A Strange Favour [Enigma]

[Josh Dragovalor]

This wasn't something that Josh wanted to do in order to achieve his goals, but to achieve proverbial immortality, you had to walk through the flames of hell. As the Dark Jedi in the Ession Reformation were busy, and most Sith would rather take his head off, there was only one place that the Jedi Master could go for the moment. And that was to Enigma.

If he was to tell anyone what he was trying to do, they would call him crazy. Making yourself un-turnable? It's impossible, many would say. An impossible task, the allure of the dark side was too great for even the greatest of Jedi Masters. For even the most loyal ones...


But Joshua was no normal Jedi.

He was willing to risk everything, and walk through hell in order to keep his eyes on the prize. If he could pull this off... He would become the most loyal Jedi to his cause that ever existed in any walk of life. Un-turnable, unshakeable... It was a dream and only that for most Jedi. What would a Jedi give to no longer fear the allure of the dark side? To be able to use the abilities of both side as they pleased, without fear of corruption? No Jedi had ever pulled something like this before... They wouldn't dare risk it.

Josh was at a point in his life... Where he was willing to risk it. If he failed, and fell... He would accept the consequences of his actions. He had made his choice.

The Final Dragon touched down on the planet he knew Enigma would be... Circe Savan, as he knew her, lived here and conducted her business here. The Jedi Master had not seen her in a very long time, and didn't expect to so soon. But... Things had a weird way of working. He would step out of the ship, clad in brown robes, with his hood over his head. His head was covered, only the bottom half of his face visible... His expression was serious, even with only his nose and mouth showing.

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

"You've got to be kidding me."

These were the first words said by Circe to the best friend of her one-time husband, [member="Jak Sandrow"]. On occasion, Josh had the nasty habit of coming to her for help and guilting her into assisting him through the old "he would be ashamed of you!" sort of action. Today seemed as though it would be one of those sort of days, which was why she had dressed in, for better lack of term, a bathrobe.

"What do you need, Dragonsflame? I'm currently trying to figure out what to do with myself, and getting harassed by Jedi is the last thing I want as part of my day."

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Funnily enough, Josh couldn't recall the last time he had ever asked [member="Enigma"] for help. If he remembered correctly, the last time she had "helped" him was when she had gone and helped Codi during a mission to Dagobah. He hadn't asked her for it, as thankful as he was for her doing it. Of course, this was all before he had found out that Circe was a damned Sith. He never asked for her help again after that.

Today was different. But her showing up in a bathrobe wasn't something the blonde was expecting. Her sour attitude? A little more. He would remove his hood, letting his visage show to her. He looked different. He.. Felt different. He had not seen Enigma in an incredibly long time, nor did she. She hadn't seen him when he had worked with the Council to keep her away from [member="Coryth Elaris"]. That was business, of course, not personal, keeping a Sith Lord away from a distraught Jedi on the Republic's homeworld.... Was kind of part of his job description at the time. He was the Grandmaster Of The Jedi Order, protecting someone like Coryth was his responsibility. A responsibility he had taken seriously.

Alas, that was then, this was now. Josh was no longer a part of the Order. But Circe's reaction made him raise an eyebrow.

".... Yeah, I can go. Sorry for wasting your time" He would remark as he would turn to leave.

 

[Onrai]

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

"Wait."

She chose to go ahead and pause for a moment, pondering over the various issues of why the former Jedi Grandmaster had come all the way over here to speak with him. "While this is something that I find surprising, it's a very rare phenomenon. What's going on that's so important that you came to my old laboratory in order to see what I was doing?"

That seemed like a fair enough question.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

The Jedi Master would pause when she would stop him. Well, he'd come all this way to ask for her help. Might as well be out with it.

He would take a breath, then turned to look back at Enigma.... And say words that he thought he would never say.

"I need you to help me learn how to use the dark side"

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

A starship blew up a glass factory within her mind as she attempted to process what he had just said. This went against everything he ever stood for, and everything he had ever gone after her about. In fact, it seemed to go against every single thing she ever recollected about the former Grandmaster of the Jedi.

"So let me get this straight... You want me to teach you how to use the Dark Side. Voluntarily, with no torture, no Sith poison, no nothing to encourage it?"

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

He figured that it would be a bit much to process. I mean, why in the blue hell would Josh DragonsFlame, the be all, end all of Jedi, want to learn how to use the dark side? But he had his reasons. He stared at her, serious. He wasn't backing down. It wasn't a joke. He meant it.

