The force shall set me free
Chapter 4
"Nihilus tell me something" Kreia told her apprentice as she stared at the fallen jedi before her, his life essence destroyed down to the molecular level, leaving a fading husk as the only reminder that a proud warrior once lived.
Kreia couldn't feel the force in the disappearing shell. A small smile formed on her lips.
"How did it feel when you killed this jedi?" she asked the hooded figure behind her.
Nihilus looked at the fallen warrior and then back at his master. "I feel… nothing but hunger"
Kreia cackled and with force lighting destroyed the fading husk "Come my apprentice, this power of yours may answer one of my life long questions"
Jaune shook his head as this vision faded from his mind, Glynda stared at him curiously. "Are you all right Mr. Arc?" Jaune nodded quickly.
"Yeah I just have a headache for some reason" he said and Glynda nodded as they exited the elevator and entered Ozpin's office, she pressed a few buttons and motioned him to sit.
"After today's initiation I think is only normal that you feel slight strain, Ozpin will arrive shortly and once he finishes discussing with you whatever is that he wants to talk about, you will head to the main hall, the teams are going to be assigned" Glynda said quickly and handed him a glass of water.
"For your head" she said and walked back to the elevator "I need to make preparations for tomorrow's class, be ready Jaune"
Glynda disappeared and left Jaune alone to his thoughts as he waited for Ozpin.
Kreia, the name of Nihilus' master. She was pale and her eyes where withed out, her skin cracked, she looked more like a witch than anything else. "Life long questions?" Jaune muttered under his breath.
Nihilus whispered into his mind the answer "My master was consumed by an idea; the idea that the sith and the Jedi where wrong about the Force, she tried to instill onto me these ideas but I knew that she was flawed in her beliefs, nevertheless her teachings where not all in vain, the lessons she taught me were most useful, many lessons that will do you well in the future"
"Jedi?" Jaune muttered under his breath trying to make sense of what Nihilus had just said.
"Soon Jaune, your training will begin and your questions will be answered"
Before he could question his deceased master some more they were cut short as Jaune felt Ozpin approaching. Ozpin felt different in the force, as if many people where approaching him. "He is shattered" Ragnos whispered and Jaune brought a hand to his chin.
"Forgive me young man I was kept by a… situation downstairs, I see that you have already helped yourself to a glass of water" Ozpin said as he reclined in his chair smiling at the young man before him.
"Glynda gave it to me when I mentioned that my head was pounding"
"I am not surprised by that, today was a stressful day for all the people in this academy, believe me, but seeing as we still have one more event for this evening I want to get down to the point, explain to me how you killed the Beowulf without touching it"
Oh, that was it? He thought he was in big trouble for a second there. Jaune raised his hand and made the glass of water levitate in front of him, the glass shook and the water inside almost fell out, his control over the Force still weak.
"This is my… semblance I think, I can move things with the… my mind" Jaune corrected himself as he settled down the glass water, which made Ozpin hum.
"How do you do it?" Ozpin questions as he stared at him in the eyes.
"I just do" Jaune said awkwardly "I reach out and feel the objects around me, then I make them do what I want, is like I am using an invisible hand"
Ozpin nodded and stood up.
"Thank you Jaune, your semblance is certainly unique and I would like to see you use it to its fullest potential here at Beacon academy" Ozpin said as he gestured Jaune to follow him to the elevator. Jaune couldn't help but smile and nod.
"I won't let you down headmaster"
"I know you won't, now go to the main hall I bet your partner is waiting for you" Ozpin said as he pressed the button to the floor the boy needed to be. Jaune waved at him as the doors closed.
Once he left Ozpin looked back at the glass of water and picked it up. His semblance was not out of this world, he had seen impossible semblances used in battle throughout his years on this planet. But he had felt something was off, as if there had been something inside of him that was different from the other students.
His records where so good that they almost looked fake, but now that he had seen him in action he had to give the boy credit. He knew how to kill, he had stupidly charged at a pack of beowulfs on his own and managed to slay them all in a brutal fashion with his peculiar weapon.
He was looking forward to see how this new piece played in the battlefield of the fate of Remnant, with the addition of Ruby Rose and him there where truly some bizarre wild cards thrown into the mix.
He inspected the glass and noticed something, a crack.
A miniscule crack on the transparent glass, invisible from afar but if inspected closer it was definitely there.
Ozpin applied pressure and the crack grew in size, with a frown he settled it down and rubbed his temples.
He still had to name some teams that he hadn't foreseen, this would have to wait.
Jaune laid awake in his new bedroom, the thoughts about him being a leader still not leaving his mind, the whispers of the force around him unintelligible. His mind wasn't at peace.
He groaned and stood up, he moved silently in order to not wake up his new teammates. He quickly changed and decided to head out trying to find peace of mind.
