21: Welcome Back Caerna.
Me'ghan inhaled sharply and eyed the half dozen Dark Council members who'd all gathered at Darth Marr's chambers inside the Citadel. When he had called for her she'd expected a meeting with him alone, not the Council but as Darth Vowrawn waved her over, she knew she couldn't turn back either. And she really loathed these meetings.
"Best wait for me out here Quinn, I'll try not to be too long."
"Ah there she is now" Ravage pushed his way past several others and turned towards Me'ghan.
"Sorry I'm a little late, I hadn't realized this would be a Council meeting."
"It wasn't supposed to be and it's not officially," Darth Marr glared at Mortis "But word reached Mortis that I'd called on you and given that our old chamber is still in ruins, we will for the time being meet here instead."
"Very well."
"It's our understanding that our Emperor is gone. Whether dead or dying, he no longer supports our efforts." Darth Mortis stepped forward and eyed her curiously "Which begs the question where your loyalties lie now, Wrath."
Me'ghan quickly glanced at Darth Marr, the man she'd already had a similar conversation with on Makeb and he gave a small nod of the head.
"My loyalties are with the Empire, Mortis, never doubt that." she told him firmly "Even in the Emperor's absence."
"Now, I thought this meeting was about Darth Nox, where is she?" Me'ghan quickly changed the subject and heard Ravage scoff.
"She waltzed in here early this morning and emptied out her chambers. Took everything the Sphere of Ancient Knowledge had in terms of artifacts, relics, holocrons, scriptures and more and left. After firing her entire staff."
"She also sent out the following holo recording to every member of the Council." Darth Vowrawn added as he replayed the message.
Darth Nox's cheerful image appeared before them all as she smiled and waved "Hi my loves! I'm just leaving you this to let you know I'm moving on to bigger and better things. Please, don't let it crush your little black hearts, I know you'll miss me but I will be back one day and on that day you may refer to me as Empress. That's right, I'm going to reshape our galaxy and rule it. Me and my new friend. Oh and before I forget, thank you for all these wonderful and powerful artifacts. I never expected it would be this much fun to be Darth Nox, hah! The old gal had been keeping some secrets from me but finally, I have it all now. Anyways, just wanted to let you know. Ta-ta sweethearts!"
Me'ghan blinked a few times as the image disappeared and then turned towards the others "Okay, I don't—is she pulling a Malgus on everyone?"
"It would appear so" Darth Arkous mused quietly from the back of the room and it was only then that Me'ghan even noticed his presence "I doubt we have much to worry about though, we'll reel her back in sooner or later."
"I'd rather it be sooner Arkous."
"Darth Marr is right." Mortis agreed "Granted many of the artifacts she took are purely decorative these days as the more powerful ones remain on Korriban even now but that doesn't change the fact we have a rogue Dark Council member out there claiming the throne for herself. A woman who was charged with keeping the mystical knowledge of the Sith and guarding the secrets of our order who has now betrayed us."
"Is it me or did she seem a little..." Me'ghan wondered out loud.
"Unhinged?" Ravage let out a throaty laugh "Even more so than normally. We should have never allowed her a seat on the Council even if she did do us a favor by eliminating Thanaton."
"Hmm" Me'ghan shook her head "Nox may be a little erratic at times but I've never seen her behave like this, nor talk the way she did in that message."
"Regardless we should find her and end her."
"And I suppose that's why I'm here?" Me'ghan assumed correctly as Darth Marr nodded.
"We're still dealing with the war and recovering from the recent attack on the Academy, we don't have the resources to hunt down a rogue Council Member on top of that."
"You were invaluable to us on Makeb and you were the one who discovered Darth Nox in those collapsed caves after the Republic had evacuated. You know her better than most of us do Wrath."
"Understood my Lord."
"Good then that's settled" Darth Marr concluded and turned to his fellow councilmen "Satisfied?"
They mostly nodded in unique agreement and followed one another out of Darth Marr's chambers. Me'ghan and Darth Vowrawn were the last to leave and once outside in the hallways, he pulled her aside for a private chat.
"Have you and your team uncovered details yet about those who attacked the Academy?"
"No. Darth Arkous is dealing with the aftermath and investigations."
Which she hated. All she'd wanted to do was go after those responsible, uncover how this could have happened when the odds were so very much in their favor but Darth Arkous had kept her at bay.
"How is your nephew?"
"Oh young Darius makes me proud" Vowrawn grinned with a small twinkle in his eyes "Now that he's over the initial embarrassment of his situation, he's more determined than ever to take on the Jedi. Especially that Jedi."
He placed a hand on her shoulder, just for a moment and lowered his voice "Thank you again for getting him out of there and for not telling the others of my failure as his guardian."
Me'ghan nodded and smiled before taking her leave of the man who, aside from Darth Marr, had quickly become her most favorite Council member.
"Get the others back here as soon as possible and prepare the ship while I stop by home and pick us up a few things." she told Malavai once they reunited outside the Citadel.
"Yes my Lord. What's the mission?"
"We're going hunting for Darth Nox."
—
Master Kaedan clasped his hands behind his back and watched on, proudly, as the construction crews continued to reshape and rebuild the Temple. Carts with Jedi relics and scriptures recovered from the rubble sat on the road, waiting to be cleaned off and restored before returning to their rightful home. Young Padawans were gathered around helping paint the brand new pillars that had been delivered to them this morning while the more advanced Force users worked together to lift everything into place.
"You know when the Grand Master first suggested I come here to heal, I was worried that despite my best intentions I'd have a hard time facing the destruction that took place" Arielle mused as she joined at his side and handed him some tea "Now, I'm rather grateful I get to witness this. It fills me with hope."
