Archive of Our Own ^beta

Chapter Text

Mordred paused at the entryway to the mess and scanned the room, looking for a friendly face. There weren't many in the rebellion these days--not since what had happened at Dover--and over the past few weeks in Barham Down he'd found himself unwilling to enter a crowded space without a friendly face by his side. There was too much of a chance an unfriendly face would decide to make his life difficult.

Not seeing friend or family in the mess, Mordred started to back away from the doorway only to nearly jump out of his skin as a hand rested on his shoulder.

“You need to relax,” Percival said, giving Mordred's shoulder a reassuring squeeze. “Stay that tense and you're gonna hurt yourself.”

“You could try saying something before you grab me,” Mordred said.

“Nice try,” Percival said with a shake of his head. “But we both know the exercise Thessala assigned you. You're supposed to be using the force to keep track of everyone. So how come you didn't 'see' me coming?”

Mordred didn't have an answer for that. Something Percival and just about everyone else on the base was aware of. He supposed that Percival was trying to be good natured in his nagging, but Mordred didn't much appreciate the reminder that he couldn't use the force anymore. Especially not with Thessala arriving back on Barham Down today.

“Isn't the Rogue Squadron supposed to be arriving soon?” Mordred asked. “I thought you were supposed to meet them?”

“I am,” Percival said. “But I have strict orders from Cywyllog to have food with me when she arrives. I don't know why she's so keen on our shitty food when she's been enjoying the luxury cuisine that only Rome can offer, but I wasn't about to argue with that tone of voice. You want to help me carry a couple plates?”

Mordred did not. He did not want to see Cywyllog and he especially did not want to see Thessala right now. But Percival was already pushing him into the mess and Mordred didn't really have an excuse to wrangle out of this. He was off duty until tomorrow and Lynette was frustrated enough with the repairs on the Damsel that currently Ax was the only one allowed to help her fix her ship.

Mordred's skin crawled as he made his way through the mess. He felt eyes on him and he did his best to ignore the stares. Since he was with Percival, he was fairly certain no one would bother him. If he had been with Lynette or Ax, things might have been different. But Percival was still enough of a hero to most of the rebels that no one was going to even think twice about crossing him.

As they waited in line, Mordred closed his eyes and concentrated. Darkness. Empty. He was a vessel for the force to move through, nothing more. All he needed to do was clear his mind and let the power flow through him. Darkness. Vessel...

Threads seemed stretch out from Mordred, connecting him to everyone in the room. Mordred opened his eyes and pulled back, cutting himself off from those threads and the power that they had promised.

One choice. One decision in their darkest hour to use the power those threads promised for good. He'd thought at the time it was a choice that would live in that moment and hadn't considered the possibility of ramifications down the road. Like that fact that he wouldn't ever be able to use the force the correct way ever again. That those threads would always be there, tempting him towards darkness.

Mordred had thought for a time that he would be able to fix it. That with time and training he would be able to reconnect with the correct way--where he was simply a vessel for the force instead using the threads for his own means. But Aunt Morgan was gone and he'd learned so little from her before she had been killed. Thessala was trying to help, but she hadn't been a Knight of Avalon and her holy order interacted with the force in a very different way. And Thessala was almost as untrained as he was. Most of her order and its teachings had been destroyed decades ago when she was still a student. 

For a while he had thought things were getting better--that he was learning. That the correct way was starting to come back to him. Then the Empire had attacked their base at Dover and he'd chosen to rely on the threads once more to save his friends. Mordred wasn't sure if there was any way back now. There was no guarantee that if he found himself in another tight spot, he wouldn't rely on the power that came easiest in order to get the result he wanted.

Aunt Morgan had once told him that people were unimportant. That to care for others was so dangerous the Knights of Avalon had cut themselves off from familial ties in order to cut themselves off from temptation. At the time, Mordred hadn't understood her fury at him relying on his connection to others. Well, now he understood. Now, when it was potentially too late for him to sever those ties and be the empty vessel the rebellion needed him to be.

“Here we are,” Percival said as they reached the front of the line. He handed Mordred a tray and began piling food onto it. Mordred's stomach turned as he stared at the food Percival had chosen for Cywyllog. Instead of using the rations they had brought with them from Dover, Percival had instead decided to give Cywyllog the food crafted from the native plants and animals they had scavenged on the toxic wasteland of a planet that was Barham Down.

It was not food Mordred ever took. The heat was such here that he was rarely hungry as it was, so Mordred was perfectly content to stick to the rations he was allotted each day. He had tried the food Barham Down offered once and immediately vowed to never do so again. 

“Didn't Cywyllog ask for food?” Mordred asked as he watched Percival continue to fill the tray with dishes that barely counted as such in his book.

Percival shrugged. “I've already used up my rations for the day and it's not like she has a ration card I can fall back on. So if she's really as desperate as she sounded, this will have to do. And if she's not, serves her right.”

Mordred couldn't help but smile at that. A lot had changed over the past few years. Friends had been lost and family had grown distant, but Percival's willingness to annoy every single person he interacted with remained ever present.

“Is that a smile?” Percival asked. “Have I finally succeeded in lifting your dark mood?”

“Perhaps,” Mordred said. “But I'm sure you'll find a way to just as quickly bring it back.”

“Without a doubt,” Percival agreed. He looked over the food that had been set out one last time before nodding with satisfaction. “That should be enough. Let's go. I'm sure there'll be hell to pay if we're late.”

Mordred wanted to argue--to take the time to ask how he had been roped into this when Percival was the one Cywyllog had talked to. But Percival had already turned around and started making his way out of the mess and Mordred had to hurry after him or risk being left alone with all those eyes on him.

He tried to tell himself that it would be fine as he followed Percival to the hanger. Cywyllog was arriving in Barham Down against strict orders from Isolde to stay away. The poor results from Cywyllog's last mission--the one that had left the Savage Damsel so badly damaged--had shaken everyone. Isolde had wanted to put some distance between them and that disaster. Cywyllog had insisted that she had come across important intel during that mission that the rebellion needed to hear.

At least, that was what the rumor mill was saying. Mordred had been unable to get Gawain, Gaheris, or Percival to confirm any of it was true. While Mordred wasn't exactly fond of the idea that Cywyllog had learned something so dire on her last mission that she had defied Isolde's orders, he was hopeful that it meant the Rogue team's attention wouldn't be on him during this visit. Specifically Thessala. He was really hoping that he wouldn't have to talk to Thessala anytime in the near future.

They reached the hanger and Percival turned and took the tray from Mordred right before they entered. A small gesture that Mordred was grateful for. The hanger was perhaps his least favorite place on the base because of its proximity to the outside. Barham Down was a world of active volcanoes that spewed toxic gas into the atmosphere. It was also hot and unbearably dry. Especially for Mordred, who had grown up surrounded by water. There no water on Barham Down. Just basins filled with toxic liquid that could eat through most metals. 

The hanger doors pulled open and Mordred turned his head away as the hot air immediately filled the room like a heavy weight on his chest and the airborne toxins burned as his eyes and nose. Mordred hated leaving the base and he hated going anywhere on base where the outside was allowed in.

Fortunately the controllers had timed the opening of the hanger just right. The Rogue team's ship swooped through the hanger doors the moment they were open wide enough and the doors immediately began to close behind it. The ship landed and powered down. The ramp dropped open in front of them and Cywyllog and her team descended down into the base.

“Is that for me?” Cywyllog asked as she neared Percival, her eyes on the tray of food in his hand. 

“Certainly no one else here is going to eat it,” Percival said.

Cywyllog closed the distance between then in an instant and began digging into the food with the single minded intensity of a person who was starving. Mordred's eyes widened as he watched her gulp down the food seemingly without any care to what she was actually eating.

“What the hell is this?” Percival demanded as the rest of the Rogue team snickered. “You live on Rome! The capital of our fair Empire. Have they stopped feeding you?”

“Yes,” Cywyllog said between bites.

“Have we made so much of an impact that the Empire has run out of food?” Percival asked. “Because if we have, that's impressive. We should try losing more often.”

Cywyllog shook her head. “It's this new, trendy diet at the capital. Empress Theodora is obsessed with it and all of her ladies in waiting are expected to follow it. I haven't eaten any solid food in two weeks. Instead I've been subjected to this wretched drink which supposedly has all the nutrients one needs.”

“People in the outer rims are starving and you're telling me the royal houses are abstaining from food because it's fashionable?” Percival asked.

“People on Rome are starving,” Cywyllog said. “Neither the Emperor nor the Empress care. Their power is absolute. And it's about to get worse.”

“How much worse?” Percival asked. Cywyllog's eyes flickered to Mordred and Percival immediately understood her unspoken request. “Well, we're late for a very important meeting. Best not keep Isolde waiting. Thanks for your help, Mordred.”

“My pleasure,” Mordred said as he turned to watch the go. Cywyllog still picking at the tray of food as they went. Cliges and Fenice went after them. No doubt Fenice had an important role to play in the upcoming meeting with Isolde. Mordred wonder when, if ever, the rest of the rebellion would learn what the Rogue Team had found. Isolde seemed to be keeping all new information close to the chest these days.

“Mordred,” Thessala said and Mordred's heart sunk as he realized he should have gone with Percival and Cywyllog. Slowly he turned to find Thessala standing at the bottom of the ramp. Hana stood right behind her. Her arms were crossed and her posture dared Mordred to try and run. Mordred tried to smile. There was no sense in trying to fight the inevitable now.

“Let us find somewhere quiet where we can review your progress over these past few weeks,” Thessala said as she strode forward. She reached out towards him and Mordred dutifully offered her his arm.

“Of course,” Mordred said as he let her pull him out of the hanger, Hana right behind them.

Hours later, Mordred made his way to the depths of the mountain base. To the lower hanger where ships went when they were in need of repair. There were a handful of ships in the lower hanger, but none of them were as scarred as the Savage Damsel. The slim ship was off in a corner, pulled away from the others. Scorch marks covered much of the hull--the only plates that weren't scorched were the ones Lynette and Ax had already replaced.

The Damsel looked bad, and that was before one even got close enough to see all of the panels that been opened up so Lynette and Ax could work on the internal components. Mordred had heard more than a few rebels say in hushed voices that it was a miracle the Damsel had even been able to land. Mordred agreed with them--especially after hearing the firsthand account for Lynette and Ax about how the descent through the atmosphere had nearly torn the ship apart.   

Any other ship in the rebellion that had undergone so much damage would have been relegated to parts to fix other ships. But the Damsel didn't belong to the rebellion and Lynette wasn't about to give up on her ship. She had managed to scavenge together the parts she needed to make repairs and she and Ax had been working nonstop the last two weeks to get the Damsel back into flying shape. Ax only stopped to sleep while Lynette occasionally stopped to sleep but was more likely to be pulled away for her patrol.

Right now, this late in the evening, both Lynette and Ax had stopped for the night. The lower hanger was dark, which made the scorch marks on the damsel's hull seem all the more obvious. As Mordred made his way up the ramp into the ship, he ran a hand along the scorch marks, just like he did ever night. He found a little bit of comfort in seeing the damage to the Damsel up close while knowing that she had survive it and would one day fly again.

Making his way towards his room on the Damsel, Mordred paused when he heard noises coming from the cockpit. The lights in the cockpit had been off--he had seen that clearly when he entered the lower hanger. That meant Lynette was spending another night alone drinking in the cockpit. It was a near-regular occurrence these days. The first time Mordred had seen her do that and asked if she was all right, Lynette had snapped at him to leave her alone. Since then he hadn't bothered her when she was in that particular mood.

But he had just spent several hours locked in a room with Thessala and Hana trying unsuccessfully to connect with the force while those damn threads tempted him and mocked his failure. He didn't want to be alone right now and he was certain that his cousins and few friends in the rebellion wouldn't have much sympathy for his dark mood. Lynette did, though, and Mordred found he desperately wanted the company of a friend who didn't see him as a failure.

Lynette turned in her seat as he stepped into the cockpit and Mordred froze, ready to retreat if she made it clear she didn't want his company. Lynette stared at him for a long moment before finally holding out the bottle she was drinking.

“No, thank you,” Mordred said as he took a seat in the co-pilot chair. “We have patrol tomorrow.”

“So?” Lynette asked.

“So I could do without adding a hangover to the dehydration headache I'm sure to get,” Mordred said.

Lynette shrugged and took another swig from the bottle. She turned her chair to look back out over the hanger. “You want to talk about it?”

“Not really,” Mordred said. “What about you? Do you want to talk about why you come in here every night and drink yourself to sleep? Is there something about the repairs you're not telling me?”

“No,” Lynette said. “The repairs are going just fine. It just that when it gets dark and the work stops for the day, this fear I've been fighting all day bubbles to the surface and I can't stop contemplating what I'm going to do if she never flies again.”

“She'll fly again.” Mordred said. Lynette had just said the repairs were going well. Of course the Savage Damsel would fly again.

“I hope so,” Lynette said. “Because I think about leaving here when we have to move again and I just...”  She paused there and took another drink. Mordred didn't miss her wiping a hand across her eyes as she lowered the bottle. “I don't think I'd be able to leave her.”

“You won't have to,” Mordred said. “You said it yourself, the repairs are going just fine. There's nothing to indicate that the Empire knows we're here or that they've even started looking in the right system. The Damsel is going to be just fine.”

Lynette nodded but Mordred could tell a part of her didn't really believe it. She was terrified that she was going to lose her ship. It wasn't a rational fear but it was an all consuming fear.

“Why are you so afraid of losing the Damsel?” Mordred asked, causing Lynette to turn to look at him. “You love this ship more than anything--sometimes I think more than anyone. In all the years I've known you, you've never said why. Maybe talking about it will alleviate some of your fears.”

Lynette took another drink as she stared at him. Mordred looked away, not really expecting her to answer. This wasn't the first time he'd asked Lynette about her past and she'd always brushed him off before. Besides, she was drunk now and upset. Lynette wasn't exactly chatty when she was in this state.

“It was my mother's ship,” Lynette said softly. Mordred looked back at her, surprised to hear this admission.

“She was a smuggler?”

Lynette nodded. “Although she had a nobler career than I did. She smuggled around the Saxon Federation. She broke through their blockades to deliver food and medicine to planets that were being coerced into giving up their autonomy to the Federation. She helped so many planets stay defiant until the Republic was able to send help. She was good at what she did. Really good. So good that she caught the attention of my father. He owned several mining colonies that had been overtaken by the Federation. His miners and their families had been turned into slave labor and he wanted to get them out. They made a pretty good team, my parents.”

“What happened?”

“Justinian named himself Emperor and the galaxy went to shit,” Lynette said, taking another drink. “My father lost just about everything except our home on Perilyn and the mines there. He was content to let it go. He had his family and had saved his employees. He didn't need much more than what he already had. My mom did not see things the same way. There were still people out there who needed help and she had the power to help them. So she kept going. She kept smuggling resources to planets that needed it and smuggled out people who were in danger of losing their lives. And one day she didn't come home.

“When I was old enough I went looking for her. I've never managed to figure out what happened. But I found her ship. I found the Damsel and I won her back and I tried to pick up where my mom let off. And as you can see,” Lynette motioned to the cockpit and then the hanger, “I am not nearly as good at it as she was.”

“You don't think she would have been proud of all you've done for the rebellion?”

“I don't think she'd be proud of all I did for Ironside before joining the rebellion,” Lynette said. “And now I've got this bounty on my head that makes me a liability on every mission. I should have just repaid that bastard when I had the chance.”

“It's selfish, but I'm glad you didn't,” Mordred said. Lynette almost smiled as she nodded and took another drink. Mordred's stomach tightened as he considered some of the rumors he'd been hearing. He and Lynette were already in uncharted territory. He might as well continue pushing his luck while it lasted. “Are you planning on leaving?”

Lynette stared at her drink for a long time. “I'm thinking about it,” she finally said and Mordred's heart sank. “I'm essentially confined to base because of this bounty on my head and I am much more useful flying and putting this ship's speed to good use. If I can't do that, there's not much I can do for the rebellion.

“And Ironside isn't going to let me dance just out of his reach forever. Eventually, if he can't get to me, he's going to go after the next best thing.”

“Your home on Perilyn,” Mordred said softly. “Your father.”

Lynette shook her head. “My father died years ago in a mining accident. But I have a sister and I wrestle every day with the fact that I've left her vulnerable to Ironside. I keep thinking I should go home and take care of this. Take care of her. That I owe it to her to pay my debt to Ironside before he extracts that debt from her.”

Lynette turned to look at him. “And then I look at you and remember that Ness is more than capable of taking care of herself and Perilyn. Meanwhile, you wouldn't survive a couple hours without me to look after you. As you have proven on many occasions.”

Mordred's eyes narrowed as he met Lynette's gaze, not exactly appreciating her exaggeration. That had only happened twice. Maybe three times if you felt like being unfair. Lynette smirked and took another drink, settling back into her chair. 

“Can't leave this place,” she muttered. “Not until you learn self-preservation.”

“Would you go if I wasn't holding you back?” Mordred asked. Lynette shrugged. “What if I wasn't?  What if I wanted to go with you?”

Lynette's eyes narrowed and Mordred could tell he hadn't caught her at all by surprise with his suggestion.

“Is it that obvious?” he asked. Did she know how badly he was failing? Did she know that he couldn't use the force anymore? That he was broken now?  

“Obvious that you were nearing a breaking point,” Lynette said. “The rebellion hasn't exactly offered you much in the way of support since Dover fell. Even your cousins have been lacking in that regard. Eventually you were going to realize this environment was toxic and decide you couldn't stay here anymore. I was just waiting for you to reach it.”

“I feel like I'm failing them,” Mordred said. “Like I'm failing him.”

“Your father?” Mordred nodded. “Why?  Because you can't save him or because you think he'd be disappointed in your choices?”

“Both.”

“So maybe this is the way to fix that. You're not doing anything to help him or the rebellion so long as its more interested in laying low than saving the galaxy. So let's take this ship and see if we can find him. You'll actually be fulfilling your destiny and maybe doing some good for the rebellion in the process. It might just be the best way forward for everyone.”

Mordred nodded slowly. He liked Lynette's idea the more he thought about it. The rebellion hadn't done anything substantial since the Death Star had been destroyed. For the first few years they had focused on building new alliances and strengthening their coalition in the face of their victory. They hadn't had much success on that front before the base at Dover was attacked and they were forced to flee to Barham Down. And ever since then, the focus had been on surviving.

“Okay,” Mordred finally said. “We leave and try to find him. But first we take care of your debt and make sure your sister is all right. No more sacrifices.”

“No more sacrifices,” Lynette said, lifting her bottle in a salute before finishing it off. She got to her feet and held out her hand to him. “Come on, puppy. We have patrol tomorrow and we both deserve a good night's rest before facing the hellscape.”

Mordred let Lynette pull him to his feet and followed her out of the cockpit towards the ship's room. Mordred's was the same broom closet he had been assigned when he and his Aunt Morgan had made their first trip on the Damsel. The room was easy enough to enter, but it was difficult to shut the door once he was inside. It had taken him a couple days after he decided to move back into the Damsel to figure out the door, but now he knew all the tricks and was able to shut it with relative ease.

Laying down on his bunk, Mordred stared up the ceiling and contemplated what he had just agreed to. He and Lynette were going to find his father. He'd finally be able to fulfill his destiny of rescuing Arthur Pendragon so he could save the rest of the galaxy. Soon this weight would be off his shoulders and he could start figuring out what he wanted to do with the rest of his life.

“Oh, nephew,” Aunt Morgan's voice whispered in his ear as he drifted off to sleep. A common occurrence these days. Her ghost seemed always keen to let him know what he was doing wrong. “You're nowhere near ready for that and you know it.”

Chapter Text

The galaxy is an immense place.  Its was easy to disappear into the vastness of space and hide out unnoticed on one of the many uninhabited systems that made up the outer rim. That was what the rebellion had done seamlessly after their defeat at Dover. Their surviving ships had jumped into hyperspace and hadn't been seen or heard from since.  

Darth Ursus' eye narrowed as he stared out the viewing window of his Star Destroyer's bridge as it drifted through space. The rebellion had been making waves for the last few years--flaunting their victory and newfound support in the galaxy. No one in the Empire had thought they would be able to disappear so quickly if confronted. They had all forgotten over the intervening years just how good the rebellion was at finding an uninhabited planet to escape to and going dark. It had taken years to find their base on Dolorous Guard and that was only because the Rebellion had been willing to risk discovery if it meant learning the Death Star's weakness. Ursus had no intention of losing track of the rebellion for years until they were strong enough for another frontal assault.  

Too much time had passed. Too much time for Morgause to train her little pet into a force to be reckoned with. If Ursus allowed her to go unchallenged for much longer, the Empire would soon find itself in dire straits.  

Emperor Justinian had told him that he was being foolish. Morgause hadn't been an active threat to the Empire in more than twenty years. She had chosen to run away and disappear instead of standing and fighting with the rebellion. Ursus knew better. Morgause had disappeared to protect the boy. She had raised him and trained him and in his first confrontation with the Empire he had dealt them a crippling blow. Ursus didn't understand why Justinian couldn't see what a threat this boy was.  

Ursus would make him see. 

Outside the ship, drones were launched and began drifting towards nearby systems where they would land and begin looking for signs of advanced technology on planets that were supposed to be without. The rebellion wouldn't be able to hide forever. The question that nagged at Ursus was if they would be able to hide for just long enough. 

Mordred woke the next morning to someone banging on his door. He groaned and rubbed at his eyes, annoyed to already have a headache before ever leaving the base. He had fallen asleep easily enough but had woken often and had had much more trouble getting back to sleep throughout the night.

“Hey, come on puppy,” Lynette yelled from outside the room. “We're going to be late for patrol.”

“One minute,” Mordred said, scrubbing a hand across his face as he tried to ignore the pounding in his head long enough to get dressed and maneuver out of the room. Lynette frowned as he finally stumbled through the doorway.  

“Why are you the one who looks hungover?” Lynette asked.  

“Couldn't sleep last night,” Mordred said.  

“Second thoughts?” Lynette asked.  

“No, just...” Mordred frowned as he thought about the whisper he had heard before drifting off to sleep the first time. “Bad dreams.”

“Are you sure you're up for patrol?” Lynette asked as she reached out to press a hand to his forehead. Mordred stepped away from her before she could touch him. “You look like you should be resting. Or at the very least not traveling across a landscape determined to murder you.”

“I'll be fine,” Mordred said, stepping in the direction that led to the ramp and motioning for Lynette to follow. He couldn't skip out on patrol--he'd made that decision after his first patrol that had left him with a pounding headache that had lasted for days. He could have tried asking for a duty change but had chosen not to. To many people were already upset with him because he had been unable to do anything while Dover fell. He didn't need the added resentment of perceived special treatment on top of it.  

Stepping off the Damsel, they found Ax already hard at work on repairs to the ship's hull. The dwarf was hanging from a harness on the underside of the ship near the ramp.  

“I thought we were done with hull repairs,” Lynette said as she walked underneath him.  

“Internal repairs revealed a few that we missed,” Ax said. “Don't worry, lass. This won't take long and then I'll be back to the important stuff.”

“All right,” Lynette said. “I'll be back this afternoon. No two-person jobs until I get back.”

Ax waved her off, returning his attention to repairs while Mordred and Lynette made their way up through the base to the top of the mountain where they would pick up their mounts and equipment before heading out.  

They were the only two scheduled for patrol so the aerie was empty except for the handlers and technicians. Lynette and Mordred paused long enough near the pens holding the wyverns for the creatures to get their scent before moving on to change into the gear they needed to survive Barham Down. They had to wear special suits that covered their entire bodies and gas masks to survive the toxic atmosphere. Especially the last few days as storms had increased the poison in the air right around the mountain.  

Once dressed, Mordred and Lynette along with the help of the handlers led the wyverns out of their pens and up to the opening on the side of the mountain. They mounted the beasts, strapping their legs into the saddles and held on tight to the reins as the wyverns slowly made their way to the opening.  

“Are we clear for four hours?” Lynette asked. Her voice came through the communicator in Mordred's ear. The gas mask muffled her voice to much to be heard clearly without the radio.  

“Yes,” the technician near the opening said, shaking her head. She had a readout in front of her of the surrounding weather systems. From what Mordred could see, it didn't look like any storms were going to hit this area for the next few hours. “We're all clear until this evening. So take your time and be thorough.”

“As always,” Lynette said, flicking the reins in her hand and sending the wyvern diving through the opening. Mordred did the same and his mount dove after Lynette's. It fell for a good twenty feet before its wings opened and it swooped over the barren landscape.

The next few hours were uneventful as Mordred steered the wyvern around the rebellion's mountain base, looking for any sign that the Empire was aware of where they were hiding. They had sensors placed around the mountain and a few more in the atmosphere, but a couple months ago the Rogue Team had brought back news of a new drone the Empire had just started deploying throughout the galaxy. According to the Rogue Team, these drones couldn't be detected by sensors and immediately transmitted all of its data back to the Empire. That was when they had started using the wyverns for these patrols around the base. The hope was that the drones wouldn't be able to pick up the human rider when the wyvern destroyed it.  

There were several new meteor craters surrounding the base--not an unusual occurrence for a planet so close to an asteroid belt. Mordred and Lynette had to check every single one for signs of tech just to be certain that it was actually a meteor. It was tedious, boring work made deadly by the heat and poison atmosphere. Mordred hated it and counted down every second until they could finally return to base.

As the last few minutes of their patrol ticked by, Mordred landed his wyvern in a crater near the base of a nearby mountain so he could search through it. He dismounted the wyvern and quickly walked the length of the crater. He didn't see anything on the ground and had nearly completed his search when there was a loud crack above him. Mordred looked up, his hand going for his blaster but he didn't see anything there. Rocks must have broken loose on the mountain. It happened frequently.    

“Well, puppy,” came Lynette's voice over the communicator. “What's say you and I head back to base and find an ice bath to soak in for the next hour.”

“That's sounds good,” Mordred said. His eyes narrowed, looking past the mountain above him at the sky as something streaked across it.  Another meteor. It crashed to the ground not far from where Mordred was, black smoke billowing up from the crash site.  

Lynette cursed over the communicator. “You head in, puppy, I've got this.”

“No, it's all right,” Mordred said, swinging back onto the wyvern and buckling his legs back into the saddle.

“Are you sure?” Lynette asked.  

“I am,” Mordred. “I'm five minutes behind you. Promise.”

He looked to the horizon and saw Lynette's wyvern swinging around to head back towards the base. Mordred gathered up the reigns, about to send his wyvern skyward when another loud crack from the mountain caused him to turn. Large boulders had broken free and were now falling towards him. Mordred flicked the reins, not at all worried. The wyvern could move pretty quickly when it needed to.  

It was when his wyvern stayed perfectly still and didn't even look back at the rocks that Mordred started to worry. He flicked the reins again and still nothing. It was as though it was frozen in place. Fumbling with the straps holdings his legs to the saddle, Mordred looked back up right as a boulder slammed into him.  

The wyvern landed on the edge of the opening and crawled into the base. Lynette undid the saddle straps and slipped off the creature's back as the handler led it back to its pen. She stripped off her protective gear and the oxygen mask and threw them into the bin for decontamination.

“Any sign of anything?” the technician asked.  

“Not a thing,” Lynette said. “A meteor crashed down right as we were coming in. Mordred went to check it out. He should be back in any second.”

The technician nodded but otherwise had seemed to have turned her attention away from Lynette. Knowing that there was nothing else she could do here, Lynette took the lift back down to the lowest level of the base and made her way back towards the Damsel.  

“Welcome back,” Ax called from the top of the ship as she came into view. “Did you have a nice patrol?”

His sarcastic tone caused her to pause and Lynette's eyes narrowed as she looked up at him, hoping her confusion was apparent. She just spent four hours sweating to death. She was grimy, tired, and had a headache. All she wanted to do right now was drop her stuff and go to medical for an ice bath. Apparently Ax had something else in mind.

“You just missed Isolde,” Ax continued and Lynette groaned. “Although seeing as she is in charge and has easy access to the duty roster, I'm sure that was by design on her part. She asked me all sorts of probing questions about our intentions, making it abundantly clear to me that she knows we intend to leave. Equally apparent was her disapproval that we had made this decision without consulting her and that we haven't said anything about our intentions since the Damsel was damaged.”

“Gareth,” Lynette growled.  

“What was that?” Ax asked.  

“I'm going to put my stuff down and get something to drink,” Lynette said, motioning to the ship in such a way that would be clear to Ax that he was supposed to follow her. She went to her room and dropped her stuff and then went to the mess to get something to drink.  She had downed half a bottle of water by the time Ax found her.  

“Easy with that stuff,” Ax said.  

Lynette scowled at him but slowed her consumption. It wouldn't do any good to make herself sick. Especially not right now.  

“Did she know?” Lynette asked. “About Mordred?”

Ax shook his head. “She didn't say anything. She could have been playing a long con, of course. You never know with her. But I don't think she knows about Mordred's decision.” Ax frowned. “Didn't you say he just decided last night? Why on earth would you expect her to know that already?”

“I may have told Gareth that I wasn't going to leave unless Mordred came with me.”

“Now why would you go and do a stupid thing like that?”

“He had me cornered--asking me questions about Gaheris and what had happened and what I intended to do now. He had already figured a lot out so I decided to just tell the truth. I didn't think he would tell Isolde--still don't, actually.”

“Despite all evidence to the contrary?” Ax asked.  

Lynette shrugged. “We haven't exactly been subtle about distancing ourselves from the rebellion, Ax. I was offered a command position and turned it down. We're paying them for all of the parts we're using to repair the Damsel instead of just taking the way repairs usually work. And after what happened with Pertelope and Perymones, I'd be stupid not to consider finally settling my debt with Ironside. Isolde knows I'm not stupid.”

“For all she acts otherwise,” Ax grumbled.  

Lynette rubbed at her forehead. She felt so awful and didn't want to deal with Isolde and her bullshit right now. But putting it off wasn't going to make it any easier and putting it off forever was no longer an option.

“I'm going to go talk to her,” Lynette said. “Tell her what we're planning on doing.”

“She's not going to just let you fly out of here with her chosen one,” Ax said.  

“I know and I'm not going to tell her that part,” Lynette said. “But hopefully if we tell her that we're leaving she won't keep snooping around the Damsel.”

“Well, good luck,” Ax said with a shake of his head as he left the mess--presumably to return to repairs.  

Lynette drank another third of her water bottle and then went back to her room to clean up the best she could and change into some fresh clothes. She left the Damsel and made her way up the mountain to where the control room was located. She stepped inside the room and froze as her eyes locked onto a lanky redhead looking over a technician's shoulder at a readout. She dearly wanted it to be Gareth, but was good enough at telling them apart now that she knew it was Gaheris. 

He wasn't looking at her as she entered the room and Lynette dearly wanted to turn around and leave. She did not want to have this conversation with Isolde in front of him. It wasn't fair for him to find out she was leaving that way. Even after everything that had happened and the way things had gone wrong, Lynette felt she owed it to him to give him the news personally instead of leaving him to overhear it.  

Lynette took a step back, intending to leave, when Isolde turned around and looked right at her. The banshee's eyes narrowed and a grin tugged at her lips. Lynette cursed inwardly. Damn her.  

“Lynette, how good of you to join us,” Isolde said. Out of the corner of her eye Lynette saw Gaheris straighten up and turn to look at her. For her part, Lynette didn't dare look at him. She couldn't look at him.  

“I was just down by your ship speaking to Axatalese,” Isolde continued. “I assume he told you of our conversation.”

“He said you had some questions about my status with the rebellion,” Lynette said. “That rumors were going around and you wanted a firm answer.”

“Indeed,” Isolde said. “I fear you're not here with the news I was hoping for.”

“No,” Lynette said, pausing to swallow. She was aware that Gaheris hadn't looked away from her--that he was staring and waiting for her answer. “I have decided to leave the rebellion. I'm no good to you anymore with this price on my head. Any mission I'm a part of runs the risk of being compromised if I'm recognized. It's time to settle things up with Ironside once and for all.”

“Well, Captain Perilous, this is a disappointment,” Isolde said. “Although not an unexpected one, I admit. I'm sorry to lose you and your prowess as a pilot. Perhaps we will be fortunate enough that our paths will cross again one day. When you have repaid your debt and can once again pilot these critical missions.”

“One can only hope,” Lynette said, although she doubted Isolde and the rebellion would want much to do with her after they realized she had taken their chosen one with her.  

“May the force be with you,” Isolde said with a nod before returning her attention to whatever she had been doing before Lynette had arrived.  

Only now did Lynette dare look at Gaheris. He was still staring at her, his face expressionless. It was like he really didn't care about anything she had just said. Well, why should he? It wasn't as though he had cared about much of anything this past year.  

Suddenly Lynette found herself staring down everything that had gone wrong in their relationship and it left her feeling angry and hurt all over again. She turned and left the control room without a word.  

She stormed down the hallway, hands clenched at her sides. She walked fast and kept her eyes downcast. She didn't want to talk to anyone or risk anything slowing her down. She just wanted to get back to the Damsel and the repairs that would get her out of here.  

“Lynette!” Gaheris called from behind her.

Lynette groaned and slowed to a stop. It took some effort but she managed to force herself to turn around and face him. She even managed to look him in the eye. She hadn't been able to do that in months.  

Gaheris stopped a few feet from her but didn't say anything. Lynette crossed her arms and waited. He was the one who had come after her. He was the one who shouted at her to stop. He was the one who could talk first.  

Assuming he intended to talk, of course. As the seconds ticked by, it became clear that he didn't.

“What?” Lynette finally snapped. She had a ship to fix and an escape to make before anyone realized what she was doing. She did not have time to wait around while Gaheris stared dumbly at her.  

“What was that?” Gaheris finally asked, motioning back to the control room.  

“What was what?” Lynette asked. “Everything that was said in there was pretty straight forward. What part did you find confusing, Prince Charming?”

Gaheris flushed and Lynette glared at him. She had meant for the old nickname to cut but didn't feel any better knowing that the verbal blow had landed.  

“You're not really leaving, are you?” Gaheris asked. “That was just some maneuver around Isolde to get something you need.”

“No, Gaheris,” Lynette said. She tried to make sure her voice was firm but not harsh. “I'm leaving. Everything I said in there was true.”

“But we need you,” Gaheris said. 

“Who needs me?” 

“We do--the rebellion. You're a great pilot, a great operative--”

“A pilot and an operative who's grounded,” Lynette said. “Face it, Gaheris. I'm no good to the rebellion anymore. The rebellion doesn't need me. But do you?”

The question caught him off guard and he almost looked away from her. Almost retreated from her just like he had every other time she had pushed him since they had come to Barham Down. But he didn't retreat. He stayed where he was and Lynette felt hope flutter in her chest. Maybe he was finally coming out of his shell? Maybe he was finally better?

“I don't give a damn about the rebellion, Gaheris,” Lynette said. “This cause was never the reason I stayed. So if you want me to stay, ask me to stay. Don't ask for the rebellion. Ask for you.” She closed the space between them and held out her hands. “Do you want me to stay, Gaheris?”

He looked away from her and took a step back. Any opening she had to reconnect with him was closed off again. Lynette let her hands drop back to her sides.  

“That's what I thought,” she said softly, turning away from him.. “Goodbye, Gaheris.”

He didn't say anything as she left. He just let her walk away and Lynette felt her heart break all over again.  

Hours later Lynette and Ax were finishing another disheartening day of repairs. It seemed as though every time they fixed something, two more things broke. Lynette was looking forward to spending another night drunk in the cockpit contemplating the possibility that her ship would never fly again.  

“It's not half as bad as it looks, lass,” Ax said as they packed up their tools. “The hull repairs are done and even with all the damage to the wiring, she'll get airborne in an emergency. We just need to keep our chins up and our eyes on the prize.”

“Captain Perilous!” a voice shouted from over the side of the Damsel. Both Lynette and Ax peaked over the edge to find the droids Dinadan and AC-LN waiting for them below.  

“Oh no,” Ax muttered when he saw them. Lynette couldn't help but agree. The droids never seemed to bring good news. Only bad news followed them about. 

“They asked for you,” Ax said, giving her a small nudge before he retreated to the center of the ship.  

“Coward,” Lynette snarled at his retreating figure before returning her attention to the droids. They were waiting oh-so-patiently for her to join them and Lynette knew that they would wait forever if they needed to. Sighing, she slid down the rope, landing on the ground a few feet away from the droids and turning to face them.  

“What is it?” Lynette asked. She wanted to warn them to make it quick but knew it would be a waste of time. Dinadan never did anything quick.  

“We come with a message from Prince Gaheris, Captain,” Dinadan said. “He has been trying to hail you.”

“I don't keep my communicator with me when I'm doing repairs,” Lynette said. “He knows that.”

“He must have forgotten,” Dinadan said, waving the mistake off as though it was no big deal. But it was a big deal to Lynette. She didn't enjoy the prospect of Gaheris forgetting her habits--of the two of them growing apart.  It stung more than it should have.

“What does her want?” Lynette asked, her temper suddenly very short. Whatever Gaheris wanted needed to be important or else Dinadan was going to be on the receiving end of some very choice words in his direction.

“Prince Gaheris is wondering if you are aware of Mordred's location,” Dinadan said. “Records indicate that he hasn't returned from patrol yet. Prince Gaheris is certain that this is an error and is hopeful you will be able to clear things up. He came back in with you, correct?”

“No,” Lynette said. “He went out to check a meteor crash that happened right as we were coming in. What do you mean records indicate?”

“There is no record of him checking in when returning from patrol.”

“That's a system error,” Lynette said, her stomach sinking as the worst case scenario began to creep forward in her thoughts. She pushed it back. This was an error. It had to be an error. Mordred had been right behind her.  

“Prince Gaheris has gone to check,” Dinadan said.  

“What about Thessala? Has anyone checked in with her?”  That was where Mordred was, of course. Training with Thessala. That's where he always was when she was on base.  

“She isn't with him now and last met with him yesterday.”

Lynette nodded as this news sunk in. He wasn't with Thessala. If he wasn't with Thessala, he would have been here with her. Working on the Damsel. If he wasn't here and he wasn't with Thessala...

“Ax!” Lynette said, turning away from Dinadan and looking up at the Damsel. Ax's head poked over the side of the ship a moment later.  

“What is it, lass?” he asked.  

“Mordred's missing,” Lynette said and Ax's brow furrowed as he took in the news. “I'm headed up to the aerie to meet with Gaheris.”

“I'll be right behind you,” Ax said, scurrying back out of sight.  

Lynette nodded before turning her attention back to Dinadan. “I'm going...” she said, trailing off as she pointed a finger up.

“Yes, of course,” Dinadan said. “Don't wait for us.”

Lynette didn't need to hear anything else. She broke into a run towards the lift. The wait for the lift seemed like an eternity and the time for the lift to take her up to the top level of the base dragged on even longer. Finally the doors opened and Lynette stumbled out into the aerie.  Gaheris, Percival, and Cywyllog were all already there, they're faces grim.  

“He's not on base,” Lynette said, stating the obvious conclusion.

“No,” Gaheris said softly.  

“So? Why are you standing around here. We need to find him.”

“There's a storm,” Percival said. “It's too rough to take out the wyverns.”

“Speeders.”

“Again, storm,” Percival said. “Isolde won't approve sending the speeders out in this weather.” As he said this, he glanced at Cywyllog. She was supposed to be a damn good speeder pilot. Lynette wondered if she could navigate one of Barham Down's storms. Thanks to Isolde, they'd never find out.  

“We're just going to have to hope something happened to his wyvern and he found somewhere safe to wait out the storm,” Percival said. “We'll send out a speeder as soon as it clears.”

Lynette nodded. She hated that answer, but there was really nothing else they could do. Mordred had camping gear and an oxygen filter. He could survive the night so long as he had found a cave to hunker down in before the storm picked up.  

She turned away and found herself looking right at Gaheris. His face was ashen and his eyes were unfocused. Lynette stepped up next to him and rested a hand on his shoulder, afraid he was about to faint. He met her gaze and shook his head.  

“He won't make it,” Gaheris whispered. “He won't make it without help.”

“Then I'll help him,” Lynette said, giving his shoulder a squeeze.  

She turned back around and made her way to the shelves that held the protective gear. She quickly began pulling it on over her clothes.  She wasn't wearing the outfit she usually did when out on patrol. This was going to be uncomfortably warm, but Lynette wasn't willing to take the time needed to return to the Damsel and change. Mordred needed help and Lynette wasn't about to let him die out there alone.  

“What's she doing?” the technician asked.  Silence was the only answer.  Of course Percival and Cywyllog knew what she was doing. If they disagreed with her, they weren't about to argue. They both knew that this was a fight they couldn't win.  

“What are you doing?” the technician asked, this time directing his attention to Lynette. “You can't go out in this storm.”

“Saddle up the wyvern,” Percival said softly.  

“Yes, commander,” the handler said. Lynette could hear movement behind her as the handler worked to ready the wyvern.  

“Commander, I must protest,” the technician said. “She'll die. The wyvern we worked so hard to tame won't come back. That's a massive blow to the rebellion that we can't afford just to try and help someone who might not even be in trouble. And if he is, he's surely dead by now.”

“If you have a problem with this, take it to Isolde,” Percival said. “But do so know that Captain Perilous has my full support. No. She goes under my orders. Do you understand, Captain?”

“I do,” Lynette said, appreciating the gesture.  

Finally finished with the protective gear, Lynette turned to find Cywyllog standing right behind her. The woman held out a small transmitter to Lynette.  

“Turn this on as soon as the storm clears and I will take a speeder out to come find you,” Cywyllog said. “All you have to do is survive the storm.”

“No problem there,” Lynette said, flashing Cywyllog a smile as she took the transmitter and slipped it into a pocket.  

She made her way over to the wyvern, which was already saddled up and loaded with the gear she would need to survive the night. Lynette gave the equipment a quick glance, wondering how difficult this stuff would be to put together. She'd never had a reason to use the tent or the oxygen filter before. They were packed on the saddle in case a storm popped up and the rider couldn't get back to the base safely. Lynette hadn't been so unlucky during her year on Barham Down.

She swung up onto the beast's back and strapped her legs into the saddle. A flick of the reigns sent the wyvern scurrying towards the cave's entrance. Lynette pulled on the reigns, pausing long enough to take one last look over her shoulder. One last look at Gaheris. Then she cracked the reigns and sent the wyvern flying off into the storm.

Chapter Text

Mordred woke with a pounding headache. It was so much worse than the one he usually had after his patrol. That one was usually concentrated in his forehead. This one felt as though his head had been split open. Blinking away the fuzzy stars in his vision, Mordred found himself staring up at rough cavern walls he didn't recognize. He was lying on his back, hard stone beneath him. How did he get here? Why wasn't he back on the base?

The memory of the rocks falling on him came back with a flash of pain. Mordred closed his eyes and pressed a hand up against his face, waiting for the pain to pass so he could figure out where he was and how he was going to get back to base without a wyvern.

The question of where he was and how he had gotten here was an important one. He was in a cave—not outside surrounded by fallen rocks. Someone or something had undone his saddle straps and taken him to this cave. Why? To help or to harm? And did Mordred want to stay here long enough to find out?

His headache was starting to ease enough that Mordred thought he might be able to get up when he heard it. The clip-clop of hoofed feet against stone. Mordred opened his eyes and lowered his hand away from his face. He gasped and tried to scramble backwards away from the sight before him.

It was unlike any creature Mordred had ever seen in his life. It was large, perhaps half the size of the wyvern. It had the head of serpent but its body had fur and was a spotted orange color. While the legs seemed to match the body, the feet were hooves.

The creature's lips parted and a long tongue flickered in and out as it continued to stalk towards Mordred. He looked around wildly while his hands frantically fumbled at his belt. He'd had his Caliburn sword with him—he never went anywhere without it. But it wasn't on his belt, it was...there. Across the cavern, behind the monster. There would be no getting around it. If Mordred wanted his sword, there was only one way to get it.

He reached out tentatively with the Force and immediately found himself aware of the threads connecting him to the others back on base. Mordred pulled back instinctively, but then reconsidered. He was probably going to die if he didn't get his hands on that sword. Surely his survival was more important than...

“That's the mentality that got you into trouble, nephew,” Aunt Morgan whispered in his ear. “Do it right or face the consequences.”

The creature's lips pulled back into a snarl before it threw its head back and howled. Mordred clamped his hands over his ears as the howl reverberate through his head with enough force to cause physical pain. Mordred gritted his teeth and closed his eyes. His headache seemed to grow until he saw white lights behind his eyelids. The howl melted away ever so slightly and was replaced by Aunt Morgan's voice.

“Only the weak willed are susceptible to these manipulations. You’re not weak willed.”

“It was Ursus who drove your father into the heart of the Empire. It’s Ursus who continues to oversee his captivity.”

“You need to trust me.”

“Focus.”

“You may well develop a similar code one day, but I won’t stand idly by as you parrot my sister’s views back to me without a second thought.”

“The force doesn’t distinguish between people. We are all important. To put one being above another based on your feelings is dangerous. It leads to jealousy, anger, and hate. It is the path to darkness.”

On and on the her voice went, repeating her lessons to him. Was this an affect of the howl or Mordred's own subconscious reacting in the only way that would save him? It didn't matter. Hearing Aunt Morgan, hearing her words once again from her short-lived time as his teacher, caused something to steady in Mordred. The white light faded from behind his eyes and there was once again darkness.

Darkness. Nothing. He was one with darkness, one with stillness. He was a vessel to the force. He let the power flow through him and guide him. Darkness. Nothing.

He felt the Caliburn sword twitch ever so slightly. Darkness. Vessel. There were no threads. Those connections that had so haunted him these past few years didn't appear this time. There was only darkness and he could feel the power moving through him—drawing the Caliburn sword towards him.

Mordred's eyes snapped open as he felt the sword jump up into the air. He held out his hand as it flew towards him. His hand closed around the hilt and Mordred swung the sword through the air, causing the blade to appear. He managed to jump to his feet and stumbled towards the beast, swinging his sword in its direction.

The howling stopped as the beast hissed at him. Slowly the creature backed away, moving towards the cavern's exit. Suddenly the creature turned and disappeared over the side of the opening. Mordred ran after it and looked down. There was nothing there. The beast was gone. Of course, the storm outside the cave made it difficult to see more than a few feet down the mountain. But he could see enough to know they were up high and the cliff seemed to go straight down. The creature had hoofed feet. How had it gotten him up such a steep cliff side? And where had it gone?

Taking a deep breath as he tried to steady himself, Mordred felt his lungs burn and realized his mistake. He stumbled away from the opening, a hand covering his mouth as he was struck by a fit of coughing. He was out on Barham Down without oxygen during a storm when the air was at its most poisonous. It had been stupid to get so close to the mouth of the cave even though it wasn't a choice that would change his fate. He would die in here long before the storm passed. The toxic air was less concentrated in the cave, but it would filter in soon enough.

Reaching the back of the cave, Mordred dropped to his knees. The cough continued and he could barely breath. The cavern began to glow and when Mordred looked up, he saw Aunt Morgan standing before him. Or at least, an outline of her? She was blue and glowing and he thought he could see through her to the walls of the cavern. A ghost? Why not? He'd been hearing her for years. It only made sense that he would see her now as he was dying.

“Well done, nephew,” Morgan said. “Avalon is open to you now.”

What that mean? Avalon...the Knights of Avalon. Avalon was the planet where their temple had resided, where the knights trained and strategized. Avalon had disappeared more than twenty years ago, when the Empire took control of the galaxy. Aunt Morgause had told him of doors. Magic doors that allowed the Knights to come and go from Avalon as they pleased. Was that true? If Avalon was open to him, did that mean he could escape this? That one of those magic doors was about to open and let him through to safety?

