Familiar Faces

[Xyrael]

Twilight on Coruscant was a spectacular sight; the setting sun's rays piercing out from the horizon, casting violet and crimson shades across the hulls of passing speeders, the spectacular lighting flashing off the mirrored structures as the colors slowly faded to black. Shadows crept out from their crevices and expanded across the surfaces, but lights from ever industrious businesses cast them out and shone out brightly. The ecumenopolis never slept.

Saia stood atop a floating landing platform, watching as the speeder which brought her slipped away. It had taken time to find a break from teaching her Padawan's to take a visit to the capital of the Republic. She wore dark grey robes which seemed to turn black as the night crept in, contrasting against the duracrete platform. Her blue eyes scanned the sky, watching the red rays slowly disappear as night crept in. A gust of wind kicked up, blowing her hair southerly and disturbing her robes. She cast her eyes in the direction the wind blew; a saddening sight rested on the horizon. The shattered Temple stood alone on the horizon, scaffolding surrounding its reaches. No doubt security had been escalated, but with a population spiralling into the tens of billions it was impossible, even for the Jedi, to monitor everyone. If they could, then perhaps that graceful structure would still be standing as it had for millennia past.

She tore her eyes away from the structure and looked once again to the sky, breathing in the chill yet polluted air of Coruscant. Something nagged at the back of her mind, but she paid no heed to it, instead thinking of the datapad in her hand and playing over the words she had read on it. Somehow she felt that tonight, reconnecting with her former master, would be interesting.

 

[Rev]

The sun had cast an eerie glow over the metropolis which covered Coruscant. The malevolent haze that was corruption, greed, and desire cast itself over the streets as peddlers, felons, murderers, and the like filled the planet at dusk. The already crime littered planet would be further polluted by the darkness which consumed it at sun down. The former Jedi Knight Aÿisha Remy had made sure of it with the mark she cast upon its highest regarded symbol; the Jedi Temple.

The now Sith Lord stood atop a building that looked no different than any other. The worn siding had faded from a rich blue to a midnight black. Some of the paint had started to peel from the steel, tainting the once lucrative building in orange rust. Looking out over the city the illusionist couldn't help but feel the energy which consumed the planet. Each creature had a pit to them, one more greedier, one more eviler than the last. Taking in a breath of the corruption one more time she broke her stare and went into motion.

Leaping from the ledge the graceful woman's feet would come in contact with another flat-topped roof. Her legs would carry into a sprint and she'd carry herself off the next ledge just as quickly as she arrived upon it. With the aid of the Force both in momentum and in strength she was able to project herself to no mortals limit, landing tens of feet away atop the final destination. Her body would land with the same grace it had left with, her strides carrying into an almost seductive walk. The Force pulsating around her like a beacon, yet still hiding the truth to who.. to what she truly was. It was the dark figure in the distance which caught her eye, Saia Typhelon.

Aÿisha's own robes hugged her tightly. The black garments covered in a white robe which accented it all too well. It would be a familiar robe as it was the same she had worn years before. The altered environment would not immediately show itself to her former apprentice. The light bending and refracting what had truly been there, the darkened witch that was Darth Illusia. Instead the Sith Alchemist had transformed herself into what she had been, Aÿisha Remy. Smiling across at her old friend her lips would pierce the air.

"I thought you had gone away.. Perished... It warms me to know you live."

The elder's words were true, holding no lie behind them. Allowing the smile to fade from her face she would express concern as opposed to getting to any points.

"..where is it you've been, Saia?"

 

[Xyrael]

Saia couldn't help but be surprised by the others peculiar entrance. She should have figured - Master Remy was never one to be typical, but something, somehow, felt different about her former Master. Saia chalked it up to age, it had been a long time since they last encountered each other.

She cast her customary smile back out towards Aÿisha, "It is good to see you alive as well, Master Remy. It's been a while, and after my Knighthood I found myself busy with my duties. A lot has changed since we met, and I've seen a lot more. There are things you simply can't be taught, you have to see," she said, her eyes looking away to the cracks in the duracrete for a moment. "Now I am doing what you last did for me, help prepare others for the realities of life outside the Temple."

