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Video; un: lothrat

[Ezra has a Sword of Agency laid across his lap when he flips on the camera to his Omni. The very observant might note he's in one of the safehouses Ruby clued him into. He looks thoughtful.]

I've had enough time travel and other weirdness going on in my life for the last year that I wasn't sure how far off my count of subjective days might be. But I woke up to this sword, which gives off some pretty interesting vibes. So either my Blessed Day is a really random day, or it's my birthday.

I'm going with it being my birthday. Nineteen.

I've always pretty much hated my birthday, as long as I remember. Some of it's personal, but even the personal stuff is tied to the fact that the day I was born, the galaxy where I'm from changed, and not, in my estimation - and a whole lot of other people's - for the better.

There's no, like, cosmic or destined implications to the fact I was born that day, by the way. Not as far as I know. Just cause and effect, maybe. Stress can lead to early births, right? I'm just a kid from a backwater planet in a big galaxy. My parents weren't anyone important.

But sometimes my birthday felt like a curse.

None of that baggage came from here. I'd like to try to put some of it down, you know? [He peers towards a window.]

It's looking bad out there, but if you want to brave it, I've got a big pot of mushroom stew on, and I think I'm gonna see if I can get this thing to project a movie. Not exactly a dazzling party, but it's more than I usually celebrate. Some company would be great. Or just talk to me on here.

Any suggestions for a must watch?

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Yeah, that's why this...latest mess hurt so much, I guess? He'd been making some real progress- and I say that as someone he has killed before. Not out of his own free-will, he was being influenced by the town- the dream, at the time. But...still.

[He's been on this Maul Merry Go Round for a long, long time. ]

And that's...understandable, honestly. He has changed here, don't get me wrong. I've seen him improve... but he's also pretty determined to take a hundred steps backwards every time he steps forward. But it's...fine, don't mention it.

[And because he can't help but be curious, as much as he's trying to distance himself from Maul.]

...What is he like? In your time?

[Ezra sighs.]

So, here's the thing - he never hurt me, physically. That was a line he was careful not to cross. He tried to teach me things, in his way, at a time when I was looking for quick answers to protect the people I love. And well, to protect everyone, really, from the bad stuff going on in my galaxy.

He did hurt my family and mess with my head to try to get what he really wanted.

Um. How much do you know about his history with Master Kenobi?

Oh...well, I can understand that. Maul is... well, he's pretty good at the quick way to something, even if it usually ends up being the wrong way.

[Maul brute-forces his way through everything like a lunatic most days, he's learned. His expression softens.]

I'm sorry about your family. That- that had to have been rough. Sometimes, he doesn't have to hurt you directly to get where it'll cause the most pain.

[He's learned that more than enough.]

Not a lot. What I have learned is from his perspective so I have a feeling it's more than a little...biased. I know Maul killed someone he loved a great deal in front of him, and I know he took Maul's legs. But the reaosning behind it is...sketchy at best.

[Ezra opens his mouth. Breathes out slowly. Then closes his mouth. Then opens it again.]

Those, uh, facts are....technically correct.

Most of it's not really my story to tell. Obi-wan is pretty private. Let's just say I've never known him to attack someone out of revenge.

And pretty much everything I saw that version of Maul do, in my time, was driven by revenge again either his own former master, or Obi-wan. And then Maul used me to find Obi-wan one last time.

[He sighs.] I couldn't really see the fight, because Obi-wan sent me away. But the only time I ever felt peace from Maul was when he was dying.

Oh no, I figured he wouldn't have done it out of revenge. I don't know him well, either, but I know Maul tends to...embellish the truth to make him sound like the victim. He's been doing it as long as I've known him.

[So it makes perfect sense that even this wouldn't be QUITE the way Maul tells it. He's not even surprised anymore. The knowledge of Maul's death feels...weird. Heavy. He's trying to not let it get to him. This end was inevitable, it was the path Maul threw himself down, time and time again.]

That...honestly sounds exactly like him. Trying to get him to accept to be driven by anything other than revenge has been- well, it's been pretty much impossible. I guess he was always headed to that ending.

I haven't told Maul any of this, by the way. I pretended I didn't recognize him. Although I wouldn't be surprised if he's worked out that's not entirely true.

And sure not telling him was partly to protect myself, but also not to give him any ideas about...destiny.

I do believe people can choose a different path. If they work for it. Obi-wan, here, said he didn't believe Maul would hurt him, now.

I was relieved. And hopeful.

Don't worry, your secret's safe with me. Not that we're really talking at the moment anyway, but I won't tell him anything.

[Because he's not going to give Maul any amo against anyone. ]

I definitely believe people can choose a different path. I- well, I'm living proof of that. I just...I don't know about Maul anymore. I've put a lot of energy in him, to try and help him with that and it's all been thrown back in my face.

Yeah. Just because people are given the opportunity to choose a different path, there, doesn't mean that they will.

