This is a fanfiction, a derivative work. I do not own anything. The characters belong to Disney, Stan Lee, and George Lucas. Cassandra photo (c) google?

A ripple went through the Council Chamber. Anakin stumbled mid-argument, the breath leaving his lungs as he felt a vast amount of life silenced in a blink. The sudden silence in the chamber was deafening. The new void, a big gaping wound in the Force.

Anakin broke into a cold sweat, fighting the urge to puke. He clutched his head, a throbbing headache forming behind his eyes. His Force sensitivity was greater than any member of the council, even Yoda's. Anakin felt the terror and agony of the lifeforms as they were snuffed out in a blink.

Wiping perspiration from his jaw, he looked around the chamber, gauging the other Jedi's reactions.

Obi-Wan rubbed his chin, a habit he fell into when deep in thought. A pained scowl marked Mace Windu's face and Yoda's wizened form hunched forward in his seat, as if he were physically in pain from the deaths.

The state he was in, Anakin didn't dare search the Force for answers. Folding his arms, he remained standing on the Republic crest in the center of the chamber, ignoring the trembling in his limbs.

Yoda sighed sadly. "A great tragedy in the Force has happened."

"Where?" Mace demanded; his normally stoic expression given away to alarm.

Yoda inhaled, sharp ears twitching. The Grand Master descended into a meditative trance. The other Jedi waited quietly while he focused on the location.

Anakin vibrated with impatience, eager for the Jedi leader to hurry up. It had only been three months since Geonosis. The Clone Wars were ramping up. He had been promoted to the rank of Jedi Knight a week ago, an action long past due in his opinion since he was twenty years old.

Anakin reached up and touched the spot behind his left ear, where his Padawan braid hung recently. Over the years, he'd grown use to it being there and though it felt strange without the braid, he was glad to finally be rid of it. The Jedi needed him in the field, but he had yet to be given a rank in the Republic's new army.

Per usual, the Council was slow to recognize his worth.

Yoda, never one to hurry, sat completely still reading the Force. He took so long, when he eventually spoke his hoarse voice startled Anakin out of his resentful musings. "A planet called Ergamot."

"That's not far from Coruscant." Obi-Wan said, massaging his temples. The long sleeves of his robes, spilled into his lap.

A discontented murmur went through the Council. Of all the targets the Separatists might strike, Ergamot made the least sense. It was a planet of mountainous terrain. The Twi'lek inhabitants were peaceful farmers, eking out a modest living raising sheep.

What did the Separatists want with wool?

"Hmm." Yoda blinked slowly; green eyes sharp. "Investigate this, we must. Obi-Wan, you will go. I sense a dark disturbance there."

A grim undercurrent fell, all of the Jedi understanding the implication. The cogs of the dark side were at work on the small planet of Ergamot.

The Council remained seated after Yoda's pronouncement. Anakin sensed more was about to be revealed. He waited for the next bomb to drop.

Yoda cleared his throat. "Another matter we must address. A request I have received, from the Sorcerer Supreme."

Anakin glanced at Obi-Wan in confusion. "Who is the Sorcerer Supreme?"

Were there even magic users in the galaxy aside from the Dathomir witches? He didn't know.

"The Sorcerer Supreme is the leader of a secret order of sorcerers that lives on a developing world in a distant galaxy." Obi-Wan explained, stretching out his legs. "The sorcerers use magic to protect their world from internal and external threats from space."

Anakin had heard nothing of this before. Of course, he had not been the most dedicated student of history during his Padawan studies. He preferred to fight rather than read.

Mace folded his hands in his lap, the end of his long sleeves dangling to the floor. "We don't fully understand how their power works, but they have been allies of the Jedi for centuries. The Kamar Taj sorcerers once did a great service for the Council during the days of the High Republic, and they have asked for aid. We owe their Order a debt and cannot refuse their plea."

"One of their own must be protected from a great evil. A practitioner of dark magic." Yoda said, then turned his grave gaze on Anakin. "Send Young Skywalker to Earth, we will."

Anakin startled and glanced sharply at the elderly Jedi. Surely, this was a joke! "Master, I am needed here-"

Yoda held up a clawed hand, silencing him. "Trust the Force, you must."

He brimmed with frustration.

Anakin had heard this countless times before. Trust the Force. He curled the fingers of his prosthetic hand into a fist at his side, the glove he wore concealed the metal joints.

The number of planets defecting to the Separatists grew by the day. Jedi resources were stretched to the brink and the Council wished to send him to an unfamiliar planet, light years away?

