Chapter 44
Year 7 Month 0 Day 0
After the complete destruction of Salem's inner circle, the coalition forces have finally made it to the throne room of Salem. Karel was the first to enter.
Karel ran in front of everyone, the first to enter the throne room of Salem. She was sitting there, calmly sitting in her throne waiting for someone to enter. She threw her cup of wine and began to intimidate Karel.
"Jacques Schnee is dead jedi, as you soon shall be. It was foolish of you to enter my throne room without anyone to help you. Pride in unbefitting of a Jedi." Salem said.
"You don't scare me Salem." Karel said.
"I don't? I guess the mighty Karel Allusis, commander of the 122nd legion of the alliance, mighty Jedi master, and council member, does not scare easily." Salem said. "Titles mean nothing to me. I could tell you all the titles I have been given but by the time I'd end, my creations would destroy the whole world." Salem said with a smile.
Karel held out his lightsaber, in a stance ready to attack Salem at a moment's notice.
"We've been under your thumb for too long Salem. This war ends today." Karel said.
"Karel Allusis, the Jedi, the Commander, the master, and most importantly, the fool. How do you think I will be defeated? I Salem, Am master of all forms of lightsaber combat. I have the relics of creation and knowledge. What can you possibly do? What timeline is there where you can possibly win? You think far too highly of yourself. But I haven't had a fight in so long. This will be fun." Salem turned on the black blade and rushed at Karel. Her speed was blinding, and the power behind the hit created ripples. The walls burst and the roof was destroyed in only one hit, Karel was nearly thrown aside from the single hit. He felt the pressure from the hit, and he saw Salem's wicked smile. She licked her lips and brought her other hand up. She went to slash Karel, but it was blocked by a green blade. The shards of the throne room were stopped in the air at that moment. Karel saw the dark lady look at the green lightsaber, then at its wielder.
"Karel, you shouldn't have come alone." Master Roni said.
"I knew you'd follow me." Karel said.
"Just another Jedi who came to die. Roni, your strategies were so predictable. You were so boring as the strategist of the Alliance." Salem said.
"The force is our guide witch." Roni said.
"Witch? I guess so." She brought her hands up and the broken parts of the wall floated up in the air. She brought her hands down. Karel and Roni raised their hands. Vuren, Vox, and Soule rushed up next, and held their lightsabers out. Salem rose her hands and the ground began to shake. She rose in the air, and large slabs of earth rose expanding the throne room out for miles. She rose her hand again and made the terrain rugged.
"The final battlefield of the war shall be here. This ancient land where Bogan created Sith Magics, Sith Alchemy, and all Grimm!" Salem brought her hands down at the force users.
"I will burn this world down and recreate it in my image." Salem said. Fire came from her fingers that covered most of the throne room. The force users all had to use the force to block the fire from consuming them. Karel felt the power of Salem fall upon them when she sent out a force push. It broke the shields of all the combined force users. Team JNPR entered the throne room. Pyrrha saw Salem in the air. She started to walk in the sky to get to Salem. Salem stopped and looked at her.
"The priestess of Ashla has arrived. Pyrrha Nikos. You have become a thorn in my side. You single handedly ruined my plans with Cinder. You used your power to save yourselves from multiple opponents who should have killed this pathetic coalition strike team. This battle was foreseen long before your birth. Vettom the dark prophet told of this war between us. Your forces against mine. Ashla against Bogan." Salem said.
"Salem. You must be stopped. I have seen all the pathways. I know how to defeat you." Pyrrha said. She closed her eyes, and the land started to shake. Half the dark sea had changed from the dark waters into pure light. Pyrrha rose her hands to the sky, and everyone looked at it, even Salem. They watched as the moon Ashla appeared in the sky.
"What form of blasphemy is this?" Salem asked.
"You must not have realized this is what the prophecy meant. You should have read it more carefully. When it said a war between Ashla and Bogan, they meant war." Pyrrha began to glow bright, and Salem became dark. Out in the ocean of light and dark Karel could see the spirits of Ashla's followers and Bogan's followers rise.
"This battle between us will be everything." Pyrrha said.
"You seem to think you still can win. Even with everything you do here today, none of it matters. You can bring any number of allies, and I will still win." Salem said.
