took a deep breath and shivered, grasping her arms against the cold. "I can feel you're shielding yourself against the darkness instead of embracing it. Why?"

"Fully embracing the Dark Side is a very dangerous thing, Leia," Obi-Wan said quietly, almost reverently as his eyes drifted over large, weather-worn statues that stood vigil outside the resplendent archways of the many tombs of the ancient Sith Lords that lined the valley below them. Each step kick up puffs of red dust from the dry earth beneath their feet, the high canyon walls of the valley rising up as they descended down the gently sloping pathway, the dark red stone feeling as though they were being swallowed whole by a large, dangerous beast. Even the sky seemed to darken as they walked further into the valley, an already sinister hazy swath of reds and yellows above them marked by black, thundering clouds appearing even darker and more foreboding the closer they drew closer to the resting place of the Dark Lords of the Sith.

"The Dark Side can never be truly tamed," Obi-Wan continued quietly, the twins drawling closer to him as the canyon opened up into the long, wide valley. "Those who fully open themselves to darkness risk losing themselves and becoming slaves the whims of the Dark Side. In order to achieve mastery, one must have control."

"So..." Leia said slowly as she gathered her thoughts. "If I were to just...let go-"

"The Dark Side would claim you," Obi-Wan said quickly. "Without the resistance and the discipline to resist, you would be lost, no more than a slave to its will, and the Dark Side has no use for slaves beyond consuming them. A Master is powerful because the Dark Side is drawn to them, not just because they summon its power, but because it seeks to devour them as well." He took a deep breath, felt the Dark Side shift and move around him, his own pull moving the darker tides and stirring the snarling dark beast he kept tightly in control. "A Master understands this power struggle, and therefore must always remain vigilant, lest they be devoured as well."

"We were encouraged to turn ourselves over completely," Vitios said quietly, her eyes flicking over to her comrade, who was visibly struggling to resist the temptation of the soft, gentle call of the Dark Side. "We were to fully embrace it. It was...complete submission. No restraint, no control. Just darkness."

"It makes you stronger," Obi-Was said quietly. "But it also makes you easy to control. For the likes of the Lords of the Sith, any creature consumed by darkness is as easy to sway as the Force itself." He reached out and lightly stroked the Twi'lek's squirming lekku, the woman shivering and groaning softly from the contact. "It was why I could so easy bring you to heel, Vehemis."

"I remember, Master..." the woman said breathlessly, swallowing hard as the Sith Lord's touch helped her bolster her defenses.

"The Sith never required you to be anything more than uncontrolled brute strength, it was enough for their purposes, and it keeps you in their control," Obi-Wan explained. "You would never be anything more than beasts to them."

"But you will make us more, Master," Vitios said, laying her hand on the struggling Vehemis' shoulder, and Obi-Wan slowly nodded.

"I will. So much more..." He pointed straight ahead at the large, smooth, sloping sides of a massive pyramid that menacingly loomed at the far side of the valley. "That's the Sith Academy. If there's something to be found, we'll find it there. There may be something in the tombs around here, but..." He growled softly as he eyed one of the tomb entrances, tightly sealed by fallen stone, the result of a Republic bombardment long, long ago, if his former Master was to be believed, and on this matter, he had no reason to doubt him. It was a different time when Sidious had brought him here, when they had once been family. "The tombs have been plundered, and the way to the inner sanctums are dark labyrinths filled with death traps. The risk is not worth it when we have a better option."

"And if we don't find what you need, Father?" Leia asked, and for a long while, the Sith Lord was silent, his stride slowing as he considered the question.

"I will find what I need here..." Kenobi snarled, his hand tightening at his side. "If not in the Academy, than in the tombs after I have you and your brother safely back on the Umbra." The immediate protests from the children were quickly silenced by a vicious, uncompromising glare from the Sith Lord, the gold of his eyes spiked with deep, blood red, as they always were when the Dark Side within him rose high and dangerous. They knew better than to mess with the Lord of the Sith when he was like this, even more so now that they were on unknown and frightening territory.

As they drew closer to the towering pyramid of the Academy, a cold breeze grew into threatening, whipping winds, kicking up not the red dust and dirt of Moraband's earth, but thick wisps of black smoke. Obi-Wan stopped, calm and indifferent to the threat of the Dark Side around him while the twins fearfully drew closer to him, Vitios and Vehemis striking their lightsabers on and standing in defense of the Sith Lord, the dark mist swirling around them in a vortex, trapping them in the center of the dark tide. Slowly, the mist began to take form, shifting and twisting into shadowy figures in cloaks and armor, their eyes hidden behind masks the color of aged bone.

"We are the Sith," the phantoms said as one, their voices a dull, hollow echo that was heard more in the mind than with the ears. "What right have you to stand before us? You, who are insignificant in the might of the Dark Side, and..." A cruel, malicious laugh echoed in the air around them, sending chills up the twins' spines as they grabbed on to their father's robes for comfort and reassurance. "And a bastion of the Light. Are you lost, little souls? Come with us and we shall give you purpose."

"They have purpose already," Obi-Wan said, his voice calm and even as he reached out and grabbed hold of Vehemis and Vitios as they wavered and began stumbling toward the spirits, the contact immediately snapping them out of the daze, and they found their footing as they became furious. "I am Darth Lumis, Lord of the Sith, and you are in my way, spirits."

The spirits drew back, still for a moment before they observed the self-proclaimed Sith Lord, the Force pressing down on the indifferent Lumis, and with a hiss, the ghosts drew further back. "Darth Lumis..." the spirits hissed. "An apprentice no longer, and yet, your Master has not perished."

"Not yet..." Lumis growled, the weight of the Dark Side behind his words making the spirits waver and retreat, the smoke retreating for a moment before it reformed into spectral form. "Out of my way, spirits. I've more right to this place than those who no longer bear the mantle of Lord of the Sith."

