:: Chapter Twenty Six ::

It was one of those moments where you find yourself scarcely aware of your surroundings or even your own physical existence. Where the only sound is the rushing of blood in your ears while your eyes stare into the distant nothing until they dry and start to burn and once you come to, you realize the person you were talking with is waiting for a reaction and minutes have passed.

It was what Theron experienced when Eliza sat him down the next morning to share what she'd learned from her ancestor and when she announced Lord Scourge was, in fact, still alive.

'We were right…' It dawned on him and he finally met her eyes again. "Are you okay?"

"No. I'm, something but okay doesn't even come close. I don't understand, not for a second," she admitted while confusion ruled her mind.

She got up from the black, suede sofa in their room and pushed open the balcony doors in desperate need of fresh air, breathing it in as though she'd been suffocating for hours.

"I mean, how is this possible? I have his ring. Regina disposed of his body herself and watched him die. I don't get it and if he's not dead then where the hell is he? Where has he been all this time?"

Feeling Theron's arms wrap around her from behind, she leaned into his chest and sighed while he struggled with the little options he had, mostly torn between telling her what he knew right now or waiting for Me'ghan so they could tell her together.

'No. You have to now, you can't let her agonize over this for a minute more.'

"Come sit down with me please," he asked quietly and lead her by the hand to one of the loungers.

Eliza frowned and echoed his earlier words while she curled up sideways on his lap, "Are you okay?"

"Not quite—there's something I have to tell you and I'm worried for your reaction, worried you'll feel hurt and I'm sorry I didn't tell you sooner."

"O-kay… that's, an unnerving build up, what is it?"

"For the past week and a half, I've had my own reasons to believe Scourge might still be alive."

"How?"

"There was a call I overheard Ravage make to what turns out to be a jeweler in Kaas City—Vowrawn is looking into the specifics and—"

"Wait. Ravage, Vowrawn? What jeweler?"

A deep sigh escaped his lips and he scolded himself for just how bad he was at delivering this sort of news. His hand tenderly rubbed down her back while he pinched the bridge of his nose, knitting his brows and then began telling her everything from the very beginning—from the afternoon in the cantina to all Me'ghan had uncovered with Vowrawn's assistance.

"For now, Vowrawn is looking to see what else he can uncover, Thyra's records are rather incomplete and he's waiting to hear back from this Elias guy," he closed out at last and swallowed hard, "I'm so sorry I didn't say anything before."

Minutes went by and Eliza sat speechless, her face a masquerade of every emotion that rose quickly before another came to conquer it. Confusion carving a path for sorrow soon overcome by shock, changing to the feeling she was about to throw up and eventually leaving her with just anger—burning and aching in her body and she flew up from his lap.

"I'm going to kill him," she bit out, her jaw clenched and her fists so tight the bones of her knuckles could have pierced her skin.

"I am going to kill him so slowly, so excruciatingly he'll beg me to finish the job quickly and I'll grant his wish then figure out a way to revive him so I can do it all over again!"

With her fury waging war already, rapidly building to its ultimate climax, she stormed from the room faster than Theron could respond or leave his seat and he was left having to chase her down the base.

"Eliza wait!" he called out after her, running through the cantina and the consternation drew the attention of others and Me'ghan, Malavai, and Darius followed suit.

Eliza wasn't waiting though and startled Aric Jorgan when she blew into the security hub. He had no idea of what was going on and watched, half anxiously at the sheer anger possessing her, while she repeatedly entered the access code for Ravage's cell, her hands and fingers shaking too much to hit the correct combination.

"Open it, now!" she barked her orders and came close to yanking the Cathar out of his chair but Theron stopped her, catching up and dragging her back outside.

"Baby please, look at me," he cupped her face in his hands even while she tried to resist and spoke soothingly, "not like this, not right now. Whatever fate you've got planned for him, it can—"

"No! He dies, today!"

"If he's to die, it can wait, please. I know you're infuriated and he has it coming, all of it and more but I'm begging you—wait."

She bristled, fighting off his comforting intentions with her anger railing, "Why?!"

The small crowd gathered, and now including Aric, stood silently witnessing while Theron did all he could to calm her, pulling her to him, stroking her back, her hair, speaking in gentle and hushed tones.

"Because we don't know everything yet and I know you. At some point, you will have questions even if you think you already know the answers now. You're going to want to hear all of it, from him so please for your own sake, calm down first."

Even Ravage himself stood glued to the door, having overheard the turmoil outside but to his disappointment, his cell was too well isolated for him to catch anything more than mere mumbles, distorted words, and voices.

