Author's Note

There were 2 chapters posted last week go back and make sure you read both if you have not already.

Ben

Chapter 9 A Never Ending Story

Tython

Several days went by, and Ben was concerned about the lack of progress. He was also concerned about Anakin's growing frustration. Anakin's ability to meditate was certainly problematic as was his growing impatience. It seemed certain to both Ben and Vestara that sometime in the past Anakin had had a disastrous brush with the darkness and had come back with a damaged connection to the Force. Ben and Vestara decided it was time for a change in plans. Sometimes one must run before you can walk. Vestara had continued to teach the more hands-on portions of the training, which Anakin took to like a fish to water. This morning, they decided it was time to dazzle Anakin with what exactly he was missing out on.

Anakin and Ben were once again at the top of the hill overlooking the ocean. Ben always started the time by talking to his grandfather, trying to learn more about him and Padme. He was a treasure trove of information. One irony of time travel is that you only have information from the future and one often has little knowledge of the past. In this case Luke and his family knew very little about his parents- only what Obi-Wan and Yoda had written in their journals and what they were able to eventually get out of R2. The faithful droid was still very reluctant to divulge much information. Ben had learned more about Anakin's past in the last few days than he had in his whole life. Now here again they were overlooking the ocean when Anakin had divulged the story the Emperor had given him of the "secret Sith healing power." It sounded to Ben like normal Force healing although he did not say as much. Most Jedi, including his parents, could generally heal a person to a degree, although if you didn't know what you were doing it was best not to attempt it, unless the wound was critical.

"Have you ever heard of anything like that, Master Ben?" Anakin asked.

"Not from a Sith Lord. Sith are generally not very good healers," Ben answered. "I suspect that it was a legend from the ancient past if it ever truly existed. I imagine anything like that would have been destroyed when the Sith archives were destroyed, at any rate."

"By the Jedi so no one could get their power?" Anakin asked, somewhat disapprovingly.

Ben noticed his tone and replied,"Oh no, by a Sith Lord- arguably the most powerful Sith Lord ever."

Anakin seemed somewhat surprised. "Why would a Sith Lord destroy his own archive?"

"An excellent question for another time. But it's certainly not a story a Sith would tell. I imagine they have tried to bury that tale into myths and legends," Ben mused.

Anakin couldn't help but notice the same language that Palpatine had used. "Is that line always used by teachers when they don't know something?"

"Oh, no. I'm happy to tell the story, but right now we need to get moving on today's lesson before Ves and Obi-Wan think we're slacking," Ben replied.

Anakin sighed. "More meditation?"

"Yes, but different. I can not help but notice you have trouble with the basics. Is that something that has always been the case or something more recent?" Ben asked.

"It has always been boring to me. I am much better concentrated when I am working on a machine," Anakin said.

Ben sat back and thought about it. "Alright. Here's what I want you to do. I want you to lead the way and go into the Force the deepest you can."

Anakin sighed. "Alright."

Clasping his hands, Anakin sunk into the flows of the Force until he hit the white room that always seemed to appear when he dived deeply into the Force. Kenobi and others could stay here for long amounts of time to clear their thoughts. Sometimes one could receive visions in here.

As he sat cross legged in the white room, he thought back to when he was a child and had made a toy pod racer appear. He kept his eyes closed but could still feel the Jedi master with him who was curiously, he sensed, behind him instead of in front of him, as he was in the real world.

"Inner peace," Anakin said a couple of times.

"What are we doing?" the Jedi master behind him asked, sounding perplexed.

Anakin turned to find the master sitting in a comfy red chair and wearing a black trench coat and sunglasses.

Anakin blinked at the image. The Jedi Master also had a book in hand for … boredom?

"What do you mean?" Anakin asked.

"The point of being this far in is to go do stuff," Ben said.

"What do you mean? This is where everyone goes in their joint meditations," Anakin said, confused.

"If this is what you guys consider meditation, no wonder you can't handle it," Ben said, closing his book, "Anakin, will you allow me to take the lead here?"

