finding something different

[Seto du Couteau]

Seto Du Couteau, Heir and Brother
Location: [Classified]
Apparel

Seto wondered about the issues of simply leaving everything, as his hands gently cupped his cheeks. An attempt to remain awake during his voyage across the stars were to have such musings as offerings to distract his sleep. Such was his state of mind that such questions of importance bored the Du Couteau heir even then, but perhaps it held more to do with the fact his cup of caf had been empty for quite some time. Or perhaps it was the answer to the question that bored him, for it was rather simple; he could not leave everything behind and simply enjoy the life he wished to enjoy.

Even with himself, Seto despised being told what not to do, and with a sigh escaping through his clenched teeth he adjusted himself to sit straight and reached out for his data-slate. What ever honest thoughts he must have told himself was simple the lone idea of attempting leave it all would only bring along more issues that he at first wished to get away from. So instead Seto drummed his fingers along his data-slate and mused on what he could find on this trip to the Unknown Regions. Seto eyed the planet’s name and finally figured out that even though he had left large amounts of unattended work back on Coruscant, it wasn’t much in the way of difficult work so he shouldn’t overly worry much during his somewhat impromptu mission.

Perhaps this would be a nice change of pace though. Seto gently placed his data-slate back and stretched his limbs forward to at least get himself slightly more awake. The blood slowly circulating through his body, he felt a familiar rumble of his ship entering the atmosphere and Seto readied himself to embrace whatever awaited him below.

A Week Ago. . . .

The administrator Daniel and Seto were locked in a battle of wills, both their eyes demanding the other back down, but the administrator for his own part simply wanted Seto to follow procedure. Granted much of what it meant to work alongside Seto was a matter of efficiency and the Commissar had never committed overt actions that bend too many rules. But this current request was certainly quite a bit above the normal dealings the Administrator would do for the Commissar. Perhaps it was due to their trust in one another that no other assistance was called for or bringing in other senior Commissars or Administrators to settle the dispute.

“You cannot be serious here Daniel.” Seto spoke once again, he wasn’t requisitioning funds nor requesting a large military task force, in fact Seto had accepted the cost for the mission himself as to get things to move faster and less data-work. He simply wanted his new mission to be not only classified but also moved to radio silence as not be bothered by anyone here on Coruscant.

The Administrator though knew what this mission was designed for and why Seto demanded his request to go through quickly, after spending some time with the man, Daniel spotted mischievousness when he saw it and Seto only provided the most vague of details in his mission briefing report and not even specifying the planet of which he would be conducting said mission. Well, in the Administrator's honest opinion it smelled like a Vacation without interruptions or disturbances.

“Again Mister Du Couteau I can’t just submit this knowing what I know. . .” Daniel began before getting cut off.

“Honestly Daniel it is nothing that big of a deal, just submit the report and it’ll get approved, just this one favor for me.” Seto pressured, his smile never wavered but his clearly showed the strain of keeping up such a pleasant mood. “Please.”

Daniel sighed and shook his head, sitting back down, his processed the mission report and looked up at his superior, “-And which of the higher ups is approving this mission?” Obviously Seto would need another Senior Commissar to approve this rather secret mission.

“Myself of course.”

Present . . .

Seto felt the ship gently land, and with the ramps lowered the Du Couteau heir emerged walked outside. The air was fresh with a heavy scent of pines and the landing pad around him rather rudimentary if not a bit spartan. While the pad supported the weight of his star-ship, it was clear no larger ships were thought of during the construction and Seto wondered about the state of technology level on the planet. The massive expanse of forest, with only small clearings that had several large structures that Seto could only describe as fortresses from orbit, the planet as a whole was something irregular.

Of course the automated computers of the landing pad and the refueling station above reminded Seto that this planet was purposely left untouched by the inhabitants. The sound of his data-slate chirped and quickly reminded Seto that his pilot would be leaving soon to refuel. Seto looked around and spotted the path ahead of him, lined with perfectly cut stone that maintained this sleek blackness that led Seto to his destination. His parent’s home.

