Rish'navin

[Emily]

As Raynuk moved his chair closer, Emily’s first instinct was to draw away. But she immediately tamped it down. She reminded herself of where she was, and also reminded herself firmly of the fact she had always believed--that Raynuk would never hurt her, no matter how angry he was at her.

 

Still, it was disconcerting to be this physically close to him again. But the feeling vanished as Raia touched her forehead, and the room faded. Her first thought was how much Raia had grown in the Force and in her control; Raynuk must have been teaching her. But even that thought was soon lost as she watched the progression of things play out. She watched herself leaving, felt Raia’s hope that returning home would solve her feelings of being an outsider. But Raia’s return was met with suspicion.

 

Emily was astonished to see Delta, lying on a table in pain as Raia and a woman who looked much like her cut off his arm and attempted to heal him. Emily realized after a moment that this was Raia’s mother. She watched as the scene turned icy. Raia’s mother unwrapped the scarf the girl was wearing, and Emily’s heart sank as the woman’s gaze went stone cold.

 

“My child died the second she set foot outside the perimeter…”

 

Raia’s pain tore through the scene, and Emily bit her lip, swallowing hard. She sadly watched everything that followed; Raia being almost burned at the stake, her turning the wrath of the dark side on her former clanmates, her mother being slain by Delta, Raia’s attempted suicide, and finally, her and Draken’s combined attack on the witch that had been responsible for much of the hardships in Raia’s childhood.

 

The scene finally faded, and Emily felt a tear trickle from the corner of her eye. “Oh Raia,” she said. “I’m so sorry about your mother.” She reached a hand out to grasp the girl’s. She knew the woman had turned her back on Raia, but it still couldn’t have been easy to watch her die. But there was more Emily wanted to say. It seemed to her that Raia had suffered in ways not dissimilar to how Emily had suffered. They both had come to a point where they had wondered if life was worth living anymore. Part of Emily roared that Raia hadn’t suffered nearly as much as Emily herself had, but she viciously cut off that line of thought. It wasn’t an issue of more or less suffering; the point was that they had toyed with the same conclusion. No one else… she reminded herself. So she squeezed Raia’s hand and continued. “It’s not your fault that that woman betrayed your clan. And...I want you to know: I will always care for you. No matter what happens. From the moment I saw you on that station, surrounded by black holes, I knew you were special. And I will fight for you and be there for you. I don’t know if you trust me at all, but know that, for what it’s worth.”

 

Raia's broken arm puzzled her, however. There was no evidence of that injury in the memories she had shared. But now didn't seem the time to ask about it. All would be revealed, she was sure, in time.

[Raynuk Montar]

Raynuk allowed his eyes to drift closed as Raia shared the memories with him and Emily, feeling concerned by whatever she was about to show them, but also feeling a modicum of pride in the fact that she was already feeling confident enough to try the method after only doing it once before. As the filtered images began to appear before him, he pushed away everything else from his mind, intent upon focusing solely on what Raia was showing him.

 

He saw the way in which Emily and Raia had parted, saw Raia’s attempt to rejoin her clan, and the utterly horrible way that her clan and her mother treated the girl upon the discovery of her tattoo. The majority of what was shown had been things that he had been told about, whether from Raia, Draken, or Delta, but to see it through the eyes of Raia only served to emphasis just how heart-wrenching the entire experience had been for her. But it also highlighted just how far she had come since then.

 

Raynuk knew now that by this point, he had already sent Vex’aedr out to find and help Raia, but didn’t quite know when the tuk’ata would make its appearance. He simply watched as the witch before her, Mitral, grabbed one of the burning torches and threw it on the pile of wood and kindling that RaIa and Delta had been tied to.

 

There was something to be said for that level of despicable evil that drove Mitral to ensure Raia and Delta suffered and died as her own entire clan was about to be ripped apart. The entire scene unraveled before his mind’s eye, as fire and anger clouded the memories Raia was sharing. One of the last few details he was able to make out was a flash of white and black fur, charging and pounding into the village from the trees.

 

From then on much of it was a jumble, likely from Raia’s own emotions about replaying these memories to Rayuk and Emily. Clarity returned to what he was seeing as Raia was wandering through the jungle, alone and numb while Vex and Roe followed her, gently guiding her towards the direction that Raynuk knew he had been. Soon enough she had slumped against a tree in defeat, and reached for the lightsaber; the one he had gifted her as a means of protection. And suddenly he watched in horrified confusion as she began to hold the end of the lightsaber to her own body, her thumb creeping ever closer to the button that would have activated the blade.

 

Everything seemed to happen at once after that; Roe’gall knocking Raia sideways, a roar and a scream in the distance, and Draken’s commanding voice. This was the moment that Draken had arrived to Raia’s aid and subsequently killed Mitral Raynuk realized. But that supposed truth was broken as the scene continued to unfold, and he saw that it was not Draken, but Raia who had put an end to the witch.

 

Raynuk’s eyes slid open, the image of the roots shifting and rolling over each other to completely envelop and consume Mirtal, and Raia’s slightly haunting words still playing in his mind. His eyes moved to Raia, seeing the tears that indicated just how difficult it had been for her to show him and Emily it all. He offered her only a sympathetic look, as the majority of it all had not been a surprise to him, and Emily had wasted no time in reconciling her own sorrow to Raia.

 

There would be plenty of time for Raynuk and Raia to talk about what had happened, just as they had before. He was not ashamed of her, as she had sometimes worried he would be, and simply filed this away as another teachable moment. For now though, they had both come to see Emily and talk with her, and so he would continue to simply observe the two of them, save for a single sentence he sent to Raia through the Force.

 

There is no shame in being forced and bullied into taking actions that put an end to being treated like that…

[Raia Montar]

The girl didn’t shy back as Emily reached for her and mentioned her mother. Instead, she burst forth and hugged her fiercely, once more ignoring the pain in her casted arm. It served to remind her that this was real, and not some kind of twisted dream she’d soon wake from to find herself alone and abandoned by the galaxy.

 

She visibly relaxed as she heard his words and Emily’s, not even realizing how much of a weight those memories has been to bear alone.

 

“I trust you, Skolotāja,” she whispered pulling back from Emily and glancing toward Raynuk with a smile for a moment before her storm-colored eyes fell back to Emily’s mismatched pair. “Thank you.”

 

“The woman who brought me into this galaxy is gone, but I know I’m not alone any more,” she paused. “Master Draken says I have an aunt that left Dathomir long ago that wants to meet me. I don’t know if I want to go or not. I may not have a mother any more, but I think I have something better, now.” Again, her eyes flitted to the Sith Warrior seated in the chair close to Emily. “I have my family, right here.”

[Emily]

Raia’s words were like a dagger twisting around in the remains of Emily’s heart. If only… The girl’s words were sentimental, and it was good to know that she didn’t feel the extent of the brokenness between them. But all chances of them one day being true had fled. They weren’t a family. She wished with all her heart that they could be, but they never could be again. And it was firmly Emily’s fault.

 

She gave a mental sigh. It was time for her story to come out. She hated that it would, by the reality of her actions, be the end of Raia feeling any family kinship between the three of them. She only hoped that by the end of their visit here, Raia would stick by her words now and not turn her back on Emily completely. Raynuk...that was another story. She knew that what she was about to say was likely the end of any connection between them at all. It pained her greatly, but she knew he wasn’t forgiving by nature. In fact, she recalled several times very distinctly when he had chastised her for apologizing. She only hoped that the motives which drove him to answer her call and come here---whatever they were--would make him stay long enough to hear her out.

 

“How I wish that could be true,” she said with a sigh. “But you don’t know the real me. It’s time the mask came off and you realize just how disfigured my soul really is…"

[Raia Montar]

Raia’s brow furrowed and she looked to Raynuk in confusion and a small measure of fear at Emily’s words. Mitral had worn a mask for so long the clan had forgotten who she was. Furion’s mask had stayed in place long enough to earn her trust. Had Emily hidden her true intentions from her like she’d kept all those secrets from Raynuk?

 

She took a step back from her former teacher and moved closer to her father. “I-I don’t understand...you said you cared for me.”

