The Returning Knight: A Star Wars Story

Chapter 10: Redemption

Sigil opened his eyes and found himself in a completely black void. Before, the once mortal form of Darth Nox manifested herself before him. "What brings you here? Surely you didn't come here thinking you could beat me? Hmm?" She asked, as a smile grew on her face. "Your arrogance will be your downfall." He said indifferently. The smile on her turned into a frown before she chuckled "You will learn many things today dear. Chief amongst them being that power could compensate for arrogance." She said, lifting her right palm up as bolts of electricity began to spark around her hand. He took out his lightsaber and placed it in front of him, but didn't ignite it. She rolled her eyes at him before pointing her fingers at him as the torrents of electricity grew in size and power. Hitting the ignition button on his saber, his blade caught the lightning as the environment around them began to shift from a black void to stone castles found on feudal worlds. Seeing that her lightning proved ineffective, Nox upped the intensity of her lightning. Now larger bolts slammed into his blade, but he kept his footing, using his physical strength to advance forwards. Not stopping her barrage, Nox took out her lightsaber and ignited it. Two crimson red blades shot out from either end of the elongated hilt. Under the cover of her still traveling lightning, she dashed forwards; using the force to strengthen herself as she moved in for a stab. Turning his blade upside down, he parried her blade away from his body. Delivering a headbutt, he disoriented her and moved his blade inwards for a strike; only to be forced to bring it up over his head to block a speeding blade from cutting him vertically. Taking advantage, she used the force to enhance her kick as she kicked him towards a window. Not relenting, she was right on his tail with another stab which he sidestepped and made a vertical cut towards her scalp. Twisting the hilt of her saber, she parried the oncoming strike before following up with her other blade, a cut to the neck. Ducking down, he avoided the oncoming blade before punching her in the kidney with his off hand. This seemed to fuel her onslaught as she committed to multiple cuts with both of her blades. Each time he parried one strike, another would come. He remembered what Satele said "Don't focus on both blades. Once you know the location of one, you know the location of the other.". Nox nevertheless continued her offense. Attempting a heavy cut, he blocked her blade from inside her guard. Thinking quickly, she brought one hand up in order to blast him with lightning in the face while the other hand, still holding the saber, swung the hilt in order to cut him from below. A lose lose situation. As he disengaged his saber and brought it down to block, he waited until her free hand was up high enough then he twisted her palm towards her own face; causing her to roast her own metaphorical face as he sent her back with a force enhanced kick through the window and what he saw was a rooftop. Hot on her heel, he jumped out of the window. His saber was about to pierce right through her torso before she rolled away after sensing danger in the force. Mistakingly, she rolled off the roof and to the gardens below. There Revan emerged from a fountain, a yellow blade in hand and dashed at the seemingly blinded Nox. 'Being hit by her own lightning at point blank must have left a mark' he smirked at the thought before diving down to join the ongoing battle. Although blinded Nox used the force to sense her surroundings and she didn't like what she was sensing. The force around her was screaming and warning her of two incoming enemies; one from her side and the other from above her head. She rolled backwards, causing both her opponents to miss. As she was regaining her footing, she felt a strong torrent of force energy crash against her shield and breach them as she was sent flying back with a combined force push from both her foes. Slamming hard into another fountain, she broke the beautiful marble making up the fountain and its statues. The fact that she got up was frightening to the siblings as she seemingly shrugged off a crippling injury. Yet they pressited with their offense and put her on the back foot. They pushed her across and out of the castle. Reaching the cliffside around the castle. Now truly desperate as Sigil began hammering her defenses with the falling avalanche technique as Revan covered him, the cliff began to shake before it suddenly broke off and sent the three of them speeding down. "Revan do something!" Sigil yelled in terror. "On it! Just wait a second!" She yelled back before the approaching forest below them turned into the quickly growing hull of a battleship engaged in a naval battle. With no