"Son, do you really have to go again?" Poseidon asked me. "I just got you back. Your mother feels the same way."

I shook my head sadly. Before we arrived back at Camp Half-Blood, I stopped by my mom's house. She, along with Paul, had a little shock for them. Okay, skip that part - they almost had a heart attack when they saw me, all grown up as an adult. My mom wasted no time in hugging me, crying as she had me, her only son, back. She wanted me to stay, but after calmly telling her that there was a mission for us, she let me go. She made Jason and Bastilla swear to not let me out of their sights, otherwise there would be hell to pay.

"She knows that I need to do this," I told Poseidon. "Believe me, I would like nothing better than to stay here for a little while longer, but this is one serious prophecy dad. And it needs to be answered."

Poseidon shook his head, smiling wistfully. "I just...wish that I had my son back. I know it sounds selfish, but it's true. You're my only living demigod son, and I treasure you the most."

Over at the Hawk, Jason and Bastilla were helping Zaalbar loading several crates of supplies for the journey. Hazel and Frank (who was currently in his horse form) were also helping as well. R2 was going around the ship with HK and Mission, checking to see if the Hawk was fully operational. Leo also helped them as well, getting a feel of the ship and letting his abilities as a son of Hephaestus take over. Piper was seen sometimes talking with Bastilla, who spoke back almost all the time, too wrapped up in her thoughts to respond.

Jason saw me and waved me over. "We're almost ready to go! Should I contact Rex and Cody to give the order?"

Poseidon frowned, but I called back, "Yeah sure, go ahead and give them the order!"

Jason gave me a thumbs up and turned around to go into the Hawk.

"What order?" my dad asked suspiciously.

I turned to him. "When me and the guys leave, Rex and Cody, along with the Galactic Senate will stay here on Earth. Also, we have asked them to keep the entire Republic army and armada here as well. They'll provide Olympus additional support and troops in case there's trouble."

"You mean if Malak comes here," Poseidon answered for me, knowing what I meant. "You're not too sure if he knows about this planet or not, are you?"

I shrugged, feeling a little guilty. "I honestly don't know how much he knows. But if he knows enough, and he does come here, at least you'll be prepared. However, dad - and this is where you really need to listen - if all goes wrong, you, the rest of the Olympian Council, along with the Senate and troops need to leave Earth and go to Tithe or any other planet that you can seek refuge on, until the threat is taken care of."

Poseidon looked worried. "He's really that dangerous?"

I nodded silently, and I knew Poseidon saw a look of pain on my face. I've already told him that Alec had once been my friend and I was still in shock of it. I also knew that somewhere down this journey that I will eventually have to face him, but it was too hard to even think about it.

"You don't know what a Sith Lord like him is capable of," I told Poseidon. "I just didn't think that my friend would be the monster he is now."

My dad sighed, before placing a hand on my shoulder. "Don't think about it for now, Percy. Just focus on the mission and nothing else. I'll keep your mother in touch of what's occurring, but you better promise to be safe otherwise she will kill both me and you."

I chuckled. "Knowing my mom, she'll probably do that."

"Hey, Revan!" Mission called from our ship. "All systems are green! Let's go!"

I nodded, giving her the thumbs up. I turned back to Poseidon. "Tell the other gods. And I'll see you soon."

Poseidon nodded. He engulfed me in a bear hug. "Make me proud, my son."
===========

"R2, fire up the converters," I said as I sat in the co-pilot seat next to Jason.

R2 whistled in reply, and wheeled off to carry out his given orders. Leo watched the small astromech droid leave the room, a look of wonder on his face. I knew straight away that he was interested in R2, his fondness of metal beings getting into him.

"Leo, you might want to strap yourself in," Jason said as he took his seat next to me.

Piper had already strapped herself in, looking a little nervous about the situation. Her face was a little pale, and she was breathing in panic.

"Piper, you alright?" I asked, concerned.

She looked at me with wide eyes. "Oh, you know, scared of things that fly. Plus, I don't like the feeling or idea of going into outer space, which is completely empty if you haven't learnt already."

I chuckled a little. "Don't worry about it. It's not as bad as you think."

And with that, I started to lift the ship of the ground and gently got us in the air, Jason helping me with the controls. I looked out the window, looking at the view of Camp Half-Blood with one last wistful look, before going back to my task.

