Private An Ukatian and a (Dead) Hapan

[Miri Nimdok]

“I suppose you’re right,” Giselle said, her expression souring. There wasn’t much she could do with a ghost, now that she thought of it. He might make for good conversation, at least…

Aramis suddenly left the room without warning. Eyes widening, Giselle placed her hands on the wall he had phased through, then scowled. Great. Now she was alone again.

At least until Aramis suddenly reappeared, startling her.

"You can see me. Hear me. Are you the only one?"

“I certainly hope not,” Giselle said, pressing a hand over her heart. “That would mean I have no way of knowing whether you’re real or I’ve simply gone mad from being locked up in this place.” Pausing, her expression grew intrigued. "Do you think you could use your ghostly abilities to get me out of here for a little while?"

Aramis​

 

[Aramis]

“That would mean I have no way of knowing whether you’re real or I’ve simply gone mad from being locked up in this place.”

Aramis snorted derisively, "Yes, yes. A truly madness-inducing confinement you have." Her room seemed decent enough. She had enough freedom to go out and purchase jewelry for her little old self. This woman probably wouldn't know madness if it slapped her in the face. Her request for his help earned another twisted look, "Get you out of here? How do you plan on us doing that? So far my powers are exclusively not being able to touch anything. The floor included." He waved his hand through her corporeal form, doing so with little resistance.

Giselle von Ascania​

 

[Miri Nimdok]

"Yes, yes. A truly madness-inducing confinement you have."

Giselle shot him a glare, but she couldn’t exactly argue. Her life was good, and had always been good. But she wanted more. “You remind me of someone I once met,” she remarked instead. “A Jedi boy with a strange dog. He talked much like you do.” Giselle was of course referring to Tenn Kalos and his charhound, Shep. She wondered what he was doing these days…

"Get you out of here? How do you plan on us doing that? So far my powers are exclusively not being able to touch anything. The floor included."

Her glare faded away as her eyelids lowered and her mouth twisted into a coy smile. “You still have your dark magic, do you not? Surely such a strong, handsome young man who came so close to greatness in life must retain all his magic powers even in death.”

Aramis​

 

[Aramis]

Aramis couldn't care less about whatever Jedi Giselle was talking about, and so he didn't bother to comment of the comparison. He couldn't even be bothered to grimace at the mention of Jedi. In fact, now that the initial shock had worn off, the ghost was realizing how tired he felt. Not in the slumbering sense, he'd already felt like he'd been asleep for a hundred fitful years. Just… weary, of everything. He'd never felt that way before.

"Must I?" Aramis said, "If so, I've yet to rediscover them." He slouched, seemingly giving up on whatever facade he had been presenting up to this point.

Giselle von Ascania​

 

[Miri Nimdok]

Rather than brightening at the possibility of retaining his old power, Aramis seemed to sag and slouch in despair. Giselle's eyebrows rose. "You may be dead, but that does not mean you ought to give up," she said. "You managed to get this far. Why stop now?"

Suddenly peckish, she headed for the kitchen, where a droid waited to serve her anything she asked for. She put it to work making lunch, then picked up a datapad and sat at the table. She might as well try and get some work done while she waited for her food—and for Aramis to get over his morbid melancholy.

Aramis​

 

[Aramis]

Aramis looked at Giselle skeptically, "Get this far? I'm dead! This is as far as it goes! Other than, I don't know, oblivion. And at this point I don't know if that would be better or worse." He wasn't sure what the nether of the Force had in store for him, but he was pretty sure there wasn't exactly any take backs. He wasn't even sure how to get there. Did he just will it into happening? Did he have some unfinished business keeping him stuck in the material world? The rules on life after death were frustratingly vague.

The Lady walked off elsewhere, leaving Aramis to wallow. He remained there for a while long, before eventually following her to the kitchen, investigating the space with continued nihilism. E approached the droid she had making food, and spoke, "Don't suppose you could make me something to eat?" The droid did not respond.

"That's what I thought."

Giselle von Ascania​

 

[Miri Nimdok]

Giselle looked up at him, then spread her soft white hands. “I cannot help you if you are not willing to help yourself. You should at least try.”

He began hovering around the droid, which could not see nor hear him. Giselle laughed at his request. “Could you even eat it?”

She typed on her datapad, preparing her speech to the Senate, until the droid served her lunch. It was steaming and looked delicious. She bowed her head and said grace, then picked up the utensils and began to eat.

Aramis​

 

[Aramis]

Aramis grumbled, more content to wallow in doom and gloom a while longer.

“Could you even eat it?”

"Probably not," He said, "I just needed to check." Aramis meandered a while longer until Giselle's food was served. It looked rather delicious, especially to man who had not tasted food in quite some time, "Yes. What were you saying again about your agonizing lock up here?" He smirked derisively. This woman rank of entitlement. It reminded him of home.

He switched subjects rather abruptly, content to simply point out the continued exaggeration of her prior complaint. "So, you're off to get a seat in the Senate? I didn't know republican representation was a birthright."

Giselle von Ascania​

 

[Miri Nimdok]

"What were you saying again about your agonizing lock up here?"

