What You Did In The Dark

Aftermath

What You Did In The Dark
Aftermath

Fortunately Ezra ended up recovering and was able to return to duty and resume his training. Unfortunately Ezra never remembered what had happened while he was in his coma. He never recalled what happened with Maul and how Kanan ended up saving him. He and his former master continued to drift further apart and that left a void in both of them, a void that Ezra tried to fill by continuing to meditate with the Sith holocron, and a void that Maul realized he could fill. For reasons unknown to Ezra, sleep had been a struggle ever since his coma, he had stressful nightmares he couldn't remember and would toss and turn and wake up filled with panic and fear. So instead of sleep he would meditate with the holocron. Whenever Ezra activated the holocron and studied its lessons, Maul was able to tell, when Ezra would meditate he would visit him to mentor his progress, without Kanan to interfere, Maul realized he could teach and corrupt and use his apprentice freely. Ezra foolishly assumed Maul had no ill intent and still wanted to work together, Kanan and the others never knew, if he had perhaps things would've gone differently?

The summer on the rebel station was brutal, hot and dry and windy and just all around miserable. Ezra was feeling the physical and mental fatigue straining him from all of his missions during the day and training with Maul and the holocron at night. He forced himself to keep busy so the anxiety and stress never filled his sleepless mind. He had become more distant with the crew and while they were worried they didn't want to press the issue and risk pushing him further away. He was a teenager and had just gone thru some traumatic events, they figured he just needed time and space. They had other more critical things to worry about with the rebellion and Ezra had never let any of his issues falter him in his missions, so they dismissed it with no cause for concern. Lately Ezra had been feeling more drained than normal, the weather was not helping his fatigue, after having been in that coma his body would suffer mild bouts of fatigue and weakness from the physical strain he put himself thru, the weather causing him allergies and heat exhaustion. Hera decided to bench him temporarily, and while it frustrated Ezra it did give him a chance to spend more time with the holocron and training with Maul in the mental plane.

The dim glow of the Sith holocron flickered ominously in the dark corners of his room, Ezra sat on the floor as it floated above him, the air felt heavy as he let out a tense breath. He had spent months absorbing the malicious knowledge it bestowed upon him, he felt the power resonating within him. He would meet Maul several times in his secret mental training sessions, determined to delve deeper into the dark side and unlock its secrets, find the weakness. Maul had quickly realized upon their first few meetings that Ezra had no recollection of their time together while he was comatose, and that pleased him. But he did notice that Ezra had subconsciously picked up and had the muscle memory from those training sessions, unbeknownst to himself. Ezra sat in the darkness in his meditation position, trying to ignore the throbbing headache and fighting the waves of dizziness that threatened to wash over him as he struggled to concentrate, Maul circling him with a displeased frown.

"Focus harder my apprentice, channel all of your energy into this power." Maul's voice slithered uncomfortably thru his ears. His cruel eyes glowed with impatience as he watched Ezra struggle to maintain his composure.

"I'm trying."

Maul could tell Ezra was getting frustrated, "You can't afford to be weak, the Force only rewards the strong."

"I'm not weak! I just...." Ezra growled and clenched his jaw. "Sorry, I've been feeling a little under the weather lately and...."

"Excuses!" Maul hissed and it caused Ezra to flinch as if the very sound of his voice cut him like a blade. "By surrending and giving into this weakness you will fall away, and I will not suffer because of your failures."