He drifted in shadow for what seemed like an eternity. When he finally opened his eyes, he'd forgotten where had been before — but there was no mistaking where was now. He was back on Skeressa.

The red light from Dirai's lightsaber washed the surrounding darkness with a crimson glow. Theron was still trapped, strapped to the interrogation table as the darkness and deranged Sith drew in closer, unhinged mutterings about the Force echoing against the unseen walls so loudly it was almost maddening.

There was no moving, no escape as he jerked against his bonds uselessly. With his free hand Dirai roughly pulled the vibroblade from Theron's side, pain blossoming with the action like he had just stoked a flame. It rose around him like a fire, burning everything it touched including his tormenter.

As the flames slowly consumed him, Dirai descended into a mad, pain-tinged cackle that drowned out the mutterings still echoing endlessly. The laughter rose in pitch even as Dirai's scarred and twisted face crumbled into ash. Theron could only watch in helpless horror as the flames rose around him, struggling useslessly against his bonds.

"He will devour everything." The words swirled around him like the ashes of his dead tormenter, nearly inaudible over the echoing cackle. "All he touches turns to dust."

Theron pitched back and forth, trying to escape the flames and the invisible bonds holding him down. There was no escape, the weight of the darkness behind the flames crushing down on him, acrid smoke and ash filling his lungs. He couldn't breathe, he couldn't move, he couldn't—

Theron, breathe. The flames parted, and a familiar feminine visage came into view. Focus on me.

He blinked and the swirl of fire, pain, and madness seemed to hold still for a second, held at bay by the small figure limned in a soft light. Words couldn't seem to form, and she graced him with a small smile. When her hand cupped his face, the world began to move again, flames and heat melting away at her light touch.

Just be still, she whispered. Let me help you.

The pain and fire began to pull away, as if they were being sucked into a vortex. They swirled with the light illuminating her soft figure, her calm visage contorting into a grimace as she drew everything to her.

He tried to croak out a protest, but she looked at him again, eyes crinkling in pain even as she graced him with a comforting smile. I am here.

Flame and light swirled together, creating a monstrous visage out of her normally beautiful features.

Do not worry.

Theron wanted to look away, wanted to move, but all he could do was watch as her smile turned into ash and all of the light winked out. Even his shout of denial was lost to the darkness.

It's going to be okay.

The rain on Yavin IV came down in sheets, like someone had drawn a curtain of water around them all. Theron was soaked to the bone, staring down as the defeated figure of his ancestor stared up at the sky above them in abject horror.

"The ritual hasn't even begun!" Revan's words were nearly lost, drowned out by the pounding rain, and a deep echoing cackle that seemed to come from the planet itself.

Beyond the torrential rain a cloud was rising, a roiling malevolence so dark that it seemed to absorb all the light around it. A shiver ran down his spine, although it was hard to tell if it was from the rain pelting down mercilessly, or from the dark presence that had been awakened.

The shiver intensified to an uncontrollable tremor, until he was shaking as badly as the ground. He lost his footing and tumbled to the hard stone floor of the ancient temple, unable to stop shaking as the chill spread to every part of his body. The rain continued to pour down as the shadows started to press in.

One by one they fell around him, until he was the only left. Lana, Jakarro, his mother, Marr, and Viszla, even half-mad Revan — all were consumed by the darkness that stalked towards him like a predator. He was frozen in place, the rain pressing him down and tremors racking his body effectively trapping him to the spot. It began to close around him, like a curtain slowly being drawn shut.

I've got you. A hand, blazing in its warmth, rested on his cheek. The tremors holding him in place slowly subsided away, enough to where he could look up to see a familiar, freckled face gracing him with a gentle smile meant only for him. Her blonde hair was flattened against her head, soaked by the never-ending torrent of rain, but she was bathed in a warm glow that seemed to push back the darkness. I'm not going to let anything happen to you.

He leaned in to her, and as her arms wrapped around in him in a tender embrace, warmth flooded back into his frozen veins. She drew him up from the stone floor that was to be his tomb, fingers combing softly through his hair. The action was so soothing, the warmth so comforting, he almost forgot about the darkness pressing in around them on all sides.

I'm going to fix this, Theron. I promise. He nodded his understanding. Ever since they had met, she had pulled off the impossible again and again. She could fight insurmountable odds, save the galaxy time after time, or even make a believer out of a lifelong cynic. She would be able to fix it. Even if Theron wasn't sure what it was that needed fixing.

As her warmth continued to flood into him, the fingers carding through his hair grew colder, more brittle. He watched as the color drained from her face, until her lips turned blue and all of the light faded away. And as the light faded, the darkness pressed in, curling around and obscuring her form like smoke.

"No—no—"

His protests fell on deaf, frozen ears, her gentle smile turned to ice. He reached out, trying to give the warmth back, but she shattered on his touch.

He tried to cry out, but it was drowned out by a malevolent cackle as the darkness claimed him once more.

Or was he on Rishi, back in the Revanite compound?

"We are bound together in blood." The last word seemed accentuated under mechanical rasp. "Together we can save the galaxy from his evil, it's our family's destiny."

The air around Theron was sweltering, humidity pressing down on him like a physical presence as the lightning crackling around him ended in a hiss. The cracked mask hid all of Revan's features, but the mechanical voice seemed to echo endlessly in the darkened interrogation room.

