Private Chasing Speedercars

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

Tracyn Island
R I S H I
Acier Moonbound

Sibylla stood on the narrow overlook, a quiet perch above the Mandalorian encampment. Below, firelight flickered over armor and tents, the whole camp moving with a steady certainty that made her feel strangely untethered.

She wore simple clothes, nothing to hint at her title or station. Just a young woman trying not to twist herself into knots.

It was her hair however that gave her away. The intricate braids pulled tight along her crown were the kind she only made when anxiety had her by the throat. Each careful twist felt like a lifeline, something she could control when her thoughts refused to settle.

She drew in a deep breath, breathing in the salt and tropical wind and humidity, letting it push against her ribs. Corde would find her in an hour, maybe less, but she needed these minutes, needed some quiet before everything became loud again.

In her mind, Sibylla had replayed every interaction, every word, every look with Ace until she felt sick with it. All the ways he might see right through her, accuse her again of politicking, of using emotion to guide and manipulate.

It still hurt...more than she wanted to admit.

And while she didn't regret loving Aurelian...it didn't mean she wanted Ace to feel discarded. Or betrayed. He had once been a steadying point in her orbit, someone who had reached out to befriend her and, in the wake of that genuineness, built a budding friendship in which Ace had trusted her with his most vulnerable side. And it was that absence of a friendship that had left an ache within Sibylla that she hadn't figured out how to work through yet.

She didn't want this to turn out like with Lysander. Not again. But where to even begin?

And why did it seem she only ever wounded the people closest to her?

The camp below roared with a burst of laughter, warm and uncomplicated. Shiraya, how she envied that ease.

Another flutter of anxiety and she brought her fingers up, checking a braid she had already checked twice. The wind tugged loose a few strands, softening the sharp lines she had built.

But still, she waited.

For Ace. For courage. For the right words.

For the hope that she hadn't broken something she could never repair.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Rishi - Tracyn Island

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes| Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

Weeks inside the Academy's halls had reshaped him, not into something darker, but into something tighter, honed. He carried himself with the controlled gravity of someone who'd finally earned enough goodwill to slip in and out of Desevro's Academy without every apprentice tracking his shadow.

Focus. Purpose. Discipline. That was the rhythm he'd lived by since Genarius. He had to, or blow his cover as consequence.

Then he saw her. Sibylla stood framed against the wind, braids coiled tight like she was holding herself together by threads. The firelight from the camp below brushed her in gold, softening every edge she'd tried to sharpen.

And something in Ace... something he thought he'd locked down weeks ago... loosened. It wasn't the old ache. Not the raw hurt from Roon. Not romantic longing, not confusion, not the tangled mess he'd once drowned in.

Just… love. Clean, steady, familiar love for someone who had once been a safe place to land. Someone whose presence had mattered more than he'd let himself realize until now.

The breath he drew came deeper than he meant it to, but he didn't call her name. He stepped forward, closed the distance in a handful of quiet strides, and when close enough, he reached for her wrist and twisted her around.

Ace wrapped his arms around her shoulders and upper back, pulling her firmly into his chest. His chin dipped slightly over her shoulder, breath slow and even, the kind of control that came from weeks of living among blades. Yet there was a warmth in it, a human weight he hadn't allowed himself to feel since Desevro.

"I'm sorry about everything. What I said on Roon..." His voice was soft but firm. After a beat, he continued. "... I missed you, Sib."

Sibylla Abrantes​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

Tracyn Island
R I S H I
Acier Moonbound

One moment Sibylla was staring at the camp below, bracing herself for every version of Ace she feared might appear. The next, she was spun around so quickly, taken up in a tight embrace of warmth, solid muscle, and the tickle of his dreadlocks by her temple. Sibylla felt her breath hitch, caught somewhere between surprise and a quiet, aching relief she didn't dare name.

So just for a moment, Sibylla just froze.

Not because she feared him. Or because she was upset. Or even because she was surprised. But because she half wasn't sure how to react, if she should. Terrified, really, of what he would say if she did without bracing for the edge of someone's disappointment.

