Ever my strong and strongly growing ally, the All reaches out and manipulates some of That Which Is, tearing open a Portal through which I now step, returning after what suddenly seems to be years to the haven of my sanctum sanctorum. The fact that once, too long ago, this chamber ceased to provide me with complete haven crosses my mind; I close my eyes briefly, letting the thought come, study it as I step forth, for by such things, by facing one's dilemmas, can one at last seek a means by which they might be overcome, a means perhaps once overlooked.

Nothing catches my mental eye at the moment, and I open my eyes to find my Son, startled, standing before the Crystal Octahedron with an apparently recovered Panthar Dantares. A quick glance into the roiling greeny-goldness reveals to me what it has revealed to them; I straighten and finish stepping forth, coming regally now before the two.

"My son," I acknowledge his loyalty, dip my head to him, a quick yet smooth motion which he then mimics. When he raises his face again to mine I clearly see his concern and curiosity; the concern over whatever dire event he has been monitoring is somewhat assuaged now by a modicum of curiosity as to why I have returned alone.

Now is not the time to bandy words; I merely send him a single glance now, the same glance I sent into his amber eyes lo many years ago, just as the Dark Jedi breached my Sanctum Sanctorum, just as they rushed us, terrible weapons of light raised high.

A look which spoke of great danger, perhaps danger lethal to us, but danger which in the long run might prove to be not entirely insurmountable.

I then turn a fiery gaze to the other, rake his form but once with my eyes, and dip my head respectfully to him.

"My son." The words I speak are intended for Aeylmaar even though my eyes remain affixed to the Panthar.

"I must speak with thee; perhaps this one might be shown the hospitality of our Temple whilst you and I engage in small but private conversation."

I straighten a touch, indicating by the motion that the next words are not intended for the ears of my Heir Apparent.

"It is good to see you have recovered from your miseries, Panthar Dantares. However, now is not the time to inquire further of your well-being; you must pardon my seeming rudeness, but there is something of concern of which I need speak to my son."

[ 07-19-2007 03:39 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aelvedaar ]

--------------------

--------------------

"My Sire?" Graysith questioned as she stepped though the portal she had opened, Shayla being literally dragged along as she did so...

--------------------

...and with whom she was. Taking a shuddery breath, at last being able to at least wrap enough strength about herself to peer outward through unclouded eyes, she managed to steady herself on her feet and look about herself more clearly.

But with such clarity also comes reality. Her crystal clear greeny-blue eyes fell upon the form of Graysith.

"W--what have I done?" she finally said in a whisper. Then her eyes widened, further terror filling them. "The Darkness...

...is working with the chrome-eyed one..."

She trailed then, her eyes turning distant and troubled.

--------------------

But the pain in the once again violet eyes gives me pause.

"My Daughter?" I deign to ask, sensing she is once more the One I Have Chosen, sensing as well the same in the golden haired woman at her side. I step toward them, growing more troubled by the minute, for now that the pair seem to realize they are safely within my Sanctum sanctorum the pain emanating from them evolves rapidly into sheer agony. Well do I recall such feelings I once harbored; my hands go out to the two and I hurry toward them.

"Come, you are safe, I know what has happened; that which has come and gone has come and gone, now we need face that which is yet to be.

"Have you learned anything during your entrapment by the foulness?"

Some would say that rushing straight to the heart of the matter is a cold move on my part. But I cannot help but sense we have little time to waste; She Who I Have Chosen was taught well and I am certain she understands this need fully, as do I feel will her own Chosen Sister, the one named Shayla, whom my Daughter in turn herself taught well.

--------------------

She drew in a deep, shuddery breath, and replied, telling him everything she had learned, everything she knew of, including how the blockade in Khar Delban space had been destroyed, and where Lt. General Sorben Tarnus was.

"I must release him; it does not bode well for our people that I have done what I have done, but perhaps this can be kept from him until he can be made to realize exactly what forces there are at play at the moment."

She then went on, explaining how the Dark, through its machinations, had managed to procure that which the Master had promised it years and years ago, but had never managed to deliver.