Her volatile temper mixed with the melancholy resurfacing inside of her, weakening her resolve and with every mollifying caress of Theron's, her rage was further subdued making way for the first tears springing to her eyes.

His touch, the love in his eyes and words had such a pacifying effect and she soon realized he was right—no matter the fabrications Ravage might spin when asked, she'd want an explanation from him and dead men don't do a lot of talking.

"He lied…" She made a long face and her bottom lip quivered.

"He did, and once you've calmed, you'll make him pay and I'll be right there with you."

Malavai, despite not fully knowing what had happened or what she'd uncovered in the Astrum, put his hand on her shoulder. "We all will."

Eliza gave a dazed nod and left a quick, salted kiss on Theron's lips. "I'm going for a walk, I need to clear my head."

Every nerve in her body begged her to escape the situation, the weight of revelations of the past twenty-four hours suffocating her slowly and she tired of her constant state of confusion and chaos.

"Of course," Theron began but watched sullenly as she pushed the back door wide open and walked off before he'd even finished, "I love you…"

"I take it you told her?" asked Me'ghan.

"I had to. Her ancestor confirmed to her Scourge is alive. I just… I guess I didn't foresee her getting this angry. I feel so stupid."

"When word came of Scourge's death, Ravage was a genuine beacon of support and she forged a bond with him believing them both to be widowers," Me'ghan remembered vividly as even she had been in awe of Ravage's caring support.

"It was one of the few things he's ever done that truly touched her and now she's found out he orchestrated all of it—her pain and sorrow for his own benefit. Spinning a lie about her husband's death… it's a most painful of betrayals."

A crisp, morning breeze was her welcome when she stepped outside the base, threading a path through a section of wilderness on Odessen she'd never explored before. While previous walks had brought her down a creek to a clearing and close by the waterfalls, this one took her to a canyon carved out between two cliff sides and eventually, to vast rapids surging down a river which stretched on for miles.

The critters scurrying away underneath overgrown ferns and the tears trickling down her cheek were all she had for company and far too easily, Eliza got caught up in the treacherous maze that was her mind. It took her back months to the day she'd been told of Lord Scourge's passing, to the night where Ravage had comforted her so adequately.

His words of comfort, his understanding through having suffered the same had meant everything to her in the weeks following but now they made her feel ill. They salted her tears and brought her to her knees at the riverbank.

"People will forever seek to betray you—accept that and move on, harden yourself and pursue your true destiny," a voice spoke and Valkorion appeared, much to Eliza's chagrin and she glowered at him.

"Go away."

His phantom form paced and ignored her words. "My daughter was eliminated from the playing field and now, we must deal with my son as well."

"I said go away!"

Her nails dug into the dirt until her hands formed a fist. "I don't need advice from Tenebrae, the bastard of Medriaas."

"Ah, you know the truth at last."

She snipped, "I do but forgive me if I have no interest in a family reunion."

Eliza got up and wiped the dirt from her hands, her tears now crusting on her cheek. "So what was it that turned you into a homicidal psychopath? Daddy issues? Those sure seem to run in your side of the family."

"Your gift was fire, mine was death," he declared plainly as if those simple words explained the centuries of terror he'd inflicted upon the galaxy.

"Death?" she scoffed and wandered off with slow and aimless steps, "If only yours came as easy as everyone else's. Where is he?"

"Who?"

"Scourge! What did you do to him?"

"I had plans for my treacherous Wrath but alas, your padawan's actions foiled those plans."

"Good, so where is he?"

"I don't know where he is now."

"Then you're useless to me—leave."

Her hand cut through the air but Valkorion wasn't so easily dismissed and tracked her footfalls down the cobbled riverbank.

"It is time you evolved, Seraphine," he called her by her title, the one name she held that he deemed befitting.

"Beyond those you call family, beyond the teachings of the Jedi and Sith. We were both forged from the same blood, we are superior to every other being in this galaxy and you were born to rule them all as I once was."

"I was born to get rid of you, and one day I will!"

The chuckle that escaped Valkorion rang hollow. "Yes, I used to fear that prophecy until I came to understand—my reign will end but only to make way for yours and through you, all I know, everything I have built will live on. You will wear my crown."

Upon his last word, Eliza came to an abrupt halt and heard it echo in her mind. Ringing clear until it found its association buried deep within her subconscious and coaxed it to the surface.

'Crown… crown… In the vision, I bowed to you and took a crown from the Emperor's head. It ended when you held his power in your hands.'

Again Valkorion laughed as though he'd followed the trajectory of her thoughts, leading him to the words Lord Scourge had spoken to her long ago. "Even my Wrath knew."

"No. I'm nothing like you and I never will be! I don't want your crown or your power!"