He exited quickly and made his way towards the gardens hoping no one was there, as he walked through the empty halls Jaune felt the whispers of the force become more readable.
"Grimm" was the most common one followed quickly by "Fear".
He hated it, before he wanted to become a huntsman out of his selfish desire to be a hero, now he felt the crushing weight in his heart of what that implied. The people of remnant where always in fear of Grimm, their most selfless heroes dying in combat while the cowardly and the weak hid behind walls.
Jaune felt his breath start to accelerate, anger flowing through him, he felt the world spin around him as he made his way to a small clearing near the academy.
He dropped to his knees and without thinking he let out a powerful force blast through the air. Jaune snapped out of the dizziness and looked ahead.
Nihilus and Ragnos stood before him, waiting for him.
Jaune felt the need to bow and did so.
"Rise my apprentice, for today you no longer kneel before man nor beast, today you begin your new life as a Sith" Ragnos said.
"Yes my master"
"You seek peace of the mind but to a Sith that does not exist, soon you shall learn that peace leads to weakness and weakness leads to failure, your mind must always be sharp in the moment. Your passions and desires are your greatest strengths don't let quiet down, the force bends to your will when you do" Ragnos said as he hovered above him.
Jaune simply lowered his head and nodded, seeing logic in what his master said.
"Before we begin I am sure you have questions" Nihilus said, to which Jaune nodded once again.
"The vision I had today, it spoke of Jedi?"
Nihilus stared at him for a moment before he answered "The Jedi are our opposite you could say, they have stripped themselves of all emotion in order to obtain "peace" with the force, they preach of peace and yet they have hunted us down leading us to extinction based solely on the fact that we are different, they preach of love and yet they train their apprentices to not feel attachment to anyone, they preach of life while refusing to live it to the fullest, this is what they are a flawed mentally thinking that by giving their all to the world, the world in return will be at peace"
Jaune looked down to the ground and frowned "Sounds heroic to me"
"It does I am sure, but let me ask you one thing are the jedi not like the hunters from Remnant? Living only to protect others?" Ragnos questioned his apprentice to which Jaune quickly nodded.
"Yeah, that's the reason I wanted to become a huntsman to be a hero"
"And in all of the years that the hunters have existed, has the menace of the Grimm disappeared for a while"
"Well…. Not really"
"It has only increased, because giving your all and dying is what heroes do, do you want that? To live and die knowing that your acts of bravery only helped inspire more people to the same thing in order to repeat the cycle over and over again?"
"… no" Jaune replied quietly as he gripped his lightsaber tightly.
"Sometimes it takes something more than a hero to change the world Jaune and trust me you will change it, but you need to accept the price of doing so" Ragnos said as Nihilus nodded in agreement.
"Any more questions?"
"What did your master want Lord Nihilus? You said she believed that both Jedi and sith where wrong, so if both sides were wrong in her eyes, what was the side she believed in?"
"None, for she did not desire the good of others nor their suffering she merely wished to see the Force die"
Jaune pondered on this for a moment and let out a deep breath "I am ready"
Both of his masters disappeared, leaving Jaune alone in the middle of the field. Before he could question what was happening, a large blow to his side sent him flying into the air.
"You must feel with the force from where the next attack will come, deflect it with your lightsaber" a distorted voice said from inside his head, Jaune growled and prepared himself, reaching into the force trying to sense the world around him. But the whispers where still unreadable. Jaune was blasted backwards again by another force push.
Jaune felt himself getting more and more frustrated, his anger was towards himself for being so weak. He was not fit to be a Huntsman, he was not meant to be a hero, he was not even meant to be the leader of his team. And yet here he was fighting.
With an enraged yell he reached into the force and silenced the whispers. Jaune closed his eyes and waited.
"Left"
Jaune ignited his lightsaber and deflected the incoming strike.
"Above"
He twirled the weapon over his head and hoped to another place, his eyes still closed. Jaune repeated the process over and over again, his arms where feeling sore, his legs felt as if they would give out, but he would not be weak.
He needed to be stronger fom his family, friends and team. He wanted it, Jaune had hated feeling powerless against the bullies that had pushed him around all his life. He had hated feeling powerless when he met his first Grimm and he hated how all of Remnant was powerless before their common enemy and that they all had to cower and die to these dumb beasts.
But now he had power and he would die before giving it up.
Jaune deflected another attack and finally opened his eyes, the shattered moon was still shining above him and his masters had now appeared before him once more.
"Your form needs practice but that is to be expected, you will learn much from the holocron that you took from the sith tomb" Nihilus said.
Jaune nodded as sweat dripped down his face and his legs shook, exhaustion seeping in.
Ragnos scoffed at him "What a sore sight you make, reach into the force Jaune and sustain yourself"
"Sustain?"
