Chapter Forty-Six: My Chains Are Broken

The Son had left me in a pit. It would have been one thing to be abandoned somewhere, as I usually could figure my way out of things like that. But this pit was surrounded by molten lava, the air hot and smelling of sulfur. Even worse...I felt the depth of power there. It was the Dark Side.

He hadn't even spoken to me, merely dropping me down to land heavily on the volcanic rock, before flying away. Of course, he didn't have to voice his purpose. Even someone without a sensitivity to the Force could feel the evil here. Rage filled the air as much as the steam did, surging with every burst of flame from the boiling lava.

I knew what he wanted to happen. As he said while posing as Jango...he wanted me to tip the balance. Arguably, the balance was already far in his favor. But perhaps he was still intent on having Anakin's help.

For some reason, he believed that my turning would bring down Anakin, as well. Or maybe he hoped I'd turn against the jedi to help him. I was sure he could sense my hesitation around them. Despite knowing the bounty was lifted, I knew they saw me differently.

They weren't wrong. I was different. Just...not in a bad way.

Anymore.

The air was heavy, making it hard to take in a full breath. I did my best to steady myself, the heat doing nothing good for the pain in my hand. Still, it was hard to block out the pull of the dark, especially in this well of its power.

Amongst the gurgling of the lava, I found myself overcome with emotions. I'd blown up my ship. Sure, it was to stop the Son, but where had that gotten me? Stuck in a pit, where I'd likely die. If I had just left, or even let the Son leave with me, would I have perished? Since when did I put others before my own survival?

A tiny voice in my mind shouted at my train of thought. It screamed that I had always risked myself for others. It was my nature, even if it was stupid.

But I was angry. I'd lost everything so many times. Now I lost my supplies. My trusty shuttle that I'd redesigned to fit my needs and channel Apex. I'd lost the last physical remnant of my past with Jango and Boba.

Now what? Now I'd die. I'd lose everything. The club. My friends. Any chance at fixing my kyber crystal, not to mention learning to see as Bendu wanted me to.

I grit my teeth against the anger, feeling the Dark Side pushing at my skull. I shook my head violently, trying to block it out. With a steadying, slow breath, I knelt in the center of the pattern that glowed on the ground.

I allowed myself to slip into a meditation, trying to find peace. Balance. Trying to fight off the looming darkness that whispered sweet temptations into my mind.

"You betrayed me, apprentice," I heard the familiar voice whisper in my mind. I clenched my eyes shut harder, pushing Darth Bane from my thoughts. Still, I felt the Son's influence as he picked my mind from wherever he hid. He wanted to see. Wanted to know this power that had made him notice me.

It dawned on me that I couldn't fight the Son. He was far too powerful for that. So I released, letting the memories flow as he dug through my mind. He saw my connection. My training. Discovering the talisman. While they were hard to watch, especially when I was reminded of my power under Bane's tutelage, I guided the memories gently, steering them towards my goal.

The lightsaber of my ancestor was restless in my grasp, the kyber screaming through the Force. I ignored it, plowing with determination across the Valley of the Sleeping Kings and entered the tomb I'd trained in for so long.

"Apprentice," the sinister voice sneered as I entered. He could feel my intentions. And he wasn't happy.

"I am not your apprentice anymore," I spit, igniting the blade. It shivered with power, but I was trembling with fear. "I am no one's slave."

Darth Bane chuckled darkly, emerging in his billowing form. "Foolish child," he mocked. "You cannot stand against a Lord of the Sith!"

He rushed forward and I rolled in a panic, swinging wildly with my blade. He'd taught me everything I knew, making me skilled in combat. But while my strike may have taken down another, the blade passed through his form like nothing.

"There is no way you can beat me, apprentice," Darth Bane screamed. "You will suffer for your insolence!"

The tomb shook with his rage, making me nearly crumple in fear. He pushed into my mind, my rage boiling every time he touched a memory. My vision shifted into my memories. The sting of the whip as a Zygerrian called me a skug for the thousandth time. The brand searing into my skin...being owned. The blinding pain of the Darksaber across my cheek. The Jedi Council debating my future without me present. Rex turning away as I fled the ship. His hesitations around Cut. The hundreds of time in training that Jango knocked me down, pointing out each of my faults.

"Get out of my head!" I screamed, swinging the saber to no avail.

Darth Bane only laughed, sweeping around the room with ease. "You've betrayed me, apprentice. But have no power over me." I fell to my knees, tears streaming down my face from anger and pain.

