One Man's Regret

[Angelo Cavataio]

Alright Angelo had lied. It was not next day for Scherezade and him to leave Dathomir. He had to steal a ship from some game hunters. It was a good thing not all rancors were taken from Dathomir. Plus, they did not need the ship anymore. He made sure their deaths were quick and the bodies given to a rancor for a meal. The whole reason for another ship. Angelo knew going on Scherezade would make the trip worse even if she offered to get him to go to Asteria in the ship. The memories shared gave him a better understanding. So, another ship was needed.

As the ship was landing on Spira, Angelo was finishing up preparing by sliding his navy-blue suit jacket on. He looked into the mirror and sigh. The nervousness was a new thing for him. Never meeting up with Asteria did he feel nervous. This felt different to him because he had been dead, and it was easily six or so hundred years later. Maybe, it was not him at all. The spell could be playing its game with him again. He could not wait to face off with Petra again to end the spell, but he knew it was not time yet.

Angelo turned towards the table that had his case. Looking at his saber, the desire to have it was strong. It would not be needed, but it would not hurt to have it. He picked up and handled as he thought it all over. It was put into the case. He closed and locked it. The decision was made. He might not like it but could reduce a chance of more drama.

Walking out, Angelo was all ’suited’ up for the meeting. He looked over at Scherezade with a smile. The two had talked about various things that was not related to subjects that might trigger them. They did not need such things right now. Angelo was trying to help and support Scherezade without directly addressing it all. Come at it from the side with a smile, it meant a lot to him ensure his niece got back to her old self, or maybe a self that could be pass some of the darkness that haunted her.

Still smiling at Scherezade, he jokingly said, “Ready to play bodyguard and toss me weapons when she starts attacking?” Angelo was sort of joking. He really did not know how it all was going to go down. Again, he joked, “You sure you want this, Scherezade?”



[member="Scherezade deWinter"] and [member="Asteria deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

She didn't like being on Dathomir. Once the business with Angelo was agreed on and they said they'd go to Spira to visit Auntie Astrie, she had too much time to kill. It was another one of those planets that brought on memories of her and Gerwald. She had remained shut inside the apartment while Angelo worked on getting a ship, drinking all the blues and pinks and reds that were available to her, and spending the time between the drinking being unconscious and not dreaming. At one point she'd even taken a shower, but she didn't really look better after that.

The time spent on the way to Spira was... Nice, for a lack of a better word. She was comfortable with Uncle Angelo, comfortable in a way she wasn't with Josh and Daisy, even though she had somehow, against her will, permitted those two to become a little bit close to her. She and Angelo didn't share direct blood, but they had shared their life's memories with each other. There were a few hours she'd considered asking him if she could try to sleep with him in the same room, but she'd eventually decided against it.

Scherezade couldn't help but wonder though, if she would be as comfortable with either of her parents if she ever managed to find them. With Brayden, she knew she would. With Auntie Astrie... No. If she had to be truly honest, Auntie Astrie didn't feel as close. She embodied so much of how Scherezade imagined a deWinter was supposed to be like, look like, feel like, that she felt intimidated by her aunt. By her cousin too, but she was not who they were going to see.

When they finally arrived on Spira, Angelo looked like a million credits. Compared to him, Scherezade looked like something fished out of the local sewers. Her clothes were clean, but her face, skin, and hair said it all. She could not conceal the fact that she was broken. She could not stop drinking. She just hoped she could stay clear enough once Angelo and Asteria were close enough to each other. The focus would be on them.

"She's not going to attack you, Uncle Angelo," she sighed. A moment later, she nodded. "I do," she answered, "but it's not about what I want. It's about what you and Auntie Astrie want. And you've shown me your memories, so don't try to bullchit out of it."



[member="Angelo Cavataio"] [member="Asteria deWinter"]

 

[Asteria deWinter]

On the patio of her apartment, Asteria looked down on the main building of the Red Lady. Spending time on Spira was not part of her immediate plans and wouldn't have been on the agenda at all if the Sith hadn't done what they did. Fools, she thought as she watched. Spira brought memories back, of both happier and sad times. Here, she had grown, she had bene sheltered. Human. Eyelids lowered and gaze averted as Oeana approached her, standing in silence behind her for a few moments. "What is it?" Asteria finally said after a few moments. "You wanted to see the report on Druckenwell," Oeana spoke, offering her the datapad. She had asked for it.

The construction was progressing nicely, lady deWinter realized as she scrolled through the information. Finishing, she returned the datapad back, never actually looking at the brunette. Her gaze shifted back to the main building. Asteria wanted off Spira, she was too long here already. "Shall I send Jhoren?" Her assistant wondered after a moment, earning herself a look this time as Asteria turned to look at her. "I'll let you know. Have the kitchen prepare me a meal instead. And send me the employee files." There were still days before decisions had to be made but Oeana had already prepared a list of her recommendations. She might as well have entertained herself with them, instead of allowing old emotions threaten her.

By herself, Asteria had made her way onto the inside, passing through the sitting room to get into her office, taking a seat. Oeana had gone the opposite direction, making her way to the main building where her office was located. It would be a few minutes before lady deWinter would get the requested files. So said there, seated on one edge of her chair, wrist wresting on the opposite chair side. For a split second, the green in her eyes flickered, something Asteria wasn't aware of. Spira had been as she had suspected, troublesome for her emotions. Her memories, good and bad, threatened. Of her parents, of her siblings, of Boadicea. She was lucky though, there were too many memories of her time with Angelo and Celestine, those were on Endelaan. No, it was the bliss and the collapse of a family that was here. For young Asteria, it had left deep scars, far deeper than the two visible scars Boadicea had left her with to remember her by.

