Chapter 12
Revelations
It had been a while since he had last visited this place, but nothing had changed. Why would it? It was still his mindscape and he was able to change it to whatever way he saw fit. He had thought about finding a way to change this place, a labyrinth of passageways surrounding a huge cage of steel bars got kind of old pretty quickly.
In the end he kept it the way it was, just an eternal labyrinth of passageways and corridors, some dry and others flooded, all leading to a central nerve which was the cage of the infamous and terrible Kyubi no Yoko. In many ways this mindset was a strong defence, anyone who attempted to infiltrate it would immediately have to navigate their way through an intricate design of tunnels and passages, Ino had called it an eternal nightmare when she tested his mental barriers.
Naruto knew exactly where he wanted to go, walking down the knee deep flooded passage with deliberate slowness, hands in his pockets and posture slouched as he made his way towards his destination. The fox was not his favourite companion by a long shot, and since the end of the war his visits could be counted by a hand.
This would be the third since then.
When the water had risen to knee deep he finally found himself walking into the chamber which housed the colossal monster. It was the same as it always had been. A huge chamber whose ceiling was so high it could not be seen. In front of him were the bars of a huge cage, bars of solid steel cut the room in half, and a slip of paper was in place of a lock, with the kanji for seal written prominently in black ink.
Naruto moved to the centre of the free half of the cavern, folded his arms, and waited.
He didn't have to wait long.
A pair of eyes opened immediately, vulpine eyes the colour of crimson and feral as a starving beast. Slowly the nine tailed fox moved into sight from the shadows, and he was a shadow of his former self. His fur was patchy and dirty, his once sinewy form was wrinkled and sagging and in some places he could have sworn that he could see bone, where the skin had completely rotted away.
The two looked at each other, sizing each other up for a battle long over.
Finally the creature sighed. "It has been some time since you've decided to visit, Naruto."
There was barely any fight in his voice anymore. It was the voice of a creature resigned to his fate, yet willing to use any advantage to return him to what he once was. The infamous Kyubi no Yoko was probably desperate and half mad by now. Their final battle so long ago had made the pecking order in his body crystal clear. He was first and foremost, Kyubi was a distant second.
"I have a question for you?"
"Hmm," it looked at him with glowing eyes. "And what might that be?"
Naruto scoffed lightly. "You know what the question is, so stop wasting my time."
"The little spirit who thought he could take what is mine?"
"My body is not yours." The low voice hid a will of iron steel.
"Watch yourself, boy," a little fire returned to the huge behemoths eyes. "One mistake is all that I will need."
"A mistake I won't give to you." Naruto replied without emotion, something which seemed to aggravate the beast, patches of fur rising in hackles. "Answer my question, what did Murr do?"
So that was the name of the fool."
"It was."
The Kyubi laughed, a dark, deep chuckle which made the surrounding chamber shake, bits of pieces of weak masonry falling. "Not much. I simply showed him where he would stand in the pecking order should he join this little charade. He didn't like it."
"Bullshit."
"Hmm?"
"Something else happened," Naruto replied, meeting the Kyubi's stare with a glare which would melt steel. "I felt it."
The demon seemed to think about it for a moment. "Oh that. That has been here for some time, your anger over the presence of the fool simply awakened him."
"Him?" Naruto asked with a frown.
"Your true self,"
The words brought back memories, of the Waterfall of Truth so many years ago. When he had been forced to face his darker half and defeat him. It was the first and most important step in defeating the Kyubi, and it was one which he would never forget.
He remembered those eyes, mirror images of his own yet lacking the joy, the happiness, the life that made them his. They were the eyes of a dead man who knew nothing but hatred and malice, fear and pain, which had gone beyond the breaking point and wished nothing more than to return it to the world of reality, all of his darkest and most negative emotions given substance and form.
A presence which was now behind him
He turned, and his eyes widened at the sight. A single figure sat on a long backed chair of black stone, slouched with arms folded and a triumphant smirk on his face. He was a mirror image of him in form, hair colour, eye colour, skin colour, clothing, whisker marks and even his presence was the same. The smirk was out of place though, and the energy radiating off of him showed nothing more than scorn and hatred for everything around him.
