"There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, there is the Force."
The drone of the voices of sixteen Jedi apprentices filled the large chamber. Before them a lone Jedi Master paced slowly back and forth in front of the the cluster of male and female Jedi from many species. One of the four humans stood near the front, both hands firmly clasping the handle of the lightsaber he had created just eight hours ago, the night before. To his sides the other Jedi were doing the same, barely able to contain their excitement as they dutifully recited the Jedi Code.
"Youngling Asmodeus," the Master called.
To his right and behind, his best friend smiled encouragingly at him, and gave a tiny nod. In harmony, the reciting of the Code ceased and the peace it filled Jarek with ceased, replaced with nervousness. The ten year old stepped forward, a clammy sweat breaking out on the back of his neck. The elderly human female who came to meet him smiled down at him, though he was very tall for his age.
"Don't be afraid, young one, for there is nothing to fear," she said softly.
"I'm not afraid," Jarek said in a small voice, not yet broken. "Just nervous."
The Masters' smiles broadened. One of them nodded and Jarek dropped to one knee, head bowed, trembling uncontrollably. He could feel the stares of his comrades boring into the back of his neck, burning him. He felt sick. He gulped and looked up into the warm eyes of the Grand Master, Nai Yu Tashin.
"Youngling, you have been in the Jedi Order for five long years. You have proven yourself beyond measure and the Council firmly believes you are worthy of becoming a Jedi Padawan."
At these last words, Jarek could barely contain a squeal of excitement. Everything he had ever dreamed, sitting and watching the grand Jedi Temple in the distance as a very young child, sitting bored being tutored or whatever foul thing it was his parents decided he was to undergo that day. Unlike many of the Jedi Younglings, Jarek felt no homesickness for his parents. The Asmodeus' were one of the richest families on Coruscant, if not the galaxy, and held so much power and were so large that one son did not really matter to them. They were probably grateful to let him go to the Jedi so they wouldn't have to look after him anymore.
Jarek now began to feel angry, but realising just where he was he quickly drowned those thoughts, for they led to the Dark Side, and he was sure that having the Dark Side in him wouldn't get him to be a Padawan; he'd end up never being apprenticed and stuck in the Jedi Service Corps, looked down on by all.
Finally, he stammered a reply. "Y..y...yes, Master," was the only thing he could think of to say. "T...thank you." He added as an afterthought.
The grand Master continued to smile. "You will be apprenticed under Jedi Knight Kwai Jin Shii. However, due to certain events leaving us a bit short on active Jedi in the Temple-" Immediately Jarek knew he was talking about the war with the Sith - "Knight Shii will be taking on an additional apprentice."
Great, thought Jarek. How would he be able to succeed if his training was cut in half by one of his comrades? His training would take twice as long. It would be years before he was a Jedi Knight. Still, he had achieved being a Padawan - something he never thought he would, considering the level of the trials he had fought through just as a Youngling. It scared him what he would have to do as a Padawan. Daunting... Yet exciting. The Masters wanted a reply so he bowed his head and spoke.
"I am honoured, Masters. I will serve."
The Grand Master gestured for Jarek to stand and with shaking legs he walked for what seemed like an age to where Shii was. She was a very beautiful woman, long locks of flowing curly golden hair, a full mouth and a tall slim figure. She smiled a bit as she put her hands on Jarek's shoulders. Her hands were shaking slightly and Jarek guessed she was just as excited and nervous about this as he was. It was time for the other Youngling to become Shii's second apprentice. Jarek waited, defeatist.
"Youngling Aruslan." The Grand Master called.
Jarek was stunned. Out of fifteen Jedi they picked his best friend. Truly, this was an excellent day, almost as good as when he found he was leaving home. Maybe even better. She went through the same rites as he did and finally came to stand next to him, in front of Shii. Jarek shared a grin with her as she stood, but they were not allowed to speak.
For the next hour, they watched as the other fourteen Younglings in the Coruscant 'clan' were given Masters. None of them shared a Master, it was only Jarek and Jerina. Briefly, Jarek wondered if it was intended. Then he realised that of course it would be. The Force controlled everything, and that was one of the first lessons Jarek had ever been taught.
With all the Younglings now Padawans, they stood next to their Masters and beamed. Jarek was doing the same, and he couldn't stop himself. Shii was smiling fully now. The Grand Master stood in the center of the circle they had formed.
"Jedi, times are harder than they have ever been. The Sith are pushing hard on all our fronts, Empress Chick's campaign is driving us back hard, yet their senseless tactics are losing them huge amounts of men. You, Padawans, will be the generation that decide the fate of the Jedi Order, and the galaxy itself. A great responsibility has been placed on your young shoulders. I am sorry, truly sorry that this has to fall upon you. But the Force works in mysterious ways. Trust in it, and we will persevere."
