Had a free day to relax from work so I put this all together. This chapter has been on my mind for a while and I was happy to get this past. I like to think I did a good job putting it together.
Episode Nine: Now you're a criminal.
"This is by far the craziest plan I've ever thought of," Luz said as she fixed the gray cloak over her shoulders. "Seriously. If Drake saw this idea, he'd tell me this was such a bad idea."
The surprising revelation that Amity being Force-sensitive was a shocker. The young Padawan didn't know how she felt about the school bully having access to it. Luz knew enough that the Witch couldn't continue without proper control over it. Otherwise, someday Amity might face an unfavorable situation and lash out violently. The backlash of any Force use without the proper training would be hazardous to anything Amity was focused on and herself.
Now, Luz didn't need anyone to tell her that she was wholly unqualified to teach someone else the ways of the Jedi, much less the Force. Though for Amity's sake, she'll try, but she'll need some things to help make the training manageable. Items that are only in the Jedi temple…
"Alright, kid… You sure about this?" Eda said while coming through the door. Donning a similar cloak to Luz. "Cause I'm still iffy on us going to this "Temple.""
"If this thing works out the way, I hope we won't have to worry about anything." Luz holds up the portal key.
Eda shrugs but still gives a pressing look. "I'm more worried about what we'd be facing. Anything I'd need to know?"
Luz rubbed her chin in the thought of everything she knew of the Temple's defenses. "If the Jedi Temple has been taken over, all the original security measures would have been destroyed. If I have to guess, then most we'll have to face is squads of clone troopers patrolling the halls. Which would be enough to cause worry."
The Owl lady scuff at that. King shows up wearing his own cute little gray cloak to hide in and hops on the Lady's shoulder. "That doesn't sound so tough. I've seen Eda take on dozens of Emperor's coven guards."
Luz shakes her head. "These soldiers aren't like the lazy trash you've seen, King. Their professionals, fresh from battling a war. We may take down one squad, but the instant we're spotted, they will sound the alarm and have the whole place on lockdown within moments. After that, we will have a short window to jump ship before we have assault squads pouring in from every direction." The severity of the consequence was sent, and Eda nodded in understanding.
Holding the brown key up to eye level, Luz focused on the Force within it and made the key flash blue like before.
While she did that, Eda watched from the side with a slightly worried look.
The other day when her apprentice asked if she wanted to take part in a heist, Eda was just about over the Titan with joy. Believing that Luz was embracing the ways of the Bad Girl Coven. After calming down to learn more about this heist the young teen wanted to do, her enthusiasm started to sink. The kid still wanted to return to her world and go to the Temple where she came from, only this time to steal some important items. Luz then explained that if the Jedi had fallen and their Temple was taken. Thus, she wanted to deny the enemy some of their spoils.
Seeing the reason behind it was for good intentions didn't quite sit well for the Owl lady but denying a possibly evil government of treasures? Eda could live with that. If it meant that the kid could walk away happily, then so could she.
As the portal door appeared in front of them, the three moved in.
{Play Music: Escape (Beat Saber soundtrack trailer)}
The camera zooms in to see a dirty deadeye Luz walking in the rain, passing many dirt mounds with sticks planted in them with brown cloaks of Jedi robes wrapped around them or blaster rifles with clone trooper helmets hanging on them. The smoking aftermath of a battlefield in the background. Photos of Luz with several clones hanging out in a barracks. Luz on a ship's Bridge. The backsides of a younger Padawan Luz and a human male with short black hair in a Knights robe with thick sideburns and a confident smile. An armored Luz riding on her BARC speeder bike with her lightsaber out with several other clones on speeders following her into a battle.
Luz unknowingly walks through the portal door and falls on her knees. She looks up to see a hand in front of her to take. She looks up to see a hand in front of her to take. Looking at the hand's owner, Luz sees a smiling Eda with a happy King on her shoulder. Life is brought back by in Luz's eyes, and she smiles back before taking the offered hand.
The door where Hooty was opened as Luz steps outside in her sleeveless yellow vest, with Luz twirling and posing with Eda's staff with one hand and her lightsaber in the other in a low guard. But then Eda took her staff back with an amused grin while Luz gave a sheepish smile. King popped in front with his own pose.
