Destiny

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Lexa was seated in the captains chair, flicking over the console controls with experienced precision as she became accustomed to the stolen ship. It was only a small vessel, used by the Sith Lord and his accompanying force to infiltrate Kaan's ship. It had served its purpose on that mission and now it was at the Jedi's command,  advancing steadily against the backdrop of the galaxy with its new captain seated where the Sith had been calling orders not hours earlier.

"Are you going to stand there and stare at me the entire time, or come and be of some use?"

Braced against the doorway, Clarke pursed her lips at the biting comment, deliberating for a moment whether it was in her best interest to aid the woman at all. She had hoped to merely observe, to witness what change had overcome the Jedi in hopes of reversing the almost unrecognisable transformation that had taken place. 

She reluctantly abandoned her observations and settled into the second chair, casting a doubtful eye over the unfamiliar controls. Clarke had piloted many a ship before but she was far from an expert. 

"Where are we going?" she inquired, noting how the Jedi fluidly entered coordinates into the navigation computer. 

Lexa said nothing and concentrated on engaging the hyperdrive engines, eager to leave her brother's vessel and the memories it contained far behind. She could sense the other woman's unease as the silence lingered, despite her best efforts to mask its existence with a composed exterior, there was no fooling a Jedi.  

It went without saying that they were both working to their own ends, but neither had yet revealed their hand. 

"You can fly this ship well enough without my help," Clarke finally said, unable to bear the deafening silence between them any longer. The bleeping tones and roaring engine only served to heighten her concern about the rash decision to accompany the Jedi and she wondered whether this had been a mistake. 

"No, but I do require your help," the Jedi replied evenly, double checking the nav computer before completing the jump to hyperspace. She didn't elaborate further and Clarke's irritation grew at the vague comments. 

"With what?"

"Understanding why you're here."

The Jedi abandoned the controls for a moment and settled her dark gaze on the woman who was so clearly uncomfortable in her presence. Since their departure the smuggler had been uncharacteristically quiet, seeping with evident unease after only a short time aboard the ship. 

Clarke was almost relieved when the Jedi resumed her inspection of the controls, releasing a breath unconsciously once free from the piercing stare. Just being near the woman was difficult. The holocron had emitted an aura of darkness that unsettled even the most pure of heart, but the effect was amplified ten-fold from the Jedi. 

Even with her unskilled connection to the Force, Clarke was unable to ignore the tendrils of pure evil that curled from the woman, projected without conscious thought to bathe her in its dark shadow. It was beyond wrong. 

"You can hardly bear to be in the same room as me, let alone look me in the eye," the Jedi continued, adjusting a dial to her right with a quick movement.  "What do you hope to gain?"

"I told you, I want to understand."

"You don't want to understand and you never will. Not with your mind closed to the truth."

Clarke flexed her fingers minutely and clasped her arms in her lap, painfully aware of how tense her body was becoming with each second that passed. The sickening sensation in her stomach was from fading, quite the opposite, and there was no way the reaction was going by unnoticed. 

"If you don't believe me that's fine, but know this," she muttered, rising from the chair when she could no longer stand to bear the overwhelming presence any longer. "I'm not going anywhere."

The blonde swiftly left the cockpit, releasing a relieved sigh when she emerged into the corridor, the dark aura lessening as she moved further from its presence. Whatever had taken hold of the Jedi was evil of the most corrupt form. Never had she felt anything like it.

If she were to free the Jedi from the holocron's darkness then she would need to understand the newly acquired motive and what the endgame was. What could the woman hope to achieve by obtaining the other holocron's? Was it to further her own dark powers or enlighten the world as she had claimed?

Clarke would learn nothing if she couldn't cope with the dark aura that now surrounded the Jedi. It was difficult to become accustomed to and even harder to ignore. For the time being she opted for exploring the Sith vessel. Perhaps some weapons or knowledge would be left behind from its previous owner before he had perished at Lexa's hand. 