"I respectfully, disagree. Send another Jedi to this planet to guard the sorcerer." Anakin insisted defiantly. "The Army will need me on the frontlines. Not babysitting a foreigner."

"Anakin!" Obi-Wan scolded, cheeks flushing red in anger.

In recent months, his former master had transitioned smoothly to his new position on the Council, but still slipped back into the habit of lecturing him on occasion.

Heat flushed Anakin's neck. To be scolded like a Padawan when he was newly a knight was unfair. He swallowed his temper and straightened his spine. Arguing further would only make him look like a fool. "I will honor the council's wishes." He said through a clenched jaw.

'Even if I do not agree with them.' Anakin thought.

"A ship, readied it will be. Go, and prepare. The journey will be a long one." Yoda said, a clear dismissal. "May the Force be with you, Master Skywalker."

Anakin bowed stiffly at the waist. "And with you, Masters."

*********************************************************************************************

Earth was farther than Anakin had ever traveled. It took ten light-speed jumps to reach his destination. He was surprised by the size of the planet that spun into view when the ship exited the hyperspace corridor. "How could this place have been ignored by the Republic?"

He guessed Earth was roughly the size of Naboo. R2-D2 beeped in the hatch behind Anakin's seat.

"You're right, buddy. The real question is why this planet has been ignored." Anakin flipped a switch on his dashboard, the Millennium Falcon slowing as the cargo ship approached the planet's outer atmosphere. The Falcon was fresh off the assembly line and handled like a dream.

He steered the ship through a gap in the shell of satellites that surrounded the planet and began the descent to the surface and placed it on autopilot.

Pressing another button, a recorded hologram of Yoda appeared above the transmission emitter. "Go to the land of Nepal. In the city of Kathmandu, the Sorcerer Supreme, will you find in a temple in the heart of the city." The hologram flickered. "Be careful you must. Earth's inhabitants, hostile they are."

"Now, he tells me." Anakin muttered under his breath, plugging in the coordinates that replaced the Jedi's hologram. Just what had he gotten himself into?

The Falcon slipped through a thick layer of clouds, everything encapsulated in a world of white. It was the best ship Anakin had ever piloted and one of the few good things about this mission. He hoped his assignment would go as smoothly.

After a moment the ship broke through the clouds, the last wisps of aether slipping away from the ship's hull, a vast golden-brown world opening below him. Anakin placed the ship on autopilot and studied the old-fashioned paper file Madam Jocasta had given him before leaving Coruscant.

In the file, there was an image of a grim-faced man in subdued brown robes. His contact, the Sorcerer Supreme. The two-dimensional image was strange to Anakin, different from the holophotos he was used to.

Anakin searched the file for a picture of his assignment, leafing through the papers until he came across a document of interest. Wielders of the Mystic Arts were able to manipulate and harness the energy of neighboring dimensions in their spells. Sometimes they manifested the energy into shields and weapons made of light.

The similarities between Jedi and sorcerers were uncanny. Both tapped into an energy outside themselves and harnessed it with their will.

Tucking the papers into the file Anakin stuffed it in his satchel, placing it on the copilot's seat.

Anakin landed outside Kathmandu in a clearing behind a stand of lush trees, flipping on the invisibility shields to hide the ship from view. Earth was a developing planet and unfamiliar with the technology from the Republic, so he had to conceal the Falcon from the locals.

Stretching his arms over his head, Anakin groaned. "We're finally here Artoo. I'm sure this won't take long."

R2-D2 rose from his hatch and rolled over to him, chirping excitedly.

Anakin rested his robotic hand on the astro-mech droid's head. "Let's find Kamar Taj."

Strolling through the crowded dusty streets of Kathmandu, Anakin was amazed to find the city filled by humans. He had never been to a planet only inhabited by his kind before. It was surreal to be presented with a sea of faces similar to his own.

Scents of cooking meat and chemical exhaust filled the air in a cacophony of smells. Vendors hawked colorful fabrics and perfumes from rustic stalls lining the edges of the street. Baskets of spices and fruit were available for sale beneath colorful canopies flapping in the humid breeze.

One tenacious female merchant attempted to drape a scarf around his shoulders, chattering excitedly at him in her language.

Smiling politely, Anakin extracted himself from the overeager vendor. He tried his best to blend in, which wasn't easy. He was a head taller than the other people around him.

Drawing up his hood, he motioned for Artoo to stay close. It'd be easy to get lost in this crush of humanity.

R2-D2 chirped.

"The temple is ahead?"

The droid lit up, whirring and clicking away.