Letting out the quietest sigh, the ice within it was visible as her computer sounded itself off after a few moments, informing her that the files had arrived. Asteria had moved to open them when she froze, hand remaining just above her keyboard when she had felt it. Subtle but strong enough to cause her to stop, distant yet close enough to make her irises flicker in color as the emotion danced inside. Right there. In the distance. On the planet. Asteria felt it, felt him, in the moment of arrival.

Her head shook immediately. He was dead, gone. He had gone to bargain and never returned. Therefore, Angelo was dead. It was a vivid memory, the moment Asteria had felt his passing. Far across the galaxy, even if she didn't need to feel when she knew. Asteria could remember that day the very last day her emotions had been truly free, rampant even. Ice spread from her fingertips, spreading across the keyboard before she withdrew her hand. "Stop," she ordered her mind. It was playing tricks on her. He was dead. She was dead. And she had long been dead, on the inside.

[member="Angelo Cavataio"] [member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Angelo Cavataio]

Angelo had to chuckle. “I’m not trying to get out of this… we are here. It would be a shame waste a chance seeing Asteria’s mouth hit the floor.” Laughing came right after his words, Angelo was betting on his angel not knowing he was around, or else he would have heard. He did start visiting his daughter a month ago. If those two talked, then his princess never spoke of him to Asteria. That was a little weird, but he did not know their relationship at all. He had missed out on so much.

Giving Scherezade a hug, hang an arm on her, or any touching was off the table, so he nudged her with an elbow jokingly. “Let’s go… you’ll have to show where we are going. I didn’t see your grandparents old place when I looked out while dressing.” Then he hit the ramp switch to lower it for them. As it lowered, he added. “Oh and you need to pick a place we are going next from here… I was thinking Endelaan but I bet you know better places that don’t have a home built by me. Just need to make sure, we’ll have fun.”

Once the ramped lowered, Angelo walked down and waited for Scherezade to lead the way.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]
[member="Asteria deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Scherezade rolled her eyes. Angelo was trying to be cheeky about meeting Asteria, but the Sithling knew him better than that by now. He might've enjoyed the jaw that won't really drop, not if she was there, but he'd enjoy the stuff that came afterwards too. All he had to do was bloody show up at her office, see her, she would see him, they would kiss, they wold get their happy ever after. That was how it was supposed to work. That was how it had to work.

The ramp lowered, and Scherezade began to lead the two towards Asteria's office. She didn't really have a reason to guess she'd be there; but once her foot set on the planet, it took two seconds for her to reach out with the Force and know where she was. She was also sort of surprised that Angelo couldn't do it himself. With a shrug, Scherezade announced her presence through the Force.

Hey, Aunt Asteria, she sent telepathically, I'll be in your office with a friend in a few minutes. We sorta need to talk.

She hoped her breakage hadn't gone through with the rest of her telepathic tone... But these days, it wasn't something she could trust. Every piece of her was broken, and she didn't know how to find them all and glue any of them back together. But that was not the point. The point was that Aunt Astrie and Uncle Angelo were going to meet.

And then he mentioned Endelaan.

Scherezade froze in her steps, the shock easy to see through her boozy fog. "I'm not fit to go home," she whispered, using the same words she had told Asteria when they met so many months ago. Asteria had not responded to the statement. She didn't know if Angelo would. But would or wouldn't, there was no denying it. The Princess of Endelaan could not go home, and she didn't know if she ever would.

With a sigh, Scherezade forced herself to press on. It wasn't a long walk, but it was going to feel like eternity anyway.


@Angelo Cavatatio [member="Asteria deWinter"]

 

[Asteria deWinter]

Her left hand held her right as she stared forward, willing her mind to end the wanderings it had sunk into. There were files to inspect, to find out whom her assistant believed was fitting of being moved to Drunkenwell once the location was set up. Emerald gaze shifted to the screen. She still hadn't opened the received file. Her ice subdued and her hand moved again, pausing mid-air as the voice of her niece entered her mouth. Scherezade. With a friend. Asteria's eyes darted to the side as she wondered. Again, she thought, no, and let her head shake slightly. 'I'm in the penthouse,' Asteria returned into her niece's head before leaning back into her chair. Scherezade was on Spira. With a friend.

Slowly, the Mistress of Elements rose to her feet. 'My niece is here. Have additional food and refreshments sent over, Asteria reached out to Oeana before leaving her study, She could still feel him, denying it in her mind. The presence on the planet seemed undeniably real. Asteria recalled the time she'd felt something similar over the past decades. There had been times, moments in which she'd felt it but it had never been as strong, never been so close or real. Now, a visit from Scherezade seemed in absolutely poor timing. Asteriia didn't once consider the possibility of a connection between the two, not when one caused side effects to her existence the way it did, the way she didn't need it to. Still, she walked, out from the sitting room onto the patio which led to the bridge to the parking lot, the only access leading into the penthouse without landing to the side.

How do you human?​

Celestine had, not long ago, sent a message to her, no explanation attached to it. The question had struck her, left her wondering what the purpose of the question was, at the same time wondering why she had been asked or even what the answer was. The last seemed the hardest to consider. How did one human? A whole three days later, Asteria had sent a response: What is even human? This was a week ago. Celestine had not responded yet, making her believe her daughter wasn't sure if the answer to her question.

Two questions unanswered, Asteria reminded herself as she stood at the edge of the bridge, waiting, willing the ice to return, to close what was disrupting her calm, her cold. Whatever it was that she was, Asteria lived with it, survived with it.

[member="Angelo Cavataio"] [member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Angelo Cavataio]

Scherezade was not fit to go home. Angelo was little confused by it a bit. He did have entire afterlife and twenty years of being torture by a spell to get through before getting to his memories of Endelaan. Those only reminded him of Asteria and Celestine even more. He would get a clearer answer another way. “Fine, we’ll go to Voss and see what they have to say about all that being fit or not, Scherezade… Thinking this is more in your head than facts, but we’ll save that talk for later since we are closer to Asteria.”

