Chapter 73:
Dan lay in his bunk, attempting to shake off the growing uneasiness that filled him. He sat up, and looked around, carefully, having the distinct feeling someone was watching him. His eyes widened as he saw his father standing near the bunk across from him, accompanied by two others like himself. Daren smiled at his son, and said, "Dan, the Jedi with me are Master Kenobi and Master Yoda. They were friends of mine during the days of the Republic. Listen closely to what they tell you, for it is very important."
Kenobi spoke first, saying gravely, "There isn't much time. You are Force-sensitive, like your father before you, and that gift comes with responsibilities you cannot ignore. Anakin Skywalker and Leia Organa Skywalker will need your help to confront the Sith once and for all."
The diminutive master continued. "A choice, there will be. Accept Anakin Skywalker's teaching, you must. On you, the fate of the galaxy may rest."
"I know that you will continue to make me proud, son." Daren said softly. "Until we meet again, may the Force be with you."
Dan sat there, turning over their words in his head long after they were gone. He jumped, cracking his head on the bunk above him, as the door to the barracks was blown inward, and Atrox entered, followed by two guards. "You will come with me now and we will begin your training, or you can join your friends in their cell." Atrox said coldly, his voice still inhuman from the dark side, as he turned his burning gaze onto the boy.
"I'll never join you!" Dan spat, hiding his fear behind anger.
"Good," Atrox breathed, "give in to your anger, let your fear guide you." He motioned for the guards to step forward. "Throw him in the cell with the others," he commanded coldly, a dark smile on his face as he continued to hold Dan's gaze.
Dan glared at Atrox as he was led away, trying to calm himself, anything to defy the Sith Lord further.
A few moments later, Mara reached Atrox, her brow creased with concern. "Master? What's going on? I felt a disturbance."
Atrox glared towards her. "The disturbance you felt was Darth Vader being destroyed. Anakin Skywalker has returned and has chosen to once again follow the weak ideals of the Jedi." Atrox snarled, disgust dripping from every word. "I have taken Vader's mantle as the Dark Lord of the Sith, and you are my Sith Apprentice, Darth Exura." Atrox continued, his voice inhuman and cold, a furious current of dark energy swarming around him.
"Y-yes, master," Mara, now Darth Exura, murmured, bowing her head. "What is your will?"
"Come with me, my apprentice." Atrox said, coolly, but through the Force, he sent his love for her.
Relieved, Exura went to his side, returning her love to him through their bond. "Yes, master."
"I want you to monitor my former master, apprentice. I want to make sure he is not able to damage any part of this ship, or free the prisoners." Atrox said quietly, loud enough so only she could hear him, as he continued to follow Dan to the cell.
"Yes, master. I will begin immediately," she responded, locking her unease about her new position deep inside herself. She walked away, pausing as Dan was thrown into the cell, and watching her master depart for his quarters.
She walked down to Anakin's quarters, unsure what to expect. She stepped gingerly through the wrecked doorway, and found Anakin talking quietly with his wife, Leia nearby, watching over her father. The three looked up as she entered, and immediately became guarded. Padmé was the first to speak. "Hello, Mara," she said softly.
"My name is Darth Exura," she said in response, her tone brittle.
Anakin flinched painfully at her words, than looked up sharply, detecting the uncertainty in her tone. He turned towards her, his expression hard to read. "Do you really want to become a monster like the one I created… like I used to be? Do you really want that for your children?" Anakin asked softly, still hurt from his son earlier, as well as the past twenty years of his life.
She looked away, attempting to deaden her emotions. She didn't know what she had expected, but it had not been this. "I… I don't know what I want," she said quietly.
Anakin stood and slowly walked up to her. "Mara, I know you love Luke, not Atrox. They may have the same body, but they are not the same person, surely you can see this. I can help bring you out of the darkness you are in now, and back into the light. Then we can help bring my son back."
She didn't meet his eyes. "I didn't ask for any of this," she muttered. "I can't betray him now. If… if you love him as you claim, do not ask it of me."
