Epilogue – "First Impressions"
Chapter One - A Return to the TempleBraze
Jedi Temple, Coruscant
Personal Quaters
The quarters assigned to Ilaria Morvayne were as unadorned as when she had first entered them. She had not yet taken the time to arrange her belongings, to place them in some deliberate order. It was unlike her.
And yet, she sat motionless at the small desk, the faint hum of Coruscant's cityscape filtering through the transparisteel window.
She should have felt settled.
The conversation with Braze had confirmed what she already knew.
The Enclave had been right—the Jedi of Coruscant had grown too sentimental, too indulgent in the fantasy that mercy and love alone could stave off darkness.
She had seen it in Shan Pavond.
She had seen it in Braze.
And she would see it again.
That, at least, was expected.
So why, then, did she still feel the lingering echo of uncertainty?
Her gaze drifted downward, her fingertips tracing absently against the smooth surface of the desk. The conversation replayed itself in her mind—not the words themselves, but the feeling of it.
She had rejected Braze's perspective, but…
Had she answered him?
Had she proven that she was right?
Or had she simply walked away before she could be forced to question herself?
Her fingers stilled.
No.
She had control.
She had discipline.
That was why she had ended the conversation—not out of avoidance, but because there was nothing left to be said.
And yet…
She let out a slow, measured breath, her voice barely above a whisper.
"Corruption."
It was the third time she had spoken the word since arriving at Coruscant.
Each time, it had come without hesitation. Without effort. Without resistance.
And now, it lingered.
She had tried to leave it behind in that grand hall, buried within a conversation she had already deemed unworthy of further thought.
Yet it had followed her here.
It was waiting.
For what?
She leaned back slightly, her posture still poised, still composed. But her thoughts were not as ordered as they should have been.
If corruption could not be eradicated…
If control alone was not enough to prevent it…
Then what was?
She exhaled through her nose, pressing her fingers together in quiet thought.
The Enclave had always spoken of corruption as something external, something that could be identified and eliminated before it could take root.
But Shan had described it as inevitable.
Braze had spoken of it as if it existed in everyone.
And she—
She had dismissed them both.
But had she answered them?
A quiet hum filled the air as she activated her datapad, its screen illuminating her face in the dim light of the room. Her fingertips hesitated over the interface.
Then, carefully, she entered a query.
Jedi Archives: Corruption.
It was not a question of belief.
Not yet.
It was only a matter of knowledge.
And knowledge… was order.
She told herself that was the only reason she was searching.
And for now, she would let herself believe it.