Yeah, Angelo had been sensing Asteria. For twenty years, he had been sensing her. It never stopped for him, and he knew that Scherezade knew he was too since he told and showed her back on Dathomir. It was one of the reasons he was being cheeky. He had to handle his reality in some manner. Celestine had told him she slumbered. He was betting on the same story for Asteria so that meant different path of getting to the present day than him. That was where the uncertainty came in, and his need to handle his reality his way. He was different from he last saw and spoke to Asteria. Not only the afterlife experience to deal with, he had the dumb spell in his head. The one that almost ruined everything with Celestine, but he had it worked out. Maybe, he could appease it by hitting the right notes it wanted while being him. That was the real game he believed Petra wanted from in this meeting.

Reaching the bridge, there was his angel on the other side. His heart skipped a beat. Angelo stood there. It was easier to face violent and angry group of witches than facing Asteria. He was not sure how she would handle seeing him, why he was even back, or why he had to die. Their last talk was about how he had to go and face off with his mother. The song of his blood that at birth sang his destruction. Protecting his family was always going to lead him to his death, it was that need to protect that drove him to his grave. The need to protect Asteria and Celestine from his mother this time. Next time it could be trying to protect Scherezade, or all three.

His future death did not matter right now, he need to pull a Scherezade. Forcing himself to press on, he walked across the bridge. A smile formed as he got closer. Not approaching extremely close to Asteria, he stood on the bridge since she was on the edge of it. His old playful tone he always had with Asteria returned as he spoke, “It’s been awhile, Angel”

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]
[member="Asteria deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

It wasn't just in her head. Scherezade knew Endelaanian culture. She knew power was what was respected. She knew she couldn't show up, barely trained, and announce her presence. Even if that might have worked once upon a time, she was most definitely not going to be able to show up all broken and in pieces and tell them she was the only daughter of Nessarose and Diomedes. But they would argue about it another time. Because right now was the time for Angelo to finally meet Asteria.

They'd finally arrived. It was the moment of truth.

As Angelo closed some of the distance towards Asteria, Scherezade held back, leaving the moment to the two of them. Five-Six hundred years was too long to be apart, no matter how you looked at it.

[member="Angelo Cavataio"]
[member="Asteria deWinter"]

 

[Asteria deWinter]

Asteria willed herself into a calm she wished for herself to be, eyes closing for a moment before she sorted out her mind readying herself to receive her niece despite the interruption in her thoughts. It had almost worked, almost left her mind at her command before her emerald gaze turned towards the arrivals.

Her neutral expression dropped the moment she'd looked, the second she had seen. Scherezade was coming, that much she had known but ahead of her was not a friend as she had said, it was Angelo. He was walking across the bridge, stopping midway before he'd spoken. The tone of his voice undoubtedly Angelo. Her face was frozen somewhere in shock and horror at the sight of him, making her take a step back as she stared. And stared. And she continued to stare as the emerald flickered inside her irises.

It was impossible, it was unreal. Centuries. Whole centuries since his death had passed. She'd been put to sleep, woken, spent two whole decades by herself until Celestine had woken up herself two years ago and even that wasn't the same. Not in the slightest. Somewhere, buried beneath her ice, Asteria loved her daughter. Even when she wasn't able to show it the way she used to, she protected her. Angelo was different. He could pierce through the ice, smash right through. He always could. Asteria prided herself she needn't care for anyone other than her parents and her siblings growing up, she didn't have to but Angelo was something else entirely. He broke to every single one of her defenses and kept doing it every single time when he was near her. He could break her defenses even when he was gone, forcing her to shut down those memories, lock them away to keep herself from feeling. She had lost everyone but her daughter. Her father had abandoned her, her mother had turned from her, her favorite sibling had disappeared. There had only been Celestine and she couldn't give her what she should have. Angelo though, the loss had been more than anything she could have imagined. He was everything. And then he had left her and died. He destroyed her.

It's been a while, Angel, he'd said. The only thing he'd said so far. Asteria only then realized she hadn't said anything despite her mind being so loud. "It's been twenty years since I've woken, it's been 709 years since you left us, left me." Her tone was flat, her attempt to keep herself calm but in reality, it was cracking despite her attempts. "You left me to die," she added after a moment before her eyes closed. Asteria could see it but the color was cracking. Even if she couldn't tell for sure how to human, in truth, Angelo was someone who could make her feel. She didn't like it, not after what he'd put her through.

A small transport approached from the inside, rising up to the patio, docking against it as a couple of waiters hurried inside to place the food and refreshments on the table. Her head turned slightly to take them into account before she looked ahead. She had no intention of revealing anything to them, not giving Angelo a moment's chance to respond. It was also when she looked behind him to Scherezade, seeing her for the first time. It looked horrible, nothing like how she'd last seen her on Leritor. "Scherezade, you look horrible. Food has just come in, go inside and eat," she instructed her, her tone suggesting she wasn't about to argue with her on it. Then she looked at Angelo again. She honestly didn't know what to tell him. She knew what her mind was screaming at her but not what words to come out so instead, she stayed quiet, away of the ice brushing coming off her fingertips. Her emotions were coming out.


[member="Angelo Cavataio"] [member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Angelo Cavataio]

Twenty years of being awake. That bit made him to think that his return was not really just Petra willing it all. Maybe he knew in the Nether that Asteria awaken, and he used that to get out. It was what happen once alive that hinder him from returning to her. While time he was being tortured by the spell, he felt Asteria alive. It never turned off for him. Angelo was deeply affected by the woman in front of him. So much so, the spell was screaming at him and worked to gain control. It realized this was bad for it and Petra’s control. His eyes flickered with fiery as he easily fought the spell. His rage barely registering in another other way with being near Asteria.

