The walk to the archives was uneventful... Well, that was what I would say if I hadn't paid attention to those things that were happening under the surface. The pressure that settled on our group was not because of the jungle or the already hot, humid day we were having... Oh no. It was thanks to Sareh and Vila.
Somehow, Sareh ended up walking between us, wedging herself in as if we were escorting a prisoner or something, brushing against our hands as she went along with us. Her pace remained unhurried, and she looked relaxed as her eyes moved around, surveying the building, acting like an honest, excited tourist. But she did it respectfully, because she didn't gawk at the Temple or crane her neck to stare at the carvings, which would have dragged us to a halt. However, I also noticed that she wasn't just taking in the ancient feel of the Temple; instead, her gaze moved much more selectively, from point to point. She memorized where the doorways were, the markings indicating which corridors had led to where, along with the patterns of foot traffic when we passed others, mostly Padawans. It wasn't hard to tell that she was mapping the place.
Of course, Vila noticed it too, and I could feel it in the slight tension at her side, the way her lekku twitched when Sareh's attention lingered too long on something that was actually structurally important, rather than just being decorative. Finally, she couldn't take the silence any longer, and not wanting to give Sareh the peace to map everything, she spoke up.
"You've been into ancient places like this before?" she asked, breaking the silence.
"Something grand like this?" Sareh smiled at her softly, shaking her head. "No. But I've read descriptions of such places and visited a few ruins before. But I hadn't entered most of them, in fear of... getting lost. You see, I pride myself on being cautious, and I find it easier to orient myself when I already know what should be inside and where."
"Riiiight..." Vila moaned, looking at me for help, but there was not much to do because we had arrived at our destination.
The archive doors slid open with a sharp hiss, and the air inside rushed outward, hitting us in the face. To keep everything, including the ancient texts collected here, safe, the ambiance of the library was tightly regulated, way cooler and drier than on the outside, making all three of us take a deep breath and enjoy it.
"Aaah... Much better!" Sareh said with relief in her voice. "You dress scantily," She suddenly added, glancing at Vila and her thinner robes. "Will you be okay?"
"I dress just right," She shot back, ignoring her comment, "You don't have to worry about me."
"Well, I'm just saying," She giggled, glancing at me, before looking around the rows upon rows of shelves. "I heard that the Jedi Archives weren't just a library in the old days, but they were the vault of the Galaxy. Holding memories from long-gone eras... Hiding true power... I wonder how this fares compared to those days..."
"I don't know that," I spoke up, watching the rows where even holocrons, data terminals, and physical texts from a long-gone era had survived and found new homes. They had become part of our lifetime of collecting, constantly expanding as we returned from our journeys. "Too much was lost in the purge."
"I know..." Sareh nodded as she stepped inside, inhaling deeply, "I hate the fact that it happened... All that knowledge, all those secrets and forgotten lore... Gone. Destroyed, deleted, or thrown away... What a waste! What a disgrace!"
"Something a Sith is good at." Vila quipped at her, but Sareh simply nodded.
"Oh, yes, they are good at that indeed," she murmured, "It is one reason I think that their teachings were wrong."
Before either Vila or I could respond, a familiar, flustered voice echoed from deeper within the hall, heading our way... Oh boy. He heard us. Well, Miss Sareh, let's see how you handle our custodian.
"Oh my! Oh my, this is most irregular!" the voice said as I heard his steps, his servos moving as his golden frame came into view. "I was explicitly informed that there were no scheduled visitors at this hour, oh! Oh! Master Kael!"
"I'm not a Master, eh, you know what? No matter..." I waved a hand as C-3PO hurried toward us, his arms already gesturing in agitation.
"I must say, it is most relieving to see a familiar face." He continued, realizing we weren't Padawans, wandering in to find shelter against the hot summer air of the moon, "The Temple has been terribly quiet lately, with everyone out on a mission, and unruly youngsters coming in to laze around in the cool air..." Then he stopped abruptly when he noticed Sareh and recognized the fact that he didn't recognize her at all, "Oh! Oh dear. I don't believe we've been introduced."
"That's true," Sareh said with a smile, and she didn't wait for us to do the honors, inclining her head just slightly as her hands folded neatly in front of her in a soft bow, "The name is Sareh, and I'm honored to meet you. You must be the Temple's protocol and historical liaison, and if I am not wrong, judging by your model... You must be C-3PO."
Listening to her, C-3PO straightened instantly, and I could swear it was the first time someone talked to him like this...
"Why yes! Yes, that is precisely correct!" He answered in a delighted tone, "I am not only a liaison, but I also am fluent in over six million forms of communication, translating the texts and serving as a comprehensive historical reference for—"
"For the rebuilding of the Jedi Order," Sareh finished for him gently, her eyes bright with interest, but she was also aware that if she let him go on, there would be no end to it, "Under Master Luke Skywalker, after the fall of the Empire. I know, I read about you."
The droid froze at that, and even Vila and I exchanged a look, seeing C-3PO being stunned into silence.
"Oh my. Well. Yes. Yes, indeed!" He recovered, sounding even more pleased and happy, "Master Luke's efforts were nothing short of miraculous. Why, the Jedi were nearly extinct, you see, they were reduced to scattered survivors, surviving on about half-forgotten teachings, and, oh! Oh dear, I'm rambling, aren't I?"