"Because you still cling to these mortal desires—love, family, happiness, a good life—but you could have so much more and the darkness within you hungers and grows. You've felt it, even today, less than an hour ago. I did too."

They reached a clearing at the end of the path where the two cliffsides merged to close off the canyon and Eliza shook her head. "You're wrong."

"Am I?"

An amused smile curled his lips and the look he gave her was that of a master challenging his pupil, already knowing he'd be victorious. His eyes bore into her soul, searching and reaching.

"You never felt it when the seed of darkness began to bloom, rising within you? Its tentacles tainting every nerve, every vain black as it hissed a call for destruction?" Valkorion taunted and circled her once more.

Every syllable he spoke stirred something in the pit of her stomach, an awakening of the one thing she always fought so hard to control as though her darkness heeded his call above her own. It rose, precisely as he described and she felt an all too familiar crackling in her fingertips.

"The way it turns your blood cold and your eyes to hellfire."

"Stop…" A plea fell from her lips, one aimed at the horror that sought to dominate her now but Valkorion delighted.

"Think of all those who have lied to you, deceived you, betrayed you and kept their secrets from you. All those who've wronged you.

"The Jedi and their grandmaster, the Republic who tried to use and exploit you. That simpering fool whose unwanted affections and lies have kept you from searching for your husband, lead you to deceive him. The mother who abandoned you because she feared what you are, who you could be."

Each word resounded in her mind, teasing and stroking the dark force taking her in its thrall. A crimson aura set in her irises, blending with the golden rings left there after a previous bout with her hatred and anger.

"Those you call your friends and family harboring secrets because they think you're too weak for the truth! Even your old Master, the one you looked to as a father, abandoned you and lied!"

"No… he didn't…"

It became increasingly harder for Eliza to fend off his words and the assault they made on her being, the rise they gave to her dark side breaking the chains she'd crafted to keep it subjugated.

"Feel all of it, everything you've held back and remember the lessons I once gave you aboard my fortress, embrace it, let your hatred reign!"

In a violent scream, her darkness reached a pinnacle, a violet vortex holding her in its grasp and Valkorion smirked when he felt his plan successful.

It was true he could not command her but in his recent absence, he'd been searching for a loophole and realized the corrupt force inside of her was key—if he could enrage that and make it listen, it would overtake Eliza and then he'd have the dominion over her he so desperately sought.

Anguished tears sprung from her now ruby eyes, her body shaking with the force that overwhelmed her as she tried to fight a lost battle. She knew better, she knew his words were the poison of a man anxious to have her compliance but she couldn't escape the trappings of her true nature, not alone but luckily, she didn't have to.

At first, she thought he was just a vision, a fabrication stolen from her heart and given shape by her mind as the tall figure appeared in his specter form. His hood drawn up, sharp spikes adorning his shoulders and forever wearing his signature mask, his frame so unmistakable even Valkorion took a step back.

"Marr…" whispered Valkorion with a modicum of awe.

The ethereal Sith ignored him and turned to Eliza, placing a hand on her shoulder and while physically she felt none of it, his essence radiated through her body instantly.

"He is right—you are more than this," spoke Marr with his sole attention on his grandniece and former acolyte, "but more isn't necessarily worse or evil. The power you hold was born from darkness but what you do with it has always been your choice, and it still is."

"I… I…" she tried but the power coursing through her not only paralyzed her body but silenced her words too.

Marr nodded and understood. "I should have spent more time teaching you to maintain balance—to not just control and enslave your power but work with it, and harmonize."

"We both should have," spoke another voice, soft and female and a third presence arrived but this one as alive as Eliza was herself, "I was foolish to believe ignoring the darkness would render it nonexistent within you."

Eliza stared in absolute shock while Satele Shan took her hand and together with Marr, she focused her energy to banish Valkorion's spirit from their presence. Assaulting him with their combined power and with every blow he took, Eliza felt her darkness abate.

"You will not have her, Valkorion," Marr argued and he took a protective stance between Eliza and the now startled Emperor.

Valkorion stood angered but in his incorporeal form, weak against the two guardians at Eliza's side. Their attacks slashing away at his ghostly form and his power, the strength he needed to maintain his own manifestation, drained.

"We shall see—neither of you can protect her forever and I am part of her now! This isn't over and one day soon, when she's ready, she'll come to me!"

He spoke his promise and vanished in an anticlimactic fashion, without a show of power or a semblance of retaliation and Eliza was left standing with two former mentors she'd never expected to see again. Shaken by all she'd witnessed, by her own rise of power until the dark force inside of her waned fully and she fell into an unconscious state.