<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> In the kingdom of Now<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

<!--EZCODE CENTER START--><!--EZCODE CENTER END-->



*The black blade pierced flesh as quietly and quickly as it was ignited, the victim not even having a chance to <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> scream<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> out.*

*The irony touched the assailant’s lips slightly.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ..another poetry spewing self proclaimed evil person...Sith...Dark Jedi? it didn’t really matter.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*He sighed and walked away from the body and opened the electronic shutters letting the light fall upon his rather plain yet orderly clothes of a house servant.*

*How many times during the victim’s meditation had he intruded....dressed as a simple servant? It was amazing really.*

*The victim did not recognize his presence at first and was suspicious. Then... yes, then, there was danger. For five days he moved in the shadow of the victim, carrying on his servantly duties. Until the victim grew acustomed to his presence; when, in meditation, the victim would <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> not question<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> his presence.*

*He entered the room a familiar person to the victim so there was no need for probes, no need to interrupt whatever went on in his mind during his meditation times. And that was
all Perrin needed.*

*Granted, one might call his act as cowardly....<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> dishonorable?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> He laughed to himself in wry amusement.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Sith and Dark Jedi.. paraded around with their "evil" plots and yet still frowned on things that appeared underhanded toward their person.

Just as a Jedi would.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


*He looked down on the street below and watched the simple merchants and population of the city move around going about their daily routine. Among the masses, he spotted a young man and woman under a canopy talking.*

*The woman was flirting slightly and the man was putting on a half adequate display of the usual male "dumbness". An amazing ritual really.*

*The couple, in themselves were unremarkable, but the image made Perrin think back to the courtships of those so-called "dark" individuals.*

*They groped around for some fairy tale in their meaningless existence never realizing that what they really were desiring was a tiny bit of light in their dismal life.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> What sweet nothings would they say to each other?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->, Perrin wondered. <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> I love the way you hate? I love the way you kill? I love the way you are evil?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*The ridiculousness of the thought brought a soft laugh to the surface and he almost left the window when a bright reflection caught his eye.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> lightsaber..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*Perrin looked out at the familiar robes of a Jedi Padawan.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Were the old robes some misbegotten attempt at humility?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->.

*Perrin shrugged to himself for it was common knowledge that Jedi Padawans were anything but humble.*

*The proud looking 16 year old moved through the crowd reeking of confidence.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Why do they train pups so young? These welps know nothing of the galaxy.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*He increased his awareness and found the presence of several unidentified shapes, force masks probably. He sighed.*

*Many had the erroneous concept that anyone who employed such a tactic would be unnoticeable. However, it’s not so much the tactic itself that allows others not to see or percieve them as it is the fact that noone really is looking.*

*He turned and moved over to the fallen dead body of the person he had just killed and turned it over with his foot.*

*Then he went over to a basin of water, took a towel and wet it. Walking back to the body, he knelt down and using the rag, he started to wipe the paint off the face of the
body.*

"That’s better," he murmured to the body. "Never be ashamed of who you are.."

*He grinned, tossed the towel on the body, and drew out an small mechanical timepiece.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Time enough for the padawan before dinner.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*He changed out of the house servants garb and into something far more appropriate for the task at hand... the garments of a street urchin.*

*Connecting the saber to a strap at the small of his back, he exited the house and merged with the native masses.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ..abase... abate.. abattoir...<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*the thoughts moving across his mind like a ticker..*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Elsewhen<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


*Dinner of a lightly glazed meat entré was finished as Perrin stretched out his legs and looked over a quaint iron fence to the dark river flowing past the secluded eatery. The fuzzy lighting spaced along the walk cast irregular blurs upon the body of water giving the impression of oily slickness.*

*Curiosity seemed to hold his attention upon a shadow of an individual totally ignoring the water. His gaze pierced the darkness of the evening identifiying the figure as a female, obviously in distress. He finally sighed, stood, straightened his immaculately pressed casual suit and walked over to her.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Why is it when people presume to be alone, they go out in public?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->, he thought noticing that she was sniffling.

*His eyes, though, suddenly took on an air of worry, his expression and demeaner changing immediately to match her sad mood. She was standing near the water’s edge staring out yet seeing nothing. Perrin knew that gaze having seen it many times in others before.*

"..are you alright?" he softly inquired, seating himself near her on a stone bench. His hand feeling the soft grit on the stone, as if wiping a spot for her to accept unconsciously.

*The young woman turned to the stranger but upon seeing total concern for her welfare on his face, she forced a strong front to the fore, starting to halt the tears.*

*Perrin smiled inwardly at the display*

"A... a.. friend of mine died today." she finally relented as he handed her a small handkerchief.

*Perrin could tell that this was no <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> mere<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> friend she spoke of.*

"He must have meant a great deal to you." he let out, in the most compassionate and reassuring of tones possible, sliding slightly away from her on the bench.

