Saga - OT Prisoner (Anakin in the Netherworld)--Author replies 3/8

(Originally posted and deleted twice. Decided to post one last time. Reopened and edited for the present era).

Title: Prisoner
Author: leiamoody
Timeframe: Between post-ROTS and post-ROTJ
Characters: Anakin, OC's (The Mistress, The Keeper)
Author's Notes: This is my vision of what Anakin's time in the Netherworld might be like, with the understanding for the first half of the story that he is physically alive but spiritually dead. Basically, his soul split into two halves right after he became Darth Vader. One half doesn't remember who or what he was, the other remembers all too well.
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A Prisoner In The Dark Valley

This is death.

His name still remains forgotten. All names here were to remain forgotten and unknown, except for the name of this place...The Dark Valley, a space in the Netherworld where he had been since...how long? How long had he been here, doing nothing more than wandering the shores of Bittersweet Dark, trapped in by the high mountains of black dust, swallowed up by the sky with no stars?

And where was the beginning? What made this happen? What event in time brought him here?

Time...it felt vaguely familiar. Moments forming years...different links in a chain binding together that was called...

Only death is true now.

The Mistress spoke. Her voice was made of softness and sadness. She was a form of twisting darkness, deeper than the lightless water of the lake he could not cross.

Look at what your sins have brought you.

It was raining. The rain of living essence...life? That was what moments bound together were called!

The Mistress whirled about his head. Death is the only reality for you, Ani. It is your only truth. She swam down past his shoulder, and spread out above the dark grass of the dead field. You are to remain here in this valley, until your two selves can be rejoined.

His two selves? What did that mean?

The Mistress ascended into the midnight sky with no moon or any other celestial light to illuminate the scene.

He did not care. There was nothing to make him aware enough to give him a reason to care about anything. The Dark Valley was the place of loss of care. Nothing existed but the darkness and the river and the smoky sky and the Mistress.

And his name did not exist. But the Mistress had called him something...Ani. Nothing, it meant nothing. It felt like a name...and she had called him that word, so it must be his name.

If he could remember his identity, then why he was trapped here might finally be revealed.

From the farthest shore the Mistress spoke without voice once again. You are here for atonement.

Atonement, another word with no meaning.

Think of sins, Ani.

That word again: Ani. And now yet another one that was not familiar...but there was a feeling...sins. Blood. Sins. The living essence pours out from the body at the end of life, that state which is called death, when all sins have been committed. Death comes most painfully to those who have created the most heinous sins.

"Pain is my truth. My sins are the reflection of my pain." His voice uttered those words. The first time he could remember having the ability to speak since...

The twisted dead grey trees sitting high on the mountains murmured with the cold and metallic voice of an unlikely breeze. The voice breathed...the breathing was mechanical.

The sound was not the breathing of life, but the breathing of a life that wasn't alive. But how could that be? Dead things do not breathe. But if the breathing was mechanical, then it belonged to an artificial life form. Something that never was alive, so it could never be dead.

"A machine is not man, but a man can be a machine." Once again there was the sound of his voice.

Perhaps the strange breathing had once been his as well. But he could not remember.

"Who was I?" He called out to the twisted trees and the darkling river and the looming mountains of black dust. "Tell me!"

But no one heard him. And no one could help him.

 

Wow! Incredible! Please do not delete this. In fact, please PM when you update!

?Redemption is not absolution.? From the farthest shore the Mistress spoke once again. ?You are here for atonement.?

Atonement, another word with no meaning.

?Think of sins, Ani.?

Incredible imagery here. Absolutely lyrical language.

 

Should never have deleted it in the first place.

Weird and twisted and fits Anakin very well. I loved it!

 

This was just simply amazing leiamoody, I?m a mythology geek, as well as a Sci-Fi geek, and I love everything that has to do with it. You should not delete this and I?m with Vadey, I really hope that you will post more and if you do, please pm me.

 

A Prisoner In The White Heart Abyss

"This is death, dearest."

The voice spoke in a whisper that echoed through the chamber, ripping through him like an explosion.

Anakin cried out in pain.

