Chapter Text
These Inquisitors can not be left alive. They've likely already called in these two Jedi and....is that Ahsoka Tano? What fun....oh, what fun!
It is a quick fight, and at least Ezra is staring at me with his jaw to the floor. I grin, returning my lightsaber to its temporary use as my walking cane.
"What game are you playing, Maul?" Ahsoka asked me bitterly.
"How insulting," I teased. If only this had been years earlier....I might've had enough energy then to think of something more clever to say. I'm off my mark....I can feel the madness gnaw at the edges of my consciousness.
Suddenly it's not so clear to me anymore....what was it again? Kenobi, Kenobi....it's always Kenobi. This insanity that plagues me....it and Kenobi are one and the same. Where once his name only angered me, now it bleeds with this sickness and my Mother is no longer here to relieve me of it....
I feel a sharp pain in my arm, and then it lessens. Someone has a hold of me....
Everything comes back into focus suddenly. The Jedi is giving me an odd look. He's the one that's caught me, holding me on me feet by my arm. I wrench it out of his grasp defensively- I despise being touched.
Ahsoka is frowning, still distrusting though quizzical, and Ezra seems worried and very confused. He did assume I was a feeble old Zabrak not moments ago....but he wasn't wrong about the 'old' part. I shake my head. "....Ask me again in a few minutes. I'm just getting old is all...." I mutter.
Kanan grimaces. "So you're useless, then?"
Ezra defends me. "No he's not! We just fought off all those Inquisitors together- and he knows how to make the Artifact work!"
"Artif- yes! The Temple!" I say suddenly. Kanan does not seem impressed.
"Only a Sith can access a Sith Artifact, Ezra," he scolds.
Ahsoka gives him a glance. She knows who I once was.
Once was? Still, aren't I? No- no! "The Sith must die!" I spit. "We have a common enemy, you and I. This Artifact contains the knowledge we need, and I can help you access it."
Ezra looks as though he's putting the pieces together. I halt his progress.
"The Temple is the key- if we get the Holocrom to that section there and activate the Temple, then you can activate the Holocron. No Sith necessary," I falsely promise.
Ahsoka is still glaring daggers. She doesn't believe me. Clever little lost Padawan, very clever....
"I say we trust him," Ezra presses. Kanan looks as if he's about to disagree, but Ahsoka interjects.
"I've made that mistake once....but it hasn't always ended poorly," she admits, much to my surprise.
And here I thought I'd have to get rid of her, too.
No, no....Vader is coming. He will arrive sooner than later....we're running out of time.
"Vader....he will be here soon, I am certain of it. We must move quickly," I urge them. "His dogs will tell him everything, and the rest he can sense. There is no hiding from him. But perhaps working together, we might defeat him."
"That would end this war for good....destroy the Empire," Kanan agrees finally. "Fine. We will go with you, but you are not one of us. Don't ever say 'we' again."
"So bitter, Jedi. This could be fun, for all you know," I taunt as I begin to lead them.
....
The last Inquisitor decides to attempt retreat, but their weapon fails them mid-air and the fall to their death screaming.
"Where's Ezra?!" Kanan demands, his voice drenched in something familiar....
My twisted mind isn't working how it has been these last few decades....different things come to mind, and the exertion from the fighting has brought forth parts of my past I was sure I buried. Or has this madness buried them for me?
"Your Padawan is safe, Kanan. He is already in the Temple, waiting," I explain. I could've sworn I had something different in mind....where has my malice gone? Where is my mind?
Ahsoka watches me as I scan the floor between us for answers. "Maul....what's going on in that head of yours?" She asks, though....it lacks the animosity.
I look up at her in confusion. "What do you mean?" I ask, as suddenly my train of thought has vanished. I look truly confused, concerned, and my voice....a reflection of my aging mind, no doubt.
The Togruta seems to catch on. "Do you know where we are?" She asks me calmly. The man beside her gives her a look I can't quite read.
I am fearful, I am lost....
"No....no, where am I? Who are you?" I demand.
A sharp pain strikes my head, and I kneel. Everything swirls around violently, it shakes me. My plot for revenge flashes across my mind, but then....Ezra. I asked him to be my apprentice....but suddenly Ezra isn't a child anymore, he's not even a man. Beneath a claw of metal, pinned to the floor, is a different face, a different body. He is massive in height and muscle, his skin a golden color, his eyes are just like mine. Similar clothes, taller horns, different markings....but he is from Dathomir, that much I can see.
"And you are my Apprentice," I say, stepping off of him and letting him rise. He nods to me respectfully.
"Of course, Brother."
Reality doesn't rush back to me like being pulled from water. No, this time it snaps back violently with a crash and I gasp for air on a cold and dark ledge.
Ahsoka has knelt beside me, and I push her away. "Get away from me!!" I growl through my teeth. The ache of age in my bones wreaks havoc on the organs inside, my lungs heave and I cough wretchedly. "-Curse this old body! Curses...." I seethe, and Kanan now has knelt too.
"This is the last of your years, isn't it?" He asks me quietly.
There. That! Something about that....I have sensed my end, I knew it!
I nod vigorously. "Yes! Yes....I have felt my death in the distance. But I've lost something....I had it in mind, I was trying....no, the....you told me it was some game," I say, towards Ahsoka. She gives me a sympathetic look, and she and Kanan exchange a glance.
"You're not trying to trick us, are you?" Kanan asks, rather than accuses.
I frown. "I can't remember....knowing myself, I likely would've been, but....no use now. We're almost out of time....we were going about something with haste," I remind them, hopefully they should return the favor. Instead, they nod, help me to my feet, and we continue.