Rebirth of the Monarch

[Kay-Larr]

Einon had no idea what [member="Ghorua the Shark"] meant after he took Kay's saber, but she would have wanted her friends to have it. They almost spoke as if the lady was dead. Maybe she was As Ghorua gave him instructions, he gave a curt nod. How this all would end, he had no idea. Einon turned and headed out of the warehouse. Who [member="Darlyn Excron"] would follow, he had no idea, but he needed to get to Ghorua's ship. If only he had a cloak that hid him from sight as well. No matter. He'll find his own way, and quickly.

Kay on the otherhand looked to [member="Ryn'Dhal"]. His reactions let her know that [member="Darth Prazutis"] was egging him on. No doubt the Lightsider was one of her old friends. Just how many did she have, anyways? Clearly it wasn't enough if they couldn't find her. Or maybe they just didn't care enough to do so.

Who else would be coming? Were there more? Kay stepped back as it was clear that a duel was about to commence. Her Master was in no need of her help. He could handle whatever came at him. However she could watch for a little while. Hopefully they didn't destroy her home in the process.

[member="Veiere Arenais"] still made her curious. They shared a connection and she wondered why. Using the distraction that the coming fight would give, she reached out to touch his mind through their bond. {You should leave if you want to survive.}

 

[WolfMortum]

Veiere stood to the side of both [member="Darth Prazutis"] and [member="Ryn'Dhal"], he heard all whilst studying the Dark Sider closely and quietly wishing for the selfish arrogance to step in and stop Ryn from seeking the fight he so desperately craved, yet his fellow Jedi was an adult in his own right and their way was not to impose on the desires of others. Lowering his head, his brows furrowed together, eyes closed as he listened now with the force, feeling the aura's radiating around the two larger persona's of the room. So much anger, so much hatred of one another; the Dark Side of the Force was truly established in these halls now.

His eyes opened half way as something else struck him, however. A familiar feeling, one that had once been of warmth and affection, now stained with a false sense of concern and a hollowness that could not be any more evident; where once they had known each other so well, [member="Lady Kay"] was questioning him, trying to make out what it was about him that had brought him here and made it so easy for her to communicate telepathically with him.

Glancing back to Ryn'Dhal, Veiere searched for any sign of want for help. He could not see through the feline's anger, his need to enact vengeance upon the supposed Sith Lord who was responsible for Kay's change. In Veiere's mind, violence in response to Darkness just wasn't the answer. "I leave this to you then..." he spoke to Ryn, stepping between the two of the raging figures and offering Ryn a regretful look, one that spoke of his wish to intervene with his friends intent and yet could not betray his peer in doing so. It was only then that he would turn to glance over his shoulder back at Prazutis, he whom named himself Destroyer. There were no words to offer the Sith, Veiere had met many and knew how absolute they were in their ways, to see a goal and think of nothing outside of it. This would be a fight that he could not deter for his friend...

'Is that what you want, Kay...'

The words traveled telepathically to her as Veiere looked upon her new Master. They had never shared an apprenticeship together though Veiere had began to help her with a few abilities before her disappearance; this was nothing of her likeness, her end-game had looked much different when Veiere would picture it all during their many talks of 'what-if's'. Her words inspired him enough to step out of the way of the coming battle, should the Sith Lord find need of him, he would not be far away though it seemed he had chosen another to be his priority.

'For many days, you and I have walked these floors together. Never once have you asked me to leave...'.

Without the Sith to stand between them, Veiere wandered deeper into the Royal palace, passing through the entrance way and out of the main hall, he moved to find himself a quiet seat in one of the Corridors, as unusual as it might be, he took to one of the seats in quiet. The wooden bench lining a small portion of the wall, it was one of many where visitors would seat themselves in waiting to greet the Madame President face-to-face.

'I would much prefer we speak in person, you must feel that I mean you no harm...'.

 

[Kay-Larr]

And there it was. [member="Veiere Arenais"] ' voice was the same that she had heard earlier in the day, telling her to do nothing until he had arrived. Well, now he was here. Had she dome much? Yes, she had imprisoned a few people, but so far death had been avoided. So far. It all depended on loyalty.

Kay saw Veiere pass through one of the halls, so she followed him. He was so oddly calm, but that wasn't enough to put her at ease. [member="Darth Prazutis"] was calm most of the time that he tortured her. She had never quite seen him angry. It was probably better that way.

When she saw Veiere sitting on the bench, she approached him, arms folded across her chest. There was no recognition in her dark eyes, though she was searching her memories to try to find something that was left behind. Yet there was nothing...

It annoyed her greatly.

"What right do you all have to barge into my home and destroy it? All of you at once. That is no coincidence. So what are you all trying to do? Steal my Crown, strip my power and take the throne for yourselves? You're already failing. Most of you are in my custody and one will more than likely die at the hands on my Master. Only you are walking free right now, but I can't promise you that it'll stay that way."

