The shuttle took off into the air above Raudraksha. On WenSuul's order, the doors were not closed, so that the child could catch a final glimpse of his capital. Everyone below cheered and waved; some children jumped up and down. The contrast between the lamp light and shadow turned the flyby into a sight fit for a painting in Castle Organa.

Vajra looked out in wonder for the duration of the flyby, but as soon as it ended, he started to deflate. Nariel and some of the soldiers tried to shake him out of it, but he was definitely slipping into his shell now.

Once they landed on the Senn Oroch, Master Oteg said "Bring him to the infirmary. ZS, I might need your help to begin."

"I am pleased to be of service, Master Jedi!"

Nariel began to follow, but Oteg shook his head. "You've had an illuminating day, my young Apprentice. I want you to reflect on it before weariness overcomes you."

"Yes Master!"

Oteg could Sense her disappointment, but she did not argue. WenSuul followed him curiously. Soldiers parted ways for them, many gaping and grinning at the child Oteg led by the shoulder.

"You should rest too, Uupa," Oteg spoke in her native Leporidii. "I noticed that some more age just jumped onto your shoulders this visit."

"This might be my last mission off Uphrades," she agreed. "That there is my charge. It is my responsibility to oversee whatever… procedure… you are going to put him through. And I know you're not going to hand him to the Ship's Counsellor."

Oteg shrugged his small shoulders. "Why do I feel like I'm being accused of a Godera-like experiment? Am I known for being a mad scientist?"

She laughed. "No, but you have been known to overcommit your forces. You can be reckless in pursuit of your goals."

Oteg laughed back. "Oh? So says the woman who insisted on wearing her fascination on her sleeves? The Raudra were ready to attack us at multiple points because you decided that you had to be insistent."

"I tire of this," she said, allowing her voice to drop every last one of its jovial notes. She sounded exhausted now, and nursing new aches and pains. "I really am feeling a few years older. I need to know what you're doing. That boy is my student. Mine."

"He won't be anyone's student until his trauma is seen to. The Force Demanded his words and actions for a moment, and its spell held him in its sway for a good seven hours. But his stupor is returning."

"It was only expected," Uupa sighed. "True recovery will take months."

"No, years," Oteg disagreed. "And until it does, you will be unable to even teach him Basic. The older he gets, the more time he will require to learn new languages and skillsets. More to the point… years is something—and I'm so sorry for putting it this way—he does not have years with you."

Uupa grunted and nodded. Her kind were short-lived. Five years ago, Uupa was the equivalent of a fifty-year old human. Today, it was seventy-five. Her species rarely lasted much longer. At best, she had ten years to live. Probably a little less.

"Yes, yes, the galaxy ever marks a quick race!" she harrumphed. "To a human, I'm a 'mere' thirty-five years old. 'How did you get so old so quickly? Was it a Sith curse? Oh, I see! All Leporidans age quickly!' They are always shocked. And I have to bear it with a grace I do not feel. 'Yes. I grow old faster than you. Thank you for reminding me so spectacularly. Now please let me enjoy this bowl of soup.'"

"I was not mocking you, my friend," Oteg reassured her. He had slowed down to let her catch up. "Merely pointing out that you will cannot afford to spend too much time with little Vajra's recovery. He has much to learn, and it's best he gets the basics from one Master."

"So what do you have in mind?"

"I will be… hastening the process. Weakening the fear and horror of the tragedies he witnessed. Turning the worst of them into raw information without the emotional connect."

"A dangerous idea. The Council would not approve."

"It's true that it's dangerous," Oteg admitted. "Especially in a grown sentient. Or worse, an adolescent. It might turn them into psychopaths. But Vajra is young. He will work with us. His mind is already struggling to run from the horrors, to find succour. Most like him will seek to bury and forget their memories. Or to hide behind metaphors and imaginings. But he is to be a Jedi. He will not be allowed those luxuries. He has already learned the dangers of the Dark Side and its adherents, the sad prevalence of tragedies just like his own in this cruel galaxy, and the necessity of sacrifice. He must remember it all. His lessons must stay enough to chill his dreams, yet form the bedrock of his path. He will be a good Jedi."

There was a swoosh as the medbay doors opened. They were let in, and he led Vajra, Uupa and the Droid to a private room. He waved away Doctor Bilts as he looked over to see if he was needed, then sealed the door.

He used the Force to Levitate the boy onto the couch—startling him back into the present with a delighted squeal—and took a seat in front of him. ZS stood behind him. Uupa sat down in a corner somewhere; to observe from the wing, much like Sukanya had earlier that day. She wore her new mantle well.

"Hello Vajra," Oteg smiled, and ZS began translating at once. "I hope you remember us?"

The boy nodded uncertainly.

