Private Where the Jungle Dreams

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Teth

Equipment:
Field Gear | Lightsaber | Tic

Ace didn't miss the way her bracelets chimed when she shrugged, or the bright ease in her tone as she said it was easier when the "rot" didn't cling. For her, it was that simple, lighten the weight, ease the sickness, make it bearable. He envied that. For him, rot was just something you learned to live with. You carried it until it stopped bothering you, or until it ate you from the inside out. Either way, you didn't fight it with kindness.

But Zaiya did. And the way she said it... so matter-of-fact, like helping people wasn't noble or brave, just obvious, stuck with him more than he wanted to admit.

Ace glanced sideways at her, catching the way her skin shifted with those thoughtful colors.

"Nothing wrong with it." He said. "It's just not what I'm used to. Everyone, even Jedi I've met, don't want to fight but they won't hesitate to start it if they think it's coming anyway. You… you're different." His tone wasn't critical, more curious than anything, like he was still working her out.

The air grew heavier the closer they got, pressing at the back of his skull like a migraine. If not for the Padawan's glow steadying the edges, he figured it would have already buckled him.

Zaiya proposed either using her sensor droids to map out the area, or investigate themselves. For a moment, he folded his arms, features etching into contemplation. Finally, after a moment, Ace looked at her sideways.

"We kill two birds? You stick around, use your droids. I can scope inside." He began setting off, spinning around to face her while keeping pace "I know, I know, splitting up, bad. But we have our comms and can cover more ground faster."

He kept backstepping, letting his words hang for a moment, Ace quickly realized she'd probably want to stick together. Problem was that he didn't want to put her at anymore risk, but he couldn't be static waiting for the droids to come back with something.

Then he shrugging, nonchalantly "Or, you can come with."

Either way, Ace continued on. Through the Force, the Ziggurat didn't sit like stone. It thrummed. A pulse beneath the ground, slow and patient, radiating out like ripples across water. The corruption he'd felt on the beast wasn't just clinging... it was seeping, threads feeding back toward the structure as if it were the heart pumping poison into the whole jungle.

Ace slowed, boots crunching against damp stone, eyes narrowing at the cracked steps vanishing into shadow. Tic clicked uneasily, claws tapping at his pauldron, but Ace barely heard, exhaling sharply through his nose.

The mist swirled, curling down toward the steps like a beckoning hand.

Zaiya Ceti ​

 

[Zaiya Ceti]

Outfit: x x x x x | Equipment: x x x x x x | Weapons: x x x | Companion: Domxite
Interacting with: Acier Moonbound

"Different."

It wasn't the first time Zaiya had heard that word used about her. But the way Ace said it didn't carry the sting she was used to. There was no unease, no mockery, no shadow of fear in his tone or in the faint colors that rippled around him. It was simply an observation.

"Different," she echoed, her tone uplifting slightly at the end. Then she smiled, her mottled spots and stripes fluttering with faint gold and teal light that glowed with warmth and cheer.

"I don't mind that," she admitted, flashing him a grin.

When he agreed with her plan to kill two birds with one stone, Zaiya gave a firm nod. Determination rippled through her skin in a brief sweep of bright orange threaded with cobalt flecks. She lifted a small fist, giving it a confident little shake.

"Great! Okay. We've got a plan! But if you need help…" She turned, unclipping something from her belt, a small solid hololight paddle beamer.

"Here, this comes in handy if you need to block something or get to higher places," she explained, firing a quick demonstration. A glowing hardlight disk shot out, forming a small platform that held for five seconds before vanishing.

"Think of it as a bridge if needed. You've got twenty disks… well, nineteen now," she added with a sheepish grin. "But hey, better you know how it works than not."

She started rummaging through another small pouch and pulled out what looked like a tiny sticker.

"Gimme your hand," she said, holding out her own colorful one expectantly.

"I'm gonna put a biometric patch on you, just in case. Lets me track your location and vitals… and, you know, in case you inhaled anything toxic or stepped in something that might kill you. They're pretty nifty little things." She pointed to the larger cuff among her bracelets, where her datapad's screen glimmered softly.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Teth

Equipment:
Field Gear | Lightsaber | Tic

Ace watched her grin, the glow chasing across her skin in gold and teal. Different, she'd said.Like it was something to wear proudly instead of hide. It almost made him smile. Almost.