He closed his eyes and smiled "I'm glad to hear it. I won't lie, we have been and still are quite worried about you. At times I even feel like we've perhaps we've expected too much of you."
"Not to say we're disappointed in you" Master Kaedan quickly corrected himself "But in the years you've been with us you've been through far more than any other Jedi of your generation and perhaps we failed to give you the proper support."
"The loss of your Master, your battles against Darth Angral, your constant fight against the Emperor. The time you've spent under his control which is something you've never really spoken of." he took a sip of his tea and looked at her "Our Code tells us there is no emotion, there's peace and we must always keep that in mind when we face our foes but I'm not so naive as to think none of these events affected you."
"They did" Arielle admitted, stoically staring ahead "But I'm still here now."
"Do you believe in those words?"
"I do, but perhaps I don't interpret them the way others do. To me it means that in the face of my enemy, of a great disaster, I ought to keep a level head and focus on my responsibilities as a Jedi which is what I failed to do when I was confronted with Lord Goh."
"But?"
"But I don't think it's fair to expect me to be void of emotion altogether. Even you get angry Master, I've seen it."
"I'm aware that I do and you've seen it more often than not" Master Kaedan grimaced "And I wouldn't expect you to be void of emotion but there's a time and a place for them. Come with me."
Arielle frowned and placed her tea on a nearby stool before she followed Master Kaedan, away from the Temple grounds and headed towards the Twi'lek settlement. He stopped just before they reached the bridge and turned to walk her along the river.
"This was my favorite place to be as a child, still is.."
He nodded "I remember. Any time you'd ran off, any time you were missing your studies and class, we'd find you here. Almost daily if I recall right."
Arielle chuckled "I wasn't big on books then."
"But you were always the strongest and most gifted of your class, which I believe is why you've always been the one we'd turn to in times of need."
Master Kaedan reached out a hand and encouraged her to take it "So let us be here for you now. Whatever battles you've been fighting with yourself, let me help."
"I..." Arielle hesitated, still feeling rather uncertain about the man she'd argued with so often in the past but he seemed entirely earnest this time so she took his hand as the both of them knelt down.
"Let's return to the basics first—you must learn to master yourself and your emotions before anything else, then we'll go from there."
As the two of them connected through the Force, Master Kaedan linked his mind with Arielle's and began a journey through her memories reaching for anything she was willing to share with him.
For the first time in his life, he actually witnessed snippets of what had transpired on Coruscant during the Sacking and he felt Arielle's pain and grief over the incident before she quickly took him to the moment of Master Orgus Din's death instead. Another sense of sorrow washed over them both but Master Kaedan was surprised to notice that in spite of her upset, she'd made peace with both incidents.
He next found himself gazing into the eyes of Lord Scourge through the ray shield on Quesh and seconds later he relived Arielle's memory of their duel before the Emperor in his fortress. Through her eyes, he watched as she awoke from stasis, once more with Lord Scourge staring up at her.
Master Kaedan sighed, feeling the faintest sense of happiness within her upon thinking about Lord Scourge "He was your enemy even then."
"Out of necessity." Arielle mused quietly.
"No. He works with you out of necessity but he has always and continues to be the enemy."
She said nothing as the flashbacks continued. Fragmented pieces showed how she'd battled droids, meditated and trained as Sith until Master Kaedan reached some sort of impenetrable wall. A bubble shielding her mind from anything else that took place under the Emperor's control and instead redirecting them to the moment in which she'd been met by Master Orgus Din's ghost.
"You seemed so at peace as Sith, despite all the horrors..." Kaedan noted with a great sense of unease.
"I must have adapted."
"You're still hiding something… Torment, by a superior."
"Not something I'm willing to discuss." Arielle sighed as the image of Overseer Chaskar flashed before her briefly.
She instead took him forward in time to the moment where she defeated the Emperor on Dromund Kaas. He enjoyed the taste of victory he felt, vicariously living through her for just a moment. They both watched how she and her crew had celebrated afterwards and Lord Scourge came into view once more. Knowing what he was about to witness next, Arielle tried to push ahead to another moment in time but Master Kaedan pushed back as both struggled for control before both lost it altogether.
They made the jump forward to the ritual she and Lord Scourge had participated in on Makeb and witnessed their battle with the Sith woman before the scene quickly transitioned into the arguments she'd had with Kira and Doc. Master Kaedan witnessed her confession at Lord Scourge's sick bed on Tython though he couldn't make out what she was saying and then that scene too was ripped away and made way for another. Now she argued with the Grand Master before appearing on Korriban, a flash forward to her meeting with Lord Goh on Tython instead and Master Kaedan was nearly overwhelmed with the sheer hatred that suddenly coursed through the young Jedi he was linked with.
They both struggled to regain control but something more powerful wouldn't release either of them and the last memory she'd shared evaporated before their eyes making way for something hidden deep within Arielle's subconscious.
"But mommy I don't wanna gogo, I wanna stay with nana and papa and uncie Malafly"
"Let go of her hand Mal, now" a black haired woman scolded as she pried a the young girl's hand loose from the man she was clinging on to "Come on Eliza, we're leaving."
"Van please don't do this! They will have you arrested please, I beg you!" the man called out before he vanished from sight.
"I will not let the Sith take you sweetheart, over my dead body. You'll never be one of them, never" the woman whispered adamantly and tearfully to the girl she held in her arms as they rushed out the doors and into the rain.
Finally, the trance they'd been in guided both of them back to the present and Arielle immediately pulled back from Master Kaedan as her tear stained eyes flashed wide open.
"My mother..."