He rose from the chair, shoved his hands into his pockets and smirked.
"Hello brother," he said as he took a step forward. "It's been a while."
Naruto regained his composure quickly, sighing as he too took a step forward. "I thought I got rid of you."
"You did, but it was only temporary," his dark half replied with a feral grin. "As long as you have hatred and darkness in your heart I will strengthen. You defeated me at the Waterfall, but something happened which stopped me from disappearing."
"And that would be?"
"Pain my brother, so much pain," Yami replied. "The death of a sister in all but blood, of friends who saw what you contained but continued to stay with you, of teachers who remained with you through thick and thin and the loss of the one who you loved above all others. I was there since she died. It just took a single strong emotion to reawaken me."
"Murr," Naruto growled the name like a curse. He would probably curse that name for the rest of his life.
The grin was all he needed to know.
"Humans," Kyubi growled mockingly from his cage. "So easily manipulated by emotion though, it is to be expected from such short life spans."
"I should feel insulted by that," his dark half smirked. "But words spoken through prison bars lose their bite."
"I could say the same to you, brat."
"True, but I have a better chance at taking control than you, bastard fox."
"How so?"
"Well for one thing," dark Naruto smirked, closing his eyes and opening them to show feral crimson eyes replacing the usual life filled azure."I'm not stuck behind that seal and your power is mine as surely as it is his."
The creature growled. A low sound which was truly ominous, reverberating through the darkened chamber, loose granite fell in small chunks, piercing the water and sending ripples in all directions, light fittings moved from side to side, some of the dim ones going out. Then the fox was silent, glaring at them through glowing vulpine eyes before turning around, his nine tails slamming into the knee deep water, sending it splashing through the bars and onto Naruto and his dark half. Both shook themselves to remove the water before looking back at the monster which was even now returning to the shadows of his cell.
"Now that was mature," Naruto muttered sarcastically, patting specks of dust from his shoulder.
"What do you expect?" his dark half asked.
"So how am I going to get rid of you again?" Azure and crimson eyes met and held, one unmoving and cold, the other a smouldering mass of malice with the intent to kill and destroy.
Separate sides of a coin.
That was what they always where.
What they always will be.
His dark half smirked, a truly eerie expression coming from his features. "That's up to you, brother."
"Not being very helpful."
He was already gone before Naruto finished the sentence, vanishing with a sudden gust of wind which echoed through the corridor and into the chamber. He looked at the empty space before returning his gaze to the bars holding his demon in place, noticing that he was definitely done talking to him as well.
Naruto sighed, hand raising the scratch the back of his head, "Flashy as ever, huh?"
It was time to leave this hell.
Naruto let out a long sigh as he came out of the trance and found himself once again in his room aboard the Uhumele, the one he shared with Bomo and his daughter. The door was open and light poured in from the common room in the centre of the transport.
The meditation techniques Aayla taught him really were amazing, though for him clearing his mind to use them was like putting him through a long lecture. He was always someone who learned best by doing, always had been always would be. Kakashi thankfully caught onto that pretty quick.
"So you've finally picked it up?"
He looked over to see Aayla sitting on the bunk across from him. How she had gotten there without him noticing he will never now. Maybe he was getting rusty, or maybe what he had learned had left him so emotionally and spiritually drained that he just didn't notice her. Then again she was light on her feet, and she had learned how to make her chakra reserves so small that they were almost undetectable.
"It depends on my mood it seems." He replied at her with a grin.
She said nothing. Instead she fluently stood up and crossed the small space between them. She looked right into his eyes, and kissed him on the forehead. The movement made him go still the very moment her soft lips touched his skin.
She smiled a little nervously and her voice was soft, almost timid, when she spoke. "I'm glad you're okay."
"Thanks."
It was all he could say, and in his mind he could swear his recently revived dark half was laughing at him. He cursed himself for it, that he couldn't say more, but at the moment with his mindset the way it was it was all he could say.
"How did you survive?" she asked.
"Bloodline limit."
She shook her head and smiled. "You told me about those, special abilities of certain clans and families."
"Yeah, my clan, the Uzumaki, had a sped up metabolism that granted us long life and the ability to heal from almost any wound not immediately or severely fatal in almost record time." Naruto allowed a nervous smile as he said it.
