:: Chapter Twenty Seven ::

A roaring fire gave ambiance to the veiled and secluded section of wilderness on Odessen where they'd made camp. It sputtered and snapped when the Jedi Grandmaster provoked its flames by nudging a few of the logs and she retrieved the kettle suspended above the pit.

"Here, try some soup," Satele offered a simple bowl of broth.

Eliza observed her companions warily and rubbed the fatigue from her eyes, though she accepted the offer. "How long was I out for?"

"Little over an hour," Marr told her.

"I see…"

She cast her gaze around the camp, observing a single tent, a few stacked cargo crates and, eventually, Satele's private vessel. "When did you arrive here?"

"Several weeks ago after Beniko first discovered this planet."

"I see…" she said a second time and sighed.

She put the bowl of soup down and gently massaged her temples with her index fingers, half wondering if any of this was real. Considering that perhaps she'd lost consciousness long before either of them arrived to banish Valkorion, and all of this was just a dream scenario to protect her from the truth—that the Emperor had conquered her mind and body at last.

Satele smiled with tenderness and sat down beside her.

"We are real, Eliza," she promised, the earnest clear in her eyes, "and we've been keeping an eye on you for some time now, hoping you'd sense our presence and find us here to meet."

"Because simply walking up to our base was, what? Too difficult? Do you know Theron's there?"

"I do, but I am a complication he doesn't need in his life right now."

Eliza let out a sigh and muttered, "You would say that…"

While reaching for her soup again and sipping slowly, she looked Marr's way from underneath her lashes, over the rim of her bowl and studied him.

There'd been a time where she would have paid almost any price to see him again but he felt different now. Something about him had changed, she could sense it, and much about the situation was so incomprehensible she didn't know what to think or say.

Making matters worse was the fact Eliza felt she needed to guard her emotions. She didn't want him to see her as weak by shedding tears for their reunion and there was no telling how long he'd stay. For all she knew, this was it and before long she'd have to say goodbye again—a thing she wouldn't be able to do if she let her heart rule her sensibilities and so she asked the one question everyone had speculated over for years.

"What happened during the battle, after Scourge forced me to return home?"

"We were no match for their forces," began Marr and he paced along the glowing fire, teasing the flames higher with a simple wave of his hand.

"Your old padawan, Kira, joined the fight not long after your departure and together with Scourge, they cleared out the majority of boarders but the damage had been done. We converged in the engine room with a choice to make—use the last of our power to get everyone to the escape pods or charge, full speed ahead and ram our ship into the fleet. Scourge chose the latter while Kira ran to save anyone she could before impact."

A pause fell and Marr relived every moment, remembering each sound, every scream and the fumes of the explosions as though it had happened only yesterday.

"Somehow, we survived. I awoke in a cell and together with Kira, was escorted to meet this immortal Emperor of Zakuul," he continued.

"We both knew instantly when we came into his presence—Valkorion was Vitiate. He offered us a place at his side if we'd kneel but I could not. To do so would have been a betrayal not only to our Empire but to the man I have always been, and all I have fought for."

Eliza had listened intently, his words shaping the images in her mind that allowed her to witness each event and she nodded. "I understand, I couldn't have either."

"You would have been proud of your former padawan—she stood fierce and unafraid, and she had my back."

"She didn't make it," Eliza announced but quickly saw, by the gentle nods she received, this wasn't news to either of her companions.

"What of Scourge? Was he not there when you were brought before Vitiate?"

"No. I don't know what became of him after we rammed their fleet and even now, his fate remains concealed."

"You can't see him either?"

"He is shrouded in secrecy—there is a barrier, somehow, that not even I can pierce."

A quiet sigh passed her lips. "Oh…"

Finally, he stopped pacing and sat himself down beside her while Satele occupied herself with menial tasks, stepping away to give the both of them some much needed privacy. Marr placed his hand over Eliza's, letting it hover and while physical touch was impossible, she found comfort in the gesture alone.

"Did you suffer?" she asked.

"It was over quick and I hope you can forgive my choice—I have wondered in the years past while watching the war unfold, if perhaps I should have swallowed my pride to stand by your side."