He was trapped in the darkest of spaces. Caught in the center of a deep and bright abyss ...the light here was so overwhelming, a blinding white. He had been here for what felt like thousands and thousands of years, and here he would remain until eternity claimed him along with the universe and swallowed them both back into the Greatness of Nothing.

"Only death is true now. And you must die again. And again." The Keeper's voice was ice, and it poured into his center.

"Never!"

The voice of the Keeper laughed. "You must die again! You have died twice in the physical world. But your soul has been split into two in the Netherworld. So you see, you will die again and again while you are here with me." And she laughed once more, a poisonous sound to his hearing.

He was falling deeper into the center of the abyss now, like a sinking ship being pulled down to the bottom of a sea. Down, down, down...

But then he was pulled back into the glowing frigid nightmare called the White Heart Abyss. Pulled back with brittle fingers made from shards of glass...the splinters ripped into his flesh, creating tiny flickers of pain. And the harshness of the white light tore into his eyes, forcing them shut, just to provide some small measure of relief from this misery.

"Open your eyes!"

Anakin held his eyes shut. The harlot could not command him to do anything.

Fingernails like daggers pierced his eyelids, and pulled them back, forcing his eyes open.

"You cannot hide." The Keeper floated before him, a beam of brilliant blue light that only served to make the white walls surrounding him even more unbearable to his vision.

She spun in a circle. Then the form stopped, and transformed into a column. One more shift, and it turned into a woman.: raven-haired, with pale skin of ivory; delicately boned, and small in stature; ethereal and poisonous.

She held out her arms, gathering him to her body like a mother embracing her child. "You were a blessing from the Force. But look at what you turned out to become...the ultimate curse." She reached out one finger to trace a dagger-nail around his throat. "You stupid boy. You are the one that did this to yourself."

He ripped himself out of her monstrous clasp. "It was not my fault. I was seduced by the Dark Side."

"Seduced by the Dark Side? Or seduced by that woman?" The Keeper smiled. "I have an idea. Watch now. I will become your beloved."

The corpse-pale face melted away, to be replaced by the familiar and lovely features of Padme.

But this face was false. He knew Padme was gone.

The Padme simulacrum drew back her hand across the face, and dug her dagger-nails into the flesh, drawing blood.

"These tears are her own. She cries in the pit, mourning for you." The Keeper laughed again, a shrill shriek of insane delight. "Even though you killed her! And those tears are what froze in her veins the moment she died. She died right in front of you that day, but you did not feel it."

"No! I did not kill her!"

"You do not remember? Then you must see once again what that day brought!" She pointed at one of the chamber's glaring walls of pure white.

On the wall, a vision began to form...and once more, he saw the nightmare. Of the molten world...then came her ship, descending into the place of hell where everything beautiful and glorious would end. And there was the encounter, then the confrontation...

"No, that did not happen!"

His black-gloved hand curled into claws, and unseen fingers tightened around her throat...she collapsed to the ground.

"She never came to Mustafar!" Anakin pointed to the wall. "That is a false vision!"

The Keeper smiled, a gentle and mocking blossom on her white lips. "Do you forget so easily? Of course this happened."

He turned his back on her. "You lie! I know the truth!"

She materialized in front of him, her hands folded at her stomach in the ancient symbol of prayer. "You cannot deny the truth. You killed her." Her voice lowered into a hiss. "Just as you destroyed so many others." Then the Keeper opened her hands. "That is what brought you here to the Abyss. And you made this prison for yourself. So you will remain here. And I will continue to show you the truth."

Anakin grimaced. "Lies are all you tell me. And all you show me. I know the truth. She did not die, and I was not the one who took her life."

The Keeper reached out and placed a death-cold hand on his arm. "You will come to know the truth. And you will see what a monster you are."

He spun around, looking for an exit out of this torture. "No! No more lies! I am not a monster! Let me go!" His gaze traced quick and frantic lines along the endless walls of white, seeking an exit.

But there was no way out. And no one could help him.

 

What an incredibly awesome nightmare. Glad you bumped it and updated it, I love every second of it. The part where one may think that Padmé is a symbol of dark side could be strange to a reader who does not pay attention...but then, boom, nightmare fuel and the denial of the whole evil = woman thing.