So her hands hovered uselessly at her sides before slowly, cautiously, they rose to rest against his forearms as if testing whether the moment was real.

But when she felt the warmth of Ace's breath by her ear, when she heard his firm but genuine apology. When she heard he missed her, a distinct, soft trembling took her willowy figure, leaving her lower lip quivering and her eyes prick.

I'm sorry about everything. What I said on Roon.

The sting of those words lived somewhere deep in her chest, wrapped in bruised memory. And while it throbbed, it no longer held the same sharp jab as before. Not with anger. Just with the tired grief of something long carried.

I missed you.

All at once, her breath left her in a soft whosh.

"Ace…" she whispered, the name catching in her throat. She swallowed hard again, trying her best to gather herself against the thrum of emotion rising in her throat. Slowly, she angled her head just enough to speak without breaking the hold he'd given her.

"You didn't have to apologize. I… I understood why you were hurt...and you had every right to be."

"And I missed you too," she murmured quietly, before drawing in another breath, holding it for a beat, then squeezing him in a tighter hug as she let the truth tumble free before she could second-guess herself.

"And I'm sorry as well. For the ways I hurt you. For stumbling through what friendship should have been. For realizing things too late and not knowing how to handle any of it. For…"

The words caught in her throat again, even as her eyes continued to sting and her vision began to blur, lost to the tightness in her throat.

"I'm sorry. I'm so very very sorry."

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Rishi - Tracyn Island

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes | Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

Ace didn't flinch at the tremble in her voice, or the way her hands finally settled against his arms, or even when her breath stuttered against him. He held the embrace exactly as it was - firm, steady, anchoring - letting her shake, letting her speak, letting her spill out everything she'd clearly been carrying alone.

When her apologies tangled together and broke in her throat, that was when he finally moved. Not away. Just enough. His hands moved from her back to her arms, steadying her as he eased her a half-step back. Her eyes were glossy, breath unsteady, and for a moment the words clearly wouldn't come.

That was when he lifted one hand. He brought his palm to the side of her face, a firm, grounding touch. The heel of his hand steadied her cheekbone, fingers resting near her temple, anchoring her trembling the way he'd anchor a panicked ally in the field. Measured. Controlled. Human.

"Stop." He said, carrying the same gentleness. His lips twitched into a faint smile, "You have nothing to apologize for."

Then he lowered his hand, back on to her arm, smile unwavering.

"I was going through a lot. My mother, the Death Star, heartbreak." He paused after that last word, letting it settle. "I had no right to say the things I said. None of it was on you."

For a moment, his gaze flickered, not away from her emotions but over her to silhouette. This wasn't the Sibylla he'd last seen in flowing Naboo silks or tailored court attire. She was dressed for movement, for travel, for work. Reinforced fabrics, a field belt, gloves, boots built for terrain instead of ballroom floors.

There was a quiet shift in him, a clean understanding that she wasn't living only in the gilded world he'd once associated with her. She'd stepped onto ground closer to his… and she wore it naturally. He hadn't realized how much he'd still been picturing her as the girl from Theed until the woman in front of him refused to fit that image.

"You look good." He confessed, smile shifting into that familiar boyish smirk. "You don't look like you're made of glass anymore."

His demeanor had shifted to an uncharacteristic playfulness. Ace figured they'd both need to be comfortable before breaking the news as to what he was really here for.

Sibylla Abrantes ​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

Tracyn Island
R I S H I
Acier Moonbound

Stop. You have nothing to apologize for.

Easier said than believed.

Even with his hand warm against her cheek, calming in its steadiness, Sibylla felt the old tremor still coil through her ribs. His callouses surprised her. Fresh ones. A quiet sign of how hard he'd been working physically wherever he'd been for the past month.

However, it was what he said next that pushed every observation aside. He spoke of his mother, the Academy, heartbreak, and the weight he'd carried. And of how none of it had been her fault.

But was it truly?

