Good, Evil? It's All a Matter of Perspective... (PM to join)

[Celiana]

I'd been on Malachor V with my Master and several other padawans when we'd all felt the shock of the immense loss of life on Korriban. Charzon had been caught and put on trial brought back before the Masters by Master Connor Harrison. Aria had sought him out to become a member of the Silver Shadows and I'd lost the connection in The Force I had with her shortly prior to that.

Now back at my home on Voss I'd filled the time with anything and everything I could to busy my mind. I'd stopped having restful sleep due to nightmares of being possessed by the spirit of Darth Traya and the horrible things she'd used me to do to the others. Master Rasu had been possessed as well and I'd been left with the feeling of knowing what I'd been forced to do on Malachor V. As we'd been leaving I'd felt the shock of the thousands who'd died on Korriban leaving me feeling even more damaged.

I'd wished for Aria's presence in the days that'd followed but she'd not come. Shortly after the capture of Charzon Loulan Master Harrison had gone off the reservation as well and I knew that Aria would be alone now. I wished she'd come home to me and I wished for Master Rasu to come back to me too. Alas neither had happened and so here I was stripping down weapons, cleaning and maintaining my Beskar'gam, and working out constantly in order to quell the regrets, pain, and loss I felt within me.

Who knew? The wilds of Voss were known to have strange things happen in them, the likelihood of a Master or even someone who could give me answers about Aria or how to find her was actually quite possible....

[member="Connor Harrison"] - [member="Aria Vale"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor Harrison had heard about Celiana's return, and she was going to be a problem.

It had taken a while for him to get tabs on her, but thankfully working on a concerened Master story, the Ranger in the hangar directed Connor to her vessel and where she had been since. Now, she was out of the grounds wandering the wild lands.

With his presence on Voss now over-looked by many, he was free to do what he want. Hell, he'd literally gotten away with murder so what else could he get away with on their doorstep.

- - - - - - - - - -​

He'd been following the Padawan since she left the grounds, and she looked distant. Thoughtful. He knew what about. He knew who for. Why she was back now was puzzling, but it was clear she needed something only a certain few could provide. Connor couldn't let that happen, not now. Holding on to so little, each factor he did hold onto with his imminent departure, they were crucial, and he would protect them with his life. Aria Vale was one.

"Celiana? Celiana!"

Connor called out, some surprise in his voice. For he'd been wandering alone himself, and just bumped into the free-spirited Padawan. Ripe for breaking.

[member="Celiana"]

 

[Celiana]

I'd been wandering about outside the normal confines of my home on Voss. I'd turned to head back to the lift when I heard a voice call my name. Turning I saw it was of all the people I could've possibly run into Master Harrison... Slowing my pace to allow him to catch up with me I turned and said, "Good afternoon Master Harrison, How can I help you?" I was curious why Master Harrison was approaching me....he was known to be very much the lone-wolf type. That being said he also had knowledge of and about Aria that I desperately needed....

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor approached the Padawan, seeing her for the first time in months. He placed a hand on her shoulder, urgency in his eyes.

"Celiana, sorry, but I’m glad I found you. It’s Aria." His head dipped for a second. "She has abandoned the Silver Jedi and aligned herself with the Sith."

He squeezed her shoulder gently.

"I’m sorry…I know how you felt for her."

[member="Celiana"]

 

[Celiana]

After Master Harrison had told me about the fact that she'd abandoned the Silver Order and aligned herself with The Sith. He grabbed my shoulder to comfort me and I shrugged his hand off of me. Turning towards him I said, "That's Osik Master, what proof do you have of such a claim? Aria would've rather cut off her hand then ally herself with the Sith...."

The fact was though that doubt had crept into my mind...I'd run into a Sith Lord that while he hadn't wanted to run me through with a saber he'd known of Aria and had mentioned she'd met him on Malachor V. The very place I'd been possessed by Darth Traya along with my Master and her other padawan... Doubt was creeping into my mind now and the fact that a Master had brought this to my attention was concerning too.... I hoped that this wasn't true but if there was any sort of proof Master Harrison had to back up his claim then I'd have to seriously re-evaluate things.....

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

He hung his head in frustration and made sure he got his words right for the Padawan when he looked back up at her with a pained expression.

