Anabeth: New Beginnings

Chapter 18 - Getting Back On Track

Once they had made it back inside the Jedi Temple, Allie did a full scan of Ana while Windu called Obi-Wan. He explained how they were all fine and out of danger, and that he'd like a council meeting in an hour to explain everything.

Allie's diagnosis came up with only the injury of Ana's burnt hands, much to Windu's relieve. When Windu brought up the mystery of the yellow tint still present in Ana's eyes Allie told him she had no explanation for it either. But Ana insisted that it'd probably fade away within a few hours. Until then, she'd just avoid unnecessary company.

Before they could leave, Allie had to bandage up Ana's hands, an opportunity Ventress took to pull Windu aside to talk. "I know we're not on the best of terms, but I think we have one thing in common, and that is our concern for Ana. So, I'll tell you what happened in the Temple in the hopes that it might help you.

That black crystal was that room trying to recharge itself. If the Temple had been powered up, it would have simply taken energy from it, but seen as it wasn't, it tried to find the most similar thing to the Temple's energy instead. What it found was the holocron, which is usually used to power such a Temple.

The problem was that when the crystal takes power from an activated Temple, the holocron's power is actually processed through it first, this time, the power was unprocessed wich would have lead to the whole thing turning into a bomb powerful enough to take down both Temples and anything in it's proximity.

Due to both Ana's and my limited skills with the dark side, the only way to contain it, was by absorbing and processing the energy that was created in that room. I wanted to do it, but Ana insisted she'd have the highest chance of success.

To conclude, she basically absorbed an entire Sith holocron into her body down there. At best, she escaped with nothing but her burnt hands, strangely tinted eyes and a shock. At worst, she actually poses a threat right now. Don't do anything rash until you know where exactly on that scale she is" Ventess adviced him.

"Thank you. I'll see what I can do. Will you be sticking around?" Windu thanked her. "For a bit. You still owe me a ship, remember?" Ventress pointed out. "Why don't you go down to the landing bay, I think we have an extra one stuck in the wall down there. I'll get Anakin to fix any damages and then it'll be yours" Windu suggested. "A fair deal. I'll go tell Skywalker the good news" Ventress agreed, leaving the room just as Allie released Ana.

Windu took Ana out to get some fresh air, sitting down on the stairs leading up to the Temple. Few Jedi ever came here, and the public was prohibited from setting foot on their grounds. It was the perfect spot to get some peace and quiet and hide Ana's temporarily strange eyes.

"Ventress brought me up to speed on what happened. So how are you feeling?" Windu began. "Like a hypocrite. Not even two hours ago, I was insisting I wouldn't so much as scratch the surface of the dark side over this, and now here I am, having blatantly used" Ana replied.

"I wouldn't say blatantly. We have Vos back, mother Talzin is gone, and further casualties were avoided. Plus, you don't strike me as someone who is on the brink of falling to the dark side, even though you just absorbed like an entire sith holocron". "And that is what's bothering me. I just stepped into the stronghold of the Sith, interacted with the dark side to a giant extend, and I'm seemingly fine. It just doesn't seem right".

"Maybe you outsmarted that Temple. If anyone could do that, then it's you". "That Sith Temple is probably thousands of years old, and good at what it does. I mean, so am I, but all things considered it could have turned me easily. I got the feeling that it let me go" Ana admitted.

"Why'd you think that?". "As strange as it may sound, but it is entirely possible that the Temple understood mother Talzin's intentions and knew she posed as much a threat to it as she did to us. And we can assume that the second I stepped into the Temple, it knew everything about me too. I felt it. I could have wandered through the Temple for hours trying to find my way, but it guided me to where I needed to go.