Anakin placed his hands firmly on her shoulders, pleading. "Mara, the Jedi call me the Chosen One. It is my destiny to destroy the Sith and bring balance to the Force. You are his Sith Apprentice, I do not wish to harm you, but know that if you don't return to the light, then there is only one other way to end this... and I'm not even sure I can do it. Please, think of your unborn children, think of the man who I know wishes to be your husband."
She looked down at the bulge just becoming visible through her robes, and touched her stomach, gently. "My children…" her eyes locked with Anakin's like emerald chips of steel. "My children are innocent. If you Jedi value life as much as you claim, spare them." She looked away again. "I fear it is too late for their father… and so for me."
"Mara, I can't do this without your help. He knows about my mistakes with my own wife, we must act now before he truly is lost to us. It may not be much longer before he might harm you yourself. I made that mistake once, and it cost me twenty years of my life." Anakin pleaded, tears starting to form in his eyes again. "I fear this will come to an end before your children are born," he added in a whisper.
"He… he wouldn't risk harming our children…" Exura whispered, though Anakin could tell she was weakening.
"He would, Mara," Padmé said softly. "I know."
Exura buried her face in her hands, torn by their words. Then she felt Atrox finally drift to sleep, and she formed her resolve. "What do you want of me?"
"Let go of your anger, your hate, and most of all, your fear," Anakin said gently. "Simply allow the Force to fill your being, empty your mind of thoughts, and questions."
She struggled to do as he commanded, but found it difficult to free herself of the negative emotions. Finally, Leia murmured, "Focus on something positive, something joyful, and allow that to fill you."
Her frown deepened. She had had so few joyful moments in her life, she wasn't even sure where to look. Then a memory filtered through her thoughts, of Atrox holding her in his protective embrace as they reached out in the Force together to cradle the precious life inside her, sensing their heartbeat for the first time.
She allowed the quiet peace and contentment of that moment to fill her thoughts and emotions, purifying them in a way she had never experienced. Everything else drained away but the simple joy of that memory, and when she finally opened her eyes again, they were a clear, brilliant emerald once more.
Anakin watched as Mara opened her eyes again. "How do you feel, Mara?" he asked softly, his voice calm.
She paused, searching for words to fit her feelings. "I… I've never felt such peace…" she murmured, awed by the revelation. She felt more aware of everything around her, and most particularly, her children's presence seemed to radiate through the Force in a way they had not before.
Then fear returned and clouded her eyes. "What now? Atrox will know… he'll think I betrayed him…"
Anakin's eyes met hers. "Do you know how to camouflage your Force signature?"
She nodded, but said, "He's so powerful… I wouldn't be able to deceive him for long."
"We do not have much time. I don't want you there when we try to bring him back, if we can bring him back. I just hope there is enough of Luke left to save." Anakin said softly, he motioned for Leia to come with him and looked his wife in the eyes. "I love you, Padmé. Please, watch over Mara."
"I should go," Padmé said suddenly. "If you go, it will put him on guard, he won't listen to you, or Leia. Let me try to reason with him, if I fail…" she trailed off.
Anakin frowned, but knew better than to argue with her. Mara closed her eyes in concentration, and allowed her presence to be surrounded by shadow. "It won't hold up if he digs too deep," she warned. "You don't have much time."
Padmé nodded, and left the room, hurrying towards her son's quarters. She knocked on the door gently, but loud enough to wake him.
Atrox awoke suddenly to urgent pounding on the door to his quarters. Annoyed, he slowly got out of bed, using the Force to slam the door open. "What is it?" Atrox said softly, groggily.
Padmé entered, and gave her son a small smile. "I'm sorry to wake you, Luke, but it's rather important."
Atrox turned around, his face hard and unreadable. He locked his eyes onto his mother, crossing his arms over his bare chest, waiting for her to continue. "Are you here to betray me as well?" Atrox demanded, his voice cold, the threat clear.
"How could I?" she asked quietly. "You're my son, I love you. All I want is for you to be happy, and I'm worried about you."