Angelo approached Asteria with his chitty, boyish smile. When right in front of her, the smile softened to look less like he was up to no good. Instead, he took her hands and brought them up. His hands supported them up as his thumbs caress over her cold fingers. It did not bother him ever in his life. Everyone felt colder to him as his temperature was always higher. Asteria’s coldness always felt nice as he never felt like he was burning up. Then he lifted them higher and placed a kiss on them. Maybe he did it for a reality check to himself or for both. He did remember how it was with Celestine months ago, but same time, he was not control at first. This time it was all him in front of the woman that his heart and soul.

Even his tone shifted down from being playful, he reverted to more serious and caring tone. The one he had when he held her and spoke about major feelings like his love for her. “Lady deWinter, believe me… I had all intention of returning to you back then, but what I realized and did was far greater. I did not want you, my Angel and Celestine ending up like the rest of my family. I love you too much to allow that happen... ever.”

There were more to say, but he knew he had to pace it. Looking at her, hands still held by his, and thumbs lightly rubbing her fingers. He did not know how well it all would be received as emotions were raw on both sides.


[member="Scherezade deWinter"]
[member="Asteria deWinter"]

 

[Asteria deWinter]

He stepped closer and Asteria wanted to step back. She didn't, her legs didn't seem to be listening to her right now. Emerald gaze watched though, recognizing the difference in Angelo's smile before he took her hands. She tried to resist it, tried to pull back her hands on instinct. The ice on her fingertips didn't hurt her but it could do harm to others. Angelo was always the last she wished to do harm too. The warmth on his own hands though made her remember, making her hands relax in his. It still didn't make everything alright, Asteria still wanted to pull her hands away, move back; retreat to a safer zone where she could be herself and think about what was happening. Angelo wasn't letting her do that, neither was her heart.

The kiss to her fingers made her head turned just slightly, eyelids closing for a split second. She shouldn't have let him. He'd hurt her. Angelo Cavataio was the only man who had ever truly hurt her and it was only because Asteria had allowed him. She was doing the exact same now even as her mind screwed at her to stop. First loves were the hardest, Asteria reminded herself of a book she read a long time ago, eyes staring into his. Except, Angelo was her only love, her humanity.

Lady deWinter, he'd addressed her. She didn't like it for a split second. Lady deWinter to everyone else, it was not a title for him. She was his Asteria. Her fingertips shifted in his hands at the thought, attempting to break from it as she kept trying to escape her humanity still, escape him. She didn't have the strength to do so. Asteria made it her mission to lock herself away, to keep her feelings buried before they consumed her. It made it easier for her to live, to do what she had to but more than that, it made the ice inside her spread over her heart. Now though, she could feel it melting under his warm touch. He was always the fire to her ice, he always had that power over her. He was the only man who could fight through it, survive it. Just as she could resist the fire burning inside him. Her ice had always been strong enough.

He had all the intention of coming back to her. He didn't want her or Celestine to end up like the rest of his family. He loved her too much. It was a small wake up call, her emotions already all over the place as her hand adjusted in his, pressing into it as the ice released still. "You know what that tells me, Angelo?" She whispered to him. The turquoise was still flickering through the emerald. "You didn't have faith in me or us. You chose to do it by yourself. It was your mistake." Her hand began to drew back from his hold as the anger increased.

"It was our undoing," Asteria whispered, "Yours, mine, ours." She was angry, hurt, heartbroken, abandoned. It was all the emotions that hit her like a freight train on the day he had died, choosing to fight on his own, leaving her behind. He didn't have faith in them or her, he fought alone. It was coming back to her. For her, it had only been twenty-eight years since she had crumbled since she had forced herself to lock it all away; twenty-eight years since she had stopped being the Mother Celestine had wanted it. Her heart bled to it when she allowed it so she didn't allow it to stay strong for the both of them. "You did this to me," she finally said, withdrawing her hand, stepping back. "You...," she didn't finish, ice spread cross her fingertips, cold air releasing before she realized. The patio could turn to ice in a single release. From it, the bridge and the whole structure. She could smash it, it would break with ease at a single action. Part of her wanted, just stop it all. Instead, she stepped back, walking on the familiar ground.

Asteria wanted to just walk inside, not say around, wanted him to understand she didn't want him to follow her. Instead, when she looked back at him, she found herself being weak again. "It's not safe, come inside," she told him before making her way inside.

[member="Angelo Cavataio"] [member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Angelo Cavataio]

There it was as he followed Asteria inside, “See, this is why she never came to save you… you hurt her so deeply that there is no love anymore.” The garbage spell in his head started off with. It continued to feed the rage by saying more and keeping Angelo silent for the moment. It was to get the fire going. It needed that rage, so it could take control. Also, it added, “This is why she said no to you before. She stopped loving you and sent you to your death.” The spell wanted to throw everything in to the fire. This was feeding the spell and it started to show in Angelo. His body temperature rose even higher. Steam came from his hands in the cold air that came Asteria. The eyes that watched Asteria flickered more with the fire from within.

As the spell continued on, Angelo was replaying his head everything had that happen over the week before his death. Twenty years of torture and that week was played more than anything else. That was what was getting at him. Asteria’s words about not having faith in her or them. It was her had said no to marriage because of she used her parents as the example. That irked him then and now, still. They were not their parents. She was not Shery or Lorcan and he was not anything like Petra. To even compare their relationship to their parents, it was one of the things that Angelo could not understand.

Then the words came out once inside. He might not have wanted them to, but the spell did push them out with ease. “No faith in us? I’m not the one, a week before said no to marriage because of fears of repeating what your parents did.” He was fired up and making it clear with the tone he used. One that might never have ever used in front of Asteria. The anger laced in the pitches of his words. The spell only encouraged more, but it was not sure if it liked what came out. “This was not my fault or yours… Our undoing was letting all this be affected by our parents. The moment they came into the picture is when this started to crack, and it shouldn’t have happened. We were the exception. We were always better than them. They always tried to stop us and one managed it for a moment.”

