Timeframe: Shortly after Council briefing
Setting: Planet Nizorad – Landing site, Obsidian ruins, Keeper Citadel
Arrival on Nizorad
The planet greeted them with silence.
As the ship descended through low-hanging silver clouds, Cain stood near the viewport, eyes fixed on the surface.
Jagged black ridges lined the terrain like ancient bones. Beneath them: a sprawling ruin, overgrown with moss and metallic vines.
"Nizorad," Serra said beside him. "Looks like a graveyard."
"No," Cain murmured. "It's a library with no doors."
Master Fay stood at the cockpit, radiating calm. "This place was sealed in the time before the High Republic. The Keepers of the Balance believed in harmony—not suppression. The Council feared their philosophies would blur the lines too far."
Cain turned. "So they buried them."
Fay didn't deny it.
"They erased their name from history. But the Force never forgets."
Ruins of the Keepers
The three disembarked with only what they could carry—no droids, no outside tech.
The entrance to the ruins stood ahead: a temple fused into a mountain, its spires long broken. Carvings of Jedi and Sith figures stood together, both holding their sabers down, palms open.
Cain placed a hand on the stone.
Peace is not the absence of passion… but its mastery.
That wasn't Jedi. That was Keeper doctrine.
Inside, the hallways pulsed with dormant energy. Light flickered from braziers with no flame. Doors responded not to touch—but emotion. The deeper they went, the more alive the temple became.
Serra pressed her hand to a door—nothing.
Cain closed his eyes, felt the room, and said softly: "Gratitude."
The door opened.
Serra blinked. "These ruins respond to feelings?"
Fay nodded. "The Keepers believed the Force reacts to internal truth, not outward control."
Trial of Self – The Mirror Path
Deeper into the ruins, they reached a circular room with mirrored walls. The door sealed behind them.
"Another puzzle?" Serra asked.
"No," Cain said. "A test."
Their reflections shimmered—and began moving on their own.
Cain's mirror-self spoke first: "You speak of saving others. But can you accept that not all can be saved?"
Serra's mirrored voice hissed: "You fear weakness, but run from vulnerability. When will you admit you want to be more than just strong?"
Cain stood his ground, heart steady. "I'm not here to force the future. I'm here to offer it a choice."
Serra stepped forward, hands balled into fists—but then… slowly relaxed. "I don't want to lead alone. I don't want to fall just to prove I can stand."
The mirrors calmed. The exit opened.
Fay stood smiling outside.
"Both of you just passed a test most Jedi Masters would have failed."
Planting the Seeds
After hours of exploration, the three stopped to rest near a garden chamber—once tended, now overrun. Wild flowers had broken through stone, curling around old datapads and ceremonial benches.
Cain sat with Serra across from Fay.
"This place… it proves something," he said quietly. "The Force isn't about sides. It's about integration. These people lived it."
Fay inclined her head. "Yes. That's why the Order feared them. They didn't follow the Code. They rewrote their own."
Serra leaned forward. "Why aren't we learning from this? Why are we hiding it?"
Cain answered before Fay could.
"Because the Order's afraid. It teaches suppression as discipline. Detachment as enlightenment. But what if we could be more?" He looked directly at them. "What if we loved and didn't fall? What if we felt, but never broke?"
Serra stared at him. "That's… dangerous."
"And true," Fay added softly. "And maybe necessary."
Cain stood, turning to the cracked Keeper symbol on the wall.
This is how it begins. Not with rebellion. But with remembrance.
Not with war. But with a whisper.
The Heart of the Citadel
At the citadel's heart, they found the final room—one filled with floating stones, memory crystals, and faded journals.
One crystal activated at Cain's touch.
A projection of a Keeper Master appeared, his robes gray and gold, his saber unignited.
"To whoever finds this: we are not lost. We are simply waiting. We do not deny the dark. We do not worship the light. We honor the Force as it is—whole, breathing, ever-shifting."
"If you seek to build a new Order… remember this: truth is balance. Balance is truth."
Cain stepped back, the words ringing in his bones.
Serra whispered, "That's what you want to build, isn't it?"
Cain didn't answer.
Because the Force already had.