Sullust Dawn

[Jsc]

She nodded. It was enough.

"Yes. Something like that. Because while visions are cloudy, yes. They are also vast and limitless. Unlimited and diverging pathways into the future. Each vision represents only one of many outcomes. And. Like an experienced gambler at a casino? Just because he understands all the odds does not mean he will always win. Chance. Cause and effect. The pure chaos of the universe. These things will always play a part in your visions. They are never 100% certain. You have been warned."

If there was anything Karen was trying to impress upon Akio mind about visions, it was that they were unreliable at best. Yet still. The Force had a way of showing you the way to go. It had a way of putting all the long odds in your favor.

Still. This gift was always borrowed. Never taken.

"To move on. Visions can be requested of the Force as you meditate. This is the most common way a Jedi can recieve guidence from the Force. Simply, asking for it."

Karen nodded.

"It seems like common sense, yes. But the truth is you won't always get an answer to your prayers. Life is about living. Not cheating. And the Force knows this well. Even the Gods themselves are anxious to see us make something of ourselves in this chaos. Anxious to see what the human will choose to become. Even in a universe that is unfair."

She waved a hand to the harsh world around them.

"By all means. Take note Knight. The Force nor the higher powers beyond this universe seem interested in saving all of us from this unfairness. Our mortal plane of existence. You won't find any all-powerful deity reaching down their mighty hand to lift us all up to heaven. Oh no. Nor will you find that the Force feels compelled in any way to give you visions at all. It's will is mysterious. Unknown. Even to a Jedi Grandmaster. As such, an important part of your training will be to accept this reality. A harsh fact of law and science. There was never a Jedi born who's destiny it was to bring about heaven. Not even The One had such a task. Nor will your visions ever inspire you to do likewise. You are called to serve the will of the Force. Not to become it."

Karen called it a God Complex. It was the easiest error for a Jedi to make when the visions started coming. Starting to think you were special. That you could use this great power to save everyone, everywhere. If only by the Butterfuly Effect alone.

"Make no mistake young Knight. This world is one to be experienced. To be lived. Not, to be solved. Not even to be seen in a vision. You will learn nothing of this world just by dreaming it. Closing your eyes was never sight. And, your ability to save others will remain steadfastly, (as they should be,) within your own talents, body, and abilities. Not borrowed. Not begged. By some intervening god-force. Not even for a Jedi."

She stopped her warnings there. Once again. It was enough. Now all that remained for Akio to begin dreaming and beginning making choices for himself. Thusly prepared. It was inevitable that the Force would grant him a vision. If only to test him.

She only hoped that he had the good sense not to endeavor to become a Messiah. Because the next part in this lesson was going to be a doozy.

"Now. Before we move on to the hard part. Do you understand these warnings? Are you prepared to proceed?"

[member="Akio Diachi "]

 

[Akio Diachi]

Possibilities. The universe was full of them, and it seemed to make sense that the Force Visions would only be that way too--possibilities instead of concrete rules. Of course there were rules in the galaxy but these were incredibly few. Most were "suggestions with repercussions."

'Destiny is chosen," Akio said with a nod, "We see possibilities, the visions, even when we understand them appear more as possible outcomes or suggestions than we do set-in-stone promises." He thought for a moment, "Sometimes would you say, the Force shows us more what we need to see than what we ask to see?"

That seemed to make the possible twisted views of what was to come more palpitate than not. He supposed that perhaps even Sideous had visions of control--which did come true, and Vader of visions of order and security, which also partially came true. But they saw propelled them to take hold and create their destiny he supposed. And in that--well, maybe the Force just had a sick sense of humor or it was just the grand machinations of a man with a beard and a studio to shoot movies. Perish the thought.

Either way, it mattered little, life wasn't a puzzle, it was place. A place to act, to be, to experience, and to enjoy its blessings.

"I understand," Akio said, "I am ready."

[member="Karen Roberts"]

 

[Jsc]

"Very well. Then let it be known that you have just learned everything you need to know. The Force will take it from here."

