Echo Across Time

[Brayden Antares]

Lake Country
Naboo

The nondescript, rented speeder raced over the plains of Naboo. Seated casually behind the controls, Brayden's bright silver-green gaze continued to alternate between scanning landmarks and the small navigational display nestled in the center console. Naboo reminded him...very faintly of Endelaan. The big cities, of course, were a fair amount different, but in his short time on the ground, Brayden had indeed found that Naboo seemed to hold to a level of history and tradition.

As the computer indicated he was rapidly approaching his destination, Brayden slowed the speeder. In the next few minutes, the speeder crested a large hill. Once the nose of the speeder pitched back down to follow the terrain, Brayden's fell upon a modest edifice. Though it did appear anywhere near the size of a few of the old estates and the the Forbidden Temple on Endelaan, there was a lingering presence that seemed as if it could swallow it surroundings whole.

Approaching the surprisingly-well-maintained edifice, Brayden allowed the speeder to come to a casual halt before exiting. The young Endelaan native had traveled extremely light, but he elected to leave his belongings inside the speeder. A lightsaber that he had eventually managed to successfully construct some time ago hung from his belt as he approached the stone exterior of the residence. Stopping just next to the front door, Brayden took a seat and placed his right palm against the surface of the exterior. The stones had been warmed by the Naboo sun, but they were in no way scalding.

Lids fluttered shut over Brayden's bright orbs as he immersed himself into the aura of the Force. The Sith's heartbeat slowed rapidly until it was nearly in a state of suspended animation. In this composition, Brayden conserved as much physical energy as possible. The currents of the Force raced around him like a great web of energy, a term his mother and grandmother used. Slowly, the Endelaan Royal identified which string of the web to follow and allowed it to take him across time and space. There was laughter, a fluttering of long, shiny brown hair. Just over the woman's shoulder, a boy - completely ignorant of any talent with the Force.

For hours, Brayden would continue like this, allowing the impactful memories made in this home to take him on a tour of his father's life. As was the unfortunate case with many family stories, joy quickly turned to loss, pain, suffering, and anger. Unlike many stories, however, Brayden's own father overcame his anger. It was a slow process...aided by a young woman whom he had apparently hated at first.

Until she became his Queen, and he her King.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

It was almost dusk by the time Madalena finally landed in Theed’s spaceport, a few local mechanics already alert and ready to do some basic maintenance work on her lovely Nutcracker. It was going to take all night, so she was effectively stranded here until morning, and hopefully not longer.

There was no denying that Naboo was lovely to the eyes. Greeneries as far as the eyes could see, waterfalls, lakes, people dressed… Well. Most people liked it. Madalena did not. She couldn’t quite explain the reason in a logical manner, but there was something that was just wrong to her about the place, about its smell.

Her blueprints on how to circumvent all the protections the planet had in place had formed in her mind the moment she set eyes on the planet’s lakes for the first time, but the Confederacy had turned Naboo into CIS-space before she could sell the plans and make money off of it. To do so now would be treason… And a potential headache she was most definitely not in the mood to deal with, not when she had bigger things in her mind.

Truth be told, there was one main reason she’d opted to come to Naboo on this day; she had until the following afternoon off from her duties with the Knights Obsidian, and despite her dislike to the planet, she knew a little arts supplies shop in Theed that catered to her needs better than any other one she knew of outside of Coruscant, where she had not been since the most recent of wars, when the house she and her twin brother had shared, inherited by their parents who died two years prior, had been completely flattened.

Additionally, she wanted to get to a corner of CIS-space in which she didn’t feel that pull. Too many missions she had been on, where it was a constant throb to her senses, as though trying to lure her. At first she had thought it was to a location, but at some point she realized it was to a person, and she could not understand why. Yet her busy schedule had kept her from looking deeper into it, though she did want to go somewhere that would give her some reprieve from it.

But there was something else happening now.

Madalena froze as she exited the little arts supply shop, her arms full of cans and jars of paint, of paint brushes, of charcoal and more. This was not that pull, no. She recognized it for something else. But the intensity of it, the strength of it. It felt as though it was tugging at every cell in her body.

Unable to ignore it, the Sithling tossed her supplies into the back of her speeder and headed off immediately, feeling as though she was racing against time. No, this wasn’t a pull; this was a call, someone, or something, was calling her, telling her she had to go to there, go to them, see, know what this was.

Traffic didn’t bother her. Madalena was a reckless driver, able to pull the most elaborate of stunts with any speeder that was up to par without falling apart. It was almost mind numbing how this never translated into piloting skills. But within minutes, she was out of Theed, and speeding towards the unknown place, a place that the girl who no longer existed would have recognized in advance with ease, but would not be seeing with her own eyes, perhaps ever again.

