Disclaimer: See chapter 1
Special thanks to our friend Marco for betaing this chapter. :)
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Chapter 7
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Daz let her gaze wander about the room, searching for a chrono. "How long have I been out?"
"About 24 hours. But you've been away from our hideout for almost two weeks now."
"Two WEEKS?" She sat up and was pushed back by Mikk.
"Yes."
"That means I'm 20 years old now..."
"... so you would have attended your rite of passage by now."
Dazlio shuddered. The rite of passage meant a series of assignments testing Force abilities and strenght. The last of them was dueling until the other got killed. If you passed you would become a senior apprentice with much more freedom and difficult missions.
The dueling partner was usually a kidnapped Jedi padawan nearing knighthood. The reason why there were so few Sith was because most of the Sith apprentices lost the battle. The Jedi however got killed anyway even though they won. Sidious couldn't release them for obvious reasons.
"You can not leave the Jedi temple," said Elmikk suddenly, waking Dazlio out of her reverie. It had looked almost as her former apprentice had fallen asleep with her eyes open.
"What? How come?" Daz still was a bit confused, although she wasn't given any pain killers anymore.
"You will not be safe. I can no longer protect you from Maul if Sidious tells him to kill you. And what do you think he would say if I told I just let you go?"
"He - would punish you again." Not that she wouldn't deserve it, Daz thought.
"Yes. And I don't think I can afford any more mistakes."
"I'm still not coming back."
Elmikk stood up and went for the door, sighing desperately. "I believe you. I'll tell the Jedi to protect you from Maul." She was halfway out of the room when she realised something.
"But..." Her gaze traveled first on the roof, then she looked straight at Dazlio. "...if my master tells me to kill you I will do it, no matter what I feel for you or what might happen to me."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elmikk entered Senator Palpatine's office. He hardly ever summoned her here so it must be something urgent.
Palpatine turned to her behind his desk. The Dark Side was clearly wearing his form and he looked older than others of his age. You couldn't make out his face when under the hood.
"I hear you came back last night without your apprentice," he said coolly, dissapointment clear in his voice. Elmikk felt nauseous. She had failed yet again.
"She is unwilling to leave the Jedi temple," Mikk explained without a hint of fear in her voice. She would face anything her master thought was appropriate.
"I can't force her to go - she would cause an uproar that would reveal us both. She's almost healed now and nobody thinks she's hallucinating anymore."
Why was she still alive?
Palpatine didn't look angry, no, he was just thoughtful. She waited for some minutes before he spoke.
"Yes... I've foreseen she will not cooperate. But she can't get out of the Temple alive, I will assure that. And we actually have a great advantage. See, I've been eyeing a Jedi padawan that is so full of fear and negative thoughts I ever wonder why the Jedi let him in the Temple."
"But, my lord, what does this have to do with Dazlio?"
"The padawan I seek is Anakin Skywalker. His master, Obi-Wan Kenobi is a friend of Dazlio's. The two will surely visit her. You will bring him before me by any means necessary."
"Yes, my lord."
To tell the truth Elmikk was suprised that Palpatine wasn't furious because Dazlio was still alive. Not even a bit. On the other hand, Mikk admitted to herself, nobody could ever tell what her lord was thinking or feeling.
"And you know what will happen if you fail in this task, don't you?" Palpatine's voice was cold as ice.
"Yes, I know."
"Good. You'll go there first thing tomorrow." Palpatine turned his back to Elmikk which meant that she should leave before he changed his mind. And so she left.
Mikk knew that she would have to make some decisions and stick to them in the future. Like she had to decide what to tell her apprentice. The truth?
No.
Obviously Daz wasn't reliable enough to know her master's mission. But she would have to tell her something. But then what? And no matter how much she thought she couldn't come up with a proper plan.
Late that night Mikk climbed onto her bed. She was exhausted with all the thinking and mental stress she had gone trough that day. 'Well I think all I can do is trust my instincts on this one."
