Anabeth: Darkness Rising

Chapter 1 - Back From Darkness

Darkness. Pure, infinite  darkness. A void made of nothing but blackness was all that surrounded her, or her mind at least. She was floating in the void with no sense of space and time. She didn't know what was going on. She saw noone, heard nothing and felt nothing. As far as she knew she was unsure whether she was dead or alive. It should have bothered her, not knowing what was going on, but instead she felt awfully content as she waited for the universe to provide her with answers.

It could have been days she spend in the darkness, but it just as easily could have been months, or even only hours. For all that Ana knew time was irrelevant, none existend. Everything was none existend. She couldn't see, hear or feel a thing as she waited, though for what she didn't know.

It was then that her peaceful state of mind was disturbed by what sounded like an explosion, followed by the sound of walls crumbling to the ground. However, it sounded distant and echoing. She opened ber eyes, hoping to finally see something other than the endless blackness surrounding her. She was disappointed to see that nothing had changed. Convinced that the sound couldn't possibly have come from within the void she was about to close her eyes again when she suddenly heard a voice right behind her.

"Hello young one". Ana turned around as quickly as possible, shocked to stare right into the face of a middle-aged man. He smiled at her softly as she looked at him, shocked and confused. "You must be Anabeth" he spoke, eyeing her up and down. "I was wondering when I'd get to meet you. I am Qui-Gon Jinn".

"No you're not" Ana blurted out, very sure of herself "You're dead". "Yes, and no" the man replied. "I am dead then" Ana took another guess at which he simply shook his head with an amused smile. "No, you for one are very much still alive. You're simply in a coma".

"In a coma? How are you here then? And how am I even here? Where even is here and what was that explosion I heard ? Is this all some product of my imagination?" Ana was confused. "Patience, I can assure you this is all very real. This is the realm between the dead and the living that exists within the force. It is hard to acess when you are still alive but seen as you almost died back on Mandalore it was easy for me to bring you here" Qui-Gon explained.

"Why did you bring me here though? And when can I go back to my world?" the girl asked curiously. "The explosion you heard came from the real world. However, it is an echo as it already happened two days ago. You were able to hear it because you are recovering at an increasing speed now and will be able to wake up as soon as I send you back to your world. But before I do so it is important that I inform you about what is to come.

Hard times are ahead Anabeth, and the right path to walk will not always be clear. Your will and your strength will be tested, not only by your enemies, but also by those whom you consider your friends. The future is not yet written, but with every passing day the wheels are beginning to turn in favour of the dark side, even if it may not seem that way.

The Jedi and the Republic will need you more than you know, but most importantly, your friends will need you. Be there for them and protect them, but be prepared to let go of them for their own good". "Where will you be?" Ana asked, unwilling to let Obi-Wan's old Master go this easily. "I'll keep an eye on you, don't worry. But I need you to keep what happened here to yourself". Qui-Gon instructed her.

"Why, don't you want them to know you are..." Ana trailed off, searching for the right word "Honestly, I don't know what you are, but don't you want them to know that you aren't gone in the way they think?". "Believe me, I'd like them to know, but they can't yet" Qui-Gon calmly explained. "And what about Obi-Wan? Do you even know what he went through for the past thirteen years?" Anabeth asked in disbelief. "I can very well imagine. But now is not the time. Right now, I just need you to promise to keep quiet about this" he replied.