His family’s home world, such a strange thought that bounced within his head, Seto had always assumed they were born on Abrion Major, and never questioned it until one day his Aunt had messaged him briefly about the gift that his parents had left for him and had then only to refuse the gift as an act to move on with his own life.

A Month Ago . . .

“Oh?” Seto asked, his surprise was not kept hidden as he entered his Aunt’s home.

The older pair that made his Uncle and Aunt both looked on with skeptical stares at Seto as the two of them brought up the gift that had been left behind by him. It was nothing but a box locked behind what he could only guess was a bio-metric security interface. I guess the gift was truly only meant for me. . .

Seto glanced at both his Aunt and Uncle, and neither offered their voice but gestured towards the device. With their approval, or lack thereof of anything, Seto went ahead and grabbed the box and quickly studied the gift that his parents went to great lengths to protect against anyone other than their son open.

Seto pressed his palm into the bio-scanner and a small prick stabbed into his thumb as the security device stole a bit of his blood. The young heir narrowed his eyes but the box slowly began to open. And within. . . held only a data-chip. Seto, rather unsure of what to make of such developments turned to look back at his extended family and shrugged.

“The data-chip is labeled, Poems of home. . .” Seto finally explained, his eyes curious.

This drew a rather large sigh from his Uncle, and his Aunt rolled her eyes, “-Your father was always the romantic. . . anyways, we have other business to attend to my Nephew, I bid you farewell.”

Seto nodded once and waved his Uncle and Aunt goodbye and quickly headed out. My father and mother never wrote poems. . . and about our home?

Present . . .

The walk continued without delay, and Seto took a moment to look at the forest around him, the trees were rather plentiful to the point that the sun above them was nearly blocked out completely. No doubt leaving the path would only get him lost within the heavy wooded forest simply by walking a few meters away from the paved path.

His walk continued without further thoughts of exploring and losing himself within the forest, instead his eyes perked up at the sight of the approaching clearing. Seto emerged from the forest and into the clearing to find a rather large Castle. The sight of the stonework appeared exquisite but the castle as a whole appeared lifeless, and with further prodding Seto confirmed the lack of sentient life around him. Seto continued to step forward and walked towards a very large plaque that read “Du Couteau Castle”.

“You could have mentioned a castle in the poems dad.” Seto muttered softly, his hands tracing the lettering on the plaque.

Before he attempted to figure out a way to gain entrance, two different presences made themselves known to Seto. With a quick pivot of his heels, Seto spotted two men that he had not sensed earlier and both appeared wearing black clothing with simple white embroidings that formed into sigils that Seto had never seen before. Seto though was certain both these men were Force sensitives and the skills they possessed to appear hidden from him only brought a wave of concern to the Du Couteau heir. These can’t be normal guards.

“Good evening gentlemen, how may I help you?” Seto asked, his bow formal and his hands gestured no ill will towards either men.

The blonde man with long hair and sporting a beard to match stepped forward and returned the bow, “-We are here to address a certain trespasser that had appeared not too long ago.” His voice sounded soft and heavy but the man’s answer was hardly subtle.

Perhaps that was the point. “-No trespasser here thankfully.” Seto responded quite honestly.

This time the other man with jet black hair, short but long enough to slick back stepped forward and without a bow he gestured towards Seto, “-And you are? If you are not a trespasser.”

Seto eyed the other man, his voice had a much lighter tone compared to the other blonde, “My name is Seto Du Couteau, can I have your names as well?” Seto responded and asked.

The reaction of the two men was not something Seto anticipated, both looked at one another with surprise but the tension never decreased and Seto wondered what these men were doing here and who they were to act as guards, if they were guards for that matter.

The blonde male sighed, regret perhaps? “It has been such a long time,” his voice carried forth much more depth than Seto could understand but before he could ask another question the raven haired male step forward to address Seto once again.

“My name is Hassaan de Morium,” Hassaan spoke as he gestured towards the blonde male, “- and he is Armand de Gontaut.” He explained and the two of them continued to walk closer to Seto.

