Eclipse of the Heart


Fueled by a tempest of fury, you soar above Coruscant, the cityscape sprawling beneath you like a circuit board of lights and life. Rage courses through your veins, a relentless force that propels you forward, yet it's intermingled with an undercurrent of profound sorrow that washes over you in waves.

As you circle the spaceport, the epicenter of arrivals and departures, doubt begins to gnaw at the edges of your resolve. Should you truly take flight and leave everything behind just because the Chancellor has made a grave mistake? The internal battle rages on, mirroring the storm of emotions that threatens to consume you.

As you hover in the turmoil of your thoughts, a sudden pulse from one of the bubble-shaped hangar buildings below seizes your attention. An unmistakable roar pierces the air—the Zillo Beast has broken free.

Shit, you think, your instincts kicking in as you spiral downward, landing just outside the hangar doors moments before they burst open. The explosion of metal and fury claims the lives of several unsuspecting clone guards.

You leap aside, narrowly avoiding the debris of the slamming metal as the Zillo Beast rampages into the open, its roars shaking the very ground beneath you. Then, its piercing green eyes lock onto yours.

"You!" it snarls, slamming a colossal claw down where you stand. You dodge with feline agility, feeling the rush of air as the claw misses you by mere inches.

"Did you agree to this after all?" the beast accuses, its voice a guttural growl of betrayal and rage, directed squarely at you as if you were the orchestrator of its torment.

You sputter, retreating instinctively as your wings unfurl with a resounding snap!, the sound echoing through the chaos. "No, of course not!" you bark back, baring your fangs in a display of both defiance and solidarity.

"I despise Palpatine for what he did to you—and to me—but I didn't control them. I can't act without going against the Order that I believe in," you assert, your voice firm despite the turmoil swirling within you. Your words are a plea for understanding, a declaration of your own helplessness in the face of such vast and intricate machinations.

Zillo scoffs, the sound a low rumble of contempt as he brings his massive, rounded head down to your level. "Then scram, wolf, before you become the one I dangle before their noses as revenge for taking me away from the one planet I could live on," he growls, his voice a menacing thunder that vibrates through the air.

With a forceful snarl, he barges past you, his colossal form brushing against yours, leaving you standing there amidst the chaos. You're left alone in the ravaged hangar, staring after the creature whose pain echoes your own—a mirror of the injustice you both have endured.

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The first thing that pierces the night is the wail of angry sirens, a clarion call that resonates through the darkness. Anakin shares a troubled look with Padmé, whose eyes swiftly turn to Chancellor Palpatine as they watch building after building succumb to flames.

For the first time in his life, a flicker of fear crosses Palpatine's usually inscrutable face. The sight of his grand city ablaze, the chaos unleashed by the Zillo Beast's fury—it all threatens the facade of control he has so meticulously crafted. In the glow of the conflagration, even the Chancellor's mask of composure shows cracks of trepidation.

"We—we need to get out of here," Anakin stammers, urgency lacing his voice as he grasps Padmé's elbow and tugs her towards the door. But she resists, anchoring herself in place with a determination that matches the intensity of the situation.

"No, no, where is Nyx? She can help us, right?" Padmé insists, her eyes searching Anakin's for a glimmer of hope.

Anakin's posture deflates, the weight of uncertainty pressing down on him. "I don't know; I haven't seen Nyx since we dropped the Zillo Beast off," he admits, his voice tinged with concern.

It's then that Palpatine turns, the usual command in his demeanor giving way to an uncharacteristic display of fear. Those cold grey eyes of his widen as the gravity of the situation dawns on him. "What? You're telling me we have two monsters on the rampage?" he articulates, each word heavy with the realization that the night's events have spiraled far beyond his control.

Anakin turns a cold glare on his mentor, his voice firm and resolute. "Nyx is not a monster, and she wouldn't dare attack Coruscant—not like this."

Suddenly, a thunderous thud reverberates above them, and the roof begins to buckle ominously. "Get out of here!" Anakin shouts, channeling the Force to shove Padmé and Palpatine out of the office just as a large section of the ceiling starts to collapse.

With a powerful exertion of the Force, he pushes the falling debris back up, then hurls it aside. But he's unprepared for the giant black mass of fur that crashes down towards him. "Sorry!" yelps the beast, and there stands Nyx, shaking out her wings and fur before turning her fiery red eyes towards the elevator that closes its doors.

Her troubled gaze quickly morphs into one of fury. "Oh, you bastard, you're not getting away—"

Before she can leap after her quarry, Anakin's hand clamps around her, pulling her back with urgency. "Nyx, wait!" he pleads, holding her firmly, trying to keep her from a path that could lead to irreversible consequences.

He points his lightsaber at her, the blue glow casting an eerie light in her red eyes. "You're not going after him, Nyx. Just what has happened to you? This isn't you," he says, his voice quivering with emotion, a testament to the turmoil churning within him.

