Aidan

Stormy eyes with white strikes like lightning crossing a clear blue sky, grand grey wings like thunder clouds, dirty blond hair that he kept bound on the back of his head. Still, there was always that one strand hanging before his face that he would wave away and frustrate him beyond believe. But he would never let that frustration show, no, he was always calm and collected. When there was a fight, then was the moment you should be afraid.
Cunning like a fox and lethal as a griffin, he would end you before you had the chance to run.

Gods, Aidan.

I would never see him again. My own brother, I left my own brother behind to take care of a kingdom. I would never again see his broad frame or feel his warm, safe arms around me. I would never again get the chance to argue with him or listen as he vented about being a king. No more nights looking out over the city as we drank ale, no more nights getting drunk at feasts and behaving as everything but king and queen.

He'd have to do it all by himself now. Just like I had to.

He'll make it; he's a Stormrage, lightning incarnate, unyielding and unbreakable.

I narrowed my eyes and continued my path down the hall. My footsteps echoed through the narrow space of the jedi temple, followed by the troopers behind me. I hadn't slept all night and now sported big blue bags beneath my eyes. I'd tried to hide the red circles too by applying a bit too much black coal but it did nothing to hide the empty look. Together with the rough spun tunic and loose pants, I looked nothing like the queen I was the day before.

He'll make it. It sounded like a promise to myself, and I let it wave over me and calm the nerves that were forming. At first I hadn't been able to think of anything but myself, about how I had offered myself as a weapon and would be used as such in the war to come.

Then, I thought about those I was leaving behind. About Stefan and Finn and his new-born son, the infant I would never get to see grow up. About the countless patients that were waiting for me to come back. About my people I had left without a word and had now abandoned forever. About Aidan, whom I had promised I would come back.

They will make it. They had to.

"You'll make it too, you know." Arthas voice came from beside me, making me skip a beat in my steps before I recovered into a normal rhythm. Besides that, I tried not to show any reaction or even acknowledge him but couldn't help the clenching of my jaw. "Now for the Separatists, I'm not so sure, not now that you're in the game. But at least they don't need to organize cremations." His steps fell in line with mine, his black hair waving before his face as he chuckled softly.

"You could always kill the Chancellor and end this before they get the chance to use you, you know." I felt his gaze on the side of my head. "Spare Valeria the shame of having a puppet Queen."

"It's just down the hall there, your majesty." The clone I did acknowledge, giving him a glance and nodding in understanding. I still felt uneasy in their company, knowing I had unintentionally killed 12 of their brothers. Each time I heard their voice, I could only hear the screams as they echoed over the raging fire. It was driving me insane.

"Thank you, trooper." I left Arthas standing there in the hall as I skidded towards the designated door, opening it to reveal a dressing room before the training hall I was about to enter. Sighing deeply, I glanced around at the armour gathered there, at the numerous blasters than hung on the wall and finally, at the jedi masters that now turned around to watch me.

"Good, you're here." Windu immediately stepped towards me. "We've been waiting for you."

I only gave him a slight nod, crossing my arms before me awkwardly. "We'll be watching from above. If anything goes wrong, yell, and we'll stop the simulation." He handed me a few pieces of jedi armor and watched casually as I put them on.

"Why are we doing this again?" I sighed as I pulled on the straps of the chestguard.

"We need to be sure you're capable of fighting droids, your majesty." Windu handed me a few other pieces of armor and helped me with some. "We reckon you're not used to fighting metal."

"I think it melts just as easily as bone." Arthas appeared right behind Windu, casually leaning against one of the walls. "Seeing you just melted an entire fleet; I feel we'll be fine." I ignored him again, and instead focussed on the jedi before me.

"Can't say I am." Our eyes locked, and I swear I saw a hint of respect floating through his eyes before he nodded and turned away. Standing there, in jedi armor and my hair bound, I felt oddly out of place amidst the blasters and grenades. Especially because my former nemesis was now inspecting one with great interest and trying to poke it.

"I'll be upstairs." Windu spoke over his shoulder as he exited the room.

