Been a Long Time

[Aster Jen'allé]

*Dust took a deep breath in, holding it a moment before releasing it.*

Dust: "I'm... Well I'm really sick... And, theres no easy way to say this, I am... I'm dying... Very quickly..."

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay got back to her feet then. She knew that it was bad, but not that bad. It spurred on a lot of questions. Did [member="Jareth Johnathon Holst"] really come here to die?

"You can't be serious? How did it happen? How did you get so sick? And why am I not--It's not contagious, is it?" The last thing that she needed was to get sick as well.

 

[Aster Jen'allé]

*The flood of emotions and questions and seemingly the first real time she had really looked at him as less than her. He understood the sentiment of not wanting to get sick, but he wouldn't have come if he was contagious, he couldn't have come if he was contagious. the nervousness kicked back in much worse than before, this is why he was so apprehensive about saying anything.*

Dust: "I'm not... Uh, I'm not contagious... The best doctors in the one sith can't tell you exactly WHAT is going on, but I wouldn't, I would never... I wouldn't risk your life here if I was contagious... I would be more hurt if I weren't deserving of such mistrust I just, well, I didn't really expect it from you... It's like a cancer, [member="Lady Kay"], they don't understand how, but it's like the dark side of the force is choking out the rest of my abilities, and my entire connection to the force. It's happening so violently that it's killing me. Physically. Mentally... Emotionally... And it's like it's coming from my own mind, they were telling me I was doing this to myself somehow, but I don't want to die... I have to much to make amends for, I never found out what happened to my wife, I never found the man that made me what I am now, and I never... I never... God damn me, I never found your son... I've killed, hundreds probably, maybe even thousands, all to try and do these things that I never did... And now, at the worst of times, when I was just beginning to ascend to the point where, just maybe, I could have done enough good to make all that bad worth it, now I am somehow killing MYSELF? I'm no coward, I want to face down the wrong I've done once I finish doing the good that this all was supposed to precede, and then I want to face punishment for what I've done wrong, but now, I'm just the coward who died before he got the chance to do any of it. I'm so sorry... I'm sorry I never found your son... I'm sorry for all I couldn't do..."

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay raised a brow slightly as it seemed that [member="Jareth Johnathon Holst"] was hurt by what she had said regarding whether or not he was contagious. But she let him continue to speak with nothing but concern written on her face. She approached him then, crouching down beside his chair so that she would have to look up at him as she took hold of his hand.

"It's okay, Dust...We will figure this out together. There are many things that I regret too, people have died from my choices, all this that I wish that I could go back and change. It's a huge Galaxy...Finding Brad would be like finding a needle in a hundred hay stacks. If he's meant to be found, then he will be found. But until then, we need to get you cured."

She wanted to hug him then, as he was like a little nephew to her if ever she was to have one. But it was hard to say at this moment whether or not he'd accept it.

 

[Aster Jen'allé]

*There was not much to say at that moment, but in thet space between a blink and a tear the sith knight known as dust was carried away on the winds of change. The salt soaked child that remained, for he never had the chance to grew up, was Jareth. And as the pain and the darkness began to wash away, only the sickness remained, and a sense of peace when [member="Lady Kay"] comforted him as the family that he really never got to have. Jareth leaned forward into what seemed to be a hug, he wasn't really sure but he needed it, knocking off the pen and pad onto the ground where it was apparent for all eyes to see, should anyone choose to look...*

 

[Kay-Larr]

He had leaned forward, and was that a tear? Kay got up and sat on the armrest of his chair. She then wrapped her arms around [member="Jareth Johnathon Holst"] in a comforting hug. "We'll find a way for you to get better. You'll see. There's no reason to give up." Her eyes were drawn downward to the pen and pad that was now on the floor. She was curious of course as to what was written or drawn on it.

 

[Aster Jen'allé]

*The tear from before turned into a choking sob as tears streamed down his face. No reason to give up? No, he had nothing to give up for. No reason at all. Jareth remained speechless just trying to feel comfort in the warmth of the hug. The note pad on the other hand was turned half way under the chair. What could be seen was a strange scribbled image and a broken sentence in roughly formed capital letters:

HE IS...

And after that the words were cut off. From the image dark side energies subtly flowed.*

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay rested her cheek against the top of his head while he sobbed, stroking his back. She didn't say anything as her eyes never left the drawing on the floor. It was a little disturbing in it's simplicity. The dark energy coming from it made her want to destroy it.

"He is...what? Or who? What does it mean? Why did you draw that?"

[member="Jareth Johnathon Holst"]

 

[Aster Jen'allé]

*From just behind [member="Lady Kay"] a voice whispered into her ear, "...MINE," as Jareth looked up with red eyes confused at what she had asked.*

Jareth: "Draw what?"

