Chapter 2

Tormented soul

Clink Clink Clink Obi-Wan gradually came back into consciousness. He sucked in a deep breath and let it out slowly. He opened his eyes and looked around. Standing beside him was Master Healer Laria. She was picking small pieces of the glass from the shattered windows out of the young man's skin. The "clink" sound he had heard was the tiny pieces of glass being dropped into a tray, held by Amaele.

"Morning sunshine!" Amaele said cheerfully when she noticed Obi-Wan was awake. The only response the padawan gave was a slight groan.

"How long have I been out?"

"Only about a half an hour." Healer Laria responded not looking up from her task.  Obi-wan began to sit up with some help from Amaele. "What happened in there Obi-Wan?"

"The masters have tried to get information from Kelilah but she's not saying anything." Amaele added.

"We were attacked after the memorial service. It was man wearing all black with a lightsaber. Wasn't very skilled with the weapon though." Obi-Wan said gingerly touching the back of his head where he felt a lump. Healer Laria looked up at Obi-Wan and then over to her apprentice.

"Amaele, I'm done here. I want you to bandage him up for me. I'm going to speak with the masters."

"Yes Master." Amaele said as Healer Laria left the room. Then the young apprentice set right to work at bandaging Obi-Wan's wounds.

Healer Laria walked down the tall hallway that lead to the council chambers but when she arrived she saw Qui-Gon, Master Windu and Master Yoda standing outside the doors of the chamber. The healer bowed to the three men as she drew closer to them.

"Master Jinn, your apprentice is awake and doing well. Amaele is just finishing up with him." Laria informed Qui-Gon.

"Thank you Laria."

"Did you question him about the attack?" Master Windu asked. Laria recited to the three Jedi what Obi-Wan had said to her. After a few moments of contemplation Master Windu spoke. "What your Padawan describes Qui-Gon, sounds like a Sith."

"I do not believe that it was a Sith, Mace." Qui-Gon stated. Yoda looked up at the tall Jedi with interest.

"Reason for this have you?" the tiny master asked in his usual dialect.

"I have no doubt of Obi-Wan's abilities but if their attacker had been a Sith even an apprentice, he would not have made it out alive." Qui-Gon explained. Mace nodded in agreement. Only a fully trained Jedi could defeat a Sith with the dark side as his ally.

~*~*~*~*~*~*~*~

Obi-Wan left the healers ward after Amaele had cared for his wounds. It had taken some convincing on his part to get the apprentice healer to let him leave on his own. She had insisted that he needed a hover chair and an escort. Obi-Wan smiled and shook his head. Amaele had become very overprotective of him ever since he almost died over a year ago. As he walked down the hall towards his and Qui-Gon's quarters he saw a familiar figure ahead of him. It was Kelilah. Obi-Wan quickened his pace till he reached her.

"Hey," Obi-Wan said as he walked next to her. Kelilah didn't respond to his greeting and actually began to walk a bit faster. But Obi-Wan was too headstrong to give up that easily. "I just wanted to make sure you were all right."

"Well I think it's clear that I am." She replied a little sharply. "I don't need an escort."

"Fine. I'm not here to escort you. I'm just walking." Obi-Wan replied. Kelilah stopped suddenly and turned to him.

"Your not going to leave me alone are you?"

"Well you see that's the thing with me, I see someone in need and I want to help. I'm really trying to work on it though." Kelilah rolled her eyes and started walking again.

"I thought I made it clear I don't want or need any help."

"By what happened in the Memorial hall I'd say you do or is it that in your culture someone attacking you a sign of affection?" Kelilah had no reply for him and they continued the walk in silence. As they walked Obi-Wan began to notice that Kelilah was growing pale and her pace was becoming slower and slower.

"Are you okay?" To his own ears it sounded like a dumb question as anyone that wasn't blind could see that she wasn't.

"I've never been okay." Kelilah said miserably. She moved over to the wall and leaned against it for support. Obi-Wan went over to her side.

"I'm getting a healer," He said taking out his COM link but Kelilah grabbed his arm and shook her head no. But Obi-Wan's concern only grew as she let go of him and slid down to the ground. She held her head and made small whimpering noises. She then swiftly looked up but her eyes were distant as though she was looking at something that wasn't there.

