Timeframe: The following night, still on Kastavel
Setting: Voh-Tel – Jedi Outpost Tower, Merchant Citadel, and Undercliff Watch
The Rooftop Moment
The rain had paused.
A soft ocean wind drifted across the rooftops of Voh-Tel's highest tower—the Jedi Outpost built into the old merchant stronghold.
Cain, Seris, and Anakin sat along the ledge of the terrace wall, legs dangling above the misty city below. It was past midnight, the halls silent. Master Adi and Obi-Wan had returned to their quarters after a day of political cleanup.
Now, the three Padawans sat in rare peace.
Anakin leaned back on his elbows, eyes scanning the stars. "You ever just… look at the galaxy and feel like it's all just waiting for you to catch up?"
Seris exhaled softly. "All the time."
Cain didn't answer right away.
Because I already caught up, he thought. And now I'm watching a rewind.
"I feel like it's waiting," he said eventually. "But not for us to catch up. For us to do something different this time."
Anakin blinked. "Different from what?"
Seris narrowed her gaze. "What do you mean 'this time'?"
Cain paused, then offered only this:
"Every generation has its war. Its rise. Its fall. And its regrets. Maybe we're not here to stop the wheel. Just to… steer it differently."
Silence. But not an uncomfortable one.
Just the kind of silence that said we trust you—even when we don't understand you.
Unspoken Threads
As Seris stood to stretch, Anakin gave Cain a sideways look.
"You ever going to tell us where you learned all this?"
Cain smirked faintly. "What would you say if I told you I was a very old soul trapped in a seven-year-old body?"
Anakin laughed. "I'd say you and Master Yoda probably share bedtime stories."
Seris grinned as she leaned on the balcony railing. "At least your wisdom comes without riddles."
Cain didn't laugh. But he smiled.
They don't need to know. Not yet. But they're the reason I'm not just a memory walking in someone else's body.
He looked at both of them.
They make me real.
The First Fracture
Later that day, during an escort meeting inside the Merchant Citadel, Cain stood behind Obi-Wan and Adi Gallia as a new diplomat was introduced:
Senator Har Valon of House Mirdane—a name Cain recognized instantly from fragmented memories of galactic politics in Legends. He had never been major, never been critical…
But Cain felt it.
Is this what they call "shatterpoint"?
A thin fracture around the man's aura.
Like the air warped slightly when he spoke.
He's not the cause, Cain thought. He's the fuse.
Cain leaned closer to Obi-Wan.
"That man shouldn't be here. He's not part of the original delegation."
Obi-Wan nodded subtly. "I agree. He arrived with the private guild ship late last night. Gallia's already suspicious."
"Then I'll track him," Cain whispered.
Obi-Wan gave the slightest nod.
"Be subtle."
Seris Feels the Shift
That evening, while patrolling the upper city towers, Seris stopped walking. She placed her hand against a window pane overlooking the bay.
Anakin looked back. "What's up?"
Seris's eyes were distant.
"I feel something… wrong," she whispered. "Like the Force is leaning away from the city. Like it doesn't want to be here."
Anakin glanced around. "Cain say anything?"
"He hasn't. But his eyes have been searching the walls all day."
She turned to him, voice low.
"Something's coming. I don't know what. But Cain's already seen it."
Cain's Revelation
That night, Cain stood outside the Undercliff Watchpost, watching the sea crash against the rocks below. He pulled his hood tighter against the wind.
He wasn't alone.
Master Adi Gallia stood a few meters behind, arms folded.
"You've seen something, haven't you?" she asked.
Cain nodded. "Multiple fractures. All small. But they converge… around Senator Valon."
"And?"
"He's not the knife. He's the matchstick."
Adi tilted her head.
"Then what's the fire?"
Cain closed his eyes.
A faction long forgotten. A ritual meant to fracture peace. A Jedi that will fall—or a future that already has.
"I don't know," he said finally. "But it's been lit."