"See through his lies!" I heard the familiar feminine voice call out. Yilria.

"You!" Bane growled. "You are the one to mislead my apprentice!"

I slashed with my blade from my kneeling position, struggling to find my feet again. "Stay away from her!" My master forged into my mind, making me scream in pain.

As he rooted around, I breathed out slowly. He was right. He was far more powerful than me in the Dark Side. So...I searched for the Light instead.

In my mind's eye, I watched Jango knock me down yet again, a bruise forming on my cheek.

"Do better! You're distracted," Jango hissed. Frustrated tears formed in my young eyes, making the Mandalorian sigh. He knelt, his hand reaching for mine. "Come on, ad'ika," he said, his voice gentler now. "We've done enough for today. Let's get back to Boba and let me look at that cheek of yours." His touch was gentle against my bruised face, helping me to my feet. His arm wrapped around my shoulders, drawing me into his warm side.

A smile lifted the corners of my mouth as I watched my younger self, still scraggly and thin, lean into Jango's side. He always knocked me down...but he was always there to pick me back up again. He was teaching me to protect myself. To survive past when he was there to pick me up.

I felt Bane's anger in my mind as I continued to find the light in the terrible moments.

Rex telling me that he loved me. Anakin standing up for me. Obi-wan telling me that he believed in me. The reluctance on his face as he reported my dark deeds to the Council. Jango saving me from Death Watch. Receiving the Jaig eye tattoo on my back. Protecting Padme and her trusting me. Fighting Viszla and actually standing a chance...taking something back that they had taken from me.

"You're wrong, Bane," I said finally, my voice now steady as I rose, lightsaber in hand. It trembled as I forced the kyber into silence. "I do have power over you. Because I've survived. I'm still alive...and you're just a ghost trying desperately to still be important."

Darth Bane shook with rage. "You insolent little girl," he growled, billowing before me. I raised my saber, but suddenly felt a gentle push from the Force. It slid over me like a soft wind, whispering gently in my ear.

I disengaged my lightsaber, attaching the hilt to my belt. With my hands calmly at my side, I stared the Dark Lord dead in the face. "I am not afraid of you anymore."

Bane screamed, rushing forward. I closed my eyes, but kept myself calm. A hot wind burst over me, but then there was nothing. I opened my eyes again to see the room empty. Any evidence of my training in the room was wiped clean, still appearing as if no one had ever entered, dust acclimating on the floor.

I took a long, slow breath, before walking from the tomb...and my slavery. I finally broke my own chains.

"Don't you see?" I yelled, standing from my kneeling position. "I've resisted it before...I'll do it again!"

There was no response from the Son, but I could feel his frustration as he pulled from my , over the gurgling of the lava, I heard the faint sound of an engine. Looking up, I saw a speeder slowly descending into the pit.

"Anakin," I whispered, hurrying over to him as he slowed the speeder.

He seemed surprised to see me. "Kida? What are you doing here?"

I crossed my arms slightly. "Well I guess that means you didn't come to save me, then. I was dragged here by the Son. He clearly didn't do the same to you," I commented, glancing at his speeder.

"No," Anakin looked away slightly. "The jedi who found me and brought me to the Jedi Temple. He sent me here."

"Qui-Gon?" I asked. "Why would he send you here?" Maybe he had meant for Anakin to find me?

"To find out if I'm the Chosen One...and if I should stay to help defeat the Son."

I blinked at the Jedi Knight. "Anakin, you need to get out of here. Where are the others?" I glanced around, feeling the darkness swell around us again. I was sure Anakin was feeling some of the temptations already.

"They're back at the-"

"Welcome." We both whirled at the new voice, seeing the Son approaching slowly. "I believe there has been a misunderstanding. We really don't have to be enemies." His red eyes glanced between us as he folded his hands behind his back.

"You murdered your sister," Anakin yelled. "The Force is out of balance. I have to stop you."

"Must you?" the Son smirked.

I growled as Anakin ignited his lightsaber, standing ready, despite having no weapon. "The balance be damned," I said, knowing Bendu would kick my ass if he heard me say that. "I want to kill you either way."

The Son let out a half chuckle, drawing Anakin's lightsaber to his grasp. "There is no use for such crude implements here." He turned away, disengaging the blade. "I have a gift for you."

"I've had enough of your trickery," Skywalker spit back.