She paused for a moment as the breeze of the cityscape rustled gently through her hair, causing the hair on the back of her neck to stand. She wrapped her robes around her tighter to keep herself warm. "And you, Master? How have the years treated you?"

 

[Rev]

The young girl that had been so curious, yet so far ahead as a Padawan glistened through the aged woman before her. Taking a few steps to get herself closer to the younger woman she listened with more interest than one would suspect. As she spoke of her own journeys, Aÿisha was sent back to her first adventures as a Knight and everything learned from it.

"There is no path that can quite prepare you for the freedom which is the Galaxy.. The freedom of choice."

The final word held something... more behind it. As if it urged to be dissected. As Saia continued, Remy would raise a brow.

"..training?"

She would smile, remembering Akacen and Saia, the 2 were nearly inseparable. It was that instant she began to wonder what had happened to the lad, it'd been years since she'd seen him as well.

"And how is it? I'm sure you do a better job than I.. after all you have mine to work off, now your own."

She laughed with a friendly tone, glad to exchange words with someone lacking the bitterness that the Sith held. Everything was a trap to them, yet now, everything was real, it was the truth; yet it wasn't. That is when Saia's question exposed itself.

"..They, they have been hard. There is much to learn in the Universe as I said.. It taught me a lot in a short time, some of it I could not control... Others, I had more of a hand in than I would care to tell.."

She smiled with a sly perkiness before looking out at the Temple in the distance.

"..what do you see when you look at that?"

 

[Xyrael]

Master Remy approached closer, dissuading the sense of awkwardness that was maintained by having a conversation at a distance. Saia enjoyed that, it gave her a sense of comfort, and she moved closer to Aÿisha. The words that Aÿisha spoke seemed filled with meaning, piquing the Knights curiosity for a few moments.

"They remind me of myself, and my own troubled past," Saia said, thinking of the Padawan Lei whose own experiences - the death of her family - so closely resembled her own. "Like me when I was younger, they are apprehensive and impetuous; each of them paradoxes."

Aÿisha's response to her own question seemed to hint at a time of troubles for her Master. Saia wondered what had happened, but knew better than to ask. If Aÿisha had stuck to the principles she had upheld, she would have known that patience would guide her on the right path.

Master Aÿisha's own question gave Saia pause. The sly smile was a strange expression to give in reference to the destruction, but made Saia think. "I see... war. But at the same time I see stubborn resolve and an inability to let the past go. The Temple makes people feel safe, seeing it rebuilt makes them feel that the war is not lost. It's necessary but," she paused, reflecting on the lessons so many Jedi had taught her, "it's as though we can not learn from our own history, like we are stuck in our own past. We rebuild that which others seek to destroy. We hold onto that site as though it means something more than it truly does. It is nothing more than a nexus for the Force, one which grows darker as more blood is spilt on it."

 

[Rev]

The Sith Lord had forgotten about her former pupil's troubled past. It had often been an obstacle in the path of her, but one she overcame despite it all. It was a sad truth what she spoke, many Jedi, just as many citizens in the universe learned it was cruel. Not all would go down the troubled road Saia had traveled, but any who left a temple would be sure to see it, and she was proving it now.

"You will see much of yourself in your Padawans, Saia.. I can assure you of that."

She nodded as if agreeing with her own statement. The former Knight saw much of herself in the younger girl, but despite it all they were far different. Both of them walked different paths, as well as allegiances.

"Wisdom often finds a way of showing itself in those who least expect it. Perhaps you will one day sit where I never could, on the Council."

She laughed softly at the thought, not in kidding, but in joy. Looking upward to the blank slated sky, the light dulled it to a simple blue. It was that moment Aÿisha put out another question, one which held a bitterness to it that flirted with the darkside.

"..What make the Sith the Jedi's enemy? Is it not the darkside which the Jedi seek to control.. or the group which worship it?"

 

[Xyrael]

Saia listened to her Master's words and heard truth in them as she spoke. She did see a lot of herself in them, something that made her smile now in retrospect. But her Master's next statement made her wonder and wish to ask a question. Why had she not been able to sit on the Council..., she instead wondered to herself in the moments before the next series of questions.

They fired one after another. The first, innocent. The second, peculiar. The third, it was the tone that caught her attention moreso than the words. Something in Saia's mind made her raise her eyebrow, that this was not just the ramblings of a jaded and misguided Jedi.