 

Thank you. That's the whole point of the Keeper in that particular part of the Netherworld: to function as a trickster deity who deceives. Of course her sister deity, the Mistress, is also capable of assuming another identity, although her reason for doing so is more nice. The next update will expand upon that idea.

 

I really like this concept.

 

Wow --- what a concept -- the Keeper.

 

That word again: Ani. And now yet another one that was not familiar...but there was a feeling...sins. Blood. Sins. The living essence pours out from the body at the end of life, that state which is called death, when all sins have been committed. Death comes most painfully to those who have created the most heinous sins.

"Pain is my truth. My sins are the reflection of my pain." His voice uttered those words. The first time he could remember having the ability to speak since...

I still have goose bumps on my arm from reading it. Please put me on your update list, even though I have so little time at present!

 

Thank you. It's not often one comes across the divided soul of a living person...I mean, sure, maybe there's one lurking somewhere in your pocket or maybe your refrigerator, but how can you ever be sure?

Also thank you. The Keeper has to be creepy, for obvious reasons. "She" has to function as the jailer of the conscious minds kept within the White Heart Abyss. Her entire purpose to is to torture for purification, if that makes sense. (My version of the GFFA afterlife is structured and chaotic at the same time).

Also also thank you, and I will certainly put you on the update list!

 

This must be one of the most disturbing things I have read on these boards. The concept of a divided soul in the Netherworld just has so much potential! I watched the thread and I certainly hope you continue

 

Thank you for reading this, and I'm sorry I'm just getting to a reply.

Disturbing is a twisted yet awesome compliment. That was only one part of my intention with the setting and the plot (*rubs hands and laughs nefariously ).

My idea for a divided soul came from years of studying various mystical...topics? (for lack of a better term). The final concept is a loose interpretation of the five parts of the soul from Egyptian mythology.

As for continuing this fic...hey, look, the next installment!

This particular section was inspired by this artwork of Anakin and Padme: Vader's Dream

Tag: @AzureAngel2
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A Prisoner Within His Dream

"Are you really here?"

"I'm always here, Ani."

“Here” was some perpetual midnight world of blue and silver with some touches of purple along the fringes. It wasn’t Anakin’s ideal version of a dream; his conscious self still craved the brilliant sunlight and green fields of those forever-gone days on Naboo. He sat with Padme on a small marbled globe (of course it wasn’t really his beloved, but the Mistress assuming her form to provide him some comfort). They were surrounded by the expanse of black water known as Bittersweet Dark. The sky was gloomy, striped with white, feathery clouds. A horned moon watched over the landscape of muted light and suspended hope.

He curled into her embrace. "Then why can't I stay with you? Nothing is bad when I'm here. I'm not in pain. I can remember who I am. You're still alive."

"This is a dream. You can always retreat here." Padme's simulacrum kissed Anakin's forehead. "But you cannot rest here."

"Because I'm split in half." His eyes opened to see the face of his beloved, even if it was not truly her face. "The divided man cannot become whole again until he finds his lost heart and becomes the good man once more." Anakin sighed. "It feels impossible."

"Everything is impossible but must be endured before you succeed."

"Are you channeling Master Yoda?"

Padme-in-form-only laughed. "That isn't possible. He isn't here."

"Of course not. He would be in the center of the universe with all the other dead Jedi."

"That isn't possible either. He isn't dead."

"I'm alone in the Netherworld."

"You always forget the passage of years. Nearly twenty years have passed in the Living World, Your dark counterpart is among those who walk in the lowest realm."

Anakin shuddered. "Vader. How can he still exist?"

"Because you were displaced from your body during the transformation."

"Transformation?"

"From the good man into a bad man." Anakin, the good man, was destroyed, split into a conscious being that remembered his identity, and an unconscious half who remembered nothing including his identity. The separated halves were condemned to wander in lonely places; the one who called himself Anakin drifted between the place of torture called The White Heart Abyss (where all dislocated beings were purified) and this little dream bubble where he could retreat into the arms of a creature who assumed the form of his beloved from a strange concept of charity. The shade who impersonated his wife was yet another manifestation of the Overseer who called herself "The Mistress". She belonged to the class of supernatural beings who oversaw the grand scheme of things in the Netherworld. This version of the Mistress was a guide, companion, and source of comfort.

