Dawn's Light Brings Tragedy

[Serian Loria]

In the time he’d been within the Crusade there had only been one person who hadn’t just been a transient shadow. [member="Crystal"] had become one of the singular people in his life that, through persistence, he had gradually become unable to ignore. When he had adopted [member="Serena"] Constantine she had only made herself more invaluable of a person to him. With her help he had managed to settle in quite well within the Crusade and, after a time she’d invited him along on her various excursions.

It wasn’t long after that the strange events started that led to the Crusade’s merger with the Fringe. Upsetting the fragile start he had begun to make, forcing him to start all over again, this time however it was them all that had to restart. This of course had only made them bond further, which had brought about a change within him.

He was still himself, but he had finally found a balance that he’d never had before in the whole of his life. The strange visions he’d become assaulted with when they had joined the Fringe eventually went away. It was probably one of the few times he’d found himself content with everything.

He wasn’t the greedy sort, he was happy with what he had. Thankful even, in his own way. The only part of his life that had been always filling him with restlessness was the aspect the Force contained. Sometimes it drove him to distraction, leading him at random to places he had no clue why. Like this night in particular…

He’d been sleeping soundly, dreamlessly, next to Crystal, the night was wholly silent, but he woke up. He slipped out of bed, checking on Serena, before pulling on a house robe and going outside. There was a feeling of dissonance, something building and causing a ripple in the Force. All of a sudden it burst, sending him sprawling to the ground, his mind and body feeling as if he’d been set afire.

He had cried out, waking the house, a couple servants eventually coming outside and rushing over to his unconscious form laying in the grass. One rushed to wake the rest of the house and to alert their master’s companion.

 

[Crystal]

[member="Serian Loria"]

Crystal had been around entirely too long to concern herself with the flow of events in the galaxy. At this point in her life, she was all about instant gratification and fulfilling her own wishes and whims.

Admittedly, when Serian adopted the child, the Princess was reminded of her many many years raising her own children and her youngest son’s children and descendants. That wasn’t to say that she missed the experience, it was more that she had a great deal of experience that could be of use to him. Sharing her experiences with Serian led to new experiences that Crystal enjoyed.

While Serian slept, Crystal meditated. It was very seldom that she slept anymore. She really didn’t need to. His movements did not disturb her meditation, but the very sudden splitting headache and Serian’s screams ended it rather abruptly. Her eyes snapped open, then closed as she pressed her temples with her finger tips.

The pain subsided for the most part, leaving her head with a dull ache. That was unusual for Crystal. She didn’t get headaches. Especially not when meditating.

And what was Serian screaming about? Someone was yelling in the house and thundering up the stairs. Crystal raised her hands, preparing to silence whomever was causing pain, but the pain only grew. Definitely not normal. She’d pressed her temples again when the noisy servant burst through the door and announced that Serian was unconscious outside.

“Yes, yes. I’ll be right there.”

Her eyes squeezed shut for a long moment before she got up to her feet. Crystal was in search of a tool that she had not used in a long time….

 

[Serian Loria]

The ruby eyed Archivist wasn’t a bulky man, but he was heavy and they managed to bring him to the couch. If he’d been conscious his pride would have been rather bruised, making him a shade snappish. However he was not, his skin was pale and he was unresponsive, one might think him dead except he breathed.

He was weak, his force aura was hardly present, an odd thing considering he typically had it hidden. He’d been sapped of all of his energy, but other than that he had no wounds. The fever was probably from the shock of whatever had happened, the event having been painful. They wouldn’t know that it had been as if he’d been torn apart, normally he wouldn’t have screamed, but the soul deep pain had been too much even for him.

Serian had three servants, a family, the eldest of the lot was an elder man of almost sixty. He stood nearby watching his dark haired master worried, he was always grousing at Serian to take better care of himself, fond of him like a son. Likewise the Archivist tolerated his nagging as he wouldn’t in most others, except maybe with Crystal. The man was fond of all his servants and they of him, all they could do was stand watching him, because the worst was yet to be told and they knew their master would be hit hard by the news. They could only wait for his lady to come down so they could tell her.

Endron put a hand on his daughter’s shoulder, Kurelia had been the one to think of the child, but the baby was missing. She was almost in tears, but blessedly hadn’t started to actually cry. The old man was just glad that the ruby eyed youngster seemed well enough, hopefully it would pass.

 

[Crystal]

[member="Serian Loria"]

In her handbag, Crystal located a bracelet. It had been a very long time since she’d used the device. It had been used within her family since she was a child, and saw each generation there after. It was a tool that she used to train the children in combat without use of the Force. It essentially dulled one’s connection to the Force and forced one to act on instinct and wits alone. In this case, she was hoping that it would simply remove the pain involved with drawing on the Force.

Given that she was still conscious, and Serian was not, it was obvious which of the two of them required immediate use of the device.

She descended the stairs slowly, as her head was still throbbing, but the device was visible. The staff had managed to relocate him to the couch, which was a welcome blessing at the moment as each step was incredibly painful. The Sith kneeled down on the floor beside the couch and snapped the bracelet onto Serian’s wrist.

