480. Manipulation of Emotion - Raezyr

It didn't take very long for Saffron's theory of "two halves of the same coin," to gain popularity, and to no one's surprise, Mannix was instantly one of it's biggest proponents.

All in all, it seemed there were two main schools of thought: Those who believed the One had arrived, and those that didn't, although there were subsets of each group.

Among those how believed the prophecies were being fulfilled, there were those that felt Trychon was the One, as well as those who thought only Raezyr was He. The biggest group, but by a slight margin only, was those who took up Saffron's theory. Together, though, they made up a slight majority of the Taxl monks.

Those that stood against them were unified in the belief that the Chosen One had not arrived, although for many different reasons. Some believed that the prophecies were literal, and that events and information was being twisted to fit the writings. Others believed that only one person could fulfill the descriptions, and pointed out that all the factors had not been fulfilled by just one person. Some pointed to the fact that Trychon and Raezyr were outsiders as justification for their stance. There were also a large number of this group that felt their use of the Force at the mines was a perversion of everything they believed, and the One would never do something like that. Some just simply felt that the prophecies were not prophecies at all, but fictional stories written by ancient monks.

Despite their differences, each and everyone of them were vehemently opposed to any idea of the prophecies coming true.

Regardless of anyone's stance, everyone still wanted to keep an eye on the newcomers and foot traffic around their shops and the home was still fairly heavy.

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A week after the incident at the mines, and after meetings almost every night among the High Council and some of the prominent members of the community, Father Monahan finally asked Trychon and Raezyr to come to his office.

The two met up with each other after lunch, and headed for the temple. "What do you think he wants?" Raezyr asked quietly.

"I'm guessing we're about to find out the result of those meetings they've been having every night," Trychon guessed.

They stopped outside the head monk's office and rapped on the door. It was only a moment before they heard Monahan's voice call from within, bidding them enter.

It was a large room, made to hold private meetings, but looked like it would be crowded if more than a dozen or so people were here at once. It was sparsely furnished, as would be expected of a monk's office. The one extravagance was the large, ornately carved desk which Father Monahan was seated behind. The woodworking was intricately decorated with the symbols of the Taxl and looked to be ancient. It had probably served many Fathers since it had been created, or so the two Sith guessed.

Monahan gestured to two chairs on the opposite side of the desk, inviting them to sit. He began as they took their seats. "Thank you for coming, gentlemen. First of all, I want to extend our Order's gratitude to you both for the heroic thing you did at the mine. Without your efforts, those men would be dead right now, instead of resting peacefully under Brother Odilo and Sister Saffron's care."

The brothers sat quietly as the monk paused. They could hear the "but" in his voice.

"There is something else I need to discuss with you," the elder Taxl continued. "Many concerns were raised about how you used the Force. I know that you are both trained with Jedi techniques and training, but please remember that we believe, and as you have expressed yourselves, that their ways are flawed. In the future, please rely on the wisdom and experience of the High Council, and myself, for guidance in such use in the future. Do you have any questions?"

Trychon and Raezyr glanced at each other before Trychon spoke. "We understand, Father, and we apologize."

"No apology necessary," Monahan said raising a hand in dismissal. "Just come to us first, next time."

On the way back to work, Raezyr looked over at Trychon, "Well that was painless."

"Idiots," Trychon whispered, and they both chuckled.