"We did break him out of prison," Kira pointed out.
The whole point of this exercise was to get something useful from it.
Raider's face held stubbornness.
"If you have a better plan, I'm all ears," Kira said.
They were up against the wall, and it was time to do something crazy to shake things up.
"This probably won't work, and he'll try to betray us before the end," Raider warned.
"Maybe, but we could also get lucky and find something unexpected on the journey," Kira shot back.
This was a familiar refrain from their time as Curs. Something they'd said more than once on missions that were tantamount to suicide. It meant don't give up just because all looked hopeless. Keep moving forward. Because it might work.
That hope was what had driven them to surmount impossible odds on more than one occasion.
Knowing he'd already lost, Raider switched his focus to Graydon. "You're awful quiet. You must have some opinion on this."
Kira waited, interested in Graydon's response.
Whatever he planned to say was lost as the uncomfortable feeling that had been growing in Kira over the last few minutes edged into true pain. Agony lanced her brain. The barely scabbed over wound that represented Jin's place in her psyche was ripped open, leaking her soul's essence.
"Kira!"
Why was it suddenly so hard to breathe?
Kira's vision tunneled. Arms closed around her, hauling her off the ground. She didn't need to see to know they belonged to Graydon.
"Easy, coli. I've got you," Graydon whispered.
There was the sound of something breaking and then Raider's roar. "What did you do to her?"
It was the last thing Kira heard before she went limp.
Graydon
Graydon cradled Kira to his chest, watching as runes scrawled across her face and arms. They reappeared and vanished one after another. The shade of her skin shifted back and forth between graphite gray and her normal shade.
"That's interesting. She's caught between states. Almost like her primus wants to rise but can't," Aeron murmured with detached curiosity.
Raider yanked him to his feet. "What's wrong with her?"
There was something almost feral about the human’s actions. His eyes on the verge of madness.
Finn moved closer, not saying anything as he caressed the hilt of his en-blade. The gesture a threat.
"Don't look at me. For once, I'm innocent," Aeron said with a twisted amusement.
Raider shook him. "Liar."
"Ask the emperor's Face. He knows what's going on or at least has a guess. Just look at him," Aeron challenged.
Graydon didn't look up from the woman in his arms as he checked Kira with his senses. Quillon had warned him this was a possibility. Jin's absence had left a hole in Kira's soul. A wound that would kill her slowly unless she could fill it in some way. Until now, she'd somehow managed to stay fine. Probably due to the abundance of ki on Ta Sa'Riel and the Mea'Ave's own will.
Removing her had caused a backlash. Hence her collapse.
"He's right. You do know," Raider said, letting Aeron go. "Tell me what's going on."
