"And you and Bastilla made her your apprentice?" Jason exclaimed, as I finished my story of Piper's Force sensitivity.

I nodded. "If you were there, then you would have said the same thing as I did. Piper's ability with the Force is only small but even I can tell that it's growing more and more. I'm sure that given time she can learn how to control it. I'm quite certain she can."

Jason shook his head, smiling in shock. "And to think that I'm dating another Force user. What will the Council think of me when they find out about that? I'll be expelled for sure."

I shook my head, feeling a fiery determination in my chest. "Don't centre on your anxieties, Jason. I assure you that I won't let that happen. Not while me and Bastilla are around. You and Piper just got back together, and I'm not allowing 'Jiper' to be torn apart again."

Jason gave me a weird look. "Jiper?"

"Jason and Piper," I answered quickly.

Jason laughed so loud, I thought that his stomach would not take it. He doubled over, trying to breathe from the laughing. I laughed along with him.

HK walked into the room, along with R2 and Leo. As soon as he saw me, Leo went straight up to me and started talking.

"We just sent a message to your friend Rex," he told me. "He replied, saying that he'll send a team over to Dantooine to get the survivors to Earth. They'll be treated there, and will be safe."

I sighed in relief, patting him on the shoulder in thanks. "Thanks Leo. Means a lot."

Leo shrugged. "Nah, don't worry about it. I would've sent a message to him anyway, even if you didn't ask for me to do it. Besides, I feel like I should owe it to you since you did drive Anderson out of Camp. That guy was ruthless."

I scowled deeply. "The guy had it coming for a long time. I sure hope that he takes my advice and stays away, otherwise I might have a word with him."

"Percy, don't even think about any bad thoughts," Jason said, holding a placating hand up. "You shouldn't be thinking stuff like that."

I sighed, feeling a little mad at myself for feeling such negative thoughts. "There is no emotion, there is peace," I breathed out, calming myself down.

Peace is a lie, there is only passion.

My eyes snapped open, and I looked around the room wildly, which made Leo and Jason frowned.

"Percy, what's wrong?" Leo asked.

I looked at him, frowning deeply. "Didn't you here that?"

"Hear what?" Jason demanded, crossing his arms over his chest.

I looked around the room, wondering where that snarling voice came from. I turned to Jason. "That voice."

Jason looked around like I did, scanning the room with a critical eye. He turned back to me, looking concerned. "Percy, there's no one here."

I was sure that something was watching me - I could feel it, like a spider going up my spine. I looked around the room again, making sure that I wasn't going crazy, but I saw nothing.

"Never mind," I said to Jason and Leo. "Perhaps I'm just a little tired."

There didn't look convinced, but they didn't go on.

"Well, we should get to Dagobah," Jason announced, heading towards the door to the common area. "If there's a star map there, then we better get going."

I nodded, going along with him and Leo. Before I left the room, I gave it one more worrying look before sealing it tightly. Little did I know that a pair of yellow eyes were watching me from the shadows...
========

"...Ataru, and Soresu," Bastilla finished up on teaching Piper the different lightsaber forms.

Piper was using my lightsaber as she deflected several bolts of plasma beams from a small mechanical ball that fired continuously at Piper . Even though she hadn't picked up on the forms yet, I could see that she had somehow managed to learn some form of Shii-Cho, which was the standard basic form of lightsaber duelling for younglings. When we asked her to deflect the blaster bolts with her eyes closed, she did it without hesitation. When she did so, I told her to rely on the Force, calling on it to aid her. She did it with a little difficulty, though she did get the hang of it pretty quickly.

"I'm a bit surprised that you seem to already know one of the forms," I told her, admitting that I knew the style.

Piper looked at me in confusion. "I do? I wasn't made aware of that. What was it?"

I shook my head, feeling a little taken back at her comment. "That form you were using was Shii-Cho, the basic form of lightsaber duelling. It gets you where you need to be on duelling and everything, but it's only the starting point on your training."

Piper nodded, looking proud that she had got somewhere with her training already. "What form do you use?"

I shrugged. "I use a number of forms - every Jedi needs to learn at least three or more forms to progress in their training. The styles I use is a lot more aggressive than others, Jar'Kai being one of them. It's a form that requires two lightsabers to be effective."

Piper looked at my green tinted lightsaber. "So that's why you have two lightsabers. They go for your form."

I nodded. "I also use Ataru, Soresu and Djem So, which are the third, fourth and fifth forms in training. They are considered to be three of the most aggressive lightsaber forms you can learn in the Order. I had Master Yoda explain to me on numerous occasions that I'm very accomplished in Djem So. Jeez, you should've seen the look on Master Windu's face when I beat him during one of our sparring sessions using this form."

Just then, Jason came into the room, where his eyes rested on Piper, who was sweating slightly and breathing heavily from concentrating on the Force too long. He looked at me. "We're in the Dagobah System. You should buckle up for landing."

I nodded. "Thanks for the heads up," I said, calling out to the Force and retrieving my lightsaber from Piper, who yelped in surprise when it leapt out of her hand and into mine.