[member="Brayden Antares"]

 

[Brayden Antares]

A smile involuntarily spread across Brayden's scruffy features as he was finally taken to a point in the ether where he could see his father and mother hovering over the crib he shared with his twin sister. Brayden allowed himself to linger in that moment. A part of him had hoped, expected to be able to commune with his departed father. Yet, somehow, the man seemed to be nowhere. Based on the training and experience he had by now, Brayden allowed that to bolster his confidence in Diomedes Anatares being alive. It was a vain attempt given the reality; there were a plethora of other explanations.

As the Sith Sorcerer was lost in the comfort of the Force's currents, something tugged aggressively at his metaphysical being. The Sith's attention shifted abruptly, but he did not withdraw from the tendrils of the Great Web. In front of his eyes it was if everything had become vibrant and hyperactive. It was like the Force itself was screaming at him, pushing him towards a source. Like the current of a rapid, Brayden flowed through the ethereal plain. It was all feelings, sensations, and flashes of images. However, the combination rang in the core of his soul. It just couldn't have been possible...could it? Was this a trick of some other entity, attempting to force themselves into his mind through deception and the allure of a close relation?

It wasn't long before images of being back in the crib he shared with his twin flashed before him. They were happy, abundantly happy then. Never out of contact for more than the briefest of instants, Brayden remembered the feeling of empowerment he received from his sibling. It was as if he lived the life of a fractured soul without her.

Abruptly, Brayden began to withdraw from the Force. As his heartbeat quickened and his eyelid raised, the Sith Lord abruptly came to his feet. Silver-green eyes searched the horizon, looking for any sign of foul play. Today would not be the day some spirit succeeded in taking control of his body. He'd been through the exercise once before, and it resulted in a very intense dive into the arcane mysteries and abilities of the Sith.

The approaching presence tasted almost exactly like Scherezade. It was the subtle differences that gave him a moment's pause. The already bright glow of Brayden's eyes intensified as the skies above his head began to darken considerably. With an angry snarl, Brayden directed his voice harshly across the ether of the Force, aiming at breaking through whatever mental defenses the interloper might have.

Who are you...?

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

The closer she got, the harder the pull, the calling, the invitation, the lure became. It almost hurt her physically, and she believed for the span of a heart beat that if she let go of the wheel and jumped into the air, she would merely be pulled or drag by every part of her body towards the source of the feeling.

Madalena’s brain rumbled, screaming and demanding silence all at once. She didn’t know what these feelings, what these sensations were, had never experienced anything even remotely like that before. All she knew was that she ­must reach it, must find who or what it was.

And she was close, she was so close, as though her fingers were reaching the exact spot that itched on her back, a mere few seconds more and she would have it, she would know, she would-

Who are you...?

Madalena yelped as the question tore through her usual mental shields, her control of the speeder lost. The damned thing spun off the road and she didn’t wait or look to see what it would hit; instead she jumped, using the Force to propel herself into the air and then land safely, all thoughts of the art supplies within the speeder forgotten for the time being.

Who was she? How did she answer such a question? So many potential answers that she could shoot back at the source that was still drawing her to it; she was Madalena Antares, a Sith, a Pathfinder, a blood hound, a twin, a child of Coruscant, a mistress of blades, creator of the Hutt Breeding Program, a predator, a young woman, an orphan… The list went on and on. Yet none of these seemed to be the true answer, though some felt like they held a kernel of it.

And inside, in the back of Madalena’s mind, a girl who no longer existed, a girl who knew the answers, who knew the source, who knew it all, the girl began to scream. For the second time since the girl had ceased to exist, she felt the regret of it, the realization of how bad of a choice it had been. But the girl no longer existed, and Madalena knew nothing of her, was not aware of her screams and her answers.

She was running now. First just quickly, then with the Force. She had to get to it. She had to find it, whatever it was. She was moving fast, too fast for the naked eye to see, too fast to-

Madalena came to an abrupt halt a few feet before him. Glowing emerald green eyes beheld a man she had never seen before, somewhat taller than her, blonde hair, and… And those eyes, glowing, like her own, though with a hue of silver tossed into the mixture.

Memories and thoughts shifted inside of Madalena’s mind. She had never seen this face, had no name to attach to it, but she knew his scent, knew his presence in the Force. This was Brayden, her twin brother. Her eyes could easily deceive her, but her sense of smell, her abilities with the Force, unless dampened, would always know, would never second guess that this was the man that the girl who no longer existed so longed to find, had been tortured about, had been led to believe before she broke that he was either dead or not interested in uniting.

And again Madalena knew none of those things. Madalena knew she had a twin brother, that his name was Brayden. Images of their life together on Coruscant flashed in front of her eyes, a life of close kinship, of best friends, of adventures, of creating stories of a magical kingdom with a prince who loved sorcery and a princess who loved to fight, a prince who loved stories of witches and a princess who loved stories of werewolves, a brother that had shared her pain and grief when their parents died, a brother who lived with her for two years after that until a handful of months ago when they decided to split ways for three years and then meet up again.