His eyes brim with unshed tears, reflecting the internal conflict of a man torn between duty and the bonds he's formed. Anakin stands there, lightsaber in hand, a barrier not just to Nyx's path but also to the dark trajectory that threatens to consume them both.

Nyx's gaze lingers on the saber, then slowly shifts toward Anakin. Her eyes are hollow, devoid of life—a stark contrast to the vibrant spirit that once resided there. "Step out of my way, pup, before I tear your throat out like all these humans are going to feel tonight," she says, her voice cold and detached.

Anakin's breath catches in his throat, a soft "no..." escaping his lips as a whisper of despair. His hands tremble, yet he maintains the lightsaber pointed at her face, a barrier of blue light between them.

"No, Nyx, don't do this. Don't do this to us, to me," he pleads, his voice breaking with emotion. "Haven't the moments we've had meant anything to you?" The question hangs in the air, heavy with the weight of shared memories and the unspoken plea for the Nyx he knows to return from the brink of darkness.

Nyx scoffs, her wings rustling with a sound like dry leaves in the wind. "Moments in an empty life... I see finally now what the Jedi are like," she smirks, her lips pulling back to reveal a set of menacing teeth. "You're just an obstacle in the way to real power."

She attempts to step around him, but Anakin's saber darts out, targeting one of her wings with precision born of desperation. She howls as the saber's laser slices through her wing like hot butter, the pain searing and immediate. The betrayal of the act, the physical wound—it all melds into a crescendo of agony and realization that cuts deeper than the flesh.

When she looks at him again, tears gather at the brim of her eyes, a silent testament to the pain and betrayal that pierce through the anger. Anakin feels his heart plummet to his feet, the gravity of what he's done anchoring him in a moment of stark realization.

Oh shit, he thinks, and instinctively ducks just as the wolf leaps overhead. A snarl rips through the night, a sound that chills him to the core. The air is thick with the scent of bloodlust, emanating from the friend he once knew—the one woman he loved—now lost to the shadows that have claimed her.

She roars, a feral cry that echoes the turmoil within her, and tackles him as he tries to stand again. Her claws rake deep gouges into his flesh through his robes, and Anakin shrieks in pain, the sound raw and harrowing. His saber moves in defense, but then she does something that makes his eyes widen in disbelief.

Her teeth clamp around the laser, an audacious move that defies reason. With a ferocious tug, she wrenches the saber from Anakin's hand and flings it away toward the large window. The weapon skitters across the floor, its light extinguished as it clatters against the transparisteel.

Nyx pins him down, her wings unfurling over them like dark canopies, casting shadows that seem to swallow the light. She stares down at him with an unrecognizable anger, her gaze burning with a fury that has eclipsed the Nyx he once knew.

"P-please, Nyx," he begs, his voice breaking as tears now freely run down his cheeks. "I didn't want to hurt you," he swallows hard, the lump in his throat nearly choking him with emotion.

"And you don't want to hurt me, I know that," Anakin continues, reaching out to the core of who Nyx once was, trying to rekindle the connection they shared before rage and pain had clouded her judgment. His plea is a lifeline thrown into the turbulent sea of her wrath, hoping against hope that she will grasp it and find her way back to him.

"What you knew of Nyx is gone," she snarls, her voice a deep, tumbling feminine growl that reverberates with finality. "Your little wolf is gone, Skywalker, and you will join the dead."

The words are a chilling epitaph, spoken by a stranger wearing the face of someone he once cherished. The transformation is complete; the Nyx he knew—the companion, the confidant—has been consumed by this vengeful creature that now looms over him, promising his end.

"You didn't mean to hate," he sobs, his gaze locked onto hers, which start to blur as tears spill over.

The wolf snorts dismissively and leans down, inhaling the scent of his fear. "But I do."

"You should have died the moment I saw you on that field, puppy. But somehow, this Nyx you care so much about held me back. And your master is the reason I am here in the temple, now forced to watch the galaxy crumble," the wolf declares, laying a deadly claw on one of his calves, dangerously near Anakin's heart.

"You will never see the light of day again," it proclaims. "Any last words?"

Anakin swallows hard, his voice barely a whisper, "Yes." He summons his power, pulling his lightsaber towards him. "I love you, Nyx," he confesses, and with a swift motion, he drives the saber right through her.

The wolf roars in agony, standing up as its wings spread wide, blood dripping down onto Anakin's face. He sobs harder, watching in despair as the wolf jerks, its gaze fixed on the blade now lodged in its chest.

In an instant, there's a shift, and Nyx returns, offering a sad smile. "Goodbye, Anakin."

His eyes widen, a silent plea for forgiveness, for a chance to rewind time, but no words come out. The wolf's body jerks once more before falling heavily to the ground with a dull thud, the life fading from its eyes.

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