Beneath the Ways

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

"They didn't have suspects." As far as she knew anyway.

The Jedi Covenant were a group that she had studied only briefly, mostly because the subject had been a tad too morbid for her. She remembered scant few details save for the Padawan massacre. None of the names of the Covenant members appeared in her memory and in truth she couldn't even really recall what they had all done in the first place. The Jedi Master frowned for a few moments as she watched the outer doors open, slowly revealing...another dark tunnel.

"They were founded after the great Sith War." She said quietly, holding her light forward to illuminate their path. "After Exar Kun turned."

One of the great Sith Lords of history. "They were determined to prevent another rise of the Sith."

It was an instinct that Aela could in all honesty understand. She and Jacen had fought against the last Sith Empire, one that had taken over the entire core, now it seemed like things were once again swinging in that direction. There was no telling who these new Sith were but it was obvious they meant business. A sigh escaped her as they wandered through the tunnel, rough caverns and broken walls given way to smooth carved stone that reminded Aela of a Temple.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

"If there was one now they failed three times in my lifetime," he grunted. He tried to draw on the Force to keep his reserves up. Just a brief battle had been taxing without any preparation.

"This place doesn't make any sense. As if it's buildings from different ages linked together. Or expansions over time." He kept close to the left hand wall. His eyes watched the floor more than their surroundings, looking for any treacherous terrain.

"So where have you been learning humour then?" He asked. "Because it's not your brother's you've picked up." A moment of silence followed. "I should go and see him when we're back. I heard he was stable now." Jacen hadn't wanted to go when Micah had been critical. It was his family he had needed then.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

”I've always had it.” Aela lied as they stepped through the odd hallways. ”Just no reason to use it until now.”

Again that wasn't exactly true. It wasn't like Aela had been completely humorless before, but the young woman did not definitely have a sort of...mental block against displaying that humor. Many in the Jedi Order had noticed it, including of course Jacen. She frowned slightly as they moved deeper into the conclave.

”My parents are with him.” Aela said softly, her voice tinged with a little bit more than desperation. ”He’ll be alright.”

It was something she had to tell herself again and again, something she couldn't focus on without feeling her breath become short. The young woman scrunched her face, then returned her attention to their surroundings.

There was something...off about it all.

The Jedi Master glanced around briefly as they entered an open hall, her eyes wandering the warped shapes of the statues that were arrayed all around them. She frowned, pointing up towards one that depicted a large togruta male. ”One of the original members. He helped commit the padawan massacre.”

His name escaped her, but why would anyone want to memorialize him?

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

"I'm sure he will be," Jacen replied earnestly. He wasn't sure if it was the right thing to do, but as he passed Aela in the direction of the statue he placed a hand on her shoulder and gave a brief squeeze. Despite what he had said to Aela before it pained him to see the young taking the brunt of the war whilst he was spending his time training others. It was something he would have to come to terms with.

Jacen had a similar thought to Aela. Why would anyone build a statue down here? He walked up until it seemed that the togruta leaned over him.

"Doesn't look like a tomb. What happened to them after the massacre?" He asked. They probably should have been moving more swiftly through the tunnels, but the Sith were likely preoccupied on the surface now. Getting out through an orbitsl battle was probably similar in difficulty to a sith blockage. Made little difference.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

She gave Jacen an appreciative smile, but didn't respond this time.

Micah was not something she really wanted to talk about, mostly because she could hardly think about the subject without spiraling. The thought of her wounded brother made her physically ill, mostly because there was not a thing she could do to help him. Aela was no healer, she had no knowledge of herbs, medicine, or anything of the sort. All she could do was sit and wait.

Something she detested.

"They were killed." Aela said finally, glancing at the Statue.

She had no idea why anyone would revere these monsters. They had been Jedi once, but through their work they had become something far worse than even some Sith. These men and women had slaughtered children who'd trusted them, boys and girls who'd looked up to them above all others.

"Come on." She said with a hint of anger to her voice. "Let's keep going."

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

Jacen lingered just a second more. He stood before the statue looking up at its leering visage. If often felt like this. Looking up at evil, seeing at the power it had amassed. But you couldn't bow down or walk away. You had to stand, because not everyone would. He gave the statue a pointless, defiant glare before turning and following after Aela. She was correct of course. There wasn't time to linger.

As they walked forwards the walls fell away from their view. In every direction ahead of them the light failed to find any walls. There were columns though. Plain cylindrical columns with no markings visible. Jacen closed his eyes and stretched out with his senses. The hall they had walked into wasn't actually that large. Perhaps fifty metres across and the far wall a hundred ahead. Just a trick of the light to make it seem endless. There were, however, several further exits branching away from it. He relayed this to Aela.

"I suggest go back to the entrance and walk the perimeter. See if we can find anything might suggest the best route." If there had been a time for the Force to provide some guidance it was today.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

She frowned for a second, apparently unhappy with the suggestion. Jacen was probably right, it would be easiest if they could find a map or something of the sort, but...this place made her uneasy. They were on a Sith world that was now very possibly controlled by the Sith themselves.

