Pain.

Agony.

Darkness.

It was a never-ending cycle.

Images, flashes, of faces he knew, faces Ezra had never seen before, faces he'd known from forever ago.

He couldn't think anymore. His mind was clouded. The faces were fading from view. His subconscious tried to cling to them as if it was all he had left, but they slipped away.

A long, horrible moment passed.

Then Ezra opened his golden eyes.

Once deep blue iris's were now replaced with deep gold, and the sclera were black, much like the eyes of the Inquisitor.

He looked around, taking in his surroundings.

He was in the same room… a room he vaguely remembered waking up in many times before. The same dim glow, the same jagged, cracked, rough black stone reaching up towards the ceiling of what looked like a cave. The stone below displayed red pulsing lines that zig-zagged to the bases of the walls. Ezra couldn't recall there being any red energy of the sort before, but he couldn't think of how much time had passed since he arrived here.

A pain struck his eyes, and Ezra reached up as he shut them tight, trying to rid of the pain. He let out a small yelp and felt thin lines around his eyes as he tried to will the ache to stop.

Some time passed before the agony eased, but his fingers didn't move away from around his eyes as he slowly opened them again. The lines felt like tendrils or veins. He could feel webs of them climbing over the ridge of his nose and down his cheeks.

But this was the least of his worries.

Whatever Ezra was trying to remember was covered in a heavy blanket of mist. He tried hard to remember again, but all he felt in its place was power and darkness… and pain.

A shadowy presence entered the room, and the boy's head shot towards the entryway as he leapt to his feet.

It was the Inquisitor.

He stood there, hands behind his back, his teeth gleaming in the dim light as he smirked slightly.

"How do you feel, boy?" he asked quietly, his stare meeting that of the teen's, unmoving… pleased.

Ezra looked down at his gloved hands, then slowly moved his eyes back to the Pau'an.

"Stronger," he breathed.

A power was surging deep through his bones. It was a strength he had never felt before.

No… a small voice echoed in the back of his mind. No… you need to snap out of it. This is not who you are!

Ezra blatantly ignored it.

"Come," said the Inquisitor. He waved a hand for the boy to follow.

They exited the small room and entered a larger one.

I've been here before, Ezra thought as he took in the dull scenery. Many times before.

Yes! You must remember who you are, came the small voice again. It was quiet enough to ignore however, so the kid didn't notice.

The Inquisitor suddenly spun around and threw a lightsaber at Ezra. He caught it without thinking and blinked once before glancing at the other.

"Lord Vader asks me to train you," he said, grabbing his own laser swords. "We will practise until he is satisfied." As soon as he said this, a taller, darker figure appeared at the archway of another cavern entrance. The Sith Lord stood motionless, watching them intently as the Pau'an began to circle Ezra.

The boy stood his ground, observing his weapon. It was a double blade, like…

Like my own lightsabers…

Yes! The little voice was back. They were blue! Both of them! You must remember.

Again, he ignored the voice and glared at the Inquisitor. He brought up the laser swords in front of him and ignited them.

There was an intense silence as he watched his opponent slowly circle around him, his blades now ignited and whizzing about every now and then in contemplation.

Ezra waited patiently, eyeing every movement made by the Inquisitor. He was thinking who would strike first. He made a quick glace at Lord Vader, who hadn't moved from his position since he had entered the room. Slightly higher than the Inquisitor, the powerful Sith Lord watched patiently, quiet and intimidating. Something awful had happened to him in the past, something that destroyed his soul. He was compelled with strong emotions, emotions that strengthened the Force around him.

In that moment, the Pau'an struck out, and Ezra drew his sword up in front of him to deflect the opposing blade. The Inquisitor struck again, pushing against the boy's blade. The red swords squealed against each other, bouncing hot energy between them.

The teen's own emotions were in a similar position, with the loss of his parents and his anger towards the Empire. There was something telling him that using this emotions to improve his abilities wasn't right. That small voice at the back of his mind… could that be…

Ezra pushed back, feeling the heat radiating off the blades. He paused a moment, gathering some strength, before thrusting the opposing sword back. He and the Inquisitor stumbled, and before the teen could fully recover the Pau'an struck his sword against his again.

His conscience.

Ezra was aware of this now, but the surprise of this realisation knocked him back slightly, causing the air in the room, including the two other occupants, to falter.

Their fight lasted a few more seconds before Ezra managed to charge his opponent into the wall with the Force, abruptly blocking out whatever just hit him that the others felt.

In the end, no one seemed to notice, even though Lord Vader have shifted ever so slightly.

