:: Chapter Eighteen ::

"They were what?!" a bristling Arcann rose from his throne and stared the Zakuulan Knight down.

The Knight took a noticeable step back and glanced at his partner for help. "Spotted on the shadowport Asylum along with—"

"Our dear mother," Vaylin finished for him and in the blink of an eye, she snapped both the Knight's necks, "Oh isn't this precious?"

"She betrays us…"

"Now now, you know mother's never cared about us."

Vaylin circled her brother in a prowl. "Do we know yet who this red haired woman is?"

"Yes." Arcann pulled an identity report up via the throne controls and enlarged it. "Those Republic fools were eager enough to tell me everything they know."

Eliza's holo-image sprung to life accompanied by a completed profile spanning the majority of her life, courtesy of Supreme Commander Jace Malcom.

"Eliza Aurora Ignis-Tynan," Vaylin read out loud and snorted, "how pretentious, I'll bet she's a Lady too."

"She is, the last heir to House Ignis long presumed to have fallen until Eliza returned to the Empire. She was raised in the Republic as Jedi but defected when she discovered her true heritage and took on the name and title Darth Seraphine."

"Pff, Darths, Lords, Ladies, Sith and Jedi, all these filthy species… what ever did father see in the Empire and Republic?"

Arcann ignored her comments and read on, "Her Master was Darth Marr, the man father killed and look who she married."

He drew Lord Scourge's profile up next to Eliza's and Vaylin began to laugh, rather obnoxiously.

"Well now I see why she came here. Did father ever tell you what he did with him?"

Arcann remained silent—there were few things he didn't wish to share with his sister and this was one of them.

"Spoil sport," she sulked.

"It would appear Eliza also has personal history with our father. She faced off against him on numerous occasions, in his time as Sith Emperor."

The profiles vanished while Arcann sat back on his throne and mentally cursed his father for bringing his old enemies to their doorstep.

"According to Jace Malcom, she's dangerous and a serious threat. He recommends we take her out at the earliest opportunity. I should have him killed for that piece of unsolicited advice but at least he delivered, unlike those in the Empire."

His sister shrugged. "You'll take it out on Acina's lackey next time he visits."

"Mm yes… but not before he tells us what he knows about Eliza. This is personal for her and that sets her apart from others who've tried to make a stand against us in recent years…"

"Oh brother dearest," Vaylin drawled and she feigned a sympathetic, yet menacing, smile, "she'll be no match for you and your superior skills. You'll strike her down where she stands and we'll mount her head on the wall, a nice trophy."

"She's aided by our mother now, Vaylin, and we still don't know what she did with the Outlander. If she's amassing forces—"

"Then you'll make them pay. You have me, the Fleet, our Knights. Her little group of rebels won't stand a chance."

Arcann nodded though with far less conviction than his sister.

It wasn't just Eliza or the people supporting her that caused him reason for concern—his father was still out there in some form or another, he was certain of it and he dreaded to think the reckoning he'd face should his father return to Zakuul.

"Dispatch six Knights and two dozen Skytroopers to Asylum and have them interrogate everyone until we find out where their base is. Kill anyone who refuses to cooperate and remind them who's in charge."

A wide grin spread over Vaylin's face and she clapped her hands together in glee. "Oh I do hope they don't give in too easily, I enjoy a good massacre."

"Do you have any idea what this is about?" Me'ghan asked Eliza and Malavai as they took the elevator down to the war room.

The three of them along with Lord Cytharat, Praven, Jonas, Charlie and Jenna had received a summons to meet, at Nyssa and Theron's request but no one seemed to know why. It unnerved Eliza, however, especially since Jenna kept giving her the cold shoulder and looks of disdain.

'But you haven't said or done anything… just relax, it's probably nothing,' she told herself and sighed silently, 'Or maybe they're having a baby… ugh. No, if that's the case, be supportive, be nice.'

She was a criminal, only in her own mind and only for loving a man she couldn't be with and it was making her paranoid. Lord Cytharat easily picked up on her distress and pulled her to him, his other arm lingering over Praven's shoulder.

"Chin up," he whispered to her.

A vague smile crossed her face briefly and she scolded herself for being ridiculous.

Down in the war room Nyssa paced along the holo-terminal while Theron stood off to the side, his expression vacant and his eyes mostly averted, the both of them giving off an air of unease.

"I'm sure you're all wondering why we called you here," Nyssa began when Charlie and Jonas were the last ones to arrive.

Jonas opened his mouth to crack a joke, he'd been teasing everyone about a surprise party in his honor, but seeing the downcast look on his best friend's face he swallowed his comments and stood mute.

"We are," Me'ghan admitted, "is everything okay?"

Nyssa glanced at Theron, hoping he might join her which he did when he caught her eyes. He fell in at her side, in support of the announcement she'd prepared though he still said nothing, allowing Nyssa to present the news on her own terms.