Then her confusion gave way to anger. “Are you any worse than me? Are you any worse than him?” She pointed at Raynuk before adding. “He brought down a whole city just to prove to Telperien’s father that he was strong enough to lead the Sith! I saw it through my own eyes. I killed my whole village,” her voice caught at the admission.

 

Suddenly Raynuk’s hand caught her shoulder, and his voice followed, calm but with a point of admonishment as he stood from the chair behind her. “Raia… take a breath. Emily asked me to come here to talk, so let’s let her speak.”

 

The dark-haired girl nodded and sat down a bit further down the couch from Emily, and bowing her head in apology.

[Emily]

Raia’s sudden outburst caught Emily off-guard. She had no idea what the girl meant, or what she was referring to. But she wondered if Raia had for some reason put her on a pedestal that Emily didn’t belong on. Well, it was time to set the record straight.

 

Both of them turned to look in her direction, and suddenly, Emily was tongue-tied again. It was strange; she had never expected to have Raia here for this conversation, and most of what she had to say was meant for Raynuk alone. But in the end, she supposed it didn’t matter. In fact, it was probably best that the girl get the same information, and hear it directly from Emily.

 

She had been silent for a long while, but she knew she had to speak. She had to tell him why she had called him. She wished Raynuk was sitting down; there was going to be a lot of information she was about to share that would take him by surprise...and that surprise would likely be followed by other, darker emotions. Gathering her courage and reaching out to the Force for strength, she took a deep breath. “Thank you. For coming,” she began, daring to meet his gaze once more. “I don’t want to talk about the things we’ve gone through. But neither of us can heal if we don’t try to mend this wound between us. I know this will likely cause both of us some pain. And I’m sorry for that. Truly. But you need to know what’s happened. I hope it’ll help more than it hurts, in the end.”

 

She took a deep breath, her gaze seeking out Roe’gall. Start with the facts, she told herself, then plunged in without giving any further preamble. “After we…” she broke off, then started again. “After we broke up, and after I dropped Raia on Dathomir, I went to Raxus Prime. I thought giving myself something to do would help mask the pain. I was there three days, when I…discovered I was pregnant.” She paused to allow her words to sink in. “Even with everything that had happened, it seemed too good to be true. I doubted my senses, so the next morning I left for Coruscant to get checked out. The doctors there confirmed that I was 5 weeks pregnant. I knew I had to find you.” She paused again, then looked at him steadily. “You deserved to be in our baby’s life, no matter what had happened between us. You deserved the chance to be its father, and I wasn’t going to rob that from you if that was what you wanted.

 

“But,” she swallowed and drew on the Force for strength, “as I was leaving orbit, my ship was attacked. It was the Cult of Morthos. They tried to board me. I fought them off for a while, but in the end, I was forced to flee into an escape pod. I knew they’d pick me up, but I figured it’d be better to take the fight to them. They took me onboard and…basically ignored me for several days, surrounding my pod with vacuum. Eventually, I worked out a way to escape and began to fight through the ship, but they were ready for me.” It was harder than she had expected to admit her failure in front of him. “They captured me. And…” Her throat constricted. “Raynuk, they…they killed our baby.” The tears that had been choking her spilled over. “Lightsaber.” She put a hand on her abdomen. For a long moment, she couldn’t speak, couldn’t even look at him. Her gaping emptiness was raw in the Force. But the moment passed, and she wrestled control of her emotions enough to continue the story. “They handed me over to the Imperials. But I don’t think that worked like they thought it would. The bounty, after all, is only for Sith.”

 

She took a deep shaky breath, and the tears trickling down her cheeks slowed. “I sent the message to you immediately. Raynuk, I…” What was she going to say? That she was sorry? That she blamed herself for what had happened? Even in her state, she knew those were falsehoods. But she couldn’t help but feel they were true. So she settled on the one thing that she knew beyond the shadow of a doubt was true.

 

“I’m going to slaughter them,” she said, matter-of-factly. “Annihilate them. Every single last one of them. If you’ll help me, we’ll do it together. And if not, then know that I’ll still be working toward that goal, come what may.”

 

There was more she wanted to say, but this was a lot to dump on him, and she needed to give him a chance to respond before continuing. She was wary, but at the same time, she was determined to do everything she could to mend their broken relationship. Not that she ever expected it to go back to how it had been. But maybe at least they could get to the place of being...allies. A place where being in the same room with him again didn’t feel like a dagger twisting at her insides.

[Raynuk Montar]

With Raia’s return to being calm, Raynuk took a deep breath and waited, his eyes falling to Emily every few moments, being able to see that she was summoning the strength to speak. He resolved himself to listen to whatever she had to say, and to attempt to keep his own emotions and any reactions to himself until she was finished.

 

Eventually she did begin speaking, telling the story of what she had done since the last time they saw each other. He knew eventually she would come to be attacked over Coruscant, and that from then on would be the part he needed to listen to the most. She likely expected that the news of the pregnancy would be a surprise to him, but as she paused, he looked away. He had taken notice of her choice of words; they were past tense. He barely heard what she said, as the confirmation of what he had worryingly suspected filled his ears. But as she began talking about the way the Cult attacked her, captured her, and was clearly ready for her at every step, he found his resolve beginning to crumble until it broke.

 

“Raynuk, they…they killed our baby. Lightsaber.” His head had fallen to his chest, as one hand gripped at the back of the chair he had been sitting in. He heard Emily’s tears through the silence, but found his own to be missing.

 

That is the game the Cult decided to play… They couldn’t get to me, so they went after who and what they thought would break me. To what end…

 

There was a rational string of logic that anchored his emotions, that prevented him from losing all sense of control to the anger, rage and sense of loss he should have been feeling. He finally lifted his head, but simply turned and walked a few steps to the nearest window as Emily recounted her delivery to the Imperial Remnant, and then her vow of vengeance. And then, it was his turn to speak. And now it was his turn to collect himself enough to express his thoughts.

 

“I… knew about the pregnancy before you were attacked.” He began, trying to figure out how to make sense of the anger that still bubbled within him about the topic. “And I learned about the other one too… From before.”

 

He briefly glanced at Raia and offered her a miniscule smile of ‘It’s okay’ before he continued, turning back to look out the window as he spoke to Emily in even tones.

 

“And that knowledge.. of further secrets kept... brought with it a great deal of anger that was directed towards you, for I figured you must have known before we split up. It was secrets kept that drove us apart… And then two more were dropped into my lap, and it pushed me even farther away. I heard about the attack… CoreSec actually messaged me, but in the end… I chose to not pursue you. Chose to give you space, and chose to trust in your own ability to fend for yourself.”

 

He knew that he had rationalized the decision when it was made, and likely could have continued to list reasons for what he did or didn’t do.

 

“Initial reports had pinned the attack on Black Sun… and then when the Remnant announced they had captured a Force user, I knew it had been you. I even interrogated Delta over it… And he denied it. But either way, I left you to the wolves that I thought were hunting me. I thought I knew their game; to attack and capture you as a way to dissuade me from the path to their destruction. Clearly, I was wrong.”

 

He finally turned back around, glancing only once at Emily as his hand found the back of the chair again. From where Raia and Emily were sitting, Raynuk must have seemed impossibly calm and collected given the bombshell that had just been dropped, having kept his tone calm and even. But in the briefest of moments it took for his hand to find the chair, they might have noticed just how much his hand was shaking. There was a pause, another bout of silence…

 

And then the fury erupted from Raynuk. With minimal effort, he flung the entire heavy chair across the room away from Emily and Raia, causing it to obliterate itself against the far wall as he practically roared, before his other hand, balled into a fist, came crashing down on the equally heavy table that mercifully remained intact in the wake of his power. He spun away from the two women, returning his eyes to the window and the serenity beyond it, now breathing heavily and quick as he tried to claw his way back to composure.

 

“Secrets…” He began again, this time his voice carrying a tremble that keyed into just how much anger he was restraining, “Secrets tore us apart… and now my stubborn pride let them take the child from you.”

 

There was another pause before he looked over his shoulder, and locked eyes with Emily; gone was any anger towards her, replaced with determination.

“I intend to do more than simply slaughter and annihilate them… I will erase their every existence and memory.”

