Aria huffed out a nervous breath and took his offered hand, squeezing it gently in her own as she murmured.
“I hope you’re right…” [i]Cause who knows, he could still have a bee in his bonnet and decide he wants to kill us all himself, or something.[/i] But the apprentices didn’t need to hear that sort of worrying, they were on edge enough already as it was. “You’d better learn to have some optimism, Ethan, or you’re going to be in trouble later.” Aria chuckled, shooting the apprentice a good-natured smirk as they followed Desu and Kyla through the winding hallways of the complex and out into the valley.
____________

“There’s so many of them…” Kytra muttered nervously under her breath, her fur prickling as the group continued to follow the pair into the temple. 
“Just ignore them.” Aria murmured softly, catching the youngster's eye and offering a reassuring smile of her own, “I’m sure they’re just curious. We must look rather strange to them.” 
Desu and Kyla escorted the Qyaari to a library of sorts, before they were quickly dismissed by the young man that was waiting for them there. It was less of a shock to the two Champions to see that he was a True Sith than it was for their apprentices, but even Aria had to admit she was...surprised. They hadn’t seen another since the time they’d spent with Renso, so to discover that there were perhaps others of their old Master’s species still in the galaxy was...comforting, in a way. 

Even Chwuq and Taral snorted in surprise as they took in the figure, their ears standing fully upright on their heads before they averted their gaze from his, crouching low to the floor almost as if they were….bowing? 
“Ratintias an j'us, Ari iw ri Soti Wo.” the female rumbled in a harsh, guttural tongue which Aria recognised as High Sith, though she could only make out a few of the words, enough to tell it was a greeting of some sort.
The man quirked a browstalk in surprise as he took in the hounds, then a slight smile spread over his features as he returned it.
“Diâ an j'us, tijani akima.”
[hider=Translations]
Chwuq: Greetings to you, Lord of the Pure Ones.
Yuno: And to you, faithful friend.
[/hider]

What followed was a stretch of incredibly awkward silence, as each of the persons in the room simply stared at one another, neither party appearing sure of how to proceed further, until Ethan became brave enough to squeak out a question of his own. Aria, too, shot the boy a warning scowl, the Champion’s face impassive and unreadable as she listened to Yuno’s explanations. Any further questions from her companions were interrupted, however, as the door behind them slid open once again and a cloaked figure strode inside. Chwuq and Taral rumbled uneasily, their piercing red gaze tracking the man as he crossed the room to stand beside the Sith man, their back spines rattling lightly in warning. 
He paid them no more than a passing glance, his attention instead on Yuno. 
“Excellent, thank you, Yuno.” the man answered in a voice that was silky smooth in comparison to his apprentice. As he turned to face them, he lowered the hood of his cloak to reveal a familiar (from their visions, at least), pale face framed by well-tousled dark brown hair and a full beard. Honey yellow eyes - which roved from one member of the Qyaari party to the next, giving the impression that he was already analysing each of them. 

More silence. Then, Revan spoke. 
“I’m sure you all know who I am. So, tell me, who are YOU?” he quirked an eyebrow curiously. “Why would a Sith and three Jedi come to seek me out, together no less?” 
Kytra bristled defensively at being misaligned, hissing. 
“We’re not Jedi, we’re Qyaari!” 
Before Ethan could open his mouth to jump to Kytra’s defence, Aria shot both youngsters one of her infamous “shut your mouth right now before I do it for you” glares, instantly causing her apprentice to shrink backwards with a muted squeak of apology. Turning back to him, Aria met the man’s gaze calmly and answered.
“Yes, sir. We know who you are.” willing her voice not to quiver, she continued. “But what my apprentice MEANS to say is, I’m not Sith, and they’re not Jedi, not anymore.” 
“The red marks on your face say otherwise.” A pointed smirk danced across Revan’s features as he indicated them with a pointing finger. 
“Well, they don’t exactly, you know, wash out.” Aria groused, instinctively bringing a hand up to cover the marks that extended from her jawline over her chin.
“Touche.” He chuckled in amusement, crossing his arms as he returned his attention to the group as a whole. “Then, if you’re not Sith or Jedi, mind explaining who you ARE?” 

