A.N.

We've seen the effects Kayden had on others from his mother's perspective, now it's time to see from his brother's perspective. Arcann is a personal favorite villain from Star Wars. Not as high up as Vader or Sidious obviously, but I still like him so this chapter is focusing on him. Let the fun begin!

Chapter 2: The Oldest, Arcann 1

Prince Arcann Tirall, the eldest son of the Immortal Emperor Valkorion and older brother to Vaylin and Kayden, sat in his chambers and stared at his still fairly new cybernetic arm with his one visible eye while the other was hidden behind the intimidating black mask that now covered over half his face.

Nothing had gone the way it was supposed to. He and Thexan were supposed to topple the core worlds together in their father's name, the same father that Arcann had fought long and hard for to gain at least some form of acknowledgment but always without success.

Originally, Arcann had thought that Vaylin and Kayden would both join him and Thexan when they went to war against the core worlds. Arcann was always closest to Thexan, but he still deeply cared about his little brother and sister, even more so after Vaylin had been taken to Nathema.

Arcann had hoped to live a life free of regrets, but now he had several and one of the first regrets he'd ever had was not visiting Vaylin when she was on Nathema. Kayden and Thexan had both urged him to go and see his little sister, but he had refused. He couldn't allow himself to be distracted by anything, not when he was still working so hard to gain father's approval.

He'd only gone to Nathema one single time and that was when father had ordered him to go there and bring Vaylin back to Zakuul. It was one of the only times when Arcann had actually questioned his father's choice since he couldn't understand why he was being sent and not Kayden.

Kayden, Arcann's little and now only brother, had shared the same type of bond with Vaylin that he did with Thexan and when she'd been taken away Arcann could clearly tell how badly Kayden missed her.

Arcann had tried to tell himself that his little brother's suffering wasn't as important as trying to please father, but he couldn't bring himself to do so, especially since Kayden had done so much to help both him and Thexan over the years.

Arcann would never forget the first time that Kayden had come to the training ring to offer his older brothers whatever help he could. Arcann and Thexan had both laughed, they'd been training for a little over three years at that point and Kayden had just finished his first year, so they obviously didn't think their little brother could teach them much of anything. This proved to be a big mistake.

Kayden hadn't gotten angry, insulted, or embarrassed by their laughing, he'd just turned to one of the knights and asked for a training staff and, once he had it, told the two brothers to come at him. The twin brothers granted their little brother's request and had very quickly paid the price for it.

Even working together, Arcann and Thexan were no match for their little brother who seemed to be moving exactly like one of their many instructors and even gave them tips while blocking their strikes, telling Thexan he was overextending and Arcann that he was putting too much power into his strikes and tiring himself out too quickly.

Arcann and Thexan were soon laying on the ground together, both hurting and completely exhausted while Kayden looked like he hadn't even broken a sweat. Kayden started to tell them what they had done wrong and what they needed to work on with their techniques and just when Arcann had been about to accuse Kayden of sounding just like their instructors, he did something none of their instructors had never done, he complimented their strengths and what they'd done right.

He told Thexan that despite him getting a little too eager in the battle, many of his forms and techniques were solid and with a little more experience, he'd be able to easily defeat just about any of their knights.

He then told Arcann that while his forms and techniques weren't as solid as Thexan's, something which had irked Arcann at the time, he'd easily surpassed his brother in raw power since his strikes were already as strong, if not stronger than a fully trained knight. He'd then reached a hand out for Arcann while telling him that with a little more time and practice, he'd most likely become one of the strongest duelists the galaxy had ever seen.

"Not that I think you'll need to try too hard Arcann. You're already pretty awesome, you know?"

When Kayden had said those words with that kind smile on his face, Arcann's feelings for his brother changed. Before he'd said those words, Arcann had barely even noticed his younger brother's existence. He'd still cared about his little brother of course, but not nearly as much as Thexan and, unlike Thexan, he'd barely even seen Kayden since his little brother spent so much of his time in the private library they used for their studies. 'I still don't know what's so interesting to him there.'