[Emily]

He got up and turned his back to her as she finished. It wasn’t an unexpected response; she had seen him react that way before. So she simply waited.

 

But when he spoke, his words collided shock and dread and anger in her heart. “You knew I was pregnant? Why didn’t you tell--” she suddenly understood what he was referring to as ‘the other one too’. The only other time she had been pregnant was years ago. It was a piece of information she had shared with him, but only as he lay on his deathbed. The connection between the two pregnancies, however, was lost on her. Why was he bringing up that situation from years ago? Emily didn’t see the connection beside the fact that she had been pregnant both times, but there was something almost accusatory in his tone, despite the fact that he was clearly trying to hide it.

 

After another heartbeat, the full weight of his anger and disappointment was made clear. He thought I knew and chose to hide it from him...and when he learned I had been pregnant before without his knowledge, it only served to add fuel to that fire. She swallowed hard. It wasn’t true. Not at all. But it was what he believed. “I’m sorry you thought that,” she said quietly. “But with my history...I suppose I don’t blame you. Secrets...that’s what I’m trying to set right.”

 

The knowledge of his perspective made his next words more understandable, but as he spoke them, Emily’s already shattered heart was ground into an even finer dust. He had known about her abduction...and he chose to do nothing? He could have saved her...could have prevented all the damage done to her by the Cult. She had assumed no one had come because they hadn’t known. But this...this was horror on a level she had never dreamed. The man who had claimed to always be there for her, to protect her, had completely and utterly turned his back on her, knowingly subjecting her to the most depraved cruelty. It was darkness beyond what she had ever seen in him.

 

And even if--even if--she could put some of the blame on herself for driving him away so fully, the fact that he had done that knowing that she carried his child was too much. Rage and pain swirled through her. He couldn’t even step in to save his own flesh and blood, his own child? He might as well have killed their baby himself.

 

That thought was unfair and untrue--maybe he had really believed she could defend herself from the Cult--but in the moment, Emily didn’t care. She was trembling, shaking with anger and pain and unending aching sorrow. Raynuk finally snapped, sending a chair flying across the room. Emily leapt to her feet. She was moments away from accusing him in her most vehement tones, but he spoke again, this time locking eyes with her so she could see the fury in them.

 

His declaration of revenge was matched only by her own desire to see the Cult obliterated. She clenched her hands into fists. The Force boiled within her, but she had learned her lesson by going through fire. She would not lash out; not this time. But she couldn’t look away from his fuming eyes. For a moment, the fire in hers matched his. But her anger was not solely directed at the Cult; it was also directed at him, and she would not hide that from him.

 

But there was another voice inside her, one that she strove to listen to through the smoke and haze of the dark side. His anger indicates his regret, it whispered. And regret is something you know well, isn’t it?

 

After a long moment, the edge of her anger cooled, and she turned her back to him. Nothing was going as she had hoped. She had hoped they’d have been able to have a civil conversation, painful, yes, but healing in the long run anyway. But now it was as if their words had only made things worse. And suddenly she realized why.

 

“Despite everything,” she choked out, her voice husky, “I still trusted you. I can tell you don’t give Hutt slime about me... But knowing you deliberately abandoned me and your son to those monsters...I don’t know if that is something I can ever forgive.” She forced herself to take a deep breath. “I guess there’s a lot of that going around. I can’t forgive you, I can’t forgive the Cult, and I can’t forgive myself. I...I failed him.” Her voice broke. “You may have abandoned him, but I wasn’t strong enough to prevent them from slaughtering him…”

 

There was silence for a moment, then she turned to face him again, this time the expression on her face bleak and pale and hopeless. “We will obliterate them, we will have our revenge...and then...I don’t know if there will be anything left to be said.” She turned around again and took a step towards the door. “You and I, Quietus, just fail each other over and over again. I invited you here hoping that it would be something we could recover from. Hoping that we could put some of this behind us and move forward.” Her voice dropped to a whisper, but it still carried. “Now I fear hope has abandoned us forever, and all that lies before us is darkness.”

 

She was about to leave, but something stopped her. A sensation, almost like the scent of perfume on a spring wind, rustled through her, the same sensation she had felt when she was suspended in bacta before the Imperial Knight. It whispered to her that there was always hope, no matter how bleak the situation. She wasn’t sure she believed that. But it was enough to make her not ready to quit. A tear dripped down her face. She turned once more to face him. “Look at us,” she said quietly, her voice all despair. “How did we come to this?”

[Raia Montar]

Raia keenly felt the pain and anger that echoed through the Force as Emily and Raynuk each said their piece. Only there was nothing peaceful about what was said or what was happening as her father opted to throw the chair across the room and slam his fist into the table and even then still struggling to control his vitriol.

 

As much as her instincts screamed at her to run off and let the two of them have at it, she’d made a promise to her father. No matter how angry the two of them got at one another, she knew it wasn’t her fault and that things that were coming out quite loudly between them had been bubbling to the surface for a while.

 

Instead, she held out her hand to Roe’gall, who came to rest his head in her lap while she stroked his head.

 

I don’t understand. I saw Emily having a baby in my vision. I was there helping her deliver. Her brow furrowed again as she remembered the first vision she’d ever had back on Spite Station following her apprenticeship combat. Deciding it was better not to interrupt again, she filed away the thought to ask Raynuk about when they were alone again.

 

“Please...stop,” Raia begged when she couldn’t take much more of the guilt, venom, and anger that rang through the force like a toxin choking the air from the room. “Going after one another doesn’t help make things any better. We have a common enemy - the cult. They’re the ones that hurt you. Be mad at them, not each other.”

[Raynuk Montar]

Raia’s voice proved to be one of the few things that could break through the wall of anger that had surrounded Raynuk in those tense moments, and her beg to stop brought his gaze to her, and he softened, shoving down the anger to give way to the hopefully more rational side of his mind.

 

Emily had stopped just inside shy of leaving the room, and quietly asked the question that was balanced on the edge of a knife. His answer, his reaction, whatever he came up with now as a response, would either ruin any remaining trust between them or prove that there was still a chance of the two of them returning from the terrible situation they both had caused. He finally turned fully from the window again, and faced her, choosing to slowly walk forward as he spoke.

 

“By not trusting, forgiving, and apologizing to each other when it mattered the most…” He began, answering her most heart-wrenching question. “My abandoning you… my not coming after you following the attack… that is a mistake that I know will haunt me for the rest of my days, in this life and the next. But... “ He sighed.

 

“Here comes another apology and excuse; I didn’t know for sure it was the cult until after you had been delivered to the Remnant… Draken and Alora tore through what they could trying to find you after the attack while my selfishness did nothing.”

 

Now having closed roughly half the distance, he stopped, and splayed his arms wide in a sign of surrender. “I’m sorry Emily… I keep letting you down, and the one time you likely needed me most, I failed you, and it’s inexcusable and unforgivable.”

He stole a glance at Raia once again before he returned his attention to Emily. “Perhaps I no longer deserve your trust, or your hope; perhaps the Sith and the man who earned those never woke up. But regardless of who I am now, the Cult of Morthos has earned our vengeance and the destruction we intend to bring upon them. If you can stomach another promise from me, then that is the promise I make.”

 

And that was all he could think of to say in that moment. Despite making his case, he felt as though he was defeated already, the incomprehensible loss finally catching up to him and tearing him up inside.

 

No… its not incomprehensible.. he thought, finding another chair to sit in and looking at Raia. While the child we never knew was stolen, I was taking on the same role for Raia.

 

The thought of letting the Cult of Morthos capture Raia -- of potentially killing her in his presence the way Emily endured -- simultaneously gutted him and angered him. He would never fully understand or feel the full weight of what Emily experienced, but his connection with Raia was enough for him to approximate it. He finally looked up once more to Emily.

 

“And… I have something else to tell you. We need to avoid secrets, so I want you to know; Raia wasn’t just using family as a turn of phrase before. I’ve taken steps, through Serenno thanks to Draken, to legally and officially adopt Raia. I know… I know that might be difficult to hear right now… but this… it’s not about you, or me, or… our son. I did it for Raia... “

 

He truly didn’t know how Emily would react to that news; she could take it as an insult against her and the son that was taken from them, that he chose to replace her with Raia, or any number of things. If it made her angry at him, then there was little he could do to change it. He hoped, that if nothing else, Emily could at least find some peace in the fact that Raia felt she had a family once more; that he would strive to look out for her, and not fail her like he did Emily.