A brief search found very little of interest, but a sealed container within one of the storage rooms piqued her curiosity. It had been wedged out of site behind some inconspicuous items which only served to call attention to its presence. With nothing better to do, she set about entering the code with wild guesses, unsurprised when her efforts yielded no results.

Focusing on inputting random codes did little to prepare her for the sudden appearance of the Jedi at the doorway, although her dark aura announced her presence without the blonde even having to turn around. 

"Let me," the Jedi said flatly, sweeping forwards with an extended hand to hurl the lid off the container without even a hint of effort.  When Clarke had attempted to use the force it had been similar to picking up three boulders with only your mind, for the Jedi it was virtually instinctive to grasp onto the power. 

Lexa reached into the container and lifted the mask into the air for inspection. It must have been a relic of sorts, highly valued by those who believed in the power held within such items. 

"What is it with Sith and collecting artefacts?" Clarke muttered, recalling how many dangerous encounters had been caused by their obsession with powerful items. 

Lexa merely pursed her lips and released her grip to let the mask clatter back into the box without a hint of interest. 

"Useless, whatever power was held within is virtually non existent," she explained, abandoning the disappointing find in favour of observing the blonde, tipping her head to the side in a brief pause as she felt insistent projections seeping from the woman. "I sense great anger in you."

Clarke huffed and pretended to inspect the closest storage container. "Oh yeah? Well I'm sure you can understand why."

"Tell me."

"It might have something to do with the chasm of darkness that's settled so comfortably in you and there's no damn thing that I can do about it. How about that?"

Clarke hadn't even realised that she was so frustrated until the words burst from her lips. So much for a well structured and thought out plan. Apparently blunt honesty was the new plan. 

Lexa's expression didn't shift in the slightest as she spoke. "You claim to hold such high moral ground considering that this is all began because of you."

There was a beat of silence as Clarke froze, abandoning her pretence to raise a sharp glare towards the Jedi. Had she heard correctly? 

"What did you just say?"

"Do you not remember how we met?"

How could Clarke forget. Hoth was far from a pleasant planet and attempting to smuggle a holocron onto a Jedi ship had been far from stress free. It was how their adventures together had started, all because of the same damn holocron that was now ruining their lives. If only she had acted differently, chosen differently. If only they had known what trail of darkness and violence would follow from that one event. 

"Some would say that this has been fated all along,"  Lexa continued. They had only met because of the Holocron, it had brought them together and it would once again unite them, the Jedi was certain of that. 

"Do you not hear yourself?" Clarke cried, her frustration boiling over into anger. "This has driven you insane! You want to know why I came with you? I came to save you."

It was the truth. They both knew it. There was no way that Clarke would ever willingly join the Jedi's insane ploy, not yet. 

"This is who I was always meant to be," the Jedi urged, stepping forwards as if her passion might just convince the sceptical blonde. "But if you cannot accept that, then you shouldn't be here."

'"Do you not remember who you were?" Clarke responded with equal force, desperate to glimpse some remnant of the woman who had once been. "How deranged you've become? This isn't you."

Only silence met their arguments. Nothing but the faint buzz of the ships engine to fill the space between them. There was no common ground between them, not anymore. With one final spark of ingenuity, Clarke pulled up her shirt to reveal the perfectly formed skin of her abdomen which had once been a ragged wound if not for the Jedi's actions. 

"I almost died. Kaan ripped his lightsabre straight through me but you saved me. You were kind, honourable, and compassionate. Can't you see what you've become?"

For a second she wondered if her words were having the intended effect as the Jedi analysed the area of skin with memories of her ascension to power drifting back to the forefront of her mind. Clarke had died and, in a way, so had she. The moment of clarity was brief and all to soon a sneer clouded any hint of sanity. 

"Once again, you fail to mention the most prominent observation. You detest my transformation so much and yet it was you who caused it. An entire ship was slaughtered back there in the name of your death. I accepted this power to avenge you and yet here you stand, with nothing but hatred for what you see. You preach about clarity yet you refuse to acknowledge your own contribution to our present situation."

Her words were laced with malice but the blonde only stared back with wide eyes, finally recognising the defence that had been so clearly laid before her. It was so obvious now, as if screaming for someone to recognise the meaning behind the forceful words. 

