Chapter 8
Ancient History and Truth
Robin's Mindscape
Einstein and Shadow were in the keep's tallest tower, which granted them the greatest view of their King's domain. "He's coming for answers and will not accept half-truths anymore. We obviously can't tell him everything, but we must be honest with him or it will all be for naught, and that is something we cannot allow to happen. He's growing too smart and strong for him to accept anything but pure honesty. The Paladin King must return and rebuild his clan; as things stand, he isn't up to snuff… at least according to the Master Holocron." Einstein warned his colleague.
Shadow groaned at the situation. Robin had learned of the Paladins, which was to be expected; however, his knowledge of a Paladin leader was not. Robin was too in the know to accept half-truths but was not worthy of the full story by the standards of the Galaxy. They'd felt the Force energy shift in Robin after activating the Master Holocron, even when the Grandmaster of the Jedi could not, (it's implied that Robin didn't either). This meeting of theirs was more of a formality, the steps to a ritual, if you will.
They knew what Robin required, and it was coming. There were three things to make him worthy: firstly, he needed to be properly knighted, and secondly, he needed experience wielding the dichotomy of both the Light and Dark Sides of The Force simultaneously. The only times he had were when he defeated Shadow to claim his long dormant power and during his Wisdom Trial against one of the previous Paladin leaders, (the woman, if you need a reminder), both of which he'd done without conscious thought or effort, which didn't count to the Force. Finally, Robin also needed his Sword; each Paladin leader had one, and each was as unique and incredible as the next.
In this realm, Robin's mindscape mirrored the future King's emotional and mental states: rain for sorrow, sunshine for happiness, and earthquakes meant that the King was royally pissed off, (pun unintended, just a happy accident). Right now, there was an earthquake larger and stronger than Shadow or Einstein had felt so far. The two familiars made their way to the Throne Room, a representation of control over body and mind. Shadow had previously stated that if the King were knocked out or paralyzed by fear, for example, he could temporarily claim the Throne, though as a Paladin, it was highly unlikely, but not impossible.
It wasn't a moment after they arrived in the throne room and kneeled in supplication that Robin materialized on the Throne of Power in full Paladin regalia; the cloak and robes of his future office suited him well, (they were designed to, after all). Robin spoke, "It's clear that you two have conspired to keep me and everyone I know in the dark. Explain, please, and yes, I know that you can't answer every question I have; explain it to me as best you can.'' The soon-to-be host and leader of the Paladin clan was remarkably composed, considering how angry he was. "Einstein, I know you, my brother. You're not in trouble, but don't expect homemade cookies anytime soon. Such is your punishment."
"Now… Shadow, as for you, explain what you can as succinctly as possible; my patience wanes already. Try starting at the beginning." Robin said, his voice pitched as though Shadow were a petulant child caught sneaking a cookie from the jar. "As you command." Shadow replied before standing and clearing his throat.
"In the beginning, a very long time ago, life was balanced, everywhere and in everything; but imbalance sought a foothold in this reality. The founding members of the Jedi Order birthed from both debate and practice, the Great Schism: a small but incredibly powerful tool of imbalance, which had influenced the founding Order into conflicts of increasing magnitude. The Jedi Order was split in two from then on. The beginnings of The Sith and Jedi were seen not only by The Force, but also by the third faction, independent of both Jedi and Sith philosophy and teachings, but not abilities; Paladins could and did use both sides of that same coin. They were agents of balance, and they always had a leader for tough calls, the King or Queen, a gender-neutral leader if you want to get all PC. The leader was said to be Balance personified and to possess ultimate authority over weighty decisions in the affairs of Paladins. Paladins serve all of the Force, not just the light or dark sides… because they serve the Balance of reality itself."