"But those that follow you do not," the ghosts hissed, moving closer only to be swiftly repelled when the Sith Lord sneered and walked forward, the others following closely at his side.

"They have the right because I say they do!" Lumis snarled, his hand flicking in the air with marked disgust, the violent push of the Dark Side reducing the spirits to smoke and ash with a bone-chilling scream of hate and anguish, the spectral beings banished by one who had no patience for those beneath him. Sith Lords, dead before mastery. Such beings held no use to Darth Lumis. He was in search of a Master, not the feeble spectral constructs of those unworthy for anything but guarding the Tombs of those greater than themselves. Obi-Wan's pace didn't slow as he strode toward the Academy, taking the long steps up the steps to the Academy's entrance, the massive pyramid guarded by the time-worn statues of the ancient Sith.

It was colder inside the Academy than it was outside, darker, the Dark Side so thick that even the glow of Vitios' and Vehemis' lightsabers almost seemed to be swallowed by it, thin lines of red that cast no light in the overwhelming dark. The stale, dry air stank of smoke and darkness and blood, thousands of years worth of sinister deeds and sacrifice lingering heavy over this place like night that would not and could not end. It was...peaceful, the darkness her undisturbed by the light, the Force so cold its waters froze, leaving nothing behind but ice and stillness and a serenity that Obi-Wan couldn't remember feeling in the light. Even his children and the acolytes were lulled into a state of relaxation, the tension in their shoulders leaving and their rapidly pounding hearts slowing as the serene peace of the Dark Side soothed them.

"Keep your guards up," Obi-Wan whispered, even the softness of his voice seeming loud in the large chamber, the people beside him tensing as their alertness returned, quickly reaching out to grab hold of the Sith Lord. "It's by design that the Dark Side feels so peaceful. It's the fastest way to coax you into lowering your guard so it can get in. After that...it's very difficult to resist." They said nothing, only drew closer to the Sith Lord, but he could feel their mental defenses fortifying, and grasping the Dark Side in his hands, asserting his dominion over the beasts snarling and hungry in the shadows, Obi-Wan led the way deep into the Sith Academy.

"Have you been here before, Father?" Luke asked quietly, trying to sound confident and bold, but his voice was shaking, and Obi-Wan knew that the boy was merely making conversation to distract himself from the unsettling feel of the Academy's corridors as they narrowed around them.

"Once," Obi-Wan said, the echo far less in the smaller hallways. "Not long after I fell, I suppose. Sidious took me here as a reward for surviving my trials on Mygeeto, Kursid and Shira. We didn't come here, exactly, but we explored the Great Temple together. It...strengthened the bond between us, learning about the Sith Lords that preceded us from him."

"You almost sound like you miss him," Leia scoffed, and the Sith Lord slowed his pace, the others bumping into his back with the sudden reduction of his quick stride.

"I suppose there are times I do..." Obi-Wan whispered sadly, a clear twinge of pain and regret in his voice. "For a long time, Sidious was my family. When the Jedi betrayed me, when they discounted me completely, when they threw me away like I was nothing...Darth Sidious was there to ease the pain of my fall. Instead of falling alone, he was there..." Obi-Wan sighed heavily, coming to a stop before the mouth of the hallway as it opened into a vast, cavernous room, a quick, warning tug at the Force cautioning to the others to be still when he felt them shifting restlessly behind him. "And then Sidious threw me away like the Jedi did. For the same man that the Jedi abandoned me for. I warned him I would not suffer betrayal like that again, and for it, he will die. I will accept nothing less." Even though he was certain that the limited lighting prevented the others from seeing as well as him, he gestured to the open chamber before him. "What do you see?"

"Nothing, Father, it is dark," Leia drawled, earning herself a swift hiss of annoyance.

"Not with your eyes, girl, your eyes will deceive you. Use your other senses, use the Force, what do they allow you to see?" Obi-Wan growled, and Vitios gently laid her hand on the Sith's shoulder.

"Spirits, Master..." the Chagrian said softly, her yellow eyes glowing faintly in the dark. "This place is infested with ghosts."

No sooner had she said so did a sudden chill send shivers up their spines, the two women and the twins drawing closer to the unaffected Sith Lord as the sudden feel of oppressive dread filled them. The thick, heavy air came alive with the whispers of ancient voices and the rising and falling cadence of chanting in the language of the Sith, it's undulating tones almost hypnotic, had the melodic voices not periodically been disrupted by screams of agony that echoed off the high ceilings and distant walls of the cavernous chamber. Spectral images passed before them, not the writhing, living shadows of smoke and flames they encountered earlier, but pale figures, translucent and glowing and completely unaware of the living beings in their domain, the wisps and wraiths merely passing by or reenacting the echoes of past horrors committed in these halls, visions of pain and suffering and torture that quietly passed through and vanished like spectres into the night from whence they came.

Luke staggered back with a strangled, horrified cry when a particularly violent spirit passed right through him, pain and hate and rage and suffering tearing through the boy as the cold mist of the specter ghosted over his skin and chilled the very core of him. Breathing deep and heavy, he pressed his hand to the wall behind him to steady himself, only to find the wall to be warm and moist and tacky, and he quickly snatched his hand back to find it smeared with blood. Swallowing hard and striking his lightsaber in his unsoiled hand, he turned to look behind him to find long lines of blood slowly seeping from the walls, and with only a moment's delay, he turned to the side and vomited on the ground.

"W-we shouldn't be here..." Luke gasped, his voice rough and raw, and Leia tightly wrapper her arms around him and soothingly stroked his back. "This is a place of overwhelming evil, why did you bring us here, Father?"