After hearing his brother compliment him and his abilities however, using the same types of words he'd longed to hear from his father, that was the day Arcann truly acknowledged Kayden as a brother and, with a smile of his own, took his little brother's hand and rose to his feet before Kayden did the same for Thexan.

The three brothers relationship had grown so much stronger after that day, as had their overall strength. Just three months after they'd started training with Kayden, Arcann and Thexan had grown even stronger then after their three previous years of training and Kayden himself quickly became one of, if not the best fighter in the Eternal Empire, even their best and most senior knights had been brought in to fight Kayden and he'd bested them all.

While Arcann had been impressed by his youngest brother, he had also started growing concerned. Father still refused to acknowledge him or any of his accomplishments and, with Kayden growing more powerful with no signs of stopping, Arcann was getting worried and angry that his little brother might actually receive the praise that he'd fought so long and hard for.

However, soon after these thoughts began surfacing, Kayden came to Arcann in his room one day and asked him why he'd seemed to be avoiding Kayden the last few weeks. Arcann had, at the time, decided to stop going to Kayden for help since he started thinking the only way father would acknowledge him was if it was due to his efforts alone, something he had actually admitted to his little brother as well as his thoughts that Kayden would be acknowledged for his strength while he was just ignored as usual.

Kayden was usually quiet and calm and kept his emotions well hidden, but still had a kindness and happiness about him that Arcann had never seen in anyone else. Arcann's words washed those feelings away quickly and they were immediately replaced by an intense fear. At first, Arcann was worried that somehow his words had made his brother afraid of him, but Kayden quickly assured him that was not the case and quickly explained the real reason for his fear.

"It's father I'm truly scared of Arcann. I don't know why I seem to be the only one who can sense it but I know for a fact that not even Vaylin can sense what I do about him. There's something very, very wrong with our father. His very presence, both physically and in the force, is like a poison that my body can't handle or adapt to. You've seen it, how badly I react whenever I'm able to leave father's presence, it's like even my body knows there's something wrong with him and is shutting down on instinct to protect itself. I don't want father's acknowledgment, in fact I don't want him anywhere near me. If you truly want father's acknowledgment and respect, you can have them, but personally, I think you should also do whatever you can to avoid father's attention, I feel like you'd only be able to get it if something terrible happened."

Arcann had dismissed his little brother's warnings, stating that father was powerful and they just weren't strong enough to be worthy of his attention yet, but with enough time they would be, he would be. Kayden had just told him to do whatever he liked but had asked that he please stop avoiding him since, if he was truly so set on receiving father's approval, he shouldn't turn down a helping hand, especially when that helping hand wanted absolutely none of the Emperor's attention for himself.

Arcann had thought back to that conversation many times as the years went by, he even told Thexan about it and his twin had sided with him. He'd said that Father's lack of interest was just his way of pushing them to get stronger and would continue to use that line many times as the years went by. Arcann was slowly becoming less and less convinced they were true since everything they did to try and earn their father's approval all amounted to nothing as their Emperor continued to dismiss their accomplishments.

Finally, an opportunity presented itself that Arcann was certain would get their father's attention and respect, war. The other two powers in the galaxy, the Galactic Republic and the Sith Empire were waging war against each other and both sides had been greatly weakened by the conflict. Arcann believed that he and his siblings could lead the Eternal Empire to victory against their enemies if they joined the war and knew that conquering the rest of the galaxy would certainly earn father's approval.

Thexan had agreed immediately, as Arcann knew he would, to launch an attack on their weakened enemies but did admit that they wouldn't be able to form any sort of attack or battle plan without their father granting permission first, something Arcann agreed with and had already been planning to ask his father after he'd gotten the rest of his siblings on board.