She placed her hands behind her back and nodded. Letting the sun warm her shoulders with good taste.

"For the next part of your lesson you must go and seek out a Force Nexus. An especially powerful place where the veil between worlds is at it's thinnest. Here. You will meditate to the point of trance. Asking the Force to bestow upon you this great gift. ...And. If the Force is willing? You shall be initiated with a dream."

It was strange. Karen seemed to speak these words as if they were a slow poison. As if what she was asking of Akio might in some way harm him.

"What will transpire next I cannot say. Only that you must go alone and take nothing with you. Your weapons. You will not need them."

The cave on Dagobah. The valley at Ruusan. What happened in these deep dark places she dared not to speak. Personal imagery for every brave Knight who ventured there.

"As for preparation? No. There is nothing else I can offer you. From here you must go alone. But, I can promise that when you return from this experience? You will know the next step that must taken. You will know what must be done."

[member="Akio Diachi "]

 

[Akio Diachi]

Everything he needed to know. It seemed too simple, almost too good to be true. There was a slight sense of uneasiness in his stomach, as if he was digesting the unknown, the bitter pill of variables outside of his field of view. He had long by now accepted that there were many things that he could neither control nor see, but the Chiss nature in him, still wanted to know.

But Akio trusted his friend and fellow Jedi. He bowed his head, "Thank you, Master Roberts. I shall take your leave and make haste. Until then, may the Force be with you."

With that he turned on his heel and returned to his makeshift hut in the forest not far away. The Chiss disarmed himself, taking the length process of removing all his weapons and his armor. Instead he donned a loose fitting pair of breeches and a tunic and was soon on his way. He had to find a ship to hitch a ride to Degobah or Ruusan, but that was of little worry. He knew the Force would guide him, as it always had. He stored all his gear in a metal, airtight chest and locked it before burying it below the surface, just as an added precaution. The last thing the galaxy needed was someone breaking into this hut and these weapons falling into the wrong hands.

***​

The swampy haze rose up all around the Chiss like an ethereal mist. He sloshed through the waist-high muck, sweat pouring off his body. The temperatures were intense, to say the least and the humidity didn't help. After several days of overland travel on foot through this endlessly rough terrain, Akio's body was beyond exhausted. His muscles were crying out for a real meal instead of gathered berries and half-raw snake.

Swamp water trickled off his body as the Chiss hauled himself onto a patch of semi-dry land. He collapsed on his back panting. A pair of mynoks flew by overhead in a mating ritual. He couldn't help but smile slightly. The galaxy went on one way or the other, whether or not he was struggling to complete his spiritual quest. It was partially freeing to know that the galaxy was partially so indifferent. With a great effort of willpower, Akio forced himself to his feet and carried on, he was close he could feel it. He was almost to the cave he had worked so hard to get to. Deep down inside, he knew this was vitally important.

I wonder what I will see, Akio thought, not for the first time during his journey. Would it be his death? Marrying Dryzl? Their first child's birth? The Blue Pilgrim was so caught up in his thoughts he didn't realize where he was--he fell into the cave he was locking for. His left foot buckled under the fall, twisting unnaturally. I am here, Akio realized through the pain in his ankle. He tested it, it was sprained not broken, thank goodness.

The Chiss limped in a few dozen feet further before sitting cross-legged. The Force was strong here, he could feel it in the very air. It was almost natural for him to slip into the trance as his breathing slowed and he opened his mind.

"Show me," he whispered. "What you want me to see."

In a moment the darkness around him was gone. He stood back in the academy where he was trained as a boy. But it was different. The colors were muted. The sky was overcast and dark. And before him, he could see himself, it was as if he was both observing and acting semidetached. from his body. Heo Chan, one of Akio's instructors and grandmaster of their assassin order made his way from the scarlet colored Hall of One Thousand Pillars. Akio bowed instinctively, the purple skinned Umbarian bowed in return. "You have done well, Diachi-san. When we left you, you were but a foot soldier. But you are still not worthy to claim the title of Grand Dragon."

