The fog. Suspension. He walked across an unstable flooring, almost like unseen cushions as he neared the closest potency of Force energy. An entity amidst the mist, grown of strange fluctuations similar to the ones he himself possessed. This entity was familiar, a comforting aura as he neared its whispy white form, drawing him closer to its being. Arkan once felt such a presence within the Ruusan Force Fountain at the Jedi Burial Ground, a place whose power was of a joint composition of released Force energies from Force-possessing entities. This one seemed to clearly resonate with a life-force of its own, but it was with him even from the start, almost guiding him by the nose to something very alien, even to Arkan's own expansive understanding.
"Behold," its hard, cold voice said as it pulsed with each synonym.
The mists opened from them both and the ground seemed clear. They were the rotting bodies of dead people, although their decomposition was isolated in time --in thought. No stench came from any of their forms, just bodies woven into place to make the flooring even and inconspicuous to the wanderers of whoever roamed this realm. And the begging question to his mind was, 'Where am I?', a question rivaling ,'Why am I here?'.
The entity began to move away from Arkan, and Arkan followed closely by. "Every era's prosperity," the entity began, "its Golden Age, is eclipsed by conflict. Why? Because we are not just humanoids, we are mortals. It was understood that mortality evolved from being satisfied with itself, to being satisfied with perversions which at first, was taken as 'perversion', but was eventually taken for granted. This evolution in de-evolution created a rift between those satisfied with reality and those satisfied with themselves. Those satisfied with reality tended to want more of it, evolving more into materialism and thusly degrading to two sort of beings, victors or victims. Victors took advantage and indulged themselves in greater perversions, also known as the Seven Shortcomings to the ancient Revwien-Tyia.
"Victims were the subject of these greater perversions and could only continue to be subject or join the ranks of the victors themselves. Those satisfied with what they had tended to be a product of the victors-victims cycle, but were enlightened, growing each and every day to become better than they were the previous day. These enlightened people sometimes got caught up in the victors-victims cycle and tried to keep the victors from the victims, but in the end, they make the victors the victims and they themselves, are the victors."
Arkan moved carefully, not to trip on any of the corpses that served as their floor, hopping a bit to walk alongside the entity. Arkan understood the philosophy given by the entity and decided to make a response,
"In that sense, the Jedi and Sith are much like this. The Jedi are the enlightened, those satisfied with what they have, whereas the Sith are those tied to the perversions of reality. Much in that sense though, the Jedi are those that get caught up in the cycle you speak of."
"Correct."
"So who are the true enlightened ones?"
"That is a matter of perspective," the entity stopped moving, "Each person is entitled to believe themselves enlightened, but those who are truly enlightened... those who are wise, do not need to believe they are enlightened but be satisfied with what they know, showing no pride in the process, for pride is one of the Seven Shortcomings. They need only be considered wise by others and that should be enough for them. Wisdom needs little."
Arkan walked around to what he believed to be the front of this white whispy entity, judging back the path it took going away from him earlier,
"But doesn't wisdom require a lifetime of experience? I believe that all I have is knowledge."
"Wisdom knows no age, how you act shows wisdom. Avoiding consequences and reaping its rewards is a show of wisdom, morality and fulfillment in a reality where you would find none is where wisdom aides you."
Several pillars of stone pushed their way out of the ground, moving corpses aside and forming a ring of eight pillars surrounding them both.
"I agree. Although I have to wonder... who are you and where am I?," Arkan asked, staring suspiciously at the pillars around them and realizing that where he once was before was on the icy ground of Khar Shian, possibly dead. Maybe that was it, but was he really dead? He looked at himself, he was wearing his black Sith robe and his standard earth-tone outfit back at the Praxeum. Not Yuuzhan Vong equipment about him at all. Quite strange.
"I am Jedi Master, Lord Hoth," it announced, "or would it be some other Jedi amongst the littered corpses from the Burial Ground's past."
"Or Sith," Arkan added as he knelt down to peer at each corpses decaying face, unappalled by the grotesque nature of this floor they stepped upon.
"What I am is irrelevant. Where you are is a level of the Force which many come to when they seek to meditate, this is the thin dimensional level before they achieve an out-of-body observance in the Force. Why are you here is the true purpose of why you are still alive instead of being dead on that Yuuzhan Vong experimental table years ago."
"And why am I here?," Arkan asked as the tips of the eight pillars sparked into blue flame. The Zabrak looked up at this, standing upright and looking at each of the pillars with faint curiousity.
"You already know the answer. The path you chose in your 'rebirth' was marked by the unyielding desire to observe, understand, and manipulate," the entity rose up at the center of the eight pillars, "Everyone in the chain of reality does not have free will, it is marked by experience linked together to establish chain-reactions to a given end."
"Why all the hassle?"
"It is already known by a number of people, it is not the destination that gives the most satisfaction, but the journey itself; whether joyous or painful. Because of mortality's complex needs at this day and age, the Force can operate on any level without the notice of so many beings who can only comprehend it within the rules of reality in their scopes. Every now and then, someone is chosen to create a sacrificial equilibrium in reality. Whether the sacrifice was known or not, that is irrelevant. But the chain-reactions to such a cause shapes the galaxy to another step in the manifold process."
"What process is that?," Arkan looked up to the entity.
"Only through death can one understand the process. You have been in death, so you have the sense to understand. It cannot be relegated to simple words, Arkan Tir-Dann."
Between the space of the eight pillars, eight entities of various colors formed. From these forms, eight Zabrak garbed in black robes emerged. They were all duplicates of Arkan. And these duplicates all glowed the similar grey aura, the one Arkan knew best as the secondary power he innately possessed, thanks to the training of the Jedi and the information from the Sith Archives.
"There are many questions," Arkan admitted,
"But I believe I am seemingly content with all of this, as though satisfaction is composed of simple goals and nothing extravagant such as the materials in reality. But why? How am I so content with this?"
All of the Arkans spoke in unison, all hollow voices but possessing strength, "A philosopher from Chandrilla tells us that belief has nothing to do with how or why... we believe because it is absurd. Of course, it is all lunacy to understand this all, the Force and everything in it. But that is why we must believe. Faith, by its nature must transcend logic."
Arkan nodded. The feeling of fulfillment spread throughout his being, sending a tingle down his spine. He looked to the duplicates then to the entity hovering above him.
"I understand," he bowed to it.
The chill of Khar Shian began to return to him. He was surrounded with darkness once again. Although Arkan believed he would visit that place in the near future, for now though, he had to return to the battlegrounds of blind consciousness.
Arkan awoke.