I waved it in front of her. "Another lesson: when an opponent tries to Force pull your weapon out of your hand, throw up some mental shields around your lightsaber to protect it, otherwise it might cost you your life."

Piper nodded in understanding. Bastilla, sensing Piper's tiredness, threw an arm around the daughter of Aphrodite's shoulders and led her out of the room. I was about to follow them into the pilots cockpit when-

Through passion, I gain strength.

I looked around, wondering where that voice had come from. So I wasn't going crazy before - something was definitely on the ship, stalking around and trying to psyche me out. Knowing that I need to warn someone, I rushed out of the room and ran towards the pilots room, where nearly everyone was gathered.

In front of us was the swampy green planet of Dagobah, and I felt a sharp feeling in my chest as I remembered going there once in my training. The little water that was there was a dark grey and mushy blue, but the whole planet itself was covered in thick fog. It was most likely cold at the moment, though I couldn't be sure because of the sunlight hitting the planet directly.

"So, this is Dagobah?" Piper asked, her face scrunched up a little. "It's looks disgusting."

"Boy, I'll say," Leo said, looking like he was ready to get his hands dirty. "Right, let's get this ship landed and find another star map."

"Hold it right there, Match Stick Boy," I said, causing Jason and Piper to bite their tongues to prevent them from laughing at Leo's nickname I gave him. "Don't go using any of your pyrotechnic powers here. The water here is so diluted and filthy that it forms its own version of oil. So if you use your fire abilities, you could pretty much blow the entire planet up."

Leo paled at the thought, but nodded in understanding. "Got it. Fire - bad. Stay away from oily water."

Frank seemed to shrink away from Leo slightly, as if remembering that Leo could set his stick on fire at any moment, despite it being in a fireproof bag given to him by Leo himself. "Okay, maybe I should stay on the ship, if Leo's gonna be a problem on Dagobah."

I scoffed and rolled my eyes. "If that's what you want. I was about to say that Leo stay on the ship, but if you want to stay o the ship with him-"

"I'm coming," Frank instantly said, jumping to his feet and rushing off towards the Fargo bay.

Hazel smiled and looked at me. "Don't worry about Frank. Even though he isn't tied to that piece of firewood anymore, he's still slightly scared of fire and because of Leo's abilities..."

"Frank isn't tied to that piece of wood anymore?" I asked, curious about the fate of my friend.

Hazel nodded. "Yeah, Hera lifted his curse off him during the year that you and Jason were gone. Frank, even though he is free of the curse, is still afraid of fire though. Considering what happened to his mother in Afghanistan, and his grandmother in Vancouver..."

"Don't worry about him," I assured her. "I'll keep an eye on him, since I plan on doing that with all my friends from now on."

Hazel nodded, before throwing her arms around my waist and hugging me tightly. "It's good to have you back, Percy. I thought I'd never see you again."

I hugged her back, patting her back. "So am I, Hazel. So am I."
==========

Piper made the first step, and instantly groaned. "Eew, I think I just stepped in something."

I smirked. "Yeah, that's just bog."

"Eew!" Piper screeched, shaking her foot to get the gunky stuff off. "Of all the places I've visited, this place is just plain gross!"

We had landed on Dagobah, and we had to make sure that we landed on the more stable area, since this place was commonly rumoured to have a lot of sinking pits and deep water areas. The whole area was surrounded by huge trees that had massive trunks and roots springing out of everywhere. There were a few flying creatures here and there in the night sky, and I was amazed to see some reptilian creatures here that I know of, such as snakes and what looked like Komodo dragons.

Mission looked around with a playful gleam in her eyes. "Well, it's not my taste, but this is an adventure after all."

Zaalbar growled and grunted, showing his excitement as well. He was waving his arms around, indicating that he was now going to make camp with HK and Mission.

I noticed Bastilla and Jason talking to Piper, who seemed to be smiling about something. She said something to Jason and he smiled as well, before hugging Piper tightly, which brought a smile to my face. I was glad that those two were finally back together again after so long. But there was also a feeling of sadness, as my thoughts drifted over to Annabeth, who by Piper's words were still missing after a month. Right there and then, I just wished that I had my wife back with me, so I could just be there with her instead of feeling alone without her.

Though strength, I gain power.

I tilted my head to the side, hearing that voice again. It was definitely following me, whatever and whoever the kriff it was. I knew something was up, because I suddenly felt colder than I was. I looked over to my right, and saw a deep clearing of vines that led to no where. My instincts screamed at me to go and inspect it, but I wondered what would happen if I left my friends here. What if something happened to them if I left them to go see what was following me?

Before I lost my nerve, I called HK over. He obeyed and stalked over to me.

"HK, I'm gonna scout around the area," I murmured to him. "If anyone asks where I am, just tell them that I've gone for a little walk."

The droid twitched slightly. "Suspicion: Where, exactly, are you going, master?"