"You're the one who wanted to be a part of this fight," Obi-Wan said quietly, his eyes closed and his breathing deep and even as he reached out to touch the untamed Dark Side around them, the darkness hissing and snarling as if it objected to the unwanted touch. "This fight means fighting against the Dark Side and the Sith Master that controls it. If you do not have knowledge of the depths of the darkness, if you do not know what it is you are facing when you stand against it, you cannot know how to fight it and defend against it. That's ultimately what led to the fall of the Jedi Order. They had spent so long in the light they had forgotten the feel of the dark, and when it came for them, they didn't understand until it was far too late."

"This isn't anything you couldn't have taught me..." Luke muttered as Leia released her hold on him, and through the dark, he could see his Father's glowing eyes turn on him.

"I am a warm and familiar presence to you, Luke. When the Emperor or his minions come for you, you will not feel safe as you do with me. If you do not come to know the feel of true fear, it will grip you when you most need to remain calm and centered." He passed his hand before him, and with a swift gesture, he snapped his hand closed into a fist and rows of flames sprung up from a long line of grates running along the edges of the room to ignite enormous brasiers situated at the far end beside a large archway flanked by grim statues. "More than that, you cannot possibly expect me to torture my own son, can you?" Obi-Wan asked, and Luke bit his lip, his eyes cast to the ground as he shook his head, a smile on his face that he struggled to repress.

"I know this...evil is your legacy, Father," Luke whispered, his nose wrinkling as he wiped the blood on his hand off on his pants. "But none the less, I am glad to have a port in this darkness where I can feel safe."

"Always, my son..." Obi-Wan muttered, laying his hand on Luke's shoulder for a moment before he turned his sights on the hall before them. "Alright, let's get moving."

It was not unlike the Great Hall that once existed within the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, Obi-Wan couldn't help but think as they slowly made their way through the massive room, the rightful dark counterpart to the magnificent splendor that was once the Jedi Order. It seemed somewhat fitting that while the Jedi were dead and gone, their Temple converted into Sidious' Imperial Palace to add further insult to their memories, to fully dominate all that had once stood as a bastian of the light, these ancient Sith Temples still endured, weathering the ravages of the ages just as the Sith themselves. Massive statues of terrifying beasts from a thousand different worlds lined the hall, standing as grim, frightening guardians of the massive halls of the academy, from the dreadful visage of the Terentatek to the ferocious Krayt Dragon, each one more terrible to behold than the next.

With the way the spirits walked freely about the halls, with the eerie echoing of the chanting and screaming and seductive whispers of Ancient Sith, with the beastly visages and the way the light from the flames reflected off walls slicked with blood or something that was distressingly like it, the academy was unsettling at best. The twins clung tightly to their father and had crushing grips on the ignited lightsabers in their hands that they knew would not help them. Even the Dark Siders kept close, hoping that the powerful influence of the Sith Lord would be enough to keep them safe in this place. Only Darth Lumis seemed unaffected by this, his stride long and confident, hie presence unwavering and fearless like he had always belonged there, like he had seen worse, lived worse, and simply couldn't be bothered with ancient horrors.

"Father..." Leia whispered in a shaking voice as one of the spirits drew so close to her she could feel the spiking chill in the air. "It's not safe here. We should leave..."

"Are you having second thoughts about your commitment to learning the ways of the Dark Side?" Obi-Wan asked, peering at the girl out of the corner of his eye with an amused expression on his face. Leia laughed nervously, shivering as she drew even closer to the Sith Lord.

"The Dark Side isn't always like this..." Leia muttered softly. "It's not all...all torture and blood and violence, that's what you've always said. Besides," she said, trying to sound strong and resolute and only managing to sound small, "you don't us it like this."

"Don't I..." Obi-Wan growled, low and dangerous, and the girl's hand on his arm tightened. "Just because you do not see this side of me doesn't mean it doesn't exist. I've done awful things in the name of power, Leia. All this and worse in service to the Dark Side..."

"I-I don't..." Leia began, her voice catching hi her throat as the air was pierced with a tortured scream that seemed to echo high above them. "I-I want to learn, Father..." Leia squeaked, clinging tighter to the Sith Lord. "Even with all this, I want to learn the Dark Side."

"If that is your wish..." Obi-Wan said softly, inclining his head. "When you are ready, and if you fear this place, you are not yet ready to learn the ways of the Sith."

"Is this place not dangerous, Father?" Luke asked, his eyes wandering the room and taking care to keep his sights on the spirits as they materialized. "Are we not right to fear it?"

"There is nothing here to be afraid of," Obi-Wan said firmly. "All that exists here are ghosts, shadows of a time long past. Their time is over. They have no power here beyond the power you give them."

"...n-nothing here can hurt us?" Luke asked, drawing up slightly and relaxing slightly, and around him, he could feel the others do the same. Beside him, the Sith Lord chuckled softly.

"All that was once here is dead, Luke. They cannot harm the living. The dead may speak to us, their words may still influence our actions, but only if we allow it." He glanced down at the children at his side when he felt their hands slide off his arm, the two standing taller, more confident than before, the touch of fear still lingering, but largely banished. "Remember, of all the horrors in this place, we are the most dangerous. These are restless, lingering spirits that bitterly cling to an existence they no longer have. Nothing more."

"Dead and gone..." Leia said softly, her eyes roaming across the room to gaze at the spectral images as they phased in and out of existence, nodding curtly as she drew up and breathed deeply to clear herself of her residual tension. "There's nothing to fear in this place..." she whispered, more to her self than to anyone else.

"Even if the walls are literally bleeding..." Luke muttered, shivering as he looked down at the smear pf blood on his pants.

"A little blood never hurt anyone, Luke," Leia said with a cocky grin on her face, her self-assuredness returned as she drew comfort and strength from the calm ease of the Sith Lord and the two acolytes that followed behind them. "It's probably not even actually blood!"

"That doesn't make this place any less creepy," Luke grumbled. "Let's just get what we came for so we can leave. The sooner we leave, the happier I'll be."