Mordred waited on his knees, reaching out with the force in the hope that he could feel this door forming. Aunt Morgan had already faded away and he doubted that if he asked what she had meant she would come back to explain. But no door was forming and his lungs continued to burn. Finally, he couldn't wait any longer. A wave of dizziness hit him and Mordred collapsed to the ground.

A heaviness had descended on the aerie as they waited for... Gaheris wasn't exactly sure what they were waiting for. Percival had left because waiting had never been his strong suit while Ax, Dinadan, and AC-LN had joined them. AC-LN was up near the entrance to the aerie, sensors out. What readings it hoped to take during the storm, Gaheris didn't know, but he was grateful for the little droid's willingness to try.

Dinadan stood next to AC-LN. The droids were the only two willing to get so close to the opening of the cave. Filters and oxygen concentrators kept the toxic air from filling the aerie, but they lost their effectiveness the closer one got to the opening. Ax was standing just at the edge of range of the filters and concentrators. His species could handle a lot more in the way of toxins than Gaheris and Cywyllog could.

They were standing at the back of the aerie. Gaheris was leaning up against a wall. Cywyllog stood right beside him, holding his hand. He was grateful she was here. They had trained together as spies for the rebellion and she had been a rock of strength and support during some of his darkest hours.

Like this one where he was looking at the possibility of losing both Mordred and Lynette in an instant. Mordred was one of the few family members Gaheris had left. To lose Mordred on top of everything else...his mother, his brother, his father, his entire planet, the friends he had lost when Dover was overrun...Gaheris didn't know if he could do it. Didn't know if he could survive one more loss.

And even if he could somehow survive losing Mordred, Gaheris knew for certain that he wouldn't be able to survive losing Lynette. He'd had the chance today to say everything he should have told her months ago. She had given him a chance at he had let it pass by believing that she would be safe and happy if he just let her go once and for all. That had been a lie. She wasn't safe and happy. She was going to die a horrible death out in the wilds of Barham Down because Gaheris had been so certain that Mordred would never survive the night without her.

“Um,” one of the technician's said as she approached them, drawing Gaheris out of his own thoughts. His hands tightened around Cywllog's. He had known this was coming for a while but he found himself unwilling to face this moment now that it was here. Just a few more minutes, he thought. Just give AC-LN a few more minutes. Maybe he'll get lucky and find something. Please. We won't know unless we try.

The words tore at his throat but Gaheris kept his mouth shut. He was a leader within the rebellion and that position was the only thing that had kept him from falling completely apart after they lost the base at Dover. Mordred and Lynette had run out of time tonight and would be on their own until morning. There was nothing more Gaheris could do to help them.

“What is it?” Cywyllog asked. Even though he knew what the answer had to be, Gaheris was glad for her to do the talking.

“We need to close the aerie,” the technician said. “The storm is forceful enough that the toxins are starting to overwhelm the filtration system. We risk the health of everyone on base if we leave the doors open for much longer.”         

“Very well,” Cywyllog said. “Seal it up.”

Ax's head dropped forward in despair. AC-LN made a few soft chirping noises as its whole form seemed to droop. The lights inside Dinadan's clear casing turned gray as he turned around to face Gaheris and Lynette.

“These stories never end happily,” Dinadan said softly as the doors slowly began to slide shut behind him.

“We have to trust that they found each other,” Cywyllog said. “We have to believe that together they'll make it through the night.”

“You really believe that?” Gaheris asked. He wanted to believe it. He desperately wanted to believe that he would see Mordred and Lynette again. But no one in the rebellion had spent any substantial time out in a storm this bad. They didn't know how the oxygen filters or concentrates would hold up. They didn't know if the tents could survive the beating they were certain to undergo. They didn't even know what had happened to Mordred. For Lynette to find him in this would take a miracle. Gaheris wasn't certain he believed in miracles anymore.    

“I do,” Cywyllog said with such conviction that Gaheris almost allowed himself to share in her faith. But he had lost too much for hope to overtake him. People never came back—Gaheris had learned that the hard way.

“I do too,” Ax said, stomping over to them. “We've been in worse spots and if I trust any pair to look after each other, it's those two. There's nothing left to do tonight but have faith in them. And that's just what I'm going to do. I'll be working on the Damsel if anyone needs me.” 

His peace said, Ax patted Gaheris once on the arm before making his way out of the aerie.

“I suppose then I shall have to wait and look forward to the chance to tell a new story,” Dinadan said. He turned back around and retook his place beside AC-LN. The little astromech still had its sensors out. Gaheris wasn't sure why. If it hadn't been able to sense anything with the doors open, it certainly wouldn't be able to now that the doors were closed. But it stayed where it was and kept trying. It's loyalty was admirable. 

“Well?” Cywyllog asked. “What do you want to do?”

She said it gently and in such a way that Gaheris knew there would be no judgement on his choice. He also knew that whatever he decided, Cywyllog would stay with him.    

“Maybe just a little longer,” Gaheris said. “And then we'll go see if Ax needs any help with the Damsel.”

“All right,” Cywyllog said. She gave his hand another squeeze as they resumed their silent vigil. Despite Gaheris' hope that they might eventually move on to help Ax, they ended up waiting in the aerie all night.

Chapter Text

This was madness. Lynette had known it was madness when she jumped on the back of the wyvern and sent it out into the storm. But there was something about actually being in the storm that drove home just how stupid this decision was. She was never going to find Mordred in this. Even if she had been able to see more than a few feet in front of her—which she absolutely was not—all her concentration was focused on staying on the back of the damn wyvern as the wind battered her from all sides. More than once she had felt herself lift up out of the saddle as the straps around her legs strained to hold her on. They wouldn't last forever, so Lynette was doing her best to stay low against the wyvern's neck and hold on tight to its actual body—not just the saddle or the reins.  

Fortunately, the wyvern was still trying to fly through the storm and was taking her commands whenever she did manage to flick the reins. It hadn't yet decided to find a cave to wait out the storm in—at least not yet. Lynette didn't know what she was going to do when it decided it had finally had enough of this. Of course, she also didn't know what she was going to do if the wyvern let her keep flying. It was a hopeless situation and they couldn't just fly forever.  

But Lynette was willing to fly forever if that was what it took. She didn't want to give up—didn't want to admit that she might have to give up. Didn't want to admit that this was a hopeless endeavor and that she wasn't going to find him even if she did fly forever. Didn't want to consider the possibility of returning to Gaheris to tell him she had failed.      

Lynette was so focused on her own worries and concerns that she didn't notice that the wyvern was starting to descend. All of a sudden it crashed against the rocks of a mountain, jolting Lynette in the saddle. She looked around and tried to pull on the reins to direct the wyvern back into the air, but it wouldn't listen to her and crawled into a tunnel on the side of the mountain.  

“What the hell,” Lynette snarled, pulling harder on the reins. The wyvern still refused to heed her, stopping just within the tunnel and lowering its head to the ground as though it were planning to rest.  

“You stupid, worthless, creature,” Lynette said. “Why won't you—”

The wyvern started—Lynette would have been thrown from the saddle if she hadn't been strapped in. As it was, she was jostled back and forth. Her head snapped up and she took in the cavern before her. Specifically the body laying on the cavern floor.  

“Mordred!” Lynette yelled, unbuckling the straps and jumping off the wyvern. She was beside him in an instant, rolling him onto his back so she could get a good look at him. He was in bad shape. He'd lost his oxygen mask at some point. How, Lynette wasn't sure. She looked around the cave and didn't see any sign of it. That didn't make any sense. There was no way Mordred could have gotten up here without it. Where was his gear? Where was his wyvern? What was he doing up here?

“Hey, puppy,” Lynette said, gently tapping his face. No reaction. He was still alive, but there was no way for Lynette to know how much longer that would last.  

Without even really thinking about it, Lynette pulled off her own mask and pressed it to Mordred's face. It wasn't much, but Lynette hoped it would keep him alive while she built the tent. Bracing herself for the burning sensation she knew was coming, Lynette stood up and turned to face the wyvern. A part of her was surprised it was still there. She was even more surprised as it stood up on its back legs and spread its wings as wide as they would go, covering up the entrance to the cavern to the best of its ability.

Lynette stared at the creature, dumbfounded. What the hell was it doing? It couldn't actually be trying to help her, could it? This was a wild animal. The rebellion barely had it tamed. The wyvern shouldn't have taken her as far as it had and it definitely should have taken off the moment she had stupidly jumped off its back. But it had taken her this far and it hadn't run. Why not? Lynette couldn't even begin to fathom an answer.

Slowly Lynette approached it. The wyvern looked down at her and Lynette swore she saw a keen intelligence in its eyes. And was that...did she smell spices? Lynette shook her head, trying to clear it. The poison must have already been getting to her, even though her lungs had only just started to burn.  

Ducking around the wyvern, Lynette pulled her equipment off the saddle. Racing back over to Mordred, she set to work assembling the tent. It took her longer than she would have liked. Too many components that never seemed to fit together correctly. If their lives hadn't depended on it, Lynette would have given up on all of it. But she didn't have that option so she kept working as her lungs continued to burn and she was eventually overtaken by coughing.

Finally the tent was standing upright on its own with the oxygen filter running smoothing. Lynette unsealed the tent and pulled Mordred inside with her. As she closed the tent back up, she caught sight of the wyvern dropping its wings and crawling down the side of the mountain. No doubt it was on its way to find its own cave to wait out the storm. Lynette whispered a small thank you before she sealed the tent back up.  

Relieved that they were finally safe for the night, Lynette fell backwards so she was lying across the opened sleeping bag next to Mordred. The filtered air blew across across her face and Lynette drew deep breaths—well, as deep as she could manage the way her lungs were burning. Her head started to pound, letting her know just how close to disaster she had come. Lynette closed her eyes and chuckled softly to herself. Once again flirting with disaster had yielded the exact results she had wanted.  

“Lynette?”

She turned her head to find Mordred awake. His eyes were open and a hand was reaching towards the mask on his face.  

“Leave it,” Lynette said, quickly sitting up and pushing his arm back to his side. Leaning forward, she checked to make certain the mask was still secure on his face. “We're safe in the tent, but I want you to keep the mask on. That stuff is more concentrated and that's better for you right now. Got it, puppy?”

Mordred nodded and settled back down. Lynette laid back down down, eyes on the walls of the tent shuddered in the wind. They were mostly safe in the cave. It was unlikely the storm would get bad enough to cause them any trouble in here, but still Lynette kept her eyes on the tent. Not that she would really be able to do anything if the storm did become bad enough to cause them trouble, but the knowledge that worrying about it wouldn't do her any good didn't stop her from worrying about it.  

“We just have to get through the storm,” Lynette said. “Cywyllog gave me a transmitter to switch on as soon as the storm clears. Said she'd be out here in a speeder the second she had a signal. So all we need to do is survive the storm. We can do that, right?”

She forced herself to look away from the tent and turned her attention to Mordred. He didn't answer her as he had been taken over by a coughing fit. Lynette blinked, trying to clear her vision, but no. The red flecks of blood were still on the mask. She felt her chest tighten, not a good feeling when her own lungs were burning as well.  

“Just keep breathing,” Lynette said, reaching out to take Mordred's hand. “In and out. Nice and steady.”

“I'm sorry,” Mordred said when the coughing had subsided. “I don't know what happened. There was a landslide. My wyvern wouldn't move and I...the next thing I knew, I was up here. I don't know how I got up here.”

“Were you alone when you woke up?” Lynette asked.  

“There was a monster. It had hooves for feet and ran down the mountain.”

That made no sense but Lynette didn't bother pointing it out. Mordred may be been whispering, but Lynette could still hear how uncertain he sounded. He knew a hooved creature running down a mountain didn't make any sense but he told her that was what he had seen anyway. The poor kid already felt bad enough. Lynette saw no reason to make things worse for him by betraying his confidence. 

“I saw Aunt Morgan,” Mordred said after a moment.  

“Yeah?” Lynetted asked. “Useful as ever, I see.”

“She said Avalon was open to me.”

“Avalon? As in the Knights of Avalon?”

“Their temple.”

“Right. Where they took the children that they stole away.”

“Where the pages were trained. Where I would have gone if the Empire hadn't destroyed the order.”

“Do you want to go there?” Lynette asked, eyes narrowed as she studied him. It was hard to read him right now. Mostly he just looked exhausted and sick.  

“I...I made a mistake when I destroyed the Death Star. I did it wrong. I used the force the wrong way. The way Aunt Morgan told me was dangerous. I haven't been able to use it right since. I need a teacher, but there's no one left to teach me. If Aunt Morgan wants me to go to Avalon, maybe...”  Mordred broke off as he was overtaken by another fit of coughing.  

“Maybe there's information there you could use,” Lynette finished. Mordred nodded. “How does a person even get to Avalon? I've never seen it referenced on a star chart.”

“I don't know,” Mordred said. “From the stories my Aunt Morgause used to tell, it was just there whenever a knight needed it.”

“Well, you needed it now and it's not here, so let's cross that one off the list,” Lynette said. “Don't worry, puppy. All we need to do is survive the next few hours and then we'll get to work on finding Avalon.”

“You don't need to come,” Mordred said. “You've got your sister and Ironside to worry about. I can—”

“You have once again shown yourself to be entirely lacking any sense of self-preservation,” Lynette said. “So if you think you're going anywhere without me, think again.”

Mordred laughed, which quickly turned into another fit of coughing. Lynette gave his hand a squeeze.  

“Get some rest,” Lynette said. “This storm will pass soon enough. Let's just take it easy until then.”

Mordred nodded and the tent went quiet. Lynette's attention returned to the tent walls as she started counting the seconds, waiting for the storm to pass. 

Cywyllog and Percival took the speeders out the moment the storm cleared. They didn't wait for Lynette to set off the transmitter and they ignored every person who told them Isolde wouldn't approve of what they were doing. Isolde wasn't here and Percival had the rank to make this sort of decision on his own.  

Only one argument gave Cywyllog pause—that they were risking exposure to the Empire by taking the speeders out without knowing where they were going. Cywyllog hadn't been at Dover when it fell. She didn't know what these people had gone through as they fled the place they had called home for years while their friends and family were slaughtered around them. So she didn't feel as though she had any right to make decisions that affected their safety unilaterally.  

Percival, who had been at Dover, had no such reservations.  

“You know,” Percival said to the technician who had made that argument. “If it were me stuck out there, I'd selfishly hope that my friends and comrades here would be willing to risk everything to bring me home. But I've got this sneaking suspicion that Captain Perilous and the Pendragon would be the only ones actually willing to do it.”

That put an end to all arguments and Cywyllog and Percival were able to leave the base without any further questioning. They each took a speeder and flew out over the barren wasteland and around the mountain peaks that made up Barham Down, looking for any sign of their wayward companions. Cywyllog was filled with relief at every minute that went by that they didn't find them. If all had gone well, Lynette and Mordred would have holed up in a cave to wait out the storm. They would only be visible if things had gotten really bad.  

“Anything yet?” Percival asked over the communicator.  

“No,” Cywyllog said, checking her transmitter. “Nothing.”

That didn't mean anything. If Lynette and Mordred had spent the night in a cave, they may not have realized yet that the storm had passed. Or they had fallen asleep and there was nothing in the caverns to rouse them. Cywyllog was certain that she could have thought of more valid reasons why Lynette hadn't turned on the transmitter yet if her attention wasn't focused on flying the speeder that was trying to find them.  

“Try hailing them,” Cywyllog said. 

“Here goes nothing,” she heard Percival muttered.  

“Captain Perilous? Do you copy?” This time his voice was louder, more authoritative. Cywyllog flipped a few switches on the console of her speeder, doing her best to help boost his signal. “Mordred Pendragon, this is your Red Leader. Do you copy?”

There was a pause—a long pause.  Cywyllog frowned. There was no reason for Percival to have stopped there. They still had a lot of ground to cover and they could move in and out of range in a second. It wouldn't do to have long stretches of silence.  

“Percival?” Cywyllog asked, worried that something was wrong.  

“Sorry,” Percival said. “I'm picking up some weird feedback here. I just wanted to make sure I recorded it so it could be analyzed back at the base.”

“What sort of weird feedback?” Cywyllog asked, checking her own readings. Because she was trying to boost Percival's signal instead of sending her own, her sensors didn't show anything out of the ordinary.  

“With our luck, nothing good,” Percival muttered. “But that's a problem for later. Captain Perilous? Captain Perilous, do you read?”

“Loud and clear,” came a groggy voice over the radio. Lynette. Cywyllog laughed in relief and heard a noise over the communicator she recognized as as Percival pounding his fists on his console. “Storm passed already?”

At that moment, Cywyllog's transmitter came to life, directing them to Lynette's exact location.  

“Percival, I've got them,” Cywyllog said, moving into lead position.  

“We've got a lock on your position, Captain, and we're on our way,” Percival said.  

“Better hurry,” Lynette said before she broke into a fit of coughing. “Mordred isn't looking so good.”

“You don't sound so good yourself, Captain,” Percival said. “Just hold tight and we'll get you back to base safe and sound.”

Chapter Text

Lynette awoke with a start. Her surroundings were unfamiliar and did not at all resemble the speeder she had been in during her last conscious thought. She pushed herself up and looked around, quickly recognizing the sterile walls of the medical wing. Ax was sitting near her and he leaned forward and rested a hand on her shoulder as she looked around.

“Easy, lass,” he said. “You’re safe and sound and all healed up.”

“What happened?” Lynette asked, swinging her legs over the side of the bed and carefully getting to her feet. She felt fine. Her lungs didn’t burn anymore and breathing was much easier than it had been...a couple hours ago? How long had she been out? It must have been a while if she was already feeling this good.

“You and Mordred were both out of it by the time Percival and Cywyllog got you back to base. Ragnell had you both put into the healing tanks. You were in there for close to a day and you’ve been out for about an hour now.”

“Close to a day?” Lynette repeated, unable to believe what she had just heard. She hadn’t been hurt bad enough to need a day in a healing tank, had she? Lynette hadn’t thought so, but apparently...

If she had been that bad, what sort of shape had Mordred been in?

Looking down, Lynette noted the simple, knee-length gown she was wearing. That wouldn’t do at all.

“Where are my clothes?” Lynette asked, looking around. She knew Ax well enough to know he had brought her a change of clothes. Even though he was about to pretend he hadn’t.

“Now wait just a moment, lass,” Ax said. “Everything is fine. Mordred is in the healing tank. Rangell says he’s not going to be out of it for another day or so. There’s no reason for you to go running off before you’re ready. So why don’t you just sit back down—”

“Ax,” Lynette said, giving him a look. “Where are my clothes?”

Ax sighed and went to retrieve a bag from the corner of the room. Lynette quickly changed out of the gown and into fresh clothes before making her way out of the small room to the larger portion of the of the medical wing. Ax, who she had shooed out of the room while she changed, motioned for her to follow him.

He took her to a darkened room that held two healing tanks. He stayed near the door as Lynette made her way into the room, taking everything in. The two healing tanks were laid out horizontally and parallel to each other. The top on one was open, marking it at as empty. Lynette wondered if that was the one she had been in. The other was closed and glowing, indicating it was active. Mordred had to be in there.

Gawain stood near the back of the room, talking quietly to Ragnell, his wife and the ranking medical officer within the rebellion. Standing next to the tube was...Lynette’s eyes narrowed as she studied the lanky redhead standing next to the healing tube. Gareth. That was Gareth standing next to the tube. Gaheris was nowhere to be seen.

Gareth turned to face Lynette as she approached the healing tube. He reached out to take her hand and Lynette gave his hand a squeeze, grateful that at least one Luddowc brother was reaching out in her time of need. It just wasn’t the Luddowc brother she wanted.

“Ax said he’s going to be okay,” Lynette said with a glance over her shoulder. She wasn’t all that surprised that he hadn’t followed her into the room. No doubt he’d had enough of medical to last a lifetime.

Gareth nodded. “Ragnell said you got to him just in time—kept the damage in his lungs from being permanent. We can’t thank you enough for what you did—the risks you took.”

“Yeah, well, he would have done the same if it had been me out there,” Lynette said. “Honestly, I’m not sure how much credit I deserve. Finding him had more to do with luck than anything I did.”

“My mother used to say there was no such thing as luck,” Gareth said. “She believed that things that seemed lucky were the result of a strong will bending the galaxy to their resolve. And we all know you have a strong will.”

Lynette was quiet as she thought about the wyvern and the way it had reacted in the cave. More than that. The wyvern had found the cave—it had found Mordred. Lynette doubted it was her will that had led to such a turn of events. Mordred using the force to guide the wyvern to him seemed much more likely.

Already uncomfortable, Lynette decided to dive right in to the conversation that would make everyone uncomfortable. “Where’s Gaheris?”

Gareth shook his head. “He couldn’t do it. He saw you and he saw Mordred and the state you were in and he just...he had to leave.”

“That was a day ago,” Lynette said. ”Has he come back?” Gareth shook his head. “Not even for Mordred?”

“Not even for you,” Gareth said. Lynette shook her head. She didn’t want to be reminded that in theory Gaheris still cared for her. That hurt too much.

“You should talk to him,” Gareth said. “He reached out to you in a moment of crisis and you came through for him. That means something. It could be a turning point.”

“If Gaheris wants it to be a turning point, he knows what to do,” Lynette said. “I told you, Gareth, I’m done trying. Gaheris needs to put some effort into this relationship if this is what he wants.”

Personally, Lynette didn’t think that Gaheris was even sure about what he wanted right now. But if he was unable to be here for Mordred, then it was probably too much to hope that he would be available emotionally to her right now. Or anytime in the near future.

Fine. Lynette was fine with that. She had made the choice to leave, after all. But he should have been here for Mordred right now. His cousin needed him. That should have meant something to Gaheris.

“Ax said he’d be in there another day?” Lynette asked, nodding to Mordred.

“According to Ragnell,” Gareth said. “I suppose we can only hope he comes out sooner. Until then, we wait.”

“Right,” Lynette said. She wondered where Ax had gotten off to? Back to the Damsel and the repairs that were desperately needed? She should have been helping Ax fix their ship. But they weren’t going to leave without Mordred and, well, Lynette had no intention of disappearing on Mordred the way Gaheris had. She would be here when the kid woke up and that was that. “We wait.”

The first thing Mordred noticed upon returning to consciousness was that he no longer felt like he was on fire. It wasn’t as warm and his lungs and skin no longer felt like they were burning. He savored the chance to breath deep breaths without it hurting as he lifted a hand and rubbed it across his face.

“Hey, puppy, welcome back to the land of the living.”

Mordred opened his eyes slowly, knowing by now that he had to be in the medical ward and the lights in the room would be bright. He was proven to be right on both counts. Lynette was sitting right next to his bed, grinning down at him. Behind her he saw Gawain, Gareth, and Ax. They all looked worried. He must have been in bad shape, then.

“What happened?” Mordred asked, pushing himself upright. He saw both Gawain and Gareth move towards him, but Lynette held up a hand, letting Mordred get up unassisted. He was grateful for that.

“What’s the last thing you remember?”

“A rock slide falling on my head,” Mordred said. He frowned as more came to him. “Waking up in a cave with a monster. I used the Caliburn sword to drive it away and then...” he looked at Lynette. “I think I remember you finding me. We talked in the tent, right?”

Lynette nodded. “Cywyllog and Percival picked us up in the speeders the next morning. We were both unconscious when we arrived back here and were immediately placed into healing tanks. I spent a day in one and you spend two.”

Mordred nodded, although he didn’t remember any of what Lynette had just said. He remembered...Aunt Morgan. Had that part been real? Had he really seen her in the cave? He remembered feeling certain at the time that it was real, but the memory was so fuzzy Mordred now found he could say for certain. He’d been delirious. He’d probably been dying. He wouldn’t have needed to spend two days in a healing tank if he hadn’t been dying. Of course he would have seen Aunt Morgan as he was dying and of course he would have heard her telling him the exact words that he wanted to hear.

Of course none of it had been real.

The vision was an easy one to dismiss and yet Mordred found himself unable to do so completely. For one thing, he wanted to find Avalon. He wanted to go there and learn what he could from the remains of the Temple. Surely if Avalon still existed, there would be records there he could use to train and learn more about the order. It was worth seeking out and Mordred was kicking himself for not thinking of this sooner. He should have tried to find Avalon years ago.

But more importantly, he vaguely remembered telling Lynette about the vision and agreeing that they would try to find Avalon after they had looked in on her sister. He had a feeling that Lynette wouldn’t let him write off the vision so easily. He wasn’t sure he wanted her to.

“How are you feeling?” Gawain asked, shaking Mordred out of his thoughts.

“I’m fine,” Mordred said. “A little shaken, I guess. But I’ll be fine.”

“Fair enough,” Gawain said. “We’ll get you back out on patrol soon enough, I suppose. Although perhaps that isn’t the best idea if neither you nor your wyvern are able to avoid a simple rock slide.”

“I should have avoided it,” Mordred said, that memory lighting up in his mind. “I saw it and had plenty of time to move. But the wyvern wouldn’t go. I tried to send it off but it was like it was frozen in place. It didn’t react to any of the commands I gave it.”

He looked at Gawain as he told this part, whose frown deepened with every word.

“Could it have been controlled, Mordred?” Gawain asked. “With the force? Is that possible?”

Mordred felt his face heat up. He didn’t need a reminder of that failure right now. “I didn’t think—”

“Not you,” Gawain said. “Someone else. Someone who isn’t supposed to know we’re here.”

He spoke in vague terms, as if speaking Ursus’ name would conjure him here. Mordred crossed his arms, trying to hide the shudder that went through him. While he had only seen Ursus once, he had felt the Emperor’s right hand at his back while he had made the run that had destroyed the Death Star. Ursus was cold—a dark power that seemed to hit a person like a wave of destruction. Mordred had felt that energy come after him twice and he no desire to feel that again.

“I don’t think that was him,” Mordred said slowly as the door to his room opened. He was so focused on Gawain, Mordred didn’t bother to look and see who it was. “His use of the force is...distinct. If that had been Ursus, I’m certain I would have recognized him.”

“Ursus?”

Everyone in the room looked to the door to see Gaheris standing there. His face had gone ashen and he looked as though he was about to fall over. Lynette jumped to her feet but then froze, as though she was uncertain how Gaheris would accept her offer of help.

“What about Ursus?” Gaheris asked.

“Nothing,” Gawain said quickly. Too quickly. Gaheris’ eyes narrowed as his expression turned to one of hurt and frustration.

“Gawain thought...” Mordred paused, unsure how to tell Gaheris the truth without upsetting him. His torture at Ursus’ hands still haunted him and encountering Ursus again as Dover fell had only made things worse. Mordred didn’t want to set Gaheris back any further—no one did—but he was equally certain that lying to Gaheris right now would do just as much damage.

“Gawain panicked when Mordred told him his stupid wyvern didn’t move during a rock slide,” Lynette said, as forward as ever. “He thinks Ursus might have had something to do with it.”

“Could he?” Gaheris asked. “Is that something he could do?”

“Yes,” Mordred said. “But I would know if it was him, Gaheris. His power isn’t subtle. I would have felt him.”

“Better check anyways,” Gawain muttered as he moved to leave the room. “I’m glad you’re both all right, Mordred, Lynette. Try to take it easy for the next day.”

On his way out of the room, Gawain paused long enough to squeeze Gaheris’ shoulder. Gaheris shrugged him off and stepped away. Gawain shook his head and stepped out of the room without a backwards glance.

“I’m glad you’re both all right too,” Gareth said. He gave Lynette a hug and leaned down to kiss Mordred’s head. “Stay out of trouble.”

He started towards the door as well and paused in front his twin. Gaheris looked at the ground, arms crossed over his chest. Gareth sighed and left the room after Gawain.

“You’re sure he’s not here,” Gaheris asked quietly after a moment.

“I’m—”

“Hey, Gaheris, nice to see you,” Lynette said. “Oh, how are we doing? Well, we almost died. I spent a day in a healing tank. Mordred spent two. So things were pretty bad. Does any part of you give a damn?”

“That’s not fair,” Gaheris said, his face flushed. “Ursus—”

“Ursus isn’t here!” Lynette snapped. “And even if he was, that wouldn’t change the fact that two people you claim to care about almost died. You couldn’t even be there for us while we were in the healing tanks. You weren’t here when we woke up. You’re not even really here for us now.”

“I’m here!” Gaheris said.

“You haven’t asked either of us how we’re doing,” Lynette said. “You jumped right to Ursus the second you heard his name and forgot about us.”

“Lynette,” Mordred said softly, tugging at her shirt. “Stop. It’s not—”

“You’re the one who walked away, Lynette,” Gaheris said. “You’re the one who isn’t here.”

“I came when you called,” Lynette said, getting to her feet and moving towards Gaheris. “I was ready to be with you through a rough night, but when you said Mordred wasn’t going to survive without help, I went out there on your word. Don’t tell me I haven’t been here for you, Gaheris.”

“You were there for Mordred,” Gaheris said quietly.

“Maybe,” Lynette said softly. “But Mordred’s been here. He cares. All you care about is what’s going on in your own head. The rest of us are hurting too, Gaheris. We need you as much as you need us. And we’re not going to stay if you keep shoving us away.”

“You weren’t going to stay anyway,” Gaheris said, turning to leave the room. As the door whooshed shut behind him, Mordred leaned forward and pressed his head against his knees. Lynette sighed as she sat down next to him and ran a hand up and down his back.

“You told him?” Mordred asked.

“I told him I was leaving,” Lynette said. “Well, technically I told Isolde because she asked me point-blank in a room full of people and I didn’t feel like lying. But Gaheris was there and he heard me. We fought a little bit.”

Mordred shook his head, not at all surprised. All Gaheris and Lynette had done these last few months was fight with each other. Every interaction turned into a fight. Mordred didn’t know why he had thought this one would be any different.

“I don’t think he was talking about you,” Lynette said. “Although you might want to talk to him before we leave. Or...I don’t know. Right now it seems like everything we do sends him spiraling further into his own head.”

“Right,” Mordred said. He didn’t know how he was going to handle telling Gawain, Gaheris, and Gareth that he was leaving. He felt that he had only just made the decision. But now it was days later and Lynette’s decision was no doubt known to the entire Rebellion by now. He was going to have handle this sooner rather than later.

“I’m going to get Ragnell and see if we can get you out of here,” Lynette said, giving his shoulder a squeeze as she got to her feet.

Mordred nodded, his eyes drifted to the wall as Lynette left the room. He focused his attention on the wall and cleared his mind. He was a vessel. His mind cleared as he felt the force flow through him. He was a vessel and it was up to the force to guide him.

The pillow lifted up off the bed and flew into Mordred’s arms. No threads appeared in his vision and while it was more difficult to keep his mind blank than it was to rely on the threads, Mordred felt as though years long tension was easing out of him. He’d done it. He’d found his way back to the right way. Now perhaps he and Lynette actually had a shot of finding Avalon. Or even finding Arthur.

Things were going to get better. Mordred could feel it.

“Captain Perilous!”

Lynette growled softly at the sound of Dinadan’s voice coming from somewhere underneath the Damsel. Not again. Not another interruption. She had a ship to fix.

Next to her, Ax, who was helping with the rewiring, sighed and shook his head. He gently took the wires Lynette had been holding and motioned for her to go deal with Dinadan. Muttering under her breath, Lynette got to her feet and stomped across the hull of the Damsel to look over the edge at where the droid waited.

“Oh, hello Captain!” Dinadan said, waving his arm as Lynette appeared over the edge. “May I have a moment of your time?”

“What is it?” Lynette asked.

“Commander Luddowc asks that you join him and Princess Cywyllog in the control room.”

Great. Gawain had apparently actually managed to find something and now he needed her help to deal with it. That was great. Just great.

“What does he want from me?”

“I believe Princess Cywyllog wishes to retrieve something outside the base and desires to use a wyvern for transport instead of a speeder. Therefore, they require a wyvern handler.”

“And they’re asking for me? Despite the fact that I just got out of a healing tank two days ago?”

“You have been cleared by Ragnell into returning to active duty.”

“I bullied Ragnell into giving me that clearance,” Lynette said with a scowl.

“Commander Luddowc said you might try this argument,” Dinadan said. “He said to tell you that Ragnell wouldn’t have cleared you for active duty if you weren’t fit. No matter what you said to her. However, Princess Cywyllog wished for me to convey that if you feel unable to partake in this retrieval, she understands. She would deeply appreciate your support, however, if you are able.”

Lynette muttered a soft curse under her breath as she grabbed the rope hanging over the side of the Damsel and slid to the ground. She motioned for Dinadan to lead the way and followed the droid up to the control room where Gawain, Cywyllog, and Fenice waited for her. They were tucked up against one of the terminals in the far corner.

“Well?” Lynette asked as she stepped up between Gawain and Cywyllog. Sitting at the terminal, Fenice typed something out and a garbled code started playing. “Let me guess. You picked that up when you went to check if Ursus was in the area.”

“We barely caught it,” Gawain said. “If Fenice wasn’t familiar with the structure and frequency of Imperial coding, we have missed it entirely.”

“What’s it saying?”

“I’m not sure,” Fenice said. “The Empire modulates the speed of their coded messages. If we we try to speed up or slow down the message and choose the wrong pace, we could find ourselves listening to an entirely different message than the one that was sent.”

“Well, I suppose we can guess what the message is,” Lynette said, shaking her head. “Are we looking at an evacuation?”

“No,” Cywyllog said. Lynette’s eyes widened as she looked up at Gawain. He didn’t look happy. “Isolde isn’t convinced that this message makes reference to the rebellion. She believes we’ve been vigilante enough to maintain our cover and that this is likely just a routine check-in for the drone.”

“You disagree?” Lynette asked.

“Percival recorded a similar coded message while we were out with the speeders,” Cywyllog said. “I think it’s a safe bet to say they know we’re here, but there’s only one way to convince Isolde what that is. Fenice says she can decode the message if she has the droid. The original should be stored on its drives.”

“Cywyllog would take one of the speeders,” Gawain said. “But on the off chance the Empire doesn’t know that we’re here...”

“Taking a speeder to the Empire’s reconnaissance droid would certainly clue them in,” Lynette said. “You need someone who can take you out on a wyvern. Someone...friendly?”

“Yes,” Cywyllog said. “This mission isn’t exactly above board—”

“Is it ever, with your Rogue Squadron?” Lynette asked. “Well, you don’t need to sell me. I’m in.”

“Really?” Gawain asked. “You’re agreeing? Just like that?”

“What can I say? I’m always willing to run a mission behind Isolde’s back.”

“Not the enthusiasm I was looking for, but I’ll take it,” Gawain muttered, running a hand over his face.

“You ready to go now?” Lynette asked. Cywyllog nodded. “Then come on. Let’s go get it.”

By the time the finally left the base, Lynette figured they couldn’t really claim they were going behind Isolde’s back anymore. The technician in the aerie called her as soon as soon as Lynette explained why they wanted to take out one of the wyverns. Lynette half-listened as the technician explained their plan while she and Cywyllog prepared for the flight. She didn’t hear what Isolde said in response since the technician was using their headpiece. But when Lynette went to pull the wyvern out of its stall, the technician didn’t tell her to stop. She also didn’t say anything as Lynette saddled the beast and she and Cywyllog mounted up.

More above board than Cywyllog had anticipated, then. Was it good that Isolde was letting them go on this mission she didn’t agree with? Or did it just mean that Isolde was hoping they wouldn’t come back. Probably the latter. Getting rid of her adversaries always seemed to be what Isolde was hoping for when she allowed a mission she didn’t agree with.

With Cywyllog navigating behind her, Lynette steered the wyvern in the direction of the message. It didn’t take long to reach the droid—it seemed to be making its way around the mountain that housed the rebellion base. More bad news. Lynette had the wyvern land on the side of the mountain a few feet in front of the droid. Then she and Cywyllog dropped off its back and made their way back towards the droid, using the debris from some recent rock slides as cover as they closed in on it.

Once the droid was in sight, Lynette and Cywyllog ducked down behind a large boulder so they could just watch it for a moment. It was clearly Imperial in design—black and perhaps a little too over-designed for its function. And it was clearly very focused on the mountain and likely the rebel base within. It paused every foot or so as it looked up and down the mountain. If Lynette was to guess, it was taking readings. Readings it was no doubt transmitting back to the nearest imperial fleet.

They waited silently for the droid to roll past them. Cywyllog stood closest to the path the droid was on while Lynette waited behind her. Cywyllog held a stun gun at the ready. A blast from it would power down the droid without doing the lasting damage of a blaster. Every few seconds, Lynette tapped a transmitter on her wrist so Gawain would know that their mission was still on but radio silence was being observed.

There was a soft grinding sound—like wheels on gravel. Both Lynette and Cywyllog tensed as the droid slowly moved past them. It had come halfway into view when it stopped and its head swung around towards them. Cywyllog fired. Instead of dropping to the ground, the lights on the droid turned red for a second before it self-destructed.

Lynette had just enough time to grab Cywyllog by the arm and move them both around to the other side of the rock as shrapnel flew in all directions. Then it was over and Cywyllog was pulling away from her to go look at the what was left of the droid. Not much of anything. Lynette sighed as she lifted the transmitter to her lips.

“Well, we caught up to it,” came Lynette’s voice over the communicator after a radio silence that had lasted far too long in Gawain’s opinion. He and Fenice were still tucked away in the corner at the console she had been using, except now they had an audience of rebels listening in. An audience that included Isolde.

“Your tone does not inspire confidence, Captain,” Isolde said. “What happened?”

“It self-destructed as soon as Cywyllog hit it with the stun blast,” Lynette said.

“Immediately?” Fenice asked.

“All its lights turned red for a second,” Lynette said. “But yeah, it was pretty immediate.”

“Something we should know?” Isolde asked.

“They would not have programmed the droid to self-destruct upon making contact if they weren’t certain they were looking in the right place,” Fenice said. “A fleet of Star Destroyers will be close – only a few hours away. They will be carrying enough ground troops to overwhelm us.”

“Four- or two-legged walkers?” Gawain asked.

“Four-legged walkers,” Fenice said. “No question.”

Gawain looked up at Isolde. “It seems we only have one course of action open to us.”

“Yes,” Isolde said, looking over her shoulder at the rest of her officers. “Give the order to evacuate.”

Chapter Text

Close.  Ursus was getting so close.  He could feel it. The force seemed to ripple against him, drawing him closer and closer to Morgause like a river current moving towards the ocean. He would have her and her little protege in his grasp soon enough. He needed to only be patient and wait for the news he so desperately wanted to hear to come to him.  

"Admiral Sertorius," a voice said. Captain Pontius, being overly helpful as ever. Ursus would have ignored him, but he felt the force ripple against him, pulling his attention in Pontius' direction. Had the busy-body captain actually managed to find something? 

"What is it, Captain?" Admiral Sertorius asked, as he and General Boccus stopped beside Captain Pontius. Ursus slowly began to drift in their direction as he listened to Pontius explain what he had found.  

"...and picked up an energy signature two days ago, leaving from this mountain--"

"Yes, yes, Pontius, I remember," Sertorius said with a scowl. "And I vividly recall telling you that this reading wasn't strong enough to warrant further investigation. Barham Down is known for unexplained energy surges in its atmosphere. Without something more substantial--"

"And I believe we have something, Admiral," Pontius said. "The droid has been fixated on that mountain since that first reading it took and it has since reported many more strange electrical anomalies emanating from the mountain."

"All of which can be easily explained by Barham Down's atmosphere. I've been ready the daily reports, Captain, and there is nothing in the readings this droid has taken that deviate from what we expected to see on Barham Down."

"That's quite convenient, isn't it?" Ursus asked, coming to a stop behind Sertorius. The Admiral stiffened, and then looked back at Ursus with narrowed eyes. "A planet where the atmosphere is such that any electrical reading can be written off as an anomaly caused by the planet's weather. It certainly sounds like an excellent place to hide. Doesn't it, Captain?"

"I believe so, yes" Pontius said. "And I believe I finally have evidence that the Rebellion is, in fact, on Barham Down. The droid just self-destructed. It registered being hit with a stun blast and self-destructed."

"And, captain, this could one again be explained by Barham Down's atmosphere. The droid could have been struck by an electrical storm, misinterpreted it as a stun blast, and self-destructed. Or there could be a base in that mountain--a smuggler's base. There are many possible explanations for what happened to that droid. Which is why we will send another to Barham Down to see if it can get any clearer readings."

"You will not," Ursus said. "You will take the fleet to Barham Down."

"What?" Sertorius asked, looking back at Ursus again. The look on his face was one of dumbfounded disbelief.  

"If it truly is nothing, then we lose nothing by taking the time to investigate," Ursus said. "But if it is the rebellion and they did destroy the droid, they will have already ordered an evacuation of Barham Down. We run the risk of losing them. Again."

"My Lord," Sertorius said, barely able to keep the scowl off his face. "We have other leads--better leads--regarding the location of the rebelling. If we go to Barham Down and there is nothing there, we risk those leads going cold as well."

"I will happily sacrifice a few leads, Admiral, in exchange for a chance to put an end to the Rebellion once and for all. Set a course for Barham Down. That is an order."

Sertorius' cheeks flushed as he nodded and stepped away to convey the order to the rest of the fleet. Ursus watched him go, pleased with the way that exchange had gone. His role within the Empire was one of service and he was often assigned under Admiral's and Grand Moff's with orders to assist in their needs. But not this time. This time the Emperor had left him in command. Admiral Sertorius and his men where to see to Ursus' needs. Ursus found that he liked being the one in charge for once.  

"Well done, Captain Pontius," Ursus said. "Your diligence in this matter is to be commended. Keep it up and you may find a promotion in your future."

"Thank you, Lord Ursus," Pontius said with a bow.  

Ursus nodded and turned his attention to Boccus. "General, prepare your man for a ground assault."

"Yes, my lord," Boccus said with a bow, turning and striding away quickly. Ursus slowly made his way back to the front of the control room so he could stare out at the stars. Soon. He'd have Morgause and her little protege in his clutches very soon.  

Finished changing into his flight suit, Mordred maneuvered his way out of his tiny quarters on the Damsel. He made his way out of the ship and paused a few feet beyond the gang plank. Looking up, he quickly caught sight of Lynette and Ax above him--once again hard at work on the hull of the Damsel. He whistled and both of them looked over the edge.  

"Hey, puppy," Lynette asked, turning so that her legs were hanging over the edge. "You off to save the day?"

"I've got loading duty until ships start going airborne," Mordred said. "It sounds like they're sending a couple fighters out with each major ship. Simple escort. Hopefully the ion cannon keeps it from being more than that."

"Well, we'll see you at the rendezvous site, then," Lynette said. "Stay safe."

"I will," Mordred said, looking over the Damsel. "Is she going to fly?"

"Yup," Lynette said. "By the time the Empire gets here and it's our turn to leave, she'll be in tip-top flying shape. Trust me. It's under this sort of pressure that we excel."

She flashed him a bright smile and Mordred tried smile back. "Once the evacuation starts in earnest, you'll have to make a decision quickly in order to get on one of the other ships before--"

"I've already made my decision," Lynette said sharply. "I'm not leaving her behind."

Mordred's shoulders slumped. He was afraid she was going to say that. He understood why she felt that way--after what she had confided him about the Damsel's history, of course she wouldn't want to leave behind this last memory of her mother. But he did wish she had been a little more willing to consider the possibility that she might need to.  

"Don't worry about us, puppy," Lynette said. "We'll get out of here without any trouble. Just make sure you do the same."

"May the force be with you," Mordred said.  

"You too," Ax said with a nod as Lynette waved. Mordred paused long enough to get one last look at the two of them, just in case, before he hurried off to his assignment. 

He spent the next few hours loading equipment onto the ships with the rest of the pilots. The memories of Dover were still fresh in everyone's mind and the worked quickly to get as much equipment onto the ships as quickly as possible. The base at Barham Down would be stripped clean instead of abandoned.  

"Attention," a voice chirped over the loudspeaker on the ship Mordred was on. Every single person on the ship paused in what they were doing and turned their attention to the loudspeaker to listen. "Star Destroyers were just detected dropping out of hyperspace. The evacuation of Barham Down is to begin immediately. All non-essential personnel, please make your way to your assigned transports. All fighter pilots please report to your ships."

That was him. A fighter pilot with a Red Squadron to report to. Mordred made his way off the transport ship and headed to the hanger, his stomach tightening with every step. Lynette still had a little time to get the Damsel functional, but not much. The seconds were ticking down and from what he had seen, the Damsel was still in bad shape. What if she couldn't fly? What would Lynette do? What would Ax let her do?

Too much to think about. Too much to worry about when he was about to be in a fire fight. Lynette and Ax could take care of themselves--the were very good at it and there wasn't anything Mordred could do to help them now anyways. He just needed to focus on what was ahead of him.  

Ursus  was aware of the mistake before anyone could alert him to what had happened.  He was watching the readouts in his private chambers. He saw the fleet drop out of hyperspace far too close to Barham Down for his liking. He was not at all surprised was he was notified by General Boccus that an energy field had been detected around one of the mountains on the planet. An energy shield strong enough to deflect bombardment from ships in orbit.  

Ursus felt his fury grow as he listened to Boccus make excuses for Sertorius' mistake. An admiral of his standing should have had the tactical knowledge to know that dropping out of lightspeed so close to Barham Down after the rebels had just destroyed their reconnaissance droid would destroy what little tactical advantage they had left.    

"Enough," Ursus finally growled. "I have had enough of Sertorius and his arrogance and I have heard enough excuses for his clumsy, oafish handling of this mission to last me a lifetime. General, we knew that a ground assault would be an important aspect of this offensive, but now it appears that we shall be relying on the ground assault entirely to capture this base. I want every resource you have at your disposal down on that planet taking down that base. Do I make myself clear, general?"

"Yes, Lord Ursus," Boccus said with a nod. He turned and left Ursus' private quarters, the door whooshing shut behind him.  

Still angry, Ursus made his way over to his console to make a call to Sertorius. The image of the admiral appeared on-screen after a moment, Captain Pontius standing next to him.  

"Lord Ursus," Sertorius said, looking as puffed-up and arrogant as he always did. He didn't even appear aware that he had done anything wrong. "We are just moving the fleet into position around Barham Down now and will--"

Ursus hadn't even realized he was doing anything until Sertorius made a choking noise, a hand going for his throat. Ursus squeezed a little harder then, all of his anger and frustration at the years they had spent searching with no answers tightened around Sertorius' throat.

It wasn't the first time he had lashed out at an admiral with the force. But as he continued to choke the life out of Sertorius, Ursus waited with baited breath for someone to tell him to stop. Someone had always told him to stop in the past. But as Sertorius dropped to his knees and Captain Pontius took a step away from him, eyes wide, Ursus realized that no one was going to tell him to stop. He was in command now and he could kill arrogant admirals who were bad at their job as he saw fit.  

It was a freeing realization.  

"Congratulations on your promotion, Admiral Pontius," Ursus said. "Did I not tell you your diligence would be rewarded?"

"You did, my lord," Pontius said, flinching as Sertorious dropped to the ground with a small thud.  

"General Boccus is overseeing the ground assault," Ursus continued. "Can I be assured that you will position the fleet so that no rebel ships are allowed to escape?"

"Yes, my lord," Pontius said. "We are already moving into position."

"Good," Ursus said. "I have the upmost confidence in you, admiral."

Ursus ended the call and stepped back from the console. His human hand shook as his anger continued to burn and he felt the force pulling at him to do something with that anger.  

Soon, Ursus though as his hand curled into a fist. He would be able to do something with his anger soon enough.  

When Mordred reached the hanger, he found a crowd of fighter pilots standing in a half-circle around Gaheris. There was a holoimage on the wall behind Gaheris listing every fighter and the Transport vessel they were assigned to. Mordred half-listened to Gaheris as he scanned the image, looking for his name.  

