| << You're Who? | Index | Errant Fate - Part 2 >> |
| Inheritance: The Discovery |
Inheritance: The Discovery
"My Gods, look at all the information." Jemin gasped, leaning over
Luke's shoulder to look at the files appearing on the scren before him.
" They appear to be in some sort of order." Luke observed. He punched
a few keys, moving the bar to highlight 'Families'. He entered into the file and found sub-files. He
brought up the last names of all the known Force using families.
" They're in alphabetical order." Luke noticed
" Look for..." Ciana started, but did not finish as Luke read her mind and
moved the bar down the list until he found his family name..
He looked to Leia, then Ciana. They nodded, and he looked back to the screen.
He hit the comp key and his family name appeared at the top of the screen. He didn't recognize the first
names, so he continued down the list until he found someone he did recognize.
Ciana gasped. Darth Vader was on the list.
" What?!" Jemin shot a questioning glance at Luke. Luke punched a few
more keys, revealing the rest of the line.
" Oh, my Gods!" Ciana cried. .
Luke turned to look at Ciana. She was shaking all over..
" Ciana."Luke held out his hand as she backed away from him.
" NO!"
" Ciana." Luke took a deep breath, then continued. " Our father's name
was Anakin Skywalker. We were..."
" How can that be? You are under HIS name! As HIS children!" She screamed
at him.
" Ciana." Leia moved to stand beside her brother. " We were conceived by
Anakin Skywalker. He was our father."
Ciana had finally backed up enough so that her back was against her adoptive
father's chest. His hands moved to Ciana's shoulders as he waited for an explanation from the
young Jedi.
Leia froze.
Vader had held her similarly on the first Death Star. The day her world
exploded. Now Ciana's world was exploding with this information about her family.
luke noticed Leia's hesitation and continued
" Anakin fell to the Dark Site and became Darth Vader. When he died." Luke
sighed. " As he died, he chose to return to the Light. In doing so, he saved my life.
" I didn't know." Ciana sighed, eyes downcast..
" I didn't know until Endor." Leia confessed.
" I'm sorry."
" Don't worry about it." Luke consoled. " Not many people do. It's understandable
that you would feel this way." Luke embraced his cousin, trying to drive her fears away, and
looked to Jemin.
" I'm shocked. Vader committed unspeakable atrocities, but," Jemin sighed. " You
are not responsible for his actions. You may have his blood, then again, so does Ciana." He looked
at his daughter; for she was just that-his daughter, even if not by blood. ' But you chose your
own path, and you chose the good path. You've righted the wrongs your father did. " Then, there were
several moments of silence.
" Why don't we continue." Luke said and, releasing Ciana, sat before the
computer screen again.
They watched, and read, for hours. They looked up information on other members of their families, read their history, even found the first Skywalker Master-not more than four gnerations past. Some of the thing they found astonished them. Healers,Masters, Traitors, Darksiders. All these were a part of the Skywalker family history. They read that the men and women that had held these impressive titles-some not so impressive- were normal, ordinary people that held jobs inside, as well as outside, the Jedi Order.
Luke looked again at the family list. One name came to his notice suddenly. He didn't
remember seeing it before.
" Bryll Kenobi." Luke whispered.
Luke looked up from the screen and at Ciana.
" Ben Kenobi is your blood-grandfather?!" He couldn't believe it.
" He is?" Ciana asked. " I didn't know who my father was. Everyone was killed
when I was a baby. All I had to remind me of my heritage was my father." She smiled at Jemin. " And
this." She reached to the medallion hanging from her neck and entwined her fingers through the
chain.
" It's here." Luke pointed to the name on the screen. " Ben was your
grandfather."
" I..I've always had a feeling that my father didn't want me. Or..or know
about me." Ciana looked at the computer screen. " Or else why wouldn't I have his mane instead of
mother's?" She sighed. " I think my father turned, at least for a time, to the Dark."
Luke held his shock in check, realizing what it must have taken to admit such
a feeling.
" How do you know?" Leia asked Ciana.
" I don't." She tried to smile. " It's just a feelig." Ciana shook her head,
trying to rid herself of the unpleasant feelings, and changed the subject.
" There must be something else here." She looked around the small,dark room." Like
archives, or something."
" Something to help us build the new Jedi Order." Luke agreed.
" But how would anything have survived the attack?" leia asked.
" I don't know." Luke looked puzzled." But I have the same feeling as
Ciana. That there is something here that we are not seeing."