"My former master betrayed me. Why should I believe you?" Atrox said coldly, starting to direct all of his senses towards her, searching for deception.
She simply looked into his eyes, her expression calm, if sad, hiding nothing. "Your master betrayed you, but there is a father waiting for you whom you have been searching for your whole life."
"My father made me into what I am now." Atrox said, becoming more annoyed by her remark.
"But are you happy being what you are?" Padmé countered. "You told me you wanted a father, not simply a master, and now that that opportunity is open to you, you have crushed it beneath your heel. If you would open your heart you would feel his love for you, instead of filling yourself with hate."
"I stopped being happy when my own father nearly killed me." Atrox whispered, the pain that he felt clearly evident in his voice. "He stopped being my father then, only my master." Atrox continued after a moment, anger, hurt, and a hint of regret apparent in his voice.
"Would you change that?" Padmé asked him, softly.
"Why should I? It was clear what he intended to do to me." Atrox raged, unable to let go of the pain he felt.
"What Darth Vader intended," Padmé corrected. "Anakin Skywalker loves you dearly, and in rejecting Vader, rejected the man who hurt you. At least talk to him," she pleaded. "He's not the man you knew."
"I'll believe it when I see it." Atrox said darkly, becoming angry once again.
"To see, you have to look," she said, firmly. "Will you try to talk to him?"
"Only because you are my mother... and because you have asked it of me." Atrox whispered. "However, whether or not he gets thrown into a bulkhead is another story," he added darkly.
"Thank you," she murmured, and took a few steps forward to embrace him. "We all love you, Luke, never forget that."
Atrox scoffed at the comment as he returned her embrace. "If my father loves me so much, then I should really thank him for the electrical burns."
"That wasn't your father," Padmé said, turning his head to look him in the eye. "You were conceived by the love between Anakin Skywalker and Padmé Amidala. Darth Vader and his master Palpatine destroyed our family, but Anakin… Anakin created it."
"And now?" he asked bitterly.
"And now all he asks for is an opportunity to prove his love to you, even if he cannot take away the damage that Vader did to your life." she said.
Atrox slowly broke the embrace to put on his pants and tunic. He walked over to his locker and took put his cloak, putting it on and raising its hood. "Take me to him." Atrox said quietly.
She led him back to the quarters she shared with Anakin, and knocked on the doorframe gently to announce their presence. Mara's eyes narrowed as she sensed Atrox approach, and she forced herself to remain calm.
Anakin met Atrox's eyes, and the temperature in the room seemed to plummet. He stood to meet them, and said, "Thank you for seeing me, son. I… can imagine how hard it must be for you to even be in the same room with me."
Atrox narrowed his eyes as he stared at his father, his eyes then turning to Mara, towards whom he stretched his full senses through their bond, sensing her recent changes. He slowly turned back to stare into Anakin's eyes as a glass on the other side of the room shattered.
The temperature sank even lower, Atrox's cold rage affecting the very atmosphere of the room. Mara bowed her head, abandoning her attempt to disguise her presence, and simply tried to keep her fear and grief tightly bottled inside her.
Anakin sighed. "I owe you an apology—no, many apologies, for all the things I did to you under the control of the dark side. If I could take them back, I would, every one of them. As it is, I can only tell you I'm deeply sorry, and willing to attempt to make it up to you, though I never fully can." He paused, watching his son for some kind of reaction, then continued. "I don't expect your forgiveness, what I have done is unforgivable. But I want you to know how much I love you, in spite of all the ills between us. I love you, my son, and I'm sorry."
Atrox listened to Anakin, keeping his expression unreadable. Once his father had finished speaking, he began to assault his mental shields, trying to gain access to his mind to see its entirety to sense if he was deceiving him in any way.
Anakin immediately lowered his defenses after the initial painful assault, allowing him full access to his thoughts and emotions. Deep as Atrox searched, he found nothing but love, sorrow, and guilt in his father, not deception. I will always love you, Anakin whispered to his son, so that only Atrox could sense it. He looked up, and for an instant thought he saw a glimmer of blue in his son's eyes, then it was gone.