She waited to reply, rationalism in her mind trying to reason with suspicion. "Master Remy, I'm not sure I understand what you mean... The Jedi do not seek to control, we seek to nourish. Nourish the poor, defend the weak - the Sith offer no hope, they only offer brutality. They bring war when there is peace, violence where there is hope, they serve themselves without thought for others," She paused, raising her eyebrow and taking a breath. "What has lead you away from the Order, Master?"

 

[Rev]

The Sith Lord smiled at the girls words. She spoke the true words of a Jedi, the words of heresy.. The lies of someone who had never actually been shown the truth. Aÿisha couldn't blame Saia for the ignorance she carried, for she herself once carried it. It wasn't until Andraste showed her the path on Tanaab that the answers were finally put into light.

"Nourish..? The Jedi have sat in their chambers and deliberated for months.. years even, but nothing is done.. The Empire still stands, if not stronger since the destruction of the Will. While the Universe spirals into war they nourish what only awaits what fell upon that Temple, dear Saia.."

She sighed in frustration, taking in a breath to relax some.. Recomposing her demeanor.

"What is it you know of the Sith..? Of the Darkside? What you have seen.. or what I taught you.. what I told you? What the Jedi told you?"

She paused at her former Padawan's final question, the words floating within her mind for a moment. She did not wish to lie to the girl, but it was not time to reveal the whole truth.

"..To seek guidance, I hoped to find the truth while away from the Order.. I hoped to see the galaxy in a new light."

 

[Xyrael]

Her aggression seemed almost carnal, as though just simmering beneath the surface. Something was fundamentally different about Master Aÿisha, something that made Saia's heart beat faster with every word. She unfolded her arms, letting the breeze ripple bands across the fabric of her robes, her blue eyes fixated intently on her Master. It was clear her Master was misguided, the question Saia now faced was: Why?

"I have always felt that the Dark Side was simply driven by one's own emotions and judgement, that it was the result of hatred and anger, driven by greed and pettiness," she stated flatly, keeping her emotions contained. "If that is the case, then I have misjudged the characters of so many. Matsu, Chora..." she let the sentence slip away, "But I've never met it face-to-face. I've always only ever met those who strove to find it, to tap into what they saw as power."

 

[Rev]

Aÿisha could see the sudden change on Saia's face as well as through the Force. The vibrations her body let off began to patter like a drum, her heart rate increasing as a familiar emotion began to run over her body; fear. The Sith Lord had been one to embrace that emotion, using it to bend one's thoughts, ideals, and morals. It was possibly the most powerful of emotions, but she would not toy with Saia's emotions.

"The Force is always driven by emotions, it is the judge's judgement which creates sides; Light and Dark."

The break in words would be a subtle pause, but one which allowed both of them to think for a moment.

"Jedi act on positive emotions, as is perceived and told by most. Yet it is the Sith who act on 'negative' emotions, true emotions and thus make them evil.."

Taking in a short breath of air her next statement was one she firmly believed.

"The Force has no side, it merely exists and caters to the Users will. It is on us to control the Force.. Not let it take hold of us."

 

[Xyrael]

True emotions? Saia thought, pinning down those two words and stewing them over in her mind. No emotion was true, all were lies which could be manipulated. Love made one just as vulnerable as hate; and because of this the Jedi had to train to be willing to sacrifice everything. Saia knew she would never be able to achieve that ideal, but she would strive to do so.

She could not help but shake her head now, though, as the words Master Remy spoke contradicted so fundamentally the Jedi Code which the Knight Aÿisha had taught her. Her eyes once again connected with the person she had once known, and she felt a gulf between them. "Control?" Saia retorted with conviction. "One can not control the Force," she said, shifting on her foot and pacing slowly to her right. The sky was darkening now, the last slivers of the sun slipping beyond the horizon or hidden past skyscrapers. "We are one with it, Master, did you forget? We can no more control it than it can control us."

 

[Rev]

As her former pupil began her short steps, so would the Master. Each step Saia took would bring Aÿisha in the opposite direction, forcing the two to form a circle. The young woman's words bounced off the skyscraper's open roof more than would could suspect. The breeze that had once flown so freely dieing down to nothing as silence took over.

