Chapter Four

Obi-Wan felt something gently nudging him awake. It wasn't exactly a voice, the voice, but it was Her. He knew it was Her.

After She had told him that he could not escape, She had forced him—he still had to try to figure out how—into a deep sleep. The Mother Planet was very used to having Her way, that much he knew without question.

Slowly, prolonging it to show to Her that he would not be forced into things, Obi-Wan gradually opened his eyes. He expected to see Triandeena, but he was caught off-guard to see Pennetians all around his bubble, staring in at him. Their webbed hands pressed in on the bubble so that they were all just a few inches from him.

"Ack!" He cried, startled at seeing them so close. "What do you want?"

Zodek swam toward him, the crowd of Pennetians parting to let him through. He stopped close to Obi-Wan and opened his mouth. Again, there was a delay before the sound came to Obi-Wan's ears. "Jedi, you have been accepted by the Mother Planet. Now you must be cleansed, inside and out."

There was a sound like sucking water and Obi-Wan was momentarily distracted from the large audience he seemed to have to turn his head to the left where the vent was. The vent had enlarged to an incredible size and a boy hurried in, carrying a bowl of some kind of food. Obi-Wan hadn't eaten in a day now and his stomach woke up loudly at the smell of something, anything, to eat, though he was surprised to see another human this deep in the water.

The boy smiled at him and sat down, cross-legged, beside his head. He was eight at the most, and dressed in an odd mix of tunics and some kind of mesh. His green eyes sparkled as he held a spoon out toward Obi-Wan's mouth. "Eat," he said eagerly.

Obi-Wan's stomach might not care about what it was, but Obi-Wan noticed that it was a thick, green concoction that smelled horrible up-close. "What is it?" He asked, trying to ignore the fact that dozens of merpeople were silently watching his movements and listening to his words.

"Gilliaweed stew. For your cleansing," the boy answered, smiling. The spoon was still held out toward his mouth. "Eat."

He felt no deception in the boy so he was certain that the boy thought it was gilliaweed stew, though Obi-Wan was not entirely convinced. What if they were trying to poison him, no matter what She said about needing him to be 'absorbed' into Herself?

'Tis well to eat, Obi-Wan. Have no fear, child.

Obi-Wan stiffened. So She was still closely monitoring his thoughts and what he did, was She?

"I won't eat with an audience," Obi-Wan said firmly, staring at the hundreds of Pennetians crowding around his bubble. "I am not some kind of entertainment!"

And thou wilt eat if they remove themselves?

Obi-Wan sighed. No matter how bad it tasted, he supposed he would. His stomach would never forgive him if he passed up food. "Yes."

It happened all at once. Triandeena jerked, then barked something in the musical language of the Pennetians that he could not understand. The merpeople darted away, swallowed up by the darkness, though Triandeena and Zodek stayed.

Better, my young one?

Obi-Wan sighed. "Thank you," he said, more out of politeness than wanting to thank his reason for being captured and held here until his death.

Thou mayest speak to me in thy mind, Obi-Wan. 'Twould be less tiring for thee.

"No," Obi-Wan said stubbornly. "You don't belong in my head. I don't belong here! I won't do anything that makes it easier on you."

The voice said nothing, but he could feel a disappointment fill him.

"Eat."

Obi-Wan glanced up, startled. He had momentarily forgotten about the boy sitting right next to him. Obediently, he opened his mouth and the spoon shoved its way into his throat. The stew wasn't as bad as he was expecting, but it wasn't good, either. It was a cross between slimy plant and the spiced mynock that his master had forced him to try a few years ago. Not a pleasant taste, but his stomach needed something and variety was few in captivity.

As he choked down one bite after another, Obi-Wan thought back to his battle of wills with the Mother Planet. He was sure that he was not endearing himself to Her, but he hoped if he made Her upset enough, She'd leave him be to either escape or be killed outright. Either way, he would have more of a fighting chance than here, chained to the floor of a bubble, constantly being watched either by Her or a Pennetian.

Could he win this battle of wills with a planet that was older than he by millennia? Or was he simply fated by the Force to die this way, like the other Jedi She had mentioned, never to see the sun or his master again?

Resolutely, he decided to try to call out to his master through the Force. If the Force was a part of everything, then it would be a part of the Mother Planet as well. He wasn't sure if that would help him, or hinder him, but he had to try.

Master?

He closed his eyes, turning his face away from what little was left of the bowl. Quietly, the boy stood and left him alone, though Triandeena and Zodek still watched him. He focused deeply into the Force, feeling it moving around him like the water currents outside his bubble of air. He gathered it to him and then pushed it upward, toward Qui-Gon's presence, desperate to reach him, to have him know where he was, to come rescue him from this bleak situation, but he ran out of time.

What art thou doing?!

He lost his concentration with the thundering, angry voice in his head. Obi-Wan resolutely tried again to reach Qui-Gon, almost, almost reaching his master, before the Mother Planet cut him off, taking the Force away from him somehow. He felt as if his whole world was plunged into darkness as he couldn't even feel a shadow of the life-giving energy.

I told thee not to do this thing! She screamed in his head. Thou hast disobeyed me! Thou shalt be punished! Thou wilt learn that I am to be obeyed! I am all that thou hast now, no one else! Thou art mine, Obi-Wan! Mine!

Obi-Wan cried out as a sharp pain sliced across his brain, his eyes forced open by the shock of it. Both merpeople were staring at him impassively across the bubble, but he no longer cared that they were there. He felt as if he were fighting himself, as if his body had rebelled against him as it punished him with pain. His back arched and he cried out again as his spine felt like it was a burning fire of pain. His hands jerked in the chains, pulling at them, but the floor had hardened again and the chains remained unbroken. The white-hot pain flared so that he couldn't even see, couldn't even think, couldn't even touch the Force for help in easing the pain away. He felt as if his brain were swelling inside his head and the pressure it caused was too much for him to bare.

Mine!

The pressure in his head and the pain along his spine spiked at the scream and Obi-Wan sank into unconsciousness.