I'm Sorry, Evelynn Can't Play Right Now

[Lira Dajenn]

Nemene rolled in the bed as Evelynn left her, the warmth fading and the spot where she had lain becoming vacant. Nemene quickly filled that spot, her face becoming buried in between two pillows. The sensation of falling awoke Nemene, and her eyes slowly slid open. For a second she did not comprehend that her Sister was missing, she simply lay there with a cloud of sleep over her mind.

Slowly however her hand began to feel around the bed, searching for the warmth of her sister.

When she found nothing a slight panic struck The Queen. Her hand quickly tapped around the bed, feeling for any trace of Evelynn. When none was found she surged upward, hair flicking over her face as eyes shot open. She removed the black locks of hair, throwing them over her head.

Her eyes searched, and saw the outline of a flowing nightgown in the wind.

“Evelynn!” She screamed the name at the top of her lungs as she jumped out of the bed, running as fast as she could.

 

[Louise]

Unfortunately [member="Nemene Talith"]'s fastest was not enough.

The Silent Sister was deaf to reality, and her sister's screech was lost to the sickly girl. With her arms outstretched Evelynn took another step. Upon both Onderon and Rattatak the frail creature fell, plunging off both cliff and balcony at the same time. Of course, the feverish woman was half expecting for a skreev to come calling, to catch her so she could prove her worth to the galaxy's true Master of Beasts.

This did not happen.

In fact as gravity commanded, her fall from the balcony to the courtyard was swift. She plunged feet first, blissfully unaware of the very strong presence of death in the air. Her lacklustre blonde hair whipped above her violently, refreshingly, the wind rushed into her face, soothing her clammy complexion.

For the first time in forever Evelynn felt free, felt aliv-

CRACK

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Nemene reached as the balcony just as her sister took her leap of faith. She clutched the banister with a loud thump, immediately looking down at Evelynn and in complete horror. She watched her sister fall for a brief few seconds, her eyes growing wider and wider. Time seemed to slow, and Nemene called out to her once again.

“Evelynn!” As she yelled she heard the crack, she felt the splintering of bones, and she gasped in absolute terror.

For a second she thought her sister dead. The girl did not move, did not cry, did not even make a sound. It was only through the bond that she felt the slight twinkle that was Evelynn's life.

Without another moment of hesitation Nemene bounded over the railing. Unlike Evelynn however she used the force to break her fall, strengthening her own legs and breaking her fall with a slight cushion of air. She landed with a thud, rushing over to her sisters side as fast as she could. She came to a sliding halt, kneeling before her and checking over Evelynn's legs in a panic.

“No. No no no no.” Nemene cried out over and over again as she nearly touched the splintered legs, white stuck through flesh.

For the first time in a year, The Queen panicked.

 

[Louise]

Well that's a shock to the system.

Fortunately for Evelynn, she was so caught up in the delirium of the illness that she remained blissfully unaware of her own mangled legs. For the best, really. One could imagine that if she were aware that this would be pain of a crippling nature. Her blood was fire, breathing laboured and skin slick with sweat.

Somebody had made a grave error.

Nemene was going to have to pull herself together and promptly, playing the panicked game was going to help precisely nobody. In this moment the Silent Sister's life hung in the balance as the poison continued to ravage her now broken body, the effects wouldn't be halted for the sake of dramatic tension.

The girl's eyes flickered around lazily, attempting to understand their surroundings but the effort soon ceased and her eyes began to roll into the back of her skull.

It almost seemed as if she breathed a word, a name:

Nemene.

[member="Nemene Talith"]

 

[Lira Dajenn]

The panic that had set over Nemene quickly disappeared, falling to a sort of levelness that exuded calm from her. Tears streamed down her face and she babbled almost incoherently as she looked over her sister. She moved the girl so she was laying down properly then very very gently shifted her legs so they were at least somewhat straight.

The Mangled bones and destroyed muscles and tendons cause her legs to flop slight. Nemene cringed as she moved her sisters legs, feeling just how shattered they were.

She couldn't heal them, not like this. They would re-shift and re-form, but if she healed them incorrectly...Evelynn would never walk again. Even she was not good enough for this, even she couldn't fix legs that were -this- broken. She had to do something though.

“Evelynn...this is going to hurt.” She knew her sisters love for pain, but perhaps this would be different. With a solid grip she held onto one of the bones sticking through her sisters skin.