It made absolutely no sense for a Temple like this to be here, particularly given that the Jedi Covenant hadn't existed in more than a few millenia. She frowned for a few seconds, her eyes wandering the darkness before she slowly glanced back towards the way they had come. Aela knew that Jacen was correct, but something didn't sit easy with her, and the more she thought about going back the more she found a distaste for the idea. Something was wrong. "Alright."

She relented quietly. "Let's head ba-"

"You should not be here."

A voice rang out, interrupting Aela's words. Within a single heartbeat the force surrounded the young woman, her lightsaber flying from her belt and slamming into her hand. The blade ignited with a loud snap-hiss, it's bright violet blade immediately illuminating a gnarled and hunched figure standing directly behind them.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

He could feel her unease with the entire situation. When he had cracked the floor he had intended for them to sprint through the catacombs for a short distance and the return to the temple near an exit. Perhaps to even catch a dominion gunship.

At the interruption Jacen turned. He didn't give the same impression of speed that Aela did. Yet his lightsaber was active a fraction of a second after hers despite never having looked in a hurry. Jacen had always been good at avoiding wasting any effort and keeping seemingly more deadly opponents at bay much to their chagrin.

"We didn't intend to intrude," Jacen replied. This wasn't right. He scanned his surroundings.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

She hadn't expected another person to be here.

Aela was no sensory Jedi, she couldn't use farsight and she was most certainly not one of their brethren that could touch others minds, but even she would have felt someone getting this close. Her lips turned to a scowl her eyes locked on the willowy figure. "Who are you?"

She had no real right to be making demands, not now, not here, but her nerves were already frayed.

"The Lost. The Forgotten. The ones cast to Oblivion."

The answer was very vague, and in truth it only set Aela more on edge. She frowned, gripping her lightsaber a bit tighter and taking a single step forward. She angled the blade and cast it's light towards the figure, revealing the lower half of a gaunt and pale face. The figure did not move, but it did seem to somehow glance up at the two Jedi Masters. It shifted it's weight finally, seemingly taking a step back and away from Aela herself.

"Are you..." She trailed off, weary. "A ghost?"

Force Ghosts weren't common, Sith spirits, yes, but not ghosts.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

Jacen tried to keep his lightsaber held low. He didn't want to provoke whatever this was. He had a practical mind and his first assumption was that perhaps a cult had settled in down here, deep below the temple. When he stretched out his senses he found it difficult to hone in on any particular presences. Even the thing before them had a vague sense of a signature in the Force, but it wasn't typical. That didn't preclude her from being a skilled illusionist.

"You should leave."

"We'd like that very much. If you would just show us the way out and..."

The woman didn't take a step back. She just seemed to slide away from them and evaporate into the shadows.

"Brilliant."

"Leave."

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

"I hate ghosts." She commented as the figure suddenly dissipated into nothing but a wisp of smoke and air.

Aela kept her lightsaber out and active, the bright violet light casting shadows upon the wall. She looked around for a few moments, attempting to see if there was something around that they could latch onto. Eventually her gaze drifted to the ceiling and for a moment she considered whether or not they could simply carve through it. The idea was tempting, though probably more than a little foolish.

"I was on Ruusan once." Aela recounted softly. "Near where the Valley."

Or where it had once been. "Before that i'd never encountered Jedi Spirits, though as it turned out they were pretty similar to those of the Sith."

Not in alignment of course.

"They all talk in puzzles and nonsense." A sigh escaped her, and slowly she began to head back to where they had come from. Jacen had been right, it was better to look for any indication of an exit back there.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

"If it's all the same to you I'll hold off on talking I'll of this one just yet," he said with a quirk of his eyebrows. In fact he said nothing at all for a few seconds. There was still a vague sense of the presence lingering. It set the hairs standing up on the back of his neck.

They soon reached the opening. The stones around the opening were covered in glyphs. He didn't recognise them at a quick glance. Possibly it had once been a ward to keep the spirits contained. Or perhaps because the universe just had it in for him.

"Let's follow to the right," he mumbled. At least there was one familiar thing to return to if they needed.

"Leave!" The voice grew louder.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

She banked to the right, her lips thinning as the voice spoke once more. Uneasiness began to grow within the pit of her stomach, though she tried to push it down. Ghosts were something she wasn't entirely ready to deal with. They were an unseen threat, something that you couldn't punch or kick, something a lightsaber didn't work on.

"So." Aela began, her eyes darting from place to place as her lightsaber flashed forward in an attempt to gain more light. "What's going on with you lately?"

It was clear that Aela was trying to get her mind off things.

The Ghosts within the halls were moving more quickly now, or at least it felt that way. It almost felt like theywere slowly getting consumed, an omnipresence forming around them that seemed to hug and claw at them. Her fingers bristled against her other lightsaber, the tattoo on her thigh tickled slightly, though she ignored it. "Meet any girls?"

That was something men did, right?

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

"Leave."