"NO! NO! Leave her alone! She didn't do anything! NO!" Kelilah began crying out. Obi-Wan kneeled down and grabbed her shoulders.

"Kelilah!" He called trying to get her out of whatever kind of trance she was in. Then suddenly he began to see things in his mind. He saw a woman probably in her late twenties tied to a post or something that was anchored to the ground. There was pure fear in her face and she looked up as a figure stepped in front of her. Obi-Wan could still see part of her face and it looked as though she was struggling to breath.

Then the image vanished and Obi-Wan found himself back in the Temple hallway. He looked down at Kelilah. Her eyes were clear no and there were unshed tears in them. She looked up at him for a second then pushed him out of the way, got back to her feet and retreated down the hall.

"Kelilah! Kel wait!" Obi-Wan called but it was no use the young woman was gone. Obi-Wan stood there in utter confusion. "What the hell just happened?" he wondered out loud.

He considered about going after Kelilah but his comlink began to beep

"Yeah?" Obi-Wan said activating it.

"Obi-Wan, I need you to meet me down at platform C-15." It was Qui-Gon.

"Yes Master."

When Obi-Wan arrived on platform C-15, Qui-Gon was waiting in the driver's seat of a cloud car. Without a word Obi-Wan climbed into the passengers seat and the two were off. 

As they drove Qui-Gon would occasionally look over to his padawan. The young man had a serious expression on his face and Qui-Gon knew that it wasn't just the serious look that Obi-Wan had during missions but the look he held when something was on his mind. Qui-Gon would usually berate his apprentice for not focusing on the here and now but the vibe that he was getting from Obi-Wan told the Jedi master that is was something serious.

"Something bothering you Padawan?" Qui-Gon asked. Obi-Wan remained silent for a moment.

"Something happened earlier." Obi-Wan said not knowing exactly how to explain the event in the hall.

"What happened?" Qui-Gon persisted.

" I don't know. I was walking with Kelilah in the hall, and then she began to look very ill. It was like she began to have a seizure or something and when I touched her I began seeing things in my mind." Obi-Wan looked over to Qui-Gon waiting for the Jedi Master to offer some kind of explanation or anything to ease his mind but none came. 

"I'm sorry Obi-Wan, I don't know what to tell you." Qui-Gon said. "Perhaps you should Kelilah about it." Obi-Wan gave a snort.

"Yeah I'm sure she'll open right up for me."

"Give her some time. She'll talk but it'll be under her terms."

Qui-Gon steered the cloud car down towards the lower levels of Coruscant. There was already much activating going on with Security force personnel going in and out of one of the buildings and a crowd of onlookers that had began to assemble, curious as to what was happening.

After Qui-Gon parked, he and Obi-Wan exited the vehicle and walked through the crowd. They came to the front door but were blocked from entering.

"Oh gods, it's you two." The familiar voice said.

"Good to see you too Captain Yur T'aug." Qui-Gon replied.

"What are you doing here Jedi?"

"I received a message that Senator Basilio's daughter was found. Senator Basilio asked for my assistance." Captain Yur T'aug glared at the two Jedi and reluctantly stepped aside to let them pass.

The two Jedi entered the building followed by Captain Yur T'aug. It was dark except for a little illumination from lamps set up by the security force personnel. By what Obi-Wan could see the room they were in was high ceiling and completely devoid of any type of furnishings. There were rows of support beams that went from the floor to ceiling and no windows.

"Captain! You better come see this!" One of the other officers called to Yur T'aug. The Captain and Jedi ran to where the voice of the officer was heard. The officer was kneeling next to Adara Basilio's body, which was tied to one of the support beams. Yur T'aug kneeled down next to the other officer. The officer took reached out with her gloved hand and tilted Adara's head up ward. Yur T'aug looked to where the officer indicated and then leaned back on his heels with a sigh.

"Damn." He said under his breath. Then called out, "Someone call Arsene! Tell her we got another one of hers!"

Qui-Gon felt Obi-Wan tense next to him. He looked at the boy with concern. Obi-Wan looked at Qui-Gon, shock written all over his face.

"That's the woman I saw." He said in a shaky voice.