| Title: Silent Nights (Part Six) Author: Ginger Ninja ****** Qui-Gon sat in front of an information terminal, pouring over the information he had found on Leezal. There wasn't that much really, seeing as she had only just been found and hadn't even made it through few days of Temple life. Sighing, Qui-Gon leaned back and rubbed his eyes. This wasn't getting him anywhere fast. He looked back at the report. His stare landed on a pair of names: Jay'ro and Maari Kins. Where had he heard those names before? Entering the name Jay'ro into the search engine, Qui-Gon awaited the results with baited breath. The parents were the missing link in this mess. The report flashed onto the screen. Jay'ro Kins: sent to Agricorps aged thirteen. Occasionally helped out at the Temple gardens now he was living back on Couruscant. That was nothing special. Qui-Gon felt his hope flicker a little but he still had Maari to check out. Once again Qui-Gon used the search engine. His wife's replaced Jay'ro's report. Qui-Gon's eyes widened as he read it. Maari was taken as a Padawan by the late Master Yasleigh aged twelve. Yasleigh? The Master found dead due to sheer terror? Was she involved in all this as well somehow? Qui-Gon shook his head. He had practically forgotten the assignment the Council had given him in all the chaos that had happened in the fairly short time since then. Just a few days ago... Unbelievable. Qui-Gon read on. In the report Yasleigh stated her amazement at Maari's telepathic talents. It was far beyond the norm for a girl of twelve. She had nearly mastered the mind trick and was able to project complex illusions. Yasleigh was clearly proud of her Padawan's talents but exercised the right amount of caution in the youngster's training and kept a close eye on the strongly developing abilities of Maari. Qui-Gon skimmed over other reposts until he found another mention of Maari's unusual talents. This report was written in a different context. Yasleigh no longer seemed to be proud of Maari. She seemed afraid. *~*Maari's abilities continue to grow. I've never seen anything quite like it. She has a grasp of the mind trick I have never seen before and her illusions are like a whole other reality. But what worries me more is the talent she has for touching another's mind and bending it to her will, in effect using the other person to do as she bids them to do. I fear she may be able to kill people with a simple moment of concentration. This would not bother me quite so much if she kept hold of these talents but Maari is repeatedly using them not only against members of the Republic she perceives as troublesome but she uses them against me as well. I've lost count of the number of times I've awoken from dreadful nightmares only to discover that they were tricks my own Padawan used on me in order to go out with her friends after I had punished her. This cannot go on for much longer.*~* Qui-Gon frowned and went to the next report. He had a feeling he knew what it would say. *~*Maari is no longer my Padawan learner.*~* "I thought so," Qui-Gon whispered and carried on reading. *~*We had a terrible argument and she resorted to enforcing her will on me, causing me terrible injuries of both mind and body. She ran away and I have been unable to find her. But I have not given up. I have a mission to do while I search for her. I understand now the perils of untrained Force abilities. I have resolved to seek out as many ex-Jedi and untrained Force sensitives as I can, making sure they do not abuse the power they have. Maybe on my search I will once again cross paths with my wayward former apprentice.*~* Qui-Gon sat back lost in thought. Here it was, all the answers. He knew who was behind his Padawan's odd behaviour and by the looks of things he had discovered the cause behind Master Yasleigh's untimely death. There was still a one question: how was Maari influencing Obi-Wan now that Leezal was dead? And of course, why had she chosen Obi-Wan? Qui-Gon had to find this woman and put an end to what she was doing. Going back to Leezal's file, Qui-Gon found the family home address. Getting up from his chair, he marched out of the Records Room and went back to the infirmary. ***** Obi-Wan sped through the corridors of the Temple, not knowing at all where he was going. Doors that should have led to places like the Room of a Thousand Fountains or the Library or a classroom led into yet more endless corridors, each one murkier than the last. The white walls of the Temple became stained