Anakin nodded, his confusion clear on his face. Ben walked in front of Anakin and reached a hand out when a series of shelves went by and stopped.

"This is now officially the most confusing meditation session I've ever been in," Anakin said.

"This is an equipment shelf. Even though it's illusory, as long as you are in the meditation, everything will feel real. For that reason we can get equipment we are used to handling," Ben said, reaching for a lightsaber on the shelf and a Jedi tool belt.

Anakin did the same, noting the shelf held his own and Kenobi's lightsabers.

"How are you doing this?" Anakin asked.

"This entire place is the Force. You could manifest a bucket of sand if you wanted to. Some children actually do that in fact. I mentally have it set up as a garage of sorts, with the hanger being next door," he said as he walked through a door that appeared in the middle of the room.

Anakin's curiosity had caught up with him as he followed the Jedi master through the door into a hanger with many starships of an unknown variety. He recognized the Falcon in the corner. Since it was Ben's Force space they were in, the hanger was that of the Jedi Praxeum on Yavin IV after they had expanded it during the Yuuzhan Vong war.

Ben selected the Falcon to take and pulled it off the ground. "Now then the rule of not getting lost is to always choose a point to you that is home. When we leave the garage, we head home then to who knows where. I'll let you decide our homecoming spot."

Anakin focused for a moment and nodded that he had it. It was some surprise to Ben when they left the mindspace for the wide open Force that they were on Tatooine above the Lars Homestead. Ben and Anakin vanished out of the Falcon and were on the sands of Tatooine before Anakin could shout at the difference in locations.

"This is home for you? Tatooine?" Ben asked softly, raising his hood to keep off the sunlight.

Anakin gazed at a hill above the homestead. "No this is where my mother was buried," he said with a far away look in his eyes. He felt a hand on his shoulder.

"Come, there is much to see," Ben said.

An instant later they were in the Falcon and off to space. Anakin could not help but notice the instant travel between places that they were viewing. It wasn't all space travel. At times they were above jungles. Other times they were above oceans and snowy mountains. Anakin marveled at the sight and was uncharacteristically quiet as he watched the scenes constantly change.

"How do you know where you are going?" Anakin asked.

"I don't," Ben replied. "Right now I'm simply going on one of the Force's currents, letting it guide the ship. But if I came here with a destination in mind, I could either take a ship or teleport myself there instantly. It's a very strange as well as amazing place. One never knows where they will wind up, who they will see or anything. Some places are more consistent than others and we take our children on group field trips to those locations, since time flows faster here than the outside, its actually possible to take a mini vacation." Ben's grin turned serious. "Of course, it can also be dangerous to those who don't know how to use it properly. One can also be observed by enemies here as well. I have taken part in several duels with enemies here, though in truth it's rather a futile gesture. One can neither die here nor be captured, since you can teleport away or simply wake up at any time. There are also places strong with the dark, ones we typically keep away from so it doesn't overwhelm our senses."

The Falcon continued on its strange journey through the eddies of the Force as Anakin considered the new information.

"If I had known this was here all those punishment sessions of meditation would have gone a lot quicker," Anakin said, grinning.

"Or slower. Your teachers would have been like 'He's extra patient today. He's been in there 5 hours longer than necessary'," Ben said, "It's one reason why we don't teach our younger children that there's anywhere in here but the training ground. Don't forget: time is also a bit faster in here. It might take a day in here what a hour would be outside."

"Still, I think even my younger self could have enjoyed a day of exploring in here," Anakin said with awe in his voice at what he was seeing.

Anakin heard Ben suck in a breathe and turned to see what was the most awesome sight he had ever seen in his life. A palace of pure rivers of light flowed from what appeared to be a beautiful castle on a mountain up ahead.

Anakin's and Ben's mouths were both opened wide.

"What is this place?" Anakin asked.