In the rage that had been building, clarity began to shine through in his mind. Angelo realized that his death was not a show of staying true to the deal, but it was done because Petra knew she could not control him if Asteria was alive. Then when he turned, it was the same time Asteria awoken. He was sure now that he was tortured so long because Petra knew what would happen if she did not. Those thoughts got his blood boiling. That sunt of a mother needed to die over and over for a good year before the final death was given.

Angelo’s rage cleared his mind. The spell was not liking it all now. It wanted the fighting and Angelo saw through that. Even angry in general, he knew he needed to fix all this. He was determined not to let the spell have a say in anything anymore. His tone softened, “I always had faith in us… I even had more in you. It was why I never worried about myself, if anything happen you would be there. But you need to know when I left I was hurting like I never been hurt before. The no and reason to why it was no were like knives being plunged into my heart and soul repeatedly. Then add in the death of Nox, the only family I had before you that understood me. He was pretty much a father to me and that sunt of the mother killed him. If you were me, what would you have done?”

That did not need answer, Angelo was pausing to relax. He needed to as he just laid it all out there. “I died because I offered myself to ensure that Petra or anyone tied to her would never harm you. She killed me because she was threatened by you. She knew where I stood truly so she tried to use time to fix it.” Angelo knew where the next part came from, but he was not going to say it was a spell that pushed him to get angry just minute before. However, he was going to ball in her court. “So when I was brought back, I spent twenty years being tortured to ensure she got the monster. Twenty years of feeling you out here and listening to her say that you moved on, I was a footnote in your life, you no longer cared, and no longer loved me… So, is that true? You don’t love me anymore? Is Petra right? If so, then I’ll leave, and you’ll never have to see me again.”

[member="Asteria deWinter"]
[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Asteria deWinter]

Inside, she'd walked in further before she'd stopped, though she hadn't turned around just yet when Angelo had already begun talking. She recognized the shift in his tone, the rise of his anger before even looking at him as he questioned her words before reminding her she'd been the one to refuse his proposal. Twenty-eight years later, he still hadn't let it go. In truth, neither had Asteria. She still didn't understand why he was adamant on such trivial things back then or why he'd been so hurt by it. Her upbringing was different from average, his whole culture was opposite than even that. Instead, he blamed their parents, by letting all of this be affected by them. They were the exception, always better than them while they always tried to stop us and one of them had managed for the moment.

Her head turned to the side, as she glanced back. "Why?" She wondered, partially ignoring what he'd said about Shery, Lorcan or even Petra at the moment. "Why do you cling to it still? I was yours, you were mine, all without labels. Why wasn't that ever enough?" The wedding of her parents was a testament to their love and the beginning of the end. Asteria had never needed that of them and their downfall as a couple only affirmed its unnecessary. The ability of people to break their vows struck at her strong enough. If a vow was broken on her end, it was to keep her humanity at bay. Asteria denied it and ignored it but it would spur. Casting an illusion on her own mind, pretending the dead was living was the way to quiet her heart. To survive.

Angelo said he always had faith in them, even more in her and that was why he never worried about himself. Yet he left because he was hurting her reply. Like knives. She turned, just as he spoke of Nox, seeing the burning in his eyes she knew was there even without looking at him. If she was him, what would she have done? He didn't seem eager for an answer though Asteria already know because she had done it. She had an enemy within her own blood, the only person to ever cause her arm and in her own Mother's body. The burn marks on her body still showed it. And still, she had remained on Endelaan with Angelo despite it. Did he not know that?

He offered himself to Petra to protect her and she killed him because she was threatened by her. Then twenty years of torture, listening to his Mother talk about her moving on, him being a footnote in her life, that she no longer cared or loved him. Her eyes closed as she felt it this time, unaware her eye showed her emotions, aware only of the element escaping when it couldn't wrap around her heart and press tighter as it always did. "Is she right? You would trust her and ask me?" She approached him now of her own accord, the first time since he had arrived. "How dare you believe her, Angelo? You know what she is better than anyone else. How dare you? You broke me. You abandoned me, you died, you broke me."

In her own anger, Asteria reached out for his cheeks, palms pressing into them as she concentrated, using her telepathy to do what she never dared herself - to let go. Whereas normally she could control herself, there was no control over what was released as she forced her memories and feelings on to him. They erupted one by one. Their first meeting, her love, his death, their meetings, the way her heart had skipped when he had proposed to her and how she'd come to refuse it when she needn't need any of it. Even when they had a child together, which they had raised together, Asteria didn't need to follow in the footsteps of her parents in getting married after all of it. Jhoren escaped from her mind as well, his face flickering for a split second before it was Angelo. It wasn't just Asteria telling herself it was him, it was an illusion cast on her own mind every single time. It was every time she felt herself breaking, felt the feelings ready to escape, explode. It was a way to subdue her emotions. Asteria deWinter feared nothing in this life as she feared her own emotions without Angelo. Nothing else felt as dangerous as feeling without him in her life. Unexpectedly, the disappointment escaped as well. At herself, at her inability to be the Mother she wanted to be to her daughter. Most of all, it was the love that was hidden inside her, now running rampant, cold air escaping her palms at the heated cheeks of her beloved.

Instead of more ice escaping though, tears ran down her own cheeks then. She had no more control over them now. Asteria always expected an eruption, an explosion when they were released but with him here, everything released, it was tears that came out. When it ended, tears were still falling. "If you leave now, you'll have killed me. If you leave me now, you shouldn't have come back," she finally whispered, unable to hold back. Truth was, Asteria didn't need physical pleasures, she didn't need others around her. The only thing in this galaxy that made her human, made her feel real was him. If he was going to abandon her again, he shouldn't have even come back to hurt her again. She couldn't take a second heartbreak.