"Ashla cannot lose. You have proven that point quite clearly." Pyrrha said.
"It seems they forgot about us." Nora said.
"Then I shall test your allies." Salem said. The dark figure split into two. Pyrrha was about to go after the copy of Salem going to the strike team, but she felt the dark arms of Salem wrap around her, throwing her far away.
The clone of Salem landed in the ruined throne room and looked at everyone.
"Don't think I can forget about you." Salem said. She took out a lightsaber and rushed forward at the strike team. Xar and Akio jumped in front and blocked the strike.
"Out of the way." Salem spun kicking the two Jedi away from her. Shots were fired at Salem by the strike team, and she held her hand out, blocking the bullets. The rest of the strike force began entering the destroyed throne room.
"Send a thousand or a million, it matter's little to me." Salem said. She rose her hand, and lightning rushed out of her fingertips. A Jedi brought up his lightsaber, and the lightsaber flung out of his hand. Salem brought her hand up and his neck was snapped.
"You stand no chance against me." Salem said. She saw a Sith rush at her, then she rose her hand. She became ethereal, and the Sith ran through her. She returned to her normal form. She brought her lightsaber into the Sith's back.
Karel brought his hand up and sent out a force push. Salem put her hand up and blocked the force push. She smirked as the force push was wiped away. Nora jumped behind Salem, swinging her hammer. Salem turned, spinning out of the way of the hammer, and bringing her hand out. She grabbed Nora's face and sent electric waves through her. It was too much for Nora to handle. She screamed, which made Ren rush forward, firing at Salem. She dropped Nora, and sent her arms at Ren, and Jaune. They were both grabbed by Salem, and she tossed them behind her. Gael and Mizuki rushed forward, blocking the swords with her hands. She spun them, throwing them into the ground. Salem brought her hands forward and fired came out of them. Arin brought up earth to block the fire, but he was burned by the heat of it going around him.
Salem stepped back, blocking the sniper fire from Ruby. Lightning rushed at her, hitting her in the back, fired from the third sister. She stumbled forward, and the wound healed itself quickly. She turned and brought her hands up, throwing the third sister into the air. Barris and Lady Amora rushed at her from below. She jumped in the air and brought her hands down. A hailstorm fell at them. Barris jumped back, and Amora raised a force shield. Salem landed and brought her black blade into Amora's chest. She let out a gasp and dropped to the floor.
Karel looked at Soule and they nodded. Karel rushed forward with Soule next to him. Salem turned to them, sending force push after force push at them. They were able to jump or dodge them. Salem brought up her lightsaber and in the blink of an eye, blocked both attacks. That didn't stop either of them, as they continued the relentless strikes against Salem. She kept defending against the strikes. She blocked each strike with a level of elegance that could only be attributed to a from II specialist, but she was obviously not limited to just that form. Karel noticed the slight changes in form. She could switch from Makashi to Shii-Cho to Juyo to Niman, then back to Makashi faster than most could comprehend the style switched. Karel had trouble even finding an opening. Her movements were too quick, and her attacks too powerful. She was even able to send back blaster fire while fighting the two warriors.
Salem was giving them some room though. Just enough that they would follow her without them noticing that she was leading them to where she wanted them. Karel barely noticed that she was taking them to an open area where she could send out a devastating attack that they couldn't avoid.
Karel stepped back and sent a force push at Salem. Zia and Bora landed behind Salem, both firing at her. Salem took out a second lightsaber and blocked the blaster bolts with her off hand while she fought the force users with her main hand. She sent out a force blast that knocked the four away from her, then she was hit in the chest by a beam of light. Jaune held out his sword and glared at Salem.
"You can't win against my wife." Jaune said.
"Was that supposed to scare me?" Salem asked. She rose her hand and brought Jaune towards her. She felt a whip wrap around her hand, then it ripped her lightsaber out of her hand. Jaune fell to the ground, and Salem turned to see the three Maidens standing there.
"You're reign's over." Raven said.
