The Darkening: Chapter Fifteen

Hope begins in the dark, the stubborn hope that if you just show up and try to do the right thing, the dawn will come. You wait and watch and work: you don't give up.

Jysella slowly comes to, tucked between the crisp sheets, the clean antiseptic smell telling her that she is in a hospital. A dull ache in the back of her head makes it hard to think straight, but Jysella can't help but feel like something is missing, that some fundamental part of her is gone.

She lets out a small groan, and someone places a cool, moist rag on her forehead. She opens her eyes and finds herself looking at her mother. "Mom?"

Mirax gives her an abbreviated smile, one filled with equal parts happiness and pain. "Shhh. Rest yourself, and save your strength."

Jysella nods her head, and then the image of Ben screaming in pain flashes through her mind, and she sits up, the world wavering in and out as her body rebels at the quick movement. She grabs her mother's arm. "Ben! Is Ben okay?"

Mirax calmly pushes Jysella back down onto the bed. "Calm down Jysella. Master Skywalker will be here shortly to talk to you I'm sure. He'll answer your questions."

Jysella can feel the tears as they start to flow. "Please tell me that Ben is okay. Please?"

Mirax looks at her daughter for a second, and then turns from her, going to the door. "I'll send Luke in."

Then she is gone, leaving Jysella alone in the room. Then a horrible realization strikes Jysella, she could not feel her mother at all in the Force.

She could not feel the Force.

She reached out, but where once a great, warm rushing river of life, love, happiness and hope greeted her there was nothing but an echo of the Force, a dim reflected memory of what used to be. She slips out of the bed, steadying herself on the nightstand as vertigo grips her. Then she walks to the window, looking out at the grounds surrounding the medical center.

In the distance she can see the Jedi Temple, and notices the long blackened furrows scribbled down the side of the various towers. The sound of the door opening behind her drags her attention away from the temple, and she slowly turns to see Master Skywalker standing in the doorway.

"How are you feeling Jysella?"

"How's Ben? Please tell me."

Luke sighs, and closes the door gently behind him. Then he slips into the lone chair in the room. "How much do you remember since you returned from your trip to the Errant Venture?"

Jysella covers her face with her hands as images assault her. Her voice is a weak whisper. "Everything." She slides her hands down from her face. "Master, what is wrong with me? Why did I do those things?"

"Fear is the path to the Dark Side. Fear leads to anger. Anger leads to hate. Hate leads to suffering."

Jysella starts crying once more, her entire body shaking with her remorse. "Please tell me he's okay. Tell me that I was able to save him; that I didn't destroy everyone around me."

Pain flickers across his face, and he takes a deep breath, slowly letting it out. "We're not sure yet if he's going to make it. He's not responding to Bacta, and Cilghal is trying everything possible." Luke glances at the wall for a second, and then back at her. "Can you walk?"

Jysella looks up at him, wiping away her tears, even as new ones appear. "I-I think so."

"Then follow me."

Luke stands, and leaves the room, Jysella walking behind him gasps as she leaves her room, the Force flooding into awareness again. She turns back for a second, and then once more follows Luke. The entire trip, she keeps her head lowered and does not ask any questions. They arrive at their destination, and Jysella starts to bite her lower lip. Fear grips her heart as she stares into the vault which once held the Dark Side artifacts.

Jysella rubs her shoulders, attempting to warm herself. "It's so cold."

Luke nods his head. "The Dark Side of the Force is strong in there. Into the vault you must go."

Jysella feels like Luke had just slapped her. "In there?"

"Yes."

"What's in there?"

Luke almost breaks a smile, but Jysella has the feeling that the almost smile is not meant for her. "Only what you take with you." Then Luke leans against the wall, and closes his eyes.

Jysella watches him for a moment, and then turns and steps into the room.

The dark feels palatable to her, like something alive crawling over her skin, clawing at her, trying to find a haven for its evil. Though she knew that the entire temple was climate controlled, the chill she felt in the hallway just grew stronger. The feeble light from the hallway, almost seems swallowed whole by the room, adding to the feelings of despair haunting her.

She finally makes it to the center of the room, and a dark shape emerges from the shadows. The shape glides towards her, and she notices that whoever it is, is wearing a heavy cloak with a cowl that obscures the face. Terror grips Jysella's heart and she reaches down for her saber, before realizing that it's not there.

The voice that comes from the cloaked figure is harsh, and barely above a whisper. "Peace is a lie. There is only passion. Through passion, I gain strength. Through strength, I gain power. Through power, I gain victory. Through victory my chains are broken. The Force shall free me."

Then the figure throws back the hood, and Jysella finds herself staring at her own face, except her features are twisted by anger and hate, and her eyes are yellowed and bloodshot. Jysella steps backwards as her shade steps towards her.

Finally she throws her arms up over her head and sinks to her knees. "No! Go away!"

"I can't I am a part of you, just as you are a part of me."

Jysella looks up. "What?"

The shade kneels down in front of her, taking up her hand. "Ben's sacrifice saved you from the Dark, from becoming me. Yet I will always be there, lurking just beneath the surface, ready and waiting to get out. Won't you let me out?"

Jysella nods her head in understanding. "And it is up to me, to make sure Ben's sacrifice was not in vain. To ensure that I keep you where you belong."

With a smile, the shade fades away, disappearing as if she was nothing more than a mist. Jysella stands up and walks back into the hall, her head no longer bowed. Luke is leaning against the wall, his blue eyes shining.

"I failed when presented with such a test. I am proud that you did not."

"What did it all mean Master?"

"It means that you have a lot of hard work ahead of you, as you finish training to be a Jedi. A lot of hard work as you fight daily with yourself to keep the Dark Side in check, to keep it from engulfing you."

Jysella bows in Luke's direction. "Thank you Master."

Luke turns and walks away and up the stairs. Jysella slowly spins around and stares once more into the dark, into that seductive room. Then she turns from it, and walks up the stairs and into the light.

The Darkening: Chapter Fourteen

Love knows no limit to its endurance, no end to its trust, no fading of its hope; it can outlast anything. Love still stands when all else has fallen.

Five minutes ago, the sun was shining, and there was not a cloud in the sky. As far as the eye could see, the blue expanse was unbroken except for the yellow-orange ball which is Ossus' sun.

In the space of that five minutes, the sky has darkened, the sun blotted out by rolling, dark-grey clouds. Every sentient that was outside for some reason in the city that surrounds the Jedi Temple, has stopped and watches the rolling mass of clouds, the vertex of which is the Jedi Temple itself.

As the first lightning strike rips from the clouds and smash into the side of the temple, a superstitious awe rolls across the sentients of Ossus. The crack of thunder that follows in the immediate aftermath of the lightning strike makes those who were unaware of the darkening sky jump in surprise and fright.

Even though the clouds look bloated and full of rain, no drops fall. The only thing that comes from those clouds are the bolts of lightning, striking the Temple again and again and again.

---------------------------------------

Ben is staring into the vault as the first lightning strike hits the Temple, causing the lights in the hallway to flicker. With the next strike, the lights die entirely. After a few moments, an eerie red glow starts to appear in the vault, and Ben steps forward.

As he looks around the walls, he sees numerous boxes, which are the source of the room's illumination. Jysella is floating about a third of a meter off of the ground in the middle of the room, her eyes closed, and an odd red mist writhing around her form, an ecstatic expression on her face.

A scuttle of movement behind him, and Ben twists, nearly screaming out in pain due to his stomach wound. As the blackness fades back, he notices that the door to the vault has swung shut.

"Jysella?"

Ben watches as she slowly lowers to the floor, and opens her eyes. He shivers at the fire that flashes in them, their reptilian, yellow tinge causing an instinctive fear to rise in his stomach.

"Hello again Ben. I'm sorry, but you already had your chance with me."

Ben shakes his head. "That's not why I'm here. I'm here to help you."

"I don't want or need your help Ben. The power is mine!"

Jysella throws out her hand, and lightning writhes down it, flying straight for Ben. In an instant he has his saber up and is deflecting the blast towards the ceiling.

As he focuses on keeping his blade up under Jysella's onslaught, a fork of lightning shoots out from a nearby holocron, it's tendrils wrapping around Ben, who screams and falls to the floor, dropping his saber.

As the lightning fades, Ben weakly lifts himself to his knees, and two different holocrons fire lightning at him. He collapses back to the ground, curling into a fetal position. Finally the lightning once more fades away, the scent of ozone hanging strongly in the air.

Ben has his eyes shut tight, fighting his body's desire to give into shock and the pain. He opens his eyes and looks up at Jysella. "Is this what you wanted? Is this who you want to be?"

For a second, Ben sees a flicker of indecision, a brief moment of humanity in her reptilian eyes. Yet it came and went so fast, that he has to wonder if he imagined it. A sneer flows onto her face, as she replies to Ben's questions. "It is who I asked to be. I wanted the power; I had to take the power. And then I had to punish those who mistreated me."

Horror once more fills Ben at those final words. "Kai and Keira. You killed them."

A laugh that sounds nothing like Jysella erupts from her throat. "Of course I did. And don't forget Corran and Merida. Oh wait, they've not found her yet have they."

Ben leverages himself up into a sitting position. "And Jacen?"

Once more that laughter rolls out, a deep masculine laugh. "Jacen thought there was no Dark Side, no Light Side. So of course I had to show him just how wrong he was."

Ben heaves himself to his feet, wavering slightly, before he is able to once more steady himself. Gingerly, he touches the lightsaber wound on his stomach, and pulls his hand away at the stickiness. He sighs as he realizes that the contortions his muscles went through under the lightning barrage opened the wound again.

"Yet, you never did answer my question; is this who you want to be?"

Ben watches as Jysella lowers her head. "No…Yes. Yes, it is who I want to be." Then she raises her head again, and Ben notices a lone tear running down her cheek.