Then with a quick jerk she pressed the bone back into Evelynn's leg.

She did it three more times, until each of her bones was back in place and her skin showed only open wounds.

“Bring a stretcher!” She wasn't quite sure who she was yelling to, but someone would hear her.

 

[Louise]

Her sister's words were wasted.

Legs? Hurt? Evelynn was scarcely even aware that she had a body in that moment never mind the abstract concept that was legs. Her head lolled to the side as the blood continued to depart in streams from her nose, a trickle even escaping from the corner of her mouth. The young woman had already gone into shock, it was just a matter of time.

There was a piercing cry.

From up above swooped down the girl's beloved Valrain, it set itself down besides the ailing girl's head and proceeded to ruffle its feathers in agitation. Through the bond of master and creature the avian knew that her master's life force was fading. Unfortunately Merisi was a bird, and not a doctor. So all that the avian could do was caw aggressively at Nemene. Not much of a help, but you know, it's a bird.

The Silent Sister slipped into complete unconsciousness.

[member="Nemene Talith"]

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Nemene's panicked rushed through her again, and this time it was exacerbated by a large predatorial Bird. The Queen shot a nasty glance towards the creature, her eyes staring like daggers the force flowing through her in droves. The creature shied and silenced, sensing her exacerbation and quickly quieting completely, but not leaving.

“Evelynn!” She shouted again, slapping her sister lightly on the cheek. “Evelynn wake up!”

When the girl didn't wake Nemene let out a deep sighing breath. Someone had messed up, someone had given her too much of the poison. The Queen of Rattatak scowled, and then looked down at her sister. She needed to be bled.

It wouldn't help with the legs, but Nemene could heal that later, first however she needed to wake her sister up.

With one quick scooping Motion Nemene picked up her Sister, cradling her in her arms and being a little less than careful. She rushed through the palace, bashing door after door out of her way and kicking slaves who did not move fast enough. Quickly she reached her bedroom, closer than Evelynn. She gently placed her sister onto the bed, tearing off what remained of her dress and exposing her bare breasts.

Nemene placed her hands on the girls chest, one of her heart, and the other just below her left breast. Then suddenly a surge of energy poured into Evelynn, like a defibrillator, but far more effective. Her sister would awaken quickly.

Next from her nightstand Nemene pulled a sharp obsidian blade along with a thin line of tubes and needles. Quickly she attached the needles to both end of the tubes, placing one end in the vein in her arm after tying it off with a length of silk, and then the other into Evelynn's. Then with the knife she set to work, digging it into one of Evelynns wrist and slicing open a vein.

Blood began to pour out onto the silk sheets, blood stained with poison.
[member="Evelynn"]

 

[Louise]

Evelynn of course, being unconscious missed half of the action. Although it was likely that she was enjoying the embrace of oblivion. There was darkness, and it was so good to just feel nothing, but that was not to last.

A harsh jolt sent her gasping back into reality.

Her eyes snapped open and immediately her pains made themselves known. There were no realistic fever dreams to take her to a land of denial. No. The girl's nose had still not ceased bleeding and in the corner of one of her eyes there was a slight welling of crimson. That was definitely ominous. Her temperature had spiked, she was fire. However those things were a lesser concern.

Her legs. There was only pain, she could not even think of shifting the limbs.

Panic surged, likely giving Surgeon Talith a hard hit of adrenaline and the mute gasped as she felt the blade dig into her arm. What had happened!? She had been sleeping, dreaming and now, now there was just blood. The girl was terrified, as red gushed from her arm, she didn't even notice that tubing that connected their veins.

NEMENE?! WHAT'S HAPPENING?!

[member="Nemene Talith"]

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Nemene immediately snapped forward, grasping Evelynn by the shoulders and pressing her into the bed. Her eyes were fierce, adrenaline coursing through her. She stared directly into Evelyn''s gray orbs, her gaze breaking through Evelynn's eyes. A hard wall of calm fell down from Nemene through the bond, attempting to squash all panic within Evelynn.

“STOP!” She hadn't really needed to yell, but the effect was enough. “Don't move Evelynn!”

Again she yelled, forcing Evelynn to stay still. She could do nothing if the girl was thrashing about like an otter. She held Evelynn in her place, pinning the girl until finally the she stopped moving about. Satisfied Nemene let go of Evelynn, her scorching hot skin leaving the Queens hands red and sweaty. She frowned and then called out to the servants “Bring an ice bath.”

