"I can't hear you and there's...nothing I can do." Hearing the defeat in her spouse's voice hurt Aria. She had no idea how to help him, but she didn't want to simply do NOTHING either. 
“Shhh, shhh, it’s not your fault.” she murmured soothingly, reaching out to take his hand in hers. “I know, it’s not your fault.” 
“Yuno’s right,” Revan chipped in, though his brows were pinched with worry, “The kind of strength he possesses, there was no way you could have fought him off, Yerbol.” 
Aria hadn’t wanted to admit it, because it made the whole process sound so [i]terrifyingly final[/i], but she had to KNOW; so while her mind tried to put the pieces together, out loud she croaked a shaky question,
“S-So his connection to the Force is…” she didn’t really need to finish it for Revan and Yuno to know what the question was meant to be, the Champion’s voice cracked as she instead finished with: “It-It’s temporary...right? I-It’ll, come back…?” 

Revan said nothing. And Aria’s heart sank. “R-Revan?!” 

The Heralds’ leader was unnervingly silent for a few more minutes, before knitting his fingers together and muttering severely. “I don’t know.” he sighed deeply, rubbing his face with his hands. “Meetra and I managed it, but we both had help from someone else who was strong in the Force. I could...we could TRY and help him.” he glanced at Yuno warily, then looked back at the two Qyaari. “But I can’t guarantee that I’ll be able to restore ANY of it.” 
At Yerbol’s question, Revan fell quiet again as he picked his words with care, not wanting to upset either of them any further. Though she was trying her best to hide it, he could feel the anger rolling off Aria in waves, and he hated to think what sort of stupid thing she might do if she didn’t take his explanation well. 

“I believe the name that he used when he was with the Sith was “Vitiate”, but as far as we’re aware, his “true” name is Valkorion. He used to rule over the Sith, but after a run in with the Jedi he retreated here, back to Wild Space.” 
“But...the Jedi killed him?” Aria frowned in confusion. “Kira said Voldon-” 
“They killed his BODY, yes.” Revan interjected. “Didn’t kill HIM.” from the looks the two Champions gave him, Revan could tell he’d have to elaborate further. “Valkorion studied a very old Force technique, possibly similar to the one Renso used to stay alive as long as he did, only the difference is Renso drew on the Force itself, and he never took more than he NEEDED, Valkorion...developed the ability to take what he wanted from OTHER Force users, against their will, if necessary. And in excess, sometimes enough to cut off their connection with the Force entirely. He’s drained entire planets of their life force before…” Revan steepled his fingers together, his eyes darkening the more he continued to explain to them. “Since your friend Voldon defeated him he’s been here, this whole time. With his children,  Arcann and Vaylin, the two we fought today. Training them up so he can use them as...vessels, I suppose. I suspect he wants another physical body to rejoin our world so he can continue to try and pin the galaxy beneath his fist. His old plans didn’t work so well, not after Renso and his followers took apart the Jedi and Sith Orders and caused the other war that you all fought in.” 

The Heralds’ leader sighed, turning his head away from them for a moment as he growled. “I thought Meetra and I could stop him, if we trained enough...if we had enough apprentices. I guess I was wrong. This is...going to take a lot more thought than I anticipated.”
“So his power comes from other Force sensitives?” Aria frowned. 
“In a...manner of speaking, yes.” Yuno rumbled warily, looking back across to his master once more. When Revan gave him a nod of confirmation, the True Sith continued with his explanation. “During our time and our studies here, Master Revan has discovered that he’s able to switch bodies, in some respects. When one body becomes too weak, when he’s taken all he can from it, he moves on to the next host, and so on. This is why the Jedi had never managed to fell him, and why no individual within the Sith Empire could ever say they knew what he looked like.” 

The more she took in their words, the more Aria’s gut twisted. 
[i]Karkin’ hell...how are we gonna beat THIS?[/i] The Emperor had always been a sort of ethereal figure amongst the Sith and army officials alike, but to hear that he’d been using them as some sort of disposable power generator all this time...not only that, but as his Wrath, it was reasonable to infer that Vano had KNOWN this all along, and NEVER TOLD HER. 
She threw a helpless glance across at her spouse, before shakily getting to her feet and muttering. “I-I need some air. Excuse me.”  
Revan made no move to stop the shorter Champion as she brushed past him and hastily left the compound, shaking his head slightly at Yuno to prevent his apprentice from following her. She needed time alone to think, clearly. Looking back at Yerbol, he sighed once again.
“We’ll fix this, Yerbol…” he promised, “I don’t know HOW yet, but we’ll find a way. I promise.” 

_____________________

-An hour or so later-

When she had initially left the Heralds’ compound, Aria had intended to seek out the Mirialan and demand to know the truth, but this plan was interrupted by the fact that no matter where she looked, she [i]couldn’t seem to find Vano anywhere[/i]. That in and of itself would have been unsettling, if she wasn’t so karkin’ ANGRY about it. Eventually, she was forced to abandon her search in favour of finding a secluded, quiet spot where she could let off some of her steam without hurting anyone else.  

By the time Revan found her, the charred tree trunks within the radius of where the Champion was sitting on her haunches, coupled with the swirling vortex of green lightning that had manifested around her, were pretty clear indications of why she’d left so suddenly.
“Don’t get too close. It’s volatile when I’m angry.” she warned the leader of the Heralds as she heard his approaching footsteps.
“So I can see.” Revan answered with a humorless chuckle, skirting around the Champion with a wide enough berth to avoid the tendrils of electricity that still flowed from her in waves. “You know you shouldn’t be hitting the poor trees, it’s not their fault.” 

His attempt at humour didn’t go down very well, Aria simply cracking open an eye to scowl at him wordlessly. 
“You alright, kid?” Revan asked more gently after a few more minutes of tense silence, settling opposite her. 
“No.” she hissed through her teeth. “I’m karkin’ PISSED OFF.” 
“That part was pretty obvious.” once again, the trees were indicated. 
“I’m so used to him being there, in my head, and now he’s not and I-”
“I know.” Revan smiled sadly. “I still miss hearing Bastila, too, even after all these years.” his gaze cast up to the sky for a moment, “I don’t know how to fix this, and I won’t lie to you and say that I CAN. But I’ll promise you that I can TRY.” 
“I hate this!” Aria choked out, her voice finally cracking. With a flick of the Champion’s wrist, the bolts dissipated into thin air, leaving only the static in the air as a reminder that they’d been there at all. 
“I know.” Revan repeated again. 
“Do you...really think Vano’s involved in this, somehow?” Aria asked him slowly. “With HIM?” 

She dreaded his answer. She desperately wanted him to say “No, of COURSE not!”, but she knew he wouldn’t. 

“I don’t want to assume.” Revan huffed out a breath, his shoulders sagging slightly. “But I have a bad feeling. How else could she just...show up, and know where you were, if she didn’t have the information from the Star Maps?”
“...Me too.” the Champion sighed. “Me too…”
“Try not to worry about it.” the Heralds’ leader gave her the most comforting smile he could muster, leaning across to put a hand on her shoulder gently. “You worry about your man, Yuno and I will worry about your friend. I’ll get him to tail her, keep an eye on things.” 
Dusting off his robe as he stood up, Revan indicated back to the compound over his shoulder. “Now come on, let’s get you back in there before Yerbol starts worrying about you, that’s not going to help him get better.”
As much as she didn’t want to admit it, Revan was right. She’d have to just...try and trust them, Aria decided as she trailed after the galactic hero to head back inside.