“B-Brayden?” she asked, her voice barely a whisper. The memories inside Madalena shifted. A mere moment ago, that brother had a name, but held no face. Now the memories locked his face into themselves. He was her brother. She had known him her entire life. She had grown up with him. He was he twin brother.

Madalena screamed and staggered back, the shifting of the memories applying themselves with painful lashes inside her mind, bringing order. It took less than three seconds, but it happened, and a moment later she was standing there as though it had not, the widest of smiles on her face.

“Brayden!” she almost screamed now, rushing forward to hug her brother whom she had so dearly missed these past few months, tears of oye streaming down her face, “what are you doing here? Why didn’t you send word? How were the unknown regions? Why didn’t you tell me you were coming?! I thought it would be another two and a half years before I saw you again!”

[member="Brayden Antares"]

 

[Brayden Antares]

Brayden took one step back, bracing himself as he lowered his center of gravity. He sensed the presence beginning to approach even quicker than it had already been, but there was no response. Instead there was the continuous metaphysical pull of his body towards the unknown source. The Sith felt as though the brace was need to keep himself from being ripped across the terrain.

The moment the figure came to an abrupt stop, Brayden's gaze matched the all-too familiar glow of his mother. However, it was centered into the eyes of a woman that looked a great deal like his mother without actually being her. Immediately, Brayden's entire being seemed to vibrate, humming with happiness at being reunited with the part of him that had been missing for centuries. As if everything he was seeing was just another fabrication, Brayden allowed his entire presence to wash over the newcomer completely.

As their two presences collided, they did not react violently or clash at all. In fact it seemed as though they fused and merged before a part of each was sent back to them, changed and recharged with the strength of the other. For a moment, Brayden forced himself to close his eyes, allowing the sensation to work its way through his entire system. So powerful was the initial reaction, that Brayden did not immediately dig deeper. If he had, he just might have discovered the truth of what was in front of him.

When the woman spoke, Brayden remained rooted in his position. This wasn't possible. His sister was dead, gone. He'd felt her presence slip away, never to return. Even as the woman screamed in agony for a few brief seconds, Brayden remained firmly planted. In the next instant, he was seized in a tight embrace by the smaller woman. It took him a few moments, but he did eventually respond. "Send word?"

What is she talking about...

Gently, Brayden raised his arms just enough to break the embrace and take a step back. Placing his hands on her shoulder, the Sith gazed intently into his mother's eyes. "Scherezade...I felt you slip away. It was like you died. Why have I not felt you until now, here? When did you escape the Darkness?" How long ago had it been? Brayden couldn't even really be sure, time did not pass the same in the Darkness as it did in the real galaxy.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Her arms would not let go of her brothers until he was the one to initiate the break of their embrace. Madalena was beside herself with joy, almost bouncing up and down, wanting to hold her brother again, wanting to jump on him and ruffle his hair. Noting in her mind registered that they looked nowhere near close in age, no; this was her brother! Brayden! He was back! How much had she whined to Josh about how much she’d missed him? How many times had she randomly checked her holodevice, hoping there’d be a random word from him that finally reached her from the Unknown Regions?

But Brayden…

Madalena blinked, looking at her brother. He called her by… By that name. His hands were on her shoulders, he smelled like her brother, he felt like her brother, but then why… Why would he… Like she died? The Darkness? What was he talking about?

All this confusion, a swirl of emotions passing on her face, and then followed by…

Madalena’s smile went from ear to ear. “You’ve been back for a while, haven’t you?” she asked with a little bit of laughter, “that’s why you’re calling me Scherezade. How many Confederates have you talked to about that name?”

Indeed, it was not the first time she heard of it. It was only recently that she’d received the full name, someone who was called a Scherezade deWinter who apparently looked like her, some sort of a doppelganger. But when Madalena had checked the CIS records, trying to discover who or what that other girl was, she came up with nothing.

“I’m still Maddy,” she said with an enthusiastic nod, “still your Madalena. Though so many people have asked me about this Scherezade that I’ve been thinking about giving the name to the princess in our stories.”

The stories!

“Oh, Brayden!” Madalena said, removing one of his hands from her shoulders so she could take it in hers, “you have to see my ship! I drew it all on the walls, made murals for everything! The forests, the lakes, the rose goblins… It’s all there! All our stories!”

Hugging him again, Madalena took a deep breath. Her brother! Her brother was back!

One of her hands moved up to his face, needing to touch his cheek, needing to touch him, to make sure he was real, to make sure it wasn’t someone’s illusion, or a figment of her imagination. “Not that I don’t appreciate you coming back so much sooner but… Why? What made you change your mind? Did something happen in the Unknown Regions? All you all right?”


[member="Brayden Antares"]

 

[Brayden Antares]

The expression on Brayden's face slowly turned from shock, to confusion, and finally to something that hinted at irritation. Then again, maybe it was just confusion that mixed with anger. What happened to his sister?