"When the leader died, as all things must, the accumulated memories and experiences were transferred to the next leader, usually genetically linked, though not always. This depended on what genetic markers were "active"; whoever possessed the right markers was next in line. It's been thousands of years since Paladins were active in the Galaxy, though they were never really gone. They fled in the middle of one of many Jedi/Sith Wars believing that they were only giving the dark side power and worsening the existing imbalance, so the at-the-time leader chose to abstain from any further conflict. Thanks in part to Sith Lord Bane's manipulations the balance was restored for a time by a technique called the 'Thought-Bomb' which was basically a Force ability equal to a nuclear blast that killed and trapped the souls in its blast range. The Sith were believed extinct, though as we now know, Darth Bane had implemented the Rule of Two: a Master to possess the power of the Dark Side and an Apprentice who sought the power, only becoming the Sith Master upon killing their former Master and the taking of an Apprentice of their own, one strong in the Dark Side. Rinse and repeat. The Sith simply bided their time until the Galaxy was blinded by war and the Jedi were stretched too thin. Through Order 66 and the subsequent near-total destruction of the old Jedi Order, Balance was inadvertently restored once more, as the Jedi Order had grown stagnant and arrogant, but only for a time. A corrupted balance could not last." Shadow paced as he told the king what he could.
"Then, more recently, Luke Skywalker reformed the Jedi Order with a broader acceptance regarding love and personal attachment, and a new true Balance was fabricated from the New Jedi Order as well as the death of Emperor Sidious and his Sith followers." Shadow paused to let Robin absorb all of this information.
Shadow continued. "Kesh and its Sith citizens, however, were unknown to the whole Galaxy, and The Balance created by Luke's New Jedi Order is on the verge of collapsing into imbalance again. You and those who came before were all responsible for the Dark Side helping to correct these imbalances. The Dark Side isn't inherently evil, just as long as it isn't utilised for selfish, evil, or dangerous things. It's a part of Balance and worth respecting, if only because of that… The paladins of old, and you even today, countless generations later, are still agents of Supreme Balance. The leader of the Paladins always had two familiars, while standard Paladins had but one. The reason for this is that the Paladin leader must maintain as much balance as possible, never succumbing to the darkness while also being willing to question and interpret the ways of the light differently. Non-conformists every single one, especially the leader."
"You lack important aspects that every Paladin King or Queen had: A proper Knighting, and the self-control to consciously use the light and dark in harmony despite the conflicting natures." Shadow finished. "You forgot that he needs his Sword," Einstein muttered. "You're his physical guardian, familiar, and advisor; it's your field, not mine. I'm the spiritual guardian and familiar, remember?" Shadow argued back, both he and Einstein having briefly forgotten that Robin was there. The argument died down, and the two returned their attention to Robin once more.
"Sword? But I have a lightsaber, and the Sword of the King from my first time here. Not the right Sword?" Einstein looked to Robin apologetically, knowing that he was confused. "We've pushed the Galactic envelope on what we can openly tell you. All I can say is that I'm in charge of the Physical plane, and not all swords are Swords. Cryptic, I know. Sorry, it's the best hint I can give you." Robin just smiled, and the mindscape earthquake died as quickly as it came, replaced with birdsong, cicadas, and a babbling brook. He understood now; they literally can't tell him everything because of Balance. To do so would likely strengthen the imbalance.
They could confirm for him what he already suspected or knew, and occasionally the Force gave them some leeway, like today. "One last question: how were Paladins made Paladin? What separates them from regular Force-users such as Jedi or Sith? Are they born different? And no, I'm not asking where babies come from." Shadow pouted when Robin beat him to the punchline of his joke: "there's always the future." Shadow reminded himself in silence. "To be Paladin is to have a very different mindset than most of society. But knowing you, you already suspected another cryptic response, which means you just sought confirmation on some idea or thought. You'll make a fine Paladin indeed with such keen intellect!" Einstein said, smiling at Robin. Robin nodded in thanks before leaving his mindscape.
When Robin blinked next, he found himself back in his physical form, back in Luke's office at the Jedi Temple. "Got all that?" Luke asked Robin as though he'd been following along one hundred percent; (he had, but it's still jarring to return from the mindscape to a conversation already in progress. Go on, try to imagine it, Reader. Yeah, it's not easy, is it?) Robin replied by nodding, unsure if he trusted his mouth to keep yet more secrets; if asked, he'd blame his silence on shock. This would hardly be a lie since he was being Knighted incredibly early compared with most, and with a shocking lack of experience. "Take this. The cloak, robe, the whole ensemble. The Holocron as well; it's yours by right. Practice hard for your Knighting ceremony tonight, Knight Stace." With Luke's dismissal, he collected his new possessions and headed home to practice for his Knighting ceremony.