Chapter 51

Vader leaped down from his ship, landing in a crouch with a loud thud before rising to his full height.

Plagueis would never deny that Vader had indirect intimidation down to an art. Everything he did exuded strength that either inspired those who stood with him or placed fear into the hearts that stood against him.

"I suppose I should thank you for aiding in my absence," Vader said as he approached the muun.

"No thanks are needed," Plagueis said, glancing at the creature, eyeing the black blood trickling from the green carcass. "I have an interest in this creature now."

Vader said nothing and was interrupted if he would have.

"Lord Vader, Lord...Plagueis," Felk greeted, eyeing the other Dark Lord cautiously.

After all, to everyone else, Plagueis still appeared as a great and terrible humanoid shadow.

Vader preferred his intimidation to be physical and real, Plagueis found his own worked best with the abstract and unknown.

"General," Vader greeted without missing a beat, leveling a heavy look at him. "It would seem the creature was not so easily bested."

"I...apologies, my lord," Felk said, between fear and shame. "I had no idea that the creature would be this formidable."

"Neither did we," Plagueis mused, crossing his arms behind his back. "It resisted even a lightsaber, if only briefly."

Felk blinked, astonishment breaking his military stoicism. "But, those blades can melt through blast doors. What creature of flesh and blood has a hide that can withstand that?"

"Not many," Vader agreed. "Return to your post, General. Make sure the injured are treated so repairs can begin."

"Yes, my Lord!" Felk acknowledged with a salute, turning to leave the Sith Lords alone.

No one else approached them. No one else wanted to intrude on what might very well be a private conversation between such powers.

"Do you know what this is?" Vader questioned, looking the creature up and down. "I have never seen one."

Plagueis stroked his chin. "Neither have I, but it does match one description. Just a very...unlikely one."

Vader turned to the muun and gave him his full attention.

"Are you familiar with what a Slivilith is?" Plagueis offered.

"A monster from many popular holodramas and stories," Vader answered flatly. "Are you saying they are real?"

"Oh, not the ones in those entertainment performances. The Sliviliths are thought to be legends and myths. Even the Order of Bane knows little about them. I'm not surprised Sidious never told you of them if one never appeared."

"I can hardly be skeptical of such things inherently," Vader admitted. After all, much of the galaxy would consider them both the stuff of myth and legends. "But what makes you certain this creature is a Slivilith?"

"The general description is a match, but the important detail is what you can't see. This creature was immune to Force abilities used on it," Plagueis explained.

Vader didn't physically react, but Plagueis could sense the Dark Side swell about the cyborg as he filed that away. "And how did such a creature get here?"

"It flew," Plagueis answered in amusement. "Across space, that is."

Vader was truly surprised now, and it almost showed physically despite his mask and armor. "One of the voidkind?"

"No, no. Voidkind LIVE in space. This creature is just able to travel across the vacuum, much like a meteor. I'm not exactly sure how, but it does," Plagueis waved off. "And as happy as I will be to discover more about this interloper of ours, I know this is not why we are both here today, Vader."

Vader allowed the silence to grow as he collected his thoughts. Then, he retrieved something from a compartment on his belt. He held out his hand to reveal a crystal.

"Fascinating. It looks similar to a kyber crystal. I suppose this was a component in that Heinsnake weapon you mentioned?" Plagueis mused.

"That is not what is important. It is how I retrieved it," Vader answered pointedly.

Plagueis frowned. "What do you mean, how you did it?"

"In the past timeline, I used the Force to pluck it from its resting space," Vader explained.

"And in this timeline?" Plagueis pressed.

"It appeared into my grasp. Right as I sensed someone else in that temple," Vader explained. "I sensed myself, Plagueis."

The Dark Lord looked down at the crystal with a look of deep thought before meeting the lenses of Vader's mask.

"Tell me everything."

Meanwhile

"Skywalker."

Anakin turned to the Dark Lord as they paused in their walk through the forest.

"Be truthful. How has life as a Jedi suited you?" Vader prompted.

Only his breathing echoed in the forest as Anakin silently stood there, looking up in thought.

"Learning about the Force is great, but that's...not really life as a Jedi," Anakin said before sighing heavily. "It's kind of disappointing, in some way."

Vader didn't move but Anakin could feel the question directed at him.

"I mean, Jedi were like heroes out of a story back on Tatooine. Like the stories we tell of slaves who not only escape themselves but help others escape. But, well, freeing slaves isn't something Jedi do a lot."

Again, Vader didn't speak.

"I don't mind finding out they're not like the heroes in the stories. I get that, they're people. Master Yoda and Yaddle are hilarious, Obi-Wan puts his foot in his mouth a lot. But I still thought, you know, they tried to help. And they do! Just..."

