Private The Brighter the Shine, the Darker the Shadow

[Asmundr Varobalder]

THE WARDEN
CORUSCANT | REBUILT CORUSCANT TEMPLE | MEDITATION GARDEN
Aeris Lashiec

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They walked along stone pathways that wove through the cool, sun-drenched chambers, thick with dense foliage laden with flowers of almost every colour. Blues, greens, purples, reds, and yellows were as vibrant as the forests of Felucia or Kashyyk within the reconstructed Meditation Gardens. The symphony of a thousand droplets falling from the infinite leaves and streams of the reconstructed fountains into the still waters of the pond, glasslike until a fish jumped, added to the atmosphere.

Along the sandy beach like perimeter of the major water feature, with a lapping shore, a group of Padawans meditated.

He found himself chuckle, midway through their reminiscing of the old days. Asmundr felt like he'd been old forever, especially when recounting that he'd seen Aeris grow from the size of knee-high to a grasshopper to now.

"It is refreshing," he mused aloud, "— to reflect on the past. So much of my time with The Circle of Seers is spent in the future.

But your present, Knight Lashiec, how have you been since your re-emergence?”

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

The meditation chambers were a spot that Aeris had a weak spot for. It was one of the few places she didn't dislike simply because of what it represented. It wasn't a cheap replica of death and destruction, it was something that constantly evolved and shifted with the people that moved around in it. There was no way of truly controlling organic life like this, and that was something she deeply respected. She let in a deep breath to feel the humidity of the room fill her lungs with a heavy, deeply enjoyable sense of home.

There would never be a day where cold concrete and fake people would ever win Aeris' heart over jungles and woods that teemed with wildlife. The only reason she stayed was the archives, and because the people she cared for seemed to have no issue with living on a dead planet such as this.

As she and Varobaldr walked through these landscapes she listened to him intently. He was in many ways a connection to a past she couldn't remember. A quite literal giant reminder that not all that was lost yet. Of course he was held in high regard, he had been there when she was just barely a bean sprout. Like a child to a mentor at school even if they weren't their mentor directly.

"It has been tumultuous." Aeris admitted and slowly nodded. "It feels like I left when I was needed, and when I re-emerged it was much the same except all that had changed was the facade behind which we live. It was now intact."

"I always dreamed of the temple back on Ossus, you know." She stopped and turned to look at Asmundr. There was a clear sense of wonder to the way her attention seemed to drift away with each word she spoke. "The jungles, the archives… What it could have been like to train under Grayson, study under Raaf."

"But most of all I want to know what it would be like to have a living, breathing world around me instead of this overpopulated, sterile, dead and festering corpse of a world that is Coruscant. Where every day we speak to people who would sooner stab us in the back than actually help us, but do so out of political reasons. Even animals aren't quite so cruel."

 

[Asmundr Varobalder]

Aeris Lashiec spoke of Ossus and drew out a pang of nostalgia Asmundr hadn't been aware he harboured. It showed up as a small pull at the corners of his mouth, and he nodded.

"Fierce and focused in their own respective ways." The elder Master agreed. "You would have learned much from both of them. Far more than either of their holocrons left behind.." He'd worked closely with both, although, by the time Raaf had taken over leadership of The Jedi, he was often amidst the stars aboard the Kenobi Praxeum. He heard himself sigh at the tail end of his wistful sentence that admired the pair of Grandmasters who were far gone now.

The Knight's desire to train on Ossus, or return to the old days, was overshadowed by her desire for a less taut present. One that didn't feel the friction of Coruscant — or, by greater extension, The Alliance that had betrayed the Jedi within their timeline.

"What is that keeps you coming back here, then, rather than an alternative — say, Prosperity or establishing The Archives elsewhere?"

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

Asmundr Varobalder

"Every single action that you take will shift and change the visions you receive. Why would you ever be in the present if you could choose to stay in your idea of an ideal future?" Aeris challenged Asmundr with a question of her own. "An archive is only as powerful as the people that use it and believe in it's values. The harder it is to find and use, the less purpose it would have."

"Besides, keeping knowledge without sharing it is hoarding, and hoarding knowledge starves us of insight."

