Part II -- Demoness Metria

Wedge poked his head into Luke's sleeping quarters. "Hey Luke, care to join us?"

Luke barely raised his head from the computer screen. "I'm not really in the mood."

"C'mon, you haven't been in the mood for a good Rogue Squadron vs. Ground Crew smashball game since... well, for weeks!" Wedge protested. "I thought you loved smashball."

Luke mumbled something about not feeling well, which was a half-truth. Ever since... that happened, he'd felt utterly miserable.

"Not feeling well for three weeks straight is a problem, Luke," Wedge insisted, entering the room and standing next to Luke's desk. "If you really have been sick for three weeks, go to the med center."

"Go away."

"I'm not going away." Wedge folded his arms defiantly. "And quit the sabaac game and talk. You haven't been the same since you and Leia got back from Bespin. What happened there? Leia told us all she knew, but you haven't said two words about it."

Luke turned to look Wedge in the eye. The Corellian wore an expression of concern, obviously worried about his friend. He couldn't help smiling. He and Wedge had flown many missions together since their first encounter in the briefing room on Yavin before the Death Star's destruction. They had compared flight sims, overhauled hyperdrive engines, had snowball fights on Hoth, joked around, played pranks on ground crew, and otherwise enjoyed good and ill times together. He was the closest friend he had -- apart from Leia and Han. And as Leia already knew most of what had happened to him on Cloud City and Han was frozen in carbonite half a galaxy away, Wedge was a logical choice as a confidant.

"When I was on Bespin, I ran into Darth Vader," he began.

"I'm sorry," Wedge replied, instantly sympathetic.

"There's more. He... he wanted me. He was planning on capturing me and taking me to the Emperor. I barely escaped with my life."

"Why would he want... of course." Wedge squeezed his shoulder sympathetically. "You're a Jedi. And any Jedi they can't corrupt, they want dead. That's how you lost your hand, isn't it?"

He nodded. How he wanted to go on, to tell Wedge about that awful moment of revelation, that horrible yet tempting promise of power, that moment when he'd hung in a terrible balance, facing either almost certain death or a mockery of a life as a servant of darkness. But how would Wedge react? Would he still be sympathetic? Or would he regard Luke as an enemy?

"We've lost a lot of our best soldiers and leaders to Vader," Wedge went on. "It's terrible that you ran afoul of him, but at least you came out of it alive. Others weren't so lucky."

"Yeah," he said under his breath, "well at least those others didn't find out they were the offspring of the Emperor's right-hand man."

"WHAT?!"

Luke belatedly realized he'd spoken aloud. "Wedge..."

"Your... your father's Darth Vader?" He'd gone white as a sheet at Luke's comment. "Why didn't you ever tell us?!"

"Wedge, calm down," pleaded Luke. "I don't even know if it's true. Vader told me on Bespin."

"Luke," Wedge moaned, sinking onto the edge of Luke's bed. "Luke, this is horrible. No wonder you didn't want to talk about it. I'm sorry I pried it out of you."

"It had to come out sometime," Luke replied. "Anyway, it feels better to have told someone."

Wedge shook his head. "He had to have lied. Your father was a Jedi, not a Sith. But still, to do that to you... was cruel. Messing with your head like that. I never realized just how sadistic the Sith were until now."

Luke stared darkly at the computer screen. "What if he's right, though? What if I really am... Sithspawn?"

"You aren't Sithspawn, Luke. Your father was Anakin Skywalker, a Jedi. General Kenobi himself told you. And if he can't be trusted, who can?"

Wedge might as well have simply socked Luke in the gut. If Ben had lied to him... The thought was unthinkable, but what if the old Jedi had truly deceived him? How much of what Ben had told him, taught him, could be trusted?

"Besides, Vader's not exactly a heartthrob," Wedge added. "You have to have a mother, too, and what woman in their right mind would go for him?"

Wedge was trying to be funny, of course, but that got Luke thinking. Who was his mother? If his father's identity was shadowy, his mother was a downright mystery. Was she still alive? If his father was Anakin, how had she reacted when she learned of his death? And if his father was Vader, what had she seen in him?

So many questions... no answers.