When she produced the hololight paddle, he leaned forward slightly, eyes narrowing as the hardlight disk bloomed in the air.

"That's… actually pretty smart." he admitted, surprise threading through the dryness in his tone. Tic chirped in agreement, lens flickering with interest as the disk winked out.

Her next move, holding out the little patch, made him hesitate. A tracker? One brow lifted. It wasn't suspicion so much as reflex; he'd spent too many years avoiding anything that could find him. And eight months on the run from bounty hunters. But Zaiya's expression was open, no ulterior motive in sight. After a second, he sighed and extended his hand.

"Fine. Any weird stuff and I'm cutting it in half."

The patch met his skin and he flexed his fingers, testing it. Then his gaze drifted past her, back toward the ziggurat. The mist seemed thicker now, coiling like smoke.

His tone shifted serious "If I don't check in every few minutes, you pull back. No hero plays, got it?" Ace adjusted his belt and started forward once more, dark eyes narrowing at the shadowed steps ahead. "Wish me luck."

He closed the distance carefully. The jungle grew quieter with each step and the air cooled in unnatural degrees. Even the light seemed to fade. By the time the first tier of stone loomed overhead, Ace could feel the pulse in his chest syncing with something beneath the ground. The Force here was thick, viscous, pressing at the edges of his senses.

He paused at the base of the steps, one hand braced against the stone. "Feels old." he murmured to Tic. "Like it's been waiting."

Then he climbed. The mist parted as he ascended the overgrown steps, each one carrying that same distant vibration. When he reached the entrance, a cracked archway yawning into black, he knelt.

Tic clicked nervously, but Ace ignored the warning. He set his lightsaber aside, pressed one hand flat to the cold floor, and exhaled.

The moment he opened himself to the Force, it answered. It wasn't like most echoes, there were no fragmented memories, no fleeting sounds. This came like a flood. Cold, heavy, dragging through him. He saw the ziggurat whole again, shining obsidian under a red sky. Figures knelt in rows, chanting. Something massive moved in the dark, not alive, not dead, just... present. Then screaming, fire, the sound of stone collapsing as a thousand hands clawed the air.

His breath hitched. The vision clamped down like a vice. The smell of smoke and iron filled his lungs. Then came a whisper, faint but unmistakable: You walked this path before.

Ace's eyes snapped open. The jungle's noise had vanished completely. Now everything was too dark, too cold.

Zaiya Ceti​

 

[Zaiya Ceti]

Outfit: x x x x x | Equipment: x x x x x x | Weapons: x x x | Companion: Domxite
Interacting with: Acier Moonbound

Zaiya gave a half laugh, her grin tugging wide as she waved the datapad on her cuff.

"Nothing weird," she promised in a teasing tone.

"Just your location, biometrics like heartbeat, temperature, blood pressure, any foreign substances…" She trailed off with a mischievous glint in her eyes as the holographic screen displayed over her cuff flickered to life.

"So if you've been partaking in lunaweed, I'm about to find out."

Domxite gave a quick chirp that sounded suspiciously like a snicker.

"A backup, just in case," she added, her tone softening thinking of previous times where the technology would have helped. "Never know when the Force might decide not to play nice."

She gave him a bright smile, offering a little salute. "Good luck, Ace. And may the Force be with you."

After that, they split ways. As Ace disappeared into the dark maw of the ziggurat, Zaiya exhaled slowly and turned to her own task. She unclipped three small orbs from her belt and tossed them skyward. Each lit up with a soft glow before darting off in different directions, weaving through the vines and mist as they began mapping the area.

The readings streamed across her datapad, lines and shapes forming in real time. But the longer she watched, the heavier the air felt. A slow, creeping chill crawled up her arms. It wasn't just cold, it was thick with the emotional residue of something old and terrible. Fear. Desperation. Agony.

Zaiya swallowed hard, blinking as her skin dimmed slightly, her colors dulled by the oppressive weight. Domxite, perched on her shoulder, gave a low chirp and bumped his head gently against her cheek. The gesture grounded her, allowing the Lovalla Padawan to draw a small breath of warmth back into her chest.

