Rebuilding (COMPLETE)

Episode 21 (5)

Author's Note: A double update to conclude the episode because I won't be able to publish for a while after this. 

At the peak of the Sith temple, Ezra was getting a little more than he bargained for. "I have been waiting," the temple told him. 

Ezra, slightly daunted by the crackling lightning that was flying through the obelisk, asked, "What's happening?"

"The power to destroy life is at your command."

"What? No! No, no! That's not what I wanted!"

"Then perhaps the other who approaches will claim it instead."

This was exactly what Master Skywalker didn't want to happen. "Maul," Ezra murmured, running away from the obelisk. "Kanan! Master Skywalker! Maul tricked us! This temple's a weapon!!!"

A figure was standing at the edge of the temple, but it wasn't Master Skywalker or Kanan. It wasn't even Maul or one of the Inquisitors, but Ezra felt the same chill from them as he did the others. It was Jadis.

He stopped running and stood still, not wanting to leave the temple without anyone else to keep the Sith Countess from it. Jadis approached, walking slowly but intimidating the young Padawan all the same.

Jadis looked past him to the obelisk. "You have unlocked the secret of the temple." Her golden eyes flicked back to Ezra. "How?"

"You're smart. Figure it out!" Ezra taunted, pulling out his lightsaber. He ran at Jadis, but she pulled out one of her weapons and blocked his attacks easily. She pushed forward, shoving Ezra back toward the obelisk at the center of the chamber. 

"It matters not," she decided, looking down on the Padawan as he took a step back. "This place will belong to the Emperor soon enough."

"I don't fear you!" he insisted, holding his lightsaber up.

It didn't faze Jadis. "I've killed many brave men. It did not save them."

With one hand, she lifted Ezra up and held him in the air. With the other, she pulled his lightsaber out of his hands and sliced it in two. He was now weaponless and helpless. She had but to flick her wrist, and Ezra flew backward, falling on the ground a meter or so from the obelisk. 

He looked up at her, his courage seeming to have broken with his lightsaber. She sneered, shaking her head and raising her red blade. "Such a shame."

"JADIS, ENOUGH!"

Skywalker's commanding voice boomed through the chamber, startling Jadis. She hadn't sensed him join her and Bridger, but there he was, still standing tall and his eyes staring her down, daring her to kill the Padawan. 

Lowering her weapon, Jadis got her first good look at him in sixteen years. He seemed no less strong, no less powerful than he had in the Clone Wars. Indeed, his stare had only deepened since then. Chills ran down her arms. No wonder the rebels wanted him as an ally: who wouldn't want someone so intimidating on their side?

"I foresaw that you would be here," she began, turning toward him, "as I hoped you would be. I've wanted to speak with you since the day I heard you survived."

"That's not what you came here to do," Skywalker accused her, his voice even. 

"Skywalker, I do not say this lightly. Despite our differences, I acknowledge the wisdom you demonstrated long ago. Even as a Sith, I understand that you are a true Jedi. No one can say otherwise."

He didn't respond, not even in his posture or expression. Jadis interpreted that as permission to continue. "We need not oppose one another. My master will respect your authority in the Jedi Way if only you embrace his Empire. I know he will find your insight valuable."