"Vitiate destroys everything—"

Vitiate… he didn't go by that name any more…

The prickle of dread rose up along with a good dose of nausea. His ancestor's mutterings were becoming increasingly unhinged as he alternated between trying to make Theron talk by any means necessary and recruiting him into the fold. But this was wrong, it hadn't happened like this.

"Trying to stop him cost me everything. My wife. My whole future. I never even got to meet my son…"

The room was just as he remembered it, but everything was just off. He wanted to say something about that, but nothing seemed to work. He was stuck in a state of paralysis as Revan paced back and forth, and the air around Theron just seemed to press in tighter.

"You're so like Vaner… you both grew up different than we had planned. Without your father. Without the Force. But things could be different this time, this could be a second chance. For both of us."

No, he'd had a father. Ngani Zho didn't need to share blood with Theron to have raised him. To have made him the man he was. Maybe someone that maybe Zho would be proud of too. Those words didn't come out, though, just a pained gasp as Revan's talk of family and legacy gave way to rants about the greater good.

He was still strapped down to the interrogation table. Trapped like an animal, unable to escape. Helpless. Useless. Just like Skeressa—no. This was Rishi. But how? He had just been on Yavin. The masked figure drew closer, lightning arcing between his fingertips, pulling the darkness around him like a cloak. It closed in around him, oppressive, smothering—

It's okay. With that familiar voice came a blinding light, beating back the encroaching darkness like the coming dawn. Spots danced in his vision, but he could still make out a familiar feminine silhouette. I've got you.

"You're not supposed to be here."

Just breathe… open your eyes…

"But you weren't there! No one was there—"

I'm right at your side. I haven't left, I promise.

Lightning shot out from Revan's fingertips, clouds of darkness following in its wake heading straight towards him. He flinched, but the expected shock never came, just a pained grunt from the figure that had moved to intercept the blast. Just like she had with Dirai. She curled around him, her tiny body forming a barrier, attempting to block all the pain meant for him.

"No," he croaked, "stop—"

Don't worry. Her smile was pained, but determination blazed behind those blue eyes. I'm not leaving you.

"That's what you always say!"

I would never lie to you. Her voice almost sounded choked, desperate. Please, Theron, I just need you to—

Her plea ended in a sucking gasp, eyes widened in shock as a red saber speared through her gut. Revan's towering figure was almost completely obscured by the darkness, swirling around them madly. She reached out, gently cupping his face. Please hold on—

He tried, but she was whisked away by the darkness, just like every time before. As it pressed in, smothering out every breath he tried to take, he thought he heard something echo in the never ending blackness.

I'm not letting you go.

She was there with him under the red skies of Haashimut, a supportive hand on his back as he stumbled step after step through the desert. There on the Sun Razer during his mad dash for the shuttle, giving him that final shove to safety as everything around him descended into fire and chaos. On the Ascendent Spear as he faced off against Darth Karrid. On Nar Shaddaa. The ODCC. Makeb. Taris. Even though she had been there for none of that the first time, she was there now, voice soft and kind, encouraging him to come back to her. All he had to do was take her hand.

Every time he tried, she swirled away like the sands in the desert, leaving him in darkness before he found himself somewhere else. No matter how hard he tried to hold on, she slipped out of his grasp and he wound up falling again. He was surrounded by the abyss, pure nothingness beckoning with its sweet cold embrace. All he had to do was let go — stop trying and it would all be over.

Please, Theron—her voice surrounded him, raw and pained. Her call was just as desperate as his need to find the end to this maze. He could see just one way out, the abyss beckoning and trying to pull him down like a ship caught in a gravity well. It would be just so easy to let his last grip slip and slide into it the nothingness—please, don't leave me.

I'm here—a single pinpoint of light lit up the darkness. It could have been as dim as a flickering candle, but in the inky black it was as blinding as the sun. Its warmth reached for him, but couldn't quite cross the distance, darkness yanking him back like a jealous lover—all you have to do is take my hand.

He just wanted to let go so he could stop fighting and rest.

Please… just come back to me.

But the pain and desperation in that quiet request lit the last fire of defiance in him, had him reaching across the expanse, fighting against the shadows aggressively trying to tear him away. With the last ounce of strength he flung his arm out blindly, fingers brushing against the light—and he felt it wrap around his hand, firm grasp pulling him from the abyss. Light and color rushed back in, the darkness fading away as the warmth wrapped him in its gentle embrace.

He blinked, the blurry surroundings of the Defender's medbay slowly coming into focus as a weary freckled face filled his vision. Her blue eyes were fever bright, her face drawn and gray, but the smile that graced him lit up the whole room.

"Thank the Force." Grey's voice was barely a whisper, almost as if she had been speaking for days. Her hand was warm in his, her fingers wrapped around him tightly as if she was afraid he might slip away. "Don't you ever do that to me again."

"What…" He trailed off, not sure what the last part of that question should be. The haze and fugue that had chased him for days seemed to be lifting away, leaving a bone-weary exhaustion in its wake. He gave the hand in his a tentative squeeze, feeling a wave of relief wash over him as he felt it returned in kind instead of crumbling away. That he was worried about that at all only added to his confusion.

The bright smile dimmed as Grey slid her eyes shut for a moment. The action didn't completely hide the red and puffy quality to them, or the still slightly damp tracks glistening on her abnormally pale cheeks. Theron's lingering confusion began to evaporate away, a spike of concern shooting through him. The rest of that question suddenly materialized.

"What—" his voice croaked, throat dry and parched, and he had to swallow a few times before he tried again, "—just happened?"