Then her comm crackled.

"Ace?" she called, voice tight with unease.

Her pulse picked up as she turned in place, eyes darting across the jungle. The darkness pressed closer.

"Did you feel that?!" she asked, the question spilling out fast in a tone somewhere between alarm and disbelief.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Teth

Equipment:
Field Gear | Lightsaber | Tic

Static rasped in his ear. Zaiya's voice flickered through the comm, thin and distant. She'd asked him if he "felt that". For a moment, Ace blinked, silent. Then his thumb hit his comm, lips parting to answer.​

​

"Yeah." He said, voice low. "It's stronger the closer I get. Feels like the ground's… humming." His brow furrowed as the vibration beneath his boots deepened into something he could feel in his ribs. "Stay sharp. I think--"​

​

The rest of the sentence dissolved in white noise. A sharp feedback squeal made him flinch and shut off his comm. The static didn't stop, though. Tic clicked frantically on his shoulder. Ace exhaled, steadying himself, thumb brushing the comm again. ​

​

"Zaiya, I'm still here. Just some interference. I'll--"​

​

Then the signal died completely. He frowned, thumbing it once more. Still nothing.​

​

"Great." He muttered to himself.​

​

It didn't take long for him to realize that the Force... the Dark side, consumed signal transmissions. Which meant that the Dark side's influence here was stronger, much stronger than they thought.​

​

For a moment, he considered turning back. But then he felt a whisper, one that didn't reach his ears, but penetrated his skull.​

​

You think you're strong enough?​

​

The shadows deepened. The long dead torches that lined the walls, flared for an instant, green fire licking across their blackened tops. The temperature plummeted. Tic shrieked and dropped to the floor, his lens fluttering before dimming completely.​

​

Ace's throat tightened. He took one step back, then another. The floor beneath his boots rippled like water, and when he looked down, his reflection didn't move with him. It raised its head instead.​

​

His reflection straightened, stepping up from the reflective surface like it was breaching the skin of a pond. What emerged was… him, but not. The man that stood before him was older, his locs longer, streaked silver-white and hanging loose around a face carved by conflict. Dathomiri markings, dark as soot, cut across his skin in jagged lines - markings Ace recognized, though he'd never worn them himself. And his eyes… his eyes burned yellow, bright and venomous in the half-light, glowing like molten gold through smoke.​

​

He wore black robes, layered and weighty, the edges frayed and charred as though he'd walked through flame. A red lightsaber hung idle in one hand. When he spoke, the voice was Ace's own... only deeper, resonant, colder.​

​

"You keep running from what you are." Vayun said, his tone quiet but cutting. "But look around you. Even here, the Dark calls your name. It doesn't hate you. It chose you."​

​

"You're not real." Ace, hopelessly thumbed his comm again "Zaiya--"​

​

Ace's breath hitched. His pulse thundered in his ears, heart hammering as adrenaline spiked. The biometric patch Zaiya had placed earlier flared to life in warning, his heartbeat soaring, blood pressure climbing, a surge of neural activity screaming across her datapad far away.​

​

"You think you can keep walking the line." Vayun said softly. "But every time you fight, every time you kill, every time you survive… the line moves. And one day, when you cross it, you won't even notice."​

​

Ace's heart raced faster, breath coming in shallow bursts. The hum of the Dark side pressed against his ribs like a physical weight, reactively, Ace ignited his lightsaber, swinging toward Vayun - his apparition.​

​

"STOP!"​

​

But his reflection no longer stood opposite him, now it stood with him, their shadows merged on the cold stone. The whisper came again, crawling from the walls themselves:​

​

"You can't escape what you're made for. Every choice you have made, will make... leads to me."​

​

Zaiya Ceti ​

 

[Zaiya Ceti]

Outfit: x x x x x | Equipment: x x x x x x | Weapons: x x x | Companion: Domxite
Interacting with: Acier Moonbound

Zaiya flinched as a sharp burst of static cut through her comm, the noise spiking high enough to make the Lovalla Padawan wince.

"Ace? Ace, you're breaking up, Ace?"

No answer.