"Oh, but you'll like this one. I promise." The Son smirked as he paced around us languidly. "What if I could show you the future?"

Anakin and I glanced at each other before I saw his eyes suddenly roll back. "Anakin!" I cried, feeling my own pressure in my skull.

"No," Anakin whimpered, clutching his head. "No, stop it!"

I saw terrible things. Fiery ships. Burning villages. Screams of children. Innocents slaughtered. There was this...terrible breathing. A symbol that looked a lot like the Republic Crest, but chunkier and with six spokes instead of eight. It came with a terrible sense of foreboding. The emotions grew stronger and I felt something was coming. Something horrible. The breathing got louder.

"Come on, ad'ika." I sucked in a quick breath, suddenly able to look away from the visions to see Jango. The scars on his face crinkled as he smiled gently. "We've done enough for today." He pulled me into his side, my face pressing into his shoulder.

The visions stopped as I blinded myself with Jango's shirt. I no longer heard the sounds of the future, but the sound of his breathing and beating heart. The heat of the lava faded, replaced by a warm arm, snug around my shoulders.

"Know yourself," I heard the Son growl, suddenly aware of the present again. I didn't pull my face from Jango's shirt, instead sensing Anakin writhing in pain. "Know what you will become!"

Skywalker screamed in pain. "Anakin!" I screamed from where I was buried in my mentor's shoulder. "Look away! Find your peace! Find Padme and hold her. Don't look at the future!" I wasn't sure why I knew that. What I had seen of the future was horrible, but would seeing it let us prevent it?

I didn't dare try it. The agony of the future...the impending doom...it was enough emotion to draw me towards the Dark Side quickly.

"No. No," I heard Anakin whimpering. "No. No!" With his final scream, I felt the visions ending, the Son's power pulling away from us. The feeling of Jango faded with it, leaving me kneeling in the lava pit yet again.

Beside me, Anakin was panting heavily. "I will do such terrible things," he whimpered through tears as the Son approached us.

"Yes," the Son answered simply. "But it doesn't have to be that way. The choice is still yours to make."

I glanced between them as Anakin stood. "How?" the jedi asked.

"No," I whispered, struggling to find my own feet.

The Son stepped forward easily. "The future, by its nature, can be changed. Join me, and together we will destroy this Emperor you see in your visions." Emperor? "Then we shall end war, corruption, and suffering throughout the galaxy."

"Will we bring peace?"

"Anakin, don't," I warned, taking a small step towards them. Skywalker glanced at me, his eyes sad. Desperate. Terrified.

"Of course," the Son assured, offering Anakin his lightsaber back. I watched helplessly as Anakin accepted it, watching the Dark Sider with a helpless expression.

I rushed after them. "Skywalker, stop! You can't mess with the future. Just knowing will change things."

"We must bring peace, Kida," Anakin said over his shoulder, practically trembling from what he'd seen. "I can't let my visions happen. I can't." His voice cracked on the last word as he turned his back to me again.

"What did you see?" I whispered, terrified of what could possibly cause such a haunted expression on his face. As long as I'd known him, I'd never seen him look genuinely scared.

"Clearly, you're not understanding of what must be done," the Son growled. "You're no longer useful to me." He flicked his wrist, sending me flying backwards.

I twisted in the air, aiming my wrist gauntlet and firing a grapple. It caught the edge of a stalactite, swinging me through the air onto an upper platform. I landed with a thud, incredibly thankful to the Force for not letting me fall into the river of lava. Looking up, I watched the Son walk away with Anakin to kneel in the same place I had to meditate.

Every part of me wanted to help Skywalker. To leap back over to them and help him break free of the Son's hold. But I knew I didn't stand a chance. Even the Son would have been impossible to beat. And now with Anakin? It was an all-around laughable idea to try to swing in and intervene. Or even try and steal the speeder, for that matter.

So I elected that my first step in whatever I planned to do was to get as far away from this pit as possible. Preferably before the Son decided he cared that I was still alive. So I turned and began making my way across the lava field to reach a wall.

Progress was slow. Aside from having to navigate a river of lava, climbing was significantly harder to do when you had one hand that felt like it wanted to fall off.

I wasn't very far up when I heard another engine approaching. I glanced down, seeing Obi-wan slow his speeder down near Anakin's. He stepped around, trying to find Anakin. I had missed where he went too, having been concentrating on not falling to my death.