Sibylla took a breath, her hands coming down to run along the length of Ace's arms until they held both of his hands. She held them for a moment, the delicate arc of her brows furrowing together in half anxiety and half concern.

The compliment he cast over her was met with a slight upward twitch at the corner of her mouth, her hazel eyes lifting up once more to settle upon the deep brown of his own.

It was then that she looked at him -- really, really looked at him. And though he might claim that she was doing what she did, observing him with keen eyes, she noticed something in his expression, in his posture and frame that told her something in him had changed... not drastically, but undeniably.

"Well, I should hope I am not quite so fragile," she murmured, a sliver of humor threading through her voice. The moment needed that levity. They both did.

She shifted slightly, her tone gentler when she continued, "Your brother assigned Warden Renn Vizsla to train me. Properly, this time. Self defense, battlefield survival... all of it. And @Adelle Bastile has taken me for a few rounds to test my mettle."

The half-huff of a laugh at that admission hung between them for a heartbeat. Then Sibylla inhaled, gathering her courage before speaking again, her voice softening into something painfully earnest that she had practiced trying to convey ever since he sent her the message requesting to meet.

"You may insist it is not my fault, Ace… but it still feels as though it rests with me. I've already lost someone dear because I hesitated, because I wasn't honest when I should have been, because I avoided the conversations that mattered most. I cannot bear the thought of repeating that mistake with you."

It was one thing to endure all that hurt with Lysander, and though she still wondered how he fared, she knew that what happened between them had been shaped, in no small part, by her own missteps.

So Sibylla's fingers tightened faintly around his.

"I do not want to lose you as well."

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Rishi - Tracyn Island

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes | Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

Ace let her take his hands without resistance, her fingers tightening around his with that same trembling earnestness she'd always carried. But where she shook, he didn't. His grip stayed steady, warm, unmoving.

She spoke of Renn Vizsla, of Adelle Bastile, of training that clearly hadn't been gentle. And that, more than anything, pulled a shift through his expression.

"You've been training." Ace said quietly, almost as if confirming it to himself.

Ace's smile grew. His own form of approval. A clean acknowledgment, him recognizing the truth of what she'd been doing while he was gone, even if he didn't know the instructors by name.

"You look… capable." He said simply. "More grounded. More aware."

But before the moment could settle, her voice shifted, softened, cracked, and the training confidence she'd just shown dissolved under the weight of old fear.

"Sib..." He said quietly, and this time he didn't smile. Not out of coldness, just clarity. "You're not going to lose me."

It wasn't a promise born from emotion. It was fact.

"You didn't lose me on Roon. You didn't lose me to what I felt. And you're not going to lose me now."

He squeezed her hands once, aiming to ground her.

"And whatever happened with who you lost before?" He added gently. "It's got nothing to do with us. You gotta stop carrying what isn't yours. I'm not letting you put me on that pile."

A flicker of something firmer settled in his eyes, not unkind but unyielding; he wasn't letting her spiral into guilt. He'd lived inside his own before, and he refused to watch her drown in a weight that was never hers to begin with.

"If you think I'd let hesitation or honesty keep me from coming back here to you? After everything?" His head shook once, soft but sure. "That's not who I am."

He let his words settle again, allowing Sibylla to understand that none of this was her fault. Then, finally, he closed his eyes and drew a breath, before finally pulling his hands back.

"I have something I need to tell you" Ace said, the shift in his tone undeniable now, serious, but not heavy. "I didn't just reach out to make amends..."

Sibylla Abrantes​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

Tracyn Island
R I S H I
Acier Moonbound

Sibylla stood very still, fingers still warmed from where Ace's hands had held hers, yet there was no denying how her chest felt tight with worry.

You're not going to lose me.

Ace said it like it was simple fact, not comfort, and perhaps that should have calmed her more than it did.

But it was hard to.

Sibylla gently bit at her lower lip, a quiet tell she wasn't proud of. It would be strange for anyone to see the woman that stood in front of Ace now and compare her to that composed Ambassador he had met several months ago. And yet here she was, standing before him with her braids too tight and her emotions far too visible.

