Time seemed to slow down to a stop. Her masters where dead, why? Granted in hindsight she should have seen the signs herself but still, who would have wanted to have that past? The will of the Force was a strange thing but it seemed like in life Kallig got the short end of that stick, unwanted by the republic for no other reason for being sith, for choosing life over death. Unwanted by his very order who taught him everything he knew about the force and for what? to dispose of him when he became worth something simply because of his lineage? As much as she wanted to blame Kallig for the deaths of her masters her logical side realized that he was simply living life the best he could with the cards he was dealt. The Jedi where supposed to be defenders of the peace, if the sith wanted to kill each other why did they feel the need to involve themselves? so that dark side rituals where not preformed within the Enclave, even she wasn't that anal. Kallig almost certainly wouldn't have turned on them after this was all said and done out of spite, he probably would have disappeared into the night, a man with the galaxy gunning for him.
Ashara removed herself from master Ocera and moved over to Kallig's form and sat against the wall and joined him.
"This isn't what i wanted" she heard him say and all she could do was nod, she believed him
"What happens now?" she asked, wiping another stray tear from her eye.
"I suppose you and the other padawans will have to return to the resettlement. I will remain here, the sith will not be far behind us."
"What about the ghost? don't you want me to summon it?" she asked
"I don't think i have the heart to ask that from you, after all that has happened"
Ashara frowned and steeled her nerves "What my masters did was not right, they thought the mold for the sith was universal. They never should have done that"
Kallig inhaled and exhaled deeply and nodded "Alright let's get this done"
the two rose from their spot and started down to the opposite side of the training area. Ashara got down on her knees and began to meditate. She could always feel the ghost whenever she was in the Enclave, and she knew for a fact the ghost felt her as well as all the other Jedi in the Enclave. She was somehow kin to this force ghost but it was just that, this apple fell pretty far from the tree, that tree being the grumpy dark side son of a bitch that lingered in the Enclave. Ashara began to pull on the bond that connected the two, and he came up like a hooked fish. His presence was right in front of her and in a flash of blue there he stood towering over her.
"Child, i thought i told you to never summon me again!"
then something odd happened, she heard a person clapping behind her. she turned around to see that Kallig was also looking at what was behind them, A man began to descend the staircase he was covered from head to toe in sith armor, though strangely enough he was armed with a blaster rifle. he was flanked by to other heavily armored men.
"Excellent, truly remarkable, Lord Thanaton will be truly impressed. No hard feelings my Lord but Thanaton will make me a Lord when a bring you his corp-"
he was interrupted when Kallig reached out both hands and suddenly both of his guards where in the air trying in vain to make the pressure on their throats lessen before Kallig threw them to opposite walls with such force the bodies crumpled under the impact, leaving the Sith trooper to face Kalligs fury alone. the sith raised his rifle but Kallig tore it from his grip and it flew into his waiting hand where he crushed it in his hand using force augmented strength. the Sith truly seemed to panic now as he used the force to retrieve the nearest weapon, master Oceras lightsaber and fell into a defensive position. Kallig had no problem closing the distance between them and activated a single purple blade and began to hammer away at this sith's defenses. the sith managed three lightsaber locks before Kallig disarmed him (literally) and now defenseless Kallig used his offhand to pour lighting into the siths body leaving yet another smoking corpse i n his wake.
"Child! what is this bloodshed in my grave?" the ghost demanded from her, she almost forgot about him
he was now once again in her face "I warned you not to summon me again! I warned you to leave me in peace! to keep your Jedi away from my grave!"
"i am sorry but the sith needed to see you!" she answered truthfully
"Your apology is worthless, you must die"
then suddenly lightning began to cover the ghost and she began to back away Kallig passed her, his eyes now glowing a really bright purple and he spoke
"I think not"
"What is happening? what are you- wait, strange, how long has it been since i felt at peace? centuries at least. what do you want that you went through all this effort to speak with me?"
"I need you strength to defeat my enemies"
"Will it get me out of this accursed Enclave with its artifacts of the light? then i accept seal the pact with blood sith, and my power is yours"
"Oh believe me i would have, but that was back when i was reasonable, you threatened Ashara and we are passed that point now."
he lifted his hands forward and purple energy surrounded Kallig and the ghost, her ancestor floated int the air before disappearing completely. She still felt his presence but now she felt Kallig's true presence during the ritual. His power absolutely dwarfed hers, it was small wonder why he managed to defeat two jedi masters at once with ease. The power even seemed to be a bit much for him to handle or perhaps the ritual was a difficult one as Kallig began to fall onto his knees from the exertion
"Kallig, what did you just do?"