"We're going to be opening the shield in short bursts," Gaheris was saying. "Just enough time for for one transport vessel escorted by two fighters to get through. Your job will be to engage any TIE-fighters the Empire sends out and keep them off the transports long enough to make the jump to lightspeed."

"What about the Star Destroyers?" someone asked. "I hope we're not expected to keep those at bay as well?"

"No," Gaheris said. "The ion cannon will be firing into the atmosphere. It should keep the Star Destroyers out of range but it's not precise enough to handle the fighters."

Mordred frowned as he continued to look over the holoimage. He didn't see his name anywhere on there. That couldn't be right. He was one of the best pilots the rebellion had. He should have been an escort. And he'd been told to report to the hanger once the evacuation started. Was that no longer correct? Had something changed?

"There you are," Percival said, clapping a hand on Mordred's shoulder. "Been looking for you. Come on, we're over here."

Mordred frowned as he followed Percival into the smaller side-hanger where the speeders were kept. Inside waited Cywyllog, Cliges, and Hana. A moment later, Gareth joined them in the hanger as well.  

"Glad to see everyone made it," Cywyllog said with a nod. "This is a last minute mission I was just barely able to convince Isolde to take on, so I apologize for any confusion."

"What have you gotten us into now?" Percival asked.  

Cywyllog turned and tapped a few buttons on a console, causing a holoimage to pop up on the wall behind her. Instead of showing assignments, this image showed just outside the mountain. More specifically, the gathering Imperial Forces out there. Mordred's eyes widened as he caught sight of the six four-legged armored walkers that were being assembled. He had last seen those at Dover and only from a distance as they had flown out. Even though these were on a video image, they seemed so much closer and much ominous.

"Our energy shield is designed to withstand the high-powered cannon blasts of a Star Destroyer," Cywyllog said. "What, as we learned at Dover, it is not designed to withstand are the low-powered blaster shots from these walker tanks. Once these things get moving, we have maybe an hour before our energy shield is down and the base is overrun."

"That's not enough time," Gareth said.  

"No," Cywyllog said. "They have six walkers on the ground right now. If we can take out three of them, we can buy this evacuation another half-hour. It's not much, but every second counts at this point."

"Three walkers?" Gareth asked in disbelief. "We couldn't even take down one at Dover. I was the main gunner on the Camelot and all the fire of our flagship didn't even leave a dent. How are you planning on taking down three with six speeders?"

"Harpoon," Hana said. "Go for the legs."

Gareth chuckled, but no one laughed with him. Cywyllog, Cliges, and Hana all looked deadly serious.

"You're serious?" Gareth asked, his eyes widening. "Your plan to take out the Empire's terrifying ground tanks is to tie their legs together and watch them fall down?"

"That tracks," Percival said.  

"It's a winning strategy--one the Rogue Squadron has implemented successfully a handful of times," Cliges said. "The walkers were designed to do just that--walk. Over any and all terrain. So they have no sensors in place to alert them when a leg gets caught on something. Like the other legs."

"The trick is getting in close enough to fire the harpoon," Cywyllog said. "That's why I've assembled this team. We'll only take three speeders, not six. That'll make it more difficult for them to hit us.  Percival, Mordred and I will pilot the speeders while Hana, Cliges, and Gareth will fire the harpoons. I figure the two best fighter pilots in the rebellion can handle the fancy flying and the best gunner can make the shot if I get him close enough."

"We'll only get one shot at this," Gareth said. "The speeders can't carry more than one harpoon."

"I know," Cywyllog said. "That's why I needed the best."

"What happens after we take down the three?" Percival asked. "Do we keep fighting? Try and distract them? Or do we fly back in?"

"Neither," Cywyllog said. "Put your speed on a collision course with the head of the next nearest walker and eject before you crash into it. At the very least it will buy the evacuation another minute or so as they wait for their sensors to re-calibrate. But if you're lucky you might find a weak point and take down another one. After that, make a run for the base. Your fighters will be waiting for you and you can piggyback on my ship's lightspeed jump."

Gareth did not look at all convinced by this plan and Mordred watched as he met Percival's eye, looking for support. Percival just laughed and shook his head.  

"Don't look at me," Percival said. "I'm the idiot who thought it would be a great plan to take eighteen fighters up against the Death Star. And that worked, so I'm sure this will too."

"I'm starting to get a clearer picture of why you're an endless source of frustration for Gawain," Gareth muttered.  

"Gareth, you'll be with me," Cywyllog said. "I'll walk you through the shot. Percival, you're with Hana. Mordred, Cliges. Cliges and Hana have both made this shot before. They know what to do. So focus on getting close and keeping the speeder in the air and let them worry about the harpoon. Understand?"

Mordred nodded as Percival tossed Cywyllog a small salute.  

"All right," Cywyllog said, collapsing the holoimage. "Welcome to the Rogue Squadron, boys. We're glad to have you."

Chapter Text

They didn't go out right away after Cywyllog finished her briefing. There was no point in going out before the walkers came into range--they would be walking back to base as soon as their mission was completed, after all. So instead they stood at the edge of the hanger and watched for the walkers to come within visual range. Mordred thought he saw a hazy outline of the walkers on the horizon when there was a loud roar from somewhere within the base. A second later, the energy field dropped. All six of them poked their heads outside and looked up as one of the ships lifted off out of the mountain with a pair of fighters at its side.  

The ship quickly disappeared from view as it rose up into the atmosphere. A moment later, they saw two shots from the ion cannon before the shield closed up again. They all waited with baited breath, hoping for good news.  

"The first transport is away," a voice announced over the intercom as cheers erupted from the main hanger. "The first transport is away."

"First bit of good news we've had all day," Percival said, clapping his hands.  

"Let's see if we can add to it," Cywyllog said, her gaze on the horizon. Sure enough, the walkers were clearly visible now and they seemed to grow larger with each step the took. "Let's go."

They quickly dispersed to their three speeders. Mordred let Cliges climb into the back seen first before sliding behind the piloting controls. He flipped the controls to fire up the speeder as the top dropped closed. Cywyllog took her speeder out first with Percival right on her heels. Mordred followed both of them out.  

It had only taken them a minute or two between seeing the walkers and getting the speeders out into the open. In that time, the walkers had started firing on the base and done considerable damage to the ground team that was in charge of protecting the shield. So far it was holding, but it wouldn't if the walkers were allowed to continue at this pace.  

"White Station, this is Rogue Leader," Cywyllog said over the intercom. "The Rogue Squadron has started its attack run on the walkers. We'll try and alleviate some of the pressure on you. Just hold that shield."

"May the Force be with you, Rogue Squadron," a woman's voice said. "We're all behind you."

"All right, pull apart a little further, boys," Cywyllog said. "Our one advantage is that we're small and fast. Don't lose it by bunching up."

Mordred pulled a little further away from Cywyllog, slowly up ever so slightly as well. Now that they were seemingly on a collision course with the walkers, their size seemed to grow exponentially with every foot traveled. Mordred felt himself tense at the memory of fleeing from these things at Dover. His fighter hadn't been able to do anything against them. The guns on the larger warships hadn't dented them. They had just kept coming.  

"You all right there, Mordred?" Cliges asked.  

"We're really going to take these things out with harpoons?" Mordred asked. Gareth was right. This plan was insane.  

"Watch the master work if you don't believe," Cliges said.  

At that moment, Cywyllog's speeder shot forward at a speed that was probably dangerous. She went right for the lead walker. Gareth fired the speeder's weapons, but like on Dover the energy blasts bounced harmlessly off the armor. As the walker started firing back, Cywyllog swung her speeder into a tight spin to avoid the blasts. Over the radio, Mordred could hear Gareth yelling. This was probably a very different experience from the pressurized flight of the Camelot.  

At seemingly the last second, Cywyllog broke off from her collision course, swerving off to the right of the walker and spinning downwards to its legs.  

"Now, Gareth!" she yelled and a moment later the harpoon was ejected from her speeder and struck true, connecting to the lower leg of the walker and holding firm. The speeder looped around the legs of the walker three times before disconnecting the line. In that time, all the walker had managed to do was plant one foot and just start to lift the other. As the leg tried to lift forward, it got caught on the line and the walker fell forward, crashing to the ground with enough force to break apart some of the armor plating.  

"Percival," Mordred said.  

"I see it," Percival said and their two speeders moved into an attack formation, firing on the downed walker. They both got in shots that struck true and the walker exploded right as they flew over it.  

"Now that's how it's done!" Percival yelled with a whoop of excitement.  

"Steady, boys," Cywyllog said. "We've still got two more of those things to take down and it's your turn to do the fancy flying."

"Reports from the surface!" someone yelled from the other side of the control room.  "One walker down! I repeat, a walker is down."

"And five more continue their march forward," Isolde said with a scowl as cheers erupted throughout the control room. Gaheris frowned up at her. Even a small victory was a victory right now. They couldn't afford to diminish whatever small advantage Cywyllog's operation was giving them. They owed the Rogue Squadron a hell of a lot right now.  

"I think we should start sending two ships out at a time," Gaheris said. They had managed to get three ships out so far and too many were still left with the Empire closing in as rapidly as it was.

Isolde pressed her lips together as she considered his recommendation. "I don't know if the ion cannon has sufficient power to protect two ships going out at a time."

"It's a risk, but I think we have to take it," Gaheris said. "We're never going to get all of the ships out otherwise."

Isolde nodded. "Are you prepared to be the last one standing, Gaheris?"

Gaheris nodded. "You can start evacuating the grounds crew. I'll hold out here for as long as I can."

"May the Force be with you, Gaheris," Isolde said before she turned to give the order.  

Mordred felt marginally better about their chances after seeing the ease with which Cywyllog had taken down the first walker. Both he and Percival had broken off to go after the second and third--looping around to come at them from behind. Above them, Cywyllog did her best to give them cover against the remaining three walkers.  

Flying the speeder at a breakneck pace in order to avoid the blaster fire behind them, Mordred made straight for the legs of his target and started to loop around it. He made it all the way around the walker without Cliges firing the harpoon. 

"Cliges!" Mordred yelled. What was he doing back there?

"Make another pass," Cliges said. "The timing is important!"

Mordred cursed and just barely managed to avoid a shot form one of the walkers behind them. He was forced to pull his next loop so tight that he ended up going in between the legs of the walker instead of around them--flipping the ship sideways in order to get through. Behind him, Cliges laughed.  

"And this is why we picked the best pilots the rebellion has to offer," Cliges said before finally firing the harpoon. Mordred pushed the speeder to its top speed as he flew around the walker three times, pulling the line taunt before Cliges released it. Like the first walker, this one had been between steps when Cliges had fired the harpoon--Mordred now saw what he had meant about timing. As the foot lifted, it pulled against the line and this walker went down much in the same way the first one had. Over the radio, Percival let loose a shout of excitement and Mordred turned the speeder in time to see a third walker go down as well.

"That's it boys, well done," Cywyllog said and Mordred looked up in time to see her speeder turning toward the three remaining walkers. "Now let's see if we can do any further damage."

Mordred brought his speeder up so that it was level with the head of one of the walkers. He maneuvered around the blaster fire while making sure not to stray from his course. As they closed in on the head, Mordred jammed the controls in place and flipped the switch to eject the cockpit. The top popped off and they were jettisoned out of the speeder right before the speeder struck the head of the walker and exploded.  

"A general evacuation order has been given," a voice announced over the intercom. "All personnel are to begin making their way to the nearest remaining transport vessels immediately. The last ship is leaving in five minutes. A general evacuation order has been given--"

Lynette scowled as she slid the last panel back into place inside the Damsel's cockpit. That was it. As far as she could tell, all repairs had been completed. Now it was just a matter of powering the Damsel up and seeing if she would fly.  

"Well, Ax, should we get out of here?" Lynette asked as he joined her in the cockpit.  

"We can certainly try," Ax said with a shake of his head. "It's 50/50 if she'll go, lass."

"She'll go," Lynette said with more confidence then she felt. "She'll go."

"Captain Perilous."

Lynette scowled and shook her head at the sound of Gawain's voice over her radio. She supposed she should have been grateful that he hadn't interrupted as they were finishing the finale repairs on the Damsel. But with a general evacuation order given, what could he possibly need right now that couldn't wait until they met again at the rendezvous point?

"What is it, Commander Luddowc?" Lynette asked.

"It's Gaheris," Gawain said and Lynette pressed her hands up against her face. Of course it was Gaheris. "He's transport is cleared to leave and he's not on it. He's ordered that they leave without him. I told that ship to go. The Gringolet II is the last ship scheduled out and there's room for him if he can get here. But he's not answering my hails and...I'm afraid he intends to stay behind."

"Damn it, Gaheris," Lynette muttered under her breath as she got to her feet. "Hold tight, Gawain. I'll get him to you."

"Hurry, lass," Ax said. "We're running out of time."

"Don't worry about me, worry about Gaheris!" Lynette yelled as she made her way off the Damsel.  

She raced through the empty halls of the base, maneuvering around fallen debris and doing her damnedest to stay on her feet with each blast that caused the base to shake. It seemed to take too long to get to the control room and with each step Lynette cursed Gaheris' name. She was in the middle of a particularly ingenious one, if she did say so herself, when she finally stepped into the control room. It was a mess. Half-the equipment was non-functional because of all the debris that had fallen on it. Gaheris was making his way from station-to-station of the still functional equipment. He wasn't doing anything with any of the systems--just checking the readouts. There was nothing else for him to do in here--no action to be taken from the control room that mattered anymore. It was just busywork.  

Busywork that was going to get him killed.  

Unfortunately for Gaheris, he wasn't the only one left in the control room. Dinadan was with him. The droid followed along just behind Gaheris and was trying to get him to see reason. A valiant effort, but Lynette was pretty sure that a blow to the head was the only thing that would get Gaheris to see reason right now.  

"Please, sir," Dinadan was saying.  

"I've told you already, you don't have to stay, Dinadan," Gaheris said without a backwards glance. 

"If I go on my own, I'll surely fall and crack my casing," Dinadan said. "I'll be left behind, buried alive beneath the mountain, waiting for my power source to deplete. That could take centuries! So please, your highness, I'd very much appreciate it if you--"

"Gaheris!" Lynette yelled, hopping over some debris as she made her way into the control room. Both Gaheris and Dinadan turned to look at her.   

"Captain Perilous, thank goodness!' Dinadan said. "Make him see reason, won't you. I've tried my best, but--"

"What are you doing here?" Gaheris asked.

"Gawain called and said you were trying to do something stupid," Lynette said. "Apparently it once again falls upon me to pull you back from the brink of your own self-destruction. So come on. Gawain is holding the Gringolet II but he won't be able to wait much longer."

"Tell him to go," Gaheris said, turning back to the nearest console. "Better yet, take Dinadan with you and get him safely onto a ship."

"While you what?" Lynette asked, moving so she stood right beside him. "Wallow in your own self-pity while the mountain falls down around you? Fire a blaster through your head before Ursus gets here? Tell me, Gaheris, how exactly do you see this ending?"

"I don't know yet!" Gaheris yelled, turning to face her. "All I know is that I'm not leaving here until every last ship has gotten out! I will make sure they all get out!"

"By doing what?" Lynette asked. "You're just looking at readouts. You're not actually doing anything, Gaheris. All the consoles that might actually be meaningful have already been destroyed by falling debris. And no doubt Isolde transferred their functions to the ships and the ground crew before she ever left the control room. So all you're doing in here is watching the base burn down around you. What does that accomplish, Gaheris? Who does that help?"

"I don't expect you to understand," Gaheris said, trying to push past her. Lynette grabbed him by the arm and pulled him back. She shoved Gaheris up against the nearest wall and grabbed the front of his shirt with both hands.   

"I didn't come here to argue with you, Prince Charming," Lynette said. "I didn't come here to reason you out of this. I came here to take you to the Gringolet II and that's what I'm going to do. Even if I have to knock you unconscious and drag you there. Do we understand each other?"

Gaheris nodded slowly as he shoulders drooped. Lynette let him go and stepped away from him. Gaheris took a step away from the wall and looked around the battered control room.  

"I swore I wouldn't run from another home," Gaheris whispered. "That the Empire wouldn't have this one too. Now look at us."

"This shit hole isn't a home, Gaheris. It's a temporary hideout. Home is with the people who are unwilling to leave you behind. Stop running away from them. In fact, if you don't start running towards them..."

Gaheris sighed as his eyes swept across the control room one last time. Then he turned towards Dinadan and helped the droid maneuver around the debris in the control room. Lynette followed after them. It was going to be slow going with Dinadan--the BARD droid could only go so fast.  

"Gawain," Lynette said into her communicator. "I got him out of the control room. Hold tight. We're on our way."

The ejected cockpit of the speeder had thrusters and just enough fuel to keep it from crashing against the ground at a speed that would have been deadly. What it did not have enough fuel for was an easy landing and the cockpit ended up crashing to the ground at a speed that was rough and jarring. It took Mordred a minute to get his wits back. Hands shaking, he did one last diagnostic on his suit to make sure it wasn't torn before releasing his restraints and stumbling away from the cockpit.

Looking up and around, Mordred saw that the middle walker's head was on fire. It had stalled while the other two continued on and it didn't look like it would be joining them anytime soon. That was the one Cywyllog had hit. She had gotten lucky and found the sweet spot.  

"Well done," Cliges said, stumbling up behind Mordred and clapping a hand on his back with enough force that Mordred nearly fell over.  

"It could have been better," Mordred said as he watched the remaining to walkers go.

"And it could have been much worse," Cliges said. "Destroying three with the harpoons was the objective and even that didn't have great odds. We managed to take down all three and a fourth one as a bonus. This operation was nothing short of a success."

"Hey!" 

Mordred finally tore his gaze away from the walkers and looked out across the rocky landscape to find Cywyllog, Gareth, Percival and Hana running towards them. He and Cliges both ran forward to meet them halfway.

"Well done, everyone," Cywyllog said when they had regrouped. "Hopefully we managed to buy the rebellion the time they needed."

"I suppose we won't know until we get back," Cliges said as he started jogging back towards the base. "Come on, Rouge Squadron! Our ships won't wait forever!"

Hana, Percival, and Gareth went after him. Mordred was about to go as well when Cywyllog grabbed his arm, holding him back.  

"Do you have your Caliburn sword with you?" she asked.  

"Always," Mordred said, patting one of the pockets of his flight suit, where he had tucked the hilt for safe-keeping.  

"How would you feel about helping me take down one more?" Cywyllog asked, pulling something off her belt and holding it up for Mordred to see. His eyes widened as he recognized the thermal detonator bomb. He managed to nod and Cywyllog grinned. "Good. Come on."

She started heading back towards the base but instead of following the route the others were taking, she headed for the nearest remaining walker. Mordred ran after her, keeping pace until they were dodging around the legs of the walker. It was a long run. They had lost a lot of ground in ejecting from their ships and regrouping. And while the walkers weren't exactly fast, they were fast enough to outpace two humans on their feet. Especially with the hazardous terrain and atmosphere taken into account. Their suits were able to compensate for some of it, but not everything. It was a hard, long run. But thanks to the fire reigning down from the rebel base, the walkers were stalled long that they were eventually able to catch up. 

Once they were underneath the walker, Cywyllog turned to face him. She stepped up right next to him and clipped the belts of their flights suits together.  

"Hang on," she whispered before lifting an arm and firing a grappling gun up at the underside of the walker. Mordred had just enough time to wrap an arm around her before they were both hauled upward. Once they finally came to a stop underneath the hull of the walker, Mordred pulled the hilt of his Caliburn sword out of the pocket of his flight suit and flipped it around so the blade appeared. He stabbed the sword up through the hull of the walker. Easy enough, as the Caliburn sword could cut through anything. Using the force to guide him (it was coming so much easier now), he managed to create a hole just large enough for the thermal detonator to fit through.

Cywyllog popped the detonator up through the hole and then released the spool on her grappling gun. Their descent was quick but controlled and the landing on the rocks was a little rough. Cywyllog abandoned the grappling gun there as they both turned and ran from the walker as green light began to emit from it. There was an explosion behind them and they both turned to watch as the walker crumpled down and then fell onto its side.    

There was a brief moment of celebration between the two of them. After what had happened at Dover, Mordred hadn't even thought it possible to take down one of these things and they had just sent five to the ground.  It was something worth celebrating. Then the one remaining walker fired the shot that finally took out the shield generator. Blue light sizzled around the mountain as the shield fell and above them, Imperial ships began to descend towards the mountain.

"Come on," Cywyllog said. "Time to get off this rock."

Mordred nodded and together they ran back towards the base.

Lynette supposed she should have been grateful that they hadn't managed to go far from the control room when a blast hit the mountain with enough force that the tunnel caved in. She and Gaheris just managed to haul Dinadan out of the way of the falling rocks. As the dust cleared, Gaheris tried to shush the wailing droid as Lynette stepped up to the rock pile in front of them. She gave what appeared to be a loose one a small nudge and did not like the way the whole tunnel seemed to shudder when she touched it. Taking several steps backwards, Lynette lifted her communicator to her mouth.  

"Gawain," she said.  

"You had better be about to tell me you're almost here," Gawain said. "Because I can't wait much longer."

"I'm telling you to go," Lynette said. "There's been a cave-in and we're not going to be able to get to you."

There was a pause. "Gaheris?" Gawain finally asked.  

"I've got him, don't worry," Lynette said. "We're doubling back to the Damsel. See you at the rendezvous point."

"Right," Gawain said. He didn't sound confident, but Lynette appreciated that he didn't take time to point out all the fatal flaws in her plan. Like that there could be a cave-in on the way back to the Damsel or that they were at risk or running into Imperial troops or that the Damsel might not fly.  

Her mind kept drifting back to that possibility and Lynette kept trying to ignore it. The Damsel would fly. It would.  

They each took Dinadan by an arm again to help him move faster and made their way back to the hanger where the Damsel was waiting for them. Ax stood out on the entry ramp, a blaster in hand. He backed up into the ship as they approached it and closed up the entry ramp as soon as they were inside.  

"What were you doing out there?" Lynette asked.  

"Waiting for you," Ax said. "We just got word from the Rogue Squadron that the Empire has taken the base. We need to get out of here."

"How are we looking?" Lynette asked.

"She passed the main systems check with flying colors, so we are at least assured that we won't explode when we power her on," Ax said. "Beyond that..." he paused and shook his head.  

"Well, between the cave-ins and the Stormtroopers that are no doubt flooding this place, we don't have much of a choice but to try," Lynette said. "Go watch the engines as I fire her up. Just in case."

"Aye lass," Ax said before charging down the hallway in the direction of the engines.  

"Lynette--" Gaheris started to say but she really didn't want to hear anything from him right now.

"Take care of Dinadan--things might get bumpy," she said before she took off towards the cockpit without a backwards glance.  

Once inside she began going through the sequence of knobs and switches that would power up the Damsel. Everything lit up and made the appropriate sound as she powered it on. At least until she got to the switches above the door of the cockpit. The ones that specifically powered on the engines. As she flipped them on, nothing happened. No lights, no sound. Nothing. 

"No," Lynette whispered, flipping the switches back and forth a couple times. Still nothing. "No!" she yelled, pounding her fist on the panel. "Don't do this. Please don't do this!" she hit again and still nothing happened. So she began to beat at it, each hit was punctuated with a cry of frustration. "I'm! Not! Leaving! You! Behind!"

As she shouted the last word and hit the panel with everything she had left, the lights flashed on and the loud hum of the engines began to reverberate through the ship. Gasping, Lynette stumbled back from the door. It worked. It had actually worked. The Damsel had come through once again.   

"Lynette."

She looked down to see Gaheris standing in the doorway, staring at her with a look of concern. For a moment she wondered just how much of that he had seen before she saw his eyes widen and his mouth drop open as he looked past her. Lynette turned and looked through the glass of the cockpit to see Stormtroopers charging into the hanger.  

"Shit," Lynette said as she took her seat behind the piloting controls. Gaheris dropped into the seat behind her. She flipped on the intercom before turning her attention to switches that controlled the guns.  "Ax, get up here! We gotta go!"

The panel flashed, indicating the ground gun had popped out on the underside of the ship. Since they weren't going anywhere until Ax got up here, Lynette turned her attention to shooting every Stormtrooper that was dumb enough to enter the hanger. She took a fair number of them down, but a small handful had managed to avoid her blaster shots and were setting up a larger canon. Lynette didn't like the thought of what that could do with her newly repaired ship, but there were too many Stormtroopers flooding into the hanger for her to worry about them. Quantity beat quality in this moment.  

The door to the cockpit whooshed open and Ax charged through the door and climbed up into his seat.  

"How're we looking," Lynette asked, finally swinging the gun around to the Stromtroopers with the canon. That allowed a whole lot of them to flood into the hanger and spread out. Time was up. They needed to get out of here now.  

"We're good! We're good!" Ax said. "All systems check out! Get us the hell out of here."

That was the best news Lynette had heard all day. She turned over the last few controls that would initiate takeoff. When she settled back in her seat and looked out the window, she saw him. The purple cloak billowed around his imposing figure as Ursus himself entered the hanger. Behind her she heard Gaheris start to take loud, shaky breaths. She felt him rest a hand on her shoulder and she reached up to grab it while her other hand hovered between the controls that would set the Damsel in motion and the gun she could use to to shoot Ursus right here and now.  

"Lass!" Ax barked. Lynette gave Gaheris' hand a squeeze before one hand dropped onto the thruster while the other flipped the switch to pull the gun back inside the Damsel. The ship lifted up off the ground as Lynette carefully turned it before sending out the open hanger and away from Ursus and his imperial troops.  

Chapter Text

On the edge of the mountain, just outside the interest of the stormtroopers who were far more interested in taking what was left of the rebel base, waited three ships for the Rogue Squadron. Cywyllog's ship for herself, Cliges, Hana, and Gareth, and fighters for Mordred and Percival. Well, there had been a fighter for Percival, but he took off just as Mordred and Cywyllog finally reached the ships. The Gringolet II had just taken off and it looked like Percival was following as an escort for the transport. That would also allow him to piggyback on the Gringolet's hyperspace jump. That was probably for the best. The Rogue Squadron's ship was smaller than the Damsel and looked like it would have trouble carrying one fighter along on its lightspeed jump, let alone two.

Climbing up into the X-wing fighter, Mordred was relieved to see AC-LN plugged into the droid-port on the back of the fighter. The little astromech began beeping with delight at the sight of him, waving one of its arms in the air as Mordred climbed up into the fighter. He paused long enough to give the metallic arm a tap before settling down into the fighter and firing it up. 

He had just completed his systems check when one last ship shot out of the hanger: the Savage Damsel. Without thinking, Mordred lifted his fighter up off the ground and went after it. The Damsel needed an escort off planet, after all, and the Rogue Squadron ship would do better on its own. Mordred pushed the engine of the fighter as hard as it would go, quickly closing the distance between it and the Damsel.

"Is that you on our tail, puppy?" came Lynette's voice over the radio. Mordred grinned as he flipped the switch to respond. 

"She's flying," he said. "You must be relieved."

"Getting there," Lynette said. "But it's not smooth sailing just yet."

"Do you think she can handle me tagging along on your lightspeed jump?" Mordred asked. 

"About that, captain," he heard Dinadan say in the distance. "I was speaking with the Damsel and I really think you should know--

Mordred stopped listening to Dinadan as his fighter finally hit atmosphere and began to shake as it worked to clear it. Mordred's hand tightened on the joystick as a particularly bad bump of turbulence threw him back and forth in his seat. The lights on the control panel started flashing and Mordred's eyes widened as he looked them over. Those readings didn't make any sense. 

"Lynette," he said as he started frantically flipping switches, trying to fix this. "Something's wrong with my ship."    

"Lyn--" Mordred said before static cut into his communication. Lynette didn't pay it much mind. Traveling through the atmosphere tended to wreck havoc on the radio. "Something...my ship..."

Lynette and Ax exchanged a glance. Something about that didn't sound good. 

"Could you repeat that, Lad?" Ax asked. "We're getting some interference from the atmosphere and didn't hear you."

"Can't...readings...off...losing al..."

"What's he saying?" Gaheris asked. 

Lynette shook her head. She didn't know what he was saying but it didn't sound good. "Mordred?  What's going on?"

Mordred tried to respond, but like before the message was completely garbled by static. Then there was a loud burst of static over the radio followed by shouting. 

"AC, hang on, we're going down!"

"What?" Gaheris yelled, lunging forward for the controls. Lynette swatted him back. 

"Ax, plot a course after him," Lynette said. "We'll keep an eye out for his shoot when he ejects and pick...him..."

Lynette trailed off as she looked at Ax. His eyes were glued to the readout before him and he had gone sheet white. 

"Ax?" she asked. "What is it?"

"He's gone," Ax whispered. 

"What?"

"Just...disappeared right off the radar," Ax said as he looked up at Lynette. 

If Mordred's fighter was crashing, they would have seen it on the radar. If the fighter had disappeared from the radar, that meant it was gone. Completely destroyed. But how could that be? They hadn't been fired on. The only option was some sort of malfunction in the ship that caused an overload... Those types of malfunctions usually didn't have any survivors.

"The tracker on the cockpit," Lynette said. She wasn't ready to give up on Mordred--not yet. 

"Nothing," Ax said. "I'm sorry, lass."

"Sorry why?" Gaheris asked. "I don't understand? Why aren't we going after him?"

"Because there's nothing left to go after," Lynette said, her voice hoarse as her eyes blurred with tears. She pulled up on the controls, sending the Damsel out into space.

"No," Gaheris said, standing up and reaching over her shoulder for the controls. "No, you can't just give up! You can't leave him!"

"Gaheris!" Lynette yelled, turning her seat and grabbing the front of his shirt. She pushed back a little--just enough so his focus shifted off the controls and onto her. Lynette glared up him, willing him to understand and accept what was happening so she wouldn't have to say the words aloud. Even if Mordred had survived the explosion that destroyed his ship, he'd never survive the fall without an intact cockpit and shoot, which the lack of a tracking signal indicated he did not have. And if by some miracle he did survive the fall, they would never find him. They had no ship or tracker signal to follow. They had no way of knowing where he had landed. The Empire was closing in on them and there was nothing they could do for Mordred if he had survived. But in all likelihood, he hadn't. He was gone and that was something they would have to accept or they were going to get themselves killed or captured on a fool's errand. 

"Sit down," Lynette said. Gaheris dropped back into his seat and buried his face in his hands.

"What were you saying, Dinadan?" Lynette asked, turning her seat back around.

"I'm sorry?" the droid said. 

"You were saying something before Mordred...something about talking to the Damsel. Something I should know?"

"Yes, of course," Dinadan said. "I was speaking with your ship and she raised a concern about the hyperdrive. She's not sure it will work."

"What?" Lynette and Ax yelled at the same time as they both turned to face Dinadan.

"What do you mean the hyperdrive won't work?" Ax asked. "We ran several diagnostics right after the ship was damaged and it was the only system that was working. It wouldn't just suddenly stop working."

"I wish I had more information," Dinadan said. "But I only engaged the Damsel in a brief conversation and after she told me about the hyperdrive, I thought it best to inform you of the risks."

"What exactly is wrong with the hyperdrive?" Lynette asked. 

"The Damsel isn't sure. She isn't even sure there is something wrong. All she told me was that something felt wrong about the hyperdrive and that she isn't sure it will work."

"We can't make a jump with that sort of ominous warning," Ax said. 

"No," Lynette said. "But we're fast and small and if we can just maneuver around the planet without being noticed, we can maybe make it to a moon or--"

The alarms sounded before Lynette could finish formulating what probably would have ended up being a really bad plan. Ax looked down at the readout in front of him and shook his head. 

"Star Destroyers," he said. "Three of them. Converging on our position."

"Great," Lynette said as she started flipping switches and turning knobs. "Really, this is just what we needed. An excellent end to an already stellar day."

"Lass, why are you angling the deflector forward?" Ax asked, his voice wavering with terror.  

"Why do you think, Ax?" Lynette asked as she jammed her controls forward and sent the Damsel flying right toward the Star Destroyers.

There was a lot of yelling around her as the Damsel took off toward the nearest Star Destroyer. Lynette ignored all of it, her focus entirely on the ship before her. It started firing as the Damsel closed in on it. Lynette maneuvered her ship out of the way off the blasts without ever breaking her course. She managed to hold course until she reached the tip of the Star Destroyer's nose, which she promptly looped around.  Once the Damsel was underneath the Star Destroyer, Lynette piloted her ship along the underside. They came out behind the Star Destroyer where, instead of open space waiting for them with welcoming arms, they instead found two more Star Destroyers closing in on their location.  

"Well this is working out great so far," Ax snarled. "Any other bright ideas?"

"This is all one plan, Ax," Lynette said. "And you're going to tell me later it was a good one."

She continued her course toward the other two Star Destroyers--slightly slower this time to give the first one time to turn around and come after them. Like before, she avoided the blasts from the Star Destroyers easily. Easier than earlier because the ships clearly didn't want to risk hitting each other and were much more reserved with their shots.  

"Prepare to make the jump to lightspeed," Lynette said.  

"The lightspeed that isn't working?" Ax asked.

"The lightspeed that might not be working," Lynette said. "We have to try or else we're not gonna last much longer."

"Depending on what's wrong with the hyperdrive, we may not last long at all if we try it. If we overload the engines, we could explode."

"No, if we were at risk of exploding, the Damsel would have warned us. Isn't that right, Dinadan?"

"What?" Dinadan asked. He sounded very confused and panicked.  

"See?"

"Lass--"

"Just do it, Ax!"

Ax scowled and turned his attention to the navigation computer. In front of them, the two Star Destroyers continued to close in around them and sensors indicated the one behind her was doing the same.  They were boxing the Damsel in--limiting Lynette's escape routes.  

"You sure there's nothing else you'd rather I be doing while certain doom closes in on all sides?" Ax asked.  

"No, I really want the option to jump to lightspeed in the next minute," Lynette said.  

The ship shuddered and Lynette's hands dropped away from the controls. The Damsel continued to glide forward--at a much slower pace than before as it was caught in the tractor beam of one of the Star Destroyers.  

"Disruptor," Ax said, reaching for the control.  

"Not yet," Lynette said. "Keep working on the lightspeed calculations. I'll tell you when to activate the disruptor."

She expected another argument, but instead Ax remained silent. Maybe he had finally realized that she did actually have a plan and wasn't floundering blindly as they jumped from one disaster to the next. Or maybe he had just given up. Whatever the reason, Lynette was glad for the silence as she watched and waited as the Damsel continued to draw closer to one of the Star Destroyers. Around her, the remaining two ships continued to draw in as well.  

"Oh, Captain," Dinadan said, his voice wavering. "If we have a means of escape, I recommend we enact it now.

"Not yet," Lynette said.  

"But the hanger on that Star Destroyer is open and we are about to be pulled inside."

"Not yet," Lynette said again, her eyes on the readout as she focused on the position of the other two ships around the Damsel. Just a little bit closer... closer...and...

"Now, Ax!" Lynette yelled. Ax flipped on the disruptor and Lynette pushed the controls down as the Damsel was suddenly free of the tractor beam. Above her, all three Star Destroyers tried to turn suddenly to go after her and only ended up crashing into each other. Lynette laughed and let out a whoop of relief. It would take a while for the Star Destroyers to untangle from each other and by then the Damsel would hopefully be long gone.  

"Well done, lass," Ax said with a shake of his head. "Well done."

"How are those calculations?" Lynette asked.  

"Ready," Ax said. "Are you sure you want to try this?"

"I'm sure," Lynette said. "Let's hit it."

Together she and Ax flipped over the controls to engage the hyperdrive. The ship made a whirring sound and Lynette thought she saw the beginning of a hyperspace window opening in front of them. But then the whirring sound dropped away and the hyperdrive window closed before the Damsel could enter it.  

"Oh dear!" Dinadan said.  

"I suppose we should count ourselves lucky that we didn't explode," Ax said.  

"It's fine," Lynette said as she climbed out of her seat. "It's fine. It's going to take the Star Destroyers a while to untangle from each other and we're faster, so we have a decent head start that should last us a while. More than enough time to run some diagnostics on the hyperdrive." She rested a hand on Gaheris' shoulder and gave him a small shake. He lifted his head from his hands and looked up at her. His face was streaked with tears. Lynette pressed her lips together. There would be time for crying later. 

"Come on," she said, giving his arm a tug. "I need you to pilot the ship."

"I not a pilot," Gaheris said as he allowed Lynette to pull him to his feet and maneuvered him into the captain's chair.  

"That's fine," Lynette said. "This will be very easy. Just keep us moving forward. The Star Destroyers are out of range and their weapons won't be able to reach us so long as you keep us moving at full speed. Can you do that?"

"And just what is he supposed to do when those Star Destroyers get wise and decide to send their TIE fighters after us?" Ax asked. "We're not going to be able to outrun those for long."

"Hopefully we'll be in the asteroid field by then and the fighters will be the least of our problems," Lynette said.  

"What?" both Ax and Gaheris yelled at the same time.  

Lynette pointed at Gaheris.  "Let me know when we reach the edge of the asteroid field. Come on, Ax!"

Without waiting to see if anyone was following her, Lynette made her way to the back of the ship where the engine access was. She pulled open the panel on the floor and jumped down into the underbelly of the ship. She moved around some of the large piping to the engine controls down there and started the diagnostic on the hyperdrive. The diagnostic came back fairly quickly with a message similar to the one the Damsel had given Dinadan: something was wrong with the hyperdrive, but the ship had no idea what it was.  

"Well?" Ax shouted from above her.  

"We must have wired something wrong when we put the engine back together," Lynette said. "It's the only thing I can think of that would explain this error."

"All right, I'll check the connections up here and you do the same down there," Ax said.

Lynette nodded as she moved away from the panel and over to the main breaker for the engine. She began making her way up and down the wiring in the breaker, making sure everything was attached to the right port and that energy was flowing through it correctly. She was about 75% of the way through and hadn't seen anything out of the ordinary when something hit the ship with enough force that she was thrown to the ground.  

"Sorry, sorry!" Gaheris said over the intercom. "We appear to have hit the asteroid field."

"Great," Lynette muttered, putting the breaker back together before she climbed back up onto the main level of the ship. Ax caught up with her as they made their way through the halls. The ship took one more hit before they reach the cockpit and both Lynette and Ax were thrown to the ground.  

"You realize that this is a high density asteroid belt, yes?" Ax asked as they both struggled to their feet. "High density. Means lots of rocks in close proximity to each other with erratic movements instead of a standard orbit. In other words, it's a sure death. Instead of just the almost death that you've managed to breeze past so far."

"We're small, we're fast, and we're highly maneuverable," Lynette said. "Something that the Star Destroyers are not. Add to that the disruption the asteroid field is going to cause to communication, sensors, and navigation, this is our best chance to disappear and hideout until the Empire decides it can't waste anymore time on us."

"A good plan. Assuming we survive long enough for them to give up," Ax said. "Which we won't."

"Come on Ax? I haven't failed you yet."

They reach the cockpit and Gaheris very quickly surrendered the piloting controls to Lynette. Just in time too as she was narrowly able to swerve out of the way of an approaching asteroid.        

"We're not actually going in there, are we?" Gaheris asked as he took his seat behind Lynette.  

"Oh, of course we are," Ax said. "What did you expect, lad? For her to have grown some sense in the last few minutes?"

"Either help me pilot or go fix the hyperdrive," Lynette snapped.  

"TIE fighters, incoming," Ax said. "Although we're not going to be able to see them for much longer."

"And on the bright side, they won't be able to see us either," Lynette said.  

"I see now," Dinadan said as they just narrowly avoided another asteroid. "Our story ends as one of warning. So others might understand the dangers of hubris and the consequences of believing in your own invincibility."

"I wish you assholes had the same faith in me Mordred did," Lynette snapped as she spun the Damsel on its side and sent it between two asteroids that were crashing together. Dinadan and Gaheris both yelled and for the briefest moment Lynette thought she had made a mistake and doomed them. Then the Damsel breezed through the slimmest opening and out the other side.  

Ax whistled. "Well that just took out two TIE fighters. So I suppose we are in marginally better shape then we were a second ago."

"See, the plan's working," Lynette said. Her hands were tight on the controls and she weaved around any asteroid that got too close. Some of the small ones still hit the Damsel, but it wasn't anything that would cause lasting damage to the ship. Or at least that's what she told herself. There was no telling just how well the repaired hull was going to hold up under this sort of pressure.

"Another TIE fighter just dropped off our sensors," Ax said. "Can't tell if something hit it or if it just dropped out of range. But the last one is trying to overtake us."

"Great," Lynette muttered. She tried not to worry about the remaining TIE fighter - the asteroids were the bigger threat. But that became impossible as a shadow fell over the Damsel's cockpit.  Lynette glanced up in time to see the TIE Fighter above them, its gun pointed right at them. Then an asteroid struck the fighter and it disappeared from view.  

"Well, that was lucky," Ax said.  

"What did I tell you?" Lynette asked.

"This is hardly worth of a victory lap. We're still flying deeper into an asteroid field that we cannot hope to survive for the hours it will take for us to loose the Star Destroyers that have no doubt followed us in here. So what's your plan for getting us out of this, lass?"

"Find me a big one," Lynette said.  

"A big what?" 

"Asteroid. Find me a big asteroid to land on."

There was a long pause and Lynette didn't dare look at Ax to see what he was doing. Then after a moment he started giving her directions. Soon enough a large asteroid came into view. Lynette flew the Damsel in close to the asteroid and then back and forth along the surface looking for a cavern large enough to fit her ship. Meanwhile, Ax kept an eye out for Imperial Ships. When he gave the word that they were clear, Lynette looped the Damsel around to a hole she had seen leading to the center of the asteroid. The tunnel was a long one with more than enough room for the Damsel to maneuver. Lynette took her ship a few hundred feet in before landing it and powering down all systems.  

Then she let out a great sigh of relief and collapsed back against her seat, feeling all the tension of the last few hours just ease out of her. They were safe. For the time being, they were safe.  

"Nice job, Lynette," Gaheris said quietly, reaching forward to squeeze her shoulder.  

"Aye, lass," Ax said. "That may just be the best flying I'd ever seen. Your mother would be green with envy."

"More like red with rage that I was careless with her ship," Lynette said, getting her to feet. "Come on. We've got a lot of work to do if we're going to fix the hyperdrive and there's no telling how long we'll be safe in here. So let's figure out what we need to do and what it will take to fix it."

Orders given, Lynette turned and left the cockpit. Halfway to the engine, Lynette paused, slumping against the wall and pressing a hand up against her eyes. Mordred. He...they'd really...she couldn't believe he was really gone.  

Drawing in a deep breath, Lynette blinked back the tears as she dropped her and and straightened up again. There would be time enough for grieving later. Right now she had work to do. Right now she had to ensure the rest of them survived this. 

Chapter Text

He had been going up.  His fighter had been climbing into the atmosphere of Barham Down. The Damsel had been right in front of him and they were going to escape together. Then the alarms had sounded and when Mordred checked to see what was wrong, every system indicated that instead of climbing up into the atmosphere, his ship was actually on a collision course with the ground. Mordred tried to contact the Damsel, but suddenly there was a ton of interference and he couldn't make out Lynette's reply. Couldn't be certain that she had received his message.  

Since he wasn't actually on a collision course with the ground, Mordred kept to his course, trying to keep pace with the Damsel. He had eyes on Lynette's ship until suddenly he didn't. A fog cloud appeared out of nowhere and the Damsel disappeared into it. Mordred's fighter followed a moment later.  

Visibility was zero inside the fog. Mordred looked down at his sensors to see that they were malfunctioning as well as the Damsel and the Star Destroyers had disappeared completely from his readout. Not understanding what was happening or why his ship was convinced it was about to crash, Mordred leveled it out. He kept flying up, but at a softer angel and at a slower speed. He had no idea what was in front of him and he didn't want to risk crashing into the Damsel or a Star Destroyer.  

A shadow whizzed by out of the fog and Mordred blinked. Had that been a tree branch? Panicked, Mordred pushed down on his controls. For a second the alarms stopped and then his fighter crashed into something with enough force to throw Mordred back and forth in the cockpit.  

Breathing heavily as his panic subsided, Mordred looked down at his controls to do a systems check. He had crashed. His fighter had crashed to the ground, just like it had told him it was going to. How was that even possible when he had been flying away from the planet? 

"AC, how are you doing back there?" Mordred asked and received a handful of buzzes and chirps over the communicator in response. "Good--" he started to say as he looked up. His mouth fell open as he stared out the window of his cockpit. He reached out with a shaky hand and ran his fingertips along the glass. There were water droplets on the window of his cockpit. Water. There was no water on Barham Down. So how had water gotten onto his ship? 

Mordred flipped the switch that would open up the cockpit hatch and undid the safety restraints. He pushed the hatch open as he stood up and took in his surroundings. His ship had crashed in a lake.  Mordred couldn't tell if it was a large lake or a small lake because the area surrounding his ship was covered by a dense fog and he couldn't see more than a few feet ahead of him. Mordred thought he was able to make out some shadows in the distance to his left. Trees, maybe? In that case land was probably nearby.  

Hopefully land was nearby. Mordred didn't fancy his chances of surviving this place if he had to spend any length of time swimming aimlessly, trying to find a shoreline.

"Where are we?" Mordred whispered. He hadn't expected an answer, so he was surprised when AC-LN let loose a series of buzzes and whistles. Mordred looked down at the translation readout on the control panel.  

"Avalon."

"What?" Mordred asked, looking back at the droid and then quickly back to the readout. "How do...what makes you think this is Avalon?"

"Been here before. Morgan le Fay brought me. She crashed first time surprised by atmosphere door."

A door in the atmosphere. The magic doors that appeared whenever the knights needed them. They could appear in the atmosphere and pull a whole ship to the planet? Mordred had never heard that in any of the stories. But then the stories had always spoken of Avalon as a place of magic and wonder. Not as a fog-bound swamp where you couldn't even see what was a couple feet in front of you.

"Is this what it looked like?" Mordred asked, motioning to the fog.  

"No. Fog’s new."

“Then how can you be sure this is Avalon?” Mordred asked. 

“Sensor readings.”

“Sensor readings,” Mordred said under his breath. “Well, then, are your sensor readings picking up any life signs?”

“Yes. Lots.”

Mordred nodded slowly, not sure what he had expected. Being in Avalon at all was a welcomed surprise—he’d thought he’d need to go search for this door Aunt Morgan had mentioned. He hadn’t expected it to find him as he tried to leave Barham Down. Had the door opened on its own based on his accomplishment or had someone opened it? And if someone had opened it, shouldn’t they have been here to meet him? Was Aunt Morgan the one who opened the door for him. Could she do that? And if her ghost could come to him on Barham down, why couldn’t she come to him here?

Too many questions and Mordred didn’t have an answer for a single one. All he had were the stories Aunt Morgause had told him and he wasn’t sure how many of those were true. They had seemed too fantastical when he was a child. It was only because of everything he had experienced that he was willing to believe them now. After all, a magical door in the atmosphere had just pulled him into Avalon.  If that part of the story was true, surely the rest of it...

The Knights of Avalon were gone. Aunt Morgan had been the last, but in the stories there had been someone else. A leader and teacher who had existed and led the knights for as long as they had been in existence. This person—Vivian, if Mordred remembered the stories correctly—was supposedly immortal. If she had been on Avalon when the order fell, perhaps she had survived its destruction. Perhaps she was the one who had opened the door for him—who had sent the vision of Aunt Morgan to him. Perhaps she was the one he was looking for—the one who was supposed to train him.  

It was a far-fetched hope, but it was all Mordred had to go on right now. So with AC-LN's help, he collected his gear from his fighter and swam across the lake to shore. Visibility wasn’t any better on dry land than it had been on the lake. Mordred could only hope that morning—whenever that was—would clear the fog. For now he figured it was best to set up camp and try to dry off.  

