Crumbling Foundations

[Connor Harrison]

Set before the events of 'The Darkest Heart...'​

Silver Jedi Temple Outskirts
Voss

Night time on Voss.

All was quiet, except a light rain that would freshen the planet before sunrise.

Connor Harrison sat on a large boulder at the base of a crescent moon cliff-face. Up on the horizon was the mighty Silver Jedi temple itself. Above him, the satellite installation of the Antarian Rangers keeping an eye on the space above while many Padawans, Knights, Masters and Non-Force users slept or took late night strolls.

Rubbing his hands together over a plump green fruit, he took another bite as he just looked at the temple; a marvelous silhouette where he had lived for most of his adult years.

Plans were in motion, and things would never be the same.

But, for now, he was just out for a little peace, fresh air and some sweet fruit before he would return to sleep before travelling across the galaxy to Dosuun, seeking medical attention for his war-wounds that the Silver infirmary had botched in repairing.

It was night time on Voss, but the planet was very much alive in all sorts of ways.

[member="Lucia Nox"]

 

[Lucia Nox]

Passionate. Reckless. Undisciplined.

Lucia Nox was running. Running, running, out of the Temple's masterful rotunda, down the stone steps, and into the merciful sanctuary of the wooded cliffs beyond. Each swift step of her booted feet upon the path, made muddy and pliable from the rain, hammered one of those three words home. Passionate, reckless, undisciplined--over and over, like a broken holorecord in her mind, until at last she could run no further.

The young woman's knees buckled and bent, and all at once she found herself sinking down to sit beneath the leafy umbrella of an old, gnarled tree. Its thick trunk felt sturdy behind her back as she drew her knees up against the heavy rise and fall of her chest, wrapping her arms around the slender fold of her legs. "They're wrong," Lucia murmured. 'They' were the Temple elders, of course. Lately, they had adopted a healthy routine of reminding Lucy of her shortcomings. Lately, Lucy found herself growing quite angry.

The moon bathed her lissome form in pale light as she took her solace beneath the tree, radiant moonbeams seeming to reflect off the inexorable blonde of her hair as she lowered the crown of her head to rest on top of her knees. At a very solemn twenty-three standard years of age, Lucy did not frequently succumb to girlish emotions. She did not cry. As the rain wept its gentle baptismal, however, she felt grateful for the drops of water that slipped off her cheeks and into the earth.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

His chewing slowed a little at the noise ahead. It was there in the distance, hovering. Leaning forward and squinting, Connor took a few moments in the eerie silence to dissect it was nothing more than a Corvette class ship coming in to the temple, breaking through the low rain clouds, landing lights in full power.

It looked rather eerie from so far away, but nothing to worry about. He resumed eating and inhaled more fresh damp air.

The spiking aura of the Padawan wasn’t important yet. Let them hang for a while.

Connor bit into the fruit, looking at it curiously without a care in the world.

Another broken Jedi fleeing the lambasting Masters? Probably. They could hide all they want in the surrounding woodland and cliffs, but he would always find them and guide them away from the pressure that the Silver Masters loved to pile on young shoulders.

The Padawan was over in the trees, somewhere, just beyond where he was sat.

”Don’t let them push you into the mud. Stand. Walk on. Find me. I will help.”

Speaking out to their mind, Connor looked up at the drizzle coming down and took another bite of the fruit. He was getting used to this – snaring the broken ones to push down even more into bleakness that they had pushed him into all his life.

[member="Lucia Nox"]

 

[Lucia Nox]

Don’t let them push you into the mud.

Lucia's golden head to snapped to attention. She had heard the voice as clearly as she heard the rain drops pattering through the leaves of the old tree above, but as she scanned the surrounding perimeter, she found that she was quite alone. The voice was coming from somewhere within her own mind. It continued to echo.

Stand. Walk on. Find me. I will help.

Lucy did not need the injunction. Already, she was rising like an angel from the ashes, brushing twigs and brambles from where they clung lovingly to the fabric of her clothes, and plunging forward into the night. Her senses probed out into the cool, damp air; when they hit a patch of energy near the cliff, electricity shot through her veins, and Lucy knew she had found him.

