Chapter Nineteen

Morgause held her father's head on her arm and his back against her lap. "Please Daddy, stay with me," she begged, tears welling up from her eyes and her voice stifled by sadness. Dantius and the others gathered round to see Hyperion for the last time in case this was the end. Medically speaking, there was nothing any of them could do to save him and something gave even Dantius the impression that he wasn't looking for that anymore. Then again, medically speaking there would be nothing wrong with him if they were to subject him to a battery of diagnostic tests to find out.

So it was that Hyperion began to utter his last words to his beloved daughter, the child of his advances on Patricia. "Are you safe? Are you alright?" he asked in a hushed voice. She nodded and he stroked her left temple as he spoke again. "Then my purpose is complete," he said to her.

"Please, don't go father! Don't go! Uncle Dantius, you're a Jedi, can't you heal him?" Morgause begged. Dantius silently shrugged, saying that he didn't know if he could heal the damage of Drain Life even if he wanted to.

"Do not begrudge your uncle if he cannot heal me. He already gave me my chance for redemption or else we wouldn't have met," Hyperion whispered to her, bringing his hand down her cheek. She looked up at Dantius who nodded admission that he had been the reason that Hyperion was where he was to begin with.

"Originally, I offered him the mission in return for the expungement of his records with the Republic and associated allies. A deal's a deal but now it doesn't look like he'll be needing the other part where he gets enough credits to live his life freely without need to work again. I can't say what the Hutts still think of him or for that matter, what the Sith would think. Only that records of him were likely deleted when we raided Dathomir and Balmorra to destroy or seal away everything they have away from common use. Any traces we missed will be too miniscule for them to use," Dantius told her.

"I took the mission in order to pursue a chance of peace in this lifetime. Lo and behold that I would actually acquire it by meeting you. You have grown into such a beautiful woman with a powerful connection to the Force, Morgause," Hyperion said, coughing up some of his last life.

"Don't speak, Daddy. We'll get you some medical help and you're going to be alright," she promised.

"At what price? Hooked up to a machine even to breathe, much less eat or drink? No, this is better, in the arms of someone I love most in life. I just wish I could've seen your brother, one last time," Hyperion replied. Morgause hugged his head close and it was then that Inoy offered a confession.

"If I may, Hyperion. When Menelaus and I first came to Dathomir to disperse his mother's ashes, I discovered something. After I killed a Sith acolyte, I sensed the Force come alive in your son as if he were a Wound in the Force like Meetra Surik and Lord Nihilus. Guess Verrin succeeded in his experiment to create such a wound though he didn't get the chance to turn it into a weapon for the Sith. Yet the Jedi could turn it into a harbinger of justice for the Light, if given the chance," Inoy confessed.

Hyperion looked galvanized to hear the news that his son had proven himself Force-sensitive after the years he spent raising him as his own. Turning to Morgause, he used what strength he had to put in a request. "Daughter dearest, promise... promise me that you will become a Jedi and you will train your brother as your Padawan learner," Hyperion asked. Morgause nodded and said that she promised to become a Jedi and find her foster brother that he might be trained as her Padawan learner. Dantius agreed with it as well and with good reason: once Morgause completed her Jedi training, she would have the most well-rounded understanding of the Force and be the most capable of training her foster brother.

"And I will see to it that she is assigned a kind and understanding Master for the duration of her training. I know just the person who can help her integrate her training from Morgana into becoming a tool for the Light. You have my word, brother, that Morgause will be the best Knight that Menelaus could ask for in training him," Dantius told him. Hyperion smiled gently and asked his daughter one more thing that was a little more understandable this time.

"Lay my head down to the ground please, I want to embrace my end as a warrior should," he asked her. She nodded, not bothering to question her father's request as she laid his head to rest then put his lightsaber to his chest. He wrapped his hands around it and she let him go so that he could do so, his legs brought together so that he could ready himself for his end. "I love you, my child," he said. The words stung his daughter who let her head sink in grieving for Hyperion as she and Dantius both sensed the last breath of life leave him behind as he became one with the Force.

"Jace, can we get a squad to raze the Palace to the ground as soon as we're out. Hyperion's dead and I want a funeral fit for a king. I'll signal you when we have exited the Palace," Dantius said. There was no more resistance when they came back down the Palace steps, their soldiers having seen off the last of any potential resistance they could've faced. When they emerged from the Palace, Dantius decided to prepare a signal for sendout when they reached the last stairs of the establishment then watched as Jace's fighters came in to do the job he'd asked of them. As they burned down the palace and cremated Hyperion, Dantius turned to his niece with an important question.

"You made no effort to recover your father's lightsaber for later use. Why?" he asked.

"Aunt Morgana once told me the Jedi say that their members have to let go of all ties to their past, including trinkets and souvenirs. If I had taken my father's lightsaber, I'd not only be violating his desire to die a warrior's death but wouldn't I also be holding onto the past? All I want to have of my father is the memory, the memory of the man who loved me, who laid down his life for me, and even offered it when I wanted revenge for my mother," Morgause told him. You are more ready to be a Jedi than you realize, Morgause: I'm proud of you Dantius thought.