"And I'll be here." I sighed, looking down at the armor I was wearing. It was far from the dragon scale armor I was used to and I wondered if it could take the heat of my fire. In any case, I didn't think my pride could plunge even deeper into the abyss so at least it wouldn't matter if I ended up naked.

"Now that I would like to see." Arthas chirped from a few feet away.

I failed in hiding my response, my eyes rolling as I huffed loudly. In the least it would be a story to tell during Yulemass, the holiday back in winter in which we, -

Oh. My heart sunk in my chest. No more feasts, no more drunken stories. Not in the great hall of Eagle's fall or anywhere on Valeria. Not for me.

"Try not to look too defeated." His voice made my heart skip a beat as I shot upright. I had almost expected it to be Arthas again, but the accent I could recognize anywhere. "Or else the Chancellor might rethink his choice." Obi Wan appeared in the doorway, leaning against the doorpost with a small smile covering his lips. "Can't have our newest champion admitting defeat before the battle even starts." I tried to suppress the butterflies in my stomach at his accent, tried to ignore the yearning that almost had me reaching out for him.

"I thought that was your tactic."

"Mmh, yes." He pushed himself off the wall and walked towards me. "Try not to tell Anakin that, he'll never let it down."

"Hmm." At least he succeeded in making me grin, I had to give him that. Yet, it felt odd and out of place, making me wrap my arms around myself to summon a bit of warmth back. The fire that had once kept me comfortable now seemed to have left all together and left me shivering the entire time. At least Arthas had vanished into thin air. "So, he'll be watching, too?"

"Chancellor Palpatine?" Obi Wan glanced at my eyes before he turned his attention towards one of the straps holding my shoulder guards in place and fastened it a bit more to his liking. "I'm afraid so. He said he wanted to see what miracles the famous Phoenix could perform." The smell of mint and forest clouded my senses as he came near.

"Pff." I huffed, turning my face away from him so he couldn't see the tears forming in my eyes. Gods, I felt like some priced whore he wanted to see parade around. "I usually reserve miracles for a more deserving audience." I tried to summon the same sassiness I heard play in his voice, tried to match the strength with which he stood there.

"Then I guess I can count myself lucky as one of them." At that I glanced back at him, watching that playfulness swirl in his eyes, the tiny smile that now graced his lips as he looked down at me. Obi Wan stood close, with his hand now laid gently on my shoulder.

"Are you ready, princess?" Suddenly that gaze turned serious.

"As ready as I'll ever be."

"Good." Obi Wan gave me another awkward pat before he redirected his gaze to his belt and retrieved a lightsaber I hadn't seen there before. "Here." He held it out for me to take, dangling it between us. "You might need this."

"You can't be serious." As a response, Obi Wan simply lifted an eyebrow. "A lightsaber, for me?" He nodded simply and nudged me with the damned thing. "I'm not a jedi, Kenobi." I only feigned from the blade, holding my hands up. "Those things are sacred to you; I'm not going to touch it."

"I can't think of anyone more deserving than Valeria's most cunning Valkyrie." Obi Wan emphasised and moved it further towards me. "The last owner would have wanted you to have it." I hesitated as my gaze stuck to the shining metal, my fingers itching to touch the cold material more than I'd like to admit. "Take it."

I wanted to, and I had the feeling it wanted me, too. It was like the blade was calling out to me. Reaching out, my fingers had barely scratched the surface before I pulled them back. "What about, -"

"Lyanna." I recognized that tone, knew the look in his eyes and knew I was treading on dangerous waters.

"Fine." I grumbled and finally grasped the saber from his hands, feeling the comfortable weight now in my palm and the sybercrystal as it hummed contently at the feeling. It almost seemed to... purr. There was an energy that now shot through my arm and then through my entire body. Exploring, it seemed, trying to find who or what had claimed it. When it reached my chest it gathered there until suddenly it started to warm it, like it was telling me 'you're enough'.