Seto eyed them both, clearly his name meant something and perhaps it wasn't something good, but as the tension grew Seto felt no hostility from either only and what Seto could describe a certain heaviness. “Well Hassaan de Morium and Armand de Gontaut, may I ask again of your reasons for being here?”

The two males looked towards another and with a single nod Armand responded, “-From the words of our Lord Paramount d’Arc, you Seto du Couteau must stand before the Nobles of Morte la Nuit and have your punishment sentenced and carried out.” He explained.

Seto, bewildered beyond belief, took a step forward, the distance shortening, “-I’m sorry, but if there should be punishment, what of my trail?”

“Your trail had been concluded several decades ago.” Hassaan responded.

The young Heir twitched at this response, as he was not in a position to argue against them, not because he hadn’t any real rebuttals but because it was obvious such arguments would be futile. The thought of being punished for a crime that he had no idea ever committing nor if it was even his crime that he was being punished for was still rather shocking though. Seto glanced between the two men once again, their movements slowly approaching as Seto continued to ponder on a way out.

“It appears we’re at an impasse. . .oh. .?” Seto offered, his eyes though stared pass the men and to a certain spot behind them both. He continued to focus deeply into the forest behind the two men as his face scrunched up into a mild questioning face.

Hassaan and Armand both paused and silently gave each other a glance before looking behind themselves to see what had attracted Seto’s attention. Both narrowed their eyes and stretched out their senses through the Force but found nothing, “-What are you look-”

Seto bolted and the cloud of dirt and dust nearly reached five meters in height and width as he used the Force to generate large amounts of acceleration as his legs propelled him deep into the ever dark forest that blocked the sun from above. Seto was hardly above tricks, something no doubt his sister would smile approvingly if ever told of what transpired.

The two men appeared bewildered at the sudden departure of Seto, but further they had fallen for such a simple trick. The two once again shared of look, each nodding in understanding and spoke silently “Not a word to anyone.” and “This shall follow me to my grave.”

With their promises to never speak of their embarrassment, Hassaan and Armand launched themselves at full sprints to chase down Seto and bring him to their Lord Paramount. Seto for his part was lucky that he had a head start but ultimately he wanted time to figure out a way off the planet. He couldn’t call down his own transport as no doubt it would simply be quickly impounded by the station above, but the idea of fighting two unknown Force Users also was quite a terrible ideal.

Worst yet, Seto had chosen to be without his weapons, as both lightsabers were held safely on board his ship and with the previous reasons of being unable to call down his ship; Seto effectively found himself unarmed and stranded on supposed hostile territory. Seto sighed and figured if he could keep himself hidden for long enough, his pilot would be eventually figure out something went wrong and send a distress signal or after a few months the bureau would get antsy of hearing nothing from him and attempt a search.

Maybe there was a reason I should have shared my location with Dan-

His broken thought crashed into his skull as his own body crashed against an impromptu shield that Seto raised to stop himself from crashing against one of the many nearby trees. Seto felt a burning sensation rushing through his head as he attempted to figure out what attacked him and before he could properly formulate a plan Seto quickly braced his Force shield as another attack followed and Seto saw the answer to his previous question, Hassaan.

The raven haired man now sported a mask that covered up to his eyes and his attacks were condensed balls of Force energy that swirled violently within the man’s palms and he launched yet another attack that rocked Seto’s shield. Without clear sight of Seto’s potential second opponent, he continued to brace himself against the next assault, followed by another assault and another and another.

His shield proved more than simply annoying, if not straight frustrating for Hassaan so when Seto’s shield suddenly gave in, the man did not hesitate and charged forward. No doubt he figured that Seto had simply ran out of stamina to maintain his Force shield, but he thought wrong and Hassaan found himself smacked into another Force shield but before he could jump back he felt himself slammed up against another Force shield from behind.