"I don't think it is."

Jysella's clenches her fist, and her arms begin to tremble with the exertion which she holds them. She speaks through clenched teeth. "What you think is immaterial."

Ben takes a step forward, closing the distance between them. "I think you just wanted to be accepted and loved. The same as everyone else."

As he watches another tear escapes from her eyes. "No! No! No! No!" Each exclamation is punctuated by a swing of her long brown hair. "I wanted revenge and power!"

Ben finally closes the distance, and brushing through the red mist, which withers at his approach, he wraps her in a large hug. He places his mouth next to her ear. "I would accept and love you."

He pulls his head back slightly, and looks into her eyes, noticing they are now tear-filled and their normal green. Her voice is weak and watery. "Ben?"

He smiles down at her. "I'm here. I told you I'd stay with you."

Her body hitches with a sob, and then her eyes flicker yellow once more. "No! She is a child of the Dark! You do not get her back!"

Jysella places her hand against his chest, and pushes with the Force, throwing him backwards. Ben lands against the shelves, knocking various artifacts to the floor. As he once more gains his feet he turns towards Jysella. "Get out of her. She doesn't want you there."

"She no longer has a choice."

Ben steps forward once again, and a holocron sends lightning at him. Then another. Then another. Before long, he is writhing on the floor, trying to dispel the effects of the attacks. He looks up to Jysella and gasps out. "You can stop this Jysella. I have faith."

Then the rest of the holocrons start pouring their lightning into Ben, who opens his mouth and starts to scream.

-------------------------------------------------

The scream cuts through the fog that Jysella had been in for so long, and she looks around the dim room, and sees a picture from her nightmarish vision; Ben being attacked by various holocrons.

She reaches down and grasps her saber, and ignites it. She is startled slightly by the silvery-pink blade that comes forth. Then ignoring the color of her blade, she slams the saber into the closest of the holocrons. The explosion of the holocron buffets her, and showers her with shrapnel, but she pays no attention, but instead swings her blade at the next one. And then the next.

She quickly disposes of the holocrons, and then drops to Ben's side, lifting his still form into her arms.

"Ben? Please Ben, don't die. Please!"

She drags her eyes away from Ben, as the vault door once more swings open, the light shining from the hallway beyond momentarily blinding her. Then she hears the voices of both of Ben's parents as they cry out his name.

As his mother takes Ben from her arms, Jysella becomes aware of the multitude of pains and aches and wounds she has. She struggles to stand, but the exertion proves too much, and darkness claims her.

The Darkening: Chapter Thirteen

You have conquered, and I yield. Yet, henceforward, art thou also dead - - dead to the World, to Heaven, and to Hope! In me didst thou exist - - and, in my death, see by this image, which is thine own, how utterly thou hast murdered thyself.

As she stands over the dead body, flashes of memory come to her, a series of nightmare realizations; ones which she wishes she could wake up from. Yet as the memories of killing Kai and Corran fill her head, all she wants to do is cry.

Glancing around, she notices that no one is around, and she quickly runs back to her room, back to the Custodian.

Once there, she notices the calm, smug expression on his face. "What have you done to me?"

"Merely what you asked me to do."

"I didn't ask for you to make me kill my father or the girls from school."

The Custodian lets out a laugh. "That is not what you asked for? You asked for the power to be liked, to be accepted. I taught you how to use that power, how to take that power for yourself. You killed those others yourself"

"I don't want power. I want my daddy back."

A gnarled finger points out towards her. "This is the life that you chose Jysella. There is no turning back."

As the Custodian speaks these words, Jysella finally drops the bloody knife and sinks to her knees crying. As she kneels there sobbing, she is unaware as yet another red mist starts to ooze from the holocron, slowly approaching her.

----------------------------------------------------------------

Ben sits at his desk, staring at a flat image of the burn pattern on Kai's head. He knows he recognizes that particular marking style from somewhere, but where just refuses to surface. Frustrated he tosses the images to the surface of the desk and stands up, just as someone knocks on his bedroom door.

He opens it to a Jysella who is smiling at him coyly. He looks her up and down, noticing that she is once more dressed in a short halter top, and skin tight pants. In her hands she is holding the puzzle box which she brought back from the Errant Venture.

He smiles at her, happy for the distraction. "Hey Jysella, how are you?"

She doesn't answer, just walks into the room, and closes the door behind her. He watches her as she carefully, almost reverentially sets the box down on his desk and then turns to him. As she stalks closer to him, he steps back, unsure of what is happening, of where this is going.

Finally she gets close enough, and tosses her arms around him, dragging their bodies together. She presses her lips against his, aggressively kissing him. At first he is surprised, shocked at what is happening.

Then he remembers that he likes this girl, and begins kissing her back.

Then he hears a ripping sound, and a sudden blast of cold air, shocks sense into him. He pulls away from her and looks down, seeing that she has ripped his shirt open. He looks up at her, as she once more has that coy smile on her lips, and she quickly lifts her halter top off.

Ben closes his eyes and takes a deep breath, calming himself. "Jysella please, put your shirt back on."

He gasps as she presses herself against him, and begins nuzzling his neck. "Don't you like me Ben?"

"Yes, I do, a lot, but this isn't how things are supposed to happen."

She moves from his neck to his ear. "If you liked me, then why wouldn't things happen like this?"

Ben takes a step back away from her, and once more closes his eyes. He takes another deep breath, focusing on that simple act. "No. This isn't how this should happen."

Then he can feel a flash of fire ripping across his chest. Looking down, he sees four long, deep furrows going down and across his chest, just beginning to ooze. He looks at Jysella's hand, still hooked into a claw shape. Then up into her eyes, and takes another step back as he sees the reds and yellows, where normally a beautiful green is.

"I thought you loved me Ben! I thought you accepted me and wanted me!"

Then she stretches out her hand, and a blast of Force lightning flows down her arm and sends him flying against the wall. Jysella lifts her saber, looking at the carefully polished silver handle. Then she activates it, and a silver blade shoots out, a silver blade with an odd reddish tint to it.

She steps forward, her face a mask of hate and pain, and stabs Ben in the stomach.

Through the burning fire in his gut, he can hear Jysella's words. "Why couldn't you love me Ben?"

----------------------------------------

Jysella comes to walking up the steps to the Jedi Temple. Odd flickers of a memory of kissing Ben in her head. She frowns at what it all means, and begins making turns through the building on instinct. Following some sense of where she should be going.

Finally she enters the archives, but instead of heading towards Tionne's desk, she turns down the stacks, and follows a hallway that is rarely used.

Finally she comes to a heavy door, set into what appears to be the bedrock of the planet itself. Yet for all that this area of the temple appears to be rarely used, for how heavy the door appears, even though there is an advanced cipher lock attached to it, the vault door hangs open.

Jysella steps forward and pulls the heavy door towards her, throwing it open wide. Something in this room beckons her, calls to her, needs and accepts her. Without bothering to turn on the light, she steps forward, and is soothed by the glow of the numerous red lights that appears along side the walls.

She focuses on one of them, and sees a holocron with markings similar to hers. She smiles and caresses the device, feeling a surge of power as she does so. She lets out a laugh, and sits in the midst of them, allowing the power and the darkness to fill her.

----------------------------------

Ben wants to scream, yet he knows that will take too much energy. Energy he desperately needs if he is to save Jysella. He pushes himself up, the wound to his stomach sending waves of agony through him.

He staggers forward, catching himself before he falls. Finally he achieves balance and carefully strides from the room, picking up his saber on the way. As he slips into the speeder he closes his eyes and stretches out with the Force, trying to find Jysella.

A flash of Hapan marble fills his mind, and he turns towards the Temple, noticing the spire of Hapan marble as it stands shining in the afternoon sun. Nodding to himself, he turns on the landspeeder and pulls back on the stick, launching the speeder into the air.

Driving recklessly, he swings around traffic, not caring about his own safety, just about getting to the Temple as fast as he possibly can. Yet even as he speeds around others, he can't help but feel that he is already too late. That something irreversible has occurred.

Finally he arrives at the Temple, and he parks the speeder right in front of the steps, ignoring the looks he receives from other Jedi standing nearby. As he jumps out of the landspeeder, and the pain of his landing sends him to his knees, he finally realizes where he had seen that particular burn pattern before.

Jacen.

Most specifically, he had seen them on Jacen's head after Jysella had lobotomized him with the Force. Muttering a number of curses as he once more gets himself into a standing position, he closes his eyes, trying to sense Jysella.

After a moment of searching, he finds her presence, a silvery-line, with red highlights and a black core. Nearly crying at what he fears those colors mean, he traces the line of where she has been, and slowly walking the halls, taking what appears to be random turns.

Finally he stops and opens his eyes, his heart dropping in his chest as he stares into the black interior of the Dark Side Objects vault.

The Darkening: Chapter Twelve

Holding anger is a poison. It eats you from inside. We think that hating is a weapon that attacks the person who harmed us. But hatred is a curved blade. And the harms we do, we do to ourselves.

“Ben, get up.”

Ben wearily sits up in his bed, and gives his father the glare that his Uncle Han taught him last year. Luke ignores it.

“Come on son, there’s been another murder.”

Ben glances at the chrono, noting the horrid hour it reads. “Corran was only six hours ago.”

A sad look crosses his father’s face. “I know. Now come on.”

With that the Jedi Master stands up and walks from the room, his shoulders hunched as if he’s bearing a horrid burden on them. Ben watches for a moment, then gets dressed and follows his father out of the room. Together they walk out the door, and get into Luke’s speeder.

A short trip made in tense silence follows, and Ben considers it none too soon when they land in front of the Academy’s Dormitory. He jumps out of the speeder, and walks to where the crime scene technicians have already set up the ultra-bright field lights.

