Second Chances - Chapter 2: Head Games

CHAPTER TWO – Head Games

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My eyes fluttered open. A cold metal ceiling came into focus, lit with a dim florescent glow. My head lay against a hard surface. My hands...I couldn't move my arms. They were bound. My feet as well. I could feel cool air brushing across my body. Apparently my clothes had been removed. Everything but my undergarments. As you well know, the Sith like to humiliate their prisoners. And I did feel humiliated—and vulnerable. I tried to lift my head to look around. The action made my head spin and ache. I closed my eyes to try to focus, but found myself too groggy. Something was choking at my neck. Then I finally understood. A neural restraining collar.

It seemed I was alone, wherever I was. An interrogation room, perhaps. Likely on Revan's flagship. However, there was no way to know how long I had been out. I could sense something pricking in my arm. An IV. I had probably been sedated.

Masters, I felt so helpless at that moment. I knew full well the tactics Revan and Malak used to turn good Jedi into Sith. Torture was not beneath them. The general strategy behind torture was to make the prisoner feel powerless, eventually breaking them. In breaking, they would find power in the dark side and fall. I feared the worst. Would I be strong enough to resist? Many Jedi Masters had fallen to the dark side with such torture techniques. If a Jedi Master could be turned, what chance did I, a mere Padawan, have? Masters, it was not the torture itself that I feared, but the likelihood of being turned into everything I fought against. I feared betraying the Jedi, the Republic, and everything I believed in.

I tried to suppress the fear that constricted my chest. There is no emotion... I heard a door slide open, followed by heavy footsteps. I felt his dark presence before I even saw him. A cloaked, masked figure came into view, leaning over the table on which I was bound.

Revan.

He silently gazed down on me. I felt paralyzed under his cold glare. I squeezed my eyes shut and continued reciting the Code.

"Tell me, Bastila. Does reciting the Jedi Code comfort you?"

I opened my eyes again. I could not read anything from his expressionless mask, but I could imagine he was sneering at me.

"You're afraid," he simply stated. His voice was even, very matter of fact.

"I do not fear you," I managed to rasp. I did not realize until then that my throat was parched with thirst.

"Oh, but you do. Your fists are clenched. You are covered in sweat. Your entire body is shaking."

My response was braver than I felt, but I was determined not to give into fear. "I will never serve you," I spat.

"We'll see about that." A gloved hand touched my chin, turning my head to one side. He studied me with cold calculation. "You are very young. I expected someone...older."

"Sorry to disappoint you."

His hand left my chin. "No, you misunderstand me. I am glad that you are young. I find the younger ones more, shall we say, open-minded. Usually I am forced to break the older ones." He paused to stroke the stray strands of my hair from my face. "It would be a shame to break one so beautiful as you."

"Your threats do not frighten me." But they did, and I shivered under his touch.

"I do not threaten, Bastila. I am merely trying to reason with you. And I think you will find me most agreeable, if you give me the chance. Would you like some water?" A medic came into view to offer a glass of water to Revan, which he took. One of his gloved hands lifted my head up to the glass. I was too thirsty to refuse.

After a few awkward sips, he set my head back down. "There. Much better, yes?"

My throat did feel much better, but I wouldn't admit that to him. "There is no argument you could offer that would persuade me to join you."

His voice, already so calm and even, now turned smooth. "None at all? I find that hard to believe. Come now, let us reason together. You are indeed powerful, but you have so much more to learn. I could teach you ways of the Force of which your Jedi Masters never even dreamed."

"Your knowledge of the dark side does not in the least tempt me. You might as well go ahead and torture me for all I care. I will not join you." I was about to regret those rash words.

He saw right through my brave facade. "If that is what you wish, Bastila." He turned away and gave a curt nod. The medic stepped back into view on the other side of the table. He pressed a rolled cloth to my mouth. I refused to open my jaw, so he applied more pressure until I yielded.

"Forgive me, Bastila," the Dark Lord said, "but you'll want that to keep from biting your tongue."

I squeezed my eyes shut, my jaw clenching on the cloth for dear life, ready for lightning, choking, anything. The moments passed. Nothing. Cautiously, I opened my eyes. Revan just stared down at me. He started to chuckle. He was still toying with me, just as he had on the Maelstrom. His chuckle grew into roaring laughter. I ground my teeth into the cloth and glared at him.