"That is the Palace of Light, or, as some call it, the Fountain of Light. Some believe it is the source of all light in the galaxy. Either way it is a wellspring of light- whether the source or merely a conduit, I am uncertain it matters," Ben said with awe in his voice. "I have seen only once when I was small, I have never again found it until today."

Ben followed the Force, guiding the ship to a small landing point just outside the castle. The sight was so amazing that Anakin was actively having to hold back tears. The castle was tall and had light flowing from many points. Anakin could not help thinking that this was far more amazing than anything he had seen on Mortis. The sight of a familiar Condor had Ben looking at Morai who was watching them from a tree. Anakin missed the bird by being astounded by the castle itself.

It was impossible to feel danger in a place like this. Despite the fact the grounds were empty of any appearance of being inhabited by people, there was an all-around peaceful feeling settling over the area. The feeling had Anakin wishing he had left his lightsaber behind as they went through the castle's front entrance. The inside was well lit from sources they could not see, but the feeling of safety persisted to the point that Anakin and Ben both left their sabers on a table by the entrance. How long they remained there, neither knew nor cared. The two family members explored everything from the bottom to the view from the tower. They had nearly circled back to the entrance when they sensed a darkness approaching in the Force. Outside, the birds quieted down. Night was falling, but that only made the light coming from the Palace seem even grander. Neither Anakin nor Ben had ever sensed this presence before, though Ben recognized it as a Sith Lord, so they took up a hiding place near the entrance.

As the presence approached, Anakin was starting to wish he hadn't left his lightsaber near the entrance. The over all feeling of the lightside around, made him certain a Dark Lord would have an extreme disadvantage in a fight.

Ben cautioned. "Let's not get into a fight with whoever is coming if we can help it."

Anakin nodded it would be pointless anyway from what Ben had said. "Sidious do you think?"

Ben was confused. "I don't know. It's certainly one of the most powerful darksiders I've ever felt."

The presence reached the front of the castle and hesitated. After a moment of fear that was radiated strongly enough for Anakin and Ben to feel, the presence wrapped itself up with pride and entered the Palace of Light.

The male figure stepped into the entrance and lowered his hood. Shock and recognition went through Ben as he recognized the person in front of them.

"Someone you know?" Anakin whispered.

The figure, at that moment, looked right at them as Anakin realized that neither of them had their presences shielded. To his shock though, the Sith shrugged and kept walking deeper into the Palace.

"He can't see us," Ben said, standing up and stepping out in the hall the Sith was walking down.

Anakin looked between them and said, "How do you know?"

"Because I figured out who he is. We are seeing a vision of an event that happened 6 centuries ago," Ben answered and followed the Sith down the hallway.

Anakin followed Ben. "Why would he be here?"

"An excellent question. Remember that story I said I would tell you later? Apparently, you needed a front row seat of what happened," Ben replied, still following the Sith Lord.

"Didn't you say he was the most powerful Sith Lord in history?" Anakin asked.

"A debatable ranking, truthfully, but this guy has a strong claim," Ben said. "The Sith of the Bane order claim to be the strongest Sith ever, with each generation being more powerful than the previous. The current Sith Lord, Sidious, would say that makes him the strongest, and he certainly has some justification to the claim. This guy, however, was the last Sith Lord to possess all of the ancient knowledge of the Sith order."

"Because a Sith Lord destroyed it correct," Anakin said.

"Correct," Ben said as they followed the Sith into the depths of the Palace.

"So why is this guy here?" Anakin said.

"For what all Sith are good at: destruction," Ben said solemnly.

"To what purpose?" Anakin asked.

"The Sith Lord in front of us is named Darth Gravid, the ruling Sith Lord from about 6 centuries ago. He decided that he wanted to take over the galaxy himself and not wait out in the shadows. What you are seeing is his grand plan to weaken the Jedi order if not destroy it," Ben said.

"He wants to destroy this place- is that even possible?" Anakin asked.

