Disclaimer: I still don't speak Scots Gaelic nor Irish Gaeilge aside from a few words ( I do know slightly more Gaeilge though), so if my translations are wrong then blame Google Translate, not me. I also don't own any character that is not my own creation, obviously. Wish I did though. Could use the kind of money Star Wars rakes in. At this point I'm just too lazy to get rid of this disclaimer so it's staying despite getting my point across by now.

Caibideil 21

A/N: Alright, this went different to how I was expecting, but that's just my writing style I suppose: come up with an idea and let the story tell itself. I plan on writing a sequel soon after this set after a fifteen- or sixteen-year time jump, although with university starting back, I may only be able to update that once per week, which will mean (probably) fewer embarrassing typos. I expect to finish this story in a few more chapters. Enjoy.

Teth. It had been a long time since he had been here. Anakin looked at the ancient monastery, still littered with the rusted remains of droids left here from the last time he was here, when he first found the Twilight which Obi-Wan recently wrecked. He was still miffed about that one. He looked down at his infant children, Leia and Jinn, with Padmé's permission he would see to it they were trained as Jedi knights. Surrounding him were the thousands of Jedi who were beginning to move in just as he was, with the occasional padawan stopping to coo at the little babies in their carriers. Angus bounded past him to eat a bush with Aayla chasing after him, leash in hand, while Kit nearly fell over from her sudden lack of presence to aid in carrying the heavy crate. Nearly, he managed to catch himself and the box with the Force. What really made things unusual was that Jedi who had retained secret families up to that point brought their wives, husbands, and kids with them. Padmé would be coming with him after the election, making sure she was not on the ballot and retiring from political life.

Barriss sprinted towards him, Riyo's hand firmly gripped in hers, "Master Skywalker!"

"Barriss, we really doing formalities right now?"

"Sorry," she chuckled, "force of habit." Whatever she ran for was instantly forgotten the second she saw the twins, "Aww! Who are you widdwe guy?" she asked, tickling Jinn's tummy, earning a smile. "You're just so cute! Yes you are! Yes you are!"

"Barriss," Anakin interrupted, smiling as yet another person commented on how adorable his kids were.

"Hmm? Oh! Right, sorry. Are you sure there's going to be enough space for everyone here? Especially with so many Jedi bringing their families."

"Or starting them," Ahsoka interjected, rubbing her belly as she was starting to show.

"If not, then a new Order won't be the only thing we'll be building," Anakin supposed, "I wonder how much of these droid parts are still useable…"

"Anakin, no!" Ahsoka barked, but he was already gone, off to harvest droid bits for his endless projects.

"Oh, what mechanical monstrosities will he build this time?" Riyo asked.

"Whatever he has planned, hopefully it works out better than the racist pit droid." Ahsoka answered

"I'm sorry what?" Barriss asked.

"He screwed up the programming because he was doing it at 0300. It was supposed to be a racing pit droid." She sighed at the memory, "I didn't even know half the slurs that thing started screaming at me before Im scrapped it."

Riyo's commlink started beeping, which she promptly answered, hoping that no Senator would bother her during her vacation. It was Jedi Master Luminara Unduli, sitting against a wall. "Master Unduli!" she exclaimed.

"Senator Chuchi, I've been trying to reach Barriss all day, it's 2200, and it doesn't appear that you're at home."

"We're actually on Teth, Master," Barriss answered, "and my commlink is, erm, broken."

"Teth?" Luminara stated in realization, eye twitching ever so slightly.

"Yes, the Reformists are starting our own temple here."

"Right… I'll… figure out… how to… get to… Teth… then…" yep, she was homeless.

"Did you not get the message we sent out?" Obi-Wan asked as he overheard the conversation.

"Afraid not, I wasn't actually part of your faction officially."

"Then why are you trying to get here?"

"Windu is purging the Order of anyone who might have ties to you. Barriss was my tie."

"I'm so sorry. If you want, I can come pick you up. I should be able to get there in a few days."

"I would be greatly appreciative!" Luminara replied, perhaps a bit too eagerly. Stupid, she was a Jedi Master! She should be better at controlling herself than some hormonal padawan! Still, a few days alone with Kenobi… she grinned at the idea.

"I'll leave as soon as possible," Obi-Wan told her, walking off to finish his business and do just that.

Barriss smirked knowingly, "Master?"

"Yes?"

"Do you have a crush on Master Kenobi? "

"What?! Barriss! No!"

"Mmhmm," Barriss replied, shaking her head and giggling. "Just try not to be too forward with him on the trip here, and I'll give you some romance tips." She winked at her closing statement.