" Indeed Children. You have found it."
They turned sharply, Luke's hand flying to his lightsaber, the other's to
their respective weapons in response to the unknown voice.
" Who are you?" Luke demanded, his saber illuminating the dark room.
" You don't know me."
" That was not my question." Luke replied.
' Be calm, little Skywalker.I will not harm you."
Luke was losing his patience. He really hated stubbron people,
" Who are..."
The man stepped out of the light, and held up a shimmering hand. Shimmering?
They all noticed at the same time. Even Jemin, who was not Force sensitive, could see the man in the flowing brown robes.
" Yes, children. I am not 'here', as you would say." The man smiled at Leia
and Ciana's reactions. They had never seen anything like this. Jemin just plainly didnt know what was
going on.
" I am of the Old Order." The spectre spoke. " Chose to guide you. Bond-Brother
wished to come, but he would have been easily recognized, unlike me."
" Han is my Bond-Brother because he is married to my sister." Luke's eyess
narrowed, remembering the list and the names on it. The man seemed familiar to him , but not enough to make
an accurate identification. Oh, how he hated mysteries.
" Don't worry little Skywalker." The man's dark blue eyes came to rest on Luke. " You
will know soon enough."
" Would you please stop calling me that?" Luke asked.
" I mean no disrespect." The man nodded to Luke." You must find the lost archives."
he raised his voice, commanding the children to listen." For without them you will have no Order. They
were lost with the destruction of the Jedi. You must learn the old history. What made the Jedi fall; so that you
will not make the same mistakes. Dark power runs in your family. You must not let it flourish, or it will
dominate you. Your children." His eyes moved to Leia, then Luke and Ciana." Will have your legacy, your power.
You must teach them well, so they are not seduced to the Dark Side."
Seeing the disbelief on their faces, the man explained.
" Yes, the Dark Side is still alive, you have not killed it. Dark is
necessary for the light to exist. You must learn to control it. I will leave you now." The man's
form faded, then was gone.
Leia and Ciana sighed and turned to Luke.
" Who was that?" Ciana asked no one in particular.
" My guess." Luke responded. " Is that that was Arian Skywalker."
" How do you know?" Jemin asked.
" Just a feeling, and something he said." Thinking, Luke turned to Jemin. " He
said his Bond-brother would be easily recognized. Look," He turned and hit a few keys on the computer,
bringing up the family list. " Arian didn't have a brother, but he did have a sister." He looked
up at Leia and Ciana." A sister who was married to Ben Kenobi." Luke smiled. " I would have recognized
Ben."
" Indeed, you would have." Another figure appeared where Arian had just left.
Startled, the children looked up at this new man, hand's automatically going
for their weapons.
" Unlike Arian," The man looked at Luke." Yes, young Skywalker, you
were right. Unlike my son, I will give you my name."
" Not every Skywalker was stubborn." Leia whispered to Luke, remembering hsi thoughts
about Arian.
" Ha." The shimmering form laughed. " No, little Skywalker. We are a very
stubborn family and, to some, mysterious. My name is Shyn Skywalker."
" The first Skywalker to become a Jedi Master." Luke said, realizing that whispering
was of no use.
" Yes, litt..." He paused under Luke's hard stare. " Yes, Luke. You, I am
here to instruct. You are Master now."
" By default, you mean." Luke frowned. " There is no one else. Can you stay
and help..."
" You must make your own mistakes. I've given all the information I'm going
to give." Shyn stated.
" Stubborn." Leia chuckled, and Luke smiled.
" I will tell you one last thing." Shyn said to Luke. " You will pick your own
successor. It will not necessarily be one of your children." He smiled at Ciana. " You will know who
is the right choice."
Shyn placed his hand to his lips, then to his heart, and bowed his head; thus
saluting the new Jedi Master.
" Of Traitors,beware." Shyn warned before he, too, was gone.
" Guides you will have." The shimmering form of Yoda appeared before the startled children. " To the Ancient Archives. All of you will it take to find the hidden place." Yoda said, then he was gone.
" Names in order of birth, letters of names combined. From two to four to onw, to
these trees you must be kind."
Luke heard his father's voice repeat the rhyme again.
" Who was that?" Ciana asked.
" Master Yoda, then my...Father." Luke answered.
" The clue to the Archives must be in the rhyme" Jemin thought aloud.
" Yes," Ciana agreed. " Luke, bring up our names on the screen."
