Return to Grace

[Rexus Drath]

The third eye saw things for what they truly were, it showed everything through the force. The good, the bad, the truth of what lay beneath the lies. When one were to look into Rexus they would see him for what he was, a wounded angel. A guardian of the light that had been covered in the grime of this galaxy, clothes torn, body damages, but yet he still clutched his flaming sword. His wings may of been damaged, broken even, but he would always strive to do the right thing. He was a Jedi Master, he was what separated the innocent people of this galaxy from the darkness that wished to consume it.

"Close your eyes, feel the force around you."

"There is much pain in you, suffering, anger..."

"I felt the same in your brother, you share much feelings. But I feel the good in you, the love. Most Jedi will tell you that love and attachment lead to the darkside of the force, however that is not true. Lust leads to darkness, lust for the flesh, lust for power, lust for battle."

"But love. Love is a power beyond comprehension, love is more powerful than any Sith Lord, love is more powerful than any destructive force ever brought forth by the darkness. It was love that killed emperor palpatine, a father's love for his son. It was love that gave us so much, never forget that. And it is my love for you that will guide you towards the light."

"Padawan Bane, after many years of absence I hereby take you under my care as a Jedi Master. I swear upon love and the force that I will train you until you are worthy of the tittle of Jedi knight."

"Do you accept my training, to follow what I say and learn the force through me?"

Rexus gave his speech as he sat in a meditative stance facing [member="Sayl Bane"] his once apprentice. All around them on the world of Manaan they sat on a small island beneath tropical trees as waved ebbed and flowed against the shores of the beach.

 

[Sayl Bane]

In her life Sayl had worn many labels, among them that of street rat, pickpocket and thief. Sister was one taken on solely under very specific circumstances, but that of Jedi had been long forgotten since her departure from Ession. It was a mantle that had only been taken on for convenience, and shed just as easily. But now it was back again, haunting her as if it had never been forgotten, this time staring her deliberately in the face. Now was time for the take it or leave it, and she wouldn't shy away quite as easily as she had in the past. Not again. "I do, Master Drath." Eloquent speeches and declaration of her dedication had never been a key point in her life, and so she would leave her acceptance at just that.

Breathing deeply she tentatively opened herself to the flow of the Force, an energy field that had only ever been utilized as an early warning system and a leg up in a world that seemed to want nothing more than to trod her under its boot. Her own presence on that plane was tarnished. While she still held those same metaphorical wings they were dusky and dirty with the grime of the galaxy, speaking true to her life as a petty thief for as long as she could reliably remember. They weren't broken but they were certainly beaten down, though defiantly existent in the essence that she hadn't allowed herself to be pushed to the bottom, because she was here, and she was ready to become something more than herself.

"What if I don't believe that? About love, I mean." Those words seemed to spill and tumble forth with no real prompting, put forth before she could properly think them through. "It's just that I don't really have a reason to. I've loved a lot of things and people, and they've either fallen apart or left, and I've never heard from them again." This was all leading back to her twin, as things like this often did with her, and just how much he meant to her despite the fractured and barely existent excuse for a bond they shared. "Love didn't save Sage or stop him from joining the Sith. It hasn't made him see just how stupid all of what he's doing is. So why should I believe in it when it hasn't done chit?"

[member="Rexus Drath"]

 

[Rexus Drath]

[member="Sayl Bane"]

"Hatred exists padawan, sometimes it can be as driving a force as love." Rexus said with a pause.

"Sage had so much pain in him, deep within his heart there was too much and it only drove him towards the darkness. I blame myself for his fall, if I had been there more perhaps this would not of come to pass. But I will tell you something Padawan." He mulled over his words for a moment before speaking.

"Love will never leave your heart, people come, people go, and sometimes we must accept that. However that doesn't mean we stop loving them, it doesn't mean that we give up. Everyone can have redemption padawan, even in their final moments there is a way to see the light." Rexus gave the woman a small nod.