And soon she was asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It felt so good just sit in the cafeteria instead of lying in a hospital bed.
Well at least Daz thought so. Her seat was in some distant corner and it was a perfect place to observe people. The cafeteria was crowded but nobody really had the courage to sit next to her. This made her feel like an outsider. She didn't really belong anywhere and the thought made her sad.
After a while she met a pair of sad eyes too. Those eyes had already accepted the fact that their owner would be always alone. Those eyes belonged to a young man and for some reason it made Daz sad.
When the other padawans were having a great time joking with each other this one seemed left out. Looking around for a free place to sit down the padawan finally spotted Dazlio. He started to walk toward her table.
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" The padawan asked.
"No." Was Daz' answer and he sat down.
"You must be very brave, no one else had the courage to sit next to me." Daz said.
The padawan looked at her. "They're just afraid of us. But you understand."
Yes. She understood. Then they sat in silence but somehow it was comforting. They both were alone but at least now they knew that there was someone else who was alone too.
Suddenly Anakin got his face closer to Daz. "I'm right, aren't I?"
"About what?"
"That you are a Sith. I guess you're still an apprentice, else you would be able to hide all the hate."
Daz sneered. "Maybe I don't even want to."
Anakin's face was indifferent. "I think I understand... I'm having a lot of trouble when I can't submiss my emotions."
She stopped picking at her food and looked at him arrogantly. "No you don't. We don't seek to submiss our emotions but to effectively aim them against the enemy." Then she remembered how wrong it all felt and her face saddened. "But that's all behind me now. Strange though that you're the only one who sees through my shields."
"I am the Chosen One. My Force abilities outrun other Jedi. I can sense things they can't. But they don't listen to me. They say it happens on youth. And look what they've done: released a Sith in the middle of a Temple cafeteria. You shouldn't be here."
"I'm no longer a Sith, I just told you. I'd just love to get out of here and have a normal happy life but I can't, because the moment I step outside I'll get slaughtered!" She took her tray and left.
TBC
Special thanks to our friend Marco for betaing this chapter. :)
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Chapter 7
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Daz let her gaze wander about the room, searching for a chrono. "How long have I been out?"
"About 24 hours. But you've been away from our hideout for almost two weeks now."
"Two WEEKS?" She sat up and was pushed back by Mikk.
"Yes."
"That means I'm 20 years old now..."
"... so you would have attended your rite of passage by now."
Dazlio shuddered. The rite of passage meant a series of assignments testing Force abilities and strenght. The last of them was dueling until the other got killed. If you passed you would become a senior apprentice with much more freedom and difficult missions.
The dueling partner was usually a kidnapped Jedi padawan nearing knighthood. The reason why there were so few Sith was because most of the Sith apprentices lost the battle. The Jedi however got killed anyway even though they won. Sidious couldn't release them for obvious reasons.
"You can not leave the Jedi temple," said Elmikk suddenly, waking Dazlio out of her reverie. It had looked almost as her former apprentice had fallen asleep with her eyes open.
"What? How come?" Daz still was a bit confused, although she wasn't given any pain killers anymore.
"You will not be safe. I can no longer protect you from Maul if Sidious tells him to kill you. And what do you think he would say if I told I just let you go?"
"He - would punish you again." Not that she wouldn't deserve it, Daz thought.
"Yes. And I don't think I can afford any more mistakes."
"I'm still not coming back."
Elmikk stood up and went for the door, sighing desperately. "I believe you. I'll tell the Jedi to protect you from Maul." She was halfway out of the room when she realised something.
"But..." Her gaze traveled first on the roof, then she looked straight at Dazlio. "...if my master tells me to kill you I will do it, no matter what I feel for you or what might happen to me."
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Elmikk entered Senator Palpatine's office. He hardly ever summoned her here so it must be something urgent.
Palpatine turned to her behind his desk. The Dark Side was clearly wearing his form and he looked older than others of his age. You couldn't make out his face when under the hood.