with blood and other entrails. Obi-Wan paused for a moment, feeling the Darkness that was normally chasing him absent. Closing his eyes, Obi-Wan reached out with his senses, his mind touching no other minds but his ears told him that the world he was in was full of life. Obi-Wan could hear the ghostly echoes of disembodied conversations. He could hear the tumbling of water, the sound of footsteps. He could hear a world going on around him. Obi-Wan opened his eyes and gasped. He could see the ethereal images of other Jedi moving around him in the corridor that led to the Infirmary, some chatting quietly to a companion or a Padawan and some were alone. Obi-Wan backed away in terror from these ghosts. They did not seem to notice him but that didn't give him any relief. One of the ghosts walked straight at him, gazing right into his eyes yet not seeing him. Obi-Wan halted in the ghost's path, waiting to see if she would step around him. She walked on, never wavering from her path. Closer and closer she came yet neither she nor Obi-Wan moved. And then they were so close they were touching. The ghost walked right through him, leaving a lingering sense of warmth and familiarity. Obi-Wan turned around and came face to face with the girl. He stumbled backwards and watched the girl as she peered into the spot where she had walked through him. "Obi-Wan?" her voice was distant, as if it was travelling a massive distance to his ears. Her quiet call repeated over and over, drowning out the other sounds around him. Obi-Wan looked at the girl's pale salmon coloured face, large eyes and slightly fuzzy features. He knew her very well. "Bant!" ***** Bant Eerin hurried along the hallways of the Jedi Temple, desperate to get to the Infirmary. She had heard about Obi-Wan's deathly ill state and wanted to be by her best friend's side should worse come to worst. Entering the corridor that led to the Infirmary, she had to slow down a little because of all the Jedi around her. Bant frowned slightly. There was a slight disturbance in the Force around here, located in this brightly lit, warm hallway. Bant carried on walking, stretching out with the Force. Bant shuddered as she walked through an intensely cold patch of air. It only lasted for an instant but in that instant Bant felt things she only ever felt in the presence of one special friend. "Obi-Wan?" she whispered. Turning back, she gazed at the patch of air she had walked through as if she expected Obi-Wan to materialise out of thin air. She was focused so heavily on gazing at the patch of empty air, she didn't sense the person who reached out to her from behind. ***** Obi-Wan saw someone approaching Bant from behind. "Look out!" he warned as loudly as he dared. Bant screamed suddenly and two arms wrapped around her and pulled her backwards. Obi-Wan span around and saw similar attackers grabbing the other Jedi who walked through the corridor. He turned back around and saw what had just been the corridor was now a large chamber, full of atrocious torture devices. Each one was being used on an unfortunate Jedi. Some were on racks that were slowly stretching their bodies; some were having their eyes gouged out of their sockets. Obi-Wan watched as others were locked in iron maidens and had spikes driven through their bodies. "Obi-Wan! Save me friend! Please! Help me! Obi-Wan!" Obi-Wan came upon the horrific sight that was Bant. The poor girl was being subjected to a terrible torture for her species. Mon Calimari's, an aquatic species, couldn't handle being dried out. Bant was being pumped full of drugs that were causing her severe dehydration and clearly killing her. She was a little more than shrivelled skin and bones. "Obi-Wan. Help...me..." Obi-Wan cringed as all the Jedi around him began crying out to him in thin, choked voices. "Help us! Free us!" Obi-Wan stepped forward to Bant. He reached out to the IV's where the drugs were coming from. He felt a cold sensation tingle down his spine, warning him of what was coming. "She's coming!" the voices cried. "Help us! Save us!" Obi-Wan turned around, only to see the corridor was back. He looked over his shoulder to where Bant and the other Jedi were. Gone. The dark, gore stained corridor was back as well. "Save us! Free us! Don't abandon us!" Obi-Wan started running down the corridor. The Darkness was coming again! It had found him and now it was going to find him and kill him. The further down the corridor he got; the horrendous torture that was going on around him became worse. Jedi