Ben chuckled. "No, it's not, but he had a plan for that. As the ranking powerful, arrogant Sith Lord he is, his plan is to either destroy this place or failing that, to corrupt the source of the Rivers of Light from whatever source they spring from in the castle. As a side note, this castle may actually physically exist in the galaxy, so I'm unsure whether he tried this or in the actual physical location."

Anakin nodded as they went through a place in the castle they had not yet been in and followed the Sith down a set of stairs that led deep underground. Finally, the Sith lord reached the bottom where a set of doors were. Ben and Anakin stopped on the floor above, both feeling that they should wait where they were and not follow. They watched as the Sith Lord once again paused and felt his fear.

After a few moments they watched the Sith Lord gather his strength in the Force and project an air of invincibility. "Today I, Darth Gravid, Dark Lord of the Sith, will destroy the weak light and lead to millenia of the Sith ruling the galaxy and the universe beyond."

They felt the Sith draw heavily on the Force and sent a wave opening the doors in front of him and proceeded to enter the chamber. All that Anakin and Ben could see was Light coming from the chamber doors. Anakin and Ben watched, breathless, for several moments at the doors that had been pushed open. The suspense was killer, especially for Anakin, who was fighting his inner habit of rushing in to stop the Sith Lord. He was about to rush the room anyway when they heard a loud scream. Moments later, the Sith Lord came staggering out and and collapsed.

The Sith Lord whimpered from the floor, covering his eyes. "Such power, how could we have been so blind to it?"

He started crawling towards the stairs as Anakin looked on in shock.

"The hatred of the Sith will destroy us, we must change, we must be able to tap this power as our own or we will be destroyed. I must change this." With that determination in mind, the Sith Lord got to his feet and Force dashed his way up the stairs past Anakin and Ben, desperate to simply get out of this place.

Anakin looked at Ben with wide eyes at what had just happened before them. "That's something I thought I would never see. What happened to him?"

Ben looked at where the Sith had disappeared. "He attempted to enact his plan to draw on the light of the Force."

Anakin and Ben started back up the stairs

"I'm guessing it didn't work out like he planned," Anakin said thoughtfully.

"No. The most innovative Sith Lord in history was nothing more than a much-reviled footnote after his death. His attempts at using the light are admirable; unfortunately, he was not used to handling his new powers and was unbalanced when push came to shove."

"How so?" Anakin asked.

"When a Force user changes sides of the Force it takes a period for them to be able to use it instinctively in battle or meditation. Vestara was the same: it took my father quite some time training her to bring her to balance before she could be trained as a Jedi knight. During this period it is important for the user not to fall back on habit or if they do to be trained out of the habit. Say for example, as a Sith Lord she would have been trained to sacrifice a teammate by killing him or her to save me from a situation. As Jedi we do not trip others so we can get away from a rancor. As such, we do not lose our power necessarily when we change sides, but we do lose some skill for a while. A lightsider is more prone to danger coming from the dark side because the temptation is still there, and we can often have difficulty feeling the Force correctly. This happened to my father when he mistakenly joined a Sith Lord once to beat him from the inside. The attempt was a disaster and it took a long while to regain his proper connection to the Force.

"Darth Gravid immediately implemented his plan by going to wherever the stronghold of Sith Lords was at the time and proceeded to use the Force to destroy the Sith Archive. You name it: documents, holocrons, ancient artifacts, anything and everything. While in the process, the apprentice showed up and Gravid couldn't persuade him it was necessary. Darth Gravid was still unbalanced and while it was close call, he ultimately lost the fight but not before crippling and disfiguring the apprentice. As you can imagine, the apprentice wrote that Gravid was an insane traitor and many Sith Lords through the years have held him responsible in effigy for their grand plan being delayed by centuries."

Whether by some chance that the conversation was longer than he believed or simply the nature of the place, when Ben finished talking, the pair was back at the entrance of the Palace. The Jedi picked up their respective lightsabers and silently walked out the front towards the Millennium Falcon. They had just reached the ramp when Vestara and Obi-Wan Kenobi appeared out of the air.