"Theron and I have split up and we're getting a divorce. I'll be leaving Odessen in the morning." She dropped the bombshell.

Charlie shrieked out, staring at her friends in shock, "What, why?!"

"This is certainly unexpected." Malavai frowned.

"I'm sorry, I'm confused," Praven spoke up, "and I don't mean to pry into personal matters but, what happened? Is it something we, as friends, can help you both with?"

"No, it's not. Theron and I…" Nyssa paused and looked at her soon to be ex-husband, considering her words carefully to spare him any embarrassment, "we realized we do not want the same things in life, for our future. We just no longer work as a couple."

Behind her, Jenna quietly scoffed and rolled her eyes. As Nyssa's oldest friend and the person who'd taken her in, she knew exactly what was going on and while Nyssa had insisted on handling the matter with dignity, she felt ready to punch the man who'd hurt her, as well as Eliza but for her friend's sake she kept silent.

Eliza kept silent too but for entirely different reasons—she was freaking out deep down wondering if she caused this somehow, worrying this was related to Theron staying with her through the night or perhaps they'd already split up by that point but then why hadn't he told her?

"You guys… I'm so sorry to hear it." Me'ghan slipped from Malavai's side and hugged Nyssa to her. "We'll miss you. Is there anything we can do for you?"

"No. I'm mostly packed already and I've made all the arrangements."

Jonas leaned into Theron and lowered his voice to a whisper, "Are you okay?"

He simply nodded and kept his eyes averted—Nyssa was being more gracious than he felt he deserved and it didn't sit right with him, yet he felt ill at ease to argue anything she'd said.

"You know you don't have to leave, right?" Eliza finally found her voice and brushed off her selfish concerns.

"None of us would ask you to and if you wish to stay, you're more than welcome to. I'm so sorry you're going through this, both of you."

Nyssa feigned half a smile. "I know but this is my choice. While it's best for us to split up, it does hurt and I would rather be away from everything for a while."

"Where will you go, Lady Nyssa?" asked Lord Cytharat.

"Corellia, I'm going to stay with my sister for a while."

Nyssa elaborated further on her plans for the future, something she felt more eager to discuss than the past but Eliza's gaze drifted to Theron. He was quiet, unusually so and it disturbed her.

'Don't want the same things in life…' she repeated Nyssa's words in her mind and considered them, 'maybe it's the kids thing, perhaps Theron doesn't want any, that would be hard to overcome…'

'Well that means you're screwed too even if he is single now. You've got a kid, he'd hate it.' the next thought jabbed at her and she sighed. 'Stop being such a selfish twit, your friends are hurting.'

She observed the scene and felt torn between who to support—worried Nyssa may not want her good intentions and if she showed Theron any, it might give her own feelings away somehow. To her rescue was Jonas who took his best friend by the arm, leaving Eliza to slip in next to Me'ghan and Nyssa instead.

"We need to talk, now," Jonas told Theron and gave him no chance to protest, pushing him in the direction of the Force enclave underneath the base.

Eliza followed the two of them with her eyes while her hand rubbed Nyssa's back. "Are you sure there's nothing to be done about this? Perhaps you both just need some time apart and then try again?"

"No. Some things just cannot be solved or fixed."

Rolling her eyes, Jenna came to her friend's aid and joined the group, mildly shoving Eliza who continued being the recipient of her foul glares. "We should finish getting you packed and ready, Nys."

"You're really leaving?" Charlie's brows furrowed with sadness.

Nyssa turned around and hugged her, working hard to present everyone with some form of a smile. "I am, I want to."

"How long has this been going on?" Me'ghan wondered out loud trying to recall if she'd noticed any dissent between the couple.

"A while now but it came to a head three days ago. We just kept it quiet until I was ready to actually say goodbye and leave here."

'Three days ago? But that was before he stayed with me through the night… so it's not me, or is it? Why does Jenna keep acting so strange?' Eliza couldn't help but continuously get distracted by her thoughts.

"Is it because of the uh, kids thing? I'm sorry I didn't get a chance yet to bring it up with him…" she ended up asking.

A gentle sigh left Nyssa and she shook her head. "No, that isn't it."

It was becoming more difficult for her to keep a straight face, to not share the full reason for her divorce especially while talking to Eliza and she took Jenna's hand looking for an escape.

"Jen's right though, I still have some packing to do so if you guys don't mind…"

"Poor thing…" Charlie lamented after Jenna and Nyssa left and Eliza gave her a vague nod while her mind drifted back to Theron.

Her gaze returned to the direction Jonas and Theron had vanished to and she eagerly wished she knew what they were talking about.

"I take it Eliza is this future you and Nyssa don't see eye to eye on?" Jonas asked Theron once they were alone.

"Yeah, nothing gets by you huh?" A sigh escaped Theron.

"Start talking."

