Private Sommer's End (Finale)

[Sommer Dai]

Sommer stepped forward, standing before the center where the spheres hovered. Her voice wavered.

"I love Alyssa. I trust Kael. I need both. But if I choose one, the other will never forgive me. And I won't forgive myself."

She looked at the golden light, now pulsing brighter.

"Truth," she whispered. "The only way forward is through it. I choose neither... and I choose both."

Her hand plunged into the golden sphere.

A shockwave erupted.

The walls shattered.

The illusions vanished.

And the chamber… fell silent.

Each of them stood now, no longer confined, no longer separate.

The pedestal was gone.

But in its place, left on the floor, was a circular medallion — half blue, half red, a golden line running between them.

Sommer picked it up.

"The answer wasn't one over the other. It was never that simple."

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

Alyssa moved to her, touched her shoulder, and softly said:

"You chose to believe in all of us."

 

[Sommer Dai]

The golden medallion in Sommer's palm grew hot.

Not burning — more like a living pulse, syncing with her own.

The entire Vault shuddered.

And then, a deep rumble stirred beneath their feet, like a mountain breathing. Lights flared to life in a massive ring overhead, illuminating symbols from lost dialects — ancient ones, unspoken since before the Sith's first rise.

Sommer gasped.

A sudden pressure collapsed around her chest, stomach, lungs — and then...

She dropped to her knees, clutching her sides as her mouth opened in a silent scream.

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

"SOMMER!" Alyssa yelled, racing to her side.

 

[Arq*]

"Don't touch her!" Arq barked. "It's choosing her! She has to endure this alone!"

 

[Sommer Dai]

Dark veins rippled across Sommer's skin — the last fingerprints of Azis, clinging to her body like tar. Her mouth opened again, this time black mist pouring from her lips, her eyes, her ears.

Her back arched.

And the Vault began to chant.

Not aloud.

But in the Force.

"She who resisted temptation…
She who refused to choose between love and loyalty…
She who defied the spiral…
Is now worthy."

A guttural scream broke from Sommer's throat as tendrils of Azis' essence were ripped from her. The black smoke tried to cling, to crawl, to fight.

But the Cradle gave it no choice.

It pulled the corruption through her mouth, her eyes, her fingertips — every possible place it had infected her, it now lost.

Her body convulsed — and then went still.

She collapsed.

Unconscious.

But free.

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

Alyssa dropped to her knees beside her, cradling her as the dark tendrils coiled upward — into the center of the Vault where a glowing crystal core awaited. The smoke curled inside, sealed.

 

[Kaelon Virex]

Kael let out the breath he didn't know he was holding.

"Did we win?!"

 

[Arq*]

Arq slowly approached the core.

"No… but we survived the test. And Sommer — she passed the final one. The Cradle chose to spare her."

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

"More than spared," Alyssa whispered, brushing Sommer's sweat-matted hair back. "It's not evil...It believes in her."

 

[Sommer Dai]

And in that moment, Sommer exhaled — a long, slow breath. Her body limp in Alyssa's arms.

But peaceful.

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

"She's coming back," Alyssa whispered, holding her close. "She's free... I think it's time we got out of here."

 

[Sommer Dai]

She floated.

Not in space. Not in dream.

But in something… deeper. Softer.
Like the inside of a heartbeat, or the pause between thunderclaps.

And then — breath.

Her own.

Sommer's eyelids fluttered. Her fingers twitched.

And then she felt it — a sharp inhale that wasn't stolen by shadow, by Azis, by illusion. It was clean. Hers.
A piece of her soul she hadn't realized was missing clicked back into place.

She gasped.

Eyes opened.

She found herself looking up at a blurred ceiling of violet light and gold glyphs. And then — a face. Framed by damp brunette waves. Eyes full of relief and unshed tears.

Alyssa.

"Hey," Sommer croaked. Her voice was raw but… hers. "You look like I scared you."

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

Alyssa laughed, half a sob.

"You did. You idiot. But you came back."

 

[Kaelon Virex]

Kael was standing nearby, arms crossed, eyes full of emotion he would never admit to.

"You've looked better," he said with a smirk. "But I've seen worse. Once."

 

[Sommer Dai]

"That's comforting," she replied, breathless.

 

[Arq*]

Arq moved into view, scanning her with a wrist device. The readings pulsed gold.

"Azis' influence is… gone. Not suppressed. Purged. The Cradle did it."

 

[Sommer Dai]

Sommer's gaze drifted to the ceiling — to the radiant core now pulsing softly above them, like a celestial eye no longer watching, just resting.

Her body trembled faintly as peace settled in.

For the first time in years… the voices were gone.
The hunger. The seductive lure of more.
The fear that she'd become like them — like Zori, or worse.
Gone.

There was only stillness.

And herself.

I'm here, she thought. All of me. Finally.

She sat up slowly, Alyssa helping her.

"Thank you," Sommer said.

 

[Alyssa Kydd]

Alyssa blinked. "For what?"

 

[Sommer Dai]

"For reminding me I'm not alone. And that I don't have to be."

They shared a quiet look.
Everything between them was different now — stronger. Unbroken.