“That it was a gilded cage,” she replied, digging into her lunch with all the gusto a prim and proper lady could manage. “You are upset because you have no stomach. Nor a tongue to taste, though you do love to wag its ghost.”

She would never have spoken in such a way to a living man. The fact that Aramis was dead, and therefore harmless, had emboldened her. Besides, he was clearly trying to annoy her.

"So, you're off to get a seat in the Senate? I didn't know republican representation was a birthright."

“It is, from what little I understand of Alliance customs, not supposed to be so—yet it is true of many worlds.” She took a bite of meat and chewed thoughtfully before continuing, “A few planets have representatives appointed by their leaders rather than voted into office, and some more authoritarian rulers such as your Queen Mother simply assume the position themselves. Perhaps they ought to do away with all pretense and be more like Ukatis. We do not hide behind a veneer of fairness and democracy.”

Aramis​

 

[Aramis]

"It's all it's still good for, evidently," Aramis replied.

"...Perhaps they ought to do away with all pretense and be more like Ukatis. We do not hide behind a veneer of fairness and democracy.”

The ghost quirked a brow, "Ah. Proudly so, it seems." He circled around to face Giselle, "Do paint me a picture of your home, my lady. An uncultured Hapan such as myself has no concept of Ukatis in all its undemocratic beauty." Aramis was genuinely curious, but he was also happy to prematurely judge it all the same.

Giselle von Ascania​

 

[Miri Nimdok]

"It's all it's still good for, evidently."

Giselle smirked into her lunch. “A pity.”

"Ah. Proudly so, it seems. Do paint me a picture of your home, my lady. An uncultured Hapan such as myself has no concept of Ukatis in all its undemocratic beauty."

“It is a beautiful planet, full of rolling meadows, lush vineyards, forests and mountains, all yet unspoiled by industry. The air is pure, the skies are clear, and the land is verdant.” She took a dainty sip of her tea before continuing, “The commoners work the fields and build magnificent things, while the nobles protect and rule over them. Sometimes we go to war—the rest of the time we go to balls.”

Reaching across the table to ladle out sauce from a bowl onto her plate, she asked, “I have told you about my home, now I expect to hear all about yours. Is it true that Hapan women ride bare-breasted on the backs of rancors?” The question was innocently posed, despite the provocative (and incorrect—she was confusing Hapans with the Dathomiri) subject matter.

Aramis​

 

[Aramis]

"We go to war— and we go to balls," Aramis repeated, "And is this 'we' the same in both of those examples?" Giselle certainly seemed the socialite, less so the soldier.

The ghost smirked, and leaned back as if reclining in an invisible chair, "Ah… no. I believe you're thinking of one Hapan woman in particular. Our women just hold every important position in our society. Geographically it's not too different from yours. Green grass and mountains. But the sky is full of bright nebulae, and at night surrounded by seven moons. It's quite pretty, I suppose. It's also why we're practically blind in the dark."

Giselle von Ascania​

 

[Miri Nimdok]

“Well, yes. Men and women experience both, just in different ways.”

She was delighted to find that he had been listening. For a moment there she was worried he was ignoring her. “Do Hapan women even fight in wars?” she asked. “That seems rather…”

Foolish. Evil. Insane, even. But perhaps he thought the same of her world. Still, she couldn’t get past the dark thoughts that came to mind when she tried to imagine such a society.

“Ukatis has four moons,” she said, glad to take her mind off the subject. “Thundra, Rowan, Kilsie, and Nima. They’re rather plain compared to other satellites, from what I hear. We also have two suns, like Tatooine—though thankfully we are not a desert world.”

Aramis​

 

[Aramis]

"I wasn't speaking on the basis of sex," Aramis replied plainly, and left it there. The Lady's answer told him a lot about her, espeiclaly in tandem with the rest of their conversations thus far. Giselle seemed discomfortingly fixated on the subject. "They do." Was all he said to her next question.

"You must not get much darkness yourselves, then," He assessed. Not quite on the level of Hapes, of course, but four moons was nothing to scoff at. Between that and the suns, Ukatis was positively riddled with celestial bodies, and no small amount of reflected light either, "Must be rather hot, as well. Worse, humid." He touched his chin, considering the idea more than was really necessary, "Though I suppose it depends on your position in your system." A shrug, as if to dismiss it.

Giselle von Ascania​

 

[Miri Nimdok]

“Oh, you mean nobles and commoners.” She avoided rolling her eyes. Offworlders were always obsessed with class divides—though she would’ve thought a nobleman from Hapes who confessed to having tried to become a Sith Lord would not care about such trivialities. “Yes, both go to war. The nobles lead and the peasants follow. But only our men. If a woman were to go to war, she would be putting herself in terrible danger.” Assuming she wasn’t killed by a stronger man, a fate worse than death awaited her if she were captured and enslaved.

As they talked about the climate of their respective worlds, Giselle’s demeanor noticeably cooled. “It is neither hot nor humid,” she muttered, picking up her utensils as if to return to her meal. But after forcefully cutting a piece of meat, she seemed unable to eat it, holding her fork and knife standing straight up on either side of the plate. “If you cannot use any powers, my lord, then tell me why I should not remove your ring from my finger?” she suddenly asked. “You must have some use to me other than conversation. I… I must have some way out...”