A Boiling Isle mural was seen as Gus, Willow, and Amity are seen briefly before it burns away to show King commanding an army of stuffed toys, which all fall on him. The scene burns away to reveal Luz in front of the Jedi Temple on Coruscant, looking at it in sadness. The silhouettes of the Jedi Council, along with other Jedi, stood before disappear, leaving only their burnt robes and lightsabers on the ground.
Emperor Belos raises his staff as he foreshadows behind his castle as red lighting thunder from the sky. His army of Coven guards, numbering by many at his call, standing ready for a fight.
Now Luz was on her BARC speeder, racing past across the landscape. She zooms down the Boiling Isles passing, Gus waves at her, Willow smiling, and Amity looking surprised before she smiles softly. Passing by several Coven guards as they try to chase her. Then Eda, with King on her shoulder, hops on behind the Jedi. Then they hang on for dear life as a massive, monstrous worm-like monster, mouth wide open, lunges at them. Everyone screamed in horror as Luz turns the throttle up and guns it.
Then the scene changes back to the Owl House, where it's nighttime with stars twinkle in the sky as the three are on the roof and looking up into the sky. Luz opens her hands to reveal a ball of magic light and let it float to the sky.
Several lights flashed of fire and ice before the title appeared.
Jedi of the Isles
In a darkened room filled with random boxes with a light layer of dust, A door with a golden eye appears to fold out of existence itself. Then it opens and A Jedi, a Witch, and a little Demon appear.
Activating a light spell showed more of their surroundings. "Where are we exactly?" Eda voiced her question as walks over to a few.
"My room…" Luz answers, confused as to why they were here. The two Titan residents hear the sad tone and see the young Jedi wearing a blank expression. They watch as Luz grabs one of the boxes and tosses it through the portal door. "Most of what's in these boxes is just spare clothes and trinkets." She pointed at the brown storage boxes that Eda stood by. She went over a stack of blue footlockers and started taking them through the door. "Others are training equipment and armor that I've been working with whenever I come back in my spare time."
The two looked around and felt something a bit off. Around the room was mostly empty save for the stacks of footlockers and storage crates. There were no decorations on the walls or pleasing aesthetics one would expect from a growing child. Instead of a proper bed, there was a floor mat with a small pillow and what looked like a small workbench tucked in one corner. When Luz came back, King asked the question the two were thinking.
"If you lived here, why is all your stuff packed already?" King asked.
Luz didn't look at the two as she picked up the next footlocker. "With the war happening and me out on the front lines, there was a chance of me dying out in the field. I wanted to give whoever came here after me an easier time with cleaning up after me."
Eda and King shared a look of concern at the morbid answer.
The three picked the room clean of everything important and used. This included two little Holocrons filled with basic lightsaber and Force techniques. Deactivating the portal, the three quietly left the room to explore more of the empty Jedi Temple.
As they walked through its halls, Luz began to spot signs of battle. Blaster scouring glittered the walls with the sight of the odd blast crater from grenades and the dark dried-up blood. The picture saddens Luz as they move past other rooms that held meditation chambers or training rooms. Memories of long meditation sessions, culture lessons, and saber training tried to worm their way to her thoughts, but firm discipline pushed back. Now wasn't the time for such distractions in enemy territory.
Then she heard a noise and raised her hand in a solid fist, making the Witch stop. The noise became apparent in the same rhythm. Marching feet.
"In here." Luz led the group into a nearby room. Closing the door behind them and hugging the wall. Luz readied her lightsaber for if things got ugly, Eda doing the same with her staff.
The marching grows louder as they continue in their direction. From the amount of noise Luz heard, there had to be at most a dozen soldiers marching up the hallway. Sweat seeped from her brow as she nearly panicked when she saw the shiny white and red armor of clone troopers walk past. As they walked past the cracked door, Luz counted off in her head the number of clones they had on patrol. When the last one passed, she counted nine troopers' shiny red and white armor. The Coruscant Guard.
When the footfalls were well in the distance did Luz relax a bit. "Figures they put them here."