It took some time to find a patch of ground that was firm enough to hold a camp and from there it took another hour to pitch his tent and change into some dry clothes. He sorted what meager rations he had and got a little bit going on the fire. Once everything important was taken care of, Mordred settled down in front of AC-LN and plugged a hand-held translator into the droid.  

"You said your sensors were picking up lots of life signs,” Mordred said. “What about signs of civilization? Radio transmissions? An unnatural heat source? Other signs of power?”

“No, nothing.”

Mordred pressed his face into his hands. He was here for a reason. The door had opened for a reason. Aunt Morgan had come to him for a reason. If he just had faith in her and trusted the force to guide him, he would find it.     

"Okay," Mordred said, running his hands over his eyes before lowering them so he could look at the translator. "Aunt Morgause’s stories always included a temple. There was a temple on Avalon where the Knights gathered. Do you know where the temple was? Could you find the temple from here?”

"Not familiar. Can’t find temple"

"Well what about..."

Mordred stopped as there was a rustling noise behind him. He looked over his shoulder but wasn't able to make out anything in the treeline because of the dense fog. AC-LN buzzed and whistled and Mordred looked back at the translator.  

"Humanoid."

Mordred's eyes widened. Humanoid. Whatever was out in the fog, it was humanoid. Perhaps this person could help him find the temple. Maybe things weren't as hopeless as he had thought. 

Slowly, Mordred got to his feet and turned to face the treeline. He held up his hands as a showing of peace as he looked around, trying to find a shadow in the fog that wasn't a plant.  

"Hello?" he called out."I know someone is out there. My droid can sense you. I don't mean you any harm. My ship crashed and I'm afraid I have no idea where I am or how I'm going to get home. Do you think you could help me?"  

One of the shadows in the fog moved. Not one of the tall trees. No, this was a much smaller shadow. It came slowly out of the fog until Mordred found himself facing a young girl. She was maybe ten and utterly filthy. Her face was streaked with mud and dirt. Her brown hair was tangled and matted. She wore an over-sized tunic that went down to her knees and it was just as mud-caked as the rest of her.

"Hi," Mordred said, taking a knee so he was closer to her level. "My name's Mordred. What's yours?"

The girl pressed her lips together as she stared at him with wide, cream-colored eyes.  

"Where are your parents?" Mordred asked. "Are they somewhere nearby?" Again, no response. Mordred hesitated for a second before deciding to risk the question. "Are you all alone out here?"  

Finally a response as the girl nodded. He supposed the shape she was in should have been a dead giveaway that she was all alone. But how long had she been here on her own and how had she gotten here? Was this girl force sensitive? Had a doorway opened for her too? Was that why Mordred was here? To help take care of her?

"I have some food," Mordred said, motioning to the fire behind him. 

"Food?" the girl asked, looking at the fire with great suspicion.    

"Are you hungry?" 

The girl nodded and started edging closer to the fire. She had just about reached Mordred when she stopped suddenly with a sharp breath.  

"What's wrong?" Mordred asked.  

"It's warm here," the girl said. "Why?"

"Because of the fire," Mordred said slowly. "The fire creates heat. Have you never seen a fire before?"

The girl shook her head. Mordred carefully reached out to take her hand and guided her over to sit by the fire. The girl's mouth hung open with shock as the heat from the fire radiated outward. She tried to lean in closer once they reached the edge but Mordred held her back.  

"Don't get too close," he said. "Or it will burn you."

"Burn?"

"Hurt," Mordred said. "Painful. A little heat is a good thing. Too much can hurt you."

The girl nodded and sat down next to the fire. She held her hands out near it and closed her eyes as she soaked in the heat. Mordred watched her for a moment to make sure she wouldn't get any closer before turning his attention to the food.  

"Will you teach me?" the girl asked. "Will you teach me to make fire?"

"Why?" Mordred asked. "Don't you have somewhere to stay that's warm?"

The girl shook her head. "Sometimes...sometimes I sneak up to the temple and sleep on the steps. It's dry there. But if the lady catches me, she hurts me. Like fire."

Mordred sat back from the fire as he took in what the girl had just said. She had been to the temple. She knew where it was. And, according to what she had just said, it was active.A lady. Was that Vivian?  And if so, why was she chasing this girl away from the temple? If the girl was force sensitive, shouldn't Vivian have welcomed her into the temple with open arms? And if she wasn't, what was she doing here?

Collecting his thoughts, Mordred pulled the food off the fire and distributed it across two plates. Then he put some more on the fire, because the girl looked half-starved and he was certain she would ask for seconds as soon as she was finished. Then he took both plates and moved backwards so he was sitting next to the girl. 

"Let it cool down for a second," Mordred said as the girl reached for the plate. "If its too hot, it will burn your tongue. It will hurt."

"Why did you warm food?" the girl asked.  

Mordred shrugged. "I don't know. To make it taste better. To keep it from making you sick. What do you usually eat?"

"The safe plants," the girl said.  

"How long have you lived here?" Mordred asked.  

"Always," the girl said.  

"Have you always been on your own?"

The girl nodded. "It used to be easier. When there were other children at the temple, I could sneak around them and no one would notice me. But ever since everyone else left, the lady won't let me anywhere near the temple."

Mordred frowned as he tried to make sense of what the girl had just told him. If she had been living on Avalon since before the temple fell, that would make her older than he was. Could that be right?  Visually she looked about ten and she certainly acted like a child. She could be from a long-lived race that aged slower than the average humanoid. It might explain how she had been able to survive out here for so long on her own, if she was much older than she looked.  

But none of that explained why she had been living in hiding instead of at the temple or why whoever lived there now wouldn't let her stay.  

Mordred handed the girl her plate. She tapped at the food a couple times with her finger. Once she was satisfied that it wouldn't hurt her, she dug in with a single-minded intensity. Mordred watched her eat, his own meal forgotten. Nothing about this girl made any sense so far and he wasn't sure how to go about asking any further questions to get the answers he needed.  

"You're right," the girl said with a sheepish grin once she had finished eating and licked her plate clean."Food is much better cooked."

"I'm glad you liked it," Mordred said. "There's more cooking if you're still hungry." Her eyes lit up with anticipation as she nodded.

"Thank you for sharing," the girl said.  

"My pleasure. Do you have a name? Or are we going to need to come up with one for you together?"

"Nimue," the girl said after a pause. "And you're Mordred."

"That's right," Mordred said. "Nimue, you said that a lady would chase you away from the temple whenever you tried to sleep there. Is the temple far from here? And does the lady still live there?" Nimue's eyes narrowed as she hunched down and drew away from him. "I only ask because I'm going to need someone to help me get my ship out of the lake and if there are tools at this temple--"

"Don't lie," Nimue said.  

Mordred pressed his lips together as he considered what to say to her. She had to be force sensitive, right? And a powerful force user if she was able to detect that he was lying with little to no training.  

"I do need help with my ship," Mordred said slowly. "But I was also sent here. I'm not sure why. I had a vision recently of my dead aunt who told me Avalon was now open to me. I think this is Avalon and I think I'm here to find the Temple of the Knights of Avalon. Why, I don't know. If someone is still living at the temple, perhaps they are meant to train me. I won’t know until I find them. Do you think you could take me to the temple?"

"Is that what you want?" Nimue asked softly.  

"I suppose I want to know what my options are," Mordred said. "I don't know if the temple is where I'm supposed to be or if this lady is the one I'm supposed to be seeking out. And I never will unless I try and see what awaits me there. Will you help me try?"

Nimue nodded. "I'll help you try."

Chapter Text

They didn't leave for the temple right away. Mordred let Nimue eat what was left of the warm food while he packed the camp back up and put out the fire. Soon enough the three of them were making their way through the woods--hopefully towards the temple. Mordred and Nimue walked side-by-side as AC-LN flew along behind them. At first Nimue had been frightened by the droid and its buzzes and chirps. But it won her over quickly enough that after every few feet she would look over her shoulder to make sure it was still with them.  

They had only been walking for maybe an hour when the forest opened up and the fog began to clear a bit. A shadow loomed in the distance, but it wasn't until they were out of the forest it became clear what they were looking at. The Temple at Avalon. The large, stone structure towered over them. The steps Nimue sometimes dared to sleep on led up to the entrance of the temple and that was the extent of what Mordred could see. Whatever resided within the temple, it wasn't something the Knights of Avalon had wanted casual passersby to see.  

"This is it?" Mordred asked.  

"Yes," Nimue said. "You'll be careful?"   

"I'll do my best," Mordred said, giving her hand a squeeze. He took a few steps forward but Nimue didn't move and her hand ended up slipping out of his. AC-LN flew up beside him and let out a few chirps and whistles. Mordred looked down at the translator in his hand.

"Not detecting anything. No life signs or technology."

"AC-LN says this place is abandoned," Mordred said, turning back to Nimue. "Are you sure..."

He trailed off as his eyes scanned the area behind him. She was gone. Nimue had disappeared from sight. There weren't even any footprints in the mud to indicate which way she had gone.

"Nimue?" Mordred yelled. No response. He looked at AC-LN. "Where'd she go?"

"Lost her signature."

Mordred frowned as he looked back out into the fog. He didn't like the thought of leaving Nimue out in the wilderness all on her own. But she had managed to take care of herself for this long. And the sooner he spoke to this lady, the sooner he would be able to secure a safe and warm place for Nimue to stay.  

AC-LN buzzed and tugged on the sleeve of Mordred's shirt. He glanced down first at the translator, which only had a series of exclamation marks, before looking at AC. The droid was frantically pointing its arms in the direction of the temple. Mordred looked the way AC-LN was motioning to find that the doors had opened and that an elderly woman was standing on the top step. She was quite small and hunched over. Her gray hair was braid on top her head and she wore deep blue robes. Mordred immediately felt drawn to her and he turned away from the treeline and made his way toward the temple.  

"Welcome, Mordred Pendragon," the woman said as he reached the stairs and started his ascent. "Son of Arthur Pendragon; Savior of Cameliard, Hero of the Battle of Badon, founder of the Round Table and one of the greatest warriors the Knights of Avalon have ever known. It is good that you are finally here to follow in his footsteps. I hope your arrival wasn't too...difficult."

"My fighter crashed into a lake," Mordred said as he came to a stop a few steps below her.  

"I am sorry for that," the woman said. "Unfortunately, travel into Avalon can be difficult when you've never made the journey before. The veil is at its thinnest in the atmosphere and it was the only place I could open a door for you."

"Can you help me get my ship out of the lake?" Mordred asked.  

"In due time, you will be able to get your ship of the lake without any help from anyone," the woman said, holding out her hand. "Now come along. I have much to teach you and not much time to do it if you are to free your father from his captivity within the Empire."

Mordred started reaching for her hand, but something--he wasn't sure what--caused him to pause. He looked over his shoulder, hoping to see Nimue. But all he saw was fog and the shadow of the forest that surrounded the temple.  

"Come now, Mordred," the woman said. "Let old Vivian teach you how to become a proper Knight of Avalon.  

"Vivian?" Mordred asked, looking back up at her. "As in--?"

"Yes, the very same," Vivian said. "For generations I trained every page that came through these halls and prepared them for their service as a squire. Now, you're a little old for a page. We have dear Morgause and her meddling to thank for that. But you are ready to take this next step. Morgan and I both felt it. It's why she came to you. It's why I was willing to open a door to let you in. I would not have done so if I hadn't believed you were ready."

Mordred reached out and took Vivian's offered hand. Her fingers closed around his palm so tight it almost hurt. Before he could make any complaint, Vivian was drifting backwards, pulling Mordred along after her. As soon as they were inside the temple, the doors began to shut behind them. AC-LN just barely had enough time to dart through before the doors closed. It was only then that Vivian let go of Mordred's hand as she started making her way down the long, straight hallway. Mordred was left with no choice but to follow her.  

"You know what happened to me on Barham Down," Mordred said once he had caught up to Vivian. "Did you see it or did someone tell you?"

"Why are you dancing around the question you want to ask?" Vivian asked. "If you want to know if I've spoken with your aunt since she passed, just ask that question. A Knight of Avalon is always forthright."

"Have you?" Mordred asked. "Have you spoken to Aunt Morgan?"

"I have," Vivian said. "And so will you, in time. In time, you will be able to do things you never dreamed of. Now come. You have no doubt had a trying day. I have a room for you where you can rest. For tomorrow we begin training in earnest."

"I..." Mordred shook his head. Everything was moving so fast. He felt as though the ground was moving underneath him--pulling him along to a destiny he wasn't even sure he wanted. Certainly he wasn't willing to do anything else until he got Nimue's situation sorted.  

He stopped walking. She stopped as well, her gray eyes narrowing as she turned to face him. Something about the look she was giving him unnerved Mordred and he took a step backwards.  

"What is it?" Vivian asked as her face relaxed into a smile.  

"There's a little girl out there," Mordred said. 

"What?"

"There's a little girl living out in the wilderness," Mordred said. "Humanoid. She looks about ten but from what she said...I think she's from a long-lived race. But that doesn't change the fact that she has the mentality of a child and shouldn't be left to fend for herself."

"Really? I wasn't aware..."  She trailed off and Mordred wondered how he must have looked to her in that moment. He was not at all pleased with her attempt to lie to him.  

"You?" he asked, deciding to be forthright. "The great teacher of the Knights of Avalon? Unaware of the little girl who is terrified of the mean lady who chases her away whenever she tries to sleep on the warm steps?"

"You don't trust me," Vivian said. "Understandable, since you were raised by Morgause and she was always so full of suspicion. But I hope to earn your trust. It will not be easy as there are things I want to protect you from. Hard truths that I do not believe you are ready for. It may take a few tries for me to be as forthright with you as I should be. I apologize for that. I am used to training children, not grown adults. This will take some getting used to for the both of us.

"As for the girl, she is not what she seems. Nor am I, exactly. I have been called an avatar for the Knights of Avalon. In reality, I am an avatar to the force. I am the force made flesh. But the light side of the force. I am the empty potential of a still mind. I am the vessel. I am the force moving through you and guiding you. The girl...she is an avatar as well. An avatar for temptation and emotion. That's why she's appearing to you as a child. To tempt you into an emotional connection you can scarce afford to have.

"You want to protect a child. That is an admirable trait. But the force doesn't distinguish between people. We are all important and therefore we are all unimportant. The Knights of Avalon cannot put one life above another on the basis of emotion. That leads to jealously, anger, and hatred. The path to darkness. That is what this child is trying to temp you towards."

"Aunt Morgan said something similar once," Mordred said.  

"Your aunt was very wise," Vivian said. "You would do well to listen to her wisdom. Now, come. You are tired and need your rest. There will be time enough for new words of wisdom in the morning. Come along, now. Come along."

Vivian turned and continued down the hall once more. Mordred went after her again. This time he stayed a couple paced behind her. His thoughts were spinning. He still didn't like the thought of leaving Nimue out there on her own. But if what Vivian said was true, what else could he do? He'd only just figured out the force--only just managed to get it right after years of struggling against the temptation of the threads. Aunt Morgan had warned him once before what he risked by relying on those sorts of connections. And look what disregarding her warnings had cost him. He couldn't afford to do that again.  

Or so he told himself over and over as Vivian presented him with his room and left so he and AC-LN could get settled in. He told himself as he unpacked his gear and settled in for the night. He even managed to tell himself for a few hours as he tossed and turned while he tried to sleep. And then, finally, deep into the night and after hours of restlessness, another voice finally managed to break through.  

Aunt Morgan had told him that relationships and family were unimportant to the Knights of Avalon. That if he had been brought up correctly, he would have trained as a page and a squire never knowing that Morgan was his aunt. She had believed firmly that this was the way thing should be done. That it was the best way. Lynette had been quick to disagree with her.  

And how'd that work out for the Knights of Avalon?

It hadn't worked out. It hadn't worked out all. The Knights of Avalon had fallen and its members had been picked off one-by-one by the Empire in their isolation. Maybe if the Knights of Avalon had cared more about something--more about each other--they would have been more difficult to defeat.  

Mordred sat up and swung his legs over the side of his bed. They had to do better. He had do do better than what had come before. He would listen to what Vivian had to teach him but he wasn't going to be her puppet. He wasn't going to just do what she said without question. Nimue may be another avatar of the force like Vivian, but she was also a child. She hadn't done anything to hurt him and she had led him to the temple at Avalon without question even though she had been scared of it. Whatever Nimue was, Mordred didn't believe that she meant him any harm. And he wasn't going to believe otherwise until he had a reason to do so. 

Since this wasn't something he was going to figure out so long as Nimue resided outside the temple, that left Mordred with really only one option. He got to his feet and left his room. He half-expected to find Vivian waiting for him outside his door. Just how all-knowing was she, anyway? She had admitted that Aunt Morgan had told her some of what had happened on Barham Down, but had also insinuated that she had seen some of it through the force.  

If she was an avatar of the force, did that mean she knew his thoughts? Probably not, or else she would have been trying to stop him. Or maybe this was a test and one that he was failing? So be it, then. He had no interest in being a part of the Knights of Avalon as they had been.  

He wound his way through the hallways until he reached the entrance to the temple. He stepped up to the doors, expected to be confronted with the difficult task of figuring out how they opened. Instead, the doors reacted to his presence and began to swing open. Just outside the doors, he saw a flurry of movement as Nimue, who had been curled up on the top step, shot to her feet and started running down the stairs.  

"Nimue, wait!" Mordred yelled after her. The girl paused about halfway down the stairs and Mordred pushed through the doorway as soon as it was wide enough. He jogged down the stairs until he stood beside her. She stared up at him with wide eyes, arms crossed tight against her chest.  

"You ran off before I could thank you," Mordred said.  

"I didn't want to see the lady," Nimue said quietly.  

"I can understand that," Mordred said. "She's a bit intense, isn't she?" Nimue nodded and almost smiled. Mordred leaned forward and rested his hands on his knees so that he was eye-level with her. "I really don't like the thought of you out in the woods all on your own. Do you think you'd be willing to come stay inside the temple with me?"

"Up there?" Nimue asked, pointing up at the temple. "With the lady?"

"I promise I won't let her hurt you or chase you out of the temple," Mordred said. "You'll be safe and warm with all the hot food you could possibly want to eat. And AC will be there and it'll protect you too. Will you come?"

"Warm?" Nimue asked. Mordred nodded. Tentatively, she reached out her hand. Mordred took it and let her back up the steps into the temple. Once inside, the doors closed behind them and Nimue immediately hugged his leg. Mordred ran a hand up and down her back as he limped back through the halls, returning to his room.  

AC-LN was all abuzz when they entered. But as soon as it saw Nimue its demeanor began much more enthusiastic. While the two of them got reacquainted, Mordred went to the bathroom and went right for the large soaking tub he had noted earlier. He knelt beside the tub and turned on the warm water. He held his hand underneath the stream of water to make sure it was the right temperature before returning to the main room.  

"What's that noise?" Nimue asked.  

"Running water," Mordred said. "Let's get you cleaned up."

Nimue's eyes narrowed as she drew away from him. "You said I'd be warm."

"And you will be," Mordred said. "This water is warm."

Nimue gasped and darted into the bathroom. Mordred went after her and found her standing beside the tub, a hand in the water. She looked up at him, eyes shining with delight. "It is warm! How does water get warm?"

"The same way anything does," Mordred said. "With some sort of power source. Sometimes its fire, sometimes it's something else. But the trouble with water is that it doesn't stay warm for long. So you had better get in there."

Nimue scrambled to get into the tub and Mordred was just barely able to pull off her dirty tunic before she slid into the water. He let her splash around in the water for a bit before he brought over some soap and taught her how to scrub away the grime that had accumulated over the years. When it came time to clean her hair, he could only look over the mats and shake his head.  

"We'll need to cut it," Mordred said. 

"Why?" Nimue asked.  

"You feel this?" Mordred asked, lifting her hand to touch one of the mats. "That's called a mat and it means that your hair is too dirty to clean. You have to cut and let it grow out again. Is it all right if I do that?"

"I suppose," Nimue said with a shrug. "I like being clean. It feels nice."

"Well, if you like that, you'll love how a nice warm towel feels right after you climb out of the water."

This time Nimue was scrambling out of the tub and Mordred was waiting with a warm towel to wrap her up in. Once he had demonstrated how good the towel was at wiping away water, he left her alone in the bathroom to dry off and change into one of his shirts--her filthy tunic having already been discarded.  

"We'll see if we can find you something more suitable to wear tomorrow," Mordred said. "If the pages used to train here, I'm sure there's something stored away that will fit you."

As soon as she was dry and dressed, the two of them sat down on the floor and Mordred cut away her hair. Soon all the mats were gone and Nimue was running her hands through her boyish haircut, a frown on her face.  

"You may not like it now, but it will grow out soon enough," Mordred said. "Then you can style into something you do like."

"It's cooler," Nimue said.  

"I suppose it is. We can look for a hat tomorrow too if you want something warm on your head."

Mordred got to his feet and helped Nimue up. He made his way over to the bed and pulled back the sheets, motioning for her to climb in. Once Nimue was settled, Mordred tucked her in, drawing the sheets and blankets right up to her chin. Nimue gasped as she snuggled down into the covers.  

"Is sleeping always like this?" she asked. 

"Always," Mordred said. "If it isn't, something has gone horribly wrong."

Nimue nodded as she looked around the room. "Where are you going to sleep?"

"In my sleeping bag on the floor," Mordred said. "Right in front of the door to make sure no one gets in without our noticing."

"Is a sleeping bag like a bed?"

"It's close enough," Mordred said, getting to his feet and making his way to the door. As he walked, he caught AC-LN's attention and motioned to the bed. The droid buzzed and flew over there, settling down right beside Nimue. She rolled onto her side and wrapped her arms around the droid's hull before resting her head on the pillow and drifting off to sleep.  

Mordred pulled his sleeping back out of his equipment and stretched out in it right in front of the door, just like he had promised. He had no idea how Vivian was going to react to this, but he wanted to make sure that he would be the first one to face her in the morning.  

Chapter Text

AC woke him with soft buzzing after only a couple hours of sleep. Mordred forced himself to sit up as he rubbed a hand over his eyes. He would have preferred to sleep longer, but he wanted to be awake and coherent when Vivian finally arrived. He knew that a fight was coming and it wouldn't do him any good to be unprepared for it.

Getting to his feet, Mordred rolled up his sleeping back before making his way over to the lone window in the room. It was still dark and fog-covered outside. AC-LN had said that the mist was new. Was this constant darkness new as well or had Avalon always been like that? Was it meant to represent the emptiness of their minds when the used the force or the destruction of the Knights of Avalon? Whatever the reason, Mordred had a funny feeling he wouldn’t be seeing much of the sun during his stay here.  

He looked back over his shoulder at the bed. Nimue hadn't been disturbed by AC-LN's chirping. She was still fast asleep and Mordred intended to keep it that way. Whatever confrontation was about to occur between himself and Vivian, Mordred wouldn't allow it to take place in this room.  

Mordred went back to the door, pulled it open, and stepped out into the hallway. He wasn't at all surprised to find Vivian waiting for him just outside the doorway.      

"Well, well, aren't you the headstrong one?" Vivian asked as Mordred pulled the door shut behind him. "I suppose I shouldn't be surprised, considering who raised you. She did have to have things just her way."

"You know an awful lot about Aunt Morgause for someone who never would have had cause to meet her," Mordred said.  

"The Queen of Air and Darkness had a way of getting her hand into everything," Vivian said. "She was quite the political power in the days before the Empire. There's a reason she had to go into hiding when Justinian seized control."

Mordred found himself suddenly gaining a newfound respect for Aunt Morgause. She had always been headstrong, but a political power? The Queen of Air and Darkness? A lowly fisherwoman on Cornwall was a long way from that.

"I can see she's had quite an effect on you," Vivian said. "It will make things more difficult if you are always questioning me--always determined to go your own way or use your own interpretation. Is that what you want? Time is of the essence, after all, and the fate of the galaxy--not to mention your father's very life--rests on your shoulders. Are you prepared to risk all that to make a point to an older woman?" 

"If time was of the essence, why did it take you years to bring me here?" Mordred asked. "I needed a teacher four years ago. Where were you then?"

"Four years ago you turned away from the Knights of Avalon in favor of a shortcut you knew lead to darkness," Vivian said. "I wasn't about to bring you here until you had moved on from that mistake and found your way back to the right way. I wasn't about to bring you here when you couldn't even follow the basic tenets of knighthood."

"What I did, I did to save people," Mordred said. "The Empire had built a weapon that was powerful enough to destroy planets. You must have felt it when Lothian was destroyed. Aunt Morgan certainly did. I wasn't about to let that happen to another planet. So yes, I made a choice to go the easy way and maybe it was the wrong one--"

"It was the wrong one," Vivian said.  

"--but I couldn't get your right way to work and I was running out of time," Mordred said. "Knowing what I know now--what that choice would end up costing--I would still make it. I would still do everything in my power to make that shot and if your way wasn't working, I wouldn't use it."

"Oh, the arrogance," Vivian said with a scoff. "Morgause's arrogance. So certain that you're right and you know what's best when you are so lacking in the knowledge to make an informed decision. Is there even an original thought in that head of yours or are you merely driven forward by Morgause's stubbornness and stupidity?"

Mordred didn't respond to that accusation. He didn't have a response. Aunt Morgan had once said something similar--accusing him of parroting Morgause's words instead of speaking his own thoughts. Was that true? Had he lost himself in Morgause's will? If she was as forceful as Vivian made her out to be, that was certainly possible. And what did it mean for him if he had been? He was fighting against Vivian and Aunt Morgan, believing that he was doing the right thing in pushing back against them. But what if that was wrong? What if it was merely what Aunt Morgause would have done simply because she was stubborn and headstrong? Did he have any basis for being wary of Vivian and her way or was this just something reactionary that Aunt Mogause had instilled in him?

"Ah, so he finally goes quiet," Vivian said. "He starts to listen and goes quiet. This is a very good first step, Mordred. A Knight of Avalon must know when to listen. Are you willing to listen to me, Mordred?"

"I am," Mordred said. "But I am also unwilling to send Nimue away." 

He expect anger. He expected Vivian to continue to berate him for only doing what Morgause wanted. To his surprise, her shoulders slumped. She suddenly looked much older and mournful.

"Your poor mother," Vivian said. "She would be heartbroken to see you now."

"My mother?" Mordred asked, his conflict with Vivian forgotten as she cast out the identity of his mother to lure him back to her. "You knew my mother?"

"I did," Vivian said. "She was a Knight of Avalon. A most devoted knight. If she could see you now. Speaking to me with such disrespect, choosing temptation over the guidance I offer... she would be devastated to see you standing in Morgause's shadow."

Mordred ignored all of that--especially that last bit as it rang hollow to him. Aunt Morgan had told him that his mother had fled with Aunt Morgause to Tintagel. His mother had chosen to leave him with Aunt Morgause. He didn't believe that there was as much animosity between his mother and Aunt as Vivian implied. What his mother would have thought of him or his upbringing didn't matter to Mordred. What mattered was the promise of finally learning who she was. 

"What's her name?" Mordred asked. "What happened to her? What didn't she ever come back for me?"

"Your mother..." Vivian said slowly. She still looked mournful, but Mordred couldn't shake the feeling that he had fallen right into her trap. "A devoted Knight of Avalon, as I said. She was your father's teacher--he trained as her squire. And when Justinian came into power and turned his armies on the Knights of Avalon, your parents made the necessary sacrifices to ensure the second prophecy. To ensure that if all was seemingly lost, you would have the opportunity to save your father so he could save the galaxy. 

"Your parents gave so much to bring you to this moment and you don't even care. You'd throw away their sacrifices for your own emotional comfort. For what? Morgause? You'd rather honor her than your own mother?"

"My mother left me with Aunt Morgause," Mordred said. "If what you say is true, she could have stayed and raised me in Avalon, but she chose Morgause--"

"Because Morgause tricked her!" Vivian said, her voice hard and unyielding. "And when your mother realized the mistake she had made, Morgause refused to give you back. You should have been raised here. I would have raised you properly. But Morgause meddled and got her way, leaving the rest of us to pick up the pieces in the wake of her destruction."

Mordred shook his head. He couldn't speak to the history between his mother and Aunt Morgause and he really didn't care. If Aunt Morgause really had kept him from being raised on Avalon, then he was grateful to her. If his mother had wanted Vivian to help raise him, perhaps it was for the best that Aunt Morgause had refused to let him go with her. But none of that mattered to Mordred because it had happened in the past. With both his mother and Aunt Morgause dead, there would be no getting at the truth. None of it mattered and he still wanted to know who his mother was. 

"Give me a name," Mordred said. 

"No," Vivian said, shaking her head. Mordred's eyes widened as his hands curled into fists at his side. She couldn't just keep this information from him. She couldn't. "You already have too many attachments. Your cousins, your friend, the creature you so foolishly brought into my home. I will not give you another one. All are important to the force, therefore none are important. Once you have severed these connections--once you have let them all go--only then will I share your mother's name."

Mordred drew in deep breaths threw his nose, his arms shaking as his muscles tensed. 

"Your angry," Vivian said. "Disappointing. I hope it won't take too much time for you to move past these destructive emotions. What will happen to your friends and family if you're never able to rescue your father from the Empire? Think on that long and hard as you give into temptation."

They stare each other down for another moment, then Vivian turned around and started walking back down the hallway.  

"I'll give you another hour," Vivian called over her shoulder as she went. "Then I want to see you out at the entrance to the temple, ready for training."

As soon as Vivian was out of sight, Mordred turned around and leaned against the stone wall, pressing his forehead against the cool stone. He felt so unbalanced--as though Vivian had just finished an assault on his very foundation, leaving the rest of him teetering and ready to collapse into the stability and structure she offered. 

He was parroting Aunt Morgause. He was a disappointment to his mother. He was failing his father. He risked falling to the dark side so long as he let Nimue stay with him. 

Once again, Lynette's voice cut through his fog of doubts. Well, not her voice so much as the look she would have given him if he tried to explain the danger of helping Nimue to her. It was the look of someone about to call bullshit--the word on the tip of her tongue. 

A player knows when they’re dealing with another and she is playing you.

Words Lynette had once spoken about Aunt Morgan, but they applied to Vivian too. And she was playing him much more expertly than Aunt Morgan had. First trying to make him doubt himself by accusing him of parroting Aunt Morgause and then bringing up his mother when he had refused to send Nimue away. And then that last bit--telling him she wouldn't give him any more information about his mother until he'd severed his connections with his friends and family but then using those same connections as a threat to get him to more quickly see things her way. 

"Are you all right?" a small, timid voice asked and Mordred, who had been so wrapped up in his own thoughts he hadn't heard the door open, started. He looked down to find Nimue in the doorway, starring up at him. At least, he thought it was Nimue. Because the child he had tucked into bed last night had had short hair and this girl had thick curls that hung down past her shoulder.  

"I'm...fine..." Mordred said, pushing away from the wall. "Your hair grew."

"Yes," Nimue said, shaking her head back and forth causing the curls to bounce around her head. "You were right, again. This is much better than mats."

"I'm glad you're feeling better," Mordred said, ushering her back into the room and shutting the door behind him. Nimue jumped back up onto the bed and Mordred took a seat next to her. Nimue sat back on her knees and rested a hand on his shoulder. 

"You're upset," she said. "The lady--"

"The lady what?" Mordred asked, his voice sharper than he intended. Nimue drew her hand back and shrunk away from.  

"Nothing," she said softly.  

"No, Nim, I'm sorry," Mordred said, running a hand across his face. "I didn't mean to snap at you. What were you going to say?"

"Nim?" she asked. "What is 'Nim?'"

"It's you. Nim, short for Nimue. It's a nickname. A shorter version of your name."

"Do you have one?"

"My cousins sometimes call me Dred," Mordred said. "I miss them very much right now. I think I could use their guidance."

"You want someone to tell you what you should do," Nimue said. 

"No," Mordred said. He didn't want to be told what to do. He just wanted someone to be honest with him. He wanted someone to tell him what had happened to his family--the truth of why his mother had left him with Aunt Morgause, how Arthur had come to be held at the heart of the Empire, and just what, precisely, this fabled prophecy expected him to do to fix it. He wanted to know why every person he had ever trusted had saw fit to lie to him about his family and his place in the galaxy. 

Aunt Morgause said his father was dead and his mother was alive. Aunt Morgan said his father was alive and his mother was dead. Vivian also believed his mother was dead, but wouldn't tell him anything about her despite her being a devoted follower of Vivian. Aunt Morgan and Vivian said Aunt Morgause was trying to control him while Aunt Morgan had actually tried to control him and Vivian was being quite blatant in her attempts to manipulate him. 

Why these games? Why couldn't someone just be honest with him. 

"If you're in danger, I will tell you," Nimue said. "And if you ask something of me, I'll tell you the truth. I promise. But... I think you want to find the questions on your own. You want to decide what is and isn't important to ask and I'll respect that. I won't tell you what you should or shouldn't do. But I promise. If there's danger, I'll warn you."

"Did you know my parents?" Mordred asked. 

Nimue shook her head. "I didn't know anyone before the temple fell. I just saw them at a distance."

"And after?" Mordred asked. "Vivian insinuated that she and my mother were close. Did she visit after the Knights of Avalon fell?"

"If she did, she never left the temple and I never saw her," Nimue said.

"No ships?"

"Vivian can open doors from inside the temple," Nimue said. "It's harder now, with only one follower. But it used to be that a Knight of Avalon could open any door and find themselves in Avalon."

"Thank you," Mordred said, swallowing back his disappointment. Of course the one person willing to tell him the truth didn't know anything about his parents. 

Vivian said that she was the avatar to the light side of the force while Nimue was tempting him towards darkness. But Vivian's way was rigid and demanding while Nimue seemed content to let him find his own path. That didn't seem right. Freedom to choose led to darkness while unquestioning devotion was the only way to stay in the light? But maybe that his own misunderstanding. Maybe finding his own way was more enticing because of how headstrong Aunt Morgause had influenced him. Vivian certainly had the evidence to support her claim that going his own way was dangerous while Nimue did not.  

It was a lot to think about and sort through. His only consolation was that he didn't have to make a decision yet. He could take a little time and see what he could learn from both Vivian and Nimue. Once he knew more, he would be able to make a decision.  

"Come on," Mordred said, getting to his feet. "Vivian said I needed to be out in front of the temple in an hour to start my training. So let's see if we can find you some proper clothes in the meantime."

Chapter Text

The diagnostics had been fairly conclusive. There was nothing wrong with the hyperdrive and there was nothing wrong with the way the hyperdrive was interacting with the engine. Which meant that the problem was with how the hyperdrive was communicating with the rest of the ship. They had essentially found themselves staring at a needle in a haystack--one that would be impossible to find with the equipment they had. If they had been at a proper port with more efficient diagnostic equipment, it would have been an easy fix. But out on an asteroid with only their handheld devices? And while being unable to completely power down the ship?

This was hopeless problem and they were going to run out of life support long before Lynette and Ax could come up with a solution.  

"No, no," Lynette said with a shake of her head as Ax explained what he thought the solution might be. "The problem is that a hyperspace window opened. It opened and then closed before we could go through. That suggests that the fail-safe against incorrect lightspeed calculations kicked in. This error has to be tied to the navigation computer. Something is jumbled in there and it's corrupting the calculations."

"I know human ears aren't nearly as good as dwarven ones," Ax said. "But I'm certain you heard the hyperdrive engine power up and then fail to initialize. That suggests an error in the safety sequence in the hypderdrive herself. That's not something you're going to be able to fix by poking at the navigation computer."

Lynette leaned forward, resting her elbows against the table in the mess and pressing her hands up against her face. She was tired. She was so damn tired. This day already felt like it had lasted an eternity and somehow it still wasn't anywhere near over. They could last for a while in this asteroid--assuming, of course, that it didn't hit another asteroid with enough force to cause a cave-in in the tunnel. They could easily last a week, maybe two at minimal power. But then they would need to start flying again in order to refresh life support. They probably would need to start flying sooner if they wanted to make it to a port. They had enough rations for a couple weeks of flying and that was exactly how long it was going to take to get back to civilization without a hyperdrive.  

"You should rest, lass," Ax said. 

Lynette laughed and shook her head. "I can't rest. There's too much to do. We are in trouble with no conceivable way out. What was I thinking? Flying into an asteroid field? That was such a stupid idea. Why didn't you stop me?"

"It wasn't a stupid idea," Ax said. "It was a brilliant plan to buy us the time we needed to try and fix the hyperdrive. If the diagnostic had been able to determine what was wrong with it, we'd be well on our way right now lauding your plan as a brilliant one. It's bad luck that the diagnostic couldn't figure it out, lass. Nothing more. You did good by bringing us in here."

"We're going to need a new plan," Lynette said. "And for the life of me I don't have one. No doubt the Empire is still looking for us and the moment we exit the asteroid field, we'll be right back where we started. Or worse--captured before we even get that far."

"And I have every faith that you'll be able to come up with the plan we so desperately need," Ax said. "Once you rest."

"I can't rest," Lynette said. "We've got a ship to fix. You've been doing the heavy lifting there for the past few days. I can't just keep leaving you to do it all on your own."

"You're not leaving me alone," Ax said. "I have Gaheris and Dinadan to help me. But look here, lass. You've had a rough couple days. You nearly died out in the wilds of Barham Down. You spent a day in a healing tank. You're not out of that for a day before you get asked to help track down an Imperial drone and right after that we were evacuating. You can't keep going at that pace. Especially if we decide to head back out into trouble. So do us all a favor and get some rest."

Lynette leaned back in her chair and slumped down a bit. Ax was right. She couldn't keep going like this. But he was also wrong, because if she stopped she was going to fall apart and Lynette didn't think she would be able to pull herself back together once that happened. She just wished she had a way of telling Ax that without falling apart. He had a grim look of determination on his face that Lynette had seen often enough. She knew that any attempts to talk around him would just be met by a stone wall. If she was going to fall apart, she would rather do it in the privacy of her own room than out in the open where Gaheris could potentially see her. She certainly didn't want him to see her fall apart right now.  

"Fine," Lynette said, getting to her feet. "I will get some rest."

"Good," Ax said as she walked by. She was almost out of the mess when he spoke again. "And lass? Let it all out."

Lynette closed her eyes and shook her head as she kept walking. She made it all the way to her room and had the door shut firmly behind her before the tears started to fall. But it wasn't until she sat down on the bed that she started sobbing. She did what Ax said and let it all out. And it didn't help. It didn't help one bit.  

Gaheris had decided to wait on the bridge while Lynette and Ax argued about what the best course of action was for repairs. He knew that someone would come get him once he was needed but until then...

Until then Gaheris wanted to sit and stare out into the darkness, listening to the low rumbles around them as the asteroid made its way through space. Surprising, really, that he was able to hear anything at all in here. Did this asteroid have its own atmosphere? Just enough of one that they weren't in a vacuum completely devoid of sound? Gaheris supposed he could have turned on the console in front of him to look, but that seemed like entirely too much effort.  

He was just tired. He was tired of his life and the way things had turned out. He was tired of his grief--of the constant reminders that his home planet had been destroyed and that there were people he cared about who were just gone. Turned to dust in the blink of an eye all because he had been unable to say the right words to save them. That was something he was going to have to live with for the rest of his life and Gaheris was tired of that reality.  

He was tired of running. He had thought there would be no more running when the rebellion had settled on Dover--fresh off their victory at Joyous Guard with the Empire on the defensive. But that hadn't lasted. Dover had been destroyed. People had died and they had been forced to run again. To Barham Down where everything had gone wrong with Lynette. Where they had been forced to run again and Mordred had died in the evacuation.  

Gaheris closed his eyes and tried to feel...something. Mordred was dead. It had been a shock when it happened and the shock had elicited emotion. But since then? Nothing. No grief (at least, no more than what had been there before). Just exhaustion. He was too tired to cry anymore. Too tired to be sad or worry about what this meant for the future of the rebellion. He was tired in a way that sleep wouldn't fix and so he stared out into the darkness and waited for something to do.

"All right," Ax said as he stomped into the cockpit and climbed up into the seat next to Gaheris.  

"Did you figure out what's wrong with the hyperdrive?" Gaheris asked.  

"Not yet," Ax said. "Maybe not ever. We may need a new plan soon, so I convinced Lynette to go get some rest so she can come up with a good one when we need it."

"I see," Gaheris said. Lynette had been running non-stop for the past few days now and she had just gotten out of a healing Tank. Getting some rest would no doubt do her some good right now and Gaheris figured they probably all owed Ax a 'thank you' for convincing her to stop.  

"But here's the thing," Ax said. "I'm worried that she's not going to rest. I'm worried she's going to spent the next few hours crying or sitting up thinking, trying to come up with a new plan. That's not going to do us a lick of good right now, so you're going to go make sure she actually rests."

"Me?" Gaheris asked in disbelief. He was pretty sure he was the last person Lynette wanted to see right now. "I don't think that's such a good idea."

"All she ever wanted from you was proof that you cared," Ax said. "Proof that you cared about her enough to be there for her when she needed you. So you couldn't give her what she needed a few months ago? So what? Prove to her that you can be there for her by being with her now."

"It's too late for that, Ax," Gaheris said. "I couldn't be what she needed and she made it very clear what she thought about that. She doesn't want anything to do with me now."

"If that was true, why did she come after you on Barham Down?" Ax asked. "There were still repairs to be done on the Damsel. I needed her help, but she went after you. Don't you think that if she didn't want anything to do with you, she would have left you to your noble sacrifice?"

There were a lot of answers Gaheris could have given in response to that. The most obvious was that Lynette was a good person who wouldn't let a person die when she knew she could help. But deep down, Gaheris knew that wasn't true. The Savage Damsel had been on the line at that moment and Lynette had made it clear over the years that this ship meant more to her than just about every person she had ever met. The only exceptions, as far as Gaheris knew, were Ax and Mordred.  

And himself, it seemed, because she had left the Damsel at a critical moment to come save him. That meant something. Gaheris knew Lynette well enough to know that it meant something. 

"I'm not saying it'll fix things for you," Ax said. "You're both stubborn and don't react kindly to your moments of vulnerability. But it's a good first step, and one you need to take if you ever intend to fix this mess between the two of you."

His peace said, Ax hopped off the chair and left the cockpit. Gaheris watched him go, mulling over what Ax had said as he considered what he should do. The decision itself was easy. Ax was right--he knew what he needed to do. Gaheris' problem had more to do with finding the energy and the emotional fortitude to get it done. His exhaustion felt like a weight holding him down and Gaheris was worried he wouldn't be able to shake it off and do what needed to be done.  

But somehow he did find the energy. He wasn't sure how--one moment he was slumped down in his chair and the next he was on his feet making his way toward Lynette's room. He paused to knock, but then he heard her crying. Sighing, Gaheris leaned forward and pressed his forehead against the door. Could he really do this? Could he go in there and share in her pain? Would he be able to take any of that load on without it completely destroying him? Gaheris wasn't sure he could, but he also knew that he couldn't just walk away from Lynette while she was crying. Not again. He refused to be the cause of her pain--not this time.  

Without bothering to knock, Gaheris pushed open the door to her room and stepped inside. Lynette was sitting on the edge of her bed, hunched over and sobbing. Gaheris sat down on the bed next to her and wrapped an arm around her shoulder. Lynette very quickly leaned into him, her face pressed up against his chest. Gaheris wrapped his other arm around her and held her tight as she cried.  

Chapter Text

Lynette woke before Gaheris did--maybe four hours after they had finally fallen asleep.  Her sleep had been a deep one initially, but once she woke she found she wasn't able to get back to sleep. Not with Gaheris lying right beside her. Not when there was so much between them that was still unsaid.

Instead of waking him so she could try saying some of those things, Lynette slipped out of her bedroom without a word and went to work repairing the ship. Ax and Dinadan had gotten a lot done in the four hours she had been asleep. Since she hadn't been there to argue with him, Ax had moved forward with his theory that the error in the hyperdrive had to do with the safety sequence. They had opened up that part of the hyperdrive along with the wall panels showing the wiring in and out of it. They had found a few areas that could be causing problems, but so far nothing conclusive that was an obvious indicator of why the hyperdrive was failing. When Gaheris finally joined them, she set him to work checking the navigation computer to see if the problem might reside there.  

"Really, Captain," Dinadan said in frustration as Lynette walked past him. "What is the point of having an internal AI with such a limited understanding of the ship? Rudimentary, I understand. But the Damsel doesn't seem to know which systems are communicating, which are supposed to be communicating, and which are communicating incorrectly. Why even have an AI if it's not going to do the job it's supposed to?"

"You can thank my parents for that, I suppose," Lynette said. "My mother knew this ship inside and out and never had a need for an internal AI. She always knew exactly what was wrong with her ship. My father made her add the AI not long after she had my sister as an added safety precaution. She agreed and then went on to disable most of it behind his back."

"Yes, I believe it," Dinadan said. "That would explain all of these holes in the programming."

"I'd an install a new one if I could," Lynette said. "But even after all these years, I'm not entirely familiar with all her custom configurations and any AI I added would be lacking. Anything you can do to help patch it, though..."

"I shall do my best," Dinadan said. "My programming has a heavy focus on cataloging and organizing and there are certainly places those functions would be of use here."

"Thanks," Lynette said, moving past him to stand under the open panel in the ceiling Ax had disappeared up into. "Ax." She didn't shout his name, knowing that he could easily hear her say his name no matter where he was on the ship. Sure enough, a moment later his head poked out over the side. "Anything?"

"Nothing so obvious," Ax said. "But who knows. Perhaps all of these little fixes put together will actually amount to something."

"Maybe," Lynette said, although she wasn't feeling all that hopefully. "Come down out of there so I can take over for you. Go check on Gaheris before getting some rest."

"Oh, no," Ax said, shaking his head. "I'm a dwarf, lass. I can keep this pace up for at least one more day. Probably two. So I will be staying up here where it's safe and not allow you to talk me into speaking with Gaheris for you." With his peace said, Ax disappeared back up into the ceiling.  

"Some friend you are!" Lynette yelled after him. A loud snort was her only response.  

Scowling, Lynette made her way out of the hyperdrive and down the halls to the other end of the ship where the majority of the navigation computer was stored. She entered the room to find Gaheris sitting on the floor in front of one of the terminals.  He was was trying to twist a part back into place, but it had gotten jammed and nothing he tried got it to slip smoothly back into place like it was supposed to.  Clearly he was at the end of his patience with this part because instead of trying another, gentler approach, Gaheris was attempting to jam it into place. And looked as though he was on the verge of breaking something.  

"Stop!" Lynette yelled, running into the room and dropping to the ground next to the terminal. Her hands wrapped around Gaheris' to stop him mid jam. "Take a step back, Prince Charming. She needs a softer touch."

Gaheris jerked his hands back, pulling them out of hers. Lynette was just barely able to stop herself from reaching after him and instead wrapped her hands around the part. It took a few tries, but eventually she was able to find the right position and the part slid right in. The part lit up in blue, indicating that everything was working correctly there.    

Sighing in relief--that was one more broken piece they didn't need to worry about--Lynette sat back against the terminal and looked at Gaheris. He wasn't looking at her. He was leaning back against the wall, his legs drawn up against his chest with his arms wrapped around them. He was staring up at the ceiling and he looked upset. Lynette was pretty sure she knew why.  

"Look, I don't know what Ax said to you last night, but I'm sorry," Lynette said. "He shouldn't have bullied you into--"

"Last night was fine," Gaheris said. "Last night was...really, really good."

"But you're upset."

"Do you ever notice that you only call me 'Prince Charming' when you're angry with me?" Gaheris asked. He still wasn't looking at her. "It used to be something...soft. Between us. Now it seems to represent how far we've drifted apart."

"And who's fault is that?" Lynette snapped. "I told you what I needed. You're the one who walked away."

"Because I couldn't give you that," Gaheris said. "I couldn't share in your grief."