" Ciana, you were first." Leia said, remembering the files. " I was next," She
smiled at her brother. " Then Luke. Put the names together in that order and it should spell..a tree?"
" A tree?" Ciana repeated.
" I am not familiar with the plant life of this planet." Leia admitted. " I have
no idea what it could be."
" Ciana, you've lived here all your life." Luke turned to look at her. " What are the
names of some of the trees around here?"
" Not necessarily around here." Leia said.
" Well, there are..."
" Rare trees." Jemin spoke, interrupting his daughter." It's rare." He
was staring at the computer screen with the children's names grouped together.
" From two, to four, to one." Luke repeated the verse. " Two letters from
Ciana's name, four from Leia's and one from mine, maybe?"
Ciana concentrated, seeing the children's names as a word within a word.
" Naleial trees!" Ciana jumped. " They only grow on one side of the continent." She
turned to her foster-father. " They are rare." She looked back at Luke and Leia. " Not many are ever
seen because they die so easily if they are mistreated." She smiled wide. " We must be kind." She repeated
the last line of the verse.
' They grow on a steep, mountainous side of the continent." Jemin added.
" Well what are we waiting for? Let's go!" Luke smiled.
" What about the computer?" Jemin asked.
" The guards are here." Leia stated. " Besides, when we shut it off, no one
can get into it besides us."
They stood facing one of the high mountains, the strong wind whipping
at their hair.
" The Force is strong here." Luke observed, wrapping his jacket tightly around
his thin frame to protect him from the moist, chilly air.
" I don't feel anything." Leia shivered. Clouds were moving in, and the
air was becoming colder.
" Death." Luke said as he started climbing up and around the mountain, slipping
on the rock and foliage under his feet.
After a few minutes, Luke reached a level space and reached down to help
the women. They walked for a few more minutes enjoying the level ground.
" Watch your step." Luke warned. " It's very slip..."
Ciana slipped on the moss covered ground and fell with a thud. As Luke bent over to help her up, he
noticed all the vines and moss hanging in front of what appeared to be a cave. Had Luke not turned
to help Ciana he wouldnot have noticed the opening, having already walked past it.
Luke walked over to the opening and reached for a vine when Leia grabbed his arm.
" What are you doing?" She asked, then stepped back, gasping. " Death." She whispered.
Luke continued. It took a few minutes, but his persistence paid off when he
broke through the foliage and stepped into the place that hadn't seen life in at least twenty-five years. Luke
stood staring in awe, as the light shining into the small cave illuminated the pictures and
words on it's walls.
Ciana came next, followed by Jemin, then Leia.
Leia gasped as Luke went over to the bones. He noticed the hand was tightly curled
around a sharp metal object. He reached for it as Leia parted more vines, allowing extra light into the
cave.
As the new light poured in, it revealed the words chiseled into the rock
beside the bones.
Of all the writing on the walls, the light shown on thes few phrases-
illuminating the next guide to the hidden Archives. Luke read the rhyme.
Children of Blood, Children of Light, Follow the Path, That leads to your Might. Blood
is like Water, Follow the Flow, Sunrider's Daughter, This way you will go. Moonlight is Bended, Stars Shine
Reflected, As the Great Crescent, Reveals what was Thought Dead.
Luke sat back on his heels and sighed.
" Alright, who knows what this means?" He asked, looking to Ciana, Leia and Jemin.
" Children must mean you three." Jemin offered. " Those Masters kept calling you that."
" Our Might," Leia thought aloud," Would be the knowledge we would gain by
finding the Archives."
" Water, Flow, Daughter." Luke repeated, then looked up at Ciana. " Sunrider was
a name on our family list, the line pointed to Ciana."
" So, Sunrider is Ciana." Leia said. " What about the rest?"
" Well, it mentions water. " Jemin repeated, then looked up at Ciana." And
following it's flow. We must have to follow a stream or river." He looked suddenly at Luke. " There
is a small stream near here, or there wouldn't be so much moisture."
" A Crescent. " Ciana repeated the third verse. " Isn't there a legend
about a crescent appearing in the middle of a pool?" She asked Jemin. " Because of a certain way the
moonlight shone on the water?"
" Has anyone seen this?" Luke asked.
" This rumor started..." He looked sharply at Luke. " Soon after the
destruction of the estate and the fall of the Jedi."
" Reveals what was though dead." Ciana sighed. " We have to follow a stream
to a pool of water, where the crescent will appear."