"Who were they?" Eda asked.
"The Coruscant Guard," Luz answers. "Elite shock troopers trained mostly for military police work, riot suppression, and enforce the law here on the Capital world. Unlike the Emperor's Coven, these guys don't mess around when doing their job and will kill if the order is given."
Her explanation made King jump into Eda's hair and hid in it.
With her explanation out of the way, the only Jedi in the room began to survey the room they were in, a Padawan training room. "This could be useful."
"What is this place?" Eda asked. The room they entered was expansive with a second story, big enough to house a small cottage. In the center of it was a battle circle in the center. "This a fighting arena?"
The Padawan nodded as she went towards an active terminal. "That's right. Arenas like this were used to train and test Jedi younglings in the ways of lightsaber combat. This fighting arena was made for Knights and experienced Padawans to train in. There's an even bigger one more towards the center of the Temple with an open theater where they hosted competitions for Padawans and Younglings. There are also quite a few things here that are of use we can take." She input a few commands and activated the training droid racks.
Eda jumped back as several doors opened, and skeletal-like droids jumped from them. Luz reached under and pulled out a datapad with a metal antenna and started commanding the droids that kept popping up and getting lined up into formation.
"…What are these?" King looks at the robots lining up like soldiers with growing glee.
"These are training droids. Figure we can reprogram these and use them for home security or training purposes." Luz answers as she imputes a few commands into the datapad, making the training droids disperse and pick up random pieces of training equipment and other droid parts. She pulls out the portal key to summon the door. "King, can you go with them and tell Hooty not to destroy them when they come through and come back? I don't want to spend the coming days trying to rebuild our little robot army."
King was practically vibrating with excitement. "Yes. YES! Follow me, my army of darkness! Come forth and conquer all!" The little demon says as he charges through the portal, with the Platoon of training droids all carrying armloads of equipment. When the last one goes through, the door remains open for a few moments before a very happy King hops back through to their side.
Re-entering the hallway, the three move on.
"Where to next, kid?" Eda asked as they entered down a corridor that held windows to the outside.
"To the Temple's library. We need to head to… What?" Luz stops at the window and takes a good look outside.
The three move and gapes at sight before them. The planet-wide metropolises shone at the setting sun. But that meant nothing to the Padawan. That was nothing special as she grew up in the Temple. What did was the thousands of people moving towards the entrance of the Temple.
"What's going on?" King asked.
"I have no idea…." Luz's eyes darted at the people outside and felt the air a little bit colder. Something that she did not like one bit. "Something is not right. Change of plans guys, we're going to check what's this all about. There is something going on that I want answers to. Eda, think you can get us down in that crowd?" Eda scuffed at that.
"Too easy," She threw her staff and let Owlbert's wings unfold. The three boarded the staff and left out an open window.
If the three stayed a minute longer, they would have met a tall, armored man in black. Having followed a strange presence in the Force for the last few minutes that his master pointed out for him. He felt the presence move out the window and into the crowd that gathered.
The three flew as they grew closer towards the mob of people. Eda focused on the task at hand while trying not to get distracted by sights around them. King, on the other hand…
"This place is massive!" King shouted in awe.
Luz glances at the demon with an amusement look at his child-like wonder before refocusing on the task at hand. "Keep us out of the lights, Eda. I don't fancy us being an open target to shoot at."
The Owl Lady wordlessly nodded before they descended into the receptive crowd. Dropping in a nearby crevice, they quickly blended into the crowd and followed the mob's direction. As they moved, Luz took stock of those around her. Many around her were human, but there were nearly as many others not from every species in Republic space. Eda and King felt a bit claustrophobic from how many beings were there and made sure to stay close to their resident guide. Weaving through the crowds, they eventually manage to get somewhat in front of the Temple steps. A row of Coruscant Guard with riot shields kept the civilians away. What they saw, Luz did not like.
Giant red banners were decorated with a circular symbol that didn't look like the Republics' emblem hung from Jedi Temple. Up there in an orange and tan gown, Luz recognized the blue horn head of Mas Amedda leading with a pair of red royal guards. Along with several rows of simple white armored clones stood guard farther up with a… Incinerator.