"You may be my father, but I will not forgive Kenobi and Yoda for lying to me." Atrox said as he withdrew from his father's mind, thinking over what he had just said to him. "And I you," Atrox whispered aloud, continuing to lock his eyes with his father.
Hope blossomed in Anakin's heart, and he smiled gently at his son, observing how Atrox's expression seemed to soften with his words. "Let me help you, son, please," he asked softly.
"Just how do you plan to... help me?" Atrox asked, doubt evident in his voice.
Mara came towards him, her face partially hidden by the hood of her cloak, and gave him a faint smile. Taking his hand, she led him to a corner of the room, away from the main area, and indicated that Anakin and Leia accompany them. "Meditate with us," she said firmly, her eyes daring him to refuse. "You're not the master here. Right here, right now, we are simply family, and you will do as you're told."
Hesitantly, Atrox nodded, "Very well."
Once seated, the four of them closed their eyes, and opened themselves to the Force. Each of their Force signatures was unique, having different strengths and auras. Anakin's was powerful, though still tainted from the long years spent in darkness. Leia's was pure, with hardly a trace of shadow to stain it. Mara's was less strong, but burned with a fiery intensity, alongside the fainter ones of the lives she carried. And Atrox radiated darkness, with barely a thread of light running through it.
Anakin reached out to his son, tentatively, sensing the fragments of the bond he had once shared with his apprentice. But the bond he sought was rooted more deeply, the bond between a father and son, and that was damaged, buried, but not destroyed.
Reluctantly, Atrox slowly allowed his father into his mind, longing for the bond that he had shared with his sister, needing a father. In turn, he also slowly reached out to touch Anakin's mind, searching for the broken bond between father and son.
The connection between them established, Anakin allowed the Force to flow between them, pouring his love for his son into the still raw wounds their rocky relationship had left in Atrox's mind. Gradually, the thread between them strengthened, beginning to heal, and giving both of them a better glimpse of each other's thoughts and feelings.
Atrox hesitantly reached out to his father through the fragile bond between them, guarded and suspicious. He began to trace the bond to its roots, cautiously allowing it to increase. Mara touched his mind, gently, offering him her strength and support, as Leia did the same. Atrox could sense the strong bond between Anakin and Leia, as well as traces of the bond he had once shared with his sister.
The twin bond between Luke and Leia, torn by years of separation, had been rebuilding itself with excruciating slowness ever since they had met. Luke's fall, however, and subsequent hatred, had rent the bond again, and it would take time and the Force to rebuild it, though it would never be as strong as if they had been able to grow up together.
Anakin's guilt returned as he sensed the pain that he had caused his son, the wounds running deep, and still raw from the recent events. He knew only time and love would build the trust between them that was needed to heal the damage.
Mara frowned as she sensed a shift in her children's presence as soon as she reached out to their father. They were too small to have distinct emotions, but she could feel their Force signatures seem to fade in his darkness. She rose suddenly, worried, and sensed Atrox reach out to her in concern.
What he felt snapped him out of the meditation, for a moment revealing bright, clear blue eyes filled with shock. He leapt to his feet and rushed from the room, disbelief emanating from him.
Mara's heart filled with pain, and followed him out, herself uneasy about the revelation. She tried to catch up to him, but he had already shut down his connection to the Force, completely withdrawing inside himself. Anxious, she headed for their quarters, hoping to catch him there, but found nothing. She checked the bridge, the shuttle, the ship, all the barracks and officers' quarters, with no success. Her anxiety quickly becoming real fear, she broadened her search, looking for some sign of his presence. Pausing near Anakin and Padmé's quarters, she leaned on the doorway for support, nausea hovering on the edge of her consciousness as she tried to fight it off. "Have any of you seen him?" she asked wearily. "I've been looking for hours, he's just vanished."
Padmé shook her head. "He hasn't been back here, Mara," she replied.
"Are you alright?" Anakin asked softly.
Mara nodded. "I'm… I'm fine…" she straightened, and turned away. "I have to find him…" She chose to explore the cargo holds next, hoping he was there.