She dropped the utensils with a clatter and covered her face with her hands. “They rescued me from the king and brought me here thinking that I would voice my support for their new Equal Rights Act. It does not matter if I comply or not, for I am not the Senator of Ukatis. Gods! Master Myrddin died for nothing!”

Aramis​

 

[Aramis]

"As does anyone going to war," Aramis said. He understood what she intended, but doubted that it came from experience. Aramis had seen wars. Never fought himself, but observing them had been something of a study for an aspiring dark lord such as himself. And he quickly saw war for what it was: a horror. When the talk was over and men were forced to face one another on the field, there wasn't honor in any of it. Just brutish violence. And not just for them, but for anyone caught in the middle, be they man or woman. Once upon a time, a living Aramis found epiphany in that knowledge. Now, he felt as if he had been cursed with knowledge. Strange.

“It is neither hot nor humid,”

"Well, show's what I know." Far be it from him to claim expertise on celestial bodies. The rules all seemed rather inconsistent anyway. His attention was reignited when Giselle suggested taking off the ring. What started as concern, turned to indignantion, "Some use? Just because you put on that ring you think that makes me, what, a servant? A dancing monkey-lizard for your amusement?" He intended to go on further, but the lady seemed to succumb to a secondary crisis mid-conversation. He stared at her blankly, unsure if he should pity her or enjoy the noncontextual schadenfreude.

"…What are you on about?" He asked, not quite betraying emotion any deeper that confusion.

Giselle von Ascania​

 

[Miri Nimdok]

"Some use? Just because you put on that ring you think that makes me, what, a servant? A dancing monkey-lizard for your amusement?"

“Then would you prefer I took it off and hurled it somewhere?” she said, twisting the ring on her finger. But her threats were empty. She was too desperate. “What use is continuing to exist if you can do nothing? Not just for me, but for yourself!”

By then her anguish had reached a crescendo. She burst into tears. “The king changed the rules of succession. No longer does Silencia's Law prevail; only a male may inherit titles now. I never had a chance to be Senator... By the time they brought me here, it was too late! Now I don't know what they'll do with me. Probably keep me locked up in this place for years, saying it’s for my own good… My youth will be gone, used up… But if I try to go home, I'll be considered a traitor!”

Retrieving a handkerchief, she dabbed the tears from her cheeks and blew her dainty nose. “Please, my lord. I do not wish you any harm. I only want to be free. If we work together we could free each other, surely? You from the ring, and I from this prison.”

Aramis​

 

[Aramis]

"No!" Aramis suddenly shot. He didn't want to be lost in the nether again, though his pride prevented him from admitting his fear so plainly. Despite his inability to seemingly react with this world beyond Giselle, it was far better than the state of limbo he had been subjected to prior.

But Giselle was more caught up in her own woes anyway. Aramis simply watched her unfold, awkwardly trying to formulate a response to the outburst of emotion. "Had the rug swept out from under you, huh?" He found himself empathizing with this lady. His tone indicative of commiseration, calling back to his own demise. He wasn't quite sure if he actually wanted to leave the ring or not; He had no idea how its phylactery functioned. If it were destroyed or him extracted, would he simply be thrust back into the netherworld? Would his spirit be gone entirely? Would he live again? The possibilities were too unknown. But progress was better than just sitting around here.

"…Alright." Aramis finally said, "Alright. Fine. If you really want to get out of this place, I'll help you." He looked around, "Nobody else can see me, right? I could check through walls, corners, tell if if and when someone is coming. Help you sneak out."

Giselle von Ascania​

 

[Miri Nimdok]

"…Alright."

Giselle's sobs trailed off.

"Alright. Fine. If you really want to get out of this place, I'll help you."

Slowly, she raised her head and looked up at him with those big blue eyes full of gratitude. "Thank you, my lord."

"Nobody else can see me, right? I could check through walls, corners, tell if if and when someone is coming. Help you sneak out."

She rose from her chair. "Yes," she whispered. "Could you find a way out of the building? And from there, a way off this station..."

Freedom seemed possible at last. But then, what would she do with her freedom when she had it? Where would she go?

At the very least, she wouldn't be alone. Aramis may have been dead, but he was capable of lively conversation. And if he proved to have other uses, the more the merrier.

Aramis​

 

[Aramis]

"I'll see what I can do," Aramis turned around, and promptly phased through the wall. This lead him back out to the hallway, which was seemingly clear of people at the moment. He headed toward the corner, but just as he got close he felt his energy waning, "What?" He looked around, he kept trying to move, but was as if he was incapable of moving any further. He tried to do the same down the opposite direction, and felt a similar lethargic sensation at roughly the same distance, "What in the…" It clicked, and annoyedly he reappeared back in front of Giselle.

"I can't move indefinitely away from the ring. I'm bound to its presence within a certain distance. I won't be able to scout every single thing out ahead of time. We'll have to take this step by step."

"I can tell you the hall just outside is currently clear."

Giselle von Ascania​