31

Saedii gasped and opened her eyes.

Above her, darkness swam, pressing far too close. It took several long moments before she realized that the darkness was nothing more than black stone walls. Too dark. Beneath her, something hard and cold dug into her back.

She was back in the long room.

Her breaths tore at her chest as she tried to calm down. Sweat pooled along her temples, matting in her hair, which hung over the stone above her head. Her skin felt slick against the table at her back. Too cold.

Was this real? Had she finally woken up? Ended the nightmare?

Cold air filled her empty hand. Her fingers clenched, searching for the necklace that had been in her hand when she'd last been awake. But there was nothing.

Bands held her chest as she tried to sit up. One at her wrist kept it firmly in place, preventing her from checking her neck. Even as she struggled, Saedii knew it was hopeless. There was no familiar press of weight against her sternum. No rough brush of stone on her skin.

Nothing.

Panic threatened to close in. How was she supposed to know she'd woken up? What if this was all just another dream – a long unending nightmare that she could never escape from?

Calm, little one, Master Junda's voice bade in the back of Saedii's mind.

Saedii did as the Jedi Master said, slowing her breathing. Trying to unclench the tight hold of her muscles, which were poised for attack.

"You are everything the Seventh Brother promised," a deep voice said from behind her.

Through the shadows, a faint outline was becoming clearer. A tall imposing body, dark cloak stirring the ground, a massive black helmet. Wheezing breaths echoed in the long room.

The Sith lord.

Plo.

Darth Vader stepped closer. Red light gilded him from the ground up, casting his helmeted face nearly in shadow. The weight of his gaze was crushing on her skin.

"Only one has ever resisted the Grand Inquisitor," he mused.

Cere Junda. At the reminder, Saedii demanded, "What happened to Master Junda?"

"Dead," the Sith lord said with no emotion.

Saedii fought to control her expression. Cere had been her only source of light down here. The only thing that had kept her going. And now she was gone.

"This upsets you."

"Master Junda was my friend," Saedii asserted. Sounding braver than she felt being at the mercy of a Sith.

Darth Vader's head tilted ever so slightly to the side. "Attachments are a weakness. Your Master should have taught you better."

"You are my master," Saedii said.

Silence stretched between them. In it, Saedii's quick breaths were the only sound.

"Plo," she tried, keeping her voice as even as she could. "What happened to you? Why are you doing this? I thought you were dead."

"I am not the man you believe me to be," his cold voice replied.

"Yes, you are. You are Plo Koon – my master. I can feel you."

"Plo Koon is dead. I am something more."

A shiver raced down her back. Her eyes flicked over Darth Vader's figure, searching for clues that she'd gotten it wrong.

The man certainly looked like Plo. He had the same tall and powerful build. A barrel chest. Long arms. His stance – wide and sturdy – was identical to the way her Master had stood as he'd watched over her in the training ring.

Despite this, Saedii noticed small differences. This man before her moved differently than Plo did. Where Plo was purposeful and confident, the Sith was inexorable and discerning. He did not move with slow grace, but calculated precision. Like a meteor on its flight. Unavoidable. A promise of imminent violence.

The way he looked down on her was too still. Detached. More machine than man.

"How is that possible?" Saedii demanded. "I can sense him within you."

Darth Vader sucked in a rattling breath but said nothing.

Saedii's scowl deepened. "What did you do to him? Why did you –"

"I have always lived within him," Darth Vader replied. One finger twitched at his side. "A shadow to his light. His contradiction."

"No." Plo didn't have darkness within him. He was good. A true Jedi.

As if he could sense her thoughts, Darth Vader drawled, "Everyone has darkness within them. All it takes is some prodding to bring it to the surface."

Nausea filled her stomach. What had they done to Plo to make him like this? Kalth had been a mere shadow of the man that stood before her – damaged and twisted, but not broken. Not like this.

"You have seen this in your friend. The boy." Darth Vader's gaze never wavered from her face. Taking in every minute flash of emotion. "Why is it so hard to believe that your Master fared any different?"

"Because Plo was stronger than all of us. He would never turn to the Dark Side."

"The Dark Side tempts all. Do you not remember its seduction?"

Her breath caught. Memories came – a phantom voice whispered in her ear, promising power and freedom. An echoing crack – the snap of a neck. Shadows that had flooded her veins until she'd been sure she could tear down the whole Fortress. The whole planet.

"Better men than Plo have bowed to its authority."

"There are no better men than Plo," Saedii snapped.

Darth Vader's helmet tilted up. "You are loyal to your Master. That is unwise. Loyalty is a precursor to death."

"Then kill me and be done with it."

Saedii's voice was sharp and sure – far more confident than she felt. It was fueled by her anger which grew hotter each time the Sith spoke. He even spoke like Plo, with a careful cadence and deep vocabulary. It made the back of her neck tingle with a chill.

If the Sith lord was impressed by her bravado, he gave no sign. Only watched her patiently. Another finger twitched at his side.