"You seemed distressed, during your meditation." Aayla's change in conversation was welcomed immensely, welcomed until his brain was able to process her words, then he felt a slight moment of panic.
That's when he noticed her expression. She seemed worried.
"Yeah, just a few memories I needed to sort out is all."
"Really," she looked right into his eyes.
He was about to respond, but then it hit him. She couldn't get any closer to him yet he didn't want to leave her side. He needed a friend more than anything right now. If he told her about the Kyubi no Yoko then what would happen? The idea filled him with as much dread as hope.
Would she accept him even with the knowledge of a homicidal monster sealed within him?
Could she even comprehend it?
He knew that if he told her he would be taking a considerable risk, but then again at this very moment there was no one else that he trusted more than her. She should know what she would be getting herself into by associating with him, and even if it didn't push her away entirely it would make her think twice about getting any closer.
"Aayla," never let it be said that Naruto was a man who acted before he thought. His plan to almost everything was simply to, as they say, wing it and hope for the best. "There's something I have to tell you."
She was listening, and Naruto swallowed the lump in his throat hard. He still felt fear every time he told somebody this. Before he could continue a shadow pierced through the light of the open door. Bomo was standing at the frame, clawed hands grabbing onto the sides and chest heaving. He had been running.
"Guy's, we need your help."
"What's the matter Bomo?" Aayla asked as she stood up, conversation put on hold.
Naruto was both annoyed and relieved by the interference.
"It's that girl you brought aboard." Bomo said, gaining control of his breathing. "She's awake."
"Then what's wrong?" Naruto asked with a frown, her being awake should be good news.
"She's gone crazy."
"How bad is it?"
"She threw Mezgraf across the medbay." Bomo said with all seriousness.
"That's pretty bad." Naruto stated simply as he and Aayla got to their feet in a flurry of movement. Mezgraf was by far the biggest sentient on the ship, being just over seven feet tall and weighing nearly three hundred pounds. Bomo was already moving to the airlock which connected the two ships. They were still in hyperspace, only using the Uhumele's considerable engines to travel while they kept the Imperial shuttle dark in all but basic systems including life support and the medical bay.
"No kidding."
She felt pain.
Great pain, like being pierced by thousands of needles in every part of your body, like the pins and needles feeling one would get when a limb or other part of your body regained feeling, only magnified a hundredfold. Unconsciously her hands gripped onto something hard, hard enough for her nails of scrape, though thankfully the fabric was soft, bed sheets or a quilt perhaps.
A blinding light was next, as the pain slowly dissipated to leave only numbness. She felt numb and despite the quilt which she now knew covered her form she also felt cold, so cold she could have been on the snow fields of Hoth or in deaths embrace.
Slowly Celeste Morne began to regain her senses.
Her hearing whistled sharply for a moment, causing her yet more pain, before she began to hear voices, like they were being spoken through a muffler at a distance.
Her eyesight was next, tunnel vision widening out, but they were still blurry.
Her mouth and throat felt like sandpaper, to the point that she was sure that it would tear if she tried to use her voice.
Her heart thundered in her ears, a continuous steady beat which threatened to burst her ear drums.
And her breathing, it was hard and heavy.
"I need you!"
She sat upright in the bed, screaming.
Hands grabbed onto her, holding her down.
She flailed and kicked and screamed.
Someone was thrown across the room and there was a thud of him or her smashing into the bulkhead.
The other was stronger, stronger than her even, and before long he had her pinned while others attempted to place restraints on her.
A force push, more out of reflex than thought, sent them all staggering back. It was weak but strong enough.
The spirit stood before her sight, grinning. "Yes, you'll do nicely."
Where was she?
Was she on a ship?
Heavy breathing assaulted her ears.
Where was the man in black?
A dark figure brought his crimson blade slicing down.
Where were the soldiers in white?
"Yes that's it, give in."
Where was that man with blond hair?
Where was Murr?
Was he really gone?
Or was he waiting to play a cruel joke?
Where was she?
Where was she?
Where was she!
"You will be mine, forever!"
