The dark energy surrounding the enraged Jedi made Sidious' skin tingle. He hadn't thought that Kenobi had the potential for such anger. It was absolutely intoxicating, like a finely aged liquor. It was that furious energy which was his best chance of once again skewing the balance between the opposing sides of the Force. Kenobi lacked all of his former restraint which made him dangerous, not only to the Jedi, but to Sidious himself as well.
"You are certainly quite amusing without your memory, Master Kenobi," Sidious mused, yanking the blaster from Obi-Wan's hand with a mere flick of his fingers. "However I do not think that it has wholly affected your intelligence."
Obi-Wan merely glared at him, energy swirling around him. He squared his shoulders, not the least distracted by the fact that he was weaponless. There was a raw, savage edge to the emotions that vibrated in the air around him.
His vision was fading in and out of focus. The bright overhead lighting was painful after already adjusting to the darkness and weakness brought on by Force lightning didn't help either. Despite it, Anakin tried his best to focus on what was going on around him. On what Obi-Wan was saying to Palpatine—No, to the Sith Lord. He was a Sith. Palpatine didn't exist.
With a great deal of effort, Anakin was able to turn his head. He blinked a few times, keeping his eyes trained on Obi-Wan's broad back. Anakin's fingers itched to touch the dip between his shoulder blades. He would have settled with being able to tug at the hem of his tunic, anything to gain Obi-Wan's attention because pleading with him through their bond wasn't working.
"Pledge yourself to me, become my apprentice, and I will spare the boy."
At that, Anakin's screams became vocal. "No! Obi-Wan, don't do it! Don't!"
"You'll let Anakin go?" Obi-Wan pressed, his shoulders slumping a fraction. "He'll be safe?"
"Become my new apprentice and your love will be safe," Palpatine drawled, his voice feeling like sludge against Anakin's skin.
Obi-Wan chuckled darkly, his posture tense despite his apparent mirth. "You don't think that I trust you, do you? Who is to say that you won't kill him once you have my sworn word? I will not safeguard Anakin's life to your whims."
"So be it. Guards!"
Palpatine's shout had Obi-Wan back up, close enough for Anakin to grasp the hem of his loose tunic. Feeling the tug, Obi-Wan reached a hand back, his fingers wrapping around Anakin's wrist.
"Release young Skywalker and return him to the Jedi Temple," Palpatine ordered, alerting Anakin to the fact that the red-cloaked Royal Guards had arrived.
Anakin only gave into his fear when Obi-Wan moved beyond his reach, leaving him without a focus in the swirling darkness. He shouted out wordlessly to Obi-Wan through their bond, attempting one last valiant fight against his bonds before the contents of a hypospray forced him once again into unconsciousness.
Obi-Wan's instincts screamed against him abandoning Anakin in such a way, but it was the only way to ensure his safety. Beyond all of the anger swirling around inside his mind, that was the only coherent thought he was able to latch onto. Anakin needed to be kept safe. It wasn't a lover's response to his partner's peril, but an ingrained truth that he could not ignore. Long ago, Obi-Wan had sworn that he would protect Anakin and train him in the ways of the Force. He could only vaguely make out the image of the man he had given his word to, but he would hold to that vow even if he couldn't recall the circumstances under which he'd made it.
"I should have realized your potential long ago, Master Kenobi, when you killed my apprentice Darth Maul," the hooded man mused, circling around Obi-Wan. "There was so much anger in you when you avenged your poor Master's untimely death, so much hatred. The Force, however, recognized my failure and has set things right."
"I have not yet agreed to be your apprentice," Obi-Wan reminded him, his eyes drifting to the door Anakin had been taken through. "I will not agree to anything until I know for certain that Anakin is safe."
"You are nothing if not loyal," he commented, his voice lacking any distinctive tone that could help Obi-Wan judge his state of mind. "But are you certain that you're loyal to the proper things. Young Skywalker, for instance. Is he truly deserving of such selfless loyalty?"
"I love Anakin," Obi-Wan insisted, tensing. He drew his arms to his chest, crossing them in a defensive posture.
