Note: This chapter is happening at the same time as the previous one.
Disclaimer: I own nothing.
Chapter 46
There is no emotion, there is peace, Bastila repeated in her mind for a hundredth time already.
Peace is a lie, there is only passion! A foreign voice spoke inside of her head. After contemplating it for a while, she realized that it was her own voice, but filled with anger.
Yes, that is true, she admitted, Isn't it passion that fuels my relationship with Revan? No! It's not passion, it's love. There is no passion, there is serenity, she said in her thoughts as if in an attempt to stifle the second voice in her head. Her effort came to naught, though.
Through passion, I gain strength, the second voice whispered gently in her mind.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge, she kept on repeating, trying to ignore the other voice.
And supposedly there is no ignorance, the second voice mocked her inside of her head. And what is it that Revan once said? One must know the poison in order to find out how to fight it. Why shouldn't you do the same? You want to destroy the Sith, don't you? Why shouldn't you help your beloved one? Why did he insist you not help him? Oh, you know perfectly well why. He wants to control you.
"That's not true" Bastila replied, not realizing she said those words out loud.
It is, the voice continued on, He wants to control you and he is aware that once you embrace the Dark Side, you'll become as powerful as he is or even surpass him. Through strength, I gain power. And through power, I gain victory. Isn't it what Revan truly wants? The victory over an enemy he can't fight alone. He knows he will fail and yet he's too proud to ask you for help. Or perhaps, he's too afraid of your true potential!
There is no chaos, there is harmony, Bastila kept on reciting the Jedi Code in her mind; tears were running down her cheeks.
Through victory, my chains are broken, the voice kept on its assault. She shook her head as if in an attempt to get rid of the intruder.
There is no death, there is the Force.
The Force shall free me!
And it did. Bastila felt the Force again after almost a week of imprisonment. It was coming out from her in waves, crushing what stood on its way, including the neural disruptor around her neck, the binds on her wrists and ankles and generally most of the room's equipment. She opened her eyes carefully.
So far, no one has noticed what happened.
Hesitantly, Bastila skidded down the interrogation table that she was pinned to for the past seven days. Her muscles were weak after seemingly endless tortures that she went through. She rested on the table for few more moments in order to regain at least some of her strength.
Finally, Bastila raised up, having enough strength to stand on her own and walk. She came up to the door that was magnetically sealed. She tried to move it with her hands, but her efforts came to naught. She chuckled slightly at her own stupidity. In her state, she forgot that she wasn't restricted by the neural disruptor anymore. Calling upon the Force, she moved the heavy door with almost no effort. With a hiss, the door slid away, revealing the path to her freedom.
Bastila was forced to shut her eyes as the first light from the corridor made its way into her cell. After almost a week of being kept in a dark room, she developed a photophobia. After few more seconds, she was ready to leave her prison, only to realize one thing.
She was naked.
At least partially. The only thing she had on was a lingerie and a tube top. Normally, she would blush, as it was the biggest amount of skin she ever showed in public. But not after days of tortures. Now, modesty was irrelevant. As well as her chastity. Malak's soldier took that away from her. But she couldn't walk out into the unknown corridors dressed so improperly. So Bastila spent few more precious seconds on searching for some kind of a robe. Luckily, she found one. After wrapping herself up with the material, Bastila walked into the corridor.
It was dimly lit, but nevertheless, much brighter than the room she was kept in. Gaining confidence with each step, Bastila proceeded to limp towards where she thought the exit was.
Revan, please, help me, she begged with each step, hoping that her beloved one would hear her somehow. She could feel him through their Force Bond and she was hoping that miraculously he would save her. But he could not hear her. Bastila sensed him being surrounded by a great darkness and hatred that seemed to block her away.
Limping forward, the young Jedi Padawan encountered no resistance. This surprised her. She expected that at least a battalion of troops would be guarding her. Apparently not.
She turned right, entering one of the many off-shoots. Her senses were telling her that it was the direction she had to follow.
There she met first guards. It was a small patrol, composed of only two soldiers. Acting on instincts, she grabbed them both with the Force before they could say or do anything. Repeating what Revan did countless times on her eyes, she squeezed the life out of them with the Force Choke. She continued forward, not paying much attention to the corpses. She had to get out of there. Bastila looked around frantically, hoping to see some kind of a sign that would tell her she was near. She found none.
After limping another several dozen meters, she found herself in a large cave, filled with stalactites and stalagmites. A fog was spreading throughout the cave, blocking her vision. But she saw two figures at the front as if waiting for her. Bastila noticed the lightsabers the figures were holding.
Once again calling upon the Force, Bastila gripped the two Dark Jedi who were blocking her way. Using her second hand, the young Padawan sent few nearby stone formations at her opponents, killing them instantly. She ran up to one of the corpses and picked up the lightsaber. She guessed she would need that later.
