AN: I own neither Star Wars or Percy Jackson and the Olympians, which is incredibly unfortunate. I'll admit, this chapter was a bitch to come up with and a dragon to write, after all, what can top seeing the past? What can come close to what I did last chapter? Where do I go from here? All of those questions had to be asked and some of them could only be answered with a resounding no. But, I finally managed to pump something out after four months of silence on this story, and thus I welcome you to chapter five of the Wayfinder, please enjoy!
"Uughh…" I feel myself groan through my foggy senses. My senses sharpen quickly and I realize something isn't right but then again nothing's right anymore, nothing can be right after living two lives and gaining Revan's knowledge. My head's pounding from the sheer amount of information flooding through my head and the light itself.
'Wait… Light?' I snap to attention with blasters almost appearing in my hands as I come to my feet, ready for anything that may happen. 'Where the hell am I? I was in Revan's tomb most definitely not a sunny clearing,' I think as I replace a blaster in my left thigh holster while activating my helmet's scanners to take stock of my surroundings. I find absolutely nothing, not sure if that's good or bad.
'Alright, Percy here's what we're going to do. We're going to see if we can find that cave again, it was Revan's tomb. Maybe I can hunt down her lightsaber until I can make my own, ancestors know I'm going to need one. I know all the damned forms thanks to Kallig and Revan but without a weapon those are rather pointless.'
So with that in mind, I asked my helmet's computer to reroute me to the tomb.
"Error, coordinates are for current location. Please enter different coordinates." I blink once, then twice before the words on my screen register. I sit down again, crossing my legs and letting my mind drift to what it saw last. I feel… everything… the voice of the planet, the feeling of the grass, but what screams to me is the water surrounding me.
I gasped at the feeling, scrambling to my feet even in the middle of my panic. Even wide-eyed and panting, I couldn't help but reach for the water surrounding me. The water in the air, the water in the ground, the water in the trees, it all answered my call with a horrible twist in my gut. But I'm a Mandalorian, pain will not deter me.
I watched in awe as a globe of water surrounded me in a practical ray shield, one that I doubt even the strongest blaster fire could penetrate. With that thought, the shell around me froze into a dome of ice thick enough to hold off something like a bowcaster. With a grin some would call horrifying, I coalesce the ice into a makeshift sword and shield. Primitive yet effective, I thought before I threw the ice sword like a blaster bolt.
My eyes nearly bulged out of my head as the sword sunk to its hilt in the tree, "by the ancestors," I whispered in fascinated horror at the sight before me. I approached the tree and, with a tap, melted the sword in the tree.
My mind warps into overdrive at what's just happened, 'I knew I was fast and I knew I was strong but fuck me… I didn't realize I was that strong… Imagine what you could do with a lightsaber,' I actually froze in place at the thought of that, 'I need to make my own lightsaber. But how? Only The Vizsla can wield the Darksaber and that's dad or whoever he chooses to wield it, I'll have to make my own won't I? Alright, I'll need to make a trip to Ilum but that's assuming I can survive here for a week.' I sat down to think of a way I could find food and water and nearly laughed at the second part, summoning water to my fingers without a thought.
'This isn't the Force, it's much more primal. Not stronger, just wild…' crosses my mind, 'okay, water is taken care of. Shelter and a food source next.'
I looked around at the thick vegetation and snorted, cutting down a few of the thinner trees with a thought and focusing on my fledgling connection to the Force. It's nearly nonexistent but it is there.
I close my eyes, settling into one of Tarre's favorite meditation positions. I let the memories of that other life wash over me, the horse-man Chiron, Poseidon, Kronos, Camps Half-Blood and Jupiter along with everyone else are pushed away into the Force - they aren't necessary. The memories of manipulating water, earth, and storm though? I kept those and focused on them even harder.
"I am one with the Force and the Force is with me," goes through my mind as I take in deep, heavy breaths.
A few minutes later I feel the pulse of the force in front of me, reaching out. I reach my own 'hand,' out to take the one it's extending to me. I feel my body numb as I connect to the glowing, pulsing presence in front of me. I can't help but gasp at the feeling of life pulsing through my veins, the light around me with the ever-encroaching dark. The life of the entire galaxy beneath my very fingers. It was intoxicating, powerful, heady… But all things must end as I suddenly felt myself crash back into my body.