were being crucified on the walls around him, pinned up by lightsaber's that were on a low enough power setting to no longer slice through their bones and sinew. "Save us!" the dying Jedi moaned. Obi-Wan ran and ran, never looking at where he was going. He just ran and ran, the night around him slowly becoming eerily silent. ***** Bant let out a shriek of surprise and span around, ready to protect herself against whoever it was behind her. "Bant is everything alright?" It was only Obi-Wan's Master. Bant let out a sigh of relief. "Oh sorry Master Jinn. I was in another galaxy! I...I had the strangest feeling." "A strange feeling?" Bant frowned thoughtfully. "I thought for a moment I felt Obi-Wan standing right here," Bant said. "But that's impossible...isn't it?" "Well let's go and see the Healers, maybe they'll have some answers for us," Qui-Gon said. Bant smiled and followed Qui-Gon into the Infirmary. Qui-Gon and Bant entered Obi-Wan's room and found Yoda sitting with the comatose teenager. "Lost in a dream world he is," Yoda said gravely as he levitated himself off Obi-Wan's bed and onto the ground. "Here only his body is. Absent is his spirit. Something else there is within his body." Bant sat by her friend's side. "That's why I felt him in the hallway," she said. "He's wondering around out there lost in an illusion." Yoda regarded Bant for a moment. "Hm, right you maybe young Bant," he said. "Running out of time we are." Qui-Gon and Yoda left Bant with Obi-Wan to talk further in the corridor. Both could tell their conversation was distressing the young girl. Qui-Gon got down on his knees so he was a little closer to Yoda's eye level. "I believe I have found the one who is behind all this Master," he said. "Do you remember Master Yasleigh's Padawan, Maari?" "Hard to forget one with such misplaced potential," Yoda replied. "Maari is it that you suspect? Hm, suspected such a thing we all should have. Always different was that one." Qui-Gon looked at Yoda. "I know where she is. I'm going there right now to stop her." Yoda fixed Qui-Gon with a penetrating gaze. "Sure are you of your emotions. Attack in anger you must not. Tell me, how feel you?" Qui-Gon sighed impatiently. This was not what he needed right now. Yoda whacked Qui-Gon with his stick. "Impatience I sense in you. Need that you do not. Anger I feel. Understandable this is. Anger you feel at Obi-Wan's aggressor for what she has done to him. Release this you must before battle you do with her." Qui-Gon sighed again but this time without the impatience. He couldn't hide anything from Yoda. And although Qui-Gon wanted nothing more than to get to where Obi-Wan's attacker was and stop her by whatever means necessary, Qui-Gon knew such an action would lead straight to the Darkside. "Release you fears and anger you will," Yoda intoned. "Then come to me you will. Find me with Obi-Wan you will." Yoda held up on claw and pointed at an empty room. "Go." Nodding, Qui-Gon entered the room and, after emptying his busy mind, began to meditate. ***** An hour later and Qui-Gon felt more at peace with both himself and the situation and he had managed to release the majority of his anger. The rest he would have to keep in a tight check. "Master?" Qui-Gon entered Obi-Wan's room and called to Yoda, who meditated by Obi-Wan's side. Qui-Gon was touched to see Yoda's claw resting on Obi-Wan's arm. Yoda blinked his heavy lidded eyes and looked up at Qui-Gon. "Ah, there you are. With me you will come. Two other Jedi you will go with you." Nodding, Qui-Gon allowed Yoda to hobble out of the room. Qui-Gon gently kissed Obi-Wan's forehead and then followed the diminutive Master out of the infirmary. Yoda led Qui-Gon to the awaiting Jedi, who turned out to be Adi Gallia and her Padawan, Siri. Qui-Gon explained the situation to them and noted the alarm in both female faces. Without wasting another moment, the three headed to the hanger, where a small shuttle awaited them. Getting in, Qui-Gon piloted it to the address of Leezal's parents. On arrival half an hour later, the three Jedi walked confidently towards the small home in which the perpetrator for all the needless suffering lived. "So what are we going to do?" Siri asked as they approached the door. "Burst in there and fight?" Adi shook her head. "No Padawan, we must deal with this in a far more subtle way. We can't allow Maari to know we are on to her. That could be disastrous." The door to the Kins' residence was open slightly. Qui-Gon gave Adi a look. "This isn't