"Phalomir, it has taken over Phalomir," she stated, calming now enough that she could say the words without breaking down. "But my Sire, it is not the Phalomir of the Three Houses; it is a clone, or doppleganger; the Dark is very clever indeed, in the ways it had managed to manipulate others in our own dimension; this I know for Lord Roan, even the Lord Roan I thought myself at one time wed to, was nothing more than a copy. The true Dark Lord of the Warriors hangs in madness and misery in the Black Tower, over which the Darkness holds sway. With--"

Now she turned to Shayla, surprise in her eyes, for this was something absolutely new to her.

"That Which Is? Did you see the two conspiring? This is something of which I am not aware."

She fell into silence, a silence mirrored by the Dark Lord, who seemed intently interested to hear what Graysith's Adept might have to say at this.

--------------------

“Whoa!” he cried out, stepping forward. “You can’t mean ol’ Googly Eyes has something to do with all this!? No way, not when all he cares about is balance and keeping people out of his ‘place of places’ and all! Never mind that’s basically where you dumped Phal and everyone. I assume they’re still there? Like Erik is still back on Dagobah somewhere after being left there by his wife? I got my ass kicked there trying to find him, and now I don’t even know if Galen is safe! Uh, and the others, I mean.”

He coughed a little before continuing.

“But if you are really sure the Darkness is gone from you, really, totally, then I think we need to go get the others all together. I don’t know about Googly Eyes being involved, but I do know that I was possessed by this darkness before any of you, and I remember that being a hellish time. And I hear things—like echoes of it still in my head somehow. Maybe we can use that?”

[ 08-22-2007 07:55 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

--------------------

"Indeed, much ill has been done to many, and many have been placed in positions undeserving of them," I speak briefly into the silence following this excitable Sith's words, holding up one clawed hand that he please calm himself.

"It will be but a matter of seconds to set right much of the wrong that has been done, but not until we fully understand exactly who and what we are dealing with.

"And why."

I silence, as do the others, and wait to hear what Shayla has to say.

[ 08-22-2007 09:51 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aelvedaar ]

--------------------

She had left her husband to die on Degobah in dire straights, and had left others on K'eel Doba...

She forced herself to keep from these thoughts for the moment in order to respond to the questions at hand. "That Which Is is not what I saw," she clarified at length, her look still distant. "It was...

...was him. The Vong, the one who once held captive both Jharmeen and myself."

She paused then, remembering more of her time on K'eel Doba. She related how the Darkness had used her to greatly damage the Temple there, how she had found a room with a globe that knew her by the name Stargazer, how she had been identified as part of the "Nexus" and that words had been spoken of its infiltration.

And of what sounded very much to her like a rendezvous of sorts between this particular Vong and the Darkness.

"All the time we thought that Dark Lord Roan had taken Graysith to the Yuuzhan Vong ship, it must have been the Darkness."

She trailed, her eyes widening in worry. "What are we going to do?"

--------------------

"We shall begin by setting right that which we can, and by gathering together our own forces in readiness against the growing Dark, which--"

I allow a smile to flick upon my lips as I raise a hand to them all.

"--may not be quite the omnipotent power it believes itself to be. For it did by embracing my Chosen One embrace the All, which it now has given up, possibly in the belief that what it thinks to be the future Phalomir holds it still. Likewise, while it has seemed to take over my dear Brother Roan, replacing him with a copy, it apparently does not recognize that the Phalomir it holds is one as well.

"Remember this, and take heart. It has tipped its dark hand to us, and if this was done purposely then it yet has a weakness we can exploit: arrogance. But nothing will be gained without all of us working together; tell me now where the others are that we might go forth and bring them all here, to then begin planning out our own strategy."

[ 08-22-2007 09:53 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aelvedaar ]

--------------------

She pause, pursing her lips. "Phalomir, along with some others including an Eagle Enterprises Captain, a man by the name of Captain Yaoksi Joao, a Ryn, a human child, the Master, and Verpine, are somewhere near the Temple on Kori'san."

She frowned deeply, her eyes growing vague. "I hope that the destruction to the Temple did not harm them in any way."

[ 08-22-2007 10:17 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Shayla Stargazer Petrolu ]

--------------------

“Um,” he started, “so the Vong really are coming? So the Master was right all along? All I ever heard from him was how he was hell-bent on stopping the Vong, and was going to trade Phalomir for a way to do it. So… maybe we should ask him what he is going to do now that he has accomplished his goal?”