"Thank you, Chan-san," Akio said, his voice once more the cold, cool calculating form it had been in a past life, "But I do not need your approval. Or any others. I posses powers beyond your wildest dreams."

"Beware of arrogance, Diachi-san, it--" Heo Chan didn't have a chance to finish. Akio's blade shot out, it was only a lifetime of training that saved the grandmaster's life. He took up a battle ready position, "You dare strike at me?"

Akio did not reply with words. He merely extended his hand, drawing his old master in with the Force. His body fell on the blade, his face inches from the Chiss'. As Heo Chan's life faded, Akio felt nothing. It was like he was an assassin once more. Cold. Ruthless. All that that existed was the honor of the kill. He stepped over the body and five other grand masters attacked him in a multi-pronged assault. The Chiss easily carved through them with precise, emotionless attacks.

Into the Hall of One Thousand Pillars he walked, each step was won by the death of two grandmasters. Body after body lay cleanly severed from this world in his wake. None could stand against his martial arts and his Force abilities.

"It is the art of the kill to do so emotionlessly," Akio quoted his old creed, slitting a throat and letting its body drop, "To forgo passion, to become a hollow vessel for killing to do so alone as the highest art form. Is this not the truth? Am I now worthy of your respect? Do you regret mocking me now? Do you regret oppressing me?"

He swung the doors open of the throne room of the Grand Dragon--

And on its throne sat Dryzl. She rose when she saw him. Akio knew he should feel love, compassion, kindness, care for her. He had searched for years to find her, out of nothing more than his tenderness for her. She had made him feel alive for the first time in his life. Now, all he felt was a cold detachment.

"Akio, stop," she said, stepping down from the dais of the throne, "Look at what your doing, you don't want to be this man. You don't want to be a killer. Remember the promise you made me? On Naboo? Remember how you promised to not kill like this again? Rememb--" She felt his blade stab through her and the woman gripped his arms. Akio could see his own reflection in her eyes. His cold face, no love, no pity at her horror. Her breath came in short gasps, "A--a-akio. I--i-i l-llove--"

"Love is for the weak," Akio denounced coldly as her body hit the floor.

He stepped over her and took his place on the throne. Before him, the initiates, the young clansmen, the surviving grandmasters bowed. More masses, civilians, soldiers, pilots, world leaders, senators all came to bow before him. His throne rose higher, ascending through the heavens, through reality as masses bowed before the Chiss.

As quickly as it started, the vision ended. The Chiss planted his hands on the ground, the world around him was spinning as he tried to process it all, to take it in.

***​

He was very different when he arrived at the Sullust Jedi monastery two weeks after he had departed. He was not dressed in armor, only loose fitting robes. He carried no weapons. He felt upset. Confused. Like he was trying to process everything he had just witnessed. He was still immaculately composed, for his Chiss nature ran deep, very deep. He wasn't about to express himself through tears or screaming, sobbing or raging. That was not his way and it never would be.

"I don't know what to do with this," he explained to Master Roberts once he had told her what he had seen, "if this is my future, I don't want this. I made a promise not to kill, to not slaughter anymore. I've worked hard to change, to be different. Is all of it in vain then? Is it worthless to try and fight to be someone different? Will all I ever am be just a killer?"

[member="Karen Roberts"]

 

[Jsc]

The red sun beamed through the windows of the Jedi Monastery. Karen leaned forward and listened well to Akio's tale. Though. She did not know what to make of his dream. His experienced had ended far differently than even she had foreseen.

"You absolutely do know what to make of this vision Knight. And the truth is far, far simpler than you might imagine."

She gave a wave of her hand to gesture,

"Think back to my warnings. Did I not already prepare you for this? Have you forgotten my lessons already?"

She frowned,

"See, damn it. You already have all the pieces. Detach. Be water. Think it through logically. Let it flow out of you and then observe it clearly. What you have experienced is as plain as the wood on this floor. Make it plain. Make it wood. Be like water. Let it flow out of you and observe it clearly. Do not remember it. Just. ...See it."

