The Tragic Jedi | Anakin Skywalker

𝓢𝓬𝓮𝓷𝓮 𝟗𝟖

❈✱❉✤❈✱❉

One moment Astrid was standing before Anakin with her two lightsabers-- her own lightsaber and Anakin's-- hovering on either side of Anakin's throat with the intent to kill. The next moment, the veil of darkness lifted from her, and she was lunging directly for Emperor Palpatine.

It must've been the combination of Obi-Wan's unexpected death and the sight of the sand dollar she'd gifted to Anakin that gave her the strength to fight back against the shroud of darkness that had befallen her.

Yet, now, she was shrouded in the blue lightning that had burst from the tips of Palpatine's gnarled fingers. Her body seized as pain arced through her entire body, and her mouth fell open into a silent scream. Her thoughts scrambled, unable to take form in the haze of electricity that swarmed her like a million wasps, stinging her.

She thought she might have dropped the two lightsabers that had been gripped in her hands. And she thought she was now on the ground, seizing, having fallen at some point. Her back arched, spine bending, as a roil of pain swept through her body, and words fizzled off of her tongue and emptied from her mind as the pain enveloped her, taking over her. The world around her was a bloom of bright, glaring light that scorched her eyes.

Suddenly, unexpectedly, the lightning disappeared, leaving Astrid gasping and smoking on the ground. The glaring light vanished with the lightning, and the view of the control room slowly formed around her once again. She lifted her eyes to find whatever or whoever had stopped her torment. Just ten feet away, Anakin now fought Palpatine, blue lightsaber clashing against red.

Astrid spotted her own lightsaber on the floor just in reach of her hand, and her fingers curled around the cool hilt as she struggled to her feet to help Anakin. Her body ached everywhere, and her mind felt fuzzy. A burning scent filled her nose.

When Astrid finally managed to rise to her feet, chest heaving, she spotted the heap of Obi-Wan's robes on the ground. The breath was knocked out of her as she once again recalled Palpatine killing him as she'd held Anakin back, preventing him from helping his former Master.

Now, her breaths came in huge, desperate gulps as she stared at the abandoned Jedi robe and realized it was all her fault that Obi-Wan was dead. Her guilt and despair felt like a punch to the gut. Somehow, she'd been seduced by the Dark Side in a matter of minutes, despite Obi-Wan's earlier warning, and now, and now--

She was suddenly filled with the overpowering need for vengeance, and her hand tightened on her lightsaber as the weapon ignited, illuminating her face in blue light. With a growl of fury, she ran to where Anakin and Palpatine now battled near the viewport.

She swung her lightsaber at Palpatine's exposed back, but as if sensing her presence, Palpatine leapt clear over Anakin's head to evade her. Instead, her lightsaber clashed against Anakin's lightsaber. Their gazes locked, Anakin's eyes widening in surprise before a smirk began to tug at his mouth.

"Glad you're back," Anakin remarked dryly before disengaging from her, and the two of them turned as one to face where Palpatine stood ten feet away, haloed by the planet, Ryloth, that could be seen through the viewport.

"You cannot beat me," Palpatine growled. "And you cannot save Ryloth. You're simply out of time. You have but six minutes before the magnificent Death Star strikes the planet down and ends the pathetic rebellion on the cursed planet."

"Then we will simply have to kill you in five minutes," Anakin remarked coolly, his normally warmth-filled blue eyes like cool chips of ice.

Palpatine's lips curled into a smirk. "I'd like to see you try."