"That's it," Clarke breathed, clarity washing over her as she reached a stunning conclusion. "If I had died then this all would have been justified, claiming vengeance in the name of my death. But I'm alive and every time you look at me you can't help but wonder whether I'm right, that you don't have to do this anymore."

Lexa lifted her chin in defiance, silently reprimanding the woman for speaking to her with such blatant disrespect when a simple flick of her hand could end the blonde's entire existence. 

"You're wrong."

"I don't think I am."

'Think what you like. You're lucky that I don't end your life myself.'

Clarke found herself smiling with a mixture of sadness and confidence. She had inadvertently found exactly what she was looking for. She had found the Jedi's weakness. 

"Then do it."

Lexa curled her lip, frustrated by her own indecision but unable to come to a logical explanation. The smuggler would not understand until she felt the power of the holocron herself, until then she would only be an unwelcome distraction.  

"We're about to land, if you're not at the exit in 5 minutes I'll leave without you."

With nothing more to say, the Jedi swept from the storage room and returned to the controls, shaking herself free from whatever sentiment the girl had been trying to draw her into. It was not going to work, at least not anymore. 

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Clarke had no intention of being left behind and had been waiting for departure even as the ship descended. Stepping down from the ramp she realised that they had landed in wilderness, far from any witnesses who could report their descent to the planet. 

Grass and dirt were flattened beneath her boot as she gazed out over the expansive landscape which held nothing but rich vegetation as far as the eye could see. 

Clarke could only guess as to why the Jedi had chosen to land here, but assumed it was associated with her plans to obtain the elusive holocron's that were allegedly scattered through the galaxy. If there were more than one, it was in every one's best interests that they were destroyed.  

The glow of green surrounding them was a welcome change from the dull, metal of the ship interior and the blonde already felt invigorated to be out in the open air, regardless of their purpose.

"Is this where the holocron is?"

Her words were almost lost to the vast surroundings as she called over her shoulder, tearing her eyes away from the beautiful landscape to face the Jedi. Now that she had gained a foothold in understanding the Jedi's complex web of emotion and intent, it was only a matter of time before she could free the woman from the dark grasp of the holocron. She had to believe it was possible. 

"No,"  Lexa uttered, her dark eyes following Clarke's movements as she waited for the inevitable questions. "This is where I obtain another ship to continue my mission. One that won't be traced."

A frown settled over Clarke's face as she noticed the specific use of language. Blonde hair waved in the sunlight as a gentle breeze ran its fingers through the long strands. 

"Don't you mean 'we'?"

"No."

Lexa could see the girl coiling like a spring at the idea of being left behind, but her arguments would only fall on deaf ears. 

"Why even bring me this far if only to abandon me at the first opportunity?" Clarke asked scathingly, hoping that their interaction onboard the Sith ship hadn't sealed her fate. She should have been more careful. 

"You wanted to understand my purpose. I told you that the Sith and Jedi are nothing, that their extinction will pave the way for a new power."

"Lexa please, you've got to see what's happening here? These aren't your words," Clarke growled, no longer fearful of voicing her true thoughts now that she was being discarded either way. 

"Enough," Lexa snapped, closing the distance between them with impossible speed. "You will join me Clarke. The next time we meet, you will accept the holocron and achieve more than you could ever imagine."

Clarke shook her head defiantly, but her words were snatched away when she suddenly found herself unable to move, held immobile by a simple gesture from the Jedi. If words couldn't convey her disagreement then the fiery glare surely would. 

Lexa wouldn't just leave her here? Not like this. 

With gentle movements the Jedi placed two fingers against the blonde's temples and closed her eyes, brow furrowed in concentration. This one, simple act would serve to both enlighten the woman and keep her out the Jedi's way whilst she went about her business. There could be no disruptions to her plan, not if she were to succeed.  

Clarke wanted to wrench away from the grip, to fight against the intrusion on her mind but found herself unable to resist and darkness soon shrouded her vision. 

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