Sometimes he remembered a volcanic planet where his life ended yet he still remained within life.... Mustafar was the place of ending and beginnings. Did a hand reach out to choke the life from Padme? Was it Anakin or Vader who killed her? But that vision felt unreal...some part of his memory knew Padme left Coruscant to give birth on some remote sanctuary world after he departed for Mustafar. Maybe that was some desperate hope instead of concrete truth? Maybe he really murdered the woman he loved?

"Did I kill her?"

The Padme simulacrum cast her gaze across the mist-covered water. "Truth matters so little on this side of the veil."

"But remembering if I killed her would help me become whole. Then I could leave here."

"Not until the final destruction of your mortal shell."

"Of course. But if I could remember, then my conscious and unconscious would be rejoined."

Padme kissed his brow. "Are you prepared to remember those days before the fall?"

Anakin closed his eyes. Visions of those years before he turned into the dark creature flashed in his hidden vision...they were faded, almost bleached white like bones in the desert. Another man lived in those memories, another man who danced upon the edge of good and evil. For so many years he lived within the balance, pulled so often toward the Light but many times drawn into the outer fringe of the Dark. That young apprentice felt alien, someone who belonged not only in the past but another reality. Yet strands of that long ago familiar stranger resonated in the conscious half who could recognize the name of Anakin Skywalker.

Anakin Skywalker, the communion of midichlorians from an unknown mystical source and flesh from an anonymous human woman became a monster with four strokes of a lightsaber. His destiny was clouded once the act of murder was committed. Two roads then existed for him: the path of a Jedi uneasily coexisted with a possible journey into the Sith realm. Every choice became a push toward Light or Dark. The balance of equal futures was intertwined with the balance of good and evil within the galaxy. For so long he fought temptation, resisted the pull away from peace and harmony represented by the Jedi and Padme. But darkness came for him when the dreams of her death began. He became vulnerable to the influence of the hidden Sith Lord, who spent decades hidden in plain sight as Palpatine. He took advantage of that vulnerable state to pull young Skywalker into his clutches. He planted false dreams into Anakin's nightly visions, before those final horrible dreams that preceded the transformation.

Anakin thought he could save Padme from death. But he could not save her...or himself from a living death.

"Is she alive?"

"Life can be defined in whatever fashion you choose."

"That doesn't answer my question."

"Her soul exists."

So much time was lost beyond this waiting place. His interminable stasis as the divided man while Vader took his physical form in the Living World...how much longer could he remain in the Netherworld? Would the poor shadow condemned to wander the Ash Valley remain forever separated from his conscious twin? If both halves of the man called Anakin Skywalker could be reunited, then Vader might be overcome.

"Victory and transformation only comes when you integrate with the dark creature. Vader remains connected to you because you are him and he is you."

“But I wouldn’t even know how to enter that monster’s psyche.”

The Mistress-as-Padme smile was gentle. “You are part of him, and he is part of you. There is darkness within both, yet there is also light. Both emotions are portals into each other.”

“But I don’t know where to find him.”

His companion tightened her embrace around Anakin. “Of course you do. He certainly knows where you are, and how to locate you. Vader has always known, but won’t come here because he realizes it will mean remembering everything.”

“Especially the good memories.”

“Yes, just as you are terrified of the bad memories. Two separate individuals who are really halves of one man must come together if that man wishes to leave this intermediary space and ascend.”

“You speak as if I’m climbing a mountain.”

“To escape from the Netherworld is the upward struggle from limbo into the higher planes, but is ultimately the return to yourself.”

 

Such a beautiful story! I love the duality of the Mistress and the Keeper, the light and the dark, the pain and the healing. Gorgeous.

 

Thank you! I like how you mentioned the duality of everything in this story. That's precisely what I'm going for so far, and heading toward ultimately (there are other dualities, such as master and apprentice, husband and wife...father and son).

