Hanna Nights [Enigma]

[Darth Ayra]

​

Dust circulated around the woman, kicked up by the gusts of wind that blew in from the exposed balcony of the spire. Transparisteel was scattered along the floor, alongside a throne; the former broken by the fall of Darth Junra and the latter destroyed by the thronebreaker himself, Mikhail Shorn. The hum of Darth Ayra's Lightsaber shone in the moon light of Coruscant, so far up was the spire that it was one of the few places that the satellite could reach them. Events were taking place around the Sith Lord, as they schemed and fought their way to supremacy over the One Sith, but the blonde fury that stood at it's centre took no notice.

A tremor took hold of the Sith Lord's soul and threatened to tear itself apart. So powerful, that it nearly brought the woman to her knees. A hand lifted from the side of Darth Ayra to her stomach, as her spare hand held the cylinder shape of her Lightsaber hilt. It continued to hum in it's activation, but she paid it no attention nor the One Sith that stood around her.

The dust continued to swirl, before it's dispersed across the spire and out towards the balcony. Her yellow eyes lifted from where Pandeima had been stabbed towards the Sith Lord's remains. As her apprentice watched on, the dust dispersed completely until Ayra could see it no more.

As she watched on, memories came to mind. With the use of her Lightsaber, Darth Ayra had severed a relationship that had lasted decades. They had promised not to do this to one another, yet the work that they had done together had to be protected. In the end, Ayra's Sith Master had lacked the necessary qualities to do what needed to be done to protect their secrets. Pandeima had not expected the betrayal and her apprentice sensed that she did not fully understand it neither.

Turning her Lightsaber off, Darth Ayra lifted the cowl of her robe over her blonde head and headed towards the exit. Tears streamed down her face as she left, the hood shielding them from the One Sith. As she thought about what she had done, Ayra heard the familiar sounds of a carnival atmosphere...

~​

Several years ago...

​

The carnival was buzzing, full of families, children and the odd date looking to win toys from vendors, board rides and buy candy floss. Neon lights were a flurry of euphoria that added to the atmosphere. Laughter, conversations and the sound of carts on nearby roller coasters were joined by vendors attempting to draw in punters to play their games. It would be like this for another four days in Hanna City park.

Alicia Drey wore a hoodie, hands tucked into it's pockets and sat on a bench, watching a family walk by. She scowled. A hand lifted from the pocket and her eyes lowered to the chrono on it to check the time. They would be here for another few hours. Her family were in the vicinity, but she paid them no attention. She hadn't even wanted to go. "What a waste of time," Alicia thought, eyes following the farris wheel as it spun with it's occupants on board. "I wished I was home."

Blowing a piece of bubble gum, the fourteen year old continued to sulk.

 

[Onrai]

[member="Alicia Drey"]Fun.

It was something Circe rarely partook in personally, but the woman herself did find such things to be quite intriguing. She had only now begun adjusting to the floral body which she had been gifted by Rave, and one of the ways she intended to do such was by stressing herself with the powerful G-forces of the hypercoasters, here at Hanna City amusement park. According to the holonet, the most powerful hypercoaster of them all was located here - something that stressed bodies to the absolute limit. But the individual cars were paired, and she didn't want to go by herself - weight distribution would be off.

She noticed an uninterested girl, who seemed t be agitated with the entire place. Stepping over, she gave her a smile. "Hi... I was hoping to have someone else ride with me on the Disintegrator, since it's two people a car. You seem free - would you be interested in riding with me?" A very silly excuse, but her charm and pheromones hadn't yet failed her.

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Enigma"] |

Alicia lifted her gaze. She studied the woman from head to foot. Floral dress, raven black hair, a beautiful figure and face. The arm that her chrono hung off returned to her pocket. She turned away from the stranger, deciding to focus on a nearby vendor, replying. "No thanks."

The vibe, aura and edge that radiated over the teenager told Circe that she didn't really want to be disturbed or that something was wrong. Perhaps it was just her personality. After all, teenagers were known to be a little ratty.

 

[Onrai]

[member="Alicia Drey"]

"What's the issue, if I may ask?" Circe did indeed sense the high level of discontent deep within the young woman - but then again, most she knew were like that. She wasn't a fan of encouraging relationships with those of traditionally lower status than her - but the girl seemed to have the potential to become someone great, like herself. The seed of darkness was within her, and at the moment, it was in Circe's best option to grow and nurture it, forging Alicia into the next Dark Apprentice.

She had never truly had an apprentice. Her lone wolf strategy had proven to have flaws, but truth be told, she did find the concept of such a thing to be most alluring. Having an apprentice meant that she would be able to teach for the first time - and it wasn't as though she had a ready supply of students. Maybe now was her chance to say something intriguing.

"You have the power to change your world, after all." She mused. "All you require is someone to show you how to use it."

