As they traveled via hyperspace, the Jedi filled the others in on what had happened and why Mara was with them. As they finished, Zeb asked, "Who is this Darth Eterness? How come I never heard of him?" He was still, rightly fully so, suspicious of Mara. "He has been around since before the Clone Wars, though to look at him you would not think so." Mara said.
"He was trained by Darth Maul, whose knowledge of the proper use of a double blade Darth Eterness passed on to me. As for why you have never heard of him, Darth Eterness isn't that kind of a dark Jedi, in my opinion he is far scarier. He sends others, like me, out to do his work for him. Not many of his minions, if he came to visit them, survived the said visit, for he usually did so if he was displeased; though I believe he made his rounds to every one of them, like he did me, after the Emperor died."
"He keeps to the shadows, to the background, never does anything where anyone has a chance of seeing him. I have never even seen his face, for whenever he was around me he wore a hood and mask." "Does he use a double blade like you?" Hera asked. Mara nodded and said, "Yes, though he actually uses two." The other Jedi shared a look, thinking how much they did not want to run into this guy. They were beginning to understand why Mara feared him so much.
Just then, they felt the ship come out of hyperspace. "Why are we coming out of hyperspace now? There is no way we can be to Edjei yet." Sabine asked. "I told Chopper to take us to Lothal first, Mara needs a new crystal." Kanan replied. "Oh we're taking her to the temple?" Ezra asked. "No, she is taking Luke there." Kanan said. Luke and Mara looked at each other and then at Kanan. "But I don't even know where this temple is." Luke said, "How can she?"
"Like Ezra had to do, she must listen to the Force to take her and you there. Hera, they'll need to use the Phantom." Kanan said. Hera nodded and said, "Luke brought it back in one piece last time, so as long as he brings it back this time, I am okay with them using it." "No fair, you won't let me use it!" Ezra said. "Or me!" exclaimed Zeb. "That is because you two couldn't even run a diagnostic test on it correctly." Hera said, as she left the room to go to the cockpit.
Sabine snickered behind her hands at the looks on Zeb and Ezra's faces, while Kanan said to Luke and Mara, "We will wait for you…" "At my old place!" Ezra said. "Which one, your old home that you shared with your parents, or the one you made for yourself?" Sabine asked. "The one I made for myself." Kanan sighed and said, "I was going to say in space, but I see Ezra wants to visit his old hometown, so we shall wait for you there."
"I'll put the coordinates in so that way you can get there after you're done at the temple." Ezra said, eager to show Hera that he could so something right with the Phantom, running off to do just that before anyone could say otherwise. Luke and Mara followed him, they wanted to be ready to go as soon as they could. Zeb and Sabine left, as they could see Ahsoka wanted a word with Kanan alone.
As the door closed behind them, Ahsoka turned to Kanan and asked, "Why are you sending him with her?" Kanan said, "Two things, which in some way I think are connected. One being that she trust Luke, that's obvious by how he was able to get through to her and she for allowing herself to be open to him." "And the other reason?" Ahsoka asked, raising one eyebrow.
Kanan smiled and said, "I think there is an attraction there besides just trust, and I want to see what happens when they are left alone together." Ahsoka rolled her eyes, a smile coming to her face as she said with teasing filling her voice, "You are so mean." "I know he said."
Minutes later the Phantom separated from the Ghost and headed down to the surface. The Ghost too headed for the surface but in a different direction from the Phantom. Luke had begun to suspect the reason Kanan had sent him with Mara, but he wasn't all to upset about it. He knew that Kanan had brought Ezra here when he was still training him in the way of the Force.
But that's also why he knew that Kanan could have just flown them there, it wasn't so much of a test for Mara as it had been for Ezra. He knew from Kanan's story that once they arrived there, they would enter together, but that he would have to wait in the first room while Mara went on alone. Mara guided them there effortlessly, and once they had landed, they did just that. Luke sat down to wait for her to come back.