"Father said it's good for you to be here..." Leia teased, her hands on her hips and leaning in toward her disturbed brother, her confident swagger abruptly ending when a spirit passed right through her and sent a cold shiver up her spine. "...on second thought, I wouldn't mind exposure to the Dark Side somewhere less creepy..."

"All the places strongest in the Dark Side are infested with restless spirits," Obi-Wan said as he mounted the steps at the end of the hall, his charges slowly following behind him. "Though it's true that Moraband is worse than most. Conquer your fear of this place, children, and there will be very little that will be able to unbalance you."

The twins nodded, but said nothing else as they followed the Sith Lord up the long staircase toward the massive arching doorway at the top, leading back into a room that was oppressively dark, as if the light from the brasiers that flanked the archway couldn't permeate the inky black beyond the room. It was notably colder on the elevated landing at the top of the stairs, a large, half-circular dias carves with ancient emblems of the Sith that over looked the hall lit by flames and the ethereal glow of the restless spirits. It was eerily beautiful from up here, cold and thick with darkness but nearly serene.

The air shimmered with the lingering regrets and resentments of ancient Sith who bitterly still held on to the realm of the living, too weak to fully manifest, but determined to not be forgotten. With the strength of the Dark Side and the melodic chanting that whispered through the air, it was an ideal spot for meditation, to draw closer to the Force. Even the occasional screams that split the air seemed to fit, to blend in seamlessly with the was the Force ebbed and flowed here. Even the twins, who had been so unsettled before, seemed at ease here, Luke quietly allowing the peace of the place to help him strengthen himself against the dark, while Leia took the opportunity to slowly reach for it.

"Vitios, Vehemis," the Sith Lord said quietly, and the two Dark Siders quickly moved to kneel before him, their heads bowed and lekku lazily swaying in their subservience. "You two wait out here. Guard the way. Commune with the Dark Side. Dig deep, push past your fear. I expect you to learn something from the knowledge these spirits possess."

"As you command, Master," Vehemis said, but beside her, Vitios shifted uncomfortably, the Force straining with her apprehension.

"If we lose ourselves, Master..." the Chagrian asked. "You said the spirits have no power but that which we give them. Suppose they seduce us."

"Then you are not the talent I believed you to be," Lumis said coldly. "I'll give you the courtesy of slaying you quickly." He pointed a warning finger at the nervous woman. "Do not fail me."

"We won't, Master," Vehemis said confidently, kneeling upon the ground and tugging the nervous Vitios to sit beside her. Without another word, Obi-Wan placed his hands on Luke and Leia's backs and gently nudged them forward to step into the darkness of the room beyond.

As they walked deeper inside, engraved writing and symbols in Ancient Sith carved into the walls began to glow deep red, casting the room in a faint, sinister light. And the air grew colder, thicker as the Dark Side became choppy and stormy, stirred to life by the mighty beasts that awakened and stirred deep within the waters. All around them, the shadows seemed to writhe and move and thrash with life, hissing and slithering around them like snakes as they were drawn toward a large, stone sarcophagus at the center of the otherwise bare room. As before when they arrived on the planet, the swirling shadows began to take shape, the haze of darkness lit by flames that sparked deep within them, and Obi-Wan stepped protectively in front of the twins as fiery eyes peered out at him from the depths of the darkness as the smoke and flames twisted and turned to form a tall, armored man, more solid than ethereal as he knew this spirit to be.

"Remember, my children..." Obi-Wan whispered to the twins as they grasped his robes with shaking hands, the frightening armored figure moving closer with long, slow strides, flames leaping from the ground with each heavy step of his armored boots. "No matter the form these specters take, they cannot harm you."

"Are you so certain of that, Lord of the Sith?" the spirit asked in a light, hissing tenor that echoed in their minds as much as in their ears, a fiery lightsaber of smoke and shadows blazing in his hands. The twins ducked behind the unmoving Sith Lord when the spirit raised the blade and brought it arching down upon them, their eyes shut tight and biting back whimpers of fear when the felt biting cold and burning heat as the saber struck through them, and after a moment, the blinked open their eyes to peer around their father at the wrathful spirit, the blade burning uselessly in his hands.

"I am certain," Lumis spat, a sneer of disgust on his face. "I may learn from the past, I may have been wounded from it, but it can no longer inflict new pain upon me. This is not your domain any longer, Darth Bane."

"And for what reason have you come to my tomb, Darth...Lumis?" The spirit drew back and laughed, harsh and hollow, and the twins slowly crept out from behind their father to stand beside him. "Lumis...apprenticed to no Master, and yet, your Master still lives."

"Your Rule of Two is broken," Lumis calmly said, impassive in the face of the taunting and angry spirit. "Sidious broke it long ago when he took both me and another on as apprentices."

"And what happened to the other?" Bane hissed, drawing closer to the Sith Lord and slowly circling him and the nervous children. "Your Sith...brother," the spirit seemed to spit in disgust. "Darth Tyranus."

"I killed him."

"The stronger slew the weaker, you destroyed your competition and proved yourself worthy of the Sith," Bane said slowly, as if explaining it to a child. "My Rule of Two endured, despite your Master's intentions. Or perhaps because of it." The spirit chuckled softly and drew closer, his shadowy hand reaching out to touch the Sith Lord, Lumis remaining impassive and unimpressed as darkness passed right through him and embers went out on the thick dark fabric of his robes. "And yet here you stand while Sidious yet lives to train another."

"I was not strong enough to kill him when I broke away."

"Then it was your right to die," Bane hissed, pointing a long finger at his chest. "You live on time that was never yours to have. Sidious should have killed you, or else his new apprentice should have."

"I fought Vader and won," Lumis growled through clenched teeth. "When he first challenged me for my position as apprentice to Sidious, and once again recently, and both times, he failed to defeat me." Bane's fiery eyes narrowed as he leaned in, his skeletal mask mere inches from Lumis' face as he looked deep inside the fearless Sith Lord, a deep growl reverberating against the armor he wore.