"You expected more attempts to make the Galaxy a better place instead of answering the beck and call of politicians," Vader mused.

"Among other things," Anakin agreed partially. "Master Qui-Gon, I understand him. He follows the Living Force. He trusts it to guide him where he's needed most. But the Order claims to be the protectors of the Galaxy, or at least the Republic. But, even before I got there, well, Coruscant was..."

"Agreed," Vader said dryly. "I don't sense much resentment from you over these shortcomings."

Anakin gave Vader a plain look. "Vader, please don't pretend like you don't know. Things are changing in the Order. Mainly because of you. Some don't like it, others are all for it. I'm...obviously for it. I'm always for Jedi trying to help more, where they can."

"Even if they fail to solve the problem they set out to accomplish?" Vader questioned.

"We can't win every time. I just...think when we stop trying is when we really start to lose," Anakin said in a small voice.

Vader carefully checked the forest, to see if anyone was listening in on them. His connection to the Force was...dampened right now, but they were alone to his knowledge and instincts.

"Just like you never stopped trying to get free," Vader said knowingly.

Anakin stiffened.

"Ever since the day you realized what being a slave meant, you looked for a way out. For freedom. You knew it might take a long time, but you never stopped trying and making plans," Vader said, knowing this to be true because he had lived this as well. "Because if you did, if you gave up, you'd truly be a slave."

Anakin shook, swallowing down something. Something sad and angry. "...Did you ever give up?"

Vader looked up in consideration. "Yes. And no," he answered with a pause. "I never stopped trying, but I stopped expecting to succeed."

"You had no hope, but you were too stubborn to stop," Anakin said with a small smile. "That sounds like you."

"Indeed," Vader accepted, almost amused before growing silent as something important occurred to him. "If I may ask, how are you adapting to having a "master" instead of a Master?"

Anakin rubbed his forehead at that. "It...took me a few months, but it wasn't too hard to get over it. Huttesse was common on Tatooine. We all knew it decently. I just kept associating "master" with the Hutt word for expert instead of "owner." After that, it got easier," Anakin explained.

Vader was relieved. Because that was exactly what he had done as a Padawan. But with the changes to the timeline, he couldn't be sure his other self would figure that out.

"Master Qui-Gon thinks I'm the Chosen One of the Jedi Prophecy," Anakin said suddenly, looking up in thought.

"I am aware," Vader said. "And you, Skywalker? Do you believe it?"

End of Flashback

Anakin frowned as he got out of his own head, the newest set of memories having filtered into his mind properly.

Dagobah hadn't changed much since they left. He wasn't surprised. He remembered sitting in this spot, staring out at the swamp. Nothing had changed before they left to find Obi-Wan, nothing would change after they left.

Well, one thing had changed.

He turned his sight down, looking at the misty swamp, seeing it ripple and shift. "I know you're there."

As if it understood his words, the scaly head poked out of the water, the reptilian eyes considering him, as horn-like ears twitched, with small horns running along its spike up to its head.

Anakin waited for an attack, for anything. What he got was...something else.

The dragonsnake pulled itself out of the water. It was two-legged, its hindquarters moved by a long and powerful tail as it crawled onto land. It turned to eye Anakin, looking him up and down. It was so young that while an adult would tower over a full-grown human, this juvenile was only about as big as Anakin himself.

It wasn't trying to attack. It was curious. And confused.

'You're different from before.'

Anakin didn't hear it, but that was the impression the Force gave him.

"Yeah. A lot happened, "Anakin said, rubbing his head. "You're not going to try and bite me, are you?" he asked, hoping he sent the impression right through the Force. Animals were often good at picking up intent, and the Force helped with that.

The dragonsnake made something like a snort, and Anakin took that as a no.

The two sat in silence as the dragonsnake curled up next to Anakin, looking down into the waters. Despite the mist covering most of the surface, the dragonsnake was able to sense its prey, mouth snapping down to pluck out a fish. Or something vaguely like a fish.

Anakin tilted his head, using the Force to prod at the mind of the dragonsnake. Its will wasn't very strong…or at least, not strong enough to resist a Jedi using a Force-bond to control it. But Anakin had always been wary about using the Force to outright control a creature, even animals. Oh, he'd do it if he was being attacked. But he wasn't.

Besides, animal Force-bonds didn't have to be, well, forced.

The dragonsnake suddenly stopped eating, looking at Anakin in alarm. The Padawan just smiled. Which wasn't always a smart thing to do with animals, but the Force was wonderful for conveying the meaning of a smile. "Want to be friends while I'm staying here?" he offered, holding out his hand.

Not his physical hand of course, but one through the Force.