Wait... self-reflection? From C-3PO? Did he malfunction? What trick was that?!
"Not at all," Sareh said warmly, hiding a smile behind her hand, "It must have been… overwhelming. And gratifying to witness the return of something the Galaxy believed to be forever lost! It also had to be the most exciting... For everyone, including you."
At that, C-3PO's shoulders lifted a little, starting to ramble again.
"Well, when you put it that way, yes! Yes, it was quite emotional, actually. I still recall the early days on Yavin after the Empire was defeated... Oh my... Master Luke tirelessly searching for texts, speaking of his hope to restart the Jedi Order and about a new type of balance, and of course, the many, many times I was required to reorganize the archives after his enthusiastic but disastrously unstructured research sessions..."
Vila shot me a look because this time around, the golden droid was not stopping, going on, and on, and on, and on... and on. And on. Haaah... I sighed internally, then exhaled externally, yet Sareh was already seated at one of the reading tables, listening as if every word he uttered was a matter of life and death. What the... She didn't interrupt him either... Well, not like I would. Instead, when she spoke up, it was to prod C-3PO in a way that prompted him to start talking again about what she wanted to hear.
Wait a minute... By then, I suddenly realized what she was doing and straightened up, listening to her questions.
"Oh? Was that before or after the Praxeum expanded its off-world correspondence?"
"Well," C-3PO began, and when apparently Sareh got what she wanted, she asked again.
"Did Master Skywalker prioritize recovered Jedi philosophy, or first-hand accounts?"
"That..." C-3PO continued, even replaying some conversations from his internal memory bank.
"How did the Order decide which histories to preserve or remain unaltered?"
I watched her closely now... Even Vila became alert. I will be damned... Sareh wasn't manipulating C-3PO crudely, nor was she deceiving him; instead, she was reading him like an open book, or how I can read others... She was using his pride in his work and service to Grandmaster Skywalker, along with his desire to be useful, his reverence for his predecessors... It was like she was hacking the droid, and she was aligning herself with its wishes perfectly.
This woman was dangerously fluent in how to get what she wanted, be it humans or droids...
"...and of course," C-3PO continued in the meanwhile, "there were significant debates regarding how much of the old Jedi Order's structure should be restored, especially after the... oh! I haven't even mentioned the influence of the New Republic..."
"Fascinating," Sareh said, tilting her head, smiling like they were chatting about the weather. "Would you say the Jedi learned more from survival… or from loss?"
Okay... Stop. Let's end it there, as that question made me step forward, not wanting her to corrupt our golden boy's memory core.
"C-3PO," I said calmly, smiling at the two, "would you be a dear and retrieve the primary holocron index for post-Endor reconstruction?"
"Oh! Yes!" The droid turned to me instantly. "Of course! Right away! I simply must ensure the classifications are properly cross-referenced. Do excuse me!"
With that, he bustled off, muttering about how wonderful a guest Sareh was, how he enjoyed their brief talk, and shuffled away in a clearly happy mood.
"You are a dangerous one," Vila exhaled slowly. "Can't let you go anywhere alone."
"I don't intend to slip away," Sareh looked up at me, unoffended by Vila's comment, and kept smiling. "Knight Kael, did I overstep my welcome?"
"No," I said honestly. "You did not, but got close to it."
"I see," She paused, then she chuckled, even feeling a bit coy about it, "I can't help but be excited when I meet with such a treasure trove like C-3PO is," she added. "People tell you who they are when they believe you care, and the best thing about this is that droids are the same in this regard."
"Hmph," Vila snorted as she crossed her arms, listening to her honest answer. "And then you use it."
"I do," Sareh didn't deny it, nodding her head. "I use it to learn," she expanded on her answer. "And learning gives me options for the future. It is that simple."
I studied her while she was saying it, I really did. From what I could sense through the Force was that she wasn't cruel or malicious, but she was opportunistic. Very... opportunistic. I don't think she would shy away from unsavory methods to further her search for more knowledge, and that could make her dangerous.
"I'll be supervising your access," I said evenly in the end. "And some sections will remain closed, along with a limited time with C-3PO."
"I expected that," she nodded, unfazed by my words. "I don't need everything."
"That was a lie," I said to her, making Vila flinch and glance at me, then back at her.
"Mhhhm..." Sareh met my eyes while licking her lips, "Let me correct myself, then. I don't need everything... now. Only what matters."
That… was the most honest thing she'd said yet. Huh...
"And what is that you think matters?" Vila asked, squinting at the girl.
"Finding clues," She said evenly, looking towards the shelves as C-3PO was being heard to return, with a dozen or so datapads and a holocron carrier in his arms. "We are looking for the same enemy, no?"
"And you think we will find them here?" Vila chuckled, shaking her head, almost letting her lekku swing around and start clapping.
"There is a chance," She nodded, pulling out a datacard from her robes, "I already had some clues... now I just need to find the next set of them."
"Now that..." I muttered, focusing on the card between her fingers, noticing that it was for sure something old, "Is interesting..."