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Chapter 3: Master... apprentice
***Ethan's Log, Entry 1***
It's been a month since Count Dooku took me and Aria under his wing. He said he sensed something special in us, something that the Jedi Order would fear and suppress. He said he could teach us the true nature of the force, both the light and the dark side.
The next day, we left Coruscant and headed to a remote planet in the Deep Core. Dooku said it was called Aloxl and that it was one of his secret hideouts. The planet was mostly covered in dense forests and mountains, with a few small settlements scattered around. It was a beautiful place, but also dangerous. There were all kinds of wild animals and plants that could kill you if you weren't careful.
Dooku was strict for the first few weeks. He made us wake up at dawn and train until dusk. He taught us basic Jedi things, like how to meditate, how to use a lightsaber, and how to sense and manipulate the Force. He also taught us some spiritual things, like how to channel our emotions, how to use lightning, and how to deceive and manipulate others. He said we had to learn both sides of the force because they were part of a balance.
I have to admit, the training was hard. More than once, I wanted to quit. More than once, I wanted to punch Dooku in the face. But I also learned a lot. I learned things I never thought were possible. I learned things that made me question everything I knew.
One thing I learned was that I was more in tune with the dark side of the force. I don't know why, but it felt more natural to me. It felt more powerful. It felt more alive. Dooku noticed this too. He said it was rare and valuable. He said it was a gift.
I remember one time we were sparring with our lightsabers. Dooku was easily blocking my attacks, taunting me, and pushing me to my limits. I got frustrated and angry. I felt a surge of energy in my chest. I raised my hand and unleashed a bolt of lightning at him.
He was shocked. Literally and figuratively. He barely managed to deflect it with his blade, but he still got hit by some of the sparks. He dropped his lightsaber and fell to his knees, gasping for air.
I was shocked too. I didn't know what I had done. I didn't know how I did it. I didn't know if I could do it again.
Dooku looked at me with a mix of pain and pride. He smiled and said, "Well done, Ethan. Well done."
I expected him to scold me, to tell me to detach myself from my emotions, to follow the Jedi code. But he didn't. He told me to embrace my emotions, to use them as fuel for the Force, and to follow my own code.
He also told me not to let my emotions control me, to be careful with the dark side, to avoid falling into madness and corruption.
He said it was a fine line between power and peril, between freedom and slavery, between light and dark.
He said it was up to me to find my balance.
***Ethan's Log, Entry 2***
Speaking of Aria, she's the other reason I'm still here. She's the only person who understands me, who supports me, who cares about me. She's my best friend, and maybe something more.
If I'm the dark side, then she's the light. She's always calm and serene, always kind and compassionate, always hopeful and optimistic. She has a natural affinity for the light side of the Force, and she uses it to heal and protect. Despite her past as slave, I was actually worried of having a yandere beside me.
She's also a prodigy with a lightsaber. Unlike me, who struggles to master one of the forms of lightsaber combat, she excels in Form III, also known as Soresu. It's the most defensive form, the one that focuses on deflecting and redirecting attacks. She can hold her own against Dooku, and even make him sweat a little.
I admit, I was jealous of her at first. But then I realized that she was also my motivation. She inspired me to work harder, to learn faster, to improve myself. She made me want to be a better person.
But even motivation can only take you so far. I realized that I needed to find my own style, my own way of fighting. None of the forms worked for me, I'm twenty years old, I don't have that much flexibility anymore. So I asked Dooku to teach me the basics of each form, and I came up with my own hybrid form. I call it Form VIII, or Echelon.
Echelon is a form that combines elements from all the other forms, but also adds some new twists. It's a form that adapts to any situation, that changes according to the opponent, that surprises and confuses them. It's a form that suits me perfectly.
Dooku was impressed by my creativity, but he was also wary of my recklessness. He said that Echelon was too unpredictable, too unstable, too risky. He said that I could hurt myself or others if I wasn't careful.
He was especially angry when he found out that I used a forbidden technique called TrĂ kata. It's a technique that involves turning off your lightsaber during combat, creating an opening for a surprise attack or a quick escape. It's considered dishonorable and cowardly by both Jedi and Sith.
Dooku was furious when I used it against him during one of our spars. He said that I had crossed a line, that I had violated the sacred code of lightsaber dueling, that I had disrespected him and the Force.
I also told him that I was neither a Jedi nor a Sith, that I didn't care about their codes or their rules, that I only cared about finding my own balance in the Force.
He refused to talk to me for a week. He ignored me, avoided me, shunned me. He only focused on Aria, giving her more attention and praise.
I felt guilty and ashamed. I didn't mean to offend him or hurt him. I just wanted to try something new, something different.
I tried to apologize to him, but he wouldn't listen. He said that he had nothing more to teach me, that I had gone too far astray from his teachings.
But then Aria intervened. She talked to him, reasoned with him, pleaded with him. She told him that I was still his student and his friend, that I was still loyal and grateful to him, that I was still willing to learn from him.
She said that he should respect my choices and my freedom, that he should support my growth and my potential, that he should trust my judgment and my instincts.
She said that he should forgive me and give me another chance.
And he did.
He finally agreed to talk to me again. He said that he was sorry for being harsh and stubborn, that he was proud of being creative and daring, that he was happy to have me as his student.
He said that he would continue to teach me Echelon, but he also warned me not to use TrĂ kata again. He said that it was too dangerous and too dishonorable for someone like me.
***Ethan's Log, Entry 3***
It's been two years since we started our training with Dooku. We've learned a lot from him, and we've grown a lot as well. We've become more powerful, more skilled, more confident.