I wondered if I should tell him or not. Then I decided that it was probably the safest idea to tell him. That way he'd be more on guard. "I keep getting the idea that someone - not part of the crew - is following and watching us. I'm gonna see what it is. If I'm not back in an hour or so, come after me. Do you understand?"

HK nodded instantly. "Obedience: Understood firmly, master. I will protect them with my parts."

I nodded before bounding off into the thick density of vines and trees.
==========

After five minutes of cursing and sweating, I managed to break into some sort of misty clearing.

The whole area was covered in what looked like dried dirt and weeds, with several brown pools of mud and water churning together. The smell hit my nose, and it almost made me gag: imagine that you had your gym locker filled to the prim with horse manure, along with several pairs of your stinking socks. Then combine that smell with the scent of a skunk - that's what it smelt like. Yeah, not a pretty description, right?

I continued onwards up a little stream of steaming water. In no time, I came to another clearing, this one without any smell or sound which was really weird. Up ahead, through a thick bush of vines and upturned roots, was what looked like a cave entrance. When my eyes landed on it, I was nearly overwhelmed by the coldness that struck me all of a sudden. It felt like someone had decided to pour ice cold water on me, for no apparent reason at all.

Through power, I gain victory.

Having enough, I spun around with a glare that would make most people back off. "Look, I don't know who you are, but if you don't leave, you'll find that I'm a Jedi you don't want to mess with, pal. So back off."

There was a moment of silence, where I thought that I actually managed to convince whoever it was to get lost. I was about to head off into the entrance of the cave, but I suddenly felt a presence behind me. It was watching me calmly, but my instincts told me that I was in danger. I gripped my lightsaber that was on my belt, ready to attack at a moments notice.

"I knew you are a cautious fellow, but I never knew that you could be one to make one frightened, Perseus."

My eyes widened. I knew that voice...and it was a voice I thought I'd never hear again. I turned around and I saw, with my disbelieving eyes, my old Jedi Master.

"Qui-Gon," I gasped.

He looked just like I remembered him from the last time I saw him. He wore his trademark brown Jedi cloak and and tan coloured robes. His hair was neatly tidied and his piercing grey eyes danced with wisdom and power. But there was something different about him, something that seemed slightly unnatural. Then, I realised that he was glowing blue around his entire frame, like a ghostly vapour.

"How?" I breathed in shock. "How is this possible? How are you here?"

Qui-Gon smiled. "I am here, because you are here."

I shook my head slightly. "I don't understand."

"This planet is strong in the Force, and because of that I was able to project myself into having a form for you to see," Qui-Gon explained. "Plus, since you are already strong in the Force, it has allowed me to connect with you, thus allowing me to remain in contact with you for short periods of time. That is how I'm here. As I have told you before in your training, there are so many things that the Force can do, my young apprentice."

I chuckled, looking down at the ground. "Apparently, I still have much to learn."

It made me so happy that I could actually talk to my old master, knowing that I could ask for guidance just by asking and calling out to him. But then my heart sank, as I remembered by the fact that Qui-Gon was dead forever. And that was just another one of my friends dead over the course of what seemed like a lifetime.

Qui-Gon, sensing my sadness, gave me a reassuring smile. "The Force was very adamant that it was my time, Perseus. Don't centre on your sadness and grief. The feeling of loss is a path to-"

"I know," I told him, sniffing slightly. "Don't worry, I won't go down that road. I swear that I won't."

I looked at the cave entrance, the cold feeling still lingering in the air surrounding it. "What's in that cave? Something feels off about it."

Qui-Gon stood by my side, standing taller than me with his tall 6'7 frame. "In there is something that you need for the quest. In there are the remnants of a lost empire, something that has been lost for thousands of years. The Force has long since been dormant, sleeping and resting for someone with a sensitivity to the Force to come along and wake it from its ancient slumber."

I went through it all in my head. "An ancient empire... There's something besides that in the cave, isn't there?"

Qui-Gon smiled. "Perceptive as always, Perseus. Yes, in there is what you are looking for, according to the prophecy. In there, you'll find a star map. But beware of what may happen in there, when venturing in."

I frowned, puzzled by what he said. "Why? What's wrong?"

"Many have ventured into that cave. They were all driven mad by what the cave had shown them. It's not just the light that resides on this planet - the dark side is heavily strong in this cave. It will want to draw you into its dark arms and twist your mind. Even though you are strong in your resilience, this may be difficult for you, considering what might lurk in there."

I must admit, I was not liking the details of what might happen to me when I go in, but then again...no one would. However, knowing that there might be a star map in there gave me a little incentive to go in. I had to remind myself that if I didn't claim it, the whole universe would be doomed.

I slipped my mask off and attached it to my belt, where it swung loosely. I unclipped my lightsaber, getting ready. "I'm going in. Wish me luck."

"There is always hope, my friend," Qui-Gon reassured me, "that would often comes in forms not looked for. The key is not being able to see it, and seizing that opportunity."

And with that, he vanished right in front of me, leaving no evidence that he was there in the first place. I smiled, knowing that he wasn't gone completely, before diving into the cave entrance.