[member="Akio Diachi"]

 

[Akio Diachi]

He remembered; these things came in shadowy, shifting delusions. They were apparitions of what was to come, faint impressions of the mind trying to understand what they were being told and interpret them accordingly. Just--the Chiss was not expecting things to surface in that level of twisted strangeness.

"I thought I understood," he said folding his hands behind his back, "I suppose I was wrong."

Akio bowed his head, closing his eyes. Just as he was instructed, the Chiss began to replay the vision, as clear as crystal. Every detail was as real as it had been. He visualized putting his heart in a box, examining it all with his mind instead. That was when the details came to him.

"The Temple," he said first, "It was destroyed, when the Primeval bombed Datoowine, the temple, the training grounds, all of it was destroyed. This--can't be real. It can't be a future." He felt relief creep up his spine, but the Chiss halted it. He could savor that feeling later, it was time to understand. "Its symbolic. Its not real."

It was real in a way that it conveyed the message, but the illusions themselves were not as important as he had thought they were. He probed deeper.

"They are--dead. Everyone I see, these grandmasters, the initiates, the other clansmen are all dead, some I remember killing in training," he said, as casually as if he were stating the time of day, "The civilians, I remember them, the politicians too. I killed them all, each as a part of my training or as a job to--its a metaphor." He winced, how could I have been so blind to not see that? Akio opened his eyes and looked up, "Its symbolic. A fear. Of my past. Of becoming--that monster again. A fear of becoming who I was and killing Dryzl's faith and hope in me. How could I have been so foolish to not see this before?" Akio chided himself aloud.

"But why would the Force show me that? Is it a warning?"

[member="Karen Roberts"]

 

[Jsc]

Karen's face remained as stoic as stone.

"You know why."

How long could Diachi run from his own nature. Was it really so hard to embrace that man has a darkside. That duality is a natural part of every sentient being. Did he really think that no future could exist where-by his blackest choices would lead to his own utter annihilation? Did he really believe he could ever be free of choice?

Could he really be this blind.

 

[Akio Diachi]

Akio all but visibly squirmed. He hated emotional confrontation, why did this have to be so necessary? He took a deep breath, girding himself with courage. He had overcome his fear of fire, he was the master of his own destiny. He could do anything. He could overcome this.

It was an instinct of all living beings to deny what they found most threatening and could not change. It was the most primal of coping mechanisms. The fear to turn and face the monster under your bed, the greater fear of seeing it because that made it real. It was natural to suppress it. To hide the monsters, to cover your fears by denying they even existed as if it somehow made those fears less real, or less of a threat. And when it came to personal failures? Well that was doubly true, and so much more terrifying to face and admit.

For a long time Akio could run. Run from his past. Run and say he wasn't that man anymore. Or put it off and say that man was only what others had trained him to be, but deep down inside Akio knew that wasn't true. He had run from what he had done, who he had been, what he had been for years now. But, the truth was still there. The Pilgrim planted his feet solidly on the ground.

"Because," he said slowly, "I have a dark side. And that is what it looks like." He felt a mixed sense of relief and slight fear, as if admitting it made the obvious suddenly more real, "That when I killed for pride and vanity, that when I hurt people for the 'honor' in it, that was just as much me as the part that wants to heal and protect. That it is all me. And--I need to accept that. And defeat that darkness, if I am going to serve the light."

[member="Karen Roberts"]

 

[Jsc]

"When I was a child I thought as a child, I spake as a child. But when I became a man. I put away childish things." ~ M

Karen leaned back but did not smile. She let the silence of his declaration linger.

He needed this.

This.

This moment.

This decision. To choose between the dark and the light. To see within himself this choice. Always present. Always there. The greatest blessing that the Gods could grant a man. Choice. Sight. Vision.

This was the great reality. That Akio Diachi would be whatever he chose to be.

This was the will of The Force.