Seto silently focused as he continued to shrink the space between the two shields that had trapped one of his pursuers. He had not wanted a fight, and most certainly did not want to kill anyone at all, but his opponent had made it rather difficult and Seto wondered how he could incapacitate Hassaan but before Seto figure out a plan a new rising source of great Force ability was felt by his left flank. In order to properly face the right direction of the new attack, he released the second shield and focused entirely to defend himself from a very large and focused Force attack.

Within seconds Seto saw Armand and he was wielding what appeared to be a lance type weapon, but clearly it held some sort of Force imbued powers as Seto rightly detected the majority of the Force energy emitting from the lance. Seto braced his shield and with a tremendous crack the attack smashed against Seto’s shield and for about a single second it appeared as though Seto successfully blocked Armand’s lance.

The next second shattered the Force shield and brought Seto to his knees as he barely raised his hands to stop the incoming lance that projected a powerful Force wave that smashed into him and sent the young heir flying through the air before finally smacking into a tree to stop his flight. Seto cried out in pain, his arm broken and his mental frazzled by the sheer pressure of attempting to form another Force shield so soon after his last shattered. But he slowly stood back up thanks to his attempt to shield the majority from smashing into the tree. His mind attempted to focus the Force on healing his broken left arm as Seto started to walk slowly in hopes of finding a location to rest and hide.

Seto hardly reach ten paces before the two men appeared in his field of vision, Armand held his massive lance and Hassaan brought out a pair of some of the largest daggers he had ever seen. Seto coughed up a smile, and waved at the two with his only functioning arm, “-I guess asking if I could leave peacefully will probably be answered with a flat no.” Seto pondered outloud to the two men.

The two appeared less than amused, well Armand clearly looked annoyed, but Seto couldn’t tell what Hassaan was thinking but guessing from the anger coming out of his eyes and the mask seemingly tightened around the edges suggested that neither men were feeling anything other than annoyance at best or outright malice at worst.

Hassaan attacked first, his blade aimed for Seto’s broken arm and had assumed it would be a safe pace to attack without fear of a counter but the shock that replaced Hassaan’s focused face was a bemusing sight as Seto’s broken left arm suddenly appeared fixed and quickly dodged out of the way before delivering a Force empowered left hook that propelled the assailant airborne and smashing against a tree.

Armand appeared also confused, thinking that the time it took for Seto’s arm to fully heal was ludicrously quick but the somewhat cocky expression that Seto wore only lend to the fact that Armand should not hold back with his next attack to finally subdue the criminal and bring him in for his punishment.

Seto of course was hiding a very clear fact that his arm had not fully healed and it was clear to Seto that he had only ruined his left arm further with such balant risk of subterfuge. But Seto soldiered on, his mind focused on using the Force to keep his arm from falling off his shoulder’s socket from the pure agony of searing pain. But Seto had one last gambit to pull and hopefully it would pay off with him able to run and hide.

Seto charged first, not wishing to allow Armand to dictate the fight but quickly found himself projecting a Force shield to stop a pair of daggers from evercistating his last remaining functional arm. Seto grimaced at the pain that throbbed through his entire body as he once again attempted to fend off another assault. His headache rose to greater heights and Seto gently let his broken arm fall and focused more of his attention on keeping his Force shield up.

Hassaan continued another attack with a flurry of blows of his daggers but most interestingly each attack sparked against his Force shield and Seto was certain that those blades were not normal daggers. Again though before he could formulate a plan on somehow buying himself more time Seto felt the familiar raise of Force energy and Armand barreled through several trees as his lance mowed through them all. Hassaan jumped out of the way and Seto took the chance to change the direction of his Force shield and put all his focus on stopping the Lance.

The lance met Seto’s Force shield but this time the shield broken instantly, followed by a softer sounding crack and Seto felt the full power of the Force lance. Seto felt himself fly before being slammed against another tree. He had no idea how far away he was thrown but given how Seto was sure all his ribs were busted and he had lost all feeling to his left arm while his right began to send signals of broken bones, Seto knew the fight was over. The headache continued to pound against the entirety of his skull, and combined with the pain, his exhaustion took over and Seto barely saw the two men approach him before closing his eyes. His world faded to black.