a phrase I like to use but, I have a bad feeling about this," he said humourlessly. Adi nodded. "I sense no life forms within." Siri frowned. "Looks like she knew anyway." Qui-Gon gripped the door and pushed it. It slid effortlessly into place. A foul breath of air overcame his senses for a moment and behind him Siri gagged. Qui-Gon turned to Adi. "Stay here, I think there might be a body in here." Adi complied, much to Siri's relief. That awful stench was not doing good things to her stomach. The Master/Padawan team stood on guard by the door, waiting for any of the neighbours to come by in order to question them. If Maari was not here, she had to be found soon. Obi-Wan would not last much longer. ***** Qui-Gon used the Force to overcome the disgusting odour that lingered in the small apartment. He was currently in the main room that connected to a small kitchen and a set of stairs that led upstairs. From the state of the living chamber, Qui-Gon figured there had been a fight. Chairs were thrown all about the room; debris from smashed cutlery and ornaments littered the carpeted floor and every once in a while Qui-Gon would come across a small patch of blood. Qui-Gon advanced up the stairs. The smell was getting worse, indicating that the source of such a pong was nearby. Qui-Gon was hoping for the best but his sense of realism told him only a dead thing would reek in such a way. Once he reached the top, Qui-Gon opened every bedroom door. There were three bedrooms, each one completely devoid of life or a body. The bathroom was the last room and Qui-Gon knew he would find a body in there. Closing his eyes to calm himself, Qui-Gon opened the bathroom door... ...And let out a curse of repulsion when he found the body. It was a man, hung from the light fixture by some kind of organic tissue. Qui-Gon noticed the man's belly area that was partially covered by a sweater was stained in blood. There was no need to look under the shirt. Qui-Gon knew what kind of horrendous wound he would find there. Qui-Gon grimaced as he turned around. In all his years as a Jedi, he had never seen such a hideous murder. He reached for the comlink on his belt. "Adi?" "Yes Qui-Gon?" "Get hold of the Coruscant Security Force. We have a murder case here," he said and then walked back downstairs and out of the home. Adi took one look at the man who had paled quite dramatically and handed her Padawan the comlink. "Call the security forces," she instructed Siri. "And under no circumstances go into that place." "Yes Master," Siri replied and took the comlink from her Master's grip. Adi followed Qui-Gon who had left the building. Qui-Gon had only intended to get some air. Instead he found himself bent over a waste disposal unit, throwing up everything that was in his stomach. "Qui-Gon? Are you alright?" He turned and saw Adi standing behind him, a concerned look on her pretty features. "I'll be alright," Qui-Gon assured her. "I just need a few minutes." "That bad?" Adi asked sympathetically. "Worse," Qui-Gon replied as he wiped his mouth. "I need to contact Yoda, tell him what we found." Adi gave Qui-Gon the privacy to make the call. She returned to her Padawan, who was waiting where she was told to stay. "Security Forces are on their way Master," Siri reported. Adi nodded. "We'd better give them a fair warning. I believe it is not a pretty sight." Siri looked at her Master. "I can smell that," the girl replied. ***** "Unfortunate this is," Yoda said. "Deal with this we must. Stop Maari we must." Qui-Gon looked at the miniature blue holographic Yoda in front of him. "And how do you propose we do such a thing? We don't even know where she is." "Humph, so certain are you?" Yoda replied. "Return to the Temple after dealt with the Security Force you have. Present itself, another solution will." It was precisely the answer Qui-Gon didn't need. They were wasting time and with each wasted moment Obi-Wan slipped further away into whatever horror Maari had created in his mind. "Patience Qui-Gon," Yoda insisted. "Strong Obi-Wan is. Lose him we will not." Qui-Gon shook his head. "I know, I'm just..." "Afraid to lose him," Yoda concluded. Qui-Gon looked up once again at the hologram. "Exactly." Behind Qui-Gon, the Security Forces began to arrive. Qui-Gon ended the transmission to Yoda and went to brief the captain, making sure no weak stomached people entered the scene of the crime. //Hold on Obi-Wan, I'll be with you soon.// ***End Part Six*** |
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