He frowns slightly as he looks at the shattered form of Kai Andur. Bending down, he closes his eyes and sinks into the Force. When he looks at the body through the Force he is surprised to see how twisted it has become around the body, blackened and corrupted. He opens his eyes once more and notices the slight amount of blood coming from the girl’s nose.

He turns towards the technician and gets a sterile glove, and slips it on his hand. Then he reaches over and brushes the bangs off the girl’s forehead, and sees the blackened burn. “Dad what do you make of this?”

Luke kneels down, and his eyes narrow as he sees the burn. “It looks almost electrical in nature.”

“Something about this just seems so familiar.”

Ben stands back up and looks around the area again; trying to find something, anything that would clear up the confusion he is feeling. Sighing, he walks to the dormitory entrance and makes his way to Kai’s room, hoping to find some clue there.

-------------------------------------------------

Jysella rolls over and looks at the chrono, noting that it is now the time that she should get up to head towards her first class. Instead she rolls back over, the pain of her father’s death slamming into her. She lifts her head and glances at the blanket covering the window where Ben threw him out just a few hours ago. After a second, she plops her head back down on the pillow, closes her eyes and let’s sleep claim her once again.

What feels like moments later, someone is shaking her and telling her to wake up. She rolls over opening her eyes in the process and sees her mother standing over her. When he mother sees her open her eyes, she lets go of her shoulder.

“You have a visitor.”

“Who?”

“Ben.”

Jysella sits up and looks around for her robe, spying it on the chair she quickly gets out of bed and wraps it around her. Then she walks into the other room, wincing at the sun shining through the windows. Ben sensing her presence turns around, and walks over to her.

“How are you feeling?”

“Like death warmed over.”

Ben nods his head and looks down at the floor. “I just wanted to stop by and tell you that I’m sorry about your dad.”

Jysella feels that cold anger grips her again, and pushes it down slightly. “Thanks Ben.”

After an awkward second, he speaks again. “We found Kai dead this morning.”

Jysella covers her mouth with her hand and sits down on a chair. After a second, she starts rubbing her face and then stands up again. “Thanks for telling me. I’ll, I’ll see you later.”

Then she spins and walks away, leaving a confused Ben staring after her as she disappears into her room.

As soon as she latches the door behind her, the Custodian appears. “Does something trouble you?”

“Just my dreams.”

The Custodian nods his head again. “Yes, dreams can be troublesome. Of course I can teach you the power to fulfill your dreams. To ensure they come true, to ensure that you reach and take whatever your desire is. The power to rule everything could be yours.”

Jysella looks at the holocron, a sinking feeling in her chest. “I never wanted power. I just wanted to be liked.”

Then the holocron flashes a deep burgundy and Jysella sees Ben lying on the ground, a lightsaber wound to his stomach. As she watches he struggles to get up, and then limps into a second room. She follows, dragged along by the vision itself. To her horror she sees him surrounded by multiple holocrons, all shooting lightning out at him. He writhes under the onslaught from the devices, his mouthed opened in a scream that she can’t hear.

It seems to her that the attack goes on for hours, but finally the last holocron stills, leaving Ben’s burnt and twisted body smoking slightly on the ground of the room.

Jysella doubles over trying her best to not throw up. She looks towards the Custodian. “I don’t want this to happen.”

A downcast expression crosses the Custodian face. “Nothing can stop that now Jysella.”

Jysella turns to look at the Custodian a sense of disbelief filling her. As her eyes fall on the holocron, she notices the red glow is brighter than normal. She steps forward slightly, and a red mist starts oozing out of the box, and sinuously wraps itself around her legs, crawling up her body.

She shakes her head and starts stepping back, drawing the mist with her. Some slips up under her tunic, burning her skin where it touches, the rest moves along the outside, until it reaches her face at the same time Jysella backs herself into a wall.

When she opens her mouth to scream, the mist darts in, and she is lost to unconsciousness.

-----------------------------------------------

Once more the hunter finds herself looking for prey. This hunt is more dangerous as it is in the midst of the day, the bright sun will reveal her to those who wish to stop her. She calmly walks through the streets, trying to find her prey.

She smiles a feral grin as she sees the arconian girl who is her prey this time. As she watches, she thanks the Force as the prey separates from the group she is with and heads towards the smaller houses on the outskirts of the temple grounds.

The hunter follows, closing quickly, yet with such stealth that most never notice her past. She pulls out the long bladed knife as she nears the girl, and quickly slams it to the hilt in the girl’s side. It is an expertly placed cut, sliding between ribs and severing the heart and lungs.

She smiles as the girl drops to the ground, dead before her knees even began to buckle.

This time Jysella does scream as she wakes. Yet the bright sunshine, and the fact that she’s standing tell her that she’s not in her room. Not wanting to look down, but needing to know exactly what she is holding, she lowers her head and sees the knife from her dream clasped in her hand.

A hand covered in blood.

The Darkening: Chapter Eleven

Darkness devours every shining day.
Darkness demands and always has its way.
Darkness listens, watches, waits.
Darkness claims the day and celebrates.
Sometimes in silence darkness comes.
Sometimes with a gleeful banging of drums

Corran's first blow staggers Ben backwards. As he pulls his saber away, Ben lunges forward, swinging his blade low at the older man's feet.

Corran catches the blade, and then kicks Ben. Ben stumbles backwards, and then grabs the chair he was sitting in earlier and throws it at Corran. Corran slices the chair in half, and begins walking towards Ben.

Ben takes a step back, and readies himself for another attack. He glances over at the bed and sees Mirax holding Jysella, both of them with terrified expressions on their face.

Corran rushes Ben again, his saber coming in from a wild overhand attack. Ben sidesteps, and grabs Corran in the Force, flinging him through a window and out into the yard.

Ben steps out through the broken window, walking towards Corran, anger clouding his features.

"What's your problem Master Horn?"

Corran looks up, a trickle of blood coming from his nose. "You."

Ben watches as the older man struggles to stand, and once he gets to his feet, he ignites his saber. Ben steps forward quickly, swinging his blade from left to right.

Corran parries the blow, and ducks down picking some dirt up and tossing it into Ben's eyes. Ben lets out a low growl of frustration, and ducks as the Force directs.

Blinking the last of the dust from his eyes, Ben stomps forward, his blade moving lightning fast; a flurry of strikes going from left to right and then back.

Corran deftly catches each attack, and steps away from Ben slightly. The two fighters assume mid guards, slowly circling one another, their blades silver and blue beacons in the night.

Suddenly a third figure lands in between them, his green blade shining brightly. Luke looks between the two fighters, anger coating his voice. "What are the two of you doing? I thought I broke this up earlier today?" He then rounds on Corran. "And you where supposed to show up at my office for a discussion on your actions."

Ben glances over his shoulder, noticing Mirax and Jysella standing on the porch still holding one another. He glances back towards his father, shutting down his blade.

Luke speaks up once more. "Ben, your side of the story."

"I brought Jysella home, and she asked me to sit with her until she fell asleep. I was getting ready to leave when Corran walked in and attacked me."

Luke turns towards Corran. "Corran?"

"I got home, and went to check on my little girl and found him kissing her. I don't want him around my little girl."

Luke raises an eyebrow. "Corran, are you drunk?"

Corran looks away. "No."

"And just how much have you had to drink today?"

"What are you my nursemaid?"

Ben takes a step back, his eyes widening slightly as Corran steps towards Luke, his saber rising in an attack. Luke calmly looks at him, and then yanks the saber from Corran's hands with the Force. Luke opens up the saber, and removes the focusing crystals. Closing it, he tosses it back to Corran, who fumbles the catch and drops the lightsaber to the ground.

"I'm keeping this until you've sobered up and came to talk to me."

Corran turns from them both, and stalks into the night. Luke looks on sadly as the man walks away and then turns to his son. "Come on son, we're going home."

Ben nods his head, and then walks back to Jysella, taking her hand in his. "You going to be okay?"

She mutely nods her head and looks up at him, her eyes once more showing her pain. "I, I think so. Will you come by tomorrow?"

Ben smiles at her. "Yes, I'd be happy to."

Then he turns back towards his father, and follows him home.

--------------------------------------

She is tracking her prey this time. The scent of numerous fermented beverages is strong and getting stronger as she closes in on her prey. She smiles as she finally creeps through a set of trees, and spies her prey.

The smile quickly dies as she realizes just what sorry shape Corran Horn is in. He is leaning up against a building, a bottle of cheap whiskey clutched loosely in his hand as he snores lightly. Anger and disgust explodes in her at the sight of him. He is supposed to be a hero, a protector and flawless. Yet what she sees now is a sorry drunk, unfit to be around.

She steps up to him, not bothering to remain silent, yet he is so drunk he doesn't even notice. When she gets close enough, she leans down and rakes her nails down the side of his face. The shock of pain is enough to cut through his drunken stupor and his eyes shoot open.

As he focuses on her, she feels disgust at the perceived lust that flashes in his eyes. She slaps him harder across the same cheek she had just scratched and he calls out in pain. Finally recognition dawns in his eyes and she smiles at him.

Making a short tsking noise, she reaches out and places her hands on either side of his head. He looks at her, an expression which almost makes her laugh. He is talking and she hears his words, but does not understand them, but she can tell that they are questioning.

Her smile broadens as she realizes that he's trying to ask her what she is doing.

Then with a flash of lightning, she lets her hate and disgust rush out of her hands as Force lightning. She feels an odd sense of pride as he doesn't scream out or curse, just shakes slightly and then collapses into a heap, black wisps of smoke coming from his temples.

She leans closer to him, a twisted smile tugging at the corner of her lips. An odd chirping noise attracts her attention.

