Ask In a Mirror, Darkly

[Crix Aran]

So, apparently, the planet with all the frogs? That he had been calling "Zeffo" this whole time? Turned out that it was actually a planet by the name of Bogano and the Zeffo referred to the fact that a Zeffo sage was the one who was apparently buried in the temple/tomb at the top of the hill he had seen in the distance. It seemed to him that it resembled a few lightsaber emitters he had seen in the past but he wrote that off as a flight of fancy; the Zeffo had been around before the Jedi and the Sith and before Lightsabers for sure.

Probably just a coincidence.

Red Lancer landed the ship without issue, fairly close to the base of the tomb but without going too close. Although it was very solidly built still, it was also a building that was several thousands of years old and being given even a love-tap by a modern freighter was likely bad for the structural integrity of the whole thing.

Thankfully Red Lancer's programming didn't fail them now.

Stepping out onto the grass of the planet, Crix could admit that he could feel... something. There seemed to be a weight of some kind that just radiated around the entire area. The closer he got to the tomb, the heavier it felt, as though the Force was trying to tell him something already - usually it only tried to tell him something when he was already either in danger or about to be. Puzzling but not unexpected it had to be said.

Thankfully he wasn't alone in trying to figure it out.

"Master Sati we're here - so what are we looking for again?" he shrugged once, "Other than giving off weird vibes, I'm not sure what we expect to find here."

@Killa Ree

 

[Indy Sati]

Unlike many other Padawans, there was a curiosity in Crix that Indy found endearing. Not many youths approached her, and if they did, it was normal to ask things that weren't in her specialty. But one word that mentioned 'Zeffo', and she flew over so fast she was afraid the ship would catch fire. Taking in a deep breath of fresh air, she couldn't help but smile slightly at the Padawan, staring at the monument before them.

"Hopefully, artifacts like a holocron, some sort of data..." she hummed, hands planted on her hips as she examined the remains. Like the young man, she could sense something heavy settled here; there were no sounds, and even the breeze felt heavy and flat, as though pressed down by a giant hand.

A sour note tanged through the Force, but she felt calm. It would make an ideal base, as well; if it proved to be structurally sound, perhaps they could make it into a stopping point for training purposes.

"What do you feel?" she asked him gently, yellow eyes sliding his way. He was perceptive, she wouldn't let her own judgments cloud his, but let him intuitively feel his way through with some slight guidance if needed.

@Nefieslab

 

[Crix Aran]

What did he feel?

Such a simple question and, yet, one that had an answer he wasn’t quite sure about. It was an answer that had come to him unbidden but the more he thought about it, the more he reached out with the Force, the more he could feel it. No longer could he ignore the conclusion he came to immediately just because he wasn’t sure if it made sense.

As was so often the case with Crix, the Force brought up a memory from his own life, translating what he was feeling in the Force to something more familiar.

… life day had always been a big thing for his mom and Crix didn’t really know why but he could tell it was by the way her face lit up every time he held one of the presents… the present in his hands was a box, wrapped up in bright red wrapping… a box as a present meant it could be so many things… he shook the box in his hands and heard something shaking before his mom, laughing, told him not to be a brat about it…

That was what the Force felt like to him when he thought about it, the memory that was called up to translate the Force to his mind. Relating it to a Life Day present from years ago. What did he feel?

“Possibility.” He answered with an iron-clad certainty that none of his other words had held before, “Not for treasure or danger – but just… Possibility, all on its own.”

He wasn’t sure what that actually meant, of course, but he didn’t think he really needed to know right now. Instead he started up the steep hill up toward the entrance to the tomb, using both his hands and feet when it became so steep he almost slipped back on the built up mud. Reaching the top, he would offer a hand to Indy to help her make it up without having to using her hands like he had.

@Killa Ree

 

[Indy Sati]

She smiled at his words; he really was perceptive. Beyond the Darkness that always touched the galaxy, there would always be the Light as well. The ambivalence of hope, expectance.. as he put it. Possibility. She took a deep breath, and for the first time in a while, lips drew into a full, genuine smile. Nodding in approval, she would let him continue.

