Chapter Two: I'm telling you, you didn't fall!
Disclaimer: I do not own KOTOR.
Note: I'm sure that uncut version of KOTOR2, Atris's fall made sense, but the heavily cut version has it be a very random thing to do, and this reflects that. I mean, really, if they were running out of time, they should have just cut the thing with Atris and given the game an actual ending. Come to think of it, they don't actually say what happens to Atris, either…
The Exile leisurely walked back to her ship. Common sense dictated that she hurry, but that had never been her strong suit. Not to mention she was slightly annoyed she had to go chasing after Kreia and so she decided to get back at her by taking her time and claiming whatever happened as a result of that was the will of the Force.
Upon finally arriving at and entering the Ebon Hawk, she found Atton passed out on the floor of the cockpit and the rest of the crew mysteriously absent.
The Exile poked Atton with her foot. "Hey, hey Atton! What have I told you about piloting drunk?"
Groaning, Atton roused himself. "That it couldn't possibly make my piloting any worse than it already is?"
"Exactly," the Exile beamed. "But you probably shouldn't do it anyway, just in case."
"Exile, I wasn't drinking," Atton corrected her. "I was attacked."
"By alcoholism?" she asked innocently.
"No. I was attacked by that Sith Lord you travel with."
"Who?"
"That old hag."
"Pardon?" the Exile asked.
"That old woman."
"I don't understand."
"Kreia," Atton finally said, shuddering.
"Now, was that so hard? You never say her name, you know. I was beginning to wonder if you even knew it."
"I never use your name, either," Atton reminded her.
"Of course not; Master Vrook would have fined me a ridiculous amount of credits that, quite frankly, I just can't afford to pay right now. Or ever, if none of you ever decided to help me pay for Goto's yacht."
"Well, I don't see why we should. It's your fault it blew up," Atton told her.
"I was kidnapped! You and Mira are the ones who turned off the ship's cloaking devices."
"I fail to see the connection."
"Figures," the Exile muttered. "And now that Master Vrook is dead, I will continue to go by 'The Exile' so as to honor his memory."
"Wait, Vrook's dead?" Atton asked hopefully.
"Yeah, Kreia killed him for being too logical," the Exile revealed. "And Masters Kavar and Zez-Kai-Ell for good measure."
"Finally concrete, irrefutable proof you cannot possibly deny that she's a Sith Lord," Atton said triumphantly.
"That who's a Sith Lord?" the Exile asked blankly.
"Kreia," Atton repeated.
"Kreia's a what?" she shrieked.
"A Sith Lord."
"Don't be ridiculous, Atton," the Exile snapped.
"I'm not!" Atton protested. "You denied it when Sion called Kreia his teacher, when she insulted and mocked the Jedi once every three minutes or so, threatened everyone on this ship except for you, and refused to use anything but a red lightsaber."
"Of course, that's merely circumstantial evidence," the Exile explained.
"Perhaps," Atton allowed. "But now she killed the last Jedi Masters and so you can't possibly refuse to believe it anymore."
"Can too," the Exile said stubbornly. "I still don't think that proves anything."
"Um, hello? Killed the Jedi Masters? Ring a bell?"
"So? I've often been tempted to, as well. I hate logic," the Exile said blithely.
"Then why are you honoring Vrook's memory?" he asked, confused.
"Because he's awesome," the Exile replied. "Duh."
"Excuse me?" came the incredulous response.
The Exile's eyes shown. "He is. He has a very dry sense of humor and actually follows the Jedi Code and has never lied to me. Unlike EVERYONE ELSE in the Order."
"I don't believe it. Vrook has a fangirl. But moving on…Where should we go now?" Atton asked, quickly changing the subject.
"Telos, I guess," the Exile shrugged.
"Any particular reason?" questioned Atton, who was thinking more along the lines of Nar Shaddaa.
"Well, that's where Atris is," the Exile told him, looking as though she thought he was stupid.
"And this is relevant because…?" Atton asked irritably, not appreciating the Exile's insinuation.
"Because one of those creepy handmaidens Atris had randomly came to the Enclave for no apparent reason and agreed to take Kreia to Telos for an unspecified purpose."
Atton stared at her. "That makes no sense whatsoever."
"I know, it doesn't, does it?" the Exile agreed. "Just like it doesn't make sense that Kreia came here and attacked you when the Handmaiden had her own ship and that the rest of the crew's vanished. Speaking of, I should probably go look for them. Set a course of Telos."
"But the others aren't here," Atton protested.
"So? If they don't make it, then it was the will of the Force. Either way, I'm going to go look for them in the girls' dormitory. On the bed. Lying down. With my eyes closed."
"So, in other words, you're going to take a nap?" Atton asked. The Exile nodded. "I REALLY hate Jedi."
When the Exile got to the dormitory, she was just about to lay down when she heard a voice behind her.
"Hiding yourself away?"
The Exile turned around to face the Disciple. "Not really; I was technically looking for you."
"In the girls' dormitory?" the Disciple asked, raising an eyebrow.
The Exile flushed. "Well, not you exactly. In fact, in here I'd be looking for Mira and Visas. Where were you guys anyway?"
