Monarchs Arise (Akio Kahoshi)

[Manu Xextos]

His mother Ahani's message had come to Manu on Sabarene. The crowned monarch had been sitting at the Divya Fountain in Abha as was his want in the middle of the day, taking the troubles of his people to heart. He'd grown used to a crown or some form of monarch in his former years and claiming Sabarene as a protected throne helped Manu focus not just on surviving the desert, but building future generations. With his wife [member="Erryn Xextos"] ' clone by his side, Manu knew the subsistence of Sabarene would continue long after he was gone.

Which he feared would be soon.

Yet, as the Force had not taken him, he busied himself with teaching an Emperor of its ways. Teaching was the best way of ensuring the essence of a person survived, and so it was that the Admiral of the Sv'Yato Fleet and at one point Atrisian Refugee came back to the land his mother had claimed as her own those months ago.

He waited in a vast and faultless room floored with tatami and nestled against the backdrop of the hills. Dressed in the robes of an Echani Master Combatant, Manu awaited the arrival of his brand new charge.

[member="Akio Kahoshi"]

 

[Akio Kahoshi]

A robed figure entered the room, his face obscured by the robe's hood. Unlike the other, he wore no symbol of his rank or titles. Doing so would raise suspicion about his identity, that of a man who had very publicly died. The rouse had worked, a bit too well in some aspects. It had given him the time to begin controlling his new found Force powers however, so in the end he expected everything to work out. Togashi Yokuni had taught him the basics of keeping his Force abilities from manifesting randomly, now another master would help him further learn to control them.

"Thank you for coming Master Xextos," Akio said as he removed his hood. "I know proper training cannot be rushed, but I am beginning to fear what my further absence would mean for Atrisia. Already I have been gone to long, and while my cousin is a brilliant scientist she was never made to lead an entire nation."

[member="Manu Xextos"]

 

[Manu Xextos]

"Your Imperial Majesty." Manu bowed his head, yet not as fully as a normal prostrant might. They were men of titles, Manu had come to a much firmer footing since the last time he had seen [member="Akio Kahoshi"]. Motioning the Emperor over, Manu continued to sit and contemplate the view.

"I know all too well what happens to a crown and its empire when the wrong-suited rule it. Your cousin, however brilliant, is best left to rule other things. We must strengthen your neck, so it might again bear your crown. Sit with me. Tell me what you know of the Force and what you wish to learn of it. The Force is expansive and demanding, yet not without kindness. Come. Sit with me."

 

[Akio Kahoshi]

"Akio is fine Master Xextos," Akio said as he approached the other man. "In this room, you are the master and I just a pupil. A pupil who thinks themselves in any way superior to their master, will forever be nothing more than a student."

Before sitting down the Emperor removed the bulky rove to reveal the traditional training attire of yovshin swordsmen. While Akio might be a novice in the Force, he was a master of the yovshin arts passed down through his family. So when he spoke of training, he was speaking from his own experience. From what time he had spend with Togashi, Akio had begun to notice that many of the basics appeared similar. One had to train both mind, body, and spirit to master the martial arts. So to it seemed with the Force.

"I have seen the Force be many things, but I have never seen it be kind. Nor have I seen it be cruel. The Force simply is, and it is up to those that wield it to decide how it will be used just like any tool. You know of the Inquisition and its goals. It has always protected Atrisia from those that seek to use the Force for ill. Ironic now that I am one potential threat, if I do not learn to control it properly. To further answer your question, I know that the Force is everywhere. I know it connects us all, and I know that its abuse can lead to the corruption of the abuser. Some, like the Sith, seek this corruption willingly, while others such as the Jedi build codes to try and hide from that corruption."

[member="Manu Xextos"]

 

[Manu Xextos]

"Heh. I've seen this truism played out many times with many potential students. Tended not to take them, didn't you know?" Manu's silver eyes were quick to move and bound to nothing, he was as fluid as his gaze and the oceanic representation of the Force he so loved. His silver hair was coiled at the back of his head in a simple band of contrite, polished metal. "I am neither Sith nor Jedi, Akio. I have lived centuries with the boiling dichotomy rushing through my veins and came to the conclusion to simply be with the Force. I am of the Light. I follow an older oath the Jedi had once taken and abandoned in kind. Above all I have known the Force to be firm yet kind. In time, perhaps, you'll feel it for yourself. The love and kindness of the Force. Now."

Manu put his palm behind him and spread his sizeable fingers on the tatami. He was a gargantuan seven foot man, lithe of muscle and a scant bit frail for the life pulsing through his veins, but anyone who said Manu was a being of weakness would be terribly misinformed. "It rests to you to bridge the gap between the fear the Atrisians feel of the Force and its' users, and your own sense of power. The Force is a tool and a god. It flows.

We can see and manipulate this flow but we must not do so blindly. Every action we take within its' flow must be calculated and chosen with wisdom. Those of us who can sense into the intrinsic mind of another being are especially tasked with discernment concerning our gifts. I am a Master Empath. I feel the presence of planets down to the individual people. It was a gift of my childhood and one I could not control. To know the Mentalist arts, one must have a grasp on what it takes to change another person's mind."

'Speak with me. Find your telepathic voice and speak to me.'

 

[Akio Kahoshi]

To a man who had always, and very much still did, see the Force as something to distrust it was extremely unsettling to hear another man's words in his mind. Having been hearing the surface thoughts of those around him for the past few weeks though, he handled with with much more grace than he would have a few months ago. Only the smallest twitch hinted at his discomfort, and even that more due to surprise at the suddenness than anything.