"That's cute to think you could fight me." Salem said. She held her hand up and a green ball of magic came to her hand. The maidens raised their hands and sent out a combined magic blast. The blasts of magic exploded, shaking the room. Salem rose her hand when Ama's whip came out of the smoke and circled around her arm. She was about to pull the whip towards her when the spikes enlarged themselves, sending massive electrical shocks down her arm. She screamed in pain, then felt her arms catch on fire. Six large shards of ice rip through her chest, and when they hit, the fire rushed to the shards, causing the ice to explode. The steam came off Salem's body. The ground beneath her rose and crushed her body. When the ground went back it seemed that Salem was squashed like a fly.
The three maidens stepped forward cautiously. They all heard laughing as Salem's body began to reform in front of them. The three of them brought their hands out, and a massive fire covered where Salem's remains were. But the body seemed to put itself back together, as if Salem's body was liquid. When Salem's body appeared in front of them, the body was open. There was a row of massive teeth coming out of her chest vertically. They clicked together, with a dark liquid falling from the teeth. A tongue rushed out of Salem's body, gripping Ama's arm. Raven brought her sword up, cutting the tongue. She jumped back and turned into a raven, flying towards Salem. Salem's limp head shot up at Raven, but Raven used her magic to create a massive wall of illusionary ravens flying at Salem. All the ravens flew by each other, so that not even Salem would be able to tell which raven was her. More ravens appeared on all sides of Salem. The limp arms, which almost seemed to be boneless rose sharply, and sent out a massive force blast. Some of the ravens were knocked out of the sky, but they were still closing in on her. Winter rose her hands and Salem's hands were covered in ice. Then chains of earth rose from the ground and circled her. All the ravens changed into Raven, all of them slashed down at Salem. Each strike was real. Her body was chopped up into pieces. But the Grimm mouth on her chest opened and a new tongue rushed out, catching an unsuspecting alliance troop, bringing them back to her. The mouth chomped down on the troop, and the cuts all over her began to heal. The crunching of bones was followed by the red blood flowing from the mouth.
Raven stepped back. A bullet rushed forward, slamming into Salem's head. Bits of skull and brain matter littered the floor. The crunching of bone stopped, and the skull of Salem began to repair itself, a disgusting noise filled the air. Raven looked back to see Ruby sitting atop one of the pillars aiming at Salem. Raven saw Arin and Yang come in the room. Raven turned back to Salem, who used her strange new body to kill a Jedi that tried to kill her. She straightened her body, and the mouth disappeared. She smiled as two arms shot out her side, and she used the force to gather the lightsabers of fallen force users, holding four lightsabers at once. Karel got back up and looked at Salem. He was reminded of General Grievous. But he knew Salem would be too much for him. He held out his hand and a bullet came up. He wondered what it would do. He crushed the gem and when he opened his palm, a hurricane of bullets rushed at Salem. She turned and started to block with all four of her lightsabers, but with thousands of bullets a second, she was struggling. Karel saw multiple bullets rip through her.
The body stopped moving for a second. Karel took in a breath, only to see the body return to its body come back together. He wondered what it would take to take down this clone. He wondered how the fight was going with Pyrrha. He looked up for a second and saw the clashing of light and dark. It was too much for words. Karel knew he couldn't look at the fight in fear of losing his sanity. It was as if Gods had gone to war. He forced himself with great effort to look back at the fight he was a part of.
Salem was fighting four force users at once. And she was winning. He felt his necklace glow and wondered if that was what it would take. But he would need an opening. And he saw that was much easier said than done. She was beating the Jedi and Sith singlehandedly, and she was even taking on fire with barely an effort spent. It was a wonder and a horror to see. Karel jumped down and took out his lightsaber, rushing back into the fight. He went for a prodding strike, getting little headway. She was too strong for him to get any relevant information. He stepped back and sent out a force push. She took it, then laughed, throwing her hand up at him. Sending him flying away. He slammed against a pillar.
The crystal started glowing.
Yoda felt the call of the light in his hut in the middle of the swamp. His elderly body fought against the movements his legs made. He sat down on the floor of his hut, having just finished a bowl of his soup. He sat down and meditated like he hasn't for years. He felt the warmth of the light surround him, then the essence left his body. He could see where his light essence was going. It was going to that far off world in that far off galaxy. He saw that there were others across the universe who were giving light. He felt the presence of Obi-Wan, and some other former Jedi.