"Yes my apprentice, for the Force bends to your will, it also means that it caters to you, use it to regain your strength"
Jaune concentrated and focused the force on his body, he felt as if he had poured himself a mix of a dozen pain killers with coffee all at once. He jumped in fright as he felt his body immediately feel as if he had slept for twelve hours.
"Good we can continue then" Nihilus said as he extended his hand towards Jaune, the young Arc frowned at his master not understanding what he was doing. Suddenly he felt as if someone was strangling him, he gasped and reached for his throat in order to swat away the invisible hand but it didn't work. His master finally released him and Jaune fell to the ground.
"Force choke, a common technique among sith, you can use this while your enemy is distracted or weak, otherwise it might not work only Sith Lords and very powerful force users can use this in the middle of a fight"
Jaune coughed and nodded "Got it"
"The Force Choke is the most basic of force attacks, you have already used another one before, Force Drain. You heal yourself by absorbing the very live essence of your enemies… and sometimes allies"
Jaune remembered how he had killed the Grimm back at home, he had reached with the force and pulled towards himself. Ragnos chuckled as he also extended both hands towards Jaune.
Jaune looked in awe as lightning was shot out of his masters fingertips and landed on the ground leaving it torched. "Is called Force Lightening, the opposite of Force Drain, you use the Force around you and inside you to destroy your enemies"
Jaune looked at his hands and then at him "How do I do it?"
"With trial and error, we will attack you once more, be ready Jaune" Ragnos said as they both disappeared from sight.
Jaune nodded but this time he didn't close his eyes, he trusted the force around him, he deflected the first attack and when he felt another force push coming to hurt him he used and attack of his own to dodge it.
The process repeated itself until dawn arrived, Jaune was beyond tired by this point his masters not giving him any time to tend to himself, the more tired he became the more the attacks increased.
Jaune dogged one, but didn't sense the other in time, pushing him into a nearby tree.
Jaune gasped as his aura cushioned the blow for him, but the attacks didn't stop, Jaune barely managed to deflect more force pushes when one of them blasted the lightsaber out of his hand.
Confused and worried Jaune reached into the force and released everything that he had and when the next attack came Jaune released lighting out of his hands to stop it.
Jaune fell to his knees amazed at what had just happened, the attacks had stopped and both of his masters where looking down on him.
"You have progressed how we have wished Jaune, leave to your classes, but know that this abilities you hold are only the basics of what a Sith can do" Ragnos said, Jaune looked down at his hand clenched it, not noticing how a small frown formed on Ragnos face.
"I won't let you down masters"
Jaune said as Ragnos and Nihilus faded into the depths of his consciousness and Jaune had time to heal himself.
Unknown to Jaune who was happily strolling his way back to his room now fully energized, the ancient Sith Lords where not quiet.
"You did something to him"
"Yes, I did"
"No one learns sith abilities that fast, you helped him"
"My soul is in the boy, he will find somethings to be… familiar"
"Nihilus… the boy will not survive if you keep trying to write yourself into him"
"I am not doing such a thing, he will be his own, I am just pushing him forward"
"Be careful Nihilus for you might kill our last link to the mortal realm"
"We do not live anymore Ragnos, you're deluded in thinking we are more than a shadow of what we once were, our existence is merely here to push the new sith forward and I would rather not have him die by pathetic beast and dumb ideals before he rises to power"
"It is more likely that he will die because of you meddling with his soul and if he does not die then we may have on our hands another wound in the force, so let this be my final and only warning, I know I am a shadow, but the proud Sith in me still lives, I will do anything to see the Sith back in power, if you do something to the boy I will banish you from his body"
"We shall see Ragnos, we shall see"
Jaune was incredible anxious as he walked to the arena, he was basically shivering in his boots. Cardin Winchester the big and bad beast of a man stood on the other side of the arena. He had handpicked Jaune to be his opponent.
Cardin smirked as he saw the skinny boy walk towards the arena, he would crush him in front of the entire class to show everyone who was boss.
"The Fight ends when one of the combatants Aura reaches critical levels, you can use your semblances, ready? ….BEGIN!" Glynda said as she brought out her notepad.
Cardin was the first to assault Jaune, striking him with his mace with a blow directed to his face. Jaune raised his shield in time and pushed Cardin off of him.
The red head tried another aproach but Jaune responded quickly with his shield not giving him anytime to attack, Cardin was pushed off to the side once more, but he had not being hit once, he scoffed at Jaune "Is that the best you got, only defense?"
Jaune said nothing as he took out his "steel" sword. He would not use a lightsaber on anyone here, they would die. Jaune blocked another attack and tried to stab Cardin.
His strike met air as Cardin sidestepped and punched Jaune in the face with all his might. Jaune recoiled back his aura absorbing most of the blow but the feeling of dizziness remained. Cardin saw this as his opening and landed blow after blow on the young knight making the crowd of students cheer at the turn of events.
Glynda shook her head in disappointment as she wrote down something on her note pad.