"You are destined for far greater things than death, Aesaedii Synn," he finally said.

That wiped whatever glare she'd had on her face. The way he'd said it had not been a promise, but a threat.

Darth Vader approached. She shied away from him, but with the binds that held her, she didn't get anywhere as his hand reached out and brushed along her forehead. She whimpered at the touch, anticipating pain.

"There is a rule among the Sith. The only law that we follow, to ensure our line never dies," Darth Vader said.

His gloved hand was cold against her brow. She tried to shake it off, wincing as he followed the shake of her head. As his fingers curled around her scalp.

"We call it the Rule of Two."

"No," Saedii cried. She knew what it was.

Despite her plea, he continued, "Every Sith must find an heir to take up the mantle. Every Master must have an apprentice."

Tears leaked down the side of her face, into her hair. Her breath caught on a sob. She wouldn't. She wouldn't.

"You are to be my new apprentice."

"No!" Saedii screamed, fighting at the bonds that held her. "No, I won't! I'll never serve the Dark Side."

The hand finally disappeared from her head. "You will."

The roar of her heart in her ears was making her dizzy. When she looked back up at him a moment later, his form swam in and out of focus. Hazy and sharp all at once.

Saedii shut her eyes. This was a dream. It wasn't real. She was going to wake up, just as she'd done before.

"I have come to the Fortress to make you mine. To bend your mind until you are willing to open yourself to the Dark Side on your own."

"No!"

"It is the only way."

She flinched again as a single finger pulled a wet strand of hair out of her face. The action was almost tender. Fatherly.

"The body can heal. Bones mend. Flesh reknits." The finger vanished. "But the mind, once splintered, cannot become whole again."

A sob caught in her chest. Any false bravado she'd had was gone, crumbled beneath the dark promise that he gave her. Her chest heaved with the terrible breaths that caught between her ribs. For a moment, she felt like she was suffocating.

From close by, Darth Vader's voice vowed, "Master and Apprentice, we once were. When I had another name. A lighter soul. Now, Master and Apprentice we shall be again."

"No!" This time, Saedii screamed so loud that it scraped the back of her throat raw.

Saedii thrashed at the binds that held her. At the stone table at her back.

Away. She had to get away before he changed her. Before he turned her into what she hated most.

She wouldn't do it. Wouldn't serve the Dark Side. Wouldn't become a Sith.

She would fight and resist in every way. Against every shadow and every terrible promise and every –

A cold chill washed over her.

When she opened her eyes, the room was empty. She was alone.

Saedii's breaths were ragged, tearing at her throat. Lines of salt burned against her temples where her tears had seared a path down her face. Every muscle trembled like she'd been caught by lightning. In her chest, the wild thunder of her heart beat against her ribs.

What was happening? Where had Darth Vader gone? Had he left? Was he planning something worse?

"That is how you break her," a deep voice said from the corner.

The faint figures of Krell and Darth Vader hiding near the door finally drew her eye. Krell's eyes were glittering in excitement, a slow smile peeling back his lips from his teeth as he watched Saedii weep on the table. At his side, Darth Vader was a block of ice. Motionless and cold.

That was when Saedii realized.

It had been another vision.

Another wash of tears raced along her cheekbones. It had felt so real. More so even than the Marauder. How was she supposed to tell truth from lies if they made her see things like that?

Her hand clenched, searching again for her necklace. For anything that could help her.

But there was nothing.

She had nothing.

Slowly, the Sith turned towards Krell. "You should have this in hand now, Grand Inquisitor. My presence is no longer needed."

"Yes, Master." Krell was looking at her like he was plotting every way to make her hurt. To make her crumble. What little courage she had left died at the sight.

"Keep me appraised of her progress," Darth Vader instructed, turning towards the door.

"Plo," Saedii whispered. Her voice was hoarse. "Please! Help me!"

He paused, body tensed. Ever so slowly, his helmeted gaze turned to meet hers.

"I have already told you. Your Master is dead," Darth Vader said indifferently, one hand on the doorway. His smallest finger twitched erratically. "You will find no mercy with me."

With a low scrape of stone on the floor, the door closed and Darth Vader was gone. Leaving Saedii and Krell alone.

Saedii trembled as she watched Krell draw a new syringe into his hand. She shook her head, turning away from him as he stalked towards her. Wordless protests tumbled from her mouth, falling on deaf ears.

"My Master was right. Tearing apart your memories won't work on you. That damned Cere Junda has taught you how to withstand," Krell said.

His leathery hand yanked her hair aside and jammed the needle into her neck.

That dreaded warmth flooded her veins. Her skin. Setting her ablaze from the inside. She gagged, nearly emptying her stomach as the cell began to spin around her.

"No. The key to breaking you is to make you destroy everything you ever loved. To force you to become what you hate," Krell said from far away. "To embrace your own darkness."

There was no resisting. No fighting against the pull of the hallucinogen.

With one last shuddering breath, Saedii tumbled back down into the illusions.

Down into the nightmares.