The twins went to Vaylin next and she was easily the most eager to join in the war, though that wasn't because she wanted her father's approval, she just wanted the chance to make others suffer, a dark desire she'd gained from her time on Nathema. 'At least she still listens to Kayden when he asks her not to act on those feelings.' Arcann had no problem seeing his enemies suffer, but Vaylin didn't seem to care who she made suffer, something Kayden had noticed and was still trying to help her with.

Finally, the three siblings approached their youngest brother when he was studying in the library. Arcann and Thexan described their intentions to wage war and bring glory to Zakuul and the Eternal Empire by defeating their weak opponents and conquering the rest of the galaxy for the empire, something they and Vaylin asked for Kayden to be a part of.

Absolutely none of the siblings had been expecting Kayden to immediately refuse.

He spoke calmly but there was clearly anger in his voice when he told them that wagging war served no purpose. Kayden explained that Zakuul was strong, thriving, and had everything it could possibly need, however, a war would change all that. They would make new and powerful enemies that, at the moment, didn't even know their empire existed, would lose the lives of many of their loyal soldiers fighting against foes they had no real reason to fight against, and it would cost them resources that could be better used elsewhere.

Thexan tried to explain their motives in greater detail, but Kayden was having none of it. Even Vaylin tried getting their little brother to understand why this could only be good for them and Zakuul, but when she mentioned how glorious war would be for them, that seemed to be the last straw.

Kayden seemed to forget what they had just been talking about when he started describing a rare and deadly virus located on one of the planets controlled by their empire, explaining that the effects were described as horrible and unpleasant to witness, still, Kayden learned that one of the knights in their medical center had been afflicted by that same virus and had gone to see the effects for his own two eyes.

He admitted that he'd been unprepared for what he'd seen. The effects were far worse than anything that he read about or had been described. He then went on to say that he's read all about the previous wars the galaxy had fought in and how they were described by others.

"Every war that this galaxy had fought in, every war that's been talked about has never been described as glorious, necessary, or even good in any way. War has been described as nightmarish, pure torture, and a living hell. That's just from what I've read, can you even imagine how much worse it would actually be to fight in a war? Talking about pain and suffering is very different than actually experiencing it."

The words clearly struck something in Vaylin since she declared, reluctantly, that she wouldn't be joining her old brothers if they marched to war. 'She may not have said why, but I know she never would have left if Kayden stayed behind. She must have been convinced that, after his little speech, nothing we could have said or did would have convinced Kayden to come with us. He just didn't have the same ambition.'

Truthfully, Arcann didn't have a problem with Kayden and Vaylin not joining them. He was still trying to get father's approval and, without his two younger siblings there, father would have to focus on just his and Thexan's achievements, or so he'd thought.

After their younger siblings made it clear they wouldn't be joining them, Arcann and Thexan had gone to their father requesting his permission to lead an attack to test the greater powers of the galaxy. The Emperor had agreed to the invasion plan, but decreed that only Thexan would lead the Eternal Fleet and ordered Arcann to remain on Zakuul.

Arcann had been furious at being, once again, ignored and dismissed by his father. So he'd ignored his father's orders and had joined Thexan when they began their invasion of the core world. 'Of course I knew father would find out quickly, and just like always, he ignored my presence. I think that was the one time I was actually relieved he dismissed me, or maybe I was just relieved that he didn't immediately order me to return to Zakuul.'

Arcann quickly believed his youngest brother had been wrong about war. The raids led by him and Thexan had been glorious, despite the losses they'd suffered. The raids didn't even last a year, but their attacks took them to several different planets during that time including Alderaan, Balmorra, Hoth, and Korriban. Arcann's cybernetic hand tightened into a fist at the memory of the Sith home world.

The battle of Korriban had been their most costly battle, for both their forces and Arcann personally. An explosion had taken Arcann's left arm and heavily scared most of his face. Even Thexan's presence at his side had only made the pain slightly less agonizing.

Right before the medical team could start repairing the damage, Thexan's priority holo had gone off. Arcann had briefly thought that his father sensed his pain and was actually concerned enough to contact them, but he'd been disappointed when it was Kayden who appeared on the holo.

