Arcann didn't expect to become so invested in the Outlander's travels after he forced Zakuul to bow before him, but he was surprised to realize that they were intriguing. Relieving news, considering that Arcann had nothing else to do in this darkened place apart from talking to his sister. She was also intrigued by Outlander's travels, and this was about the only opportunity for him to talk to her about something without immediately sliding into the topics neither of them had patience for. However, as shown by how they discussed events at Iokath, sliding into them would be inevitable. Arcann began to doubt if Vaylin's spite towards him would ever wane. He would not stop trying to talk to her; of course, she deserved to have someone to try. Arcann took it as a lesson to him. He had five years to talk to his sister about it; perhaps he could get her some help and support while she still trusted and respected him. Now, it will be much harder.
This time, the Outlander's mission was to Umbara, and Arcann watched him closely the moment the echoes of this mission reached him. They discovered suspicious activities in that world, likely perpetuated by the traitor they hunted, and of course, Cassian seized the opportunity to catch him. Jac was left behind to look after the Alliance base as Cassian, Lana, and Theron set out on the mission.
"Already up?" Arcann turned around as he saw Vaylin walking up the stone stairs to the seat. His sister raised her hands and yawned, still a little tired from her 'nap.' "I slept for longer than I thought I would; it's surprisingly easier to rest here…Anything of interest?"
"They're going to hunt the traitor down on Umbara." Arcann said as Vaylin slid into her 'throne.'
"I have good timing, don't I?" She chuckled before attuning herself to Cassian's vision. "So he left the Jedi behind… Aren't they best friends or something?"
"His choice to ally with the Empire would drive a wedge in their relationship."
"Your theories are so bland that I'm suddenly feeling an urge to take a nap again." Vaylin rolled her eyes. "No, I think it has to be more interesting…The Outlander is more fun than I thought before. I think he just knows that Jac wouldn't approve of whatever he plans to do to the traitor when he finds them…"
"He will show no mercy."
"I can already see it…" Vaylin smiled. "My first thought was impaling, but that's not effective enough. Maybe…Decapitation! It could make for a pretty painting...Hopefully, it will be easy to cut this traitor's neck. With the previous one, it was slightly problematic with all the cybernetic stuff he put around his." The more Vaylin did it, the easier it became to ignore.
"Their end will be swift…I have no doubt."
…
"They're getting close…" Vaylin said with a smile of anticipation on her face. Cassian, Lana, and Theron bravely fought through the chaos of a train controller by Umbaran rebels and the traitor. They followed a signal that led the trio to the front of the train. "Who do you think I'll be?" Vaylin looked up at Arcann. "Maybe that spineless worm that served Acina? Quinn, was it?"
"Unlikely." Arcann shook his head. "Quinn wasn't even a member of the Alliance at that point, and betraying a Sith Lord twice…No, someone so foolish wouldn't be able to pull something like this."
"True…I suppose I have to disrespectfully agree on that one."
"It must have been a trained schemer, someone with good knowledge of both sides and the Alliance's deepest secrets. Perhaps the chiss spy?"
"Now that you mention it, I haven't heard anything about that one in a while."
"That scum was about to decimate the spire…" Arcann said with disdain. "She is the likeliest candidate if she is still in the Alliance."
"Let's hope they don't hold the twist off for too long…"
"You make it sound like we're watching a holodrama."
"We kind of are…"
They were interrupted by Lana's stern voice.
"The traitor is on the other side of that door."
"And here they are…" Arcann turned back to the show that was unveiled before them. The trio had all of their weapons ready; they must have expected a battle. However, when they entered the neighboring room, it was completely empty. They took a cautious look around, but this only served to reinforce their perception.
"They're gone…" Cassian said and clenched his teeth in an attempt to hold back spite.
"That's impossible." Lana denied. "According to the signal, they're still on the convoy…"
But then, something that no one could predict happened. Theron pointed his blaster right at Cassian with a pained yet unrepentant look in his eyes. He took his shot.
"No!" Lana jumped in to protect the Sith, getting to bear the brunt of the shot as the electric shock forced her to the ground.
"I didn't expect that…" Vaylin said quietly.
"I didn't, either," Arcann responded, unable to look away. He never suspected Theron. He, like Lana, was Cassian's closest advisor and a good friend to him. Yet all clues Arcann had that pointed to the Chiss agent applied to Theron just as much. A trained spy with knowledge of both sides and the Alliance's secrets, Arcann should've seen it coming.
"Theron…?" The Sith looked at him with shock in his eyes. This moment of hesitation allowed Theron to make his move.