=====

Seto blinked several times, his thoughts returning to consciousness and the first thing that greeted Seto was a grey ceiling. The light mercifully was rather dim and the young heir made several attempts to move his arms but his body simply refused to listen to such strenuous and silly commands. Finally Seto begged that his body begrudgingly lifted himself up and shocks of pain electrified every nerve and Seto fell back down on his bed with a soft groan.

Evidently whatever length of time since he blacked out was nowhere near the time needed to get his body somewhat healed enough. Seto sighed and was slightly thankful that his headache had subsided, but annoyingly he felt rather hazy as if his mind was still half asleep. Figuring that such issues would subside once he managed to himself rest more, Seto turned his head and saw that he was inside a cell of sorts. The bars though were not made of plasma or any sort of energy beam, but of what Seto could guess was just steel. Though his eyes wandered over to two other figures standing outside of the cell, and Seto recognized them as the men he had fought.

“I would say, good morning but I don’t seem to know the time of day.” Seto spoke, his voice a bit hoarse but overall the relaxed bravado reflected in his tone of voice. Can’t forget my manners “-How long was I out?” Seto asked.

Armand spoke first, “-Two days.” He responded rather courtly.

Seto coughed to hide a rather dark muttering, but with a pained smile Seto glanced between the two once again, “-So, I must ask, of what crimes am I being punished for? While it doesn’t matter in the end if I know or not, personally I would like to die with at least knowing the reasons for my death.” Seto explained, his voice slowly returning back to normal.

The two men gave each other a glance, and Seto could have sworn something like regret passed between their eyes. Or was it something else? Seto waited and nearly opened his mouth to ask again before Hassaan spoke up.

“House Du Couteau had betrayed Lord Paramount and had stolen away at the time the planet’s ability to properly safeguard itself. Past broking their most sacred vowels they also ran off planet to escape justice.” Hassaan spoke, his voice stern with a certain rigidness of someone attempting to break the news of someone’s death to a family member.

The silence that came afterwards served to only weigh heavily on the injured Seto.

With the explanation given, both men walked out of the room, leaving the heavily injured Seto to comprehend what had just been explained to him. “What?” Seto asked out loud. With the confusion and pain returning, Seto closed his eyes sunk back into another dreamless sleep and into the comforting darkness of unconsciousness.

 

[Seto du Couteau]

Seto Du Couteau, Heir and Brother
Location: [Classified]
Apparel


Honesty often appeared too harsh in Seto’s viewpoint, at times it required some slight modifications and perhaps a few carefully picked words to help with the delivery. Truth held the ability to pierce deeply and thoroughly through anyone that kept lies, Seto was of the opinion that he needed to soften such truths to the best of his abilities. A talent to sweeten such wounds often forced Seto to worse fates when perhaps simply allowing the truth to fall without his talents would bare better fruit. But his way of approaching truth had been working thus far, but at the moment he was not sure how he could ever sweeten the truth that had been thrown at him days previously.

His thoughts continued to plague him, the machines that were monitoring him kept their low hum and Seto’s thoughts lingered uninterrupted despite his own efforts to find something else to distract himself on. The dimly lit cell and the grey walls around him began to annoy Seto more and more though, it had been a few days from when he first awoke but for the moment he wished for a return of his state of unconsciousness. His blue eyes absorbed the offending color as it served to compound the fact he was without anything to entertain himself.

Seto had made previous attempts to reach the cell cage wall, but found that they had lined the cell with some sort of void stone and his own physical strength was far from optimal to attempt to break the cell. The Force nullification was another headache and in his injured state it was something he wished to not deal with, so he pushed his bed as far away from the cell bars as possible. It tentatively worked but Seto distracted himself with his hands, slowly tracing along his bandages as they paused at every rip and tear along his sleeve and shirt, his head began to ache for an entirely different reason. Seto breathed in deeply but the urge to fix his clothing grew with every second and staring into the grey walls around him did not in away alleviate his growing anxiety.