"Well, I'd better let you be, Luke," said Wedge. "Still sure about not playing? We need a good halfback."

"Yeah, I'm sure."

He nodded. "I understand now. You have a lot on your mind."

"You'll keep this quiet, won't you?" Luke couldn't keep a pleading tone out of his voice.

"I won't tell a soul," Wedge replied, then left.

Luke sighed heavily and quit the sabaac game. Sure, Wedge could be sensible about this. He wasn't the one who had to debate with himself over who his father really was -- noble Jedi or cursed Sith. Or why Obi-wan would lie to him about it. Or how this revelation would affect his future. Or how even closer friends would react to the news -- Leia, who had suffered so much at Vader's hand, would doubtless shun him forever, while Han would probably be more direct about it and shoot him outright.

He'd already spent three weeks thinking about the entire mess, and he was sick of it. He needed a distraction.

He reopened the program he'd put on standby earlier -- a game called "Companions of Xanth." Rogue Ten, a Zabrak named Mek Nekko, had given Luke a copy of it just days before his final mission, which had ended tragically when his entire party had been captured by the Empire. Mek had never played it, but Luke had listened to Grundy's intro and thought it sounded interesting.

He perused the list again. Odd -- Jenny Elf's name was missing. In her place was Smash Ogre. The list must change every so often, he decided. He'd already read the other five intros, though, and all the Companions seemed more or less equal. It didn't really matter who he chose. He closed his eyes, stabbed at the screen with his finger, and opened them again.

"Demoness Metria," he mused. He read her bio again.

DEMONESS METRIA, AGELESS VAPOROUS BEING CAPABLE OF ALTERING HER SHAPE. SLIGHTLY CRAZY AND MISCHIEVOUS, EVEN FOR A DEMON, PREFERS EXTREMELY ATTRACTIVE HUMAN FORM OVER ALL OTHER FORMS. AGE UNKNOWN, EXTREMELY KNOWLEDGEABLE ABOUT XANTH, EXPERIENCED. ASSETS: ABILITY TO ASSUME MANY USEFUL FORMS. LIABILITIES: LACKS A SOUL, HAS PROBLEMS SPEAKING.

"Well, let's give her a shot," he muttered, hitting ENTER.

A sultry woman in a low-cut scarlet dress stepped onto the screen. "Hi, Player. I'm the Demoness Metria, your Companion. And you might be...?"

LUKE SKYWALKER, he typed.

"Skywalker?" She lifted an eyebrow. "Weird name."

Luke scowled. Maybe he should have picked a different Companion. One that was going to insult him the whole way would quickly get irritating.

"Oh well, I can manage it. But who cares? Just refocus your eyes, okay? I'm tired of staring at a flat face. Those two dots at the top of the screen will become three when you've done it right."

He looked at the dots, then adjusted his eyes until a third became visible. Immediately shapes on the screen became textured, formed, like a holoprogram instead of a 2D picture. Amazing technology!

"Much better. You're in fine rounded form now."

He was tempted to say she was the one in fine rounded form, but he judged it best to keep quiet. SO HOW DO I GET STARTED?

"Not so fast, Skytrotter..."

SKYWALKER.

"Whatever. First, now that your eyes are refocused, you need to hang your disbelief in Xanth."

I NEED TO WHAT?

"String up, execute, end, terminate, delay..."

OH, SUSPEND MY DISBELIEF.

"Whatever."

Believe in this stuff? It was entertaining, he supposed, and even endearing in its own jolly way, but just a fantasy. He could no more believe in it than he could flap his arms and fly.

I CAN'T. I CAN HAVE FUN PLAYING THE GAME, BUT I'LL ALWAYS KNOW THAT YOU'RE JUST A COMPUTER IMAGE.

She looked offended. "I'm certainly no evil machine!"

COMPUTERS AREN'T EVIL.

"The only Com Pewter I know is." She huffed. "Well, I suppose I should cut you some slack. You're Mundanian, after all."

He bit his tongue as he typed. LET'S JUST PLAY THE GAME, ALL RIGHT? WHAT DO YOU THINK WE SHOULD DO?