 

[Akio Diachi]

Akio knew what he wanted to serve, he wanted to be a servant of the light. He wanted to take care of the good, the right, those who needed protection and needed him to defend them from the darkness. He wanted to help make a difference. He knew he couldn't save whole worlds or the entire galaxy, he just wanted to make life better for those he knew. But he didn't know if he could. He knew what he was capable of, the rampant destruction that he could cause all over the lives of others without even caring. It would be hard to fight against it, to stand on the high, hard road of the light.

Before him stood a crossroads.

But--"I am the master of my own destiny," he repeated from two weeks earlier, before he had been knighted. The Chiss squared his shoulders, "And I get to choose who I am. I choose what I am. I choose who I become and what I do with the universe around me and how I affect it. So today--everyday, for the rest of my life--I choose light. I choose life. That is what I choose." he raised his head slightly, "Not because I have to. And not because anyone can force me to, but because that's what I want."

[member="Karen Roberts"]

 

[Jsc]

Good. It was as it should be.

"Excellent."

Karen said somewhat nonchalantly. As if whatever Akio had just said was common sense to a Jedi. Just, business as usual.

"Then you're ready to begin."

She stood up and brushed herself off.

"Well. I expect the Force will take your training for here. If you receive more visions? Good for you. If not? ...Well. That I guess the Force doesn't need your help that month. Hehe."

She shrugged. It was what is was. Mysterious as always.

"So? Have you thought about taking students yet? Or, do you have a house to set in order first? Hehe."

 

[Akio Diachi]

"Well, something of both, I suppose," Akio said with a chuckle. It was amazing how quickly the changed gears. But he supposed that when this was your life, it was as common as talking about sporting events around a water cooler. And besides, he was not fond of intense emotions or discussing them--something this was certainly bringing about.

"I do have some need for income," Akio said with a slight chuckle, "I am not looking for a hand out, but the neighborhood I was in was certainly not safe enough for starting a family. And waiting tables was certainly not helping things in that regard. I suppose I could starta business," he tilted his head to the side slightly, "I do have a few particular skills, some that others would like to learn for a small fee." He gave a half smile, "I will figure something out.."

Of course it didn't help that for all intents and purposes--he was dead three times over and dating an outlaw. But that was a problem for another day.....

[member="Karen Roberts"]

 

[Jsc]

Income was never a problem for a Jedi.

There were half a dozen royal houses scattered across the whole of the galaxy that would practically make you royalty without the drop of a hat, just for claiming to be a space wizard. For protection, military matters, police concerns, political favors, a court mage, alchemy creation, or just to keep as a prop toy for the local propaganda papers. Mm. All in all. Having the term 'Jedi' slapped on your job application opened up many, many doors. Akio would find work. If not a king's fortune then at least something mercenary.

Um. ...It should also probably be mentioned that being a Jedi could also get you killed for no reason at all too. But. Yeahhh. Anyways... Probably best not to think about that.

"Something tells me you'll do just fine."

She smiled and nodded.

"And? If worst comes to worst? Just drop by the nearest NJO or Silver Temple. They charge almost zero for friends of the empire. Hehe."

Nah. Give him a month or two. Akio would be just fine.

 

[Akio Diachi]

The Chiss smiled, tilting his head to the side slightly, "I am quite sure I will. There are no worries on my part for that, I have made it this far, I doubt that the Force will stand by and drop me just yet. Or that I will run short of ideas."

Akio had been inventive. Running through the galaxy with little more than his sword and gunction, Akio had made his way through some seriously bad times.

"Thank you, Master Roberts, for your assistance," the Chiss gave a slight bow with his words, "I am quite sure you have other matters to attend to. I may look in on one of those temples soon. Until we meet again, my friend."

[member="Karen Roberts"]

 

[Jsc]

"May the Force be with you, Knight."

She gave him a deep bow. Deeper and longer than she would ever have granted an Apprentice. Because now he was ready.

His next chapter had already begun.

___

*fin