"Really? Because you seemed to do a pretty good job last night." That finally got Gaheris to look at her. "We were both upset about...about Mordred. And we comforted each other. It wasn't just me comforting you or you comforting me. We grieved together. Was it the devastating, emotional upheaval you feared?"  

"No."

"I know there are things I can't carry with you. I haven't been tortured by the Empire or witnessed the destruction of my home planet. But I did lose friends at Dover. All I wanted was some acknowledgement from you that I was hurting too. That my grief, while maybe not as devastating as yours, existed and was worthy of comfort."

"I'm sorry. I know I've been entirely too wrapped up in my own head after Dover--"

"You tried to commit suicide down there."

Gaheris looked down at his hands while Lynette turned her attention to an entirely fixed navigation terminal. She probably shouldn't have said that--being blunt hadn't done much to further hers and Gaheris' relationship. But she didn't want to dance around or avoid the topic any longer. Gaheris' choice to stay behind on Barham Down would have gotten him killed if Lynette hadn't gone after him. And at the time he'd seemed perfectly content with that possibility.

"I saw...I saw things getting worse and pain that was supposed to be unimaginable but that I knew all too clearly. I was certain I wouldn't be able to survive it--another loss. I knew it would kill me so I thought... why not just accept it? But here I am. Another family member dead and I'm still standing. There's room for more hurt. Even though it doesn't feel like it, there's always room for more hurt."

"Mordred wouldn't want you to give up."

"I know. And so I won't. For Mordred I'll keep going. I just don't know if I can keep going with the rebellion for much longer."

Lynette shifted, moving so that she was kneeling right next to him. "We've missed the rendezvous point by now... the rebellion will have moved on without us."

"There are ways to find them."

"I know. But maybe we don't. At least not right away. Maybe we take a little time and see what else the galaxy has to offer. That's what Mordred and I were going to do. We were going to start by going home--my home, in Perilyn--to see my sister. We could do that, if you want. Instead of returning to the rebellion right away. Perilyn is outside the gaze of the Empire--outside the conflict. We could find peace there. For a while."

"You would do that?" Gaheris asked. "Just walk away from the rebellion and all that it stands for?"

"Mordred was the only thing keeping me there," Lynette said. "With him gone... I guess you're the only thing keeping me there. So what's keeping you there?"

“Nothing,” Gaheris said, leaning in to kiss her. The move took Lynette by surprise—she hadn’t expected him to jump back in with such vigor. She hadn’t expected him to be so willing to walk away from the rebellion and follow her home to Perilyn. Deep in the back of her mind, she knew she should have found this sudden change concerning. Perhaps as concerning as his desire to die down on Barham Down.  

She shouldn’t have kissed him back. But she did. Because she was so glad to have him back—to have this back. She had missed him and being with him and was willing to overlook all of the warning signs if it meant they could be together again. She was willing to gamble any possible consequence of this decision against having him back for just one moment--

"You've done it!" Dinadan yelled as he burst into the room. Lynette drew back away from Gaheris and nearly fell sideways into the navigation panel. "The navigation computer is operational and interfacing perfectly with the hyperdrive! Well done!"

"Thanks, Dinadan," Gaheris said, reaching out to take Lynette's hand. But she pulled away from him. The moment had passed and all her worries and concerns about him and about this relationship were giving her a sudden head rush. Her face felt flushed and suddenly all Lynette wanted to do was get out of this room and away from Gaheris.  

"Yes thank you," Lynette said, getting to her feet. "It was a team effort for all involved. Now let's run some simulations and see if we're any closer to having a functional hyperdrive.  

"I do love a good simulation," Dinadan said as he turned and left the room. "It's just like telling a story. Except instead of just one ending, there are potentially millions."

"Lynette," Gaheris called after her as she started to go after Dinadan. She turned to find Gaheris still sitting on the floor. He looked hurt and confused and Lynette wished she had a simple and easy way to fix all of this.  

"I'm sorry, Prince Charming," she said. "But I don't think either of us are ready for that yet."

Then she turned away from Gaheris and continued on after Dinadan.  

Chapter Text

It had taken some time, but eventually Mordred and Nimue found a storage closet that held the uniforms the pages had once worn. He had given Nimue a couple pairs in her size and then had sent her and AC-LN back to the room while he went to the front of the temple to meet Vivian.

She had started him off with some fairly simple meditation exercises. She had him connect with the force--to find the void and become the vessel. The cool damp air of Avalon filled his lungs, reminding Mordred of the early mornings on Cornwall. It was always cool and foggy just before the sun rose. It was much easier to concentrate here than it had on Barham Down where every breath had burned.

"Perhaps for our next lesson I shall have you meditate in the center of a ring of fire," Vivian said. "You cannot always count on your environment to be optimal while you work to achieve this level of concentration. You must learn how to become a vessel to the force even when you are under great duress. Or else you will find yourself reaching for those shortcuts over and over again."

Mordred frowned as he opened his eyes and stared at her. "You're reading my thoughts?"

"Yes," Vivian said. She was so matter-of-fact in her answer that Mordred almost felt bad for asking. Almost. "You have already proven yourself susceptible to temptation. I must watch you closely to ensure that you learn these lessons as I intend. If you are merely cherry-picking what I say as it appeals to you, that is something I must know in order to correct. Or at least attempt to correct. I must be honest, young Mordred. I fear you are on a path to darkness--one that I may not be able to save you from."

"That's a bit of a dire prediction, isn't it?" Mordred asked.

"You are led by passion," Vivian said. "Perhaps if you had been raised here, as your mother wished, I would have been able to temper some of those passions. Ursus was the same way and look what happened. And we started late with him as well."

Aunt Morgan had made the same comparison once and it was a comparison that Mordred didn't entirely appreciate. He didn't feel as though he was on a precipice, ready to tumble into darkness at any moment. In fact, it was the very passion that Vivian so derided that left Mordred feeling as though he was on solid ground. He wouldn't betray his friends and family. He wouldn't disappoint them, either. Too many were counting on him to fulfill his destiny and rescue Arthur from the Empire. Mordred had no intention of letting any of them down.

Vivian sighed and shook her head. "Very well, then. Run a lap around the lake. When you return here, I want you to tell me all that you have learned."

Mordred did as she asked and when he returned he gave her a very detailed description of the layout of the lake and the forest surrounding it. Vivian listened patiently to his description. Her face gave away nothing, but as he finished Mordred was certain that his answer wasn't anything close to what she was hoping to hear. But then, he hadn't exactly expected it to be. He would need a few more sessions before he decided if he was willing to tell Vivian what she wanted to hear.

She took him back into the temple after that and showed him to a room that was large and completely empty. She directed his attention to a console near the wall and walked him through how it worked. The room was a holographic simulator and the console had an entire archive of stored lesson plans--from using the Force to the history of the Knights of Avalon to swordplay. She gave him free reign over the simulator and told him his afternoons were his to do with as he wished. She gave him no concrete lesson plan or any indication of which lessons she thought he should look at. He was completely on his own where his afternoon was concerned, but the mornings were hers for training.

After Vivian left him, Mordred started in on the lessons. He listened to the start of the series on Force training first before moving on to an early swordplay lesson. Once he was pleased with his progress where both of those lessons were concerned, Mordred turned his attention to what he was most interested in--the history of the Knights of Avalon. Instead of starting at the beginning of the lessons, he started at the end. He listened to the last two lessons in quick succession and was on the third when Nimue and AC-LN joined him in the simulator room.

AC-LN rolled right over to Mordred, buzzing and chirping angrily. Mordred checked the time for the first time in hours and realized that he had been in the simulator room all day. It was actually quite late into the night. No wonder AC-LN was so angry at him--no doubt the little droid had started to worry about Mordred's whereabouts hours ago.

"I'm sorry," Mordred said, rubbing a hand along AC-LN's hull. "I lost track of time. I didn't mean to make you worry."

"What are you doing?" Nimue asked, sitting on the ground next to Mordred.

"Learning," Mordred said. "There are videos of old lessons in here. Archived from before the Knights of Avalon were destroyed. I was learning about their history."

"Is it interesting?" Nimue asked.

"I suppose it is," Mordred said. "I just... I don't know what I was hoping to find in here. Some mention of my father, I guess. I was always told that the Round Table alliance played such a critical role in the galaxy in the years leading up to the fall of the Republic. But I was listening to that part of the history and it was just a footnote--barely mentioned at all in the last lesson. Arthur Pendragon is supposed to be this important figure--there are prophecies about him. He's supposed to save the galaxy. I can't believe he's not in here."

"Well, if you don't believe it, I don't believe it either," Nimue said, crossing her arms as her face twisted into a scowl.

"No, it's not something worth getting upset over. I probably just... my expectations were too high. Or wrong. There was no reason to think he would be in here. As great as he was, he was still just one man. One among many where the individual is unimportant, it's the whole that matters. Of course they wouldn't single him out. That's not who the Knights of Avalon are."

"If you say so," Nimue said, but she didn't sound convinced. Mordred wasn't entirely convinced either, but the only other option was that Arthur had been erased from the records on purpose. That Vivian had made it impossible for Mordred to find him. Was this just to keep him from forming another attachment? But he was already attached to Arthur and since his destiny was to save him, shouldn't Vivian have been cultivating that relationship? What did she gain from trying to sever his attachment to Arthur?

Like all of Avalon's mysteries, it was one Mordred dearly wanted to solve. It was also going to take time and he wasn't going to make any more progress tonight.

"Come on," Mordred said, getting to his feet and holding out his hand. "Let's go see if we can find a kitchen. Turn the rations into something editable."

"They're not now?" Nimue asked.

"Not yet. But with a kitchen, they just might be. You never know."

Something was wrong. Ursus couldn't quite put his finger on what, but he felt it chaffing against his skin. He felt as though he was going the wrong away. That he had gotten turned around somehow and had lost sight of his quarry. He didn't understand why he was feeling that way. The Savage Damsel was inside the asteroid field. Ursus had seen it enter the field with his own eyes. Ships guarded the entrance so it couldn't double back without them being alerted. So long as they continued pushing forward after the smuggler's ship they were on the right path. Ursus could feel it--feel her. Morgause was on that ship. Perhaps her little protege too. So long as he continued after them, Ursus knew he was going the right way. So why did everything feel so wrong right now?

"The TIE fighters had a read on them, until they were destroyed," one of his captains was saying. Ursus was in his chamber, taking on-screen calls from the captains of the Star Destroyers who were searching the asteroid field with him. "Sensors have been unable to pick up the Savage Damsel in the hours since. Considering the damage our Star Destroyers have taken and how quickly the TIE fighters were destroyed despite being faster and nimbler...I fight it unlikely that the ship wasn't destroyed by the very same asteroids that took out our TIE Fighters."

"No," Ursus said, itching at his human arm with his robotic one. The captain's eyes flickered down and he quickly looked up as Ursus snarled at him. He knew he had scratched his arm raw. He knew it was bleeding. He didn't need some half-rate captain who couldn't even find one damn smuggler's ship staring at the injury.  

"They're still out there. I can feel it." Feel her. Out there. Somewhere in the asteroid field. Taunting him. Laughing at him while her protege continued to grow in strength while he was driven to madness by whatever this damn itch in the back of his mind was.  

"Well, if they are out there, they can't go through the field," the captain said. "It's nearly a light year in length and if we are correct in our assumption that their hyperdrive is damaged, their only choice is to double back eventually. Our best use of resources is to leave the field and wait--"

"No!" Ursus barked, slamming his hand down on the panel in front of him. "I will destroy every Star Destroyer in this fleet if that's what it takes, Captain." There was a ping as the door to his room opened.  Ursus spared a quick glance to the side to see Admiral Pontius. No doubt he had important news if he felt as though he could enter Ursus' room without first using the chime. "Continue sweeping the field, Captain. I don't want to hear from you again unless you've found them. Is that understood?"

"Yes, my lord," the Captain stammered as Ursus ended the transmission.  

He turned to face Pontius, who stiffened and drew a quick, sharp breath. Ursus ran his robotic fingertips up and down his human arm again. Pontius swallowed as he locked eyes with Ursus.  

"We have just received word from Emperor Justinian," Pontius said. "He has asked to speak with you."

A wave of defiance rose up within Ursus. He didn't want to speak to Justinian right now. Not when he was so close. Morgause was within his grasp and it infuriated him that he was being asked to walk away again. He would never have her if things continued like this. 

But his defiance burned out almost as quickly as it had appeared. Justinian was wise. If he wished to speak with Ursus, he had his reasons. Good reasons. Perhaps Justinian had managed to pick up on something he had missed. Perhaps he could explain this infernal itch. No, this was not an interruption. Not a diversion. This was his path to success.  

"Are we moving out of the asteroid field?" Ursus asked.  

"Yes. The Emperor has agreed to wait until we can established a clearer transmission," Pontius said. "I have alerted the rest of the fleet that we are moving out of the field to speak with the Emperor."

"Good man, Pontius," Ursus said. "Send the Emperor's signal through to here as soon as you are able to establish stable contact."

"Yes, my lord," Pontius said with a bow before he stepped back out of the room.  

As soon as the door had shut behind him, Ursus dropped down into the nearest chair. He sat and waited for the Emperor’s call to be patched through, robotic hand idly scratching up and down his human one. He expected the wait to be a long and anxious one, but somehow his mind managed to still and it seemed that in an instant his console was pinging. Ursus leaned forward and flipped the call to on-screen and was greeted with the face of Emperor Justinian the Great.  

The Emperor was a man who was just beginning to turn old. His dark hair seemed to gain more gray with each passing day and his stern face had more lines. A man of opulence, Justinian wore a gold and jeweled crown upon his brow and a regal purple cloak with a gold and turquoise woven tunic underneath. At first glance he seemed a man who had never done a moment of hard labor in his entire life, but Ursus knew better. Just like the most dangerous fauna in the galaxy, Justinian’s plumage was a warning of just how deadly he could be.  

“Ah, I see you feel it too,” Justinian said, motioning down to Ursus’ bleeding arm. His deep voice felt like a warm caress against Ursus’ unraveling mind. He felt at peace once more now that Justinian was here to guide him.  

“Feel what?” Ursus asked. “I know this feeling. It’s on the tip of my tongue, but I can’t place it.”

“It’s Avalon,” Justinian said. “After more than twenty years, Vivian has opened the doors once more and taken in a pupil.”

“Morgause’s pupil,” Ursus said. “He has gone to Avalon?”

“So it would seem,” Justinian said. “Out of reach, for now. But I’ve no doubt Vivian remains as desperate now as she was twenty-odd years ago. She’ll damage this one just as she once damaged you. Make him ripe for the taking when the opportunity presents itself.

“I admit. The Rebellion has piqued my interest with this one. Powerful enough to destroy our Death Star and then, to add fire to the flames, the Rebellion presents him to the galaxy under the Pendragon name. It’s done us quite a bit of damage. We’ll have to turn him to have any hope of retaking our lost ground.”

“You don’t believe that he really is a Pendragon, do you?” Ursus asked.  

“Hard to say. If he is as extraordinary as the Rebellion has made him out to be, I suppose we have no choice but to believe them. That particular Annwyn tribe has certainly produced some of the strongest force users the galaxy has ever seen. But I suspect it’s a fair amount of smoke and mirrors on their part.” Justinian shrugged, as though the possibility of the Rebellion perpetuating such a lie was no concern of his. “Either way, I suppose you’ll know for certain eventually. As soon as we can find a way to pull this little miracle worker away from Avalon.”

“Yes, of course,” Ursus said. “We could draw him out. I have his friends cornered. They will be within my grasp soon enough. Once he hears their cries of despair, he will come running to save him.”

“I very much doubt Vivian will allow him to do any such thing,” Justinian said. “But I suppose your plan is better than waiting idly by for the day Vivian lets him out. Although I would urge you to be cautious if your plan does succeed, Ursus. There is a wildness to this one that I’m not sure you’re prepared for. Even more concerning, I can’t shake this feeling that he doesn’t ever walk alone.”

“I’ll be careful.”

“Yes, with yourself especially,” Justinian said, motioning to Ursus’ arm. “Get that looked at and cleaned up. I can’t have my prized warrior causing lasting damage to himself, can I?”

“No, my lord,” Ursus said, bowing his head.  

“That’s a good man. May the force be with you, Lord Ursus.  I have a feeling you’re going to need all the help you can get.”

Justinian reached forward and then the transmission went dark. Ursus sighed and leaned back in his chair. He felt better for having spoken with the Emperor. Steadier. His way was clear and Ursus knew what he needed to do to get there.  

Chapter Text

The next few days shifted into an easy routine of training that saw Mordred gain leaps and bounds where his use of the force was concerned. The meditation exercises from Vivian were helping and each day it became a little easier to reach out and become an empty vessel for the force to move through. Every morning, under her tutelage, he learned something new about the force and its ways or a new means of directing the force through him for a desired outcome. And with each lesson, the strings became less and less tempting. Mordred was certain that soon he would lose awareness of them entirely.

In the afternoon, Vivian left him to his own devices in the holographic simulator. Mordred split the afternoon between archived lesson plans the pages would have received and swordplay lessons to hone his own abilities. The evenings were his entirely and Mordred choose to spend it exploring the temple with Nimue and AC-LN. There wasn't much to find or see. Vivian again? Just who was she trying to hide from him? Arthur made less and less sense the more Mordred thought about it. So perhaps Arthur hadn't been intentionally stripped away and his absence was a consequence of hiding Mordred's mother? Or maybe this had something to do with Aunt Morgan and Ursus?

After a few days, Mordred had accepted that he wasn't going to find anything. But that didn't stop him from walking the halls of Avalon. He was trying something new. Arthur and his mother had walked these halls. They had studied and learned in the classrooms. They had made their home here. And perhaps through the force, he would be able to feel some remnant of them. Aunt Morgan had already appeared to him as a ghost. There was no reason his mother couldn't do the same. Maybe she was just waiting for him to prove himself worthy, the way Aunt Morgan had on Barham Down. 

"I wonder what was here," Nimue said as they made their way down a long hallway lined with pedestals on either side. The pedestals had clearly been designed to hold something--statues, maybe?--but whatever it had been was long gone. There wasn't even an indent or a discoloration of the pedestals to indicate what it might have been.

Nimue climbed up onto one of the pedestals and spun around on the tip of her toe. She came to a stop facing down the long hallway and tipped her head to the side. "I bet this place was really beautiful once."

"You're probably right," Mordred said. He stepped up to an empty pedestal--a few down from the one Nimue was standing on--and stared down at it. He couldn't shake the feeling that this pedestal had once held something important. At least, something important to him. Had it been a statue of Arthur? His mother? Aunt Morgan? Mordred would never know. 

He could have. Vivian could have left the statues in place. She could have at least let him know Arthur if she was intent on holding his mother back. But she wouldn't because she believed she knew better and that these connections would only serve as a distraction. As a temptation. Mordred wasn't sure if this made him angry or sad, but he was certain that the emotions themselves were a disappointment. He was pretty sure Vivian would tell him that he wasn't supposed to be feeling anything at all.

"Does it count as reading your mind if your emotions are thick enough to swim through?" Nimue asked as she jumped off the pedestal.

"I suppose not," Mordred said, turning around to face her. "Since that's something Vivian wants me to work on. Keep others from sensing my emotions by not having any."

"Now that's a silly concept," Nimue said. "There are ways to mask your emotions. But how are you supposed to not feel anything? What does that even feel like?" She held up her hand and waved it through the air. "See. There may be nothing here, but I'm still feeling the air against my hand. Even in a vacuum you'd be aware of feeling nothing and that would feel like something."

"Wise as ever," Mordred said. "So what do you recommend I do with my disappointment?"

"Follow it," Nimue said.

Follow it to where? Closing his eyes, Mordred let his mind go blank so the force could move through him. There was nowhere in the temple he felt particularly compelled to go. There was just emptiness. It was a void--an empty vessel for Vivian's plotting just like he was an empty vessel to the force.

There was a soft clip-clap from down the hall ahead of him. Mordred frowned as he opened his eyes. It sounded like hooves on stone. But that didn't make any sense. The doors to the temple were shut and the wildlife--at least what little wildlife Mordred had seen so far--hadn't been able to breech the temple walls. His hand went for the Caliburn sword on his waist, not sure what he expected to come around the corner.

Mordred gasped as a serpentine head curled around the corner. It kept moving forward, revealing a furred body--orange in color with black spots. And hoofed feet. How was that possible? It couldn't be the exact same creature, could it? Even if it wasn't, it didn't make any sense for a creature to make its home on both Barhamn Down and Avalon. The two planets had completely different climates and atmospheres.

Was it even real? Or was it some sort of trick? Mordred took a step forward and reached out his hand towards the creature. Nimue suddenly appeared next to him, grabbing his arm and pulling him back.

"Don't," she said with an authority Mordred was unwilling to argue with. He lowered his arm and allowed her to pull him two steps back. The creature watched them through slitted eyes as its tongue flickered in and out of its mouth.

"What is that?" Mordred asked. "Where did it come from?"

"It's a Questing Beast," Nimue said. "Fae folk. It's not bound to one plane since it can move through the spaces we can't see."

"What's it doing here?" Mordred asked. Nimue shrugged, but the quick glance she gave him spoke volumes. "I saw this creature--or one like it--on Barhamn Down. It attacked me and dragged me up into a cavern. It made this howling noise--I thought my head was going to split open." Nimue's eyes stayed on the creature. She didn't even spare him another glance. "Don't you think it's strange that I've now encountered this creature twice in such a short amount of time? Almost as though it's looking for me specifically. Why would it do that, do you think?"

"Because of what it is," Nimue said. "A Questing Beast hunts lies and is tamed by truth."

"What does that have to do with me?" Mordred said.

Nimue looked up and something ancient stared out her eyes and up at him. "You're made of lies."

Mordred felt something twist up inside him. Made of lies? What did that mean?

The Questing Beast made a small, snarling noise and Mordred looked back to see that its lips had parted. It was drawing in a deep breath. It was about to start howling again.

"Cover your ears!" Mordred said, reaching out to press his hands against Nimue's head. She stepped away from him and reached out, pressing her hand against the air beside her as though there was a wall there.

"Truth," Nimue said. Light erupted from her fingertips, bright enough to blind Mordred for a second. When his vision cleared, the light had taken on two forms beside Nimue. Forms Mordred recognized. It was Aunt Morgause and Aunt Morgan. Not actually them. Both figures appeared to be made out a white light and neither seemed to be aware of Mordred, Nimue, or the Questing Beast. Aunt Morgause was making her way briskly down the hallway as Aunt Morgan chased after her.

"You can't do this!" Morgan yelled and Aunt Morgause stopped with a sigh. Slowly she turned to face Aunt Morgan.

"And just what can't I do, sister?" Morgause asked. Aunt Morgan jerked to a stop and bit her lip. "Leave? Am I bound here by your will? And Vivian's?"

"No, of course not," Morgan said. "But you made vows. To the order, to Vivian, to Avalon. You are a Knight of Avalon."

Mordred gasped and looked frantically back and forth between the two light figures. Aunt Morgause had been a Knight of Avalon? That couldn't be right, could it? Someone would have told him. Aunt Morgause, Aunt Morgan, Vivian...someone should have told him.

What did this mean? If Aunt Morgause had been a Knight of Avalon, why hadn't she just trained him herself? Why had she left it to Aunt Morgan to do? Why had she lied to him about his father? Why hadn't she told him about the prophecy. Aunt Morgan had made it sound as though Aunt Morgause didn't believe in any of it. But if she had been a Knight of Avalon once, then she would have. She would have known Vivian's power and believed in it.

Why had she died on Tintagel? Her decision to lower the shield and let the Stormtroopers in had never made sense to him. But now, knowing that she was a Knight of Avalon and should have known better--should have been able to predict it and prepare for it--what had happened in the fortress that had lead to her and Agravain losing their lives? Aunt Morgan had managed to convince a whole host of Stormtroopers that they were seeing nothing as she brazenly walked through the Death Star. Why hadn't Aunt Morgause been able to do the same thing and save herself and Agravain?

"You can't just walk away from it all as though it means nothing," Morgan continued.

"Can't I?" Morgause asked. "It's what our parents did, after all. We certainly wouldn't be having this conversation right now if they hadn't made the same choice I'm making."

"You'd walk away without discovering who killed father?" Morgan asked. "Isn't that why you joined the order?"

"It was," Morgause said. "But I'm tired of living out this revenge quest. Lot has shown me how much more my life could be if it was filled with love and fellowship." She crossed the space between them and rested her hands on Aunt Morgan's shoulders. "Please, sister. Don't grieve and don't be upset with me. Be happy that I have found a calling that has once more filled my life with meaning. One that has finally eased the anger and grief that has so long held my heart."

"Fine," Morgan said, pulling away. "Leave if you must. But not now--not yet. This knight we encountered on Cornwall--wearing black armor and carrying no insignia--he's powerful. A powerful force user and a masterful swordsman. I fear you're the only one powerful enough to defeat him."

"I doubt that," Morgause said. "Merlin remains the best of us. I trust that he'll be able to handle this black knight--whoever he is."

"Merlin grows old and weak," Morgan said. "While you grow stronger every day." She pointed to where one of the statues had once stood. Specifically to the pedestal Mordred had been drawn to. "Look at you. Look at all you have managed to accomplish in your short time as a Knight of Avalon. Already standing in the Hall of Heroes. Your star is rising rapidly while Merlin's is fading. I saw him attempt to fight this foe and he very nearly lost. I truly believe you are the only one who could defeat this knight. If you would just come back with us to Camlieard--"

"No," Morgause said, in a tone that never left any room for argument. "I won't go to Cameliard. I'm to assist Lamorak through his swearing in ceremony and then I will be discharged from my duties as a Knight of Avalon. I'm done, Morgan, and I refuse to be pulled back into this."

"Very well," Morgan said as she straightened up and walked past Aunt Morgause. "Throw it away. Throw us all away."

And then she was gone. Disappearing around the first corner and out of sight. Aunt Morgause had turned to watch her go and remained frozen in place long after Aunt Morgan had gone. 

"Yes," Morgause finally said. "I believe you're right."

Her image faded away as she said those words, leaving Mordred, Nimue, and the Questing Beast alone in the hallway again. There was the soft clip-clop of hooves and Mordred looked over his shoulder in time to see the Questing Beast retreating. It hunted lies and was tamed by truth. Nimue had shown it something truthful and stripped away a lie from Mordred. For now, at least, the Questing Beast was no longer interested in him.

Slowly, Mordred made his way to the empty pedestal Aunt Morgan had indicated--the same pedestal he had been studying before the Questing Beast arrived--and ran his hand across it. "It's not about Arthur or my mother, is it? Vivian has been hiding Aunt Morgause. She didn't want me to know that Aunt Morgause was a Knight of Avalon."

"I'm sorry," Nimue said softly. She wasn't apologizing for what she had just shown him. 

"You knew?" Mordred asked, although he already knew the answer.

"Yes. I remember her. She was the first person I ever saw."

"Why didn't you tell me?" Mordred shook his head, realizing that he actually didn't care why Nimue hadn't told him. It paled in comparison to the question burning in his chest. "Why didn't she tell me?"

"Morgause didn't believe in blind faith," Nimue said. "People had to earn her trust and respect. She never gave it freely. I think that's a lesson she would have wanted you to take to heart. What better way to do so than by shattering your faith in her? If you can't trust her or anything she told you, are you prepared to offer the same to anyone else?"

"No," Mordred said. "I suppose I'm not." He looked up and tried to imagine a tall, heroic looking statue of Aunt Morgause standing above him. He couldn't quite manage it. The closest he came was the stern look she would give him when his chores were late.

The lies he could perhaps understand--if Aunt Morgause had truly been preparing him for this. But would it have even been necessary for him to come to Avalon at all of she had just trained him? If she had trained him and stayed alive, he wouldn't have needed to contend with Vivian and her manipulations on his own. Aunt Morgause would have been here to help him--to protect him. 

He started to go over all of the moments where she could have just told him the truth. Moments down at the dock, working on boat repairs together. Moments in the kitchen as she taught him taught him how to clean a fish. Moments late at night as she soothed away a nightmare. 

“Focus on the strings, Mordred. Because they’re real. We’re all connected and the love we have for each other binds us together. Whenever you’re afraid, just think about those strings and what they represent. You are loved, and you are not alone.”

Mordred leaned forward, resting his hands against the pedestal as those words came to him once more. A mantra of comfort that had led to his greatest failure. But what if they weren't just words of comfort? What if they represented a moment where Aunt Morgause had tried to teach him something?

He looked at Nimue. "You said Aunt Morgause was the first person you ever saw? As in, she made you?"

"No, not exactly," Nimue said. "I was a concept before I gained physical form and it was your grandparents--Gorlois le Fay and Igraine Pendragon--who acted upon what had only ever been a yearning. But it was Morgause who gave me physical form. When she fell in love with Lot Luddowc and connected to the force through that love, that's when a concept became an avatar."

"She did teach me," Mordred whispered to himself. "She taught me her way." He turned and rested his hands on Nimue's shoulders. "You're not an avatar of temptation. You're the avatar for the threads. That's why Vivian is afraid of you. Because Aunt Morgause found another way."

"You're in danger," Nimue said and Mordred's elation at finally figuring out some of Aunt Morgause's intention deflated in an instant. Vivian would know and she wouldn't be happy. So far she had been content with manipulation and threats but there was no telling what she would do if she feared she was losing him to Nimue. 

"It's all right," Mordred said, straightening up. He hadn't made a decision yet. Morgause had given him another way, but the path was his to choose. He could still choose Vivian. Perhaps the threads were too dangerous. Perhaps he didn't have enough time to learn how to master them without a teacher. There were benefits to choosing Vivian's way. He just had to be careful and contentious in considering both options. 

"Thank you for showing me the truth," Mordred said. "And for protecting me from the Questing Beast. I'm not sure I had the strength to face it again."

"You'll need to gain the strength," Nimue said. "You're still made of lies. It will come after you again."

Then she turned and continued down the hallway. Mordred went after her, mulling over what she had said. He couldn't split his attention between the threats posed by Vivian and this creature. If he truly was made of lies, then he was going to have to start working out just what, exactly, the truth was. Not just so that he would be able to tame the Questing Beast the next time they crossed paths, but for his own sanity as well. He didn't think he would survive much longer if he was truly made of lies. 

Chapter Text

Days later, they were no closer to an answer. They had spent hours in darkness, working around the clock trying to figure out why the hyperdrive wasn't working. They had repaired and corrected so many systems that Gaheris had lost count of them all, but still they were no closer to an answer. None of the repairs had left Lynette or Ax certain the hyperdrive would actually work when they tried to make the jump to lightspeed. So they kept working and kept trying to find the fix in the hopes that they could isolate it in next two or three days. That was when they would need to start flying again in order for the life support to run its refresh cycle.

Gaheris couldn't help but wonder what would happen if they needed to start flying before they managed to fix the hyperdrive. Was the Empire still out there searching for them?  Or had they given up by now?  What would they do if they Empire was still out there? They wouldn't be able to disappear back into asteroid field again. They'd be captured and Gaheris couldn't seem to quell the panic that rose up inside him at the thought of being held by Ursus again. Even the thought of this days off possibility left him gasping for air and wishing he could escape the ship and lay out underneath an open sky where he could just breath.

The cockpit was the closest he could get to any of that, so that's where Gaheris had retreated for now. Lynette and Ax were arguing about where they should focus their next round of repairs while Dinadan offered helpful advice. Gaheris was useless there and his increasingly frequent panic attacks made him even more useless than usual. So instead of listening to Lynette and Ax fight, he was sitting alone in the cockpit, staring out at the barely visible walls of the cavern.

A blue light flickered maybe a hundred feet in front of the Damsel. Gaheris closed his eyes and shook his head. He'd been staring at once spot for too long. That or he had dozed off. Either way he had been sitting in once spot for too long. It was time to get up and move around--check in with Lynette and Ax and see if they had a plan.

Gaheris opened his eyes and moved to stand. Now, instead of one blue light in the cavern, there were two. They went out as soon as Gaheris focused on them, but two more appeared just as quickly. He leaned forward, pressing a hand against the glass. There was a small spark of blue as a creature appeared on the other side of the glass. It was humanoid with blue-tinged skin and four translucent wings fluttering on its back.

A fae creature. Gaheris couldn't believe what he was seeing. He'd heard about these portals to the otherworld before. The place between science--as it was jokingly referred to--where time and space followed different laws. Certainly this creature--which could apparently survive in the vacuum of space--stood in defiance of the laws of nature. Or maybe it was the nature around it that had changed. Either option was a fascinating one to consider.

Gaheris turned his head to the side, trying to get a better look at the creature, and was rewarded by it mimicking his actions. Startled, he jerked back. The creature bared its teeth in a way that could maybe be construed as a smile before it pushed itself away from the ship and disappeared back through the portal in a blue flash of light.

Gaheris looked back and forth along the cave to see if there were any other creatures in the immediate vicinity. Not seeing anything, Gaheris left the bridge and made his way down to the hyperdrive engine where Ax and Lynette were working. They both looked up from a schematic readout as he approached and Lynette frowned. Gaheris stopped and nearly took a step backwards. He hadn't expected that reaction from her.

"Gaheris?" Lynette asked. "What is it?"

"Fairy doors," Gaheris said, pointing to the front of the ship. "Gateways to the otherworld are popping up all over the tunnel and a fae creature is darting in and out. I thought you'd like to see."

Lynette exchanged a look with Ax. "That might explain the sudden appearance of an atmosphere outside the ship."

"Wait, what?" Gaheris asked in disbelief. An atmosphere? Out in the middle of space?

"That might explain a lot of things about this region of space," Ax said. "A high-density asteroid field makes a lot more sense if we're sitting in the middle of a weak point between the two realms."

"Did the creature seem hostile?" Lynette asked.

"No," Gaheris said. "Just curious."

"I'm sure," Lynette muttered on her breath. She motioned to Ax. "Go up to the bridge and get her ready to fly. And have the guns ready, just in case."

"Right," Ax said with a shake of his head as he left the room.

"Come on," Lynette said, turning in the other direction. She walked fast and Gaheris practically had to jog to keep up with her.

"We're ready to fly?" Gaheris said. "You figured out what's wrong with the hyperdrive?"

"No."

"Then why did you tell Ax to get the ship ready to fly?"

"Because doors to the otherworld are opening up around my ship and I don't like that," Lynette said. "I want to be ready to move in case something bad happens."

"I told you it wasn't hostile?"

"Didn't your mother ever tell you stories about the fae folk?" Lynette asked. "My father told me. Stories about how they offer friendship with one hand while holding the knife to stab you in the back with the other."

"I'm Annwyn," Gaheris said. "My ancestry can be traced back to the fae folk. So, no. Those weren't the stories my mother told me. She said that if I was fair and honest, I would have nothing to fear from my cousins."

"You'd better hope she was right, Prince Charming" Lynette said. They had reached the rear of the ship. Lynette reached up into a cubby on the wall and brought down a pair of oxygen masks, holding one out to Gaheris.

"I thought you said there was atmosphere?" Gaheris asked.

"There is," Lynette said. "Which is why we're not going out in full suits. But I want to be prepared in case the atmosphere suddenly goes away.

Gaheris shrugged and slipped the mask on over his head. As soon as he was ready, Lynette flipped the switch and lowered the ramp down into the cavern of the asteroid. Side-by-side, they carefully descended. Lynette took the lead when they finally reached the ground, ducking underneath the Damsel as she made her way towards the front of the ship. The blue lights from the gateways were still flashing just in front of the ship, although Gaheris didn't see another fae folk flying around. He supposed that was for the best, really. Lynette looked as though she was coiled tight and ready to pounce on the first thing that moved.

"Ax, are you see this?" Lynette asked. The radio on her belt cackled to life and Ax's voice came through loud and clear.

"Much more than I ever wanted to, lass," Ax said.

"Are we ready to go?"

"Just say the word and she'll fly."

Lynette nodded, although it was clear to Gaheris that nothing Ax had said calmed her nerves at all. Gaheris couldn't understand why. This was an amazing discovery they had found in the midst of far too much death and destruction. Why couldn't Lynette just give in to the wonder of it all and enjoy this moment?  Why was she continuing to pull away when he had done what she wanted?

Finally, he and Lynette stepped out from underneath the Damsel and looked upon the blue lights as they continued to flash about the cavern. Gaheris couldn't help but laugh as he stared at it. It was just so beautiful. He hadn’t thought he'd ever see anything this wonderful ever again.

"Readings indicate that's one big gateway," Ax said. "Not a bunch of small ones."

"Why are parts of it blinking in and out like that?" Gaheris asked.

"Damned if I know," Ax said. "The Damsel sure as hell wasn't designed for this sort of nonsense. It's a miracle she was able to tell us that much."

"Ax, could the Damsel fit through this gateway?" Lynette asked.

That caused Ax to pause and Gaheris gasped, unable to believe what he had just heard. Lynette wanted to go through the gateway? Into the otherworld? Why? Looking at the gateway was one thing. Going into it was another. One that wasn't filled with wonder and awe but bad things. Probably worse bad things than what they were facing now, if that was even possible. Gaheris was sure it was. The otherworld didn't work like this one. You didn't just walk into it hoping for the best.

"I'm sorry, lass, I couldn't have heard you right," Ax said. "You can't seriously want to take the Damsel into the Otherworld?"

"Well, why not?" Lynette asked. "If we could figure out how to navigate it correctly, we could find ourselves on the other side of the galaxy. Far away from the Empire and possibly near a place where we could get the hyperdrive fixed."

"Oh, possibly. Aye, it's possible. It's also possible that we'd find ourselves flung hundreds or even thousands of years into the future. Or did your parents not tell you those stories?"

"Well, would that be so bad, all things considered?" Gaheris asked. "If our choices are being taken by the Empire or disappearing into the future...maybe that's the right choice. Maybe it's our best option."

"Or maybe we get killed by some horrifying monster the minute we try to pass through!" Ax snapped.

As if on cue, there was a flash of bright blue light as something was thrown out of the portal. Lynette grabbed Gaheris by the arm and pulled him aside as whatever it was flew past them. It crashed into the Damsel before landing roughly on the ground.

"What the hell?" Lynette asked as she and Gaheris stepped up next to the form on the ground. Gaheris' drew in a sharp breath. He recognized it--it was the fae that had been flying around the Damsel earlier. Except now it was torn in half. It's body below the torso was missing along with one arm and its wings.  

Lynette studied the dead fae for a moment before straightening up and looking back in the direction of the gateway. Gaheris started to kneel down next to the fae--he felt somehow responsible for what had happened to it--but Lynette grabbed him by the arm and held him in place. Gaheris looked at her and then at the gateway that held her focus. Instead of just a few lights popping in and out, the whole gateway was starting to shimmer. It looked like sunlight on an ocean. But the longer Gaheris stared at, the more certain he was he saw a dark shadow rising up out of the depths towards them.

"Ax!" Lynette yelled as enough of the shadow became clearly visible that Gaheris was able to make out a face rushing towards them. The guns on the underside of the Damsel spun around and began firing into the gateway. There was a roar of pain--loud enough that the whole tunnel began to shake around them. Lynette grabbed Gaheris by the arm and shoved him back in the direction of the ramp. Together they stumbled underneath the Damsel and up onto the entry ramp.

"Go, Ax!  Go!" Lynette yelled as soon as they were on the ramp. The Damsel hummed to life and started lifting up off the ground before they were even halfway up. It was moving through the tunnel by the time they reached the inside of the ship and Lynette was finally able to key in the code to close the ramp.

Side-by-side, they sprinted through the halls to the bridge of the ship. The Damsel was moving at a quick pace by the time Lynette slid into the pilot's chair and Gaheris took the seat behind her. He made the mistake of look up as he sat down and saw a dark shadow looming just above the Damsel.

"Is that a hand?" Gaheris asked in disbelief. The shadow looked like fingers trying to curl around the Damsel.

"And to think you wanted to go in there!" Ax yelled. "'Let's cut through the Otherworld. It'll be great! We'll sneak past the Empire and certainly won't run into any big, scary monsters looking to eat us along the way!'"

"It was just a suggestion, Ax!" Lynette snapped. "I don't recall making a commitment. Switch."

Ax quickly flipped the switch that turned the Damsel's controls back over to Lynette and the ship immediately began to sway side-to-side in the tunnel. Gaheris felt his stomach flip as walls on either side of the ship moved in and out. What Lynette was doing certainly didn't feel safe and at a couple points Gaheris was certain they were about to smash into the wall. They didn't and he wasn't entirely sure how they managed to escape that fate.

"Easy, easy!" Ax yelled after one particularly close call.

"I know what I'm doing!" Lynette yelled.

The exit to the cavern was in sight now--Gaheris could just barely make out the slight change in light on the other side. He held his breath as the opening loomed larger and larger. In his peripheral vision, he could tell the shadow of the hand was growing larger as well. He blinked and looked up. That wasn't a shadow anymore. That was a hand and it was curling down around them.

The Damsel shot through the opening over the cavern and Lynette pulled her ship into a tight spin right at that moment. The hand tried to close around them, but somehow the spin allowed the Damsel to slip through the space between the fingers. They were now in space and clear of whatever force had tried to escape the Otherworld to catch them.

Lynette looped the Damsel around the asteroid and through the window Gaheris watched as the head and shoulder of a giant, humanoid creature burst out of the tunnel. Its mouth opened in a silent roar as it watched the Damsel fly over it. Then there was a flicker of blue light and the creature was gone. It just disappeared as though it had never been there.

"Well, that was close," Gaheris said as he dropped back into his chair.

"This has just been one nightmare after another," Lynette said. "We can't catch a break."

"And we won't anytime soon." Ax said darkly. Gaheris straightened up to look at him. Ax's gaze was glued to the readout in front of him and his face was ashen. "Imperial Star Destroyer. It's moving to intercept. And another...and...I don't think we'll be able to hide again, lass."

"That's all right," Lynette said as she sent the Damsel deeper into the asteroid field. No, not deeper, Gaheris realized as he stared at the navigation readout. She was taking them back the way they had come--she was taking them out of the asteroid field. "I have a plan."

Chapter Text

"Lynette Perilous is, first and foremost, a creature of deep and unwavering loyalty. There is no need to chase her to the edge of the galaxy. Apply the right pressure point and she will run home in an instant to save what she loves most."

Ursus frowned as he studied the bounty hunter seated before him. Sir Persant of the Order of Bounty Hunters. An order he and his brothers had made up because the dregs of society thought it fanciful to use the titles of the Knights of Avalon in the wake of their destruction. All sorts of fiends moved about the galaxy these days calling themselves Knight as a reminder to those they exploited that the Knights of Avalon couldn't protect them now.

Ursus found them deplorable and sitting so close to Persant was making his skin crawl. Under normal circumstances, Ursus never would have agreed to take a meeting with one such as Persant and if the bounty hunter had insisted, Ursus would have simply broken his neck. But this wasn't Ursus's decision to make. The Emperor was the one who had put the bounty of Captain Perilous' head and it was the Emperor Persant had reached out to with information on the Captain. And it was under the Emperor's orders that Ursus was taking this meeting now. Ursus didn't like it, but he had no choice but to comply. He was certain this would not be the last distasteful action he took in the name of finding the boy who dared to call himself Pendragon. 

"If capturing Captain Perilous is as simple as you say, why hasn't your master already done so?" Ursus asked.

Persant shrugged. "He would like to make an example of her, certainly. But he is first and foremost a man of business and agreements were reached that made the captain...no longer a priority. However, if new avenues of business were to open...I'm sure Ironside would be amenable to making her capture a priority once more."

"We are not interested in a partnership," Ursus said.

"No partnership. Just a few locations throughout the galaxy where the Empire might be convinced to look the other way. Important trade routes where our business associates no longer need fear the confiscation of their cargo."

Ursus growled as he considered what Persant was asking. He had orders from the Emperor to give this bounty hunter and the warlord Ironside whatever he asked for. And really, the simple act of looking the other way was far less of an ask than the Emperor had been expecting. It was a small thing to give in order to ensure the capture of his quarry, but Ursus was loathed to give it.

There was a chime at his door and Ursus waved it open, grateful for the distraction. An aid entered the room looking positively gleeful and all of Ursus' attention turned towards him. Could it be? Would he not need to make an agreement with this vile man after all?

"The Savage Damsel has been sighted, my lord," the aid said. Ursus sighed, feeling most of the tension go out of his body with that news. "Two Star Destroyers are in pursuit and we are moving to intercept now. We should have them as soon as they exit the asteroid field."  

"Excellent," Ursus said as he got to his feet and moved around his desk. He paused when he was standing next to Persant and looked down at the bounty hunter. "It seems that we are no longer in need of your services, Sir Persant."

"We shall see," Persant said, standing up. "Captain Perilous is a crafty one. I would not be so confident if I were you, Lord Ursus. She may yet surprise you."

"I'm surprised that she's made it this far," Ursus said. "And now, I'm afraid, she is well and truly out of tricks."

Persant just chuckled and made no move to depart Ursus' ship in disgrace. Scowling, Ursus left the bounty hunter where he was and followed the aid to the bridge. He had her this time. This he was certain of. Morgause would finally fall to the Empire and her young apprentice wouldn't be far behind.  

"Two Star Destroyers closing in behind us, one right in front of us just outside the asteroid field," Ax announced.

Lynette growled. That was not the information she wanted right now. The asteroids were starting to thin out around them--really the only ones left were too small to risk any damage. The more severe threat was the Star Destroyer behind them that was firing wildly in hopes that it would get lucky and hit the Damsel. It nearly had a couple times as Lynette had tried to navigate around asteroids and laser canons.

But now that the asteroid field was clearing, Lynette could focus all of her attention on avoiding the laser blast from one of the two Star Destroyers behind them. The other was too far away to be cause for concern. No. The greatest danger lay with the Star Destroyer just outside the asteroid field. It was that one she would have to outsmart if they were going to get out of this.

"I only care about TIE fighters," Lynette said. "Let me know if any are set loose. In the meantime, I want you to prep a jump to lightspeed. When I give the signal, open a wormhole just behind the Star Destroyer in front of us."

"You're betting all this on the hyperdrive?" Ax demanded. "We don't know that we fixed it. She may go, but lass...that's too big of a long shot to risk our lives on."

"Ax!" Lynette snapped, wishing he would just trust her for a change. But she didn't have any more time to explain as they exited the asteroid field and suddenly she had two Star Destroyers firing at her from either direction. Lynette gritted her teeth together and sent the Damsel flying towards the ship in front of her. Ax, Gaheris, and Dinadan yelled--calling for her to stop or pull off. Lynette ignored them. She knew what she was doing and she knew this was going to work. So long as she didn't hesitate, it would work.

"TIE Fighters?" Lynette asked as she sent the Damsel in a tight circle around the laser blasts. 

"Nothing," Ax said. 

"Good. Get ready to open that wormhole."

Lynette pushed in on the controls, accelerating the Damsel right as she reached the nose of the Star Destroyer. The laser fire stopped as the Star Destroyer suddenly had to worry about hitting itself as the Damsel flew along the length of it--just above its hull.

"No, no!" Gaheris yelled as they closed in on the raised section of the ship that held the bridge. Lynette pulled up hard and the Damsel shot upward.

"Now, Ax!" Lynette yelled. Ax flipped the switches that would open a wormhole just as the Damsel went up and over the bridge and disappeared from sight.

"My lord!" one of the crew members called out as Ursus stepped up onto the bridge. "The Savage Damsel is approaching. So far our other ships have been unable to disable its engine.

"Turn on the tractor beam," Ursus said. "As soon as it closes in, we'll..."

"My lord..." Pontius said. "We cannot turn on the tractor beam yet. There is too much risk so close to an asteroid field. But once the Savage Damsel moves past us into open space, we'll be able to catch her."

"Once she moves into open space, she'll be able to make the jump to lightspeed," Ursus said. "We must capture that ship now, Admiral. Before she has a chance to escape."