"There's not much to say. We got to Rishi after escaping Coruscant… I saw her again and suddenly it was like no time had passed. All I wanted was to hold her, kiss her, love her and I started to come apart. Became jealous over little things and Nyssa caught on so… now we're getting a divorce."

"You complete idiot. Didn't I tell you not to go through with the wedding at least a dozen times?"

"I'm aware but what was I supposed to do? I do love Nyssa, I thought we could make it work and Eliza made it clear she just didn't love me enough or hell, I wasn't enough."

Jonas groaned out and shook his head. "She lied. Do you ever listen to me at all?"

"You don't know that she did."

"I do, it was obvious but you believed her so easily. Now I can understand why, with your history—never had a relationship before, dumped by your mother and getting kicked from the Order, a lifetime of rejections, that'll mess with your head."

"Yeah, thanks, I needed that reminder," Theron muttered sullenly.

Jonas grinned. "Sorry, I'm just saying.

"So what happens now, you gonna make another declaration of love?"

He scratched the back of his head and shrugged somewhat. "I don't know, I want to but… I don't want to get burned again and with everything Eliza's been through…"

"Everything she's been through?"

"She hooked up with Ravage and—"

Jonas screwed his nose up. "Gross, has she gone blind and deaf?"

A small chuckle escaped Theron. "No. It wasn't really a romantic thing according to her and they got into an argument, he assaulted her and, well he's imprisoned now."

"Hell…"

"Yeah… so, I doubt she's in a place for wanting a relationship and even if she was I… oh, she drives me crazy."

"Tell her. The moment Nyssa leaves you go find her and tell her. You don't have to get involved right away but at least let her know how you feel."

"And if she turns me down again?"

"She won't."

"How do you know?"

"Please, I'm an expert when it comes to women."

Theron laughed and clapped Jonas on the shoulder. "You're an expert at breaking hearts and pissing women off, but thanks. How are things with you and Charlie?"

"Every day is an adventure, especially in these parts. We're never bored, constantly staring down danger and we couldn't be happier about it. Things got a little awkward when we met up with Havoc Squad, their Commander is…"

"One of your many exes?"

Jonas smirked and wriggled his brows. "But she and Charlie found common ground in mocking my bad habits so everything worked out."

His best friend snorted while the two turned back for the base upstairs. "I'm glad you're here."

By morning, the group met back up near the hangar bays to say goodbye to Nyssa who now stood fully packed and ready to begin a new life on her own.

"I got you some supplies for the journey and extra credits in case of emergencies…" Eliza handed Nyssa a small pack and tried to smile. "Don't hesitate to call if you need anything, okay?"

Behind her, Jenna scoffed quietly at the awkward farewell but Nyssa ignored it and nodded gratefully.

"Thanks… and thank you for taking me into your home and welcoming me the way you did when we first met. Give Cyara my love."

"I will, be safe please."

"You too and once it's time, should you need or want my help, I'd return to stand at your side against Arcann."

The two embraced in friendship. "Thank you, I really appreciate that."

Eliza took a step back and nudged Theron, a silent encouragement for him to say goodbye no matter how uncomfortable it may be.

"Let's give them some privacy," she suggested and linked arms with Praven and Lord Cytharat, turning back to the base with Charlie, Jonas and Jenna following behind.

A few tension filled seconds passed while the estranged couple stood on the landing pad by one of the shuttles, and Theron dug his hands into his pockets feeling lost for words.

"Nyssa I'm… I know you don't want to hear it but I am genuinely sorry for the way things worked out, or I guess the way they didn't…"

"I know you are, thank you. I don't hate you Theron I just… you should have told me, so much sooner."

"I never meant to cause you any pain with it. I tried, I really thought…"

Nyssa nodded and stuffed the pack Eliza had given her into her rucksack. "Yeah… well, we did have some good times, didn't we?"

"We did, definitely," he admitted with half a smile, "game nights with Charlie and Jonas… watching your friend Caroline devour a record breaking four tubs of icecream after yet another round of boyfriend drama…"

"That time Jonas accidentally shot you with one of his darts and you started hallucinating, prowling around the apartment like you were on a top secret mission while stripping down your clothes, telling us all to shh and not wake the wookiee," she recalled and chuckled.

Theron laughed but it subsided again quickly and he looked at her. "Can I… uh, do we hug or do you want to just…"

"We can hug." Nyssa wrapped her arms around him and sighed out. "I don't want to leave things in a bad way, and I do still care about you."

"I care about you too. I really hope you find all those things I couldn't give you, you're beautiful, inside and out and you deserve it."

"Thanks… You know it hurts but, for what it's worth, I hope things will finally work out for you too. She'd be a fool to turn you away."

They embraced still and held each other and Theron kissed the top of her head before letting her go at last. He helped her into the shuttle, said one last goodbye and took a few steps back to wave her off as Nyssa took to the skies embracing a new future.