Breathing deeply before exhaling, Akio drew upon the basics he had already learned. Reaching toward that mysterious nothing he could only barely comprehend, he led it from his mind to that of Manu. He saw it as an invisible stream connecting the two. "It is not an entirely pleasant experience to know one's mind is no longer just their own."

The words were there, though they were not strong. Someone not looking to "hear" them likely would not really notice them at all, just background thoughts lost below their own conscious thoughts. A student the Emperor most certainly still was. But he had faced greater adversity in his life, so he calmly watched Manu and waited for further instructions.

[member="Manu Xextos"]

 

[Manu Xextos]

'Your mind has never been your own. You are not sovereign, the Force is. Stopping its' flow is like stopping a waterfall with a strained cup.' Manu continued speaking calmly in [member="Akio Kahoshi"]'s mind. This new student's fear of the Force would be the ultimate lesson Manu could rectify. Akio must learn to trust. . . and to an Atrisian? It might be more than Manu could ask.

'Feel outward. You have guards by the door. One of them is suffering. Tell me. What does he suffer from?'

 

[Akio Kahoshi]

"I had to do that once," Akio projected with a chuckle. "Your arms grow very tired in very short order."

At Manu's instructions Akio turned his attention to his gaurd. Even with scrutiny one could see nothing out of order from the red clad man, so Akio attempted to look deeper. He felt pain, but also determination and a fear of failure. All pointing toward his left arm. At this revelation a frown creased Akio's expression. "Sho Yi, I thought I ordered you to have that arm looked at?"

[member="Manu Xextos"]

 

[Manu Xextos]

'I'll teach you how to avoid getting tired. It's possible, how else do you think I managed to survive living eight centuries' worth of time?' Manu smirked. The art of allowance was one Manu instilled into himself often and constant. He was alive because the Force was not finished with him yet, or maybe it was his wife and mother who weren't finished with him.

He smirked.

Akio got it. "Sho Yi, come here." Manu's voice was flower petal sweet. The guard came forward without question and knelt in front of Manu and the Emperor. Manu's fingers pulled at the air until Sho Yi's arm revealed itself and his robes and garments fled. 'Emotions and physical ailments are much the same. They are garments of the same cloth. How would you heal this man?'

 

[Akio Kahoshi]

Every Atrisian in the room (which was admittedly only three at the moment) tensed at the blatant use of the Force. Knowing it was not simply a force for evil did not change a lifetime's teaching overnight. With effort the Emperor shook himself mentally, concentrating on his purpose here and remember that he too was now a Force wielder. To fear oneself was to admit that one had no control of themselves, and Akio was not the type to let that happen.

Before responding, Akio paused to look at the arm more deeply as he had done before. He did no sense anything broken, but instead got the feeling he might have from a severely strained muscle. "With a bacta salve," he projected finally. The arts of war and political maneuvering were Akio's fields of expertise, medical disciplines not so much. "Perhaps a muscle relaxer and pain killers."

[member="Manu Xextos"]

 

[Manu Xextos]

To defeat a blatant belief, one had to be faced with it. Manu was being as forceful as he ought in his mind, basking in the way the Atrisians tensed up. He kept himself centred. Calm. 'You're using your tactical mind. Relying on your own understanding. The Force releases you from your dissatisfying lack of intuition.'

Manu held his hand up, fragments of light sprouted from his fingers and wrapped around the man's wrist. The man jerked against it. Manu continued. 'His injury is one of pride. Of bold facedly throwing himself into his work. This is a positive thing, but the extreme is harrowing. A sick guard can end in the death of his master. He needs no bacta. He needs to let his failure go. Rectify it. Prove to him that you harbour no ill will, nor desire to harm. Give him his wounded pride, and instill in him the feeling that you value his services and his personality. We must value all life. We must be its keeper. Use your own mind. Touch upon his and relieve his suffering.'

 

[Akio Kahoshi]

Yet again the Master showed an astounding, and terrifying, display of the Force. If one could so easily meld flesh and heal wounds, it was only logical that the reverse could be done and flesh torn apart. Like any tool if something could be used for good, there was a way it could be used for harm as well. But then it was his duty to protect and lead his people, and to protect them from those who would use the Force to hurt them he needed to understand it. Fully.

Not liking the idea of invading his guard's mind, Akio did so none-the-less. He reached out and touched upon it with the Force, then spoke as he would in court. "I am disappointed in you Sho Yi. I chose you to acomany me into hiding because of your intelligence, bravery, honor, loyalty, and skill. I know you do not wish to dishonor yourself by not being able to perform your duties, but not taking care of an injury could leave you unable to perform your duties when most needed. What greater dishonor could there be? Accept the healing of Master Xextos, and learn from this lesson. Then continue serving me as one of my most trusted guards."

[member="Manu Xextos"]

 

[Manu Xextos]

Fear. The room flowed with it, the Atrisians' predilections for fearing the Force hit Manu upside the head and into his spine. The Echani bit the inside of his cheek, grinding his teeth against the flesh in his mouth. This was what his mother had saved him from. This was it. Palpatine would have turned Manu into a monster of the Force, a weapon used to keep folk like these without any indication the Force existed at all.

"You do it." Manu said audibly for the Emperor and his two personal guards. He could nearly feel the revulsion which would lurk in [member="Akio Kahoshi"] over what Manu asked of him. The Master of the Jedi entered Akio's mind again, opening for Akio the method of healing his guard's arm. 'They will continue to fear and be repulsed unless it comes from you. The Force is mighty, yet your fear of it will contaminate you. Reassure him. Be kind. Be gentle. His fear of reproach is causing this problem to become a potentially massive one. You must father these men as much as rule them. Take your mind. Reach into the injury and right it. Be at peace with it, and bring peace to it. Only then will you heal it.'