The dragonsnake understood the meaning, but Anakin saw it suddenly look alarmed, shrinking back.

Anakin was confused until the dragonsnake's memories swept through the bond.

This dragonsnake was even younger than Anakin thought. It was just very large and advanced for its age. It could overpower any of its own kind of a similar age. It was all alone. Mother dead and all of its own kind were wary of this one. He had to fight for every scrap…a lonely, powerful creature that was so lonely that an offer of friendship somehow seemed intimidating; Self-reliance to the point of being incapable of accepting aid from another.

Anakin pitied the creature and responded with his own memories. Not the actual memories, but the emotions they elicited. The hurt of so much of the Jedi Order distrusting him, the years of desperation of being a slave, the relief of being able to depend on someone, to have someone that understood.

It was that final feeling that coaxed the dragonsnake forward, eyeing Anakin curiously. Then, hesitantly, it reached back out and accepted the touch of Anakin's Force signature.

"Well, if we're going to be friends, you need a name," Anakin mused, looking thoughtfully.

Then, as if the Force itself whispered in his ear, he knew what the name had to be.

"Lu-Gal," Anakin offered and saw a flash in the dragonsnake's eyes.

Lu-Gal gave out a low, pleasant growl in recognition of the name. With some awkwardness, he moved closer to Anakin, enough so his spine touched against Anakin's knee.

Qui-Gon smiled as he watched the exchange from some distance. "I suppose we'll be seeing that one around more often. Artoo will not be thrilled with that," he mused to himself.

Meanwhile

Plagueis became unnervingly silent after Vader had finished his tale. The muun's eyes were far away, trying to piece together this puzzle of infinite pieces while still being within the puzzle, part of it.

"Until now, it has all been relatively straightforward," Plagueis started, lifting his index finger to point at something that was there. "The idea that more traveled back with you is easy to understand. Even this news that they landed in different periods of time is, while not ideal, not hard to grasp. If you treat time as distance, it is not unexpected to over or undershoot the destination," Plagueis rationalized, bringing his hand up to stroke his chin. "But this moon complicates things."

"Being separated into sixteen incarnations tends to have that effect," Vader commented in dry agreement.

"I wasn't talking about that," Plagueis denied, hardly even paying attention to Vader's words now as he continued his line of thought. "It is everything else. The people within the temple died from the explosion. An explosion that never happened, but its effects were still felt. But everyone died before the planet began to deteriorate. Time was almost working backward. You even mention a creature that attacked you all early on. You're positive it is one you killed in the past timeline, yet lived now despite having a mark from where you stabbed it in the head?"

"I am very sure," Vader answered grimly. "Which pales in comparison to the crystal."

"Yes, this," Plagueis said, holding up the piece of mineral. "Something you took in the original timeline, gave it to Sidious. Yet somehow, it ended up in your palm. It sounds like it jumped back in time, but that would mean there should be two of them. I've already checked, many of your crew have been born by now. From my observation, none of them are experiencing any issues I can see. Not to mention, I'm sure that whoever your past self is, you have kept an eye on them."

"I have," Vader agreed, not entirely convinced Plagueis was ignorant of who that would be.

"If there was no second crystal that means it did NOT time travel back to you. Or if it did, the one from this timeline might have been taken to the original timeline, as a soft causality loop," Plagueis continued. "Assuming the former, that would mean this crystal is not from your original timeline. It is from this one."

"Then how do you explain that I sensed myself?" Vader questioned.

Plagueis hummed. "Ignoring that for half a thought, the original fact still remains; the cause and effect of the moon's destruction was affected. Everything was dying even before you took the crystal, the groundquake could have been part of its destruction."

Vader looked at Plagueis intently. "What are you getting at?"

"Time travel is a mostly unknown field," Plagueis reminded. "What if, and this is just a theory, but what if this event was something- the Force, Time, Reality itself!- suffering from genuine deja vu."

"...Deja vu?" Vader repeated skeptically.

"I can't rule out the idea that time is trying to right itself, but I see no evidence of that. What I do see is you repeating an event; a very specific event, one that led to the destruction of that same moon. You probably would have repeated the event, taking the crystal and destabilizing the Basis. Then the moon is destroyed, and everyone with it. Reality saw the same event happen again and, for lack of a better term, "remembered," what happened the original time."

Vade mauled over that thought. There weren't many events from his original timeline that he intended to repeat so closely, so this shouldn't be a problem. But would that have an effect on his past self? Or anyone else? "The alternative?" Vader questioned.

"Your timeline is bleeding into this one," Plagueis answered ominously. "However, both of these theories rely on one underlying assumption. That this is all natural."

