Vos Ma'ar shone, in the distance, the fading haze of a setting sun, as only the smallest sliver of it still hung over the horizon. To Beriven, staring behind, it was the light setting from his life.

He shook his head, and tore his gaze back to the small glow-torch that Marius had strapped to the end of a long stick, their only source of light during the darkness of the lunar eclipse. Ahead of him, Iniquitus stayed a few steps ahead, the darkness his shadow cast somehow darker than the one cast by the gas giant they orbited.

Beriven ran ahead, a little, and caught up with his friend. "You haven't looked back, yet."

Marius turned, the tears in eyes glowing against the faint light above them. "I'm afraid to. If I do, I don't think I could take another step."

Beriven hung his head in shame. "I'm sorry. I thought it was something else."

Marius nodded. "The eagerness he said he sensed?"

Beriven nodded quickly, in affirmation. "It's there. If I can use the Ashla, or the Bogan, I want to know how. But I don't want to leave them, Berry. There's nothing to gain from getting power, if I have no-one to keep safe." Marius admitted, quietly.

"We'll see them again, Merry. But for now, we're keeping them safe by keeping him as far away as possible." Beriven responded, his voice as harsh as a whisper could allow.

Neither of them noticed, but the black-bandaged figure had stopped and turned, and both boys almost collided with him. They scampered to a stop, and backed away a step, fearfully.

"Do you feel your situation is somehow unjust?" He asked, quietly.

Neither boy responded, staring wide-eyed at him as his shadow seemed to grow longer behind them.

"Is there something about this situation, where the two of you attempted to murder me, that conflicts with your sense of justice, or ethics?" He asked again, a little louder this time, and the menace in his gentle, soothing voice sent the boys' hands shaking.

Iniquitus' eyes lingered on the glow-torch, as it swung in Marius' shaking hands. "Plant the stick in the ground, and take a seat. This should be far enough."

The boys sat down, and Iniquitus set himself, with his knees resting in the dirt, directly below the light.

"Our agreement, as payment for the injustice of attempting to kill me, is your assistance in regaining my throne. Never forget, before we ever met, before we ever spoke or truly knew of each other, you tried to kill me. A sentient being, that you never knew, you attempted to remove from existence."

"You had already killed. Soldiers." Beriven said, quickly.

"I had. But one man doesn't attack eight. Eight men attack one. Like you, they tried to kill me, and died. That is the inevitable consequence of doing your duty under such conditions. There is nothing unjust about such a situation."

"If those soldiers had families, they might feel as you do. That it's unfair, unjust. But how it is unjust to do your duty? Pay the price for it? Understand, they served in your Don's efforts to make a safe, free place in a world without laws. They did their duty for your Don. Their families have not been dealt with unjustly. What they feel is loss, which is normal, inevitable even, but not unjust.

It is the same for you, boys. You have lost, your friends are in a world that you will not share, while you repay a debt incurred by attempting to murder someone. You have lost, but you have not suffered injustice." Iniquitus finished, harshly.

"Further, I am offering you an education that knows few peers in this galaxy. An education that will teach you to wield a power the Rakatan people used to conquer much of the galaxy, that was the original tool to access hyperspace, that can be used to know, understand, and do, things that are well beyond the powers of entire civilizations." Iniquitus said. "After all, to help me, you must be useful."

"In short, if you have any reservations you have about your fate, abandon them. You brought it upon yourself, and uncountable trillions throughout the galaxy would willingly kill you both to take your place."

He paused, as both boys nodded, and whispered "yes, Master."

"Now, your first lesson. Close your eyes."

Both boys complied, shutting their eyes tightly.

"Think on your bodies, for a moment. Consider the parts that make the whole. The fingers on your hand, that transform a crude limb into something that can build and create. Consider the blood in your veins, purposeless without the lungs to take in air. The whole body, meaningless without the consciousness that no single part of you truly makes up. The brain might enable it, but it's meaningless without eyes to see, a body to interact."

"Now, think of Vos Ma'ar behind you. Imagine the people there, those you know, and the many more you didn't. Consider the people you saw, how all your eyes could see were there parts, the same parts that were purposeless, meaningless, without something intangible, that gave them purpose.

Consider that, and breathe in, slowly." Iniquitus commanded, and both boys gasped as they took in a deep breath.