"I do not doubt that. After all, who could fail to love the one who freed them from such torment?"
The way he spoke, the words that he used, sparked a flicker of recognition in Obi-Wan's mind. Little as he had trusted Palpatine before, Obi-Wan trusted him even less now. Backing away, Obi-Wan glanced around wildly, hoping to catch sight of his blaster.
"You do not need to fear me, Master Kenobi," Palpatine said quietly as he advanced towards him. "I am offering you unlimited power and freedom. You will not longer be bound by the rules of the Jedi Council. You will have the power to oppose them if they try to separate you from your beloved apprentice."
"Like you?" Obi-Wan spat, his eyes still frantically searching out his blaster in the dimly-lit room. "How can I trust you when I just saw you try to kill Anakin?"
"Really now, my dear boy, I had hoped that it wouldn't come to this," Palpatine sighed.
It was a padawan that found Anakin. Zett Jukassa had wandered out onto the grand staircase that led up to the Temple's main entrance when he heard the sound of a blaster being fired. Glancing down noticed a crumpled body lying halfway up, a scorch mark on step next to him. Clutching his newly made lightsaber in his hand, Zett rushed down the stairs, reaching out with the Force for any signs of danger. As he neared the sprawled figure, he was able to see the braid of a fellow padawan and hurried even faster.
Zett was shocked when he saw which padawan it was lying in a boneless heap.
Dooku had known for some time that he was to be replaced. It was a bitter truth, but he knew now that Sidious had only meant him to be a placeholder for his true apprentice. A younger apprentice with extensive capabilities and not burdened by platitudes of the Jedi Code. Dooku had not thought, however, that Sidious would take a new apprentice so soon after a temporary balance in the Force had been reached. Or that his apprentice would be one of the beings responsible for that balance. It was quite a fall for a Jedi. Especially one like Obi-Wan Kenobi.
He could still remember dinners with his former apprentice when Qui-Gon had first taken on the tutelage of a then eight year old Obi-Wan Kenobi. Even at that young age the boy had been as serious and controlled as a man four times his age. It was shocking to Dooku that such a studious little boy should grow to possess the nature of a Sith apprentice. Young Skywalker would have been a far more likely candidate in his opinion.
It was not the first time he had been mistaken, though. So rather than wait for his own downfall, Dooku had decided to go into hiding until the matter had sorted itself out. He had estates enough in several systems, many of which could not be traced back to him. It would easy for him to remain out of the way while the Jedi and the Sith fought their final battle.
Anakin awoke with a jolt, awareness suddenly filling him. He bolted upright, gasping for breath as he scanned the room for any sign of Obi-Wan. Anakin began to panic when he didn't see him, his vision blurring as he scanned the other figures in the room.
"Where's Obi-Wan?" Anakin groaned, bringing a hand up to his forehead.
"Know where Obi-Wan is, we hoped you did," Yoda murmured from near the end of the bed.
Anakin moved quickly then, attempting to scramble out of the bed even as his vision wavered dangerously. If Yoda and the other Masters didn't know where Obi-Wan was it meant that he was still in Palpatine's grasp. Palpatine had possibly already even convinced him to turn to the Dark Side of the Force. And even though the Council frustrated him like nothing else, their ways were far better than that of the Sith.
"Obi-Wan is with the Sith Lord," Anakin said as he climbed more carefully out of the bed. "He wants Obi-Wan for his apprentice."
"You're certain that it's the Sith Lord?" Master Koth demanded, his voice relaying the shock that was felt by all the Masters.
"I wouldn't accuse Palpatine of this lightly," Anakin ground out. He gripped tightly to the edge of the mattress, waiting for his vision to steady itself before turning to face the highest ranking Jedi who stood in a semi-circle around his bed in the medical wing of the Temple.
"We should have had Obi-Wan secluded," Master Windu scoffed, slipping his hands into the wide cuffs of his robe. "By giving in to you we may very well have distorted the balance of the Force to proportions beyond prepare."