“I just… thought you should know…”

[Emily]

His reply nailed the heart of the issue. Emily took a deep breath. “Not trusting, forgiving, and apologizing,” she repeated slowly. “You're right. We haven't put each other first. We stopped trusting each other.”

 

She sighed. She was still angry and hurt, but as he continued to speak, she felt empathy and understanding come alongside those feelings. In that moment, she felt again how much she wanted to make things right between them again. He had let her down--multiple times--and none so severely as now, but hadn't she done the same to him? And she owed so much of who she was to him.

 

As he impressed again his vow to end the Cult, she nodded. “I believe you,” she replied slowly. “We will end them.”

 

She took a deep breath. She could sense his regret, and the sensation of loss he was feeling. And that meant the world to her. The knowledge that he regretted it, that he acknowledged he had made a mistake...it made her feel that she was not alone. And even though she partially blamed him, she knew no one could have predicted what had happened.

 

And then he told her about adopting Raia, and she had to bite her lip to keep her emotions from overwhelming her. It was...good, and right. And she knew how much it would mean to the girl. And that, above all, gave her hope.

 

“I know a lot about regret,” she told him. “There is a lot that I regret. But...loving you? I don't think that was ever one of them. We’ve broken each other over and over again...but the bad has never before ruined the good. And...maybe it doesn't have to now.” She paused,then glanced between them with a faint smile. “Adopting Raia...it's perfect. I...I am so happy for both of you.”

 

He was standing there with his arms open, and slowly, hesitantly, leaving plenty of time for him to pull away or avoid it, she stepped into his arms in an embrace. “We can make it through this,” she whispered. “I still believe.”

 

It took everything within her to whisper those words, but she meant them. She didn't know what would happen. But deep down she knew that whether they moved forward on separate parallel paths, or together, their days of keeping secrets from each other were over, and it was time for honesty and openness to rule, no matter how painful the truth.

[Raia Montar]

As the two of them embraced, Raia visibly relaxed, glad the two of them weren’t feeling so sharp within the Force any longer. Slowly she rose from the couch, as though she were worried that her movement might disrupt whatever tenuous peace seemed to be forming between them.

 

“Roe’gall needs to have his leg redressed. Is there some place here that I could treat him?” she asked, thinking it better to leave the two of them to continue to sort things out without an audience.

 

Before Emily could respond, Raia felt the black tuk’ata nudge her shoulder before turning and limping the opposite direction from the room. The girl offered a quick smile to the two of them before following the genetically altered beast’s lead through the palace corridors to the medical area as Vex’ader took it upon himself to drag the pillow from Roe’gall’s bed and bound after them so his brother would have some place comfortable to rest while she treated the injured tuk’ata.

[Raynuk Montar]

Raynuk didn't stray or shy away as Emily closed the distance and walked into an embrace with him. Her movements had been slow, as though she didn’t fully trust the action herself, and now his movements were equally slow and deliberate as he closed his arms around her. It was a release of the tension and emotions of moments before that they both desperately needed, and the moment lingered until he released her and took a step back.

 

He turned to Raia as the girl posed her question, an amused smile crossing his face as Roe’gall took it upon himself to answer and guide the teenager. He simply watched, arms crossed with a small smile on his face, as the girl and the two tuk’atas took their leave of the room, his gaze remaining directed towards the doorway after she left.

 

“She is stronger than she knows… She just needs to be confident in herself; even if that means I get bombarded with questions in the meantime. And I think the time is coming soon where I will no longer be the best choice to train her; Draken has already expressed a willingness and interest in taking her as his apprentice, and I think it would be a good fit; they have already formed a connection.”

 

He fell back into silence, before turning to face Emily again.

 

“The Cult… On Dathomir, Draken, Alora and I ran into an army of reanimated dead, both Cult and Nightsisters in origin. They’ve harnessed the dark mystical powers that the witches are known to possess, and it seemed like their resurrection of me was a step forward from that point. There’s still planets on that list that they have ties to that haven’t yet been investigated. But… be smart. If you’re not truly recovered, do not rush your return to tear across the galaxy. There will be plenty of cultists to slaughter regardless of when you return.”

[Emily]

Emily was gratified when he didn’t pull away, but rather returned her embrace. After a long moment, they drew apart, and both of them smiled at Raia as she and the tuk’atas headed out of the room. Emily assumed Roe’gall had been injured in the same event which had injured Raia, and while she was curious, that story could wait. She approved of the idea that Draken could train Raia, but she couldn’t help but give a wistful sigh. “She’s determined to become a Sith, then? I had hoped…” she shook her head. “Never mind. Draken will train her well.”

 

Raynuk turned the conversation more directly towards the Cult, and Emily crossed the room to sit down on one of the couches, her grey chiffon dress crinkling as she did so. “The Cult’s tenacity and skill is troubling. Those that I faced...there were several trained Force users among them, as well as some very expensive assassin droids. Where they get their recruits and funding is as big a mystery as where they came from in the first place and what their end goal is.” She shook her head. “We need more information.”

 

At his cautionary statement, she offered him a small half smile. “I am no frail flower,” she said. “But...thank you. I...yes, I may need a little time. I’m mostly recovered physically. Mentally and emotionally? That may be another story.” She decided to go for it. “Having you here, trying to work things out between us...that helps.”

 

Her voice grew stronger. “I haven’t been idle, before and after the Cult captured me. Remember that Jedi, Xae-Lin? Her and I worked together to catalogue my father’s library on Raxus Prime. The Cult stole several gigabytes of information from the computer systems. I left her there, trying to cross reference with my father’s records to see exactly what was gone. I should be hearing from her soon, but I think she likely informed her Order about the Cult’s threat.

 

“And, after...I spoke with a woman calling herself an Imperial Knight. A lightsider for sure, an ‘exorcist’ whatever that means. But when I told her of the Cult, she also pledged the resources of her Order and the Imperial Remnant to help hunt down the Cult. With all these people out looking for them and keeping their eyes open for information, we should be able to track them down quickly and end them, no matter how powerful or well-hidden they are.”

 

She wondered what Raynuk would think about her new alliances. He hadn’t reconnected fully with the Sith Order, as far as she was aware, but he had always been loyal to them and them alone. She on the other hand, was now fully embracing her role as Gray Master, and as a result was using the connections that afforded to her own ends.

 

As she finished, she saw a chance to transition the topic slightly. There was something else they needed to discuss, and she knew she needed to seize the opportunity if it afforded itself. “I assume Jaina has also informed the Jedi,” she said, dropping her aunt’s name as casually as she could. She paused. “You said in your message that she wasn’t with you, which is why I assume she is not here. Where is she? And...I think I need to ask, why isn’t she with you?”

 

The respite was over. The conversation was still going to be messy. But Emily needed to know.

[Raynuk Montar]

Raynuk nodded, but couldn't help the smile that rose as Emily sighed following her reaction to Raia and her future training.

 

“I don’t know if she's ‘determined’ to become a Sith so to speak. The Krath path, and Draken particularly seem to be a good fit for her however. It will not be easiest path into the order, that is for sure, but we found some texts and manuscripts from eons ago that speak of healers within and among the ancient Sith, shortly after their exile and arrival on Korriban. There is precedence, but I imagine much of it has been lost over the centuries. In the end the choice will be hers… As it was yours. She may surprise you yet.”

 

While Emily crossed the room and sat on one of the couches, Raynuk elected to remain standing, slowly pacing around as he spoke and the discussion between them continued.

 

“Given the use of the witches magic, it does not surprise me to learn that the cult has recruited some Force users; Faust’s actions and leadership afforded him followers, even in the face of full destruction of the galaxy. Likely whoever these Force users are that have joined the cult are cast-offs from the Jedi or the Sith; failed hopefuls who simply couldn’t cut it within the orders. I wonder what false promises were made to convince them to build upon Faust’s failure…”

 

He seemed to lose himself in thought before shaking it away, returning to conversation.