It took a few moments for Aria and Yerbol to bring Revan and Yuno up to speed on the happenings within the known galaxy over the last six years, but once they had, silence once again fell over the room.
“And what led you to the clues we left, to bring you here?” Revan asked eventually. 
“When we were on Voss, we spoke to their Mystics and they told us you may need the help.” Yerbol supplied, as his wife nodded in agreement.
“Although admittedly, we’re not really sure what,” she gestured at their current surroundings, “all of this, is...for.” 
“And what’s it got to do with Arcann? Who is he? What’s the Eternal Empire?” Kytra blurted out a flurry of questions all at once. “And why are they trying to kill us?!” 
“Kytra!” Aria hissed, skewering her apprentice with another “hush” look out of the corner of her eye. “Though, that would be nice to know, sir. Who IS Arcann and what’s his deal?” 

He took several long moments, during which he frowned the entire time as if he were very confused by the whole ordeal, before he spoke again. 
“To...cut a long story incredibly short,” Revan sighed, running a hand up through his hair, “Arcann is the son of a man you might have known as ‘The Emperor’.” he made quotation marks around the title, though his lip curled upwards slightly at the mention of the other man. Aria’s eyes widened in surprise, and Yerbol glanced sideways at his spouse questioningly.
[i]He didn’t HAVE children, as far as the Dark Council knew.[/i] In fact, the Emperor had been all but absent for decades before the war with Bracknell and Soto…
[i]Do you think he’s lying?[/i] Yerbol asked her, keeping his face as neutral as possible to avoid looking suspicious. 
[i]I don’t know.[/i] Aria admitted, [i] Why WOULD he lie about something like that?[/i] 

As if he had somehow sensed their conversation (had he? Or was Revan just THAT GOOD at reading body language that he could tell, even when they were trying to make sure he couldn’t?), Revan continued. 
“Oh, yes, I thought that too. Two decades ago, when the visions began, I came here to Wild Space expecting to find the Emperor himself amassing an army of dark forces to assuage the Core Worlds again. Instead, I found Arcann, and the Eternal Empire, which his father built and which he took over after the Emperor’s passing. It’s been lying here in wait for all these years. He...caught me by surprise, I spent a few years locked up in carbonite until one of my former apprentices, Meetra Surik, managed to find me. Since then, we’ve been collecting followers to form the Heralds, the last line standing between the Eternal Empire and the known galaxy. Because I don’t need to tell you the kind of destruction Arcann is going to wreak if he gets through to it.”
 
Kytra tilted her head to one side curiously.
“What exactly is so dangerous about Arcann, in particular? You know, aside from his father having been a tyrant and all.”
“The kind of power the Emperor had was...something else.” Aria murmured softly. “Most of the Sith never saw his face, not once, and yet he was still able to keep all of us under his control without even setting foot on Korriban or Dromund Kaas for decades.” 
“It’s not even that complicated.” Revan coughed, gesturing towards Yuno, who blinked once, and then turned to cross the short distance to one of the terminals. A few typed commands later, and Yuno had brought up a holographic image of a Fleet the likes of which the Qyaari had never seen before. There must have been THOUSANDS of ships there, designs eerily similar to the fighters which had almost been the end of their party earlier in the day.

“Arcann has technology at his disposal that most of us can only DREAM of. He calls it the Eternal Fleet. They’re faster and deadlier than any fleet we’ve ever faced before...and he can mass-produce them at an impossible speed.” 
“Do you know how he’s doing it?” Aria’s brow furrowed in concern.
“I have...suspicions.” Revan confirmed. “However, at the present moment, we have a slightly more pressing problem.” 
“Isn’t there always?” 
“Right now, Arcann’s holding General Surik hostage. Which means, he’s got leverage, against the Heralds. And against ME. I’m not worried about her cracking, she’s been through worse, however, leaving her there isn’t an option. I think I may have tracked down where he’s taken her, but to rescue her, Yuno and I may need your help.”

[i]Out of the frying pan, into the fire, eh darling?[/i]