There was no light.
No sound.
Only the crushing weight of stillness.
Eli Kaen floated in an endless void, his body unbound by gravity or time. There was no sensation, no form, just a strange numbness crawling across every inch of his being. Yet, despite the void, he was aware—more aware than he had ever been.
Then came the voice.
Not loud. Not soft. It reverberated within him, as though the words were etched directly onto the walls of his soul.
"A shadow rises beneath the Order's roots. One who walks both paths — chosen not by prophecy, but by paradox."
Eli turned, or thought he did, the directionless space making every motion feel futile. There was no source. The voice came from everywhere and nowhere all at once. It was ancient, genderless, layered like dozens of whispers moving through different times and places.
"He will stand at the gates of ruin, carrying lives not his own."
Something pulsed in the distance.
A light. A ripple.
Eli reached toward it instinctively, and the void around him began to crack like glass touched by flame. Behind those fractures, a strange realm bloomed into view—a place unlike anything he had ever seen.
It stretched forever.
A network of glowing pathways suspended in a starless sky, each thread pulsing with energy and time. Shadows danced along the threads—some slow, others rapid. Doors floated across the lattice, some open, some sealed. Visions flickered through them. People. Places. Moments.
He didn't know how he knew it, but he did.
This was not a dream.
It was something... beyond.
"And should he awaken too soon, the galaxy will burn brighter… and faster."
The voice returned, more urgent now.
Eli's breath caught, though he wasn't breathing.
The light of the pathways began to twist, rotating slowly, as if responding to his presence. Some doors flickered open. He saw flashes—a boy with a green lightsaber, a twin sunset, a masked warrior igniting a red blade in the snow. Another door showed himself.
But older.
Scarred. Eyes haunted. Standing alone before a ruined Temple.
"You walk a narrowing path," the voice warned. "Find your footing, or you shall fall."
The vision began to recede. Light dimmed. Doors closed.
"Eli Kaen... choose."
A scream of wind tore through the void—a scream of memory, grief, and failure—and he was falling, tumbling through shadows and stars and silence until—
—he woke.
The familiar ceiling of the Jedi Temple greeted him.
The stone above his bed. The soft hum of Coruscant beyond the windows.
But the moment he opened his eyes, something was wrong.
He was angry.
Not just irritated or frustrated—furious.
Rage pulsed beneath his skin like a second heartbeat. He sat up with a jolt, breaths ragged, fists clenched at his sides. His body trembled, his thoughts whirling in chaos.
Ryen. Gone.
Everything lost. Again.
His chest burned.
He wanted to scream.
To break.
Fifthteen loops. Fifthteen deaths. Fifthteen lives lived and lost in a never-ending spiral. And for what? No progress. No way out. Only more pain.
Tavi stirred beside him, groggy.
"Eli...? What's wrong?"
Eli stood.
His hands sparked with raw Force energy. He didn't mean to do it. It was just there. The power surged from him unbidden, wild and unrefined.
Niyala sat up too, eyes wide with confusion and fear. "Eli? Are you okay?"
He wasn't. Not even close.
The door to their quarters burst open. Master Tallis stood in the frame, robes hastily thrown on, eyes locked on Eli.
"No! Eli, stop this!"
Her voice cut through the air like a blade.
Another figure entered behind her—a Mirialan Jedi Master named Vathen Rin, one of the overseers of the younglings. He took one look at Eli, then quickly moved toward the other children.
"Come," Master Rin said gently, urgency beneath his voice. "We need to step outside. Now."
Tavi looked up, confused. "But—"
"Now."
The younglings hesitated, then followed as he led them out. Eli didn't notice.
His vision was red.
Master Tallis approached slowly, hands raised. "You're angry. I can feel it. The Force is screaming through you, Eli. You need to breathe. You need to let it go."
He couldn't.
"I lost him," Eli hissed, voice cracking. "I lost everything. I tried so hard. It didn't matter."
Tears burned at the corners of his eyes, but the anger wouldn't release him.
Tallis knelt, keeping her hands where he could see them. Her face was filled with pain—not fear, not judgment.
"You are strong. But you are still a child. It is not weakness to feel, Eli. It is weakness to let those feelings consume you."
"I have nothing left!"
His scream cracked through the Force like a shattering stone. The walls around him groaned. A training orb exploded in the corner of the room, showering sparks.
Tallis flinched but didn't retreat.
"That is not true," she said, firm. "You have us. You are not alone."
Eli fell to his knees.
He couldn't stop shaking.
His breath came in short, frantic gasps. The fire inside still raged, but it was cracking. Breaking apart.
Tallis reached out slowly.
"Let me help you."
He didn't pull away.
She placed a hand on his shoulder, and the room finally began to still.
No words passed for a long time.
Outside, the younglings waited in the hall with Master Rin, peeking in with wide, uncertain eyes.
Master Tallis held him as he trembled, not speaking, just present. Whatever was happening to him, she didn't know the truth—but she felt its weight in the Force. Felt something shifting in the boy before her.
Eli remained silent, eyes fixed on the floor.
He didnt know what it was.
But he understood he had seen something beyond his current understanding.