Several hours later, Mara wandered into engineering, surveying the room with tired eyes. Her initial exploration turned up nothing, until she spotted an edge of dark fabric sticking out from behind a control panel. Her expression brightened, and she hurried toward it. The sight that greeted her, however, tore even further at her heart. He looked like he had spent the entire time during her search crying heavily, his head was leaning against the bulkhead staring down at the floor. His arms were wrapped tightly against his knees, so lost in his emotions that he did not even notice her.
She approached cautiously, stunned by how deeply he had been affected. She had never seen him like this, and it almost frightened her more than his rage. Curling up next to him, she pulled him into her arms, trying to comfort him. "Don't shut me out," she whispered, turning his head gently to look into his eyes.
Atrox's vision was unfocused. He felt someone's hands wrap around him and instantly pulled away from them, crawling back further into the hole he had found next to a piece of machinery against the bulkhead. He was so lost in his thoughts and in what he felt from his twins that he did not even hear anything going on around him.
She shook his shoulder gently, but urgently, determined to get through to him. "Skywalker, talk to me! Don't do this, not after all the trouble I went to finding you."
"You should not have come looking." Atrox whispered, still in a daze, not really hearing Mara. All he felt was an overwhelming pain throughout him, pain that his own children are afraid of him. He continued to slide back further into the hole until his back came against a wall.
Mara sighed, and collapsed against the wall, too tired to fight him on her own any longer, and feeling nauseous. Hesitantly, she reached out to his father, desperate for help. A-Anakin? I need your help.
I'm on my way, he said immediately. Within minutes he reached them, and knelt down beside her. "What happened?"
Mara buried her face in her hands, a wave of unhappiness washing over her. "When I reached out to him while we were meditating, the… the children shrank away from his dark side aura. And… and he sensed it."
Anakin nodded, understanding flooding him. Peering into the niche Atrox had squeezed himself into, he said softly, "Son. Come out and talk to us."
Atrox did not respond to his father, but instead continued to withdraw further into himself, failing to come to terms with his grief.
Anakin looked at his son, then to Mara. "Go, get some rest, Mara. I'll stay with him, and let you know if anything changes." She started to protest, but he silenced her. "For the sake of the children, rest. You need it."
She rose, grudgingly. "Very well. You'll call me if…?" she trailed off as he nodded, then made her way back to their quarters.
Anakin turned back to his son, and gently said, "Come out, son. I sent Mara to bed, she and the children are fine. Please, come here."
Slowly, Luke came out of the crawl space that he had been hiding in for the past several hours, still shaking from the emotions that he was feeling. He finally was able to make out his father's broad figure and locked his tear-stained eyes onto his father's.
Anakin's expression was compassionate, as he reached out to embrace his son. "Tell me what happened," he said softly.
"You already know." Luke whispered, returning his father's embrace as tears slowly came down his cheeks.
"But I want to hear your thoughts, your feelings," he said gently.
"My thoughts are too… complex to put into words right now." Luke replied, resting his head against his father's chest.
Padmé watched from the doorway, her eyes drinking in the scene unfolding before her. Both dark-clad figures, so much alike, finally having the chance to form the father-son bond they should have had but never could. Her heart ached for her son's situation, and she wished she could help him, but knew it was something he had to face on his own.
"Open your mind, if not to her, then to me," Anakin requested. "Never suffer alone, it will destroy you," he added, softly.
"I have already been destroyed," Luke said bitterly broken, as he slowly opened his mind to his father, allowing him complete access to his mind, including all of his previous memories, thoughts, and feelings.
Anakin reached out to him through their bond, sensing his anguish. What else he sensed deeply troubled him. As his son's mental state grew more stable, the dark side was rebuilding itself, waiting to reassert its shaken, but not broken, grip on Luke Skywalker. Knowing there was nothing else he could do, he poured out his love through their bond, trying to give his son some small measure of comfort before the moment was lost. I will always love you, my son.