time to question it, Sigil used the force to slow his fall and rolled after touching the hull of the ship, further dampening his fall. Revan and Nox did the same. The three combatants got back to their feet and regained their footing. They were stuck on a spaceship hull fighting a naval battle in the atmosphere of a water world. Looking around he saw that they weren't spared as a Hyena class droid bomber made a run on what the siblings knew to be a Venator. Not wanting to see what would happen, all three jumped up and caught onto the bomber. Even while holding onto a bomber for their dear life, their duel persisted. With Revan being stuck between Sigil and Nox, she was the one who battled the dark lord with undying resolve to regain control of her body once more. Wanting to get rid of her once and for all, Sigil attempted to force push Nox away. But unlike last time, Nox was prepared and her shields pressisted against his onslaught. Spotting a squadron of fighters below he shouted "Bail out!" While igniting his own lightsaber and severing the wing of the bomber. They both descended in altitude at high speeds but caught onto fighters from the republic fighters. Behind them however Nox was somehow commanding a squadron of Vulture droids using the force who were now firing at their pickup. "Wanna see who could slice more of them up?" She asked with an ear to ear grin. Nodding with a smirk, they both leaped up from the republic starfighters and ignited their lightsabers. Green and yellow lights cut through the squadron of droid fighters as they now descended into a free fall with the falling Nox just above them in altitude . Changing the environment yet again, they found themselves in a dark jungle. "Wait, this isn't what i wanted?" She said before he put his hand over her hand, knowing that they were in a predator and prey situation and they had just exposed their location. He pushed her away while he dropped onto his back in time to avoid a flying pair of crimson blades from decapitating them both. He heard her attempt to balance herself to avoid falling anyways. However she seemingly caught onto a branch as she fell with the appropriate sound. Sigil felt a boot about stomp on his face so he raised his hands and caught it. Although it was force enhanced, his overwhelming weight and size advantage, more than made up for her amping. He tried to hold her in place long enough for Revan to come back up and stab her but then Nox used his hands as a platform to raise her second foot up for an attack. Feeling as the weight shifted more onto him, he pulled her leg forwards over his head and pushed her back down and leaped on top of her. She attempted to roll away but her hand was caught under him. Feeling a heavy weight on her arm, she instinctively threw a punch that caught him on the jaw. He pushed through the urge to put his hand on his jaw as the force around him screamed, he felt a danger coming in from the front. Instinctively he caught it and turned it away from him as a single crimson turned on with a snap-hiss. Following its trajectory, he used the force to ignite the second blade. Nox however wasn't very large and was missed by the blade. Attempting to overpower her with his strength, she augmented to match him while he did the same to keep up until they reached a stalemate. She used her foot in an attempt to kick him in a more vulnerable spot. Having to quickly adjust his body to catch it, she slipped her second hand from under him and used it to enforce her grip on her lightsaber. Her sudden twisting of the hilt along with his sudden loosening grip strength as he was distracted, resulted in the emitter hitting him in the throat. Hearing gurgling noises, she attempted adjust herself to be on top of him and used the hilt to choke him. As she was adjusting herself, he decided to yank the hilt out of her hand but she caught on. As a result she was sent away but since he caught on, he also was sent after her. They both caught the hilt over the other's throat as they started rolling down the hill they were on. Having to move their legs to avoid hitting trees, the only thing they could do was stare each other in the eyes. Seeing the glowing yellow irises stare at him, he knew his move hadn't indeed blinded her. Bright Yellow and a dim blue stared at each other for what felt like a lifetime but instead a mere 15 seconds as they rolled down the hill. Their life stories were told to the other through the force, using their eyes as a canvas. telling both a story of abuse, neglect and suffering; one chose to give in these and the other chose to keep going in spite of them. One had a loving companion to keep them joyed while the other just suffered in silence. At the foot of the hill, their constant back and forth, finally bent the saber and caused it to short out. Their