"Main engines are green," Bastilla reported, looking at a screen on her armchair. "Primary thrusters operational."

"All systems check," Jason said, pressing several buttons on the right side of his control panel. "We are go green."

"Alright, let's get this show on the road," I said, pulling my gear stick - which was the steering wheel of the ship - and the ship shot upwards very sharply, making Piper yelp in surprise. She gripped the arms of her chair tightly, her eyes closed shut.

Leo just looked like he was enjoying the ride. He whooped in excitement, throwing his head back and crying out with barely controlled joy. Hazel and Frank were looking just the same, though Hazel did seem a little pale from what I could see. Frank looked stupid as his face jiggled from the force of shooting upwards into the sky.

We passed in between several of the Republic cruisers, which were still floating in the air. I knew Rex and Cody were gonna keep everyone safe, because if everyone were to attack, the Republic soldiers we have on our side would beat their backsides for thinking they could invade Camp Half-Blood.

"Damn, this is so cool!" Leo shouted out, his voice a little shaky from all the rocking off the ship. "I have GOT to get me one of these!"

"How many times have you flown this thing?!" Hazel screamed from her seat.

The roar of the Hawk's ion engine made it slightly difficult to hear my old friends, though with careful use of the Force, I could hear anything from up to ten miles away. "Ever since we got it from our mission on Taris!" I yelled back. "Believe it or not, the Ebon Hawk use to belong to a known member of the Exchange called Davik Kang! He was one mean gangster, so we just 'borrowed' the Hawk to get off the planet! That was four years ago, so it's been a while!"

Hazel's eyes widened. "You STOLE it? I wouldn't have thought you would do something like that!"

"Jeez, don't ruin the moment," Leo grumbled. "This thing is incredible!"

Bastilla smirked, which made her look slightly devious to me. "Yeah, well, Kang was asking for it. Never mind that anyway." She looked at her screen. "Revan, we're exiting planet atmosphere. Adjusting gravity levels...just a moment..."

We broke through Earth's outer atmosphere and entered the vast darkness of space. Stars were littered here and there, the moon was off somewhere to the east of the Hawk and the sun shone brightly to the west.

Piper looked at the scene with wonder. She unclipped herself from her seat and stood up shakily, looking through the window at the stars that shone brightly. Hazel and Frank had done the same, looking just as awed. Leo on the other hand was staring at the whole interior of the ship, which made me roll my eyes.

"It's...beautiful," Piper breathed, sounding very close to tears at the majesty of space. "I've only seen pictures of it, but seeing it up close is just... Its just amazing."

"I'll say," Frank said. "I thought the Northern Lights were something, but this..."

I smiled, thinking back to the time I first saw space up close. Despite it being a bad time for me, I was still impressed by what the vast stretches of space held. So many planets and galaxies...it blew me away even to this day.

Jason turned to his console. "Co-ordinates set. Ready for light speed?"

I nodded after a moment of silence. "Take us to Dantooine. Get us to our old training grounds."
========

"That was awesome!" both Frank and Leo exclaimed as we came out of the blinding blue light of light speed.

I shrugged. "It's not that impressive. It's just the fast lane to everywhere. The Jedi and all the other worlds who have this technology have had it for years. We use it constantly to get where we need in no time."

I looked back through the view of the screen and saw our destination - Dantooine. Man, it had been years since I last came here - not since when I was still a Padawan learner. Where had all those years gone? It seemed only yesterday since it all happened. The planet still looked the same as it did before - vast fields of yellow and gold grass, with dark purple and granite coloured mountains and hills jutting everywhere. A long line of ocean water had spread across the planet, making the planet sort of like a puzzle, where the water just looked like thin gaps between the pieces of land.

I was somewhat happy that I was back after so long...but for some reason, there was a sort of low screaming noise in my ears. The Force was screaming like it was in pain, and that instantly put me on edge. Something had happened - something horribly wrong.

I turned to Jason and Bastilla, who looked like they felt the same thing. Bastilla actually spoke out the same thing I said to myself:

"Something's wrong," she muttered, turning towards the screen.

Piper frowned. She looked at us with bewildered looks. "What is it? How do you know something is wrong, when there isn't anything that seems to be or look to be wrong?"