Flustered, the Inquisitor stood and grinned at the boy. "Impressive," he said. "You are strong, but I was only going easy on you." He charged again suddenly, red blades clashing, and before too long it was Ezra who was Force-pushed into the wall behind him.

"Again, impressive," said the Inquisitor, pointing a red lightsaber at the boy as Ezra slowly got to his knees, dazed. "But you are slow and somewhat predictable."

I've done this before.

"Funny you say that," Ezra replied. He raised his head just enough to look at his opponent with a small smile. "I was only going easy on you."

At that moment he lunged and attacked, so quickly it took competitor by surprise. He swiftly caught on however as he parried the boy's blades. The swords sizzled and shrieked as they pounded one another, over and over.

It wasn't long before Ezra had the Inquisitor against the wall, a red blade just inches from his neck.

Anger flowed through his veins as he huffed with exhaustion, staring into the eyes of his opponent who at first was taken by surprise by his strength, until a smile crept up along his face… a somewhat satisfied smile.

This has all happened before, he thought. But if I know this, my master... no, Vader can't know. Neither can the Inquisitor.

Lord Vader stared at them in contemplation. He was awfully quiet, other than the wheeze of his mechanical breathing.

Did he know?

The ache of the fight was beginning to settle into the boy's bones as he extinguished his sword and stood back, allowing the Inquisitor to step forward and straighten himself out. A strange pain was beginning to pound at Ezra's torso, where he remembered that he was wounded. He gingerly placed a hand on it.

Who had struck him?

Had he saved someone?

The fog was just too thick to look through.

They looked at Lord Vader, patiently waiting for some kind of sign.

The dark figure gestured for the Inquisitor to come to him.

Ezra stood and watched them. They didn't move into another room to speak, so he was able to listen to them even though they spoke softly.

"What do you think?" asked the Inquisitor. "Would he be ready?"

"I believe he is," the Sith Lord replied with a slight nod of the head. "I would like to see for myself, however."

"I do not think there is a need," the Pau'an argued. "We have trained him many times. He is ready."

Many times? Ezra thought. Ready for what?

He glared at them as they continued to consider.

You have been in this situation before, said that same little voice at the back of his mind. You have been here before, in this room, many times. Remember…

I know… but I can't remember…

"How many times have I been trained?" he suddenly blurted out.

Lord Vader and the Inquisitor turned to him.

They didn't reply for a heavy moment, until the Sith Lord faced himself to him and approached him slowly.

"You have been trained fourty-three times," he said.

Fourty-three!?

Ezra felt dizzy suddenly. He stepped back, bringing a hand to his head as he clutched his torso. The wound seemed to throb a lot more now, but he didn't notice.

"I knew telling him was a bad idea," the Inquisitor mumbled.

"It was the logical way to make you as powerful as you are now," Lord Vader explained, placing his hands behind his back as he began making slow, wide circles around his apprentice. "For one to purify a soul one must take extensive measures to define an effective result."

He stopped and observed the teen who had frozen in place, listening. With the gesture of his master, Ezra moved his focus to the tall figure looming over him.

"Do you remember?" the mechanical voice of Lord Vader hissed.

"Remember?" asked Ezra, puzzled.

A moment of silence befell them.

Yes, remember the faces in the mist, said the small voice in his mind. This time, the kid decided to listen.

The faces? he asked the voice.

Yes, the voice replied. The faces you do not know well, but they are your friends.

Friends…

Yes, your friends. You wanted to stay with them. You wanted to be a part of their family.

Family…

They fight the evil the stands before you, an evil much greater you.

Evil…

You must remember them before they are lost. They are your allies. The evil that stands before are not.

"Remember what?" Ezra blinked as he stared at his master, his face unchanged.

He can't know, he thought. He can't.

The Sith Lord stared down at him, studying him, considering.

He is evil, said the voice. You mustn't trust him.

Ezra felt the dark figure smile slightly within the confinements of his helmet.

"You are ready," he said.

He spun elegantly, his cloak fanning out behind him, as he gestured for the Inquisitor and Ezra to follow him. The two apprentices glanced slightly at one another before they went into the other room after the Sith Lord.

Make sure to leave a review if you've made it this far through the story and you really enjoyed it! There are two chapters to go, and I plan to make another story in the future. I have a few ideas you guys might like, but feel free to give me some suggestions! I hope to make my second story a few chapters longer than this one. :)

The next chapter will be posted next week on Thursday (which would be a Wednesday for most of you). Please don't leave reviews that are just "please update" because I have plenty of those already and would really prefer your opinions and ideas.

Thank you for reading and stay tuned!