 

[WolfMortum]

Oddly Calm...

It was only odd due to the fact that he was able to block out that dark little corner of his mind that everyone in the galaxy had, that place within ones self that held the higher passions, love, hate, anger and mistrust, anxiety and fear. The respite within the Silver Jedi Order had allowed him to recollect himself during the worst times of [member="Lady Kay"]'s abduction, the times where he was at threat of treading the same path as she now, due to his own helplessness over the situation. For the moment, he was calm, yes...-Though those feelings would surface when he felt the right time to allow them to bubble up beyond his self-restraint.

Turning, the movement caught his attention and there she was, standing before him, arms crossing her chest as if she had reason to guard herself from him, accusing eyes that seemed to stare at him both defiantly and demeaning, and yet with a distant sense of curiosity that stuck out to him through their shared connection. She was still trying to figure him out.

He exhaled slowly in a quiet huff of self-acceptance, not to be mistaken for submission. Glancing to the floor briefly he considered the scene playing out for them all. Ryn'Dhal who stood as her family in title alone yet ever loyal to her, about to take on the one responsible for turning her to the Darkness, while she looked to Veiere himself who had more or less held her hand right up to her coronation as President and beyond. They had traveled to this world together following the collapse of the Republic, they had walked the political path and met the Elders expectations so that she could ascend to the throne and now she claimed this place as her home and hers alone. The truth was that he had spent more time in these halls, practically living here as her support more so than he had spent in the residence she had given to him further up in the hills and far away from the politicians of whom were so far out from his preferred company that it had been almost painful to stomach having to decipher every one of their words from lies and political dissension.

"You are asking questions of me that you already hold the questions to..." His head titled marginally, his gaze lifting to look back to her with a peculiar yet noticeably disappointed smile, "You need only search for them...", his eyes locked with hers and he watched, patiently awaiting her response. He did not have anywhere to be in any great hurry. His mind was completely unguarded and through their bond in the force, were a wealth of emotions they had shared. Had she the wish, even memories brought up together through the strengthening and eventual formation of the bond together might be briefly visible in her minds eye, she only had to grasp at what he believed she was still capable of seeing.

Leaning back into the bench he sat upon, his body language made it openly clear that he had no plans of going anywhere, nor was there any haste or threat in the way that he met with her to give rise to concern beyond her own mistrust of him; that was of course in her hands alone. "You see everything here as an assault on your...-Reign over Commenor, yet every one of these people were there to support you in your coronation, so too are they here for you now", he glanced passed her to check on the other two who would no doubt soon reach the point of no return and engage one another, the first sign of hostilities and sadly something to confirm Kay's suspicions, not of Veiere but at the least, of there being malcontent. "You're new Master isn't the most popular of people, I'll give you that..-He's made his bed, so to speak..." Veiere frowned with an almost sarcastically and comical glance back to Kay before finishing his remark, "Though I highly doubt anyone's threatened you personally have they...".

 

[Kay-Larr]

That calmness. [member="Veiere Arenais"] didn't show much of his emotion at all. It was unnerving. Everyone else had been mad at her, confused even. They were all probably just jealous and upset that they couldn't control her anymore and that she had power, true power. Yet here was Veiere, just sitting there, telling her that she just had to search for the answers that she already had. It was stupid for him to say it. She didn't know the answers. More than likely they were taken from her like her memories.

Her memories. She caught something, briefly. It was admiration with a hint of anxiety, a brief flash of sitting at a small table, drinking tea. Yet as soon as it appeared, it was gone. More than likely it was just her imagination being cruel to her.

As he spoke of everyone there coming to support her, she openly scoffed and rolled her eyes while she looked towards [member="Ryn'Dhal"] and her Master. "Support me? I doubt that. If they cared then where were they when I was kidnapped? Where were they during the eternity that I was tortured?! Where were they every time that I died?!!" She looked to Veiere as her anger grew, eyes narrowing as she stepped forward. "They were nowhere to be found. I was abandoned, just as you abandoned me! Oh yes...I read the messages to and from your pilot. Some bodyguard you are."

She was hurt and she wanted others to feel the same way. They had to. Only then could they understand.

Veiere spoke some truth, but she didn't want to hear it right now. More than likely these people would try to hurt her if she let them. So she couldn't let them.

 

[Darlyn Excron]

[member="Ghorua the Shark"] was uncharacteristically... hasty. Clearly he was as upset at Kay's situation as the others of whom Darlyn knew (himself and Einon) combined. But unlike Einon, who had little protection, and Darlyn who had the benefit of focusing via meditation, the herglic was simply allowing everything to go wild and free. This would hurt Kay in the end no doubt, and their efforts to restore her, yet... he hummed and stroked his chin. Perhaps this would help his own plan, provide... proof...