Suddenly, Skywalker appeared on the platform again, approaching Kenobi from behind. I sighed, knowing that I was going to have to go back down and help. So much for climbing out of here. If nothing else, maybe I could hitch a ride on Obi-wan's speeder.

I released from the wall, sliding down to an outcropping to watch from above. Obi-wan turned, noticing the other jedi. "Anakin," he greeted. "Are you alright? "

"There has been a change of plan," Anakin responded, lifting his hand to shove Kenobi's speeder into the lava. "Sorry. You will not understand what I have to do to end the Clone War. You will try to stop me."

I saw the Son floating down behind Kenobi. "Obi-wan!" I screamed, but not soon enough. The Son struck Kenobi with a bolt of lightning, sending the jedi screaming to the floor.

"Anakin," Obi-wan panted in pain. "Why?"

"I'm sorry." When Anakin spoke, his voice sounded...broken. "I have seen that it is the Jedi who will stand in the way of peace." He walked away from his former master, climbing aboard his speeder. The fallen jedi zoomed away.

"He's mine now," the Son gloated, morphing into his creature form and flying away with a cackle.

"Obi-wan," I yelled, drawing his attention as I hurried back down the incline and back to the platform.

"Kida, what are you doing here?"

"Oh, so you're not here to save me, either, huh?" I scowled. "Well, the Son dragged me here and then recruited your former student," I hissed. "And now it looks like we're both stranded here. You need to contact Ahsoka. They'll head for the ship."

"Right." Obi-wan activated his communicator. "Ahsoka, come in, please." No response. "Can you hear me? Ahsoka!"

Her voice beamed through. "Yes, Master. Any success with Anakin?"

"No." The jedi glanced at me with worry. "Quite the opposite."

"Master...what are you saying?" Ahsoka asked.

Kenobi sighed lowly. "Anakin has joined with the Son. Do not engage him."

"But-"

"Just do as I say," Kenobi cut her off. "Listen to me. You have to disable the ship."

"But I just finished putting it back together," Ahsoka growled through her teeth.

"Ahsoka, please listen. We have to prevent Anakin and the Son from leaving."

"Yes, Master."

She signed off, leaving us in silence. I assumed as the jedi touched his hand to his chin, thinking.

"I don't understand," Obi-wan despaired. "Why would Anakin do this? What did the Son do?" He stopped suddenly, turning to me. "And if the Son could convince Anakin...why couldn't he convince you?"

I was waiting for that question. "I've had to face down the dark before, Obi-wan," I sighed, knowing we were going to have to wait for Ahsoka anyways, if she was coming at all. "When I left after Vandor, I followed the voice that was calling to me, to find a Sith tomb and the spirit there. I spent...months learning about the ways of the Sith. I let him...corrupt me. I was driven by anger and sadness and hate." I glanced away from Obi-wan's worried expression. "I had to face him to break free of his hold."

"Him?"

"The Sith Lord's spirit. He had connections to me through my ancestry. He was a fallen jedi, too. Like my ancestor."

Obi-wan swallowed. "It seems you learned a lot about your past while you were gone."

A small smile graced my face. "I did, actually. And I found a balance. It wasn't the moment I left the tomb. But that was my first step." I glanced at the jedi again. "Fighting free from a hold like that...when I had been a dedicated follower for so long...it was the hardest thing I've ever done. But I've done it before, so I could do it again."

"What did the Son show you?"

"The future. I only saw more war, so that could be tomorrow or in a thousand years. But I looked away before anything else. Anakin saw...everything the Son wanted him to."

"He said the jedi will stand in the way of peace. But how can that be true? How does turning to the Dark Side helping?"

"Obi-wan," I whispered. "Anakin said he would do terrible things. What did he mean by that?"

The jedi stroked his chin gently. "I don't know. But whatever he saw, I'm sure it was corrupted by the Son's influence." I couldn't be so sure, but I wouldn't voice that. I knew Anakin was a good person. I believe in him. And the future can be changed. There's just a better way to do it.

"Well," I sighed. "If we want to go save him, we need to get out of here and find the Father." I tilted my head at the wall. "We should start moving."

"Yes." He said nothing more about my confrontation with Darth Bane. But even despite the Dark Side's influence in this place, I could feel his smooth signature. He was calm, despite being worried about Anakin. He seemed at ease with me. He trusted me.

It was a nice thought as we began to climb the walls of the pit, hoping Ahsoka had succeeded in grounding the ship.

MANDO'A

Ad'ika- little one