Confederates? Maddy? What in the hell...

As the woman removed one of his hands from her shoulder and took it in her own, Brayden instinctively looked down. It all seemed right on the surface. The look of her eyes, the general appearance of her physical form, it all fit. Underneath the surface, there was still yet further evidence that this was his twin sister. Sure, they certainly appeared to be...of differing ages now that he took the time, really took the time to look. Had he emerged from the Darkness before her? This was certainly the time when he could have used the guidance of his mother or his father.

Before he knew it, the Madalena woman had pulled him into yet another tight embrace. His lips parted ever so slightly as he felt Madalena's hand touch the side of his face. Instinctively, he reached his own hand up to cover hers. Given the proximity to each other, Brayden was able to snake his free hand up between them and allow it to rest on the side of her head. Leaning forward, he pressed his forehead gently to that of Madalena's.

However, the tenderness of the action slowly began to subside there. At first, Brayden's probing of the woman's mind was gentle, playful like a sibling might do. However, the color of Brayden's own mind quickly darkened as he worked, pushed, and expanded his presence to practically swallow the mind of the woman in front of him. His goal was to completely dominate her thoughts, granting him unfettered access to her brain. It was dangerous, but he did not believe this woman. Had something possessed his beloved sister? This was no sham or clone, he would have spotted that with ease.

Whoever you are... Release my sister now. Scherezade deWinter! You can and must fight this. For me, for your blood.

In that moment, Brayden did not know...that this had all been his sister's doing. He did not know of her pain and struggles, but if things went his way, he would know all too much and, potentially, all too quickly to process.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

There was so much warmth in the siblings’ embrace that Madalena thought she would burn from the intensity of it. Her brother was back! It wasn’t an illusion, no one was messing with her mind. He hugged her back, he touched her face, he pressed is forehead to hers… All things that the memories, not exactly as old and set as Madalena thought they were, told her were right, told her this was always how it had been. They’d always been close. They’d held each other’s toes as babes, had shared a bed until a late age, had stayed up for hours every night to craft their stories, hone their abilities…

So when Brayden reached for her mind, she let a heartfelt laughter out, slapping him away with the Force. It was part of what they’d always done, wasn’t it? Test each other, try to take each other by surprise as they got older and better at what they did. No one on Coruscant had even imagined that the children of a police force commander and a zoo keeper were actually Sithlings who were learning to train themselves, that would become powerful enough to draw notice.

But when the attempt to infiltrate her brain became more aggressive, Madalena took a step back, the confusion all too easy to see on her face. This… This was not part of the games. There was an aggressiveness that came too quickly for the spell to adjust her memories to. Everything in her body and soul screamed danger. Her hands moved to reach for one of the many knives she had hidden across her body, but they froze mid-motion as Brayden overpowered her, and she was rendered unable to move.

But what Brayden did not know that his sister already was released. That the woman in front of him was her own doing. That in a galaxy where his beloved twin sister had been so certain in her heart and soul that there was no place for her, she had vacated her place and tried to give it something better, someone who had a place there, someone who would not be a broken shell. His sister, the girl who no longer existed, had always thought she was weak. And yet she had crafted the memory spell, mixed with a memory replacement spell. She had taken three days to cast it, using a combination of Force abilities, Witch Spells, and Blood Magic that she had taught herself from their grandmother’s Blood Tome.

It was not a perfect spell, as clearly evident by the occasional migraines that took her over as memories sometimes shifted, as the nightmares had shown, as bits and pieces of a girl who no longer existed made it back through in the shape of memories of stories crafted by the woman standing there and her twin brother.

But the spell was strong. And despite its few imperfections, it held fast, resisting Brayden’s attempts at breaking in. There was no spirit for him to find, nothing that possessed Madalena. There was nothing for him to find within the mind of the woman he was holding, nothing but memories that felt and tasted as real as his own, and protection that ran deeper than that, beating with the same rhythm as her heart, emitting the emerald green glow that could not be seen with physical eyes.

A low growl emitted from Madalena’s throat as she tried to fight against the hold that Brayden had placed on her. He had been the one between them to take a keener interest in the non-physical, had made it his forte, while she had been learning how to fight and use most of her abilities with the Force to enhance that. If she was going to break out of his hold successfully, she would be able to gain an upper hand in this combat that she did not understand, could not comprehend why was happening at all. And in most parts of her heart, she sincerely hoped that this was merely part of some cruel prank.


[member="Brayden Antares"]

 

[Brayden Antares]

Brayden's eyes narrowed as he continued his efforts, pushing down or outright destroying mental blocks in his way. The intensity of his efforts and frustration only grew as every single thing he encountered inside this...Madalena told him that this was Scherezade. Was this then a joke, a cruel game his twin was playing on him after so long separated?