He smiled and rushed, clipping his mirrored mask to his face and his lightsaber to his belt. He placed his hand on Einon's shoulder, the man that had helped [member="Lady Kay"] now turned rogue agent, so to speak. He spoke swiftly, quietly, where no one was yet around just outside the abandoned warehouse. "I will ensure you escape the city, are you certain you can make it through to the ship without my assistance from there? I need you there to escape and tell Kay's friends to trust me. And also to apologize for me to the old fish."

[member="Ryn'Dhal"] @Darth Prazutis [member="Stardust Raxis"] [member="Darben Skirae"] [member="Connor Harrison"] [member="Veiere Arenais"] [member="Sareen Zar"] @Ultimatium

 

[Kay-Larr]

Einon looked to [member="Darlyn Excron"] as he took hold of his shoulder and spoke just barely above a whisper. Something about what he was saying was a bit off. "I believe I can make it. Why? Why would I need to apoligize for you? Just what are you up to?"

He looked at Darlyn curiously, though with a hint of caution. There could be any number of things that the reckless man was planning. Terrac had told him a few things from the Bespin misadventure. "Or do I even wanna know?"

 

[Darlyn Excron]

For what? Darlyn couldn't help but chuckle slightly, with a strange sort of glee. "You probably don't. But I'll tell you we want to bring the old Kay back. So she'll be getting a little help from a phoenix." He squeezed the man's shoulder slightly, as if reassuring the both of them. "Just tell the old fish that I had to make it convincing." He did need to make things seem, genuine. Otherwise she might not let him close as he needed...

He let Einon go and slipped back a bit. He would follow this man as far as the edge of the city, but then he'd have to hurry to the palace if he wished to get there before Ghorua, or even close to him. And the only way his plan would work would be if they were near-ish in arrival, to help the illusion he was going to be creating.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Kay-Larr]

Of course they wanted to get the old Kay back. But was that even possible? It was hard to say. Einon didn't know much about the Force mumbo-jumbo. [member="Darlyn Excron"] 's remark on getting help from a phoenix caused him to give the man a double-take. "Had to make it look convincing...Right. I'll see you later."

Einon was glad that he didn't have far to go, especially as [member="Ghorua the Shark"] only gave him a couple of hours. So he walked briskly without seeming like a man that needed to escape somewhere. He was a master at not drawing attention to himself, so getting to the canyons was easy. The next problem however was finding the Herglic's ship. He entered the canyon that Kay tended to use. More than likely that's where the co-ordinates that Ghorua will pass onto him will lead to. Hopefully he wouldn't have to go very far.

[member="Sareen Zar"] and [member="Darben Skirae"] were given a basic meal and water, but nothing else. The Queen was unable to see them just yet.
[member="Thraxis"] had his own visitor, a medic droid to help him with his injuries with the use of various bacta gels and bindings. [member="Stardust Raxis"] was kept at the warehouse district. Until the lockdown was lifted, she wasn't getting inside of the Palace for an audience.

 

[Sareen Zar]

Sareen sat calmly in his cell, slowly breathing in and out, withholding the usual rage he normally felt at a time like this. Maybe it was his age, or the severe cognitive dampening from years of alcoholism, but he could just sit and day dream, without trying to kill or berserk. Although it had taken nearly an hour since his enraged burst into the palace, he was finally at peace.

Until a guard slid open a slot, shoving a tray holding beige mush a pack filled with liquid into his cell, falling climatically to the floor, the mush spreading across the floor, "Dinner's served," The guard spat. Sareen growled but kept his temper, reaching over to the liquid filled pack and refreshing himself. Maybe time in here wouldn't be so bad, but that was still a big what if.

[member="Lady Kay"]

 

[Darth Prazutis]

​"Jedi. I've had enough of your petty games." ​Prazutis said moving towards [member="Ryn'Dhal"] those burning eyes focused down on him from behind that massive, spiked helm. He was done with talking, he was done with reasoning with the rats who so eagerly walked right into his trap. But above all this Jedi, this feline who stood before him he could feel his anger boiling beneath the surface, the familiar darkness coming to life from the Destroyers words. The ancient art of Dun Moch of toying with your opponents emotions through carefully spoken words, carefully planned actions he was an absolute master of. This Jedi was playing right into the hand he was dealing him. The truths about how during those months of torture he put [member="Lady Kay"] through, during those agonizing moments where were they? Where were they when she screamed? Where were they when she cried?