Like many things in the galaxy, this place held possibility. For pain, possibly, but also great reward. The Force had an odd way of cycling back around to the same places, the same themes. Same as the Zeffo landing here with a thought and a dream in mind, so did they. And so when it came time to scale the muddy incline, she decided to show off a bit. Perhaps Hans' influence had rubbed off on her, but when it came to arriving, she allowed the Force to enhance her strength, coiling in muscles, bringing a lightness, a swiftness. But when Crix offered her a hand, she gave him a warm smile, and took it, ignoring the mud.

She had honestly little care for being dirty; she had spent weeks of time elbow-deep in dirt, sand, brackish water. This was a walk in the park. But like many others before them perhaps, they had arrived here, two disheveled pilgrims.

Before them, the massive doors the Zeffo were so fond of loomed before them, and she stared up at them in frank appreciation. However... now wasn't quite the time for sightseeing. Glancing to the Padawan, she offered him a faint grin, but shoulders were set in determination, and the mask of the Master settled over her expression.

"Help me open this?"

If he would affirm or not, she would begin, raising her palms. There was a curious resistance, a subtle push back through the Force. Frowning, she would continue through, feeling the door begin to shudder, to relent. "Guard your mind, Padawan," she made sure to state, allowing the calm to also descend upon her own thoughts. Better to be safe, and proactive in self-preservation, than to allow themselves to be caught off guard by whatever laid within.

She spent too many years raiding tombs, perhaps, but a bit of caution wasn't a bad shout.

@Nefieslab

 

[Crix Aran]

Dealing with Indy was different to how he dealt with other Jedi Masters in the Order, even different to how he treated Hans. With Hans there was an easy camaraderie that meant he could see the Council Member as something closer to a friend or an uncle who was particularly close to him. Indy was more like a reasonable authority figure; someone he was aware he should treat with the respect her position warranted but also someone who wasn’t going to be a karkhead about it if he didn’t.

Kind of like a fondness for a teacher or something he supposed.

Helping her up, he dusted his hands down, trying to get the worst of the mud off of his hands as he turned to take in the sight of the Zeffo tomb. The doors looked like they had been closed more recently than the majority of its time abandoned. Curious, Crix reached out and placed a hand on the doors, finding them to be a cold stone under his fingertips.

He nodded to Indy.

“Together then.”

The research he had done told him that the tomb responded to the Force rather than any mechanisms that could otherwise be broken or decay over time. Instead of opening like regular doors however, Crix knew from his research that the doors, despite appearing to be a big set of double doors, needed a different opening technique.

Reaching out with both hands, Crix grabbed the doors with the Force but rather than pulling or push them open he swung his hands to the right. He dragged not just the doors but the wall of the tomb as well, which rolled along smoothly on ancient lines and rollers as it twisted like a massive holocron, the wall sliding off to the right until an open archway stopped in front of them.

“I did my research.” He told Indy with a cheeky grin, “Figured might be a good idea with the Order’s historian watching me.”

The inside of the tomb looked rather small, with a domed ceiling above and a pillar in the middle with a narrow opening that led down, further, into the depths of the tomb. Even Crix was going to have to shimmy through the passage sideways it was so tight.

@Killa Ree

 

[Indy Sati]

She hummed once, pleased, at his helping her to slide the doors open. Like a well-oiled machine, for the first time in perhaps millennia the way had been opened. Dim, dank air sluggishly turned in the narrow corridor; at his words, she chuckled, nodding. "You did far better than most, then. Most wouldn't have even bothered with any research at all."

Taking a deep breath, she firmed her expression, yellow eyes glinting.

"But there is something down there... I'm not sure what it could be. But there's always the possibility." Giving a slight smile, she began to move further in, scanning the pillar, then the opening, before gripping the Fallen Blade and descending further down, a glow stick in her other hand to illuminate the way.

Sometimes, these ancient civilizations had a thing for subterranean tombs, she just hoped it wasn't another ancient zombie.

@Nefieslab

 

[Crix Aran]

“Aww shucks Master Sati, you trying to give me a big head?”

Grinned wide to show that he was having fun with her, Crix headed further into the tomb alongside her. Well, behind her really. The entrance to the second chamber of the tomb was rather narrow so he had to shuffle in rather than being able to just walk straight through. If he were any bigger he wouldn’t be able to even do that very well.

But he kept in shape and his mom’s genetics were top notch – he had inherited the Aran Family abs after all.

