9 Coming of Sith'ari

Nihilus extended his hand toward Leo, "Drain..." He said as he tried to use something on Leo.

Leo felt the Force around him change a little but nothing happened at all... He was instantly on alert and aimed the blaster at Nihilus.

"Immunity..." Nihilus muttered to himself as Leo boldly extended his other hand, 'He attacked first and failed...Force Drain.' He felt the same feeling but he suddenly felt a wall that blocked his technique.

'It's like I am trying to bite a wall... too big. I was immune to his drain but he was not to mine... Why?' he realized and stopped but the blaster was still aimed at the figure of the Sith Lord in front of him. He knew it was pointless since the Sith Lord was conscious in a suit of armor and lacked a body but he had to do something.

Nihilus chuckled in his ghostly voice, "How splendid... It looks like Force Drain but it is not..."

Darth Nihilus turned around and walked away, "Follow me..." He simply said to Leo.

Leo hesitated, 'He attacked me and failed and has the gall to ask me to follow him? Why didn't the Force warn me? Perhaps he didn't have the intention to harm me? I mean, if he wanted me dead, I would be dead already.'

He struggled for a few seconds, the Force seemed to want him to go so he finally decided, 'Let's follow him and see... He doesn't want to harm me, that much is true.'

Leo followed after Nihilus. As he reached the Sith Lord he heard him whisper, "What is the purpose of life? I am neither dead nor alive... Yet, I wonder... Why do we live?" he seemed to be asking Leo and himself at the same time.

Nihilus became silent after as if waiting for Leo to respond. Leo pondered for a while and answered calmly, "I do not know and thus can't answer the right way. I can, however, say what I think..."

Nihilus turned toward him and nodded. Leo continued, "I think, Life is like a journey. It is meant to be experienced; We can't choose how it begins but we can choose how to go through it and most of the time how to end it. As for why this journey happens in the first place, I have no clue and I don't want to spout lies; The Origins of Life are far too mysterious..."

Nihilus asked again, "What is the purpose of Death?"

Leo thought for a minute, 'I know of his beliefs so how to say them reasonably...' and answered, "Death is the end; As all stories and Journies must come to an end, all lives must also come to an end. It is like a road, you traverse it to reach the destination, and that destination for life is death. So I think that probably the destination which is Death is in a way the reason for life and vice versa, the two give each other meaning."

Nihilus stopped walking and faced Leo, "What is power and why do you seek it, Young Sith?"

Leo answered immediately, "Power is the most important tool that we need in order to dictate and control our destiny and by extension the so-called journey that is life and its end that is death. Without power, we are without control and thus we are slaves of something whether it be a human or an empire. So to be truly free, to truly control our own destiny and achieve our deepest desires, we must seek power first."

Nihilus paused for a moment seemingly contemplating his words and said, "So in your belief, power is a means to an end, for some greater purpose you seek it? I see... You are worthy to be Sith'ari indeed; To possess wisdom at such a young age... I acknowledge you."

Nihilus waited for Leo to say something, 'He wants me to officially introduce myself? Should I lie? No, he will see through it.'

"I am Leo Vanis but I prefer Darth Maleficus. It is an honor."

Nihilus seemed to chuckle again, "The title Darth is still too soon for one as young as you. Leo Vanis, follow me."

Nihilus continued to walk and Leo followed behind with a frown, he was wondering where the Sith Lord was taking him. 'He is a little different from the Nihilus I remember on Kotor... I guess living for thousands of years without a body in a suit of armor changes people, huh?'

Nihilus continued to say as he walked forward, "Young one, the ultimate goal of all life is Death, and power is the means to achieve it; The Sith matters not to me... That is what I believe in. Your belief is not far from mine... Maybe in time, you will see this truth as well."

Nihilus continued, "When I was younger and had a body, I drained entire worlds for power and delivered the end goal of Death to all as a gift, I was perfect in the apex, all were mere specks of dust compared to me; After losing my body, I lost most of that precious hunger and my power weakened... I desire to regain what was lost and that is possible through you, Sith'ari."

Nihilus stopped in front of a cliff and turned to look directly at Leo who was calmly listening, the dark cloak of Nihilus began fluttering with the Force and Leo could feel the terrible power of the Sith Lord, the Force around him rippled from the waves of power. 'If he is this strong now, how powerful was he at his peak?' Leo wondered.

"Your ability is not like my Drain, Sith'ari, it is far greater; It is an ability that has removed all limits before you; you are free of limits and in time you will be unstoppable. Let us acknowledge it as Force Devour, for you devour and not drain, you are the only one who possesses this power. However, All that power is useless if you do not know how to use it..."

Leo felt the Force tremble and the entire planet was affected as winds picked up and the land shook faintly, "Become my apprentice, Sith'ari. I shall bestow upon you my knowledge and wisdom, all you need to control and use your power. You shall become a true Sith Lord then you shall Raise us from Death and I shall thus gain my body."