And then she sits up in her bed, yet another scream on the tip of her tongue. She looks around the room, her eyes wide and the fear pounding in her heart, as the door annunciator lets out a loud chirp once more.

She slips out of the room, and stands in the dark hallway and watches as her mother invites Master Mara Jade into the house. Part of her wants to return to her room and bed, but the look on the woman's face causes her to stay where she is at and eavesdrop on the conversation between the two women.

"What can I do for you tonight Mara?"

"It's about Corran."

"Did he attack someone else?"

Mara pauses for a second, causing Jysella's heart to drop even further as she remembers the dream she was having when she was awakened.

"No, someone or something killed him. A large electrical current through the head."

Mirax's cry of grief cuts Jysella to the heart, and she quickly retires to her room, the pain and anguish engulfing her.

As she enters the room, she once more picks up the holocron, and taps the top, allowing the hologram to flicker into existence. "What is it my child? What has caused you such grief and pain?"

"My dad. He was killed."

The Custodian nods his head. "I see, yet this is a good time to put some of what I taught you to use. Gather your pain and grief, your hate at who killed your father, and keep them close to your heart as a source for your power. Such emotions will make you invincible."

Sniffling back her tears, Jysella nods her understanding and begins meditating on her hate.

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.

-----------------------------------------

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.

The Darkening: Chapter Nine

To know the darkness is to love the light,
to welcome dawn and fear the coming night.

She finds herself moving through the woods once more. The power of her anger and hate fills her, makes her strong. Tonight she moves slowly, because her prey is not on the move, but sitting in a single room. She stops and looks into a window of that room, confident in the fact that her prey will not see her, due to the darkness of the night, contrasting with the brightness of the room the prey is in.

As she moves closer, she recognizes the prey. It is a student at the Academy named Kai. She smiles, and raps on the window and then steps back into the night. As she expected, Kai opens the window. Then she darts forward and reaches in, dragging the girl out through it, quickly slapping her hand over Kai's mouth, to muffle the scream.

She can taste the girl's fear, savors it. Then she places her hand on Kai's forehead, and pushes with all of her anger and hate. She smiles as Kai's eyes roll back up into her head, and blood begins to dribble from her nose.

"Jysella!"

Her mother's voice cuts through the fog of sleep, and Jysella sits up, blinking in the harsh glare of the afternoon sun as it streams through her window. She looks towards the doorway and sees her mother standing there. "Yes ma'am?"

"Dinner time."

Jysella gets out of bed and follows her mother to the kitchen. As she enters, she notices that her father's customary place at the table was empty. She nods to her brother and then sits down and eats. As she finishes she stands up, and looks outside noticing that it is nearly dark. "I'm going for a walk okay?"

Her mother looks at her warily. "I'd prefer it if you would change into clothes that are a little more respectable."

Jysella hesitates for a moment, and then nods her head. "Okay." Then she returns to her room. As she walks in, she presses her palm to the top of the holocron, smiling as the red hologram flickers into existence. The Custodian gives her a slight bow. "Good evening child."

"I'm going to take your advice, and test Jacen."

She turns away and starts looking for an appropriate article of clothing in her wardrobe. From behind her, a red mist seeps from the box, and floats towards her, wrapping around her legs as it flows up. When it reaches her bare midriff, it is slowly absorbed into her skin.

After a second, Jysella steps out of the clothes she is in, and then slips into a light green tunic and a darker green pair of pants. She glances into the full length mirror, and as if she is on autopilot, reaches up and rips her tunic down the middle. As she slips into her heavy brown overcloak the yellow light fades from her eyes.

-----------------------------------------------

Jacen is sitting in his chair, going over some notes regarding his investigation. This is the third time that he has had to read them, as his thoughts continue to drift to Jysella and Corran at lunch. He frowns as he remembers the sheer anger and hate that rolled off of Corran. A far cry from the usual calm competence the older Jedi Master usually exudes.

Giving up, he tosses the datapad onto a table, and slips onto the floor, assuming a traditional meditation pose. Just as he closes his eyes, the door chime rings. Standing up, he walks over to the door and opens it. He smiles as Jysella is standing there looking up at him. "Hello Jysella, this is a pleasant surprise."

He steps aside, and waves her in, and she silently walks in, looking around the room. He watches her as she slips out of her cloak, dropping it on the couch, and then silently walks into the bedroom. Frowning he follows her. "Are you okay?"

She nods her head, casting a glance over her shoulder at him. Then she shrugs her shoulder, causing her tunic to slide off her arms, leaving her chest bare. She reaches the bed, and then shimmies out of her pants, slowly pushing them down her legs with her thumbs. Stepping out of them, she walks over to him, and he can't help but notice the way her hips move as she walks, then she's there pressing herself against him, and wraps her fingers into his hair.

He can feel as she tugs her face towards him, and he flows with her demands, lowering his face to meet hers. As she kisses him, she pulls him towards the bed in the center of the room, twisting around and then pushing him down onto it. As he lands on his back he looks up at her. "Jysella, I don't know if this is a great idea."

Anger flashes in her eyes. "What? I'm good enough to take to dinner, but not good enough for other things? I thought you liked me. Don't you like me?"

"Yes I do."

She climbs onto the bed, straddling his legs, a pout coming to her mouth. "Don't you find me attractive?"

Jacen glances down at her breasts, and then back up, and nods his head. "Yes, yes I do."

She leans down to kiss him once more. "Then what's the problem?"

As she raises herself from the kiss, he shakes his head, trying to dispel the confusion. "I'm not sure, this just doesn't seem right."

"But it feels right." Then she once more leans down and kisses him, as he wraps her in his arms. She pulls him into a sitting position and quickly removes his tunic, tossing it back towards the living room. Then they're kissing again, and he flips her over, pushing her down onto the bed, never breaking the kiss.

He can feel her fingers as they start rubbing his hair, and notices a small niggle in the Force. He opens his eyes, and pulls away as he sees hers staring at him, their normal color subsumed by a storm of yellows and reds. He has a second to fear, as she smiles at him. "You should have turned me down Jedi."

Then he can feel an outpouring of Force energy flowing through his brain. He recognizes what she's trying to do, and attempts to stop it, to redirect the energy. When that fails, he grabs her arms, trying to pull her hands from his head, but for all his strength, he can't get her to let go. The last thought that flows through his brain before the hemorrhage destroys his higher brain functions is to wonder when she became so powerful.

----------------------------------------------------------

Ben is doing his nightly jog, every night four kilometers around the outskirts of the community surrounding the Jedi Temple. It is one of his favorite activities, just the simple act of moving, the clean joy of exercise.

As he rounds the corner, coming into the last stretch of his circuit, he can see the quarters where his Master stays, and a few houses down from that, the one he shares with his parents. As he begins to run past Jacen's house, a strong surge flashes through the Force, causing Ben to stumble. Ignoring the spike of pain, throbbing in his forehead, Ben rushes to Jacen's house, pushing open the door.

He looks around, noticing an overcloak on the couch. Picking it up, he frowns, as he realizes that it is too small for Jacen, after a second he recognizes by the style and cut that it is Jysella's. Turning around, he sees that the door to Jacen's bedroom is open, and there's a piece of clothing on the floor between him and the door. Walking to it, he reaches down and picks up the light green tunic. As he looks it over, he notices that whoever opened it did so by ripping the front apart. Again, the tunic is too small for Jacen, and is a female's garment. A deep feeling of unease settles into his stomach, as he decides that the tunic is probably Jysella's as well.

Dropping the tunic back on the floor, he enters the bedroom, and can hear a muffled sobbing. He flicks the light on, and looks around the room. The first thing he sees is Jacen laying prone on the bed, a touch of blood coming from the ear that Ben can see. Then another sobbing hitch attracts his attention, and he turns and sees Jysella huddled in a corner, her bare arms wrapped around her bare legs.

He walks over to her, and places his hand on her shoulder. With a start, she looks up and tries to press herself further into the corner. Ben kneels down beside her, so he can look her in the eyes. "What happened?"

He watches as her lower lip trembles. "H-he tried to r-r-rape me." She swallows hard, and presses her head back onto her arms.

Ben sits down beside her and gently wraps an arm around shoulders, drawing her into an embrace, noting the large bruises on her arms. "Can you tell me what happened?"

"I came over to apologize for how my dad treated him at lunch, and he grabbed me and ripped my shirt off, dragging me into the bedroom. I-I didn't know what to do. I-" She once more lowers her head crying.

"What did you do Jys?"

Her words are muffled, but Ben is able to figure them out. "I fried his brain with the Force."

The Darkening: Chapter Eight

It lies to her. It tells her things only a child can understand. To her, it simply is another child. To us, it is The Beast.

Jysella is sitting on her bed, her tears flowing freely down her face, as she talks to the Custodian. "And then he hit me!"

"And it made you angry, correct?"

"Yes."

"Then use that anger, convert it into raw power. Reach for the Force with your anger and hate, and it will come to you readily."

Jysella looks away. "I don't know. That seems to fly in the face of what Master Skywalker teaches."

"Is it? Is it really? Consider what you told me of the fight between your father and this Ben. Was not your father using his anger?"

Jysella nods her head slightly, and focuses once more on the sigils that are on the box, their red glow pulsing slightly. "Yes, I could feel his anger as he struck me."

"Then does that not tell you that you can use your anger to fuel your power? That your teachers tell you otherwise just so you will not have access to your full range of abilities?"

Before she can answer her comm unit chirps. Pulling it out, she flicks it on. "Hello."

Jacen's voice comes from the small device, making her smile. "Hey Jysella, I was just wondering if I could take you to lunch."

"I'd love to."

"Great, meet me at the Temple entrance in about fifteen minutes, okay?"

"I'll be there."

She turns off the comm and looks at the Custodian. "I'll think about what you said." Then she walks from the room, not seeing the twisted smile that appears on the Custodian's face.