"I don’t have physical proof, all I can do is be honest with you. I’ve been with the Silver Jedi for over a decade, and a Master for most of those. I won’t lie to you for I have no gain. I only know you were close to her, and right now I don’t know who else to warn about this."

He stroked his beard gently and walked around her.

”Last time I saw her she wanted to seek out a Sith Lord, Silara, and train under her. I’ve been trying to work with her in the Silver Shadows as you may know, using dangerous techniques and abilities that I warned her about, but I don’t think it was enough and now she turned against me, said I was….trying to stop her progressing."

Connor let out a sigh and rested his hands on his hips.

"She had venom in her eyes. Called me a liar, called me weak. I saw the darkness in her eyes and she hasn’t been back since. She’s dangerous, Celiana. You can’t trust her anymore, and I feel I must protect you when she returns for you." He took a step forward. "You’re all she has, but I can’t let her hurt you like she hurt me. You need to prepare for her return."

[member="Celiana"]

 

[Celiana]

Narrowing my eyes I said, "How exactly would you prepare me for such a thing Master? You're well known to me as well, your exploits are...rather radical from what I've heard and gathered on my own. A rogue master is what they say, caution to the wind and doing whatever is necessary to accomplish the goal." Looking at the ground I muttered to where it was barely audible, "Even if I were prepared for any of this to be true, or prepared to face her and withstand a duel against her. Could I bring myself to strike her down, to injure or cripple her? Could I do such a thing to someone I love?"

Glancing back down into the sinkhole where my home was I said, "Master walk with me and have a cup of tea to discuss this further." Walking towards the lift that'd take me down into the sinkhole along with Master Harrison I triggered the controls that'd lower us down. Looking at him I said, "Master if Aria has turned, then my goal is simply this to redeem her. I will not of my own volition harm her given the choice. Further there's something I need to know of you. Why did Aria remove or cloak the Force-bond I'd formed with her? Also what EXACTLY did you have to do with that?"

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Extending his hand for her to lead the way, Connor nodded and followed her while she broke it all down in her head. As they stood in the lift to descend, Connor folded his arms and swayed back and forward gently.

"What they say is true about me, but I stand before you now admitting that I do bend the rules a little, I won’t lie. However, I do this because people out there don’t always play by the rules, Sith included. If I stand any hope to save others, I have to go further than rules permit us."

He looked at the Padawan.

"I don’t know your history with Aria, but…." he sighed, "she never spoke of you in a way that you say love. She mentioned you were a friend and that you left, and she wants nothing to do with you anymore, and she wants that part of his past gone?"

Connor looked puzzled, trying to make sense of the words.

"Forgive me, I don’t understand your past, but she painted the picture to me at least she was a force of her own, with nothing and nobody important to her. And I fear if you even try to go after her in your state, she’ll cut you down without thinking. Whilst we were training, she was very aggressive towards me, her Master. So what she would do to her friend, I dread to think."

He looked for anything on her face to help him read her.

"Please forgive me Celiana for coming to you, I just had to. You’re the only one strong enough to…to stand above the Jedi and do what must be done." Connor looked away. "It’s such a mess.”

[member="Celiana"]

 

[Celiana]

Whispering the words I said, "Nothing is true, everything is permitted. We work in the dark to serve the light....I hadn't realized what she'd been talking about then, but now.... Master, if I am to learn what I need to in order to bring Aria in and redeem her then I'll be honest with you I was Aria's girlfriend. I thought I'd mattered to her, but apparently Darth Traya got it wrong on Malachor V. I wasn't the one needing to be worried about cheating on her because I never really mattered...Betrayal wasn't what I would do, but a betrayal of her trust in and feelings for me was what Traya foretold..."

Leading him into my home I began making some tea and said, "Master I knew that Aria was still alive...faking your death tends to make people in my lines of work do their own research...I knew she was alive but I didn't know why she was avoiding me and I don't know what she learned from you that'd make her so dangerous now either.... What can you tell me of this Silara?"

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor followed and listened, taking in her home in the sinkhole and keeping himself to himself as she thought aloud.

"Working in the dark to serve the light? You sound like an assassin or something. Not far off from the Shadows, I may add." He forced a smile, but it soon fell. "All I know is she didn’t speak of you, at all. She is confident and strong and out for more. I tried to help, but she left for the Sith I spoke about before I could really help her understand. Sure my methods weren’t perfect, but I tried."

Taking a seat, he watched her make the tea and he adjusted his tunic.