"The ghost's soul is now bound to my own, i can release him whenever i wish""What happens now?"
"Well i suppos-" he stopped mid sentence as he seemed to contemplate something, specifically when he was looking over the body of the dead sith
"How did he get in here?" he pointed to the dead man
it then dawned on her that there was still an enclave full of Jedi, mostly padawans, the two raced up the stairs together, she was praying that she wasn't going to see what she feared she would. The hallway was littered with corpses and she fell to her knees at the sight, her heart ached now more than ever at the sight of her dead friends. Kallig didn't seemed all that put off as he began going from body checking only for Jedi survivors. once a Sith twisted with agony showing she was still alive and Kallig didn't hesitate to brutally stomping on her neck breaking it instantly. as he kept searching on for minutes she could not stop the tears falling down her face as sorrow threatened to consume her whole.
"I got a live one!" he shouted from the far end of the hallway. Ashara felt a small spark of hope in her soul and she feed off it as she rose from the ground and rushed over to Kallig. it was Varek, it seems he was caught off gaurd by the first assualt if the blaster burn on his right pectoral was any indication.
"The shot hit mostly muscle, he's alive but losing blood fast!" he wrapped one of the young mans arms over his shoulder and picked him up bridal style.
"Where is your medic?" She quickly lead the way and Kallig walked as fast as he could without causing any more pain than necessary.
When they arrived in the medics room she quickly cleared the table and started up the droid. there was only so much the droid could do however, it managed to stop the bleeding and gave Varek all the bacta and Kolto that could be prescribed. Kallig dug through his data pad looking for healing techniques, he managed to find a few and meditated over Vareks bed for two hours before he claimed there was nothing more he could do to help the young jedi. The droid announced that the young man was stable. but he need to be returned to the resettlement and get into the nearest bacta tank for a full recovery.
while Varek was recovering Ashara began collecting a pile of wood that would be needed for the pyre, the pyre needed to be a meter high by two meters by nearly ten meters to fit all of the jedi who fell this day. As she continued to build the pyre Kallig carried out each Jedi one at a time and laid them out respectfully, she noticed he even closed their eyes and sometimes even changed their robes so they at least looked halfway presentable, all except master Ryen who was in a bag where laid out on the pyre by nightfall.
at midnight she light the pyre and stood over the burning bodies that used to be their comrades and she tried to hold back the tears and was partially successful as she had few tears left to shed. Kallig never left her side once and during the funeral he even whispered a beautiful parting song. Before she knew it dawn arrived again and the trio left the Jedi Enclave on Kami and she raced for the resettlement area. they returned early in the morning when they came across one of the outermost patrols. Ashara slid off Kami carrying Verak bridal style.
"I am going to drop him off with these troops here, can you please not leave yet Kallig? i have something i need to get off my chest." the sith nodded and stayed comfortably atop of his creature hiding on the outskirts of the forest so she could see him if she turned her head. When the commander saw them approach the lent aid without question and took Varek off her hands promising to take care of him while she took care of something quick before she returned. Ashara used force augmented speed to return to Kallig before he ran off and came to a stop before him when she once again found her voice.
"I want to come with you"
"What?" he asked in disbelif like he heard her wrong
"I want to come with you, help you stop Darth Thanaton"
"Why? Killing him would not bring back your brothers just the same as killing me will nit bring back your masters"
"I realize that, this is not about revenge, only practicality"
"I'm afraid i don't follow"
"if i return now i will have to undergo months of therapy and meditation before i have to restart all my trials from the very beginning, it will be another year before i become a knight, and even then i have no idea where i would be stationed, how dangerous is Darth Thanaton?"
"just below the Dark council, so among the Sith top 5% easily"
"Then at least with helping you on your mission i can help the war, besides i feel there is much to learn with you"
"I don't think i have ever heard such word come out of a jedi's mouth directed to a Sith" he said, somewhat amused
"But you aren't cruel or corrupt, and you have lived your whole life in the Empire. I want to get to know you, see how you see the world, what makes you tick"
Kallig groaned at that one "there is no easy answer, and it is more complected than you can imagine"
"So tell me on the way" she hopped up into the saddle "until Thanaton is dead you are stuck with me."