"Like me, Percy and Jason told you," Bastilla explained, "the Force surrounds every living being in the universe. It's connected to us in a way - mentally as well as physically. Physically because it gives us our power, and mentally because we call out to it in order to draw on our strength."

"The reason why we know something is wrong is because the Force calls out to us when something is off," Jason told Piper. "It's like a ringing in our ears that alerts us to anything in particular. And now, it's telling us that something is wrong on Dantooine."

Hazel came forward and closed her eyes, reaching her hand outwards towards the planet. She searched for a moment, her eyelids twitching slightly before drawing back. "That's odd. Normally with my powers I can feel and sense everything. But I feel nothing. No Mist, no people, no nothing."

"Whoa, whoa, whoa, whoa," I held my hand up. "No people? That's impossible, there's got to be at least over two thousand Jedi down there! How can there be no people down there, unless..."

My eyes widened, and I turned sharply around to look at the surface of Dantooine. A sense of panic and fear instantly shot through my chest and stomach, making me feel sick. "...unless....they're dead."

Bastilla looked like she was dumped inside a freezer, because she went pale as hell. "No... This...this...this can't be!"

"Alright, we're going down," Jason said in a voice that told me he was now starting to feel sick. "Everyone, hang on."

It took maybe ten minutes to get down to the ground, but thankfully Jason landed smoothly. However, I didn't care about any of that, as I instantly stepped out of he Hawk and stared into the distance. There, maybe two miles ahead of us was a large plume of black smoke that blew into the air. My heart sunk, because I knew that it was the Jedi Enclave that was burning.

"Holy Hephaestus," Leo exclaimed. "Is that the Enclave you guys talked about?"

"Yeah," Jason breathed out, running his hands through his hair in frustration. "Gods damn it! This is not good."

Hazel came forward and tried her sensing powers again, this time gasping in shock and horror. "There's so much death...over two thousand people dead. I don't know how that can be. I thought you said that it was protected really well?"

"Not well enough from an army by the looks of it," Frank summed up, kneeling down and scooping up some dry dirt. "A major battle happened here, that much I can tell."

[There should be a GIF or video here. Update the app now to see it.]

(Stops at 1:35)

I paid no attention. Instead, I started racing forwards towards the Enclave, with my friends running behind me. Ten minutes later, we reached the Enclave entrance, and I stopped in horror at what my eyes saw. I swear I haven't seen a sight like this since...well, the Mandalorian Wars.

Bodies littered the ground, burn marks streaking up their skin from the flames. The smell of blood and rotting flesh filled my nose, and I almost gagged because of it. The crackling of flames could be heard from ten metres away, but the whole place was silent. I looked at each individual body, seeing the slash marks on their chests and faces - lightsaber wounds. Some bodies were slashed in half, and a couple of heads were thrown to the side. Scorch marks were plastered on the walls of the entire circumference of the Enclave. My eyes fell on the body of a young boy, who looked no older than ten, his eyes open and looking into empty space, his hand outstretched like he was trying to reach something. A single black hole was in the centre of his chest. I knelt down and gently closed his eyes, making it look like he was sleeping.

I heard footsteps and the rest of the crew came in to see the carnage. The girls gasped, their hands going to their mouths as they took the whole scene in. The guys were looking pale and distraught.

"It's gone," Jason mumbled, turning in semicircles to see the whole place. "Can't believe it's gone."

Bastilla knelt to check the pulse of a dead Twi'Lak's neck. She shook her head in denial. "This can't be happening. They're all gone." She choked back a sob.

Mission and Zaalbar came forward and inspected everything. Leo came up too, along with Frank. "Incendiary marks..." Leo inspected the walls, rubbing them. "Probably arms fire. What do you think Frank?"

"Definitely high grade explosives, that much I can say," Frank answered, inspecting the small craters in the ground. "Some of these wounds look like some you might see if a person was shot. So, there were definitely soldiers here."

Zaalbar grunted and moaned something in his native tongue.

"Big Z says that most of these wounds were caused by ion blaster fire," Mission translated. "But a few of them look like lightsaber slashes. Someone with a lightsaber has been here."

I scowled with a slight glare. "Malak."

Everyone looked at me in fear. I stood up and looked at Jason and Bastilla.

