EAST OF EDEN ( anakin s. ) ✔️

005 | An Oasis Away..

On all sides of the tunnel smoothly descending in circular motions, the hieroglyphs continued, spiraling and twisting golden hued lights that lit the path. "Currently, this temple is guarded by only three High Emissaries."

"Guarded from what?" Anakin hurried his pace to finally walk beside Eden. "I thought you said the sand serpents are not that big of a problem."

"They're not, not really. They've lived long enough on this planet to gain a sense of the Force fields and they seem to have a certain respect for any of the temples on their territory. It's out in the deep desert, where no one usually goes, that they would be deadly," Eden nodded along. "This temple requires guardians to maintain as much of the crumbling structures as they can. While the Force of Lua and Jao was strong, over the past hundreds of years, there's been no sighting of their echoes and it feels as though they've finally moved on and the temple is ready to move on with them too."

"You don't seem sad about it," Anakin pointed out, having watched her expression throughout her explanation. 

"Don't get me wrong, it's a beautiful place this temple you're about to see...," she shrugged, "but I personally find Force ghosts disturbing. We preach the idea that death is a natural part of life just as much as you Jedi do yet this planet has not let a single Emissary soul depart and become one with the Force without first laboring their energy depleted. I am just glad Lua and Jao can find peace at last, though I am glad they had each other, even in death." 

"They were together?"

"Married, actually, right here on Anope," Eden smile got a little brighter remembering how much she too liked that part of the temple's story. "The room in which they got married used to be my favorite to meditate in. It felt like a hug, personal and loving. The tunnel leading to it recently collapsed however, so unfortunately we won't go down there in our tour."

Anakin had a conscious choice between remaining silent and letting the heatstroke get the best of him with a blush at her hooded comment, or grin it off, play it as cool as he possibly could. Obviously, he chose the latter path and the twitch of a proud smile fell naturally onto his lips, "You wanted us to go in that chapel together?"

"Of course I did," Eden however spoke without connotations and hidden meanings, thus Anakin's inquiry confusing her enough to furrow down her eyebrows and even tamper with a pout. "Didn't you hear what I just said? It was a fantastic place for meditation. But I suppose we'll have to make due. Luckily for both of us, the second best chamber in this temple is still standing and we could both use its refreshing properties."

Finally, they have descended right on the doorstep of a large, tall cavern, lit from various angles by entire walls of the golden substance which has guided them so far beneath the desert. Spiraling pillars held up a ceiling too far above to even distinguish its sturdiness, but left a clear path of view towards wide stairs climbing a short path to the temple itself. Past those stairs and the archway, the architecture of the temple turned from a brutalism of naturality to a suave craftsmanship, clearly polished by a sentient hand, carved right into a crimson rock, dusted over by specks of sand. 

The air was not as dry as Anakin would have guessed, instead it held a certain humidity to it, amidst a mellow atmosphere. Simplicity's substance was sporadic in the environment they now walked through and yet, with such an echo to the temple, it was hard not to compare its endless corridors of smoothened rock with a maze. Most walls bore fractures, either intentional by the minds behind their design, thus becoming windows into entirely inaccessible parts of the temple, leading to either endless pits of darkness or tunnels of bright blue light vibrating a ritualistic hum as a constant, or caused by erosion which one day will tear down this scarlet sanctuary and collapse the whole desert over it like it was never even there. Such grandeur turned by pressure in a mere blip.