"You allowed your defeated opponent to live?" Bane asked in disbelief. "You left your Master an apprentice that was lesser than you? Unworthy of the Sith for his failure."

"I did."

With a deep, angry hiss, the spirit of Darth Bane sliced his arm through the air in a wrathful gesture of dismissal and floated away from the Sith Lord to hover over his stone tomb. "Greed and corruption plagued the Sith, made us weak, and we were destroyed," Bane snarled, eying Lumis as he drew closer. "I created the Rule of Two in order to guarantee the growth of the Sith, to see us thrive and flourish in power, each one stronger than the next. Your selfish, ignorant actions have ruined this system, have left us weaker than we should be!"

"Did you never once consider that the same ambition and selfishness that led to your creation of the rule would once again plague the Sith?" Lumis asked, running his hand along the smooth, cool surface of Bane's tomb, the spirit hissing and sputtering in rage. "That lust for power goes hand in hand with the adherence to the Dark Side. How could you not have foreseen the possibility that one day, the Master would train an apprentice with no intention of relinquishing his power."

For just a moment, the spirit was still, the flames reducing to embers, the smoke pooling in thick pools of darkness upon the tomb, the armor beginning to fade and become disjointed in the air before them. With a rush of cold wind that seemed to come impossibly from the ground beneath them, the flames were stoked and jumped to life, the darkness swirling to reform the spirit. "You believe your Master to have failed you?" Bane softly growled, and Lumis scoffed, his arms crossed over his chest.

"I know he has. Sidious never taught me everything he knew, he withheld important and valuable knowledge so I could never grow strong enough to rise against him, and he has done this to his new apprentice as well. Sidious never believed in your Rule of Two, he believes in a Rule of One." A cold, bitter sneer marked his lips as he forced a humorless laugh. "Darth Sidious is the culmination of the Sith Imperative, he is the final result of what your Rule of Two sought to achieve. The Jedi are dead, the Force plunged into darkness, and the Sith finally rule. Why should the man that executed our final revenge crave anything other than to rule the galaxy unchallenged?"

"And the Sith are already weaker for such," Bane hissed, his fiery eyes piercing right through the twins at the Sith Lord's side. "When Sidious meets his end, the knowledge he has not passed on will be lost, and the Sith will be diminished yet again."

"Only if we adhere to your principles, and I have always found the failure to adapt and change so very, very Jedi," Lumis said, his voice filled with disgust and contempt he felt for the long dead Order. "Strife leads to ingenuity. We will adapt and evolve, as we always have, and even in this, we shall progress, and we shall grow stronger."

"Which brings you to me, does it not?" Bane asked, curious and amused as he again leaned in toward the Sith Lord. "You come seeking the strength to kill the Master of the Sith."

"I do."

"And for what end?" Bane sneered, once again turning his burning gaze to the twins at Lumis' side. "So that you may train multiple apprentices, such as the ones you have so carelessly allowed to set foot in this sacred place? They are too weak, too young, too steeped in the light," he sneered, reaching for them, only to be stopped by a swift and violent rebuke from Lumis, the man's eyes narrowed in warning as the Force hummed around him like a sharpened weapon held at the ready to banish the spirit from his presence if he so willed it. "They are unworthy of being Sith!"

"They are not my apprentices," Lumis said calmly. "Not yet, in any case, and while I have trained them to hone their skills, not a one of them would ever claim to be Sith. Like you, I know the value of training a singular apprentice. Dividing your attention between two only serves to weaken them both. The Jedi adopted the practice of a singular apprentice as well, and there is good reason for it."

"So what is your end?" Bane snapped, the embers smouldering within the roiling shadows of his body glowing brighter with his anger. "If Sidious is the last of my line, you are the first of a new era of Sith. What shape will the Sith take under your guidance?"

"I will restore balance," Lumis whispered, a wash of relief flooding him when he thought about his long-time goal finally achieved, and the cold bitterness that hardened within him when he remembered that his visions showed he would never achieve it. The Sith spirit was keenly attuned to the changing pulls of the Force and reached out, grasping for Lumis' mind, only to find an impenetrable fortress surrounding his presence and consciousness.

"Too often, the Sith abuse the Force, bending it to their will and fighting against the current until the Force inevitably strikes back against us," Lumis quietly explained. "The Force strives for a balance, and I mean to uphold it. My Sith Empire will work in concert with the Force itself, and by doing so, we shall never again be destroyed because it moves against us."

"Such a thing has never existed," the spirit sneered.

"And before you, it was unthinkable that the Sith should number only two," Lumis shot back. "If we continue to make the same mistakes, we are doomed to fail over and over again."

"If that were true, you would have no use of me, Darth Lumis," Bane said smoothly, slowly beginning to circle the Sith Lord again. "The Force would lead you to the victory you seek, which can only mean your precious Force has abandoned you." The spirit chuckled low and deep when Lumis' jaw tightened and his shoulders tensed, the Dark Side thrashing and howling with rage. "You seek to overcome the fate the Force has set before you. Show me." The spirit reached out his shadowy hand to the Sith, and with a deep breath, Lumis closed his eyes, and opened his mind to the ghost's fierce grasp.

It was just as before. The red haze of the Sith Temple, the dark, shadowed images of Maul and Vader and Sidious, the glowing yellow of their eyes dark, the watchful eye Sidious kept on him at the moment turned away. There he lay on the ground, his body broken, his robes smoking with the effects of Force lightning, his golden eyes dull and vacant, his body living but his mind hopelessly shattered, leaving him as nothing but an empty shell, a powerful husk that Sidious could use for his own purpose. His past and his future were tied in servitude to his old Master, and Lumis felt a stab of pain deep within him to know that the Force was leading him to this, not even the peace of death, but an eternity of slavery for the benefit of Sidious' reign. A swift and sudden flash of hot, searing light exploded behind his eyes, blinding him and burning the vision and the dark hands of Darth Bane from his mind with a howling, wrathful shriek of pain, and everything went black.