"Malak was here," I said. "I knew something was off. He came here with his army of droids and slaughtered the Jedi here."

"More droids?" Leo asked in confusion. "What, battle droids? Okay, that's slightly concerning."

"Agreement: I agree with the scrawny human," HK chimed in. "This is the work of droids - there are no indications that humans could do this. They would be no match for the sheer power of the Jedi. If it's Master Alec and his droids however, then it's another problem all together for us."

Suddenly, there was a crash behind us from fifteen metres away. We all spun round, me, Jason and Bastilla activating our lightsabers out and holding them outwards to where the sound was. I scanned the area slowly, seeing if something was there.

"HK, do a scan of the area, see if you can pick anything up on your scanners," I ordered.

HK jerked to attention, his head going back and forth, left to right as he looked at the carnage of the place. The thing with HK, his eyes have infrared sensor, as well as see through sight. If he saw anything that might be hiding, then he would tell me anything. He looks for another twenty seconds or so before pointing to my right.

"Confirmation: Over there, master. Behind that small cluster of scrap metal."

I nodded, moving forward quietly to where HK said. When I got close to the metal, I heard shifting noises behind it, confirming what HK said. I took a deep breath in and quickly swung around it, ready to attack whoever was there-

"WAIT!" a female voice screamed.

I looked down and my eyes widen in shock. "Juhani?"

The being kneeling down was Juhani, a Cathar (a being that looks like a cat in some form) Jedi who trained here on Dantooine. Her pale blue eyes looked frightened, as she looked up at me. She wore her usual Jedi Knight robes, though they were dirty and scorched. Her whole body was extremely thin, like she had a terrible case of anorexia.

When she saw me, she instantly hugged me. "Oh, thank the Force! You're still alive!"

I pulled back from her, holding her by her shoulders. "Juhani, what the hell happened? Did Alec do this?"

She nodded vigorously. "He came under the cloak of darkness, killing everyone along with those infernal droids of his. I do not know how he got those, but it doesn't matter. He's killed thousands of us. Only a handful of us survived."

"So there are survivors?" Bastilla asked with relief. "Thank god, at least a few made it."

Piper came up looking at Juhani with wide eyes. She was so stunned, that the only thing that came out of her mouth was, "She's a cat."

I had to resist myself from slamming my hand over her mouth to keep her quiet, but Juhani just frowned as if she hadn't heard the word before. Oh wait, she doesn't because there are no such things as cats in this galaxy.

"Cat?" Juhani questioned. "What's a cat? I think you mean Cathar, my people." She looked at Piper and Leo, along with Frank and Hazel with a keen eye. "And who are you? I've seen a lot of Padawan's around here, but I've never seen you before. Where are you from?"

"Juhani, we really don't have time for this," Bastilla said calmly. "We can explain everything later, but first you must take us to the other survivors to see them. We need to make sure they are fine, until we can find a way to get them to a safe place we know of."

Juhani grimaced. "Some of them are okay, though they are hungry due to short supplies. Even Jolee won't stop grumbling - he's driving me insane!"
=========
A little warning about Jolee - he might be a bit mad.

Okay, I'll take that back: he's really mad!

As soon as we walked into one of the underground training rooms, we had twenty pairs of eyes staring right at us, which made me a little uncomfortable. But as soon as we introduced ourselves, they quickly regained their composures and herded us in. I looked around at the small group and noticed that two of them were just kids, looking up with hopeful eyes. Others looked a little older: maybe somewhere in their mid teens, though I couldn't tell. There were only five adults, one of them being Juhani, and of course the loud grumbling of Jolee.

Jolee was an old man of seventy years old, with dark skin and short grey hair. His eyes were a mix of crystal blue and dark brown and he had a aura of authority hanging around him. He wore dark brown and red clothing befitting of a Jedi Master, and he always kept his hands behind his back when standing up, but when sitting down he kept them on his knees, clasping them together like he was gonna crack his knuckles. I remembered him doing that when he was instructing me for the first month of youngling training. He almost drove me nuts before Yoda and Qui-Gon came to pick me and Jason up.

"I see that you are still alive then?" Jolee asked instantly as soon as I sat down to help one of the Padawan's.

"Yeah, still going," I said. I looked at him with a playful questioning look. "And what about you, old man? Still kicking?"