But we've also noticed something wrong with him. He seems troubled, conflicted, restless. He often disappears for days or weeks, without telling us where he's going or what he's doing. He sometimes comes back with injuries or scars, as if he's been in a fight. He sometimes talks to himself, or to someone we can't see or hear.
Aria suspects that something is happening to him, something that he's hiding from us. She says that he's changed, that he's not the same person we met two years ago. She says that he's darker, colder, harsher.
She says that she's worried about him, that she wants to help him, that she cares about him.
But she doesn't know how to approach him, how to talk to him, how to reach him.
I think I know what's going on with him. I think I know what he's hiding from us. I think I know what he's becoming.
He's becoming a Sith.
Thanks to my knowledge of Star Wars lore, I know that Dooku is at the part of his life where he leaves the Jedi Order and joins the Sith. I know that he becomes Darth Tyranus, the apprentice of Darth Sidious. I know that he becomes the leader of the Separatists, the enemy of the Republic.
I know that he becomes our enemy.
I also know that he dies. He dies at the hands of Anakin Skywalker, the Chosen One. He dies in front of Obi-Wan Kenobi, his former friend and pupil. He dies betrayed by his master, who orders his execution.
He dies without knowing the truth, without fulfilling his destiny, without finding his balance.
I don't want that to happen. I don't want him to die. I don't want him to become a Sith.
I want him to live. I want him to stay with us. I want him to be our teacher and our friend.
I want to change his fate. I want to prevent his demise.
One way or another.
***End of log.***
Ethan walked slowly towards Dooku's office. He had a bad feeling in his gut, a feeling that something was about to go wrong. He had a feeling that this was the day that everything would change.
He passed by Aria's room and saw that it was empty. He remembered that she was out practicing her lightsaber skills in the training room. He sighed in relief, thinking that it was better that she wouldn't see what he was about to do. He didn't want her to witness the fight that was about to happen. He didn't want her to get hurt.
He continued his walk until he reached Dooku's office. He sensed his presence inside, along with another one. A dark and sinister one. A familiar one.
He opened the door and saw Dooku sitting at his desk, talking to a hologram of a hooded figure. He recognized him as Darth Sidious, the Dark Lord of the Sith and the mastermind behind the Clone Wars.
He heard Sidious asking Dooku about his decision, about his allegiance, about his future.
"Are you ready, my friend?" Sidious asked. "Are you ready to leave behind your old life and embrace your new one? Are you ready to renounce the Jedi and join the Sith?"
But before Dooku could answer, Ethan made himself known. He stepped into the room and closed the door behind him. He looked at Dooku with a mix of anger and sadness, of betrayal and disappointment.
"Dooku!" he exclaimed. "What are you doing? What is this?"
Dooku looked at him with a calm and composed expression, but Ethan could see the conflict in his eyes, the doubt in his mind.
"Ethan," he said. "I'm glad you're here. I was hoping to talk to you."
Ethan ignored Sidious as he marched towards his teacher. "Dooku, are you serious about this?" Ethan asked. "Are you really going to become a Sith? How can you do this to us? How can you do this to yourself?"
"Ethan, you have to understand," Dooku said. "The Jedi Order is not what it used to be. It has become a tool of the Republic, a puppet of the politicians. It has lost its way, its purpose, its vision."
He then smiled as if he found an answer. "I have found a new path, Ethan," Dooku said. "A path that leads to peace and justice, to order and stability, to freedom and power. I have found the Sith."
"Have you lost your mind, old man!?" Ethan asked. "Have you forgotten everything you taught us? Have you forgotten your own words? Your own wisdom?"
He can feel it the dark side calling out to him. To become violent but he reigned it in. No! He decides what happens not some fantasy made cosmic god. Sidious must have seen it because his expression actually turned gleeful.
"You're not finding a new path, Dooku," Ethan said. "You're just entering the same cycle, but with a different cage. You're just trading one master for another, one dogma for another, one lie for another. You're not finding your balance in the Force, Dooku," Ethan said. "You're losing it. You're falling into darkness."
He slowly approached them with caution. "You're not becoming free, Dooku," Ethan said. "You're becoming enslaved. Enslaved by your anger, by your fear, by your hate."
Dooku tried to answer, but Sidious interrupted him. He said that he had heard enough of Ethan's insolence and ignorance, of his arrogance and defiance.
"Enough!" Sidious shouted. "I have heard enough of this boy's insolence and ignorance! He has no place in our new order," Sidious said. "No role in our grand plan. No future in our glorious destiny."
He turns to Dooku with a malicious smirk. Ethan really wanted to wipe that smug face off but he held himself.
"If you are serious about becoming my apprentice, Dooku," Sidious said. "If you are loyal to me and to the Sith. If you are ready to prove yourself and to embrace your fate. You will kill this boy. Now."
Sidious' hologram vanished, leaving only silence and tension in the room.
Ethan and Dooku stared at each other for a long moment. They both reached for their lightsabers, igniting them with a snap-hiss.
Ethan's blades was orange with a hint of red hue and black linings, like a flame and a shadow. Dooku's blade was red, like blood and fire.
They both assumed their fighting stance. Ethan used Echelon, his own hybrid form. Dooku used Makashi, the elegant dueling form.
They both felt the Force flowing through them. Ethan felt both light and dark, both peace and passion. Dooku felt only dark, only power and anger.
They both knew what they had to do. Ethan had to stop Dooku from becoming a Sith. Dooku had to kill Ethan to become a Sith.
They both charged at each other, clashing their lightsabers with a loud crackle.
The fight began.