Maybe that in itself was proof of how close they'd grown. How much she trusted him. And how much the idea of losing him frightened her.

When Ace spoke of what happened before and how it had nothing to do with them, she felt a faint sting behind her ribs. Not resentment… just the ache of someone trying to put down a burden she had carried for so long that it had begun burn like lingering acid within her.

"You say that," Sibylla began quietly, although more to herself than him, "and I want to believe it."

But believing wasn't always easy. Not after Lysander. Not after her own mistakes. And certainly not after hearing Ace, of all people, use her deepest doubts against her in a moment when she had trusted him with them.

But like she had told Aurelian. Like she had told Dominqiue. It made no sense to keep what she thought in her mind from the people she truly cared about. It had to be said. So Sibylla took a slow, steadying breath, then lifted those tawny hazel eyes to him.

"Ace… when you said those things on Roon, it hurt. Not because you were angry, but because you used something I'd shared with you in confidence." Her voice remained soft but it was evident how much it had struck her, "I've struggled with those doubts for so long, and hearing them echoed back at me… it felt like confirmation of every fear I already had."

And while her gaze was searching, it was not accusing.

"I don't want you feeling cast aside. Or unwanted. Shiraya knows that thought alone aches more than I care to admit. But I need you to understand why it stayed with me."

She straightened slightly, drawing her shoulders back as though bracing for whatever came next. He had said he had something to tell her, and truth be told, the shift in his tone sent a fresh wave of tension up her spine even as his hands slipped from hers.

"…Alright," she said quietly, steady despite the flicker of worry in her hazel eyes. "What is it?"

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Rishi - Tracyn Island

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes | Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

Ace didn't interrupt her. He didn't rush to correct her, or soften what she'd said. He stood there and took it, her hurt, her honesty, and the quiet bravery of her saying it aloud instead of swallowing it like she used to.

When she finished, he nodded once.

"I know." He said simply. No defense. No justification.

It was something he had regretted uttering the moment it left his lips a month ago. Something he'd carried and wanted to make right when the time came. Now was the time.

"And you're right. I shouldn't have used that. Not like that." He sighed. "I was hurting, and I let it turn into something it didn't need to be. That part's on me."

He let that sit, because it mattered that it did. When the topic returned to why he'd asked her here, Ace inhaled... and the shift she'd felt earlier returned, clearer now. Not tension. Focus.

"I'm inside the Sith Covenant. Some... weird, independent offshoot of the Sith Order, that has ties to Black Sun." Ace said quietly.

He held her gaze, steady. "It isn't something I'm reconsidering. I went in when Edic Bar fell, and I'm staying as long as I can."

Ace looked past Sibylla for a moment, not lost but recollecting. His eyes darkened, more than usual, as the memories stirred.

"It didn't really start there, though." Ace continued, quieter. "Months ago there was an attack on the Jedi Enclave there. Just thought it was a random dark side raid at the time, but even then... couldn't shake something was off." His jaw tightened faintly. "On Genarius? I felt it again."

He didn't elaborate. He didn't need to.

"They don't move like splinter groups." He said. "They move like something that knows what it's doing."

His eyes settled on hers again, brows knitting slightly, his freckled face hardening.

"I could've reported that from the outside..." Ace went on. "But that only tells people where the fires are. Not who's lighting them."

Folding his arms, with a slight tilt of his head and shrug, Ace revealed his true motive.

"So when I crossed paths with one of their apprentices on Genarius… I made a call." He said simply. "Because if there's a design behind this, someone has to see it before it finishes taking shape."

Then, finally, the part that mattered.

"But... it'd be useless if I didn't have an outside contact." He paused, letting his words hang for a beat. "Who better to have than the Queen of Naboo, the High Chancellor's girlfriend... and the person I trust most."

Sibylla Abrantes​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

T R A Y C N * I S L A N D
R I S H I
Acier Moonbound

The apology was more than enough. Just being able to communicate honestly was enough for Sibylla, prompting a soft, grateful smile of relief in turn.