She would ask questions, and when she finished... He nodded. "Yeah" He said flatly, without hesitation. "Can you do it WITHOUT dipping me in Sith Poison, or trapping me with vines or trying to do any other weird stuff? I want to learn it on my own merits, of my own will" He would explain. He had his reasons, reasons he didn't need to tell her.

"So.... Is that a yes? Or a no?" He would inquire.

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

"Very well. Follow me, please." She turned, disappearing as though she were comprised of mist. Despite becoming physically invisible, her presence would intentionally be felt, leading the former Jedi Grandmaster deep into the ruinous remains of the laboratory complex Circe had constructed on the planet of Malachor V. A world rich in the Dark Side.

A world that would have an effect on him, perhaps?

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Great. Games. Sith loved to play games. Games on the mind. Games on the soul. Naughty games in bed. Joshua wasn't in a mood to play, but having nowhere else to turn for this unique circumstance forced his hand. He would follow his senses and his senses only to keep track of Circe Savan... Or Sandrow.. Or Enigma... Or whatever her name was this week. Man, that [member="Jak Sandrow"] kid was cool. What happened to him?

Regardless, he could sense the dark influences of Malachor... And he despised it. He felt it, and he wanted nothing more than to get away from it. But this was what he had to do. If he could do this... He wouldn't be afraid of the dark anymore.

 

[Onrai]

Her essence was still strong, taking the Jedi Grandmaster deeper into the laboratory she called home. A smile crossed her cloaked face as she guided him past a room that would give off feelings of anguish - dried plant matter still clung to one end of the table, along with the remains of tractor cuffs. One could only wonder who or what had been located in here at some point in time - but they were long gone. Further ahead, the wall seemed to be divided into square sections made of cast duranium plate, with an outer layer of adamithium.

He was coming closer to her private chambers, now.

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Grandmaster no more he may be, but a powerful Jedi Master he would remain. And Circe would likely be able to sense that still.. Of course, he didn't trust her completely. He was wary, his guard was up. She had offered help, but he knew that she was devious, deceitful. But she was his only chance for now, with the Ession Reformation dark jedi being nowhere to be found.

As they came close to her private chambers, the Jedi Master wrinkled his nose. It stunk. No, it didn't stink from Enigma's perfume. It stunk of the dark side. He wanted to turn and leave, but he knew that this was for a good cause... He needed to do this.

Nothing stopped him from chastity headbutting Enigma if she tried any funny business though.

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

The chambers he would enter into were, ironically enough, not her bedchambers - those were on a lower level. The room in question had walls gilded with electrum and images of Sith that were thousands of years old - far older than Circe could've ever possibly been. Located in the center of the circular chamber was a floating center platform with what appeared to be a single retractable bridge leading to it. The platform in question appeared to float on a pool of black liquid, which gave off the undeniable aura of the Dark Side.

And sitting there on the platform was Circe - or at least a shade of her. So... You've come this far. And it is here in this place of dark power that you will first be tested. Sit down where you stand and open your mind to me...

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Not her bedchambers? That came as a shock. Regardless, with wary eyes the Jedi Master would peer around this... Strange room. They were definitely in somewhere that wasn't a bedroom. But what could be worse then happy fun time? Probably happy dark side time. The walls seemed to have thousand year old images of... Something. Sith, perhaps? Was this a Sith ruins, perhaps? But why would he have found her here? Well, okay, maybe that's not a hard question to figure out, but....

He would take a breath, but he would finally locate her, or a shade of her at least, on a floating platform with a bridge leading to it. He noted the black liquid, and had a feeling of foreboding. His fingers tapped the hilt of his lightsaber, ready to fight at a moments notice. When she would speak, though, he nodded, sitting down, allowing himself to open his mind to her, as suspicious as she was...

This was likely a new thing to Circe, as she had never touched his mind before... Never felt him in the Force. But what she would get would quite possibly be the biggest shock of her life. The absolute power radiating from this Jedi Master, who rarely seemed to use his powers aside from the necessary, only when it could be the difference between life and death for another. But what she would also find would be a lot of anguish, a lot of pain, masking that massive amount of untapped potential. But as that power would radiate, she would be hit by something even harder. A massive influx of light sided energy... It was his aura. His uncorrupted aura, pure in the light side, and so strong it could blind someone if it were a physical entity.

The question was... Why would someone so dedicated to the light, choose to learn the dark ways? Of course... Only Josh knew. He knew that the dark would be his path to the light. Forever...

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

Ew...

Circe's infiltration into Josh's mine would be sudden and absolute, but even he would likely be able to tell that she herself was a bit disgusted by the overarching combination of Light Side and other such things flooding through her mental senses. Still, she searched for something, anything she could use and force him to draw upon. What was something he feared? Something he would flare up about? She would continue probing...