"Master Harrison?"

The young woman emerged from the shadows and into the moonlight with the cautiousness of a doe leaving her thicket, the crowning glory of her wheaten blonde hair dripping with rainwater and her clear blue eyes alive with questions. She peered out at the familiar form sitting on the boulder--Connor Harrison. She knew him from the Temple but had rarely seen him outside of it. Despite this, he always seemed to turn up when she needed him the most.

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

So it was Lucia Nox. He had a feeling it was this one, but her aura wasn’t burning as bright. There was a cloud over her, dampening her spirit and her soul as she emerged.

”Lucia,” he said, eating up the remains of the fruit, ”, what are you doing this far out at night?”

But before she could answer, he held his finger up to silence her.

”Don’t tell me. Someone – a Master I bet – has put you down, made you doubt yourself or given you more of a hard time than you care to take. Am I right? Close?”

He winced and let out a loud sigh so she'd see an evident disappointment.

”Such a shame what they’re doing to you.”

[member="Lucia Nox"]

 

[Lucia Nox]

"How did you know?" As soon as Lucia posed the question, however, an abashed smile pulled at the dimple in her cheek as she lifted her blue eyes heavenward. "I suppose it's no secret what the elders think of me."

Lucy lowered herself down next to Connor on the boulder and was silent, listening to the gentle tapping of rain as it christened their heads and the lush green around them. "They don't trust me," She murmured after a moment, staring intently down at a tiny bud poking its head out of the earth at her feet.

She outstretched a slender hand and plucked the pretty thing, twirling the stem in her fingers before lifting her clear gaze to Connor. "They say I have too much passion. That I can't let go of my past."

The girl paused, tossing the bud away and pushing back the strands of blonde that stuck jealously to her cheeks from the rain. "My past is what has made me who I am." She looked back to Connor, but the defiance had bled from her heart and been replaced with vulnerability that shone in her eyes like stars. "I'm passionate only because I care. What's wrong with that?"

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

He let her settle beside him, and watched the open thoughts come out as she looked around at the natural world, trying to make sense of the beauty and danger of it all. As she tossed the bud, he tossed the core of the fruit.

"Nothing.” The definite answer. He sucked his fingers and wiped them down. "Anyone who tries to sway your past to make you something they want to control isn't worth your passion, Lucia.”

Turning to look at her, to study her face and build up a picture of her strengths and weaknesses from her faltering aura, he asked his next question.

"What did you do to warrant them saying that to you. And, don't worry, anything you say to me stays with me. I promise.”

[member="Lucia Nox"]

 

[Lucia Nox]

When Connor said I promise, a flicker of emotion crossed Lucia's pale features. Her gaze became narrowed and feline, sharp blue eyes searching his face for any sign of pretense or deception. Finding none there, she softened toward him considerably. "I trust you," Lucy said after a long moment. 'Trust' was not a word that the girl threw around lightly. It wasn't a word she threw around ever.

"What did I do?" Lucy repeated quietly, a short breath of subdued amusement pushing past the full swell of her lips. Her gaze glimmered back to Connor. "How much time do you have?"

It was something new every week, but this time, Lucy had crossed a line.

"I . . . made an unauthorized visit to Coruscant. Lower levels. It's where I grew up--well, until I was brought here."

Lucy lowered the thick fan of her lashes. "The slums, you know. One of those ramshackle huts they pass off as orphanages. I've seen terrible things." She found his gaze, shrugging the slender curve of her shoulders. "Sometimes I go back and try to do what I can for people, just to help. The elders don't like it--they forbid it. So I lie."

A smile, small and faint, ghosted at the corners of her mouth. "You must think I'm a foolish child."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The rain was picking up, and while it was peaceful to listen to and watch, it wasn't the best to be sitting out in in.

As Lucia spoke, Connor stayed silent but got up, helping her off the boulder, and moved across to a large overhanging rock in the cliff-face itself. It was a small cave, but not deep at all. Enough for shelter and to look out at the horizon. And the temple that seemed to plague them both.