-----------------------------------------

Corran walks out of the medical center, the bacta patch on his leg an odd bulk. He glances towards the Jedi Temple remembering Luke's words to go there and have a talk. Frowning he takes a step in that direction, and then wonders why he needs to go listen to the farm boy as if he's still an untried, untested trainee.

"I'm a Jedi Master; I don't need to go have a talking to from Luke."

Glancing around, he sees a tapcaf and walks that way. Entering the dark room, it takes a moment for his eyes to adjust. When they do, he heads towards a booth in the darkest corner, and slips within it, ordering a bottle of whiskey from the droid as it rolls past.

A few minutes later, the droid drops the bottle and a glass off, and takes the credit chit from Corran, rolling away, leaving him to his thoughts and whiskey. About an hour later, Corran has finished half of the bottle, and he hears a laugh that he recognizes.

Looking up and around, he sees her sitting there with Jacen Solo. As he watches her laugh, a red flame ignites in his thoughts.

She's yours. Take her away from him.

Startled he looks around for who had spoken. I'm part of you. Now, take her. If the boy complains, punish him.

Corran nods his head, and then stands shakily to his feet. He stumbles over to the table that Jysella and Jacen are sharing. The two look up at him, and he notices as Jysella shrinks back slightly. He stares at her hard. "First Skywalker this morning, and now him for lunch? Is it a different boy for every meal?"

Corran feels an intense glee as she starts to blush. As Jacen lays his hand on his arm, he turns towards the young Jedi Master. "And you! Have you no shame? You're old enough to be her father!"

He reaches out and grabs her arm, dragging her from the tapcaf. He growls in frustration as the sun pounds against his eyes, and ignores her pounding on him, trying to loosen his grasp.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------

Jysella feels her tears of frustration and embarrassment as they flow down her face. She stumbles slightly as her father pulls on her arm once more dragging her towards their house. Finally, he stumbles and she is able to twist free from his grip. She turns to run, and Corran grabs her hair, pulling her to a stop with it. She can feel as he twists his hand into her hair, drawing her closer to him.

As she turns to look at him, she can feel her anger building at his treatment of her. She knows he is her father, but she doesn't understand why he has started acting this way. He pulls her close, and she winces at the smell of alcohol. "You need to stay away from them. Am I clear Jys?"

Jysella hears the words, but all meaning is lost in the red haze in which she finds herself as he slaps her again. The anger is a palatable thing, coiled within her, ready to strike, begging to be used. The Custodian's words about anger bounce around in her head.

Sniffing back her final tear, she looks up, and reaches out with her anger, with all those years of being left behind as her father went off to be a Jedi and her mother went out to run her business, her anger at all those years of being the outsider of the academy.

She smiles as the Force burns away her concerns about anger and hate, filling her with power. For a second, fear flashes in the drunken eyes of her father, as she reaches out with the Force, and smash into his pain centers, setting every nerve he has on fire.

He screams, releasing her hair and falling to his knees. She leans down close to him. "Never hit me again." Then she pulls back her booted foot and slams it as hard as she can into his stomach, enhancing her kick with the Force. She walks away to the sound of him retching, in the dust of the pathway.

She reaches her home, and rushes upstairs to her room, closing and locking the door behind her. She climbs into the bed, buries her head in her pillow and begins to cry.

"What is wrong child?"

Jysella looks up from her pillow, and tells of her father's actions this afternoon, and of Jacen's inaction. The Custodian nods his head. "And you felt the anger, it helped you."

"Yes. Yes it did."

"It made you powerful, it saved you from his grasp, gave you the power to overcome."

"But I worry about it, what if Master Skywalker is right, what if his anger is why my Dad is acting this way?"

"But why would your father be angry?"

Jysella looks out the window, and asks herself the same question. The Custodian is quiet for a few minutes and then attracts her attention with a soft noise. "Now, about Jacen, do you still wish to test him?"

Jysella hesitates a moment, and then nods her head. "Yes, I want to know."

"Then this is what you shall do. Go offer yourself to him; if he turns you down, he is honorable. If he does not, then he does not love you."

Jysella ponders the Custodian's words as she reaches out and once more traces one of the sigils on the side of the box, smiling as the icon glows slightly where her finger runs. After a few more minutes, she looks up from where she's tracing to stare at the red hologram. "What else do you know about?"

"I am a repository of arcane and forgotten Force lore."

Jysella sits up in her bed, suddenly very interested in the box. "So you really are a holocron."

"I never said I wasn't."

Jysella opens her mouth, and then quickly shuts it as she remembers that particular conversation. She thinks for another moment, before opening her mouth to speak once more. "Can you teach me what you know?"

The Custodian's smile is large and happy. "I thought you'd never ask."

The Darkening: Chapter Seven

He who fights monsters should look into it that he himself does not become a monster. When you gaze long into the Abyss, the Abyss also gazes into you.

Jysella stands in front of her wardrobe, wrapped in a soft absorbent towel as she looks at the new clothes she had purchased the day before. She quirks her head, and finally decides that she will wear them. Dropping the towel, she quickly dresses, and then looks into her mirror.

Her eyes start at her toes, smiling at the form-fitted boots that stop right at the knee. The matt finish of the boots is offset by the silver buckles on the side. Then she follows the rest of her legs up, nodding approvingly at the skin tight pants, which show her every curve. She begins to smile as she sees the shock of flesh that is her bare midriff. Then her eyes land on the final piece of her ensemble, a black halter top, with a low front cut, and merely tightened strings for a back.

She smiles, and brushes a strand of hair from her face, before turning from the mirror and going to breakfast. As she nears the kitchen, she can hear her brother and parents talking. With a smile, she steps into the kitchen, and silences the room. She first looks to her brother and notices his open mouthed stare. Next she glances at her mother, noting the storm clouds gathering on her face. Then finally she looks to her father, and is scared by the look he is giving her, it is an animalistic craving, and she has to quickly turn away and get her food.

Finally her mother overcomes her initial shock. "What do you think you're wearing?"

Jysella calmly looks at her mom. "My outfit."

"I think you should go change."

Jysella clenches her fist, and looks down at the counter in front of her. "I don't want to change."

She spins around, glaring at her mom, who takes an instinctive step back away from her. Then she brushes past her and walks out the door. As she arrives at the academy, she pauses on the front steps. Then with a flick of her hair, she pushes open the doors and confidently strides in.

--------------------------------------------------------------------

Back at the Horn household, Mirax stands watching the door as it swings shut. Surprised at how her daughter is acting, at the anger that was coming off the young girl. She turns towards her husband, and notices that he is also staring at the door. She waits for a moment, hoping he would speak first. "You could have said something to her."

Giving his head a slight shake he turns towards her. "I thought you handled it perfectly."

"So you're going to let her walk around all day wearing that?"

He leans back in his chair, and strokes his goatee. "Well, if she wants to be stared at like a piece of meat for a day, I say let her."

After another second, he stands up and walks to her. He kisses her, and then steps towards the door. Pausing a second he says, "It will be okay, I have to go to the Council Chambers now."

Then he is gone, following the same path towards the Jedi Temple that Jysella took. Mirax touches her lips with her fingers, wondering if that really was Whyren's Reserve she tasted when he kissed her. Picking up his cup of caf, she lifts it towards her nose to smell it. Stopping before she reaches her nose, she hesitates and looks out the door once more. Then pouring the caf out, she ignores the smell of whiskey coming from the sink and heads towards her office.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------

Ben is standing around, chatting with a few of the boys his age, when he notices her walk into the hall. It takes all his self-control to not allow his jaw to drop as his eyes take in what she's wearing. As he watches her walk in, he notices a difference in how she moves, she's more sure of herself, her head is raised high and she acts proud and confident.

A far cry from the meek girl he is used to seeing. He walks away from the others, and falls into step beside her. "You look different today."

She glances at him. "You don't like it?"

"I didn't say that."

She stops, and turns towards him, leaning into him. "Good. I want you to like it."

Then running her hand down the side of his cheek, she spins and walks away, leaving Ben gaping after her, his thoughts confused. A large hand slams down on his shoulder and squeezes tightly, and Ben spins breaking the grip. He looks up and finds himself face to face with Corran Horn, Jysella's father.

Ben takes a step back at the anger and jealousy that pours off Corran. "Stay away from my little girl Skywalker."

"What are you talking about Master Horn?"

Still confused by everything that's going on; Ben is caught unaware by Corran's fist as it slams into his jaw, knocking him to the floor. Before he has a chance to get up, Corran grabs the collar of Ben's tunic, and drags him back to a standing position.

Corran leans into Ben, his eyes narrowed and deadly. "I saw you touching her, and I saw the thoughts you were having about her."

Corran heaves Ben towards the wall. Ben is prepared now, and throws his feet out, walking up the wall, and flipping around, ripping his tunic from Corran's grasp. As he lands, he can hear the snap-hiss of a lightsaber. Looking up, he sees a silver blade, angling in towards his head. Ben rolls away, coming up from the roll, with his own saber in hand and blade thrumming.

Ben takes a second to glance around the hallway, looking for some other way out of the situation. Yet all he sees are clusters of students all watching and cheering and betting on the fight. Then with a flicker of warning, he dodges Corran's blow, and places his sword in the way of the counterswing. "Why are you doing this Master Horn?"

Corran's blade comes down, the blow powered by his anger. Ben catches it, but is pressed down by the power, and Corran leans his weight onto the blade. He looks at Ben, his eyes flashing red and yellow. As he speaks his voice is low and menacing. "She's mine. You need to stay away from her."

Ben angles his blade, and slips out from beneath Corran, who stumbles slightly as Ben dances away. They both once more assume mid-guards and start circling each other. A commotion at the edge of the crowd attracts Ben's attention for a second, and he sees Jysella pushing her way to the front. As she looks between the two fighters, she runs between them, and stares at her father. "Daddy! What are you doing?!"

