AN: I referenced Kyp's "Exar Kun" incident in the last chapter and will in this one as well. I thought I might as well mention this for those who are familiar with Kyp's Legends storyline: it is not exactly what played out in the Jedi Academy trilogy, but it will be similar. However, as mentioned, no one died this time, but probably Raynar or someone equally as annoying almost got killed.

More will be elaborated on about that in the future but I thought I'd mention it.

Allana had a bad feeling about this.

She didn't announce that, as she was the first one to enter the tomb of Marka Ragnos, and thought it would be tempting fate to speak it aloud. But she thought it all the same.

Getting in the tomb had been tricky enough. The gilded frame to the entrance of the one-grand tomb now was rubble blocking the open door. Sear marks revealed the source of the damage.

"Mum cut it down," Allana had realized. "To keep us and others from finding this."

The Jedi then got to work, lifting the obstacles that would have taken a solid day of work for the archaeologists, whether it would have been through manual labor or pyrotechnics.

Nellith had wanted to fire off a warning shot with her blaster, in case Sith acolytes or smugglers had gotten inside through some secret passage or something to a similar effect.

Aya talked her out of that one, explaining that they wanted to investigate the temples once the Jedi were done.

Now, they entered the gaping maw that was the Tomb of Marka Ragnos.

Allana ignited her saber-staff and held it aloft, lighting the rust-colored dirt that was packed into the tiles on the ground.

For all of the grandeur that the Sith had attempted to engage in, it was a sorry sigh in comparison to Hapan splendor.

Allya, she sounded like one of her ladies-in-waiting.

How Allana missed them.

Still, there was work to be done. She took a step forward, and as she did, the large lanterns ignited, lighting up the long passage from the antechamber to very heart of where Ragnos was laid to rest.

The long ledge in question was a bridge without any railings, encompassed by what seemed to be a bottomless pit.

Kyp peered down at the shadows, untouched by the light of the Sith lantern, and let out a low whistle.

"Ragnos sure knows how to decorate the place."

"We can give critiques to his design team later," Nellith assured him. She then glanced up at the lanterns. "I will say those were a pretty touch. Would've broken up the red and more red, though. Maybe a nice green as an accent, or gold—"

Kyp gently elbowed her, and she just rolled her eyes. Then the two of them sobered.

Allana took a deep breath, and stepped onto the bridge. She was relived when it held her weight.

"It should be fine to hold all of us," Allana assured the others."

"Yeah, Sith architecture is pretty sturdy," Aya agreed. "The Sith might have been bastards, but they did understand good infrastructure."

Allana was very grateful for that fact. And the lanterns were a great source of light, blocking out all shadows except for those at the bottom of the pit.

And yet, despite the lack of anything really to set it off, Allana couldn't help but feel like something was wrong. Despite the heat of the Korriban desert, so similar to the other deserts she'd been to, it was so cold.

She kept expecting something to pop out from behind the gilded rail around the ceiling or the stark pillars lining the interior walls.

But nothing did.

Except for the adventurers there now, nothing even breathed inside of the tomb of Marka Ragnos.

Eventually the bridge led to two large doors with ancient carvings in it. Aya was quick to whip out her datapad and sketch out what she saw.

Allana approached the doors, and was about to lift a hand to push or find a panel when the doors swung open for the entire party.

In the center of the room was the tomb, with the staff of Ragnos lying on top, gathering dust as it must have for centuries.

Aya was quick to take it.

"Do you see the material?" Aya then pulled off the bottom of the staff to reveal a sword. "It's lightsaber-resistant metal. And look at the runes on the hilt—"

"And there it is—" Jysella pointed at the feet of the large statue of Ragnos installed against the back wall. "Rey's holocron!"

Allana felt a surge of panic, reaching out, wanting to stop Jysella at any costs.

"No!"

Jysella froze halfway through her run cycle. A finely attuned eye could see her struggling in vain to break free of Allana's grip in the Force.

Horrified, Allana immediately let go, and Jysella fell to the ground.

Valin ran to his sister's side, and he glared up at Allana, his eyes flashing yellow.

"Why did you have to do that?" He snarled.

"Valin!" Jysella wrenched herself away from him and stood up. "She didn't mean to do it." Her hazel eyes found Allana's. "Did you, Allana?"

