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Chapter 5: Justin
I walked into the temple and turned toward the training room already exhausted from a long school day. It had been hard to pretend not to notice the difference in Maria, hints of Adelaide showed through, even though her disguise was created by a master.
The training room was meant to be a sanctuary in case of a Sith invasion, so the massive marble double doors could only be opened by someone using the Force on a series of panels like a combination lock. Every Jedi knew the key, but opening it with the Force was another matter because the panels only responded to a specific amount of pressure. Any more or less, and you'd be sent flying across the hallway straight into a fountain in the intersection. Every beginner's challenge was to open that door to begin basic training, and when someone failed, it was a very embarrassing and wet moment for them. I pressed the panels correctly as I'd done from day one. I'd been one of the lucky few in all of Jedi history to open the door the first time I received the challenge. Not even Ana, one of the best masters in the temple could claim that. She thought I was a prodigy. Ace thought I was just lucky, but then again, she had to try for three days to get it right. I stepped into the huge room, and there was Maria and Ana off to the side with many heavy objects around them. They didn't seem to notice me, so I walked a little closer to hear Ana instructing Maria.
"Now focus on yourself." Ana was quiet, but she still sounded forceful.
Maria was sitting cross-legged with her eyes closed, focusing. She took a breath, and she slowly rose into the air and hovered two feet in the air.
"The box to your left. The right microwave. The box behind you. The chair. Me." As Ana listed off the items, they rose and hovered the same distance off the ground as Maria was. I had never raised so much weight with the Force in my life.
"Now move everything to a different height"
Everything moved, so that Ana was standing at the same height as before, then the objects spiraled up to Maria.
"Good, now put everything back."
Ana went down lightly, the microwave to the counter, the boxes stacked up in a corner, the chair to the others near the front, and Maria settled herself down in front of Ana. Her eyes opened, the irises silver. Startled, I let out a cry and they both jumped.
"Don't interrupt our training like that!" Ana scolded, trying to hide her smile.
Maria was laughing on the floor. "That's okay, Ana. I did need a little break there."
Her eyes had gone back to their normal brown color. "Sorry, it's just that your eyes changed color." I apologized.
She frowned. "What? They're not brown anymore?" She reached toward a mirror and pulled it toward her with the Force, very well for someone only two days into training. Still holding it with the Force, she looked into it and gasped. "My eyes are silver!"
Ana just laughed. "Hold the mirror with your hands, not the Force."
She did, and her eyes turned brown again. "What's happening?"
Ana sat down on the ground next to her, and so did I. "You see", she began. "Whenever you use the Force or other powers you'll learn during your knighthood training, you use the energy and power of your spirit. Since your body and spirit are linked, you'll feel physical exhaustion as you use these powers. Your eyes will turn the color of your spirit because they reflect the power you use."
"So my eyes turn a different color too?" I asked.
Ana smiled. "Yep. Mine turn purple, yours turn blue, and Ace's turn green."
"Wow. Why didn't I ever notice in training before?"
"You probably were focused on training. Or at least, hopefully you were focused on training." Maria suggested, laying down.
"Yeah, probably." I said. "Anyway, shouldn't you guys find another room to train in? The other Jedi might think something's up if one of the best masters is teaching some random girl."
"That's a good concern, but Maria still looks human, and wouldn't it make sense that in order to catch someone up, they would get a special trainer?" Ana asked.
"No one begins training until fall. If she weren't special, she'd just wait."
"True, but let's say we needed one more person in one of the groups because Ben dropped out. You remember him, right?"
"Yeah, I remember him." Poor Ben had pretty much failed in anything the masters tried to teach him. He tried hard and showed potential at the beginning, but he made the choice to drop out because he wasn't getting anywhere. The Jedi only recruited 27 kids each year, 9 groups of 3 kids each. So when he'd dropped, one knighthood training group became a person short.
"So, today, we're just going to show Maria to the other Jedi-in-training, so it won't be a complete surprise to them on the first day of knighthood training. When they come in for their training today, we'll be here. When the first master comes in, we'll leave in order to make room for everyone. No one will hint that she's extraordinary, and no one who knows she is will say that she's far behind."
I agreed to the plan, and Maria went back to training. I did what I normally did before training – I sat. School was tiring enough, and Jedi training was complete exhaustion. My theory was that I should rest whenever possible, because you never know when you might get to rest again.
The plan was carried out well, and none of the other trainees suspected anything.
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