"I've got a bad feeling about this…." Eda mutters as camera drones and large screens display the Grand Vizier.
"Never again will we fear the Jedi!" Amedda said, his voice echoing over the crowd. "Through the grace of our Emperor Palpatine, we were saved from their treachery!"
With some in the crowd cheering in response, immensely troubling Luz. "What is he talking about, what treachery?" She muttered.
"The Jedi are gone! The Emperor saw through their Separates plots. Their lies!" Amedda continues. "He survived their attempt to assassinate him, and now at last," he waves a hand over to some soldiers with big buckets being carried over to the incinerator, "We are safe."
Luz covers her mouth close with her hands to realize what was going on at the sight of clones dumping buckets full of Jedi Lightsabers. Something terrible had happened, and the blame fell to the Jedi. Now in retaliation, the government they once protected was going to do the most unethical thing to them. The destruction of our lightsabers with their kyber crystals still in them. Those dumped in the incinerator must be from those that the clones killed, and Luz could feel the silent call through the Force the kyber crystals were still in them.
"No! This is wrong." Luz's words reached Eda and King. "They can't do this!"
"Can't do what? Luz, what are they doing with those weapons?" Eda asked quickly.
"They're going to destroy them, Eda, with the crystals inside and all!" Luz responded in a panicked tone.
"That bad?"
The young Jedi looked at the Witch with horror-filled eyes. She pulled her lightsaber and opened a cover on the side, showcasing the yellow crystal in it. "Kyber crystals are the heart of our blades. We use the Force in ourselves to connect with them. Destroying them is like killing a part of yourself. It would be like destroying a Witch's Palisman to a Witch!" Luz points at Owlbert.
Eda looks back at the incinerator just as a couple of more buckets full of lightsabers are dumped in by the soldier. An image appeared in her head of what if you replace the lightsabers with Palisman, that was a horrible thought. Such an action was unheard of and downright evil. In savage times, destroying another's Palisman was considered the ultimate humiliation and punishment.
Before Eda could comment, King chimed in. "Then let's stop it!"
"What?" Eda and Luz said together.
"Let's go up there and take those Lightsabers before they destroy them," King boldly stated. Luz shook her head.
"King, there are dozens of skilled soldiers up there." She told him. "A few I can take head-on, but I count at least within sight, eight whole squads up there ready to intervene at a moment's notice."
"He's right."
Luz and King turn to their third member of the party.
"Eda…"
"You promised me a heist that everyone will know about for years to come, kid. Well, this is it." A snarky smile stretched the Owl lady's lips. "And this is how we'll do it."
"We have entered a new age. An age of freedom!" Amedda yelled out to the crowd as he pulled out the lightsaber of the late Grandmaster Yoda. To which the civilians cried out with cheers.
With the last of the Jedi's weapons piled in the incinerator, he tossed the Grandmaster's in with the hundreds of their fellows.
Or it was supposed to if it didn't stop midair by a wave of yellowish glowing light.
The Grand Vizier gasped in shock as the soldiers around him switched to combat-ready positions as the spectrum of light seemed to brighten the surrounding area.
"What is going on?" One trooper said.
"A Jedi!?" A clone called out.
The Grandmasters shoto lightsaber lit up in a green blade, gaining everyone's attention before floating out over the crowd. Before anyone could react next, the hundreds of other lightsabers inside the incinerator flew out with it, igniting their blades in all arrays of the color spectrum. Flying in a vortex metal and plasma.
The crowd started to panic at the mystic display above them. Throughout the galaxy, all who watched held their breath in awe at the power wielded. From the council of huts and their bounty hunter bodyguards in the outer rim watching with widened eyes, to the Clone unit looking with blanked out expressions under the helmets, the many senators watched with looks of disbelief, and all the Jedi in hiding watched with embers of hope in their eyes.
The light given off the lightsaber formed an aura-like effect as they moved. Despite the fear bleeding off the citizens that watch from afar, a feeling of wonder began to build within their hearts. The lightsabers then swirl randomly before shapes begin to take place.