[member="Angelo Cavataio"] [member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Angelo Cavataio]

Thoughts, ideas, even words were forming to come back at the questions and remarks. The spell had its two credits too. However, it all did not matter. There was something even more important than all of it. It was his heart and soul, and she approached him. Then the hands came, there where his Asteria’s hands and like always they froze time in place for him. The world stopped for him, and he felt lighter than before. Even his heart burned not in rage, but it was love for his angel.

In the past, they were always on the same page. Their upbringing gave them ways of explaining and expressing it differently, but the core of them was right there standing together. Then the memories and feelings came flooding in. It only confirmed what he knew and gave him insight into other facets. It was heartbreaking and encouraging. A weird combo, but in the sadness, there was hope as the love ran rampant from Asteria. That was what Angelo clung on to.

Angelo reached up to Asteria’s hands. He gently took them away from his cheeks, and he brought them back passed his shoulders. Letting them rest there, they moved forward to her cheeks. His hands cradled her face as his thumbs caressed her cheeks, wiping her tears away. Then his hands moved away to be lowered and slid over his waist. Hands moved towards her back. Pulling her in closer, he held her firmly against him. “I wasn’t going to leave, and why would I…" He had been ready to fight to stay, but he felt now he did not need to fight. Love was what was needed. Looking into her emerald eyes, nothing but love was in his words. "You are everything to me, my Asteria. You are mine, and I am yours forever."

[member="Asteria deWinter"]
[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Asteria deWinter]

Warm skin against calm palms made it all the more real, emerald eyes with hints of ancient turquoise that were once hers looking straight into his brown eyes. He was real, she was real. This was real. Asteria had convinced herself she had forgotten what it had meant to feel and now she was feeling everything all at once. There wasn't any pain though, no inability to draw breath, not ice spreading the way it had that night. Twenty-eight years later and she remembered it as if it was yesterday. It was probably the very last real memory she had when she was so young, so true.

The centuries in between were a blip for her life, unlike the rest of the galaxy around them. She didn't live through any of it, she had slept, only so she could be united with Angelo seven centuries later. It almost felt unreal yet it was the most real thing there was right now.

He took her hands away from his cheeks only to place them on his shoulders, his fingers wiping away her tears before he moved her hands again to his waist, his finding her back. Then suddenly, he drew her closer to him, holding her tightly. He wasn't going to leave. Why would he? Her eyelids closed slowly for a second. Angelo had been one to offer to leave, not her. You are everything to me, my Asteria. You are mine, and I am yours forever, the words had come and Asteria inhaled a deep breath before she leaned her cheek against his chest, finding his heartbeat.

"Tell me what happened. Tell me everything," she whispered, needing to know. Her soul had already been bared to him, now Asteria needed to know just what had happened to him. Though unintentionally, she had forgotten about the other presence in the penthouse, allowing herself to be distracted at the moment. Right now, she needed to know.

[member="Angelo Cavataio"] [member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Angelo Cavataio]

A kiss was planted on Asteria’s head as it rested against Angelo’s chest. He felt almost in paradise with his angel in his arms. Everything had faded away, even the pesky voice from the spell that Petra casted on him was silent. There was no sense of time for him. It was just the two of them, and that was all that mattered.

Asteria wanted to know, and it was not cliff notes. She wanted everything. Only one person outside that day knew and she came with him to see Asteria. Angelo was fine with sharing it with Asteria. There was nothing he kept from her before, so he had no issues with telling her. “When I left, I went to Dathomir to find her. Out of the siblings there, Lauda was most broken up over it. Family was her thing, and it was why it hit her the hardest. I think she blamed me for not being there to protect Nox like I always protected them. Still, she pointed me in the direction of Petra.”

Angelo tilted his head as it rested on Asteria. It was more for comfort as he knew where his mind was going. “On Sognoterra, she was there. It took me most of the fight to realized what she had done. I thought it was odd her world that housed her favorite temple to her was all empty and silent. She had drained all life and energy from everyone. I mean she went electrons themselves. Nothing was left.” His voice soften a bit, sadness was creeping in too as he continued, “We fought… everything was leveled. The shielding was growing faulty in the fight that it would fail, and pieces of the moon came crashing down. Those holes would suck everything they could into space when the shielding failed more and more. We were bringing the moon down around us. But, I grew tired and in pain like never been before, still she was taunting me.”

As he spoke, the feelings of being broken and in pain was shared with her. Words really could not explain how beaten he was, and desperate to escape from Petra. Even the sadness in voice grew. “I was pretty sure I was died. I could barely fight, and she was coming to finish me. It was then I remember Nox’s story about his great-grandson and that one’s daughter being used to purge the family before Nox killed them. So, I begged for a deal. Not my proudest moment but I thought a deal would get me back to you.”

Angelo had to pause. Eyes of his were watering and the last of the were difficult to get out. He needed a moment. It was his job to protect and he knew he gave in to saving himself over everyone. That was how he saw the deal. After collecting himself in the moment, his words pressed on with pain and sadness. “I told her if she promised that she and her people would never be harm and you and Celestine could live out your lives without worrying about Petra coming to kill you. In returned. I would be the beast she was wanting this entire time. Of course, she went through it in details because she was looking holes if she desired to change her mind. Once it was agreed, she ordered me to kill myself, and I did that with the hilt pressed against my chest and igniting the blade to pierce my heart.”

“I did not want that… but I was not in position to resist and return to you. She would have killed you and our daughter then kill me. It was more important for you to live and raised our daughter. It also meant, Petra could not use Celestine for her twisted plans. I may have not wanted to die, but I left believing you two were protected and that gave me peace as I left this realm.” He finished with water filled eyes, lump in his throat as still sharing all those feelings since the start to the end now.

An odd thought did float up his head. Was this his original body or did have new one? He never looked to see if he a scar. It never came up in his head before, but the talk of how he died made him think about it. The moon was gone but did Petra take his body with her. Now, he wanted to know. However, it was more important to hold his angel.