As if another eternity of wakefulness passed, Seto heard footsteps and the door to his room open to reveal both Hassaan and Armand, but also a third figure he never met. Or maybe I did but I can’t remember. . . The feeling was rather familiar but all the same the female that had accompanied the other two had her dark red hair framed along her face and her red eyes shone brightly. The stern look she gave Seto only made him feel more uncomfortable, perhaps she noticed his new placement of the bed or the fact he wasn’t resting properly. Or like me, can’t stand ripped and torn clothing.

Seto wagered that she was annoyed at him for something else entirely than any of the above reasons but before he could greet either of them, Hassaan opened the cell door and slowly approached the curious Seto. The raven haired man gestured for Seto to stand and exit, with a questioning look he nodded and got off his bed. His feet and legs silently screamed from the agony of once again being used, but at least Seto could hold himself straight and walk unassisted. The silence continued between the four of them as Seto was being led down the hall and through a few corridors.

Seto waited a moment as the doors swung open, the chamber ahead of him was huge, the large support structure pillows adorned by all manners of lights and golden fixtures. The carpet was a tasteful silver that lead straight down the chamber and directly to the singular throne in the entire room. There sat upon was the Lord Paramount herself, Jeanne d’Arc and along either side of her standing at perfect attention were several other people dressed similar to Seto’s escorts.

The Lord Paramount herself wore her dark brown hair long and smooth, cascading down from her shoulders, perhaps as far as to the middle of her back Seto guessed. But as he stepped closer, a sudden invisible hand wrapped around him, stopped him cold and this was the cue for the three behind Seto to go to their positions by their Lord Paramount’s side.

Now with him facing the entirety of the Nobility of the planet, Seto felt the unease from days prior creeping up into his heart. He had no clue what could happen, nor did the short comment of his parents bring to light anything close to what Seto would call an understanding to the situation. His head attempted to turn away, to perhaps look for something else but the Force grasp held his body firm and his head still, so his eyes could only stare at those in front of him.

His fingertips grew cold, and his breathing slowed, this darkness swirled within him and Seto finally understood the fear growing. I hate facing things I don't know anything about. Perhaps his short burst of anger kept the worst of his fear at bay, but it wasn’t much different when his worry turn to questions that bounced all over his head. The Lord Paramount raised her hand and Seto felt himself getting lifted off the ground and pulled closer, perhaps within three meters of her, and her voice rang out low.

“Why did you come here?”

Seto, slightly unsure of how to answer, “-My father wrote a terrible poem about this place.” He explained rather matter of fact. A soft smile, though pained as it was, Seto continued, “-His words really didn’t do this planet any justice.” Seto explained.

Her red eyes narrowed, but her lips remained the thin line, an expression she hadn’t changed since when Seto first entered. “A poem?” The question itself sounded like an accusation.

“My parents never told me of their home, and they certainly never told me about any wrongdoing they might have committed. . .I only just recently was given a gift that they had left for me to discover years after their death.” Seto explained a bit further, the urge to move his arms and gesture was unbearable, but the Force grip around him only continued to remain firm, as if he were something slippery that could run away.

The Lord Paramount kept her rather doubtful gaze, but a flicker of emotion shone in her eyes. “Your parents death?” She asked, her head leaning forward as she asked. “-You don’t appear to be lying. . .” She proclaimed before leaning back, considering his words further.

Whispered words and hushed tones were heard from all the other Nobles and Seto truly wondered what this meant, he was not rather ready to explain to complete strangers about his parent’s death back when he was a child. “Yes, so whatever ideas you had about justice died the same night my parents had. . ..” Seto added, his voice growing tensed, the anger had quietly grown, scraping away at his fears and forced calm.

This abruptly caused all the Nobles to suddenly turn silent, while the Lord Paramount raised a single eyebrow, “I am Lord of this planet, punishment I carry out here needs no reason past my own.” She explained, “-but my condolences.”