The sound of Brayden's voice would echo throughout the woman's mind several times, constantly seeking an answer from his actual sister. Eventually, however, he came to a section of her mind that puzzled him. It felt like the Scherezade he was looking for, but the protections in place were...strong. After several minutes of the effort, Brayden noted his strength waning almost to the point where he would have no choice but to withdraw anyways. Rather than push himself to the point of exhaustion and be defenseless, Brayden withdrew abruptly from the woman's mind.

As Brayden's presence retreated back into himself, the Sith Sorcerer exhaled heavily. The blonde-haired Endelaan native leaned back against the wall and slid down to the grass. Looking up at Madalena, Brayden stared defiantly. "I don't know exactly what is going on, but I'm going to find out...whoever you are."

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

“I’m your sister, you stupid butthole!” Madalena screamed as she was finally released from the hold, her body slumping backwards, feeling like she’d been held in place by a truck that had held her against a wall. Sweat beads were on her forehead and she was breathing hard, the glow of her eyes now flashing at Brayden with anger.

This was not how it was supposed to go! They were supposed to meet around their twenty first birthday, they were supposed to run into each other’s arms and be happy, and there would be smiles and laughter and immense joy. Him coming back much earlier than anticipated was supposed to make it better! The joy and happiness was supposed to continue, not… Not turn into this. Not turn into something that she did not understand.

She was free now, free to call all her knives from beneath her clothes, free to aim her hand at him and call the blood that rushed through his veins to come towards her, going through the skin, leaving his body helpless and dead.

But when she looked at him, she knew she could not. She could not attack her brother like that, could not harm him, despite what he had just done. Especially not when he himself slumped backwards now, leaning against that wall, going down to the grass. She was angry all right, angry at what he had done, and still her first instinct was to try to protect him, even from herself.

With a sigh, Madalena sat down next to him, arm against arm and leg against leg. They were twins. They were supposed to always be comfortable like this, no?

“Did something happen on your journey?” she asked, looking at him, “did… Did someone harm you?” He seemed to be in good health. But not all injuries sustained were of the physical kind. “Is that why you came back so much earlier?” perhaps something had happened that hadn’t harmed him in any way but had caused him to change his mind about their plans? “Brayden… Do I need to take people out for you? Do you need help with anything?” Attacked her or not, he was her brother. Anything that was hers, was his. Except for her new thigh highs, those she was not going to share and he could freeze her like that again about it if he wanted to. “Do you even have a place to stay?”

[member="Brayden Antares"]

 

[Brayden Antares]

Brayden's gaze remained centered on the woman claiming to be his sister. There was no way anyone was going to convince him that his sister's name was not Scherezade. In the entirety of the known galaxy, there was not a soul that knew his sister better than he. The confusion, of course, was that this person, this woman seemed in every way like she was his twin. It all matched up...right down to their mother's curves and the pout of their mother's lips.

As the Sith Sorcerer had waded his way through the woman's every thought and memory, he was also struck with the sensation that this had to be Scherezade. Sure, there was the part of her mind he'd been unable to access, but just the brief touch of the defenses filled his mind's eye with the brilliant emerald green of their mother and grandmother. Certainly, Nessarose deWinter had taught him enough in the Darkness to make him...wary of Shery deWinter.

So lost in his own thoughts was the male Endelaan native, that he scarcely had noticed Mada-whatever sitting close to him, staring at him. In fact she was too close. Too close for the confusion that presently riddled his mind. Truth be told, other than the name...the only things that didn't really match up were the statements the woman made.

Sliding over just enough to put some daylight between them, Brayden turned his head to regard the woman. "Stop." For the moment, Brayden wasn't even sure he had anything to add. "Stop pretending to be Scherezade. You are not Scherezade, my twin sister. A sister that was born, with me, on Endelaan. To a Queen and a King."

There was but another brief pause. "Where are you from...Madalena was it? And how is it you have my sister's memories in your head?"

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Madalena thought her heart would shatter as Brayden moved away from her. No, not by much, but enough to break the contact between them. She couldn’t understand any of it; not why he was acting like that, not why he was thinking like that, not why he was speaking like that. And suddenly he told her to stop.

She sighed, deciding to do just that. If her words could not convince him, maybe her presence could. Just stay nearby. Let him get used to her again after they’d been separated for months, when before, they had never been separated for more than a day or two at most.

But then came the barrage of questions and Madalena looked at Brayden, unable to hide the hurt from her face. “I’m not pretending to be this Scherezade,” she said quietly, “you’re trying to pretend that I am, and it’s not funny, Brayden. And I am telling you, like I have told everyone else who called me by that name, that I am not her!”

She sighed, pulling her knees up and resting her forehead against them.

“We weren’t born on Endelaan, Brayen,” she resumed, “We were born on Coruscant. Endelaan was what we called the magical kingdom we conjured in late night stories, remember? A kingdom of sunshine and warmth, of tribes that were as ferocious as they were lovely, of wild horses and goblin roses. You told me about the adventures of the prince, and I told you about the princess. But they were just stories we made up. Just stories.”