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay nearly jumped off the armrest as the voice loudly whispered in her ear. It wasn't [member="Jareth Johnathon Holst"] 's voice at all. She quickly looked around, but didn't see anything. Her eyes then returned to the young man. She pointed down to the floor. "That drawing right there...that you drew.." She chewed the inside of her cheek. It didn't seem as though he had heard the voice at all.

 

[Aster Jen'allé]

*Jareth looked down at the paper and picked it up.*

Jareth: "I don't remember writing this, but there is nothing drawn on it."

*Jareth turned it around to show it to her with the word mine written across it in large scribbled block letters. Behind Jareth shadows rose like smoke, forming into a creature pulsing with dark side energies that seemed to be reaching for Jareth:

Spoiler

it was not far off from touching his back in the chair...*

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay furrowed her brows. That isn't right. She wasn't going crazy, was she? The shadow movement caught her eye though. She got up from the chair quickly and pulled [member="Jareth Johnathon Holst"] off of the chair with her.

"Stay back and leave him alone! He is not yours! He belongs to himself."

 

[Aster Jen'allé]

*When Kay quickly got up every sense in Jareth's body was set on high alert, even as he felt immense pain from the sudden movement. He could feel something, something dark, he pulled out his lightsaber, voice of the fallen, and handed it to lady kay quickly while ejecting the blade hidden on his right wrist simultaneously and ignite its crimson blade.*

Jareth: "What is it [member="Lady Kay"]? I don't see anything."

*The shadow advanced forward slowly, a twisted smile advancing across its face as its hands continued reaching for Jareth.*

 

[Kay-Larr]

How could [member="Jareth Johnathon Holst"] not see anything? She took the saber offered and ignited it, though in all honesty, she wasn't sure if it would do any good. Kay swung it towards the shadow.

"Stay back!!"

 

[Aster Jen'allé]

*The saber swung helplessly through the roughly formed entity of force energy. Jareth saw it fade into existence however at the touch of the blade. He knew that if he could unleash a full powered wave of electric judgement he could destroy this thing, but he didn't know if [member="Lady Kay"] could withstand it in such close quarters. No, he couldn't risk hurting her. This was his demon to fight and so he summoned up a last vestige of strength to push lady kay to the side, whispering to her through the force to keep his lightsaber safe, and he charged his body with force energy to tackle the shadowy demon. His body made contact and the creature dissipated as Jareth's body fell to the floor, limp but not dead.*

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay discharged the saber as soon as [member="Jareth Johnathon Holst"] pushed her away. She was about to move towards him when he unleashed the Force energy and seemed to tackle the shadow creature. It was a strange sight to behold.

After he was still for ten seconds, she slowly approached him and knelt down, placing a hand gently on his arm. "Dust?.."

 

[Aster Jen'allé]

*Dust didn't respond. He was breathing, dreaming, but left in a comatose state from which he wouldn't be waking up anytime soon. The air around them chilled and the writing pad had one final message*

For he so loved life, he gave his only true son that HE MAY RETURN...

With love from daddy dearest,
Darth Achilus

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Kay shivered in spite of herself. She picked up the drawing pad and folded the cover over it. She then had one of her security detail carefully pick up [member="Jareth Johnathon Holst"] and carry him over to one of the guest rooms. She followed and gave further instructions to let her be aware as soon as he woke up. He would be under constant watch with nurses to look after him until he would wake up.

Darth Achilus. Where had she heard that name before?

 

[Aster Jen'allé]

And so, Jareth slept for a time, and during this time Lady Kay was able to use her resources to find out who Darth Achilus was. It turned out he was a recently dead Sith Lord known for experiments with Sith alchemy: especially in relation to the attainment of immortality. It was with this knowledge in hand that Jareth was checked for signs of sith meddling. It turned out he was a kind of Sithspawn, or moreover, he had a parasitic type of Sithspawn implanted in his brain. Not much was known about the parasite, but the best guesses were that it was an attempt by Darth Achilus to "overwrite" Jareth's brain with his own memories to attain some form of immortality.

Doctors were able to safely remove the parasitic growth, but even after he was able to awaken from his coma he remained vastly less capable than he was prior. With his memories in hand, he was able to find his wife whom wasn't actually dead and had been searching for him for many long years with his young son in tow. It wasn't long before Sith agents working under his deceased father discovered the recent happenings and found out about his wife and son: something had to be done to protect his son.

Under the guise of business trips his son was hidden on a planet in the unknown regions. During a visit to see their son, they found a sith tail and chased it in an attempt to destroy it because, while their son was well hidden: the Sith would eventually be able to find him if they knew his whereabouts. Unfortunately, they were led into an ambush. Jareth fought valiantly with his wife preparing a last resort in case of the worst. In his weakened state, Jareth was no match for the overwhelming numbers; however, he was able to buy enough time for his wife to complete a heavily encrypted message for an old friend of Jareth's before their lives ended in the dogfight.

[member="Lady Kay"]