Chapter 15
"This is what is left of Sheev Palpatine."
"Damn Sith scum." Vos spits out sounding angry and horrified. "Uh, no offense Doo."
"It is more than deserved here." Dooku says sounding more horrified than anyone, he pulls his consciousness closer to the light, "Sir Palpatine." He whispers unsurely, the broken, tormented being reached back slightly recognising his soul on some level, Dooku works to keep the darkness in him away from the being who pulls closer, sensing him do it.
"Darth Tyranus." He says in recognition, mild fear, his voice shaky and weak.
"Yes. I am so sorry, I did not mean for this to happen."
"I have seen his memories my boy, you tried to help, if in a rather murderous way. I thank you for that." Sheev tells them flinching at the slightest movement around him, the poor man was traumatised but still trying to comfort the Sith who had tried to save him, (long term effects of being a father) Arl supposes.
"Sir Palpatine, my name is Arl Aa, I am a friend of your son, Obi-Wan, and your brother." She tells him, "They know what he's done, that it is not you, we are trying to find a way to save you." She tells him, his soul bleeds grief and love.
"Obi, he saw so much. Tell Little Obi to, tell him to watch his Uncle Moo Moo for me. He always does better when someone gives him a task. And tell Mace, tell my brother I am so sorry. I know he loved her, I tried to stop him, to save her, I couldn't. Oh gods, I couldn't, I killed her." He says descending into madness.
"Sir Palpatine, we are going to save you. But you need to make a decision right now, what state are you going to be in when we do? Are you going to be someone Obi-Wan has to look after, or are you going to be his father?" Quin tells him, Sheev's soul seems tormented before it settles, the light growing and overcoming some of the corruption.
"My son will always come before myself." He tells him with fierce conviction.
"Then be ready to fight, when you feel his hold on you start breaking, you fight like hell and come back to him."
"We have to go, we have to find Xan." Arl says quietly.
"If you mean the boy that my Father was chasing, they followed that." Sheev says tugging lightly on another bond in the man's head. They thank him and leave him with something he has not had in a long time, hope.
The trio follow the bond along to its place in another's mind, it is extremely well shielded though there is a crack, slowly healing.
"That must be where the other two came through. We could try to break through in another spot while whoever it is is busy with that, but that will likely take longer than just bashing our way in."
"This is so against the code." Quin says.
"Your code maybe." Dooku says in a derisive snort.
"Oh, and yours is so good?"
"Well it is not preventing me from saving my Padawan right now!"
"Boys! A little focus please. Now Quinlan, Obi warned the council that following this path to destroy the Sith would lead them from the Jedi ways, you all agreed to it. Are you going to go through with that? Because we need to get going now before that closes over completely." She can feel his hesitation before steely resolve replaces it.
"Let's go." He says focusing on the weak point, the three break their way through, forcing the consciousness far enough away that they can enter, the being embodies himself to make it easier to fight off.
"Well if it isn't my favourite play things." Darth Maul says.
"You two go find Xan, I'll hold him off." Vos tells them, he pushes them away when he feels their hesitation. They move off, following the direction the force pulls them in.
"Any ideas?" Dooku says as they go leaving, their comrade to fight the enemy alone.
"Sheev said Cosinga was chasing Xan, I think he was leading him away to protect us."
"So where would he have gone next?"
"I do not know Maul's mind well enough to have any real idea."
"So, we are wandering through his mind aimlessly?"
"No, we are following the will of the force."
"Spoken like a true Jedi." Dooku tells her feeling equal parts put off and proud.
"I don't get it, why pretend to be a Jedi? Why not leave the order when you joined Sidious?" Arl asks as they continue moving, shielding against the darkness beating down on them.
"Sidious wanted me to stay as an informant."
"And why did you want to stay?" He seems surprised that she saw past the half-answer, "Our minds are connected Doo, I may not be looking for information but I can tell when you are lying, or half-truthing as it were."
"You remember what I said of my father and brother?"
"Yes."
"That is why. The Jedi saved me from that, intentional or not, and gave me a home. Raised me, taught me all they knew and put their faith in me. I may have betrayed the Jedi Code but I did not betray the Jedi. What you said about the Jedi being family, that once you are a part of it you are for life, you were right. The Jedi will always be my kin, I had no desire to leave that behind, even if I could not truly be one." Arl seemed to accept his words, "Why did you stay with the Jedi?"