--------------------

"But-- he did not give Phalomir to the Darkness," she commented, then turning to cast a sympathetic glance at Shayla.

"Shayla did."

--------------------

“Then maybe we oughta put her in charge!” he said.

“Did it give you something?” he asked, refocusing on Shayla. “I mean, can you feel anything different? Any new ideas? New powers? Anything?”

--------------------

"Of greater importance," I intone, my voice deep and imperative, "is the fact that Aeylomir has yet, in his eye, to achieve his goal. It is of some importance, then, that we stop him in his tracks, before he manages somehow with the true Phalomir."

I turn my hand sideways, and make a small bit of intrigue in the air. There is an immediate popping noise, and a dark funnel begins to roil, becoming larger and larger until at last it reveals itself as the Portal through the All which I intended it to be.

"Come, let us go to Korri'sian, and retrieve those friends who are there... and what small enemies which linger there as well. For there is One who frowns at our bandying about with this world, especially since it has been placed for supposed safekeeping into the Elseness"

--------------------

With a start, Shayla looked up, her eyes widening as she recalled something that seemed almost to be buried within her, as if hidden.

"Wait," she spoke up then, her greeny-blue eyes intense. "The Master is not on Kori'san. He was...

...but he took me, along with the copy of Phalomir, into the Darker Realms. I left him alone there."

--------------------

"Then there he shall stay," I state as I turn away from her. Waiting no longer, for every moment spent by our hapless friends upon the planet supposedly removed from our reality is a moment risking further wrath from That Which Is, I step through the Portal I have created...

((OOC: Aelvedaar departs into The Path to Endgame in the "Jedi/Sith" forums, thank you.))

[ 08-23-2007 09:09 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aelvedaar ]

--------------------

“Well,” he said, “I’m not staying here!”

He walked towards the portal, shaking his head.

“I just hope Phal hasn’t been eaten by a tuk’ata,” he said, more or less towards Jharmeen, then stepped through.

((OOC: Panthar jumps into The Path to Endgame in the "Jedi/Sith" forums, thank you.))

[ 08-26-2007 09:44 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

--------------------

"I sent a tuk'ata after Phalomir," she then said Jharmeen's way, a new wave of shame at her actions washing over her. "I hope we are going to get there before it succeeds, and I can try to call off the attack. It was a wild tuk'ata, after all."

She paused for a moment then, recalling the damage that a wild tuk'ata could do to a person...

...and then making herself focus once more n the task at hand as she stepped through the portal.

(((OCC: Follow Shayla into Path to the Endgame in this forum, thank you.)))

--------------------

"As if I started the aggression." I commented, flicking my wrist, letting the Lotus fall, the magical blade disappearing before it had hit the ground. "Well then, let's go."

I finished, desiring to leave this place likely more than other, feeling a quiet shiver run through me as I walked through the portal to the other side.

--------------------

Phalomir turned as he walked into the room beyond the portal. He stopped when he saw the face of the woman he loved more than anything else in his life, his heart leaping out to her but his mind still wary of the darkness within her, for that was what he last knew.

Yet something was different, very different. He gazed into her eyes, and could see clearly what that difference was. They were her eyes….

“Jharmeen?” he asked. “My lady?”

--------------------

Aaron stepped through the Portal and came to an abrupt halt behind Phalomir, who was speaking to, of all people, Graysith.

His hand slipped unthinkingly to his blaste, and he didn't move a milimeter further.

What was going on here? Why was she just standing here on the other side of the Portal, waiting?

--------------------

Then she spied the hovering Aaron, obviously waiting to enter. Off to one side there lurked the very assassin who had attacked her Adept.

Overwhelmed not only by the confluence of so many who had reason to at the very least be wary of each other, but by the look she saw in Phalomir's eyes, she closed her mouth and backed quietly away. Not looking at anyone any further, she went to the Crystal Octahedron and waited quietly beside it.

--------------------

“Phalomir,” said Panthar, coming up behind and leaning in close to the Dark Lord. “It’s her, the darkness is gone.”

--------------------

Shayla stepped through the Portal behind Aaron Barnes, moving past him a bit and completely avoiding eye contact with Rykounagin and nearing Jharmeen, becoming increasingly aware of the varying ranges of emotions floating about the room.

There was so much to explain. And even more to be set right, if that was even possible...

--------------------