A couple of hours later, they joined the others at Ezra's old place, his helmets and everything were still there. They heard the sound of the Phantom approaching and went to see what color crystal Mara had gotten. As they exited, Mara ignited her blade, showing that it was no longer red, but purple. Ahsoka was in awe, purple was a rare color to have amongst the Jedi, off the top of her head she could only think of Mace as having had one.
The Jedi couldn't wait to put Mare through her paces with her new blade and all, so all five of them headed to the open area nearby and ignited their lightsabers. Mara taught them tricks of how to get passed her, and her old master's, guard, having them test them out as she described them. Then they split up to go head to head against each other, with no one on anyone side, unless they made their own temporary alliances.
They marked a wide area out on the ground and had Zeb, Sabine, Hera and the droids each take a side. If any of them went outside of the line, they were out. The winner would be the last one to knock his or her opponent out of the area. Mara and Ahsoka formed a temporary alliance to take on the boys, with Kanan and Ezra doing the same, leaving Luke out of a group. Both groups seeing this, ganged up on Luke, knocking him out first.
Mara and Ahsoka separated, Ahsoka going for Kanan and Mara for Ezra, both being successful in having the join Luke. Then they turned on each other, for what else could they do. They had spent the time they had fought with each other studying the other's style, so it took longer, but Ahsoka finally knocked Mara out of the area.
They decided to do it once again with all of them, Hera throwing in a rule of no using the same teams as before, and the person that was left and Ahsoka would go against each other. Everyone took their places, Ezra and Luke teaming up this time, while Ahsoka and Kanan also did, leaving Mara on her own this time. Once again the loner was the first targeted and taken out, Ezra went for Kanan afterwards, while Luke went for Ahsoka, both being successful in time at doing that.
Then it came down to them, the two sparks of hope, on who would face Ahsoka alone. Luke and Ezra stared off for a second before taking off towards each other. Green met blue, then drew apart only to meet again. They jumped and landed behind the other, but neither could get the upper hand for long, they were well matched. They're attacks started landing harder and faster, each wanting to win, but respecting how well the other did.
Finally one of them slipped up, literally. Ezra jumped over Luke and landed on a piece of fruit Zeb had thrown carelessly, causing him to slip. Luke, seeing his opportunity, took it and Force pushed Ezra out of the ring. Then he collapsed panting to the ground, Ezra laying where he landed from the push, taking in deep breathes himself. It took a moment for it to click in the others minds that someone had finally won.
The match had been spectacular, and according to R2, had lasted almost an hour! Hera called a break for lunch, taking pity on Luke who would have otherwise have had to go straight on to fighting Ahsoka. Both he and Ezra welcomed the break, Ezra being thankful that he hadn't won and wouldn't have to go another round, Luke just letting it sink it what winning meant. He groaned as Ezra smirked, knowing full well why Luke was groaning.
Lunch was over to quickly for Luke, who tried to drag it out, and soon he was standing across from Ahsoka in the same space as before. Everyone gathered around, not wanting to miss this. "It's come down to this folks," Ezra said in an announcer voice, "The old pupil of Anakin Skywalker, versus the son of Anakin Skywalker! Who will win?!" Sabine chuckled at Ezra's enthusiasm, while Ahsoka and Luke rolled their eyes.
Just as they were getting ready to go at each other, a ship entered Lothal's atmosphere above them, causing them all to glance up. Mara turned pale, before looking at the others and saying, "It's Darth Eterness!"
*oh a little fyi, cause I don't remember if I told you guys or not, but I got Darth Eterness name by combing the words Eternal and Darkness… that should give you a bit of a hint on the next chapter or two (I would say next chapter, but I honestly don't know how much I am going to write, so it could be just the next chapter. In which case, there are only two or so chapters left to the story! I am thinking about leaving it open ended, so I can come back to it if I want, but not so much so that you guys are going WHAT JUST HAPPENED, lol. Hope you are enjoying this!*