 

“I don’t know where they are getting their funding from, if they even truly have funding, but from what I have gathered, this cult has been around for far longer than any of us were aware of; perhaps even as far back as Faust’s fall, if not earlier. As for the Jedi Xae-Lin… she apparently saw fit to message me not long before you did. She informed me that she was leaving Raxus Prime… in pursuit of a sighting of Faust, who she felt may have some connection to the Cult. She did not say where she was heading however, nor have I heard from her since.”

 

He tried to come up with something… decent to say in response to Emily’s talk about the Imperial Remnant. He was keenly aware of the outstanding open bounty on Sith, but the fact that Emily had been in their possession and ended up making ‘friends’ with them was not something he had glossed over.

 

“These ‘Imperial Knights’ are merely puppets of the Remnant that were allowed to stray from the Jedi. But Xae-Lin is an Exorcist as well… or so the diminutive Jedi told me in the aftermath of our… argument.”

But then came the subject of Jaina, and Raynuk could only sigh, a mixture of reluctance and avoidance. He glanced at Emily, managing a slightly askew frown as he thought about what to say.

 

“I… imagine Jaina has told the Jedi, assuming Xae-Lin didn’t beat her to it. Despite whatever nightmare your mind may have developed, Jaina left just as quickly as you did after the argument. I think she felt a burden of shame and guilt given how fast she took off with her Jedi friend. I… heard nothing from her until after Dathomir.”

 

Raynuk sighed again. “Like I said… I met up with Draken and Alora on Dathomir, in pursuit of the cult, and we found them. But that army of reanimated dead… they were formidable.”

 

He paused in his pacing and crossed his arms over his chest almost defensively. “They had a spell-enhanced, reanimated Rancor Emily… And it quite literally beat the puss out of me.”

 

His hand crept down, pulling his tunic up and aside to reveal the scar that had formed over his kidney, no longer pink, but still slightly lighter than the surrounding skin.

 

“I had to stab myself through the kidney to get out, and I might not have if it wasn’t for Alora being there as well. I nursed the wound for the entire trip back to our ships, during which point Draken returned with the tuk’atas and Raia. Raia tried to heal me, and it helped for a while but… once we were in space, the wound took its toll. I ended up blacking out, and 2V and Raia made the decision to deliver me to an emergency hospital on Corellia.”

 

He pulled the tunic back down and smoothed it back into place before he continued. “I didn’t know it at the time but… Jaina was there too. In that hospital, with wounds on par with my own. And so was Tirzah… So I checked in on them… but by the time I was well enough to get around, I was apparently well enough to be discharged, and none too keen to remain hanging around Corellia. So now… now I have no idea where she is, or what she is doing.”

He offered a resigned chuckle. “We’re both too stuck in our ways and our duties now to go gallivanting across the galaxy together.”

 

He caught her eyes and decided to simplify his point. “So to answer your question more directly… She’s not with me because we both decided to put our daughters, our orders, and our principles first.”

[Emily]

The story that Raynuk continued to weave didn’t surprise her, per se--she had seen first hand how ruthless and skilled everything the Cult touched became--but it did cause her to shake her head in amazement. The idea that he had barely survived the encounter troubled her deeply, and when he showed her his scar, she couldn’t help but rise and cross over the room to get a closer look. For a moment, she reached her hand out as if to touch it, but then seemed to think better of it and quickly dropped her hand.

 

His story eased some of the guilt she had been carrying with her like a rucksack made of detonite, heavy and ready to explode at the least provocation. She had told herself that if only she had been better, a more skilled fighter, she could have prevailed against the Cult. Perhaps that was true, but the idea that they had almost gotten the better of one of the galaxy’s most skilled fighters made her realize just how much the Cult was not to be trifled with.

 

In the end, though, she had asked about Jaina, and while he hadn’t really answered the question she had hoped he would, he at least gave her part of an answer. So there was currently nothing more between them than the last time they had all three been together, at least according to Raynuk’s words, and she had chosen to trust that he was telling her the whole truth. Foolishly, perhaps, part of her whispered, reminding her of all the promises he had made to her that he had broken. But she ignored it.

 

“Your principles,” she repeated slowly. “What do you mean by that?” She met his gaze. “Look, Raynuk, I want to be completely frank with you. I want things to be okay between us again, in whatever way that looks. As allies, as friends, as former master and apprentice…” she left the ‘or more’ unspoken, but it nevertheless hung almost tangibly in the air as she glanced away. She wasn’t sure if she was willing to go down that road again if the chance was offered; one minute she doubted she could, the other minute, it was still her deepest desire. “And I want to build--or rebuild--my relationship with Jaina. And...I just want to know where we stand. And maybe you don’t know what you want, and maybe she doesn’t either. But would you be honest with me if that’s the case? Or if your heart has fully returned to her as much as she has returned to the galaxy? Or if your difference in principles has meant that you will never be more than old friends?”

 

She gave a wry, dry, self-deprecating chuckle. “Not that I think the latter will ever be true. I’m an absolute mess. I honestly don’t know what you ever saw in me. Maybe you didn’t see anything. Maybe what we had was just flesh. But...as painful as it was, you got me through some of the hardest times in my life. Having you in my life--being yours--was an honor and privilege, while it lasted. It taught me what it means to truly live.” She finally raised her gaze to meet his. “I owe the best parts of me to you. And if I got to go back to that moment in that Sith Temple when I asked you to train me, knowing everything that has occurred since, I think I can honestly say I’d make the same choice. But this time, I’d be worthy of you.” She hesitated, then continued. “I don’t regret the last ten years, or even the last five where I was your lover. I do regret all the mistakes I’ve made, the emotions I’ve let control me, and the times I messed things up between us.”

 

Emily steadied herself, then met his eyes. “But I ask not just for my sake, but for Jaina’s. It’s not right for you to string both of us along. If you tell me now what you hope our relationship to be, then I will fully accept it.”

 

She found she could say the last bit completely openly. Would it hurt if he made it clear he was choosing the possibility of a relationship with Jaina over one with her? Absolutely. But it was a pain that paled in comparison to what she had recently been through, and she’d rather have the air absolutely crystal clear between them. She only hoped he’d be willing to be open too.

 

Only then could they move forward together to defeat the Cult.

[Raia Montar]

Raia could feel the tension within Roe’gall as she went about her work as gently as possible, changing out the bandages and treating his other scrapes and cuts, only occasionally issuing a small growl here and there. She couldn’t blame him. Being injured wasn’t fun and he was in this state because she’d chosen to run away instead of stand her ground and explain what Raynuk and Draken had done to upset her. “I know it hurts, Brālis. I’m sorry.”

 

Setting aside the roll of bandages, she looked back at Vex’aedr prowled around behind her, sniffing slightly at the unfamiliar smells in the air. “It’s alright Vex, I don’t like the smell of some of this stuff myself. Now you keep watch while I heal Roe.”

 

The white tuk’ata never slowed his pace and Raia could feel his eyes on her back as she placed her hands on either side of his leg wound and began weaving the Force using the spells she’d learned as a healer on Dathomir.

 

As much as she was mentally trying to sever all ties to that existence, she couldn’t escape it fully, especially when she needed to use those same spells to aid her in focusing the magicks she now understood to be the Force. She knew that, in time and study, she’d be able to rely on those aids less and less, but she wasn’t to that point yet and Roe’gall needed her help now.

 

Through the spell she envisioned the muscles mending, the nerves reknitting their pathways, and the pain lessening for her temporary guardian and protector. She didn’t know how long or how far she’d taken the healing before she could feel darkness swimming at the edge of her vision.

 

A low warning growl brought her back to the present as she withdrew from the Force-trance and noticed that Roe’gall seemed to be regarding her with what she strongly suspected was distrust and bared teeth.

“What is it, Roe?” she asked in concerned disbelief as Vex answered for his brother by using his head to physically move her away from Roe’gall, causing her to step back with her hands raised in instinctive defense toward both of the tuk’atas. “Hey...It’s me. It’s Raia, I didn’t mean to hurt you, Roe…”

Vex continued to advance, baring his own teeth as he growled at her until Raia found herself completely in a corner of the room considering her options and trying to restrain her fear. Like the rancors she’d grown up around, Raia knew that these two were still held their wild instincts to a large degree. Raynuk and Emily had their loyalties through blood magick in at least one case and their own ability to call on the Force to override those instincts.