"There is nothing to forgive. I… have missed you, needed you but I respect the choice you made and I would have done no different. You seem… changed, though, somehow."

"Death opened my eyes to new and profound wisdom I shunned in life. It offered a grander perspective of the Force and I realized just how limited our own views are," Marr lamented.

"That's… an unusual notion coming from you."

"Being in the Ora, it changes the way you see everything," he began sharing the enlightenment he'd experienced.

"It shows us the galaxy as a whole—past, present, future—the touch of the Force woven like a fine thread through every living organism. Every single person with a dozen different decisions to make and each choice creating an alternative future outcome with the Force at the heart of all of it."

Eliza looked at him and a soft smile lit up her eyes. "Sounds… beautiful, I guess. So you are in the Ora, you never moved on?"

"I couldn't. After death, I was shown my own life, from birth to death, and one of many futures awaiting the family I left behind—you. I was shown what transpired here today, Valkorion wielding your darkness and eventually transforming you into his vessel, finally obtaining your family's gift.

"It was only one of many potential outcomes but I knew I had to prevent it. I witnessed each moment of your life, the pain you suffered in the past years and I feared the worst possible future would become reality as your depression grew but I was powerless to stop it—I didn't know how to manifest myself among the living and that was when she found me."

"She?" Eliza frowned and glanced over her shoulder to see Satele standing behind her. "You brought him here?"

"I did," Satele rejoined them by the fire and began to explain.

"When I felt his passing and the loss of Kira, I feared the worst when it came to the future of our galaxy. I meditated in search of answers and the Force reached out, instructing me to find Marr and share the knowledge of spirit manifestation."

"So that's how you ended up together?"

Marr nodded. "It took years to master the art, and requires much energy and focus."

"Which is why we should get to the true lesson before time runs out," Satele pointed out.

"True lesson?" Eliza's frown flitted back and forth between them both.

"Your dark side—it used to control you and then you learned how to control it, enslaved it and I believed that to be the answer for you," Marr told her, "but I was wrong."

"Just as I was wrong to believe if it could be suppressed and ignored then it would never touch you," added Satele.

Marr rolled his hand to shape the flames of their campfire into two separate figures—a wild animal and a woman—and continued.

"You've been treating your dark side as a savage beast to be shackled and bound, caged and only released when you demand it."

Again his hand made a gentle wave and now the wild animal transformed into a mirror copy of the woman built of flames.

"But it is not a savage beast—it is you. A part of you, an extension of yourself that you need to embrace. Set it free, learn to work with it in a symbiotic relationship."

"It heeded Valkorion's call because it sensed his acceptance while deep down, you still reject and fear it," Satele made another point.

"I'm scared I'll lose myself…" admitted Eliza while she stared, captivated, at the two blazing figures harmonizing within the fire.

"That's all the more reason to face and welcome it and, remember, that darkness, it is as much a part of you as anything else. it is you."

Doubtful and currently lacking faith in herself, Eliza looked at Marr. "Do you think I can do it?"

"I believe you were born to," he promised and rose up.

With a simple gesture, he doused the flames and gazed up at the sky. "It is getting late. You should return to your people and I must go."

"You really can't stay?" Her brows furrowed in sadness.

"No—I have done my part so it is time I moved on."

"I won't see you again?"

"You won't."

She swallowed hard to fight off a familiar stinging in her eyes, her tears pressing just beneath the surface. Despite her efforts to keep her emotions at bay throughout their reunion, they made their presence known now in the face of losing him a second time.

"We never got enough time together, not even a year and there is so much I still want to share with you." Her voice wavered and she bit her bottom lip.

She admitted, feeling her heart aching, "I love you and I have missed you. I'm not ready to say goodbye."

"I know," said Marr and he embraced her, his physical touch nonexistent but his essence wrapped around her like a blanket of comfort and warmth, "and I will always be with you."

The moment, tender and fragile, lasted not nearly long enough and when Eliza opened her eyes again, he was gone. She turned to Satele, a single tear trickling down her cheek.

"Will he be at peace now?"

"One may hope."

"And you? Will you return to the base with me and say hello to your son?"