"No." The word was an exhale of relief. "Something's wrong about this place, Jysella. That's all. I didn't want you getting hurt, because look at the shape of that holocron."

Yes, it glowed blue like a Jedi's— but it was the triangular pyramid shape of a Sith holocron.

"You just were jealous—"

"Stop, buddy," Jacen said, and Allana could feel her older brother standing next to her, even if he hadn't brushed past her at all. "Valin, you're not yourself."

"Why?" Valin picked himself up off the ground. His shoulders were hunched, and he looked like a monster in cheap Holo-dramas. "Because I dare to feel anger, Skywalker?"

Allana and Jacen exchanged a glance. They needed nothing more to know that whatever had happened to Valin on Jakku, it wasn't as simple as temptation.

It was possession.

But there was no time to debate who or what had seized the older of the Horn siblings.

They needed to make sure he couldn't hurt anybody, not like this.

"Because you're not making any sense," Jacen said. "Valin, look at yourself. You're a Jedi— you always have been, more than me in a lot of ways."

"I'm barely a Jedi." There was a vulnerability that Allana recognized. "I don't have power."

"Tyra Sarkin doesn't either," Jysella reminded him. "But she's still one of the best knights in the Order—"

"Shut up!" Valin's hands rose to his ears, and Jysella went flying back.

"We need to get him out of here," Nellith said as she rushed to Jysella's side.

"We shouldn't have brought so many Jedi into a place like this," Jacen said, surveying the tomb again for a hidden shadow. "I— I don't feel so good, we should leave—"

Tahiri frowned. "I feel it too."

Her green eyes then found Valin, who stood, horrified, looking at his shaking hands. His eyes were hazel again.

"I—" he looked to Nellith helping Jysella up. "Jysella, please, I'm sorry—"

"I'm sure you are," Kyp snarled. His green eyes were as bright as embers in a bonfire. He reached for his lightsaber. "But we're supposed to forgive you, aren't we? If the rest of us screw up, however, that's a different story—"

"Kyp, I really am sorry—"

"So was I, when I realized what Exar Kun almost made me do, as a child," Kyp snarled. "When I realized that I'd almost slipped to the dark. So was Nellith, when she returned with her memories wiped—"

"Stop."

Kyp did so, looking to Nellith, who held a hand up as she herself stood, next to Jysella.

"He's sincere," Allana said, trailing on the thought she could sense from her twin.

"Well, I'm sorry, Your Highness, but your opinion's not exactly worth much here," Kyp said. "You're kind of biased, in that way."

Allana's cheeks turned pink, but she willed herself still to speak. "Think for a minute. This happened last night, as well. Someone is here, some Sith ghost, like Tash said, and they're manipulating us. We need to move."

"I for one, think we should seal the one being possessed by a Sith Lord in here," Tahiri said, her soft features surprisingly cruel. "After all, Valin is right— he has no power."

"It's not—" Valin reached a hand to his forehead.

"There is a Sith here, but I am afraid it is not the Corellian."

Everyone turned to see where the deep, echoing voice had come from.

The way Aya Tico carried herself was different. She was standing tall and proud, her feet placed well for a fight as she held the scepter-sword, twirling it as she tested its weight.

"Marka Ragnos," Tash whispered in fear and awe.

"Puny Jedi," Ragnos sneered from Aya's body. "I have had my tomb desecrated for the last time! At least the prior tomb-raider had the decency to be of a Sith bloodline. But all of these light-side weaklings are trash that need to be disposed of."

Despite the fighting before, every Jedi drew their weapon. But Allana held up a hand, stopping them.

"We can't hurt Aya," Allana said. "He's using her body— if we strike, we kill her, and not Ragnos."

Ragnos responded to that with laughter.

Nellith rolled her eyes. "Sith are so stupid."

With that, they strode forward, a united front.

The fight, for all of Ragnos's bluster, was far from the battle promised.

Then again, for all the power an ancient Sith Lord could wield, the might of eight Jedi was a bit ridiculous in how it outclassed him. It was like bringing a blaster to a vibroblade fight, Allana thought once they froze Aya and wrenched the scepter away from her.

The second they did so, Aya slumped over, unconscious, and Tash dropped the scepter on the ground, not eager to get the next case of Sith possession.

Allana then went over to pick up the holocron.

"We've got what we came for."