Jolee chuckled softly. "Last time I remember you, you and your friend Jason left for Coruscant to complete your training. I see that they've taught you well - you're a Jedi Knight and a hero. I have taught you well, young Revan. When I first became a Jedi, it was almost completely annoying - the Council thought my attire of clothing was too distracting. I mean, come on - how can bright orange and purple robes be distracting? It's just didn't seem fair to me."

On and on he went for a couple of minutes, before I just lost focus on what he was saying. I got out some medical supplies and started cleaning the Padawan's arm up of any bacteria he might have on the slash mark he received. I cleaned it up and wrapped it up in some gauze. He thanked me sincerely before going off to his friends.

"...and thus, I was named a Jedi thanks to Master Yoda," Jolee finished. "Wise being that Yoda, always knows what to say to others to calm them down and to make them understand everything about the Force."

I looked at him as if to say, "Yeah, got it, hmm, hmm, yep."

Piper came up to me, looking as if she was about to pass out. "This is all too much."

I frowned, before I understood what she meant. "It's seeing other beings, isn't it? You're not completely comfortable with seeing...intergalactic species that makes no sense to you because they don't seem real."

Piper nodded. "Just the other day, I was sitting in Camp Half-Blood like I always do - normal day, normal life. But then, you and Jason come back after a year - or twenty years to you - with spaceships and alien people. It's so confusing to me right now that it hurts my head."

I shrugged. "I understand where you're coming from. Believe me, I do. But, you know what, I just treat them like everyone else - with no disrespect and nothing but socialisation, or what they call..." I raised two hands and bent my index and middles fingers. "...'friendly conversations.'"

Piper sat down next to me, pulling her feet up to her chest and hugging them. I frowned at her, until I noticed that her gaze trailed over to Jason, who was talking to one of the elder Jedi with Bastilla.

"You don't like Bastilla, do you?" I asked the daughter of Aphrodite.

Piper snapped her head towards me. "How do you know?"

"You're glaring at them, which is what you've been doing ever since we got back from Rachel's. Don't lie to me, Piper. I know you well enough to know that you love Jason still after all that's happened to both me and him. And I know you enough to know that you don't like it that him and Bastilla seem to be really close."

Piper gave me a weird look. "Since when did you get so smart?"

I looked at her, before answering with one line. "There is no ignorance, there is knowledge."

Piper looked bewildered. "What? What does that mean?"

"It's part of the code - the Jedi code," I said calmly to her. "It's the mantra that we use to remind ourselves of who we are and what we do. The line I just said was my answer to what you asked me. Before I became a Jedi, I struggled to read as you knew, so some saw that as a sign of ignorance. All Jedi must open themselves to knowledge, as much as they can. I learnt how to study people - their body language, the way they talk to each other, the simple ways really. I can read you..." I clicked my fingers. "...just like that."

Piper looked impressed. "Jeez, and I thought Annabeth was the egghead." She looked back at Jason and sighed deeply. "I just...wished he talk to me more. It's like he's closed himself in, blocking me off. He hardly looks at me, and always seems to talk to Bastilla. I keep getting the feeling that's it's like him and Reyna again, and it hurts." Her voice broke.

I felt sympathetic for her. "Yeah, he seems to only focus on the mission and no one else except his teammates. Even I'm a little confused about why he does it. I'll talk to him about it, and see if I can get him to talk to you, because I don't find it acceptable to ignore your girlfriend."

Piper looked at me, before hugging me quickly. "Thank you," she whispered.

I smiled. "You're most welcome. Now come on, we need to see if we can find anything about these 'five hidden relics' that the Oracle mentioned. And I know just the place to start."

Piper stood up. "I'll come with you."

I was surprised. "Really? Why?"

She rolled her eyes. "Well, I think it's time I started hanging out with my friend again."
===========

"The ruins of the first Jedi?" Piper asked as she looked at the headstone of the ruins entrance. "What's inside?"

We stood in the middle of the east fields, looking at a huge stone structure that seemed to have been buried under the ground slightly. A huge door of stone and metal was all that stood between us and the inside. I asked Jason and the others to wait for me until Piper and I came back. Before I followed Piper outside, I pulled Jason to one side, talking to him quickly.

"You need to talk to her," I told him.