Hands grabbed her and she resisted, but she was so weak. She would barely be able to use a force push, and probably one so weak it would buy her nothing more than a second. She hit him, bringing her fists down upon a chest which would not yield. She felt like laughing at her futility. Her strikes were probably as weak as a new born kitten.
The hands grabbed her and before she knew it her head was pressed against a chest and another's heartbeat thundered in her ears, calm and steady. Celeste didn't know why but it soothed her. She was being embraced she realised, but who would do so?
"You're okay," a voice touched her ears. It was gravelly but it was also soft, soothing and spoken as if whoever it belonged to understood her pain. "He's gone now. He can't hurt you anymore."
Tears formed in her eyes, and she wished that it wasn't a dream. If it was she would be content with the being before her uttering those two words one more time.
Just one more time.
"You're okay."
Before Celeste Morne knew it she was grabbing the man's tunic and digging her face into it, releasing torrential sobs which made her whole body heave and shiver. The more she sobbed the more she realised the gravity of his words, and as time moved by she became aware of something she should have been aware off from the moment she awoke.
Her mind;
It was silent.
There was no deceased Sith hounding her with threats or soft assurances that he would succeed.
She didn't feel his presence at all.
She was free.
The knowledge made her cry even more.
But it wasn't through pain and anguish this time.
No.
It was for joy.
He was gone.
He wasn't coming back.
Her torture was over.
Finally over
"She's out like a light."
The rest of the crew looked relieved that she was unconscious again, and he didn't blame them. Seeing someone mentally and physically break down like that was something that hit a person, really hit a person. Naruto had seen too much of it during the war, and it was never a pleasant sight.
"What did you do?" Crys asked.
"I gave her what she needed." Naruto replied, not even daring to move as she leaned heavily against him, "A shoulder to cry on."
"Will she be alright?"
Naruto sighed, noticing Aayla was right beside him, checking her pulse. "We won't know until she wakes up again."
"What happened to her?" Crys persisted.
"She broke down," it wasn't Naruto who said it, it was Bomo. "I've seen it before in front line soldiers who couldn't take it anymore."
"You're right," Mezgraf replied, leaning against the far bulkhead. "I've seen it before when I was a slave, fellow slaves who couldn't take it anymore and just broke down."
"But why did she?"
"Because she was being possessed Crys, by a Sith spirit." Dass said, eyes not leaving the young woman's still form. She had been removed from her dirty and tattered clothes and placed in a hospital gown. "Having another invade your mind like that puts a serious strain on the hosts psyche, and considering there hasn't been a reported case for nearly a millennia then that would mean that there were other factors involved as well."
"Like what, if I may ask?"
"She has been in that sarcophagus for millennia, maybe more, with that spirit and her continually wrestling for control of her mind. The spirit kept her alive long past the point where she should have. Cryo-sleep should not be used for so long, any normal person would have died or gone mad." Aayla said the words softly, almost as if she feared to wake the woman. "It would have been like an eternal nightmare that she could not awaken from."
"Everyone has a breaking point Crys," Naruto continued as he looked at her. "It doesn't matter how much training you've gained or how strong you are. Everyone has a breaking point, and she's reached hers."
"I see," the pilot's eyes now showed pity and perhaps a little understanding, after all she had been in that position once before. Naruto sighed as he scooped her up in his arms, marvelling at how light she was.
"I think we should move her somewhere more comfortable," he said as he looked to the crew with a tired smile. "I don't know about you but this is the last place I'd want to wake up in."
"Yeah, I never liked hospital rooms either," Bomo replied with a chuckle.
"She can have my room," Crys said as she moved back towards the exit.
"Then where will you sleep," Dass asked with a raised brow. "All the sofas have been taken."
"I'll sleep in the pilot's chair." Crys replied dismissively.
"But you haven't slept for nearly eighteen hours." Dass frowned as he followed her. "And those chairs are hard as hell."
"Then where else can I sleep," she asked irritably, voice echoing through the corridor as they had both left the medbay.
"You can have mine." He replied. "And I'll take the chair."
"Not a chance Jedi," she shot back. "I've seen you're flying, and I'd feel safer with me half asleep on the chair."
"For the last time, that wasn't me!"
"I've just noticed something," Schurk muttered as he too left. "It's getting very crowded on this ship."