Not caring for her aching legs, she ran towards the bridge that connected the separate ends of the cave. She smiled slightly when she noticed a light in front of her – a sign that the exit was near. Bastila chuckled slightly; tears streaming down her face. But these were the tears of joy.
She was too quick to judge the situation, though. After being halfway on the bridge, she noticed a figure coming out from the fog. Her expression quickly turned from a hopeful to a broken one and tears of joy turned into tears of desperation.
"No" she whispered to herself; her lower lip trembled.
Right there, in front of Bastila, between her and her freedom was standing none other than Malak, his lightsaber drawn. She looked frantically around, as if in hope of finding some way out of there. The fog thinned out, revealing dozens upon dozens of Sith Acolytes – each one holding a lightsaber.
Malak used the fact that Bastila was distracted, sending a Lightning at her. This caught her by surprise, sending her few meters backward. She quickly regained her footing, though. Her despair was turning into something different now. Something new, something she never allowed to resurface.
Anger - raw, pure anger that she saw so often in Revan now started to build up in her chest. She didn't fight it, though. She embraced it.
And for the first time in her life, Bastila's grey eyes turned gold.
Ignoring the protest from her aching body, she rushed at her tormentor, turning on the lightsaber she took from one of the corpses. Malak lifted up his own weapon in defense.
Their blades crushed. Bastila put her all strength in the attack, though after one week of torture, her all strength was too little. The Dark Lord of the Sith sent her away like a fly one more time, using the Force Lightning. Once again, she landed on her back, panting heavily.
"You are weak, child," he said in his metallic voice. "The Dark Side is too strong, my power is too great! You are no match for me!"
"Then it's time for you to prove it!" Bastila replied angrily, reigniting the red lightsaber. Once again, she rushed at Malak, hoping to defeat him somehow. The former best friend of her beloved one only laughed maniacally.
Before she could reach him, Malak gripped her tightly with the Force and lifted her high into the air, choking her. Bastila's face turned deep red as her air passages were shut down, depriving her of oxygen.
He turned her around and threw her at the nearby wall. Now, she found herself on the opposite end of the cave – the one where the exit was. Malak closed the distance between them in a swift stride. When he was right next to her, he gripped her hair with his hand and lifted her head.
"Look, child!" he ordered, forcing her to look in the direction he was indicating. "Right there, on the second side of this door, is the way out. If only you've made it, you'd quickly find my ship and would be able to escape. Look!" he yelled at her when she tried to turn away; hot tears were streaming down her face.
She saw it. The planet outside that cave. She could even feel the air on her face – a warm, fresh breeze, carrying with itself a salty scent; they had to be near the ocean. She could also smell the grass. Oh, how she missed that smell! Last time she felt it on Dantooine. The thick forest of Kashyyyk was far too sweltering for her to savor the incredibly rich range of fragrances. Now, she could smell it clearly.
Then, her surroundings changed. It took her a second to realize that Malak turned her once more as if ripping away from her the beautiful, natural world outside, casting her into that cursed cave once again.
"But I don't think you were so stupid as to hope to escape me, child" Malak said in his metallic voice. "Besides, where would you go? To Revan?" He laughed maniacally. "He despises you because you're not his anymore. He is fully aware of what was happening to you, and yet he did nothing to save you."
"Revan" she cried out quietly as if in the last attempt to attract his attention. Once again, it came to naught.
"Here's a thing about your beloved one, Bastila," Malak said, turning her head so she was looking directly into his eyes. Her own gold orbs, filled with tears met the second pair of gold orbs, filled with nothing but hatred. "Thanks to his methods, I was able to break you. It was he who made it possible for me to convert you to the Dark Side!"
"No" she countered weakly.
"It is true, and you know it deep in your heart. You know that it is Revan who created those tortures I used against you. You know that your friends disappearing from the Order is his responsibility. And most of all, you know that it is his fault that you're in my hands now. For he was too weak to save you and when he comes for you, he won't try to rescue you. And do you know why?" He leaned in closer. "Because he is afraid of your true power. He is afraid that you can become a challenge for him. That is why he didn't want you to join us in the Mandalorian Wars. And this is why he will want to kill you."
Bastila said nothing to it. Her anger was still present but it was directed at someone else. It was directed at Revan. Malak's words did their job – she saw the truth in them. After all, Revan did not come to save her, he allowed Malak and his men to use her, according to their tastes. She clenched her teeth as her torturer dropped her to the ground.
"But he will not kill you, Bastila. And do you know why?"
"Because I will kill him first" she replied firmly; anger filling her every word.
And so, the seventh day has passed.
Okay, that's it for today, sorry for how short this chapter is but I needed it to be that way. I promise that the next chapters will be as long as usual. Also, as always, let me know what you thought about this chapter. And yes, I know that the Jedi Code goes slightly different but I had to reverse the second and third line so it actually makes more sense in this case. Anyways, I hope you enjoyed it.