Yet as Ace drifted from apology to relaying what had been going on in his life, things began to shift. And while Sibylla listened without interrupting him just as he had listened to her... the more Ace revealed, the more it set off a quiet chain of realization that tightened link by link around her spine.

Her breath slowed, her posture straightening as instinct took over long before fear could fully bloom. She caught the phrase as if it were a misstep in a dance.

Inside the Sith Covenant.

For a heartbeat, Sibylla was certain she had misunderstood him.

"Wait," she replied quietly, bringing her hand up as if to have him pause, only to repeat again as her composure cracked just enough to reveal alarm beneath it. "Wait. You are doing what?"

Her hazel eyes searched his face in growing disbelief and alarm. She barely registered the mention of Genarius at first. The Jedi Enclave and the pattern he was picking up. The way he described it was utterly methodical and intentional. Sibylla's mind raced as it assembled implications faster than she liked.

"You infiltrated them," she said slowly, the words tasting unreal. "...as in actually joined them."

Her hands tightened together, knuckles whitening as the danger fully revealed itself. Some Sith offshoot with Black Sun ties, how this Covenant's reach seemed to touch everything the Republic was already struggling to contain.

Nevermind how Ace said that what he was doing would be useless if he didn't have a contact and who better than the Queen of Naboo. She glazed over the High Chancellor's girlfriend bit because that wasn't what she was...by all intents and purposes, nobility didn't practice such relationships. There were courtships, arrangements for alliances, be it in marriage or as a concubine or ... mistresses and lovers on the side, but that wasn't where they landed on things. There were... things to discuss, sure, but -- no wait, now isn't the time, Sibylla told herself, shaking her head as if to cast away her thoughts.

"You are doing this alone," Sibylla repeated, although not as an accusation, but as a dawning fact."... and infiltrated the Sith Covenant? Do you have any idea how reckless that is?"

Both hands came up again.

"Okay, just... start from the beginning. I need full context on why you are doing this," even though he already tried to explain it was something he'd felt, but she wasn't a Force user, she was a politician, and she needed to understand where he was coming from with this and why. Especially if he was risking himself by getting into it.

".....and who else knows. Does Aether know?"

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Rishi - Tracyn Island

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes | Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

Ace didn't interrupt the flurry of questions. He simply studied her as she went on - the way her posture straightened, the way her breathing slowed, the way fear gave ground to calculation. He recognized it instantly. This wasn't panic. This was Sibylla Abrantes switching roles, assembling consequences faster than most people could name them.

Ace let her finish. Only when the last question landed did he exhale, slow and deliberate, grounding the moment before it could spiral further.

"Okay." Ace said quietly. Not dismissive. Not impatient. "I see where you are."

When she asked him to start from the beginning, he didn't rush to comply, pausing just long enough to meet her eyes.

I went in because no one actually knows who the Covenant are. Where they came from, why they're hitting the worlds they are, or what they're trying to build." He held her gaze, steady. "From the outside, all you see is chaos. From the inside, you can see structure. Figured I'd learn what I can, pass it along, then get out before I--"

He stopped himself, not wanting to worry her about the risks of falling to the Dark side by being in such close proximity. His instincts had never led him astray however, and his hunch was only proven correct recently. When Arris revealed that Kattada was, in fact, the birth of the Covenant.

Sibylla's statement about him being alone, made his jaw tick. For a moment, his thoughts drifted to Tic. How they'd been separated during Genarius, how he hadn't seen him since. He missed him. Deeply. But the only thing that was giving Ace peace of mind was that he knew he was safe with Isobel.

"As for being alone..." Ace went on. "The fewer people know? The less chance of it blowing up in my face."

Ace's fierce protectiveness of Sibylla had calmed down since their falling out on Roon. Not to get it twisted, Ace would still raze hell if any harm came to her - but it wasn't the same possessive, desperate over-protectiveness as before. Sibylla had always been capable, and with her training now? More than ever.

He moved on to answering her question about Aether, and if he knew. Ace shook his head, glancing away for a moment.