"..Yes, my Padawan.. control."

As they circled the Sith Illusionist would conjure her magic. Illusia using her own memories combined with Saia's descriptions to create something the Knight could never expect; her family. Through sensory illusions the girl's mother and father would be put before her, as real as the day they were taken from her. It would only take a commanding control over the Force to separate such reality; they would appear real, but Saia's mind could easily break them.

"..We can more than control it, we can manipulate it, bend it, shift it to our will..."

Saia's mother would reach out to her, the light of the moon reflecting off her delicate and pale skin. Just as there would be contact the image would fade from existence, leaving behind the cool grace of the darkside. It was the desire to want, the need to ask for more, it was love in its most purest of forms.

"..it is seeing both sides of the Force that will open up your mind to what this Universe truly needs..."

 

[Xyrael]

The images played across her senses for what seemed like an eternity. Had she wanted to, she could have broken the spell; but she was caught up in the moment, enthralled by the images that spoke to her single greatest weakness, the cracks in her heart and mind that threatened to unleash the dam of emotion that she had spent years constructing.

Pent up inside of her, she could feel the tears welling up. As she saw her mother smiling to her, her mind's eye told her a different image. Wrestling with the icy hallucination of pain that ghosted along the scar of her back, she remembered.

She closed her eyes, hiding from the apparition that was her mother, reaching out to her just as she had so many years ago. A tear rolled down her left cheek, the spillway of her mind venting the pressure. Her former Master's words echoed through them like a phantom whispering through a veil. The glistening drop which hung on her cheek shone in the city lights for just a moment, the stale city air felt cold against it just as it took its plunge to the duracrete by her feet.

She felt a darkness like a tapestry of shadows wrap around her and chill her, and Saia let her hand extend out and feel the sheer, raw, carnal diorama of emotion from both within and without. In that moment of connection her mother faded, just as she had so many years ago, the essence of love and loss. She opened her eyes, forlorn and enlightened.

Sith... a voice in her mind cried out, like a blaring klaxon that sought to wake her. To save her. It was a memory lost, but now reconnected.

"No," she refused, struggling with her turmoil, clenching the pain and the betrayal, trying to bring back balance to herself. She glared at Aÿisha Remy, trying to understand the thoughts.

Run... the voice cried out again, Saia could identify it. A memory locked away in those parting moments. Run, Saia.

No.

She waited several long moments, taking each step she walked as a beat of a metronome designed to orchestrate the composition of her mind into logical thoughts and rational notions."My mind is open, I am who I want to be," she denied the phantasm that was Master Remy, still collecting herself, fighting back the anger inside of her, "and I will not betray myself." She found resolve in those last memories of her mother, finding in herself a realization that she could have never hoped to find alone. Master Aÿisha had taught her one last lesson, however unintended: give of yourself without reason.

Her mind shuddered and structure arose where there was none, a stubborn and absolute rejection of the darkness that spellbound her. A moment of clarity - her mind reached out for the lightsaber at her waist. It flung to her hand, though she did not ignite it. In her mind she knew that she could not defeat this, aberration. Several long moments would pass, her eyes still moist penetrating the air, searching her old Master, "Who are you?" she demanded an answer, anger seething at the notion that this being before her was Sith.

 

[Rev]

Piece by piece the picture was falling into place. It all started with the emotions that swelled from within Saia. Her face expressed everything her body felt as the darkside blanketed her delicate frame in its cryptic grasp. Watching from behind her own veil, Illusia tempted Aÿisha's old learner.

"No one is denying who you are.. No one but yourself. I can see your struggle, sense your internal fight.. I too questioned the truth when it was put before me, but the truth is undeniable... Irreversible."

Smiling at her comment of never betraying herself the Sith Lord could only let her thoughts amuse her. Not wanting to drag any of them into the light for the girl to see, it could break her knowing everything, it would surely reshape her.

"Betrayal? I seek not for you to turn your back on any other, and never against yourself, Saia."

The girls name would roll off Aÿisha's tongue like venom. It had an allure to it, spat with seduction, with familiarity, with a sensation of trust.. Yet, the darkside entwined itself around the single word; reaching for her.. teasing her. The next action wasn't expected, but it brought no surprise to the elder.