Maybe… Maybe something had indeed happened on his journey. Maybe someone had tampered with his memories. Madalena considered calling Josh up immediately, asking him to set a meeting up with Jyoti so they could look into Brayden, assess the damage, do everything they could in order to help him heal from what must’ve been the worst of ordeals if he came back like that, not knowing his own sister.

“We’re from Corucant, remember?” she pleaded again, raising her face now to look at him, “the twin children of a Diomedes and Nessarose Antares, a police force commander and a zoo keeper. We had a lovely small apartment and our parents loved us. And then they died two and a half years ago and it was worse than anything else we’d ever endured. But we stayed together, and we gave each other strength.”

Her hand reached out to his. This was her brother. She was going to have to make him remember, going to have to find a way to make him remember who he was, because so much of him depended on her and vice versa, there was no way for one to forget the other without forgetting themselves.

“Do you remember, Brayden?” she asked gently, “a few months ago we decided to split for three years. We laughed and said we’d each conquer half a galaxy and then unite it as one. You wanted to head Galactic West and see what the Unknown Territories had to offer, and I went East to join the Confederacy after… After they helped us. Because a few months ago, the Sith Empire hit Coruscant again and or apartment was entirely flattened. We had no home left.”

Madalena sighed again. “Please, please Brayden… Try to remember. We trained together in the dark of the night, trying not to wake mommy and daddy up. We shared a bed for a forever, and after that shared a room. We told each other everything. Please… Please try to remember…”


[member="Brayden Antares"]

 

[Brayden Antares]

Brayden immediately rolled his eyes at the woman's claim, but he remained where he was. The longer Madalena prattled on about things the Sith Sorcerer knew to be incorrect, fauna of all sizes began to weaken. Insects and mammals alike became lethargic, clumsy even. Somewhere around the time that Madalena mentioned their parents being a police force commander and a zoo keeper, Brayden actually allowed himself a snort of derision.

"Diomedes Antares and Nessarose deWinter." Truth be told, from what he'd gathered, their mother was probably one of the few that didn't care much one way or the other about the naming convention. However, their grandmother was very precise on this particular subject, apparently.

The previously weakened creatures sucked in their last breaths of life before passing from existence. As their own presences were recalled back into the void of the Force, Brayden continued to siphone their life forces until they died completely. The feeling of their collective deaths washed over the sorcerer, granting him the strength he'd recently lose during his attack.

"I remember," were the words that Brayden uttered as he came back to his feet. "I remember Endelaan. We had never been to Coruscant as children." Elevating his voice slightly, Brayden's anger started to bubble underneath the surface of his skin. However, he gave no indication of the true depth of his rising frustration. "We are a Prince and Princess of Endelaan. We were born to the King and Queen of Endelaan."

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Madalena wasn’t someone who cried very often. Come to think of it, she could only recall three times she had ever since she became a teenager. But by the Force, she wanted to burst into tears right now, and curl up into a fetus position and continue to cry. Part of her wanted to believe that this was the result of something that happened to Brayden in the Unknown Regions, something that could be fixed, something that could be undone. But then he used that name again, deWinter. Madalena was finding herself starting to loath it. It wasn’t her name. Others’ confusion every now and then was fine, but not when her brother, not when her brother insisted on it, claimed that it was ­her name.

But then he said that he remembered. Madalena’s face shot up and she looked at Brayden, ready to smile and rush to him with hugs. Was sisterly love enough to break whatever evil spell had taken him over? Please, by the Force, please let it be so. But then… No, he didn’t remember. He remembered Endelaan as a real place. He didn’t remember their home, where they grew up. She wanted to offer him to fly to Coruscant right there and then and where the place where their home had been, but something inside her tugged extremely hard against the mere thought of Coruscant.

What if… What if… Madalena removed her holodevice from her pocket, weighing it in her hand. She knew that if she went down the path of what was currently in her mind, she was potentially going against CIS laws. She knew there might be consequences if this was found out. But damn the consequences. If it helped her convince her brother…

Tapping a few buttons, the holoimage of Madalena came up, along with endless information written all around it. None of it was the truly top secret stuff; but this was her personal access account within the Confederacy.

“The Confederacy employs millions of droids,” she said quietly, “tech and data are some of their strongest fortes. If I was lying, would they be able to have an account for me, for Madalena Antares?” She sighed, leaving it open. Brayden could see anything that was written for or about her. She didn’t care. He was her brother and there was nothing in there about her that she would ever hide from him.

Maybe… Maybe all Brayden needed was time. Time for him to get over what happened to him in the Unknown Regions. Time, stability, his sister.

“Let’s… Let’s put this aside for now,” she said gently, “Whatever confusion you have about what was real and what were stories we made up, it doesn’t matter. You know I’m your sister. I know you’re my brother.” All the confusion would not have convinced her otherwise. She could smell it, could smell his blood, could ‘smell’ his presence in the Force, could smell the bloodlines that ran through him, identical to hers.