[member="Asteria deWinter"]
[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Asteria deWinter]

His battle with Petra took place on Sognoterra, where his Mother had already drained all of her followers with nothing left behind them. Their combat was bringing the moon down, damaging the shielding. He grew tired and in pain as Petra continued to taunt him. Asteria's eyes closed as she listened, feeling the pain he was letting her feel, listening still. He'd remembered a story Nox had shared with him, with Angelo's brother used to kill them, purge his part of the tree because of which he had struck a deal he thought would bring him back to her.

If Petra promised that neither she or her people would harm her or Celestine, allow them to live out their lives, he would be the beast Petra wanted him to be. With the deal set, he had to end his own life. Asteria shuddered, remembering that moment without knowing all the details until now. He put the hilt to his chest and ignited it, ending his life as he had been ordered. It was so she and Celestine could live, so Petra couldn't use their daughter in her twisted plans. What was it with their families, Asteria wondered. Petra wanted to use everyone and when she wasn't, she was purging her whole bloodline. Boadicea was deadset on doing the exact same thing, wanting to eradicate the Family of Darkness bloodline. Was this where they had come from, both of them, of families eager to destroy themselves?

Her head moved, chin touching into his chest as she looked up at him. Angelo had left this realm believing they were safe. Eight years later, they'd been put to sleep to survive the Gulag plague. Despite Boadicea and Petra, they had survived, they had been safe. It didn't change the fact that either of them existed. "These families of ours, they're both broken, damaged. There's an eagerness to destroy in each of them," he said after a moment as she placed the thought into a clear spot in her head. This was where they came from, what blood they carried. It was a curse on both of them, on their daughter.

Right now, none of them seemed to matter anymore. In his arms, Asteria remembered what she wondered and forgot so long ago. When she still had loving parents who cared to protect her and her siblings, it wasn't something she could consider but now, abandoned, forgotten; Angelo forced to kill himself by his Mother and her attacked by ancestor only to be treated by Shery in a way she never thought possible, Asteria realized the mistake she had done. "We've done an injustice to our daughter. I have worse than you even. She shouldn't have grown with the burden of our families. She only should have ever truly known we love her." She was far worse than Angelo in this, installing loyalty in her for the deWinters when they deserved none of them. Even of all her siblings, only Nessarose had stood at her side since their family had fallen apart just as Asteria had stood at hers.

[member="Angelo Cavataio"] [member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Angelo Cavataio]

Angelo moved his head when Asteria did. Listening to her, he felt bad. He knew how she saw her parents before. Maybe that was one thing that got to him because his view on his mother. It was how his siblings and him dealt with Petra. The two camps were strong in their views and he was always in the anti-Petra one after she had him kill his brother for her amusement. Kissing her forehead, then he smiled at her. “Those families are… but we are the exception to them and that’s why they can’t influence us. We scare them because OUR family isn’t like that. We are stronger as one, my Angel.”

Of course, Angelo had to address another matter. Their daughter, one he almost ruined the reunion with but was able to play the spell to his favor. The time he spent with her which was more than one day the spell allowed. He was proud of her. She had grown up to be such a wonderful person. He saw pieces of himself being projected back from his daughter. Oh, how he could tease Asteria about their daughter being more like him than her. However, this was not the time. Asteria was blaming herself. She should not be blaming herself about their daughter. “Celestine… she absolutely amazing young woman that clearly knows we love her so much. She might have our curses, but she doesn’t let them weight her down. I’m more me today because of our daughter. Seeing her again and month with her helped, it’s why she knows we love her. Even a crazy witch spell couldn’t hold on to control because the love for her. It still talked but it was not driving my body around.”

As Angelo spoke, his smile slowly faded to his cheeky grin because his next words were going to a place that he thought to himself being a little insensitive. “So don’t blame yourself about a thing, Angel… she can handle anything since she is so much more like me than you.” Yeah, he poked that bear to lighten things up a little. A tease was never harmful. It was a happy day as the two were reunited and were in each other's arms.

[member="Asteria deWinter"]
[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Scherezade, you look horrible. She hadn't thought her aunt would state one of the most obvious things about her ever. Still, the young Sithling made no reply, opting instead to leave her aunt and uncle alone to start patching things up. Her heart ached as she could feel them stepping closer to each other, ached as she knew this was not something that she would ever be experiencing again. Her aunt and her uncle had been made for each other, in the truest sense of the word. Seven centuries would not keep them apart, not in any permanent fashion. And she... Was not meant to be loved. Not in that way.

Wiping her face on the back of her hand, Scherezade reached the elevator. Truth be told, she had not listened to Asteria when or if she said the food was upstairs. Not that it mattered though, since she had no intention of eating. Asteria didn't have to know though. At present, it was none of her business, and she had bigger things to worry about.

She randomly punched a button in the elevator, glancing through the glass walls of it as it went... Down?

Never had she been on this level before. It was part of the dome thingie as well, though she couldn't deny that it felt more... Personal? Still, this was not where she'd been told to go, and she didn't really want to attract attention and take away from Angelo and Asteria and...

Scherezade blinked, looking around wildly. There were murmurs she could hear, some form of whispering, but she couldn't make any words out. Was this a trick? Some wards that her aunt had put in place as protection? No, they were not telling her to leave they were... They were beckoning her to come closer.

Confused, the Sithling took a swig from her bottle and followed the voices. They took her counter-clock wise around the elevator, and into a room that was full of boxes and things. She knew nothing remained of the Mansion that had once stood on this grounds, rubble and decay and Morgaine having ruined it through the centuries. But the what was here? Asteria had been asleep for most of the time, when had she had the time to gather so many boxes?

Carefully, Scherezade opened the nearest box to her, peering to see what was inside. There were some old clothes in there, a few items that she did not recognize, not even from her grandmother's memories.

