By the time Cal and Ilyana returned to the Mantis, the sky had opened up and was releasing a full deluge on the region. The rain pelted the Mantis so hard the crew did not hear them approach till they were already standing in the common area.
"Cal! What're you do..." Greez begins to chide him for getting water everywhere but stops short when Ilyana comes in and rips off her poncho. Greez and the rest of the crew catch their breath in their throats when they see that she is not only drenched with rain but also with mud, blood and gashes from where her enemy's blade had barely missed its mark. She throws the poncho to the floor and storms to the back of the ship without a word, stopping only to grab a towel from the refresher on her way.
Cal removes his poncho as he steps up to the low table in the common area and places the fallen Jedi's lightsaber in the center of it.
"We were too late," he says, "A team of Purge Troopers made it there first." Cere hangs her head in disappointment.
"What happened to her?" asks Merrin.
"One of the Purge Troopers was still there, waiting. They knew each other," he answered then went quiet.
"But what happened?" asked Greez after a moment.
"He's gone now," is all Cal says before picking up the poncho she had dropped and following her to the back of the ship.
Cal climbs down the ladder to the lower level of the engine room to find Ilyana sitting on one of the large pipes opposite her cot. She sat still, with her head in one hand and a damp cloth in the other. She had been cleaning her wounds but stopped before finishing. Most of her wounds had stopped bleeding but blood still dripped from a few of the worst gashes.
The training she had done with Cal during their trip here had opened her up to the presence of others in the Force, the difference in how each person feels; and the shifts in their moods. She could feel him coming down the ladder and after the fight, there was no doubt about the shift in his presence.
"I'm sorry you had to see me like that," she said without looking up. "I understand if you don't want me to stay aboard your ship."
"You don't have to go anywhere," he said, sitting down on the pipe beside her and setting a med kit down nearby.
"And the others? Would they agree with that?"
"You don't have to go anywhere," he repeats as he takes the cloth from her hand and begins cleaning and dressing her wounds.
"I scared you."
"Yes, but I'm more scared for you."
"What was that?"
"The Dark Side."
She turns her face away from him, unable to bear the look. After a moment she finds her voice again.
"I don't think I should continue training with you."
"What?" Cal asks, so surprised he stops dressing her wounds for a moment.
"The dark is already lodged in too deep. You saw it. I should just push the Force down, hide it away till it dries up."
"I don't think that's the answer. With training, you can learn how to control your feelings rather than letting them control you."
"But I don't think I can ever be rid of the darkness. I will always be a danger to people."
"You told me once that you never wanted to become like the Inquisitors. Do you still feel that way?"
"Of course I do," she says.
"That's enough for me. I believe you'll find the right path. Just let me know if you need my help. I'll be here."
"Thank you," she says softly.
Cal returns to cleaning her wounds then asks, "Who was he?"
"We trained for the Purge Troopers together. When he was a stormtrooper they identified him as force sensitive and sent him to the Inquisitors, but it turned out he couldn't actually wield the force; he was just especially perceptive, so they assigned him to the Purge Troopers instead.
"He was vicious. The hate, the violence, he enjoyed it, reveled in it, and didn't hold back. When sparring he would often leave his opponents disfigured in some way. Some of the newer trainees even died. The Inquisitors never stopped it. They just left the wounded where they fell.
"He was determined to be the strongest of us, the best but we were tied for a long time and it infuriated him. As the end of training drew closer he got more and more desperate to stand out and decided to actually try to kill me during a match. We were training with vibroblades; no armor. The fight was long and I messed up," she said, shaking her head, "He managed to stab me in the gut, but he didn't stop there."
She sits up straighter and lifts the bottom of her shirt revealing a long scar running up her abdomen to her bottom ribs.
"Instead of backing off once I was down he kept cutting, opened me up, and left me on the floor to die. Then the Inquisitors did something... unusual; they actually sent me to medical."
"They hadn't done that with anyone before?" Cal asks.
"Never. I still don't know why they did it but he took it personally."
She sighs, unable to continue speaking. The fight had brought to the surface so many buried feelings and memories that she was exhausted. Cal can hear it in her voice, so he stops asking and focuses on dressing her wounds.
"You should get some rest," he tells her as he finishes up and places the med kit on the floor.
She nods and watches him climb back up the ladder before crawling into her cot.
Cal returns to the common area to find the others gathered together talking but they go silent at the sight of him; awaiting an explanation.
"Cere," he says, "something happened out there."
"I know. We felt it," she says, glancing towards Merrin who had sensed it too.
"The last time I saw something like that was when I touched Trilla's lightsaber and I saw what happened to the two of you."
Cere shakes her head and backs away, not wanting to revisit that part of her life.
"She needs help," Cal presses, "You're the only one who knows what she's going through."
"You are her master now," Cere insists.
"No, I'm not."
"Isn't that why you're training her?" asks Greez.
"No, I'm trying to show her some of what the Jedi are so she can make a decision," he explains, then turns back to Cere, "She doesn't want to go to the Dark Side, but I think she sees it as inevitable. She needs to know it's possible to come back."
