The Great War • Hunter

19.Temple

Alona glanced around the darkening surface to make sure she was alone. Then she placed her foot on the first step. Ancient steps, mind you. What was stopping the spiral staircase from collapsing as she went down?

    She took a few more steps until her head was below the surface. She watches the doors slide shut, closing her inside. She didn't take another step, consumed by complete darkness. Alona pulled one of her lightsabers off of her belt, igniting the orange blade to use as a flashlight. Then she kept moving.

    There was a calmness to this place, despite being consumed in complete darkness. It had the same feeling that the temple on Coruscant had. Alona then determined she would come here frequently to meditate and rest.

    The Jedi realized the voices turned into overlapped whispers the further down she went. Upon reaching the bottom of the staircase, the torches ignited on the walls. Alona looked around at the engraved stones and patterned floor. This place screamed Jedi.

    Alona stopped when she got to the center of the large room, sitting criss-cross applesauce with her hands in her lap. She closed her eyes, taking deep, calming breaths.

    "To answer power with power, the Jedi way this is not. In this war, a danger there is, of losing who we are."

    "A great leap forward often requires first taking two steps back."

    "We are the ones who guard the power. We are the middle, the beginning, and the end."

    "It takes strength to resist the dark side. Only the weak embrace it."

   
    Alona places her fingertips on the ground, exhaling a long breath. She hears stones start to shift and she opens her eyes, seeing a new room opening up.

    "Here, why are you, young Skywalker?" Yoda's voice chimed. Alona looked around, standing up in the center of the room.

    "I'm looking for guidance...how are you here? You're not dead, are you?" Alona asked, unable to spot the short green Jedi.

    "How I'm here matters not." Yoda hums, his voice sounding like it's coming from everywhere. "Searching for guidance, are you? What about?"

    Alona shook her head, clenching her fist around the fabric of her pant leg. "I need to know what I'm meant to stand for. I need to know if I've failed the role I was meant to play.." She explained, staring at the markings on the walls. They were stories, lessons.

    "Of the moment, be. In the moment, live. The art of remaining in the present, learn. Dwell on the past, you must not." Yoda replied.

    Alona tapped her fingers against her leg, brows furrowed. "But...what if what happened in the past could give me answers now? I don't know what my purpose is anymore as the Chosen One, I think that's something I need to find out."

    "Hmm. You fail because you don't believe. Through that doorway, you shall go. Oh, and your weapons, need them you will not."

    Alona looked down at her belt, picking up the lightsabers and holding them tightly in her hands. She takes a deep breath, dropping them on the ground with a loud clatter. She walked forward, becoming engulfed in a chilling fog as she entered the room.

    It seemed to go on forever, and gave off this eerie feeling. Alona shivered, watching the blue illuminating light turn red. She heard this ominous mechanical humming. A chill ran down her spine.

    "Master Yoda?" Alona called, her voice echoing. The door closes violently, making Alona jump and whip around. A growing coldness reached her bones and when she exhaled she could see her breath.