"Silara is ruthless, cunning and manipulative. I fear she has her talons into Aria and won’t let go, which means you may have to let go to avoid future pain. She will use your emotions against you. She will lie, betray and coerce you into thinking terrible things. Even probably turning you on me. To be honest my dear, I’d try to forget about her from now on going forward."

He sat forward to take some tea, not that he liked it, but there was no need to be rude.

"The darkness is a powerful tool, Celiana. I know how to Master it. Aria does not. The question is, do you know? Will you know how to when she comes looking for you, or when Silara comes to twist you away from us?"

With that, he took a small sip.

[member=Celiana]

 

[Celiana]

Narrowing my eyes as he asked me to try and forget about Aria and then rolling my eyes as he questioned if I could use the darkness then finally smiling if only slightly when he said that I sounded like an assassin. "Master before I even came to The Silver Jedi an assassin was exactly what I was, in fact I still am. Why use an enormous amount of troops when you can use a beskar'gam clad scalpel instead? As for forgetting about Aria...that's not likely. Even if it were I wouldn't the pain gives focus, and lends clarity to who the true threat is. This Silara....remove the head of the beast and the beast will die. If it means saving Aria I'll bend and even break a few rules..."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor shook his head.

"No, Celiana. An assassin is not what you need to be. And you will not stand a chance against a Lord of the Sith. You’re too fuelled by emotion, by a reckless drive to save somebody who doesn’t even think twice about you. If you want to die, then go ahead."
He placed the tea down.

"Rules can be broken, but I’m not telling you the full truth. What if you have to go beyond what it means to be a Jedi. To serve the Light. What if you need to give yourself to the darkness to understand and absorb it’s power. Only then will you stand any chance of saving Aria."

Truth is, Connor wasn’t going to let Aria be saved at all. Celiana needed to be broken in such a way that she would come to depend on Connor and Aria to survive, and for the Dark Side to keep her very heart beating.

"Would you surrender to the Dark Side to save yourself?"

[member="Celiana"]

 

[Celiana]

Would you surrender to the Dark Side to save yourself? A dangerous question, and one I hadn't expected either....That being said I was known to have problems with past Masters because of my use of the more aggressive Force abilities...Looking Master Harrison square in the eyes I said, "Master I've always walked a fine line between light and darkness, for example lightning...As for everything else well I've availed myself of the power in emotion before and returned unscathed so in short....I already have surrendered to the Darkness before in order to save myself. We all have darkness in us even the Masters, though most choose to brick it away rather than acknowledge that part of them exists at all...."

"Would I use darkness to keep myself alive? Yes. Would I use it for the sake of simply knowing I can or to inflict pain on another? No, power for the sake of power is what has doomed wielders of the darkside before. I do not want to join their ranks simply because I could use that power. But yes, yes I would use it if need be."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor nodded and took another sip of tea to let her words hang, and he placed the cup down gently in no rush.

"The Silver Jedi will not want you with them if you said that to anyone in the Master rank bar I. Celiana, they don’t tolerant Jedi like us. I myself feel more and more pushed out for not belonging to their codes and conventions. Look at what has happened recently with Korriban and the Mandalorians. It’s happened because the Silvers have become too weak to act; too stagnant. Too scared."

He laced his fingers together.

"You can’t choose both sides of the Force to toy with. You stick with the Light and become blinded by it, or understand the Dark and let it empower you to make wise decisions, to protect others with your ability and not suffer from being held back. Is that what you want? To be held back? Aria didn’t, and now look where she is. Corrupted by those wanting to break her because she thinks she knows more – if she had listened to me and let me teach her, she would be so much more than what she is now."

Looking at the Padawan, he pursed his lips and tapped his fingers gently.

"You’re conflicted. You’re hurting. You have emotions but you’re scared to let them out The Silver Jedi won’t care for that. You need to break away. Let me help you. If you want a chance to see Aria again, you’ll need to break from your chains and become something greater."

