Aeris walked through the seemingly endless tunnel she’d found herself in, using Force Sight, rather than her eyes, to see her surroundings. It was too dark now to rely on her vision, so she had closed her eyes, to rely only on the Force. She did her best not to allow herself to think too much, about anything, to keep her mind clear. But that wasn’t an easy task on a normal day, and now, she found herself in a dark, winding system of tunnels with no light, no sounds, and cut off from her friends, unable to sense any of them.<br/><br/>As she walked, she couldn’t help but recall the last words An-Lok had said before this place had separated them. None of them realized how bad this could get. Had she not been clear enough? She’d withheld many specific details in the hopes that doing so would prevent them from acting to change her visions, and in doing so act as the catalyst that brought them about. Had she withheld too much and failed to convey to them the gravity of the situation before them? Were they here because she had failed to properly warn them?<br/><br/>“No. I can’t think like that,” she muttered quietly to herself, the soft sound seeming loud in the otherwise silent tunnel. She could feel the Dark Side’s influence on herself, tempting her to continue her line of thought, tempting her to allow her emotions to run free, to lose her patience with this place and just blast her way out of here. But that wouldn’t do any good. Losing her cool would only make this more difficult, and blasting her way out was likely damn near impossible, and even if it worked, she risked collapsing the entire system of tunnels, and An-Lok along with them.<br/><br/>She let out a soft sigh and continued forward, and soon, her patience was rewarded. Before her, she could see the tunnel opening up into a room of some sort. She approached the room, opening her eyes to find that the place was lit up. It seemed bright to her eyes that had been closed for some time now, but once they adjusted, she realized that the light was not as bright as the light from outside, which told her that whatever was creating the light, it wasn’t the sun. This made her feel a bit disappointed, but she pushed that feeling down. At least it was a change of scenery.<br/><br/>She looked around the large room, which had two stories to it and almost looked like a throne room, although the style appeared like something more at home in a Sith Temple or Tomb than a monarch’s palace. Either way, this seemed like an odd place for it. Then again, she supposed the Sith were an odd bunch, so perhaps it wasn’t all that odd for them. Regardless, she took in the details of the room briefly before her eyes fell on the centerpiece of the room, a large throne that seemed to be carved out of Obsidian.<br/><br/>She walked towards the throne, narrowing her eyes slightly as she realized that it looked familiar somehow. As she thought that, the figure of a woman entered from the other door in the room, walking towards her, it seemed, but then taking her place on the throne. Her features remained obscured by the hood, however, she soon pulled back the hood to reveal a head of blood-red hair. Her emerald green eyes stared at Aeris, who felt as though she were looking in the mirror, only this mirror had less clothing and more Dark Side corruption. “What the hell is going on?” she muttered quietly to herself. Was this another illusion? It had to be.<br/><br/>“I bet that right about now, you’re wondering if this is all an illusion,” the Dark Aeris spoke to her directly, her dark, sultry voice causing Aeris to shiver. “Well, I’m happy to inform you this isn’t a mere illusion or even a dream. This… This is your future. Isn’t it grand?” she asked, laughing darkly as she made a sweeping gesture around the room. “Power and freedom are ours in infinite measure. The galaxy is at our feet. Everything we could ever imagine is ours for the taking,” she tempted. “And don’t worry, Jek is still with us. And now, we have to power to protect those we love. No one will ever take anything from us ever again.”<br/><br/>Aeris gasped and took a step back as this dark version of herself told her of this supposed future. When she mentioned Jek, he joined them in the room, but it wasn’t the Jek she knew, it was the one she had seen before, with his warm brown eyes tainted with a hint of yellow, and his use of the Dark Side evident in the corruption around his eyes. “I couldn’t bear to lose you again, so I did what I had to do, and I followed you down the path that would ensure that I never have to worry about you leaving again,” the dark Jek explained as he took his place next to the dark version of herself, kissing her head and eliciting a brief but warm smile. “So, you see, there’s nothing to be afraid of,” the dark Aeris assured her.<br/><br/>Aeris looked at them as they spoke, her gaze lingering on this with intensity and perhaps a bit of confusion. Her gaze broke away when she heard something outside the door behind them, drawing her attention to two young kid who ran in, playing with wooden training lightsabers, and occasionally using the Force as they played. She watched them for a short time until they ran giggling to their parents, one climbing into the dark Aeris’s lap, while the other used the Force to aid her in jumping onto the dark Jek’s back.<br/><br/>It was different than the vision Jek had shared, but for a brief moment, she thought that perhaps this wasn’t so bad. They were still together; they still had the children they desired. It might not be the same life they’d imagined, but the things that were most important were still there. Perhaps… “No… This isn’t right,” she shook her head, realizing that she was allowing the Dark Side to tempt her. It was then that she saw brief flashes of the things they had done, the pain they had caused, the lives they had taken to get here.