"Shit!" is all I can say as my eyes jerk open and I fall on my back from the shock of actually having a body again. I shake my head trying to clear the tingling and the red tint clinging to the edges of my vision. My face splits into a wide grin as I felt the force sing around me.
I called the water around me and pushed it into circular saws, aiming them at a few trees of equal size and cutting them down. Next, I concentrated on the Force and watched as the logs assembled themselves into a primitive log cabin seen on some of the more heavily wooded worlds. I couldn't help but smile as the cabin assembled itself but frowned when I saw that there wasn't a door but thankfully there was a chimney hole. I focused on the water once again, working to cut a door in the small cabin and it did so rather quickly but I had no idea how to actually make a door that would swing open. So, to get around that, I found a massive leaf and fixed it to the top of the door with a rock I cut down into a pair of nails with my newfound abilities over water.
I couldn't help but take a step back and appreciate what I created in just a few minutes when there are people who could spend their lives working to replicate even this much. With a small smile and a whispered thank you to the Force, I stepped through the front door into the rudimentary home and immediately saw what I assumed was going to be my fireplace.
"Rocks," I said quietly, "I'll need rocks so I don't burn down my new house." With that in mind, I set off in a direction I felt was right, trusting the Force to guide me to where I needed to be.
Hours passed and not only had I not found rocks for my shelter but the Force was insistent that I keep going. I just grit my teeth and looked up to the sun and planet of this world, trying to determine how much daylight I had left to work with. Looked like I had a decent few hours left. With a sigh, I kept up my march.
Thankfully, the walk wasn't bound to last much longer. The air around me gained a definite chill as I kept the march. I couldn't help but bristle slightly at the obvious taint of the dark side creeping around me.
"Where are you taking me?" I asked the Force but the question might as well have been to myself for all the good it did me. The trees around me started to thin and shrivel as I kept up my pace until they fell away entirely as I entered a clearing holding a small pyramid drenched in the Dark Side. The thing was built from twisted, black rocks that I could have sworn weren't natural.
"Who approaches the Tomb of Naga Sadow?" A gruff voice whispered across the plain.
"Perseus of House and Clan Vizsla, son of Pre, The Vizsla and head of Death Watch. Who dares approach me?"
"A Mandalorian, how interesting…" the voice said with a small chuckle, "why have you come to this place, Mandalorian. You are young, inexperienced even… A rite of passage, perhaps? A lamb lost on his way?"
"The Force guided me here, and the Force shall give me strength," I said back to the unembodied voice.
"Then come, heir of Revan, Nox, and Vizsla, come and see," the voice whispered and the presence faded.
I took off at a sprint toward the Temple wondering just what I had gotten myself into.
The Temple's inner sanctum was a mess. Dust was covering the floor with bones strewn about at strange angles, indicating that they died horrible, violent deaths. I shuddered slightly as I kept up my march.
I followed the Force once more, praying it wasn't leading me to my death.
Eventually, I had to slow my run down to a jog as the temple seemed to stretch further than what should have been possible as it went further and further down into the Earth. I couldn't fight the shiver as the Dark Side tried to overwhelm me once again but it would take more than a little darkness and some bones to do that after watching Kallig's life.
Soon enough I found myself at the remnants of what had once obviously been a magnificent door but had been pummeled to kindling and shrapnel in a pile on the floor. Using as little precious fuel I could possibly use, I used my jetpack to aid me in jumping over the shards of the mighty door, I don't want to disturb anything if I don't have to and using the Force to blast away the door would do the exact opposite of that.
I felt my durasteel shod boots clank onto the floor with a thick metallic clang but I landed rather gently in front of the rubble in the center of the room as the Force fell completely silent.
"You stand before the tomb of Naga Sadow, Dark Lord of the Sith and master of Sith Alchemy. You stand where a legion of Jedi once stood to destroy my final resting place, you stand in my presence that was strengthened by the blood of the Jedi who died destroying my tomb. Rejoice, Jedi, for I die once and for all today," the voice whispered in disgust.