Corran advances towards her, his face twisted into a sneer. "You dirty schutta! You're involved in this!" Then he backhands her across the face with his closed fist. Jysella twists with the blow, but the power behind it is still enough to send her to her knees.

Corran raises his saber and begins sending it in a downward arc towards Jysella. Ben slides his own sword between Jysella and Corran's blade just in time. Then with a flick of his wrist, he sends Corran flying backwards with a powerful Force push.

Ben pauses for a second, and kneels beside Jysella, lifting her face from her hands. His eyes narrow in anger as he sees the large welt and blood seeping from her nose. "You okay?"

She mutely nods her head, and Ben resumes standing, turning to face Corran. The older man is once more stalking towards them, and assumes a high-guard. Ben steps forward, then rushes ahead, pushing his blade at the older Master. Corran deftly side steps, and slams his left fist into Ben's stomach as Ben is running past.

Ben crumples to the ground, and then starts rolling away, barely being missed by Corran's blade as it cleaves into the stone floor. Shakily getting to his feet, Ben once more assumes a ready stance. Corran attacks and Ben parries the blow, and then as they pull their sabers away from one another, Ben quickly flips his blade around and touches Corran's leg with it.

Corran screams in pain, and attacks with renewed ferocity. His blade slices away at Ben, who is barely able to parry every attack, and is slowly backing away, giving ground. Then Ben steps in something wet, and his foot slips out from underneath him, dumping him to the ground.

A triumphant look appears in Corran's eyes as he raises his blade. Then Luke Skywalker's voice cuts through the hallway, causing everyone to stop and turn towards the source of the voice. "Enough!"

Luke stomps forward, his eyes flickering between Corran and his son. "The both of you to my office immediately!"

As Ben stands, he glances around for some sign of Jysella, and when he doesn't see her, bows his head and walks towards his father's office.

As the three enter, Luke closes the door and turns on Corran. "What do you think you were doing? Attacking an apprentice in the middle of the halls? What if someone had gotten hurt?"

Ben leans against the wall, mutely watching, hoping his father would forget about him. Corran glances up; his eyes rimmed in red, but otherwise their normal green color. "I'm sorry Master. I lost control when I saw him and Jysella together."

Luke turns from Corran to Ben. "You, go see your Mother, and tell her what you've been up to. She'll come up with a suitable punishment." Then he turns back towards Corran. "And you go to the med center and get your wound treated. Then after that return here; we're going to have ourselves a nice long talk."

The Darkening: Chapter Six

In the real world as in dreams,
nothing is quite what it seems.

She is running through the forest. Her breath is coming slow and steady, the fast pace she is keeping barely winding her at all. She can feel the vibrancy of the forest, of the night as she runs. She revels in how the small sticks and stones feel on her bare feet, and how the wind slices through her nightgown. Ahead of her is her prey, a shining beacon in the forest, running scared.

The wind and tree limbs whip past her as her grin grows larger, coming around a corner and spying her prey. It is a pretty young human female, about fifteen standard years old. She recognizes her from the Academy, her name is Keira Mirand, and she is one of Kai's friends. The scent of fear is all around her, and she almost laughs as the girl turns around, her blue eyes large and round.

She jumps at her, knocking her to the ground, pushing her face into the hard pressed dirt floor of the forest. The girl tries to fight back, sending a Force wave at her, and she just smiles, using her new skill to twist around telekinetic attacks, to deflect them away from her. She scratches the girl, marring the girl's perfect face, her perfect skin with four long, ragged gashes.

She laughs as the girl screams in pain. Then she grabs her around the neck, squeezing tight until all movement stops, until the girl's presence fades into the Force. Licking the traces of blood from her fingers, she turns around and heads back towards her lair.

With a stifled scream, Jysella sits up in her bed, her heart beating way too fast, and her breath nearly a pant. She grimaces as a muscle in her leg twinges. She looks around the room, recognizing it for what it is, as the last vestiges of the horrible dream fade away.

Looking at the chrono she realizes that she has awakened only a half hour earlier than usual, and decides that she doesn't need to go back to sleep. She strips out of her night gown, noticing the rip in the shoulder. Shrugging she tosses it away before stepping into the shower.

She shivers as the warm water begins to loosen muscles tightened by her dream. Finally she starts to soap herself, as she lifts one of her feet, she notices the small cut. Frowning she sticks her head from the shower, looking around the floor of the fresher to see what could have caused it.

After she finishes her shower, she finds herself once more in front of her mirror, appraising herself, wondering just what Jacen saw in her that would make him ask her out. Shrugging her shoulders again, she returns to her room to get dressed. Opening her wardrobe, she frowns at all the browns and tans. Digging further, she finally pulls out an old pair of black pants and a navy tunic. Slipping into those clothes, she glances at her reflection, and frowns once more. As her eyes travel up and down her from, she decides that she needs to get a new outfit or two.

Sitting back down on the bed, she picks up her box, and the Custodian appears as before. He gives her a slight half-bow. "Did you sleep well?"

"Yes, I did. I have something that I am wondering, if you could offer advice?"

The Custodian, once more bows. "I would be happy to."

"Well, I went on that date last night, and I was just wondering what he could see in me? I am about the same age as his apprentice after all."

The Custodian strokes his chin. "I doubt that he is truly interested in you. Maybe a test is in order."

"A test?"

"Yes, but not yet. You do not have all the necessary skills or outfits that the test will require. For now, just go along with him, and do not let him suspect your doubts."

"So, exactly what skills am I going to need?"

The Custodian smiles and begins to teach.

--------------------------------------------------------

Luke is standing over the mutilated body of one of his young students. He frowns as his eyes travel over her form, noting the small details, such as the bruises up and down her torso, the long gashes on her face. He glances up at the steps of the temple, wondering why someone would kill one of his students, and then dump her broken, naked body here.

The crunch of a twig attracts his attention and he turns to see Jacen and Ben walk up. They both give him abbreviated bows. As he waves them over, he notices as Ben's eyes narrows. Luke can understand this, after all the girl is Ben's age.

Ben kneels down next to her, his head moving slightly as he looks her over and, then he glances up at his father. "This is Keira Mirand. What? Who did this?"

Luke shakes his head. "I don't know. The Force is strangely silent, clouded on this matter. I'm assigning the two of you to help find out for me."

Jacen nods his head. "Yes Master." Then he turns towards Ben. "You know her right?"

Ben nods. "Yes, she was in a couple of my classes, but I've not seen a lot of her since I became your apprentice."

"That's fine; it just means that you're going back to the academy for lessons. Get to know who her friends were and get to know who her enemies were." Jacen pauses for a second. "And get to know who she and her friends teased."

"Yes Master."

Jacen looks towards his uncle. "Are we getting any forensic specialists in to look the body over?"

"Yes, they will be here soon. Corran will also be working with you on this, but what I want you to really focus on is the Force. After all what worries me most is the lack of guidance from the Force. This clouding worries me. I sense dark tidings, a darkness that is heading this way."

Jacen gives Luke a grin. "Don't worry Uncle Luke, we'll figure this out.

Luke gives Jacen a half-hearted smile and then walks inside.

--------------------------------------

Ben slides into a seat in his first class of the day. He looks around the room, noticing the knot of girls standing in one corner, obviously upset. He recognizes one of them as Merida Tool; a vindictive Arconian girl he used to be paired with during saber training.

After a second, one of them looks his way and smiles at him. "So the Great Skywalker has once more been reduced to attending lessons with us normal trainees."

He looks up at them, a mischievous light flashing in his eyes. "Yeah, my dad thought you all could use a little bit of help, so he sent me to see you."

He notices as a few of the other students laugh, and smiles as he sees the outrage in her eyes. Then she turns from him, retreating back into her cluster of friends. Then he glances at the door and really smiles as he sees who is standing in the doorway.

He watches how she enters the room, as if she is almost hesitant to walk in. Then his eyes travels to her hair; which she has left down today, and he wonders what it would feel like to touch it, to run his fingers through it.

As he looks over her clothes, he realizes what is different about them. They're not the tans and browns he has so often seen her in, but rather a tight fitting pair of black pants, which show off the curves of her hips, and a navy tunic, which brings out the blue of her eyes.

She catches his stare, and as he looks away, notices that she blushes slightly. From the corner of his eye, he watches as she darts into the room, and slides into a seat in the back. After a moment, he stands up and walks back to where she's sitting and slides into a seat next to her. As he opens his mouth to talk, he can hear the girl from earlier once more. "Well, look at that, the great Skywalker with the clipped Mynock."

Then Merida glances at them, a look of disgust crossing her features. "Hey Bennie, you shouldn't spend time with her, she'll just drag you down."

Ben cocks his head slightly and just stares at them, a calm bemused expression on his face. "Maybe I'd like that. Regardless, I'd rather spend time with her than you."

Beside him, he can feel Jysella's anger and embarrassment radiating off of her, and he reaches beneath the desk and grasps her hand giving it a gentle squeeze. He can feel her jump slightly and almost loses his blank "Jedi" face. Finally the girls once more retreat to their cluster and he turns back towards Jysella and gives her a bright smile. "Hi, hope you don't mind sharing this desk with me."

She looks up at him, her smile hesitant, as if she's not sure what to expect from him. "No, I don't mind at all."

The Darkening: Chapter Five

You must be strong now. You must never give up. And when people make you cry and you are afraid of the dark, don't forget the light is always there.

Jysella has a smile on her face as she returns home from her date with Jacen Solo. She comes around the corner, and starts up the walkway to her house. With a sudden tingle in the Force she stops and looks around. A frown replaces her smile for the first time in hours, and she turns back to the house, just in time to be smashed in the face with an egg.