"Perhaps we didn't give you our names yet. Our apologies. That's normally the first thing we do. My name is Oteg. This, our translator, is ZS. He is what we call a 'droid'. They are made of metal." Vajra's eyes widened as they refocussed on the droid. "You will be learning all about droids in the days to come, don't you worry. Oh, and I do hope you have already been introduced to Master Uupa WenSuul. She will be your teacher from today. Your guardian."

Vajra nodded again. But his refusal to speak worried Oteg.

"Good. I will get right to the point, Vajra. You have seen something no child has to, and it's hurting you. It has left you silent and shattered. We can heal you with orthodox methods, but are worried it will take too long. For a variety of reasons, we want your journey to begin as soon as possible. And so, I will use an unorthodox method." The boy looked confused. "I will put you to sleep now. When you wake up, you will not have forgotten anything. Your parents, your sisters, your second-sisters, second-mothers, grandparents, aunts and uncles, cousins, friends, and clanmates; you will still have your memories of them."

The child was looking more and more like a cornered wolf. Oteg shouldn't have drawn this out. He exhaled forcefully and went on. "What you will lose is your emotional attachment to them, and to all events you have lived until now. You will not feel the fierce love you once did…"

The child screamed in defiance, words returning to his troubled lips at last. "No!" ZS translated. "Why? Why must I give up something like this? I love my Mother! My Father! I have already left my home!"

"Because it causes you such tremendous pain… and pain will lead you down the same path as Darth Bellicose."

"I don't care!" he said desperately. "I will not relinquish my love for my family! I won't!"

"Oteg…" Uupa had sprang to her feet.

"I know!" Oteg was standing om his seat, Lightsaber drawn. The boy was drawing on the Force—on the Dark Side—and his power level seemed completely different from before. Where earlier he had the potential of a lower-middling Jedi, he now looked like he might rise to the very pinnacle of Sith one day.

But as soon as it had started, the outpouring ended. The boy's eyes were fixed on the Lightsaber. He started humming and swaying again, as he had this afternoon. The crystal's song had reached him, even through his fearful rage.

"That was your own fault," Uupa said angrily. "How is he supposed to understand big ideas like 'Dark and Light Side' in his state? You went in saying you're taking away his last remaining treasures but he was supposed to be deeply grateful. This is the only answer you deserve." She hobbled up to Vajra and took his hands—two of them—then kissed his cheek. "My child?" She said tenderly, rubbing tears out of his hot eyes. "Vajra?" The boy's gaze turned to her. "It is not our wish to take away such precious feelings from you. I would avoid it if we could. But we can't."

"Why not?" he asked desperately. "Why must I give these up?"

"Because you've been Called," she said gently. "And you cannot answer the call if you are deaf to the world. You are paralysed by your pain."

"So make me forget only my pain!" he suggested, hope flashing in his eyes for a moment. "There's no need to—"

"Your family's lives end in a horrible slaughter. It does not matter if your pain is forgotten for you. You will remember it, every time. In fact, each time it will tear up your heart anew"

"Then make me forget their deaths instead!" he pleaded.

"Then your mind will question the sudden blankness. We cannot replace one memory with another. 'What became of them,' you will ask. 'Why did I choose to leave them?' You will seek out the memories yourself. For they can't be wiped clean; they will remain, locked away. With enough effort, you will remember again. And it will break you again. The only way this will work is if you do as Master Oteg…" her eyes flashed in his direction. "… requested."

The boy gave a great gasp and began weeping. But despite his distress, Oteg noticed that the Dark didn't rise up again. Minutes ticked by, and he quietened down. He looked Oteg in the eye and nodded. "I am ready."

He wasn't. Couldn't be. But this step took courage. "Then when you are ready… Sleep." The boy shuddered at the Force-imbued command and went to sleep. Uupa gently laid him to bed and tucked him in. Perhaps she was better with children than Oteg had given her credit for.

Oteg held out the bell he had requested from the Raudra and began to ring it at intervals. With the Force, he took out the incense sticks he had also taken and lit three of them. He placed them around the boy.

"Vajra Devarath, Son of Sanjay and Divya. Can you hear me?"

"Yes," the boy replied softly.

"You are now seeing your strongest memory of your Mother," Oteg asked. "What do you see?"

"She is teaching me to swim," he replied. "Along with my half-sister. We are in a mountain stream. It is cool. She is laughing. She has caught a fish while I wasn't looking. She is happy. I am happy."

"You will now feel all the joy disappear from this memory. It is now no more than an event you remember."

The boy gasped, his back arching as he resisted the command. Fresh tears sprang from his eyes. "Mother!" he cried. "Please don't go!" But in the end, he gave in. He let go of all joy and love the memory brought forth. It was… heartrending to watch.

Uupa shuddered and turned away from horror, but forced herself to turn back. "What have we done?" she asked.

