Dicing with Darkness

Chapter 9 - Beginnings

Yoda reluctantly asks no further questions and follows Leo still possessed by the spirit. They slowly make their way to the centre building. "This place familiar it is to me. Been here before I have with my former master. Last time see or hear you I do not." Yoda glares with suspicion and caution at Leo.

'I have been here since my death at the hands of the Sith 3000 years ago. I did see you with your master Illy did not feel the need to reveal myself to you until now.' They stop at the door of the Temple. 'Now, send him inside.'

Leo's eyes return to his natural green. He walks a few steps back and puts his left hand to his forehead. "Master, where are we?" He looks at the withered buildings before him.

"We are where we need to be, Padawan." Yoda looks to the big building behind him. "Inside you must go. Beginning of your training it is." Says Yoda pointing to the circular doors.

Leo walks into the building. Feeling his head start to ache immensely, he drops to his knees. Flashes of blurry visions of 5 female Twi'lek's standing with their backs to Leo looking at explosions and sith in the distance. The Twi'lek's are Holding either a blue or green lightsabre, wearing short sleeved tradition Jedi robes with each having different skin colours consisting of red, blue, green, orange and purple. Then flashes of a Pantoran baby in a cradle crying appear.

Leo feels his headache start to fade along with the visions. He stands, taking deep breathes trying to calm himself. Before him appears a spirit with white light glowing around it. It's a girl who looked no younger then Leo. With long wavy hair that went down to her thighs, wearing a flowing dress that covers the lower part of her body. The top half of the dress has a gap in the centre revealing her breastbone with sleek long sleeves covering the arms going down all the way to her hands.

"Hello, Leo Kennex." Intones the Spirit.

"What was that? And how do you know my name?" Leo looks around the room noticing ten rooms in total with one room directly behind the spirit and the others separated evenly around the room.

"It was merely a glimpse of what will come for you if you choose a certain path." The Spirit starts to walk towards Leo. "As for how I know your name well I know the names of those past, present and possible ones for the future."

The Spirit puts her right hand on his cheek brushing it softly down to his shoulder then to his hand. Leo starts to tense up as she grabs his hand.

"No need to be nervous." The Spirit sincerely smiles. "Come I have something to show you." They walk to the door that she was standing behind.

"My name is Nelani, Nelani Allston. It's a pleasure to finally meet you Leo," Nelani introduces. They stop at the door, Nelani releases her hand from Leo and looks to him. "Have any ideas about what's inside?"

"All I know is that I feel a strong Force presence behind that door." Leo answers, pondering about the collaboration of light and dark Force energy pounding through him.

"Well you're not wrong about that." Nelani turns to the door and extends her hand out and uses the Force to lift the door upward. Revealing a tomb made from concrete as is the rest of the floor of the temple. They walk to the tomb and see words engraved on top:

Here lies my love, Aaron Jacen, a kind, gentle soul who will not be forgotten.

A look of sadness came over Nelani's face. "Was he a Jedi?"

"3000 years ago, he was a Jedi. And a powerful one at that. He was always experimenting with new Force abilities and getting told by the council for him not to dabble too far into dark side techniques. In his arrogance, he disobeyed them and fell to the dark side." Nelani pulls a half smile trying to look unaffected by the sight of this tomb.

"What happened to him?" Leo gazes to Nelani with a face of concern.

"Well, he went searching for more knowledge and it lead him to a small pocket of asteroids near Bimmiel. That was once a mining facility. The council couldn't let this go and so sent a Jedi master and his apprentice; who had strong feelings for Aaron. Her master fell at end of his Lightsabre. The apprentice was lucky enough that she didn't have to kill the person who she was in love with." A tear of light ran down her face.

"You were the apprentice?" Leo asks with an apologetic tone. Nelani looks Leo in the eyes and gives a nod she then looks back to the tomb.

"I'm sorry shouldn't have asked." Leo then starts to turn to walk out and leave Nelani to herself. He feels her grab his hand. Nelani's gaze spoke a thousand words, but the only ones he could make out wore, 'Don't go'.

"Okay." He complies in a whispery tone, standing next to her and placing his left hand on her shoulder, surprised by being able to touch her.

"How did you end up here?"

"He killed me." Leo's face froze, his eyes dilated and broadened from Nelani's words. "However, he realised how much the dark side had consumed him. He was about to take his own life. Then he heard the call of a distance calling him to this place. He came here with my body; met a spirit that had laid dormant here almost as long as the place itself." Nelani starts to sound happier in her tone.

"What did he do when he met the spirit?" Leo gazes more reverently at the tomb.

"The spirit offered him the choice to revive me. But it came at the cost of his own life. He did not hesitate to accept the offer, had he known the true motive I think he would have chosen otherwise." Nelani slightly murmurs with anger behind her words.

"What was it?"

"He wanted to be rid of this temple and so took Aaron's life, revived me into a spirit to take his place and reincarnated himself in a copy of Aaron's body, ran off left me here with my loves lifeless body!" Nelani turns to Leo. "You can probably guess what happened after that?" In anger and disgust Nelani walks out of the room and to the centre of the temple.

Leo watches in awe and concern. He walks slowly towards her. Nelani starts to cry with little tears of light dripping down her face. "I'm sorry about what happened to you. It must've been horrible to go through all that and to be trapped here for so long." Leo says putting his robotic hand on her shoulder. His expression is one of sorrow and understanding.

Nelani wipes the light tears off her face. Turning to the tomb. "Put your hands on it." Nelani gestures.

Leo does as she asks. Placing both hands on the tomb the Force energy beating in and around it, started to consume his mind with the light and darkside of the Force. He starts to see visions of Nelani and her Master fighting Aaron in a mansion that looks to be within an asteroid. Then flashes of Nelani being killed by a stab to the heart. The visions go onto show what Nelani had told him. Of him going to this mysterious planet, sacrificing himself for her and the misguided trust he put in the spirit.

Leo then sees the baby Pantoran again still in the cradle. Beside the cradle is a body of another Pantoran it looks dead with a hole through the middle of the head. The visions stop abruptly bringing Leo back into focus with his hands still on the tomb. He then collapses.