The Jedi's smiles had faded as they realised the deepness of his words. Shii's grip on Jarek and Jerina's shoulders tightened. The Grand Master smiled again, though there was sadness hidden behind it. Then he began to recite, and after the first line the rest of the Jedi followed him.
"There is no emotion, there is peace.
There is no ignorance, there is knowledge.
There is no passion, there is serenity.
There is no chaos, there is harmony.
There is no death, there is the Force."
High Prophet Crozeus
Three years later
Jarek put his book down and watched as his best friend and fellow Padawan battled with their Master. He had been told that he needed to work on his blade skills and he was reading texts on lightsaber combat nearly constantly. Yet he was not improving, despite everything the Masters tried. Jarek did not understand. He had fenced as a hobby when he was still at home, so why should this be any different? He felt like there was something holding him back, preventing him from unleashing his true potential. No matter how much he read, he could not figure out what.
Jerina, on the other hand, was unstoppable. She fought with the gracefulness of a gazzelle and the ferocity of a lioness. Jedi Master Kwai Jin Shii was being forced back by another deadly assault by her apprentice, who was following her Master's role of Weaponmaster to a letter. As Jerina advanced, Shii cut her across the left forearm, but this did not impede her one bit. She batted Shii's silvery blue lightsaber to the side and punched her in the face.
Jarek's eyes opened wide. Striking a Master in the heat of combat was understandable, and it was not that he was surprised about - Jerina had caused a lot of damage to other Padawans, Knights and even Masters in the dueling ring before. But never to the leader of the Jedi Weaponmasters. However Shii did not react, simply counter-attacking with all of her skill. Perhaps, Jarek mused, she had been holding back on her apprentice. If she had been, she certainly wasn't now. Jerina was forced to leap backwards to avoid blisteringly fast, incredibly powerful strikes. Everytime she parried her blade was practically crushed. Soon they reached the end of the hall, and Shii moved in.
Their sabers locked and Shii used her superior strength to shove Jerina into a wall. Jerina kicked out backwards, but Shii was ready for her. She grabbed Jerina's leg and heaved upwards, sending Jerina toppling to the floor, where she instantly tried to get up. She received a kick in the face, and she fell flat on her back. Shii leaned forward, a tad concerned, when her now grinning apprentice scissor kicked, sending the Master off balance and allowing herself to stand up. Jerina came forward again, but Shii had had enough. Moving incredibly swiftly, she darted around her apprentice and with one precise, lightning fast strike, destroyed her lightsaber.
Jerina was clearly upset, but she did not react - after all, it was only a training duel. Nothing to get worked up about. She picked up the remains and carried them over to where Jarek was sitting. He raised his eyebrows at her and the corner of her mouth turned up, though not in a smile. The two thirteen year olds watched their Master as she addressed them.
"I am sorry I am being so brutal, Padawans. But over the course of your training we will be thrown into war-zones more catastrophic than you can possibly imagine. You need to be able to cope, which is why your training is so hard. I am sorry, but you must understand it is necessary. Jerina, I am very sorry for breaking your saber. Here is something to make it up to you."
She fished into her robes and pulled out a small, glowing pearly white crystal. Jarek had always been fascinated by precious stones and the like so he leaned in, interested. Shii handed it to Jerina.
"This is an Opila Crystal, which is used in the construction of lightsabers. It will make your blade more refined, quicker and more deadly."
Jerina took it, still exhausted from the duel. She gaped her thanks to her Master, who smiled.
"That will be all for today. Have a good nights sleep. See you in the morning."
*
That night, Jarek was woken by a scratching sound. He opened his eyes and blearily saw a light at the end of their small dorm and a silhouette. Grunting slightly from the effort of moving his strained, exhausted muscles, he turned his bedside lamp on, illuminating his current book - "A detailed insight into Form I, by Kit Fisto" and then the whole room.
"Jerina, what are you doing? I don't even know what time it is."
"I'm working. Go back to sleep."
"Working? On what, exactly?"
"My lightsaber."
The barely contained excitement to her voice was enough to get Jarek awake fully. His best friend rarely showed true excitement. Slowly, he climbed out of bed and traipsed along the floor to the workbench at the end of the room, where Jerina was hunched over. He peered over her shoulder and tried to avoid looking at the prominent swellings on his best friends chest. He forced his attention to the metal parts in front of him.
"How is that supposed to work?"
At last she turned to him, sleep deprivation clear under her eyes, but in them there was a joyous gleam.
"I'm making my own type of lightsaber. One that will give me a real edge over the others."
"Others?" Jarek asked, confused.
"The other Jedi! I need to beat them all!"