Over the next few hours Nemene set to work fixing Evelynn, or at least as best as she could. She dipped the girl in ice water, healed her legs to some degree, bled her of the poison, and generally did whatever she could. After all was said and done Evelynn was returned to her own bed, fresh sheets and blankets gracing her skin.

Days passed, and Evelynn did not awake.

 

[Louise]

Instinct demanded that she flail.

Nemene's far superior strength squashed those demands as the confused and frightened woman, not to mention that forced wave of calm that somewhat pacified her throughout the rather major episode. She finally relented, her panic being subdued but the fear remaining.

What had happened?

Her only guess could have been another hallucination, a terrifying prospect considering she had no recollection of any visions. Panting from the effort of her previous fit of excitement, the woman managed to somewhat settle herself, and let Nemene go to work.

Sleep came, and stayed for quite a few days, her mind too exhausted there were no dreams, only darkness.

Eventually however, Evelynn stirred. Naturally being asleep for several days meant that the woman was extremely groggy. She moved to roll onto her side and immediately a spike of pain shot up her legs. That woke her up slightly. A groan. The girl found that manoeuvring the damaged limbs so that she could lay on her side took a fair amount of effort, gritted teeth and gumption.

In this moment her gut reaction was to cry out for help, the curse of dependency.

Nemene?

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Nemene had been sitting in the chair at the opposite end of Evelynns room. She had not been only sitting actually, but sleeping, having hardly slept in the last few days and rarely leaving Evelynns side for even a moment. For a time it had truly been down to the edge of a needle whether her sister would make it, and The Queen of Rattatak had been reduced to desperation, nearly crying herself to sleep each night until exhaustion had finally taken her.

When Evelynn spoke however, Nemene stirred. The ragged Queen blinked her eyes open, orange orbs shifting over to her sister.

She smiled when she found the blonde woman awake. She did not cry, or laugh, or sing for joy, she simply smiled. There was too much exhaustion to do anything else. Oh Evelynn would have an earful later of course, the ninnie had jumped off a balcony after all, but for now she had garnered some sympathy, after all it had not been her fault.

No, this had all been the fault of a slave. A slave named Vira. The girl who had for so many months overseen the dosages of Evelynns poison. This time however, she had made a mistake. A mistake that had cost her her life.

As soon as Evelynn had stabilized, Nemene had found Vira wandering the halls of the palace. She had taken the girl and put her to the question. It had only taken a few hours, but Nemene had exacted her vengeance on the girl, flaying her alive and tearing out her eyes and tongue. The girl had barely been alive after this, skinless and bereft of two of her senses. Nemene had used the force to keep her alive in this state for hours, almost an entire day in fact, an accomplishment she was quite proud of. In the end however Vira had succumbed to the doors of death.

Evelynn would never know this of course, but it gave Nemene a certain amount of...relief, when dealing with her sister.

“Evelynn.” She said sitting on the edge of the bed.

 

[Louise]

There she was.

A feeling of warmth washed over the girl, as per usual Nemene was there. Her comfort, her safety, her everything. For a moment the girl just lay there, acknowledging the sanctuary that was her bond sister. Finally the girl opened her eyes, finding her sister sitting at the edge of her bed, she too simply smiled.

However that smile faded.

She had never felt so feeble, so useless. Were it not for Nemene's presence it was likely that their own slaves would have been capable of overpowering the girl. Of course, were it not for Nemene the Silent Sister wouldn't have been in this awful situation in the first place, but hey, what you don't know can't kill you?

Nemene?

With a great struggle the girl managed to drag herself into a sitting position, grimacing as she did so, the simple act of that alone taking far too much exertion.

What happened?

[member="Nemene Talith"]

 

[Lira Dajenn]

“You jumped.” That was the only thing Nemene said for the longest time. An age seemed to pass before she said anything else, her palm sliding to cover Evelynns own in a comforting manner, sympathy glowing through her eyes. “You walked to the balcony, and you jumped.”

The last word was spoken with a lump in Nemene throat. She teared up slightly, her voice breaking and her eyes watering. It was hard for Nemene to speak about the possibility of Evelynns death, and just a few days ago she had come very near to it. Too near to it in fact. The thought made Nemene nearly sick up, feeling the bile churn in her stomach.

