Kissed by Fire: Cal Kestis

Chapter 3

"You knew him?" Cal asked.

"Yes," she grinned, looking back to the Padawan. "A long time ago. I was his apprentice. Cordova was a loner. That little droid and I are probably the only ones that know about Bogano."

"Present company excluded?" Y/n questioned with a cheeky grin.

"Hold on, wait a minute, wait a minute. A holo-what?" Greez spoke up, his face scrunched into confusion.

"A holocron. It stores information but only accessible to Jedi," Cere explained, and stepped away from the conversation. "Hang on, I think I have one around here."

"I thought all the holocrons were destroyed after the Emperor took over the Temple," Y/n voiced, following Cere into the kitchen.

"Wait, you know what a holocron is?" Cal asked her, his brows raised in surprise.

Y/n remained silent for a moment, shifting from one foot to the other until she said, "My mother worked in the Temple before the Purge."

Before Cal could question her any more, Cere returned with the holocron in her hands. The light blue of the box shined lightly in her hands as she gave it to Cal. "Use the Force," she told him, and sat down at the dinner table.

Cal glanced at the spectators around him before closing his eyes and focusing on the holocron in his hand. The feeling of the Force flowing through his veins became more and more familiar with each use, and sure enough, the tips of the holocron clicked open, spread, and allowed the message within to be relayed as it hovered in the air.

"This is Master Obi-Wan Kenobi," the hologram inside began. It was a man in Jedi clothing with a beard and short hair. "I regret to report that both our Jedi Order and the Republic have fallen."

Cal closed the holocron, the memory resurfacing of that day. The box fell into his hand as Cere said, "With that list of Force-sensitives, we could rebuild the Jedi Order and defeat the Empire."

"Okay, no problem. Let's get it," Greez spoke easily, raising his hands in a 'let's do it' fashion as he went to start up the ship.

"I highly doubt it'll be that easy," Y/n stated and the others caught the doubt in her tone.

"Y/n's right," Cal said, stopping Greez in his tracks. "The holocron is hidden deep inside the Vault and to get it we need to follow Cordova's path. He mentioned something about the planet Dathomir and a Zeffo homeworld."

"Alright, well, where are we going? I'm just asking 'cause I was thinking of maybe making some food," Greez questioned innocently.

Cal ignored the statement, looking to Cere as he said, "Look, before we do anything, I need to know something." He set the holocron down on the table as he looked her in the eye. "How come you're no longer a Jedi?"

Cere's gaze turned downward, unable to meet his own. "I had an experience that... changed my perspective. So I... cut myself off from the Force."

Cal sat beside her, pondering her words. "But you still want to rebuild the Order?"

"I believe that rebuilding the Order is the best chance we have against the Empire," Cere stated in certainty. "What do you believe?"

Cal tilted his head in thought, looking from the other two back to Cere. "I believe I can't keep hiding from the Empire, so I don't really have a choice." His words ended with an ironic chuckle.

"Cal, as long as you're alive, you will always have a choice," Cere told him. "Are you with us?"

The young Jedi gave a glance to BD-1, who nodded up at the attention. Looking back at the others, Cal said, "We're in."