"Well, since you won't suspend your disbelief, I suppose we should just go on toward the Good Magician's castle. He answers questions for the charge of a year's service, but I'm sure Players get off liberated."

GET OFF WHAT?

"Emancipated, unbound, unpriced, no charge..."

FREE?

"Whatever."

LEAD THE WAY, METRIA.

She startled him by turning into a giant worm-like creature vaguely resembling an asteroid slug. But then, she was a demoness, capable of changing her shape. Now he knew how far her morphing abilities could go, and perhaps they could go farther than that. He would soon find out, he figured.

WHAT ARE YOU SUPPOSED TO BE?

"Isn't it obvious? I'm a diggle. Oh, you don't have them in Mundania. Diggles can travel through rock and stone without tunneling. Hop on and we'll go for a ride."

The screen lurched as if he were indeed mounting the demon/diggle, and she plunged forward as if the earth around her were a sea. The scenery sped past at a fast clip.

"Hey, travelers!"

Metria turned a bit. "Uh-oh, it's a yak."

WHAT'S A YAK?

"An irritating rabbity beast."

RABBITY?

"Fuzzy, furry, shaggy, scruffy..."

HAIRY?

"Whatever. A yak will talk your ear off if it gets a quarter of a chance. Plenty of people have lost ears to yaks."

WHAT DO WE DO?

"Just ignore it."

"Wait up!" shouted the yak, taking a flying leap atop the diggle's back. "You look like you could use some commentary about the area, Mrs. Diggle and Mr. Screen."

GO AWAY.

"But I have so many interesting things to say!"

"Nice one, Skyscraper," Metria humphed. "I said to ignore him, and I meant it. Now he'll never leave, and your ears will fall off."

WELL, THERE MUST BE A WAY TO GET RID OF IT.

"Short of getting a dragon to chomp him? No. You can't outrun a yak that's latched onto you; he'll just follow you..."

MAYBE I CAN OUTTALK HIM.

"I doubt it."

"...and up ahead is a copse of orange trees," the yak rambled. "Note the color of the leaves and trunk, true to its name. And at its base are tulips, the most kissable plants of all..."

Luke began typing. INCOM STARFIGHTER, INC., WAS ESTABLISHED APPROXIMATELY FIVE YEARS AFTER THE RISE OF THE EMPIRE, GEARED FROM THE BEGINNING TO COMPETE DIRECTLY WITH KUWAT SHIPYARDS...

"...palm trees are quite plentiful in Xanth, especially near the Ever Glades, and are directly related to the ladyfinger plants..."

...ESTABLISHED ITSELF AS A SERIOUS COMPETITOR WITH ITS SKYHOPPER. THOUGH NOT A SPACE VESSEL, IT WAS A FAST-MOVING VEHICLE THAT BECAME INSTANTLY POPULAR WITH YOUTH...

"...the temperamental popcorn plant that explodes when disturbed, but is a favorite treat of unicorns..."

...SKYHOPPER IS RUMORED TO BE THE BASIS OF THE DESIGN FOR THE IMPERIAL SHUTTLE...

"...just one of the many uses for reverse wood, which reverses the magic of everything around it..."

...CREATING THE FAST, POWERFUL, AND PILOT-FRIENDLY X-WING STARFIGHTER, MAINSTAY OF THE ALLIANCE...

Luke kept typing, going into extreme detail about the weapon capabilities, shield strength, maneuverability, and vital statistics of the average X-wing. The yak matched him almost word for word, gabbing about everything and anything he laid eyes on. Not wanting to risk the animal gaining ground, he kept going. His fingers cramped and felt ready to fall off, but he didn't slow down.

Finally he ran out of information and removed his hands from the keyboard to flex them. The yak was staring at him from the other side of the screen, mysteriously silent.

"I'll be," it noted. "You're a natural, kid." And it jumped off the diggle's back and trotted away.

"I'll be," Metria echoed. "You outtalked a yak. That's got to be a first for anyone, Xanthian or Mundanian."

NEVER UNDERESTIMATE A PLAYER. HOW MUCH FARTHER?

"Who knows? And I'm sure we'll have lots more challenges before we get there."

I CAN HARDLY WAIT.