"Consider what ties them together, the purpose they make as they interact. The feeling of tragedy, as an urchin steals a wallet. The pleasure as someone bites into a desert. Think of how many people are affected by something that anyone does. The desert is enjoyed by a young woman at a coffee shop, and the chef feels pride in having accomplished it. The young woman leaves a tip, far more generous than usual, and for the waiter, it brightens the day.

He then pockets the tip, not sharing it with his coworkers, and the currents of his choice, and all that was possible if he had been more generous. Feel them, the torn possibilities stripped away from the galaxy.

Feel it, the actions, choices, and what they influence. Feel that potential, that strange resonance with everything anyone does.

Now, open your eyes, and awaken, to a larger world." Iniquitus whispered.

Both boys opened their eyes, and stared at each other, their mouths opening without words, pointing and smiling in wonder.

"So you both felt it. That's good." Iniquitus said. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised. It resonates strongly with you both, more so than with anyone I have ever tried to teach. I will enjoy seeing what you will be capable of."

"Master, we read a little about it. The Ashla and the Bogan. Which one was that?" Marius asked.

"You've read stories about Tython, then? About the wars those two philosophies caused? Both of you?" They both nodded as he asked. "At least you can both read."

He turned his head to regard Marius. "Tell me, did you feel some dichotomy? Two powers, two things, some mixing of two opposing forces?"

"No, Master."

"That's because there aren't two powers. The fools who taught the Ashla refused to understand that the very power that they wield, also wields them. They denied the possibility of that, refused to consider that the actions they took were manipulated, that they themselves were influenced by that power.

And as for those who believed in the Bogan, they were worse. The only smart thing the followers of the Ashla ever did was to stomp them out. The followers of the Bogan believed that surrendering to this power, letting it wield their passions was the key to freedom. The freedom they embraced was the death of their free-will, a surrender to the influence of that power. Fools."

"This power emanates from and reacts to every living thing in this galaxy. Though most cannot influence it, because they do not resonate with it very strongly. Those who do are uncommon, but can be found by the hundreds, or thousands, on any well populated world.

Those who do are gifted, even if they learn nothing of their own connection with this power. Their plans have a tendency to work, their words are more likely to be heard. Circumstances tend to work well for them. You both may have noticed it influence your own lives." Iniquitus explained.

"Not likely. We're orphans. That didn't really work out for us." Marius responded, scathingly.

"Well..." Beriven started. "How well we all did in Vos Ma'ar. The fact that we got to the only place on this moon that shoots slavers on sight. And met everyone, got ourselves jobs, money, and a good relationship with the Boss."

"None of that was easy. We had to work for all of that." Marius insisted.

"Yeah. But if hard work was all it took, the rich would be poor and the slaves mining the Anoid Asteroids would run the galaxy."

"And we lost our families, Berry. Circumstances didn't work out well for us."

"As I said." Iniquitus said, testily, and both boys were deathly silent as he spoke. "Circumstances have a tendency to work out well in your favour. That doesn't mean you will be spared life's hardships."

"But I didn't seek you both out because you resonate in the same manner that hundreds of others do, in this very moon. There are two others in that very city I plucked you from. You stood within feet of both of them only hours ago.

I wanted you, because even for those who resonate, you two are unusually strong. My sight is capable of seeing this force, and how it is influenced by every living thing."

"As is mine, Master. But I did not see those others you mentioned." Beriven mentioned.

"You have the sight? And so young. You are powerful." Iniquitus said, in a soft, gentle tone. His voice was measured, respectful, and Beriven's heart hitched in his chest.

"But your sight is probably blinded, in a measure, by your longtime proximity to your friend. You can't see the stars in daylight. You both are unusually powerful, enough that it caught my attention before I landed on this world. In my sight, your friend looks like a fog shrouded star, as bright as a clouded sunrise. You, in turn, look like a galaxy being swallowed by its own quasar, so much light and darkness. Together, you orbit like a binary pulsar, it's no wonder you can't see something that resonates so weakly in comparison."

Here, Iniquitus paused, then asked. "Beriven, when you saw me coming what did you see with your sight?"

Beriven said, slowly "You look like the lunar eclipse. Darker even, even when you must have landed, over a month ago, I could see you, like a shadow on darkness."

"Darkness. I have never asked anyone that before." Iniquitus reflected. "Is my nature that horrid?"

He shook his head, and stood up. "We should find a place to camp. The lunar eclipse should break soon, and we'll see the sun in a little over half a day. Somewhere higher up, in the forest. Camping in the open can attract attention, something I want to avoid for the next few years."