Abandoning the broken path

[Adron Malvern]

There was a calm before a storm, a momentary gift of foresight that few were lucky enough to have access to. Deep in meditation Adron returned to the place where his family had once trained, where he had created his lightsaber, and where he had even met a friend. However, in this moment as he sat in the quiet cavern he maintained a sense of darkness that he could not shake. A series of dread filled him as he realized that many of the things he valued, many of the things he had come to love, were coming to an end.

Visions of death and destruction filled his mind. Serenno was lit to fire, Ession in an uproar, those most loyal to him forced to death or a knee.

The scattered premonitions came to a peak as Adron's eye color fluttered a bright orange before they returned to their crystalline blue. He exhaled, feeling the Dark Side of the Force flow through him as electricity would a conductor. The man rolled his neck around softly, finding an odd solace in the darkness that surrounded him. He glanced down to his hand and closed it into a fist, as if feeling reborn.

 

[Nylea Apollodor]

The Force had called Nylea back here, the place where she had met a troubled soul who carried the name [member="Adron Malvern"], but why she did not know. There was a feeling of worry however and she could not shake it. Something seemed to be clouding her vision, an unpiercable darkness that spread though the blanket of the Force. In her mind she recalled the code she had been living by ever since joining the Order of the Sacred Lotus, one that helped her understand the galaxy more each day.

Emotion, yet peace.
Ignorance, yet knowledge.
Passion, yet serenity.
Death, yet the Force.

Emotion, ignorance, passion, death, those were constants. As much as one wished them gone it simply was not possible. Yet peace could still be achieved, knowledge could still lessen one's ignorance, serenity could still prevail over passion, and with death one would return to the Force and still live on. That was how the echani interpreted the older version of the Jedi code. Utter detachment from emotions that were part of being alive was unwise, but using them through stability and serenity was what truly mattered. It had taken a long time to find that balance, and she still had not fully found it, but it provided her comfort when she needed it.

Stepping out of the shuttle once more to make her way to the cavern Nylea made her way through the spaceport taking the same path as the first time she had visited the planet. Things were still mostly the same it seemed, yet the air felt different. As if it was harder to breathe. That sensation became more and more oppressive as she came closer to her destination, but it was became clearer with every step that it was not the environment that caused it. It was rather something through the Force. Something dark had come here.

The trip through the city was a short one and quickly the desert environment surrounded the silver-haired woman as she realized the source of what troubled her was what her destination was. Whispers of the Dark side invaded her mind as she stopped walking and slammed her eyes shut, fending them off as best she could. She had been a slave of the Darkness herself all those years ago, but that was no longer her. "I am a bastion of the Light, a Jedi. I defend the ones who cannot defend themselves, I bring relief to those who are hurt," she said to herself. Her breath steadied and the whispers were fended off as she regained serenity, now even more compelled to press on.

As Nylea came close however the sense of dread returned. The Force Aura that was present in the cavern was a familiar one, but it had changed. The pain she had felt from Adron before had manifested further and Darkness had spread through him. She shook her head in sadness as she forced herself to make her way down.

 

[Adron Malvern]

Adron's meditation had come under distraction, he could feel the pull of the Force, telling him of an approach to the cavern. His eyes came open as he stared at the wall before him. Adron was far different from the first time he had come to this planet, no there was little left of the young lord who met Nylea. He had been murdered in the sacking of his planet and destruction of everything he held dear.

The Count's attire had changed as well. Where once he wore silken robes with an ebony cloak he now had hardened Armor in it's place. His cowl fell over his shoulders as he stood to his full height, pulling it from his face.

He turned to the mouth of the cavern, probing the oncomer with the Force until finally he realized he knew who it was.

"Nylea." He said softly, a genuine yet small smile came to his face as he felt the familiar signature.