Pyrrha cringed when she saw her partner take a brutal beating and to think he had been doing so well the first few seconds of the fight.
Ruby on the other hand had her hands over her eyes, not wanting to see her friend get beat to a red pulp.
Cardin saw how Jaune's aura was almost depleted and prepared himself for the finishing blow. But before he could do that Jaune stood back up and punched Cardin in the face, making him take a step back.
"Still got fight in you?" Cardin said with a smirk still confident on his win, but Jaune didn't look amused, if anything he looked beyond angry. Cardin could have sworn he saw a hint of yellow in his eyes.
Cardin looked at the Aura levels and reassured himself that everything would be fine, he was almost at full level while he was bellow half. He just needed to finish this quickly.
Jaune raised his sword and dropped the shield, circling him like a mad beast, Cardin smiled "So I finally got the best out of you, good I would feel insulted if you didn't bring out you're a game"
Cardin leaped into the offensive again but Jaune was having none of it this time, with powerful blow to Cardin's mace he pushed him back and immediately started to strike him with his sword over and over again. Cardin grunted and pushed him off but by now he knew he had to improvise, he jumped into the air and brought the mace down on Jaune's head.
Jaune took it knowing it would hurt like hell but he didn't care, he had a plan. When the mace hit Jaune saw how his aura almost depleted but he managed to ram his sword in Cardin's gut making his aura drop low, not enough to end the fight but low enough.
Cardin gasped as he hit the ground, feeling frustrated he punched the ground and prepared himself again, but then he heard the sound of metal falling to the ground. Jaune had dropped his weapon. "HAHAHA giving up?!"
"Come and take your best shot if you really think that" Jaune said as he stood in middle of the arena waiting in controlled rage. Cardin wasted no time and dusted himself off rather quickly "Weak trash like you shouldn't be allowed to become hunters how are you supposed to be a hero when you're this pathetic?! I'll show you your place!" Cardin said as he prepared for the final blow, raising his mace high into the air.
Pyrrha gasped, Nora hugged nervously Ren squeezing the oxygen out of him,Ruby whimpered, Blake closed her eyes and Yang watched anxiously, their friend was about to pass out by Aura exhaustion.
But after a solid three seconds the mace didn't move, they could see Carding struggling to bring it down but it didn't move.
"WHAT THE HELL!"
"Semblances are allowed Cardin" Jaune said simply and raised his hand, no one understood until Cardin started to choke, he dropped his mace trying to swat away the invisible hand but just like Jaune a couple of hours prior it didn't work. Jaune dropped him to the ground and then with a powerful force blast made him crash into the ceiling. Jaune dropped him to the ground again and seeing as his Aura was almost depleted he stopped and looked at Glynda.
Glynda nodded "I admire your self-control Mr. Arc, but you couldn't save yourself until the las moment please try to not get distracted next time, and you Mr. Winchester you got overconfident and that is why you lost, will the next duo please walk to the Arena"
Jaune retrieved his sword and shield, sparing a glance at the defeated Cardin who was fuming at his defeat. Jaune almost felt sorry for the guy.
Almost.
He was met by a soul crushing hug from Nora who shook him in the air like a ragdoll.
"YEAHH! That's our leader! Giving JPRN its first victory!" Nora said as she squeezed him even harder. Jaune looked in desperation at his friends but Ren shrugged "Your turn" was all he said.
Pyrrha managed to get Nora off him and smiled at her partner "Good job"
Jaune managed a weak smile, his mind not on the praises that his team (and the approaching team RWBY) where giving him but on the first victory against someone who before he would have never even dreamed of defeating.
The force was growing louder around him, the voices all whispered at him eerily "Through victory my chains are broken"
"The force shall set me free" a robed figure finished on the other side of the galaxy. Whispers in the force where telling him the awakening of something ancient in the unknown regions, the shadow cackled at the thought as he discarded his robe on the desk next to him. Patience was something he had and his priorities lied here in the present. He would deal with this "anomaly" later, his focus was here on the senate.
"Chancellor Palpatine, we just wanted to confirm your assistance to the Opera show this evening"
"I will be there, as will be some friends of mine"
Sheev Palpatine had much ahead of him righty now, but when he ruled the galaxy and brought order to it he would try to find this anomaly with his new apprentice. It would make for great practice he supposed.
Darth Sidious looked down at the hidden lightsaber and smiled, it had been long since he had heard of thought of the old code. It's meaning still true to this day.
"The Force shall set me free" he said and cackled one last time.
A/N:
Sorry for the long wait I hope this chapter has been satisfactory so far. By popular request have some Palpatine, I love this guy but I didn't know how to add him to the story without making it feel force. So I said screw it he is alive and taking over the republic, so don't expect him to make a true appearance until much MUCH later on. I would like to thank you all for supporting this story, see you next update!