"I don't think that at all,” he said as he sat up against the cool rock. "So you followed your heart and went exploring, being brave and acting on your own initiative. Not stupid at all. It shows willing, and a desire to break free from what people may expect of you.”

He looked out, thinking for a while. Then, he looked at her and indicated for her to sit. It wasn't totally comfortable, but it was shelter.

"I lie too. I lie a great deal. And that's NOT a lie. I find with the Silver Jedi, and the Jedi as a whole, you have to lie if you want to avoid being made to feel stupid, or foolish, for simply doing what you feel is right. You see the results and you see the positive affect you have on people, but they don't. They see you as a burden and a liability.”

Connor shook his head and gave her a small, solemn smile.

"I'm sorry it's happening to you with so much promise. I've seen you around the grounds but never really seen what you can do. Are you happy here, Lucia?”

[member="Lucia Nox"]

 

[Lucia Nox]

Lucia took his hand and allowed him to guide her out of the storm's path, the low rumble of thunder echoing from outside the cave as soon as they were safe within its shallow depths. As Connor sat down, Lucy wandered close to the cavern's edge, leaning against the side of its gaping mouth and pressing her cheek against the cool stone.

"It's beautiful," She breathed into the moonlight, looking out at the horizon with clear, yearning eyes.

The sound of Connor's voice brought her back to earth. She turned over her shoulder when he spoke, absorbing the full weight of his words and finding that they were hitting something very poignant within her core. What he said was the truth. It all made sense. She had lived it herself--was still living it now.

Then he asked a question that seemed to bring the whole world to a grinding halt. "Are you happy here, Lucia?"

The girl paused, quite taken aback. No one had ever asked her that before. The bud of her lips fell open to speak, to reply, to say anything at all, but just as quickly pressed back together. Her startled blue eyes searched his face as if he had the answer and was keeping it from her like a clever schoolmaster. It was almost pathetic, really, the innocence of her surprise.

"I . . . I don't know," Lucy replied, shaking that relentlessly blonde head. "I'm happy here." She looked around the cave, then returned to his steady gaze. "I feel free here, with you."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

So nice to hear. He gave a gracious nod.

"If I can make you feel happy here, then that makes me happy.”

He began to rub his hands together, in a circular motion, care-free like as he looked out at the Voss night. With the framing of the temple on the horizon and the blanket of trees around them, and the cliff providing total security from the drizzling rain, it was those sort of nights Connor loved.

Loved to watch the majesty of nature, and listening to the relaxing sounds that accompanied it.

His head rested on the cool rock for a little while longer, and he stared out at the night.

"Are you happy with the Jedi; namely, the Silver Jedi. Be honest.”

She wouldn't be here if she truly were. He knew that, but wanted to hear it. To unravel her.

[member="Lucia Nox"]

 

[Lucia Nox]

Lucia slowly lowered herself down onto the rock, taking her place at Connor's side once more. She followed his gaze, clear blue eyes pushing out into the darkness beyond their little sanctuary.

"Does it matter whether I'm happy?" She asked quietly, after a moment. "The Force chose me for this life. I serve out of duty, not happiness. That's the way it was meant to be." She paused, glancing at him searchingly as if unsure of her own words. "Right?"

Lucia took a deep breath from the cool, damp air and followed Connor's lead, letting her golden head fall back to rest against the cool stone wall beside his own. "To answer your question," She ventured slowly, turning her crystal gaze onto him. "No."

She went silent, retreating into the rising swell of her own thoughts and emotions. Her hands lifted and began to idly wring out the rainwater that still dripped from her wheaten curls, droplets falling to the floor like liquid diamonds.

"I want to do more," Lucy murmured, letting her hair fall away from her shoulders. "All of my training . . . all of my skills . . . all of my power. There is so much I could do for people in this galaxy--people who need me."

She flashed her eyes back to Connor. "Yet here I am. Sitting prim as a princess in my ivory tower."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

He smirked, not sure if she could see at the angle he was looking.

