Greez and Merrin struggled to quickly pull the two unconscious Jedi on board the Mantis. The limp bodies of Cal and Cere, wet and cold, fell flat onto the metal floor. Merrin dropped to her knees, regaining her breath. Greez immediately dropped to the floor eager to check on both of his friends. BD-1, slightly damaged, waisted no time in running to Cal's side.
"What is this thing?" Greez pulled the breather from Cere's mouth, unaware of its purpose. He quickly put it aside and put his ears to her chest.
"A heartbeat!", he exclaimed in his head. He knew she would be fine.
Merrin looked up, still slightly dazed but still rushed to do the same with Cal. She pressed her head carefully against his chest and listened thoroughly for any sign of life.
It was there. She began to calm. Merrin looked over to Greez, "We need to go", she said in a stern but alarmed voice. Greez nodded and waisted no time. He stood and ran to his pilot's seat and punched in the coordinates to Bogano.
Merrin took the Holocron and placed it on the nearby table, and her attention immediately went back to Cal.
Greez took a deep breath, feeling a sense of relief as they left dreadful planet of Nur. Once he knew they were in the clear, he returned to the middle of the ship to rightfully aid his friends. Cere's face began to shift, indicating she had begun to awake.
"Cere, you ok?" Greez put a hand on her shoulder as a form of reassurance.
Seconds passed, and in an instant Cere shot up, breathing heavy. Her eyes shot around the room, looking for danger in the process.
"Hey, hey, whoa it's ok, it's ok!" Greez exclaimed trying to gain his friends' attention. Cere locked onto Greez's eyes, then over to Merrin who was looking her way. Cere then saw who Merrin was leaning over. It was Cal.
"Cal!" Cere scrambled over to the unconscious Jedi. Greez followed behind the crawling Cere. They all examined Cal's body. Merrin looked over to see BD-1 examining Cal's left abdomen, then the droid turned back to her and started beeping profusely. Merrin slid over to see.
She gasped at the revelation. The gaping wound left behind by enemy's blade. "Cere! Greez!" Merrin gained their attention. Greez was the first to speak. "Mother of moons…".
"BD, stim pack!" Cere commanded the droid. BD-1 didn't hesitate in launching a small canister into the air. Cere caught it and stuck it quickly into Cal's chest. His breathing, once faint, was now obvious. His body was now in the recovery stage of healing.
"We need to get him up to his quarters." Cere said, as she was still in a state of recovery herself.
"Hey, you need rest too." Greez old her. "He's right", Merrin interjected. "You sit down. Me and Greez can help Cal to his place of rest."
Cere looked at each of them, and accepted their words. She might be awake but she was still weak.
"Come here." Merrin commanded Greez as she picked up the arm of Cal and placed it around her shoulder.
Greez was slightly taken back from the order, but there was no hesitation in his actions. He picked up Cal's other arm and lead them to the back of the ship, where Cal's quarters were placed.
They managed to lift Cal onto the bed, and BD-1 hopped up and placed himself next to Cal. Merrin examined his unconscious body, and in attempt to help him, she placed her hands over his wound. She closed her eyes and started mumbling the night-sister language.
"Hey, uh…what are you doing." Greez asked curiously.
Merrin paused her words but kept coaxing her hands over the open gash in his side. "It is a comfort spell. While my magick cannot heal his body, I can make it feel at peace." She continued her words of magick as the green mist covered Cal's side. Greez and BD watched curiously. They might not have understood her magic, but they trusted her.
Once she finished, she stood up, waiting for a response from Cal. Without warning BD began to scan the remnants of Merrin's magick mist, but to no avail.
She smirked and patted the droid's head and looked towards Greez. "I can stay here with Cal. You should check on Cere."
Greez looked back up to her, then back to Cal, "No I'm gonna stay with the kid for now. I just uhh…need to make sure he's safe."
Merrin heard the pain in his voice. He cared for Cal deeply and wanted to be there for him. Merrin nodded and hesitantly made her way to the exit. She looked back one last time. Greez and BD-1 looked over Cal's body as he rested. She looked over to Cal's face. His ginger hair still full, and his face appeared as if he could be woken by a simple whisper. She smirked, not at the situation, but at Cal. It seemed as if danger never held him back in the lightest. Always rushing to face the bad in the galaxy head on.
Merrin made her way into the common area, and found Cere rubbing her face as se sat on the couch. Merrin sat down next to her.
"How do you feel?" Merrin asked her.
Cere chuckled, "I've had better days. But honestly, I'm just happy we both made it out alive."
Merrin pondered her words. She did not fully understand the Jedi, nor the entire meaning of their mission. All she has to go on is that they liked to throw themselves at danger and hoped they would make it out.
Merrin opened her mouth to speak, however an object on the floor peaked her attention. She bent down and picked it up. It was the black object they pulled from Cere's mouth earlier.
"Cere, what is this?" Merrin asker her bluntly. Cere looked up and reached out for the contraption.
