'In front of me, a familiar pond appeared, and my master was standing on the other side of the room, smiling at me with an amused smirk forming on his lips. His features looked tired and sad, but also hopeful. My dream! This was what I saw in my dream, and there was the pond, too. I looked around one more time and then walked closer, still standing on the opposite side of the small pond. My obviously wary behavior elicited another loud smirk from master.'
"It was a trial, your last trial, to be more specific."
'I blinked again, with growing confusion. I never even knew there was a trial…'
"You passed."— 'I blinked one more time, watching and listening to him silently.'
"Congratulation, from today on you have gained the title and mantle of the thirteenth Gray Lord." — 'My mouth opened as my jaw moved slightly up and down, but no voice came out of my suddenly constrained throat.'
'Long minutes passed in this manner. At last, my voice came back to me and I successfully squeaked out a few words.'
"I… I am… not ready…"
"Yes you are, you must." — 'Sounded the dreadful answer.'
"Wait… but no, why… so suddenly? I…"
"Nizzal, I am dying."
'There, my building oppositions and excuses crumbled and scattered under the weight of those words. I felt my eyes water as the flood of tears broke loose.'
"No, master… don't leave me. We can go to a doctor… to heal you."
'Master shook his head slowly; an honest smile appeared on his face while he said.'
"Dear child, no doctor could heal old age. There is no technology which could give life to these old bones of mine, and even if there was such a thing, I would not allow it to be done. Honestly, I am somewhat interested in the secret that lies beyond the veil of life."
'I couldn't accept such reasoning. There was no way!' — "Master, but I… I can't, I am too young… there is too much I don't know yet…"
'Master smiled reassuringly.' — "Of that, I am sure."
"Then will you…" — 'I pleaded.'
"I can't. Now, stop with the futile pleading. There is one more thing we have to do tonight."
'I tried to gain back the control over those tears and gather myself together to listen properly. Master continued his monologue with his usual lecturing tone.'
"Did you ever wonder why I never gave you a holocron? The item that Sith and Jedi use for teaching and storing their secrets."
'I nodded to indicate that I actually thought about it.'
"Good. The reason wasn't that I didn't think you were worthy. It is much simpler actually, we never created holocrons, we created a better yet more risky method to preserve knowledge and defend our secrets. We created living holocrons."
'I was surprised by this revelation, yet I could not understand what that exactly meant.'
"I and every one of the thirteen masters of the order is such a holocron. This means, as I am no longer suitable to bear this responsibility, it is time for you to become one."
"I…"
'Master looked at me with a hint of anger at my disruption, and I closed my mouth again. There were millions of questions jumping around my mind, but I forced myself to focus on what more master had to say.'
'His features turned milder, seeing my slightly shaking form.'
"Every one of your questions will be answered after we finish the ritual."
'He stated, and I relaxed a bit.'
"Wh-what do I have to do?"
"I ask you to remove your clothes and sit down cross-legged in the middle of the pond; submerge half of your body in the liquid. Then you will have to open yourself to the force entirely, clear your mind, and let go."
"…kay…"
'I started to remove my clothes, placing them on each other neatly on the floor, just to stretch the time a bit. After removing every piece of clothing, I stood there awkwardly, covering myself with my hands with a frustratingly rosy cheek.'
'My master's expression was the same as always, stoic but warm, as if there was nothing unusual. This, thankfully, made me relax, and I walked into the pond, sitting down the way it was requested. I tried to clear my mind and open up to the force, but it felt harder than ever before. I became frustrated with my failures and doubts started to emerge on the brink of my thoughts.'
'That was the moment when master's voice appeared again.'
"Nizzal, do you trust me?"
'My chaotic thoughts stopped in their endless circles, as I felt hurt and frustrated by the question.'
"Of course, I do!" — 'I stated, with stubborn frustration.'
"Then relax your mind and let go."
'I did just that. My doubts and fears were strangely chased away. I could finally open my mind to the force. A few minutes later, I fell into a deep meditative state, completely submerged in the force.'
'Then the memories came, a flood of seemingly endless memories of people I never saw, never met, or never even knew of their existence. I was seeing through their eyes I felt what they felt, every sensation, every fear, every doubt and every desire.'
'I felt as if their feelings and experiences became my experiences and fears. No… it was exactly what was happening.'
'After a long time, the first person's memories neared their end as the human male, named Darth Revan, created and used the same ritual as my master did. A ritual that was originally a Sith ritual created to steal another person's body and replace their souls with the caster's soul, but it was changed and recreated in a new manner for another purpose.'
'That goal was to implant the caster's memories and experiences into the subject. There was a need for a willing subject and a heavy price had to be paid. I watched as Raven's body disintegrated to fuel the power of the spell.'
'The perspective changed, and I heard the dull noise of his mask hitting the ground. Now I saw through the eyes of the one he cast the spell on. The stream of memories continued. Years passed hundreds of years, maybe thousands. There were different masters with different races, some lived longer, and some lived shorter amounts of time. One had lived through hundreds of years, to the extent that she herself did not care to remember how old she exactly was.'
'Then, after generations of memories, as an immeasurable time passed before my eyes, I saw myself, at a younger age. First, I didn't even realize that I saw my body from a third person's view.'
'A few years passed in the memories when my hazy mind finally realized that it was really me. As the fragments of my numbed personality started to gather the ritual happened, I saw and felt as my master looked at me, with sadness and a bit of fear from the approaching inevitable end; his eyes looked at my meditating body, searching for reassurance for the first time he wanted to be reassured, from my presence. Yet my eyes were unfocused, still under the effect of the force weave. He steeled himself and said.'
"Nizzy dear, I know that you are ready." — 'His body started to disintegrate as his final whispers were spoken.' — "So am I… thanks to you…"
'With a shaky smile on his face, his body rapidly disintegrated, swallowed by the empty void. His clothes fell limply on the steel floor, along with his double-bladed lightsaber. The moment the saber's hilt hit the floor, a resounding empty noise was generated that woke me from my meditative state.'
A few seconds later, the light gray-skin colored twi'lek girl's body started to move as she woke from her trance.
Her eyelids opened, and she looked around the room slowly, hey gaze stopping on the pile of ceremonial clothes laying on the ground. The pink eyes that usually glinted with childish innocence were gone.
There was a deep knowledge and experience in those eyes now, along with a disturbing amount of apathy. Not something that a child should ever possess. She stood up slowly, walked out of the pond, uncaring for her nakedness.
She monotonously picked up the ceremonial garbs, carefully folding the still-warm clothes of her master. Her movements were practiced, confident as if she have done this many times before.
Maybe she has?
She finally picked up the double-bladed saber, then walked to a section of the wall. Where she pushed a carefully hidden activator through the subtle use of the force.
At last, a new secret chamber opened, revealing the entrance of dusty a tomb, a tomb for the masters of the order. She placed her master's clothes on the top of the simple empty stone pedestal beside the other twelve already used ones.