"We are hopeful that they were unable to complete the required repairs to the Savage Damsel," Pontius said. "Our Star Destroyers within the asteroid field report the Savage Damsel was driven out of her hiding space by some sort of incursion from the Otherworld. If so--"

"And if not the ship will escape into hyperspace as soon as she's past us," Ursus said. "Do not hope for the best, Admiral. Plan for the worst."

"Yes, my lord," Pontius stammered.

"The Savage Damsel has exited the asteroid field," someone yelled. "She's closing in...she's heading right for us!"

Ursus stepped up right next to the windows of the bridge. He looked out down the length of the ship and saw the Savage Damsel--such a small and insignificant thing when placed against a Star Destroyer--closing in on his ship. He watched as the ship expertly avoided the blasts from the laser canons. So expertly that Ursus found it difficult to believe that a normal humanoid was piloting that ship. A person would need the guidance of the force to so deftly avoid the blasts coming at it.

Ursus' hands curled into fists as he watched that ship. Morgause was there. Morgause was either flying the ship herself or assisting the pilot. There could be no other explanation. It had to be Morgause fighting with every bit of power she had left to see this ship to salvation.

It would not be enough. Ursus would see to it.

The Savage Damsel reached the tip of the Star Destroyer and began flying down the very center of it. Ursus' eyes widened as the laser fire ceased.

"What's going on?" Ursus yelled, turning to face Pontius. "Fire on that ship!"

"My lord, we can't," Pontius stammered. "We risk damaging--" 

"Do I look like I give a damn?" Ursus said. "I said I would destroy every ship in this fleet if that's what it took and I meant it. Now fire on that ship!"

Too late. Ursus turned back to the window in time to see the Savage Damsel fly past the window and disappear from sight.

"Tractor beam," Ursus barked, turning back around.

His request was met with silence and a crew that seemed frozen in place.

"They're gone," someone said softly. Too softly for Ursus to make out who it was. Pontius slowly pulled himself away and went to look at one of the readouts.

"What do you mean they're gone?" Ursus asked.

"Readings indicate a hyperspace window opened just behind us," Pontius said. "Their calculated flight path would have taken them right into it."

With a yell, Ursus turned and slammed his robotic hand into the window. It held firm against his assault and Ursus drew in a deep breath, trying to get a reign on his emotions. Trying to find the dark void so he could reach out along the force and find her. His mind opened and he could sense everyone on his Star Destroyer and the two closing in. He could feel everyone...except Morgause. Except those who were supposed to be on the Savage Damsel with her. 

"Well, well," a voice said and Ursus turned slowly to find that Persant had joined them on the bridge. He was smiling. A wide smile full of confidence. Ursus barred his teeth at the bounty hunter. A battle of wills that he had already lost. Persant had the upper hand now in this bargain and he knew it. "It seems that you may need my help after all."

"It seems so," Ursus said, nodding ever so slightly. It didn't matter. It didn't matter if he had to give up his last semblances of honor. He would find Morgause and he would kill her and after that he would kill her protégé. That was all that mattered. Ursus would sacrifice everything he had left if only to catch her.

"You'll understand, though, if I choose not to take you at your word?" Persant asked. "You have already proven yourself willing to pull out of a deal if it works to your advantage. And, well, I'm about to give you something very valuable to my master. I would so hate to see you abuse that trust."

"Of course," Ursus said, his smile tight as he motioned back towards his office. "Shall we, then?"

"Yes," Persant said, turning and leaving the bridge. Ursus paused long enough to take one last look out into the vastness of space. He reached out one last time, trying to find Morgause out in a galaxy that sometimes felt endless. He couldn't sense her. Wherever she had gone, she was hidden from him once more.

Scowling, Ursus turned away from the window and followed Persant back to his office.

"You're insane," Gaheris said. It wasn't the first time he had said this in the last few minutes. It probably wouldn't be the last. As he stared out the window of the Damsel's cockpit and watched the Star Destroyers move around them, he felt it important to verbalize the sentiment. Often. How else was Lynette to know that she had just managed to survive something no one in their right mind should have been able to accomplish?

"You going to add anything useful to this conversation?" Lynette asked. Gaheris perked up. It was the first time she had responded since the Damsel had settled on the back of the Star Destroyer's main radar. They had slipped into a blind spot when they had come up over the bridge. Ax had opened the wormhole to make it look like they had fled while Lynette had landed the Damsel in a place the Empire couldn't see them.

"How do you know about this?" Gaheris asked.

"It's the sort of information smuggler's like to share between each other. I've used the blind spot before to change course on them. But I don't think anyone has ever tried this. I can't believe it worked."

"It is something," Gaheris said as the door to the cockpit opened and Ax returned.

"Here we are," Ax said, handing them the oxygen masks they had hastily discarded while running from the giant from the otherword. He also gave them both a thermal blank.

Gaheris, Lynette, and Ax all pulled the masks on and then Lynette flipped the switch to power down the Damsel entirely. Most of the ship's systems had been shutdown after they had landed. Lynette had just been waiting for Ax to get the masks and the oxygen before she turned off the life support as well. It was about to get very cold on the Savage Damsel.

"Well, now what?" Ax asked, sitting back down in the co-pilot's chair. "And please, lass, do my heart a favor and don't tell me that you intend to piggyback on the Empire's lightspeed jump to wherever these Star Destroyer's are heading."   

"That wouldn't be my first choice," Lynette said. "Right before they jump to lightspeed, they'll dump their trash. Out the ship right behind us. We can detach then and just...float away. Once they've jumped, we can power the ship back on and use the sublight engine to fly...somewhere that can fix the hyperdrive. Of course, this all assumes we find a place that can help us that's only a couple weeks away. That's about as long as we can get the rations to stretch. If we can't..."

"If we can't, we'll have to piggyback on the Empire's lightspeed jump," Gaheris said. Lynette nodded.

Ax scowled. "And just how do you intend to find a place that can fix the hyperdrive? The navigation computer has been powered down with the rest of the ship. Unless you intend to risk powering it back on--"

"I do not," Lynette said, turning her chair around to face Dinadan. The droid was sitting quietly in the chair behind Ax's. His eyes were starring out the cockpit window. Gaheris wondered just want, exactly, Dinadan made of all of this. Certainly it would make for a good story--assuming of course they got out of it alive.

"Dinadan?" Lynette asked. The droid started.

"Yes, Captain?" he asked.

"Do you know where we are? In space?"

"Yes. The Damsel and I exchanged this information before you powered down her systems."

"And are you aware of the inhabited planets, moons, and spacestations in this location and what their affiliations are?"

"I do, Captain. You never know when that information may be required to set a scene."

"All right. I need you to start going down that list for me. Give me the name, what it is, a quick background specifically focusing on where their allegiance lay, and how long it will take to get there with the sublight engines. Start with the places closest to us."

Dinadan needed no further prompting and started going through the list just as Lynette had asked. She remained facing the droid, staring at Dinadan with a look of intense concentration. Ax's attention remained on the window--watching the Star Destroyers for any sign that they had been spotted or a garbage dump. Gaheris' attention drifted between the two. It got cold quickly on the ship and he was forced to pull out his thermal blanket earlier than either Ax or Lynette had to. But wrapped up and colder than he ever wanted to be, Gaheris' eyes glazed over and he was only half listening to Dinadan.

"...an Empire strong point and is three weeks away from our location. Perilyn--"

"Perilyn?" both Lynette and Ax asked at the same time. Gaheris started, surprised to see them both looking at Dinadan intently.

"Yes. It is a mining colony with no declared allegiances. It is three weeks away from our current location."

"So close," Lynette muttered, rubbing a hand across her mouth. "I didn't realize..."  She looked up at Ax who shook his head.

"I knew it was a short jump but three weeks..." Ax shook his head. "We could do that. We could make it home."

"Home?" Dinadan asked. "This mining colony is your home?"

"My father owned that colony," Lynette said slowly. "I suppose my sister and I own it now, but Ness is the one who has governed ever since father..."  She paused and shook her head. "Ax and I left years ago. I've spoken to Ness once...maybe twice since. And not since I joined the rebellion."  She paused again and pressed a hand up against her forehead. "Ness is going to kill me."

"Kill both of us, I think," Ax said. "But there's no getting around it. Perilyn's our best bet to get the hyperdrive up and running again. It'll get rough at the end, but we should have just enough rations to make it if we're careful."

"All right," Lynette said as she leaned back in her chair. "Perilyn it is. Time to go home."

They had to wait another hour before Star Destroyer's finally dumped their garbage in preparation for jumping to lightspeed. Lynette flipped the switch to release the ship from its position on the side of the Star Destroyer. It worked just as Lynette had predicted. They bobbed silently into space with the rest of the garbage. A moment later, the Star Destroyers made the jump to lightspeed and disappeared from sight.

Gaheris let out a breath he felt as though he had been holding since they had first found the Empire's drone down on Barham Down. He leaned forward and pressed his ice-cold hands up against his forehead. It had worked and they had escaped the Empire once more. Gaheris folded his hands together and continued to press them up against his forehead--trying to stop the shaking.

"Okay," Lynette said as she flipped the switches to power the Damsel back on. She looked tense to Gaheris as she went through the motions. It was only when the ship hummed back to life that her shoulders relaxed. The cockpit was quickly filled with heat and oxygen. Lynette, Ax, and Gaheris all removed their oxygen masks and set the thermal blankets aside. Gaheris pulled items off to the side as Lynette and Ax continued to get the ship into flying shape and set their course to Perilyn.

Lynette rested her hand on the main controls. She paused there as her eyes drifted up to window and she stared out into the vastness of space. After a moment, Ax reached over and rested a hand on hers.

"Lass?" he said softly and Lynette started. She shook her head and adjusted her hand on the controls.

"Let's go home," Lynette said as she engaged the sublight engines and sent the Damsel on it's way.

Chapter Text

His routine with Vivian continued over the next few days--meditation in the morning, afternoons training with the holograms, and evenings left to his own devices. Outwardly nothing had changed since the incident with the Questing Beast, but that didn't mean things hadn't changed. Vivian read his thoughts so she had to know what he had seen and the burning questions he had been left with.

And Mordred knew that she knew and was refusing to acknowledge the shift between them. He had tried to ask about Aunt Morgause the next morning, but Vivian had stopped him. And she hadn't stopped him verbally with a shush or an impatient 'silence'. No, she had used the force to silence him. When Mordred had tried to ask his questions, no sound had left his lips. Instead, he had been left staring down Vivian as she gave him a superior, smug smile.

A smarter man probably would have stopped then--given up on Vivian and the emptiness and instead turned his attention to Nimue and the threads. But Mordred couldn't bring himself to give up on everything Aunt Morgan and Vivian had taught him. He told himself that he was trying to keep an open mind--that he wanted to fully explore both options before deciding. But the truth, a truth he couldn't quite admit to himself, was that the accusation that he was parroting Aunt Morgause and didn't have a thought of his own had been damaging. If he gave up on Vivian and Aunt Morgan now and chose Aunt Morgause, he'd prove them right.

But they weren't right. He'd prove that they weren't right by continuing his training with Vivian. He would make his own decision and what Aunt Morgause wanted wouldn't factor into it. That he was being manipulated into giving Vivian exactly what she wanted never crossed his mind. 

They settled into what Mordred saw as an uneasy truce. And then the day came Vivian proved just how far she was willing to go in order to control him. 

The morning started like any other. He got up and went out to join Vivian for meditation. He settled on the ground, drawing in deep breaths as he tried to focus on the darkness and becoming a vessel. He was a vessel for the Force to move through, nothing more. A vessel. Only a vessel. A vessel...

Water splashed against his face and Mordred started, opening his eyes. His own reflection stared back at him and Mordred took a step back. A step. He was standing. How was he standing when he had just been sitting... Mordred blinked a few times and looked around. He wasn't outside the temple anymore. He was in his bathroom, standing just in front of the sink. The water was on and his hands were wet. He had splashed water against his own face. But why? And why was he here and not outside the temple with Vivian?

Hands shaking, Mordred turned off the water and stepped back out into his room. AC-LN and Nimue were both on the bed. Nimue was sitting with her back up against the wall and the covers pulled over her. AC-LN was right next to her, chirping and buzzing in distress.

"AC," Mordred said, his voice hoarse. The droid's head swung around it look at him and it let out a chirp of excitement as it lifted up into the air and flew over to where Mordred was. Mordred turned the droid slightly so he could see the handheld translator that was still plugged into AC. It read 'It's you! You're you! and Mordred didn't even what to think about what that meant. 

"What time is it?" he asked. The hour flashed across the translator. It was evening. The last he remembered was morning. He has lost a day...? He had lost at least a day. "And the date?"

A date flashed across the translator. The same date. Good. Whatever this was--whatever had happened, Mordred had only lost a day. He hadn't been trapped in it longer. Sighing, Mordred leaned forward and rested his head against AC-LN's hull.

"Did I hurt you?" he asked softly. "Either of you?"

He didn't need the translator to understand the 'no' AC-LN squawked out. AC-LN let out another string of whistles and chirps and Mordred did need to look at those.

'Strange,' the translator read. 'Distant. Nimue knew. Scared.''

"Thank you," Mordred said, giving the droid a pat. He then turned his attention to the bed and made his way over to it. Slowly he pulled back the covers, revealing Nimue underneath. She had her legs pulled up against her chest and her head pressed up against her knees. She looked terrified.

"Nim," Mordred said softly. She finally looked up and gasped when she saw him. She scrambled to her feet and jumped towards him, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"It's you!" she whispered. "You're back."

Mordred slowly wrapped his arms around her, holding her tight. "Where did I go?" he whispered.

"I don't know," Nimue said. "Somewhere dark so she could take control."

"She controlled me?" Mordred asked. He set Nimue back on the bed and took a step back. "But...how? Why? Why would she do that? How is that in line with the teachings of the Knights of Avalon?"

Nimue sat down on the bed and crossed her legs in front of her. She managed to look both very small and timid and wise beyond her years at the same time. "The teachings of the Knights of Avalon are to find a dark void to empty your mind so that the force can move through you. Vivian is a physical avatar of the force--specifically this teaching of the force. If you are emptying your mind to allow the force to move through you--"

"I'm allowing her to move through me," Mordred said. "Because she is the force."

Nimue nodded. Mordred slowly sank down so that he was sitting on the bed beside her. He looked away from Nimue and found himself staring out the window of his room. He couldn't see anything beyond the window except the fog--the fog that Vivian liked and was probably keeping in place around them. This whole place was a monument to her power. Mordred was nothing compared to that. He was an insignificant bug she would squash if he stepped too far out of line. He couldn't fight her--he clearly couldn't stop her. There was nothing he could do to stop her from turning him into her puppet once more.     

"That's not true," Nimue said softly. "You hold more power than you could possibly know. Vivian needs you because she can only exist so long as there are those who use the force her way. Without any followers, she will cease to exist. You are the last trained in her way. All the other Knights of Avalon are dead and gone. She cannot exist without your devotion."

Mordred wrapped a hand around the locket around his neck. Morgause's locket. Mordred squeezed it tight, hoping that it would convey some long-lost wisdom to him. He would have given anything to be on the receiving end of Aunt Morgause's guidance right now. Not even guidance, really. He just wished she was here. Why wasn't she here? She had the power, so why hadn't she saved herself?

"If I choose the threads now, will Vivian be gone in an instant?" Mordred asked. Nimue shook her head. "No, of course not. It's a process. I spent years struggling to be an empty vessel. That can't be undone with a thought. I need to give the same time and dedication to the threads that I gave to being an empty vessel. And while I work on that, Vivian is still here. She can take control of me and put a stop to my rebellion before it has a chance to start. 

"What do I do? I can't just continue as though nothing has changed. I can't keep training with her. I can't... I can't leave, either, can I? My ship as at the bottom of the swamp and Vivian controls who can come and go from Avalon. I'm trapped and there's nothing I can do if she decides to take control of me again."

It was a horrifying realization. There was nothing he could do. Nothing he could do to protect himself. She could just take control of him again and that would be it. He would be trapped forever and never know.

"Has she done this before?" Mordred asked. "To other Knights of Avalon? Or is it just me? Is it because I'm too old and too stubborn? Is Aunt Morgause's influence too great? Is there just no other way to teach me?"

"There is another way to teach you," Nimue said. "You are learning. You're learning more every day. She's just... she's scared, I think. She's afraid she's going to lose you and wants to make sure that she doesn't."

"What do I do?" Mordred asked. "How do I stop her? Is there a way?"

"There's a way," Nimue said softly. "But it's not... I promised I'd warn you if there was danger. This is dangerous."

"How dangerous?"

"I don't know," Nimue said. "I've only felt it. I've never been strong enough to go in. But I think it will help. I think it will help you find the strength to withstand her. If you survive it."

"Well, I suppose I don't have much of a choice," Mordred said. "If I'm to lose my life, I'd prefer it be from my own bad decisions."

Nimue jumped off the bed and turned to face him, holding out her hand. "Come on, then. We should go now."

They left the temple and made their way out into the woods. Mordred was hopelessly lost immediately--he would never be able to find his way back to the temple on his own. So he kept a tight hold on Nimue's hand and let her lead him through the fog covered woods. They walked for more than an hour. Mordred felt their destination before he saw it. It got cold suddenly. He felt the chill deep in his bones. He felt sick. His stomach twisted in and around itself and he had to fight the urge to turn around and run back into the woods.

"What is this place?" he asked, tightening his grip on Nimue's hand.

"Fear," Nimue said. She held out her hand, pointing to a darkened cave that led down into the earth.

"What's in there?"

"That's up to you," Nimue said. "I can't go with you. I'm sorry."

"How will this help again?" Mordred asked.

"Face your fear," Nimue said. "Put a name to it. It will make you stronger."

Mordred drew a deep breath and nodded. He let go of Nimue's hand and carefully made his way towards the cave. He paused at the entrance and looked back over his shoulder. Nimue was where he had left her. Her arms were crossed tight across her chest and she looked upset. That didn't bode well for what he was going to find in here. Still, he gave her a small wave before descending down the tunnel into darkness.

The tunnel was dark and he couldn't see anything. He considered pulling out a light but thought better of it. Instead he reached out a hand and pressed it against the wall of the tunnel as his mind reached out with the force. A shudder went up his back as he became an empty vessel. It felt as though the cold was pouring into him--filling him from within so that he was no longer empty and was instead filled with doubt. He once again had to fight the instinct to turn and run away. Nimue thought this would make him stronger. There was a chance this would protect his mind from Vivian's intrusions. He had to take it. There was no turning back.

He didn't know how long he walked. In the dark with that oppressive cold freezing him from within, it felt like forever. The darkness seemed never ending, until suddenly it did. Suddenly there was a light ahead of him. Mordred blinked a couple times to make sure he wasn't seeing things, but no. There was a light and it was coming closer. Mordred rounded a corner and found that the tunnel opened up into a large, circular room. It was lit with torches that lined the walls and was empty except for a large, raised platform on the far side. There was a body lying across that platform.

Mordred hesitated at the entrance to the room. He knew this room. He had dreamed about it ever since Aunt Morgan had told him his father was still alive--the sleeping king held prisoner at the heart of the Empire. Ever since she had told him he was destined to rescue his father, this was how he had pictured it. The room, the platform, the body--all of it had been plucked right out of his imagination.

It was unnerving, and yet Mordred's heart fluttered a bit in anticipation. Was that Arthur on the other side of the room? It looked like a real person with distinguishing features. Mordred didn't know what Arthur looked like, so in his daydreams the figure was non-distinct. But Arthur had lived on Avalon, so this place had to know what he looked like. Could Avalon fill in that gap for him? Was he finally about to see Arthur? Was he finally about to put a face to the name he had grown up idolizing?

Mordred began to move across the room. His steps were slow and uncertain. His eye scanned ever inch of the room as he walked, searching for an ambush or any other sign of danger. He was supposed to be facing his greatest fear and instead found himself moving towards his greatest desire. That wasn't right. That couldn't be right. Something bad was about to happen here and he needed to keep his wits about him in the face of this promised revelation. He needed to prepared for it to be a lie.

The man on the platform had dark hair. Like Arthur? Of course Arthur's hair was dark. He had dark hair, both his aunts had dark hair. Of course Arthur's hair was dark. It was him. It was really him. It was Arthur up on that platform and Mordred was finally going to know what his father looked like. He was finally going to see Arthur.

There were a handful of steps leading up to the platform and Mordred ascended them eagerly. All thoughts of an ambush were forgotten--lost to the prospect of finally seeing his father's face. He reached the top of the platform and looked down, only to find not Arthur stretched out across it, but himself. Mordred took a step back, recoiling in horror. The eyes of this doppelganger snapped open as Mordred took a step back and turned to look up at him.

"They're lying to you," the duplicate said right before Mordred felt something pierce through his back and rip right through his stomach. He looked down to see a sword blade stick through him before it was pulled back out of him. Mordred let out a yell as he dropped to his knees, one hand pressing up against the wound in his side. He felt as though he was on fire and that the blaze was emanating from the wound. Someone kicked him, knocking him onto his side on the stairs. Mordred looked up to see Ursus looming above him. 

With a yell Ursus lifted his sword above his head and swung it down towards Mordred. He barely managed to twist out of the way and the blade struck the stone steps behind him. Mordred's feet pushed against the ground and he managed to ease up the stairs bit by bit. One hand pressed up against the wound in his side as though that would do anything at all to ease the pain while the other fumbled for the Caliburn blade hanging off his belt.

Ursus brought his blade down again and this time Mordred's own sword was there to meet it. He cried out in pain as the two blades clashed together, the force of Ursus' blow seemed to jar his whole body, specifically his wounded side. Spots appeared in his vision and Mordred gritted his teeth, trying to hold on. He risked a glance over his shoulder to find that there was an exit from the cavern right behind him. Had that been there the whole time? Did it matter? If he could just get above ground again, he could... he could...

It didn't matter. It didn't matter that there was no escaping this. He had to try. There was no surviving in the cavern, but if he could get to the surface maybe he would have a chance.

He managed to push Ursus back away from him. Mordred wasn't sure if it was his own strength or if he had somehow managed to connect with the force in his moment of desperation. Whatever it was, Ursus had moved a step or two backwards. Mordred lowered both his arms and pushed against the stairs, forcing himself up one...two...

There was a shout and Mordred looked up to see Ursus charging at him. He pushed himself up one more stair--through the threshold of the door--before lifting his blade back up to defend himself. But it didn't matter. As Mordred looked up again, Ursus was gone. The room was just a dark, empty cave. There were no torches in the wall, no platform near him, no duplicate laying across it. Mordred pressed a hand to his side and wasn't at all surprised to find that the wound was gone. There was still a dull ache in his side, but there was no hole in his clothing and no blood on his hands. It had all been a lie.

Shakily Mordred got to his feet and ascended the stairs behind him up out of the cave. He stepped back out on the surface nowhere near where he had gone in. He looked around for any sign of Nimue and froze when he caught sight of a white light a few paces in front of him. But it wasn't just a light. It had form. It was a person.

It was Aunt Morgause. She was a bright, ethereal light and she was sitting on a log a few feet away from him. It would have been unbelievable if Mordred hadn't just seen a doppelganger of himself and gotten not-stabbed by Ursus. The back of his mind worried about it being a trap, something dangerous, another way for Avalon to hurt him. But even standing a few feet away, he could feel a warmth and...and a comfort radiating off of Aunt Morgause. He wanted to be wary but...he couldn't. He couldn't bring himself to heed those warnings.

Still shaking, he stumbled over to Aunt Morgause and dropped to his knees before her, bowing forward to rest his head on her knee. She felt solid and yet not. He felt as though he was resting his head on a warm wind that should have been forceful enough to blow him backwards but instead felt as peaceful and welcoming as a warm breeze.

He felt the wind begin to brush through his hair. The gesture felt so achingly failure. He remembered keenly Aunt Morgause smoothing out his hair and comforting him after a nightmare. He closed his eyes tight and for a moment just pretended. Pretended that she was still here to guide him and comfort him. Pretended that he was safe and home. For a moment he pretended the darkness away and managed to still his fears long enough to find peace.

Hidden amongst the fog and the trees, Vivian watched through narrow eyes as the ghost of Morgause comforted her last hope of salvation. What frustrated Vivian the most was how repetitive the whole thing seemed. It had been the same thing for more than twenty years now. Whenever Vivian thought she had secured the boy and his destiny, Morgause would swoop in a pull him back. Even in death Morgause continued to meddle. What would it take to finally be rid of her?

It wouldn't be enough. Vivian would ensure it wouldn't be enough. Morgause was dead. There were limits to what she could do while Vivian's power was all encompassing. Mistakes may have been made last time, but Vivian would not lose again. Mordred would fulfill his destiny and return Arthur to her side and from there she would rebuild. With the Pendragon line once again standing behind her, Vivian would see her order returned to its former glory. Failure was not an option.

And if Mordred continued to pull away from her--continued to look to Morgause for guidance, Vivian would show him the error of his ways. He couldn't afford to defy her much longer. Too many people were counting on him. Once he started to hear their cries of distress and realized there was nothing he could do to help them from here, he would come around. Vivian was certain he would come around.

Chapter Text

Gaheris started awake as the Damsel was jostled from side to side. It had been smooth flying for weeks that the sudden turbulence caused his heart to start hammering in his chest. Trying to stay calm, Gaheris rolled over in his bed and reached up for the intercom on the wall.

"What's going on?" he asked. "What did we hit?"

"Nothing," Lynette said. "We're here. Just entering atmosphere."

Gaheris scrambled to his feet. They were here already? How could that be? They'd been hours away from Perilyn when he had gone to sleep and he'd only...

Gaheris glanced at the clock to find that instead of sleeping for an hour, it had been closer to six. That almost caused him to drop back down onto the bed in disbelief. He had been asleep for six uninterrupted hours without a single nightmare to speak of. Three weeks traveling at sublight speeds with nothing to do and nowhere to go was not something Gaheris ever would have wanted, but apparently it was something he needed.

Shaking his head, Gaheris squeezed his way through the door to his bedroom and made his way up to the cockpit.

"Good morning," Lynette said without a glance over her shoulder as Gaheris stepped into the cockpit. And it was morning. Gaheris was forced to hold up his hand and look away from the bright light streaming through the windows. It had been weeks since he had seen sunlight. He was sure that in a few minutes it would feel good again, but right now there was only discomfort.

"You didn't wake me?" Gaheris asked as he took his seat behind Lynette.

"It was the first time in weeks you'd slept any substantial time without screaming," Lynette said as Ax snorted. "We figured we'd let you enjoy it."

"Well, thank you," Gaheris said, reaching out to give Lynette's shoulder a squeeze.

"Ships approaching," Ax said. "It looks like a pair of escorts."

"Give them our access codes," Lynette said. She sounded...resigned? As though she just wanted to get this over with instead of feeling any real excitement at the prospect of returning in what? It had been several years, at the very least.

"Are you all right?" Gaheris asked.

"Yeah," Lynette said quickly. Perhaps a little too quickly. "I just don't know what we're going to to find find here. I'm worried."

Gaheris was about to try and reassure her when the Damsel turned ever so slightly--away from the bright sunlight and angled a bit more down so that he could finally see Perilyn. Gaheris' breath caught in his throat. It was beautiful.

Not just beautiful. Stunning, really. Aw inspiring. Gaheris didn't think he had ever seen a planet so striking in his entire life and he had been to a lot of planets. Of course, this wasn't so much a planet as it was a series of interconnected floating islands with a river running between them. The islands all floated at different heights with different elevations within them. That led to waterfalls--waterfalls everywhere. Waterfalls on the islands, waterfalls between the islands, waterfalls dropping down from the lowest island and disappearing down into the vast space below.

"Wow," Gaheris finally managed to whisper. "It's amazing."

"Aye," Ax said with a nod. "She is."

"But how?" Gaheris asked. "How is it just floating like that?"

"Perilyn is technically a gas planet with an outer rim that has a favorable atmosphere for supporting life," Ax said. "The islands are all man made. Guiomar put them in so that his miners and their families would have somewhere to stay while they mined the gases at the center of the planet. "

"Your father made this?" Gaheris asked, turning to Lynette.

"He did," Lynette said.

"And so many others like it," Ax said. "It's why my family signed on to work for him. He was known for treating his workers well and the lodgings were rumored to be just shy of paradise. And I can say from experience those rumors were true. It's a shame only Perilyn is all that remains of what he built. Damn Saxons."

"Your father sounds like a remarkable man," Gaheris said.

"He was," Lynette said, looking down at the readout in front of her. Outside the Damsel, the escort ships had pulled away. "Our access codes have been accepted and we've been given clearance to land."

"Setting coordinates," Ax said.

Gaheris stopped listening to them as he turned his attention to watching the floating islands as they grew in size and the details that distinguished them from each other became more pronounced. It was amazing. Gaheris felt as though he could spend an entire lifetime taking it all in and still wake each day in awe.

Lynette set the ship on a course to one of the lower islands, heading to the fortress-like structure at the heart of it. Within a few minutes the ship had touched down at a landing bay that was positioned just off the fortress. Lynette powered down the main systems and then looked up at the fortress. She let out a long, heavy sigh and Gaheris reached out again to squeeze her shoulder.

"Did you really grow up here?" he asked, motioning to the fortress.

"Not originally," Lynette said. "It looked much more like a house when we were little. But after the Saxons took control of the rest of his mines, dad wanted to make sure we were protected."

"It seems to be working," Gaheris said.

Lynette shrugged as she got to her feet and left the cockpit. Gaheris got up and followed her own, Ax and Dinadan right behind him. They made their way down to the ship's main ramp, which Lynette already had open when they arrived and was halfway down. Gaheris jogged after her--he wanted to say something in this last moment of privacy. But the door from the fortress opened before he could get the words out an a woman joined them out on the landing platform. 

She was a few inches shorter than Lynette with short, kinky hair that hung down to her chin. Where Lynette was rough and tumble in her scuffed up slacks and shirt, this woman wore a formal blue dress with gold trim. She and Lynette appeared to be complete opposites at first glance, but as she got closer the similarities became more obvious. They had the same eyes, the same cheek bones, the same arrogant smile, and the same stubborn stance.

"Ness," Lynette said, stepping out from underneath the Damsel and making her way towards the woman.

"Well, well, little sister returned home at last," the woman said and Lynette stopped. Gaheris' eyes widened at what he had just heard. Little sister? Since Lynette wasn't physically smaller than this woman, that meant she was the younger sister. Lynette was the younger sister? Why had he assumed she was the older sister?  Apparently he should have asked.

The woman shook her head as she closed the gap between herself and Lynette and took Lynette's hands.

"All those years without a word," the woman said with a shake of her head. "I thought you were dead. Where have you been, Lyn?  And do you have any idea...urgh!" 

The woman dropped Lynette's hands and threw her arms around Lynette's neck, pulling her into a hug. Lynette seemed surprised by the gesture, but wrapped her arms around her sister after a moment. Next to Gaheris, Ax laughed and started walking forward.

"Now that's the kind of reunion I like to see," Ax said. "Hey, Nessy! Good to see you again!"

"Axatalese, you devil!" the woman said, letting go of Lynette so she could look at Ax. "You were suppose to keep my sister safe! And what do you do? You let her disappear without a word. How could you do that to me, Ax?"

"My oath to your father was to keep you both safe," Ax said. "And that's exactly what I did."

"What a charming young woman," Dinadan said before he went after Ax.

"Indeed," Gaheris said softly. He wished he could stay underneath the Damsel and just watch this reunion play out. There was something peaceful and comforting about seeing Lynette finally reunited with her family. He didn't want to be a participant in this, just a spectator. But as Dinadan trotted up to them and made his greeting, Lynette turned back and motioned for Gaheris to join them. Reluctantly, he stepped out from underneath the ship and made his way over to the rest of the group.

"Ness, I'd like to introduce you to my traveling companions," Lynette said. "You've already met Dinadan, and this is Gaheris. Gaheris, Dinadan, this is my sister Lyoness Perilous."

"Well, hello," Lyoness said with a small curtsy to Gaheris. "It's a pleasure to meet you, Gaheris. May I ask just where my sister managed to pick you up? You're a much finer specimen than the regular company she keeps."

"Ness!" Lynette hissed, her face flushed.

"We met when she broke me out of prison," Gaheris said and watched as Lyoness' smile fell ever so slightly. She sighed heavily and turned her attention back to Lynette.

"Is he the reason mom's ship is in such bad shape?" Lyoness asked. "She looks like she's being held together by faith alone."

"She's being held together by weeks of hard work putting her back together," Lynette said. "The hull is fine. The problem is the hyperdrive. Some sort of internal communications error. I think. I was hoping we could stay here a few days while I figure it out."

"I'll have my engineers take a look at it when they have a free moment," Lyoness said.

"I said I'll figure it out, Ness," Lynette said sharply. "I'm not here for favors. Just a safe and stable place to work."

"So touchy," Lyoness said as she threaded her arm through Gaheris'. "But that's Lyn for you. Always has to do things by herself. No one is allowed to help her. And she's not much interested in helping anyone else."

"That hasn't been my experience," Gaheris said. He tried to flash Lynette a smile, but she only had eyes for her sister. And she did not look happy.

"It sounds like you have all sorts of stories to tell me, Gaheris," Lyoness said as she tugged on his arm, pulling him along the landing pad in the direction of the fortress. "Come along. If you're going to be here a few days while you fix Mom's ship, you might as well stay in our parent's house. At the very least it offers more spacious accommodations than the Damsel does."  

"Thank you," Gaheris said, walking along with her mostly because he couldn't figure out how to disentangle himself from the hold she had on his arm. "You're quite generous."

"It's my father's legacy," Lyoness said. "His was a generous soul. His doors were always open to those who needed a place to stay and he never turned his back on anyone in need. If I can be a tenth of the person he was, I will have lived a very fulfilling life."

By now they were inside the fortress. It was much more spacious on the inside than Gaheris had expected. While the exterior of Lyoness' home reminded Gaheris of his family's own fortress on Tintagel, inside it was worlds apart. Where the inside of Tintagel had been made up of narrow halls and dark, enclosed rooms, Perilyn's fortress was much more open and spacious. The halls were much wider, the stone a lighter material, and there were windows on the ceiling that allows sunlight to spill in from above. It was also much more formally decorated than Tintagel had been. Gaheris would have moved to pause and admire the decor, but Lyoness was moving quickly and still had a vice grip on his arm. So instead Gaheris turned his attention to conversing with her and let the hallways blur by around him,  

"I got a good view of the floating islands as we flew in," Gaheris said. "Ax said that your father built this. That's quite an impressive legacy he left behind."

"It's nothing compared to his enterprise before the Saxons began their raiding and pillaging," Lyoness said. "There wasn't a system in the galaxy that didn't have at least one gas giant worked on by his company. This is a sad consolation prize at the end of a brutal war."

"Your father never thought so," Ax said.

"No, of course not," Lyoness said. "That was never his nature. But having spent as much time learning from him as I did, I feel confident when I say he regretted the loss. Not the loss of property or income, but the loss of lives. The loss of his ability to forge a better world. I think he regretted that loss until the day he died."

"A loss of that magnitude is hard," Gaheris said, his mind drifting to Lothian. "I'm not sure it's even possible to recover from something so...soul shattering."

"You speak with great wisdom, Gaheris," Lyoness said, patting the hand that was on her arm. She smiled coyly up at him. "I cannot even begin to imagine what my sister sees in you. You're either a decent mechanic or good in a fight."

"Neither, I'm afraid," Gaheris said.

"Well, give me time," Lyoness said. "I'll figure out this riddle soon enough."

"How have things been here, Ness?" Lynette asked. "Any trouble?"

"A little bit of trouble," Lyoness said. "Right after you disappeared. I had to cut a deal with Ironside when he came here looking for you. I had to give him half of what we extract at no charge. That's made things...difficult. The last few years haven't been the easiest, but Ironside did agree to lift the bounty he placed on your head, so I suppose that makes it worth it."

"Hate to break it to you, Ness, but Ironside lied to you," Lynette said as Lyoness stopped in front of a door and finally let go of Gaheris' arm as she turned to face her sister. "The bounty on my head is still very active."

"Well, what did you expect, getting involved with a man like that?" Lyoness asked coldly. Lynette drew in a sharp breath as Lyoness turned away and waved a hand over an electric pad on the wall. The door slid open and she motioned for them to enter. Gaheris stepped into the room first, followed by Dinadan, Ax, and Lynette. Lyoness didn't follow them into the room but instead moved to stand in the doorway.

"I hope these accommodations are acceptable," Lyoness said. "Knowing what the quarters are like on the Savage Damsel, I'm sure you'll be quite comfortable here. Take some time to freshen up. I'll have someone come fetch you when it's time for dinner. You all look like you're in desperate need of a good meal."

Lyoness's eyes swept over the room one last time before she nodded and turned to leave. 

"Ness," Lynette said, causing her sister to pause in the doorway and look back. "Thank you."

"It's my pleasure," Lynoness said. "I'm glad that you're finally home, Lyn."

She stepped out of the doorway and the door whooshed shut behind her. Lynette let out a deep breath and started to pace around the room. Gaheris stepped up beside her and reached out to take her arm, forcing her to still.

"What's wrong?" Gaheris asked. "You're home. Everything is fine here. There's nothing to worry about."

"Didn't you hear Ness?" Lynette asked. "She cut a deal with Ironside. He's been here. His men have been here. If he finds out I'm here--"

"But he won't," Gaheris said.

"He will, Gaheris," Lynette said. "He probably already does. He's had men watching Perilyn for years, just waiting for me to slip up and come home so he could...this was a mistake. We never should have come here."

"It may have been a mistake, but it was one we had no choice but to make," Ax said. "We need to get the hyperdrive fixed and this is the only place where we can make those repairs. Lass, if we don't get that ship fixed--"

"I know!" Lynette said. She closed her eyes and took a deep breath. "I know. I just hate this. It was never my intention to bring harm to Ness' door. I'm supposed to protect her."

"You're supposed to protect each other," Ax said. "It's time to let Ness carry some of the weight. She's a strong girl. She can handle it." 

Lynette shook her head and Gaheris gave her arm a squeeze before she said anything she might regret.

"We're tired," Gaheris said. "It's been a long few weeks on the ship. Let's take the night, freshen up, eat some real food, enjoy the fresh air, and sleep in room larger than a broom closet. Tomorrow we can figure out our next course of action with a clearer head."

"Resting isn't going to fix anything," Lynette said.

“In fact it will,” Dinadan said. “It is well documented throughout all the great stories that heroes do best after they have rested. We have just undergone an enormous trial. It took weeks to get here under strict rationing and that’s not even considering everything else before that which we haven’t had time to process. Sleep and a hearty meal will do wonders for us just as it always does for the great heroes.”

“Are you up for telling one of those great stories tonight, Dinadan?” Gaheris asked. “Because I am ready to hear one.”

“It would be my pleasure, sir,” Dinadan said and Gaheris grinned as Dinadan’s inner lights flushed red.

Gaheris leaned forward to kiss Lynette on the side of the head before he stepped away, intending to explore their rooms. “This will be good for us. You’ll see.”

“I hope you’re right,” Lynette said darkly. Gaheris ignored her as he kept moving. He was certain that this would be good for them and he wasn’t about to let Lynette ruin the joy of finally being on solid ground again after three weeks on the Damsel.

It was going to be fine. She’d see. Everything was going to be fine.

Chapter Text

Beneath the waters of the temple’s lake, Mordred floated in place with his toes drifting across the sand beneath him. His eyes were closed as he held his breath and focused on the darkness. There was nothing. He was a vessel for the force, nothing more. It moved through him, pulling his body along much in the same way the slow tidal current of the lake was. There was only darkness and he was a vessel. Nothing more. There was no body. No burning in his chest as his body fought for air. No shiver as the ice cold waters of the lake seemed to bite into his bones. There was nothing. Only darkness. Only a vessel to be used by the force.

He felt a twitch in his fingertips. They curled down into fists. His legs kicked slightly, pushing him up a bit. The darkness closed in around him and his mind went blank. He became a vessel to the force.

Or, at least, one very powerful force user.

"They're lying to you," he heard his own voice whisper before there was a burst of pain in his side. Mordred cried out as he dropped to one knee. The darkness withdrew from his vision and he found himself out of the water, kneeling at the edge of the shoreline. Vivian stood before him and she looked horrified. Her eyes were wide with surprise and her mouth was hanging open.

"So it was you," Mordred said as he got to his feet, feeling more resigned than anything else. If Vivian was as powerful as she claimed, she had to have known about his excursion with Nimue and why he had gone. He had thought that knowing that he was aware of what she was doing and trying to stop her would have made her a little less brazen. He had thought she might think twice before trying that again. Apparently he had thought wrong.

“How did you—” Vivian started to ask before apparently thinking better of the question. “Morgause, of course.”

“Of course,” Mordred said. “What do you mean of course? Who was Aunt Morgause to you and why won’t you talk about her? Why have you erased her from the halls of the temple? From the records? What happened between the two of you and why are you keeping me in the dark?”

“You think I owe you answers to these questions?” Vivian asked. “That you can rebuff my teachings and then turn around and demand answers from me as though I am here to serve you? You’re here to serve me. To serve my way. You are my vassal. A knight in service.”

“You don’t want a knight in service, you want a puppet,” Mordred said. “How many other knights of Avalon did you strip away the will of? Was my father one them? Aunt Morgan? Aunt Morgause? Is that why you’ve removed all record of her from the temple? Because she knew what you were doing and tried to stop you?”

“You know nothing,” Vivian said, her lips curling back in a sneer. “You know nothing about Morgause or the disgrace she brought upon the Knights of Avalon. It was because of her and her paranoid distrust of my authority that the Empire is as powerful as it is today. Your father is held captive by the Empire because of her weakness.”

“Her weakness or yours?” Mordred asked. “How often did you steal Arthur’s will away from him? How could you send your knights out into the galaxy to face darkness all while smothering their ability to fight it? What did you think was going to happen?”

“Enough!” Vivian yelled and Mordred felt her this time. He felt her enter his mind and try to snatch his will away from him. He felt as though he was back underwater with water filling his lungs, making it impossible to breathe or think. Darkness clouded his vision and for a moment Mordred felt as though he was floating untethered through the void of space.

“Lying,” his own voice whispered and this time it was accompanied by the baying howls of the questing beast. His side burned once more and it gave him an anchor—a way back to his own body. He took a deep, gasping breath. His vision cleared and his will came back to him. His hands curled into fists as he took a step towards Vivian. She scrambled backwards, arm upheld and Mordred stopped. She was incredibly powerful. He was keenly aware of that and he didn’t want to find out just what she could do to him if she decided that he needed to be stopped at all costs.

“How many Knights of Avalon died because you were more concerned about your own power than their well being?” Mordred asked.

“If they had only listened to me, they would still be alive today,” Vivian said.

“Whatever helps you sleep at night,” Mordred said, turning away from her and heading towards the temple.

“Where are you going?” Vivian asked. “Your morning training is not yet complete.”

Mordred rounded on her. “Do you really think after what just happened that I would willingly subject myself to your teachings? All you’ve done since I arrived here is lie to me. You’ve stolen my will away from me at least one time that I know of. Possibly more. And that’s not even mentioning the two attempts right now. You have entirely broken what little trust I had in you. I won’t just sit here and leave myself susceptible to your machinations. I’m leaving Avalon.”

"You cannot leave!" Vivian roared.

"Really?" Mordred asked. "How do you intend to stop me? Are you going to rip my will away from me once more?"

"I don't need to do anything," Vivian said. "I control this space entirely and I have closed all the doors. I won't let you leave. Not until your training is complete."

"I have a ship," Mordred said. 

"Your ship is at the bottom of a lake," Vivian scoffed. "And even if it wasn't, I control that door as well." She pointed up at the sky. "If you try to fly out of here, up will suddenly become down and you'll find yourself descending back towards the planet. Much like how you arrived here initially. Because I control who comes and goes from Avalon and I will not let you leave."

"You can't keep me here forever," Mordred said.

"That will be entirely up to you." Vivian said. "Complete your training--prove to me that you are ready to stand against the dark side without being swayed by the hot-headed temptation of youth and maybe, just maybe, I'll consider letting you leave."

Mordred shook his head as he turned away from her--and away from the temple--and headed into the woods. He didn't know how long he walked--or stumbled, really--through the fog covered woods. But hours later Nimue and AC-LN found him sitting by the lake where he had first crashed on Avalon. He could just make out the tip of one of the X-Wing's wings sticking up out of the water. The rest was submerged below, just like Vivian had said. His best chance of getting off this rock and it was on the bottom of a lake. He wasn't going anywhere. Not until Vivian said so.

"Are you all right?" Nimue asked, settling down beside him.

"I don't know why I ever thought I could challenge her," Mordred said. "She's so much more powerful than I could ever hope to be. She is the force itself. I'm just a vessel for her to work through. Maybe that's just how it's supposed to be."

"It's not how it's supposed to be," Nimue said. "The Knights of Avalon stand against darkness. There is nothing darker than stealing away another's will. Anger, passion, jealously--those can all lead to darkness. But you don't fall until you take away another person's ability to make their own choices. Vivian has fallen to darkness and she's too blind and stubborn to realize what she has allowed into Avalon."

Mordred frowned as he looked down at Nimue, taking a moment to study her. To really study her.  She looked...taller. Older. As though she had aged a couple years between when he had seen her this morning and now. With anyone else that wouldn't have made any sense, but rules and logic didn't appear to apply to Nimue. She just...was. An avatar of the force, bound only to the rules of the way that had created her.

"You and Vivian are both avatars of the force," Mordred said. "You represent different facets of it. Is there an avatar for the dark side?"

"There is," Nimue said.

"And she's been to Avalon?"

"Not recently," Nimue said. "Not for a long time. But she did come...after..." Her she paused and looked back over her shoulder, towards the temple. Her meaning was clear. The avatar to the dark side had come to Avalon after the temple had fallen.

"Why hasn't she come again?" Mordred said. "If I'm as special as everyone says, you'd think she'd want to get her hooks into me. To try and turn me to keep me from saving my father so he can't overthrow the Emperor."

"She hasn't come because she doesn't need to," Nimue said. "She thinks that Vivian is going to deliver you to her. Just like she did before."

"With Arthur?" Mordred asked. "Vivian controlled him as well?"

"Yes," Nimue said. "And it was that much easier for the Emperor to trap him."

“You were right, you know,” Mordred said resting a hand on his side. “Facing my fear, putting a name to it. It made me stronger. Every time Vivian tried to take control of me, I fought her off. I was in the cave again, facing my fear, and it allowed me to regain control. So you don’t need to worry about me anymore. I’ll be fine.”

“No, you won’t,” Nimue said. “Don’t mistake what Vivian is doing for true darkness. She is sliding into it, but her goal is to control, not to hurt. The Dark Side wants to hurt—they’re not afraid to hurt and have no interest in being subtle. Vivian has left a roadmap into your mind that the Dark Side will be able to follow and it will burn through any attempt at resistance. You’ll become a puppet to darkness if you try to stand against the Emperor before you’re ready.”

“Then what do you suggest I do?” Mordred asked. “I still need a teacher—there’s so much I still need to learn. But I can’t go back. I can’t go back to Vivian. It’s probably only a matter of time before she decides that she’s willing to burn through my mind in order to get what she wants."

“You would be in danger if you went back,” Nimue said, confirming his fears.

Mordred sighed and shook his head. “But...but maybe it’s worth it. Maybe I have to go back, for access to the temple’s training simulations, if nothing else. I still need to learn how to fight. And then there’s the archives—”

“Arthur’s not in the archives,” Nimue said.

“You don’t know that,” Mordred said, scowling.

“But you do,” Nimue said. “Deep down you know he’s not in there. That Vivian scrubbed away his existence.”