"It's over, Cassian." Theron took a few more shots, all of which Cassian easily evaded. The first destroyed the window behind him, while the latter hit the control panel and unleashed a crimson defense field to separate him from Cassian and Lana. "In a few minutes, this train will collide with that mountain range. You'll be disintegrated, and I'll escape with the Adeagan crystals. Don't worry. You won't feel a thing."
"I could end your miserable life in an instant." Cassian's confidence and fury returned to his voice as he raised his hand, immediately forcing Theron off the ground as the spy grabbed his neck and shook in a desperate attempt to breathe.
"Brutal and efficient, just like what I did with the Mandalorian…I like it." Vaylin nodded in approval. "Finish him!" But instead, Cassian let Theron go.
"But first, I want to hear an explanation from the traitor's lips."
"Oh, he wants to drag it out…" Vaylin sighed. "That can be fun, too, with the right people."
"Or he's simply hesitating to kill his friend."
"You do realize that this 'friend' just tried to shoot him?"
"Yes, but…There is something strange about this." Arcann said as he continued looking. Soon, Theron rose up.
"When you show your true colors, it makes all this easier." He spoke with spite, but it still sounded unnatural. "Luring you into that trap on Iokath was just the beginning. Ever since you defeated Valkorion, everything I've done has been towards one goal…The total destruction of the eternal Alliance." Arcann was fully engrossed in this speech, but Vaylin interrupted.
"Is he stupid? He was one of those who created that cancerous Alliance in the first place." After this, Cassian looked up at Theron.
"You helped build the Alliance. After everything we've been through, why tear it down now?"
"That's exactly what I'm saying!" Vaylin chanted in support.
"What I built was an end to the Eternal Empire, not this. I followed you because I went through your end of the cycle of war. I thought we'd finally be free once you took down Valkorion. But the Eternal Throne brought out the worst in you. Now, you're a power-hungry tyrant. A symbol of everything that's rotten in the galaxy."
"If you felt this way, you should've come to me first."
"I wanted to tell you, but I knew you'd try to talk me down…I couldn't take that risk."
"If you topple the Alliance, millions will die!" Cassian said in what sounded like a pained plea.
"If that's the cost of peace, so be it. Thirty seconds to impact. This is goodbye."
The rest happened far too quickly for Arcann and Vaylin to properly react to. Theron jumped off the train, and Lana and Cassian found a way out at the last minute, as well. All survived, but they were separated from each other, each one with a broken heart. Arcann and Vaylin felt their agony, too.
"You heard it in his voice… Didn't you?" Vaylin's yellow eyes turned towards Arcann, piercing him with a dark, malicious gaze.
"Anger?"
"No, everyone could hear that unless they're deaf! I mean, when he asked Theron about why he did it…About destroying the Alliance after he helped create it." Vaylin said as she clenched her teeth, allowing Arcann to tremble as he felt her rage stirring.
"Yes, I did." Arcann nodded, maintaining his confidence. "I felt his regret…There is a reason why he didn't end Theron while he still had the chance."
"Now that I heard him…I think you're right, actually." Vaylin continued to look at Arcann, but she grew more agitated with every moment, dropping her playful exterior. Her mood swings weren't anything unusual; the dark prince believed he knew how to handle them. "Do you know what it reminded me of?" Her voice grew louder as another memory echoed in Arcann's mind. This time, a desperate image of Vaylin looking at her mother with wounded Arcann standing beside her, using up what little force he might still have left to push his sister away to deny Vaylin her revenge.
"I know exactly what day you are talking about, sister." Arcann took a deep breath. He didn't want to provoke her any more than seeing the betrayal unveiled before they already had. Cassian and Lana fought through Umbaran wilds, trying to chase Theron and escape this labyrinth of darkness, but the corrupted siblings were too focused on each other to even care.
"You 'know,' you say? Bold words…" Vaylin breathed heavily. Her patience was at its limit. "Maybe you know how it felt for me, as well? To see you stabbing me in the back…"
"Please, Vaylin…I did not wish death or any malice upon you at any point." Arcann reassured her.
"I know because that would've been much easier to accept!" Vaylin clenched her fist as an array of electric sparkles danced on her fingers. "I have been loyal to you…For five years, I followed your every order. I enforced every rule and strategy, even the outright stupid ones! I never questioned your right to the throne. I kept your secret about how you freed the Outlander and helped him kill father, and I was there with you to listen to your every. Single. Moody. Rant! Do you know how often you whine about losing Thexan and want to reminisce about him!? I wanted to remind you that it was your bloody lightsaber that sliced him!" Her voice grew louder and angrier with every word; her rage had broken free. "Do you know why I did it?"
"Why?"
"I am not going to, not before you give it a try! You're the 'knowing' one here, aren't you?" Vaylin grew agitated, leaving Arcann no choice.