"Fear.. fear is a testament to humanity.. To life, to fear is to live.. How does it feel to finally live?"

Reaching to her own hip the familiar lightsaber would beckon to the Master's hand. Twirling the metallic between her fingertips the focusing lens would turn to a Jar'Kai; the beam if activated pointed down and towards the blade master as opposed to traditional up and at the opponent. The purple beam however, would never activate; waiting for the Jedi to make her move.

"..I am the Master you knew, and so much more.. my Apprentice."

The final word curled with anticipation, as if hoping it would break her old friend. Pausing, it was these words she expected to set Saia Typhelon over the edge.

"Aÿisha Remy.. She is dead."

 

[Xyrael]

Adrenaline rushed through her veins as she listened to the words, fear and anger resisting the order of her mind. A war raged across the landscape of her mind, emotions entrenched and bitterly battling against each other.

"...truth..."

The picture in her mind had shattered into pieces, her mind clinging onto that word, grasping at it. She knew to question it, an absolute was dangerous. To invoke the idea of truth was to imply that there was falsehood. The Jedi in her knew to deny this, but something more primal somehow clung to it. It was comforting to feel that there was something she could count on to be absolute.

"...Saia..."

Her former Master's words sung to her with a virulence that scourged across her mind, calling to her in a sickening fashion. Saia's pacing quickened, her heartbeat fluttering as she now stared into the eyes of a predator who seemed so familiar, so eager to embrace her.

"...fear..."

The word - like a spear - punched into her mind, threatening to shatter her mind. She closed her eyes, listening to Aÿisha speaking to her with poisonous words, trying to tune them out.

"...She is dead..."

The final words came into her mind, beckoning Saia to join what had been Aÿisha, calling her to the Dark Side that even now, like a ravenous beast, swirled around the creature before her. She could not see the evil, but in her mind's eye she saw and heard the voices of the Force speaking to her, savage and wicked.

Aÿisha Remy, Saia was now forced to admit to herself, had fallen also. Why, how - questions of the past.

"There is no emotion, there is peace," she whispered to herself softly, reciting the first mantra to herself, finding solace in it's constancy. She exhaled, facing her fear and knowing that only by triumphing over fear do people, even Jedi, truly find themselves.

"There is no ignorance, there is knowledge." The words offered her a moment to concentrate and focus, banishing from her mind the confusion that clouded her judgement. "There is no passion," her words seemed more stable now, and her finger moved to the switch, activating her saber. The blue blade cast its light upon the duracrete, shining brighter than the lights of the Coruscant skyline, shimmering like a star in the polluted worlds heaven. "There is serenity."

"There is no chaos, there is harmony," she said, stopping her pacing circle around her former master, around the dead Aÿisha Remy. Her blue eyes matched her blade, now filled with a resolve. She picked it up, planting her left foot forward, bringing the blade to the ready by her.

"There is no death, there is the Force," the final words struck Saia for a moment as she considered her own fate here on the platform. She exhaled another breath and looked to the Sith before her, for now there was no doubt now that this was what Aÿisha had become.

"Have you fallen so far, my Master," her voice filled with irony, "that you forgot the Code? The Force is my salvation, whom should I fear!?" she shouted defiantly, steeling herself for a battle she knew was coming. She could not allow Aÿisha Remy to leave this place, no. The blood that stained her hands would stain Saia's if she showed apathy now. She had to stop her, she had to bring her to justice, to stop her from committing crimes against that which she had once pledged herself to protect.

She tightened her grip, glaring at the aberration that now mocked her as nothing more than a lie.

 

[Rev]

As her old friend began to spit the pathetic code a different exchange of words would enter through Saia's mind. Every one of them riddled with allure, the next somehow more tantalizing than the last. Yet, throughout it all they radiated a cold dread.

"...Peace.. is a lie, there is only passion.."

As the 'words' entered Typhelon's mind her thoughts would be met with images. Every emotion the Sith Lord could pull from her mind flashing in nanosecond bursts. A collage of magic; love, hate, happiness, bitterness, and joy.

"Through passion, I gain strength."

'I' would come across with a different sound to it within herself. The voice of Saia Typhelon would come across, the instant impression of herself saying it giving way before the magician that was Illusia carried on. Her steps still soft, circling with patience as she stared across at her old friend, at her prey..

