Part 11 (rest at the bottom): https://storytogether.com/2020/05/21/isaiah-the-gray-part-11/
The First
The Sith cave seems to stretch on, unnaturally so. But still, the group presses on even as their senses tingle with anticipation. Eventually, after time is lost on its own, the three men enter a sparse room whose only striking component is its elegant minimalism. And true to form at its center is a plain, nondescript chair. But only Isaiah can see the man sitting in it.
Jimmy C looks around. “It’s empty,” he remarks.
Captain Issac moves around in the opposite direction. But a moment later both he and Jimmy instinctively look back at Isaiah: he hasn’t moved a muscle.
“Who are you?” asks Isaiah, seemingly of the chair, drawing concern from the two men.
A gentle yet firm voice elegantly echos off the walls. “I am the First. How did you come by this place?”
Jimmy and Captain Issac’s eyes go wide with fear.
Who Are You?
“The Force led me here,” answers Isaiah. “But…this place has been stripped of its markings. What is it then that you’re the first of?”
Captain Issac immediately draws his golden light-saber and puts himself in-between Isaiah and the “empty” chair.
The man reveals his presence to the others: a willowy, thin, and somewhat gaunt man of an ancient age and complexion. His eyes convey the stillness of untouched water yet the power of the surface of the sun.
“Do not worry, Captain Issac,” he says. “I will not harm your companion. I am not altogether here anymore anyway.”
The man stands from his chair. “To your question Isaiah Gray, I am the First Sith. I eschewed my name eons ago. So you may simply call me First.”
Jimmy and Captain Issac share a panicked look.
“It is interesting the Force led you here of all places,” continues the First. “I have been…monitoring the progress of my people from afar and find it curious the Force led you here. By design, it should not work in that way. Assuage an old man’s curiosity, what is it you felt?”
The Father of All Sith
Jimmy C looks to Isaiah and whispers (as if it helps). “The…father of all Sith? Can that be true?”
The First smiles, as if feeling a morsel of contentment for the first time in a long time.
“I felt only the Truth,” says Isaiah. That there was only one path and that path led me here. You say you are the First of the Sith. But…how can that be?”
The First carefully considers Isaiah’s words for several moments. “I am bound to this planet for the remainder of its existence. A deal that I made with the souls of my descendants at the formation of our race. They’re able to feed off my spirit like a lay-line you see. All Sith may, if they wish, enhance their connection to the Force by channeling through this place.”
Isaiah realizes something important. “But no one comes, do they?”
A long pause. “No, not for many cycles. This one (he points at Issac) could tell you more about those times. The Sith today are not as they once were: masters of the Dark Side of the Force. The “Lords” that live today believe themselves to be its puppeteer… but they’re nothing more than its marionette.”
Jimmy, and Issac are in awe of the First’s gravitas. Isaiah is merely listening closely.
The Dark Side
“The Dark Side is like fire, control it, and work within its flow, and you can have a power far greater than yourself. But Sith these days only see its power to “burn.” They fail to understand how the Force’s flow within you is supposed to marry to the Force’s flow within the Dark Side. And by so doing achieve a harmony. Darkness is not inherently evil; it is simply the opposite of Light. But perhaps that’s the bitterness of an old man talking.”
Isaiah considers the First’s words as Jimmy and the Captain stand frozen in fear. “I sense what you’re saying is true. And I also believe there is some place here that only you can show us the way to. Are you willing?”
“I see inside you Isaiah Gray,” says the First. “I know what it is you carry. You may believe yourself worthy someday. For now, seems to me, a warped, frustrated old man, that you are doing the right thing. You may go. May the Darkness be with you.”
Part 1: https://storytogether.com/2020/02/06/isaiah-the-gray-part-1/
Part 2: https://storytogether.com/2020/02/13/isaiah-the-gray-part-2/
Part 3: https://storytogether.com/2020/02/20/isaiah-the-gray-part-3/
Part 4: https://storytogether.com/2020/03/13/isaiah-the-gray-part-4/
Part 5: https://storytogether.com/2020/03/26/isaiah-the-gray-part-5/
Part 6: https://storytogether.com/2020/04/02/isaiah-the-gray-part-6/
Part 7: https://storytogether.com/2020/04/09/isaiah-the-gray-part-7/
Part 8: https://storytogether.com/2020/04/16/isaiah-the-gray-part-8/
Part 9: https://storytogether.com/2020/04/30/isaiah-the-gray-part-9/
Part 10: https://storytogether.com/2020/05/07/isaiah-the-gray-part-10/
