The Force Betrayed: Cal Kestis x OC

26.

The chamber had a widely vented floor that was too open for Sakana's liking. The panels were hot, and though she should've been sweating, the coldness of the dark side was making her shiver. In the middle of the room was a standing chair, though the straps that were usually around someone as they were being tortured were empty.

The hair on Sakana's neck stood up, a feeling that was so small yet so different from the rest of the dark side's pull, and she knew something was wrong. She turned away from Cal for a split second and he went straight for the next control panel, hoping to find something that would bring the holocron to him.

And then she felt it: a lightsaber swing that came down over Cal with a hot-headed fury, and Trilla's lightsaber clashed with his purple blade just as Sakana spun around on her heels.

Suddently, the darkness had an origin. The shake of her hands, the pull in her stomach, and the blinding headache that overwhelmed her senses until she should've been begging to give in were all pointed at Trilla. Anger fought through the Inquisitor as she held steady against Cal's blade, pushing him towards the ground.

Sakana searched the room for the holocron while Trilla was distracted, but it was nowhere to be seen. Of course, she thought. That would've been too easy.

While she was looking around, Trilla used Sakana's uncertainty to her advantage and Force-pushed Cal to the ground, sending him tumbling against the floor. Without a pause, the Inquisitor sent her lightsaber spinning towards Sakana, forcing her to block the blade at the last second.

But before Trilla could fully recall her weapon, Sakana pulled it towards herself, holding it midair between the women as she'd done with the holocron. The lightsaber, however, could crack, and there was no limit to how hard she could pull before risking the mission.

Cal had begun to stand up as Trilla scowled at Sakana, unimpressed by her maneuvers. Unwavering, she sent a tremor across the floor that Sakana nor Cal could fight, and Sakana's pull on Trilla's weapon faltered as she fell to the ground. Trilla's lightsaber found its commanding hand and she charged at Sakana this time.

Sakana fought against tired and sore limbs as she stood up and blocked Trilla's attack, even with shaking hands. Her body was bending under the weight of Trilla's weapon as she tried desperately to push back against both Trilla and the darkness.

"Stop resisting," she taunted as their blades continued to collide, hot sparks flying next to her face. "Surrender to me, to the dark side."

Sakana grunted at the absurdity of Trilla's request and pushed back with all of her might, finally keeping her body straight. As the blood began to pump hot through her veins again, she willed her lightsaber upward, and it followed. Trilla was being pushed backwards against her will, and Cal was getting back on his feet.

"I will never, ever join you, Trilla," Sakana spat, but her response only seemed to widen the Inquisitor's smirk.

"I feel it," she sneered back. "I feel the way it's consuming you—"

"No!" Sakana barked back, her tone more confident than it had been in days. "You're angry because I'm still resisting it, and that anger is going to cost you the holocron."

"So bold," Trilla gritted back as she spun her lightsaber around, forcing Sakana to have to block it at an awkward angle. She held her own against the treacherous blade, even when Trilla swung again, and again, and again, until Cal flung himself at Trilla, causing her to shift part of her focus over to him. She held him mid-strike, his lightsaber still stuck above his head as she squeezed at his throat, Force-choking him.

"Stop," Sakana said, firmly locking their blades together in an X-shape. "You don't have to do this, Trilla—"

"Everything was taken from me," she growled, her fist becoming tighter as she began to crush Cal's esophagus. "I wasn't given a choice, but you...you have been given chance after chance to turn away and still," she paused, concentrating the poison in her tone. "Still, you make the wrong one."