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Enigma"] |

Alicia hated her family. Her father was Edison Drey, a real estate trader who moved into retail and technology. Chandrila was world well known for it's export of food and it's import of technology. Chandrila DataTech, a retailer which supplied that technology to the general public, was founded by Edison Grey as he searched to annex the technology market. Her mother, Anatasia Drey, was a beautiful woman who hadn't worked a day in her life. Anatasia came from a wealthy family of industrialists from Eriadu, who moved to Hanna City to get away from the polluted mess that was their world.

Having already made their fortune in the Seswenna sector, Anatasia was raised in comfort and that continued long after her parents death in a traffic accident when Alicia was two. She didn't know or remember them. Edison and Anatasia had already married by the time of the accident, and the inheritance Anatasia had made went well with the Drey family fortune, which had been passed down throughout the ages. The Drey's also came from Eriadu and that was one of the many things that linked Edison and Anatasia Drey too each other.

Her brother and sister, Edison Jr and Alison, had inherited their father and mother's sense of inheritance to everything and anything. Sometimes their snobbery was toxic and Alicia hated it all. She felt limited by her parents and pushed out by her siblings, who had taken on Edison and Anatasia's approval.

Alicia turned her gaze, pulling her out of bad memories to look upon Circe. She gave the woman a scowl. Who was she? Alicia did not know this woman. What did she want?

"What do you mean I have the power to change the world?" Alicia asked, with a sarcastic and bemused expression that every syllable of her sentence dripped in.

 

[Onrai]

"Even now, I can sense the power radiating from you. A power which your siblings and parents hardly understand, if they are even capable of understanding at all." She smiled, sitting down next to the other young woman. "A power that can be nurtured and trained within you, if you only submit to the will of its power."

That will of course was the Dark Side. She wanted this Alicia to submit to her teachings, learn how to become a Darksider and become highly skilled in the use of Sith Magic.

Assuming she accepted, of course.

[member="Alicia Drey"]

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Enigma"] |

The sarcastic, bemused expression dropped. Alicia considered the woman sat before her. "What do you know of my family?" A concerned expression formed over her face. "How do you know about...?" She trailed off. It became obvious that the teenager didn't understand her powers or what they were.

 

[Onrai]

[member="Alicia Drey"]

And so she had hit a nerve. A smile crossed the face of the Sith Lady as she eyed Alicia over. "I can give you a power that no wealth nor technology can compare to. All you must do is submit yourself to my teachings and follow me. You will receive the greatest power one can offer - and your plush life shall hardly be affected."

All that mattered now was whether or not the young woman would accept the agreement. If she did, then things were good. If not... Well, she knew how things would end up.

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Enigma"] | [member="Jentara Vel"] |

How did she know what Alicia wanted? The teenager considered the woman sat before. She didn't even know her name, but there was something about her that the child didn't understand. Her eyes trailed along from her blonde hair to her curves and back up again. Alicia's lip curled. "Why me though? I don't even know your name or who you are."

 

[Onrai]

[member="Alicia Drey"]

"And neither do I know much about you. But what I know is that you have a destiny - one that I wish to help shape and form. I can give you the power to change worlds. To shape this galaxy into exactly what you desire it to be. The choice is yours... You will be able to find me if you choose to accept later. But if you aren't interested right now, I suppose I'll simply go."

She would feel a flare of power as the woman seemed to shift her appearance into that of another bystander as she walked away slowly.

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Enigma"] |

Nothing surprised Alicia Drey much. Her family, as rich as they were, had come across some of the finest and rarest pieces of art, jewelery and technology that the galaxy had to offer. Such was the fascination of those who had spent the majority of their adult lives living on Chandrila. She had seen it all and didn't particularly share the Chandrilian passion that came to technology and so on. Bored with life, she spent most of her time alone, trying to work out what she was and what she could do.

Now, walking away from her, was a strange, a woman who out of the thousands that were traveling through the circus that night, had come forward and dropped a seismic ripple in what had already been a ruckus ocean; and now the water was coming back to shore. This woman was now a source of gravity Alicia could not deny. Drawn towards her, the teenager felt an anxiety. That she had to stop her walking away, so as to learn more.

"Wait!" Jumping to her feet, Alicia nearly dived to catch the woman's arm. When she stopped her, the teenager said. "How did you do that? How did you... change? What is it that I feel? What is it that I can do?"

"You said you could show me."

 

[Onrai]

[member="Alicia Drey"]

"I could, yes." She stayed silent, the woman's hands holding her arm. She seemed frozen in time. "Embrace me, and I will show you something few if any will ever see."

Were the teenager to do such, she would find herself immersed purely within the Force, the White Current surrounding them both like water rushing over a pebble in a stream-bed. It was an amazing feeling - one that ended too soon as Circe let it go.

"You've had the experience. Do you wish to learn more?"