"I am not Jetti," I spat, "I am a Mandalorian, the Jedi are weak but they are not entirely wrong just as the Sith are not - yet neither see the bigger picture. There is a light side and a dark side but only in the grey can true power be found," I said as I felt the Force's presence strengthen around me once again, pointing me to a spot to my left. I raised my hand, calling on the Force to pull whatever it wanted me to have into my hand. Immediately, three lightsabers jumped into my waiting palm and stuck there. I looked at them in stunned silence, quickly clipping them to my belt before turning from the tomb - The Force finally satisfied.
"You walk away from me, boy!?" the presence hissed and I just smirked.
"I am one with the Force and the Force is with me," was all I replied with - repeating Tarre's mantra - as I walked out of the tomb.
By the time I was able to reach my cabin, night had fallen but thankfully the light of the planet was enough to guide me on my way back. I could only shake my head as I finally pushed the leaves aside and entered, glad to be back home even if it was without food.
I quickly unclipped the lightsabers from my belt and found that two of them had blue blades while the last was crimson. The first thing I noticed was how the Force almost screamed in pain from the red crystal. I set to work immediately, somehow knowing what to do.
I levitated the intricately carved shoto lightsaber, removing the crystal from the weapon - not noticing the other two blades rising into the air, disassembling themselves in the process as I closed my eyes while focusing on the sobbing kyber crystal.
"What did he do to you?" I asked the crystal quietly as I focused on drawing away millennia of hate, rage, and pain. The crystal (from what I could tell) sobbed in relief as I pushed a bit of myself into it. I sagged in on myself slightly as the crystal finally fell silent, its pain a long-forgotten memory.
I opened my eyes and could only stare in shock at what appeared before my eyes, a brand new lightsaber and shoto pair sitting side by side as spare parts hovered in the background with a pulsing white kyber crystal hanging in midair. I curiously took the pair of intricately worked hilts with a slight bit of awe, I made these… I made these!
I put the shoto down and worked my fingers over the rather heavy but gorgeously crafted hilt. The hilt had scrollwork carved in black standing against the Chromium finish of the handle, but what really stuck out was the lack of buttons except for the prominent three. The other lightsabers had at least five each while this one is a bit more streamlined. I immediately knew what each did but the fact that they were still so few was a bit confusing. I looked at the hilt again and finally realized something important, the two side emitters. I couldn't help but grin maniacally at the sight of those, a crossguard lightsaber!
I pressed the activation button at the top of the hilt while looking at the two situated closer to the bottom of the hilt, the intensity and length settings. I couldn't help but grin when the deep blue lightsaber sprung to life in my hands, the humming blade practically alive in my hands with the crossguard at full extension. I used the Force to call my Shoto to my left hand and activated it too. The shorter, matching blade hummed like its larger counterpart but just much, much higher pitched. The blade lengths were strange as the saber was a full length sword of nearly three and a quarter feet long while the Shoto barely crested ten inches fully extended. It might not be much help in a sword fight but I can think of uses for it.
I grinned as I shut off the sabers, clipping them to my belt as I called the rest of the spare parts to me - especially the spare Kyber Crystal nearly thrumming with power in my hands.
'This week is going to be very interesting,' I thought as I levitated the Kyber Crystal to eye level with my visor.
"Well, I wasn't wrong when I said this week was going to be interesting," I muttered to myself as I scratched a seventh tally into the wall. So far this week has been nothing but lightsaber training, somehow I knew I wouldn't need food so I made sure I practiced every single lightsaber form that Tarre, Kallig, and Revan knew. Unfortunately, I would need a few years and a dedicated arena to do that but I think I could hold my own with a Padawan now.
I shook my head as I cracked my neck and moved back to the small clearing I had found, working on trying to produce a third lightsaber from the bits and pieces I had or could find using the Force. Thankfully, the construction was coming along well and I think I finally had a functional third lightsaber even if it was rather plain.
I just shook my head, a lightsaber's a lightsaber no matter what it looks like, 'except for mine, the crossguard and the fact that both work underwater set your blades apart.'