That disappointment quickly turned to surprise and relief when Kayden reached out with the force and dulled most of Arcann's pain. Neither Arcann nor Thexan knew how their little brother was capable of using such a strong force technique while all the way back on Zakuul, but neither of the twins questioned it due to how much he'd eased Arcann's suffering during that time. 'He even stayed on holo the entire length of my operation to keep my pain at bay, even though it had taken hours.'

The enemies defense on Korriban was being led by a member of the Sith Empire's Dark Council, Darth Atroxa. Thexan considered her a threat, but Arcann just viewed her as another target and held her responsible for his injuries and wanted to make her pay. A few days later, he got his chance when she appeared on the battlefield personally.

Arcann, while Thexan was keeping her reinforcements at bay, attacked Atroxa and her Sith warriors. The warriors went down easily but Atroxa had proven to be a much more skilled opponent than the other Jedi and Sith Arcann had faced in their previous battles. 'Not that it saved her from me in the end.'

He personally executed the Dark Council member and collected her lightsaber to present it to father when he and Thexan returned to Zakuul. Just before they left, both of the twins spotted a badly wounded Sith warrior crawling towards his lightsaber. Thexan just ignored him, but Arcann activated his saber and executed the dying Sith before getting on the shuttle with his twin and they made their way back to Zakuul.

When they returned, they immediately made their way to the throne room where both brothers knew their father was waiting. When they arrived, both twins kneeled and presented their trophies to the Emperor, the lightsabers of the Jedi and Sith they had both defeated.

Did their father give them praise for their accomplishments, comfort for the pain and losses they'd suffered, any type of recognition for their skills and what they'd done at all? No, just like always, father looked at them both in silence and without expression before turning away and dismissing them without a word.

Arcann couldn't take it anymore. He'd fought so hard, lost so much, and it still wasn't enough?! Just looking at his now fake hand caused the anger to increase even more and finally, with no patience left, he launched himself at father while calling his lightsaber to his open hand and igniting it. He came close, so close to ending his father's life, when something pulled him back and again, he'd immediately lashed out at his new target and he'd-

"Arcann?"

Looking up from his cybernetic hand and hearing several objects in the room fall to the floor. Arcann saw that the speaker was his youngest brother who'd just entered his room and had a concerned look on his face. A face that looked so much like Thexan's had. "What is it Kayden?"

"I sensed your emotions starting to become unstable. What's wrong?" His brother asked in a concerned tone while stepping further into the room and starting to pick up some of the things that had been knocked over when Arcann lashed out with the force.

"Nothing." Arcann said dismissively, hoping his words would be enough for Kayden and he'd just leave.

Of course they weren't and he didn't, his little brother just gave him a look that told him he wasn't convinced before he spoke again. "Arcann, I know I'm not Thexan and we don't have the same bond that you had with him, but I'm still your brother and I can see when your lying even if I can't sense it though the force." Kayden pauses for a moment. "It's Thexan you were thinking about, weren't you?"

Arcann wanted to shout at his brother to get out, both for disturbing him and mentioning his dead twin, but he couldn't do it because he knew this was just how Kayden was and, worse, he was right. 'He doesn't even know what happened, would he still be trying to help me if he knew the truth?'

Kayden didn't know about what had happened in the throne room, he didn't know that Arcann had killed Thexan with his own two hands in his moment of blind rage. When he he regained enough sense to realize what he'd done, Arcann had felt more pain and regret in that moment than he'd felt in his entire life, including when he'd been injured on Korriban.

He laid his brother on the ground and held onto his hand until he felt the life in his twin brother fade away. Then, looking up, Arcann noticed that his father was standing over him and staring at him with actual approval before reaching a hand forward and asking Arcann to come with him, even calling him 'son' for the first time in his entire life.

When Arcann heard his father's words, the words he'd fought so hard to hear his entire life, he felt neither happy nor proud, he just felt a great deal of fear and shame as Kayden's words came back into his mind.