Cere examined the breather and looked up to Merrin. "This is Cal's water breather. Where did you find this?" she asked Merrin.
"It was on you when we pulled you out of the water." She replied. This made Cere's eyes widen, as she realized what Cal had done. Merrin noticed her facial expression.
"So, that thing allows you to breath under water?" Merrin continued the conversation.
Cere nodded, "He only has one…", Cere looked back up at her.
It finally hit Merrin. Cal had given Cere his breather, in an attempt that she may live, but also at the risk that had he not made it to the top in time, and Merrin had not saved them, he would not survive.
They both looked at each other in awe. "He was ready to die for me." Cere said as she held the breather in her hand. Through the hardships they had been through. Their moments of feud, and the mistakes each of them made, Cal was still willing to put his life on the line for her, like she had done for him on Nur.
"What exactly happened down on the planet?" Merrin asked, releasing Cere from her thoughts.
Cere gathered herself, "Once we got inside, it didn't take long for their troopers to all converge on us. The regular stormtroopers weren't a problem, but when they come in waves, and then send purge troopers after you, it becomes tricky."
"What's that? Purge Trooper?" Merrin asked.
"A trooper who is trained specifically to kill Jedi."
"Like the Inquisitor's you have mentioned before?"
"Not exactly. The Inquisitors can use the force, like me and you. Most of them are former Jedi. Purge Troopers do not have that ability." Cere finished.
"Was an Inquisitor the reason Cal is hurt?" Merrin asked again.
Cere looked up, with a look in her eyes that almost looked like fear, "No, Cal defeated the Second Sister. What came after was…pure darkness." Cere paused.
"What came next, was the thing known as Darth Vader. He is a Sith lord, the archenemy of the Jedi. They are the embodiment of the dark side. Cal tried to fight him but… there was nothing he could do. Looking back, I'm surprised we made it out. After I used the force to provide a protective barrier between us and that monster, I don't remember a thing. Cal must've pulled off something crazy, because, here we are." Cere shrugged.
Battling someone he didn't have a chance against. This was something she had seen a few times before from Cal. The waves of Nightbrothers on Dathomir, the hoards of her fallen sisters she had sent after him. The time he marched onward to confront Malicos, even in the face of insurmountable odds, Cal fought not only for what he believed in, but that belief was based on others. The fight to protect those that could not protect themselves. "Maybe this is what a Jedi is?", Merrin thought to herself.
Merrin ended her thoughts, "I jumped in the water to come after you. I felt an urge in myself. I cannot explain it, nor understand it. It was a sensation I have never experienced before.", Merrin explained.
Cere examined her, then let off a small smirk. "That's the force."
Merrin, her facial expression unchanged, "But I am no Jedi."
"The force is strongest in the Jedi yes, but it affects all living things. It binds us all together, flowing through us. Every being in the galaxy is connected though the force."
Merrin looked down, breaking eye contact to contemplate her words.
"The magick you control, while it is not the same that we Jedi use, it is still a fragment of the force. A darker side that we Jedi are forbidden from." Cere continued.
"You think my power is evil?", Merrin asked.
Cere sighed, "At its root, the Magick you use is founded in the dark side of the force. In my years under my master Eno Cordova, I studied what the Jedi know about the magick of the Nightsisters of Dathomir. Many practices are looked down upon by the Jedi."
She continued, "The dark side is the side of the force the Sith use. It is at it's greatest strength when the user is in great emotion, usually of pain, anger, or fear. It can make Jedi do bad things, and it allows Sith to manipulate others."
"I use my power how I see fit. I control it, not the opposite order.", Merrin told her.
There was a pause, then a deep breath by Merrin, "I have only ever used my magick to protect my people's legacy and to help you. Instead of fearing it, if you embrace it, while still following the principles set in place by your order, I see no reason why you must fear these powers."
Merrin made a good point. It is the person wielding the power who decides what is done with it. Cere contemplated her words greatly. By fearing the dark side, it allowed fear to consume the Jedi overall, blinding them from the true threats in the galaxy.
"Well….you aren't wrong.", Cere responded to her.
"I mean no disrespect-" Merrin was cut off by Cere, as she raised her hand for her to stop.
"No, no, I know you didn't. You make a good point. The Jedi are all but gone. If we were so perfect, then maybe the order would still be here.", Cere said to her.
"Obviously we still have a lot left to learn", Cere smiled, and looked to Merrin.
Merrin acknowledged her words by giving a light smile, "I guess we both do. All of us do."
They smiled in agreement, understanding while they may be of different origins with differing viewpoints of "the force", they weren't enemies.
They heard a slight commotion from the back of the ship. Both of their attention went straight to the corridor door.
"Cal!", Merrin's excitement couldn't be held back. She stood up and quickly shot towards Cal. In a rush of emotion, she threw her arms around his neck and embraced him, before he even had a chance to speak.
A/N: We all know what happens next. The ending cutscene in Star Wars: Jedi Fallen Order. Review your thoughts, good or bad, and enjoy the next chapter! Remember, may the force be with you!