She screams at the shock of being hit with something as another egg comes flying out at her from the darkness. She ducks letting the egg fly over her head, and as she straightens gets hit in the back of the head by an over ripened redfruit.

The laughter erupts from the three girls as they run from their hiding places, and Jysella watches them and falls to her knees, crying. The door opens, and Corran steps out, seeing his daughter covered with food, kneeling in the walkway crying.

He walks down the steps, towards her, his eyes flashing yellow and red. As he speaks, his voice is harsh and cold. "Get up."

Jysella looks up at her father, startled by his presence and tone of voice. "Daddy?"

"I said, get up."

Jysella stands, the tears still streaming down her face. She can feel her father's eyes boring into her, and she keeps her head bowed slightly.

"Why didn't you fight back? Why did you just sit there and accept it? Are you some type of weak-minded fool?" Her father's voice cuts her to the quick of her soul, especially how they seem to repeat back the taunts her classmates spat at her earlier in the day.

"But Daddy, Master Skywalker said that I should learn to control my anger, and not strike out."

Jysella lets out a short, sharp scream as her father strikes her face, knocking her back to her knees. She once more lowers her head and starts to sob. Then she has to bite back another scream as her father grabs her hair and pulls her head up by it. "Stop crying."

Then he pushes her over, so she's lying on her side in the dust. "Get inside and go to bed." He turns from her, and without looking back at her disappears into the house. For a moment, she stays where she is at, crying, desperate in the pain and misery. Finally she picks herself up, and walks into the house, and goes to her room.

She steps into her room, dropping her food and grass stained robes to the floor. As she is about to climb into her bed, she sees her puzzle box laying there on the bed. She cocks her head, as she notices that tonight it shines with an odd internal light, causing the sigils carved on its sides to glow red. She picks up the box, and the box thrums for a second.

Then the space above the box flickers, as a red hologram resolves itself into existence. Jysella peers closely at the man that appears above the box, smiling as she has never seen a red-tinged hologram before; just blue or full color ones.

Then to her amazement the hologram speaks to her. "Greetings young one, I am the Custodian."

"What are you?"

The hologram smiles at her. "I am the Custodian. I guard access to the knowledge contained within."

"Oh, you're like a Jedi Holocron."

The Custodian smiles for a second as he nods his head. "Something like that. Now, how can I assist you? You appear to have been crying recently."

Jysella hesitates a moment, and then tells the Custodian everything that had happened between herself and the other girls, and ending with what happened with her father this evening.

The Custodian strokes his chin for a second. "And this makes you angry?"

"Yes."

"Then you need to learn to harness this anger, and learn from it. Nurture it, and let it give you the power you need."

"But Master Skywalker-"

"Is scared of letting you know the power you truly wield. Trust me, your emotions, anger chief among them, can give you power and abilities which you have only dreamed of. You are strong, and can control this power. I can sense it."

Jysella sets the box on her nightstand and sits on her bed, thinking hard. "But what of the Dark Side?"

"The Force is one, light, dark, they are both just meaningless labels applied by those who are unable to understand the truth. It is all a matter of your abilities and what you are able to do. Light, dark, they come from inside of you."

Jysella smiles, and leans closer to the box. "Tell me more."

The Custodian returns her smile and does.

---------------------------------------------------------

Jacen is walking back to his house from his date with Jysella. With a lopsided grin plastered on his face, he is not paying attention to where he is walking as he is mentally reviewing the entire evening. As he enters the small yard that surrounds his quarters, he sees Ben sitting on the steps that lead up into his house.

"Good evening Ben."

Ben doesn't look up. "Master."

"What's wrong Ben?"

"She's half your age Master."

Jacen laughs, and can feel Ben's anger flare in the Force. "Is that what this is about? Jysella?"

Ben stands up, and glares at his Master. "Yes! You knew through our bond that I liked her, I know because I felt you poking around in my feelings for her while I was dueling her earlier today."

"So what are you going to do about it? Are you going to fight me for her? A grand duel to the death? Or are you going to offer yourself to her, and let her decide who she wants?" Jacen's eyes narrow, and he allows a smirk to cross his face. "Or are you going to sit on my doorsteps pouting?"

"This is all a game to you isn't it? You're using her as a training device to see how I respond to things."

Jacen smiles and brushes past Ben entering his house. "Maybe, or maybe I just think she's an amazing, fascinating woman."

Jacen closes the door on a fuming Ben, and sighs as he leans against the door. Giving his face a quick rub, he wonders just how he managed to find himself in this situation. Deciding he could use some advice, he quickly comms his sister.

A bleary eyed Jaina answers. "Do you have any idea what time it is Jace?"

"Sorry sis, but I have a problem."

Jaina's eyes open slightly wider at that. "A problem the great and might Jacen Solo can't solve himself?"

"No need for the dramatics Jaya."

"Sorry little brother can't help it. So what seems to be your problem."

"I took a girl out on a date tonight."

"That sounds like a problem for her."

Jacen glares at his sister a second before continuing. "It was Jysella Horn, and I had a great time. The problem is that Ben likes her too." Jaina's laughter interrupts him, so he stares at her until she gets herself under control once more. "I know you have that whole love triangle down between you and Kyp and Jag and Zekk, I was wondering about any advice you could give me."

Jaina shakes her head. "Just good luck." Then her hologram flickers from existence as she cuts the connection, leaving Jacen frowning irritably at the empty air in front of him.

The Darkening: Chapter Four

To love at all is to be vulnerable. Love anything, and your heart will certainly be wrung and possibly broken. If you want to make sure of keeping it intact, you must give your heart to no one, not even to an animal. Wrap it carefully round with hobbies and little luxuries; avoid all entanglements; lock it up safe in the casket or coffin of your selfishness. But in that casket- safe, dark, motionless, airless--it will change. It will not be broken; it will become unbreakable, impenetrable, irredeemable.

"Hey quick! Someone play some Jys!"

Jysella's face burns as the girls laughter echoes through the hall. She turns around to look at the group of girls walking up behind her, noting the sneer on Kai's face. Kai looks towards the girl on her right, a young blonde human named Keira Mirand. "Oh, look, Jys is getting upset. We better not upset her; don't want a Dark Jedi running around."

Jysella's closes her eyes and feels as her fists clench. She takes a deep breath, as Kai's taunting words come at her from the darkness. "Oh, I'm scared! Jysella is going to hit me again. Come on, why not try telekinesis?"

Merida chimes in at this point. "That's mean Kai, you know she's a clipped mynock of a Jedi, barely able to lift a pebble."

Jysella spins away as the girls once more start laughing at her. As she rounds the corner, she wipes away the tears that had started to flow, even as the laughter echoes down the hall after her. She ducks into one of the training rooms, expecting it to be empty at this time of day, and draws up short when she notices two people in it. In awe, she watches as they fight one another, their blades moving at breakneck speeds.

Then she notices that there are also training remotes activated, randomly firing stingers at either of the two duelists. As she watches dumbstruck, she slowly recognizes who these two are: Ben Skywalker and Jacen Solo. She had heard that their duels were spectacular things to watch, but she had always put the rumors up as rhetoric. Watching them now, she realizes just how wrong she was in that assumption.

Finally with a quick flick of the wrist, Jacen disarms Ben, and has his blade at the younger man's throat. "Kill point."

Jacen shuts down his saber, and helps his apprentice up, and then as one they turn towards Jysella who is still watching them, an awed expression painted on her face. Jacen smiles at her. "Good morning Jysella, did you enjoy our match?"

Startled out of her reverie, she quickly nods her head. "It was amazing."

"Good, because that means it's your turn."

Her eyes widen slightly in surprise. "What?"

Jacen laughs at her question. "It's your turn. You get to fight a duel with Ben. He's become a little too use to my style of fighting. It would be good for him to practice against someone else, and since you're here…" Jacen lets his speech fade off as he continues to watch her, his intent stare making her slightly uncomfortable.

"Okay, I'll do it." Then he smiles at her, and she can feel shivers run up and down her back.

She quickly removes her outer cloak and then steps into the center of the room with Ben there before her. She notices his slightly heavy breathing, and the way he is standing and moving, favoring his right leg. She bows to him, and he does the same thing, then she takes a step back as they both ignite their sabers.

As she watches Ben circle her, she wonders exactly how she is expected to beat him, after all, he is the son of Master Skywalker. Then he lunges in, his saber coming directly at her.

Stepping to the side, she swings her saber, connecting with his, knocking him off-balance. She counter-attacks and he dances out of the way, not bothering to parry her blow.

She feels a surge of frustration and anger as she realizes that he's not taking the duel with her seriously. She takes a step back, and lowers her blade to a low guard, one that starts at her hips and points towards her toes. As she starts to slide to the left, she notices Ben's gaze watching her, trying to figure out what she is planning. Then she can feel the feather-light touches in the Force, as he caresses her mind, trying to find her plan.

Then with a smile, she slams her mental shields against his probe, sending a backlash of energy to him. Ben stumbles back and winces at the sudden headache that appears as she knocks his mental probe aside. When she sees that wince, she moves forward fast, her blade coming up from its low guard in a fast attack.

Ben gets his blade up just in time to parry her blow, but she has already released that blow and has ducked. Spinning around in her crouch, she knocks his feet from beneath him, dumping him to the floor.

She stands back up and darts forward to get the kill point when a wave of Force energy pulses out towards her, throwing her back. She feels herself drop her saber and mutters a curse under her breath. Then she lands on the training mat, four or so meters from Ben. Standing she can feel a twinge in her shoulder and ribs as she looks around for her saber.

She finally catches sight of it, over near the training remotes and she dashes that way, just as Ben once more stands up. She dives and grabs a hold of her saber, just as it has started to shake, for a second she is worried that it will be ripped from her hands by his mental summons, but he finally relents and starts walking towards her.