Jarek rolled his eyes. Ever since he had known the girl she had been extremely competitive, always wanting to be the best. He watched with silent admiration as she worked on her lightsaber, unable to determine what it would look like. Finally she held up the finished product. It was curved in two places, at the hilt and at the emitter. A long flat guard, made out of a metal Jarek recognised as beskar protruded from the emitter. She looked at him, grasping her new lightsaber as if it meant everything to her.
"All I need now is a colour crystal," she breathed.
"What about the one you have now?"
"Well that's the thing. Master Shii spoke to me earlier... she asked me about joining the Weaponmasters. Think about it Jarek, me, a Weaponmaster! I'm not even fourteen yet! I'll be the youngest Weaponmaster ever!"
Jarek nodded and forced a smile for her. "That... that would be amazing," he managed to get himself to say. She made an odd noise and jumped out of her seat and flung her arms around him. Jarek stood there, slowly putting his arms around her, but not really paying attention. He couldn't hide the bitterness inside his stomach. The bitterness that clawed at his body, whispered into his mind. The bitterness that, when he broke the rules, gave him sweet rushes of pure bliss.
"I've got to do something. These books aren't worth bantha poodoo," he spat. Jerina looked at him in surprise as they slowly broke apart from their impromptu embrace.
"Like what?"
"The archives have so many things I can't see, and I know that there is something there that will really help me."
Jerina nodded slowly. "The Restricted Section." It was a statement, not a question. Jarek nodded as well and after a pause she sighed.
"I'm going to wash my hands," she said.
High Prophet Crozeus
Under the cover of darkness, Jarek sneaked behind the rows of the archives. There were a few Jedi working or studying but due to the war the Temple held very few and it was with relative ease Jarek navigated the corridors to the Archives, aside from one heart pounding moment where he had spotted his Master conferring with a group of other Jedi Masters. However he slipped past and now found himself looking at the entrance to the Restricted Section of the Archives - reserved for Masters and invitees only. As he expected the Jedi Librarian on the night shift was immersed in a text and didn't notice as he crept in.
For the next hour he looked through texts after searching in how he felt - the emotions that boiled within him, trying to rip their way out through his stomach with ice cold claws. Oddly, every text he found mentioned such feelings as being linked to the Dark Side of the Force. With growing desperation he looked for more to try and quell the terror building in his mind, but they all said the same.
Did Jarek have the Dark Side in him? He had always been taught the Dark Side to be cruel and evil... after all it was what they were fighting. Jarek didn't feel evil. Although he wasn't supposed to, he got angry when he couldn't do something with the saber in drill.
"Peace, it's alright. Watch Jerina," Master Shii would soothe. How was it possible to have peace when they would be sent to war? How was it possible when he kept failing, and he didn't know why? He didn't feel evil, not at all. Every time he lay in bed, thinking those thoughts, letting the claws break free and latch onto his insides... he felt wonderful. Free. And more powerful than he could have ever imagined.
So it was the Dark Side inside him then. Jarek did not know whether to feel relieved at finally having an answer... if anything he was all the more terrified. All he had to do now was to find a way to get it out of him. He would speak to someone the next day... although he didn't know who. He didn't know who to trust. He had seen what the Jedi did to those infected with the Dark Side. They stripped away their connection to the Force, which to Jarek would be a fate worse than death. With a collection of texts under his arm he sneaked out, careful to avoid the Librarian, who was now dozing, the text on the floor beside her chair, and stopped dead.
"Now just what were you doing in there?"
High Prophet Crozeus
Jarek had never seen a Jedi look angry, but the look on his Master's face, and the other Jedi's faces with her, was something that terrified. He was clutching the book which told him who he was close to his heart and looked in terror at the Jedi in front of him. All of a sudden he felt bitter shame. His Master no longer looked angry, she just looked disappointed. He felt really bad and he honestly would have just accepted whatever punishment that came to him. But then something was said that made him angrier than he had ever been.
One of the Jedi spoke with a tutting shake of his head.
"It's such a shame this one couldn't end up like your other one, Kwai."
He stepped forward, an arm extended, to grab Jarek.
"Watch Jerina"...
"Your other one"...
Suddenly it all became too much for Jarek. He screamed. He felt his anger radiating through him like a nuclear explosion. Everything he had bottled up, his resentment at being a failure, learning about what was wrong with him, now this... it all escaped through his pores like smoke seething under a door from a burning room. He heard a loud crack, shouts, a scream, stamping boots. Then everything went black.
Padawan Jarek Asmodeus, thirteen years of age, had just killed a Jedi Master, although he was unaware of exactly what happened. And the Jedi, they were unaware that they were being watched, through the windows of the great Temple, by a Sith Assassin. They were unaware that this Sith Assassin had already taken a picture of Jarek, sent it to his masters and was awaiting confirmation to move in...
