Chapter 4: Divergent Paths

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The Present:

Like a black tide the mind of the woman once known as Buffy Summers flooded into Faith’s thoughts and ripped through her defences like they weren’t even there. The Force, Faith remembered being told, is an energy field that connects all living things. Like magic, only more potent and far more seductive and dangerous. The Empress Sumar used the Force to push her own mind into Faith’s, intending to find out anything and everything the younger woman knew.

In an instant Sumar saw everything that had transpired in the world she left behind. How Faith became leader of the Slayers, how an army of Chosen Ones pushed back the forces of darkness almost to extinction.

Sumar’s chuckles echoed through the corridors of Faith’s mind.

“Not so different, are we?” she mused, her thoughts like words to Faith. “You brought order to our world, I brought order to this one. We were given power and we used it.”

“I am nothing like you,” Faith tried to scream, but her words fell silent.

“No, you are not, little sister. Not yet. You are still afraid to use your power to its fullest extent. You are scared of becoming like those you extinguish, not realizing you are and always will be so much more than they could ever hope to be. We are masters of our own destiny, but you are content with the position of a slave to those so-called Powers.”

Faith wanted to answer, wanted to deny, but Sumar pierced every barrier she put up, dredged up every single bit of frustration and self-doubt Faith ever experienced and shoved it into her face.

“They gave you power and expect you to fight and die to protect their precious balance. An entire life spent and what is the best you can hope to accomplish? That everything remains as it is. No better, no worse, just the same. Is that what you want written on your tombstone, Faith? ‘She saved the status quo a lot?’ Is that going to be your requiem?”

Her blood seemed to freeze as dark wings spread through her mind, her very soul. Thoughts and memories not her own spilled into her consciousness, forcing her to see, to hear, to experience.

“You still can’t believe it’s me, right?” Sumar laughed. “You want to know how I became this way, little sister? Watch and learn!”

--

Twenty years ago:

She has been in this stupid world for two years now. Two years of fighting yet another war she has never chosen. But then again, when was she ever allowed to choose? She is the Chosen One, isn’t she? Meaning someone else did the choosing, not her. Never her.

“Beautiful, isn’t it?” the man beside her says, distracting her from her thoughts.

Glancing to her side, she takes a moment to study the man called Palpatine. As Supreme Chancellor of the Republic he is arguably the most powerful man in this galaxy. And it is her job to protect him. A job given to her by the Jedi Council. Oh, and how she has started to hate Councils of all sorts. They are never any good.

Two years since she was sent here with a mission: Find the evil mage known as Darth Sidious before he can... well, do something really bad or something. She didn’t really pay all that much attention, she’d still been too furious. They’d ripped her out of her own world, denied her what should have been her final death and return to the peace she’d once known. And they expected her to follow orders like a good little girl.

And the worst thing? She is a good little girl. She is following orders. At this point in time she isn’t sure whether it’s those stupid Powers or herself she’s more annoyed with.

“I’m not a big fan of opera,” she answers Palpatine, who was referring to the performance they are here to watch. Or he’s here to watch, more precisely. She’s here to protect him, because they are rumours that Darth Sidious and/or the Confederacy leaders are planning to kidnap and/or kill Palpatine.

She kind of hopes they give it a try. Maybe then she can finally find and kill this Sidious and return home. If they let her. If they haven’t thought of something else for her to do by now.

“No, I imagine the kind of life you have led left very little time for the beautiful things,” Palpatine says, his voice dripping sympathy.

Palpatine is one of but a handful of people outside the Jedi Council who know her story. Where she came from, why she’s here, how she’s different from the Jedi she pretends to belong to. It was necessary to inform him, even though the Jedi weren’t too wild about it, seeing as he had to accept her as bodyguard.

“I don’t need your pity,” she replies sharply. For some reason she can’t quite figure out her temper has grown more and more vicious over the last few months. Whether it’s her growing frustration, the endless carnage of the Clone Wars, or something else she can not say.

“I do not offer pity,” Palpatine replies serenely. “I am just curious. I have long studied the Jedi and their powers. I have come to understand a great many things about them. And I can’t really understand why you try to fit into their rather rigid system of rules and regulations.”

“What do you mean?” she asks, confused.

“The Jedi, for all the good they have done for this galaxy, are a dying breed. Their numbers have dwindled even before the war began to take its toll. Unsurprising, really. Any society as inflexible and opposed to change as they are will sooner or later fade from the pages of history.”

Seeing he has caught her interest, he continues. “Take the Force, for example. The Jedi profess to be masters of it, but are they really? They rigidly cling to what they perceive as the light side of the Force and forbid everything that might even hint at the dark side. No emotions are allowed, all personal attachments forbidden. Is it really any wonder they can’t seem to find this Lord of the Sith they seek so desperately? That they can’t seem to overcome the dark side of the Force? How can you overcome an enemy if you refuse to learn anything about him? How can you defeat someone when you avoid all knowledge that might aid you?”