“I still don’t understand why she did that,” Mordred said. “Aunt Morgause I can understand, but Arthur? You’d think she could have at least left a picture so I’d know who I’m supposed to be rescuing.”

“But she didn’t,” Nimue said. “And you can’t go back. Deep down you know that too. You’re just scared to walk away from what everyone has told you you’re supposed to be doing.”

“Is it even possible to walk away?” Mordred asked, motioning to his sunken ship. “It’s not like I can leave. We’re going to have to go back to the temple at least once to get the camping gear or else we’re going to be as mud-caked as you were when I first arrived.”

Mordred sighed as he looked back and forth, trying to take in his surroundings. But it was impossible to make out anything beyond the thick fog that was swirling around them. It was going to take forever for his cloths to dry while he was out in this.

"Can I show you something?" Nimue asked, getting to her feet. She was definitely taller, Mordred decided as he stared up at her. 

"What is it?" he asked. 

"I'm not sure how to explain," Nimue said. "I just need to show you."

Mordred nodded as he got to his feet and followed her into the forest.

Chapter Text

It was strange to be home. It was strange to be walking the halls of Perilyn as though she had never left. Stranger still was seeing Lyoness running the colony--stepping into the role their father had once filled. She was good at it, just like Ax had always said. Just like Lynette had known deep down. But that didn't stop Lynette from worrying about her good-natured, trusting sister getting swindled at every turn.

Even stranger to see was how well Gaheris had acclimated to Perilyn. He fit right in. He had thoroughly charmed Ness at every turn and he had even stepped into an advisor role over the past few days, pointing out areas of inefficiency in Ness' operation and making suggestions for how to smooth over relations with her trading partners. He slipped into the role as easy as breathing and for the first time Lynette got a glimpse at what he must have been like before his planet was destroyed. He may have been a spy for the rebellion underneath it all, but that didn't change the fact that he was a trained diplomat and political leader. He maybe even preferred those roles to anything he had ever done for the rebellion.

"You're going to wear a hole in the floor if you don't change your route," Ax said, looking up from the data pad he was reading to watch Lynette as she paced back and forth across the room.

"The Damsel should have been done by now," Lynette said. "The two of us--"

"It took the two of us ten times as long to manage what your sister's technicians have in a couple days," Ax said.

"And it was just the two of us, Ax!" Lynette snapped. "With resources we had to pull from the scrap heap. They should have been done by now."

"Forgive your sister for wanting to make sure your mother's ship is in tip-top flying shape instead of being held together by faith and luck," Ax said. "She loves you. She just wants you to be safe."

Lynette shook her head as she continued to pace back and forth across the room. She didn’t have a response to that that didn’t sound petty and petulant.

"Lass, I know you're not happy to be home. I know it's dredging up all sorts of feelings that you're not emotionally mature enough to deal with. But try having a little faith in your sister just for once. I know you think she's too good natured, too trusting, to even lace up her own boots without being swindled, but the truth is that she's done a damn fine job with this establishment in the years since you've been gone. It's time to give your sister her due and admit that she can handle dangerous situations on her own without you there to protect her."

"You've always put more faith in Ness that she deserves," Lynette snapped.

Ax pointed at the door. "Go outside if you're going to be like this! I'm trying to relax and I don't need your black mood clouding over everything."

Scowling, Lynette stormed out of the room. She roamed the halls of the fortress aimlessly for a while, but eventually found herself in the main garden. The garden itself was beautiful, but it was the view that was the main draw. A person could see practically all of Perilyn--every glorious floating island--from here. Their father had had it built for their mother. It was a place she could come and find peace--to allow her restless desire to traverse the galaxy to ease enough for her to spend time with her family.

Lynette tried to find the same solace in the garden now, but found herself just as restless as she had been since they had arrived on Perilyn. She shouldn't have come here--shouldn't have put Ness in danger like this. Shouldn't have allowed Ness to be so thorough with the Damsel. Shouldn't have allowed Gaheris to get so cozy. They needed to leave, and soon. Delaying the inevitable was just going to make it harder for everyone.

"I thought I'd find you here."

Lynette looked over her shoulder to see Ness approaching. "Did you?"

"Well, after I went to your room to find that Ax had kicked you out." Ness stopped beside Lynette and looked out over Perilyn. "That is one hell of a view, isn't it?"

"It is," Lynette said.

"I don't come out here much," Ness admitted. "I should but...it reminds me too much of mom and dad."

"Their favorite spot in the whole fortress," Lynette said.

"The only place mom was ever at peace," Ness said.

"That's not true," Lynette said, thinking back on the best moments she had had with her mom. "She was at peace on the Damsel. She loved that ship."

"I know," Ness said. "I know what that ship meant to mom and what she means to you. I'm taking good care of her, I promise."

"I just think--"

"Oh, Lyn, please!" Ness said. "Please stop. I know you don't think I'm capable of handling something as simple of delegating ship repairs--"

"I didn't say that," Lynette said.

"Let me finish," Ness said, holding up her hand. "I don't know where you, as my baby sister, got it into your head that you needed to protect me from the big, bad galaxy. But I am more than capable of taking care of myself. Dad taught me--"

"That's the problem, Ness," Lynette said. "Dad taught you. Dad was a bleeding heart who let the enemy through the gates more than once because he thought he was doing the right thing. If it wasn't for mom--"

"Mom disappeared," Ness said. "Mom left on one of her crusades and never came home. Don't tell me that mom could or would have done better, Lyn. Dad did just fine without her and I've done just fine without you."

"You call cutting a deal with Ironside doing just fine?"

"I wouldn't have needed to cut that deal if it wasn't for you!" Ness snapped. "Damn it, Lyn! Why are you like this? Why is it like this every time we see each other? Why can't you just have faith in me or be proud of what I'm doing here? Why do you have to undermine me at every turn? Why can't you just be as happy to see me as I am to see you?"

"I am happy to see you," Lynette said. "But you don't understand what's going on out in the rest of the galaxy--"

"I do understand, Lyn," Ness said. "I understand just fine. You're the one who's never understood."

Her peace said, Ness turned and left. Lynette watched her go and as soon as Ness was out of sight, she turned back toward the overlook and fought the urge to scream until her throat was raw. She wished she could just tell Ness what was going on--about her stupid decision to join the rebellion and the way Imperial ships had chased them after they had escaped Barham Down. She wished she could tell her sister the danger she had placed Perilyn in by coming here and warn her of what would happen if the Empire realized they were here.

But she couldn't. She couldn't tell Ness any of that. The best way to keep her sister safe was to get the Damsel fixed up as quickly as possible and leave Perilyn without telling Ness what they were doing or where they were going. That was the plan and Lynette intended to stick to it.

She left the garden soon after Ness--the view hadn't managed to sooth her restlessness the way it had soothed her mother's. She still wanted to head to the Damsel, tell all of Ness' technicians to get the hell out, and fix her ship herself. But if she did that, she would just confirm everything Ness had just said about her. A stubborn desire to not prove Ness right was the only thing keeping Lynette from going to the Damsel right now.

Instead she found herself wandering the halls again. She didn't pay much attention to where she was as she walked. Instead she wandered aimlessly as she muttered about how stubborn Ness was being. She didn't stop walking until early evening, just as the light was beginning to fade. It was that change that caused her to stop and take a deep breath, trying to calm herself down. Gaheris would be back soon and if she wasn't there, he'd worry. She didn't need him to be worried right now. She was worried enough for both of them.

Turning to head back to her room, Lynette paused as she recognized the door she had found herself in front of. It was the door to her parent's room. Without giving herself a chance to think about what she was doing, Lynette stepped up to the door and waved her hand over the panel. The door whooshed open. Taking a deep breath to steel herself, Lynette stepped up into her parents’ room.

The room was dark when she entered and Lynette froze as soon as she was through the door. The room looked the same--as least the broad strokes that she could make out in the dark. But as her eyes adjusted, she realized that while everything was still in the same place, it was all covered with a heavy sheet. All Lynette had to do was pull back the sheets and this room would be exactly as their father had kept it. Ness hadn't changed a thing in the years since he had been gone, she had merely covered things up and left it in memoriam.

Lynette crossed the room and stopped in front of the desk. She carefully pulled back the sheet over it so as to not disturb any of the items that were sitting on top of it. Making her way around the desk, Lynette took a seat in her father's chair and looked over all of the little knick-knacks he had collected over the years and displayed proudly on his desk. Most of the items were rocks he had collected from his mining sites. Lynette saw one knick-knack she was pretty sure had been a control bar on the Damsel. And then the item she had been looking for. A small silver square. Lynette reached out and tapped the top once.

A holographic image sprung up out of the box. It was a family photo of the four of them, taken just before her mom had disappeared. Lynette felt her heart sink further as she stared at the smiling faces in the image. They had been so happy before mom had disappeared. Lynette remembered that clearly. Things had been scary and uncertain when they had first moved to Perilyn, but her father had gone out of his way to make sure they had quickly felt safe and that happiness followed soon after.

"I think I'm doing the right thing," Lynette said to the picture. "I hope you can see that. I hope that you're proud of me, dad."

Lynette reached out toward her father's smiling face. Her finger passed through the hologram and she dropped it down to tap on the silver box. The hologram disappeared and the room when dark once more. Lynette got to her feet and carefully replaced the sheet. She then returned to her room.

Ax was gone by the time she arrived, which Lynette was grateful for. She didn't have the energy to tell him where she had been or what she had been doing. And if he got one whiff of her fight with Ness, he would be hounding her all night. Instead, Lynette made her way over to one of the couches and dropped down into it. She leaned forward and pressed her face into her hands and just tried to not think about anything for a minute.

There was a chime as the door whooshed open and Lynette looked up in time to see Gaheris enter.

"Hi," Gaheris said, giving Lynette a big smile and she couldn't help but be somewhat buoyed by his good mood. It had been so long since she had seen him smile like that.

"Did you have a good day?" Lynette asked, leaning back into the couch and stretching out her legs in front of her.

"I did," Gaheris said as he made his way over and took a seat next to her on the couch. "It's all so fascinating. I'd dare say the intricacies of running a mining colony are as complicated as ruling a planet. It's quite extraordinary what your sister has managed to accomplish here."

"What my parents accomplished here," Lynette said.

"Your sister has taken your father's vision and far surpassed it by ever metric," Gaheris said. "She's remarkable and this place is remarkable and none of that should surprise me because you're remarkable."

Lynette smiled as Gaheris leaned down to kiss her. She liked seeing him so happy and attentive to others. This place had done wonders for him and Lynette supposed she owned Ness a thanks for bringing back the Gaheris she loved. She just wished she could bring herself to really enjoy it without worrying about all of the dangers.

"You know, I've been thinking," Gaheris said, running his thumb across her cheek. "It's like you said, back on the ship. The rebellion is long gone from the rendezvous point by now. And even if we could reach them...it's unlikely they would tell us how to find them. Too big of a chance that we've been compromised."

"What are you saying?" Lynette asked, sitting up and shifting away from him.

"This place...it's amazing," Gaheris said. "We could be happy here, right? If we just...stayed."

"Stayed?" Lynette asked, getting to her feet so she could start pacing around the room. "You can't mean that."

"I can't?" Gaheris asked, his brow furrowing in confusion. "This was your idea. You were the one who suggested we take some time away from the rebellion."

"Yes, well, we have," Lynette said. "We've spent weeks away from the rebellion and while three weeks traveling through subspace may not have initially been what I had in mind--"

"You said we would come here," Gaheris said. "That this place was safe. That we could find peace here. And I have, Lyn. I've found peace. I thought that what you wanted."

"No, what I wanted was for you to get out of your own head and remember that other people exist around you!" Lynette snapped. "You can't keep running away from that reality. The rebellion needs you, Gaheris. It needs us."

"Do they? Do they really? Isolde is going to keep you grounded so long as you have that bounty and your head and I'm a spy whose been compromised. They don't need us. They haven't for a while now. We're little more than dead weight."

"No, we're not," Lynette said. "This is your problem. This has always been your problem! You're too wrapped up in your own head to realize how much you mean to others. How much you mean to the rebellion. You came back, Gaheris. You were tossed aside like a broken toy by Isolde, sacrificed in the name of the greater good. You were never supposed to be seen or heard from again but you came back. You fought your way through the Death Star and returned to the rebellion with the spark they needed to reignite the faith and hope of a galaxy. You did that, Gaheris. And you could do it again. If you come back again--"

"I can't go back!" Gaheris yelled, jumping to his feet. "I can't. It will kill me, Lyn. I can't lose anyone else. I thought I could. I thought it didn't matter anymore. But this place and how I'm feeling... I feel like I'm pulling myself up out of a deep, dark hole. That I'm seeing the sun again for the first time in years. If I go back and someone else dies... if you die I'll... I just can't do it. I can't go back."

Lynette crossed the space between them and slipped her hands into Gaheris' giving them a gentle squeeze. "I want you to be at peace. More than anything I want you to let go of the pain and anguish that has so defined you. I want you to be happy. But I know better than anyone that Perilyn promises only a false happiness. It's a happiness built on ignorance and naivete--upon not accepting the horrors occurring beyond its atmosphere.

"And it's easy to be taken in by the beauty and the simplicity in the moment. But I know you, Gaheris. And I know that if anything happens to Gawain or Gareth while you are here, abandoning to them to the harsh realities of the galaxy while you languish in paradise, you will never forgive yourself."

Lynette kissed Gaheris on the cheek before letting go of his hands and stepping away from him, heading towards the bedroom. She suddenly felt bone tired and all she wanted to do was curl up in bed and sleep.

And she did sleep. It was a restless sleep where she tossed and turned as every argument she’d had during the day played over and over in her mind. Eventually she found herself laying on her back, staring up at the ceiling as she thought about everything that had happened today. She’d received three reassurances that Perilyn was safe and that she had nothing to worry about. Ax, Lyoness, and Gaheris had all insisted that she was being unreasonable and needed to relax and enjoy being home.

But Lynette couldn’t enjoy it. She knew Ironside too well. If he hadn’t called off his bounty hunters yet, he wasn’t going to. And no deal he had made with Lyoness would stop him from hurting her or destroying Perilyn if it meant he could have Lynette. She was endangering her home and her sister just by being here, not to mention Ax, Gaheris and Dinadan. Why couldn’t anyone else see that? Why had they all willfully turned a blind eye from what was about to happen.

Late into the night, Lynette finally gave up on sleep and returned to the main room of their suite. With Gaheris and Ax asleep, she could wear out the floor to her heart’s content without anyone telling her she was being unreasonable.

She stepped out into the main room and abruptly came to a stop as she took in the sight before her. Dinadan was sitting on the couch, leaning forward to address a handful of small cleaning droids that were arranged on the floor before him. All of their telescopes were tipped back, watching Dinadan, and Lynette couldn’t help but think of small children sitting in front of a storyteller. Which, she realized as she listened to Dinadan talk, was exactly what this was.

“...and ventured out into the hellish landscape with little more than her wits, determined to rescue our friend. She rode through the storm, barely managing to hold onto her wyvern as rain and hail battered against it. Captain Perilous could barely see more than a foot in front of her. Finding Mordred would be impossible in this weather. For anyone else, the situation would have been hopeless. But not for Captain Perilous. She doesn’t accept a hopeless situation, especially where her friends are concerned. She would never give up on any of us. So she flew through the storm and put her faith in something far more powerful than herself and lo and behold, she came to a cave. She didn’t know what drew her wyvern to that cavern, but she didn’t fight it as it flew to the opening and crawled into the cavern. Even now she wouldn’t be able to tell you why she trusted the wyvern’s decision, but her trust was not misplaced. For laid out across the cavern, unconscious but alive, was our friend Mordred.”

There were buzzes, chirps, and whistles from the cleaning droids. A couple even drove around in circles in delight. Lynette smiled as she watched them. It was the most relaxed she had felt since coming to Perilyn. There was just something so innocent about the scene before her. It was hard not to delight in it.

“I think that is where we shall end the story for tonight,” Dinadan said. Now the chips and whistles were clearly ones of disappointment. “I know, I know, but it’s getting late and you all need at least a couple hours to recharge before the morning. Come on, now. Off you go.”

Dinadan got to his feet and herded the cleaning droids out the door. As he took care of them, Lynette drifted to the center of the room and took a seat on the couch. A moment later, Dinadan returned from the door. He jerked to a stop when he saw her and his internal lights flashed red with surprised.

“Captain Perilous,” he said. “Are you alright?”

“I’m fine,” Lynette said. “I just... I saw you, telling your story.”

This time Dinadan’s normally orange internal lighting took on a distinctly red tinge. He was blushing. “You heard? Oh Captain, my apologies. That story is still being work-shopped and I never intended to share it with you before it was finished. This is so embarrassing.”

“No, it was inspiring,” Lynette said. She patted the seat next to her. “Will you sit?”

Dinadan made his way over and eased down into the seat beside her. His lighting still had that red tinge, although Lynette thought his coloring was starting to look a little more pink.

“You really liked it?” Dinadan asked.

“I did,” Lynette said. “Have you been doing this every night? Telling our story to other droids?”

Dinadan nodded. “I was actually trying to learn the stories of Perilyn from them, but they didn’t understand. They had never heard a story before. So I started telling them mine, hoping it would help them understand what I was looking for and I’m afraid they’ve been hooked ever since.”

“That’s wonderful, Dinadan,” Lynette said with a sigh.

“Are you all right, Captain?” Dinadan asked. “Axatalese and Prince Gaheris said that you’ve been upset.”

“I don’t know,” Lynette admitted, her mind on her fight with Ax and Gaheris and how they both thought it was safe to stay. “Are you happy here?”

“Happy?”

“Do you feel fulfilled?” Lynette asked. “Could you spend the rest of your days here telling stories to the cleaning droids and find fulfillment in that?”

“My directive is to learn stories and tell stories,” Dinadan said. “So long as I am able to tell stories and learn them, my directive is fulfilled. I suppose that means I am fulfilled.”

Lynette pressed her lips together as she nodded. She didn’t know what she had expected. Dinadan may have acted more like a living creature than any droid Lynette had ever met, but he was still a droid. He was still bound by his programming. And he was right—so long as the requirements of his programming were met, he would be fulfilled.

“I will admit, though,” Dinadan said softly, so soft that Lynette found her attention drawn back towards him. “I will miss AC-LN.”

“Oh, Dinadan,” Lynette said, resting a hand on his shoulder. “I’m so sorry. I didn’t even think about AC or how losing it would affect you. I should have—”

“You would have,” Dinadan said. “I’d dare say you haven’t even allowed yourself the chance to grieve for Mordred. You’ve been so busy trying to get us to safety. Once things calmed down and you finally took the time to come to terms with that had happened, I’m sure you would have remembered.”

Lynette shook her head. Dinadan was right, she hadn’t allowed herself the chance to grieve for Mordred. Sure, she’d cried on Gaheris’ shoulder in the immediate aftermath, but since then...she hadn’t even really allowed herself to think about him. It was easier to lock those feelings away for now—she’d deal with her grief just as soon as things settled down.

“Do you feel grief, Dinadan?” Lynette asked.

“I do not,” Dinadan said. “I know it well. I have told stories of grief. Of the way a person’s world shatters at the loss of a loved one. Of the crushing weight of grief that leaves one feeling as though they can’t possibly go on. Of the rage at the injustice of the senselessness. I know the stories of grief quite well, but I do not feel grief.

“I have known many humans over the decades I have been functioning and I have lost almost all of them. I have never felt anything as all consuming as grief. They just pass out of my life, never to be thought of again. At least not outside of a story.”

“Not even AC?” Lynette asked.

“I do miss AC,” Dinadan said. “And I think about it often. I think about what I would say to it if I could have one last conversation. I think about all of the mean things I said to it. I think I was perhaps a little too harsh and that I would take some of those words back now if I could. I think about all of the grand adventures AC-LN dragged me on over the decades and how I always complained about it at the time. But now I think I might want to go on one last adventure with my dear friend.”

“Dinadan,” Lynette said, reaching out to take his hand. “That’s grief. It’s not always earth shattering or soul crushing. Sometimes it’s quiet and filled with regret.”

“Really?” Dinadan asked, looking down at the floor. “I never realized. You have bestowed upon me a great deal of wisdom, Captain Perilous.”

“I don’t suppose you feel up to returning the favor?” Lynette asked. Dinadan looked back up at her and tipped his head to the side. It was a look of curiosity if Lynette had ever seen one. “I’m...worried. I think it was a bad idea to come here. Ironside knows to look for me here—”

“But your sister said she had already struck a deal with Ironside and that he was no longer after you,” Diandan said.

“Then why were there bounty hunters chasing me just a few months ago?” Lynette asked.

“As the story is told, you killed their brother,” Dinadan said. “Could it have not just been revenge?”

“They said there was a bounty on my head larger than what the Empire was offering at that meeting,” Lynette said. “Ironside lied to Ness. He never called off his bounty. He just took her money and lied to her.”

“If that’s what you believed happened—”

“I do! I do believe that’s what happened because I don’t trust Ness’ judgement. I never have. I’m a bad sister full of doubt and apprehension. It’s always been this way between me and Ness and no one is willing to believe me right now because I’ve apparently been unfair to her in the past. But I know I’m right. I just have no way to convince everyone that we need to leave.”

“You need to do what you think is best, Captain Perilous,” Dinadan said. “You are the hero of this story.”

Lynette let out a laugh as she pressed the palms of her hands up against her eyes. “I’m no hero, Dinadan. Mordred was the hero. I’m just the snarky pilot who got him where he needed to go.”

“That may have been the way things started,” Dinadan said. “But when you came back and you saved Mordred before that TIE fighter could take him out, you became a hero right alongside him. And now that he’s gone, it’s up to you to finish what he started.

“I thought this was going to be Mordred’s story, Captain Perilous, but now I’m starting to think that it’s always been yours. You are the hero of this story and heroes always do what is right. If you believe that we need to leave Perilyn, then we need to leave Perilyn.”

“Easier said than done,” Lynette muttered under her breath.

“I have faith in you, Captain,” Dinadan said, patting her once on the shoulder before standing up. “I should go if I’m going to complete my recharge cycle before the morning. Do you require anything else from me, Captain?”

“No, Dinadan, thank you,” Lynette said. Dinadan nodded once before making his way into the room they had set aside for him. Taking a deep breath, Lynette looked down at her feet as she considered her options.

The problem was that it was just them. If anything went wrong, they would be on their own with no way to call for help. If only there was some way to reach the rebellion and convince them to embark on a rescue mission.

Lynette sat up with a soft gasp. She knew what to do. Without giving herself a chance to overthink it, she got to her feet and left their suite, heading for the hanger where the Savage Damsel was being kept.

She didn’t meet anyone on her way to the hanger—the halls of Perilyn were abandoned. Upon reaching her ship, Lynette went right to her room to dig through her belongings. She found what she was looking for quickly enough—the transmitter Cywyllog had given her when she had gone out into the storm to look for Mordred. It wasn’t that strong on its own—just strong enough to transmit across a planet. But with an added boost from the Damsel’s communication system, there was nowhere in the galaxy that wouldn’t be able to pick up the signal—so long as they were looking for it.

Lynette could only hope that Cywyllog was still listening.

Device in hand, Lynette made her way to the cockpit to plug the transmitter into the Damsel’s communication system. It was easy enough to do and soon a light was blinking on the cockpit’s console. The Damsel was transmitting.

That was it. There was nothing else to do but hope that help was on the way. Until then Lynette would just have to wait and see if she was right or wrong about Ness’ deal with Ironside. Only time would tell.

Chapter Text

They walked for about an hour--in silence. Mordred spent that time mulling over everything that just happened and considering if there was a way to get off of Avalon without Vivian's help. He wasn't coming up with one. He was starting to get the feeling that he would need to complete his training with her if he ever wanted to see his friends and family again. But Nimue had said it was dangerous to go back.

He had already risked one danger and come out all right. Perhaps if he risked a second that would turn out all right as well.

A dark shadow loomed ahead of them, but as they kept walking and the fog cleared, Mordred was relieved to find only a steep cliff side and not anything dangerous. Nimue went right to an opening in the side of the cliff and slipped into it without even a backwards glance. Mordred went in after her, surprised to find himself inside a long tunnel where the walls of the rock were glowing with a soft light.

"This is amazing," he said softly, pressing a hand against the wall. It was warm to the touch.

"This isn't what I wanted to show you," Nimue said. "Come on."

She started down the tunnel and Mordred had to run to catch up with her.

"How did you find this place?" he asked once they were walking side-by-side again.

"I made it," Nimue said.

"You...how?"

"I'm not entirely sure," Nimue said. "But I know that it's mine and I made it."

Not entirely sure how to respond to that answer, Mordred didn't say anything at all. They fell once again into a comfortable silence as they walked. It took maybe another hour to make their way all the way through to the end of the tunnel. And it was an end. It didn't open up the way it had when they'd come in. It just...stopped.

"This way," Nimue said as she started climbing up the side of the wall. There were hand and footholds, Mordred realized as he watched her climb up and disappear through a tunnel in the ceiling. AC-LN flew up through the tunnel after her, leaving Mordred to go last. He climbed the wall slowly, making sure he had a good grip on each handhold and that his footing was always solid. He came up out of the tunnel and immediately had to close his eyes and look away from a bright light that was coming from somewhere in front of him.

With his eyes closed, Mordred pulled himself up out of the tunnel and then lifted a hand to shade his eyes as he carefully opened them. He was still in the cavern, but there was an opening out of it right in front of him. And streaming through that opening was sunlight. Mordred's jaw dropped open as he stumbled to his feet and rushed out of the cavern.

He stopped just outside the opening, lifting a hand above his head again to shield his eyes from the bright sunlight. Sunlight he hadn't seen in months between Barham Down and his time on Avalon. It warmed him immediately, making his realize just how cold and wet he had actually been. It felt so good that Mordred was half tempted to just fall backwards and enjoy the feeling of the sun on his skin, but instead he forced himself to move forward and take in more of his surroundings.

It was like a small little oasis. Trees and foliage surrounded him, but instead of the dull colors of fog bound Avalon, everything here was bright and vibrant. Each plant seemed to be flowering with something colorful. There was a babbling brook that cut through the center of the oasis, with a waterfall down the cliff side. It was loud and Mordred relished the sound of it--he hadn't realized how muted everything had been by the fog. But most importantly, there were creatures in the clearing. AC-LN had said that there were lots of life signs on Avalon, but Mordred had never seen evidence of them. But here there were birds and bugs flying through the air. There were fish in the stream. There were small animals in the trees and larger ones getting a drink by the stream. There was life here when Avalon had otherwise been devoid of life so far.    

"This is amazing," Mordred said as Nimue stepped up beside him. "Did you make this too?"

"Yes," Nimue said as she looked down and gently scuffed her foot across the ground. "I don't know how to explain it but...it's like Avalon is reacting to me. I can feel it reaching out and changing. It's started here, in this place. It's become...more like me, I think. Less like Vivian."  She finally looked up at Mordred, her eyes wide with fear. "Does that make sense?"

"No," Mordred said slowly. "I'm not sure it does. You're saying the planet did this? For you?"

Nimue shook her head. "It's not a conscious thing. It's just reacting. It's like it's breathing, but where it had been using Vivian as it's lungs, now it's starting to use me. Not often, but often enough that it's starting to change."

"Why?"

"Because of you," Nimue said. "You're the last one. And you're pulling away from Vivian...towards me."

Mordred reached out to run a finger along the petals of a flower. This corner of Avalon, it felt right. The Knights of Avalon were meant to bring hope to the galaxy--they were a light in the darkness. Avalon should have looked like this. It should have been bright and open and filled with noise instead of dark, fog covered, and muffled. It felt right, this little piece of Avalon that had been carved out for Nimue. As though this was the way it was always supposed to be and somehow Vivian had twisted it up--corrupted it somehow. 

"This is amazing," Mordred said, as he stepped out further into the oasis, heading for the brook. "Do you think the whole planet could be like this?"

"That's up to you, isn't it?" Nimue said.

Mordred felt his stomach tighten as he continued towards the stream. He hated that all of this seemed to hinge on him--his choices. His choice to save Arthur or not. His choice whether to follow Vivian or not. His choice what to do next. He was tired of making choices that would decide the fate of the galaxy. He just wanted to find Lynette and help her check on her sister. Something simple where the choices weren't his.

Kneeling next to the stream, Mordred drank some of the water before rubbing it across his face. The water was warm and Mordred had to laugh at that. Of course the water would be warm. Nimue could say she hadn't made a choice in all of this, but Mordred thought that maybe in this one instance, she'd had more of a say than she'd realized.

There was a soft clop--the sound of a hoof on stone. Mordred looked up to find himself face-to-face with the Questing Beast. It was standing just on the other side the the stream, staring at him. It's tongue flickered out as its dark eyes watched him, unblinking. Mordred felt constricted as he waited for the Questing Beast to howl again. But it didn't howl. It just stared at him. Watching. Waiting.

Nimue had said the Questing Beast hunted lies and was tamed by truth and that it was hunting him because he was made of lies. But he had confronted some of those lies recently. He had faced them and had come to a new understanding about himself. He wasn't made of lies anymore. He was on his way to learning the truth and maybe that was enough to tame the Questing Beast.

His hand shaking, Mordred reached out slowly towards the Questing Beast. He stayed on the edge of his toes as he reached out, ready to spring back if the creature turned violent. But the Questing Beast didn't moved. It just stayed still, watching him. Waiting. Taking a deep breath and not allowing himself a chance to reconsider his decision, Mordred's fingertips pressed up against the snout of the Questing Beast. When nothing bad happened his hand continued to drift up long its head. The Questing Beast actually leaned into his hand and let out a content sigh. Mordred smiled and let out a breathless laugh of relief. He'd done it. He'd found enough truth to tame the Questing Beast.

It gave him a sense of optimism he'd been lacking ever since Vivian had first taken control of him. He had been doubting everything Aunt Morgan had told him--that grand destiny where he managed to save his father from the clutches of the empire and somehow managed to save the galaxy along with him. Perhaps it was possible--maybe this was the sign he had been looking for. If Vivian was telling the truth about the prophecy--

The Questing Beast snarled and pulled away from him. Mordred lost his balance and fell backwards as the creature tipped back its head and howled. Mordred brought his hands to his ears, but it was already too late. The howl reverberated through his ears with enough force that he felt as though his skull would shatter. Darkness closed in around him, leaving Mordred feeling as though he was floating through a dark void. The howl stopped, but the darkness didn't disappear. It stayed and Mordred remained floating in it.

Light appeared before him. It started off tiny, but began to grow in size. Was it moving towards him?  Or was he moving towards it?  Mordred couldn't tell. Shapes began to form in the light. Or a shape. Slowly it came into focus until Mordred recognized the figure. It was Lynette. She was standing straight as an arrow, biting down on her lower lip as she stared straight ahead. She was hot--covered in sweat--and she looked so tense. As though it was taking all of her willpower to hold the position that she was in.

She twitched ever so slightly--Mordred barely saw her move. There was a loud sizzling noise and Lynette screamed as she jerked back into the position she had been in. Mordred saw it now--some sort of metal casing surrounded her. He could look through it and see her on the inside, but the more he stared at her, the more he could see the haze of red around her. The metal was superheated and if Lynette didn't hold her position, the metal burned her.

"You misunderstand," a deep voice said. He pulled his gaze away from Lynette to find Gaheris and Ursus standing a few feet away from Lynette. Gaheris was leaning over, holding onto something in front of him that Mordred's couldn't see. Ursus was standing right next to him, looming over Gaheris with all the menace his half-robotic body allotted him. Gaheris' eyes were closed and his face was ashen. He was just barely holding himself together.

Lynette screamed again and Gaheris flinched. He seemed to grow even smaller while Ursus moved into all the space around him.

"I don't expect anything from her," Ursus said. "She has a will that cannot be so easily broken and I don't have time to grind her down into nothing. But you?  I know exactly how to break you, Prince Gaheris. How many more of her screams do you need to hear before you tell me what I want to know?"

"Mordred!"

A hand grabbed his wrist and he was pulled away from Gaheris and Ursus, pulled past Lynette. The darkness receded and he found himself lying on the ground, staring up at Nimue.

"I'm sorry," Nimue said. "I didn't realize it was here. If I had, I would have chased it off--"

"No," Mordred said as he rolled onto his side so he could get up. The world spun as soon as he was upright and he had to pause and take a handful to deep breaths. Nimue rested a hand on his back.

"Lay back down," Nimue said. "You need to."

"No," Mordred said. "Lynette and Gaheris. I saw them. Ursus has them."

"No, Mordred, he doesn't."

"He does. I saw--"

"Reach out if you don't believe me," Nimue said. "I promise you, they are both fine."

Mordred took a deep breath and reached out, reached out along the thread that connected him to Gaheris and the one that connected him to Lynette. He didn't even pause to consider how Vivian would have reacted to this decision. He didn't care about anything right now except making sure that Gaheris and Lynette were safe and not in the middle of being horribly tortured by Ursus.

And...they weren't. They were safe. Lynette felt a bit restless, but Gaheris was the most at peace Mordred had ever felt. They were safe. Mordred let a sigh of relief, grateful that they were both safe and sound. They were both...

No. They felt fine--they both thought they were fine, but a shadow loomed over them. Darkness approached them from all sides and they had no idea how much danger they were in.

"Ursus doesn't have them," Mordred said, opening his eyes. "Yet."

Nimue sighed as she looked down at the grass. "No, not yet."

"I need to warn them," Mordred said, getting to his feet. Nimue grabbed his hand before he could walk away from her and held him in place.

"If you do this, you'll be in grave danger," Nimue said. "I'm not even sure it can be done because first you'll have to get past Vivian. But if you do and if she lets you leave, Ursus looms large in your future. And you are not strong enough to face him. He will destroy you if you try to fight him."

"Then I won't fight him," Mordred said. "All I need to do is get to Gaheris and Lynette before he does."

"You won't make it in time," Nimue said.

"Then I'll get them out without facing him," Mordred said. "I've done it before, Nim, I can do it again."

"He didn't know you before, Mordred. He does now. He's not going after Gaheris and Lynette because he wants them, he's doing this to lure you out. You're the one he wants."

"I can't just leave them!" Mordred yelled. Nimue let go of his hand and looked away. Mordred drew in a deep breath, trying to ease the frustration he was feeling. "Gaheris will die if he's left to Ursus' mercy again. He's not strong enough to survive that again. And Lynette... she won't die and she won't break. But she'll be changed forever. All she'll be left with is her anger. If there's a chance that I can help them--even if it's only the smallest sliver of probability--I have to try. I can't just leave them to this fate."

"All right," Nimue said, getting to her feet. "I'll do what I can to help you. But it won't be easy and I'm not sure how we'll convince Vivian to open a door for you."

"We just need to get my ship out of the water," Mordred said.

"And how does that help us?  You'll still need a door to get out of the atmosphere."

"I know, but something tells me Vivian might be more open to helping me if her temple is falling down around her," Mordred said. "And the guns on the X-Wing are the easiest way to accomplish that."

Nimue shrugged in a half-hearted agreement. Mordred didn't think she looked all that convinced, but he didn't care. Lynette and Gaheris were in danger and he was desperate to save them. And if he had to destroy all that was left of the Knights of Avalon to save them, so be it. He wasn't about to turn his back and leave his family at the mercy of Ursus.

Chapter Text

Gaheris awoke to the sun streaming through his window. He smiled as he snuggled down into his comfortable bedding and just enjoyed the feeling of warmth on his face. It had been far too long since he had woken up to sunlight—the base at Dover had been a fortress and none of the bedrooms had had windows and of course on Barham Down they’d been holed up in a mountain. Had it been the last time he was on Rome that he had woken up to sunlight? Or had it been on Lothian? Had it been the last morning he’d awoken on his home planet?

Gaheris didn’t ever again want to find himself wondering when the last time he’d woken to sunlight was, so he was making a point of savoring every morning on Perilyn. Deep down he knew that this couldn’t last forever. Even if Lynette hadn’t been hellbent on moving on, Gaheris knew that eventually something would force them back out into the vastness of space. His life had been far too defined by tragedy for him to ever trust that the good moments could last.

Gaheris rolled over on his side, his mind drifting to his fight with Lynette last night. One off-handed thought about her had brought her back to the forefront of her mind. After things had settled between them during those long weeks on the Damsel, their time on Perilyn once again had them at odds with each other. Gaheris wished things could just be easy between them—that they could find a way to click again the way they had on Dover instead of constantly being at odds.

“Hey, lad, wake up!” Ax yelled, pounding on the door to Gaheris’ room. “Lyoness is on her way down.”

Gaheris sighed as he left his warm, cozy bed to get cleaned up and dressed. He stepped out of his room at the same moment Lynette stepped out of hers. They very nearly ran into each other and Lynette just barely managed to stumble back before she bumped into him. 

“Good morning,” Gaheris said, hoping he sounded pleasant.

“Morning,” Lynette said briskly as she walked past him. Gaheris sighed as he watched her go. Still not easy.

He went after her into the main room where Ax and Dinadan were already waiting for them. Lynette sat down on the couch next Dinadan, arms crossed tight over across her chest. She looked like she was spoiling for a fight. Gaheris sighed as he went to lean against the far wall. He didn’t know what to do. Didn’t know how to stop her from saying or doing anything she would regret down the line.

The door to their room whooshed open and Lyoness stepped inside. She was all bright smiles and energy. A stark contrast to her sullen sister on the couch.

“Good morning, all,” Lyoness said. “I have good news. The hyperdrive on the Savage Damsel was reinstalled this morning. Which means you all can be on your way whenever you’re ready. Although I was hoping you’d join me for breakfast first.”

“I’m sorry, but we can’t,” Lynette said, getting to her feet.

“Now let’s not be hasty, lass,” Ax said with a scowl. “Breakfast is a small thing and you owe that much to your sister. She has done us quite the favor.”

“Ax,” Lynette said. Gaheris didn’t miss the warning in her tone. Neither did Ax, who scowled at her.

“I’m going down to breakfast,” Ax said. “You can either join me or leave without me. That’s your choice.”

His peace said, Ax stomped out of the room. Gaheris slowly pushed himself away from the wall and went after Ax without a word. He hated doing that. It certainly wasn’t going to make his relationship with Lynette any easier. But Ax was right. Lyoness had done them a huge service. The least they could do was have breakfast with her before they left. He didn’t know why Lynette was unwilling to give her own sister that courtesy.

Ax was waiting outside the room, arms crossed with one toe tapping furiously. They didn’t have to wait long before Dinadan exited the room, following by Lyoness and Lynette. Lynette didn’t look happy, but then she hadn’t looked happy since they had arrived so Gaheris couldn’t really say that things had gotten worse.

“Come on, now!” Lyoness said, resting a hand on Ax’s shoulder as they continued down the hallway. Dinadan ambled after them as Gaheris offered an arm to Lynette and waited. Lynette looked down at his offered arm but made no move to take it.

“Come on, Lynette,” Gaheris said. “It’s just breakfast. Then we’ll be on our way.”

"We?" Lynette asked. "So you'll be coming with us, then?"

"Of course I'm coming with," Gaheris said. "You and me. We stay together. I'd hoped you might stay, but if you're dead set on leaving, of course I'll go with you."

"Thank you, Gaheris," Lynette said. "It means a lot to hear you say that."

Figuring that he was on safer ground than he had been a few minutes ago, Gaheris closed the distance and leaned down to kiss her. It was a short, sweet kiss, but Lynette didn't shove him away or slap him, so Gaheris was willing to take it as a win. He felt even better about his decision as Lynette slipped her arm into his and let him escort her after the others, towards the dining hall.

Lyoness, Ax, and Dinadan were waiting for them outside the closed doors of the dining hall. Gaheris opened his mouth to tell them they shouldn't have waited, when Lyoness turned to look at them. Her bright, bubbly façade from earlier was gone, replaced by a defeated look of panic. Gaheris felt his stomach tighten and his breath began to come out in short gasps. After nearly a week in this idyllic paradise, the prospect of something being wrong was enough to send him spiraling into a panic attack. Gaheris didn't want anything to be wrong. He wanted to have breakfast and then leave without any trouble.

"What's wrong?" Lynette asked, slipping her arm out of Gaheris' and dropping it towards her side. Near the blaster on her hip.

"I'm sorry," Lyoness said, before waving her hand over the door control. The doors to the dining hall whooshed open and Gaheris turned his head to look.

Sitting on the far side of the room, at the head of the table, was Ursus.

Lynette moved before Gaheris had had a chance to process what he was seeing. She moved in front of him, one hand pressed against his chest to push him back while the other pulled the blaster from her belt and fired it at Ursus. One, two, three, four shots. All of which should have struck true, but instead seemed to strike some sort of invisible wall right in front of him. Ursus lifted his human hand and made a beckoning call with his finger. Lynette cried out in surprise as her blaster slipped from her fingers and into Ursus' waiting hand. Gaheris grabbed the hand that was pressed up against his chest and held onto it for dear life. He was shaking and there was a loud roar in his ear that seemed to drown everything else out.

Ursus was here. Lynette had been right. It was a mistake to have stayed this long. 

"Greetings, Prince Gaheris," Ursus said, placing Lynette's blaster down on the table.

A pained noise seemed to tear its way through Gaheris' throat. It was drowned out by the sound of footsteps closing in around them as a squadron of stormtroopers made their way down the hall. They were led by a man wearing indigo armor in a style Gaheris didn't recognize.

"Persant," Lynette spat, turning to look at Lyoness. "This is you. This is your deal with Ironside."

"I'm sorry," Lyoness said, tears in her eyes. "But I am charged with protecting the people of Perilyn and you abandoned us long ago."

"Lass..." Ax said, shaking his head.

"This is exactly how I hoped it would go," Persant said, stepping between Lyoness and Lynette. "Sister turned against sister. The safe harbor you thought would always be there has turned against you, Lynette. How does it feel to lose everything?"

"Give it time, Persant," Lynette said. "I'll blow your head off too, just like I did to your brothers."

Persant swung his arm around and slammed the butt of his blaster across Lynette's face with enough force to send her sprawling to the ground. Lyoness screamed and stumbled back into the wall as Gaheris dropped to the ground next to Lynette, intending to shield her from any more attacks.

"Enough!" Ursus yelled from the dining hall, slamming his robotic hand against the table. "We had a deal, Sir Persant, and my needs are to be met before your master takes his revenge."

"Of course, Darth Ursus," Persant said, stepping into the dining hall. "Forgive me for getting carried away. She has that effect on me."

"I have that effect on a lot of people," Lynette said, running a hand across her jaw. "Don't flatter yourself by thinking you're anything special."

"There is no reason for us to meet here as enemies," Ursus said, beckoning them into the room. "I'm not here for you. You are just a means to an end. Help me get what I want and perhaps this need not end badly for all of you."

Gaheris watched as Lynette's gaze flickered to Persant. He had looked back over his shoulder as he made his way to Ursus and was smiling down at her. No matter what happened at this table, they all knew that things weren't going to end well for Lynette. Ironside wouldn't allow it.

"I'm sorry," Lyoness said softly as Gaheris helped Lynette to her feet.

"Go to hell, Ness," Lynette said, without even a glance at her sister. Instead she looked up at Gaheris and gave his hand a squeeze. Gaheris tried to return the gesture, but his hand was shaking too much. This was it. This was Lothian and Dover all over again. He was about to lose someone as Ursus stood by and watched.

Lynette tried to smile at him, not quite managing it, before turning and stepping into the dining hall. She pulled Gaheris along behind her as Ax and Dinadan followed them. As he entered the dining hall, Gaheris couldn't help but take one last look over his shoulder at Lyoness. She still stood with her back against the wall, tears not streaming down her face. Then the door whooshed shut behind them, leaving Lyoness on the other side.

Vivian was waiting for them at the lake where the X-Wing had crashed. Mordred wasn't all that surprised to see her. He understood her well enough now to know that nothing happened on Avalon that she wasn't aware of. Nothing happened through the force that she didn't know about. It wouldn't have surprised Mordred to learn that she had seen the exact same vision of Lynette and Gaheris that he had. No doubt she knew that he wanted off Avalon and that the X-Wing was the easiest way for him to accomplish his goal. She wasn't going to let him take it up out of the water without a fight.

"Step aside, Vivian," Mordred warned, stopping a few feet away from her.

"Or you'll what?" Vivian asked. "Kill me? Knock me unconscious? Overpower me...somehow? You're nowhere near strong enough to stand against me, Mordred. You're just a mortal vessel and I am eternal. And Nimue, though she gains power every day, is still just a child. She is neither knowledgeable nor strong enough to stand against me and she knows it."

"I don't want to hurt you," Mordred said. "But I'm getting to my ship or I will die trying. Gaheris and Lynette need me right now and if you think I intend to just stay here and--" He took a step forward and Vivian lifted a hand.

"I don't want to fight you, Mordred," Vivian said. "I want you to prove to me that you are ready. Prove to me that you can stand strong against Ursus. Prove to me that you can stand firm and not give into darkness. Prove to me that you can be a vessel to the force, unwavering in your dedication to the right way. Prove to me that you are ready to leave Avalon."

"And just how am I supposed to do that?" Mordred asked.

Vivian turned and motioned to the pond--to his X-Wing. "Retrieve it from the water and I will let you go after your friends. I will open a gateway to the planet they are on and allow you to go and retrieve them. You may even bring them back here, should you feel the need. But you must lift the ship the right way--my way. No shortcuts. Understand."

"I understand," Mordred said. Vivian nodded and stepped off to the side. Mordred moved up to stand next to the edge of the water--beside Vivian.

"You stay out of my head," he warned before closing his eyes.

"You'll receive no help from me," Vivian spat.

Mordred drew in a deep breath and found the darkness. There was nothing but darkness. The void. Where there was nothing. Only him. His mind clear and empty as the force moved through him--guiding him. Once he felt that power coursing through him, Mordred turned his attention to the fighter in the pond. He reached out with the force and tried to lift the X-Wing up out of the water.

It was heavy. Heavier than he had thought it would be. He tried lifting it with the force and it wouldn't budge. He tried and tried to get the X-Wing to move until his whole body was shaking from the effort. Still the fighter stayed in place. Exhausted, Mordred let it go and dropped to his knees. He was gasping for breath, as though he had just run several miles, and his body ached all over. He couldn't believe he had expended this much energy and hadn't been able to move the damn fighter a single inch. He thought he'd come so much farther than this.

"It's as I thought," Vivian said, her voice dripping with disdain. "You're not ready. I can't have you face Ursus like this. He would destroy you. Both you and your father would be lost to us."

She started walking away, leaving Mordred where he was. Her words seem to ring in his eardrums. Arthur was lost to him. And soon Gaheris and Lynette would be as well.

No. He wasn’t giving up. Not on Gaheris or Lynette. Not ever. He would just have to find a way off of Avalon without Vivian’s help because he was getting his fighter back.

Mordred closed his eyes and reached out for the threads—for all of the connections he had made over his lifetime. First to Nimue and AC-LN, standing right behind him. Next to Gaheris and Lynette, who he was determined to save. Then to Ax and Dinadan, wherever they had ended up. Then Gawian, Gareth, Percival, Cywyllog, Ragnell, Ettard...then every person he had interacted with in the rebellion, who at one point had put their faith in him. He reached out across the threads and felt the power begin to coalesce around him. Mordred slowly breathed out and opened his eyes.

It was like before—when he had flown through the trenches of the Death Star over Joyous Gard. Suddenly he didn’t just see the world around him as it was, he saw the path ahead. It unfolded before him, showing him what to nudge or sway in order to achieve the outcome he wanted. He could see a pulley system forming around his fighter, showing him how to pull it out. And he saw the large weight of Vivian’s power holding it beneath the water.

“You tricked me!” Mordred said, turning around to face her.

Vivian’s eyes widened with fear and she suddenly looked so much older. And smaller. It was as though all of her power had gone right out of her.

“You...you promised,” Vivian stammered. “You said you would follow my way.”