Slightly taken aback by the apology, Seto narrowed his eyes, momentarily forgetting his fear and stared into the Lord Paramount’s eyes. “You are sorry?” Seto nearly spat out the question, “-Just moments ago you labeled my parents traitors, betraying their duty, forsaking their vows.” Seto retorted.

The red eyes of hers flinched, the Lord’s hands clenched and Seto felt the Force grip tightened as he averted his gaze once more, “Your parents were still one of us, and despite what you may think, their deaths was never our intended goal nor was their punishment to be as cruel as execution.” She explained, returning a stern gaze back at Seto, her ruby colored eyes filled with smoldering of a flame.

Seto returned his gaze back to the Lord Paramount, “-So, what now? What kind of punishment were you planning on giving me? For what crimes did my parents commit that it extends to their only child?” Seto asked, something wasn’t right with the information he was gleaming from this conversation.

The Lord Paramount looked away, this time looking towards her right side and nodding once towards the oldest of the Nobles that had lined up next to their Lord. Seto in the meantime hung there, tightly held within the Force grip and suddenly the large doors behind opened for another figure to walk inside.

Unable to turn around, Seto heard the steps get closer and clearly this new person meant something to the others as the Nobles all bowed in near perfect unison. While the Lord Paramount did not bow herself, a respectful nod was given and Seto was slowly brought down to the floor and the Force grip released. Seto sighed in relief as he was able to take in a full breath of air and he turned his body around to address the new arrival.

Seto looked upon the most dazzling of ornaments one could wear over their eyes, almost a crown of silver and ivory that acted as an exquisite complex blindfold. Long white hair that matched the length of the Lord Paramount's, and her height stood equal to Seto’s own. Eye-level, or rather where the eyes would be behind the blindfold, Seto gave the woman some interest, something felt different and yet very similar. A Force presence he knew he had never felt before, but it reminded him of something known in a rather abstract sensation and yet recognizable.

“Seto Du Couteau,” the Lord Paramount began, “- incline your head in respected for Viktoria F. Du Couteau, the Lost Guardian. . . your Sister.”

Both of them stood facing one another, and with her hands slowly raising her ornament blindfold to reveal the most serene sapphire like eyes that could only match Seto’s own, and as if that had not confirmed their relationship she spoke a single word “Brother,”

Seto couldn’t move his arms, nor his legs, even as he was certain the Force grip had all but disappeared, it took several more seconds for Seto to incline his head. His voice was absent but his mind raced and tripped through every possibility. Distraught was not a harsh enough word for Seto to describe his mental but even then his body remained frozen and his face expressionless. All except for his eyes that betrayed his outward appearance and revealed his true emotions.

“The Lost Guardian Viktoria F. shall be your ultimate fate as it is right to allow her to dictate what becomes of you Seto Du Couteau.” The Lord Paramount explained, “-The rest of shall take our leave Viktoria, should you require anything, do allow us to assist you.” the Lord Paramount offered before vacating her throne, followed by the rest of the Nobles that left the large throne room.

The two simply stood there, neither willing to address the other first but Seto took a step back and this prompted Viktoria to take a step forward. He was still their prisoner, and being left alone with a sibling that had never been mentioned before, nor hinted by his parents. What happened all those years ago here? Seto felt the weight of the questions grow and nearly collapsed under the weight of what exactly? Guilt? Heart break? Betrayal? Seto took another step back, and likewise Viktoria took a step forward to keep their distance similar.

The silence that continued between the two of them stretched onto unbearable lengths as Seto opened his mouth, finally found his voice, “You are really my sister? If so, are you the older or younger?” Seto asked, the absurdity that stood in front of him at least could be quelled with simple questions.

Viktoria appeared to consider his words, and with a thoughtful expression, she shrugged, “I do not know, but technically you would be by forty-five seconds.” She answered, her chin softly scratched by her left hand.