Her hand moved to Serian’s forehead, noting the fever. She spoke to those around her without looking up. “Please bring a cool and damp compress. He has a fever.” Without thinking, she attempted to call a blanket to her hand and immediately regretted it. The Sith growled and pressed on her temples. “And a blanket please,” she managed to say through gritted teeth.

Something was clearly wrong in the area. What? Well, Crystal didn’t know. And her head hurt to much to even try thinking about it.

 

[Serian Loria]

It wouldn’t seem to have an immediate effect, but internally it had, it silenced the maelstrom that had caught him up. She was brought a cool cloth, with a bowl of water. However his eyes fluttered over and he immediately tried sitting up, but he was too weak and lethargic feeling which didn’t help him calm down in the least. He tried to touch the force, only to fail, which only made matters worse. He tried thrashing, but he was too weak to do more than flop aside the blanket. The result only made him suck in a sharp breath as the room started spinning. He brought his hands to his face and covered his eyes trying to weather through the sudden bout of nausea.

Thats when he noticed both the bracelet and his sudden inability to touch the Force. That was enough to freeze him up because he couldn’t remember a time since his first instruction not having even the most basic ability to Sense. After that initial panic, due mostly to the instinctive fight or flight instinct, he was too tapped to do more than let his hands fall and just process it all. His servants hadn’t moved a muscle because they didn’t know if he had his powers and he’d previously told them to let him be if he ever panicked, which essentially was just what happened.

His first response, unless he was in total bodily pain, was to wake up ready to flatten anyone within sight. However the inability to use his powers was something that simply stopped him cold. He tried to remember what had happened that had caused this sudden change, but all he remembered was walking outside, then waking up in the state he was in currently. “What happened?”

He had his eyes closed, keeping them open made his head hurt more.


[member="Crystal"]

 

[Crystal]

[member="Serian Loria"]

Crystal had her eyes closed until the cloth and blanket were brought to her. She immediately tossed the blanket over Serian and applied the cloth to his forehead. Very quickly, he was stirring. The Sith was still kneeling on the floor beside the couch, but made no efforts to restrain him, as that would simply make matters worse. It's not like she could restrain him anyway, all one hundred pounds of her. Without the Force, she was hardly a force to be reckoned with in a battle of strength.

Thankfully, he was entirely to weak to thrash around, which meant she wouldn't get hit and he couldn't cause her more pain than she was already in. When he made his inquiry, she spoke softly. "I'm not entirely sure what has happened, but whatever it is, the Force is not an ally right now." She brought her fingers to her temples again to try and relieve some of the pressure. "Whatever it is caused you to overload, best I can tell. And I have a splitting headache which intensifies when I even think about drawing on the Force. Thus you are wearing my bracelet and I am not."

 

[Serian Loria]

It reassured him that [member="Crystal"] wasn’t as helpless as he was given the state things were. He visibly relaxed, though he absently fingered the bracelet. He didn’t wear things around his wrists or neck, it brought up too many memories he’d rather forget. “The moment I am recovered the device comes off.”

It wasn’t a request. He very rarely spoke so, but usually he had good reasons for it, in this case it was simply because he wouldn’t be able to bear it for longer. He drifted to sleep before he heard her answer and both Kureilia and her husband left, but Endron stayed behind. The older man motioned for her as he headed for the kitchen.

He started to fix her some of the medicinal tea that Serian favored. It was bitter and unappetizing, but the ruby eyed man always insisted it worked better and faster than the typical pain medications. “I didn’t want to mention this in front of him, but the child is missing. There are no signs she was taken, its like she simply disappeared. It was my daughter who thought of her, I’m ashamed to admit, but I felt it wise to keep it from him.”

If Serian found out the child had gone missing, none of them would have been able to keep him in place long enough to recover. He would tear through people and things, with his bare hands, looking for answers no matter the cost to himself in the process. The Archivist was protective of those he cared for, often bordering on meticulously controlling, but that was borne of fear for those people at its root. Endon knew the signs that told of someone who had suffered and the younger man showed all of them. It was one of the things that made the older man and his family so protective and concerned for him in turn.

 

[Crystal]

[member="Serian Loria"]

Crystal shrugged. “As you wish. I simply tried to keep you from hurting yourself when you regained consciousness. But now that you’re awake, you can decide for yourself.” She smirked. That was the parent in her talking. No, she wasn’t his mother, but every now and again she felt as superior as she had as a parent.

And of course he’d fallen asleep before she could finish speaking. Pity. Oh well, she’d have to feel superior later. The Sith got up to her feet as Endron motioned for her to join him in the kitchen. She didn’t need the Force to tell her that they were leaving Serian’s ear shot, conscious or not.

“What are we not telling him, Endron?” Crystal inquired with her head tilted.

Her head straightened as he explained the situation and her eyes narrowed. It was interesting that she hadn’t sensed that the child’s presence was missing, but then the Force wasn’t exactly assisting her at the moment. In fact, she was fairly certain it was going to make her head explode at this rate.

“You were right to do so. He is in no condition to even process the situation, never mind deal with it rationally. There is something happening. I don’t know what it is, but the Force has changed, and it is more than possible that the child disappearing is as a result of this change. I want you to see what you can find out from the holonet, neighbors, anything you can find that might explain this…disturbance.”