Chapter 59 – Visions in the Night

Author's Note: From here onwards, I would like to think that things get very, very interesting. :D

Also, there is a six year time skip from the previous chapter.

To Guest: I'm not sure if Marr cares to finish his Jedi Trials, since he doesn't consider himself a Jedi anymore. He is, however, going to be continuing his Force training now. ;) But Vizma will be getting training... Eventually. :D

To Jayden: Haha yeah. Lol. Good thing that Marr had a good role model with Anakin, so he knows how to treat a child. Sort of anyway. I don't think anyone is ever truly prepared for parenthood. :P
And yes, balance. You caught the foreshadowing too. I'm too lazy to go reread this chapter, but I'm certain there was foreshadowing in it even if I can't remember when it was. xD

Thank you all so, so much for reading and reviewing! 💖💖

~ Amina Gila

"Can I hold it, Daddy?" six-year-old Vizma asks hopefully, looking up at him.

Marr looks between her and the purple lightsaber humming in his hands. "I told you, when you're older. It's a very dangerous weapon."

"Pleeeeeeeeeeeease?" The ability to make puppy eyes faces is completely unfair.

And it might work, if they weren't discussing something so incredibly risky. "Not right now," Marr replies firmly.

She pouts, then brightens again. "Can I touch it?"

"Okay," he concedes at last, deactivating the blade and kneeling next to her. She lets out an over enthusiastic squeal, reaching out and wrapping her tiny hands around the hilt.

Marr doesn't let go of it, of course, but she doesn't seem to care. It still defines as "holding" in her eyes.

"Can I turn it on?"

"Maybe later. It's bedtime," Marr decides, clipping the hilt back to his belt to put away later.

"'M not tired!"

"You have lessons early tomorrow," Marr reminds, reaching down to lift her into his arms, "Come on."

"'kay," she mumbles, snuggling against him.

He wonders, for the briefest moment, if this is anything like how masters felt towards their padawans. This feeling of unending protectiveness and love, knowing that he'd do anything to take care of his child. If it's anything like how Anakin felt towards Ahsoka, and how Obi-Wan felt towards him. Obviously, masters aren't supposed to see their padawans as their children, and he doesn't think most of them ever did, but it's hard to say.

Shrugging the thought aside, he carries Vizma into her bedroom, setting her back on the floor. "Daddy?" she asks.

"Yes, little one?"

"What was the Jedi Temple like?"

She knows that he used to be a Jedi, and a little about it, and she also knows not to breathe a word about it to anyone. Little children can, in fact, keep secrets very well, at least when it has to do with... magic.

Also, that's a hard question to answer. "The Imperial Palace used to be the Temple," Marr replies, "But it's been remodeled and made... fancier." And more Sithly, he can only imagine. "Most of the Jedi lived there, though there are smaller Temples across the galaxy."

"Why are they called 'temples'?"

Because... they are? How does he answer that? "Because the Jedi are more than an organization," he answers, "They're... a culture of their own." Religion. Sort of.

She climbs onto the edge of her bed, looking up at him. "I wanna see the Temple."

Yes, well, the feelings are mutual. Though he can't imagine what it would be like going back there now. "Maybe someday." After they destroy the Empire. Whenever that happens. It won't happen until Sidious is destroyed, and... Is there anyone left who's powerful enough?

Vizma lays down, curling up in bed, and he tucks her in.

"Can you tell me the story of when you stopped the virus bombs?" she asks hopefully, suppressing a yawn.

He chuckles quietly. "You've heard that one before, and I don't think it it's a very good bedtime story. How about I tell you about when... the Emperor decided to bring a giant beast right to the capital?"

The Zillo beast. He'd been at the Temple when that happened and had seen some of the circus out the window, though no padawans were called to get involved because of the dangers.

Also, that isn't exactly a good bedtime story either, but... he can leave out the scary parts.

"Yes!" she squeals excitedly, and he does.

**w**

Marr knows he's having a vision immediately, He's suddenly standing in the middle of a battlefield, with a fight raging around him, though at the same time, he can't really see the details of what's happening.

But what stands out to him most clearly of all is a certain very familiar figure. Revan.

The ex-Jedi/Sith is standing only a short distance away from where Marr.

He blinks in surprise at the sight of him. It's been a long time since he's had one of these visions. They were a thing of the past as much as everything else. (Maybe because he'd been quite intentionally blocking him off, afraid of what he would hear.)

"Revan...?" he asks slowly. He's here for a reason, Marr knows, and it's obvious this is something the other is initiating for some reason.

"The galaxy is falling," the man warns, an ominous note in his voice, "The longer it remains under the control of the Sith, more powerful he grows."

The words freeze Marr in place. He... wasn't expecting this, to be confronted with something like this from his past, especially not right here and now when he was just thinking along the same lines the previous night.