Palpatine’s words stir something inside herself. In so many ways the Jedi are like the Council of Watchers. They have been given stewardship of a great power. They have learned some aspects of it and are content with that. They cling to rules and regulations laid down thousands of years ago, no matter how stupid or outdated they are. They forbid attachments; they see the world in black and white.

The Watchers Council would have killed Angel if they could have, she knows that. They would have killed Faith, too, if she hadn’t stopped them. They would have had her kill Willow as well, had they known about her attempt to end the world.

And always they use others as tools, not interested in what they might want out of life. The Powers are just like these two Councils, she realizes. No one ever asked her what she wanted. No one.

“What do you want?” Palpatine asks, starting her. “What would you do if you didn’t have to serve these masters of yours?”

“I... I have no idea,” she admits. When was the last time anyone has ever asked her that question?

Palpatine rests a hand on her shoulder and for some reason the contact seems to make her feel... lighter. Less confined.

“There is great power inside you, Buffy Summers,” he says. “I am no Jedi, but I can sense it. Power that is both light and dark. It accepts no rigid definition. It can not be labelled. If you were to open yourself to it, you would no longer be a slave, but master of your own destiny.”

Ever since coming here she has felt it in the back of her mind. The allure of power. The Force, as she has come to know it. The Jedi have taught her how to access the light side. Impressive, but really nothing she hasn’t seen before. Moving objects with your mind, getting visions, influencing the weak-willed people. Willow could do most of what these Jedi can and much more besides.

She has always felt that there is more power out there, but she has shied away from it. The Powers warned her against it, this ‘dark side’ as they call it. The Jedi did so, too. And she is Buffy Summers, after all. She doesn’t do the bad things. She kills even her own lover if he slips into darkness. She battles her best friend if she happens to become evil. She is the warrior of the light. The darkness is her enemy.

Now, though, she wonders.

“You have so much left to learn about yourself and the power you have been given, Buffy Summers,” Palpatine says. “Do you really think you can learn it from the Jedi? Do you really think they will allow you to learn it?”

--

The Present:

“He was correct,” Sumar laughed as the memory swept over Faith. “The dark side offered me powers the likes of which I had never even imagined. It is my emotions that give me strength. The Jedi always denied their emotions. The Watchers shaped their Slayers into mindless automations with no connection to the world. The Powers want nothing but faithful champions that do their bidding for the so-called greater good.”

“You are ranting like a comic-book villain, B,” Faith chokes out, barely able to retain any coherent thoughts before the onslaught of Sumar’s black mind.

“And what if I am, Faith? I am free, finally free. I am my own master. I have been given power and I use it as I see fit. I shape this world to my own design and one day soon I will find the means to return to Earth and do the same there. No more balance, no more small victories. Mine is a world of order.”

“In which you decide who lives and who dies? Who died and made you God, B?”

Sumar laughs and the sound causes Faith almost physical pain.

“No one ever ‘makes’ you God, Faith. You can only do that yourself.”

Whatever reply Faith would have thought off was cut off as Sumar resumed her merciless rummaging through Faith’s mind. No stone was left unturned, no memory left alone, even as Faith was forced to watch scene after scene of Buffy descending into darkness.

Finding out Palpatine was Darth Sidious and joining him instead of telling the Jedi, always with the intent of killing him once she had enough power to do so.

Being introduced to the dark side, which spoke to the demonic power of the Slayer inside of her.

Forging more and more power from the pent-up hatred and frustration Buffy harboured for so very long.

Killing the Jedi, whose refusal to acknowledge their own darkness proved to be their downfall.

Finally toppling Palpatine, who realized too late that he had unleashed a power even someone as mighty as him had no hope of controlling or taming.

Becoming Empress and subduing a galaxy.

“Seen enough?” Sumar finally asked as Faith felt her sanity threaten to break like cheap glass.

“How could you become like this?” Faith whispered, tears rolling down her cheeks where she was held immobile in Sumar’s throne room.

“How could I not? You were my role-model, little sister. You weren’t afraid of your power, you revelled in it. The only difference is that I didn’t allow it to destroy me. I took control of it and now I am free.”

Faith felt Sumar’s mind wrap around hers like a dark shroud, an embrace both gentle and ice-cold at the same time.

“Join me, Faith! Stick it to the Powers! I can teach you what it really means to be the Slayer. And really, learning all that I have learned is the only way you even have a chance in Hell of beating me.”

Faith cried out in denial even as she felt the truth in Sumar’s words. One could not defeat the darkness without getting to know it. Hadn’t she already learned that lesson?

“You will join me,” Sumar whispers to her. “In time.”

Back in the solid world Faith suddenly found herself free of the terrible force that held her still, crumbling to the ground in a boneless heap.

“Take her away,” she heard Sumar order the red guards. “I will deal with her later.”

As she was dragged away like a sack of potatoes, Faith heard Sumar’s parting words.

“And don’t worry about Kenobi, Faith. I will let him know you are well.”

End Chapter 4