She brought her hand up to hover over her cuff as the datapad began flashing with bright alerts from the biometric patch. What she saw there made Zaiya's own heart skip: heart rate spiking, blood pressure climbing, neural feedback off the charts.

"Oh no. That's not good."

Domxite let out a worried chirp, hopping from her shoulder to the ground.

"I know, I know!" she hissed, crouching beside the little droid as if it could help her think faster. "Something's happening in there."

Iridescent blue eyes darted to the ziggurat. The oppressive miasma thickened, and her colors dulled at the edges, fading to a pale silvery hue with faint streaks of amber. She could feel it now too,the waves of fear, fury, and confusion all tangled into the stone like trapped screams. The Force pressed heavy and wrong, as if the entire structure was feeding on what it held inside.

Zaiya swallowed hard and steadied her breathing, forcing herself to focus. Her bracelets chimed faintly as she raised her hand, reaching out through the Force, trying to touch Ace's presence. It was there, flickering wildly like a candle battered by wind.

"Come on, Ace… breathe," she whispered, her voice trembling with worry.

She got to her feet and turned to Domxite.

"We're not waiting."

The paint splattered droid gave a small affirmative chirp, climbing back onto her shoulder as she moved. With one hand, Zaiya recalled her mapping drones, the orbs converging overhead before she sent them forward toward the ziggurat's entrance, light beams sweeping across the stone. The shadows seemed to recoil, and for a heartbeat, she thought she heard something whisper her name back.

Zaiya shivered, shaking it off.

"Ace, I'm coming in," she said into the comm, even though she knew the signal was dead.

The jungle had fallen completely silent now. Every instinct told her to stop, to turn back, but she couldn't. The fear clinging to the air wasn't her own, it was his.

She stepped toward the ziggurat, the light from her sensor droids activating and igniting in a cool, shimmering blue around her.

"May the Force protect us both," she murmured crossing the threshold into the dark, the Lovalla a glowing bioluminescent figure of kalioscopic hues as she went in.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Teth

Equipment:
Field Gear | Lightsaber | Tic

Ace's pulse was still thundering, echoing against the stone like a drum. His knuckles whitened around the lightsaber, its hum breaking through the silence in uneven waves. The reflection, Vayun, watched him with that same faint, knowing smirk, as if the whole room belonged to him.

Then, something shifted. A warmth, faint and familiar, brushed the edge of his awareness. A soft pulse through the noise. Zaiya. He could feel her. Trying to reach him through the chaos, her presence flickering like sunlight through water. He exhaled sharply, forcing his focus through the haze, grounding himself in that thin thread of color that didn't belong to the dark.

Vayun tilted his head, amused. "Clinging to her, are you? You think her light can drown this out?"

Ace tightened his grip. "It's keeping me here."

The older reflection chuckled lowly. "Then let's see how long it lasts."

The stone rippled again, and Ace's surroundings twisted, the walls warping into scenes not his own. Bodies, fire, and the echo of screams. It wasn't the past. It wasn't prophecy. It was potential.

Ace staggered back, trying to shut it out, but every movement seemed to pull him deeper into it. His breath came ragged again, the noise of his vitals still climbing through the biometric patch. The whispers crowded in:

"You were born for this."
"The Final Weave."
"The end begins with you."

Ace's lightsaber flickered, its blue glow paling under the tide of Vayun's looming shadow.

"You feel it, don't you?" The apparition's voice came soft, too calm for the storm around them. "The power in it. It's not hunger, it's clarity. No more doubt. No more fear. Just… purpose."

Ace's jaw locked, the Force pressed against him from all directions. It was not an enemy's presence, but the weight of inevitability. He felt it in his ribs, in his bones, in every scar carved into his skin. It whispered promises of control, of peace, if he'd only stop fighting it.

But despite it all, Zaiya's presence only grew stronger amid the darkness. Pulsating, rythmic, alive, warm. She was nearer now. Her presence brushed the edge of his consciousness, not in words, but in emotion: focus, courage, and something else beneath it, hope.

Ace staggered, pressing a hand to his temple as the whispers fractured. Vayun's head turned sharply, yellow eyes narrowing.