 

I just re-read this story from the beginning and I'm so overwhelmed that I'm not too sure what to say. I think it was the contrast between "A Prisoner In The White Heart Abyss" and "A Prisoner Within His Dream" that knocked me out -- the nightmare and the dream. Yet the Keeper and the Mistress have more in common than what I thought at first sight, in the sense that they both expect Anakin's personality to re-unite into a single entity. Since twenty years have passed in the Living World, I imagine that the moment when this will happen is drawing closer, but I also imagine that there will be a struggle between the Mistress and the Keeper parts of Anakin's soul as to what direction it will take. This is simply amazing (and, yes, disturbing )

 

Thank you. The Mistress and the Keeper are both sides of the same coin, so to speak. The concept of duality is a huge component of the story, and in the case of the Mistress and the Keeper, it's like the yin-yang duality of sisters or the two faces of Janus. Their mutual expectation of unity for Anakin's psyche is the ultimate conclusion for any soul that is divided between the Living World and Netherworld.

 

Observers From The Otherworld
“Torn asunder, Anakin’s soul shall continue to be.” Yoda set the viewing sphere back upon the pedestal. The vista contained within the crystal globe was far too grim, even for him. The devastated wasteland of one realm, the painful brightness of another…

The Jedi thought they had known everything about the Force, including what came after the departure from the physical body. After the last breath, a soul centered in the Light would leave its fleshy home, and ascend into the Oneness.

But they were wrong.

There was a complicated yet functioning second world that existed beyond the reality of life. Knowledge of the Afterlife had once been common among most civilizations. But the rise of a thousand-year dominance of zealots during the Pius Dea Crusades pushed away this understanding. Some groups, like the Whills, were steadfast in their belief, and maintained archives about their discoveries into all matters of the Afterlife.

Eventually two Jedi found their way to a large group of Whills and learned the secret knowledge. When both Jedi died they became teachers to future individuals who wished to gain access to the hidden wisdom.

One particular Jedi, the maverick Qui-Gon Jinn, became a devout student. Unfortunately he couldn't learn enough during his lifetime to create a spirit body, but still learned how to maintain a connection with the Living World through vocal interaction. This communication allowed him to instruct the final remaining Jedi left alive after the fall of the Republic.

Nineteen years of lessons culminated in the ability for Obi-Wan to complete the transition from material to immaterial body after his death at the blade of Darth Vader.

Yoda, the unofficial master of both Jinn and Kenobi, was still a resident of the Living World, but was able to cross the barrier that separated the Two Worlds and interact with the departed men.

Obi-Wan reached out and drew the viewing sphere to his hand. “What is the nature of this place where his soul resides?”

“Not one location. His soul is not complete.” Master Yoda was patient. But this response was inadequate to the predicament Anakin seemed to be in.

“He’s made to suffer because he was a Sith?” He could see nothing in the sphere: only smoke, black and impenetrable. “We cannot leave him down there.” Anakin had been a good man. During the Clone Wars, he was the only shining light in the middle of that insane conflict; the Chosen One, blessed with midichlorians, became a legend, inspiring many to keep going even as the galaxy collapsed inward.

But then came implosion. Everything and everyone within the galaxy were taken under by the pull of the Dark Side. Anakin walked blindly into the lair of temptation provided by the hidden Sith Lord…but his inability to see into the heart of darkness was equaled by

“Forgiveness is not so easily granted.” The ethereal form of Qui-Gon Jinn emanated within the observation space."Redemption is necessary for the descended soul. The evolution of progress upward back into the Light requires direct intervention."

"Which neither one of us is equipped to do," Obi-Wan replied.

"The most effective contact would be from someone connected to him. Preferably a blood relation," Qui-Gon said.

"But neither Luke or Leia are ready. They don't know Anakin is their father," Kenobi replied. "And to bring up the matter while Luke is yet untutored in matters of the Force would be disastrous to his training."

Qui-Gon nodded. "Leia has no awareness of her potential, so she is not yet able to provide assistance." He contemplated a shifting landscape of blue-and-purple-tinged-with-gold flares light that surrounded the observation chamber. This room was a space formed by collective thoughts. Since a trio of Jedi decided to convene for a meeting, they gathered in a recreation of the Jedi Council Chamber. This was not their first gathering, but it was the most recent which occurred since Kenobi had been slain in a duel with his former padawan and the current object of discussion.