"Wow." Mumbling, I played around with it, lifting it and bouncing it up and down in my palm. I could already feel it focussing the swirling amount of power that lived within me, feel it focussing it on that single blade now in my hand. "It feels..."

"Like it just lifted the world off your shoulders?" Obi Wan finished and I glanced at him with barely a smile covering my lips. It seemed to be enough for him as he grinned back. My stomach started to swirl again, my fingers tingling before I managed to quickly divert my eyes.

"Who's was it?"

"A grey jedi." He said and watched as I ignited the blade. A bright light followed, illuminating our faces and casting it in yellow, orange and golden hues. "He was a healer." Obi Wan redirected his gaze back to me as I swung it around, trying to grasp the balance of the blade. It was lighter than I had expected, nimble. "He sacrificed his life to save an entire medical frigate when the Separatists came."

I glanced back at him, knowing then why he had chosen this blade. "Does it have a name?"

Obi Wan smiled softly, almost seeming proud. "Lightbringer."

"Well then..." I deactivated the blade and hung it on my belt, straightening my spine as I took in a deep breath. "I guess it might come in useful."

Kenobi understood the cue. "Don't get distracted." He sternly ordered, boring his eyes into mine. "Stay focussed. They'll try to disrupt you with numbers, but you'll be able to take them on if you harness your power and wait for the right moment."

"I know what to do, general." I walked past him and to the gigantic doors leading to the training room. "I've trained my entire life, fought dragons and ancient sith lords. Some machines shouldn't be a problem."

"Perhaps not." Obi Wan said. "But you can't be too careful." I heard his footsteps fading to the door leading up.

"Obi." I called his name before he could go and slightly turned in his direction. There was something I needed to know. He waited, watching me curiously with his hand on the doorknob. "Would you be able to forgive me? For what I did that night, making you relive those... those memories?"

His smile faded, his shoulders sagging. Yet, he held my gaze firmly. "Fear makes us do horrible things, princess." Obi Wan spoke slowly, sadness appearing in his eyes. "I can't blame you for trying to find a way out of it."

"But what I did was, -" I took one step towards him, guilt filling me.

"A logical thing when I refused to give you hope." Obi Wan said and mirrored my actions, letting the door fall out of his hand. "I should've at least tried to explain it to you, I'm sorry."

"No, don't be." With one stride I was before him, yearning to lift my hand and place it on his cheek. Instead, I could only glance up at him and try to express my regret. "What he did to you I... I can only guess what you felt when I brought him up."

Obi Wan merely nodded and glanced down. "We'll talk about it later." He spoke and then turned back towards the door. "They're waiting for you."

"Right." Mumbling, I walked back to the entrance and took in a deep breath.

"Good luck, Lyanna." I heard his voice from my right before the door shut. I couldn't muster up the heart it took to see him depart or to say goodbye.

Then, a mocking voice to my left sounded. "Break a leg."

"Odin, guide me." Sighing I pushed the doors open to be met by a gigantic chamber. It was almost entirely made of a grey material, with moving blocks that could make up different circuits. Right now, it seemed to resemble a simple town square. On the other end of the chamber, all the way up I could see the class that formed the onlooking room and the jedi that filled it.

There, I saw the Chancellor, looking down at me with a grin plastered on his face. I had to repress the building fury within me, felt the warning shots that the lightsaber at my side seemed to send to me.

"Good, you're here." Palpatine leaned forward over the railing. There was a moment where I saw him back in the court room, looking over me with that same predatory glance. "I'm expecting great things from you, your majesty."

"I won't disappoint, Chancellor." I growled as I made my way to the midst of the room.

"Very well." Windu came up beside the Chancellor and looked down with his hands clasped behind his back. "We'll start the simulation. Remember, the blasters aren't real. When the dummy shots hit you, the simulation will stop. Try to hold out as long as you can." I merely nodded. "Good luck, your majesty."

Narrowing my eyes, I bend my knees slightly and focussed, using the lightsaber blade now in my hand to centre the power swirling through my veins. It came much easier than before, like a waving calm that came over me like a blanket. I could feel every breath fill my lungs, feel the current on my skin.