Sometime earlier, Tython Beach

It was nearly time for the midday meal when Vestara called a halt to their exercises. Obi-Wan and Rex, who had decided to join in, both stretched out their muscles to cool down.

"I wonder if General Skywalker and Master Solo are lounging on the beach while we sweat up here," Rex muttered good-naturedly.

"Yes, my former padawan has managed not to get down here to exercise today," Kenobi replied. "I wonder if Master Solo has resorted to tying him up to make him to meditate yet."

Vestara rolled her eyes. "We may have to go get them. It's very easy to lose sense of time with what they are doing."

"For me, yes. Usually, though, meditation is Anakin's worse enemy," Kenobi said.

"Today they are attempting another way," Vestara said. "Come; let's go get them."

Kenobi followed while Rex headed for the community house. When they crested the top of the hill, Kenobi was shocked when he saw Ben and Anakin in deep meditation, levitating off the ground a few feet.

"Anakin, what are you doing?" Kenobi asked.

Anakin didn't even twitch at the statement, proving he had finally achieved a very deep meditation.

"Showoffs," Vestara muttered.

Kenobi dimly thought she muttered something about Skywalkers but was too absorbed by the sight to really pay attention. The other Jedi master's Force presence was wide open to anyone standing nearby, and Kenobi realized what Anakin had meant by Ben being more powerful than they had believed. He was shocked to discover that Ben was the most powerful Jedi he had ever met.

Meanwhile Vestara had seated herself in a meditative position when apparently she decided to do something different. "Join me Master Kenobi." she said, "let's go get them and remind them it's time for lunch."

Kenobi joined her. "Why are we simply not shaking them awake?"

"We could but this is easier," Vestara said.

She then proceeded to lead Kenobi down into the depths just as Ben had done with Anakin. Unlike Anakin, however, Obi-Wan's quiet place was a small glade with a pond instead of a white room.

"You're in my dreamscape," Obi-Wan said. "How will this help us wake them up?"

Vestara proceeded without a word to create a tastefully designed shelf of equipment that fit in with her surroundings.

"I didn't know you could do that," Kenobi said reaching for his lightsaber on the shelf.

"This is simply the front entrance you have made, Master Kenobi," Vestara said, walking through the trees into a hanger.

Kenobi was stunned but continued to follow the knight. "Are you sure this is safe?"

"Quite safe. All our children over a certain age are taught this method," was the reply.

Kenobi had to admit when he came down here it was for peace and quiet, he had never considered that one could explore.

Vestara quickly selected a ship whose design was unknown to Kenobi. The pair were quickly airborne in the Force world that was surrounding them.

Kenobi didn't say much as he watched the world go by. "Ok, how do we go about finding them in a place this vast?"

Vestara smiled and switched the controls over to Kenobi. "Search your feelings and feel for your student."

Kenobi closed his eyes and moments later they had appeared, without their ship, in front of a tall ivory tower with ribbons of light streaming away from it.

"That's something you don't see every day." Kenobi said with his dry wit. Vestara had noticed that was how he coped with his fear, though this time she suspected it was awe. She herself had never seen anything nearly this beautiful.

"Welcome to the Palace of Light." Anakin's voice said just up a path from them.

Kenobi and Vestara looked up and saw the two walking down to them.

"We were just leaving," Ben said. "We would however be happy to give you the tour while were here. The Palace of Light is difficult to find, even when searching for it."

"You have been here before?" Vestara asked.

Ben nodded. "Once when I was young, I have tried many times to come back, but this was the first time I have ever managed it."

Then instead of heading for lunch, the group turned around and headed back up the hill to the Palace.

Author's Note

So this was my favorite chapter of the first ten I wrote for those reading on the desktop version you now recognize this chaptet as the inspiration for the books cover even though its nit exactly like i envision it to look like. I originally had this placed much later in the story but realized the falcon crew needed to be doing something before order 66 came down. Next week one final chapter on Tython secrets will be revealed and the butterfly effect on time travel will be seen.