"No. As I said earlier, I am a complication he doesn't need in his life right now and he doesn't need me."

Eliza screwed her nose up. "You realize you're doing that thing again where you try to decide what's best for someone else? Can't you let him make that choice?"

Ruefully, Satele tried a smile while she began walking Eliza in the direction of Odessen's base. "Theron and I will never have that good or close of a relationship, it's not for us. I've caused him pain he cannot forgive."

"But that can change. You could at least try."

"Perhaps, one day when all this is over but for now, we both have our own role to play in this war and it is not one we can perform together."

"What do I tell him when he asks where I've been?"

They reached the beginning of the path out of seclusion and Satele came to a halt. "The truth. I know of your relationship and I won't ask you to lie on my behalf."

Eliza frowned. "And you're not going to scold me for being with him?"

"No. I no longer have that right and perhaps I never did."

"Okay, whatever spices you and Marr have been enjoying out here or in the Ora, I want some. You're both so tranquil and different."

For a split second, Satele pursed her lips at the comment but then smiled once more. "Find your balance and embrace both halves of yourself, it will be key to winning this war."

"Where will you go?"

"Wherever I'm needed next. May the Force be with you, Eliza," Satele said her goodbye and while she walked away to pack up, Eliza returned to the base.

His voice thundered with fury, so loud it echoed through the throne room repeatedly and took minutes to die out while Arcann paced in rapid succession by his seat of power, berating the Imperial Empress.

"Your man failed to attend our meeting! He failed to deliver the information I requested and he has been spying on us for years! He works with my greatest enemy!" he accused and threw a small monitoring device at her feet.

"Emperor Arcann, my deepest apologies, I had no idea Minister Vowrawn would abuse his position as our ambassador and betray us both," Acina spoke cautiously.

To her greatest regret, she'd been summoned to Zakuul after Vowrawn, aware that his connections to Eliza were now exposed, had refused another diplomatic journey and fled the Empire to avoid capture. It had become clear to all he'd deliberately withheld information and not long after, one of Zakuul's own Knight's had discovered scanning and monitoring devices throughout several sections of the Spire and throne room.

"I assure you, he worked alone and I have my people searching for him as we speak. He will be brought to justice."

Arcann puffed and bellowed, "Your apologies are worthless! This woman sat on the Council with you and you will tell me everything you know!"

"I know no more than you have in your files, we were never close."

"More lies!" Infuriated, Arcann brought up a galaxy map and began browsing the different sectors of space with great urgency.

"Please allow me to correct this mistake," Acina offered and realized the precarious situation she found herself in.

Internally, she cursed Vowrawn for his actions and scolded herself for ever trusting him in a position of power to begin with, his reputation well known even to her. Still, she'd deal with that later, after attempting to smooth out the relationship between the Empire and Zakuul.

She cleared her throat and tried in earnest, "Eliza was born in the Empire and there must be people who knew her family. My Intelligence team—"

"Your Intelligence team is useless! Three of your Ministers have vanished now and none of them have ever honored our treaty! In fact, I am starting to believe you have all purposely worked against me from the start but no more!"

He circled the map and zoomed in on the Esstran sector, a section of space holding mostly Imperial planets, and Acina sucked in a sharp breath. She dreaded to think what he might be looking for or had in mind and her stomach churned with a sudden unease.

"Tell me how I can make this right."

"You?" Arcann scoffed, "Your work here is done but you may bear witness as I remind your people of the importance of loyalty!"

The throne, his seat of power and his connection to the Eternal Fleet, lit up when he sat down and Arcann entered five different sets of coordinates into the communication system before he spoke his orders—a full scale assault on five, randomly selected, Imperial planets and Acina felt her heart sink while her panic rose.

"Please! This isn't necessary! I will pull every resource I have to find her and deliver her to you myself! If she is working with the others—"

"Oh, I am sure she is but while you all sat around plotting to deceive me, she murdered my sister! A favor, granted, but none of this will go unpunished!"

The Fleet, which had been in formation right outside the throne room, vanished, leaving white and blue streaks in its wake while Acina stood powerless to change Arcann's mind.

"Now, as for you…" he began, his tone threatening and he closed an invisible fist around her throat.