 

Swallowing past the dryness in her throat, Raia reached out with the Force toward Vex’aedr, only to be met with a warning bark and continued growl. Okay, bad idea, she thought to herself as Roe’gall now rose to advance on her.

 

“Easy...easy…” she tried again, hesitant to reach out to Raynuk in the Force again since that had only seemed to agitate the two of them further moments before. “I don’t know what I did wrong and I’m sorry.”

Please don’t hurt me…

[Raynuk Montar]

“Hope…” He repeated the single word, before he seemed to gaze around the room as if contemplating the word itself. “Once, I would have called hope the ‘foolish errand of sentimental Jedi’. But hope yields goals, and goals lead to purpose and aspirations. So perhaps hope has its uses after all.”

 

His attention found its way back to Emily as he continued. “Between us, I have no grand schemes or plans; I merely desire that we my coexist, that my mere presence and sight does not cause pain, be it emotional or otherwise. That it does not serve as a reminder of the bad things that have persisted to occur between us. I want you to be strong on your own, as you were trained to be, by your parents and by me and everyone else, to be able to stand tall against everything that stands in your way and slows you down. That is what I want. And I have no intention of leading anyone along; especially you and Jaina.”

 

Raynuk heard a distant bark from elsewhere, in the direction that Raia and the tuk’atas had gone, a sound that caused his brow to furrow slightly; Roe’gall and Vex’aedr were not usually prone to barking, especially not when in the midst of a combat or otherwise hostile environment. Part of him was curious, but in the end Raynuk considered the fact that the tuk’atas and Raia were all together and better off. Likely a bark of tender pain from Roe’gall as Raia changed a bandage he figured.

 

He turned his attention back to the conversation at hand. “Besides… I doubt the new Dark Lord would look kindly on his “Warrior King” running around with a Jedi.” He laughed, covering how close such an occurrence might become.

 

The change in look on Emily’s face to confusion and puzzlement brought him to the realization that she had absolutely no idea what he was talking about.

 

“Oh right… Exodus has taken control of the Sith, and called for a new Trinity of leadership; I am the representation of the Warrior path in the Trinity, while Sheog and the Dark Lord fill the positions of the Krath and the Assassins respectively. So I’ve got that going for me, which is nice…”

[Emily]

She couldn't help but chuckle at his comment about hope. "That does sound like you," she agreed.

 

He ended up not really answering her question, though Emily wasn’t surprised. He rarely answered questions directly. But his vagueness provided the answer she needed. They would be allies, friends even. That was alright. She had had plenty of practice getting over him through the years. And if she was honest with herself, deep down she knew this was likely the right move for both of them. But she knew she’d always miss the feel of his arms around her in the dark. “Then I hope for that, too,” she replied. “And I have full confidence that it will get better. Time, as they say, heals all wounds. And I’m eager for this one to do so, which helps.” She finally gave him a full, genuine smile, then leaned over to kiss his now-bearded cheek. Normally, she would have been offended at his saying he hoped that one day she could stand on her own--after all, wasn’t the fact that she walked her own path proof of that? She was a master in her own right--but after her failure with the Cult, she didn’t think very well of herself anymore. She was still standing, but only physically. Her emotional pain was a grievous wound that still bled, and would continue to bleed for a long while. It wasn’t something one could just get over.

 

But Emily was determined that one day, she’d conquer this. And when she put her mind to something, she achieved it. Rising, she moved over to a small table pushed against the wall, bearing on it several glasses and drinks, both alcoholic and non. “Would you like anything to drink?” she asked, pouring herself a glass of lemonade.

 

There was a bark from the tuk’atas, but Emily knew they’d never hurt Raia, so she was as unconcerned as Raynuk appeared to be. He continued speaking, informing her that he had reconnected with the Sith and been named part of the Trinity. “That’s a good move on the new Dark Lord’s part,” she replied. “Not only benefiting from your years of experience, as a Sith and as a former Dark Lord yourself, but it’s wise of him to reform the Trinity. The Sith benefit from less infighting, and I’ve always felt the Trinity helped promote unity among the Order. It sounds like the Sith are in good hands. I’ve never met Exodus. What is he like? And how are Draken and Alora? I feel like I haven’t seen them in ages.”

[Raynuk Montar]

Raynuk waved off the offer of a drink, instead choosing to reflect on his reconnection with the Sith as a whole.

 

“He is… driven, as the position requires of course, but he is also deeply complex. I would be lying to say I know what he is thinking and planning, let alone understand his plans. He is however, one of the few Sith who can speak volumes with his silence and his gaze. He is a singularly calculating individual, and from where I stand, he is worthy of the position; so I follow him, until such time he gives me reason to question it.”

His eyes refocused on Emily, having drifted off to obscure focus as he spoke of the Dark Lord. “As for Alora and Draken, they are good. As I said, they met up with me on Dathomir and helped me uncover the Cult’s interests there, then when you went missing…”

 

He cracked a smile at the memory. “She went full bridezilla… Swore to tear the galaxy apart for kidnapping her maid of honor. They attempted to investigate and follow the trail, such as it was, but the Holonet announcement cut that short. Both have taken a liking to Raia of course, and I wont be surprised if Alora tries roping the girl into being in her wedding too. Oh, and they each seemed to pick up a companion pet on Dathomir; Alora found a panther cub, while Draken of course ended up with a full grown panther that followed him around. I guess Roe’gall and Vex’aedr rubbed off on them…”

 

He looked at her, his face souring slightly as concern crossed his face. “You should reach out to them… I know Alora especially would be relieved to hear from you.”

[Emily]

As Raynuk described the new Dark Lord, Emily just shook her head. "Sounds like Furion," she commented. She had never cared much for the former Dark Lord; he always played things too close to his chest. One never knew what was going on in his convoluted mind, and he always put his own personal agenda over the needs of the Order. Not that that was unexpected for a Sith. He had tried to unite the Order, but in the end, he hadn't had what it took. "Well, I wish him the best of luck. Getting the Sith to cooperate has always been like pulling teeth, but he is at least starting out right."

 

Hearing what Draken and Alora had done made Emily's heart clench. She had been so certain that they had abandoned her, that their loyalty was to Raynuk alone, that she had completely misjudged them. "I will," she replied softly. "Of course I will." It heartened her that there remained one relationship she had that she hadn't completely tarnished.

 

The sun was beginning to set by this point, and Emily felt a measure of peace creep back into her soul. She was...content with the way the conversation had played out. Setting down her glass, she turned the conversation to practical matters. "Forgive me for not showing you around. I've never had guests here before." She touched a panel on the wall, ordering her chef to get a dinner ready for the three of them plus two tuk'atas. "Let's go get Raia and I'll give you all the tour. By that time, dinner should be ready."

 

Turning, she headed down the hall to where she knew Roe'gall would have taken the other two. To her mild surprise, upon entering, she saw the two tuk'ata advancing slowly on Raia, whose hands were up in surrender. "What's going on here?" she asked, her tone light, reaching out with the Force towards her loyal pet.

[Raia Montar]

“I don't know,” Raia answered not taking her eyes from Vex or Roe until the two turned toward the sound of Emily’s voice. “I was using the Force to heal Roe and - I don't know if I did something wrong - he started growling at me with his teeth bared. Then Vex started. Can you make sure I didn't hurt him like I did with you, Tētis?”

 

Emily leaned over to examine Roe’gall’s leg, not missing Raia’s affectionate name for Raynuk that tugged at her heartstrings. “It looks much better,” she commented. “And I can tell he’s in less pain.” Her thoughts flew back to the last time Raia had healed Roe’gall, when the beast had been near the point of death after Emily’s master trials. It had been the first time they had met...back on Spite Station. It felt like yesterday...and also, years ago.

 

Raia relaxed a bit as Vex wandered over to Raynuk, allowing her to pass. “Did, Tētis tell you I gave him a third kidney? I didn’t know that you could overheal someone. I’m glad Roe’gall is doing better. He was very good while he was with me.”

