Chapter 9. Two Apprentices

Part 1. Trystan

Darth Syren loved her son, but she could not raise her hand against him nor could she ask him to try and kill her in single combat. That was one of the reasons she took baby Trystan. She will train him him up and train her son and pit the both of them against each other. The problem was her love for her son, she couldn't give her son any advantage when it came to training. The question is, should she train them up side by side or separately. After weeks of debating with herself Syren decides that the two should be trained separately. That meant she would have to stay with one for so many months and then with the other. As not to show favorites she would start training Trystan first when he came of age.

Their training would start at the age of five. "From now on you will refer to me as Master..." Syren says to Trystan. Her tone is not unkind, but it is firm and she lets him know that she is serious. "Do you understand?"

"Yes...Master..."

"You are about to embark on a journey of training and if you pour yourself into that training you have the chance to become something great..."

"What?"

"Lord of the Sith...We are the Sith and we are what the force meant us to be..." She points her hand at Trystan and starts to levitate in the air.

He laughs at his weightlessness, "How are you doing this?"

"Through the Dark side of the force..." She gently lowers him to the ground. "Those are some of the things I will teach you..." He points his hand at her, but nothing happens and she smiles as he tries to use the force. "Very good we learn by doing...But it will take time and the hardest lesson for a Sith to learn is patience..."

It doesn't take long for Trystan to start lifting objects through the will of the force. Within a couple of hours he learns the code of the sith, "Two there should be...No more no less...A master and an Apprentice..."

"Who is the Master?" Darth Syren asks.

"You are Master..."

"And the Apprentice?"

"I am the Apprentice..."

She nods in approval, "Continue..."

"The Master is to embody the power of the Dark Side and the Apprentice is to crave it...Long for it! And if I am worthy I will kill my Master and become Lord of the Sith..."

"What else?"

"Peace is a lie...There is only passion...Through passion I gain strength...Through Strength I gain power...Through power I gain Victory...Through victory my chains are broken the force shall free me..."

"And have you found your passion Apprentice..."

"My passion is to become the most powerful Sith who ever lived Master..."

She shakes her head, "You have much to learn my young apprentice..."

He stares at her and she at him. "You sound disappointed Master..."

"I am..."

"Why?"

"Before me there was Darth Oblivion...A Transdoshan...The most powerful Sith Lord to ever live...He was so powerful that he could devastate the surface of an entire planet with a wave of his hand...And I defeated him..."

He stares in wonder at her, "How?"

"Because I taught myself a technique in the force that gave me an advantage over him...A technique that allowed me to win without ever uncoiling my lightwhip..."

She wants to laugh at the expression on his young face, "What was it?"

"You are far to young to know of such things...But tell me apprentice what have you learned from my tale?"

He lowers his head and she can feel the wheels turning, "Some...passions are greater than others..."

His answer is true, but she can feel the uncertainty in his mind and hear it in his voice. "Are you sure?"

He takes a deep breath, "Yes Master..." He confidently replies.

She sighs, "I shall give you your passion my young apprentice..." She tells him about his father and mother. Darth Syren tells him how she infiltrated the New Brotherhood, killed his brother in single combat, and sent the brotherhood to its doom through and unstable hyperspace lane.

"I hate you!"

She smiles, "Now you know the passion of wanting me dead..." Syren walks away. Later she is asleep in her bed. The door opens and in walks Trystan with a vibro-blade. Before he can strike Syren grabs him in the force and slams him into the wall. "Nice try little one. but you are not ready...You must reach your full potential before you can kill me..." She opens her eyes and sits up in bed. She rips the vibro-blade from his hand and then slams him into another wall and then the ceiling. Then she drops him to the floor and lays back down.

Three days later Syren gives Trystan Darth Bane's holocron to study from while she is away. "From this day forth my name is Darth Seed..."

She nods, "So be it Darth Seed..."

Part 2. Gyllan

Darth Syren had spent three months training Trystan Voat or Darth Seed as he now called himself. He was learning quickly, but now her son needed to start his training so to Telos she flew in her private long range shuttle. "Mother!" She does not return his affection. "Mother?"

She sighs, "You will no longer refer to me as your mother...From this day forth you will call me Master..."

"But Mot..."

Before he can say it again she grabs him in the force and throws him to the floor of the hanger. "I am your Master!"

He is slow to stand up, "Master!"

"Good now board the ship we are leaving..."

She takes him to the Unknown the World and the Temple of Two. During the trip neither says a word. "This is Darth Bane the founder of our order...The order of Two...The Master is to embody the power of the Dark Side and the Apprentice is to crave it...Long for it! And if you are worthy one day you will be the Master..."

It didn't take long for Gyllan to learn the basics of the Sith code. In just one day he had learned the Jedi Code and all the names of the Sith Lords who came after Darth Bane. By sunset he is lifting objects with his power. Later when he is in his room Syren visits him, "I am sorry i shoved you...Know that I love you...You are my son, but I want you to be strong...A Sith Lord must be strong..."

He looks at her with teary eyes, "Maybe I don't want to be a Sith Lord..."

She smiles and hugs him, "Oh my son...I wish you could lead a normal life, but if the Jedi learn about you they will kill you...and there are those in the Galaxy who would see you as a threat...You will never have a life of peace..."

"You taught me that peace is a lie..."

"Yes it is..."

Gyllan learned quickly in fact within just a week he was further along in his training than Darth Seed was at this stage. Within a month's time Gyllan was already studying form one of lightsaber techniques. After a month she decided to give Gyllan his Sith name. "From this day forth you shall be known as Darth Heir..."

"Thank you my Master..."

Two more months and Darth Syren had to leave on business, but she takes Darth Heir with her to the Corporate Sector. After her business is concluded Syren sends him back to the Temple of Two and she heads for Lothal to collect Darth Seed. She takes him to Dxun to live and train. During her time away Darth Seed had greatly increased his knowledge of the force through Darth Bane's holocron. He had already mastered form one of lightsaber combat and is studying form II. Both her apprentices are proteges and are able to continue and advance their studies without her supervision.

Of the two apprentices Darth Seed is the first to build his first lightsaber at the age of nine. Darth Heir builds his first lightsaber at the age of eleven. Because the two apprentices are progressing so quickly Syren begins making plans to face her own end on her terms and set the stage for the two young Sith to face each other for dominance of the Sith.

"Would you approve of my actions Lord Bane..." She asks standing before his statue. She activates the holocron and tells Bane's Avatar what she is doing.

"The only violation I see in your plan my Lord is allowing both apprentices to refer to themselves as Darth..." The Avatar of Bane replies. "I formed the rule of two to keep the Sith Strong...You have kept the two apprentices ignorant of each other, but if either of them destroys you then that one is worthy of the title Lord of the Sith..."

She sighs, "My son will not raise his hand against me and I will not raise my hand against him..."

"Then he is not fit to lead the Sith..."

"He will be. Especially after I tell him that I killed his father..."

The Avatar of Bane smiles, "Impressive, but for future reference inform those that follow in your steps that if they produce offspring to follow them make sure they a second apprentice just in case he or she is not strong enough to do what is required..."

She turns off the holocron content with what she is doing.