"Let me tell you a story." Rexus laid out his hands before Sayl and extended ethereal hand into her mind.

An image showed a young hooded male Jedi knight, his features could not be made out and he appeared as if he were made of blue light. The second figure was that of younger Sith apprentice made of red, her face was dulled out but one could tell she was as beautiful as she was powerful.

"Would you like to hear the story?" Rexus asked.

 

[Sayl Bane]

If love was held in skepticism then redemption was held in an even more incredulous light. It was something that was always lofted up to increasingly high levels, but a hard-won life on the streets of Nal Hutta caused her to look at the glass not as half empty or half full, but rather a potential weapon to be used against any that crossed her. In other words, it was safe to say Sayl would take anything he told her and scrutinize it until she either found a fault or was somehow satisfied. And perhaps that was the reason she had never suited the Jedi. She asked too many questions, voicing her doubts as to their ideals and doctrines aloud and with little care for who happened to hear. But she couldn't rightly help it, given that it was in her nature.

"It's not your fault he fell. It's nobody's." She shook her head. "He just wanted all the power he could get in the shortest amount of time. See how far that's gotten him now. He's still a slave, even if he did escape the chains of his old masters when he was a kid. I guess I feel bad, but I'd also like to punch him square in the face." In her books that counted as some kind of love. Upon her last encounter with her twin she had granted him just that, her fist connecting directly with his jaw when he had moved in to give her a hug. It was all he deserved, after abandoning her in pursuit of his own goals and ambitions. The least they could have done was stick together. The Light has done just as little for me as the Dark. I don't believe in either. Not without a good reason."

Shortly thereafter the image was imposed on her mind, and only after realizing just who was responsible did she relax her instinctive defenses. The two forms that manifested themselves were each studied in turn, being taken in for all that they were and appeared to be, any attempted glimpses beneath the surface proving a fruitless endeavor. For all of her experience in the rougher and more unruly disciplines of life, in the eyes of the Force she was nothing more than an untrained child. "I...guess. Sure. It can't hurt."

[member="Rexus Drath"]

 

[Rexus Drath]

[member="Sayl Bane"]

"Once upon a time there was a young Sith acolyte who believed in the code more than anything, who believed that to break ones chains was to gain power. And one day she ventured to an area where she had found herself to be surrounded on all sides by monsters who wished her dead, and for what it was worth those monsters had her dead to rights." The images showed themselves to Sayl and the red Sith was surrounded by various shades with fangs and teeth that closed in around her.

"But a young Jedi knight saw her struggle, and could feel that she was indeed a Sith. But rather than let her die at the hands of monsters he saved her life, and he took her in knowing she was a Sith. He trained her, he loved her, and he took care of her like a daughter trying to make her see the light. And despite his efforts, he failed. When she grew strong enough she left, and broke his heart knowing she would go off to commit evil in the name of the darkside. But he never gave up hope in her, he never stopped loving her." The man let out a sigh as the two images trained together, studied, meditated, and laughed. Then came the image of the woman turning her back to the Jedi leaving him to turn towards a red fog to disappear into it.

"And for years the Jedi never lost hope, he never gave up. And one day she returned to him, she revoked the dark side because she realized that she loved him. That they would be something, and they were. They fell in love and lived with one another, and soon from that love they created life." The story continued to project itself into Sayl's mind and the projection of the two holding a child in their arms showed.

"And they loved that child and continued to love them until the end of days. You see Padawan, I don't tell you this as a way for you to find good in everyone's heart. But I tell you so you can know that people in this galaxy no matter how rotten they may be can still find the light. I myself was once trained by the Sith, I have done things I regret, but I am here. And I am within the right, and despite the history with your brother and yourself I still love the both of you. And despite how you were raised, I see the kindness in you, I see that you are a good soul in a world who wants to do the right thing but has suffered to much to try."

"And that's all I ask Sayl, that you try."