"Through power, I gain victory."

Again the same word would hit her with an awkward familiarity. The foreign thoughts forcing their way into her mind would be painful, but once she welcomed them the pain would ease. It was the ignition of her blue lightsaber which put emotion on the Sith Mistress' face in the form of a devilish grin.

"Through victory, my chains are broken."

Aÿisha looked out over the Coruscant skyline, just as her apprentice had. The setting behind her shimmered with life, the eerie light of building tops truly giving her the 'glow' of a Jedi Knight. At the close of the girl's code she would be hit with the Sith's final thoughts.

"...The Force shall free you..."

The thought which entered Saia's mind was a contrast to all the others. Aÿisha Remy's voice would be the final line, and a different tone her 'voice' would tell.

"Fallen? I thought you smarter than this, old friend!"

The break in her words lasted only a moment as she quickly continued on in hopes of swaying her old friends mind.

"The code means nothing, Saia, don't you see? No matter what your decision, no matter what your choice today there will be repercussions; Good and bad. The Jedi deliberate, the Council.. sits, and for it they fall. Do not be a fool like the rest of them, don't make the same mistake I did, my Padawan."

Holding firmly onto her own lightsaber, the blade still not activated she put forth a question.

"Tell me, before you do whatever it is you have planned.."

She would nod her head in indication of the lightsaber.

"If it were not for the Jedi telling you that the Darkside is evil.. That the Sith are evil, would you have your blade drawn upon me? A friend? Have I been aggressive? Or are you what the Jedi preach about?"

 

[Xyrael]

The maelstrom of emotions that washed over her mind gave the Jedi Knight pause. She wondered for a moment, rationalized to herself as the phantasms enticed her, why she had become a Jedi. Why she lived a life to help others, a life of service to the Force and to the Galaxy instead of a life to make herself happy. Was it truly so evil to care only for yourself? No...

She opened her eyes again, intently fixated on the blue, shimmering light of the saber, and she thought back again to the Temple, hidden behind a darkening veil of night just on the horizon, where her journey had first began. She was reminded of Akacen, and the first time she had explained her secret to him, and what she had felt about it.

All around her the universe suffered, those without the means to better themselves struggled. Those with the means squandered them. The Jedi themselves could not ensure that everyone was helped, but they tried. She shuddered to think of what the Sith, nay, what the creature before her that dared to call herself 'Aÿisha Remy' would do. Aÿisha had doubted her and Akacen when they stated, with resolve, that they wanted to help the weak. In her mind, Saia was forced to push aside the question: Had her Master always questioned the purpose of a Jedi?

"You are right, Master Remy. The Council sits, they do not take action. And yet, action must be taken. You're only mistake, Master Remy, is that you think the Jedi weak because they do not serve themselves," she exhaled calmly, controlling herself and calculating her words carefully. She was dealing with a Sith, not her former Master, of that much she was sure - and she understood perfectly how powerful it was. Still holding the shimmering blade, she continued, "I must try to stop you, Aÿisha. War is here, and if I do not, then the blood that stains your hands will stain mine, too. I am not the Council, I will not sit and wait. This is not about good and evil, this is about right and wrong. This is not about destroying the Sith, this is about protecting the weak. Make no mistake about that."

Readying herself, muscles flexing as she steeled herself, knowing full well that aggression was not a virtue upheld by the Jedi. But before her was a Sith, the enemy, a nation built upon merit and strength, everything the weak feared. Those she had sworn an oath to protect were dying, and somehow, somewhere deep in Saia's gut, she knew that the woman she once knew as Aÿisha was in part responsible for the greatest crime one could commit against another - war. "For treason, Aÿisha Remy, I must ask you surrender yourself to me."

And with those words she dropped her right hand, still holding the saber, to point down and towards her right, freeing her left hand, which was held ready to defend herself. Stepping forward with conviction and purpose, her soft footsteps seemed like thunder in the perverse silence of the Coruscant night, speeders like stars in the void, soundlessly slipping by far away, the tone set by the incessant thrum of energy from the blue laser extending from the hilt in her hand.