Choosing not to answer that, the Disciple returned to his speech. "You're worried; I can tell."
"Not particularly, no…"
"And you're in denial, it seems. I want you to know that there is absolutely no truth in the Jedi's allegations that you're secretly controlling us and we have no will of our own," the Disciple said reassuringly.
Of course, this was the first the Exile had heard of this and, as such, it did not exactly have the desired effect. "WHAT?!"
"Yes, as shocking as this is, I do believe in you," the Disciple said cheerfully.
"That's great, but what were you saying about me destroying your free will?"
"Jedi lies?" the Disciple suggested.
"When did they tell you this?" the Exile demanded.
Skillfully dodging the question, the Disciple asked, "Didn't the Jedi Masters give that as the reason they were going to cut you off from the Force?"
"NO!"
"Oh, well, they were going to," the Disciple told her.
"I think they might have started to bring it up, but they were sidetracked by the tragic story of my economic woes," explained the Exile.
"I…see…Well, don't worry about it."
"I wasn't," the Exile informed him, still horrified and beginning to twitch.
The Disciple decided that perhaps it was time to take his leave.
--
When the Exile arrived at the Jedi Academy on Telos, Atton told her in no uncertain terms that she would be doing this without him. When he explained to the others what had happened the last time they were there, they quickly echoed his sentiments.
And so it was that the Exile found herself walking the halls alone. Strange, though, that there was nary a handmaiden or former mentor in sight. She finally reached Atris's private domain and opened her mouth to speak, only to be cut off by some babbling holocrons.
After trying twice more, the Exile finally managed to say, "Okay, now what in the name of the Force is that?"
"Those are Sith holocrons I rescued from destruction. I knew that I needed to understand the Sith if I was going to defeat them," Atris told her calmly. That in itself was odd. Atris had never been able to be in the Exile's presence for more than two minutes without blowing up at her. That was one of the reasons her trial had been so short, after all.
"Um, Atris dear? You won't be defeating anyone holed up in an ice cap," the Exile told her gently.
"Which is why I'm luring them to Telos."
"But they won't think to look up here. We barely thought to and most people aren't as smart as Bao-Dur." The Exile shook her head. "Man and I thought Malak was bad at strategy."
Atris flushed angrily and began to give a retort, but was cut off by the holocrons.
"Do they always do that?" the Exile had to shout to be heard.
Atris hollered back, "You have no idea…"
"Why don't you turn them off, then?" the Exile asked sensibly.
"Because I must rely on their wisdom. Unfortunately, right now they are displeased with me," Atris explained in a normal voice after the holocrons died down.
"How? They're…holocrons, prerecorded. I really don't think they can even tell what you're doing, Atris. And, disregarding the questionable wisdom of a Jedi listening to a bunch of Sith, they sound like they're saying the same thing over and over again. Do you even understand them?" the Exile demanded.
"It is too late for me, I have fallen," Atris declared dramatically, trying to distract the Exile.
It worked. "Um, what are you talking about? Where is all this coming from?" the Exile asked.
"I had fallen some time ago, I should think. I just hadn't admitted it," Atris said wistfully.
The Exile wasn't sure she'd heard that correctly. "Um, come again?" When Atris repeated herself, the Exile just shook her head. "That's what I thought you said. Still, how do you not notice that you fell?"
"Well, I'm not quite sure. I suppose that was rather unobservant of me, wasn't it?" Atris remarked idly.
The Exile snorted. "Tell me about it. Now, I know I've been out of touch with the galaxy for a while, but to me, falling entails killing or attempting to kill assorted friends of family members and committing grievous acts of violence against the galaxy at large, perhaps killing a planet or two." She paused, remembering Peragus and Malachor. "Intentionally, that is. Unless you get amnesia or have multiple personality disorder, I fail to see how you can neglect to realize you're a Sith."
"That's what makes it so insidious," Atris told her, sounding eerily like Kreia. "It is not deeds so much as thought."
"That makes no sense whatsoever!" the Exile protested. "The Jedi have always had far too much work dealing with the homicidal-lunatic Sith to concern themselves with people who want to kill everyone, but don't."
"My teachings could corrupt many-" Atris began.
"Nuh-uh," the Exile interrupted. "As long as you're gonna stay up here in a bloody icecap with those creepy handmaidens, you won't be getting any students TO corrupt. And I'm still hung up on the whole 'I-didn't-know-I-was-evil-thing.' I mean, who do you think you are, Revan?"
"I admit, it's a bit hard to comprehend how I, Atris, last of the Jedi and paragon of the Jedi Order could possibly be less than perfect, but it is true enough, I assure you."
The Exile stared at her. "Not as hard as you'd think."
Atris narrowed her eyes. "Just die."
After a short lightsaber fight (after all, Atris was a historian), Atris, breathing heavily, begged, "End this."
The Exile, who was not a pushover and, as such, hadn't even broken a sweat, held up a hand to forestall any further pleadings from Atris. "Hold on, hold on. I don't want to kill you; I just want you to explain."
"Explain what?" Atris asked blankly.