I couldn't help the grin that stretched across my face at the thought. I found out the hard way one day that my lightsaber can work underwater thanks to a freak storm that rolled in and nearly drowned me. Thankfully, that didn't happen but I had been working on my lightsaber forms that day and my lightsaber didn't falter once. I was curious so I took it to the small stream I knew was close by and activated the blade underneath the water. The most reaction I got was the fact that the water practically erupted into a steam geyser in front of my helmet.
But that was then, right now it's meditation time. I fell to my knees, my saber and shoto spinning around me as I focused on the third saber in front of me and the crystal clear Kyber with parts swirling around it. With a breath in, I felt the Force pushing the parts in certain directions and I let the Force work through me.
Sure enough, after a week of hard work and dedication to making this third lightsaber it came together before my eyes. As I suspected, the hilt looked more like a flashlight than an actual lightsaber but that just made things even better. A weapon that doesn't look like a weapon is something no one expects.
The lightsaber gently floated over to me and I took it in my hand, activating it with an easy grin. Surprisingly it only had the activation button. I frowned slightly, twisting the blade in my hands until I noticed the butt cap and the emitter had reeds wrapping around them. Acting on a hunch, I twisted the butt cap and noticed it only gave about a quarter turn while the emitter cap had three distinct settings.
Grinning, I activated the blade and could only stare at the white blade humming from the saber. I twisted the cap and watched as the blade extended and shrunk back into the hilt 'okay, so the emitter cap is the intensity toggle. Awesome!' I thought as I moved through the motions for form three with the white blade. It felt like an old friend but still not as good in hand as my Crossguard saber felt.
'Bo Katan would like it, she's always said how badly she wanted a lightsaber but didn't want it to be Jedi colors and she hates red. Ancestors know how her sister would take it if she found the damn thing though,' I twirled the blade easily, slashing through a random tree with ease, 'we're Mandalorians not Alderaanians, damn it!' the snarl on my lips turned feral as I thought about the planet of pacifists, 'at least Naboo has Starfighter division and an effective guard. Alderaan's defense force would collapse like a house of cards against any determined militia. Also, Naboo's little election system isn't terrible, kind of like raising a man to the title of Manda'lor so I can live with it. Corellia's government is just as bad as their planet though, at least Death Watch has a leadership hierarchy we follow - Corellia's just a fighter pilot's wet dream.'
Finally, I hit the switch on the lightsaber clipping it to my belt as I made my way back to the cabin. After the half-hour walk, I got to the clearing my cabin was in and immediately noticed something was off. I ducked into the foliage as quickly and quietly as I could, trying to find what that sixth sense was trying to tell me. Then it hit me, wood smoke. Someone was in my cabin.
I could have growled at the realization but I stayed silent, I had three massive advantages against anyone in that cabin: my water powers, my armor, and the Force. Slowing my breathing, I slipped through the shadows as quietly as I could until I got to the front of my cabin with a WESTAR and my slugthrower ready to go at a moment's notice.
I was just about to step into the door when the leaf was torn down to reveal eight silhouettes in the fire light, eight silhouettes in Mandalorian armor.
"Percy!" The voice of my best friend called out as I was taken off my feet in a bear hug from Bo Katan Kryze.
"Hey, Kat," I groaned under my helmet, "father, guys," I called over Bo Katan's shoulder to the men howling with laughter.
"Perseus Vizsla," Dad's voice rang through the cabin, "you have fended for yourself for a week, you have survived isolation and the elements with nothing but your wits and your gear. I name you Mando'a cin vhetin, a Mandalorian through and through, kneel," Pre Vizsla says as he pulls the familiar form of the dark saber from over his shoulder. Immediately, Bo Katan unwrapped herself from around my waist to rejoin the group. I raised my hand to stop dad who looked slightly confused as I drew my own lightsaber and offered it up as the anointing weapon. Dad looked surprised but took the blade anyway, the familiar *snap-hiss* of the lightsaber activating rang through the cabin as he activated my blade, returning the darksaber to its sheath. There was a small chorus of gasps from the two youngest members of the group as I took a knee in front of my father, "you have found a weapon worthy of a Mandalorian, but you hold the weapon of a Jetti. Use it to defend yourself against our ancient enemy and any enemy of Mandalore.