"I think you should also do whatever you can to avoid father's attention, I feel like you'd only be able to get it if something terrible happened."

"Talking about pain and suffering is very different than actually experiencing it."

In that moment, Arcann finally saw what his little brother had seen and tried to warn him about for so long. His father was a monster. An evil, heartless monster that cared about nothing, not even the lives of his own children. 'Why did I try so hard to gain approval from such a monster?'

This was also the reason why he couldn't bring himself to snap at his youngest brother. He realized that every time Kayden had tried to give him advice and warn him he'd been making a mistake, he'd been right while Arcann either hadn't listened or just ignored him.

Well, things were different now. Arcann was completely done with trying to get his father's approval, now, his goal was to take the Eternal Throne for himself and dispose of his monster of a father at the same time. All he needed was time, a plan, and the support of his two younger siblings.

Arcann wasn't as blind as he had been before, he knew that both Vaylin and Kayden were stronger than him, Vaylin in terms of raw power and ferocity and Kayden in terms of skill and control. He already had Vaylin's support, she'd even promised not to tell Kayden the truth about what happened to Thexan since even she didn't know how he'd react to how he'd died, Arcann was grateful for her loyalty.

Now, it seemed Kayden had come offering to help with his emotions, but perhaps he could help with something even more important. "It wasn't Thexan, but it is still something important I need to talk to you about."

Kayden gave a slight smile at his words and looked visibly relived, though whether that was because Arcann wanted to talk to him or because he hadn't told him to leave Arcann didn't know. "What's bothering you?" Kayden asked him. 'Much more than you know little brother.'

"I'm going to claim the Eternal Throne." Arcann decided that blunt honesty would be his best option here.

Kayden's eyes widened slightly before his face shifted to a neutral expression. "And father, what will become of him?"

"He'll have to be removed by force, he'll never give up the throne willingly." Arcann didn't need to say that their father needed to die, it was something they both knew needed to happen.

"You'll have my support and Vaylin's, assuming you haven't talked to her already." Kayden said.

Arcann was surprised to get such a quick answer before he remembered who he was talking to. Kayden, he knew, held no love for their father, but he loved all of his siblings. That was most true for Vaylin, but he'd still shown his love to his older brothers many times, especially to Arcann after he'd learned of Thexan's death.

It was three days after the incident in the throne room that Arcann finally saw his youngest sibling after so long and his first question had been why Thexan wasn't with him. Arcann had been surprised that Kayden hadn't felt Thexan's death, but quickly assumed that their father had something to do with it.

Kayden had not taken the news of Thexan's death well. He left immediately after, saying he had to do something else, but Arcann could clearly sense the pain and sorrow coming from his younger sibling and once again felt the guilt of what he'd done since his actions were still affecting someone he cared about.

During Thexan's funeral, Kayden hadn't spoken at all but his feelings spoke louder than words ever could. He felt nothing but sadness for his older brother's death and anyone in Eternal Empire could sense it, with or without the force. He also clearly believed that Thexan truly was killed in the core worlds, but he obviously didn't care about where or how Thexan had been killed, only that he was gone.

After that, Kayden had made it a point to spend more time with Arcann and used his knowledge of the force to heal more of the damage under Arcann's mask. The scars would always remain, but Arcann would admit the pain was far less then when he'd first been injured.

"Thank you Kayden, and yes I have talked to Vaylin and have her support." Arcann said in a pleased tone, but it sounded more menacing than intended due to his mask.

Kayden gave a small smile and a nod before shifting to a serious expression. "Did you have a plan for how to take the throne? Even together, I'm not sure that the three of us would be able to defeat father, not to mention all the knights that would be defending him."

Arcann knew he was right, the knights were all completely loyal to their Emperor above all others, even them, not to mention Valkorion himself. Arcann didn't believe that any one person would ever truly be able to match or surpass father in power and even if all three siblings fought together they'd still be at a disadvantage. "Not yet, unless you had a plan of your own?"