The voices in her head grew louder. She groaned, listening to them as they guided her more towards the back of the room. She was supposed to... To find something? Force if she knew. The whole thing was stupid. It wasn't a Force calling, it wasn't a vision, it was... It felt more like being pulled by invisible stings that were suddenly operational.

Still, she heeded their pull and opened the box they were pointing her to. It was filled with mostly memorabilia; pictures of her aunts and uncles in their younger years, the beaches of Spira in the background. They were all smiling. Scherezade's finger touched the picture as though it would break if she weren't careful enough. Each of the deWinter-Dessel children was their own person. There was Adam, tall and strong, looking so much like grandfather Dessel, his body language indicating more familiarity towards his mother. And there was Morgaine, her red hair looking like a bomb of blood, one side of her mouth pointing up in what was her own version of a smile. There was Cordelia, her own body indicating more towards her father, her smile already at that young age seeming so distant. And then... Nessarose. Her mother. Smaller than the bunch of them due to the difference in years, with cheeks that would make any aunt want to pinch them until kingdom come, trying to hug everyone at once, her pale gray eyes gleaming happily.

Grey eyes.

Scherezade looked again. Other than her grandmother, no one in the picture had the deWinter green. It was before... Well, she knew her mother got the green after she discovered Endelaan. She didn't know the story for the rest of her mother's siblings. She herself had a dull green that had only begun to strengthen and glow a little before Kamon almost killed her. But it didn't make any sense. The glowing emerald green was a mark of power that ran through the deWinter line. Those who were also part of the Family of Darkness an were men often had a silver-green version of it. But why had her eyes gotten the glow and the shade only after she'd begun to weaken? It didn't make any sense. Everything was upside down.

With a sigh, Scherezade put the picture down. For a heart beat, she almost considered asking Asteria if she could keep it. But no. There was no point. The happy family on that picture died more than seven centuries ago. For Asteria, that picture was a memory. For Scherezade, not even fantasy.

Her hands went back to the box, rummaging through it. Now that she was no longer caught up in a moment that had happened long before anyone even thought she would ever exist, the voices were back, and they were guiding her, teling her to look deeper, to...

She found it.

Pale fingers wrapped around a purple cloth. Purple had been Shery's color of choice when it came to the Force. Even her lightsaber had a purple beam.

But Shery was her enemy. Then why were voices calling her to something that belonged to her? Scherezade inspected the cloth. It smelled like centuries, but there was not a single mark of detoriation on it. Instead, it had a feint Force aura, which was probably what was keeping it in existance.

Scherezade stretched the fabric out in the air, realizing only now that this fabric was some sort of a book cover. At least, it was sewn into that shape. The outside was made of crushed velvet, lacking any signs that showed what it might have contained.

Inside, though... One side included the deWinter emblem. She would never mistake that for anything else, even if she knew that it had been out of use since much before Shery lost her mind for the first time.

The other side of the inner part... Scherezade ran her fingers over it. There were letters there, but not written with ink, but rather the Force. It pricked her fingers and she had to close her eyes to turn feeling into words.

The Blood Tome.

Scherezade staggered back as the memories came hurling at her. Her grandmother had created several tomes, encompassing much of the knowledge she had, most of it darker than night. There were... The memories were hazy. Three tomes? Five? Thirteen? She wasn't sure. But there was at least one, and she was holding the cover of it. And the content of this specific Tome had...

Blood Magic.

Scherezade blinked, folding the purple fabric into the pocket of her jeans. She knew the theoretical side of blood magic, or at least, parts of it. She also knew that she would know much, much more, if she found the Tome.

For the first time in what seemed to be an eternity, Scherezade had an actual goal. She had to find the Tome and make it hers.

With a last laughter, the voices inside her head told her that she would fail, and then vanished.

 

[Asteria deWinter]

We are the exception, he'd said as her green eyes watched. The turquoise still danced against the emerald, calmer now that before. We are stronger as one, Angelo had continued. Her head titled. "I hope you remember that this time." Once, he'd walked away from them and gotten himself killed. Asteria really did hope this time he wouldn't walk away again.

As Angelo changed the subject, talking about Celestine, Asteria began to listen to him describe her as an amazing young woman who clearly knew they loved her so much. I'm more me today because of our daughter, he said and she just listened, clearly recognizing what she was being told. Seeing her again and month with her helped... Angelo was most definitely telling her what she was hearing. "You saw Celestine? You spoke to her? Spent time with her?" Out of habit, Asteria tried to hide her feelings on it, tried to pretend like it didn't affect her but once Angelo had opened her, it seemed impossible to do in front of him.

Not a word. Not a single word. The thing of it was, she and Celestine engaged in regular communication. And to find out she hadn't so much as mentioned her own Father in a single communication, logically, Asteria wondered just how isolated it was and how easy it was for her daughter to withhold from her own Mother.

Asteria didn't dwell on it for too long as the smile faded into a familiar grin, followed by a comment about not blaming herself as Celestine could handle anything since she was more like him than her. Asteria knew. Before Celestine had begun presenting herself similar to Asteria, that side of her shinned brightly. So rather than pretending to be hurt by his words, she smiled. "Indeed. It's only fair you should get to enjoy it when you only get the one." With her words, the smile turned into a smirk. Asteria could return the tease right back at him.

From behind her, she heard murmurs, her head tilting slightly to the side as she listened. She recognized the sound, one she hadn't heard since she'd entered the old manor, taking from it what could be saved. Now though, it was easy to tell just what it meant. The Tomes called to blood, each and every one of them. Now, they called to the youngest, to Scherezade. Meaning her niece hadn't gone up to eat at all. Those books were powerful, dangerous even if not used properly. It was why she kept them away from Celestine until she was strong enough. Reaching out through the Force, she drew attention to Scherezade with a singular message to her mind: 'Careful.'

[member="Angelo Cavataio"] @ Scherezade deWinter