Lumis could feel the twins reaching out to him, their soft, gentle presence wrapping protectively around him and drawing him back to their side with a warm, comforting breeze. Slowly, his vision returned to him, shapes emerging from the shadows as his eyes adjusted, the softly glowing embers of the Force spirit distant and faint as the darkness converged around the ghost that had been blasted away and shattered by the sudden burst of light. Kneeling upon the ground, Lumis took a moment to center himself before he rose to his feet, once again shielded and his presence in the Force carefully concealed as he watched a burst of flames and a loud, echoing laugh bring Bane back into being.

"Sidious wields your beloved Force against you, Lumis," the spirit laughed with amusement and sinister glee. "As a true Master of the Sith would, he has bent it to his purpose. The will of the Force doesn't matter in the face of one who would twist its path to suit their own purpose."

"Which is why I am here," Lumis said, drawing up tall and commanding to face the ancient spirit. "I seek the power I need to defeat him."

"A fool's errand," Bane scoffed. "You already have this power, and you already know what you must do to possess it. You have always known."

They were plunged into darkness as a wave of roiling shadows crashed upon them, sharp and nearly overwhelming live a ferocious pack of predators half starved and feral. Lumis could scarcely breathe and couldn't see for the rush of the currents around him, the Dark Side within this place wild and free in the domain of the powerful spirit that dwelled here, over a thousand years of corruption making the Force nearly untamable. Lumis reached out and grasped the Dark Side, the vicious beast snarling and snapping at the touch of the Sith, and he could feel pressure bearing upon him, his blood beginning to heat in his veins with fire that seared his nerves. Pain raced through him, worse than any torrent of Sith lightning Sidious ever exposed him to, but he would not relent, his hands clasped firmly to the thrashing Dark Side as he slowly, carefully wrapped chains around it.

It didn't take long before Lumis secured a firm, commanding hold on the Force, the raging beast snarling and snapping at the cage it was surrounded by, and slowly, he began to grasp tighter, the raging storm of the Force calmed with the biting chill of the Sith's touch. Rage and fury cooled to restless caution, and then to reluctant surrender as the Sith Lord brought the Force under his soothing control, and the pain in Lumis' veins abated when the dragon of the Dark Side rolled over in submission. The whipping winds died down, the crashing waves of darkness settling near the ground in a black, hazy fog, and with a smirk of satisfaction, Lumis drew up proudly for only a moment before dread dropped heavy in the pit of his stomach.

Luke and Leia were gone.

Hollow, amused laughter echoed around him as panic tightly gripped Lumis' chest, and he reeled around to search for the spirit of Darth Bane, the apparition vanished completely from the room, little more than glowing ashes drifting in the air and the ghostly, chilling laugh the only signs that he had been there at all.

"Power comes at a cost, Darth Lumis," Bane's voice echoed, his furiously glowing eyes darting up to look for the origin of the voice, and the harsh grating of hard stone grinding drew his gaze to the far end of the room, dust and debris falling as a hidden door slowly fell away from the archway it was guarding. "You know well the sacrifice required to Master the Dark Side. Come see what it demands of you now."

Lumis vaulted over the sarcophagus and sprinted toward the open doorway, the room beyond flickering with pale, ghostly light as blue flame ignited in torches along the walls leading into the hidden room. His heart was pounding so hard he could feel his chest ache with each rapid beat as the foreign feel of prickling cold on the back of his neck made his hair stand on edge. A persistent feel when he was a child and a Jedi, but as a Lord of the Sith, he could count on one hand the times he had felt what it was like to stand on the edges of fear, and he surely felt it now, the cruel, resounding laughter doing nothing to ease the disturbance he felt in the Force as the Dark Side swelled with predatory hunger at the sight of the Sith hunter wandering dangerously close to becoming prey.

He sprints into the room and comes skidding to a halt nearly the moment he enters, his muscles ridged, his breath held and his eyes wide as he stares at Luke and Leia, the two children he has raised since infancy, restrained to the smooth, black slabs of sacrificial alters by the unyielding pressure of the Dark Side, a circle of ghostly figures in flowing black robes of billowing shadow draped over thin, ethereal forms. Between the alters stood the spirit of Darth Bane, all smoke and blazing flames and darkness making the air, the very Force itself shimmer with power in this cruel place, and Lumis could feel sink within him the memories and the lingering regrets, not of Sith, but of Jedi who had been sacrificed upon these alters to slate the thirst for blood that was demanded of the Sith. Sacrifices that he would have easily made himself, were they not his children held to the alters.

"You have always known the sacrifice you must make to defeat Darth Sidious," Bane said, his echoing voice smooth and amused and so, so cruel, and Lumis found himself rooted to the spot as the spirit drew near. "All your power, all your tremendous gifts have come to you at a heavy price. Your future as a Jedi and the family you treasured, the deaths of your lover, your son, your greatest friend, all for your rightful place among the Sith, all for the depths of the power you have come to know and master. And still you fall short." Bane's ghostly hand lay upon Lumis' shoulder, the wisps of shadow passing through the Sith Lord's flesh as he followed the spirit's extended hand as he pointed at the twins, gasping and whimpering in terror as they futilely struggled against the cold grasp that restrained them to the sacrificial alters. "You seek now the power to destroy Darth Sidious. You know what you must do."

"I can't..." Lumis whispered breathlessly, his eyes fixed on the children but unable to move, and the spirit beside him grinned, the cold hands sinking into the Sith Lord's chest, and Lumis gasped, a shiver running up his spine when he felt long, cold fingers grasp his heart. "Not this, not them..."

"Only them," Bane hissed. "It could only ever be them."