“W-w-we’re twins?” Seto sputtered, even with the expectations of more surprises were utterly still a low bar for the actual reality of the situation in front of him. “-O-okay. Well. . could you tell me what happened to our parents and what led them to. . . betraying their homeworld?” Seto asked rather bluntly. Even if he had plenty of time to come to terms with the situation, he was sure there was no gentler way to ask his question regardless.

Viktoria’s expression did not change, but her thoughtful gaze turned to Seto’s own sapphire eyes. “That story is a long one, perhaps it’ll be better in my Tea room.” She offered, the invitation open for Seto to accept.

“Oh, you have one of those too. . .” Seto muttered as he nodded once, “-Lead the way.” He agreed and followed his proclaimed Sister out of the Throne room.

They left through another series of Hallways and once or twice Seto was sure they had circled back because even his sense of direction was sure they had simply took a rather convoluted way out of the Castle. The Castle where he had been resting at was the main city of the planet and his sister’s own home was quite a distance away and much less crowded. At least that was what Viktoria explained to Seto in a rather quiet and uninterested tone.

When they had reached her place, it was an impressive Mansion to be sure, but Seto was slightly caught off by how solemn and strange it looked. The mansion was sitting in a forest by itself, a small clearing around the Mansion and nothing else. Clearly Viktoria enjoyed her solitude far too much in Seto’s opinion, but he couldn’t critique the architecture and followed Viktoria inside.

The main hall was sparse of furniture, and the lights dim making it rather hard to properly to see for Seto. Seconds continued on with silence, Seto looked over to Viktoria who continued to walk through an opened door and Seto quickly followed. Their footsteps were the only noise being made within the house, both Seto and Viktoria made light steps with their equal strides before she suddenly stopped and gestured for Seto to sit and wait. His eyes glanced around, blinking quickly he noted two cushioned couches and three cushioned chairs all assorted in a semi-circle facing one of the windows with the curtains drawn.

He sat down on one of the couches and noted the stiffness with the cushion, much unlike his own couches back on Coruscant. Many of those had been sat, laid, punched, kicked, clawed and thrown on more occasions than Seto was comfortable remembering. Viktoria continued to walk closer to a table nearby, a soft snap and a flame appeared to heat up a single kettle.

“Why don’t you live at the Castle?” Seto asked, his voice soft but despite his delicate tone it felt deafening to his own ears.

Viktoria looked over, and considered Seto for a moment, “-Because. . . it was too large.”

“Oh.” Seto responded, it appeared she was not one with quite the social life to his own, “-Even this place appears, very spacious.”

Viktoria nodded once, “The Lord Paramount requested that I still maintain a home large enough to host all the Nobles.” She explained.

“Have you hosted them all before?”

“No. I rarely see any of them here, perhaps Armand once a month would pay me a visit along with Hassaan.”

Seto raised an eyebrow and nodded once as well, “I see.” The strangeness only continued to compound but he looked back to Viktoria.

She rested her azure gaze on his own and sat on the other end of the couch he was occupying. Seto gently ran his fingers through his hair and with a slight tilt to his head he asked “-What are you going to do with me?”

The air seemed to chill, but the passive expression only seemed to keep air from getting tensed. “I always stared out that window, wondering about my family.” She explained, her hand gently pointed towards the window they were facing.

Seto followed her hand, his gaze looking out of the window and into the vast darkening sky, “Some of my earliest memories were of myself running down a hallway, I cannot remember why but I do remember knocking over nearly every vase during the run. Perhaps I enjoyed the sound of things breaking.” Seto spoke thoughtfully, his looked back at Viktoria who was considering him with the same stare she had since they first saw one another, but said nothing.

“My-our parents would often bring tutors from other around the galaxy for no reason but to teach me something.” Seto explained ,”-One day they had brought over this tailor who was fixated on my smile or something and had produced one dress after another for me to wear.”

“Another time they had me be apart of this clothing advertisement, I got to wear several designer suits and some rather beautiful garments that simply describing as dresses would do them no justice. . . you are giving me a different look from before. . . I swear I tell the truth. . . here allow me to use the Holo-net and I’ll show you. . “