Anakin glared at the dark-skinned Master. "We are not to blame for this. It was the Council that gave into the Senate and sent Obi-Wan to Ranth'fer alone. If I'd been with Obi-Wan this wouldn't have happened."
"The right decision we thought we'd made," Yoda apologized, lowering his head briefly. "Friends, Obi-Wan was meant to have in the system. Yet betrayed he was. If true your accusation is, then arranged by Palpatine it was from the start."
Anakin scowled, scrubbing briefly at his forehead before turning towards the door. As much as he would have liked to go chasing after Obi-Wan himself, he knew that he would need the help of the Council if he was to find Obi-Wan. Anakin knew that Obi-Wan was still alive, he could sense him in the most basic sense, but when he tried to reach out through their bond he was slammed up against the same barrier that had been present when Obi-Wan was on Geonosis.
"Slipped the balance has once again," Yoda murmured into the silence that followed. "Too temporary was it, not yet fully formed. Fear do I we will lose Obi-Wan to the darkness. Yet hope there is that remains for not complete is his fall. Hope, Obi-Wan clings to. Hope that his actions save young Skywalker will. Even should he himself be lost."
The comforting hum that Obi-Wan had always known felt sick, twisted. The anger that he had felt early had faded somewhat with the knowledge that Anakin was safe, even if Obi-Wan himself no longer was. After all, he had aligned himself to a madman. He could still sense Anakin, though, and that was a small comfort, the only one he had at the moment.
At Palpatine's insistence, he had been given fresh clothes to wear. The beiges and browns he had become used to were replaced by inky black. Boots, trousers, obi, and belt were leather while his tunic was a finely woven linen. Obi-Wan had been given no privacy while he changed, neither Palpatine nor his guards trusting him to be alone with his vow only newly given and as yet untested.
Flanked on either side by red-cloaked guards, Obi-Wan was led into Palpatine's office and forcibly sat on one of the couches in the sitting room. Palpatine himself continued on to his desk, punching in a few buttons on a hidden console near the left corner. A holopainting on the wall opposite the desk faded momentarily to black before it was replaced by a new image.
Anakin. Slumped against the steps leading into the Jedi Temple.
Obi-Wan was on his feet in the next instant, staring wide-eyed at the real time feed. He tried to take a step towards it, but was immediately pulled back down by the cowled guards. Obi-Wan struggled against their hold, launching a few smaller objects across the room in his panic. Even when he realized what he was doing, Obi-Wan made no attempt to reign in his actions.
"As you can see, Master Kenobi, I have kept my end of our bargain. The boy has been returned to those who will look after him," Palpatine said, drawing Obi-Wan's attention from the image before him.
There was the sound of a blaster and Obi-Wan watched in horror as the bolt struck less than a foot from where Anakin was lying.
That time, when Obi-Wan attempted to rise, no one stopped him.
"Now it is your turn. Swear your allegiance to me or else the ones recording this will kill young Skywalker."
Obi-Wan dropped to his knees, his head hanging forward as the air around him screamed its silent warning against what he was about to do. There was the swish of fabric and soon he found himself staring down at the hem of Palpatine's cloak.
With a deep breath, Obi-Wan raised his head, staring up at Palpatine's emotionless face and spoke the words that appeared suddenly in his mind. "I pledge myself to your teachings, Lord Sidious. To the ways of the Sith."
The smile that twisted Sidious' lips made Obi-Wan's stomach clench. "Then rise, Lord Vader."
Though he had spoken the words, Obi-Wan had no intentions of honouring his vow. Not when the vow would take him so far from Anakin. Obi-Wan refused to allow Anakin to follow him down this path of darkness. For the moment, though, he would have to obey Sidious' commands. He was weaponless and surrounded by a half dozen guards with energized pikes. Even were he to knock them aside with the aide of the Force, Sidious would notice and retaliate, attacking him with the blue lightning that had drained Anakin so completely.
"How would you like to be responsible for ending a war?" Sidious inquired, rising from his desk to stalk over to the couch where Obi-Wan still sat.