Like an artist painting a canvas, a body was formed up to resemble a giant bird. Wings formed and spread wide as the lightsabers acted as feathers and rose out in a great display.
If one looked closely within the body, three figures of various sizes floated within. Then a rectangle object appeared before two of the smallest figures disappeared inside. Then the bird shifted, and the lightsabers broke apart and flew within the object with the last figure before disappearing completely. Leaving behind a baffled galaxy.
Back in the Owl House, laughter filled the demon-possessed home.
The three thieves lay about in the living room with two laughing on the couch like hyenas while the third sat silently on the armchair.
"Did you see the look on that blue guy's face? He was all like, Ahh!" King shouted, trying to imitate Amedda's reaction.
"Are you kidding?" Eda said in between laughing fits. "Did you not see the crowd the way they reacted? I swear that must be my best work. I don't think I could top anything with what we just did." They laughed harder. The Witch turned to Luz and saw her sitting silently in her chair. She then sees tears falling from the teen's eyes.
Eda stops laughing and looks at the kid with worry. "Hey Luz, you alright? What's wrong?" She asked which silences King in the process.
The young Jedi was silent at first, gathering her thoughts and whatnot. In her hand was one of the lightsabers, a shoto, or short saber that was black and silver that looked old with its distinguished square guard. "I didn't want to believe I was the last of the Jedi." Luz's response, her voice steady with a sad tone.
"Then I see this…." They look at the recently acquired arsenal of Jedi weapons piled chest high next to Luz's stuff. "…Then it sinks in. Showing me that I may very well be among the last of the Jedi."
She gave a humorless laugh before giving the two a sad smile. "Sorry if I'm being a downer. I should be thanking you guys for helping me make this possible. By saving these lightsabers from being destroyed, you prevented their lights from ever going out. If their owners were here, they would express their gratitude. So, I guess I have to do it for them."
She then gets up and pulls King and Eda into a tear-filled hug. "Thank you…"
Eda felt unsure about the physical affection, but surprisingly, she did not shy away. Was this more of the human magic? Because she started to feel warm inside.
Inside the Jedi Temple, two dark figures stood inside one of its many training arenas. One wore a black robe that showed his paled features to those around him. The other stood tall in black armor and a black cape, his head and face covered in a black dome with an intimidating skull-like mask that hid his features. A slow and loud breathing came from him.
"This outcome… Was most unfortunate." The shorter individual said.
They looked around the Jedi training room to see all the equipment that trained the generations of Jedi younglings gone. The racks of training droids missing the equipment that runs them are gone along with several other things.
"The intruders infiltrated the Temple in a way that is unknown to me. The soldiers are now investigating what else has gone missing from the grounds." The tall individual spoke in an augmented voice.
"The whole galaxy watched that display. I admit that I too was impressed by the display of the Force. I've felt such a… Unique presence from that show."
"Security will be increased around the Temple. I will make it my mission to find the ones responsible for these actions… my Master."
"I have no doubt about that, Lord Vader." Lord Sidious responded. "These individuals possess powers unknown to me, and that can not be allowed. Once you've acquired your weapon, you will find these individuals, interrogate them, break them if you must. What they have done today will have several consequences that will need addressing for the years to come."
His gaze lingered on the empty droid racks. "This action shows the galaxy that the Jedi are not dead and are still at large. Thoughts of doubt will present with many within the senate."
"Their voices will not reach the people when they are silenced."
"In due time, my eager apprentice…."
Luz placed the last of the recovered lightsabers in the bin and stored them safely in the basement. Finding out the Owl House had one, and a relatively spacious one was somewhat surprising itself. Hooty even offered to expand the basement for the Jedi if she wanted.
Luz told the house demon she would keep the offer in mind, mainly out of curiosity on how he could do it.
Back to the Jedi weapons, the final count was four hundred and eighty-seven single-bladed lightsabers, fifty-two shoto blade sabers, Master Yoda's included, and one hundred and twenty-one double-bladed, mainly from the Jedi Temple guards. All totaling at six hundred and sixty, barely over fifteen percent of the order by Luz's calculations. If this was true, then there were over nine thousand other Jedi unaccounted by her estimate.