"Oh give it a rest," Jacen said to the wind in an exasperated tone. If the ghost wasn't going to help them or actually do anything to remove them then it could keep quiet whilst they found their way out. He sensed a pause in the movement of the spirits as if that wasn't quite what they'd expected to hear. They reached a passage but a quick look revealed it was just a single chamber branching off from the hall. A shift in the current of the Force seemed to suggest they were even less welcome in there. Jacen moved on around the perimeter.

He considered the question, trying not to look shocked by it. "Haven't really been out enough to meet any girls," he replied with a chuckle. "Have been teaching, trying to get Trextan right in himself. And diplomacy. Obviously."

He turned to glance at Aela. Even in the soft light it was impossible to miss that she had become a beautiful young woman. But would any at the Order dare try to get through her demeanour? "And you?" he asked. "Meet any boys - or girls - recently?"

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

She shrugged, her eyes still flicking from place to place to trace any signs of ghosts. "No."

Aela had never really had much, or any, romantic life. Jacen obviously had given that he had a child, but Aela herself was somewhat of a...closet case. In her youth she had always imagined that some prince in shining armor would sweep her off her feet, and although she was more grown now she still clung to that belief in an odd sort of way.

"There were a few who have shown interest." She admitted. "Most of them however were buffoons or fools."

People that Aela could hardly stand for more than a minute without getting aggravated.

She had always had high standards, both in friendships and anything else approaching romance. It was probably her own most obnoxious quality, especially since most people did not enjoy being judged. The Jedi Master shrugged again however, deciding that it was best not to dwell on such things. If someone came along for her that was fine, if they didn't, that was fine also.

As they wandered towards the hall Aela noticed marking slowly appearing around them, this time they were not those of the Covenant, but instead familiar scrapings of the Sith.

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

"That is most people, yes," Jacen replied. "Fortunately there are a lot of people out there. So you can probably be about as picky as you want." Jacen have a sharp cant of his head to one side. "Though not so much when you're my age."

Trextan appeared to have taken an interest in a young GADF pilot. If he hadn't he almost certainly would have fallen into both categories. Taking an interest in Aela and aggravating her within minutes. The boy had endless potential. He was far more powerful than Jacen had ever been. Yet he lacked control, was too easy to anger. Aggressive and confused.

"This places doesn't..."

"Leave!"

"Yes, yes, leave. We get it. That's why we're walking." Jacen tried to sound amused by it all but his instincts kept screaming at him to form a protective barrier around himself. "Doesn't seem to make sense."

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

"No." She agreed with a scowl.

Her eyes wandered from place to place, watching the symbols and trying desperately to understand any of them. She knew that some were Sith, she recognized them from the texts and scrolls in the archives. She frowned for a moment and took in a breath, arching her saber to cast more light onto the wall. "These are Ancient Sith."

She said simply.

"Probably from the original structure." For a moment Aela hummed, then looked at Jacen. "Maybe the Covenant came here later, converted a Sith tomb into a Temple."

But why? It didn't really make sense. Jedi wouldn't just take over a Sith Tomb unless there was something to be found. The Jedi Master lingered for a moment, then shifted her weight and continued down the hall. There was something to be found here, she was certain of that. The Tattoo on her thigh began to itch slightly, an indication that something dark was still lingering within these halls.

Her mind began to float, and in order to keep focused she kept up the conversation. "How is your son?"

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

"Listening to me as little as he can. As usual. At least he's out of the way now. I mean, out of the way of the war. Not out from under my feet - that's not what I meant."

He made a throaty noise of discontentment. "Don't like the idea of the new Dark Lord finding anything useful to use against us down here."

There were two small doorways before them. One of them was the way forward, he could sense it. He vacillated between the two. Damned Force told him one of these was out but refused to narrow it down for him.

"Better that he's out of the way of the war for now." There was just a hint of his voice wavering. That Trextan had lost an entire arm trying to defend him weighed heavily on his mind.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Jacen Voidstalker"]

She frowned for a few seconds.

"Children will do as they please." Aela spoke from experience. "Don't tell him no."

That would really only drive him to run towards the battle. Her parents had tried to control her, or rather, they had given her every single freedom but fighting the fight she'd wanted. Eventually they had capitulated to that too of course, but neither Kira nor Sol had ever been truly happy with the idea of any of their children fighting. She couldn't blame them of course, especially now that...her lips thinned for a moment and she stepped to the right, focusing on the path ahead.

"Distract him." Aela said as she began to walk.

"Throw a girl at him." She suggested. "Normal people like that, I think."

 

[Jacen Voidstalker]

[member="Aela Talith"]

"I think if I tried to influence his mind on girls I'd also end up getting tactiturn silence," Jacen replied. "He's not really do much argumentative as he just doesn't want to talk to me. It was never going to be easy. I hadn't seen him for years and the sith did a number of him until all he wanted was to kill in their name. Besides he took a girl with him on this quest. Far be it from me to get anything out of him on the subject though."

"Leave..."

Jacen turned to the sound in mild annoyance. "Tell us which way to the surface or just be quiet." Silence followed. "And you say that as if you're not normal Aela. If that's what you mean I think you're being pretty unfair on yourself."