As will I, Father. Please, save me. Luke sent back through their bond, sensing the dark side slowly and steadily regaining its iron grip on his mind and soul. "Tell Mara, I love her so, so much, as well as our twins." Luke said aloud in a whisper, tears falling again as he slowly lost himself to the dark side consuming him once more.
Anakin embraced his son tightly for an instant, then caught Padmé's eye, beckoning her over. Padmé knelt down beside them and stroked her son's hair gently, feeling like this was the first time she had truly seen her son. "Oh, Luke," she murmured, her voice catching in her throat.
Luke released his father, and moved to embrace his mother tightly. "Mother," Luke murmured in return, tears falling again. "I don't have much time, the dark side... it is reasserting itself with a vengeance. Please, help Father to save me. I'm afraid that I'll be destroyed by Atrox."
As Padmé held her son, Anakin touched Mara's mind, waking her. If you hurry, you might make it in time. Come.
Without waiting to respond, she climbed out of bed and rushed from the room, drawing on the Force to give her speed. When she reached engineering, she stopped in the doorway, suddenly hesitant.
Luke locked his tear-stained eyes onto Mara's the moment he saw her in the doorway and instantly reopened his bond with her, so she could feel his situation. The sight of her gave him a newfound determination to hold the darkness off until he could greet not only Mara herself, but the two tiny presences inside her, greet them as the person he truly was. Mara, you must come quickly. The dark side… it is reasserting its control over me. Please, save me. He pleaded through the Force.
She ran to him then, his words filling her heart with an ache which could not be stilled. She could feel the dark side gathering on the edge of his consciousness, and his attempts to fight it off. She felt a brightening in the intensity of the twins' presence, as if they recognized him. Words failed her, and she simply looked into his clear blue eyes, touching his face gently. I love you, farmboy.
Luke sensed the change in the twin's presence as he released Padmé and embraced Mara. As he embraced her, he extended his own presence to touch the twin's sending them his love for them, allowing them to feel their true father. He already sensed a Force bond forming between the four of them, a powerful one, a bond that gave him hope about the darkness slowly consuming him. "I'm so, so sorry Mara. I love you so much. I don't know what changes will occur when the dark side takes me again, but I want you to know I will always love you," he said, locking his eyes onto her.
A tear rolled down her cheek, as she embraced him with all her strength. "Don't give up," she said fiercely, "and never shut me out again, no matter what." She kissed him softly, then pulled away to look at him again, trying to preserve his face in her memory.
Luke locked eyes with Mara, burning her face into his memory, as well as the presences of his twins. He closed his eyes, grinding his teeth trying to keep the darkness back longer, struggling to do so. It was not enough, however; the dark side would not surrender the Dark Lord of the Sith so easily. It enveloped his presence with an explosion of dark power, slamming through him and spilling through their bond into Mara. She recoiled, instinctively shielding her children from its corruption, trying to focus on the grain of peace Anakin had given her to avoid being swept away by the influence of his power.
Anakin winced as he felt the dark side reclaim his son, and prayed that all they had done would not be in vain. Padmé's eyes widened in horror as Luke's features regained their corruption, his skin becoming pale and grey. Everyone watched as he inhaled deeply and slowly opened his eyes, revealing their sickly yellow color. He reached up and raised his hood as he slowly got up and walked out of the room.
Dan looked up from the corner of the cell as the door slammed open. The other Rebel leaders found themselves pinned to the wall by the sheer force of Atrox's will as he stormed into the room, glaring down at Dan.
"We will start your training, now." Atrox bellowed, his voice inhuman, dripping with the dark side of the Force.
Before Dan could speak, Atrox had ripped his way into the boy's mind, infusing the connection with the dark side of the Force. Dan's expression twisted with pain as he clutched his head, helpless to stop the Sith Lord.
Mara, still shaken from Luke's transformation, immediately sensed the darkness radiating through the ship. She leapt up and headed for Atrox, but was stopped by Anakin's voice.
He looked her in the eye, gravely. "Take care Mara, the dark side is insidious. For the sake of your children, do not allow it to seduce you again, no matter what form it seems to take."