"What do you mean?"
"You hate the code, the Jedi, the way they live."
"I do not hate the Jedi nor the way they live. I disapprove of the limitations they place upon us when we wish to help people. Their code gets in the way of simple tasks borne from a desire to help those who need it. But they are peacekeepers, and when they stick to that purpose they do it well."
"So why not be a Jedi?"
"Because the galaxy requires more than peace, it always has. It needs protection and no one else is there to give it. On Telos IV I pissed off one of the officials by refusing to send people to protect their planet. I said we were peacekeepers, our job is to end conflict not help those injured by it. That is why I cannot follow their code and 'be a Jedi.' I want to help people, keep them safe, protect them. The Jedi seek to prevent harm or in cases when it has already begun, prevent more harm. But what happens while they do that is left to those they leave behind, no accountability to those that suffer while they attempt to 'keep the peace'."
"That brings me back to my original question, why stay?"
"I made a promise."
"What promise?"
"Well if I do not fail again, you will find out one day. In the meantime, I have come to realise something."
"What is that?"
"The Jedi need protecting too."
A while later they follow another bond out of the Zabrak's mind, this new one is unshielded, the entire being seems to radiate pain and suffering.
"What is this?" Arl asks attempting to block out the agony echoing around them.
"This is what happens to someone's mind when they are tortured." Dooku replies shuddering as he speaks from experience.
"Whose being tortured?"
"Arl I have been right beside you since 7th hour, how would I have any more information than you?"
"All right, no need to get snippy."
"Shut up, what is that?" Dooku asks pulling Arlie's awareness towards the mess of two beings intertwining, they pull themselves closer both feeling two familiar presences and immense relief when they recognise who.
"XAN!" Arl yells.
"What are you, crazy? Now you've gotten Wrath's attention as well!" Dooku tells her.
"She always has my attention, Apprentice." Wrath says as he embodies himself, Xan does as well, Dooku's focus switches to Xan for a moment before back to Wrath.
"Apprentice?" Xanatos whispers shocked betrayal ringing in the very air around them even as the tormented mind they inhabit reverberates with fresh agony.
"Oh, he didn't tell you?" Wrath asks mockingly, "My dear Darth Tyranus was my greatest apprentice, until he betrayed me." Wrath says voice darkening with barely contained rage.
"Xanatos, you need to come with us." Arl says, Xan pulls himself to them, she wraps her consciousness around him protectively.
"Whose mind is this?" Dooku asks feeling the desperation of the being grow.
"My brother's." Maul says darkly revealing himself, his embodiment holding Quin, torn and barely staying together.
"WHAT DID YOU DO TO HIM?" Arl screams.
"He looked at something he should not have. I did nothing, I did not have to." Maul tells them, Arl looks at her friend who does not appear to be able to shield himself from the hellish torture this being is experiencing.
"Your brother, so who's torturing him?" Arl asks, Maul sneers.
"Arl, is that really the most important thing right now?" Dooku hisses beside her.
"I don't know, I don't know the answer, it may very well be the only thing that gets us out of the potentially very dangerous situation we have found ourselves in."
"How is this only potentially bad?" Xan asks incredulously.
"Well, Cosinga is expending a portion of his strength to keep his hold over Sheev, and Maul was damaged by whatever Quin did before getting himself in that state."
"If you three are quite finished? You are forgetting something." Cosinga tells them.
"And what might that be?" Arl asks sarcastically.
"My son is not the only one I have a hold over."
At that moment Xanatos attacks Arl, fighting from her grip, faltering every now and then as he attempts to fight the corruption he feels. It is enough for Dooku to take over and keep him at bay, their embodiments entering a duel.
"YOU LIED TO ME!" Xanatos screams to Dooku, reminding them that possession is not the only way Wrath has of controlling people. Meanwhile Maul chucks Quin aside and joins Wrath in circling Arlie who centres herself and prepares to fight.
The three fight as though they were flesh and blood, minds clashing against each other brutally. Had it truly been a physical fight Arlie would have wiped the floor with Maul and been able to focus on Wrath, but it was not. Wrath was skilful at mind manipulation, something that Arl did not have as much experience in. She shielded brilliantly stopping him from taking control, but that did not mean that while in his domain as she is, he could not influence her at all. All he truly did was press on her protective anger and make it grow to rage heading straight for seething hatred when she feels something strengthen her.
