Among Us

Chapter 1 - Discovery

Author's Note: Okay, I should probably start this with a warning for major character death. There will be death and violence, though nothing graphic, at least nothing more graphic than canon. :) I have no idea what exactly inspired this - okay, I do, but I won't say what, because it will spoil everything. I hope you enjoy reading, and feel free to give us your guesses as to who the real Sith Master is! :D

~ Amina Gila

This is it. He won, they won. Anakin Skywalker lowers his lightsaber, though keeping it ignited just in case an attack is imminent, as he stares down at the Sith in front of him. With Dooku dead, because he could never survive this injury, the war is one step closer to an end. At least, it should be, though given that Chancellor Palpatine is also dead by Dooku's hand – Anakin hasn't taken the time to let the implications sink in – it may prove to be more complicated than he expects.

"You're making a mistake," Dooku warns. The gravity in his tone catches Anakin's attention, even if he'd otherwise laugh him off.

"I fail to see how," Anakin shoots back dryly.

"Do enlighten us," Obi-Wan retorts, approaching them.

"I was never the apprentice. Palpatine was, and his master is still alive, among the Jedi." Anakin wants to laugh it off, but something about the sheer truth that rings through his words stops him. The Sith Master is... posing to be a Jedi? And what does Dooku mean, Palpatine was the Sith apprentice?! He's lying. He must be. Anakin glances over at the Chancellor's dead body on the other side of the vast room, and his anger burns hot again, demanding vengeance.

"How can we know you're not lying?" Obi-Wan demands.

"I have... no reason to lie," Dooku insists. Even though he absolutely does, like if he's trying to make them start doubting their own and be able to trust no one at all. Anakin wants to shrug everything off and keep moving with his life, or rather figure out where to move with his life, but he can't.

"Why should we believe you?" Anakin asks.

"Why are you telling us this?" Obi-Wan seems equally suspicious, even if it's masked a bit more. It's a good question. Why would Dooku tell them this?

"He..." Dooku's voice is growing steadily weaker. It won't be long before he's dead "... will destroy everything." Somehow Anakin thinks this has more to do with petty revenge than actual concern for the galaxy, given that this is the Sith who started the war regardless of whether he's one of "the Two", but he decides not to comment. If there's more he knows, they have to get it out of him before he dies.

"Who is he?" Obi-Wan queries.

"I have not... determined... the identity... yet, but it is someone... high up among..." Dooku manages to say before he goes motionless, and Anakin can feel his Force-presence disappearing.

He's dead.

You deserved it, Anakin thinks, viciously, but feels bad about it half a second later. It doesn't really matter. They have the information they need, and if Dooku was telling the truth about there being another Sith among the Jedi – Anakin doesn't find it too surprising. Krell and Barriss were hidden Dark Siders as well – the Council needs to immediately make a move at stopping them.

"What do you think?" Anakin asks, looking up.

"I'm not quite sure," Obi-Wan admits, but Anakin can tell by looking at him that he's concerned as well. So is Anakin, if he's being honest. If there's a Sith among the Jedi, the Sith Master, no less... What does it mean?

***

As much as Obi-Wan wishes he could believe otherwise, he knows now there's no way Dooku was lying. Even with the Count and Sidious dead, the Dark Side is hanging as strongly as ever in the air on Coruscant, even if it's impossible to pinpoint exactly where it's centered around.