"Aether doesn't know, no." He said. "No one does. 'Cept you."

He let the words hang, finding her hazel eyes again. Since facing their father, Ace had been distancing himself from anything Verd related. For now, at least. Ace wasn't ready to tell Aether he'd finally met 'dear ol' Dad'.

"Look, put personal feelings aside for a second and tell me this opportunity doesn't tickle the diplomat in you. Imagine what the Republic can do with the intel I can give, Sib."

Sibylla Abrantes​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

T R A Y C N * I S L A N D
R I S H I
Acier Moonbound

The more Ace spoke, the clearer the shape of his plan became... and with it, the sharp rise of disbelief and alarm in Sibylla's expression. Her hazel eyes widened, then narrowed again as her mind raced to keep pace with what he was saying. A flush crept up her cheeks, frustration bleeding through concern.

"No. No," she said quickly, both hands lifting between them in a quiet but unmistakable command to stop.

"You're talking about structure," she said slowly, carefully. "About design. Which means this isn't reckless chaos. It's deliberate. And that makes it far more dangerous than you seem willing to admit."

Something flickered in her hazel eyes then. And while she understood the logic, Sibylla despised the cost.

"Ace, do you even have the training for this?" Her voice stayed low, but urgency threaded every word. "How are you supposed to keep yourself safe? What happens if something goes wrong? What if you need to get out?"

She stepped closer without realizing it, instinct drawing her nearer as if proximity might somehow rein him back in.

"This isn't about indulging any diplomatic instinct I have," she pressed, barely above a hush. "This is about you. My brother nearly lost his life more than once over an investigation, and he's trained for that sort of thing. And Shiraya help me, if you haven't even told Aether -- then who knows where you are? Who checks that you're not in too deep? That you're still… you?"

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Rishi - Tracyn Island

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes | Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

Ace didn't bristle at her assessment. If anything, he nodded faintly.

"I know it's deliberate." He said. No argument. No minimization. "I know what that means. It's no different than walking into a battlefront knowing there's a thousand ways you can die. You don't pretend it's safe. You just accept the risk and move anyway."

Danger had never scared him. Not really. It never had. What mattered was whether he could survive it. When she asked about training, about exits and failure and what happens if everything went sideways, Ace went still. Not defensive. Just… quiet.

"I didn't grow up with training." He said after a moment. "I grew up surviving."

He didn't elaborate at first, because he didn't need to. Bonadan had taught him more than any 'training' ever could: how to read rooms, how to disappear, how to improvise when plans collapsed. How to keep moving when there was no one coming to save you. He'd been adapting since childhood. Running, scavenging, lying when necessary. Living in the cracks between bigger, more dangerous forces.

"I've lived my whole life inside systems that should've broke me." Ace added. "Crime syndicates. Warzones. The dark side of the galaxy. This isn't new ground for me. It's just… closer to the fire."

This wasn't confidence born of arrogance. It was confidence that came from lived experience. But then she said Cassian's name. That one landed. Ace's gaze dropped for a fraction of a second, not from guilt, but recognition.

He'd only ever met Cassian once, but he respected him both as a soldier and as a man. Ace understood Cassian was a capable soldier, had even learned of the times he'd almost been killed. Both men knew the risks that came with their duties and goals. But he also knew exactly why she was afraid. It wasn't abstract. It was personal.

And then she said Aether. Aether, who would storm half the galaxy if he knew. Ace had kept this from him on purpose, not because he didn't trust his brother, but because he trusted him too much.

When Sibylla asked who checked on him, who made sure he was still himself, Ace lifted his eyes back to hers.

"You." He said simply. "You're the line." Ace continued, quieter. "You notice patterns. You notice shifts. If I start sounding wrong, if... what I'm sending stops being intel and starts being justification. You'll see it before anyone else."

That was the truth of it.

"I trust myself." He added. "My instincts. My ability to walk away when it's time. But I trust you to know if I'm lying to myself."