Meaning there was hope for the Jedi yet and that Luz was not the last of the Jedi. Not by a long shot.
A knock alerted her of another presence, revealing Eda standing at the stairway. "Snail for your thoughts?"
"The fight is not over, Eda. Not for a long shot," Luz declared. "And we now have a big target painted on our backs for disputing that event. They will be looking for us." Eda snorted at the Jedi's statement.
"They can try. But unless they have a way to cross dimensions." Eda pulls out the portal key, "then they are going to be wasting their time."
Luz eyed the key for a moment and nodded in agreement with the Witch. "You're right. As long as we have the key, we control what comes through."
"Course, I'm right," Eda beamed and waved her up. "Now come on up. I'm feeling great and going to grill up some Cimarron legs!" Luz giggled at the Witches' happiness.
Sparing one last before walking up the stairs with a worried look. Luz didn't get what she was after inside the Temple.
Initially, she aimed the door to appear in the Holocron vault and recover as many relics of knowledge that weren't bolted down. Appearing in her old room was unexpected, but at least they came out alive and unscathed. Recovering those lightsabers from being publicly destroyed was just as important.
At least Luz could hold her head up, knowing that the owners of those sabers would be grateful for what they did this day.
She also had a way into the Temple and could head back there whenever she needed to. Though she still had questions, those can be answered for tomorrow.
For it was time to visit an old friend.
Omake- Lightsabers
"Please!"
"No."
"Please!"
"No."
"Please!"
"No."
"Please!"
"No."
"Please!"
"No."
"Please!"
"No."
Eda sipped her apple blood with a bored expression as her eyes darted back and forth between her two tenants. The two were in the living room with Luz sitting on the couch while reading from one of the books she had lying around. While King was on his knees trying to get something from the Jedi. She walked in a minute ago to whatever this was, and it was still going on without an end in sight.
"Please!"
"No."
"Please!"
"No."
Downing the last of her drink, Eda slams her cup to just get her point across and the two's attention.
"Okay, I'll bite. What's going on here."
"Luz won't give me what I want!" King points an accusing claw at the Padawan, making Luz roll her eyes.
"King wants me to give him one of the lightsabers we recovered. I'm not giving him one because they're not toys to be played with, nor were they yours to begin with. Also, you have no formal training in handling any weapon of similar nature to lightsabers, and I'd rather not have your accidental death linger in my mind."
"Listen to the kid, King. Luz knows what she's talking about," Eda said before resuming drinking her apple blood.
"Then train me!" King pleaded to the Padawan. "Please! Teach me to fight like the great warrior you are!"
The two ladies shared a look. The Owl lay shrugged while the Jedi sighed. "Wait outside."
"Yes!" The little demon cheered as he ran out the door. Eda watched him going before turning back to the other female in the house.
"Sure that's a good idea?"
"I'll hand him a training saber. It's not like the one on me. You'll get minor burns or shocks when you get hit instead of a lost limb with those."
"Probably for the best." Taking another sip from her mug. "Have fun with that. I'll check how y'all doing in a bit.
Five minutes later.
"That bad, huh?" Eda said with great satisfaction. In front of her sat King whose front face was covered in burnt hairs and scorch marks from his furry chin to his boned head. He also didn't look the least bit happy as Luz put a wrap bandage on his snout. "What happened?"
"He got over-excited about having a 'worthy' weapon in his hands that he tripped over his own feet and went face first on the blade," Luz explained.
"It was so funny. Hoot," Hooty said.
King crossed his arms and pouted.
I'd imagine many readers who saw this weren't expecting Owl House trio to do that now huh?!
Oh this chapter was so fun and easy to write as I've been planning this out since I started chapter 2.
So yeah, Eda helped Luz and and the Jedi big time by grabbing all the lightsabers, Yoda's including from being publicly destroyed. But that just opened a another can of worms as now Vader and the Emperor are now interested in Luz. The future of the Owl House is going to be a lot more interesting on the Star Was side of things.
Tell me all what you guys think.
Fav, Like and Review, Plz.
Updated and edited on 6/9/2022 by Ghost-G339. Thanks my friend.