"She's breaking the current." He hissed, and the walls shuddered at his anger. "You shouldn't have brought her here. You'll only drag her down with you."

Zaiya Ceti​

 

[Zaiya Ceti]

Outfit: x x x x x | Equipment: x x x x x x | Weapons: x x x | Companion: Domxite
Interacting with: Acier Moonbound

Zaiya could feel Ace now, his fear, his fight, the jagged pressure of the dark side crashing against his mind. It clawed at the Lovalla's senses but she didn't pull back. She pushed harder.

The hall bent around her, the air thick and hot like breath in her ear. The whispers came for her too, tugging at the edges of her thoughts, trying to twist them into something cruel.

Just breathe. Zaiya told herself. Focus.

The light that had been flickering around her hairclip brightened, Domxite humming at her shoulder in steady resonance.

"Ace!" The Padawan cried out, her voice echoing through the chamber. But not just by the sound, but through the Force itself, willing her presence to push past as if she were mentally painting colors and hues as Iris taught her onto the surroundings.

"You're not alone! Whatever this thing is, whatever it's showing you, it's lying!"

She quickened her step, her leather boots striking the floor as if she could stamp out the darkness underfoot. The miasma fought back, each step heavier than the last, but she kept going, following the pull of his presence like a star through fog.

The closer she got, the colder the air became until she reached the heart of the ziggurat. Her gaze snapped upward, and there he was. Ace stood at the center of the chamber, his saber trembling in his hand, blue light faltering as shadows pooled around him. Across from him loomed the other. The twisted reflection.

Zaiya's felt her breath catch at her throat. The energy coming from it felt so-o wrong, poisonous, but she could see the way the Force bent around him, feeding on the fear. But what was even more curious was how along the cavern walls, one could see tiny lights flickering, as if the miasma was flowing from them as well as the whispers.

But the mottled spots over Zaiya's cheeks and forehead gave a sudden spark of bioluminescence in determination.

"No. You don't get to take him." she called out, her melodic voice reaching out.

She stretched out her hand, calling the Force to her. The light that had been faint and soft a moment ago blazed into gold, rippling across her skin and Domxite's chassis alike. The darkness pushed, and she pushed back, the two forces colliding in the air like opposing tides.

The whispers grew harsher, the stone trembling underfoot and around them. It wasn't going to make this easy.

It was just about then that a slight giggle came from behind Zaiya, and the Lovalla turned. There, as if cast by a reflection, was Zaiya... well, if Zaiya had her skin completely shifted into a silvery hue, with black inky patterns of corruption over her skin, the muted bioluminescence a dull silver against the pure white length of her hair.

"Oh no, no no... bad Zaiya. You should know better than to go to places you are not welcome. Always poking your nose into everything. Tsk tsk."

Those dark lips twisted in a harsh, toothy smile.

"I'll help you with that, though," as the sudden surge of the dark side of the Force slammed against Zaiya in a dark cloud of wisps and maniacal laughter, the overbearing sense of despair suddenly smothering her.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Teth

Equipment:
Field Gear | Lightsaber | Tic

Zaiya's light hit first - warm, sharp, cutting through the green haze like a blade of dawn. Ace's lungs dragged in a ragged breath as Zaiya's presence surged through the darkness, tearing a hole in the storm that had been swallowing him whole. For a moment, he could see again. The stone. The fire. The lines of her silhouette at the chamber's edge, haloed in light.

"Zaiya..." he managed, voice breaking between disbelief and warning.

Vayun's attention turned toward her, his yellow eyes flaring, voice curling like smoke. "Another one who thinks light can save you."

Ace barely had time to react before the air snapped. The Force had buckled, something had happened to Zaiya. He felt another pulse of darkness, wash over him like a tsunami. He turned and saw it, her reflection blooming behind her like an echo being dragged out of the Force itself, silvery and tainted.

Ace's heart jolted, seeing two of her: the true one, and the one twisted in pallid imitation. The reflection of himself, of Vayun, watched, smirking as though this was a show meant for him.

"See? It finds everyone, eventually."

He felt the Force between Zaiya and her dark mirror twist. The Lovalla was faltering now too, Ace could sense the despair within her as familiar as his own.