He knows the situation in the galaxy is getting worse, but he doesn't know what he can do. All this time he didn't want to keep fighting, just wanted some time to breathe, but... Really, he has had a lot of time to recover, now.

"What can I do?" Marr asks.

"For years you have remained hidden in the shadows," comes the reply, "But your destiny lies beyond this."

That was so helpful. "I didn't want to keep fighting, at the time," he argues, after a pause, and the truth is that he still doesn't know if he actually wants to. But, more and more, recently, he's started thinking about it again. He has a family now, and he doesn't want to give it up, but at the same time, when he looks around, sees what the Empire is doing to everyone else, he doesn't know if he can continue to sit back. Truthfully, it's selfish. "But even if I did start fighting again, I don't know what I would do. We have to destroy Sidious, or everything will be meaningless." He knows that for certain already.

"There are others who can help you," Revan answers mysteriously, "But the choice is yours to make."

He frowns. That still doesn't help him figure out what he would do against Sidious but starting by finding other Jedi might be a start. Maybe. It's been so long, though. He doesn't know where he could start.

"If you want to protect them, remaining here and hiding from the Empire will not last forever."

How does the former Sith always seem to know what it is that's on his mind, holding him back?

Marr knows the 'them' referred to is his new family. It's that moment, he supposes, that makes him finally fully admit to himself what it is that's been holding back these past years, even when he knew he was balanced enough that he could keep fighting if he wanted to.

He lost his old family, and he's scared of losing again. Afraid of what will happen to Bo and Vizma and Anastasia if the Empire realizes he's a Jedi. He can't lose them like his last family, doesn't know if he'd be able to handle it. And he doesn't know if he trusts himself anymore either, to do this on his own. Maybe he could but everything fell apart, and he can't be the one responsible for that happening again.

"I don't know what to do," Marr admits, finally, "I could join the Rebellion." He knows that's a thing, because sometimes there's actually an obvious strategy behind the "terrorist attacks" he's always hearing about on the Holonet. "But if I can't take down Sidious, what good will it do?"

"You must find balance."

"I... thought I already did."

"Your training is not complete."

"How do I finish it, then?" he wonders. And after that, then what? One step a time, he supposes. It feels like he's being thrown back to the days he was 'Theseus' all of a sudden, and he doesn't know if he's ready to handle it. But he'll never be more ready. Maybe it's time to stop hiding. (Even from his own fears.)

"I told you before, you must learn more about the Dark Side."

"How?" Marr asks. Who could be left to teach him?

"Look into the past. Follow the Force, and you will know." Without another word, Revan and the scene in front of him fades from mind.

The next thing Marr knows, he's waking up in bed, next to Bo. It's the middle of the night, and he needs some time to think. His mind is whirling, and he doesn't know what to do.

The last time he saw Revan was before everything fell apart. And he knows that the ex-Sith is right. He can't keep hiding. The Empire will figure it out eventually, and even if they don't, it's not right for him to do nothing when he could be protecting people.

His former master would never have wanted that. Anakin would never have wanted that. (Anakin who might still be alive out there, though he's long since ceased dreaming about it. It's easier to accept that he's gone, a part of the past that won't return, then to keep uselessly hoping. More than likely, he is dead by now, even if he didn't die with the Jedi.)

Ahsoka left in the first place to do what Anakin wanted. Is it fair for Marr to do any less?

He doesn't know where to begin, but he knows now that he can't sit back anymore. Start by getting more training. Well, that's the vaguest direction he's heard in his life. He's thought over this a million times and there's literally no one he could go to for help.

Slipping out of bed, Marr heads out onto the porch staring up at the night sky. It's dark and peaceful out here, right now. He sees stormtroopers all the time, but no one pays them much attention, as long as they follow the "regulations". He can't let the Empire keep oppressing people like this. He can't.

But it's time to figure out where he starts. It feels like his relatively normal life is rapidly unraveling again, and it scares him but... It doesn't matter. This is the right thing to do. It's what he should have already done.

Marr settles into a meditative position on the balcony – no one will see, anyway – and slips into the Force, feeling the flow of the currents in and around him, as he tries searching for answers.

"Look into the past," Revan had said. What does that mean?

Well, he knows there has to be Sith history material out there somewhere, even if it was mostly wiped from the galaxy a thousand years ago. Besides, there were those holocrons his mother had found that corrupted her.

A chilling fear snakes up his spine. No, whatever he does, he can't let himself fall victim to something like that. He can't lose himself in the Dark Side in his struggle to learn more about it. But he knows what always grounds him when he's slipping towards the darkness.

His family... both new and old, will always help him achieve balance. It should be fine. Maybe. He can't let fear hold him back.

He doesn't really know where he'd start, but he does know a little about the ancient Sith. Their home world was Korriban, with their most ancient Temple. There's Malachor too, of course, but it's off limits to Jedi. (Not that he's a Jedi anyway.)

