Private Sommer's End (Finale)

[Kaelon Virex]

Kael, beside them both, stared at the entrance like it might explode at any moment.

 

[Arq*]

And then Arq, silent until now, stepped forward.

His gaze lingered on the door.

His jaw flexed.

He had that look again — the one Kael knew meant trouble was about to walk into the room.

"Before we go any farther," Arq said, voice low, "there's something I need to tell you. Something I never told Sommer. Or Kael. Or anyone."

The others turned to him, wary.

 

[Kaelon Virex]

"Now's not the time to get cryptic," Kael warned. "We've already danced with a goddess-possessed nightclub owner and barely survived."

 

[Arq*]

Arq gave a thin smile, then looked back to the vault.

"I know what's in there. Or at least… what was supposed to be. Before the galaxy lost it."

 

[Sommer Dai]

Sommer narrowed her eyes.

"Supposed to?"

 

[Arq*]

"I ... I...I helped build it."

 

[Sommer Dai]

Silence.

Even the air stopped moving.

Sommer blinked. "What?"

 

[Arq*]

"I was a consultant. Years ago. Before I met you. I wasn't always your favorite snarky front-of-house magician." His voice dropped. "I was recruited by the Kasari Order — a Force-neutral sect of engineers and philosophers who believed in maintaining galactic balance by hiding relics too dangerous for Jedi… or Sith."

 

[Kaelon Virex]

"You built the Cradle Vault?" Kael asked, stepping forward. "You're telling us now?"

 

[Arq*]

"I didn't know what they stored here at the time," Arq snapped. "They fragmented the knowledge between different architects, translators, Force-sensitives and scholars. I designed the locking mechanism. The riddle matrix. I didn't know the contents."

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

Alyssa stepped closer to Sommer protectively.

"But you figured it out later, didn't you?"

 

[Arq*]

Arq nodded.

"When Zori tried accessing a similar vault off Dathomir — I recognized the symbology. The glyphs. I hacked the blueprints in secret. And then I knew. This wasn't just a vault."

He turned fully to Sommer.

"It's a seed."

 

[Sommer Dai]

"A seed for what?!" Sommer asked, her voice dry.

 

[Arq*]

Arq's eyes darkened.

"A Force synthesis engine. It can bind essences. Transfer consciousness. Rewrite destiny."

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

Alyssa swore under her breath. "That's how they were going to overwrite you with Zori's spirit."

 

[Arq*]

Arq nodded grimly.

"And that's why Zori wanted this place opened. The engine's still in there. Dormant. But alive."

 

[Kaelon Virex]

Kael took a step back, tension flaring in his neck.

"You knew all this. And you didn't tell us."

 

[Arq*]

"Because if I had," Arq said evenly, "you would've wanted to destroy it. And right now… it might be the only way to extract Azis from Sommer without killing her."

 

[Sommer Dai]

Sommer said nothing.

Her expression unreadable.

And then…

She turned to the vault.

The sigils had stopped pulsing.

They were glowing.

The glow of the cradle vault's ancient runes faded behind them as Sommer walked away into the trees.

She needed air.

Not because she was winded — but because everything inside her was catching fire.


The memories.
The prophecy.
Arq's betrayal??
Zori's shadow.
Azis.

And now this—this truth about a machine built to twist souls.

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

Alyssa found her standing beneath a twisted root archway, her back to the group, her arms crossed, staring out into the dusk-lit Bakuran horizon.