"We have no choice now," Oteg said firmly. "We must move on."

One by one, he invoked the names of all of Vajra's dead family. He asked the boy to recount strongest memories that bound him to his departed loved ones, then removed the joy and the love. Each time brought the same response. The pain, the pleas to not be forsaken, the resistance, the acceptance. But by the time he finished with the cousins, Oteg found the time had begun to drastically diminish. He started using groups instead of individual clan members. By the twentieth round, he was able to include nearly seven hundred members of the Clan.

And then he went on to the fateful clash in the alpine forest. Vajra's memories were hazy except for certain details, for that day had been a mess of activities. A sudden cry from the Elder, and a hurried discussion with the Chief. The warriors had left in a hurry, his parents with them, but his sisters had remained. The caravan had turned around at speed and run for the hills, abandoning some of the more cumbersome wagons. He remembered the first cries which rang out as the Sith reached them, and chaos had followed. Everyone had scattered, but the Sith had cut down dozens every second.

But then the Elder, Aparajitha, had screamed and begun his valiant assault on Darth Bellicose. Vajra remembered the fear building inside himself at the time, and it came back to the fore like a typhoon, almost knocking him out of Oteg's control. But the old Master held on. And finally, the moment came. The Lightning flash, and the ringing silence. The burning in his third eye.

And then he remembered nothingness.

The account was much more vivid than Oteg had expected. It left him shaken. It was with great relief that he gave Vajra the command to forget the terror, the pain, the suffering. This time, there was no resistance.

Oteg sat back and wiped his brow. "That was taxing."

"One word for it," Uupa replied sarcastically. "I think that took years from my life. I cannot believe what we have just done."

"Only what needed to be. If you think about it, it was no different from taking him from Raudraksha."

"No, it definitely was." The furry little Master glared at him. "This time, we took Raudraksha out of him."

Oteg had no response for that one. He turned to ZS. "The boy will wake in an hour. Perhaps sooner. See to it he is fed and cleaned, then begin teaching him Basic. Make sure to accommodate for any fatigue or hunger. From here on out, Uupa WenSuul is his designated guardian."

"Understood Master Jedi."

Uupa sniffled, wiping away her tears on her handkerchief. "Well… what a terrible way to capstone your first, tragic adventure eh? At least it's over now."

The boy spoke in one ong breath, and in a voice deep with authority and purpose. He still seemed sound asleep, and Oteg knew he should still be days away from understanding what Uupa was said. The Force made his intent clear.

"'No, it is not ended,'" ZS also sounded shaken. "'It has only begun. You have done well. Thank you.'"

Oteg could only stare and gawk for a little while before he shook his head and made for the door. "Tarsten was right," he remarked. "The Dark Side runs strong in his veins. Perhaps, in the veins of all Raudra. When he Reached for the Dark… it frightened me. He could be a great Darth. Stronger than any on the Council. They—the Raudra—are better suited to it than the Jedi way. Even the Sith do not have such a strong lean towards the Dark."

"I… agree," Uupa said reluctantly. "But like I was saying. You drew out that reaction. And he put it aside like it was nothing. They may be suited for the Dark Side, but it does not tempt them. I think it's a side effect of their upbringing."

"Then it's a good thing I left his love of his culture alone," Oteg whispered. "Rudra's edicts have kept his children on the Path for millennia. Perhaps they will hold even Vajra."

Uupa raised a furry eyebrow. "'Even' Vajra? He's not really done anything yet, you know."

"I saw him for a moment and wondered. Was it Vajra, not Aparajitha, who slew Darth Bellicose?"

"A child? A child! Killing Darth Bellicose…!" Uupa shuddered. "And escaping unharmed! That would be…"

"The most frightening thing you've ever considered in your life?"

"Yes. What shall we tell the Council?"

"The truth. The Raudra are too dangerous to train as Jedi. Or to even be exposed to the larger galaxy. It is best we don't try to break their mindset about leaving the planet, and keep watch over them. There, tradition alone keeps their Dark impulses contained."

"We will be condemning them to life on one planet."

"Is that such a bad thing? That world is mountainous, but plentiful. They will want for nothing, for centuries."

"The stars are wide and vast. They will miss much."

"But they will keep their heart intact, the values both they and their hero ancestor loved so much. Their independence, their compassion, their unity, and most of all… their honour. It will be better for them."

"I suppose."

"Rest now, Uupa. Once he wakes, you will have your hands full. Allow me to complete the formalities."

"You should rest too, you old fossil. Your day was the same as mine."

Oteg chuckled. "Ah, but to me, old age is a very old friend. I am used to these inconveniences. But you are right. Perhaps a nap before all that paperwork."

She laughed.

Oteg made a mental note to wipe ZS's memory of the past few hours. He had been ordered to stay silent, but it was best all records of this… healing… were forgotten.