"Anyone else!" Lumis pleaded, swallowing hard and sinking to his knees with a groan as Bane reached inside his head and closed his fist around his mind, his impenetrable defenses beginning to weaken in his desperation.

"Who else but them?" Bane calmly asked, his hands tightening as he scratched at the cracks the straining Sith Lord was beginning to show. "The rebels you have come to call family? The woman you ache to see? What of Mandalore, the home you can never return to? Or the cloned soldier you call brother?" The spirit chuckled deeply, each word like a hammer to the Sith Lord's defenses. "Devastating, yes, and you would morn their loss until your end, but it is not enough. None of your sacrifices have been willing ones, so why should this? Nothing less will allow you to grasp the power you need to alter your fate, nothing less will allow you to become what you have always meant to be."

"My children..." Lumis muttered, closing his eyes and shaking as he felt the spirit enter his mind, felt the Dark Side he commanded strain against the chains that bound it and howl for power, and he struggled to maintain his hold, tightly grabbed hold of the wrist of the hand that had reached for his lightsaber.

"Your children..." Bane hissed in his ear. "Your last ties to the man you once were that you stubbornly cling to. Slay him, Lumis. Slay them and leave your past behind you. They are a burden. A weakness, the one thing standing between you and power beyond your imagination."

"No..." Lumis said softly, his voice trembling under the strain of the Dark Side and the spirit that raked his cold, dead fingers through his mind and memories. "No, my children, the people I have loved, they have never been a weakness..."

"They have only been weakness," Bane snapped, his hands tightening and sending searing pain through Lumis' mind, the tortured sounds of the Sith's screams echoing throughout the sacrificial chamber. "Need I remind you of the fate in store for you? Must I show you where it is your weakness leads?"

The spirit dragged the vision to the front of his mind, the surrounding room swiftly fading away to give way to the glowing red of the Temple, the clear, vibrant visages of Maul and Vader and Sidious standing before him, so different from their shadows of before, so real, and Lumis felt his chest tighten, his skin burn with the lashes of Force lightning, the searing pain of a deep lightsaber strike on his back that made his arms feel heavy and useless. His vision grew hazy, and Lumis found himself fighting for consciousness as it slowly slipped away into the Force, the cackling of Darth Sidious ringing in his ears as he was stopped, trapped by the confines of his own body, helpless to sink into oblivion and forced to watch as his own body became a tool for the Master of the Sith, an instrument of channeling the visions he saw into perfect foresight for the Emperor.

Lumis felt his body slam hard onto the ground, sharply gasping as he drew in a quick breath, the vision that had felt so real gone like it wasn't even there, though the pain the shadows of the future cast upon his body lingered. He tried to struggle to his feet, but quickly gave up when he felt the Dark Side press down against him, forcing the dazed Sith Lord to remain on the ground, his eyes fixed to his struggling and screaming children, though he lacked the strength to do anything about it.

"It can all be avoided," Bane said in his ear as his fingers wriggled deep in his mind. "You can change your fate, it can be altered. You came here seeking strength, Darth Lumis, but it was never something anyone could give you. You must be the one to take it."

Lumis closed his eyes, felt the cold, raw power of the Dark Side roiling and snarling and straining to be released, warming his blood and whispering soft, sweet seductions to tempt him to the power that lay just within reach if only he had the courage to grasp it. When he opened his eyes, he found the strength to rise, his focus singular and his resolve firm, even as the ground seemed to shift and sway beneath his feet, even as everything around him seemed to melt away, leaving only the alters where Luke and Leia were restrained and the cold feel of the thrumming red lightsaber in his hand.

The twins stilled as he drew near, their eyes wide and disbelieving and so frightened as Lumis plunged the blade through Luke's chest, Leia shrieking in heartbroken horror as she felt her twin die, the screams lasting only for a moment before the blade stabbed into her chest as well, the plasma hissing and crackling against blood and bone and stone as the smell of burning flesh drifted through the air. Lumis shuddered when he reached into the Force and felt nothing, none of the warmth of the presence he fought so hard to protect, the agonized screams of Obi-Wan Kenobi ringing in his ears as the stubborn vestiges of the Jedi and the good man he once was finally and violently died, the power coursing through him as it had never before, and Darth Lumis felt free.

Things moved quickly then, the academy of Moraband fading into the Imperial Palace on Coruscant, the dark, ancient halls of the Jedi now corrupted by the touch of the Sith, though none of it moved Lumis as he slowly walked through the mighty halls toward where Darth Maul stood waiting, nervous and twitching and locked in a battle with himself before the two Sith had even begun to fight. It was over quickly, the Zabrak's mind shattered with a wave of his hand, and Lumis stepped over the body as if it was nothing. Vader fell next, the final guard before the Emperor's throne room, the man pure hate and rage that had only grown over time, far stronger than he had been the last time they fought, but in the end, Lumis slew him anyway, sustaining a long, deep scar that crossed the blackened one on his chest, but he felt nothing. He was beyond pain, the sensation quickly converted into power which only made him stronger.

He was ready for Sidious this time, his first meeting with his former Master since before the Jedi fell, since before he had called himself Emperor and cut Lumis out of his rightful place within the new galactic order. And Sidious had grown old, complacent in his uncontested rule, assured of his victory because of the vision that no longer bound Lumis, unbeknownst to him. The fight was long, fierce enough to wound the Force, tearing at the very fabric of it with the violence of the powers that strained the air, but Lumis was young and strong, and while Sidious fought hard to maintain the Empire he had toiled to create, Lumis fought like a man with nothing left to lose and nothing left to fear, and even Sidious fell before him.