He'll need more time to think about it but going to Korriban might be a start. If nothing else, it shouldn't hurt anything to go there.

There's a sudden movement behind him, and Marr slips back to himself, looking up as Bo approaches. "Nightmares again?" she asks, worry in her eyes. He used to wake up from them all the time, but it's been a while now.

Marr shakes his head. "No, I ... had a vision."

"About what?" She moves closer, taking a seat next to him.

He takes a deep breath, considering his response. (Yes, he'll leave out the Revan part or Bo will never support this.) "It made me start thinking," he answers, at length, "I can't keep sitting back while the Empire oppresses our people, and the rest of the galaxy."

Sure, there's plenty of silent resistance on Mandalore, but anyone who outright fights get crushed quickly. "You've told me before you don't know how we could win until Emperor is dead," she replies.

"Yes, and that's still true, but we're Mandalorians. We should be able to do something." Well, technically they are doing some things, quietly resisting the Empire without bringing attention to themselves. But Revan is right. He needs to do something active.

"That I agree with," she replies, firmly.

"To start with, I need to finish my... Force training."

"You haven't already?"

"Not exactly. It's complicated. Probably not something that would make sense to you."

"Spare me," she agrees dryly, "But who would finish your training? All the Jedi are dead."

Marr grimaces. Bo is not going to like this. "It's not a Jedi I need training from."

She raises an eyebrow. "Then who?"

"I need to learn more about the Dark Side."

"... isn't that what the Sith use?"

"Yeah, but it's not like you have to be one to use it. It's not copyrighted."

"If you're about to tell me you're planning to go apprentice yourself to a Sith after what we've been through with all of them –"

"I'm not," he hastily assures before his wife can flip into an all-out rage, "I don't think there's any who would agree anyway. I'll to have to leave Mandalore for a time. Try to figure things out from there." Like by going to Korriban.

Bo does not look happy. "You don't even know where you're going."

"The Force will guide me."

She huffs. "You know that has no meaning to me."

He gives her a half smile. "But it does to me. I'll figure it out. Just... take care of Vizma while I'm gone. It shouldn't be for too long. Don't worry, I'll be back." He has no idea how long it will take, but this is something he has to do.

"You've already made your mind up, haven't you?"

He nods. "Do you... mind?"

"It's good to see you're planning to fight again, but if we're going to war against the Empire we'll need to prepare," she declares. "You haven't left Mandalore all this time. Are you sure that's the wisest thing to do?"

"It would be worse to try fighting when I wasn't fully prepared. No one will know my name out there."

"If you're certain of this," Bo concedes, "When do you plan to leave?"

"I don't know, but as soon as possible."

The sooner the better. A sense of determination is flooding him, that he must do something, and at least now he has some direction on where to start.

**w**

"Can I come?" Vizma asks again, for probably the thousandth time.

"We've already been over that, Vizma," Bo says flatly from behind her.

"I'll be back soon enough," Marr promises. His daughter darts forwards, throwing her arms around him. He reaches down, resting a hand on her head.

"You better be," Anastasia warns, "Because I don't want to have to drag you back here again, since you conveniently got lost somewhere."

"I actually was not lost on Odessen," he retaliates. Seriously, do they need to have these dumb arguments in front of his daughter?

"I wonder why it seemed otherwise to me."

"Because you have the tendency to look at the negative."

"Not as if I'm in a rush for you to leave," Bo speaks up, "But the sooner you go, the sooner you'll be back. Why don't you finish this discussion once you return?"

"That's actually the first good idea I've heard in awhile," Marr deadpans, "I'll... see you later."

He would've headed to the ship, except that his daughter is now glued to him, almost literally. "Vizma, I need to go."

"I'll miss you," she mumbles against his armor.

"I know, I will too," he admits, "But when I get back, maybe you can learn how to use an actual lightsaber."

She pulls back, brightening up. "Really?" (It isn't a lie. She is going to be seven soon enough, so he'll be able teach her.)

Marr heads to the cockpit, firing up the engines. He watches out the front viewport, taking one last look at his family, before the ship takes off the ground, and he directs it upwards into the atmosphere. It's been a very long time since he did something like this.

**w**

Korriban looks exactly like what Marr was expecting. It's mostly covered in sand, and there's no signs of civilized life here whatsoever. Occasional ruins dot the surface, but otherwise it appears to be completely abandoned.

What stands out to him most, though, is the sheer intensity of the Dark Side. It's unlike everything he's ever felt before, and it's suffocating, despite how he used it in the past.

