Max hurtled through inky blackness, spinning wildly in the air. As chaotic as her circumstances were, Max was easily able to sense her imminent death, splattering on the cavern floor, and applied a Force push beneath herself at the last second. She hovered in place for a moment, before gently landing.

The cavern was dark, and when one was friends with a Diathim, darkness became synonymous with solitude. Max instantly noticed that the cavern wasn't illuminated by Rachel's angelic aura.

"Rachel? Chloe?" She called out. "Anyone?"

No one replied, at least, no people did…. The words had barely passed Max's lips, when the cavern was dully lit by light blue crystals, imbedded in the cavern walls, every couple of feet. The cavern might have been massive once, but now it was just a tall, shallow dome, since most of it was filled by the Sarlacc's pulsating abdomen. Max could feel the heat radiating from the beast.

None of the crystals in the wall were Max's, at least, she didn't think they were. The Jedi masters had often assured Max that she would have no more trouble recognising her crystal, than she would her own hand, while it was still attached to her wrist. It was hardly as though it would be that easy, anyway. The crystal would likely be somewhere hard to get to, and somehow symbolic of Max's journey to knighthood. Of course, that made Max wonder if the crystals in the mouth of the cave were fit for any padawan. Perhaps padawans who needed to learn not to overthink things?

Hoping her friends were alright, elsewhere in the cavern, Max embarked down a narrow tunnel, leading away from the Sarlacc. The spaced-out crystals continued to light her way. The caverns twisted and snaked, and were often blocked by the Sarlacc's widespread roots. Max tried to remember her route through the labyrinth. Left, Right, Right, Down, Left, Middle, Down, Left. Her brain hurting, she stopped, realising that if she went any deeper, she wouldn't remember the way back out, even her future vision would only help her so much.

Max took a deep breath and reluctantly cleared her mind, wiping away the crude map she'd been drawing in it. "Trust in the Force, Max…" She told herself.

Heading onwards with a somewhat lighter heart, Max envisioned her lightsaber, her weapon. She frowned. Max was excited to reach this important milestone in her Jedi training, but unlike Chloe, she wasn't that enthusiastic to own a lightsaber. Jedi were keepers of the peace, and that was an ideology she was proud to be a part of, but with all her powers, she wasn't sure she wanted or needed a deadly weapon to help her achieve that peace.

As if the universe sought to contradict Max out of spite (which, thanks to her training, Max knew was entirely possible), something monstrous was approaching, from the direction she had come. Sensing the Force within the lifeform, combined with the impending danger, Max span around, to see a series of lights, dancing erratically towards her, among the stationary glow of the crystals. As it drew closer, Max realised it was an arachnid the size of a speeder, with menacing horns, and luminous blue streaks, along its legs.

Crying out in alarm, Max turned her tail and fled. Hearing the monster's eight feet rapidly stomping after her, Max mentally raced through her Jedi teachings, scouring her mind for something useful. What would master Yoda do? Right now, for example, Max was terrified, and Master Yoda had often lectured her and her fellow padawans on fear.

"Reject fear, you must." He had once told them. "Negative emotions- the path to the dark side, they are. Your fears, you must face."

Face the giant spider? That was easy for him to say. He had a lightsaber and the agility of a pinball. Max had chronic anxiety and the power of premonition, which, with minimal concentration, confirmed that Max would be eaten instantly if she attempted to stare this monster down.

Lost in thought, as she was, Max didn't notice the tunnel veer downwards until her foot sank through thin air, and she fell. Again, she plummeted through the darkness, spinning head over heels, as the tunnel widened into another cavernous chamber, and again, Max spared herself a gravity-induced death with a downwards Force push. This time, though, Max was distracted by the pursuing beast, and still hit the ground hard, painfully bruising her shoulder.

Rolling over onto her back, Max screamed at the sight of the spider dropping towards her, its legs outstretched, ready to pin her to the cavern floor, ready for consumption. Before it landed though, the cavern was illuminated by a dazzling, blue bolt of lightning, which blasted the spider clear of the young padawan. It hit the floor, where it quickly climbed to its feet. Its expression, combined with an angry snarl, expressed its intention to pounce again, before a second bolt of lightning sent it promptly scurrying away, down another twisting tunnel.

Max scrambled up to her hands and knees, and turned to face the source of the lightning. She froze instantly, staring in disbelief at what she saw. Max wasn't alone in the chamber. Lit by the crystals' dull glow, stood a young woman of around eighteen years. Her straight brown hair, was cut neatly, stopping just shy of her shoulders, her eyes were framed by a faint row of freckles, she wore a casual and impractical shirt and trousers, that almost made her look like a smuggler, but despite this, blue arcs of electricity danced over her right hand, revealing her to be the Force lightning (and by extension dark side) user, who had just saved her. Max barely registered any of this though, far more interested in the curious fact that the newcomer… was Max.

"Hey kiddo." The older Max greeted softly, stepping towards her.

Young Max quickly climbed to her feet, and stepped back, sizing her doppelganger up, before replying. "I've heard of this…" She said. "In places where the Force is this strong, Jedi can have glimpses of their futures."

"Well, one of their futures." Adult Max elaborated. "You understand that better than most."

"So… are we supposed to fight, or something?" Max asked, nervously. In most of the stories she'd read, Jedi faced their darkest selves, the version of them that turned to the dark side and became a Sith. The two would often then fight for superiority.

"Well, neither of us have a weapon, and I'm not really one for fist fights." Adult Max replied, coolly. She walked past Max, in the direction the spider had run. "Come on, walk with me."