“Come with me,” she offered, still sitting on the ground, the holoimages still floating between them, “I have enough room on my ship for both of us. You’ll have a place to stay while we figure this mess out. I can reach out to some friends and see if they can help us. Or we could just leave it alone and just go back to being siblings. You can think all you want about Endelaan or my name but you are my brother, Brayden, and I love you. Let’s… Let’s just be brother and sister again.”


[member="Brayden Antares"]

 

[Brayden Antares]

Brayden rubbed his temples slowly. He didn't know the exact answer to her question, of course. Brayden's knowledge of most current technologies was largely theoretical. He hadn't had much occasion to use any of them. Still, he'd been able to pick up multiple languages and deep space navigation without ceasing to exist, so he figured he was in good enough shape for the time being. Still, Brayden did not reply to the comment about the Confederacy and Madalena's "account". The Sith Sorcerer knew enough to know that even a halfway competent slicer could make that happen with ease.

When Madalena offered for Brayden to accompany her, he did not immediately lash out which was...something of a good sign. However, he still did not trust...whatever trickery or game this was. "So it's logic to which you want to try and appeal? You claim others have referred to you as Scherezade, attempted to tell you that you are her and not this Madalena. Now I, Scherezade's twin brother am telling you, and you genuinely think...it is myself and the rest of this so-called Confederacy that are wrong? You refer to childhood stories that are not stories but actually, real-life events, and I am the one that needs help?"

Her attempt to appeal to his love for Scherezade, for the moment, were falling on deaf ears. She was not his twin sister...despite how much her mind and body might feel that way. There was something...off, a piece missing. It was as if his sister's soul had been pushed aside for...for this lie. The question that Brayden still had was why. "Have you even considered that perhaps you genuinely are wrong? Do I need to take you to Endelaan to prove it?"

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

He wasn’t listening to her. How could she get him to listen to her? She was not this Scherezade person. No one had ever insisted that she was, it’d always taken a quick correction and then people corrected themselves and that was that. There was no Scherezade deWinter in any data archive that Madalena had managed to find, even after Josh had confirmed that someone by that name existed. But it wasn’t her! And now Brayden… Brayden was trying to mess with her mind. She wanted to blame it on a cruel prank, but it felt too real, she felt as though he believed every word that was coming out of his mouth.

But no. He was not going to take her to Endelaan. Endelaan did not exist, and she was not going to let her brother haul her off into the Unknown Regions, not when he was behaving like this, not when it was all too clear that something horrible had happened to him, messed with his mind. What he needed was help, and time, and his sister’s love. When he was himself again, she would be more than happy to travel with him to anywhere he wanted to in the ‘verse.

“I am your sister, Brayden,” she said as she got up from the ground. Force, a small part of her wanted so badly to just smack him over the head.

Instead, she removed a knife from underneath her shirt, the sharp edge slicing a tiny cut on her finger before Brayden could say anything about it. She pushed around the cut, waiting for a single thick drop to form, and held her hand out to him, the blood inviting. She was a blood hound. She could work through the Force and the blood, sniffing and smelling species and lineages with the Force. Did Brayden share these gifts? She was not sure. But it was another angle she could try.

“I am your twin sister and you are my twin brother,” she said again, offering her bleeding hand to him, “take my blood and you will know it to be true. We can argue about the rest of the crap later.”

[member="Brayden Antares"]

 

[Brayden Antares]

Brayden's expression quickly turned to one of exasperation. "The history you know and cling to is not real, Madalena." Waving a dismissive hand at the offered blood, Brayden merely continued. "I've already been inside the deep recesses of your mind. I know who you are. That is not the issue. The issue is...you don't know who you are." Whether it was blood or images, it wouldn't matter. Obviously his sister was so deeply afflicted that whoever this...persona was simply had no clue. While Brayden hadn't seen something like this, he did know of it. Whomever did this to Scherezade was skilled indeed...even with skill it would have taken time.

If his sister had been with this Confederacy for this long, there was at least a chance that someone within...had known her as Scherezade. For the time being, Brayden's only goal in life was to find this person and painfully watch as they suffered through him slowly siphoning off their life force one cell at a time until he got the information he needed. For now though, he was painfully aware that he would have to go along with this...to get along.

Following an exaggerated exhale, Brayden forced a smile onto his face. It was genuine enough, and it was certainly not the first time that he'd had to play a role in order to achieve a greater objective. "You were totally buying my story by the way." Glancing down at her arm, Brayden laughed as he stepped forward. "Ew do you really just let people drink your blood? Clearly you're still the weird one." Without prompting, Brayden embraced Madalena into a warm, loving hug. Behind her back, however, his smile briefly turned to one of dark mischief.