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Enigma"] |

Like all of those who held it within their hearts, power was like a moth to the flame; and in this particular occasion, the woman who stood before Alicia Drey was on fire, one who's warmth she wanted to embrace. Her eyes turned to watch around them. Everything seemed slow and distilled now. They hugged for a moment, the feeling washed over her and then it went away. Time went back to normal. The sounds of the carnival returned with it.

Stepping back, for a second time the teenager asked. "Who are you?"

 

[Onrai]

[member="Alicia Drey"]

She paused, looking down at the younger woman with a smile on her face, her appearance having reverted to what it looked like previously. "I am Circe. And you are now my student." Such was certainly the truth - a student to mold and shape as she willed. One to corrupt, to taint and fill with the sickly sweet poison that was the Dark Side. Once Circe was done with her, there would be no turning back. They would be Master and Apprentice.

Forever and always.

 

[Darth Ayra]

837 ABY

Had she known what she had gotten into in her youth? The answer had been no. Darth Ayra lifted the cowl of her robe, moving out of the spire and away from the single greatest tragedy in her life. This feeling had been worse, far much more than when Rave Merrill had discovered the connection between her two lives and sought to exploit it. [/I]

The cowl of her robe offered her a source of protection, away from the prying eyes of the One Sith and their subordinates, as she made her way out. Ayra did not want her new found friends to see the tears dripping down along her cheeks at the death of Pandeima. Such a sign of weakness could not be shown in the den of the galaxies finest predators, you see.

As she descended the stair way out of the spire and down further into the depths of the tower, she continued to reminiscence...

~​

The Hanna City carnival was in full swing. Vendors showed the produce of their freshly cultivated crops from the vast lands that Chandrila had to offer, whilst outsiders from worlds as far as Eriadu came to show their recently developed techologies. The carnival served to show what Chandrila was most famous for in it's exportation: food. At the same time, the event also served as an opportunity to show what it's most famous import was: technology.

Chandrila DataTech was no different. She could see the stall in which her father's corporation had set up was, in the horizon. She could not spot her father or any of her other family there. Only employees who had been given the hours to work that night and the other two in which the carnival would last.

Alicia averted her gaze from the stalls back to Circe. They had been walking together for several minutes now, without conversation. She felt that the older woman was studying her, getting to know more about her. Brazen, the girl asked. "How did you know about my ability? I don't understand what it is or how I can do it. It's caused a divide between me and my loved ones." She turned her gaze. "I hate them for it."

She had never told anyone that before.

 

[Onrai]

[member="Alicia Drey"]

"Hatred is a powerful emotion." She smiled. "But love is equally potent. It fuels passion a bit better than hatred, considering how much more easily it can be manipulated." Pausing, she looked over at the cotton candy. "I sensed the power within you when I asked about the rollercoaster ride. Your apathy shielded it to a degree... But there is no mistaking the powerful potential that you have." She licked her lips - it seemed almost delicous! But no, she was no Voracitos... Nor was she maddening like others she had encountered. It was just slow corruption.

Nice, slow corruption.

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Enigma"] |

"I've never felt loved by my parents, brothers and sisters. My mother and father were raised on Eriadu, but moved to Chandrila a long time ago. Like all the other people on Chandrila, you would be hard pressed to find someone who wasn't interested in technology. It's like they, my siblings, friends and anyone else is infatuated with any gadget that comes and goes."

She eyed the candy floss as well as they spoke. "I've never been into technology. I mean, it's okay. But I'm not like these people. I don't get all giddy when someone shows me something new. I don't find it all impressive. It's like I am an outsider here. I know my family love me, but..." She trailed off.

 

[Onrai]

[member="Alicia Drey"]

"But you don't feel that they truly respect your desire to ascend above relying on technology for things." She made a guess which she hoped was correct. "And you think that you will always be put down and looked down upon because you don't share the views they do. That's when you need to take control, make the decision for them regarding what they're capable of doing." Such was the Sith way, after all, though she chose not to reveal such.

"But the more I teach you, the more we'll learn. Should we return to my ship?"

 

[Darth Ayra]

| [member="Enigma"] |

Circe understood. She did not want to solely rely on technology. It was not natural. There was something more to life. Technology was necessary in everyday life, such was the way of the galaxy now. But to solely rely on it to get along? No. That was not what Alicia Drey wanted. She wanted to live and experience life beyond the scope of a camera or to follow trends set by some corporation or celebrity.

"Back to your ship? I can't leave Chandrila. I'll get in trouble." She frowned.

 

[Onrai]

[member="Alicia Drey"]

"Very well." Taking the hand of the young Chandrilan woman, she stepped onwards, moving towards the nearby spaceport that her Veratus-class Shuttle was located at. It was a luxurious ship, the size of a large luxury suite on Coruscant, with plenty of electrum-gilding and other extraneous additions everywhere. The carpet was a soft and plush reddish fabric, almost velvet and blanket-like in its softness. "Make yourself at home - unless you really are in a hurry to start learning.

The last thing she needed was Alicia suffering serious stress on her home planet.