He knew that no force sensitive in the universe couldn't feel this. The energy gathered all at one place. But he could also feel the dark side also gathering, but it was different. Yoda couldn't feel the dark side didn't give itself willingly. Yoda could feel the cave give some energy to the gathering dark side power.
When he turned his attention to where the energy was going, he could see the moons of Tython in the air. He could see two forces of light and dark fighting each other. He saw a face he recognized, a few of them in fact. He remembered all the Jedi he trained, especially those who he thought had long ago died. He saw Karel struggling. He rushed to the dark lady and continued to be beaten back.
"Be mindful, young Allusis." Yoda said.
Karel looked around.
"Master Yoda?"
"Speak for a while, I cannot. Aid you I can." Yoda held out his hand and the crystal began to go.
"Master… Thank you."
Yoda remembered his contact on this planet and went to him. His face had changed, but his soul had not. Yoda called out again to this old soul. Giving him, whatever help he needed.
Sidious opened his eyes, clenching his fists. He felt the force trying to siphon his power! It was trying to send the power to the damnable planet. From the reports that he's been receiving, the planet had a dark sider witch, much like Tozin, but he felt her power even with all the lightyears away. This new force was more ancient, more powerful than the Dathomir nightsister. This was a more powerful entity than the Tozin was. He took a breath and went to his Sith alchemic station. Lord Vader walked in, struggling.
"You sense it as well, the pull of our power to that planet." Sidious said.
"Yes, my master." Vader said.
"Even I am struggling to keep my power. I fear that we will have to give some of it willingly, but we can use that to our advantage." Sidious shocked the alchemic station and the two Sith Lords gave some of their massive amounts of energy. In the pool an image was shown. It was a war of light and dark. The room that they were in changed, making the entire room seemingly become part of Salem's castle.
"What is this?" Vader asked.
"I do not know for certain. It seems that no being who has been touched by the force can ignore this fight." Sidious said.
Obi-Wan was meditating, trying to commune with his master, when he felt a jolt, and he was thrust forward. He felt his very being moving at a blinding speed. He felt master Yoda, and many other Jedi across the galaxy. It seemed to him as if every force user had somehow gathered here for this event. It had become a war of light and dark.
As Luke slept, he had a weird dream. He was in this dark place with a lot of people all around him. So many people were fighting. He wondered why? He did have weird dreams sometimes. He saw a man running at a dark presence. They were almost like a cloud. He wondered what was happening there.
Ashoka Tano, Cal Kestis, Quinlan Vos, and all other force sensitives were watching this fight. Everyone was watching the end of the Second Great War of Remnant. And the fight between Ashla and Bogan.
Pyrrha let out a breath and gripped the air to stabilize herself. She whipped away the spit from her mouth from the last attack. She Smirked. This wasn't going to be like anything she ever felt before, but she was excited to start this war. She rose her hands and dozens of balls of light shot out, following Salem. Salem rose her hand and brought up a wall of darkness. Pyrrha spun around in the air to avoid the dark wall and created a massive ball of light. She fired it at Salem, then rushed at her. She brough out her arms, and four figures came out of her, four ancient Jedi Masters rushed out at Salem.
Salem brought her hands up, blocking the attack, then spun around in the air. She made a dark circle and rushed forward, slamming into the light ball, then taking out her two lightsabers. She fought the four lights with some difficulty. But she knew her prize was just in front of her. She had four large Grimm fly towards the Jedi so she could continue her battle with Pyrrha. She rushed forward, kicking the air trying to go faster. Pyrrha held out her ha n dans sent a massive force push.
Karel felt the power coming to this one place. He was going to see the end of this war today. All the light and dark of this world was here. Her ripped his necklace off and felt the energy coming out of it. He rushed forward trying to get an opening on Salem. She was still holding off multiple Jedi and Sith. But he knew what he needed to do. He jumped in the air and brought his hand down. Salem sent out a burst of energy sending the attackers flying, except for Karel. He landed and had his lightsaber out against her. She blocked the attacks with mostly ease, but he was pushing her back. He had gained power somehow.
Ruby fired at Salem, which hit her. She couldn't take her eyes off Karel. His form I wasn't faltering against her. She was shocked that he had been able to last this long. She brought the four lightsabers down at once. He blocked them, then brought his hand down slicing the fourth hand and lightsaber.