"Oh Bastila!" he gasped for breath. "I'm so sorry! You just looked so ridiculous there."

I spat the cloth out. "I'm sure you find this most amusing."

He stopped laughing. "Now Bastila. You did ask for it. But while I confess that I do indeed find your reaction most amusing, I assure you I am not interested in torturing you, nor in giving you any reason to fear—yet." He let that final word hang in the air.

I would not let him intimidate me. I summoned all my courage. "Oh please. Do you really think you frighten me? Your fear tactics only show your own cowardice. I thought the dark side was supposed to be seductive. You know. Flowers and chocolate. But I suppose the only thing a monster such as yourself is capable of is terrorizing a helpless prisoner." I still can't believe I called him a monster to his face. And I would deeply regret my sarcasm about the flowers and chocolate for the duration of my stay with Revan.

Revan just stared at me for several moments. I half expected him to toast me with lightning right then and there for my sharp tongue. But he just slowly nodded. "So, you want me to seduce you?"

"What? No! I-I...Of course not! Don't be ridiculous!"

"Oh, but you just said..."

"No, I said the dark side was seductive, not you."

His words were smooth once more. "But I can be seductive. Very seductive." I must have visibly cringed. "Ah, but you think I'm a monster. No wonder."

What he did next shocked me. He removed his mask.

He was like nothing I had expected. I had always imagined his face to be deformed from his use of the dark side. It was anything but. I will not deny that I found his features not unattractive. I'm sure many women would say he was ruggedly handsome. As a Jedi, of course, I am above such physical attraction. Nevertheless, I found myself stunned by this revelation. No wonder he wore a mask. It was not to hide a monster, but to create the impression that a monster lay beneath. Fear of the unknown. It was most effective.

"See something you like?"

I was startled out of my thoughts. "What?"

"You're gaping."

"I-I...I wasn't..."

He pressed his hand to my chin to close my jaw. "I'll take that as a compliment. Still think I'm a monster?"

I finally recovered from my shock. Enough to finally notice the thing that had been staring right at me, if I hadn't been so fixated on the rest of his face.

"Your eyes betray you," I said. They were yellow. A sure sign of his immersion in the dark side.

"Indeed. And I will freely admit, I am a monster. But I am also a very seductive one."

I gave an indignant sniff.

"I see you're still playing hard to get. You women do like being chased. Very well. I shall oblige." He gave me a lopsided smirk.

"Oh please. I'd rather be tortured."

"No, no, we really should slow down with our relationship. I admit that skipping straight to the torture was very premature. Perhaps I can take you out to dinner first?"

I let out an exasperated sigh. "I see you are still intent on playing these ridiculous games with me."

He shook his head, becoming more serious now. "You may not like how I play, but count yourself fortunate that I do not hand you over to Malak to play with. I should warn you: He likes to break his toys."

That statement sent a shiver down my spine. I knew very well Malak's reputation. Everyone did after what happened to Telos. Not that Revan was so much better, but he seemed to focus his anger and harness it towards a goal. Malak, on the other hand, destroyed for the sake of destroying.

Revan continued. "As I said before, I would like to reason with you."

"You can talk all you want, Revan. I'm not listening."

"Fair enough. You will find I am a very patient man. And I am fully capable of being seductive, if that is what it will take to win you to my side."

I felt him slowly—teasingly—unlock the restraints on my wrists and ankles, his gloved hand softly brushing my bare skin there. I winced as he ripped the IV out of my arm. He left the neural collar in place, however.

"Go on, get up," he said.

Defiantly, I just lay there, crossing my stiff arms. "I won't play your game, Revan."

"But Bastila, how else am I supposed to take you out for dinner if you don't get up?" That comment wasn't even worthy of a response. "You're right, of course. You haven't had a chance to settle in yet. Tomorrow, perhaps?"

At the wave of his hand, two soldiers came. They took hold of my arms and forcibly stood me to my feet.

"Show Padawan Shan to her cell," the Dark Lord commanded.

They began to drag me to the door.

"Oh, and Bastila," the Dark Lord called to me. The soldiers stopped, turning me to face him. "I'll pick you up for dinner at 1800 tomorrow?"