Anakin's POV

If I'm going to be honest, I had no clue about these Sith temples. Well, I heard they existed, but I didn't know they were still around. The history books in the archives only stated that several had been destroyed, and hardly any had survived. When I was assigned to this mission, I thought I was going on a wild goose chase. It seems I was wrong.

I sighed and pulled out my holoprojector to see if the two dots we're moving again, and to my surprise, they were.

"Well they're moving, " I observe, watching the two dots move quite rapidly. "They're moving quickly. We need to move now, and figure out where we're heading."

(Y/N) nodded and shrugged. "If only we could figure out which way to turn, that would be great, " she mumbles. I chuckle at her sarcastic remark and cross my arms before thinking about where to go to. Wherever it was, it had to be fast.

Anakin

"Huh?" I turned to (Y/N), confused. "Did you say something?"

She shakes her head. "No, why?"

I blinked. I swore I heard my name. "Oh. I just thought you asked-"

Anakin.

There it was, that voice. This time I was looking at (Y/N), and her mouth hadn't moved an inch.

I turned to my right, where I heard the voice coming from, and saw the long and dark corridor as if it were waiting for me. The voice sounded familiar, but I couldn't quite place my finger on it. The voice was soft and feminine, and very calming.

"Who are you?" I said out loud, grabbing on to my lightsaber. I started walking to the right corridor, moving very slowly.

"Master? Are we going this way? And who are you talking-"

"Shush!" I snap. I didn't want her interfering with this voice I heard. It was all too familiar. I motioned for (Y/N) to follow me, and so she followed suit.

Do you not remember me? After everything we've been through? You don't remember me?

My eyes slowly reverted to the floor as the familiarity of the voice suddenly come flooding to my head.

"Mom?"

Yes, Ani, my poor boy. I miss you so much, you know?

"Master? What's going on?" (Y/N) asks warily, while clutching on to her lightsaber.

"My mom... She seems to be speaking to me through the Force..." I say cautiously, while still walking through the dark corridor, keeping my head level.

Surely there was an explanation for this. Why was she reaching out to me? And how was she doing it? Unless it wasn't her. It couldn't have been.

"No... You're not real. You can't be!"

But I am, Ani! I am!

"No! You aren't! This has to be some sort of mind game the Sith are playing, " I retort back into the empty void that sat in front of me.

"Master! I think we should leave."

I snap to (Y/N)'s statement, as I realize she's right. I can't sit around and fiddle with this any longer. It seems that I have to ignore the voices. "You're right. Let's go (Y/N). "

I put my mental shields up this time and walked to the end of the corridor, still cautious with (Y/N) walking beside me.

"So your mother... You knew her?" (Y/N) asks, as she looks up at me.

I nod simply, not wanting to get into any details with it. My personal life was personal for a reason.

"Hmm. Not a lot of Jedi get to know their mothers." She pauses as if to reminisce. "Sometimes I wonder what mine would've been like."

I look down at (Y/N), as her head now hung low, looking at the floor. I sigh, and nod, knowing that I was lucky to know my mother and to have that warm feeling of having a mom. Sometimes I wish I didn't so that way I wouldn't have another weakness the Dark Side could feed off of, like right now for instance.

---

After taking several dark turns and following the sounds of lightsabers crashing and going up on several staircases, we finally reached an empty and open darkroom.

There in the room sat in the center an abnormally large and dark throne that seemed to be made out of some sort of ebony stone. Besides the throne, a tall and skinny iron standing torch sat on each side, with no flame in either of them. Weirdly enough, the room hadn't looked dusty as I would've expected.

"I don't get it, " (Y/N) mumbles as she pulls out her holoprojector. The image of the temple displayed on the projector and the two trackers were stable. In fact, they were right there in the room with us, but no one was here.

"I don't either. We both heard lightsaber sounds, and we followed the sounds to up here, correct?"

She nods. "Yep. Maybe the trackers were ripped off somehow. Or they fell off."

I shrugged. "I'm not sure. But what I can sense is that we're in some sort of trap. I can feel it."

"Master? How can you know?" She tilts her head and crosses her arms."Wait a second."

Instantly we whip out our lightsabers at the same time, the quick sound of the laser swords turned on.

There was a feeling of a sudden rush of coldness that enveloped me, to the point where I felt like I was drowning. I couldn't breathe. I darted my eyes to (Y/N) as she dropped to her knees violently, as she started to claw relentlessly at her throat.

I could feel it start to happen to me too.

It felt as if someone had grabbed me by the throat and started squeezing it, or crushing it. I tried to swallow, but saliva lurched out of my mouth and on to the stone floor.

I could feel the air being pressed out of my lungs faster than I needed it to. I need air!

---

Anakin found himself laying down on the stone floor. His eyes fluttered open and suddenly came into a coughing fit.

What the hell? He thought angrily, as he glanced around the room he was in. It was the same room, but oddly enough (Y/N) was missing.

Hell! What happened?! Slowly his coughing fit came to a stop as he slowly rose up from the floor. He went to grab his comlink to contact R2, but all of his Jedi items on his utility belt were gone, including his lightsaber.

"This better be some sort of mind game..." He mumbled. He turned to his left slowly and looked to the middle of the throne room, and this time, there was a small stand in the middle of it, holding a red, glowing pyramid.

"That's odd..." He went towards it and examined it and saw that it was in fact, a Sith holocron. "What's a Sith holocron doing here? And where's (Y/N)?"

Hello Ani.

Anakin jumped at the voice, startled by the fact that it was so sudden.

"You again! I told you to leave me alone!"