Jason frowned. "Piper? Percy, I don't know-"

"You will talk to her," I firmly told him, "because she feels as if you're giving Bastilla more attention. She has been without you for a year to her, and now you're ignoring her further? That's a low blow Jason."

Jason sighed. "Percy, I can only think about-"

"Don't you dare say the mission," I sternly told him. "That's the lamest excuse you can come up with. I constantly think about Annabeth on our missions. You can do the same at least, otherwise I will kick your ass, Jedi code or not."

Jason hesitated, before finally admitting defeat and promising to talk to her.

Now, I was standing next to Piper in front of these ancient stone ruins. I turned to her to answer her questions.

"No one knows," I told her. "These ruins are thousands of years old. You're talking about the days of the ancient Jedi, in the time of the Old Republic. Some say that there are old objects inside the temple, though I believe that something else is in there. A hidden relic of sorts, like the Oracle prophesied."

Piper nodded in understanding. "Well, it's definitely a good place to start. The question is how we can get in. Those doors look as if they haven't been opened in a long time, and I seriously doubt they'll open after all this time."

I approached the sealed doors. I carefully studied them, looking at the rune lettering on their surfaces. Now, my translation of ancient Jedi language was really great so I should have no problem reading it, but most of the letters were either too faded or too damn corroded to make out.

"User of the Force, know these tombs, for if not, we will grant you eternal wounds," I translated. "Find the hidden truth within, for now these trials begin, learn the history of the star maker, for fate rests on you forever."

Piper studied the ancient runes. "That doesn't sound so good."

"No kidding Sherlock," I muttered. I took another quick look at the runes, then shook my head. "It doesn't say how we can get in, at all. But I have a good idea..."

I placed my hand on the cold metal and stone door, and instantly my whole body tingled with life energy, as if I had way too many cups of coffee. The door groaned as it started to open very slowly.

I smiled. "Just as I thought - it just needed the touch of a Force user."

The door finally opened all the way, welcoming me to the darkness of a large corridor. Piper was about to go in, but I held her back with my prosthetic hand.

"You're not going in there without a weapon," I told her.

Piper frowned, pulling her hidden dagger out. "I still got Katropis. I can easily defend myself just in case something happens."

"Piper, you don't know these kind of places in this galaxy," I argued. "You don't even know what's in there."

"Tombs," Piper summed up. "Tombs mean mummies or corpses - things I'm familiar with."

"Tombs mean something else here. It might not be anything like that. If we are to find a clue to the Star Forge, it could mean something that holds knowledge. Do you really think we can learn anything from a mummified corpse? And if there were corpses, their remains would've turned to dust over the line of centuries that have gone by now."

Piper looked like she wanted to argue, but it seemed like she finally took the hint that I had a good point. "Okay, so my weapon is useless."

"Which is why you're gonna need this for the time being," I said, unclipping my left handed lightsaber and handing it over to Piper, who took a step back when it was offered to her.

"It's okay, Piper," I said reassuringly to her. "It's only dangerous when you turn it on."

Piper hesitated for a long time. I could see why she was nervous around a lightsaber - it was the very same weapon that helped me defeat Anderson, who foolishly thought he could win against a Jedi like me. It was also the very same weapon that almost killed him, and the same thing that had slashed my hand off.

She carefully picked the sacred weapon up and held it in her hand. She took the whole thing in with a nervous look, turning the weapon in both her hands, inspecting it critically like Annabeth did when she passed on weapons from the weapons store at Camp Half-Blood.

Both my lightsabers were of the same design, with a firm leather grip at the hilt of the weapon and a singular rectangle button to activate it. It was all sleek shiny silver and it had a few knobs there and here, but that was part of the design to make it feel comfortable in my hands.

"It's lighter than I thought," Piper marvelled, holding the lightsaber in the palm of her hand.

"Push the button," I said, "but be careful not to touch the point where the energy beam comes off, otherwise you'll slash your own hand off."

Piper took heed to my words and activated the weapon. A single beam of green energy shot out with a hissing sound, making Piper jerk back in surprise as she saw the mesmerising green light. She held it in both her hands, as if ready to bat a ball.

"Alright, let's go inside and see what's in store for us," I said, activating my other lightsaber and delved into the shadows of the temple, the colours of both green and blue illuminating the darkness as Piper and I journeyed onwards.