The Darkening: Chapter Ten

In darkness one may be ashamed of what one does, without the shame of disgrace

Luke Skywalker is standing over the prone body of his nephew. He leans down, and peers closer, getting a close look at Jacen's features. His blue eyes taking in the trickle of blood that still slowly drips from Jacen's eyes and nose. He slowly blows his breath out, and stands up turning around the room, closing his eyes, stretching out with the Force, Luke tries to get a feel for what occurred here.

All he can sense is Jacen's desire, Jysella's fear and then the sudden burst of energy that is tinged with Jacen's pain.

"Hey Dad, you have any questions for Jysella or can I take her home now?"

Opening his eyes, he turns back to the doorway, where his son is leaning against the jamb. "Yes, I want to ask her a few questions."

He follows his son into the living room, and sees Jysella sitting on the couch, wrapped up in Ben's robes, her arms clutching her legs as she rocks slightly, resting her chin on her knees. Luke drags a chair over in front of her, and sits down.

"Jysella?"

Jysella raises her head, and looks at Luke, not saying a word. Luke hesitates a second, and then asks his first question. "Why did you come here?"

"I wanted to apologize to Jacen for what my dad did."

"Why do you think Jacen did this?"

As he watches her face, more tears start flowing from Jysella's eyes. "I don't know. I thought he was nice." Her body hitches with a sob. "I thought he liked me."

His son steps forward at this point. "That's enough Dad; I'm taking her home now. Any other questions can wait until later."

Without giving his father a chance to respond, Ben effortlessly picks Jysella up and cradles her gently in his arms, walking out the door. Luke frowns for a second, and then standing up, returns to Jacen's bedroom, wondering once again what would make Jacen act in such a manner.

Slowly circling the room, he starts looking at the various objects on the shelves, mementos of Jacen's five year journey of self-discovery. Most of these things Luke has never seen before, but one catches his eye. It is a book, bound in the skin of a falleen. Picking it up, he opens the cover, reading the title written in a unique rust-colored ink. The Weakness of Inferiors. Luke frowns, remembering the Emperor reading to him from this book, when he became the Emperor's apprentice.

Tucking the book underneath his arm, he turns back to his catatonic nephew. "Just what were you learning during those five years, and what have you been teaching my son?"

He doesn't receive an answer, and was not really expecting one. Sighing, he once more takes to scanning the artifacts on the shelves.

"Master Skywalker?"

Luke turns, and sees two medics standing in the doorway. "Yes?"

The closer of the two speaks again. "If you're finished, we'd like to take him to the medcenter for some tests."

Luke nods his head. "Yes, take him there, and thank you. I must go tell my sister now." With a heavy sigh, Luke walks past the medics and out of the house, nodding to the crime scene technicians as they walk past him, heading inside.

Luke starts walking towards the Jedi Temple, intent on putting the book into storage with other Dark Side artifacts. As he arrives at the special section of the archives, he slowly walks down the long hallway, and opens the door to the vault.

He frowns as red pulsing lights flow out from the closed vault. Pushing the door the rest of the way open, he sees the five Sith Holocrons he has recovered where all pulsing with that weird red glow. He throws up a shield as a wash of Dark Side energy flows over him. Quickly placing the book on a random shelf, he swings the door closed, and leans against it, wondering what has happened to activate those holocrons.

He closes his eyes, immersing himself into the Force, trying to wash his presence of the spiritual filth left over from the flow of dark energy; he can suddenly feel a sense of alarm from his son. Cursing, he runs from the vault, unaware as the door slowly creeps open behind him.

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Ben walks out the door of Jacen's house carrying Jysella. He looks down at her, noting the way she has cuddled her face into his shoulder. Once outside, he looks around at the slight crowd that had gathered with the arrival of the medics and crime techs. Frowning as he spots Kai and Merida in the crowd, he carefully puts Jysella into the passenger seat of Jacen's speeder.

A few minutes later, he lands the speeder in front of the Horn house. He rushes around to help her out, but by the time he gets to her side, she is already standing there, holding his cloak tightly closed around her. She glances up at him, a pain filling her eyes; to Ben she looks like a wounded whisperkit. "Can you stay with me for a little while?"

"I'd be happy to."

She gives him a weak smile that does not reach her eyes, and opens the door to the kitchen. Sitting there at the table is her mother, who has obviously been crying. As the door opens, Mirax looks up and sees the two teenagers standing there. She jumps up and rushes to her daughter, hugging her tight.

"Where have you been?"

Jysella ignores her, and walks past, keeping her head bowed. Ben watches as the door to the hallways closes, and then turns towards her mother. "Apparently Jacen tried to rape her this evening."

"What?"

As Mirax returns to her seat, Ben sits down heavily in the chair next to her. "I know, I'm having a hard time believing it myself. I knew he was interested in her, because we had an argument about it, but I-" Ben stops here for a second, then resumes speaking on a different tangent. "To protect herself she used the Force to basically lobotomize him."

A few minutes later, Jysella returned to the kitchen, dressed in a nightgown. She walks over to Ben's side, her voice barely audible. "Please come and sit with me."

Ben stands up, and follows after her. They arrive at her room, and Ben slips into the chair by her desk. Nearly as soon as her head touches the pillow, she is asleep.

After about a half hour, he reaches out with the Force, and feels how deep of a sleep she is in. He walks to her bedside, and brushes the hair from her face. Then he gently kisses her forehead and starts to turn around. As he faces the nightstand, he notices that there is a box sitting there, emitting a red pulsing light. He pauses for a second looking at the box, and then completes his turn, running straight into Corran Horn.

"Why are you in my little girl's room?"

"She had a rough day, and she asked me to sit with her until she fell asleep."

Ben watches as Corran's hand tightens on his saber, and allows his own hand to slide that way. He sees Mirax appear in the open doorway. "Corran! Where have you been? I've been trying to get in touch with you all day."

Corran ignores her questions, and keeps his focus on Ben. "I told you to stay away from her. She's mine." With that said he ignites his lightsaber and attacks.