Ace stepped forward. His instinct to fight, to strike, to destroy, screamed in his bones. He could end the shadow's hold with a single stroke of his lightsaber, but Vayun's words clawed at him. Every time you fight… the line moves.

He froze mid-step, muscles tense. Then he remembered Zaiya's voice, cutting through the static earlier: You're not alone.

Ace wasn't alone. He hadn't been for a long time now. His mind drifted to Aether, then Sibylla, and the others he had come to see as his friends within the Path - Aris, Everest, Verse, Calyx, Jane, Michael, Noodles... even Zaiya had quickly filled that role now too. The bonds he had forged had given him strength, and he knew, somewhere deep down, he could give that strength back.

He shut off his lightsaber and rushed toward the Padawan, grabbing her hand and squeezing it tight. He let the Force ripple outward, not as a weapon, but as a bridge.

"I'm here, too. You're not alone."

And for a moment, the Nexus faltered. Vayun, amused by the sudden display, cracked a grin.

"You think you can undo what's been written in the stars? Millennia in the making?"

Ace's breath came sharp, the Force roaring in his chest. "Don't know." His voice steadied "But I can change what it means."

He shut his eyes tight, focusing on the Force and Zaiya. He knew he wasn't as advanced in his control of the Force like Zaiya was, but if he could use his unique gift of redirecting the strength from his bonds into her? Maybe Zaiya could stop all this.

Zaiya Ceti ​

 

[Zaiya Ceti]

Outfit: x x x x x | Equipment: x x x x x x | Weapons: x x x | Companion: Domxite
Interacting with: Acier Moonbound

The surge of dark energy slammed into Zaiya like a physical blow, flinging her backward across the stone floor. Her shield flared gold before cracking under the pressure, shattering like glass. She hit the ground hard, gasping as despair crashed over her in waves, as the dark echo of the Lovalla Padawan stood laughing, her white hair spilling like frozen silk, and black veins of corruption crawling beneath the surface. The dull silver glow from her bioluminescence pulsed faintly, sickly, as if feeding on the darkness.

Zaiya's vision blurred, everything dulling, her colors dimming to muted gray. Whispers crawled across her mind, whispers in her own voice telling her to stop, to give in, to rest.

Domxite shrieked beside her, little claws scraping stone as it scrambled to her side. Their body vibrated with a hum that cut through the noise, syncing with the Kyber in her hairclip. The two resonated, brighter and brighter, until the sound burned through the haze.

"Not… today." Zaiya gritted her teeth, forcing breath back into her lungs.

The Force flared, light bursting from her palms in a brilliant wave of gold and silver. The miasma recoiled, and for a moment, the reflection wavered, its mocking grin flickering like static. But it wasn't enough, that miasma crept and pushed closer with sickly blue and violet smothering waves of darkness slittering around her like floating ghosts.

Zaiya pushed to her feet, the light around her growing steadier. Her stripes and spots flared in amber and bronze, determination and empathy blending as she faced the shadow version of herself head-on.

"You're not me," she growled out, her voice stronger now. "You're just what this place wants me to be."

It was then that Zaiya felt it before she saw him, the warmth of Ace's hand gripping hers. The dark echo's laughter faltered, her silvery image flickering as the strength of their bond rippled through the chamber. The warmth of his presence burned through the cold, cutting across the pull of despair like sunlight breaking through a stormfront.

The Lovalla's breath came fast and shallow, her knees nearly buckling as the miasma pressed harder in retaliation.

"Ace…" she whispered with a mild bit of trembling amusement, "You're really bad at listening when someone tells you to stay back, you know that?"

Domxite chirped in agreement, their small form still humming in harmony with the Kyber jewel in her hairclip. The combined resonance strengthened the golden light spilling from her palms, pushing back against the encroaching dark.

"You can't protect him. You can't even protect yourself." The reflection hissed out at the Lovalla, its voice twisting with Zaiya's own.

Zaiya grit her teeth, the bioluminescent shimmer along her mottled spots flickering with streaks of bronze and deep orange and thrumming purposeful flecks of vibrant cobalt blue.

"Watch me." the Padawan gritted out in determination.

