Weekend Treasure Hunt 18: Dark Mirror

[OriginsoftheJedi]

Mood Music: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m4Xxj3W6RD0

Mark made his decision. Shoving aside anyone in his way, he ran to help alternate Master. The Sith was nearly upon her, and one more soldier, an especially large one, blocked his way. Mustering up every bit of strength he could, he force pushed the soldier into Master Avi's aggressor. The two flew away into the crowd.
Mark ran to her.
"Are you ok?"
"Yea. I'm fine. You were supposed to leave."
"Not without you alive I wasn't."
They were surrounded now. No way out.
Suddenly, other Mark jumped into the fray.
"Go! Now!"
"I can't just leave yo-"
"Yes you can!"
His alternate self grabbed Mark by the elbow.
"Thank you. You saved many lives here today. Now let us fight our fight and you go finish yours. Go be what I couldn't be because of all this. Go be you, and I'll be me. Or you... Sort of. Just get out of here. And thank you."
"Thank you yourself."
Suddenly, he felt himself slowly dematerializing. Either he'd broken reality, or the portal was closing.
"Hopefully the latter." he thought.
That was it. He was being dragged away from this version of reality. The link between to universes was closing, but Mark realized he had one last question before he left.
"Wait! I have to ask you a question!"
"What!?"
"Did you know your parents?"
The other Mark opened his mouth to answer, but to Mark it came out as more of a "Yn-..." as he felt himself crossing the dimensions once again. The vortex sucked him in once again, and finally, silence fell. There was nothing. No more.

 

[OriginsoftheJedi]

Mark staggered out from the portal. He fell to his knees for a moment, then picked himself up and left. His mind was still on the answer to the question which he hadn't gotten to hear. He had to know.
As he went to hop into his Eta 2 starfighter, he turned back to the dying portal.
"I will find a way back." He said. "I will. I promise."
He felt around in his pocket. Something was out of place. He pulled out a smooth stone like that next to the portal.
It read:
You've seen what might have been
What choice and chance have made of you
Beheld the seeds of glory and
The failures waiting in your heart
Now take your simple warnings and go
For now you know what truths they held
Reality is not your toy
But you may be it's own
Look now for this is your reward

He pulled a wrapped cloth from his pocket. He slowly unwrapped the cloth. Inside was a simple, primitive pocketwatch. He opened it and found nothing inside that seemed out of place. That is, until he looked at the inside of the lid. Held there was a blurry, faded picture of a man and woman. And in his mother's arms was an infant, an infant with a tuft of dark brown hair upon his small head.
Mark gazed down at the child and his parents for a moment, then snapped the watch shut. What did it all mean?
Mark was more determined than ever to find out.

 

[Lord Ghoul]

Through the jungle stumbled a wounded man. Raven hair dark as twilight hung to his ears, slick with rain. He clutched a hand to the dark fabric of his shirt. Rivulets of crimson dribbled out from beneath his fingers. Pale, sharp features were twisted in pain, but eyes of icy blue were filled with determination and clarity as he followed the path through the rain and the fauna.

The Jedi couldn't have been far ahead. He would find him and then-

The sound of combat up ahead. The sparks of clashing sabers. He hobbled forward, snarling against the pain. With a grunt of effort he shouldered through the combatants behind the Jedi he'd spotted earlier.

Even as he reached forward with his saber to disarm the man, the world began to warp. The man frowned as all faded away, like a dream. In a moment, everything was gone. He stood outside a portal. Something was wrong.

"Where am I?" growled Mikhail Shorn.