Maybe a lost love?

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

He had let her in, for now... This was the first time Josh had let anyone in besides Saoirse. He'd always been secretive, and reserved about the going ons in his head, what he truly was inside... He could sense her disgust by the light side radiating within him and he couldn't help but smirk in response. Why was she surprised? This was how he always had been...

Somehow, Circe couldn't seem to find anything that might provoke it. While he still grieved for his lost love, he had learned during his self imposed exile that it was time to let go. She was gone, never coming back. It had been the hardest thing in his life to do, but he had done it. It no longer seemed to bother him. There was a hint of resentment during the Jedi Order for what they had done to him... But he would still return when they shaped up.

He didn't seem to fear anything anymore... As if his time away had caused him to be void of attachments to people. He had completely changed... No longer fearing for the lives of the many people he cared about. Now... He was alone. He had nothing to fear.

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

Resentment.

It was that which she chose to press at in order to to see if she could elicit a further response. So... You resent the Jedi and what they've done to you... How they removed you from your place of power as a part of their own self-righteous agenda. And yet, here you are, vindicated against what they've done thanks to the tremendous amounts of galactic devastation. Give in to your resentment. Feel the power, Joshua. Let it seep up your thighs and penetrate your body. Build up the strength of the Dark Side and release the energy - I want to see what happens.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Circe had hit a sore spot. The Jedi Order. The Republic's Jedi Order. What they had done to him, in his eyes casting him out and removing him as Grandmaster due to their self righteous agendas. He resented them for it. He loved them, but he hated them. They had taken everything he had done... He had spent his entire life doing nothing but serve the Order... And they threw it back in his face. But... Maybe this was the key.

He took a breath and nodded to her suggestion. And for the first time, he tried to give in to that anger... To that resentment, to that hate... But..

He gritted his teeth and opened his eyes.

".... I can't do it" He whispered, letting out a sigh. He had always been afraid of giving in, and he had been taught that it was so..... Easy. He had always thought that giving into his anger would just... Be easy. The easiest thing he could ever do. But somehow... He couldn't. He wasn't wired to anymore.

This was going to take some time.

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

"...you've got to be kidding me." She spoke up in the real world this time. "The Dark Side is so easy to fall to. Jedi Masters have been turned to the Dark Side en masse before. Daella Apparine is a beautiful example. And you're saying that you can't?" She growled, clearly angered by his inability to do what he had been warned about over and over again. "It's so fething easy, Josh... How brainwashed are you by the Jedi that you're impossible to reprogram to the Dark Side? What do I have to do to get you to behave in a Dark manner? Slap you?"

She was absolutely irate - this had never happened before.

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"I DON'T KNOW!" He yelled at her, standing to his feet, obvious irritable. "You think I know why? I've been told all my life 'Josh, don't give in to your anger, the dark side is easy to fall to, it's so easy to give in to your anger and fall' and I have lived by that my entire life! Now, for the first time, after deciding to do it... I can't!" He snapped irritably. It wasn't a fit of anger, of course, just being incredibly irritated. A start, maybe? Who knows?

"Daella Apparine was a disgrace" He would remark, coldly, ruthlessly... Uncharacteristically. "She cared nothing for the Jedi, she cared only for her own ends. She isn't a turn... She's a never was. A pathetic excuse for a Jedi, and a pathetic excuse for a Sith who will turn on you when she's done with you to suit her own ends, just like she betrayed us for the same reason. She goes where Daella wants to go, not where her loyalty takes her, because she has no loyalty" He would growl. Carn was right to have tried to remove her from the Council... And Joshua was right to agree. There was always something off about Daella, and he never trusted her. "And if you slap me, I will slap you like you should have been slapped years ago!" He would remark toward her with a scowl.

[member="Enigma"]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Joshua DragonsFlame"]

"Welcome to the world I live in, Josh. Every day I watch the hypocrisy of the Jedi grow more and more blatant. The Dark Side isn't easy to become a part of - or else maybe they've brainwashed you so much that you can't touch the Dark, no matter how angry you become. I could probably shoot you with a vial of Sith Poison, and the sheer amount of effort they put into scrubbing your mind would probably make sure you never even got scratched." She smirked.

"Daella Apparine is a perfect example of how stupid the Jedi are. To have an infiltrator in their ranks for so long, with their membership so completely ignorant - she even tried to see through my Senator guise in order to remain self-righteous." Then she heard his threat. "Please... You're a Jedi. You don't have the anger, nor the guts, to slap a woman across the face."