"I hear you came back last night without your apprentice," he said coolly, dissapointment clear in his voice. Elmikk felt nauseous. She had failed yet again.
"She is unwilling to leave the Jedi temple," Mikk explained without a hint of fear in her voice. She would face anything her master thought was appropriate.
"I can't force her to go - she would cause an uproar that would reveal us both. She's almost healed now and nobody thinks she's hallucinating anymore."
Why was she still alive?
Palpatine didn't look angry, no, he was just thoughtful. She waited for some minutes before he spoke.
"Yes... I've foreseen she will not cooperate. But she can't get out of the Temple alive, I will assure that. And we actually have a great advantage. See, I've been eyeing a Jedi padawan that is so full of fear and negative thoughts I ever wonder why the Jedi let him in the Temple."
"But, my lord, what does this have to do with Dazlio?"
"The padawan I seek is Anakin Skywalker. His master, Obi-Wan Kenobi is a friend of Dazlio's. The two will surely visit her. You will bring him before me by any means necessary."
"Yes, my lord."
To tell the truth Elmikk was suprised that Palpatine wasn't furious because Dazlio was still alive. Not even a bit. On the other hand, Mikk admitted to herself, nobody could ever tell what her lord was thinking or feeling.
"And you know what will happen if you fail in this task, don't you?" Palpatine's voice was cold as ice.
"Yes, I know."
"Good. You'll go there first thing tomorrow." Palpatine turned his back to Elmikk which meant that she should leave before he changed his mind. And so she left.
Mikk knew that she would have to make some decisions and stick to them in the future. Like she had to decide what to tell her apprentice. The truth?
No.
Obviously Daz wasn't reliable enough to know her master's mission. But she would have to tell her something. But then what? And no matter how much she thought she couldn't come up with a proper plan.
Late that night Mikk climbed onto her bed. She was exhausted with all the thinking and mental stress she had gone trough that day. 'Well I think all I can do is trust my instincts on this one."
And soon she was asleep.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
It felt so good just sit in the cafeteria instead of lying in a hospital bed.
Well at least Daz thought so. Her seat was in some distant corner and it was a perfect place to observe people. The cafeteria was crowded but nobody really had the courage to sit next to her. This made her feel like an outsider. She didn't really belong anywhere and the thought made her sad.
After a while she met a pair of sad eyes too. Those eyes had already accepted the fact that their owner would be always alone. Those eyes belonged to a young man and for some reason it made Daz sad.
When the other padawans were having a great time joking with each other this one seemed left out. Looking around for a free place to sit down the padawan finally spotted Dazlio. He started to walk toward her table.
"Excuse me, is this seat taken?" The padawan asked.
"No." Was Daz' answer and he sat down.
"You must be very brave, no one else had the courage to sit next to me." Daz said.
The padawan looked at her. "They're just afraid of us. But you understand."
Yes. She understood. Then they sat in silence but somehow it was comforting. They both were alone but at least now they knew that there was someone else who was alone too.
Suddenly Anakin got his face closer to Daz. "I'm right, aren't I?"
"About what?"
"That you are a Sith. I guess you're still an apprentice, else you would be able to hide all the hate."
Daz sneered. "Maybe I don't even want to."
Anakin's face was indifferent. "I think I understand... I'm having a lot of trouble when I can't submiss my emotions."
She stopped picking at her food and looked at him arrogantly. "No you don't. We don't seek to submiss our emotions but to effectively aim them against the enemy." Then she remembered how wrong it all felt and her face saddened. "But that's all behind me now. Strange though that you're the only one who sees through my shields."
"I am the Chosen One. My Force abilities outrun other Jedi. I can sense things they can't. But they don't listen to me. They say it happens on youth. And look what they've done: released a Sith in the middle of a Temple cafeteria. You shouldn't be here."
"I'm no longer a Sith, I just told you. I'd just love to get out of here and have a normal happy life but I can't, because the moment I step outside I'll get slaughtered!" She took her tray and left.
TBC