A Thunderous shout echoed in the skies as if hundreds of thousands of Sith had yelled in the sky with all their might. The sky darkened as the dark side grew unimaginably powerful.

"SITH! AH! RI!"

Nihilus continued, "The Sith'ari will be free of limits. The Sith'ari will lead the Sith and destroy them. The Sith'ari will raise the Sith from death and make them stronger than before."

"SITH! AH! RI!"

"Devour all and become limitless. Destroy the Sith as they are and remake them. You shall raise us from death, stronger than ever. Build a new sith order as the overlord, Sith'ari."

"SITH! AH! RI!"

"Become my apprentice so that the galaxy may know true darkness, the true might of the Sith. For we are the rightful rulers of the galaxy."

Leo was stunned as the entire world around him was going crazy. He could feel the dark side trembling in excitement and urging him to accept. He was also excited, 'A Golden chance! Whether I am Sith'ari or whatnot doesn't matter... If he trains me, I will become powerful.'

Leo bowed respectfully, "Please teach me. I shall Raise the Sith, one day, and conquer the galaxy; The sith shall rule the galaxy, and I the universe..."

Meanwhile, a certain old man entered the Jedi headquarters on Coruscant. Accompanying him were 2 Jedi knights.

They led him in front of the Jedi Council, one of them introduced him, "Jedi Masters, This man is Burin Vanis of the Vanis family, distant relatives of the Sienar family that owns the Sienar fleet systems. He and his family were announced dead but it appears that they had survived the crash of their ship. He claims that his 11-year-old grandson was taken by one of the Jedi to be trained as one of us."

Jedi Master Mace Windu raised his eyebrows and asked, "No Jedi has taken a youngling or Padawan at the age of 11. There was a case, the boy was 9 years old and he is named Anakin Skywalker but not anyone named Leo Vanis, Are you sure it was a Jedi?"

Burin nodded and handed the Jedi Master a note, it was the same one Leo had left behind, "My grandson, Leo, left this before leaving out of the blue without even saying goodbye, there were 2 thousand credits also there which couldn't have possibly come from him."

Mace Windu frowned as he read the note. Yoda went into deep thought as he listened, "hmmm..."

Jedi Master Ki-Adi-Mundi said, "The Jedi don't work this way, Mr.Vanis; We always consult with the guardians and never take old children in. Anakin skywalker was an exception, there are no records of a Jedi taking someone named Leo Vanis. Summon Obi-wan..."

A while later, Obi-wan Kenobi and Anakin entered the council room. Young Anakin, upon seeing Burin, ran and hugged the old man. "Hey, uncle Burin! How are you? Where is Leo? How is my mother? What are you doing here?" he Bombarded Burin with questions. He was very excited.

"Anakin..." seeing Obi-wan, Anakin calmed down and stood by.

Yoda asked Anakin, "You know him?" Anakin nodded and Yoda frowned.

Mace Windu stood up, "Mr.Vanis, Obi-wan, Anakin, follow me..." He left and they followed him. Yoda also followed them out.

Mace Windu stopped in a room, one could see the sky and the city behind them. He looked toward Burin, "I am sure it was not a Jedi, however, it is very important that we figure out why young Leo had recognized him/her as one."

Bulin frowned and became worried.

Obi-Wan listened and figured out what was going on after seeing the writing on the note. He said, "Anakin, go wait outside."

Anakin obeyed and left but he didn't leave the room, he stayed to listen from farther away. No one paid him much attention.

Obi-Wan continued, "The person must have had the common characteristics of a Jedi, A lightsaber, and perhaps robes? He also might have been able to use the Force... Can I ask where this happened?"

Bulin answered, "Tatooine..."

Obi-Wan frowned and Mace Windu noticed it, "What is the matter?"

Obi-Wan said to Mace Windu, "Master Qui-Gon told me he felt the presence of another Sith on Tatooine beside the one I defeated. It is highly probable that it was him. He probably disguised himself as a Jedi and fooled the young one."

Yoda suddenly said, "Always two there are, No more, No less; A master and an apprentice... The Sith warrior on Naboo, an apprentice he must have been... The Sith's new apprentice, This Leo has become. The Dark Side on that note, I feel."

Mace Windu and Obi-Wan became serious, "If that is true, then we must locate him. It could lead us to the hiding Sith Lord." said Mace Windu and Obi-Wan nodded.

Burin asked with worry, "What will become of Leo?"

Yoda answered with determination, "If he has fallen to the Dark side, destroy him for the balance we must."

Burin was at a loss on what to do or feel...

As they conversed with each other, Anakin listened with wide eyes, 'Leo is missing? Dark side? Sith? What is going on...'

The Gears of Fate had begun moving...

3 years passed.

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I changed the name of Leo's Astromech droid from R2-D2 to R2-S69 so Keep that in mind.