<br/><br/>“This isn’t what I want…” she whispered through gritted teeth as the overwhelming feelings of pain and death washed over her, weighing her down until she fell to her knees, holding tightly to her head. “Ah, yes. I forget. You’re the version of me who still hasn’t accepted her fate, who still hasn’t fully cast aside the Jedi’s teaching that the Dark Side as something that’s<span style="font-style: italic">wrong</span>or<span style="font-style: italic">evil</span>as if those terms really mean anything,” the dark Aeris chuckled. “But don’t worry… Very soon, you will realize that nothing is black and white. Soon, you will accept that no path is too dark, and no price too great to protect what you love,” she warned.<br/><br/>“But the vision Jek saw all those years ago… That is what I want… I…” Aeris retorted, looking up from the black floor to the family before her. “Ah. I see. So, you’re still clinging to that idea that somehow, you can have a normal life. But you were never destined for such things. The Force has always had greater plans for you, and for Jek,” dark Aeris explained. “Besides, you must have realized it by now. That vision he saw… Many things have changed since those days. You said it yourself, the future is always in motion. Even the smallest act can change the course of the future. So, what sort of changes do you think your actions have caused?”<br/><br/>“No…” Aeris shook her head. “I can’t accept that…” she replied more forcefully, feeling the Force gathering around her. “I don’t care if it’s unlikely. I don’t care if it’s hard if I have to struggle every step of the way…” Aeris said as she forced herself back to her feet. “Even if it’s impossible, I will create that future he envisioned!” she declared fiercely. “And I will tear this future apart!” she said, as she drew in energy from the Force and then released it in a blast that obliterated the vision.<br/><br/>She then fell to her knees, panting heavily and feeling spent, like she had no energy left. She could see darkness begin to creep in on the edges of her vision as the world began to blur. In her hazy vision, she saw a figure appear, and for a moment, she thought it was Jek, but that wasn’t possible. Most likely, it was simply another illusion. With that thought in mind, her consciousness faded, and she fell to the ground.<br/><br/>--<br/><br/>What happened? How long had he been out? Jax felt like he’d been swimming in darkness for hours when something caused him to stir. He faintly heard his name and felt his body move as he began to stir from his slumber. There it was, his name again, and some words that barely registered in his still-sleeping mind. But some part of him understood the words and fought to awaken. He moved his head as he began to wake, and then he heard his name again, this time clearly.<br/><br/>He groaned when he heard Jek’s voice ask if he could hear him. “Yeah…” he muttered before slowly forcing himself to sit. “What happened? Where…” he asked, coughing a bit as he looked around, and then recalled the words of his friend, those he’d heard when he hadn’t fully awakened yet. “They’re really gone?” he asked hoarsely, looking back at Jek. He wanted to jump off and run off in search of the two women, but he didn’t think his body was up to that task just yet.<br/><br/>“How long have we been out here?” he asked. “I’m so thirsty…” he muttered as he dug through his pouches for some hydration pellets, as well as some food capsules. He popped a hydration pellet into his mouth first, then a food capsule. It wasn’t as good as eating a real meal, but it would be sufficient to sustain him and get him back on his feet, and it was far easier and faster than preparing rations.<br/><br/>As the emergency supplies did their job, he looked around for any sign of where the girls might have gone. Unfortunately, there were no such signs that he could see. He tried to reach out in the Force, to feel them, to feel their bond, but it was no use. He could feel no one, other than Jek. It felt like they had been cut off somehow, or perhaps it was more like something was blocking that connection. Briefly, he felt fear creep up inside. What if they had been hurt, or worse?<br/><br/>Shaking his head, he reminded himself not to give in to fear, to try to remain calm, no matter how difficult that was right now.. They were okay. They were alive. They had to be. There was no way they’d let themselves be killed like that. No, the question he should be asking, was where had they been taken? And how were they going to find them? “Any bright ideas for how we can figure out where they went?” he asked, looking at Jek before picking up the cloak that An had left behind, under his head. “I can try to use my psychometric abilities to help us track them,” he offered.<br/><br/>“Well, that is, assuming that I can. I don’t know I you feel it, too, but it seems like something in this place is providing some sort of interference and affecting my ability to sense others. At least, it seems that way to me,” he said as he looked up and around the area. “I don’t know what sort of effect it might have on psychometry, but still, it’s worth a shot. Might not be a bad idea to have a backup plan, though, so if you have any ideas, I’m all ears,” he said as he slowly pushed himself to his feet.<br/><br/>“We need to find the girl, too. But… Do we find her first?” he asked, looking to Jek and offering a hand to help him up if he wasn’t already up. “Even though I honestly want to just rush out and find them…” he hesitated and sighed softly. “I know the girls can handle themselves, so the right thing would be to find her and make sure she’s safe, first,” he suggested, albeit reluctantly. “Besides, we came all this way and got ourselves into this mess to save her, even knowing we might get ourselves into trouble. The least we can do is finish that mission,” he added, although he wasn’t sure if he was trying to convince Jek or himself that this was the right thing to do.