Anakin chuckled. "Alright, alright, let's find this Sorcerer Supreme and see what answers he has for us."

Then he could leave this strange planet. Once he dropped off this mysterious sorcerer at the Jedi Temple, he could return to the battlefield where he belonged.

Eager to be done with the assignment, Anakin followed Artoo down a narrow side street to a door that'd be easily missed. He raised his hand to the carved wood and knocked, receiving no answer.

When the minutes stretched on too long, he rapped his knuckles hard against the door.

This time he heard an impatient female voice from the other side. "I'm coming, I'm coming, keep your chest hair on!"

A girl around his age yanked the door open, yawning widely. Long dark hair hung over her shoulders in messy waves, cascading to her waist. Her clothing vaguely resembled his own Jedi robes: a long-sleeved black tunic and surcoat and a pair of trousers tucked into knee-high boots.

A Kamar Taj sorceress.

The girl's large brown eyes studied him inquisitively, her irises the precise shade of the Aleen cinnamon Anakin enjoyed on his panna cakes. "Hello. Can I help you?"

Hearing her sweet voice Anakin swallowed hard, finding it suddenly hard to breathe. The sorceress's delicate features were absolutely stunning. Beautiful and elegant like the angels from the childhood stories his mother used to tell him to help him sleep at night.

Over the years he'd watched Obi-Wan flirt with women, using smooth words to win them over. He'd never been interested in a girl enough to try out his master's techniques until now.

Anakin's mind blanked, unable to conjure any words to impress her.

Suddenly, he felt ten feet tall and clumsy in her presence. He'd always been a little uncomfortable with his height, spending years hunching his shoulders because he towered over the other Padawans. His fellow apprentices never truly accepted him and often bullied him when the teachers were busy.

Strange to feel the same awkwardness as a Jedi Knight. 'I've finally achieved the rank of Jedi Knight.' Anakin reminded himself. 'I'm not a Padawan any longer.'

This girl made him feel off-kilter and uneasy but not in a bad way. Like the rush of excitement, he got in a high-speed chase with a speeder or ship. Invigorating and terrifying.

The sorceress raised slender brows, her pleasant expression becoming strained as the silence stretched on between them. "Well?"

Anakin realized he gawked at her like a fool and fumbled for a response. "I'm...may I come in?"

"Okay." She motioned him inside the entryway, yawning again. "You must be Master Chevalier from London. Why didn't you use the Sanctum Gate? It would have been faster than entering the street and far more discreet. I don't have to tell you discretion is a necessity right now."

Anakin bowed apologetically. "I'm afraid, you've mistaken me for someone else, my lady. My name is Anakin Skywalker. I'm here to meet with the Sorcerer Supreme."

The girl rounded on him, her hair swinging wildly with the motion. Her eyes narrowed in suspicion. "If you're not Master Chevalier than why do you want to see Master Wong?"

"He requested the help of the Jedi Temple." He brushed past her scanning the corridors branching off from the main hall, taking in the simple elegant architecture. "Will you take me to him?"

"Well, you didn't blast me to bits, so you probably aren't working for the Scarlet Witch." She reasoned and looked him over again. "I guess I'll show you the way."

The sorceress started walking away. Without thinking, Anakin reached out and grasped her shoulder, halting her in her tracks. "May I ask your name?"

Turning, she gave him the full force of her cinnamon gaze, causing Anakin's stomach to flutter. "Cassandra Pierce."

"Nice to meet you, beautiful-I mean Cassandra." He blurted like an idiot. "I mean you're a beautiful sorceress." Anakin wanted to disappear into the floor. So much for impressing her. "I...just forget what I mean."

Cassandra bit her bottom lip, clearly holding back a giggle. She dropped her voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "You're a sharp one Mr. Skywalker. I am absolutely-positively amazing."

Eyes dancing with humor, she darted down the main hall onto the raised stone floor. Anakin rushed after the strange sorceress, unaware of the smile curving his own lips.

*********************************************************************************************

Master Wong sat behind an ornately carved desk; his almond shaped eyes unreadable as Anakin followed Cassandra into the study.

Anakin squirmed under the Sorcerer Supreme's assessing gaze. 'This man's more intimidating than Mace Windu. I sense nothing from him in the Force, like he's closed himself off. It's bizarre.'

He sketched the sorcerer a deep bow like he would for the Jedi Council. "I have come from the Jedi Temple as requested. My name is Anakin Skywalker."

"Have a seat, Master Skywalker." Like his expression, Wong's bland tone gave nothing away.

