Arya watched as the small glowing yellow orb rounded the last corner of the cave. As she rubbed the sleep from her eyes and tried to keep up, she couldn't help but wonder if this were just some sort of dream or hallucination she was having. The only problem was that it felt too real.
As she followed the orb around the last corner, she found it hovering at eye level at the back wall of the cave. Standing there in a lengthening silence, Arya began to feel nervous about what would happen next. Yet, a few minutes passed, and nothing happened. She waited a while longer, when finally she began to feel awkward, and then annoyed. The orb floated there doing nothing, and she was wasting valuable time that could be used for sleep. She was about to walk away, when finally, it spoke again.
"Use the force to open the way." It said in what sounded like many voices layered on top of a single voice.
Arya started for a moment, startled by the sudden break in the silence, and then looked at the wall behind the orb. Hmmm. She thought. It must be some kind of hidden passage that only force sensitives can find.
That is precisely what it is. The orb said.
"Wha…you..you can hear my thoughts?" Arya said.
I can both hear and see far more than that. The orb responded.
There wasn't much that surprised her anymore, so Arya simply nodded and turned her attention back to the wall. The wall looked like it was made of the same stone that the rest of the cave was, but as Arya's mind travelled along nooks and crannies of the rock, she found quickly that this back wall was hiding a passage of some sort. She delved her mind father into the rock until should could sense a contraption from within. The contraption felt to be made of two intricate halves. Activating both halves, Arya assumed, would most likely open the secret passage.
Arya focused on the right half of the contraption and it sprang immediately to life. Hmm, that was easy, she thought. She let her mind feel over to the left half of the contraption and focused her force energy once more, but nothing happened. She tried focusing harder, but the harder she focused, the more the contraption seemed to resist her.
Having troubles? the orb asked, breaking Arya's concentration.
"What am I doing wrong?" she asked.
It is not what you are doing wrong, it is what you have been taught that betrays you. If you wish to open this passage, then you must use the force. But the force is a beautiful mix of light and dark. A dance between the evil and the good. Your strongest passions would overwhelm you if they were not checked by level-headedness and rationality. Balance, that is the key." After its speech, the orb floated in silence once more.
Balance… hmmm, Arya thought. She felt for the left side of the contraption in the wall once more. She tried, more gently this time, to activate the mechanism holding the passage shut. She used her force powers to caress the contraption, to softly coerce it into compliance. Still, nothing.
Arya was about to give up again, when she actually thought about what the orb had said to her. Balance. A mix of light and dark. Maul had told her that the dark side of the force would grant her powers beyond her wildest dreams. And that was true. She had become one with the dark side and it had given her the power she craved. But she had never tried, or even contemplated tapping into the light side. The side of the Jedi. How would that even work?
If Maul could conjure up the vilest experiences from her childhood to unlock the dark side within her, then maybe the opposite was true for the light side. So, she thought of the happiest moments she could. The day her brother Jon had given the sword Needle to her. Her father telling her he would let her train with Seiro Forel. Shooting archery in the training grounds back at Winterfell when her mother wasn't watching.
As Arya started to remember the happiest times of her life, memories she had locked away a long time ago, she began to reach out to the left side of the contraption again. A warmth, unlike anything she had ever felt, began to wash over her. It was the exact opposite of the cold yet powerful feeling that usually came with using the dark side. The contraption complied almost immediately. A loud clank echoed throughout the cave, and the back wall crumbled away to reveal an ornately decorated door. The door slid to the side revealing a large chamber on the other side.
Arya looked at the orb in wonder as it floated into the chamber beyond. Arya followed.
FIN
As Arya made her way further into the hidden chamber, she began to notice tables with all sorts of strange instruments cluttering them. There were also wall carvings depicting all sorts of rituals and experiments as well as strange glyphs, and oddly enough, they were glowing. It was a warm orange glow, almost as if it were being generated by torches or a fireplace, but there was no way to deny that it was distinctly coming from the lines on the carvings. Through this unnatural light, Arya was able to see the entire chamber.
As she studied her surroundings, the main thing Arya noticed, was that the chamber felt old. Not just old – ancient. If she had to guess, this was probably the oldest room she had ever been in. The main chamber itself was slightly smaller than the training cave Maul had brought her to back on Dathomir. At the back of the chamber was a small circular recess set into the wall. In this smaller circular chamber, there was a semicircle of very low seats all facing inward towards a small stone sphere at the center of the floor. The orb floated to one of the seats and landed on it.
Arya watched in awe as the orb transformed into a humanoid shape that looked as if it were made of the same transparent light that the orb had been. The light-figure was roughly human in size and shape and was covered in ornate robes. There were a few things that differentiated this being from a human, however. The head was oval in shape and extended on a neck that was just slightly too long. In place of a nose, two small slits sat at the middle of its face, and the being only had three long fingers on each hand. The being turned to face Arya and after a brief silence, it finally spoke.