"All princesses need rescuing from their tower, Lucia.”

Now he turned to her, head lolling across the rock.

"There is a process to the path you want to take. I know what you want to do, and it's admirable. It's brave. You want to use the Force as your tool to do some good for the galaxy. You want to make sure there is justice and order. You want those who threaten those ideals be punished - you're not afraid to punish those who are a threat, are you?”

Connor looked over her and nodded slowly.

"You need to break free from that tower and embrace your power. It's controlled by the Jedi, and sadly they're using you as a pawn. Where are the Masters now? Why aren't there here helping you? Because they don't care. You're expendable, and if they see you as weak, they'll replace you. If you're strong, they'll manipulate how you think and feel for their own gain.”

The fist clenched by his side and pushed into the gritty ground.

"They take so much away if you let them, and then you're left with nothing.”

[member="Lucia Nox"]

 

[Lucia Nox]

Connor's words were layered with significance. Lucia furrowed her brows, mentally peeling away each layer one by one. "What are you suggesting, Master Harrison?" She asked, slowly pushing the smooth plane of her back away from the wall and swiveling her torso to face him directly.

It might as well have been a rhetorical question. Lucia knew exactly what he was suggesting.

A thick tension was building in the atmosphere now, hanging heavier and heavier in the silence that had fallen. Lucia studied him with serious blue eyes.

"Tell me how."

Gently, cautiously, she extended two exploratory hands to cup around the clenched fist he held at his side.

"How do I do it?" Lucia murmured, voice barely above a whisper, as if the Temple elders could hear them, even from where they hid together in the cave. "Will you show me?"

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor looked on at Lucia with a slight judgement in his eyes, working out if every breathless word she said was sincere. The girl certainly made it sound sincere, as did her eyes and her body language. She was confident, but not in an arrogant way. Self-assured and eager to be involved, rather than shy away.

He looked down at her small hands over his.

"It’s a long process, and it will be difficult, and you will need patience."

He looked back up at her and pointed with his other hand to his eye wound, and then the scar on his wrist.

"It will be painful and unbearable at times as you discover who you really are and you try to convince yourself that you’re not really that person. You won’t want to find out, but at the same time you will."

Connor then drew his finger up the side of her cheek and tapped gently against her temple between flicks of hair.

"They will lie to you and tell you the Dark Side of the Force is corrupt and dangerous, but you will then see in that moment how corrupt and dangerous the Light Side is by those who use it for greed and self-control like the Jedi. Like the Silver Jedi Order."

It was these moments of control and power over others that were alien to Connor, so soon in his breaking away from the Order, that made him feel invincible. Carefully he drew his finger across her forehead and placed his thumb beside, and studied her.

There was a swelling of confusion inside, and a point where she needed to feel wanted and important enough to give her the confidence to follow a path away from the Jedi.

"They’ll try to turn you against me, and they’ll say what they have to about me, but if you give me your faith and trust, then you will become one with the darkness and truly be able to help whoever you want, however you want, and destroy those who stand before you."

[member="Lucia Nox"]

 

[Lucia Nox]

"If . . . when . . . I do this," Lucia ventured, pressing her cheek cautiously into his hand, as if testing how this uncharted future might feel. It was frightening, exhilarating. "There will be no turning back, will there?"

The light in her blue eyes had darkened, and suddenly, Lucy looked very much her age. Young and inexperienced. Unsure of her place in the world. She was beginning to feel the warm, secure blanket of everything she had ever known slip out from underneath her, and she knew that she was powerless to stop it. It was her own hand doing the pulling--a willing sacrifice.

"Master Harrison," Lucy murmured. "I"m afraid." She shook her golden head, letting it fall back against the cool stone wall and squeezing her eyes shut. "I'm so afraid."

She was silent for a moment. "What if I'm wrong?" Her crystalline gaze glimmered back to his face. "What if there's something wrong with me?" She paused. In her heart, what she really meant to ask was What if I'm evil? She could not bring herself to form those hideous words.