"Mindscape Part 1: Trust Falls, what do you think?" Quin's voice sputters weakly, Arl laughs sounding relieved as she fights the Sith.
"It needs work." Dooku replies carrying an unconscious Xanatos, Dooku must have put him to sleep, which means he got past Wrath's hold which means…Quin gave him strength too.
"Well what do you suggest?" Quin asks as Dooku moves to him to protect him should the Sith turn to them, his consciousness cradling his Padawan close. "Go help Arl."
"I cannot leave you two." He says as he moves them towards the bond they came through, relieved to find it weak with Maul engaged, he breaks through easily.
"There is nothing more blocking us, I will get him home, go save her." Quin says struggling under the strain of pulling along Xanatos but still managing, Dooku gives them a helpful push into Maul's mind before going to help Arl.
The two battle but are slowly losing, Arl's rage still high and making her movements slopping and dangerous.
"Arl we need to get out of here." He tells her as he fights Maul.
"No, we need to win." She replies darkly.
"Do not lose yourself in this rage, it is Wrath controlling you. We cannot win this, not without help." She hesitates for a moment, then forces Wrath away and pulls Dooku with her as they move, Maul blocks the link to his mind forcing them to run the other way. "We're going to have to find another way around to our minds."
"How the hell are we going to do that?"
"I don't kriffing know!" Arlie screams at him, she tries to tamper down her anger, he can feel her trying, he lends a hand and soon it is simmering but controllable rage. "Who is torturing Maul's brother?" Dooku bites back the impatient comment not wanting to set her off again. "We need to search his mind and find out."
The two begin sifting through the mind they have invaded, they find his name, Feral. Soon enough they find a memory of him being taken by a man Dooku does not recognise, but Arl's rage turns to hate and fear and resentment. No, not fear, terror, paralysing terror. "Arl?"
"Darth Plagueis." She tells him in a horrified whisper. "Wait no, think think, we can use this."
"How?"
"Back up. We get his attention, pull him in. He may help me, we may be able to get him to engage the other two and when he does we follow his mind back. There should be an old broken bond between he and I. If we can find it I can reconnect it, we get back through and I break it again. I may need your help for that last part." Arl explains biting back the hatred she feels.
"We need to get the other two close then." Dooku says.
"We won't have to wait long." Arl says seeing the other Wrath coming towards them, "Maul must still be guarding the link. I need you to hold Wrath off while I get Hego's attention."
"Arl, what happens if he doesn't come?" Arl looks at him, a peaceful serenity about her, momentarily covering the rage growing as Wrath gets closer.
"Then the other two have been saved and we have done a lot to prepare them to fight the Sith. We do what damage we can while we can." Dooku feels an easy acceptance at that, it seemed right that if he goes out, he goes out fixing a mistake he made long ago.
"Go." Dooku says as Wrath reaches them. She runs, putting some distance between her and the fight she can sense building. She settles herself and does something she hoped she'd never have to do again. She calls on the rage, she thinks of the day she said goodbye to her Mother on Tatooine and feels the rage turn to hatred. She pushes it out, making herself grow, beating Feral down to a small part of his mind and she takes over enough of it to force a single thought out of his mouth.
"Arleia Skywalker…help." Before she releases Feral and nearly passes out, she's caught before she falls though and opens her awareness to see Hego Damask before her.
"Hello Lei."
Quinlan drags Xanatos back through Maul's mind, moving quickly through to Sheev's before stopping. He cannot pull Xan any further, luckily, his desperation seems to have woken Xanatos, the distance and preoccupation of Wrath seems to have made his hold on Xanatos break.
"Knight Vos?" Xan asks before his memories hit him so hard Quin sees it too, his fight with Dooku and the thoughts Wrath put in his head.
"Kid…" Quin begins to say despite only being three years older than him.
"I'll deal with it later, we need to get you back." Xanatos says helping Quin to get moving again.
Obi-Wan has seen and done a lot, but watching over three people he cares about, one of them being Darth Kriffing Tyranus, as they enter his friend's mind, that friend being Kriffing Xanatos, was not something he ever saw himself doing.