"Explain how you can NOT notice you've fallen and yet still fall. Were you actively thinking Sithy thoughts?" the Exile asked.
"Well, I'm not sure," Atris paused, frowning. "Define 'Sithy thoughts', please."
"Um, I don't know, thoughts of death and destructions and acts accompanying it," the Exile said lamely.
"Then no, I don't think I have."
"Then you're not a Sith," the Exile said, exasperated.
"But Kreia said-" Atris began.
"You're all so down on her," the Exile complained. "She's a harmless old woman."
"She's a Sith Lord!"
The Exile crossed her arms. "I don't believe you."
"Exile, she told me that 'there must always be a Darth Traya, one that has been betrayed in their hearts and betrays others in turn'," Atris told her solemnly.
"Well, I'm not sure about 'must be', but of course there will be if everyone who ever gets betrayed betrays everyone else. It's like the ultimate Anti-pay-it-forward."
"I think you may have missed my point," Atris said.
"Oh, well what was the point?"
"Kreia is Darth Traya!"
"Nonsense," the Exile said dismissively. "Has she ever specifically told you this?"
"Well…" Atris trailed off, considering. "No. But it was heavily implied. She even said, 'It is such a quiet thing to fall, but far more terrible is to admit it'."
"So? I firmly believe she was just making an idle observation about life."
Atris sighed. "Yes, you would , wouldn't you?"
"And Kreia told me about Darth Traya, too. She never said she was her, though."
"Maybe she didn't want to alienate you. I mean, you're rather obnoxiously lightside, as you always seem to be able to rationalize your way out of darkside points," Atris said, a little bitterly.
"I don't know what you're talking about," the Exile said blithely. "And I don't think that factored into it; we take all kinds."
"Even Sith?" Atris raised her eyebrows.
"Yep," the Exile responded, thinking of Atton.
"Why?" Atris asked, aghast.
"Asks the girl who insists she's a Sith," the Exile muttered. "And really, who in the galaxy hasn't been a Sith at some point in time?"
"You?" Atris asked.
The Exile snorted. "Not according to Vrook."
"Just because Vrook says you're a Sith doesn't mean you are," Atris snapped.
To her surprise, the Exile smiled. "Sound familiar? Even if Kreia (who is still not a Sith) did somehow accidentally convince you that you're a Sith, you're not. A crappy teacher, granted, but no Sith."
Atris nodded, conceding the point. "What will you do with me if you will not kill me?" she asked, a hint of desperation in her voice. "You can't just leave me here alone with these holocrons; you can't!"
"I don't intend to." With that, the Exile raised her hands and shot Force Lightening at the holocrons, finally silencing them for the first time since she had arrived.
The effect was instantaneous, as she knew it would be. "What have you done? You just destroyed priceless historical artifacts on a whim! Do you even think?" Atris screeched.
"Now that's the Atris I remember," the Exile grinned.
Despite her obvious distress at the holocrons' loss, Atris managed a small smile as well. "You may not believe it, but I did miss you. Even if I did try to have you killed by announcing your existence to the galaxy at large when you were defenseless."
The Exile shrugged. "Meh, it happens. Now I'd better leave before you start getting all nostalgic on me." She shuddered. "I can drop you off on Citadel Station if you want."
"I would like that."
"Where are the handmaidens and Kreia anyway?" the Exile asked as they walked back to the Ebon Hawk.
"I'm not sure where the handmaiden sisters are, but Kreia went to Malachor V," Atris informed her.
"…Any particular reason?" the Exile asked.
"She said she wanted to talk to you," Atris explained.
"And she couldn't do it here? Or even on Dantoinne?"
"I guess not. She also said that if you didn't come, she would kill herself," Atris said gravely.
"That's a bit drastic, isn't it? I mean, what, is she trying to do, guilt me into coming? I'm not sure I appreciate that and don't really think I'd like to go and enable her any further," the Exile said. "It's for her own good, really."
Atris sighed again. "She said she'll kill herself so you'll do."
"How does that work? I mean, what, does she think I'll kill myself out of grief? I respected her devotion to the light and all, but I didn't like her that much."
"Devotion to the…" Atris spluttered. "Exile, did you even listen to a word she said?"
"Not really," the Exile admitted. "But I'm sure she's very wise."
"Clearly you didn't. Your Force Bond, remember? It's lethal?"
"Is it?" the Exile blinked. "Since when?"
Atris had to resist the sudden Sith-like urge to stab her with her lightsaber. "Since you felt Sion cut her hand off."
"Oh, that. Didn't the other Jedi all basically say Kreia was lying about it being able to kill me?" the Exile asked skeptically.
"Well, yes, but don't you think you should go anyway, just to be safe?" Atris asked.
The Exile sighed. "Fine, fine, whatever. It's not like I have anything better to do than facilitate your newfound travel agency career anyway."
When they reached the Ebon Hawk, Atton stuck his head out of the ship. "Hey, Exile, do you think you could-"
He spotted Atris and stopped dead. So did she.
Two lightsabers were activated and they both hissed, "Sith!"
"Oh, Force," the Exile groaned.
To Be Continued…