Tapestries depicting forest scenes hung on the stone wall behind the sorcerer. The tall narrow windows on the opposite side allowed minimal light into the study, the dimly lit room pleasantly uncluttered.

Cassandra pulled over a low-backed chair for Anakin and stood beside him. He noticed her hands were shaking.

Focusing on her, Anakin sensed a deep well of fatigue. Despite her bravado she was close to dropping from exhaustion. He brushed the back of her hand with a fingertip, and Cassandra jumped, looking down at him. "Take the chair, I'll stand."

She shrugged, too tired to argue. "Alright."

Anakin helped her into the chair and took up a post behind her, reluctantly tearing his gaze away from Cassandra's delicate frame to look at the forbidding Sorcerer Supreme. "Please tell me how I can be of assistance."

A no-nonsense type of man, Master Wong dove right into business. "We are facing an unprecedented crisis. The Scarlet Witch has the Darkhold in her grasp. The Darkhold is an evil spell book and corrupts all who use it. We are doing everything in our power to fight her, but the situation has become complicated. She now has the ability to rip the veils between dimensions open."

Anakin was confused. "I don't understand. How is that possible?"

"The Jedi may not be aware of this but there are an infinite number of parallel universes existing side by side. We call this the multiverse. Right now, Wanda can only access the dimensions on this plane but soon I fear she'll be able to access other universes which would have unforeseen cosmic consequences."

This did sound like a serious matter. However, Anakin couldn't see how he'd be of any use against the witch and the Darkhold. "I don't know of what aid the Jedi can provide in this matter."

"I don't ask for the Jedi to help with our struggle." Wong stated.

The Sorcerer Supreme's vagueness was beginning to irritate Anakin. Folding his arms, he tipped his head to the side. "Then why am I here?"

"Wanda Maximoff, the Scarlet Witch, used to be an ally but losing her boyfriend Vision drove her mad with grief." Cassandra chimed in, earning a withering glare from the Sorcerer Supreme for the interruption.

"What? It's my ass on the line, I'm not going to pretend it's not." She defended.

Anakin hid a smile at her bluntness. The sorceress had some fire in her.

Wong continued, unruffled. "The witch attacked the temple a week ago. Many lives were lost in the battle."

That sobered Cassandra. Sadness and guilt radiated from her as she gazed down at her lap. "Dark magic is powerful. If I weren't here those people wouldn't have died."

Anakin felt a pang of sympathy for her. How many times had he beat himself up for the same thing?

"You aren't to blame for the evil Wanda has done, Master Pierce. The blame lays with the one who's done it." Wong said gravely, turning back to Anakin. "Cassandra is the chosen guardian of an ancient magic. She is the Merlin."

Anakin was completely lost again. "Who's the Merlin?"

"The Merlin is a very famous wizard who is best known for being the advisor to King Arthur. This was centuries ago and through...unfortunate... circumstances the title has passed on to Cassandra." Wong explained.

"Too bad I can't use the magic." She muttered darkly.

Anakin picked up on the undercurrent of tension in the sorceress and knew there was more he wasn't being told.

"Cassandra was given no instruction on how to tap into the power by her predecessor. There is much we don't understand about the Merlin's role in the weave of fate." The Sorcerer Supreme explained. "What is important is that we keep Cassandra away from the wielder of the Darkhold."

"Because the Darkhold could corrupt her." Anakin comprehended.

"Exactly." Master Wong acknowledged.

Anakin absorbed the information and peered down at the sorceress. "This Wanda person, wants your power."

Cassandra nodded somberly. "Yes. She hopes to steal my magic and revive Vision from the dead. Violating nature in such a way will have catastrophic consequences for the world. Besides, I'm sure she won't stop there. Those possessed by the Darkhold have no limits to the evil they'll commit." The sorceress wrapped her arms around herself. Her voice quivered. "I wish this power had never come to me. It's brought me nothing but trouble."

Anakin felt her anguish. Unlike Master Wong, her emotions were unguarded and easy to read.

The Force demanded balance in all things and apparently the Mystic Arts possessed similar rules. He understood the weight of the guilt Cassandra carried.

Almost three months had passed since his mother perished. He still believed himself at fault for what befell her at the hands of the Tusken Raiders.

Compelled to connect with the sorceress, he extended his hand in the space between them. Holding her gaze, Anakin willed her to trust him. "I promise you'll be safe on Coruscant."

Looking uncomfortable, Cassandra clasped his hand, her palm warm and soft against his own. His skin tingled pleasantly from the contact. "Then I better pack."

A/N: This is the new and improved edited version. I like it much better and hope you will too!