A loud sniffle erupted form Nemene, but she quickly shook it away. Trying to hide her obvious anguish.

“You shattered your legs, my love.” She let her thumb graze against the back of Evelynn's hands, almost petting her in a way.

It was the only thing she could think to do in order to comfort her sister, everything else seemed wrong.

“They are completely splintered, broken into a hundred different pieces. I-” She cut herself off, tears rolling down her face. “I couldn't fix them...”

Was Nemene feeling guilt?

 

[Louise]

She had jumped?!

Immediately she looked to her sister, grey-eyes wide with fear. Why would she have done such a thing? Another hallucination? It had to be. Or was it something far worse? In a state of dementia had she tried to kill herself? No, no. How could she do that to Nemene? It was so selfish, she...no...she wouldn't have, she couldn't have.

A gulp, and a slight edge of guilt entered her mind.

Nemene, I...I...

Her legs?

This revelation had cut her stammering apology short. She had shattered her legs? That's why she couldn't...the pain...the pieces were beginning to fit together. Whipping off the bedsheets revealed those shattered limbs, heavily bandaged and splinted to boot. It must have been severe if her sister could not have healed them, or perhaps Evelynn herself was simply too weak to handle Nemene's unique style of healing.

How...will...

How long will they take to heal?

 

[Lira Dajenn]

She faltered for a moment, unsure of how to reply to her sister, mostly because she was unsure of an answer. A frown settled on her face, and slowly her hand withdrew from Evelyn's, slowly sliding over her chest. She clutched her other hand there, holding them both in place like a shy little girl. Finally she let out a deep breath.

“I...I dont know.” It was a difficult thing to admit, especially for her.

Nemene prided herself on being one of the greatest healers in the galaxy. She could fix brain injuries, repair dying hearts, sow together any wound, but Evelynn's legs? They were shattered into hundreds of pieces. Healing them might make her sister deformed, something that Nemene could never being herself to live with.

She let out a breath again, almost crying. “I...i...i can't heal them Evelynn.”

Tears flowed down her face.

“I wouldn't know where to begin. I...” She trailed off again, her voice drowning out into sobs.

 

[Louise]

Well, that is a worry.

Nemene was the master of anatomy, if the woman wished to give up the life of a Queen and a Sith (why would you) then she could have qualified to be a surgeon, and a renowned one at that. Not to mention that the raven-haired sadist was a very rare example of a dark-side healer. If she couldn't fix them then who could?

Which lead to a new concern.

Will I be able to walk again?

The thought was blurted out immediately upon conception. While her sister sat there weeping Evelynn could only show concern towards herself and the mute caught that moment of selfishness.

Nemene.

With a slight groan of effort the frail and broken woman leaned forward, placing her own hand atop the two that rested upon her chest. I'll be okay. It was a statement that Evelynn was not exactly qualified to make, but if it would pacify Nemene's own emotional anguish then it would have been worth it.

It'll be okay.

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Nemene tried to speak between hard, pathetic sobs. Her voice broke each time however and tears prevented her from speaking. She had failed in this, she was failing Evelynn. The girl had mangled her legs, ruined them utterly and there was nothing she could do. A sniffle escaped her nose, slowly the Queen of Rattatak regained her composure, back stiffening, puffy eyes blinking, and red nose sniffling slightly as the tears stopped.

She made them stop. Through sheer force of will Nemene restricted one of her basic body functions.

She had to be strong, for Evelynn.

“Yes.” She said wrapping her hands around Evelynn's. “Yes they will.”

But Nemene wasn't entirely sure about that. Evelynn's legs were shattered, broken beyond anything that she could repair. The perfection of her scarred body was ruined, ruined by the breaking of her limbs. Inwardly Nemene frowned, she wished she had punished Verin more.

Another tear rolled down her face, involuntarily of course. She sniffed, and then spoke again, her voice barely keeping itself together. "You require rest sister. Your legs need to heal on their own for a while...then i may try again."

 

[Louise]

Evelynn observed silently as her bond sister flat out denied herself of her own tears.

Once you scratched past the brutal sadism, the hard-on for family legacies, her possessive nature and the need to control you would find that Nemene Talith was a very strange woman. A bit repressed if you ask me.

Again rest was required of Evelynn and the blonde girl sighed slightly. At this rate the rest of her life would be spent in rest. A pity it was only her legs that got destroyed in the fall. She was no stranger to suicidal thoughts, always suppressing them to an extent where Nemene would hopefully not notice. If her sister gleamed any notion of ending it all, well, she'd quickly find herself bound to the bed frame once again.