"I already told you, traveling back in time was no machination of my own," Vader repeated firmly.

"And I believe you. Though I get the impression you tried to do it intentionally before," Plagueis said with some amusement. "What I meant was, I assumed they were all...natural reactions to your temporal displacement. That is just how things react to the sheer strangeness of time travel."

"..." Vader grew silent at the implications. "Now you're pondering if these events are not so natural. If something or someone isn't pulling strings."

Plagueis nodded meaningfully. "Strings invisible even to us. We need answers, my friend."

"And where would you imagine we find them?" Vader questioned, knowing that Plagueis already had an idea.

"There is a race near the outskirts of the galaxy. The Aing-Tii. They have a very...interesting interpretation of the Force and claim to have some form of time travel of their own, albeit only through the Force, rather than physically."

Vader remained quiet for a long time. "You have not sought them out in these five years you have known of me?" Vader asked skeptically.

"Oh no, I did," Plagueis said with a smirk. "They have some interesting things to say about you. Or I assume they were referring to you."

Vader was intrigued but wary. If there were some with a more nuanced ability to see through and interact with Time itself, then they likely held the answers to many questions Vader had. The answers, however, he knew might only prove unfortunate to himself and his time-displaced allies.

Meanwhile

Yoda was Grandmaster of the Jedi Order, hailed as the most ancient, powerful, and wisest of the order. The idea of him sneaking off would sound laughable to outsiders. After all, why would he need to sneak out of his own temple, from his own fellow Jedi?

To the Jedi within the Temple, it wasn't too surprising. Yoda often left a warning or a message of his departure and why, but when the Grandmaster thought something was necessary, there was nothing that could get between him and his destination, save the Force itself.

"And where are you off to, Grandmaster?"

Yoda stopped, halfway to his small ship, turning to greet Yarael Poof with an amused smile. "Impressive, Master Poof, your illusions are."

"But fool you, I cannot," Poof said with a smile, looking down on Yoda. It was almost comical, one of the tallest Jedi and one of the shortest, both having to crane their neck to make proper eye contact. "I already know you're off to investigate something about what was reported by Qui-Gon and the others, but for the life of me, I can't quite discern what part."

"Odd it was, the destruction of the moon, And unnatural it is, the splitting of one into many variants," Yoda said cautiously. "To Seers of M'haeli, must go, I feel."

"The H'drachi?" Poof said in surprise. "Their ability to see the future is well known to us, but they have actively refused to join the Jedi."

"The Sith too, they refused, in the ancient wars," Yoda recalled with a nod of deep thought. "Why the H'drachi, I cannot say. But guiding my thought, I feel the Force is."

Poof hummed, knowing Yoda was set on this. "Be careful, Master Yoda. As Plo Koon says, Prophecy is rarely what we suspect."

Yoda nodded in agreement

"Are you sure this is a good time for you to leave the temple, given the atmosphere?" Poof asked delicately.

They both knew he didn't mean the weather.

Yoda nodded gravely. "Endured much, the Order has, but this divide? Felt a greater rift, I am not sure I have. Trust in them, and the Force, I will do. For many threats, I fear there will be, from beyond our towers."

Poof nodded, his eyes drifting to the horizon, the direction of the Jaw, before looking to Yoda again. "Then I can only hope the Force carries you back home, with all haste," Poof said with a respectful nod to the smaller, older Jedi. "May the Force be with you, Master Yoda.

"And with you as well, Master Poof," Yoda said, returning the gesture the same.

With that, he turned and headed to the Jedi Starfighter, the craft lifting from the ground to carry the Jedi into the stars of space.

Poof watched on, smiling despite his concern. It might sound like a bad pun, but he liked to think on the bright side. He found it helped with illusions. It was easy to lose control of one's imagination of all the horrible ways things could go wrong, it took a certain amount of control and effort to think of the ways it might realistically turn out well.

Poof wouldn't call himself an idealist. He had no doubt that the divide and discourse among the Jedi Order would have long-term consequences that could not be avoided. But those were long off and far away. Too much so for anything disastrous within the temple to happen before the grandmaster's return.

That said, disasters outside the temple were still up in the air.

At that grim thought, his eyes went back to the direction of the Jaw, the terrible and unpleasant nature of that place radiating even to here. The echoes of Sidious's hate and desire to cause death and suffering to them all.

Poof vividly remembered the image of a broken and battered Darth Vader, standing despite everything after having closed the Form Storm, daring any to begin fighting again in his presence, daring them to restart the ancient war he declared ended.

Poof hummed, having long wondered if either of the Dark Lords had some knowledge of what the Force Storm had done to that area of Coruscant. Perhaps, the next chance he got, he would be able to ask either of them.