Cere sighs. She knows he is right but does not share his optimism, "Okay. I'll talk to her. But Cal, I can't promise anything. She has been severely damaged. She may be right and there is nothing we can do to save her."
"Maybe," Cal says, "but I'm not ready to give up yet. I still think she can be saved."
Cere nods and walks to the back of the ship.
Cere climbs down the ladder to the bottom floor of the engine room and finds Ilyana standing in front of the engine, staring into the light; so lost in thought she does not notice Cere approach.
"It's powerful, isn't it?" says Cere causing Ilyana to whip around in surprise.
"What is?" she asks suspiciously.
"The Dark Side," says Cere, "and once you get a taste of it, it is difficult to come back. I know. I have used it myself."
"I thought you were a Jedi too."
"I am, or at least I was," Cere explains with a shrug then leans up against the wall opposite Ilyana, "but I fell for a while and had to find my back."
"How did you fight it?"
"I didn't. Not for a long time. I cut myself off from the force for years. Pushed it down. You could do the same," she offers Ilyana, "You could avoid the temptation altogether by denying your connection to the force and letting it die," Cere speaks with such purpose that Ilyana is certain she is about to insist on this course of action, the same course Cal had disagreed with.
"Or," Cere continues, "You can choose to leave the past behind, embrace the force and move forward with a new purpose."
"How?"
"You must confront your feelings instead of burying them; overcome them instead of letting them overcome you. I won't deny it will be a struggle but you already know all about struggle don't you?" Cere pulls a lightsaber out of her belt and holds it up in front of her. It was all black and set in the center of a circular ring. "This lightsaber belonged to my apprentice, Trilla. I failed her and she fell to the Dark Side. She became the Inquisitor known as the Second Sister."
Ilyana's eyes widened.
Cere nods, "You knew her, didn't you?"
"Yes," Ilyana nods, "during training."
"Yes, Vader killed her."
"We were told Cal did that."
"No, Cal won a duel against her but it was Vader who cut her down."
"I'm sorry."
"I was imprisoned at the Fortress for a while shortly after the Empire took over." Cere says at a controlled, deliberate pace, "They brought her to me. When I saw that she had become an Inquisitor I lost control...I used the Dark Side to kill them all." Then she ignites the lightsaber and the red glow of the blade fills the room as she holds it up between them. Ilyana tenses, unsure of Cere's intentions but prepared to react should she lash out and attack her.
"It is my understanding," Cere continues speaking while staring into the light of the blade as if lost in it, "that the blade is red because the force user pours all of their anger and hate into the crystal, corrupting it with the Dark Side." Suddenly Cere shifts her gaze to Ilyana, locking her dark eyes on the other woman as her words quicken and her voice intensifies, "For years the hate, the fear, and the violence of others was poured into you just like this crystal. It is not your natural state but a corruption of who you are meant to be. You can choose to stay the way you are or you can choose to remake yourself." Cere deactivates the lightsaber and hands it to Ilyana.
Ilyana is hesitant to touch an Inquisitor's lightsaber. She has never held one before, although she has trained against them many times. Slowly, she reaches up and takes the lightsaber. The metal is cold in her hand but she can feel the darkness still flowing from the crystal within.
"You can start here," Cere says, pointing to the lightsaber. "We can purify it together and return it to its natural state."
"That's possible? How?"
"I don't know. I only know that it can be done, but we need to do it together. Will you?"
Ilyana nods.
"Expose the crystal," says Cere.
Ilyana holds the lightsaber out in front of her and focuses on it till she can see it in her mind, all the components and how they connect become clear. As the lightsaber slowly rises out of her hand and floats several inches above her now open palm, she begins to disassemble it. Slowly the pieces disconnect and move outward in unison and float like a small galaxy of their own, all the parts in a slow orbit around the center, the core, the crystal now exposed. Ilyana allows the other pieces of the lightsaber to gently fall away till all that remains is the crystal's red, faintly pulsating glow floating several inches above her open palm.
Cere raises her hand toward Ilyana's and the glow of the crystal pulses faster and faster, a threat emanating from it. The darkness in the crystal senses the darkness in both of the women before it. It reaches out to them. It pulls at them. It wants one of them to claim it, to master it and pour all of their fear, anger, and hatred into it.
Cere and Ilyana lock eyes and the air in the room goes completely silent, as if they are in a vacuum. In that moment either one could easily give in to the will emanating from the crystal, either one could take the crystal, remake the weapon and use it to strike down the other then everyone else on the ship.
Cere continues to raise her hand until her palm makes contact with the back of Ilyana's outstretched hand and at that moment both women make a choice and close their eyes.
The crystal suddenly glows brightly, filling the engine room. But when they open their eyes again the crystal now emits a soft, calm white glow. Ilyana pulls back her hand and allows the crystal to slowly drop into Cere's open palm. Purified of the darkness. Cere closes her hand around Trilla's crystal and holds it close.