"Barriss."

"Say, don't you still owe him dinner because of that 'Is Barriss a lesbian' bet?"

"Regardless," Luminara interrupted, blushing furiously and trying to avoid being embarrassed further, "I don't exactly have anywhere to go for the time being and I don't fancy sleeping on a bench to be robbed or assaulted by a death stick addict."

"Keycard is under the potted plant. Feel free to wear some of my pajamas for now, bottom left drawer."

"Thank you."

"Just put the keycard back and have the clothes you wore washed when you leave."

"Of course."

Barriss closed the call and afterwards she, Ahsoka, and Riyo began laughing. "How badly do you think she'll screw up when Master Kenobi picks her up?" Barriss asked.

"I don't know," Ahsoka coyly retorted, "she might be screwed in a different way."

"Ahsoka!" Riyo exclaimed, smacking her arm playfully.

"What?" Ahsoka answered, equally playful, "She's obviously hoping so."

"Speaking of which," Barriss remarked, "how's the baby?"

"Well I haven't barfed in a week so, there's that."

"Yay! Any ideas on a due date? Names?"

"Not yet. Sometime in the summer maybe… Lux is hoping for his mother's birthday. If it's a girl we'll name her either Mina or Ashli, haven't pick a boy's name yet. How're things with your new Padawan? I haven't seen him since I took his clan out to gather their kyber crystals."

"We're making progress," Barriss answered, looking around for said Padawan, "Speaking of Petro where is he? Dammit, I lost him again. Master Unduli will never let me hear the end of it if I can't keep track of my own student."

Inverness had paid dearly for the destruction of her home, her family. Gràinne stood at the steps of the castle as Count Dooku approached her, kneeling when he came near. "Master, the city is ours."

"You have done well Apprentice. This is only the beginning of our new order."

"Master?"

"The age of the Rule of Two has passed. It is time for a new Brotherhood of Darkness to rise from its ashes. I have sensed that there was a Frasier noble you did not kill."

"An infant, yes."

"Do you discriminate your hatred?"

"No Master, I sensed he would one day prove useful to us."

"Excellent. I have another mission for you."

"What do you wish Master?"

"There is a cult hidden away in the lowlands; they call themselves 'Waldensians.'"

"I have heard rumors of them, branded heretics by Rome and chased by the Inquisition for years."

"Their priest is a master of deception and trickery. Your mission is to kill him and take over his cult. They shall be most useful in our endeavors."

"It shall be as you wish, my Master."

"I expect nothing less from you Serpeness," he handed her a holoprojector, "These are the coordinates for the cult's last rumored location. Go, while I inspect my new castle."

Serpeness stood and faithfully went about her orders, the townsfolk parting as she walked past, not in hatred or revulsion like so many before, but fear. As she waited for Dooku to arrive in Inverness she had commissioned some armor for herself, full plate. It would be worthless against a lightsaber but it would more than serve its purpose in blocking any arrows or swords that slipped past her guard. She entered the blacksmith's shop and stood at the doorframe, crossing her arms in anticipation.

The terrified blacksmith's apprentice stumbled out and kneeled before her, "Milady! We were just finishing your armor. As soon as the metal cools, it will be brought to you!" he said in Gaelic.

"See to it that you do. I'm a very busy woman and I don't like to be kept waiting."

After an hour of having a Sith haunting his shop, the blacksmith brought out her armor, made to her exact specifications. The helmet alone was a sight to behold, perfectly fitting every curve of her face, lekku, and montrals as he had taken a mold of her head. Slipping it on, she felt the freshly cooled metal touch her skin, still ever so slightly warm from the fires of the forge. The pieces around her lekku were scaled so as to allow her freedom of movement while wearing it, her faceplate a solid piece with space for her to move her mouth to speak, holes for her nostrils to aid her breathing, and obviously a slot for her eyes. The blacksmith bowed and said, "I hope that you like it milady."

"It is… satisfactory. Nothing compared to my father's work, but it will do as an acceptable replacement," Serpeness answered. She paused for a moment and asked, "Tell me, did you make the weapons for your former lord's armies?"

"Some of them, yes."

Gràinne nodded and held out her hand as she put on the gauntlets, which unlike most plate armor gauntlets left her fingertips exposed. "Excellent. Die." With that she unleashed a torrent of electricity into the terrified blacksmith, his screams of pain and terror echoed through the workshop and into the street. The blacksmith's apprentice tried to run, but Serpeness choked him with the Force, lifting him off the ground. She ignited her darksaber and pulled him towards her, impaling him on her blade. After she finished dressing herself in her new armor, she left the shop towards the shuttle.