*The gesture worked for now that she had gotten a taste of compassion she was not about to let it slip away. She moved closer to Perrin, sitting down beside him and continued talking, the breach in silence widening ever greater between sobs.*

"..he was a Jedi...very powerful..he was ..was going to take me to Naboo."


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Why do visions of that young Padawan come to mind?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*He smiled warmly slipping his jacket around her as the night grew a bit chilly. As she continued to release pent up frustration he realized that <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> her Jedi<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> was younger than she. That the Jedi had promised to take care of her and spoke of it often when she shared his bed. This offer would especially appeal to her since her parents both died in an accident when she was young.*

*Perrin stared at her features in disguised interest and soon saw past the honest yet factitious mask to her true sorrow. It was true she missed his company but she’s without an anchor now.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Just what are you going to do?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->, he thought. <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Why is it that non-force users always worry about the future?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*Her practical mind will be her undoing.*

*She broke down during her account and he slid a reassuring arm around her. As a natural reaction, she drew closer. He let her go on some more about her life and when he found her almost spent for words, he pulled out a lightsaber as a distraction from the sorrow. Her eyes went wide as she mistakenly took him also for a Jedi. He allowed her hold the hilt and suddenly the idea of a distraction became more appealing as he decided to show her how it was used. Her curiosity pushed against her grief.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> This was something her "beloved" had never done.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*Perrin stood behind her, wrapping his arms around her and suddenly the blade ignited. It was just like her "friend’s" she had commented. She was mesmerized by the blade as it hummed with every swing. They practiced swings for a bit and soon Perrin asked her to try hitting him with the blade. She was hesitant at first but his urging was insistent and at that point, her frustration, sorrow and dispair found another outlet besides tears. Her blade dug into the air as he would step out of the way of each swing, which clearly impressed her. He gently teased her with every miss and soon she started to laugh, drying her tears.*

*At the end of the practice, Perrin knew he had given her a taste of what simple joy and security was, as well as the inevitable emotional release. He allowed an ackward silence to ensue following his comment about how late it was.*

*He grabbed her hand gently and kissed it, commenting on the wonderful time he had experienced and how pleasant it had been to meet her.*

*He saw doubt in her eyes right before his lips touched her hand and knew that she was still tense. So he drew up and started to turn around. She called out.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> For noone wishes the sun to die.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*She invited him to her home and he graciously accepted.*




<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Neverwhere<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


*Perrin studied the young woman as she lay asleep in her bed. Having already gotten up and dressed (noting that he would have to change once more, the wrinkle in his jacket irritating him immensly), he had time to look around her "home", such as it was.*

*He touched nothing but simply gazed at the failed attempts at art, at small poetry (he smiled, amused at her topics) the little things that told him about her personality. His eyes scanned the clothing strewn about and looked at the advertising pictures she kept on a small table. Pictures of famous figures, of whom she considered rich and beautiful.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> She dreams of rising above her station. What woman doesn't though?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*A hand absently picked up her credit chit that she had laid on her dresser. There was not much on it for she had grown used to the <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Jedi<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> (he chuckled at the real truth) providing for her. He noted a small holopicture of the girl and the young 16 year old Jedi Padawan he had seen from the window.*

*Spinning the credit chit in his hand, he walked into her kitchen, picked up a laserknife and burned a small hole into the data crystal. Tossing the now useless item back on the dresser, he walked back, his eyes falling to her naken body partially covered by the sheets. He moved closer allowing a hand to hover just above her stomach, which rose and fell with her shallow breath, and grinned. He took out a small note, left it under an object that he retrieved from an inner pocket and left.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The delicious irony of life.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*Upon leaving, he went straight for an upscale market to purchase new clothes and soon found himself on an interplanetary transport. Every now and then he would break out in laughter at the puzzle now complete.*

*The padawan had not disappointed him after all. Even as the proud 16 year old's voice slid into death he whispered his woman’s name, <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> this<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> girl's name, damning her as well.*

*But not before dinner, of course. A dinner that eclipsed the rather boring lightsaber fight with the padawan with it’s delicate sauce and mouthwatering compliments. A delightful aside. But now it was time to move on.*




<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The girl would awaken and read the note that Perrin had written detailing the effort (or lack thereof) her beloved put up to cling to life. Also stenciled in detail would be his last dying words. He would very politely thank her for the intellectual exercise and physical diversion.