"We may need to buy a bigger one boss," Vakier laughed as he followed.
"No kidding boss." Bomo groaned. "Where's my girl going to sleep tonight?"
"She can sleep with me Bomo, don't worry." Aayla replied as she followed him.
"I don't want to trouble you again, Aayla."
"It's no trouble."
Naruto chuckled lightly as he too moved out the door and towards the airlock, what a motley crew they had. Only together for a couple of months and they were already as close as any family, though from his experiences he wasn't sure what family was supposed to be like.
The woman's grip tightened on his arm.
"Don't worry," he knew it was stupid to speak to someone who was out cold, but he had a feeling that his words were reaching her, and he was right. She relaxed in his arms. "You're going to be alright."
The alarm system blared, rousing Dass Jennir from his slumber in an unceremonious manner. With a groan he slammed in hand on the button which turned it off, and sitting back in the hard pilots chair stretched and yawned.
Then it hit him as to where he was, and he was immediately wide awake, grabbing hold of the hyperdrive lever and slowly pulling it back, bringing the Uhumele out of hyperspace and into real-space. The stars realigned themselves into pinpricks, and the soft rise in g-force returned to normal with a sudden thrust.
Ahead of them were two planets, one a large M-class planet on the night side, lights of huge cities clearly visible. The other was different, for although it was on the night side of the planet it was lit up with thousands upon thousands of smaller lights, perhaps even millions of lights, making it look like the surface of the moon was nothing more than a large city.
The comlink blazed into life with a single voice smashing through the static, demanding to know their identification. He spoke in Hutteze. Jennir was about to reach out for the com when a slender hand beat him too it. Crys leaned over his shoulder, picked up the receiver and brought it to her mouth, speaking to the operator at the other end in fluent, of slightly accented Hutteze.
They had made it to the centre of outlawed space.
Here was where the fun began.
It was only a flicker.
That was what he felt.
It was a flicker of motion in the force so subtle that he nearly missed it.
He stopped and looked up at the sky above him, stars removed by the smouldering cloud cover and the thousands of lights all around him. He ignored the mass of people who circled him as they continued on with their daily lives. To them he was nothing more than a faceless human half hidden in a long black cloak.
It had been nearly six months since Order 66, but he still felt the horrific pain in his heart and soul as surely as when it happened, of thousands of lives, many of whom were friends and comrades, going silent in the vicinity of three to five minutes. He felt so many deaths that it had numbed him from head to toe, and he had almost joined them in death, but managed to escape death by mere millimetres.
Now the only thing that kept him going was the small band of fugitives he was now aligned with, which contained his master, one of his teachers, his wife and his young six month old child. They were the only family he had left, and they were the only ones he could trust. He tried to forget about the friends he lost, or the apprentice he was unable to save.
Her face still haunted him, that moment of Felucia before they went their separate ways.
It had felt so much like a goodbye.
Quinlan Vos sighed and shook his head, dispelling the now painful memory, before once again moving with the crowd all around him, continuing his way towards his makeshift hideout. He knew that it would only be a matter of time before Nar Shaadaa no longer became a safe haven. Bounty hunters would recognise him, and then the Empire would come down like a hammer, his supposed death would only convince them for so long.
There it was again, a flicker in the force, and he once again stopped, ignoring someone cursing at him in Hutteze.
That flicker in the force, was it a presence?
Yes, it was.
It was a presence he had not felt in some time.
It was so familiar.
Who was it?
A face appeared in his mind's eye.
It was impossible.
He was sure he had felt her death, mixed in with all the others.
But he recognised it.
"Aayla..."
It was a different ceiling this time.
Instead of a ceiling of blinding white it was a ceiling of metallic steel with a cable running across it. Instead of the room being lit by equally blinding lights it was almost completely dark save for the light permeating through the open door.
Slowly Celeste sat up, feeling a sharp pain in her joints and an equally sharp pain in her temple. She raised her hand to rub her forehead as she looked around, squinting in the low light as her eyes slowly regained focus. It looked like a small room, sleeping quarters of a small vessel, perhaps a freighter. There were two beds, as well as a shared bedside table, cupboards at the ends of each bed.
Where was she?