Arcann had no doubt that Kayden more than anyone wanted to see their father gone and he was sure that if anyone had an idea for how to defeat the Immortal Emperor, it was his little brother. "Our father is immortal, but I've never seen anything that makes me think he's truly invincible. I don't know what the best way to kill him would be, but I do know that we can't strike unless we have an excellent opportunity to do so." Kayden pauses for a few moments, clearly thinking about something.

"Father is very powerful, but he's still human, which means he must have some sort of vulnerability. I think for now, our best option is to wait, wait for a moment when father drops his guard and leaves himself vulnerable. If you, I, or Vaylin notices that chance, even if the other two aren't present, the one who sees it must take it because I doubt such a chance will come twice." Kayden said firmly while Arcann gave a slight nod to his words.

It wasn't impossible for them to catch their father off guard. Arcann himself was caught off guard by the explosion that wounded him and, while he knew he wasn't nearly as powerful as his father, he was still powerful. "Any thoughts on when such an opportunity could present itself?"

Kayden thinks for a moment before answering. "It will have to be when something big and or important is happening and father's attention is focused on that. Truthfully, I don't think we'll have to wait long for our opportunity, thanks to you and Thexan."

Now Arcann was confused. What did he mean thanks to him and Thexan? That was when it clicked. "You think the Republic and Empire we attacked will come after us." It wasn't a question.

Kayden smiled. "If an unknown force attacked our Empire and caused devastating damage, I know I'd want to find out as much as I could about our new enemies. It's likely they won't come in force immediately, but they will probably send some sort of scouting units ahead to try and locate us. If we can take out those scout forces quickly and quietly before they get any messages back to their higher ups, other, bigger groups will come looking for them…"

"… and father's attention will be drawn to these new enemies." Arcann finishes with Kayden giving a nod. "We made sure not to leave anything behind that would allow our forces to be tracked back to Zakuul. Even if they are looking for us, it will still take some time for them to find us."

"True, but now they both know about a mysterious new enemy and are going to be trying their hardest to find something or someway for them to track us here. I doubt it will take them long to learn that we're located in the Unknown regions." Kayden said.

Arcann knew his brother was probably right, but he was still impatient. The sooner they got father off the throne, the better off they'd all be. "It will still take time." Arcann repeated.

"It will, but there's nothing else we can do at the moment. I'm still busy with trying to clean up the Old World. It'd been going very well at first, but the scum down there are getting smarter and harder to find, so progress has slowed." Kayden replies.

Arcann had been surprised when he learned of Kayden's effort to get rid of the crime and corruption in the Old World, but he'd been even more surprised that father had actually given his approval to Kayden to take some knights and deal with the problems down there. 'Though I'm certain that father didn't actually care about what Kayden did and only granted the request since it could possibly improve his empire.'

"Regardless, I've seen the battle reports and I'm certain that eventually the Republic and Sith Empire will come looking for us." Kayden continued. "For now, all we can do is bide our time and wait for an opportunity to present itself."

A beeping came from Kayden's comlink, which he activated and immediately a voice spoke on the other end. "Your Highness, we have an update on the efforts in the Old World."

"Sorry Arcann, I need to take this. But don't forget what I said brother, I'm on your side, now and always." Kayden says with a smile before walking out of the room, leaving Arcann alone once more.

Arcann glanced back down to his mechanical hand once more and wondered if his little brother's words would be same if he'd learned how Thexan had truly died.

A.N.

That's Arcann's first chapter and I think it turned out alright. I did struggle with a few parts but I think it mostly worked out okay, but please don't hesitate to let me know what you think with a message or a review and if you have questions I'll get back to you as soon as I can. Lastly, yes I know there was, again, a lot of retelling in this chapter. I can promise that the next chapter, which will focus on Kayden, will be different. I hope everyone has a great day, and please leave your thoughts so I know what you guys are thinking, it really helps.