The rest were flashes, moments stolen from the future that could be. Visions of Kanan Jarrus daring to stand against him as he stood defensive over the bodies of Zeb, Sabine and beloved Hera, of Ezra struggling with his own darkness and ultimately failing to control it in the presence of the Sith Master, of the conflicted teenager driving his green saber through Kanan's heart when the Jedi couldn't bear to raise his blade against the boy he loved. He saw his Mandalorian younglings, the Jedi saved from the Temple so very long ago twisted and corrupted by the Dark Side, their bodies physically altered at the behest of Darth Lumis to become the dangerous army of Sithspawn that enforced the new Emperor's iron will. The rebel fleet was crushed, sought out and defeated by the armies of the Sith who knew exactly where to find each and every rebel base. Even brave, stalwart Ahsoka Tano, the final bastion of light in the galaxy, fell before him, struck down and destroyed when she had refused to join him.

And above it all sat Darth Lumis, the gold of his eyes gone forever to a tide of glowing blood red, high upon a mountain of the dead on throne of darkness, one with the victorious Dark Side as he watched entire planets burn and felt nothing.

The present slowly pieced itself together around him, the cold blue flames, the robed, chanting spirits, the blazing form of Darth Bane, the sacrificial alters laid out before him, and Lumis swayed on unsteady feet as he pushed through the haze in his mind, his hand tightening around the thrumming saber in his hand. His focus sharpened, and he found himself staring at the faces of Luke and Leia, still in their fear, their restrained hands trembling, their eyes wide as tears slipped down their cheeks to splatter on the black stone of the alters, and he felt his heart harden as distasteful resolve settled heavy in his gut.

"Rid yourself of weakness, Darth Lumis," Bane said, soft and smooth. "You know what you must do."

"There was never really a choice for me, was there?" Lumis asked softly, the blade clutched tightly in his hand as he saw his future before him. "I have always known what I must do, always..." A vicious snarl curled his lips, his golden eyes blazing with furious rage, his hand extended out before him. "Get away from my children!"

The Dark Side roared in fury as it obeyed the call of the Sith Lord, rushing to his command and raging around the nexus like a cyclone, the whipping winds tearing the living darkness of the spirits to pieces and throwing Darth Bane out of his mind as his iron defenses snapped shut around him, the ghost screaming in rage as the Sith Lord banished him from the realm of the living. The ancient Lord clawed at the ground, flames and embers showering from his body as it was pulled apart, the smoke dissipating and the shadows melting back into the darkness, the echoing, wrathful howls fading until there was nothing but still silence and the cold peace of the Dark Side, neither oppressive nor overbearing as it had been before, the flames burning on the torches upon the wall in soft, warm reds and oranges and yellows unlike the ghostly blue pallor of before.

Dropping his saber upon the ground, the blade deactivating with a hiss, Obi-Wan scooped the twins up into his arms, and with his back against the alter, slid to the ground, the twins tightly clinging to him and sobbing openly into the soft black robes over his chest. Calming his own pounding heart, he held them close, the Dark Side wrapping protectively around them, and he could feel them in the Force reach out with their own warms hands and permeate deep within him, loving and infinitely grateful and comforting him despite their own distress.

"W-we saw everything, Father," Luke said between choked sobs. "I-I thought..." He stopped, pressing his face against the Sith Lord's shoulder. "I felt your struggle, I saw..." Luke shook his head and gripped tighter to his Father. "I knew you would never hurt us...I knew it, even in all this darkness there is light in you..."

"You could have had it all..." Leia said blankly, her voice confused and distant. "The solution to your problems, you could have changed your fate, ended the rebellion before it began..."

"None of that, none of it is worth a thing without you two..." Obi-Wan muttered, gently kissing both their foreheads. "I swore to protect you. With my dying breath, I will protect you..."

"Master!" Obi-Wan's eyes flicked up to see Vitios and Vehemis sprinting toward him, panicked and out of breath, and he tightly held the twins closer. "Master, we heard screaming, is everything alright?" the Chagrian asked, quickly kneeling beside the Sith and his family while the Twi'lek stood before them and surveyed the area, her saber ignited and clutched tightly in her hands.

"We got here as soon as we could, but we couldn't cut our way through," Vehemis said through grit teeth.

"I told you, your sabers will be of little use to you here..." Obi-Wan said, pulling the twins up with him as he stood and carefully smoothing back their disheveled hair, a faint smile on his lips as the sniffling children tried and failed to wave away their fussing parent. "Is anything out there?"

"No, Master," Vitios quickly dismissed. "Even the spirits are gone. We came running because of you, not because of anything happening out here."

"There were...embers on the tomb back there," Vehemis said, her brow drawing together and her lekku squirming in agitation. "Burned trails on the ground and scorch marks upon the walls. We thought perhaps something had been there, but when we looked again..." She shrugged. "It was nothing but ash."

"Sounds like nothing," the Sith Lord said, the slightest hint of amusement in his voice that his acolytes didn't understand. "Or at the very least, something that had gone out long ago."

"That is what we sought to find here, was it not?" Vitios asked, and the Sith Lord fell silent, his hands resting on Luke and Leia's shoulders as he gently nudged them toward the way out.

"...I suppose it was."

"Did you find what you were looking for?" Vehemis asked as she fell in behind the Sith, and Obi-Wan took a long, deep breath.

"I did not..." he said softly, his voice distant as he gazed at the ground. "I found something else, though. Not the thing I wanted, but what I needed."

"...and what's that?" Vehemis asked, looking to Vitios for answers, but the Chagrian simply shrugged.

"Resolve..." Obi-Wan whispered, his hands tightening on the twins' shoulders. "I'm sick of this place," he growled, his stride lengthening in his haste to leave. "Let's not waste another moment here." They quickly followed, the Twi'lek and the Chagrian reporting to the Sith about what they had learned from the spirits, and as Obi-Wan closed his eyes, all he could see was the vision of his defeat and the echo of Sidious' laughter ringing in his ears. If that was what it took to protect Luke and Leia, if that was the sacrifice the Force demanded for their safety, he would gladly pay the price, and he took comfort in that, for once, it was a sacrifice he chose to make.