She heard sounds in the other room, people were talking quietly. She was immediately on alert, but after noticing a lack of people guarding her and no restraints placed on her person she decided to relax. Either they were complete novices or they weren't there to hurt or otherwise incarcerate her.
Celeste barely remembered anything after the Murr talisman removed itself from around her neck. All she had was flashes of images. Of the talisman grasping onto a blond mans neck, of the same accursed creation being torn to shreds by a glowing sword. Then she remembered brief flashes of her waking up in a Spartan room, and immediately fighting against restraining hands.
It all came flooding back to her then, and she hid her face in her hands as her mind laboured to take in all of the information from her awakening in that sarcophagus, to her being held in a strange mans arms, crying and being comforted that she was safe and that she was going to be alright.
Then it came back to her, perhaps the happiest news in her life.
Murr was gone, and he wasn't coming back.
The knowledge that it was true brought an inane sense of joy to her chest, warmth she had almost forgotten.
Hope, it was hope.
"Murr?"
There was no answer.
"Are you there?"
Better to be sure, right?
Silence, deafening comforting silence was all that awaited her as she waited, stark straight and ready for anything. No voices, no threats, no assurances of success or harsh, unmerciful laughter that threatened to pop her eardrums every single time, no feeling that something that was not her was wrestling for control of her mind.
All that she heard was just sweet, sweet silence.
A shadow fell upon the doorway, and a feminine, honeyed, sweetly accented voice spilled into her still sensitive ears. "You're awake."
Morne looked up to see a Twi'lek female, young, perhaps in her mid twenties. Her skin was an untainted cerulean, barely visible in the light, and she wore leather clothing which was at least a size too small for her. It was hard to tell thanks to the glare of the light behind her which showed little more than her silhouette, but Celeste saw something that both filled her with hope as well as dread.
A lightsaber was clipped to a utility belt, hung loose around her slender waist.
"What is that?" Celeste asked, forcibly swallowing a lump in her throat as she pointed to the weapon attached to the woman's belt. It was a simple answer, yet it had been proven that it showed which side a fellow force-wielder was on. "Is it a tool or a weapon?"
The woman looked down before looking back. Celeste could swear she was frowning. "It's a tool, to defend oneself when all other options have failed."
Celeste visibly relaxed before flashing a brief smile. "So you're a Jedi?"
The woman nodded, "Aayla Secura, Jedi Knight, and you are?"
"Celeste Morne," she answered, swivelling to the side of the bed and placing her bare feet on the cool floor of her temporary quarters. "Jedi Shadow."
"There's an old phrase," the woman, Aayla, muttered. "I haven't heard of a Jedi Shadow since the conclusion of the New Sith Wars."
"How long ago was that?"
"About eight hundred years ago." Secura answered. "You've been asleep for a long time, Knight Morne."
"So it would seem." She was about to say more, but another blur of images assaulted her mind, all of the man who had saved her life. "The man with blond hair, is he still here?"
"Naruto," the Twi'lek responded. "Yes, he's still here."
"I'd like to thank him."
"Sure thing, but I think we need to bring each other up to speed." Aayla said, leaning against the door frame. Celeste just realised that the earlier commotion beyond had gone silent, almost eerily silent. "There're a lot of questions we'd like to ask you, Celeste Morne, as I think you would like to ask us."
"What do you want to know?"
"Let's get some clothes on you first, then a cup of caff into your hands." Aayla said as she walked a few more steps into the room, offering her a slight smile. "After that we can talk."
Author Alert 1: Star Wars and Naruto are the properties of Musashi Kishimoto & Lucas Arts, not particularly in that order.
Author's Alert 2: And another chapter is up and running, I was almost not going to add that last part in, but decided too at the last moment. It seemed better to place it here than in the next chapter. Not much action this chapter, and probably not much for the next either, they're plot chapters meant to get the story moving again after my near miss with the Murr Talisman Arc.
Author's Alert 3: I am also going to add that I have an examination resit set for the 23rd of August, so I will not be able to update for a little while, well I might, but just giving you all a heads up. This is a majorly important exam for me. Literally it will get me my diploma or make my last four years of University come to nothing.
Hope you enjoyed the chapter!