She reignites her saber, and notices the playful light that has appeared in his eyes. Her eyebrow quirks at that as she wonders just what he is thinking, and then his saber is flickering towards her, and she has to sidestep and parry to deflect the blade out of the way in time.

She attacks with a half-hearted feint, which he doesn't fall for, and then she takes a step back, wondering what to do next. Ben steps in and attacks with a low to high slice, and Jysella twists her blade around to deflect it.

As the blades are about to meet, Ben drops his blade, and whirls around her, ending up behind her, one arm wrapped around her waist, holding her tightly against him, his saber up under her neck. For a second, she wonders just what had happened, and as she played the last scene over in her mind, she recognizes his feint, and how his body was already moving around her when she went to parry his attack. She shivers as his voice is warm against her ear. "Kill point."

A frown flickers across her face, as Ben releases her. It almost feels like he is reluctant to do so. They both look up towards Jacen as he walks over to them. "You both did really well. Jysella that was a nice mental attack when Ben probed you; but you allowed yourself to get distracted at the end."

She can feel herself start to blush both due to Jacen's praise and his intent stare. "Thank you." She steps away from the two, as she hears Jacen's voice again, this time directed at Ben. "You underestimated your opponent didn't you?"

"Yes, Master."

She turns around, and sees the blush that is creeping up on Ben's face, and stifles a giggle. Ben catches her looking at him and smiles at her again. It is a warm, happy smile which Jysella is glad to return as she rushes from the room.

She finds herself in one of the many courtyard gardens scattered throughout the temple, and sits down on one of the benches, playing over in her mind what had just happened.

"You forgot this."

Jumping slightly, she looks over her shoulder to see Jacen holding out her cloak. She smiles up at him. "Oh thanks!"

He sits down on the bench next to her, causing her to wonder what is happening. Stretching out with the Force she is somewhat shocked by his nervousness. "I was wondering if I could take you to dinner sometime?"

Startled, she turns and looks at him. "Are you asking me on a date?"

To her surprise, Jacen begins to blush slightly as he nods his head. "Oh. Uhm. Okay, I'd love to. When?"

"Tonight?"

She smiles as he stands up and bows. "I will see you tonight then." Then he walks away from her, leaving her wondering just what has happened. Neither of them sees Ben standing in the shadows as he watches the two of them. Then like a phantom he slips further into the darkness and disappears.

-------------------------------

Corran is walking past Jysella's room when an odd red glow attracts his attention. Stopping, and taking a step back, he looks into her room, and notices the odd box sitting on her bed. He walks over to it, picking it up as the glyphs on its sides start glowing red. With a start he realizes that he has seen these glyphs before, in a temple on Yavin 4. As he goes to drop the box, a red mist streams out and wraps around him.

Corran drops the box back on the bed, as he starts to cough and choke on the red mist. Falling to his hands and knees, the mist contracts around him; seeping into his skin through his pores, entering his mouth and nose, until it is all gone. With a final cough, his eyes open, and they flash yellow with red flecks for a second, before settling back into their customary green.

Standing, he sees nothing out of place, and walks from the room, deciding that the red glow he had noticed moments before was nothing but a figment of his imagination.

The Darkening: Chapter Three

..Monsters are real, and ghosts are real too. They live inside us, and sometimes, they win.

Jysella just finished dinner with her mother and grandfather, and was starting to feel uncomfortable. The older two were engrossed in their conversation, sharing memories and stories. She shifts in her seat, glancing around the stateroom her grandfather had assigned them upon their arrival.

"Mom?"

As Jysella speaks, Mirax turns toward her with a smile on her face. "Yes dear?"

"Do you mind if I go to the bazaar?"

Mirax hesitates for a moment, and then nods her head. "Sure, but don't wear your robes, go in a flight suit or some other civilian type clothes."

Jysella hesitates for a second, and looks down at the plate. Then she shrugs and looks back up at her mom. "Thanks, I'll go change now."

Getting up from the table, she goes to her assigned room and strips out of the Jedi robes that she had on. Catching sight of herself in the mirror she sighs, and quickly dresses in one of the jumpsuits that she brought with her. Once again, she glances in the mirror noting the boring, drab brown color of the jumpsuit. She frowns as the memory of the last time she wore it flows unbidden into her head. It was at a school function, and Kai had said that the drab brown of the jumpsuit matched her hair perfectly, boring brown for boring brown. She wipes away a tear as she pulls her hair up into a pony tail. With one last disgusted glance in the mirror, she leaves the room and goes back to the table where her mother and grandfather are still talking. She kisses them both on the cheek, and starts to leave the room.

As she keys open the door, she can hear her mother speaking, "Be back in two hours or so, we'll be returning to Ossus tonight."

Jysella quickly nods her head. "Okay mom, I will." Then she escapes into the hall, and away from the prying eyes and questions of her elders.

A short turbolift ride later and she's standing among the crowds of people who always seem to be on the Venture. She smiles as she gets lost in the crowd, happy at the anonymity the jumpsuit and crowds provide. She walks randomly, knowing that this market place extends nearly the entire width and breadth of this particular deck of the star destroyer as well as some of the decks above and below it, all in all it covers somewhere around three and a half square kilometers. She opens herself to the Force; letting it guide her steps, take her where she needs to go.

She bypasses the bits of darkness, indicative of petty thieves, or worse forms of criminals. She bypasses those shops that cater to the basest of appetites. She finds herself standing in front of a curiosity shop, and the Force prompts her to enter. Curious she steps towards the door, and then with a frown on her face, she stares at it for a second when it does not open automatically. Finally recognizing the manual door knob, she reaches out and grasps it, pressing down on the latch and pushing the door in. She jumps as the sound of bells greets her.

Pausing a second to slow her heart beat; she looks around the shop and then enters fully. The door behind her closes with the tinkling of the many bells that are positioned in the door's way. She looks around the shop, noticing the various curios and artifacts. Inhaling deeply, she lets a flicker of a smile cross her lips as the incense tickles her nose.

She stops at a long bladed staff type weapon. Reaching out she grasps it, and feels a connection to it in the Force, a dark connection, one which promises vengeance and pain. With a gasp she releases the weapon and looks at it once again.

"It is a Sith Glaive."

The voice that speaks causes her to shriek and jump. As she lands she spins to face an elderly human. He is dressed in floor-length robes with strange sigils running down two strips of cloth on the front of robe. He has a long scraggly beard, the same dark grey as his long scraggly hair. He smiles at her, a smile that appears kind, but still sends cold shivers still run up Jysella's back. "I'm sorry child; I did not mean to frighten you."

"That's okay, I just wasn't expecting anyone."

The old man nods his head a few times. "So child, how can I help you?"

Jysella shakes her head. "I'm really just looking around to see what I can find."

"Ahh, so did you like the glaive?"

Jysella quickly shakes her head no. "It gave me the creeps."

She watches as the old man strokes his beard, his lids half-closing. Then his eyelids suddenly pop all the way open and a smile flickers into existence on the man's face. "Wait here! I have the perfect thing for you!"

He rushes off into the dimmer portions of the store, and brings out a small box and holds it out to Jysella. Jysella looks at the box, noticing that it fits snuggly in one of the man's hands, and that the sides are covered in strange symbols. She almost jumps once again as the old man speaks. "Here you are. How do you like this?"

Jysella takes the box from the old man, her eyes and hands tracing the intricate designs on the sides. As she holds it, a sense of well-being flows into her, and she grins at the box. Finally she lifts her head up to the old man. "I love it! How much?"

"Fifty-five credits."

Jysella cocks her head, and looks at the box once more. "Forty."

"Fifty."

"Forty-five."

The old man smiles at her. "Deal."

Jysella hands over her credit chit, as the man finishes the transaction. A few moments later, Jysella is walking out the door, heedless of the sound of the tinkling bells. Looking around, she gets her bearings and finds the nearest turbolift. After a few steps, she turns back around to look at the curio-shop and sees nothing but a blank bulkhead. Frowning she shakes her head as she realizes that she must have lost track of time while walking away from the shop. After staring at the bulkhead for a moment more she once again heads towards the turbolift.

A little while later, she walks into the stateroom she is sharing with her mother, and sees her mom and grandfather now sitting on the couches still talking. She walks into that room, and plops down onto a chair. Mirax looks over at her with a smile. "I see you bought yourself something, what is it?"

Jysella holds up the box for the other two to see. "It's some type of puzzle box. I haven't quite figured it out yet, but I will."

"Well have fun with it."

"I will."

Then Jysella once more takes to tracing the designs on the side of the box with her fingers, shutting out the conversation between her mom and grandfather. She lets the Force flow through her, and notices that as she traces along the box, her finger leaves a glowing trail on its surface. She smiles once more, happy to have figured out another aspect of her new find.

Before long, Mirax stands up from the couch. "Time to go Jys."

Startled, Jysella looks up from her box at her mother. "Oh, okay." She then jumps up and wraps her grandfather in a giant hug, giving him a quick kiss on the cheek. "Bye grandpa."

The older man squeezes her tightly and kisses the top of her head. "Bye sweetie."

Then she rushes to her room and grabs her bags. After a moment Mirax joins her and the two head towards the Pulsar Skate. As she is slowly backing the Skate out of the Venture's hanger, Mirax turns towards her daughter, who is sitting in the copilot's seat. "So, did you have fun?"

Jysella looks up from her puzzle box for a second to glance at her mom. "Yeah, it was a great trip."

Mirax smiles and turns once more back towards the forward viewport as they pass the magfield and enter space. Giving power to the sublight engines, she quickly builds the necessary speed for a hyperspace jump. As soon as the navicomputer pings, she grabs the levers and they make the jump back to Ossus.