"Oh, by the way," Jacen said as Tahiri continued to pilot the airspeeder back for the Jedi Temple, "when I made contact with Valin's mind, I sensed a deep dark presence there."
Jaina looked back over at her brother. "What kind of presence?"
"No doubt the one Danni and Sekot brought me back for," Jacen answered. "Abeloth."
"Why didn't you mention this back on the roof?" Jaina asked.
Jacen shrugged. "Didn't wanna waste anymore time back for the Temple. Thought it'd be better to tell you now, you know, kill the time."
Jaina rolled her eyes before getting back to the subject at hand. "Are you sure it was this Abeloth?"
"About ninety-five percent sure," Jacen said flippantly. "The other five percent, it could be any other random Force entity that could've been controlling Valin's mind. In either case, though, I think that's why Valin was able to resist my mental attack, because someone else, someone much powerful than I, was defending him from it."
"You're saying that this Abeloth has control of Valin's mind?" Jaina asked.
Jacen nodded. "Or at least enough to convince him that everyone around him as an imposter by muddying up their presences in the Force to him; enough to compel him to try to escape and return to her, by my guess."
"How do you know that's what Abeloth wants?" Jaina asked just as the airspeeder reached back on the Jedi Temple's roof and Tahiri settled it down on its designated parking area.
Jacen shrugged. "That seems like the obvious conclusion to me."
"If that were the case," Jaina said as she and Tahiri left the open-topped speeder, "why didn't Valin just flee? Why did he decide to fight me rather than try to get to Abeloth?"
Jacen shrugged before he took up Valin's unconscious form in his arms and left the speeder with Nommy in tow. "I guess Abeloth tried to use Valin to eliminate you, since you're quite a considerable threat, Jaina." There was no sarcasm in his tone, because what he said was true; Jaina was a formidable opponent. After all, Luke Skywalker wouldn't have made her the Sword of the Jedi for nothing. That, and the fact that Jacen had more than enough first-hand experience against Jaina's abilities when he was Darth Caedus.
Jaina said nothing as she turned to lead the rest of her company to the nearest turbolift to enter the Temple proper.
"You know, he's been unconscious for an awfully long time now," Nommy pointed out. "What did you do to him?" Even behind her, Jaina knew he was talking to her.
"I don't think it was just Jaina knocking him out, Nommy," Jacen said.
"Nommy?" Jaina asked.
Tahiri looked at her and shook her head; Don't start, she indicated.
Ignoring his sister, Jacen continued, "I think it may have something to do with my mental attack; when Jaina knocked him out, the attack I tried to give was able to invade his mind. I'm surprised all it takes is unconsciousness to at least temporarily stop a Force-entity like Abeloth from taking control of a Jedi Knight."
"Wouldn't your attack have been nullified when Abeloth countered it?" Jaina asked as she and the others stepped into the opened turbolift.
"I didn't feel like it was nullified," Jacen said as the lift traveled down. "It felt prevented, like a flowing river against a dam."
"But why would a simple knockout temporarily stop Abeloth's hold over Valin, even if she were just preventing your attack against his mind?" Tahiri asked, seeming to forget her hatred for Jacen at the moment. "Surely, a powerful Force entity like her, as you described, shouldn't even be slowed by something like that."
Jacen shrugged. "Beats me."
"Now we got another question," Nommy said.
The others looked at him, but before the Yuuzhan Vong could say anymore, the turbolift door opened, and they all stepped out. "We're heading to the medbay to give Valin over to Master Cilghal and Tekli to have 'em examine him," Jaina said as they began heading down the corridor they were in, ignoring the gaping Jedi around them who were shocked to see Jacen Solo and a Yuuzhan Vong in their midst.
"You're the boss," Jacen commented neutrally.
"Anyway, what were you going to say?" Tahiri asked Nommy.
"Back aboard Admiral Darklighter's Star Destroyer, Jacen didn't even sense any of his Force-sensitive former friends or family board," Nommy explained. "That, and the fact that none of you seemed to sense when he was resurrected."
Jaina's eyes narrowed in realization as she looked back over at Nommy. "I didn't even think about that."
"Maybe the Force is having a little imbalance," Tahiri suggested. "Probably from Jacen's resurrection." Her tone was slightly accusatory, but didn't stray from her point. "Someone coming back from the dead, I doubt the Force will be all that stable for a while. That might also explain why this Abeloth took control of Valin, but no other Jedi."
"Actually, she already took control of another Jedi," Jaina answered evenly.
"What?" the others asked in unison.
"I'll explain later," Jaina said just as they arrived at the medbay, the door parting before the Jedi.
At their desk, Jedi Master Cilghal, and her former apprentice Jedk Knight Tekli, looked up from reading the papers they had and looked in surprise at their new arrivals. They both stood up and Cilghal asked, "What's going on here, Jaina?" The Mon Calamari worriedly indicated the presences of Jacen and Nommy, along with Valin's unconscious form in the resurrected human's arms.
"It's a long a story, but the point is, Master Cilghal," Jaina said, indicating Valin still asleep, "we may have another Seff Hellin on our hands."
"Oh," Cilghal and Tekli nodded in understanding.
"Who?" the others asked.
"The other Jedi Abeloth took control of," Jaina said. "Jacen, place Valin on that bed."
As Jacen went to fulfill his sister's command, Cilghal asked her, "How long has Valin been out?"
"A few minutes," Jaina answered. She looked back over to her brother. "How long 'til he wakes up?"
"I'd give him another hour and forty-five minutes or so," Jacen said as he carefully laid Valin on an empty bed. "My mental attacks can be very effective."
"If they were, why didn't you use them when you were Darth Caedus?" Nommy asked.
Jacen raised an eyebrow. "Huh. I never thought about that."
"You know, I know he was a tyrant before he died," Nommy said as he looked at both Jaina and Tahiri, "but was he also kind of an idiot?"
"Aren't all power-hungry tyrants idiots?" Jaina retorted.
"Not from what I heard about Palpatine," Nommy countered.
"Hold on, hold on," Cilghal cut in. "Jaina, I forgot to ask, how do you know Valin ended up like Seff Hellin?"
"He just turned on us," Jaina said. "It seems consistent with the report given by my parents when they were on Taris with Amelia."
"Who's Amelia?" Jacen asked.
Cilghal then turned to Jacen. "You mentioned something about a mental attack?"
"It was blocked off, but it put him to sleep just when Jaina knocked him out," Jacen said.
"Okay then, I have two more questions," Cilghal said. "One, what are you and Nom Anor doing here? And two, Jaina, how do you know that this Abeloth is responsible for this?" Like the other Jedi, Cilghal was one of the Masters who probed Jacen back aboard Darklighter's Destroyer to determine if he was telling the truth.
Jacen then went on to explain what he just discussed.