I'm sorry.

It's okay, don't be. It's just- a long, long journey that's kinda ended...right where we started. Maybe a few steps ahead? But that's it.

[Two years is a long time to pour into someone who consistently threw it back in your face. ]

[He shoots Varian a sad, sympathetic smile, through the comm screen.

And then - topic change!]

Fern said something about lighting a sword on fire being mark one attempt at making a lightsaber?

[Which is...ok, more than a little funny to Ezra. Not making fun to be mean, but still funny.]

[Oh! This is a very welcome topic change and Varian brightens considerably- albeit a little awkwardly.]

Hah, yeah. I tried to make a lightsaber like...the first month I got into the Dream. I definitely didn't have access to the process I know that now goes into making one, so I just uh...went for it- with Fern. We kind of started a forest fire. [He grimaces a little- embarrassed.] Oooon the network. In front of everyone.

I mean, I can't say I haven't done stuff about as dumb. Some of it with my lightsaber, even. [Ezra grins back, sheepishly.]

So, you know now, that it's plasma, focused through a crystal?

Hah, nice to know I'm not alone on that one. Usually, I'm a little more careful.

[That is a bare-faced lie and he knows it. ]

I do. Maul mentioned something about them being alive? The- the crystals, I mean.

Yes! I don't really get how the alive part works on a scientific level. But they feel alive in the Force.

And they respond to sentient minds and emotions. Have preferences, or at least types of minds they're more likely to be easily attuned to. There are places where the Force is strong, and for thousands of years Force sensitives have gone on pilgrimages to be chosen by kyber crystals and bond with them.

So, the kyber isn't just a focus for the blade, but for the Force users, too.

I can sort of get that. We had...well, let's call them magical rocks back home. They reacted to certain stimuli. It wasn't quite like being alive but they definitely reacted like living things sometimes.

[The black rocks back home were a WHOLE THING and that's about as far as he wants to go into them. Trauma, and all that.]

Okay, that makes sense. That sounds a little less horrifying than the way Maul put it...whiiiich I shouldn't be surprised at.

[The excited - nerdy in his own way - expression wipes away into sadness.]

I - Yes. I said Force users, because it's not just the Jedi that revere kyber crystals. I don't know a lot about other groups that do, because in my life time the Empire - the Sith - have been busy wiping all the sects and traditions out. The Jedi Order was one of the oldest, I think the biggest, and definitely the most likely to openly oppose the Sith -

[He sighs.]

I'm almost afraid to ask how Maul described it. I know the Sith way is more...bombarding a crystal with strong emotions until it bends to the will of the Sith who wants to use it.

[Aww, it's okay, buddy. They can be nerdy again afterwards. ]

Oh. So they're...actively destroying things. Wonderful. Wish I could say I'm surprised.

[Given everything he's heard from Maul...well, that tracks.]

It was pretty much that. But for his lightsaber...darksaber??? It basically focussed on their suffering and pain? Which...keeping sentient beings in perpetual agony sounds like a bad thing? Honestly?

...If I listed all the peoples and places devastated on the orders of Palpatine - who was Maul master's as a Sith, and Dooku and later Vader, who were Maul's successors as Palpatine's apprentice, I'd be talking for a while.

Now - the Darksaber is something different. You can tell when a kyber crystal as been tortured into submission; the blade emitted turns red. [He can also feel their pain in the Force, he figures that's fairy obvious.[

The Darksaber is a very old lightsaber. I'm not exactly sure why the blade is that unique color, aside from it suiting Tarre Viszla, who build it. He was a Jedi who was from Mandalore. And Mandalorian are...hmm. They're historically a warrior people. Not necessarily conquerors, although sometimes they have been. Mandalorians and Jedi have a mixed history; Tarre Viszla was pretty notable for being both.

I wielded the Darksaber, very briefly, and helped my foster sister, who's Mandalorian, learn to wield it. It's a, um, opinionated blade. Some Mandalorian believe that whoever holds it is the rightful ruler of Mandalore.

I know the basics of how Maul got a hold of it, and that's not a nice story either, in my opinion. But I'm missing a lot of details.

I guess the point is if that the blade is still black, here, when Maul's had time to do what he wants to it - that seems like a good thing, actually. [Whether that was because the kyber had so many wielders, and enough history to withstand Maul's will, or whether Maul hadn't made serious efforts to bleed the crystal, he couldn't say.]

Yeah. I...definitely got that impression.

[He's quiet, listening to what Ezra has to say- in fact, Ezra might even notice he's pulled out a notebook to start taking notes down. He wants to LEARN. ]

Oh wow, that...sounds complicated. So it's almost like Excalibur, in Earth legends.

[He can make that leap, look at him go!]

That's fair, when Maul's concerned, I've...uh come to accept that most of the stories aren't nice. And that makes sense too. That he'd...be able to manipulate it the way he wanted to.

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Video; un: lothrat

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