The Dark Side hums with an almost intoxicating promise of power, as though asking to be let in and let it control him completely. He knows better than that, though. Revan warned him about it. If he gets lost in the promise of power the Dark Side holds, it will only lead to arrogance, to thinking he can handle far more than he can. He won't make that mistake. (All it takes to stop himself from embracing the Dark Side so completely is remembering what happened the last time he did, the looks on Anakin and Obi-Wan's faces when he'd attacked them on Mortis so many years ago.)

Slowly, Marr begins making his way across the sandy ground, heading for the ancient Sith Temple. He isn't alone here. He realizes that almost immediately. He can feel life, humming at the edges of his senses. There are obviously animals around, and he also gets the feeling that maybe he's picking up on the spirits of countless Sith who are still hanging around. It's more than a little unsettling.

The Force suddenly tenses in warning and Marr stops in his tracks, looking around. There's a low growl from behind him, and a creature – it looks very much like a rancor except a lot bigger – lands on the ground right behind him. It's clawed feet dig into the ground. Several tusk-like projections extend from its mouth. It's towers over him, somewhere near ten feet.

His lightsaber springs to life in a flash, and he slashes at the creature as it lunges for him. It's horns and claws are deadly and covered with a poison, or at least he thinks he remembers hearing something of that nature before. Regardless, he can't afford to get hit by them.

Marr swings for its head, but it dives out of the way, slamming into him, throwing him to the ground. He rolls out of the way, slashing the blade deeply into the thing's side as he jumps back to his feet.

It snarls and comes at him again. He backflips a distance away and raises a hand towards it, reaching out with the Force. He doesn't know if this will work, but it's worth trying. Connecting with the creature's mind is easy enough, and he sends a wave of calm through the Force. It growls lowly again but slowly starts to settle down, before turning and darting away into the ruins again, disappearing from sight.

Well, that was close. And if there'd been more than one creature there... He doesn't care to find out what might happen if he is bitten by one of those creatures. He better get moving.

Marr quickly crossed the rest of the courtyard, reaching the towering entrance of the Temple. If it's even possible, the intensity of the Dark Side only seems to be increasing. It's almost enough to make him have second thoughts about going in. Still, the Force led him here for a reason, even if he doesn't know why.

Reinforcing his shields, he cautiously steps inside. He can definitely feel spirits now, though. They feel different than actual life, even if they're distinctly there. A shiver runs down his spine as he glances around the dark, empty halls. Some of them feel decidedly malevolent unless he's just being jumpy. They're already dead, though, so they can't hurt him, right? Hopefully.

Keeping a hand on his lightsaber, he keeps walking deeper into the Temple, looking around. This place is ancient. To be fair, the Jedi Temple was too, but it'd been remodeled so much over the years it didn't feel like it. But this place... it's been abandoned for probably thousands of years. When was the last time someone was here, actually here?

This place is from a time where when there were thousands of Sith. With the amount of damage only a few can do, Marr would rather not imagine such a world. But at the same time, just because there were so many Sith, doesn't mean they were all like Sidious and Maul or Dooku. They couldn't all have been evil. He has to wonder, how many of them understood the Force better than the Jedi did before they were destroyed?

There isn't only one way to use the Force. Trying to learn balance works best for Marr but leaning more to Light or Dark respectively may work better for others. With so many Sith in the past, there's almost no question that at least some of them were fairly decent people, even if they definitely had... questionable morals. It's not as if the Jedi don't, too.

If there's anything left from that time that he might be able to find, knowledge of some kind, maybe he'll find it here. Maybe.

It feels like eyes are watching him, probably because it's true, as he goes deeper and deeper into the building. Something nudges him in the Force as he reaches another hall, and pauses, stepping into one of the side rooms. At the center of the room, a holocron – a Sith holocron – sits innocently on the floor.

His eyes widen in slight surprise. There's more of these? It shouldn't be a surprise though. Just because this place is abandoned and stripped of almost everything doesn't mean it's fully empty.

The holocron could be from any point in time, really, and he'd never know unless he opens it. But... he still can't help remembering what happened to his mother when she was investigating things like this. How it corrupted her. He never truly saw her again after that day. He lost her forever to the Dark Side, though there might be hopes of finding her again. If he does, he could help her. Hopefully.

He won't let that happen to him, though. He won't.

He's trying to learn to see the Force as the Force rather than sides even if it's not easy because he's been taught otherwise his whole life.

Now that he has the holocron, it almost feels like whatever he came here for is done. But it's hardly time for him to go back to Mandalore. He still needs to find someone who can actually teach him more about the Dark Side. Unless that's what the holocron is for, but he doesn't think so, at least not completely.

Setting onto the floor, Marr closes his eyes, cautiously lowering his shields a little and reaching out into the Force as he starts to meditate. The Dark Side floods him full force immediately, but he resists the ever-growing-stronger call, searching for answers instead.

For some reason, the image of a planet materializes before his mind almost immediately.

He knows where it is, immediately.

Dathomir.

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