momentum in comparison to their weight, sent her flying further away as they were now separated. Getting up, they both made eye contact again. "You and eye are not so different after all. You don't have to suffer in silence." He said warmly. "Nice try." She spat out, but sensed no ill intentions from him. "We were both neglected but you took it and did it to others. Why?" He asked. "You jedi will never comprehend the true nature and power of the darkside." She replied. "At what cost?" He argued. "Everything has a price dear." She replied. "Some prices are far too high." He said, eyeing her up and down. Following after him, she saw a bit of truth in his words yet remained stubborn "A price i can afford.". "Your body tells a different story." He replied getting closer. "Stay away." She warned. "Let me help you so you can have a moment of peace. You have carried this burden for far too long. Let me carry it for you." He offered. She just stayed there frozen by shock as he got closer. "Why are you doing this? After all i did to you and the wider galaxy previously?" She asked. "Everybody deserves a second chance. Compassion is the way of the force and should be extended towards everybody" He replied, getting within arms length. She moved forwards slightly. "There see. It isn't that bad." He encouraged. She moved closer in response now within several centimeters of each other. Opening his arms, he moved forwards and embraced her in a giant rancor hug. After so many decades of feeling nothing but fear, pain, suffering, anger and hatred it felt so foreign to be accepted by anybody. It was a new meaning. For the first time in her life, Darth Nox felt warmth and comfort. They just stayed there in silence while Revan was watching from a distance. Using the force to enhance her senses enough to see in the dark. She was certainly mad at Nox but remembered the original Revan's words "Compassion is a courtesy that should be extended to most life. Even Sith. Some sith aren't evil but just broken and twisted by false promises. Trust me i was there.". She settled herself on the peak of the hill overseeing them.

Slowly easing her to the ground, Nox said "I am sorry for what i did. I recognise the fact that i am eligible for my actions and shall pay for them. Thank you for giving me some solitude for the first time ever." She acknowledged sadly. "Wait!" He called out. "Huh?" She said. "May the force be with you." He said. "May the force be with the both of you." She said. Finally she got up and started to walk away. "Wait!" He yelled after her again. "What now?" She said impatiently. "A goodbye hug?" He said with a cheeky grin. She rolled her eyes while also giving him a cheeky grin, her eyes having gone back to their original green color. She moved back and they had a quick hug before she again walked away. Her body began turning to blue particles and flying up in a pillar of blue light and shot upwards into the sky as his own vision went blank.

Waking up, he found himself at the prison cell of the void dragon as the events of the battle rushed back into his mind. 'Was it a battle or redemption story?' He thought, before hearing groaning sounds from the containment field. He got up and Used the force to turn the containment field off, he caught Revan as she fell forwards. It took her some time but she finally regained her footing. Although with shaky steps. "Sigil, you did it." She said with a weak voice, her throat drier than the dune sea. He thought that Nox had drawn upon the force energy of the planet to keep herself sustained as such he didn't feed her. He too was exhausted but had his priorities. Taking Revan in his arms, he took her to the medical bay of the ship and rested her on the medical bed and turned on a medical droid. The droid quickly scanned her before saying "Oh my when was the last you ate and drank.". "A year." Sigil said. "How did you-" "That doesn't concern you." He threatened. "Okay. No need to be hostile." The droid said. As Revan was injected with a syringe, an apparition of Nox appeared before them. "Hello there Revan i am so sorry for what i did to you. It was wrong of me to manipulate…" she said before pausing. "Sigil. My name is Sigil." He said. "It was wrong of me to manipulate Sigil and inhabit your body for which i am sorry." She apologized. "Although what you did was wrong, the fact that you redeemed yourself and gave up a second chance at life, makes you a changed person. I forgive you." Revan said in a weak voice. "I see that you have escaped chaos." Sigil commented. "All thanks to you. It looks like however that during our showdown, my spirit got bonded to you. Part of me will inhabit your head until you rejoin the force." She explained. "As long as there is no sith coup." He joked. She chuckled in response before her apparition disappeared.