[member="Celiana"]

 

[Celiana]

Looking towards him I said, "Master with respect nobody on the council or otherwise knows what they're doing which is why the galaxy hates us all. Palpatine once told Anakin that the Dark side was a path to many powers some considered to be unnatural. Light-side, Dark-side it's all The Force in my book. Only thing holding me back is myself, though if you're so capable then teach me what Aria would've known had she stayed. You were her Master so tell me what it was she revealed to you about herself the only way I'll defeat her is to know what she knew. As to a chance to see Aria again....If she's changed as much as you claim then she'll be brought back here by me to answer for it. I know what happened at Korriban Master, we all felt it and I did my research. I also know you were the one tasked with hunting Charzon and you did so with almost a vengeance for making her answer for those choices. I'm not blind nor am I a normal padawan Master I keep my ears open and my head on a swivel..."

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

He just looked at her, not offering a hint of praise or negativity. She was certainly dangerous with her attitude.

"Alright."

He sat forward.

"I asked Aria to leave the Silver Jedi with me to seek out those who bring death and destruction to the galaxy. The Silvers won’t allow anything like that to happen – the Jedi in fact won’t let it happen. That’s why people escape justice and do these things. Charzon is now in the Prism, a prison in Wild Space. It was hard, but I got her there. Aria Vale thought I couldn’t be trusted. She thought what I was doing was wrong. Was it? Is it? You yourself sound like you have more of a clear view than she did."

Connor stood up and walked around the living room.

"Aria Vale failed to trust me and now she is lost to the Dark Side for good and she is a danger. She needs to be stopped. I can’t do it alone, but I don’t think you can help me either. You’re too weak. Your emotions get in the way, and for that I feel you will never escape the mantle of the Silver Jedi regardless of what you say Celiana, and that makes me sad."

He stopped behind her.

"Question is, where do you stand in the grand scheme of things? "

[member="Celiana"]

 

[Celiana]

Anger bubbled inside me as he kept speaking of my problems I already knew them all. The moment he called me weak was when my mood and grip on The Force shifted. Taking in every emotion that I held in check or otherwise I released it and pushed the chair he'd been sitting in under him then brought The Force to bear. Pulling him down into the chair and anchoring him if even for a moment My right hand began crackling with the flash static of Force Lightning along with the Emerald Lightning I'd been learning from Master Rasu. Indigo arcs coalescing with the aqua green into a storm cloud of emotion in my hand and along my arm.

Glaring at him my voice chilled. Frosting over the warm, friendly person most knew. "Master I don't give a fierfeck'la pile of osik what you think about my feelings towards Aria, my commitment, or what other Masters may or may not see. I am many things, chaotic, loving, an assassin, Mandalorian, Jedi, and Echani. But I am not nor will I ever be a coward or weak!" With that exclamation and high of emotions the electricity arced towards the cast iron railing leading upstairs. Sparks flew literally and not in a manner any Master had ever seen of me before.

I'd be damned before I let someone call me weak, even if they were a kriffing Master....

[member="Connor Harrison"]

 

[Connor Harrison]

Connor winced a little at the bright sparks coming from the girl, but he didn't fight it or try to calm her. He sat, instead, covering his eyes a little from the glare, but still watching her.

The voice was harsher, more brutal than it had been before. Clearly the emotion was in control of the Padawan, not the other way around. As the lightning sparked out to the section of her house, Connor looked and chuckled.

"You think the Jedi will have you showing emotion like this? You can't control yourself, let alone your ability! The Silver Jedi won't tolerate this at all once I tell them."

He shook his head slightly and stood up.

"You're aggressive and dangerous, Celiana. If you act like this when someone mentions Aria or your faith, you're no use to anyone. Nobody will want you in their Order. You're destroying any chance you have at being something special." He looked to the damage in her house. "Do you even known what you are? You say you're so many things but I don't think you have a clue who you are."

[member="Celiana"]

 

[Celiana]

Looking over at Connor I coldly said, "Master I'm not special there's hundreds of Jedi. I'm not the only one...I am however skilled, which makes me useful. Far better I think than being special...Besides if I really were special I wouldn't have had Masters abandon me or the woman I love leave me. Control is useful in certain situations but control didn't impress the Sith on Korriban. Bombing it and the show of force did. Hammer instead of a scalpel...." Channeling the current running through me I redirected it into a stand by the door where I kept my electrostaff and stun baton. Charging them up with a single burst I then quelled the electricity and pushed my hands out in front of me in the ending position of a martial arts form. "Control counts for nothing if you hold all your emotion in all the time....Also why people like Revan, Bastila Shan, and Anakin Skywalker had problems they had to suppress their emotion rather than express them."

[member="Connor Harrison"]