"There are a few beings who happen to be skilled intermediaries," Qui-Gon said. "One in particular was vital to my understanding of the Two Worlds."

"Sibylla Orien?" Kenobi peered out a false window at the band of shifting light.

"I do believe she has the necessary qualifications, based upon my experiences with her."

The woman in question was part of an elite group known as The Ascended, former living sentients who underwent various trials to become observers over affairs in the Two Worlds. Sibylla had existed within twenty-one physical incarnations, including such lifetimes as a professional gambler and Shaman of the Whills. Once she completed her final incarnation, the spirit that animated these various personalities performed the various rituals necessary to become a member of The Ascended. She then functioned as counselor to various individuals, including Jinn and Kenobi.

"She could also contact a former soul counselor who chose to assume a body to help Luke discover the Afterlife. Her experience combined with Sibylla's should prove beneficial to Anakin," Qui-Gon replied.

"Blood relations they are not," Yoda pointed out.

"But Meaithe will have contact with Luke in several years. She will be able to guide him into the lower realms."

"So Anakin will remain divided until the appropriate moment," Kenobi replied.

"Two individuals share one soul they do. Until one is destroyed the other separated must remain." Yoda frowned. "So focus upon the unification of Anakin and his dark side counterpart we cannot."

"Not for the present. He still must struggle to reunite his conscious and unconscious halves of his present self. Once that has been accomplished, only then can his son, and perhaps his daughter as well, help him ascend back into the Light."

 

I have re-read the first two chapters and read the newish one and the new one. At this point, my understanding is that you have elaborated and expanded on the concept of Whills and gave them both a backstory and some sort of a shapeshifting, distorted energy kind of a form. If the Keeper and the Mistress are not Whills, the other thing that they remind me of a lot are the overall feel of Inferno and Heaven from Dante's Divine Comedy. Love it how the common and uncommon concepts are being mixed and blended here, plus there is that mention of black waters that caught my eye. I'm a big fan of the said part of Revelation and the symbolism it gave to modern history.

A Prisoner Within His Dream
For some reason, I'm getting a Shmi vibe from the Mistress here. She may be taking the form of Padmé, but it appears that she has something in common with every character Anakin was ever close to, regardless of how emotionally distant his life made him. The empyrean-ish setting is perfect in terms of colours, it's kind of...watercoloury, too.

"This is a dream. You can always retreat here." Padme's simulacrum kissed Anakin's forehead. "But you cannot rest here."
I can't stand Hotel California, but this reminds me of it.

Trippy, trippy, trippy...is not-Padmé implying that anybody can occupy any body? A strong similarity to your Obi-Wan/OC story from some months ago, where there were hints of such concept. Good and bad in everything and everybody, everybody in everything and every body...goosebumps. Real goosebumps.

“To escape from the Netherworld is the upward struggle from limbo into the higher planes, but is ultimately the return to yourself.”

This is almost universally applicable to every single torment that plagues a person for a long time.

Observer From The Otherworld
This is a very fine parallel to how people were more inclined to believe in mystical and esoteric concepts in our world as well; plus it's a lesson in the history of Afterlife in the GFFA far better than an awkward list of links and references. And Yoda appears to have a long memory, even though his own faction, the Jedi, have oversimplified these complex beliefs.

Ha, there she is - Sibylla Orien!

Obi-Wan, in his conversation with Yoda, seems to be reinforcing the said beliefs. I assume the way ahead of him is quite a hill to climb, given that he will be the first to create a spirit body for himself, which - in some way - surpasses Yoda's ability to communicate with such bodies. Since this is a gradation, a crescendo, that means that despite, how grim it is right now, Anakin's journey will be the most impressive: he has to connect the conscious and unconscious halves of himself, leave the Netherworld for one more time to redeem himself and save Luke, and only then join his former comrades. Just...bloody brilliant!

 

Quite a journey that you have put him on... one he cannot achieve all by himself. He indeed needs spiritual guidance. Perhaps it is even better that his future guide is not connected to him through bloodlines.