Opal blue eyes fell shut, her fingers tightening around Ace's hand. She could feel his strength flowing through the bond in a raw stream of strength like a current feeding into her own. The Force between them pulsed once, then twice, and she reached out to meet it, shaping it through the light.

"Okay," she whispered, more to herself than to him, "let's give this place a clean up."

Irridecent blue eyes snapped open, a faint glow outlining the tri colors of those orbs as Zaiya stretched her free hand forward. The golden glow spread outward, forming into a barrier that pulsed like a heartbeat. It wasn't an attack. It was healing. Every breath she took, every pulse Ace lent her, fed into it.

All around them, the whispers screamed as the light expanded, washing over the chamber. The corrupted version of her twisted and shrieked, its form unraveling like smoke under sunlight. The black veins on the walls and the faintly glowing cracks of energy dimmed, the oppressive miasma thinning at the edges.

"I am not you...and will never be you. EVER!" the Lovalla shouted out, Force light manifesting itself through the combined strength of Ace and Zaiya just as it had back on Tython Station when she had destroyed with the light the infected dead and had cut off from the Force the Sith Lord who had created them.

And with that, Zaiya pushed forward, her light slamming against the darkness in a clash that sent ripples through the chamber and cracked the stone beneath their feet.

 

[Acier Moonbound]

Location: Teth

Equipment:
Field Gear | Lightsaber | Tic

Ace felt the chamber convulse around them, the Force screaming as light and shadow tore at each other. Zaiya's power surged through their joined hands, the air trembling with every pulse of gold and blue.​

​

The brilliance was blinding. It burned through the haze, through the rot that had soaked into the walls. His vision swam, not from pain but from the sheer intensity of it. He could feel her drawing from him, not draining but aligning, pulling strength from every connection he'd ever made and turning it into something pure.​

​

The Force roared and the ground split. Vayun staggered backward, his form glitching like a broken projection.​

​

"You think this light saves you?" He spat, voice breaking under the strain. "You're just delaying what's coming!"​

​

Ace's reply was steady, a whisper cutting through the chaos. "Then that's enough."​

​

Rage twisted Vayun's face into something inhuman. The explosion of light came with a soundless impact. The dark reflections shattered, Vayun first, distortedly screaming at the pair before fading into silence. Then the corrupted Lovalla, both unraveling into ribbons of black mist that scattered like ash in a gale. The torches guttered out one by one, the green fire dying, and for the first time since they'd entered, the air felt still.​

​

Ace's breath tore through his throat. His hand stayed locked with Zaiya's, knuckles white, grounding himself in the warmth of her light. Tic flickered back to life beside them with a sputtering chirp.​

​

The ashen-haired rebel laughed under his breath, low and tired. "You did it..." He murmured, tone roughened by disbelief and pride. "You actually--"​

​

The words cut short as her weight slumped against him, her head lolled against his shoulder, the light in her eyes gone.​

​

"Zaiya--hey." His voice sharpened, steady but tight as he caught her by the arms. "C'mon, stay with me."​

​

Nothing. Just the soft, shallow rhythm of her breath. Domxite whirred anxiously, hovering at her side and chirping in frantic bursts. Tic stepped closer, lens lowering, emitting a quiet, sympathetic tone.​

​

The walls were silent now, the oppressive hum replaced by the faint echo of dripping water. Whatever had rooted here… it was dormant. Not cleansed, not destroyed, but sleeping. Maybe that was enough.​

​

He exhaled hard through his nose and shifted her weight carefully into his arms, cradling her against his chest. The stone beneath him no longer pulsed with malice, only age.​

​

"We'll mark this place for the Path." He muttered, glancing at the archway where daylight bled through the mist. "The Jedi'll know what to do with it."​

​

Tic trilled softly at his side, lens flickering toward the unconscious Padawan. Domxite followed in a worried, quiet beep.​

​

"Yeah..." Ace said quietly, voice gentler now. "She's the one who did it, not me."​

​

He adjusted his grip, wincing at the pull in his ribs. "Let's get her home before this thing decides to wake up again."​

​

Ace started toward the light, to the Flickerfox. The two droids trailing close, the Lovalla safe in his arms as they left the darkness behind.​

​

-END-​

​

Zaiya Ceti​