 

“A third kidney?” Emily couldn’t help but chuckle a little. “I could make a bad joke right now, but I won’t.” She rose, rubbing Roe’gall’s head affectionately. “I was just going to give you both a tour, if you’re interested, Raia.”

 

“I don't understand why a third kidney is funny, but I’d like a tour,” the girl seemed to be smiling a lot more that peace had been restored between the two masters of the Force.

[Emily]

It didn’t take Emily long to show them around. The palace wasn’t overly large, and it was laid out simply, with several wings--one dedicated to study, one to physical training, one to living quarters, one for recreation, each containing everything Emily could dream of wanting for each category. Each was roughly square, encircling a courtyard full of local flora, mixed with a few off-world plants that a trained eye would spot. Everywhere, the palace had the same mixture of local black and white marble interlaid with skeins of raw gold, and each window showed off a view of the surrounding countryside, pale blue sky, or the even deeper blue of the gas giant the moon encircled.

 

As they entered the living quarters wing, Emily motioned to an archway to the right. “If you two want to stay the night, there are rooms down there you’d be welcome to. Beats sleeping on a shipboard bunk.”

 

They ended the tour back in the section off the landing pad. Down the hall from where they had been talking was a large, formal dining room that Emily had made in case she had ever had guests. Normally, she just ate in the kitchen. But she was glad she had thought ahead. Several of her orange-skinned servants were already there, and the meal was just being served: imported Chandrilan nerf steaks cooked medium rare, paired with bread, a selection of steamed local vegetables, and a Coruscanti dish descriptively called ‘mashed potatoes’. The servants poured Emily and Raynuk glasses of red wine, and Raia was given a glass of juice as well as water.

 

As they began eating, Emily turned to the young woman. “So Raia, Raynuk tells me you visited the Sith and met the Dark Lord. Tell me, what did you think of the Order? And where or how do you see yourself fitting in?”

[Raia Montar]

Raia paused long enough from practically inhaling her food to look at Emily. “I don't know,” she began honestly. “I've been reading up on Darth Zannah and how she came to the Sith. The ones I met seemed to be more concerned with building the Order than fighting each other, they even banded together when I accidentally drew some kind of spirit out of Qaela’s daughter - Lord Ar-something. They were on Dathomir too when -” she paused and offered a shrug without finishing the thought.

“Telperiën needed healing too and Delta asked me to keep her safe while the others talked," she continued, "so I thought helping her might help Qaela trust the Sith again. Maybe then she won't tell stories to her daughter to scare her like she did me.”

“I tried to trap Telperiën’s curse in my crystal and that corrupted it. Tētis and Master Draken had to smash it because it turned black. Master Draken made me a new one though out of the sand from Tētis’s tomb and our blood. It's stronger than the one he made from the ashes on Dathomir.” Her hands went to the necklace at her throat and held the crystal up for Emily to see.

 

She fell silent for a few moments while she moved a few remaining mounds of the potatoes around her plate, lost in thought. “How can a joke be bad? I don't understand what you meant earlier. The extra kidney made Tētis sick enough to have to go to a horrible place to get better.” Even if it did turn out to be a good thing to help Tirzah’s mother, she added mentally. She was very grateful for the mended bridges between Emily and Raynuk and did not want to upset things again. Emily didn't need to know Jaina now carried a piece of Raynuk with her. It had taken her a while to pick up on the fact she didn't have to share everything she knew all the time.

[Raynuk Montar]

Raynuk nodded a silent agreement as Emily offered tyo give a tour and meal, and followed her as she lead the way out of the room towards where Raia and the tuk'atas were. When the pair entered the room however, Raynuk was equally alarmed to find Roe'gall and Vex'aedr growling and slowly stalking towards Raia. As Emily reached out to Roe'gall, he gave a sharp whistle, which pulled both tuk'atas attention as they both turned and stopped mid-stride. His brow furrowed as he took a moment to watch as Vex came wandering over to him. Raynuk rested a hand on Vex's back as the white tuk'ata looked back at him with a look of shame. He did not address the look or sentiment, instead answering Raia.

 

"I'm sure you didn't hurt him meita..." He glanced at Emily, who he could tell had picked up on the not so subtle names the pair had used, as well as the mention of a third kidney. But thankfully Raia's innocence negated any further conversation to be had on the subject, and Emily began showing them around. For his part, Raynuk remained mostly quiet, simply admiring the layout and the decor, giving Raia plenty of opportunity to ask questions and comment on any number of aspects of the palace. When Emily offered for Raynuk and Raia to stay the night, he graciously nodded.

 

"Thank you. I think we just may take you up on that."

 

The meal was served soon after, and Raynuk presented his most highly-refined self for such an exquisite meal. All in all, the trip here had turned out to be an overall positive endeavor; from where he was sitting, he and Emily had hashed out and dealt with a majority of the negative feelings that had permeated between them, and had come out on the other side of that conversation encouraged to fully make amends. And the importance and positive effect of a good meal and fine wine was never something to be forgotten about either.

 

When Emily posed her question to Raia about how she felt about the Sith, Raynuk found himself pausing to listen to how the girl would reply. It struck him that he had never asked that question himself, but he knew that the question coming from Emily would be different than if he had posed the question. He appreciated Raia's candor and ability to admit that for the moment she really did not know. He nodded as the girl recounted some of what had happened on Dathomir, and tried to suppress a grin as she showed Emily the crystal that Draken had crafted. Her sudden turn solemn as she asked again about a joke Emily had made earlier made Raynuk wonder how much more the girl was going to disclose, but discretion was one thing that Raia seemed to have picked up on, and so then it was Raynuk who chimed in.

 

"A 'bad joke' is a joke that is still funny, but is either very, very corny and groan-worthy, or is simply inappropriate for a specific reason. For example, if I were to ask you 'Why is six afraid of seven?' the joke answer of 'because seven ate nine' is a bad joke because its corny. But at the same time, a joke made to Delta about 'losing his children' would be in poor taste as well."

 

Raynuk knew though that the second half of Raia's statement wasn't going to go unnoticed by Emily, so he turned to her. "It was Raia's healing that essentially caused me to grow a third kidney, which overtaxed my immune system... and I ended up in the hospital on Corellia."

[Emily]

"Ar-Pharazon?" Emily clarified, disgust coloring her tone. There were few people in the galaxy she cared less for than the mad Sith. The fact that he had killed her once notwithstanding. She examined the crystal that Raia showed her. "It's lovely," she commented, "what...er...what is the significance of it?" She wasn't sure why Raia seemed to like the crystal so much.

 

Raynuk answered her question about the bad joke, reminding Emily of the girl she had first met on Spite Station who could barely speak Basic. Raia had come a long way. As they both commented about the third kidney, Emily shrugged. "I wouldn't worry about it," she said, misunderstanding their silence. "You'll learn more control with training. I rather think it's a sign of just how powerful you are; you didn't just heal him, you overhealed him." She gave a small smile. "Although maybe this means I'd better check out Roe'gall after the meal. If you grew him a second stomach I don't know if I'll be able to afford to feed him anymore," she said with a wink at Raia.

 

Emily fell silent then for a few moments, concentrating on her food. "I hope..." her eyes flicked up to Raynuk, then back down at her plate again. "I just don't want to see you succumb completely to the dark side, Raia. I know that's the goal for all Sith...but it's a trap, a gilded cage that promises freedom and power but instead leaves you lost in the dark as it takes everything dear to you. The dark side...there is a cost to using it, and it's a cost I would protect you from, if I could." She knew Raynuk would likely disagree. "And I know Raynuk and Draken and Alora would disagree, but I know the dark side, and I know what it does to a mind. And I like the person you are now. I don't want to see that girl gone forever."

 

The thought of Raia becoming a heartless killing machine like so many Sith before her was unbearable to Emily. She knew the girl would make her own decision, and that if she continued down the path of the Sith, she'd have to make a choice to fully embrace the darkness. It was a moment that Emily dreaded arriving. Raia would die and a new woman would walk away in her shoes.