...and sitting on top of the letter would be an eye of her beloved.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


*He smiled*


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> I wonder if she will scream?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Man, Moon, Cradle, Spoon, Little Boy Blue...and the Cat that makes the whole damn thing make sense.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


Tatooine


*The figure fell finally as Perrin's saber pierced it's wrappings, the black blade protruding from the other side. The howling fell silent, no longer being carried along by the sandy wind.*

*Perrin stood, stretching a bit finding that he had been needlessly tense during the fight. The blade disappeared and the saber was put away as his eyes scanned the empy desert wasteland. Finding nothing in any direction, he basked in the solitude until his curiosity could not be satiated.*

*A hand went to the wrapped face of the creature and he began to slowly unravel the desert bindings, his pipelike eyes staring up.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Just what do these 'people' look like under all the bandages?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*His light brown and tan clothes flapped in the rather strong wind yet Perrin would not be deterred by any distraction, no matter how small.*

*As he neared the end, his unwrapping became faster, quicker,

faster,

until it was all off*


*The assailant looked down at the person, unmasked, and,

quite uncontrollably,


laughed*




<!--EZCODE CENTER START--><!--EZCODE CENTER END-->



*Perrin watched the person’s wrapped stomach rise and fall with each passing breath. The shock to the body was slowly diminishing but the figure still did not awaken. <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The sleeper drug was indeed powerful<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->, he thought as he examined the person’s tongue in his hand.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Why do people think more of themselves than they really are?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*He stared at the figure’s dirty wrappings that covered their body with a faint air of disgust. The previous owner of these wrappings obviously didn’t believe in hygiene and he suddenly smiled at the memory of the fight earlier that morning with the “sandman”.*

*He scoffed at the thought of plotters and schemers that work for the day when they can put themselves on high as king, regent, or emperor. He scoffed at the notion of desiring <!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> more<!--EZCODE ITALIC END--> power.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> For if one already controls the power of life and death over another, what more needs to be gained? And everybody dies. Even the arrogant. Even I.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*He turned to the sleeping person as he suddenly sat up from the queen bed, his hand lingering on the soft silk sheets.*

"Even you," he spoke her.

*The room was the royal suite of a rather well known establishment in this area. The occupant and her father a few doors down, were of some claimed royal blood of a planet that Perrin never bothered to get to know.*

*He was returning to his own room to get refreshed from the morning activities when he was accosted by a 15 year old’s royal guards. The guards had him wait until the girl and her father were on the gravity lift and she winked at him before recalling her minions.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> She had done it because she could.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*He waved his hand over a sensor and the room dimmed slightly. Getting into the suite had been too easy. The guards were really her father’s guards. They were two doors down in the hall. While they may suffer her antics by doing her bidding, they were not responsible for her. She was her father’s responsibility.*

*The figure stirred, and a painful moan sounded through the sound amplifier device clamped over her mouth. Suddenly, the figure was flaying, the frightened 15 year old finding herself wrapped in a sandcreature’s clothing, her eyes hurting from the ‘sight pipe’s being forced against them, her tongueless mouth and teeth clamping down on the rather large sandcreature ‘mouth piece’. Perrin smiled at her discomfort and fear and suddenly moved quickly over grasping her head with his hands focussing her eyes on him.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Why do we make ourselves out to be more than we actually are? The fact you played with silver rattles, silver spoons? The fact that your father was king and plays with people’s lives?

I too can play, but no king am I.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*She started to wimper and he suddenly became angry, grabbing her which illicited a muffled scream. Perrin flung the door to her suite open and pushed her out, her scared voice being amplified by the mouthpiece. Perrin exited the window, but not before he heard the shots being fired by the king’s guards in an attempt to protect their royalty from a "sandperson".*


*He smiled*


<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Wait till they take the wrappings off.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->


*Perrin hit the sandy ground with little trouble. Looking at his garments, he realized that he would have to change.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> The bantha odor in the sandcreature's clothes was strong.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> It's the end of the world..... and we know it.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->





*Coruscant - the epicenter of all worthless history..for, as far as Perrin could tell, nothing really had changed.*

*People were people, farmers were farmers, and (looking up at the tall, aging structures that added to the illusion that creatures were greater than they seemed) administrators were administrators.*


*This time, in the "capital", white was the ever popular color and Perrin's thin, white suit found itself lost among a great sea of "white".*

*He smiled at his own unobtrusiveness and seemed to drift in and out of the throngs of beings. He came to a corner and looked down as the buildings extended to many many levels under him. Such were the features of a "planetary city" and Perrin's hand absently played with the edge of a crumbling building near his area of rest.*

*With little effort, a piece broke off.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> How many centuries had this building been here?<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*He smiled to himself and tossed the piece down to the next levels that could barely be seen.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> ashes, ashes, we all fall down..<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->

*He stared at the throngs of people and new he was coming under a spell that had quite completely overtaken others and smiled at the irony.*

<!--EZCODE ITALIC START--> Nothing ever changes. But this time, yes this time, the galaxy <!--EZCODE BOLD START--> will<!--EZCODE BOLD END--> burn.<!--EZCODE ITALIC END-->