In a Dublin Port, Séamus wiped the sweat from his brow, calling to his shipmates, "Oi! Ye feckers miss me?"

"Séamus?!" one called back in return, "I knew I couldn't miss that giant frame o' yours! How's the craic? And where ye been?!"

"Ye wouldn't believe me if I told ye."

"Oi! Did ye hear about what's goin' on in Scotia?"

"Nay?"

"Some horned witch's taken over Inverness. Sounded a lot like that changeling girl o' yours."

"Gràinne? I thought she was dead!"

"What made ye think that?"

"Nevermind! I got to get to Scotland!"

Luminara was exhausted and was beyond happy to take a shower in Riyo and Barriss's apartment. She was certain that the Senator wouldn't miss a bit of her berry-scented shampoo, soap, conditioner. "Hmm," she thought aloud as she wrapped herself in a towel and rubbed the lotion into her skin, "Well, she certainly knows her skincare." She sat on the edge of their bed, making sure she was dry before she did so and laying the towel in the hamper. It was soft, ridiculously so. She preferred something a tad firmer than "sinking into the void to never been seen again," but that was hardly her call to make. Standing she went over to Barriss's dresser. " I think she said bottom… right drawer?" she said as she pulled it out to reveal a lot of her former student's more, revealing, nightwear and a few other… trinkets. Blushing madly, she slammed the drawer shut, "Not that one."

Serpeness met with her contacts, former Waldensians, in a Lothian tavern. She knew them when they waved her over, a man and a woman. Sitting at their table, cloak totally enveloping her helm leaving only her glowing yellow eyes to be viewed, she hissed in Gaelic, "The priest, tell me what you know."

"He teaches apostolic poverty, but he just lines his own pockets with 'donations' he extorts out of cultists. He's abused the women of his congregation and condemns them to Hell if they say anything. He's even left orphans to starve while he himself feasts. He's even worse than the Rome's thugs, abusing the poor and downtrodden, giving them hope only to tear it away. They can't even do anything about it with the Inquisition after them, even if they reveal his identity, the Inquisitors will burn them for apostasy. The priest, James, he's gotten the entire system wrapped around his finger."

"I see…" Gràinne replied, her hatred growing with every word. "And how do I find him?"

"He daylights as a textile merchant but spends the night in a cave. That's where the cult is based."

"You're giving me all of this information seemingly freely. What is it you want?"

"To see James dead," the woman replied.

"I sense there is something more."

The man looked around before leaning closer, "To lead the cult."

"in my name," Serpeness clarified, narrowing her eyes. As much as she wanted to kill this James for justice alone, she still had her mission.

"Of course. Get the Waldensian cultists on your side, kill James, and we will happily be your mouthpieces."

"Excellent. Let's get going then," Serpeness declared as she stood, only to be bumped into by a drunk, fat man. His entire body reeked of blood, a butcher most likely, or a mercenary. "Get out of my way," she ordered.

"Oi? And what's some woman think she is trying to order about a man? Eh? Not even good looking if ye cover yer face like that!"

"Last chance."

The large man, at least a foot taller than her loomed over her, "Or what lass?"

"Or this," she said, gripping his heart with the Force, forcing it to stop beating. The man grabbed his chest and tried to yell for help until Serpeness choked him too. Other patrons looked on in panic, to cover herself she simply yelled, "This man is choking! Please somebody help!" With that she crushed his heart and he fell over, dead. The barkeep had to get four of the strongest men in the room to carry the corpse's hulking mass out back. None suspected a thing but that the poor bastard choked on a chicken bone. Serpeness walked out the door, calm as could be while her contacts looked at one another nervously. Were they exchanging one cruel master for another? A wicked priest for a witch?

Once outside and away from prying ears, she asked, "The cult, how many are they?"

"A few hundred."

"Hmm. Well it's a start."

"Milady?"

"I have larger ambitions, that is all you need to know. Now, how do I go about winning the hearts of the cultists? What has James promised them?"

"Freedom from Catholic tyranny. A key to Heaven. Priestly humility."

"I can deliver at least two of those things, provided you don't let your power go to your heads… otherwise," she pointed at them, "I'll have yours."

"That won't be a problem milady," the man reassured her.

"For now, what should we do until Sunday evening?"

"There have been robber barons terrorizing travelers, even on feast days; take them out and there's a good chance you'll save a good number of their lives."

"With pleasure." Oh she would have fun with this, she would.