" How do we know what stream to follow?" Leia asked.
" Sounds like as good a solution as any." Ciana sighed.
" Lead the way." Luke gestured to Jemin.
As they all left the cave, Luke turned to face the skeleton one last time. Hand to lips, hnnd to heart, Luke saluted the dead man. Then Ciana was beside him and, placing a hand on his arm, led him out of the cave.
" We've been walking for hours." Jemin noticed. " We should stop, it's
getting dark."
All three children turned sharply to look at him. Determination shone on
each face. Jemin suddenly regretted what he'd said, realizing that these children were looking for
their heritage, their birthright, and nothing was going to stop them from finding it.
Several hours later they rounded the base of the mountain and came to a
small clearing. All four of the 'intruders' stared in awe at the magnificent waterfall cascading
over the mountaintop. Above them, the moonlight cast an eerie glow over the flowing water.
" It's beautiful." Ciana breathed.
" We'll stop here." Luke decided.
Luke started a fire with his saber, and they all huddled around the glow
to keep warm. Atrisi had very cold nights.
Ciana noticed Luke remove an object from his jacket and place it close to
the fire for a better look.
" What is that?" Ciana asked, leaning closer to Luke for a better view of the
unkonwn object.
" It's the chisel that the skeleton had in his hand." Luke answered as
Ciana's fingers touched the cold metal. " I felt we might need it."
" Why?" Leia asked, leaning closer.
" I don't know. " Luke touched Ciana's fingers, following them as they ran
over the entire length of the blade. " I just felt..."
" There is something written on here." Ciana noticed, as her fingers touched indentation
on the handle. She took Luke's fingers from hers and placed them on the writing. Luke nodded, indicating
he felt them too.
Ciana held the blade against the firelight and read the inscription:
Born in Dark, Born in Night, Add Together, Reveal the Light.
" Another Guide?" Leia asked.
" Must be." Luke agreed.
" Well, were you born after dark, at night?" Jemin asked.
" Luke and I don't know when we were born. We don't even have our exact
birthdate." Leia explained.
" Well, let's assume you were born after dark. " Jemin decided, " Is there
anything that we've read in our guided that would have given ua any times of day?"
" Without coming right out and saying it, you mean." Luke smiled. He really
hated mysteries, especially one of such profound importance.
" The only numbers were in the first guide." Ciana stated.
" Yes, I remember." Leia said. " From two to four to one. But, Luke and
I are twins; we would have been born about the same time."
" From two to four to one." Luke repeated, thinking. " Two to four, four to one..."
Ciana looked at him. " Two minutes to four, and four minutes to one?" She guessed.
" That could be it."
" Suppose it is." Jemin asked. " How would you 'Add Together'?"
" I don't know. Add two to one, which would be three..." Ciana dropped her voice, frowing.
" How about adding two to four and four to one." Luke suggested. " That would be..."
He stood and looked at the moon. " Eleven at night. " He looked at his family and smiled. " In the Dark."
" That has to be it!" Ciana jumped up beside him, then turned to her foster-father. " What
time is it?"
" Ten." He answered, checking his chrono.
" So we wait." Ciana sighed and resumed her seat, pulling Luke with her.
They talked for an hour,about their lives and growing up on such different worlds yet
still finding each other.
" It's almost eleven." Jemin noticed.
They all turned to watch the middle of the pool;hoping they were right about the time, and
the pool for that matter. Ciana noticed that the moon had changed position, but thinking it of no importance said nothing.
The light on the water grew brighter, then faded. Luke suddenly realized
that, in all their excitement about discovering the time, they forgot the last line of the rhyme.
" Reveal the Light!" Luke shouted. " We forgot the last line of the rhyme!"
" The Light?" Ciana looked at him.
" The Light." He unhooked his lightsaber from his belt. " This is a lightsaber. This
must be the light. It has to be." He ignited the green blade, held it above his head and out toward
the pool of water.
A stream of moonlight illuminated one side of the waterfall, through the
water, and reflected off Luke's saber. A bright star, on the other side of the falls reflected through
the water and hit Luke's saber also. As the water flowed over the falls, the light grew more intense. Soon
the was a pattern, a green pattern, in the center of the waterfall. The flowing water seemed to glow
over the green crescent. The crescent remaine for a few seconds, then disappeared, leaving the witnesses speechless.
The Children had found the last Jedi Archives.
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