[member="Nylea Apollodor"]

 

[Nylea Apollodor]

Nylea, still feeling off, approached the cavern and looked down to find Adron's figure standing there. Watching him smile, as small as it was, made it seem he did not view the situation the same way as her. "Adron," she said in a worried tone as she mustered up the strength to make her way down. Careful steps brought her to equal elevation to the count. When both her feet touched the group she sat down in a meditative position in the place she came down, not taking a single other step.

"I feel your hurt and your suffering. It is all around you. You are in pain." Silver eyes looked him over as the woman looked up. He was different. The way he stood, the way he was dressed, the way he exerted his presence in the Force. "I sense something terrible has happened to you. It has changed you." From her perpective, none of the changed were for the better. The Dark side swirled around him like it once did around Nylea herself. It had nearly destroyed her and only by the will of the Light was she able to open her eyes once more.

The silver-haired woman pulled the hood off her head and removed her lightsaber from her belt, levitating it in the air. Slowly it would float to the other side of the cavern where is carefully landed on a rock, disarming her. Why she did so she did not know, but it felt like the proper thing to do. "Do you want to talk about what happened? Please, sit down and tell me. You can trust me." Despite her worry she was calm, which helped her keep her mind clear. Her Force presence was a complete contrast to Adron's, one of serenity, even in the face of Darkness.

[member="Adron Malvern"]

 

[Adron Malvern]

As it had been so long ago Adron took a meditative seat in front of Nylea, his mind flashing back to the last time they had gathered here. To allow him a moment down memory lane he laid his lightsaber on the ground before him, showing an amused smile at the woman who had been here when he first crafted the weapon. The soft clinking of his metallic armor could be heard ringing through the cave as he moved about.

"No. I was in pain when my world was taken by the Sith. I was in pain when my fiance was blinded in one eye......I was in pain when my home was sacked and my guard slaughtered." He closed his eyes as he spoke, bringing his hands over his knees as he pushed his will onto the Force, calling it to obey his command. "Much has changed." He said simply.

His hand hovered over his lightsaber before it twitched softly, that twitched forced the lightsaber to slowly come apart, the pieces levitating in the air around them. "I believe I can trust you." He said, before opening his eyes.

"But there is nothing to talk about." His presence in the Force created a void of the dark side, which stretched out to Nylea, inviting her to the comforts of the darkness.

[member="Nylea Apollodor"]

 

[Nylea Apollodor]

The way Adron spoke and the words themselves were different, yet the first things he said were the only things that really struck Nylea. A lump formed in her throat as she heard it. He had enemies, that she was told by him last time they were here, but it seemed it had gone much further than she had anticipated. "I..." Looking for the right words to say she realized there were none. The Force was disturbed, warped and it threw her off balance. "I am terribly sorry to hear that. I cannot even begin to imagine how awful it must have been to witness." All the echani knew was the pain of being ripped away from your parents, but this was much, much worse.

Despite the Dark side spreading through the Force Nylea felt a moment of comfort as Adron returned the gesture of disarming himself. Perhaps her fear for the Dark side was bordering the extreme, but it was there regardless. She knew what it did to someone, experienced it first hand. It had warped her and only through the Light was she able to shed herself from it. Even then did it take a monumental decision between Light and Dark that couldn't have been escaped to leave it behind. She wasn't perfect, even now in extremely stressful situations would drops of Darkness seep into her Force aura. Perhaps she was cursed with that forever.

The count claimed there was nothing to be talked about, but before Nylea could react she felt his Darkness approach her. Closing her eyes she forced herself to steady her breathing as her peace and serenity warded it off, not letting it get to her. "The Dark side nearly destroyed not only everything around me, but myself as well." Even if Adron was adamant on walking the path of the Dark side, he had to know of its dangers. Stop him she could not, but that was the least she could do. "I was once forced into the Darkness myself and I was unable to clim out of that hole myself. Even now do I feel guilt about what I have done, those feelings follow me everywhere I go. I will not go down that path again."

[member="Adron Malvern"]