"Rise, Perseus Vizsla," he said as he hovered my lightsaber over my shoulder, "a warrior of Death Watch. Remove your helm."
I did as he asked and watched as he removed his helmet too, a broad grin across his usually stern features. After returning my lightsaber to me in the traditional fashion, we nearly tackled each other into a hug. The next thing I heard and felt was the other seven bodies crashing into us with maniacal laughter ringing through the cabin.
"So you mean to tell me that you found out you can use the force and that you built this cabin?" my other best friend, Tiber, asked in quiet disbelief.
"You better believe it, Saxon," I grinned back at him as Bo Katan examined the newest lightsaber I built.
"A week though? That's just a bit unbelievable," she said as she pressed the ignition button on the blade. I couldn't help but grin as she stared at the white blade wide eyed.
"Yeah, just a little," I said while scratching the back of my head nervously in the back of Dad's Kom'rk frigate. It's been a few hours since dad and his crew picked me up and we were on our way back to Concordia now, I had told them my story but left out meeting the three spirits and the weird tomb.
"But you just happened on the lightsaber parts?" Tiber grunted as he held my shoto.
"No, it was more like I was led there," I told them, waving my hands as I do.
"Really? You expect us to believe that?" Bo snarked and I just shrugged.
"Believe me or not, doesn't matter to me," I said back with a shrug and they nodded at that as the door to the cockpit hissed open to reveal dad and the other five warriors who all had flasks in their hands while Blake, Jorr, and dad had two.
"Percy," dad said with a broad grin as he handed me the flask, "I think you know the tradition?"
I nervously took the flask and uncapped it nervously, nearly gagging at the smell but Blake just grinned evilly.
"Netra Gal, boy! Vizsla family tradition! Gal'gala!" he said as he turned his flask up to the ceiling. Tiber looked down at his flask just as nervously as Bo Katan who whispered something that sounded suspiciously like 'tihaar doesn't smell anything like this…'
I looked at dad who nodded at me, I took a sip and thankfully kept myself from gagging at the strong, burning drink, "that's horrible!" I groaned as I handed the flask back to Blake.
"Ahh, just wait!" Jorr said with a goofy grin before the feeling hit me, "there it is!"
I felt my head turn to near mush just from that one sip before it passed with a pleasant burn through my body. I turned to look at Bo Katan whose eyes were just as wide as mine. Instantly, I snatched the flask back from Jorr and took a deeper hit from the foul tasting drink as Kat did the same. Dad looked at me with a small bit of panic and pride in his eyes.
"Thankfully we'll be back home in two minutes," he said as he looked at me and then at Kat before sagging in on himself slightly as the rest of the group grinned and whooped loudly. I didn't know what was going on but apparently Bo did but didn't care as she stared at me. All I could think was I couldn't wait for those two minutes to be over.
I looked at dad and then at my helmet and jetpack, I knew we entered the atmosphere of Concordia just a few minutes ago so I immediately stood up to put them both on. Bo looked confused for a beat before she got the idea and strapped on her own gear as fast as she could.
"We'll meet you at home," I said as I pressed the button to open the door while the five whooped even louder, Tiber looked slightly in pain, Dad looked resigned but proud, and Kat was giving me a look I couldn't identify but knew I liked before her helmet went on and we jumped out of the ship.
"Did you spike their drinks?" Jorr asked Blake as the door hissed closed behind the two teenagers who had just jumped out of the ship.
"Of course I did," Blake said proudly, not realizing that the eighteen year old Tiber Saxon was standing right there, "they've been friends for years, totally comfortable with each other, and you know as well as I do that Love Wallop pills don't do shit other than jack up testosterone or estrogen and dopamine. Not that we really had to, damn cabin was swimming in all of it," Blake said with a bit of an eyeroll, "besides, you and I both know the best thing to celebrate the Verd'goten's finish is a good woman!" he clapped his friend on the shoulder with his meaty hand as Tiber just shook his head and sat back down, waiting for the ship to land.
"Of course, they'll probably beat us back to the governor's place," Jorr said loud enough for the teen to hear, bringing back memories from his first time with his woman back in Sundari city.
"Just a little longer, love," Tiber whispered with a smirk, "just a little longer and we can have our time."