 

[Rev]

As her former Padawan spoke of the Council's inaction some happiness grew within the Sith Lord. Perhaps one of her strongest Padawan's could be swayed to the darkside, no.. Her side.

"You misinterpret me, Saia! Don't let the Jedi turn you against me.. I am against them not because they serve themselves, but because they do not serve at all. Hypocrites perched high upon their thrones.. While the weak suffer, plea for more they offer nothing but words.. Blasphemy that which they call guidance. Tell me once how they have served the people, old friend..."

Watching her friend prepare herself for battle saddened the Sith Lord. She did not want to fight the girl, that is not why she had come here. It was in that moment regret began to fill her own mind as it was clear Saia was beyond sight of the truth.

"You create war. And for what? Suspicions? Loyalty? Fear?"

The last word radiated the darkside. Each syllable slicing the air with unpure energy, a frozen dagger sent to exploit anything in its path. It was Aÿisha's own eyes that would scan the environment, the sun finally escaping the horizon and giving Coruscant and unworldly glow. The steeled Saia Typhelon stood before perhaps one of the most powerful beings in the Universe, and she stood as a Jedi. Curling her lips into an almost proud smile the Sith Lord spoke at the close of her old Padawan's words.

"You truly stand as a Jedi, Saia. Pride envelops my body at the sight of you.. of a Jedi..."

She would reach out, her hands expressing the joy her face barely could show. Squeezing her lightsaber with a surge of arrogance her pride filled lips turned into a sadistic frown.

"..Yet, so very disappointed. I- I am sorry for failing you, I can only hope I did not make the same mistake with another.."

The Force would lash out at Saia's toughness, the stern Jedi's thoughts of Akacen being ripped from her mind in a seconds notice. It was images the Sith Lord herself held of the three within the field so many years ago. The love she expressed despite ever knowing it, the Jedi Master could feel such things and now the Sith Lord would use them. Extending her hands out the purple beam of energy would explode outward with a hiss; the familiar blade at long last showing itself.

"..It is your move, Jedi."

 

[Xyrael]

The words spit out by the Sith spilled off her like water crashing against a strong, stone wall. There was no stopping her, she was determined, and the obstinate Jedi was difficult if not impossible to stop when she committed herself to a task. The final words, however, the thoughts that infiltrated her mind. They set her mind on fire with anger, her mind considering for but a fraction of a moment the thought of Akacen becoming what this creature had sought to make her.

That anger ripped through her muscles, and she could feel how it fueled her. Her mind struggled to stop it, to bring back the serenity that this creature had ripped from her mind, but to little avail. This Sith's power was formidable, and Saia was helpless but for one goal: stop the Sith before it could get to Akacen. Stop it before it could harm anyone else.

"No," the simple word was as much a retort of defiance to the Sith as to herself as at last she was in reach of the Sith Lord. "Enough!" she screamed, sweeping the blade up above her head, grabbing the hilt with both hands and striking downwards, stepping forward with her right foot in one fluid motion.

She was alone here, on this platform, facing a Sith Lord. Disguised and armed with a purple lightsaber, the familiar crimson callsign of the Sith lacking, there would be no passerby's calling for police to assist her. There would be no aid. She would fight knowing that there would be no help, knowing if she failed more would fall, and yet still struggling to contain her own passions which threatened to bring her down as well.

 

[Rev]

The Sith Lord stood her ground, taking in the raw emotions which filtered from the young woman's core. The mixture of fear, anger, love, and hate forming a unique flurry which embodied the Jedi Knight. As Saia's blade rose above her head, Aÿisha's prepared with anticipation.

The blue beam would cut through the air with speed and precision only to be met with the same. Illusia would step forward and with direction at Saia's right side. The fast paced step brought her within inches of her old friend in a moments notice all the while her own lightsaber rose in defense. As Saia's blade began its downward arc, Aÿisha's own would clash with it before redirecting away, putting the Sith in a 360 spin away from Saia by going around her back.

Coming to a halt distanced away and at Typhelon's back she stared forward with the focus of a killer. Each second the fear which poured from her old friend grew stronger. In the seconds of realization to what had occurred, Saia had shown both resolve and undeniable fear; both necessary in battle. Looking across at the Jedi, Illusia would grin back.

"..Will you kill me? Can you kill me?"