“And I suppose your promise not to help made what you did right?” Mordred asked. “You misled me, again. You made me believe I had a chance at saving my friends all while working against me the entire time. That’s all you’ve done since I arrived in Avalon. I can’t believe I fell for your lies again.”

“If you were ready, Mordred, you would have sensed what I was doing and stopped me,” Vivian said. “The fact that you didn’t see it proves my point. You are not ready to face Ursus. You are not ready to leave Avalon. You must remain here and continue your training with him.”

“No,” Mordred said, turning his attention back to the fighter. He could see it now—he could see exactly what he needed to do to get the fighter out of the water, Vivian’s meddling be damned. Reaching out across the threads, Mordred pulled down on pulley system in his mind. The X-Wing shuddered but otherwise didn’t move. So Mordred pulled again and this time the fighter rose a few inches out of the water. Another pull got a foot out. And then another foot.

“No!” Vivian shouted and Mordred felt the weight pushing down on the fighter increase. His pulley system seemed to bend inward at the added weight and he could see the threads starting to fray. He tried to pull the X-Wing up further, but it didn’t budge. In fact, he was barely able to maintain the gains he had made. Vivian was going to sink is fighter again if he didn’t figure out some way to stop her.

A hand rested on his shoulder and suddenly it was as though the weight had been lifted. The pulley system straightened back out and the threads repaired themselves. Mordred pulled again and this time the fighter continued to rise up out of the water. Soon the X-Wing was out of the water entirely and Mordred directed it over to a clearing not far from them before gently placing it on the ground.

Once the X-Wing was on dry land, Mordred let go of the threads. His vision returned to normal as he let himself fall backwards, intending to hit the ground so he could marvel at what he had done while laying on the ground and catching his breath. Instead he ended up falling into someone—Nimue, to be precise. He leaned back against her and looked up. She looked older again. A teenager now. She also looked as delighted as Mordred felt.

“Thank you,” Mordred said, reaching up to grab her hand.

“Always,” Nimue replied, giving it a squeeze.

Chapter Text

Ursus hadn’t exactly gotten what he had wanted from breakfast. They had all sat in a sullen, shell-shocked silence as Ursus had asked them some probing questions about the rebellion. No one had answered him. Hell, half the time Gaheris couldn’t hear what he was saying, so loud was the roar in is ears.

He couldn’t move. He couldn’t answer. He was barely cognizant of the fact that he needed to be thinking up a plan to get them out of this. But he couldn’t do that. All he could do was stare at Lynette, trying to remember every feature. Because he knew, deep down, every second that ticked by brought him one step closer to the last time he would ever see her.

Ursus didn’t spend long questioning them in the dining hall—no surprise there since no one was answering him. Stormtroopers came to collect them and they were all taken in different directions. Gaheris was escorted to a small, dark room that reminded him all too much of his cell on the Death Star. The walls seemed to close in around him immediately and he had to go sit in a corner, head between his knees. He was still shaking and the roar in his ears wouldn’t stop.

Had that been it? Was that the last time he would ever see Lynette? He hadn’t even gotten a chance to say goodbye. To tell her he loved her. To say he was sorry for how he had acted after Dover and how he desperately wished he could have that time back. Why had he wasted his time fighting with her about something so stupid when they could have spent that time with each other?

He didn’t know how long he sat alone in that room—it felt like forever, every second lasting the length of a lifetime—when the door opened and Ursus stepped into the cell. Gaheris stared up at him with wide eyes. He wasn’t even sure where he was anymore. Was he still on Perilyn? Or was he still on the Death Star? Had he always been on the Death Star? Had the last few years been nothing more than a fevered dream brought on by the drugs they had given him? In that moment, Gaheris had no idea. All he knew was that he was afraid and that he had liked it better when Ursus had been outside the room. 

“Prince Gaheris,” Ursus said, crossing the room to kneel down in front of Gaheris.

“I don’t know anything,” Gaheris said, shaking his head. “I swear I don’t know—”

“You know enough,” Ursus said, grabbing Gaheris by the arm and hauling him to his feet. He pushed Gaheris into the opposite wall as a light came on on the other side of it. The wall wasn’t a wall, Gaheris realized as he stared through it. It was a window. And on the other side was Lynette. She was being manhandled into the room by Persant and looked about ready to take a swing at him. It was only the cuffs locking her wrists together that kept her from doing so.

With Persant's help, Lynette was helped into a smaller, one-man chamber in the center of the room. She barely seemed to fit and had to hold completely still or else she would brush up against the walls. Gaheris could see Lynette's mouth moving as Persant stepped away from her and slammed the chamber door closed.

"He's quite clever, this Persant," Ursus said. "It's almost a shame that he's the last of his order. I was skeptical at first, but I'm starting to think the Empire might have a use for a man of his...talents."

Persant tapped on a keypad on the side of the chamber before stepping away from it. Immediately the silver metal lit up bright red with heat.

"What...what's he doing?" Gaheris asked.

"Torturing her," Ursus said, flipping a switch on the wall. Lynette's screams tore through the room. "It's an ingenious device--Persant's own design. It won't...permanently mar her. At least not too horrifically. But Persant can leave her in there for hours. Perhaps even days. It all depends on if I get what I want."

"Stop this," Gaheris said as Lynette screamed again.

"But I don't have what I want yet," Ursus said.

"We don't know anything!"

"How can you say that? You don't even know what I'm looking for."

Another scream. Gaheris shook his head, trying to concentrate. "This isn't going to do you any good. She isn't going to tell you anything. She's too strong. You're not going to break her."

"You misunderstand," Ursus said, leaning in closer to Gaheris. Lynette screamed again and Gaheris flinched. "I don't expect anything from her. She has a will that cannot be so easily broken and I don't have time to grind her down into nothing. But you? I know exactly how to break you, Prince Gaheris. How many more of her screams do you need to hear before you tell me what I want to know?"

Gaheris closed his eyes and shook his head. Ursus was right. This was Lothian all over again. He had been willing to give up anything to save his home planet and now he would give Ursus whatever he wanted. Lynette screamed again and Gaheris knew that this was it. He wouldn't let her suffer any longer.

"What do you want to know?" Gaheris asked.

"There, see, I knew you'd come around," Ursus said, clapping a hand on Gaheris' shoulder. "Now tell me, where is Mordred Pendragon?"  

"What?" Gaheris asked as another scream tore through the room. He was having trouble thinking and he couldn't believe that was it. That was really all Ursus wanted to know?

"Mordred Pendragon," Ursus said again. "Where is he? Rumor has it that he travels often with Captain Perilous. I was hoping to catch him with you but he's not here. Where is he?"

"He's dead." Gaheris said.

"No--"

"Yes," Gaheris said. "His ship was destroyed leaving the atmosphere of Barham Down. One minute it was showing up on sensors and the next, gone."

"That can't be right," Ursus said, grabbing Gaheris' shirt and giving him a shake. "I still feel him. I know he's alive."

"He's not!" Gaheris yelled. "He said he was losing altitude and going down and then poof! Right off the radar, as if he had never been there. I don't know what happened, but I do know no one could survive a fighter burning out of atmosphere like that. That's why we didn't go back."

Ursus let go of Gaheris and began to pace up and down the length of the cell, muttering to himself as his robot arm scratched up and down his human one. Gaheris could only press his back up against the wall and stay out of his way. He had never seen Ursus like this before. He had always been a commanding, malevolent presence but now he just seemed...unhinged.

Why would Mordred's death be causing such a reaction in him? Yes, there was the prophecy about how Mordred was supposed to rescue Uncle Arthur and save the galaxy from the Empire, but in that case Ursus should have been rejoicing. Mordred was dead, his destiny was finished. There was nothing he could do to hurt the Empire anymore. Ursus should have been elated.

Suddenly Ursus stopped pacing with a sharp gasp. Slowly the human half of his face curved up in a smile.

"Avalon," he said softly. “It's as the Emperor said. He’s on Avalon.”

"Avalon?" Gaheris repeated. "No, that’s not possible. He went down over Barham Down—.”

"A door in the atmosphere," Ursus said. "When Vivian wants to see you, she’ll open a door and let you through. She swept him across the galaxy, to wherever Avalon resides in space. And now this Pendragon is protected from the Empire so long as he remains on Avalon.”

Gaheris couldn't help but let out a small sigh of relief. If Mordred was still alive, and he still had his doubts about that, then he was safe from Ursus. There was something comforting in knowing that at least one family member was beyond the reach of the Empire.

"The trick will be to lure him out," Ursus said. Then, very slowly, he turned to look at Gaheris. Then past Gaheris, to the room Lynette was in. "Yes. Yes, this will do nicely."

Gaheris understood his meaning a split second too late. Ursus had already turned to leave and was almost to the door when what he was actually saying clicked in Gaheris' head.

"No!" Gaheris yelled, running to the door. It whooshed closed behind Ursus before he was even halfway there. Gaheris slammed into the door when all of might and then started pounding on his with his fists. "Let her out! I gave you what you wanted! Now let her out! Do what you want to me, but just let her out! Ursus! Ursus!"

No answer and Lynette's screams were starting to come closer and closer together. Gaheris turned to press his back to the door and slowly sank to the ground. He wrapped his arms around his legs and rested his head against his knees. There was nothing else he could do now except wait...and listen.

Hours later, Lynette Perilous was finally pulled from the chamber by Persant. She had small burns all over her body and her legs were so tired from trying to stand completely still that she couldn't walk. Persant unceremoniously dragged her from the chamber, across the halls of Perilyn and back to the prison cell she had started out in. The cell she, Ax, and Dinadan had been brought to when they had been first separated from Gaheris.

She was thrown roughly into the room by Persant. She hit the ground hard and couldn't help another cry of pain. Every part of her hurt right now and all she wanted to do was curl up in a little ball and stay that way until the burning sensation across her skin stopped.

"Lass," Ax said. He rested a hand on her arm and Lynette cried out and pulled away from him. "Lass, what happened?"

Lynette shook her head. She didn't want to talk about it--couldn't talk about it.  

"Dinadan? Gaheris?" she asked and even talking hurt.

"Dinadan is still here," Ax said. "They've enacted some sort of wretched sound torture on the both of us. My head is pounding and his systems are malfunctioning, but otherwise we're no worse for wear."

"Where's Gaheris?" Lynette asked. After what they had done to her, she didn't even want to think about what they were doing to him. And he had gone through all this before. He still had nightmares about what he had suffered at Ursus' hands. This was going to break him.

“I don’t know,” Ax said.

“They have not brought him back yet,” Dinadan said, his voice modulating up and down with every word. That must have been one of the malfunctions Ax had mentioned.

“Come on, lass,” Ax said, tugging on her arm. “There’s one cot in this room and I’m giving it to you. Let’s get you into it so you can get some rest.”

He tried to pull her upright and every fiber of her body protested. Lynette let out shriek as she pulled away from him and curled into a tighter ball. The stone floor was nice and cool against the exposed skin of her arm and face and Lynette would have happily stayed down there forever.

She heard the door to their cell whoosh open but she didn’t have the strength to look and see who it was. But the delighted gasps from Ax and Dinadan gave her a pretty good guess.

“Lad, you’re all right!” Ax said.

“Lynette!” Gaheris yelled and she dearly wanted to roll over and tell him that she was all right. But the floor felt so good and she was so tired. There was really no reason to move now that Gaheris was here.

A hand rested on her shoulder and Lynette let out a soft, pained noise. Those noises became louder and more persistent as she was rolled carefully onto her back. Whoever was doing it was trying to be as gentle as possible and it still hurt like hell.

“Easy,” Gaheris said softly and she felt him place a hand on either side of her face. One thumb stroked across her cheek and that part actually felt nice. The other hand touching her, not so much.

“Can you look at me?” Gaheris asked.

“No,” Lynette snapped. She saw no reason to open her eyes.

“Obstinate,” Ax growled.

“All right,” Gaheris said. “This is going to hurt a lot.”

Before she even had a chance to comprehend what he had just said, Gaheris scooped her up in his arms and lifted her up of the ground. And he was right. It did hurt. A lot. Lynette screamed and thrashed in his arms, trying to make the pain stop. Gaheris held firm until he deposited her gently in the cloth cot. It did not feel nearly as good as the cool stone on her face.

“Do we have water?” Gaheris asked.

“We barely have a bed,” Ax said.

“I’m fine,” Lynette said. “I just need everyone to stop touching me.”

She finally managed to open her eyes and found herself staring at Gaheris. He was kneeling on the ground right next to the cot and he looked...fine. There were tear streaks across his face, but other than that he looked uninjured. That was good, right? Lynette so desperately wanted that to be good.

“Are you all right?” she asked. Just in case they had hurt him somewhere she couldn’t see.

“I’m fine,” Gaheris said. “Promise.”

“What did they do to you?” Ax asked.

“They...they made me watch what they were doing to Lynette,” Gaheris said. “Ursus said he would stop the torture if I gave him what he wanted so...I did. I told him everything he wanted to know.”

Lynette’s eyes narrowed. “That went on for a really long time for you to have supposedly broken right away.”

“I know. I’m sorry,” Gaheris said. “He...um, he asked me where Mordred was. I told him Mordred was dead, but he didn’t believe me. He got really agitated and was pacing—muttering to himself. Then he said that Mordred was on Avalon.”

“Avalon?” Ax asked. “As in the home world of the Knights of Avalon?”  Gaheris nodded.

“How would the puppy even get there?” Lynette asked. “He started going down over Barham Down.”

“Ursus spoke of doors that could be opened in the atmosphere,” Gaheris said. “I don’t understand how it works, but that’s where Ursus thinks Mordred is and he’s trying to lure him out. That’s why Ursus left us to be tortured for so long. He’s hoping Mordred will feel it through the force and try to rescue us.”

Lynette closed her eyes and shook her head, not sure she believed any of what Gaheris had just said. And she couldn’t stop thinking about how much pain she was in long enough to work it out. “Dinadan, does that sound right to you? You know all the stories. Could Mordred have flown through a door in the atmosphere and gone to Avalon.”

“He could!” Dinadan said excitedly. At least, Lynette thought he sounded excited under the constant modulations his voice was going through.

“What?” Gaheris asked, looking at Dinadan.

“I am malfunctioning,” Dinadan said and Lynette opened her eyes in time to see him lower his head in shame while his interior lights turned red.

“It’s all right, Dinadan,” Lynette said. “None of us are at our best right now. Can you tell me about Avalon?”

“Avalon exists outside of space,” Dinadan said. “One cannot simply fly there in a spacecraft. One must be invited in by the Avatar of the force who resides on Avalon. She can open a door to anywhere in space. This was the Knights of Avalon’s preferred way to travel. Rarely did they take a ship—usually only in circumstances where the firepower of a ship was required. Otherwise they could jump from one side of the galaxy to the other all by opening a simple door.”

“And ships?” Lynette asked. “Have you ever head of ships making the journey to Avalon through a door in the atmosphere?”

“Indeed,” Dinadan said. “According to AC-LN, it traveled that way quite often when it was Morgan le Fay’s primary droid. Of course, I’m not sure I believe it because I have no memory of it serving a Knight of Avalon before we met Morgan le Fay for the first time on Cornwall. But AC insists”

“Hey,” Lynette said. “If Mordred is alive, AC-LN probably is too. You may still have a chance to say everything you wanted to to it.”

“I know,” Dinadan said. “I am quite delighted at the prospect of seeing my friend again. I have missed it.”

“So that’s it?” Ax said. “We saw Mordred’s ship go down with our own eyes, but because Ursus says otherwise, we’re going to believe Mordred slipped through some door in the atmosphere and traveled to a planet that isn’t really there?”

“Avalon did exist, Axatalese,” Dinadan said. “And the records of Avalon’s doors are filed under fact, not fiction.”

“I believe that Mordred is alive,” Gaheris said. “It may be nothing more than a false hope, but things are bleak enough now. I’m going to believe that my cousin is alive. And that we need to figure out a way to keep him from coming here. I have no idea what Ursus wants with Mordred, but I do know we can’t let him fall into this trap.”

Lynette was going to argue with him—to say it was all well and good to want to protect Mordred, but there was very little they would be able to do so long as Ursus was holding them prisoner. She was going to say all that, but the door to their cell whooshed open before she could get a word out.

Gaheris, Ax, and Dinadan all looked to the door and both Gaheris and Ax frowned. They looked unhappy. Even Dinadan had a bit of black creep into his internal lighting.

“Lyoness,” Gaheris said softly and Lynette suddenly understood the dark mood.

“Help me up,” Lynette said. Gaheris didn’t argue. One hand grabbed hers while the other snaked around her back and lifted her up. She bit down on her tongue hard enough to draw blood while her hand squeezed Gaheris’ so tight she was surprised he didn’t draw away from her in pain. It was agonizing getting into a sitting up position, but somehow Lynette managed to do it without screaming.

Lyoness was about halfway across the room when Lynette’s eyes met hers and she was carrying a tray of food and water. If Lynette hadn’t been so angry at her sister right now, she would have been more grateful that Ursus didn’t intent to leave them to starve.

"Lyn," Ness said, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Ness," Lynette said, her voice sharp and biting.

"All right," Ax said, making his way over to Lyoness. He held out his arms for the tray. "I'll take that. You can leave."

Lyoness passed Ax the tray without a word. He took it over to the cot and set it on the ground beside Gaheris. Lyoness didn't move, even though she had delivered the tray and there was no reason for her to still be in this cell.

"You need anything else, Ness?" Lynette asked.

"I thought you would understand," Lyoness said. "I knew you wouldn't be happy, but I thought you'd at least understand that I did what I had to do."

"You thought I'd understand?" Lynette asked, incensed. "What's there to understand, Ness? I just spent a whole day in a hot box."  She held up an arm for Lyoness to see the burns across her arms. "I'm burned everywhere. Not to mention what was done to Gaheris, Ax, and Dinadan. What about that am I supposed to understand, Ness?"

"You left us," Lyoness said. "You just picked up and left one day and you never looked back. You never once cared for our father's legacy. You just left me to deal with the blow back of every mess you found yourself in. And you never once looked back to see how I was doing in the wake of your destruction. Damn it, Lyn, you were using your own name. Did you really think no one was going to trace you back home."

"I thought as long as I stayed away--"

"Well you were wrong," Lyoness said. "It was bad enough when it was just Ironside, but it wasn't hard to manage him. But when you brought the Empire down on us? I have a responsibility to this place and these people. What did you expect me to do?"

"Tell me," Lynette said. "Warn me. We've been here for days and you didn't show your hand once."  

"The fact that you would even ask that of me just proves how little you care for both me and our father's legacy," Lyoness said. "The deal I made--"

"The deal you made is nothing," Gaheris said. "Ursus is going to betray you. It's not a question of if, but when. He's not going to hold up his end and your people are going to suffer the consequences when he turns on you."

"I have assurances," Lyoness said, but she didn't seem nearly as confident.

"So did I," Gaheris said. "And they still blew up my planet as a demonstration. If the Emperor feels he needs to make a showing of his strength and might, he'll order Ursus to tear this place apart without hesitation."

"You should have told us," Lynette said. "We could have helped you. Started planning an evacuation."

"You care more about mom's ship than you do your own flesh and blood," Lyoness said. "But you'd have me abandon the home our father built without a second thought."

"You think dad would be grateful to know that you sold me out to save a place?" Lynette asked. "They're going to kill me, Lyoness. Don't you understand? You give me over to Ironside and he will kill me. He's probably going to kill Ax, Gaheris, and Dinadan too."

"No," Lyoness said. "Lord Ursus has promised me that they can stay here. You'll never be able to leave, but you'll be safe here."

"No they won't," Lynette said. "Ursus isn't just going to leave them when the time comes. He will break the deal over and over again and because you let him get a foothold on Perilyn, you will never be able to stop him. Don't you understand that?"

Lyoness shook her head. "I don't know why I thought you would listen."

"You're not exactly stellar at it either," Lynette snapped.

Lyoness turned to leave. She pounded on the door once before turning around to face them. "Tell me why?"

"Why what?" Lynette asked.

"Why did you join the rebellion," Lyoness said. "You never cared about the rest of the galaxy before. All you were interested in was your next great adventure. So why? What caused you to join the rebellion?"

Lynette looked at Gaheris and squeezed his hand. He pressed his lips together in an almost smile and if she hadn't hurt so much, Lynette would have leaned in to kiss him.

"It's a long story," Lynette said. "First it was to make money to get Ironside off my back. Then it became about keeping two idiots from getting themselves killed. Then I stayed because it was important work... and I was damn good at it."

"And not once did you spare a thought for me," Lyoness said as the door whooshed open behind her. She ducked out without a word and the door slid closed.

"Because I was trying to protect--" Lynette tried to yell at her sister's retreating back. But the door closed before she could finish. "Oh, hell. Down."

She gave Gaheris' hand another squeeze as he gently lowered her back onto the cot. She felt as though she managed to hold it together much better going down than she had going up. Damn Ness and her stubborn naivete and loyalty to this place. What would it take to get her to see that Ursus was playing her? Lynette hoped not a knife in her back.

Gaheris ripped off the bottom bit of his shirt and dumped some water on it. Then he carefully began to dab the cloth across Lynette's forehead. She closed her eyes and enjoyed the sensation. That felt really good right now.

"You've been awfully quiet over there, Ax," Lynette said. "Still not picking sides.

"Oh no, I've picked a side," Ax said. "I'm just disappointed that it came to this. It would break your poor father's heart to see it."

"I'm sure it would," Lynette said, although she really didn't care much about what her dead father would think about this situation. It wasn't as though he could do anything to help. She understood why it upset Ax so much, though. "I'm sorry, Ax, I tried."

"That you did, lass," Ax said. "That you did."

Lynette took a deep breath. She was so tired--her body limp with exhaustion. But her mind was racing as she considered where they were and what came next.

"Gaheris," she said.

He shushed her as he continued to dab the cool cloth across her forehead. "You need to rest, Lynette. Whatever else there is to talk about, I'm sure it can wait."

Lynette shook her head as she opened her eyes and stared up at him. "It can't. If we don't see each other again--"

"We will see each other again," Gaheris said.

"At any moment we could be pulled from this cell and never come back," Lynette said. "And if that happens--"

"It won't."

"Gaheris--"

"No, Lynette, you're not just going to disappear," Gaheris said. "I won't let that happen. If...if we reach the end, we'll know `that it's the end and we'll say our goodbyes then. But not before. Because if we say goodbye too early, that means we're giving up. And I'm not ready to give up. Are you?"

"No, of course not," Lynette said. "I just don't want to leave anything unsaid."

"We won't," Gaheris said. "Now please, try to get some rest. No more talking for a while."

Lynette closed her eyes and tried to do as he said. She tried to sleep, but her thoughts quickly turned to Mordred. He was alive. He was alive and Ursus was trying to lure him to Perilyn for some nefarious purpose. She hoped he would stay away--she tried to will the fact that he needed to stay away across the galaxy to him--but she knew better. If Mordred suspected they were in trouble, he would come after them. Without hesitation. Which meant that he was probably already on his way here, about to fall into Ursus' trap. And there was nothing she could do to help him. 

Chapter Text

It took another two days to get the X-Wing into flying shape. Weeks underwater without certain systems closed off hadn't done it any good and Mordred was fortunate that he had most of the spare parts he needed for repairs. What he didn't have, Nimue brought to him. Mordred didn't dare ask her where she found the pieces. He didn't want to know. What mattered was that his fighter was fixed and he could leave as soon as he was ready.

He packed up his room in the temple. Vivian didn't try to stop him. In fact, she had been avoiding him since their confrontation at the lake. Mordred was grateful for that. The last thing he needed right now was her whispering in his ear, causing him to doubt himself. He already had enough doubt to fill the lake outside the temple. He didn't need Vivian adding to it.

He packed up everything and brought it to the X-Wing, but he didn't load all onto the ship. He left all of the camping equipment with Nimue. No doubt Vivian would exile her from the temple as soon as he was gone and Mordred didn't want Nimue to go back to sneaking on the steps of the temple in the hopes that she could sleep there without Vivian chasing her away. With the camping equipment, she'd always have somewhere warm and dry to sleep. Mordred hoped she would make her camp as far away from the temple as possible.

All that was left were the last few system checks, which he did diligently. It was hard not to get distracted with both Vivian and Nimue on the ground, watching him work. The silent disapproval from Vivien and Nimue's nervous energy were constantly pulling at his attention. He wanted to stop and tell Vivian to leave, but for some reason that felt like giving her a victory so he kept quiet and kept working. He was nearly finished checking all the systems when he came around the underside of the ship and nearly ran into someone he had thought he would never see again.

"Aunt Morgan," Mordred said, taking a startled step back. She was as she had appeared to him on Barham Down--little more than a glowing blue outline.

"Nephew," Morgan said. Her voice was cold. She was upset with him. A couple weeks ago he probably would have done anything to ease the tension between them, but right now he couldn't bring himself to care.

"I suppose you're here to tell me I should stay," Mordred asked, maneuvering around her so he could continue checking the ship.

"You should stay," Morgan said as she followed him. "You stand on a precipice, Mordred. One that you seem eager to jump off of. You deny Vivian, deny her teachings, and deny the ways of the force. You have thrown yourself into darkness in the hopes that it will help defeat darkness, but it will not. You'll only be lost as well."

"Tell me the truth," Mordred said, turning to face her. "Tell me something that is true and maybe, just maybe, I'll consider staying. But you lied to me. About everything. Vivian not only lied, she took control of my body. She suppressed my will and turned me into a puppet. What about this is right, Aunt Morgan? How has Avalon not also metaphorically descended into darkness?"

Morgan pressed her lips together as she studied him for a moment, then she looked down at the ground. "What would you like to know?"

"Tell me about Aunt Morgause?" Mordred asked. "She was a Knight of Avalon. Why has Vivian gone to such lengths to erase her from the temple? What happened between them? What happened between the two of you?"

"Morgause flirted with darkness," Morgan said. "She thought she knew better than the Knights of Avalon and she paid dearly for her arrogance."

Mordred stepped in close to Morgan and glared down at her. "I don't believe you."

He turned away from her and went back to checking the ship as Morgan scoffed in frustration behind him.

"What will it take, Mordred?" Morgan asked. "What will it take for you to regain your faith in me? Because you can't go. You understand why you had that vision, yes? Because Ursus is goading you. He wants you to come to him and he's using Gaheris and Lynette as bait. And you are running into his trap without a second thought. Don't you understand what happens to the galaxy if the Emperor manages to turn you? Make no mistake, that is his goal. He wants you by his side. Father and son held at the heart of the Empire."

Mordred sighed and leaned forward, resting his head against the bottom edge of his ship. Her argument made sense. This was a trap and he was running into it recklessly. What could he really do to help Gaheris and Lynette when he was standing alone against the whole Empire? Maybe it was better to stay. Maybe if he stayed, he'd figure out how to become strong enough to save all of them.

"Yes, that's right," Vivian said softly. "Listen to Morgan. She only wants you to succeed. We all want what's best for you. Stay here so that we may help you."

"Best for me?" Mordred asked, looking first at Vivian and then back at Morgan. "You just want what's best for me?"

"Yes, Mordred," Morgan said. "That's all we've ever wanted."

"Is it?" Mordred asked. "Because I've been thinking about this moment. It keeps playing over and over in my head. It was just after I arrived on Joyous Guard and Ragnell was looking me over. She said I was overstimulate. That it was the aftereffect of an electrical shock. That the training module had been on too strong of setting. Everyone insisted that it was a mistake--that you didn't understand the training module. But I've always wondered.

"So tell me now. Since you've only ever wanted what was best for me, was it purposeful? Did you hurt me on purpose?" Morgan stared him down again, her lips pressed together once more. But this time she didn't back down. The look she gave him was one of open defiance and Mordred had his answer. "Why? No, I know why. It's the same reason Vivian turned me into a puppet. You wanted to control me and leaving me weak and disoriented was a shortcut.

"What else did you do? What other moments were just you manipulating me into relying on you? The fight at the bar? Lynette's odd hostility at the beginning? The merfolk attack? Was any of that real or was it all just you?"

Again, no answer and Mordred felt the world reel around him. So it had all been a lie. Every moment he had spent with Aunt Morgan… every moment where he thought she had cared and was looking out for him... none of it had been real. All of it had been an attempt to control him. To turn him into a puppet, much like Vivian had.

Mordred turned away from her, suddenly too disgusted to look at her. He couldn't bear to look at Vivian either. Fortunately, there was a light behind her that caught his attention. It was Aunt Morgause. She was a bright, white beacon, just as she had been after the cave. She was standing in the woods, a few feet behind Vivian, and the mist seemed to part around her. A warm gust of wind blew in Mordred's face and he could smell the spices that had always seem to cling to her.

Mordred couldn't help but smile as his fury eased. He didn't need Aunt Morgan or Vivian. He could think of at least two people who had never hurt or used him in the name of their own self-interests. And they were in trouble right now.

Aunt Morgause lifted a hand and tapped it twice against her heart and Mordred's resolve hardened. He was going to try and save Gaheris and Lynette. He knew deep down that it was the right thing to do and that he would never forgive himself if he left them to suffer. Aunt Morgause was right, he had to follow his heart.

"What are you looking at?" Vivian asked, looking over her shoulder. She must not have seen anything because her gaze snapped right back to Mordred.

"Morgause," Morgan said softly. "Mordred, don't listen to her."

"I'm not," Mordred said. "Because she's not saying anything. She's trusting me to make my own choices."

"And if those choices are wrong?" Morgan asked. "If you fail?"

"Well, then at least they were mine."

"You cannot do this," Vivian said as Mordred, finished check the ship, made his way over to Nimue. "I won't allow it. I won't allow you to leave."

Mordred ignored her as he stopped in front of Nimue. She was looking down at the ground and her arms were crossed. She looked defensive and scared. Mordred didn't blame her. He would have been upset too if he had been facing the prospect of staying here alone without Nimue or AC to help him.

"I will come back for you," Mordred said. "I promise. As soon as I have Gaheris and Lynette, we'll be back. We'll bring the Damsel and--"

Before he could finish making his promises, Nimue stepped forward and threw her arms around his neck. Mordred was forced to bend down awkwardly as she pulled him into a tight hug.

"I'll get you out," Nimue whispered and Mordred held her even tighter, grateful for her help. "Go save your friends."

Nodding, Mordred let go of her and stepped back. Nimue straightened up and took a deep breath. In that moment, she managed to look as formidable as Vivian. She was going to be all right without him.

"Mordred, please," Morgan begged as he climbed up his ship and into the cockpit. Mordred ignored her as he pulled on his helmet and fired up the ship. He didn't dare look at them until the canopy was starting to descend. Morgan and Vivian were standing together and they both looked distraught. Nimue stood a few feet to the side, still standing straight and looking regal. And behind them, Aunt Morgause. Who still had a hand resting over her heart.

The canopy closed down at the cabin pressurized. Mordred returned his attention to the controls and carefully lifted the fighter up off the ground. It took some doing--it seemed as though gravity was dragging on the ship more than it should have--but soon he was ascending towards the atmosphere. A thick cloud cover was all that stood between him and open space. He entered the clouds and it was just like before, on Barham Down. His ship began to shake and began reporting that he was on a descent. Mordred ignored it and kept going up. Nimue had promised that she would get him out of Avalon and he wasn't about to lose faith in her.

The ship was screaming at him when it finally punched through the clouds and glided out into open space. All of the alarms stopped and Mordred let out the breath he had been holding. She'd done it. Nimue had done it. She had gotten him out of Avalon.

AC's translator began to light up with incoherent sentences. The droid was apparently as amazed as Mordred felt.

He leaned forward to check his navigation computer. According to the readings, he had just cleared the atmosphere of a small moon behind him. Ahead of him, only a few hours away, was Perilyn.

"Lynette went home," Mordred whispered, almost unable to believe it. Lynette had gone home and instead of the reunion she had probably been hoping for, she had instead found danger there. She had found Ursus there. Mordred drew in a deep breath, trying to steady himself. Anger wouldn't do him any good, but he couldn't help but be furious on Lynette's behalf. She had deserved a much better homecoming.

AC's translator flashed again. This time with only one word: careful.

"I will be," Mordred said as he set a course for Perilyn. And he would be. He'd be as careful as possible.

He just didn't think careful would do him much good this time.

Chapter Text

Lynette awoke to the sound of the door to their cell opening. She groaned and turned onto her side and snuggled down into the fabric of the cot. Gaheris shifted, rubbing a hand up and down her back as she tried to ignore the sound of stormtroopers boots clapping against the ground made their way into the cell.

"What now?" Ax asked.

"You're to come with us," a stormtrooper said.

"Why?" Ax asked.

"We don't owe you an explanation," the stormtrooper said. His pronouncement was followed by a scuffle that did not sound as though it went well for Ax.

"She's hurt," Gaheris said, his grip tightening on Lynette's shoulder.

"Doesn't matter," the stormtrooper and Lynette felt Gaheris' hand roughly pulled away from her shoulder. A moment later, armored hands roughly grabbed Lynette and hauled her upright, cuffing her arms behind her back. She groaned as her head spun, but by the time she exited the cell she had her feet under her.

Lyoness was waiting right outside the cell. Her eyes were red and puffy and she looked upset. Lynette tried to catch her eye as she was dragged past, but Lyoness looked away. Lynette's stomach tightened. Whatever this was, it was going to be bad.

They were taken down into the depths of the fortress. Lynette grew more and more nervous with every step. This was where some of the refining was done. There was all sorts of machinery down there that could be retrofitted into torture devices. She didn't think she could take anymore torture.

And what about Mordred? If Ursus continued to hurt them, he would eventually come running. How was she supposed to get through this while also sending out a warning that he should stay away? Could he even hear her? Was that something the force could do?

Instead of going to any of the refinery rooms, as Lynette had expected, they were instead taken to the final processing room. This was where the gas was petrified so that it could be shipped safely. Entering the room, Lynette found it completely changed. The petrification chambers, which had previously lined the walls of the room, had been stripped away. A hole and been created in the center of the room and Lynette could see cables running down into it. She could also see the crystals that performed the petrification sticking up out of the hole.

The Empire had managed to create a whole new petrification chamber. And it was designed to petrify something a lot bigger than gas.

The stormtroopers finally let go of them and positioned themselves back by the entrance. Lynette looked back over her shoulder at Lyoness, who still wasn't meeting her gaze. Frustrated, Lynette looked away only to find Persant standing right in front of her. Lynette bared her teeth at him and Persant laughed.

"I admit, I was not initially pleased with this solution when Lord Ursus first suggested it," Persant said. "I wanted to drag you before Ironside in chains. I wanted to see how he would punish you for betraying him. But I've come around. Now I look forward to presenting you to Ironside as a lovely statue that he can keep forever."

Lynette lunged forward and cracked her head against Persant's. Her forehead struck his nose and she felt it break. He cried out as he stumbled away from her, hands pressed against his nose as blood dripped from between his fingers.

"You wretched--!" Persant started to yell, a hand going to his blaster. He stopped as Ursus stepped between him and Lynette.

"Do not damage her," Ursus said.

"Does it matter?" Persant asked. "She'll be stone. What need will she have for her eyes and tongue?"

"You tell me," Ursus said. "You'll be delivering her to Ironside. She belongs to him now. If he would like to shatter her or return her to flesh and bone so that you can torture her, that will be his choice and his choice alone. Until then, you're just the delivery boy."

Persant growled and Lynette laughed. At least until Ursus turned his attention to her. Then she shrunk back against the wall. She remembered all too clearly what he had done to her and she was keenly aware of what he intended to do to her. Ursus grinned at the sight of her becoming small.

"It's quite ingenious," he said, motioning to the hole in the ground. "Using a manufactured cockatrice stare to turn gas into stone. It's easier and safer to ship. And all it takes is weasel pheromones to revert it back to gas. A rather simple solution to what can often be an expensive problem."

"Yeah," Lynette said. "It's also, as I recall from my studies, very illegal to use this technology on a sentient being."

"It was," Ursus said, making his way over to Lyoness. He rested his robotic hand on her shoulder and Lyoness whimpered and tried to draw away from him. His hand clamped down tight on her shoulder, stilling her. "But the Emperor has made it legal in the territories he controls and your dear sister has made it legal here."

"Thanks, Ness," Lynette said. Still her sister wouldn't look at her.

"Indeed," Ursus said, leaving Ness' side and making his way back over to the hole in the ground. "Say your goodbyes now, and make them quick. We are up against something of a time constraint."

Once he had moved far enough away that he was no longer a looming presence, Lynette glanced back at Lyoness. Still nothing. Not a glance, not an acknowledgement. Nothing. This was it. This could very well be the last time they ever saw each other. And her sister wouldn't even look at her.

Fine. If that was how Lyoness wanted this to go, that was fine with Lynette. She wouldn't waste her breath trying to fix this or make things right. She had Gaheris and Ax to worry about. She would spent her final moments with them.

Turning away from Lyoness, Lynette knelt down in front of Ax. It was awkward, with her hands locked behind her back, but somehow she managed without losing her balance. Ax looked devastated. Lynette didn't think she had seen him look this sad since her father died. It broke her heart to leave him like this, after all they had been through together. He had done his best to look out for her and keep her from getting in over her head. She felt as though she was failing him.

"I know that this is a lot to ask, but I need you to take care of them," Lynette said. "All of them." She stressed all and saw Ax bluster a bit at that. He had been betrayed and he wouldn't forgive easily. But she needed him to. He had been a part of their family for so long. If he gave up on Ness now, he would regret it. She knew he would.

"Promise me," Lynette said. "Promise, Ax."

"I promise," Ax grumbled, sounding sullen. Lynette leaned forward and rested her forehead against his. She squeezed her eyes shut, trying to hold back the tears. She wished that her hands weren't tied behind her back so she could give Ax a hug. She desperately wanted to give Ax a hug right now.

"You'll be all right, lass," he whispered. "Just close your eyes, and when you open them again, we'll be there. I promise you that."

"I know," Lynette said, as she shakily got to her feet. She took a step forward so she was standing next to Dinadan and gave him a nod.

"Oh, Captain, I'm so sorry," he said.

"Don't be," Lynette said. "It's just like your stories, right? It's something that the hero needs to overcome. And one day, you're going to tell the story of how I overcame it."

"It would be my honor," Dinadan said, placing a hand on his chest as his internal lighting turned blue. Lynette smiled as she took the two steps forward that brought her beside Gaheris. He was looking at the ground. He had drawn inward--wrapped up in his grief once more. He was once again facing the prospect of losing someone he cared about and Lynette could see that it was breaking him.

"Gaheris," Lynette said, bumping her shoulder against him. No response. "Gaheris, look at me."

Finally he lifted his gaze and looked right at her, but his eyes were blank and distant. It was as though he wasn't really seeing her. The words she had been about to say to him caught in her throat. There was nothing she could say to him that would fix this. Words wouldn't be enough. If she'd had her arms free, she would have tried slapping him across the face to see if that would work.

With no other good option available to her, Lynette stood up on her tip-toes and kissed him. That got a reaction as Gaheris leaned into the kiss. She felt his body press up against hers. A year's worth of regret and grief seemed to be seemed to be contained within one kiss. Lynette wished she could have managed to get some of those brief moments of joy in there as well. She hoped he understood. She hoped that he remembered.

Hands grabbed her from behind and pulled her back, dragging her away from Gaheris. Lynette fought to stay until the kiss was broken, and then allowed herself to be pulled back toward the hole.

"This isn't the end," Lynette said. A platform had been raised up in the center of the hole and Persant was maneuvering her out to the middle of it. Lynette didn't pay any attention to him, though. Not even has he yanked her back so hard she nearly lost her balance before chaining her in place. She only had eyes for Gaheris. "Do you hear me, Gaheris? This isn't the end. So don't you dare give up and don't you dare stop fighting."

"I love you," Gaheris said. Lynette stared at him, dumbfounded. She couldn't believe he had said that, but what was worse was the way he said it. He sounded so lost and broken. It was as though he had already given up. As though this latest loss was really too much for him to recover from. Lynette felt her resolve harden. She would not allow this to break him.

"Seriously, you say that now?" Lynette yelled. Gaheris started and his mouth fell open. "After all the romantic settings we experienced in Perilyn alone, you finally bust that out when I might be about to die? Poor timing and judgement, Prince Charming. What is wrong with you?"

"Oh, you're something, you know that?" Gaheris snapped.

There was that fire she had been looking for. Lynette smiled as the platform slowly began to lower her into the hole.

"I do," Lynette said softly, and to her great relief Gaheris smiled back. Then she was too deep in the hole to see him--to see any of them. Lynette took a deep breath as she straightened up and curled her hands into fists behind her back. She closed her eyes and focused. She focused on what was about to happen to her and the terror she was feeling and she tried to channel all of those emotions into one word that she screamed out into the galaxy.

TRAP!

She hoped that Mordred could hear her and she hoped that he understood what it meant. A part of her even hoped that he was smart enough to stay away, although the rest of her knew better. If he did come, she hoped that this warning was enough to keep him safe. She hoped that he was reunited with Gaheris and that the two of them along with Ax and Dinadan were able to escape to safety together.

The machinery around her began to make noise and, opening her eyes, Lynette found that the crystals around her were beginning to light up. Lynette stared straight ahead. All of the anger she was feeling at her predicament began to well up inside her and her face twisted into a snarl of rage. As the lights began to flash, mimicking the coackatrice gaze, Lynette let out a roar of anger, grief, and defiance. If she was to be a frozen statue for Ironside, let him look upon her and know that she did not go quietly to her fate.

Let him look upon her and know that this was not her end.

They could all hear Lynette scream as the machine roared to life and the lights began to flash. Despite how loud the device was, Gaheris could tell it was a scream of rage instead of fear or pain. Gaheris couldn't help but exchange a smile with Ax at the sound of that. To the end, Lynette was true to herself.

The lights turned off and the noise from the machine slowly tapered off to an eerie silence. There was another hum of machinery as the platform lifted up out of the hole, revealing Lynette. She had lunged forward right before she had been frozen, pulling the chains taunt behind her. She was frozen mid-run, her face twisted in a snarl of fury. Every inch of her stone form spoke of defiance and anger. It would have been a chilling piece if it had been sculpted. Knowing that it was Lynette in there lit a fire in Gaheris he hadn't thought himself capable of anymore. If Lynette could go down fighting in this darkest hour, he could continue to fight for her.

Persant made his way onto the platform as soon as it was level. He held a device in his hand that he waved across Lynette's form.

"She's still alive," Persant said. "Remarkable. Honestly, a part of me didn't believe this would work."

"Then we are in agreement that payment has finally been completed in full?" Ursus said.

"We are," Persant said. "I'll take my leave now. With her."

"Yes, of course," Ursus said as an Imperial officer stepped up beside him. "What is it?"

"We have a ship approaching," the soldier said. "X-Wing fighter."

"He's here," Ursus said, turning to look at Gaheris. "Take them to my ship. Make sure they are secured in one of the cells."

That finally seemed to rouse Lyoness. Her head snapped up and she looked right at Ursus. "What? But you said they could stay with me? That was the agreement..."

"I've changed my mind," Ursus said. "Perhaps if all goes well and I manage to capture this young upstart, then I will change it back. But for now I find that I may still have use for them. But if it eases your conscious, you can go with them and wait."

Stormtroopers swarmed back up around them and pulled them out of the room and back up towards the main levels of the fortress. They were taken through the halls towards the landing pads.

"Well, this is a fine pickle you've gotten us into, lass," Ax said as they made their way down the hallways. Well, Ax was stomping. Each step hit the ground with a loud thump that seemed to echo across the stone. Ax was angry and so long as none of the stormtroopers kept him from talking, he would say his peace.

"After everything your father did to build a sanctuary out of the hands of the Empire, after everything he sacrificed to ensure its independence, you just hand it over without a second thought."

"Stop it, Ax," Lyoness said, her voice soft.

"I will not!" Ax said. "Your father trusted you with all he held dear and in exchange you betrayed everything he believed in. He would be ashamed to see you now. Ashamed to see you sniveling and cowering before the Empire. And your mother! Ha! Ashamed wouldn't even begin to cover it."

Lynoness spun around and leaned over to grab Ax by the shoulder. "My father would not be ashamed of me. You said he made sacrifices, well so have I. So what if Perilyn no longer stands outside the Empire? It's safe. It will remain safe. That's all father ever wanted."

"You're wrong, lass," Ax said. "It was never about the place to your father. It was about the people. And you have just doomed them back to the very chains your father worked so hard to free them from. He would be ashamed of you. He would wonder, if he could see you now, just where he went wrong."

"Enough," a stormtrooper said as two others moved to separate Lyoness and Ax.

"Prince Gaheris," Dinadan whispered, gently bumping into Gaheris. "To your right."

Gaheris barely turned his head to the side ever so slightly as his gaze flickered in the direction Dinadan had indicated. They were in some sort of atrium were several hallways converged. Ducked down up against one of the walls to his right was Mordred. Gaheris' mouth fell open as he met his cousin's gaze. Despite all of Ursus' insistence that Mordred was alive, Gaheris hadn't really believed it until now. But he was. Alive....

...and about to walk right into a trap that had been expertly set for him.

Lynette? Mordred mouthed, and then shrugged his shoulders slightly. A question. He wanted to know where Lynette was.

She was right behind them. Persant would be bringing her. Meanwhile, who knew how many stormtroopers were closing in on Mordred's position, cutting off his access back to his ship. He would be trapped and slowly herded down into the depths of the fortress, where Ursus was waiting for him.

Gaheris shook his head slightly, hoping Mordred would understand the message. Instead Mordred's eyes narrowed and his head tipped to the side. Gaheris could see his determination. Mordred had come here to rescue them and he wasn't going to just walk away so long as they were in danger.

"All right, get moving," one of the stormtroopers said, giving Gaheris a shove. Time was running out and decisions had to be made. The one Gaheris had in mind wasn't a good one, but it was all he had left.

"Mordred, get out of here! It's a trap!" Gaheris yelled.   

The stormtroopers all spun around as the first word left Gaheris' mouth. It took them a moment to find Mordred, tucked up against the wall, but as soon as they did they started firing at him. Mordred had chosen his hiding place wisely, though. None of the stormtroopers had a good angle on him and the one that tried to maneuver into a better spot quickly got taken out by Mordred's blaster. The stormtroopers quickly gave up on Mordred. Two continued to lay down a covering fire while the rest grabbed Gaheris, Ax, and Dinadan and started dragging them out of the atrium and towards the landing platform.

"Mordred, it's too late! You need to go!" Gaheris yelled, fighting to stay in place against the strength of the stormtroopers dragging him back.

"It's too late, lad!" Ax yelled. "Save yourself! Leave us!"

Blaster fire continued to shoot out of the hallway, which told Gaheris that Mordred wasn't taking his advice and running in the opposite direction back to his ship. That was a mistake. Why didn't he understand yet? Gaheris dug his heels into the ground in an attempt to hold his position just a little longer.

"Ursus knows you're here!" Gaheris yelled. "He's waiting for you! He'll catch you if you--"

His words were cut off as the butt of a blaster was slammed into his chest. Gaheris doubled over as all the wind was knocked out of him and dropped to one knee. Ax stepped in front of him as a pair of blasters were aimed at each of their heads.

"Keep moving," one of the stormtroopers ordered. "And no more talking."

"You tried, lad," Ax said softly as Gaheris struggled to get back to his feet, ignoring the no talking rule and the blaster that was subsequently pressed up against his chest. Grunting, Ax turned away and continued down the hall as ordered. Gaheris did the same, with one last glance back over his shoulder to see if he could see any of what was going on in the atrium. No such luck as he was quickly shoved forward by the stormtrooper behind him.

Gaheris knew his cousin well enough to know that, despite all their warnings, Mordred wasn't about to turn back. He had come here to save them and so long as they were in trouble, he would continue to come after them. Just as Ursus had planned.