"You're improved somehow." She said. Karel was pushed back, but before Salem could stab him, she was hit by a wrist rocket.
Karel got up and rushed forward. Roni sent out a force blast, distracting Salem. It was all Karel needed. He jammed the Necklace into the back of Salem. He used the force to push it further in. She screamed. Ruby rushed forward and activated her silver eyes. It burned Salem's clone body. Bones became visible. The darkness started to drop off in globs.
The darkness burst out of her body. The bones turned to dust. The clone body burst apart. A chunk of arm flew passed Karel. He stumbled back and fell on the ground. He wiped the sweat from his face.
"Now we just have to take down the real one." Karel said. He turned and saw a shadow coming down at him. He jumped back and the shadow touched the ground. The presence was oppressive. The shadow took out a shadow lightsaber and stopped Karel from joining the main fight, and all the others.
The shadow's face became clear. He was no Sith Lord he knew of, but the spirit it gave off was as strong as the legendary Sith.
"Who are you?" Karel asked. Yang and Ruby stood besides him.
"I am the father of the dark one." He said. He rose his hand and a massive blast of Sith Alchemy rushed forward. Karel jumped in the air, while Yang and Ruby rose their protective necklaces. The alchemy washed over them with little affect, but the troop behind them was turned to ash. Roni rushed forward, spinning in the air, slashing at the shadow. He blocked the attacks, then used the force to bring her back. He was about to thrust his lightsaber forward when Weiss created a Glyph. He slammed into it, but the Glyph took the damage.
A second shadow stood on the ruined pillars and brought her hands down. An invisible blast of magic slammed into Akio. Before he could bring his sword up to block another attack, he felt a fire burning him. He screamed as the fire felt like it was engulfing his entire body. Mizuki ran over to him and looked at him. He was screaming about fire, but there was nothing there. She grabbed him and took him to a safe spot and stood over him.
"Put it out!" Akio shouted. Meg ran up to them and knew it was Sith Magic.
"It's going to take some time for him to get better." Meg said. "If we were in a normal place, we could get him back to normal quickly."
Karel wished that this Sith wasn't so hard to fight. He was able to take on multiple Jedi at once. He held out his hand and saw a symbol for iron. He crushed it and threw it at the Sith. Out came a massive bar of iron. He used the force to grab the bar and smash it into a clone of Blake's. She jumped back and fired at him.
"I need a boost." Jaune said. Karel turned around and used the force to send his team in the air. They landed at a pillar. Karel used the force to grab the iron bar and hold it for them. Vuren and Roni guarded him while he did it. Jaune and his team started fighting the Sith in the pillars. Karel turned his attention back to the Sith Shadow he was fighting.
He jumped back and thrust his hand forward. The Sith took the hit, then rose his hand, lightning coming out of his hand. Karel brought his lightsaber up, blocking the lightning. Karel flew backwards, getting to the edge of the opened wall. The Shadow continued to fight Yang and Ruby.
"Master Yoda…" Karel said. He saw light silhouettes surround him.
"Stay strong master Jedi." One of them said.
"I'm trying… but this is just… hard."
"We know it is. Let us give you some of our strength." One of them said. They raised their hands, and the light surrounded Karel. He felt his minor wounds heal themself. He let out a sigh.
Ruby turned her head to Karel and rushed to him. She felt the presence of her mother come over her and cover her. Her eyes started shining bright.
"Do you think you could get close to him?" Karel asked.
"Think so. How about you?" Ruby took the water of life in her hand. Karel nodded his head. All the Jedi felt a boost in themselves, feeling the light enter in them. Ruby rushed forward, using her semblance, and got behind Salem's dark spirit. He turned quickly and thrusted his hand forward before he was able to send out a blast of force lightning Roni sent shards of stone from the ground at him. The stones pelted his back, and he turned quickly. Ruby swung and in the blink of an eye the spirit was cut in half. The spirit dissipated, then Karel jumped up to the pillars.
Ren and Nora were knocked off when he got up. Karel rushed forward and blocked a strike that would have killed Jaune.
"Back off." She said.