Come, have a seat. The light-figure's mouth did not move.
Hesitantly, Arya walked over to the circular chamber and took a seat across from the being. As she sat down, she the seat lifted off the ground until it was a comfortable height for her, the light-figure's seat did the same.
"What is this place?" she asked.
You currently reside in one of the great Tho Yor. This place was the beginning of the end for my kind, and part of the birthplace of what is now known as the Jedi Order. The light-figure let the words sink in with Arya.
"Who are you then?" Arya asked.
I am the Prime Jedi. The first of our Order. The light-figure's face didn't so much as flinch.
"You're the first Jedi?" Arya, said. Amazement and skepticism mixed in her voice.
Yes. At least I was. What you are communing with now is what is left of my force energy. My body died a long time ago, but through the force, my spirit has been allowed to remain on this plane of existence.
Arya let this all process in her mind for a while. The Prime Jedi didn't seem to mind the extended silence. So, if this spirit was to be believed, then she was talking to the very beginning of the Jedi Order, as well as the Jedi way of thinking. The longer she thought about what the spirit had just told her, the longer the list of questions grew in her mind.
"How could I just happen to land on the planet that houses the beginning of the Jedi Order?" Arya asked. "It wasn't like I was searching for you. It just so happened I needed to seek refuge in this area of the galaxy, and your planet was the closest habitable one to my location. This seems like too much of a coincidence."
The force has a strange way of connecting people." The Prime Jedi responded. "It may feel random to you or me, but there are always grander designs at play.
"Hmm, be that as it may, I have thought over what you've told me and found a glaring flaw." Arya was about to continue but the Prime Jedi cut her short.
I have heard your thoughts, and while they are well founded, I can explain.
With a flick of its wrist, the Prime Jedi used the force to lift the stone sphere that sat in the middle of the chamber and allowed it to float at eye level. After a moment, the sphere began to glow white.
The beginning of our order was founded on a planet far from here called Tython when the Tho Yor traveled throughout the galaxy and gathered force-sensitive species of all kinds and brought them together.
As the Prime Jedi spoke, the stone sphere pulsed with white light and then projected a holographic image of pyramid-shaped structures flying through space and eventually settling on an unknown world.
As our knowledge of the force increased, we decided to form an order on which to teach and educate others in the ways of the force. I have deduced from your thoughts that your problem with my identity is that I have spoken of the force as a balance of light and dark. Of good and evil. But you have been told that the Jedi Order only practices the light side of the force. That would be correct now, but when my colleagues and I first started the order, it was not focused solely on the light side of the force. It was founded on balance. Dark and light. Good and evil. When members of our order would fall to far to one side of the force, they would be exiled and forced to meditate until they could rebalance themselves.
The stone sphere's holographic projections changed with the story, almost as if it were projecting the thoughts of the Prime Jedi itself.
Through this balance we were able to achieve peace for thousands of years. It wasn't until certain factions within the Order began to identify exclusively with one side of the force or the other. This split in thinking fractured the Order and started the great Force Wars. The Jedi Order that you know now were the light side of that fracture, and when they were victorious, they vowed to practice only the light side of the force. When the Jedi of the present talk of bringing balance to the force, they do not actually mean it. What they want is the light side to dominate. They want to smother the darkness. But to truly bring balance, one must accept the dark with the light.
Arya digested the information in silence. She didn't bother to try and hide her thoughts; she knew the spirit would hear them.
"Well, that leaves me with one main question. What do you want with me?" Arya said.
If I told you I wanted nothing from you, that would be a lie. The force has brought us together for a purpose, and I believe that purpose is for me to set you on a new path. The Prime Jedi said.
"What path is that?"
To bring balance to the force. True balance. Not the balance that the Jedi speak of by eliminating any presence of the darks side, but the balance that was once achieved by our ancient order. Bringing the light and the dark together. I can sense your power, even as you try to hide it, and I know that you are strong with the dark side of the force, or what my order called Bogan. But to live in true harmony, you will need to become strong with Ashla, or the light side, as well. If the light and the dark are always at war with one another, the galaxy, or even your own mind will never have peace. You must accept both and never let one overpower the other lest a divide forms in your mind. This is how you truly find not only power, but the ability to control it.
Arya felt a pang of annoyance. Here was someone else telling her how to live her life. Someone else tasking her with the impossible.
"Even if I am able to become a master of the light side, why would I want to help bring balance to the force? It wasn't so long ago that I had no idea any of this even existed. I was merely given the chance to gain the strength to destroy my enemies on my home planet. What's stopping me from going back there and staying for the rest of my days." Arya hoped she sounded more confident than she felt.
Because, I have looked into your mind, and I have seen your thoughts and actions as of late. I know of your struggles. You know deep down that Sideous will not rest in his pursuit of your power. You've shown him that he cannot contend with you, and that as long as you are alive you will be a threat. Until that changes, he will not be able to comfortably reign over the galaxy as he so desires.