Game on, then.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

He was still insisting. Madalena wanted to cry, to scream, to punch him in the face. It didn’t matter what he believed anymore; she’d asked, she’d pleaded, to just let it go, just forget about it, just be brother, but he was still stuck on it, still refused to let go. There was no air left in her, she couldn’t breathe. This was so wrong, this was not how any of it was meant to go. What did she have left that could convince him? They had mourned the loss of the family picture album together on Coruscant, so there was none of that. Their old home was gone too. Other than her blood, there was literally nothing she could offer, and for him, it was not enough.

And suddenly she was… She as buying his story?

Madalena blinked, looking up at her brother, the confusion all too easy to read on her face. She blinked twice when Brayden stepped forward, her mind still trying to wrap around what was happening, what was going on, why the sudden change. And suddenly he was hugging her, and in that hug she somehow knew that everything was going to be just fine.

Laughing, Madalena wiped her bloodied hand on the side of her pants, and hugged her brother back for a moment before punching his ribs. “Don’t ever scare me like that again, Brayden,” she said sweetly, “I think you just cut my life expectancy in half with that cruel prank.”

She hugged him again, closing her eyes. Bliss. This was pure bliss. To have her brother again, to feel safe hugging him again… She hadn’t thought this would happen for another two and a half years. However the Force had aligned, for the first time in a forever, it was in her favor.

When finally the embrace was broke, Madalena wiped her cheeks on the back of her hand, only now realizing that they’d gotten wet at all.

[SIZE=11pt]“So now for the serious questions,” she said with an impish grin, unknowing how much it resembled that of her mother’s, “do you have a place to stay? Do you have enough credits for your needs? Are you hungry? Do you need anything?”[/SIZE]

[SIZE=11pt][member="Brayden Antares"][/SIZE]

 

[Brayden Antares]

Brayden winced slightly as Madalena hit him in the ribs. He allowed the woman to have her moment, but he did eventually have to break the embrace. Managing to keep smiling, Brayden watched Madalena as she wiped her face dry of any tears.

As he continued to watch her, his smile almost threatened to dip, but he managed to keep it plastered on his face. It wasn't fair how much like his mother the woman looked. No, their mother except...Scherezade or Madalena had simply forgotten who she really was. That was the larger shame. To think of their mother and father as a simple zoo keeper and police force commander. It was...it was ridiculous. Was Madalena even aware of the power she wielded, the power she was born of? Brayden could not tell simply by evaluating her force activity because, well, it was insanely active. That did not, however, mean she was aware of just how active.

Raising a hand with a soft laugh, indicating she should slow down, Brayden started to answer. "I just have my ship, for the time being. I do not...presently want for money." He certainly had enough to get by, but things were different in different areas. Brayden was used to acquiring what he needed from the land. "I'm not really sure why you asked if I'm hungry though." Scherezade certainly would have known that they both had fairly serious appetites. He supposed that may have carried into the story that Madalena concocted.

In that precise moment...Brayden had a thought as he connected the dots of the days events. It wouldn't make sense for an invasive spirit to give Madalena memories of Brayden or the names of their parents. The data file...easily forged or adjusted. That would have required someone on the inside of this Confederacy, though. Unless...

Brayden's thoughts drifted back to the fiercely guarded area of Madalena's brain. For now, he locked the information away. There was more investigation to do...before he could hope to deal with the situation in earnest.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

“Because I’ve got some of my famous sausages back on the ship,” Madalena smiled proudly as she answered Brayden’s question regarding the hunger, “I’ve gotten much better at making them. Haven’t accidentally ruined one in months! Got a bunch of other meats too in my kitchen, most of them from various hunts. It’s amazing how different it tastes when compared to something store-bought!”

Almost bouncing in her step, Madalena took her brother’s hand, entwining her fingers in his, and gently began to lead them back towards the city. “Or we can go eat somewhere else,” she offered, “Josh introduced me to a lovely place here that makes great steaks. Their bantha wings are also awesome.” They’d traveled for a forever to get there when they wanted to celebrate Madalena’s smooth acceptance into the Knights Obsidian.

She wondered though… Josh and Brayden had been best friends when they were all kids. Josh and Madalena had become best friends some years after that, but the boys’ relationship hadn’t really ceased in any way due to it. Josh would probably be furious with her but… How long could she plausibly enjoy her brother’s presence before he wanted to, or had to, check up on other people and things?

“Anywhere works, really,” she continued, “I want to hear all about what you did in the last few months. Everything!”

If his mind had not been damaged and he thought she was someone else, she wanted to know what his own journey had been like. She was certain it was more adventurous than hers, anyway. And after she had the story, she was going to find out just who exactly told him about the Scherezade name, because even though he wasn’t trying to continue that cruel prank anymore, he had to get the name off someone in the Confederacy. Or maybe…

“Have you talked to Josh since you’ve gotten back?” Madalena asked. That would pretty much be the only option outside the CIS. And the two were friends…

[member="Brayden Antares"]