"No." Karel used a force push on her, sending her flying back. She slammed against a wall. She tried to get up, but Karel gathered force energy, sending the pulse at her. She was sent through the wall, landing on the dark ground. Soule stood over the dark lady and slammed his lightsaber into her. The spirit disappeared.
"Now what?" Soule asked.
Salem brought her hands up, gasping for air. Her normal form lost all it's nobility, and she was covered in black blood.
"Die!" Salem said. She thrust her hands down, flinging Pyrrha down to the ground. She was in almost as bad a state as she was. Pyrrha slammed to the ground, spitting up golden blood.
The Jedi gathered around Pyrrha, annoying Salem. The spirits fighting everywhere weren't helping her. Most of the Dark spirits were fighting the light spirits, but they had the bad habit of fighting each other. She felt two black holes of darkness, watching her. They weren't spirits like the rest.
"You spirits, this is what true darkness is." Salem said.
Sidious laughed.
"You are an interesting witch. But to have not killed that woman yet makes me question."
Salem didn't say anything. She floated down to the newly formed land below her.
"You think this will be enough to destroy darkness? To destroy Bogan?" Salem said exerting more power than she needed. The Jedi were flung back. The light spirits came behind them, picking them up, and giving them energy. Karel gave a sigh of relief. He stood up and rushed to Pyrrha standing next to her, with the rest of the forces quickly coming up behind.
"I'll cover you." Karel said. He held out his lightsaber towards Salem.
"What do you think you'll do? Why throw away your life?" She raised her hand and threw Karel behind her. She stepped forward going to Pyrrha, with Ruby and Yang standing in front of Pyrrha. Salem felt a pain in her side and turned to see Karel had stabbed her.
"Bastard." Karel quickly took his lightsaber out, barely having enough time to block the attack. He was flung back.
"This is getting tiring Allusis." Salem said. Bora fired at Salem, but she just took the hit.
"He can't survive long." Pyrrha said. She got up, hurting.
Salem kicked Karel further down the new bridge, sending him flying. She was enjoying breaking the young foolish Jedi. His pathetic attempts to attack were pitiful. She was going to end him. She should have him killed years ago, but better late than never.
But he was still able to block the attacks, barely but he still had fight in him. Admirable, but inevitably foolish. She was impressed by his will, but she knew all too well how easy it was to break wills. She blasted him back when she turned and blocked one of the new Jedi. She wondered how many had broken through her forces. She had underestimated humanity. But that was going to end.
The Jedi she fought was killed easily. But it was the others rushing fools that gave her a moment of pause. The priestess was there, leading so many others to her. It was the worst part about being alone. She had no one to watch her back, but she didn't need anyone, not anymore.
She rose her hand, and a giant spike of ground shot up. She turned back to Karel. She smiled as he stood up. She raised her hand and fired force lightning at him. He held onto his lightsaber with everything he had. His strength was waning. He was breathing more heavily.
She needed to end this quickly. She felt her own body starting that dreadful process. But she had her choice of vessels.
Pyrrha was creating a hole in the spike, trying her best, but it would take some time.
"I'm going around." Bora said.
"Bora, wait!" Pyrrha said, but she was ignored. Bora used her jet pack to fly around the spike and saw Salem brutalizing her husband.
She rushed forward, using the jet pack to get closer.
Salem noticed her and smiled. She slammed Karel to the ground, and twisted her lightsaber in the air, getting ready to plunge it into Karel. He was in no state to do anything to stop it, coughing up blood. He looked at Salem with a glare as she laughed. The spike was broken with Pyrrha and the others rushing forward. Bora fired at Salem, but a Grimm came from her dress, taking the hit.
"You're crusade is at an end Jedi." She said.
Bora put everything she had into her jetpack getting so close to Karel.
"DIE!" Salem screamed and brought her lightsaber down.
The air smelt of burning flesh.
Author's Notes: That's one down. We're so close to the end.
My life has been really hectic since my last post, I traveled across the country, my sister got married, I moved, my cat died, I had a COVID scare, I started a few more projects [including a second book] and so much more. But I really should have finished this long ago.
This one's a bit shorter than the last few, but it's part one, so it can be a bit shorter.
May the Force be With You
-DragonZlayerX12