 

She sighed. "I'm sorry. It's your life, and your path. I cannot choose it for you. I just...want the best for you. Ever since I found you on that station, I've wanted that. And even though I made a royal mess of it, I was glad to be your master, at least for the short time that honor was mine." Melancholy stole over her soul once again, and the burdens of life pressed down upon her. But just then, she sensed something. A presence, reaching out to her across the galaxy, familiar and...warm. Full of concern. Jaina... Emily reached back through the Force, a touched her aunt's mind, sharing her sorrow, her pain, and yet, her hope that time would heal. We need to talk...I want to see you again.

 

The moment passed as quickly as it had come, leaving the Gray Master feeling suddenly exhausted. She set down her fork, and pushed back from the table. "I'm sorry, I'm not hungry anymore. Feel free to linger as long as you'd like. Anything in the palace is yours, and if you need anything, feel free to come find me." All Emily wanted to do at that moment was go back to her room and go to sleep--and she definitely wanted to get out of here before she cried again. It wouldn't do to let Raynuk see her weep again; he already thought little of her strength.

[Raia Montar]

“Is she okay?” Raia asked once her former teacher was out of earshot. “I don’t want to hurt her any more than I have, even if it was on accident. She’s always been kind to me, and I wouldn’t have you as my father if it wasn’t for her...”

 

She let the thought trail off before turning to her father with a look of the utmost certainty on her face, though there might have been an undercurrent of accusation there, he couldn’t be certain, and continued, “I know why you didn't tell Emily about your love for Jaina,” she paused, meeting him in the eye. “It's because you're male.”

Taking a deep breath she continued her line of reasoning to show him that she’d taken it upon herself to study more than just the Sith teachings she’d borrowed from the temple on Korriban. “As the male of the species,” she pressed on, “it's your job to make sure your genes carry on in future generations since they are strong. It also makes sense to keep things efficient given the time frame in which a female can grow a baby and prudent to disperse them among as many mates as possible.” She shrugged, completely certain in her facts and reasoning. “It's simply logical. Delta-Ca’Aran is the same way, I think. Why else would he have kissed me?”

“For Jaina and Emily, they want to make sure their own genes are passed and their mate is strong enough to help ensure that only strong genes are passed and a healthy child is produced. You didn't tell Emily about Jaina because you don't want to lose your chances with either of them,” the fifteen-year-old concluded confidently before her expression grew more somber. “The cult must have known that any child between you and Emily would have been very strong indeed...so they...ended the threat...I-I’m sorry...I didn’t mean…just...I'm sorry.”

 

Feeling as though she’d gone too far too fast she pursed her lips together and turned back to her meal in silence.

[Raynuk Montar]

The meal progressed as normally as could have been expected, and small talk floated around between the three of them. There was mirth in the conversation as the third kidney was brought up and joked about, but they soon fell back into quiet dining until Emily spoke up once more. He met her gaze as her eyes flickered up to him and then back down; he knew her words were coming from a place of concern and compassion for Raia, and so he opted to take a sip of his wine instead of speak his own thoughts on the matter. While he didn't entirely agree with Emily's outlook, he knew how her life and experiences had shaped her thoughts, and if nothing else respected that she had come to that decision.

 

Emily's sudden change in mood and abrupt departure from the meal was a point of concern that showed on Raynuk's face as Emily left. He frowned as his former apprentice disappeared through the doorway, turning to Raia as the girl spoke.

 

"I imagine she's still feeling worn out from what happened to her... But I don't know what that was about." He answered her initial question, before shaking his head as he continued. "Emily has been had a rougher life than she lets on, and it has left her with a very unique outlook on things. She finds no solace or comfort in either the Sith or the Jedi, and so she sometimes feels alone and stuck between them both. But you know just as well that she cares deeply. She simply doesn't want to see you make the mistakes that she made."

 

He returned to his food, cutting another strip off his steak in the moment of silence that made what came next an almost surprising occurrence.

 

“I know why you didn't tell Emily about your love for Jaina,”

 

He looked up, meeting her eyes as an eyebrow quirked itself upon his face. Before he could question the comment, Raia continued on on her own to explain her rational. "It's because you're male."

 

At that, Raynuk put his utensils down gently, pushed his plate away from him, and folded his hands on the table as a very amused smile engulfed his face as he continued to listen to Raia's explaination, nodding every so often as she spoke. He had to admit that the girl was following a logical train of thought, as amusing as it was. But as Raia likewise turned somber like Emily had previously, the smile faded and he sat forward towards her.

 

"It's fine, it's fine." He reassured her, waving away her worry. "And clearly you've been reading more than just Sith tomes... That or I need to do a better job of vetting the books I get for you..."

 

He trailed off for a moment, but then brightened as he decided to engage Raia in the conversation she had started. "That is a very... streamlined and logical conclusion, if not a bit simple and devolved. On a primal, primitive basis, you're right in that males are designed to spread their genes, while females find a strong mate for the same purpose."

 

His eyes seemed to lose their mirth in that moment however as he continued, his words suddenly possessing just a hint of edge in them "But is that all you consider me meita? To be primitive and only care about ensuring my genes carry on? And that such things are what drive Emily or Jaina to be interested in me?"

 

Before Raia could answer him however, the hardness disappeared from his face and he sat back, pulling the plate back to him and picking up the utensils again to continue his meal.

 

"Regardless... There is a flaw in your logic; if my sole purpose is to ensure the continuation of my genes, then how come I don't have hundreds of more children running around? After all, I have lived a very long life, with plenty of time behind me to have engaged in ensuring my genes get carried on. And in all those years I have met plenty of females; Jaina, Emily, Alora, Xae, Qaela, and countless others with names that you would have no reference for. All of them females with which I could have 'dispersed' my genes among the next generation, and yet Emily is the first to even come close to delivering an offspring that carried my genes. Doesn't make much sense if my job is to simply spread my genes..."

 

He finally skewered the strip of nerf steak and delivered it to his mouth, giving his words and challenge to Raia's logic time to sink in with her.

 

"No, " He said, before swallowing the bite of steak, "Its not about chances, or next generations, or gene dispersal. I... I think Emily already is fully aware of the complicated feelings I have when it comes to Jaina. Feelings and connections I can not fully explain, yet have been present since before Emily even became my apprentice. No... a large part of why I agreed to come here was to make amends with Emily, to absolve her of fears she was clinging to, and to admit my own faults when it came to her. Telling Emily anything more with regards to Jaina would not help any of us. Telling Emily about my love for Jaina would be as pointless as a putting a pretty pink bow on a Rancor."

[Delta73]

A message arrived for the Sith and not Sith on the unpronounceable planet of Rish'navin like a tropical Naboo hurricane crushing the hopes and dreams of seaside beachgoers.

 

 

Hi, I know you will ignore this but you are invited to the Onderon Galaxy Ball

 

Bring your friends, adopted daughters, and sister aunts to celebrate the first Sith galactic victory that you had nothing at all to do with

 

Bring Emily if you see her, I miss shooting her <3

 

Delta73

 

[Raia Montar]

Raia looked back up at him. “I don’t think you're only like that, Tētis." Her forehead wrinkled as she apologized, "I didn't intend to insult you. I was only trying to make sense of why you wouldn’t be honest with her. You got mad at her for keeping Jaina’s comm from you when she was only trying to protect your feelings. But I also accept you know a lot more than I do about things. It’s just confusing since it’s still so foreign to me.”

 

Having finished her dinner, she sat back, nearly jumping as one of the orange-skinned servants cleared her place. She wasn’t sure why, but she felt she should get out of their way. So she moved to the chair Emily had vacated next to Raynuk before she continued, “I figured I’d study males of many spices to learn how they work in the greater galaxy, but I thought that I’d start with animals since they are simpler than sentient life. Did you know that in most species, the males are usually the smaller, or more brightly colored than the females? It seems to be different for us as humans though, isn’t it?”

 

The girl shrugged. “And my logic is not that flawed, Tētis,” she protested. “Emily said it has to be the choice of both the male and the female or it’s bad. Alora has chosen Draken as her mate, Qaela chose Lord Ar-Pharazon and now Delta as her mate, and, well I don’t know about the other two that much. If the others didn’t choose you, then it makes sense that Emily would be the only one.”