Young Max hesitantly fell into step with her older self, the top of her head just barely reached the taller Max's elbow.

"Are you… a Sith Lord?" She nervously asked.

"I think the girl Sith are called Sith Ladies." Adult Max corrected. "Not that you'd know. Could that religion be more of a sausage fest?" She smirked and rolled her eyes, then noticed her child self, looking up at her, curiously. "No, I'm not…"

"But you used Force Lightning…"

"Yeah, I guess I did…"

The unusual pair came across another vertical tunnel. Young Max frowned, nervous about her ability to walk away from another fall, with the arm she'd fallen on, last time, still throbbing angrily.

"I got ya, kid." Older Max said, noticing her trepidation.

Before Young Max could protest, her adult self wrapped an arm around her waist, hoisted her off her feet, and leapt down the tunnel. Even encumbered, the older Max gracefully darted between the walls of the tunnel, then leapt across the tips of stalagmites, as it levelled out, with little regard for gravity. Young Max was surprised. She'd never imagined she would have so much confidence, least of all in her Force powers. She was almost in adoration of her older self, but she was still waiting for the ominous twist, in which Old Max tried to murder her, or turn her to the Dark Side.

"So, if you're not a Sith… does that mean you're a Jedi?" Young Max asked, uncertainly, after she was let down. Her older self wasn't dressed like a Jedi, plus she had no lightsaber, and wielded the powers of the Dark Side.

"Come on kid… really?" Old Max said, with a condescending smile. She grabbed the top of Max's head and gently shook it, before Max pushed her away. "I know you've still got the Jedi brainwashing rattling around in there, but you already know that there's more to the Force than the Sith and the Jedi. Your Felucian friends up there, for example."

"I'm not brainwashed…" Max said, defensively.

"I love ya, squirt, but yes you are. Why do you think the Jedi take people away from their parents as babies? Why not just open their doors to anyone who wants to worship the will of the Force? You know, like almost any other religion?"

"It takes a lifetime of training to… properly master…" Young Max trailed off, under her older self's withering stare. She knew full well, that, in the rare cases of older children, or even adults joining the order, rudimentary Force powers could be achieved in as soon as a few short months. "Okay, enlighten me… What have I been brainwashed to believe?"

"That the Jedi are the natural and 'good' will of the Force, personified. That the Jedi are peacekeepers who care about others. That the Jedi wouldn't burn the lower levels of Coruscant to the ground, sooner than get a senator's robe dirty. Listen Max, I don't expect you to walk out of here and run for the stars, and forge your own path, like I did, but take some wisdom from this cave, along with your Kyber crystal, okay? The Jedi. Are. Selfish."

They walked in silence for a few moments, as Old Max's words rang in Young Max's ears. Young Max remembered all the times she'd had doubts about the Jedi. Each time Chloe was punished for expressing herself, Max had shared a part of her friend's resentment. Then there was the fact that one could barely take ten steps from their glittering palace of a temple, without passing a homeless person.

"I still don't understand what you are, if you're not a Jedi, or a Sith." Max eventually said.

"You still don't get it…" Older Max sighed. She placed a hand on her younger self's shoulder, prompting her to stop, before sitting down, cross-legged, on the tunnel floor. Young Max copied, facing her. "What you can feel in this place- The Force within the Sarlacc and your friends, and in this beautiful planet, that's real. The Light Side and the Dark Side, that's real. Your Kyber crystal, and the way it strengthens your connection to the Force, that's real too. But the Jedi, their temples, and lightsabers, and rules? That's just people, imposing their will on others, forcing other people to fall in line or be cast out, enforcing totalitarianism and calling it peace. Everyone is connected to the Force, and anyone can wield its powers."

"If my crystal is something 'real' that I should have, then why don't you have it?" Max challenged. "You said you don't have a lightsaber."

Older Max dropped her hand into one of her shirt pockets, held it in front of Max, and opened her fingers. A tiny, blue crystal floated above her palm.

"A lightsaber is good for blocking blaster bolts and killing people, and you don't need a saber to block blaster bolts. It's the weapon of an enforcer. You wanted to know what I am, Max?"

Young Max nodded.

"I'm a photographer."

That wasn't anything like what Max was expecting, but of course, it was true. The Jedi had been nothing but a hinderance in Max's artistic expression. She'd spent her life, sneaking around behind her masters' backs, to take and archive photographs. Her two lives clashed with each other, she'd always worried that one would eventually give, and as little as she liked to admit it, photography seemed like the most likely candidate.

While Young Max frowned sadly, at the thought, her older self reached into a bulky pouch, strapped to her hip, and produced a strange device. It was a cube, made up of crudely forged together components, not all of which were covered by its erratically placed casing. Protruding from it, was a large, circular lens. Old Max extended a cylindrical component from the top of the device, which Young Max recognised as a lightsaber focusing chamber, and inserted the crystal.

Old Max shuffled across the dirt and sat next to Young Max, and threw her arm over her shoulder, which young Max didn't particularly mind. Then, Old Max pointed the device's lens at the two of them and pressed a button on top, producing a bright flash. When Max finished blinking the spots out of her eyes, she was astonished to see the image the device had captured, floated above her older self's palm, outlined by blue flames.

Old Max closed her hand, and the image vanished, and with her other hand, she placed her Kyber crystal in Max's. "The Force is whatever you make of it, Mini Me."

Max looked at the crystal in confusion. "Isn't giving me this, a paradox?"

"It would be, if I were really here…"

Max looked down at the crystal in her hand, then back up at the empty tunnel. She sighed again, climbed to her feet, and began looking for a way back to the surface.