 

There is something creepy to the idea that Yoda, Qui-Gon and Obi-Wan are watching Anakin's struggle with the duality he trapped himself in. With every chapter, it feels a bit more like his soul isn't truly his in the first place.

It's interesting how in this universe the lines between life and death are blurred. Besides the fact that dead Jedi get to interact with the living, we also have Anakin already in the afterlife even though he isn't dead and Yoda who can access this immaterial recreation of the Jedi Coucil chamber and the viewing device that enables them to see (or rather, not to see) the netherworld(s) where Anakin is trapped. I liked the way you varied between the present tense in the dialogue (the actual moment, between ANH and TESB), the past tense ("he was a Sith") and the future tense ("Meaithe will have contact with Luke in several years") to express the idea that the various moments in time somehow merge.

And Sibylla is back! You already know from my comments elsewhere how much I like this character, and I'm happy to see her in this story too. Out of curiosity, was this all planned out, or did you create her for the Han Solo story and then she took a life of her own?

I'm very, very curious to see where this story will go now -- for starters, to which other part of the world of the living or the dead we will be jumping next time. So I'll be here waiting for the next update, although I can imagine that, with a story like this one, writing even a small update must take time.

(typed up during the morning coffee break at work, please forgive any typos)

 

Thanks for reading.

Now replies shall commence...

The Keeper and Mistress are not Whills, but a group of eternal immortal beings called The Overseers. This group are supervisors of the Living World, tasked with keeping track of affairs and making sure certain predestined events occur. The Whills are a religious order who have reincarnated multiple times and remember all incarnations. They also have direct communication with the Afterlife and understanding of every lifetime their souls have inhabited. Many Whills become members of The Ascended, yet another group of observers who directly interact with the Living World.


A basic chart of these particular groups is the following:

1. The Overseers
2. The Ascended
3. The Whills

One particular example of the order of things as demonstrated by one individual:

Sibylla Orien ends up as one of The Ascended.

In Sibylla's final lifetime, she was named Nellith Kaido, and she was a Whills shaman.

(This is the same actress [Eva Green] that I use as the physical model for Sibylla/Nellith. Sibylla assumes the physical appearance of her last lifetime and uses the name of her first lifetime when interacting with people in the Living World like Han or Obi-Wan).

The Mistress in her capacity as Overseer means she can take on the characteristics the afflicted soul needs to comfort them. The setting was influenced by the painting which inspired this particular installment.

Anyone can inhabit any body. That is how reincarnation works in my GFFA. It's not simple karma. The process is entirely random, not based upon choices or actions. You can have a choice over how many lifetimes you have to endure.But that's only if you are on a grand trajectory along the path of your previous lifetimes. Either way no one ever remembers any of their previous incarnations unless they undergo a major spiritual and mental process that threatens their physical sanity. Very few have been able to integrate memories of every incarnation into their consciousness while alive.

Obi-Wan is the first living being to create a spirit body for himself since the decline of common knowledge about this technique once existed among early Jedi. So he is the first to create a spirit body in the modern era.

Anakin has definitely been on a journey ever since his identity was consumed by the Darth Vader persona.

The Jedi aren't the only ones watching (or trying to watch) Anakin's struggle.The Overseers have a particular interest in Anakin due to his Chosen One status.It's still creepy because they are running a metaphysical experiment where the consciousness and soul is involved.

The connection between life and death is impenetrable yet permeable.The case of Anakin's divided soul is unique because of his half-living status.The merging of time periods is typical of any space that exists beyond the physical universe.

Sibylla was created in bits and pieces over the years. Originally I had one character who acted as intermediary between the Living World and the Afterlife. That was Meaithe. But she generally interacts with the lower levels of the Afterlife, because she chose to work in the Living World to spread knowledge of the Afterlife back among the living. So I needed someone who could interact with the higher levels. Hence the origin of Sibylla.

Where this story is going on...well, I have no idea.I never had a formal outline for this story because it was intended to be a single chapter story. Expanding it happened when I got the idea for the third chapter. But now i have no idea where to go next. Anyone got some good ideas?

 

Wow, such deep concepts, perfectly worked out. I had to read them twice, just to make sure I really understood.

 

There is a lot to cover in this story. But right now I've run out of ideas in order to complete it.