Sibylla Abrantes​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

T R A Y C N * I S L A N D
R I S H I
Acier Moonbound

When Ace murmured that he had not grown up with training, but with survival, something in Sibylla softened. The sharp edge of her concern gentled into empathy, her expression shifting as the weight of his words settled.

She remembered what he had told her of Bonadan. Of what he had to do, face, and live through to survive. Against every reasonable expectation, he had endured. He had adapted.

That truth mattered... but it did nothing to ease the knot in her chest.

"I know you have," Sibylla said quietly, drawing in a measured breath. Her gaze drifted toward the turquoise water below, watching the tide pull itself in and out with patient insistence. Distant birds called across the afternoon air, the world stubbornly serene despite the conversation unfolding within it.

"I don't doubt your resilience," she continued softly. "Or the strength it took to become who you are."

She swung her attention back to him, the long braids at her shoulders shifting with the turn.

"But have you ever faced anything that also wielded the Force?" she asked, gently but pointedly. "Not just violence. Not just intent. But… that..."

She hesitated, then pressed on.

"I will be the first to admit that I know very little of the Force itself. Of Jedi training or Sith doctrine." Her throat tightened, memory stirring over the many conversations and comm messages with Lysander. "But what I do know is that you will be placed in circumstances that test more than instinct or endurance."

Her voice cracked with a resonance that felt that pain in memory.

"They will test who you choose to be. What you are willing to do. What you must pretend to believe." Her lower lip trembled despite her efforts, and she paused to try and steady herself.

"I have already lost one friend to the Sith, Ace. To a life he believed would serve him better." She swallowed hard, the image of Lysander as she last saw him flickering through her thoughts: battered, hollowed, altered in ways that could not be undone. "All I can do now is hope he is safe. That he is… himself in whatever way remains."

Her eyes lifted back to Ace, bright with worry she did not attempt to hide.

"I saw what that path did to him. How deeply it hurt him, changed him...I do not wish that for you either."

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Rishi - Tracyn Island

Equipment:
Acolyte Robes | Lightsaber | Cybernetic Arm

They will test who you choose to be. What you are willing to do. What you must pretend to believe.

The words tightened his chest. For a second, Ace's mind slipped sideways. Nar Shaddaa, neon glare, the press of crowds and noise. The clean snap-hiss of his lightsaber. The way he'd walked in, ended a life, and walked out before the room even understood it. The way he'd told Arris it felt like a job.

It hadn't.

His chest tightened more now, sharp and quiet. He pushed it down anyway, not because it didn't matter, but because if he let it crack open here, he wasn't sure he could close it again.

He exhaled once, slow.

"I know." Ace said quietly. "I know they'll test that."

Then his eyes found hers again, and his voice softened in simple honesty.

"And... I hear what you're really saying." He added. "You've seen someone you cared about get swallowed by this. I'm not going to pretend that doesn't leave a scar, and I'd never ask you to forget what you saw."

He let that sit, because it deserved to.

"But I need you to remember something about me..." Ace continued, steadier now. "Dathomir wasn't just my grief. It wasn't just violence. That was... it was... the Dark side."

He pauses, jaw tightening faintly. Ace's gaze narrowed, fixating on Sibylla, he stepped closer and placed her hands in his. To make sure his next words mattered.

"I felt it..." He said. "I know what it does, how easy it makes everything feel, how... freeing that power feels." His gaze didn't flinch. "And in the end, I rejected it."

The memory flickered: the aftermath, the confession, the way it had shaken him.

"You saw what state I was in when I told you. When I told Aether. I wasn't okay. I was… disgusted with myself. That's how I know I'm not blind to it."

He swallowed the rest, then forced the words through anyway.

"I swear to you." Ace said, gently squeezing her hands, quiet but unbreakable, "I will never go back to that place. Ever."

His promise wasn't dramatic or meant to stir emotions. It was a simple line in the sand.

"Please, trust me. Not because it's comfortable. But because you know me. Because you know I've already stared at the worst version of myself once and chosen not to be him."

Sibylla Abrantes​