Lucy inhaled deeply, eyes flashing beyond the gaping mouth of the cavern, settling on the formidable outline of the Temple that loomed in the distance. Her voice became quiet. "Where will we go? What will we do?"

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The domination felt good. The control felt good. The influence was empowering.

Connor looked at her, noting the twitches in her facial muscles and brow, the darting of the eyes and her tone of voice. Whispering….as if saying it a little quieter wouldn’t make it sound so wrong.

"No,." he said, her cheek in his hand, "there is no turning back. You can try, but there is no point fighting it."

Manipulation. Corruption. Deception.

"You’re confused. It’s ok. They’ve manipulated you. Corrupted you. Deceived you. I’ve seen it in others, and you won’t be the last. However, I will help you as much as I can."

There was much to put in place, and was he able to truly unlock her potential and give Lucia security? Not yet, but he wanted to. He had failed Aria, and he needed something to work out for him otherwise his vision would be lost.

"We can go anywhere you wish. We can explore dark worlds and meet with new allies who will show you much more than I can, Lucia. There is so much out there to see and feel. So much. And soon I will be able to take you there, but the choice must be yours. I will not push you to find your true self" His thumb stroked her cheek. "If anyone say’s there is something wrong with you, then they deserve to die, for they know nothing of true greatness."

Many should have died at his hand; those he once called allies.

[member="Lucia Nox"]

 

[Lucia Nox]

His roughened hand--the hand that should have slain so many--seemed to hold the smooth curve of her cheek as if there was nothing more precious under the stars. Lucia could not turn away now. The Silver Jedi had never made her feel so wanted. She had never felt freedom so closely as she felt the cradle of his palm against the moon-white of her skin. The thrill of absolution and the prospect of a new hope had begun to crawl inside her heart and light a fire, all at the beck of his hand.

"I choose this."

Her voice came out as a whisper still, but it soon began to rise--bolstered by Connor's steadiness and strength that she wanted to drink from like water.

"I choose you."

The blue of her eyes did not waver now.

"Wherever you go, I will go," She murmured. "Where you stay, I will stay."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

The edge of his lip curled into a smile. Never before had one hung on his word and strength - it was addictive.

"Trust me, that's all I ask. What I do, I do for your good. What I say, I say for your good."

With his hand, he swept up to draw her hair back to take a good look at the girl. She was certainly pretty, and there was something inside him that didn't care about anything else except her. The control and the way she looked at him; as if he was the most valuable person on the planet.

It was alien to him.

"Tell me, Lucia, what is your strength. Your ability. What do you excel at, so we can work right now to heighten it."

He started playing with the curl of her golden hair.

[member="Lucia Nox"]

 

[Lucia Nox]

The parents she had never known. The orphanage of her childhood that had cast her out to the highest bidder. The Silver Jedi--the closest semblance to family she could claim--denigrating her at every turn, pushing her farther and farther away from the warmth of their fold to the cold outer limits where she felt she had stood, shaking and alone, for ages.

All of it had led to this moment. All of it had to led to this man, to Connor, who now seemed like her only companion in the world. His masterful hand commanded her attention, and she gave it freely. His fingers ran through the crowning glory of her wheaten curls and a small part of her heart--the part that was still a child--prayed that his fingers would get lost there, just so he wouldn't leave her side. She couldn't stand to be left again.

All was silent for a moment.

"You're the only one who understands," Lucy murmured, looking up to him with clear blue eyes--eyes that were typically so feline and sharp, but that now softened. The girl was a fighter through and through, but she was not immune to the warmth that radiated through the Force, from his finger as it wrapped around one of her long blonde curls. It was a strong sensation, inexorable, impossible to ignore.

"I'm . . . a survivor," She ventured slowly, answering his question. "As a child, I had nothing. I learned to work with whatever was around me. I'm . . . creative. Resourceful. I think quickly on my feet."

It was here that she paused, lowering the thick fan of her lashes as she smiled wryly, more to herself than to him.

"I know I'm small," She admitted, flickering her gaze back up to his face. "But you learn how to get by on so much more than brute strength, when you're a little fish in a big pond."

[member="Connor Harrison"]