Mara stared at him for a moment. "I understand." She turned and left the room, heading for the cell.
When she reached it, she pushed past the guards and stopped in the doorway, taking in the scene before her with a glance. Dan was forced into a kneeling position at Atrox's feet, as he forged a connection between them with the dark side of the Force.
"Am I so easily replaced, my lord?" she asked softly, her eyes hard.
Atrox didn't answer, his gaze fixed unseeing at the boy bent before him. She abandoned her training in favor of that weak fool's teachings! Part of him hissed angrily.
Is it only the Sith that you love, or is it Mara Jade? Another, quieter voice said inside.
She betrayed you!
You love her.
Finally, Atrox turned to face Mara, meeting her brilliant emerald eyes with his burning yellow ones. After a moment of locking eyes with each other, he finally responded. "It is not your destiny to become a Sith Lady, Mara." I will not destroy the woman I love, he added as an afterthought through their bond.
Reluctantly, her expression softened. Nor would I betray the man I love. She eyed the young man still crumpled at Atrox's feet. "Is this to be your new apprentice?" she asked in an odd tone.
"Yes," Atrox replied, his attention returning to the boy at his feet, increasing his exposure to the dark side's lure.
Her eyes narrowed as she studied the youth. That one will be trouble someday, she warned Atrox, darkly.
Dan felt as though his head was torn to shreds. All he wanted was to get Atrox's tainted presence out of his head, and would do anything to get rid of it. Hatred burned in his chest as he felt the urge to use it, though he knew not how. The urge grew even more powerful, demanding submission, and finally something snapped within him. He let the hatred filling him explode outwards, blasting Atrox back with a burst of dark side energy.
Atrox took a step back, absorbing the dark Force energy and reflecting it back to the young man, immersing him in it. Dan glared up at him, hatred burning in his eyes. "Good, my apprentice. Very good." Atrox hissed, amused. "You have potential. Now, accept your destiny," he rumbled, the dark side swirling around them both frantically in anticipation.
Dan's face was twisted with pain and hatred as he glared up at the Sith Lord. If I let him teach me what he knows… one day I'll have the skills to destroy him, a voice said in the back of his mind. He finally managed to force the words out, "I… accept your… teachings… master."
"Good." Atrox rumbled, the dark side making his voice sound inhuman. "Your hate will make you powerful. From now on, you will be known as," he paused, the dark side swirling around the two, searching for a name for the apprentice. "Darth Invisus."
The newly christened Sith apprentice winced, feeling as though his very identity had been stripped away. He continued to glare resentfully at Atrox, but nevertheless muttered, "Yes… master."
"Rise, apprentice. Your training awaits you." Atrox rumbled, never taking his eyes off of his apprentice. Mara, will you get him some more... appropriate clothing.
Her eyes left the young man to rest on Atrox, briefly. As you wish, my lord. She turned and left the room, leaving Atrox alone with his new apprentice.
"Come, apprentice." Atrox said coldly, turning to walk out of the room, heading for the ship's training area.
Invisus reluctantly followed his master out of the room. He felt tainted, as though a poison had been infused into his blood. He forced himself to simply follow Atrox, and not attack him again, sensing the dark power radiating from his master.
Anakin held his wife tightly as she sobbed bitterly, mourning the loss of her son afresh. Anakin was wracked with guilt, seeing the fruits of what he had forced his son to become. He only hoped that Mara was safe, and had not placed her children in danger.
Anakin Skywalker. The voice that pierced his thoughts was immediately familiar. He turned his head, and saw Daren Kyo standing a short distance away. He opened his mouth to speak, but Daren shook his head.
Anakin Skywalker, my son has been claimed by Darth Atrox. I charge you, in the name of all you hold dear, to save my son, and yours, before it is too late. If you fail, we will both regret it. May the Force be with you.
Anakin simply stared as the Jedi Master vanished before his eyes, his heart sinking as he realized that Atrox had already chosen a new apprentice. Padmé's sobs had quieted as she fell asleep in his arms, and he held her tighter, vowing that he would find a way to repair the damage he had done.