"What is going on in here?" Mace asks as he and Yoda enter, Terza and he had agreed that the situation was important enough that the head of the order and the grandmaster be informed.
"Rescue operation." Obi-Wan replies, "Xanatos went missing from his mind, Master Aa, Dooku, and Knight Vos went to find him."
"They WHAT?!" Mace yells incredulously before visibly calming himself and ignoring Obi's disregard of Dooku's title.
"Arl nearly went on her own Mace, he stopped her and had her bring Dooku who insisted Quinlan go too." Terza tells her friend not wanting Obi-Wan to deal with anger he does not deserve.
"What do we do?" Mace asks.
"We wait."
And wait they did…for several hours…over a day later Quin and Xanatos suddenly jolted into wakefulness.
"Kriffing shit fucker!" Quin says as he feels the agony of the damage to his mind on a physical level and find wounds covering his body, "Well damn." He says before passing out.
"Vos!" Xan calls worriedly, noticing him in control the others removed his restraints so he sat up as Terza and another healer put Quin on a medical bed and began dealing with his wounds. "Get Padawan Bellan in here to heal him, the damage is to his mind not his body. She may be able to actually help with what Arls has taught her." Terza nods and leaves the room.
"Tell us Padawan what happened you must." Yoda tells him as he sits next to him on the bed.
"Of course Master Yoda. Darth Wrath invaded my mind again, I fought and briefly got back control but lost it again as he beat me down, Arl told me to fight but I knew I could not hold him off so I did the only other thing I could. I led him away from my mind by following the link he created back to his. Of course then I was in his territory and knew I would not last long, I found the closest bond and went through it. I could feel him following me as I broke down the shields blocking the other end of the bond. I do not know whose mind it was, I passed through it too quickly, moving to another. It was there that Wrath caught up to me. I fought him as best I could, then Arlie and Mas…They showed up, but Quinlan was not there. Wrath warped my mind again and turned me against them, Arlie fought Wrath and Maul who had turned up with Quinlan. Then I was unconscious, when I came to, Quinlan was literally falling apart in front of me, he needed to get back to his own mind to heal. I realised we were back in Wrath's mind and followed the now dormant link back to my own and pushed Vos back into his own before tearing apart the link Wrath made in my mind. He can make another one but at least for the moment, my mind is completely my own."
"News we are all relieved to hear, where are the other two?" Mace asks worried.
"I do not know, when they got separated I must have been unconscious."
"The right thing you did bringing Knight Vos back here. Rest you should, your help they may need." Yoda says Xan doesn't question him, just lays back down. He watches Dooku and Arlie for a while before drifting off to sleep.
"Hello Lei." Hego says as he notices her, she fights off the revolted shiver she feels when she hears the old pet name.
"Help us, please." She says weakly, "Darth Wrath, he…" She starts saying before he interrupts.
"I can feel the conflict dearest, why do you care for a fight between two Sith?"
"One is my friend, the other attempting to gain my allegiance in his quest to make you suffer." She replies honestly, he smiles acceptingly.
"Yes, that would do it. Let's go save your friend then." He says caringly, she forces herself to ignore the comfort his familiar words and tone bring.
(Flashback)
Arleia Skywalker was three years old, a slave on Tatooine. Her Master had told her to go buy some parts he needed from a nearby trader. As she walked she saw an older boy beating down on a friend of hers, she knew she could not stop him, but if she went to get help she would be late and be punished. She decided quickly and ran to a house that is far more her home than the slave quarters she and her mother reside in.
"Papa!" She calls desperately as she runs inside.
"Lei, what's wrong?" Hego asks worriedly scooping the young girl into his arms.
"He's hurting Suri." She tells him bursting into fearful tears.
"Hey, Lei calm down. We'll help her, where?" he asks.
"North of the Marketplace." She tells him calmed by his words, he puts her down and holds out his hand.
"Well then, let's go save your friend." She takes her Papa's hand without hesitation, he was by far the best thing that had ever happened to her and her mother. A way better Father than he had ever been, her Papa would help Suri, he always helps her.
(End of Flashback)
Dooku fights off Wrath as best he can, trying to buy Arl as much time as possible, he starts feeling exhaustion creeping in though, how long had it been since they entered the mindscape? Hours? Days? Longer?