Anakin started pacing around the room, his anxious feet took control of him. Anakin's body was always prepped for battle, as he's been training in the heat of it since his padawan years. He was always quick on his feet.

But Ani, it's me, your mother.

"No, " he hissed, his teeth gritted. He was tired of these mind games. "My mother is dead. Now, if you could bring back (Y/N), then she and I can leave and be on our way, and to never come back here again. We can leave you and your temple at peace."

Oh don't worry, (Y/N) is fine. She's having a similar experience you're having at the moment. Don't worry Ani, I'm your mother. I know how to take care of your friends.

"You are not my mother. Please, just leave us alone and we can go."

There was no voice. It was silent.

Is it deciding? Anakin thought, as his shoulders tensed up from anticipation.

Well, okay.

Anakin sighed in relief. "Thank you-"

But on one term.

"No. No deals. I would never make a deal with a Sith." Anakin glanced around the dark room as if to find a source of this voice. But it just seemed to continue to come from his head.

Fine. Then you will remain trapped in this realm forever, with your poor, old mother.

Anakin swallowed as he began to process this decision. What if he just turned around and ran? But then he would leave (Y/N) here and seem like a coward... No. He had to do this. He could never leave someone behind. Obi-Wan has never ran away from a problem, so Anakin wouldn't either.

"Okay. What's the term?" Anakin sighed, finally giving in. There was no going back this time.

You must open the Sith holocron and learn it's information. Do not be hesitant when opening it, or else, mother will keep you here, forever.

"I..." Anakin hesitated, but he knew it was too late to turn back. What kind of pain would he see? He's heard of stories of Jedi who were too weak who tried to open Sith holocrons, but when they failed, they were nauseous afterward and had reoccurring nightmares. Anakin already had enough nightmares with Padmé, he didn't need any more. "What if I fail to open it? What if I'm too weak?"

You are not too weak. Open it. Can you not hear it calling you?

That time the voice was harsher and more gritty. It began to sound less and less like Shmi.

Anakin sat down on the floor and used the Force to pull the holocron in front of him. He heard whispers coming from the glowing pyramid.

He closed his eyes and used the Force to reach out to the dark holocron, barely coming into any contact with it. At the moment he was only examining it, as the image of the holocron appeared in his mind. There was ancient handwriting engraved on the holocron, possibly a warning, which Anakin was about to ignore.

As Anakin came close to opening it, he heard the whispers grow louder, and louder every time, to the point where he could hear their cries fully. Some of them didn't make sense, as they were by people he knew, but yet, they hadn't happened yet.

There were cries he remembered, such as the sand people he murdered on Tatooine. The cries of his mother, which came to him in a dream when he was a padawan, just before he left to Tatooine. The cruel laughter of fellow Jedi, when he was a child at how they laughed at him, and their faces of fear when Anakin showed too much power in training. Anakin seemed to never be enough for anyone.

"There are voices that I recognize, but the memories haven't happened yet. Is this the future?"

Anakin had hoped the voice would respond, but it remained silent.

Behind the strong and overly brave man, inside Anakin could hardly listen to the cries as he used his powers to twist and unlock the dark and mysterious holocron. He was filled with regret and overwhelming sorrow. He didn't want to relive those moments ever again, but he had to do this so he and (Y/N) could escape and turn this holocron in to the Jedi.

A single tear rolled down his face as reliving the pain was so unbearable for him. He could hardly keep this up any longer. His past was difficult, he knew, and he hated it. There was a reason why he was the way he was: a closed book.

At last, Anakin had gotten past the protective opening of the holocron, and the whispers and cries had ceased to a halt.

He had come to this man in the holocron who stood in dark, black, ceremonial robes.

"Who are you?" Anakin asked out loud, peering inward. He used the Force to pull himself closer to the man.

"I am the gatekeeper. Tell me, user, what do you wish to know?" He responded in an old gravely voice as if he had been waiting thousands of years for someone to use this holocron.

Anakin thought for a moment, then thought of his dying wife. How could he save her? Or how could he end this huge galactic war? Or how could he become a Jedi master? What could he do?

"I... I want to know..." Anakin couldn't decide. He could only know so much, right? "Teach me how to be prepared for the future. Give me... Give me all-knowing power. I must know what to do to save the people I love."

"Ah, yes. In order to be all-knowing, you must receive the power of immortality... Then only can you receive information on the teachings of this holocron. "

"How do I do that?"

"You must--"

NO!

The voice boomed, the whole room began to shake, which caused Anakin to lose focus on the Sith holocron.

I quickly scrambled to my feet, and the room jolted back and forth more and more violently as each time I thought I regained my balance. I heard a clink as the holocron closed and dropped to the shaking floor.

Every time I took a step I lost my footing. I fell each time as I tried to cross the room, but eventually made it to the throne to hold on to something that was stable. I called the holocron to me, with it landing perfectly in my hand, I saw that all of my utility belt items had been returned to him, as well as my lightsaber.

"(Y/N)!" I called on my comlink, wondering if she had her stuff back yet.

"Anakin!"

I sighed in relief as I heard her voice over the comlink. Thank the Force she was alive. "Thank goodness you're alive! I believe the whole Temple is collapsing! Where are you?!" I shouted into the comlink, as my senses started to feel cloudy, as panic rose up in my chest.

"I'm unsure at the moment Anakin. Go ahead and... go... the ship!"

She's breaking up, I thought. "Fine. I'll contact the Jedi Council from there! Please be careful!"

I hung up on the comlink and used the Force to pull myself off the ground into a Force jump to get to the other side of the throne room so I could exit.

I cling on to the doorway out of the throne room, as I take a look in my tunic to look at the mysterious holocron one more time.