Disclaimer: I am not George Lucas or Rick Riordan.
Enter Jacen, on board the Baanu Rass.
Jacen winces from his injuries sustained at Nar Shaddaa, wondering if he may have died there.
Jacen. If I'm dead, why does it hurt so much?
Enter Lumiya, imprisoned within the Embrace of Pain.
Lumiya. You're not dead, my hero. It is not your time. Come. Speak with me.
Jacen turns.
Jacen. Shira.
Lumiya. Welcome to my prison. You will not die today, Jacen. Your friends will see you through . . . for now.
Jacen. For now?
Lumiya. There are worse trials to come. The Bringer of Chaos stirs against us.
Jacen. You're a Je'daii. Why can't you just escape?
Lumiya tries to use all her power to escape from the Embrace, to no avail. She smile sadly.
Lumiya. Some powers are even greater than the Je'daii. I am not easily contained. I can be in many places at once. But when the greater part of my essence is caught, it is like a foot in a bear trap, you might say. I can't escape, and I am concealed from the eyes of the other Je'daii. Only you can find me, and I grow weaker by the day.
Jacen. Then why did you come here? How were you caught?
Lumiya. [sighs] I could not stay idle. Your father Zonama believes he can withdraw from the galaxy, and thus lull our enemies back to sleep. He believes we Je'daii have become too involved in the affairs of mortals, in the fates of our demigod children, especially since we agreed to claim them all after the war. He believes this is what has caused our enemies to stir. That is why he closed Tython.
Jacen. But you don't agree.
Lumiya. No. Often I do not understand my husband's moods or his decisions, but even for Sekot, this seemed paranoid. I cannot fathom why he was so insistent and so convinced. It was . . . unlike him. As Shira, I might have been content to follow my lord's wishes. But I am also Lumiya. Lumiya Brie, they once called me — Lumiya, She Who Warns. I was guardian of the state, patron of the Galactic Empire. I could not sit by while the descendants of my people were attacked. I sensed danger at this sacred spot. A voice . . . a voice told me I should come here. Je'daii do not have what you might call a conscience, nor do we have dreams. But the voice was like that — soft and persistent, warning me to come here. And so the same day Sekot closed Tython, I slipped away without telling him my plans, so he could not stop me. And I came here to investigate.
Jacen. It was a trap.
Lumiya. [nods] Only too late did I realize how quickly chaos was stirring. I was even more foolish than Zonama, a slave to my own impulses. This is exactly how it happened the first time. I was taken captive by the Yuuzhan Vong, and my imprisonment started a war. Now our enemies rise again. The Je'daii can only defeat them with the help of the greatest living heroes. And the one whom the Vong serve . . . She cannot be defeated at all, only kept asleep.
Jacen. I don't understand.
Lumiya. You will soon.
Enter the rakghouls, servants of Abeloth and the Yuuzhan Vong. They approach the Embrace of Pain, as it constricts around Lumiya, torturing her.
Hurry, Jacen. My keepers approach, and you begin to wake. I will not be strong enough to appear to you again, even in dreams.
Jacen. Wait. Thrawn told us you'd made a dangerous gamble. What did he mean?
Lumiya. An exchange. The only way to bring peace. The enemy counts on our divisions. And if we are divided, we will be destroyed. You are my peace offering, Jacen— a bridge to overcome millennia of hatred.
Jacen. What? I don't . . .
Lumiya. I cannot tell you more. You have only lived this long because I have taken your memory. Find this place. Return to your starting point. Your sister will help.
Jacen. Jaina?
The image of Lumiya's prison begins to fade.
Lumiya. Goodbye, Jacen. Beware Alsakan. Your most dangerous mundane enemy waits there. If you are to die, it will be by her hand.
Jacen. Who?
Exit Lumiya.
Jacen awakes.
Exit all.
