"Should we run for it?" Ezra asked. Kanan shook his head and said, "We could never outrun him and we would chance leading him back to Edjei if we did. Hera, take Sabine and Zeb, along with the droids, and go into town. If we don't make it, someone needs to be able to warn the Jedi on Edjei about him." Hera looked like she wanted to argue, but she could see the truth in what Kanan said, so she and the others headed for town, while the Jedi got ready to make their stand.
Darth Eterness landed near them in the field, exiting in the way that showed he knew he was good at what he did, and for today that meant taking down some Jedi. As he approached he said, "I always knew you were weak Mara, that you would come to this. I kept you around so that you would hopefully pull some other Jedi down with you, and it looks like I was right."
His voice was really rather pleasing, and were it not for a hint of something dark to it, you would have almost felt as if you were talking to an old friend. He wore a blue robe, brown pants and had a dark hood and a mask that covered the bottom half of his face, leaving his yellow eyes clear to see those around him.
Mara took a firm stand, though Luke noticed her jaw tremble, before saying, "I am not weak, Darth Eterness, for I have chosen the light, the harder way to live, while you have chosen the dark, the easier way to live, to get what you want. No, my old Master, I am not weak, you are, and you will come to find just how weak you are, when you take on us."
Darth Eterness laughed, a self-assured laugh, and said, "My dear pupil, while there may be five of you, I will need but me to take you on, for the dark side is the strongest. For darkness always smothers out the light." "Your wrong, darkness does not smother out the light, but rather the light chases away the dark." Luke said, "And we shall prove this to you today."
Luke ignited his lightsaber, along with the other Jedi, and waited for Darth Eterness to make his move. As the Jedi's lightsabers came on, Darth Eterness grinned wickedly, though the Jedi could not see it, and ignited both of his. Mara shied a bit as the two double blades were revealed, and the others had to admit that it made their task very foreboding, but they must succeed.
Darth Eterness charged them and they scattered, encircling him. Darth Eterness shut down one of his blades as he reached out and began to choke Mara with the Force, trying to rid of himself of his useless, former pupil. Ahsoka and Kanan charged, taking him on to get him to drop Mara, even if it meant he would reignite his second blade.
Their plan worked and they found it all they could do to stop his multiple attacks, the only thing saving them was that the other was attacking. Mara struggled back to her feet and reignited her lightsaber, charging her old Master and blocking his lightsaber from making a lucky hit on Ahsoka. He glowered at his former pupil and swung at her, causing her to back pedal quickly and Ahsoka to go in for a strike.
Ahsoka got a glancing blow in, not enough to cut too deep, but it would leave a mark. The only sign that he had felt it was a sharp hiss, but he didn't drop his weapons to grab at the pain. If anything it almost seemed to give him new energy, for his attacks were more ferocious. Ezra and Luke swapped out with Kanan and Ahsoka, who took a moment to get the breaths.
Their green and blue blades flew just as they had during their battle with each other, each strike coming harder and faster. When Darth Eterness took a step back after one particularly hard blow, Mara was surprised to realize he was actually struggling. Mara threw her blade at him, hoping he would be distracted enough not to see it coming, but he wasn't and easily knocked it aside.
As she ran towards the group, she reached for her lightsaber with the Force, it leaping to her hands seconds before she swung it to try to get in a blow. But whatever had caused her old Master to struggle seemed to have passed, for he was easily able to defend against the three again. Kanan and Ahsoka jumped in, allowing Luke and Ezra to have a moment to breathe. They stood near each other as they took in deep breaths.
"How the heck is this guy still standing? We have had to take breaks already and it's us five against him." Ezra said between gasps for air. "I don't know, this is beginning to seem hopeless." Luke answered, as he too gasped for air. "Trust your feelings, Luke." Came the voice of Obi-wan. Luke watched Darth Eterness for a moment, before turning to Ezra and said, "I have a thought."
"Well share it then." Ezra said. "Well what if Darth Eterness is like our polar opposite. We are sparks of hope, the strongest Jedi with ties to the light. But if there must be balance in the Force, it would stand to reason that there must be an equal amount of darkness right?" "Right." Ezra dragged out, not really seeing where Luke was going with this.
"We go back to what was said before this started, he was all I smother the light, but we chase away the dark. What if we can't win this battle with our sabers, what if it's our connection the Force? What if we can scatter the darkness in him, purge him so to speak?" "How would we even go about doing that?" Ezra asked, wondering if Luke had a point there.
"We trust our instincts. I don't know if I am even on the right path here, but I think I am, it feels right." Luke said with such assurance that Ezra had to agree. They nodded at each other, disengaged their lightsabers and closed their eyes. Kanan and Ahsoka were pushed back with the Force, sending them into the side of the Ghost. They wacked their heads hard, not enough to put them out, but enough to make them dizzy and it difficult to stand.
Mara rushed to stand in front of them, determined to protect her protectors from her old master. Just as he was about to fling her aside, Ezra and Luke both opened their eyes as one. Light radiated from them, but you could still see the color of their eyes. Together they said, "Darth Eterness, you were chosen by the Force many years ago, now the Force denies you the right to bend it to your will."
"For while there must always be a balance between the light and the dark, you have never shown the Force the respect it deserves. Your power will be given to others, as you become one with the Force." With that, a great light filled the area. Ahsoka, Kanan and Mara turned their heads away from its blinding presence. Hera and the others in town stared in awe at the flash that filled the sky.
And just like that, it was all over, Darth Eterness was gone. Ezra and Luke's eyes were back to normal, as they went to check on their friends. "What just happened?" Ahsoka asked. Ezra and Luke looked at each other, before Ezra said, "We tapped into what makes us sparks of hope I guess." "We just did what Obi-wan told me to do many times, we trusted our feelings." Mara looked at Luke as he spoke and she could tell what had happened bothered him. As Kanan and Ahsoka spoke to Ezra about it, she watched Luke walk a bit away. She followed him and said softly, "Luke?"
He looked at her before saying, "I know that as light Jedi we have to take on the dark Jedi, but having to do it this way felt, wrong. I felt like we were way to close to the line, and I didn't like it. I hope we never have to do that again." His voice had sort of a hallow sound as he spoke, and so she gently, yet timidly gave him a hug.
When he returned it with a strength that showed just how shook up he was about all of this, she had no doubt that if the others hadn't been around he would have cried. Leave it to guy like him to have such a soft heart. He saw the goodness in her and his father, from the chat she had with Ahsoka while Ezra and Luke were fighting she knew this, and he had wanted the chance to find the good in Darth Eterness. No doubt that if he knew it would have ended this way, he would have avoided it until he had exhausted all other means.
Ezra too was feeling uncomfortable with how things had turned out and was telling Ahsoka and Kanan pretty much the same thing, that it had just felt wrong and he never wanted to do it again. Kanan hated seeing him this way, like he had broken a bit. Best to get Sabine to him and then both him and Luke, who didn't like he was doing much better from where he was being hugged by Mara, back to Edjei as soon as possible. Hopefully the strong presence of the light side on the planet would help soothe them.