As the Prime Jedi said the next part, it actually stood up from its seat.
And there is the matter of the dark presence that I sense on your home world. A presence I had not felt until recently. Something tells me it is connected with your visit into the mind of the vile woman who is the source for all of your hatred.
Arya started at this new piece of information.
Yes, I know of your communion with the evil woman who plagues your thoughts and stokes your anger. But playing with powerful forces that you do not understand often ends in tragedy. There are dangers in every action, and sometimes the most benign act, such as visiting the mind of another, can have dire consequences."
Cersei. Arya thought. The piercing pain she felt when she had visited her mind the last time. She had been worried that something terrible and unnatural was at work there, but she hadn't had time to follow up with Cersei since she left with Maul for their heist in the Jedi Temple.
Yes. Cersei But I have a feeling she is not of her own autonomy anymore. I know your intent is to travel back to your planet, but be wary, it may not be the same as when you left it. Something evil is brewing there. I can sense it.
"I can't promise that I will bring balance to the force, or even that I have a desire to. I know now that the galaxy is a vast place and contains more than just my home world, but I want to start by bringing peace to my own planet and punish those who have wronged me."
Arya let herself get lost in thought for a moment. She knew the Prime Jedi was still reading her mind, but she didn't care. It felt like every day she was receiving new information, or discovering new things, and her mind was starting to have trouble keeping up. Life was so much simpler when it was just her, her trusty sword Needle, and a bag full of faces. How could she control the fate of the galaxy when the fate of her own family felt out of her reach.
You do not have to give me an answer, and there is nothing forcing you to accept the light with the dark. I only offer the knowledge that you can pursue a path that is different than only following the dark, or only following the light. The path of balance brought peace to my order for thousands of years. If it had not splintered from a divide between light and dark, or from people that believed in absolutes, then we may still be at peace to this day.
The Prime Jedi's form changed back into an orb as it said its next words to Arya.
The ones who seek out power are the ones who generally fall to the dark side, and those who live only by the light quite often find their life to have been passionless and unfulfilling. This strong connection to the force that you have been given is a gift that you can use in many different ways. I have watched the dark side consume every being that has let it take control, and I have watched every light side force user claim to use their power for good while committing horrible acts themselves. But rarely does a person accept both and live in true harmony. Take from our meeting what you will, but do not forget my words. Balance is the only way to true peace.
Arya watched as the orb began to dim.
"I don't know what to do. Help me." Arya said in desperation.
Only you can set yourself on the path you choose to take. My words are merely a guide. It is up to you to decide. Now go, the dark presence that followed you here approaches. With that, the orb faded away along with the light that emanated from the stone sphere floating between them.
Arya stood and began to walk through the large main chamber back to the cave entrance as her mind raced with a million thoughts and emotions. The warm orange glow from the carvings on the walls did little to comfort her, and when she was about halfway through the large main chamber two figures entered from the passage where she had originally entered. One figure was an impeccably dressed man with a beard and crop of hair both white as snow. The other figure was much stranger. It was clearly a droid, but it had the eyes of a human and was covered in an immense cloak.
"You must be the girl that my master requires." The white-haired man's deep baritone voice echoed throughout the chamber. "What a strange place you've discovered. If I weren't here on business, I would love to scour through these ancient ruins. Unfortunately, as it turns out, your presence is required in quite a timely manner. So, you can either come with us quietly, or we can bring you to our master in a less comfortable manner."
Without hesitation, Arya pulled her lightsaber off of her belt and activated it, filling part of the chamber in an intense red glow that contrasted with the orange glow of the walls.
"I choose the less comfortable way." She said in a voice completely void of emotion.
With a tired sigh, the man pulled a curved lightsaber hilt from his own belt and activated it. Light from the long red blade added to the red glow of Arya's own lightsaber.
"My master ordered me to bring you in alive, but don't think for a second that means I won't kill you if I need to. An accidental death can always be covered up." The white-haired man said nodding to his droid companion.
Arya watched as the droid's two arms split in half lengthwise to become four. Arya didn't know how four arms would be any better than two in combat against an opponent wielding a lightsaber, but as the scene continued to unfold, she got her answer. The droid's four hands reached into its cloak and when they re-emerged, each held a lightsaber hilt. A chorus of hisses issued forth as the droid activated all four at once.
What in the Seven Hells? Arya thought. The fact that a droid was using a lightsaber was strange enough, but instead of red blades, the droid had a collection of blue and green lightsabers. Jedi colors. And there was also the fact that it had four. So now she had five blades she had to contend with instead of two. One of the blades was being wielded by a man who was extremely strong with the force, Arya could sense that almost immediately. And the other four blades were being wielded by a robot that could do adjusted calculations down to the nanosecond.
This could get out of hand fast. Arya thought.
As she squared up on her opponents, Arya knew that either she would leave the chamber alive, or they would, but not both.
"Let's begin." The droid said in a gravelly voice.
