It was something that Skygge was finally learning to embrace. Yet it did not consume her. A strange feeling. Within and without, it surrounded her, penetrated her, filled her, yet she controlled it. A simple, spoken word, a movement of the hand, and the lights in this room in the Sith temple would come to life, chasing away even the shadows in the corner. A word of the will, a movement of her willpower, and the darkness that filled her would flee, allowing her to do as she willed.
It was strange. She did not sense such ability in Ithron or Lupercus, who were consumed by the darkness, in Perrin Descartes or the Emperor, who manipulated the darkness, or in Vance or Recon Klain, who tried to control it. Was it that she was not fully a part of it, fully giving herself to it? Or was it that her motives were such that she retained the ability to turn from it?
Her mind raced through the possibilities. Constantly this question plagued her as she meditated. At one time, she would have forced it into submission, secluding it at the back of her mind, but she had long moved past that point. Instead, she allowed the Force to flow through her, begging it to provide some sort of answer. But it did not.
Her levitated form was suspended in total darkenss. Her eyes closed or open, it didn't matter, for only the Force could tell her direction or position. It was a level of mastery over the Force that only those Apprentices who were ready to become Knights had achieved. Skygge knew she was ready to be a Knight. Yet Vance - Darth Vicirus - had not yet declared her a Knight. Perhaps she should do something to bring her to his attention. A dangerous mission in which only a Knight could survive.
As she thought, a vision came to her. These visions had been coming ever since the mission to Korriban. It was as though part of the Force embedded in the planet had transferred to her and gifted her with the ability to see things past, present, and future. Whether these things were accurate in their entirety, or whether they were completely false, was not guaranteed. What she knew was that she saw things.
Red lightsabers flashed, intersecting with a blue blade. The face behind the blade was well-known, even in this age; it was Anakin Skywalker, the Jedi who had turned to the Dark Side and become Darth Vader. He fought with a being whose face was on no public records, but instictively Skygge knew who it was. A woman whose escapades had been foiled time after time by Anakin and his Master, Obi-wan Kenobi. A woman whose name was feared throughout the galaxy. An assassin, a shadow in the night. Asajj Ventress.
The vision seemed to be in fast forward. Skygge saw Anakin defeat Ventress. In what seemed to be her last moments, she spoke to Kenobi, and in the vision Skygge saw a light envelop her and drive away the shadows inside her. Redemption at death, or so it seemed. Kenobi and Skywalker loaded her onto what seemed to be a medical shuttle and then left.
The vision skipped ahead. How Skygge knew it skipped, she didn't know. But now she found herself seeing the inside of the shuttle some time later. Asajj's eyes popped open, and she sat up, looking around. She smiled. Skygge saw her walk forward to the cockpit and open the door. She braced herself for the violence that she knew would follow.
But nothing happened. Skygge saw Ventress speak to the pilots, and heard her words as clearly as if they were being spoken in the room. "Pilots, alter your course. Take me away from here, I don't care where. Far away. Away from the war, away from Count Dooku, away from the Jedi. I want no more part of it. I want to die in peace. Take me where I don't have to fight anymore."
The vision ended. The last part was a surprise to Skygge. From what she knew, Asajj had died on Boz Pity at the hands of Anakin Skywalker. That was what was recorded in the archives. But had Ventress survived...
Why had the Force shown that vision to her? Was Ventress still alive? The numbers ran through Skygge's head. Impossible. Ventress would have to be dead by now. But her lightsabers - they would still be around. Imagine if she could take the lightsabers of Asajj Ventress for her own? If she could find the corpse of the Dark Jedi and claim her weapons for herself? That might make Vance look at her.
And something seemed to tell her that she was supposed to undertake this mission, that it was critical to her future success. She no longer believed, as the Jedi did, that the Force was an ally, but that it was a tool to be used for one's own purposes. Still, if the Force was willing to tell her that this venture could further her advance, she was willing to take that chance.
Opening her eyes, she uncrossed her legs and placed her feet on the floor, only a short distance beneath her. A wave of her hand flipped on the lights, though she didn't need them; she could just as easily have used the Force to guide her steps through the room. She exited and went in search of Lord Vicirus. With his permission, she would begin her search at once.