"Because…Because you cared about me. Because you are my sister, and you loved me." Arcann spoke through his pain.
"So there is something you actually know, impressive! So tell me, big brother…Why did you choose her?"
Arcann didn't speak.
"Why did you choose our mother…The one that left us. The one who thought that we were monsters in need of being caged. The one that was afraid of our power."
No response.
"The one who betrayed our Empire and fought by the Outlander's side. Who cheered on as the rebels formed their Alliance in their pursuit to destroy everything we ruled." Vaylin stood up from her seat and walked towards Arcann.
Silence.
"And we both know who was the puppet master behind the Alliance at the time…And she knew, too. Yet she stood by her father's side against us. You chose her…And never answered why!"
"Because I made a mistake a long time ago, and she had to pay for it." The dark prince finally responded. "When Outlander forced me on my knees on my flagship, he let me die beneath the rubble. I suppose he thought that my last breath was extinguished by that point…He was not far from the truth. I was on the brink. I couldn't move or speak, only think. They say that the final moments before demise are when a person has an opportunity to reflect on their lifetime, a few seconds that feel like an eternity…I can attest to their truthfulness. I was alone and in pain when this realization struck me…This quest for destruction, those attempts to prove myself better than my father, brought me no joy or peace. During those five years, I had everything. The entire galaxy bowed before me; I was an heir to the most powerful being in the universe. I could have anything I wanted, and I did…But I was never truly happy during this time. I don't think you were, either, Vaylin." He saw his sister's expression change as her eyes fell to the ground. She listened in silence. "I blamed it all on Valkorion, thought all that prevented me from letting go was the fact that his spirit still lurked in the shadows of the void. I still believed that as I was about to die above Odessen…Until mother showed up." Arcann felt a tear emerge in the eye his mask did not cover. "She had every right to hate me after I rejected the opportunity to leave after I ignored all of her warnings and became a monster that tarnished her name…But there was no anger. Only sadness and regret. She wanted to save me, to save us all. I sensed her pain as she kneeled over me, sensed her tears falling onto my scarred body, and felt her warm arms around me. And for a split second…I felt happy. I felt like everything I ever wanted was right before me, a moment of satisfaction that five years of hunt and vengeance could not even remotely imitate. I didn't think about consequences or the future at that moment; all that I knew was that the hand she extended…I wanted to take it. Wherever she would lead me, I would follow. I did not want to betray you. I truly didn't…But I couldn't allow Mother to die, either, not after finally accepting the feelings I denied for all those years.
"W-what feelings?" Vaylin's lips quivered.
"That I never stopped loving our mother, and that I missed her…Every single day."
"Of course…You were just as weak as her. My fault for not realizing that sooner."
"Vaylin, please…"
"SHUT UP! "His sister screeched, unleashing an aura of lightning that pushed Arcann away. "I don't want to hear a single word out of you! I have no doubt you felt good being coddled by Mother, her precious little boy whom she wanted to shield from the cruel galaxy that wanted revenge! It must have felt wonderful while it lasted…And do you know how I felt?! Do you know how it felt to lie on my room's floor and wail like a dying animal as your force power shatters everything around you? As your servant dares to come in and ask what's wrong, how you reflexively snap his neck and continue to wail…You don't know. You took Thexan from me, and then you left me alone! You left me to listen to that deceitful machine use me like a toy for her own ends, left me alone surrounded by people who despised me! And don't even get me started on the times father 'visited'!" Vaylin began to shake as she spoke those words. "To hear him mocking me, saying that I deserved all of what he did to me, that it was necessary, that he…That he did it out of 'concern'! He didn't let me sleep in peace; he would stay during some nights, and it would hurt hurt HURT!" Her hands were shaking violently as her eyes grew vile; Arcann had no choice but to look and feel her rage. "I HATE YOU! "
She lashed out before striking Arcann with lightning. This hit was so powerful that it forced the prince to fall on the stairway as he completely lost the sense of his own body. There was only the fall left.
"Theron…How is it possible?"
"I still have a hard time believing it, Jac…But it is the truth. All of this was orchestrated by him; he tried to get Lana and I killed."
"That after all we've been through, Theron would betray us…No, I cannot believe it. There must be some explanation, any at all…"
Sometimes, no explanation was good enough, just like some wounds could never be healed. Those were Arcann's last thoughts as he fell onto the icy ground, feeling the calm embrace of darkness around him calling for him to resume the slumber.
"This is Cassian Narok, the Commander of the Eternal Alliance. I have a message for my old friend, Theron Shan. We've been through a lot together, Theron. In your honor, I'm dedicating a hundred Eternal Fleet ships to the fight for peace. Return to the Alliance, and these ships will be yours to command. We can end the cycle of war, but we have to work together…Come home, Theron."