"You cannot beat me my old apprentice, you never could. That is why I am a Sith Lord and you are a failure hiding with the Jedi. What would happen if I ratted you out I wonder? Perhaps they'd be more understanding than your apprentice was…then again…probably not. No one likes a traitor." Wrath says, the double meaning in his last words reminding Dooku that he tried to kill this man which is probably strengthening Wrath's will to fight.
"He is not my apprentice." Dooku bites out as he fights, Wrath raises a curious eyebrow unsure where he is going with this.
"No?"
"No…he's my Padawan. And you will go nowhere near him again." Dooku demands fighting back harder.
"And how are you going to stop me? Kill me? Two have tried, two have failed."
"Perhaps we will have more luck trying together." Plagueis says appearing at Dooku's side while keeping Arlie behind him. The distraction is all Hego needs to strike out at the man, Dooku and he work in tandem, both knowing the man's fighting style well, however he knows their shared weakness. He sends a wave of pure darkness towards Arlie who cannot shield herself from it.
"Arl!" Dooku calls at the same time Hego calls, "Lei!"
Plagueis turns back to Wrath as he addresses Dooku, "Tyranus, there's a link in my mind you can use, get her out of here." He says as Arlie writhes, the light in her fighting off the darkness.
"You are going to willingly let us into your mind?" Dooku asks grabbing his Knight-Partner.
"If it would save her I would do anything." He replies instantly and somehow, Dooku believes him. Then Arlie stops moving, sending a wave of agony through to Wrath, Plagueis pulls the two of them into his mind and blocks it off afterwards.
Plagueis' mind was different than the others. Dooku thinks it must be some complicated way of making people get lost inside it, but he finds himself standing in a desert with an even younger Arlie in his lap.
"What in all the Sith hells?"
Quinlan awoke sometime later, looking around he sees Xanatos seated on the bed beside him playing Sabacc with Qui-Gon, Dooku and Arlie had been moved to their own beds on the other side of Xan.
"How long was I out?" He asks surprised by the harsh sound of his voice, he clears his throat a couple of times.
"Five hours and 43 minutes, they still aren't back." Xanatos answers instantly, the worry clear in his voice as well as the way he has obviously been obsessively checking the chrono.
"Is there nothing we can do?" Xan shakes his head. Quinlan sighs dejectedly.
"What happened while I was unconscious?"
"Well your Mas…um…Dooku, he uh, he used the force to render you unconscious so you would stop attacking. Then he tried to get us back, I told him I'd take you back and that he had to go help Arl who was fighting Maul and Wrath alone. He did, I dragged you back into Maul's mind and then into Palpatine's. Then you woke up." He tells them.
"Oh, it was Maul's mind…wait…Palpatine's? I thought that was Wrath's?"
"No, you followed a link between your mind and the mind of the man he was possessing, we actually made contact with Palp as we went through. Which reminds me I have a message from him for your Padawan and Master Windu." Quinlan says looking to Qui-Gon, both men look surprised not having expected that news.
"Oh good your awake, what the hell happened to you?" Master Tholme asks entering the room with Healer Terza, Yoda and Mace.
"Oh…heeeey Master." Quin says knowing he was about to get the scolding of his life.
"Quinlan." Tholme says shortly.
"Okay so Xanatos was missing and we did not have time because Arlie said something might come and take Xanatos' mind but Maul was in the way so I pushed the other two to continue on and delayed Maul as best I could on my own but I made a mistake and got distracted by something and ended up getting so lost and confused I started destroying myself instead of Maul, he actually pulled me out of it and then I blacked out. When I came to Arl was losing herself to rage that Wrath was inducing so I sent her some of my strength, and Dooku who needed an extra push to overcome Wrath's hold on Xanatos." Quinlan tells them quickly.
"All the dangers of mind hopping and engaging in battle in the mindscape and you manage to get lost and attack yourself?" Xan asks dryly.
"Hey you didn't do so well either!" He defends.
"I didn't attack myself."
"No you attacked us instead."
"That is not fair!"
"Well you didn't see what I saw either!"
"Hey!" Mace yelled getting their attention. "Honestly it's like separating Arl and Garen. Who cares who fucked up more? You both made it back and you are both okay now." They both look suitably chastised.