Stepping into the second room of the tomb, he frowned ever so slightly as the aura that he had been feeling before seemed to become suddenly ten times more focused. Ten times more focused and focused on a surface off to one side, a wall of bronze that seemed to have a mirror built into it from what he could see.

Staring at the wall, he approached it slowly, surprised to see that his reflection wasn’t actually there even as he got closer. In fact, it looked like the mirrored surface was less like a mirror and more like it was a crystal of some kind. Following his instincts, Crix reached out and touched it.

A flash in his mind, a series of visions and the pain of a sudden splitting headache.

In the space of a second the visions had been given and Crix flinched back, hand leaving the surface immediately as he just stared at the wall.

“W-what…? The hells?”

Possibilities… kark.

@Killa Ree

 

[Indy Sati]

The hall was a tight fit, and there were a few times she had to hunch her shoulders slightly not to get too scraped in the hallway. Of course, the Zeffo had to be skinny enough to make other races miserable; they seemed the arrogant type.

She paced in with Crix, and began moving to the other side, checking for doorways or other artifacts. The hairs tingled on the back of her neck, and she began turning around.

"Crix, don't touch--"

She saw the Padawan flinch back and she strode forward, frowning. Lightly touching his shoulder, it was a press to get him to turn around, concern clear in yellow eyes.

"What did you see? Do you feel alright?"

@Nefieslab

 

[Crix Aran]

What did he see?

Well wasn’t that such a simple question with an answer so far from simple it boggled his mind for a moment? He grimaced a little bit as visions swam in front of his eyes, pushing their way to the forefront of his mind, begging him to use their knowledge. Groaning in pain as his headache awoke with a vengeance, Crix closed his eyes tightly and breathed in deeply, slowly.

“Possible futures – so many of them.” He admitted with a grimace, “The headache, the pain, isn’t from the transfer its… there’s just so many different visions. Different splinters of possible futures.”

So many.

Without warning a vision began to form in his mind, having seemingly won the ‘battle’ to be at the forefront of his mind. In the real world his eyes began to glaze over, a fog of off-white grey covering them as he sank into the vision.

He was there, as though watching himself over his own shoulder as if he were in Third Person like an old Video Game. The Crix in the vision was older, however, slightly taller but with a heavily lined face. His lightsaber buzzed in his right hand and Crix couldn’t help but notice that he was standing in opposition to someone.

Hannibal.

His Master, largely untouched by the passage of time as Crix had been due to his species. But there was a tremor through the Force, deep in his hearts, that told Crix that the man stood opposite him was not his Master. No, there was a placid cruelty in those eyes that hadn’t ever been there before, a callous disregard for the suffering of others.

“Hannibal!” he called out, both in the vision and in the real world, his lightsaber finding its way to his hand in both worlds, the real and the vision, blade buzzing to life, “Enough of this, please! I am your friend!”

A whisper across the distance.

“You are not a friend, you are a lost little boy who latched onto me like a parasite when he feared his mother had left him. Put your blade away, little boy, you know you can’t stop me with your meager skills.”

A flash of irritation exacerbated by a spike of the Dark Side from the older Hannibal, an attempt at mental and emotional manipulation that the older Crix managed to turn aside deftly. There was… there was a lot of history in the way this older version of Crix was able to turn aside such an attack. It spoke of experience with this kind of thing in the past.

“I thought you might be able to get over yourself… over your own losses. To work past them like you helped me do – but I wasn’t banking on it.”

The two older figures lunged at one another with Makashi thrusts of their sabers, in the real world Crix doing the same. With his eyes clouded with the vision, Crix thrust himself forward at his opponent in the vision. He would thrust his blade directly into the wall to Indy’s right side before backing up, blocking and parrying in the Makashi style against an opponent not physically there.

@Killa Ree @Mr. Teatime (Sneaky AU Evil Hannibal Vision bruh)

 

[Indy Sati]

'Hannibal!'

The uttered name struck a note for the Jedi Master. She reached out through the Force, towards Crix's mind, but she would have to be careful, so careful, while he would be entrenched in a vision. She could hear what he said. His own losses? True, the other Master had lost much, but if this was a potential future...

"Crix," she called out to him, both with her voice and with the Force. A tenuous, light connection against his mind, against this splintered thought. "Come back. This is a vision. One of many. Return to me, and follow my voice."

Whatever was held in the mirror, whatever fears he had, she would help him face them.

@Nefieslab