When the first droid appeared on my right I simply sliced him through, hearing the metal of his ruined body clinging on the floor soon after and the buzzing of the lightsaber now ringing through my ears. It was like the blade had guided the blow, making me able to almost hit the target subconsciously.

I could get used to this.

The next droids came, and with a flurry from Lightbringer they were brought down. They send wave after wave but I didn't even need to use the flames, didn't even need to channel that ancient power than ran through me. No, my skills with the blade were enough.

Then came a wave of 10. They stood in a perfect cone and I knew that that was the moment to use that destructive power in one decisive blast. I pushed my hands forward, releasing those flames and letting them crawl over the floor towards that group of droids. The red and gold danced around, warming my face, and I stood there proudly as they engulfed them and hid them from sight.

Turning my head towards the glass chamber and towards Palpatine, my eyes narrowed and I basked in the grin that now decorated his face. "Happy, Chance,-" A sudden blast shot came from the cloud of flames and hit my side, right below my ribcage. I doubled over as the searing pain surged through my entire body, hand shooting for the spot. My eyes darted to the cloud of flames and found them, those droids, emerging unscathed.

"What in the hell..." Groaning, I pulled my hand from the wound and saw blood staining them. "They're real." Sidious, it had to be. Quickly, I glanced up towards the jedi and saw them leaning over the railing. They couldn't see. Other shots were fired so I quickly unwrapped my wings and let them shield me from the rain of fire.

Bloody hell, bloody hell... I screamed internally as the pain continued to blind me and the shots continued to hit my undestructive wings. I must get out, get out! I slightly lifted my one wing to glance at the exit but saw an entire legion of droids waiting there for me. When another blaster shot came right for me, I shifted the wing back in place before it could kill me.

Fuck! I swung my wing back, throwing over one of the droids that had gotten close and sprinted, slashing the droids that came near, creating a circle around myself as I battled. But I was disrupted, unbalanced with the pain shooting through my body and the blood streaming down my stomach. I wasn't used to fighting with a lightsaber, let alone block those shots like the jedi used to. The blade in my hand almost growled in displeasure at it.

The fire gathered and I released it in one chaotic blast, draining me till I was leaning on my knees. Again, it did nothing at all to the armor covering them. Cursing, I wrapped my wings around myself to try and think while I raised my hand to the wound. Blood seeped through and I knew I had to do something.

"Here goes nothing." Gathering all my courage, I heated my fingers and burned the wound to stop the bleeding. Screaming out in agony, I fell to my knees as stars clouded my vision.

"Get up, Fireheart." His snarling voice came from right beside me.

"Shut up, Arthas!" I tried to clear my vision, blinking numerous times, trying to get the dizziness out of my head. "You're not the one getting shot!"

"You mean cowering like some commoner!" At his voice, I lifted my wing again to try and see how many there were but quickly flinched back when I was met by only bright light. "Fight, Fireheart, FIGHT!"

I barked my displeasure but unwrapped my wings all the same in one powerful move that knocked back the closest droids. The first row was thrown back, but the others could hit their mark and end my life just as fast. So, I dashed forward, towards the doors that would get me out of this death trap.

On my way there I was met by another wave coming from the ground that I jumped over, letting my wings lift me up from the ground and summon flames that now slithered over the ground. It only heated their metal but was far from enough to actually melt it. Lightbringer, however, slashed those in the middle and send their parts to the floor.

With that row now out of sight the exit came into view and I felt relief, until another shot hit the ceiling right above and sent blocks of hard stone tumbling down. "No!" I yelled and dashed but wasn't fast enough to reach the doors before it was blocked by debris.

Oh, for Odin's sake! There was no time to dwindle, I had to dodge the incoming shots. So, I turned around swiftly, skipping over the debris and jumping up, up until I could fall and slash another droid in two from above. The battle continued and I could feel those shots getting closer with each move I made, feel my muscles tense in protest with each strike. More droids were coming and I knew I had to stop it somehow.