"Padawan, what did you mean he doesn't know what you saw." Quinlan ducks his head awkwardly.
"I saw a memory of Maul's, got caught in it which is how I ended up attacking myself. None of his memories are good, he's a Dark Sith." Quin says recalling the term Arlie had begun using now that he knew why she was differentiating.
"All Sith are dark Vos." Xanatos says intensely, everyone was looking at Vos at the moment and none saw Qui-Gon tense at the words, Quin files that away for his promised conversation with Dooku later.
"Xanatos, they live differently from us, they follow a different code, one we deem dangerous. But unless they are actively hurting people, who are we to call them dark. You know true darkness, you have seen it and experienced it, do you really believe what you are saying or are you merely angry because of your own experiences?" He asks Xan who looks affronted before storming out of the room.
"Well at least he waited until he was cleared." Tholme says sending a pointed look to his former Padawan who cringes. Tholme had been on a long-term mission on Alderaan since before Telos IV, when he returned to his former Padawan unconscious he had demanded an explanation. They caught him up on what Quinlan had been up to and after Obi-Wan gave them the all clear, he was told about everything else as well. He was not at all impressed at the recklessness of his former Padawan.
"Could we possibly have a moment in private while he chews me out?" Quin requests, Mace nods so they leave.
"Some random girl you barely know claims to be from the future and asks you to go on a lovely trip through the minds of two Sith and one torture victim and you think, 'Yeah, that sounds like a smart and reasonable thing to do'?!" Tholme yells incredulously.
"Hey! She is from the future and she did not ask, she was going to go alone, Dooku and I volunteered. Xanatos is important to them and so he is to me as well, I was not just going to leave him. And I'll have you know that the two of them saved my life and are the two people I am currently closest with in the world. You know what else? They trust me! Dooku trusted me with his injured Padawan, Arlie trusted me with her brother though she does not remember it, meanwhile you do not even trust me to brush my own teeth. If you were ever even around anymore, you could have had a say in what I do but since you aren't, you can shut the hell up and deal with the fact that they are choices I make about my life, a life you chose to have little part in." Quinlan replies in his own defence and that of his friends.
"Quin…I-I'm sorry. I do trust you, I didn't mean to cut you out I just…I sheltered you too much, hovered, did not give you enough breathing room when you were a Padawan. So, after you were knighted I needed to back off and let you learn to look after yourself."
"Why didn't you just tell me that?"
"Would you really have accepted it?" Quinlan sighs knowing his Master was right.
"Back then, no. But if having Dooku as a partner has taught me anything, it's how to view a situation from the Master's point of view as well as the Padawan's. That and a Master would do whatever he felt was best for his student."
"Perhaps Dooku is not the best example of that but yes, that's true." Quinlan scowls.
"Dooku just faced down two Sith to save his Padawan. Not to mention opening his mind to me and to Arl."
"That is an insane amount of trust."
"Would you at least get to know them both before deciding they are reckless and a bad influence Master? Please?" Tholme sighs but agrees earning a bright smile from his former Padawan.
"Doo?" Arl asks as she comes to and sees a desert, Dooku carrying her towards a town she'd recognise anywhere. Yet it felt wrong, like a lie, an illusion. Then she remembers everything that happened, "This is Hego's mind?"
"Some people put their strongest memories to the forefront of their mind when they go into battle to steel their resolve. He let us in voluntarily so we are not blocked from viewing it by shielding, I've no idea where we are though." Dooku replies, she shifts to sit on his hip knowing it would be more comfortable for him, unable to help the old nervous habit she put her thumb in her mouth to bite on the nail.
"I do." She says before noticing the slip and cursing herself, dropping her hand. "Put me down, I have an idea." He does, "This is not real so theoretically I should be able to appear in whatever form I choose." She focuses and transforms her embodiment into the adult body she once had. "Oh wow, height, that's nice."
"This is you?"
"Twenty-eight-year-old me yes. I have never known myself beyond this age." She tells him sadly.
"Well you look beautiful no matter what age." He tells her supportively, she smiles and links arms with him.
"I knew there was a reason you're my friend."
"Oh, we are friends now?" He asks mockingly.
"Idiot." She says as she shoves him.
"So, you said you know where we are?" He reminds her, the smile falls from her face making him regret asking.
"Tatooine."