Her blonde locks brushed against her cheek in the simulated breeze that rolled over the chamber.

"Ultimately, I am only one person. What my preferences are should not matter to the Jedi as a whole if I am the only one to hold it."

 

[Asmundr Varobalder]

Asmundr chuckled after a long stretch of pensive silence.

"As wistful as you may be to have been a student of Masters Grayson and Raaf, they certainly would find things to learn from you."

The lines around his eyes slackened when his smile faded. The recent revealings of the council meeting were troubling him, and it settled plainly in the heaviness of his brow.

"Those that surround us that are crueller than animals do they ever try to learn? Have you seen any of them in the archives, trying to collect up knowledge from our shelves?"

He realized how that might have sounded, so close to the scrutiny of the dead-eyed, dead feeling of Coruscant that Aeris Lashiec had delivered. He looked to her, as though eye contact would make amends for offence perhaps not taken. "I mean this not as a challenge, but I am curious how the general perception of the Jedi has shifted since our former Shield has taken up Chancellorship."

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

There was a distinct redness to Aeris' cheeks as Asmundr mentioned Grayson and Raaf. The temperature seemed to rise for a moment before it slowly began to descend back to normal again.

"Some do." Aeris shrugged. "Most pay lip service. Others find it absurd that we do not allow people from outside the Order to bring materials with them in or out of the archive."

"I am not quite sure what to think of Auteme's tenure as Chancellor." Aeris admitted with an uneasy sigh as the corners of her mouth seemed to shift around with an uncomfortable silence, like a toddler being forced to eat their vegetables. "On one hand we lost one of our most prolific members," Aeris extended her hand before her. "But on the other hand we have a member that felt that she would do better outside of the Order." Her other hand joined the other before she swept them each by their side in another shrug.

"While it pains me to admit, perception of the Jedi has always been poked holes in and then quickly patched up again to such an extent that it just stopped mattering." She scratched the back of her head. "I follow my heart, and that is good enough for me."

"What about you, Master Varobalder?"

"Why are you still around?"

Asmundr Varobalder

 

[Asmundr Varobalder]

Entitlement came in many forms, the need to bring personal items in and out of a religious library made Asmundr chuckle.

"I have hope. The future The Circle of Seers has seen is.." he went quiet, thinking of the proper word for Aeris Lashiec . "Full. There are many pathways, most of them bright. And the ones that are not, need guidance more than anything."

He made a face.

"There's nowhere else I could be, the place I can help most is with The Order.

Especially as The Alliance and The Order rekindle their union. Part of the future's uncertainty is.." he made a deep sound at the back of his throat, something like a hmmm. "I wonder if there are anecdotes from the past we can draw from.

The Alliance and The Jedi are preparing for more than closing the corridor to the core. They're intending an attack on Exegol."

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

Asmundr Varobalder
Funny to think that the one of them that represented the past and the one that spoke for the future were both around for the same reasons. Guidance was a resource freely given but not always accepted, same as any other thing that might go against the current actions of the one receiving it.

The current NJO had started as little more than a bunch of frat boys who wanted to do good. Aeris had hated it, even if over the course of time these fraternity members were forced to put their big boy pants on and act their part as respected and measured individuals with a shared fate. Less barging into meetings with allies and more — for the most part — constructive conversation.

And yet, they had clearly not come far enough.

"Of course they are." Aeris groaned in disappointed frustration as she sighed, pinched her nose, and rubbed it to calm her nerves. "Because nothing makes the darkness less pronounced than shining an even harsher light at it."

"Varobalder, what I am about to say…" Aeris sighed. She felt a rumble in her throat as she growled a groan and shook her head. "This plan is a fool's errand, and a surefire way to guarantee that they strike us back in retribution."

"Coruscant? Tython? Or maybe Ilum again? Jedha? Whose lives are we willing to destroy for this? Who are we willing to sacrifice just so that we can say that we destroyed something of value to the Sith?" Her headshake hadn't stopped. Luckily there was no-one around to see the near-constant state of shakiness in her neck. "I swear that for every step we take forward, there are two steps back, and quite frankly—"

"No." Her words popped until she nearly spat. This was more than just a sore topic. "Fuck that."