Very well.

The only thing the woman could do was accept her fate, I mean, what was she going to do? Refuse to rest and walk away? No. Her body was her prison, her bed was her home and Nemene her guardian. That was just the way things were now.

Thank you, sister, for everything, she said with a rather glum smile before reclining back into her pillows.

[member="Nemene Talith"]

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Nemene let go of Evelynns hand, letting it drop onto her own leg. She scooted on the bed, moving herself closer to the blonde woman and sliding her arms around the womans head. She embraced her, placing the blond woman's head on her breast and holding it in place there, hugging her without fear of damaging her legs.

She ran nails across Evelynns scalp in a soothing motion.

“I would give my life for you, sister.” The words were surprisingly true, and Nemene found herself taking soothingly deep breaths, petting her sister for what seemed like an age until she fell asleep.

A week passed with Evelynn being on constant bed rest, her legs slowly healing and her Sister hardly ever leaving her side. Nemene stayed by Evelynn almost every hour of every day, only briefly leaving for perhaps an hour at a time in order to attend to ministers, ambassadors, and all the things one needed to do to run a planet. Each time however there had been a longing in the bond, a call for Evelynn from Nemene to let her know that she was still in fact there.

Still longing to be by her sisters side.

It was simple to her. She needed to be at Evelynn's side, as much as she could be anyway. Her healing was slowly working. The darkside mending Evelynns legs slowly but surely, though truthfully Nemene still had no idea if her sister would walk again, it was difficult to tell just how much she had damaged the ligaments within her legs, she would need months of physical therapy just to stand.

So with this in mind Nemene stayed by Evelynns side, each and every day, doing nearly everything for and with the girl, until she had to leave.

The Cauldron called to her. Not because of some silly games or some oversight, no. The gladiators were rising against their masters. Hundreds of Rattataki and dozens of slaves were rebelling against the tyranny of the Two Queens. Nemene had no choice, she had to put down the uprising before it grew to strong. She had to show why there were no revolts on Rattatak, why rebellion, was truly a terrible idea. She left early in the morning, leaving a note for her sister and heading to the Cauldron.

Hopefully she would return in time.

 

[Louise]

It's a slippery slope down the slide of despair.

Evelynn had become the very definition of infirm. The only task that the girl could manage by herself was sleeping, and this was a fact that she had become horrible aware of. Oh yes, her illness had given her a small taste of crippling dependency but at least she had been capable of walking, well, shuffling. She had been able to relieve and wash herself with only mild supervision but now, now she needed help.

Had Nemene not been so dedicated and loving throughout the whole ordeal then perhaps misery would have taken the mute completely.

The girl awoke, and for the first time in forever she awoke alone.

Of course, she understood. Upon reading the note the girl acknowledged that a gladiator rebellion needed to be swiftly quashed even if her selfish side craved her sister's immediate return. For more reasons than one. Oh yes, there was emotional craving, a feeling of need and longing but the body has needs too, specifically the needs of the bladder.

Micturate is apparently a term for it, but another is urination.

Evelynn needed to pee, it was the morning schedule and her body had become accustomed to such. A feeling of dread rose within the mute's chest. She needed Nemene. Surely it wouldn't take her bond sister too long to crush any and all rebels, she was efficient in that manner.

So she waited.

And waited.

That ill-fated last scrap of pride refused to have slaves help her to the lavatory. There was no way. The concept itself was beyond humiliating. So she shifted, anaemic arms pushing herself up into a sitting position. Evelynn would make her own manoeuvre to the en suite. Broken legs be damned.

The manoeuvre didn't work.

Spending about ten minutes just trying to get in a position to stand was torturous, eventually she did end up sitting on the edge of the bed, heavily wrapped legs awkward and straight. With her bladder pressing forth with urgency Evelynn flung herself to the ground, completely ignoring the screeching pain of her broken limbs. The girl was adamant on dragging herself if she had to, praying that Nemene would return from the Cauldron in a second.

She did not.

Evelynn's desperate yet futile crawling had brought her only a fraction closer, but it was too late. There was a release. A spreading warmth that could only signal the single most humiliating moment in her entire existence. In that moment she no longer felt human.

And the Silent Sister cried.