Collecting all my strength and concentrating it into my fist, I moved it down and hit the ground hard. The surface shook with the mere force and the droids surrounding me were sent flying backwards, against those that were behind them. It didn't destroy them but it did give me one moment.

That, that I used to fly up towards the glass chamber, flying before it as I waved my hands. "They're real!" I yelled, hoping they could hear me. "It's a trap!" Pointing to the wound on my side that still screamed in agony and spilled blood everywhere, I hoped they would get the message.

It took them a moment. Their eyes widened, all of theirs, except for those of the Chancellor. I didn't have time to truly realise it before another shot grazed the spot on my back right between my wings and had me screaming out in pain.

The muscles tensed and spasmed before they gave out, sending me spiralling for the floor. The wind raged through my hair till my body connected with the surface with a loud thud, knocking the air out of my chest as my wings sprawled out beside me. I groaned out, hands grasping for my ribcage as I forced a hot take of breath into my lungs. Fuck, fuck, fuck!

I didn't even have the chance to catch my breath before other shots grazed the ground right beside my head. Rolling over, crouching against the wall I moved the screaming muscles of the wings before me again. Come on, you stupid jedi, just end this!

The countless droid's footsteps were getting closer and closer with each passing second. "Nobody is going to save you." Arthas sneered in my ear. He was crouching right beside me, those dark brown eyes glaring right into my own.

"Shut up."

Clang, clang. Their footsteps resounded through my head, together with the shots that were still fired upon my huddled figure.

"You're alone now, remember?!" He yelled. "All alone, without your stupid commander or Jedi to save you." I sneered at him, baring my teeth in a vicious growl. "They won't help you!" Arthas continued relentlessly over the sound of those legions of droids coming near. "So save yourself!"

"I can't!" Not with flames, not with the lightsaber.

"Yes you can!" Power gathered into my chest, all the fury that was building up mixed with the pain. Whether it was directed at him, at those droids or at those jedi watching from above it didn't matter. It blinded my vision, left me trembling in anger. "You show them what it means to be a Valerian." Arthas ordered. "Show them what happens when you mess with us."

Burn them all.

"You're a phoenix." He growled into my ear. "So be a goddamn phoenix."

With one load roar, I unleashed it. Unleashed all that I had within me in one blast that shook the very foundation on which the temple was built. Blue flames, white hot, shot out from me and filled the entire room, clouding everything in its blinding light, searing every surface it touched.

Metal melted almost instantly and pooled on the floor, the blasters useless and harmless. Stone surface melted and became red hot, glass shattered under the heat. One blaze of glory it was, fast and unyielding, merciless. As quick as it came it had ended and there I was, crouching amidst the pools of molten iron.

Dumbfounded, I looked around and saw tiny slithers of shadow dancing amidst those flames right before they vanished into thin air. As I glanced down towards my hands I saw those veins darkened, throbbing with a power unknown to them before that too evaporated.

Breaths came in short, raspy puffs as I gathered the strength I had left to lift myself on my feet and see the last of the blue flames fade into nothing. I felt no relief, no fulfilment as I glanced up at the chamber and saw them there.

They all stared down, dumbfounded but unharmed, through the now open space where once glass had protected them. A few of the jedi, Windu included, had placed themselves before the Chancellor and no doubt summoned a force shield to protect him. Now, Palpatine pushed them aside to watch me himself and found me looking back at him numbly.

"Miracle, indeed, master Kenobi." He sounded pleased as he clapped his hands together. "Miracle, indeed." He added more slowly and softly with a breath of relief.

I glanced towards Obi Wan, watching that doubt flicker through his eyes. The jedi weren't pleased, no, not at all. They must've sensed the darkness that had guided that power through me.

Chancellor Palpatine clapped Kenobi on the shoulder, laughing in what must've been relief. He saw only what I could do for his war, I was sure, and not what danger he brought us in.

His mouth pulled up into a sinister smirk as he once again leaned over the railing to look at me better. "Now, let's see what that fire of yours is capable of against real droids."

He's here, my darlings.

Prepare yourselfs.