​They were too incompetent to pick up the crumbs to find pieces that would hopefully link them to her captor. They weren't strong enough, smart enough, fast enough. Above all they weren't willing to do what it took to get her back the limits of the Jedi Code these warriors clung to so zealously. "You are just as the woman I killed once was. Worthless. You will die like the mongrel you are!" ​The Destroyer sprang forward then, every limb in his body augmented by the power of force speed as he swiftly glided across the room in a charge, ready to rain down blow after blow on the feline stemmed in his hybrid style. It was a unique style encompassing several techniques and knowledge from many forms but forged on a bedrock of djem-so.

 

[WolfMortum]

"Oh that I wish that were true...", he answered in response to her accusation, his smile faded and for a moment she might actually see the defeat behind his attempt to mask his emotions. Had he abandoned her? Would that, that have been far easier had he actually been capable of discarding all attachments as some Jedi of the past would have advised, his own mentor long since passed the epitome of those teachings and yet he himself, Veiere, had never stopped searching for answers as to where she had up and disappeared to.

"The day that we discovered you had disappeared was the very same day that I lost my Brother to the war between the Galactic alliance and the Sith. I did not tell you because I did not wish to worry but perhaps had I not flown off under some charade that there could be peace, I might have stopped you from leaving with him..." Veiere gestured to the hall behind [member="Lady Kay"], to where Darth Prazutis and Ryn'Dhal were stood. Slowly, Veiere rose to stand from the bench, so that he might keep an eye on the feline friend of theirs whilst showing no sudden movements to Kay that she might feel threatened in any way. To all outside appearances, they would be onlookers, spectators as it were to this sad need for violence to come between them all. "I called for Council..." He went on to explain further, "Gathered all of your friends on the eve of war and turned my back on the wishes of my brother that I might instead seek to find you again. We all went our separate ways, some of your friends aren't to favorable of the Jedi lifestyle, we all felt it best we seek you out through our own connections. My only problem was that the Force brought you and I together, we did not meet through any one else but our own paths crossing...".

That she remembered nothing of any of this saddened him greatly though he did his utmost not to fall back on his disappointments now, instead focusing on her and her alone. "I was more than your bodyguard, Kay" he forced a brief smile as difficult as it was under the circumstances, "I was your confidante, your friend and..." he paused to finish the sentence. Had they been given more time then perhaps it would have become something true, the kiss they had shared within the courtyard of his estate overlooking Chasin City from the hills, it had been their first training session together; "...I helped you to reconstruct your lightsaber, I began to help you further explore your abilities in the Force where you let so few people know of it at all...".

"Do you remember none of it? Have you forgotten the connection we share?" the answer was already blatantly obvious, it had been so in the void that he felt approaching the palace only to find that her typical warming presence had been mistaken in darkness. Veiere could feel it even more so now, so close to her and yet he wondered if she even recognized how much she had lost. Fighting Prazutis was no goal to follow, it would amount to one more death at his heads or otherwise the end of his life at the others, the force to be strained and a hole in the world where the natural presence of life might have been stolen away; Kay Larr on the other hand was the victim in all of this and the woman he cared for most, not only that but she was the rightful leader over Commenor. She and her new Master both scaled very differently in comparison; Veiere's priorities were very much in check.

 

[Kay-Larr]

[member="Veiere Arenais"] lost someone. Well so did she. And she lost much more than that. But at least he knew a little of what it felt like. But as soon as he uttered the words 'I might have stopped you from leaving with him', Kay's anger and pain from her suffering were brought to the surface. Her body quivered as tears brimmed her eyes, her words almost spitting out of her as she began to pace back and forth like a caged animal, all the while glaring at Veiere. "Leaving with him?! Leaving with him??!! Is that what you think happened?! I was captured!! I lost access to the Force, my guards were murdered and I was shot and knocked out while I tried to get away!! I didn't chose this, he did!! So don't you dare put the blame on me!!"

She couldn't concentrate on anything else that he so calmly spoke of, until he said her name. So they were closer than she realized. It bothered her to no end that he knew so much while she knew so little. And he even trained her. She stopped her pacing and stared at nothing in particular while she tried to find even a snippet of a memory. But there was nothing. Nothing but a glimpse of drinking tea together, a mere second. That was the only bit of truth that she could hold onto of what he was saying. "Death steals many things from us..." Of course she felt the connection and it was starting to make sense, in a twisted way. "...Maybe I'm to help Death to steal you from living too."

 

[WolfMortum]

He listened to her anger, felt those emotions resonating through her voice as if her current path was propelled by that temper, that hurt and anguish and nothing outside of it. His head tilted marginally to the left though his eyes never left hers, it was a slight notion of submission that she would see he was paying her his utmost attention. Truth be told, to this day it had been a mystery to them how she had been taken, where she had gone and who had been responsible for it though she had taken his words quite literally in that he must have sounded like he thought she'd gone willingly. "You are the Madame President...-Or rather now you appear to wish to be called by 'Queen', even then you were still the head of this world, I do not believe you would have chosen to leave it. Not after seeing you day in and day out fighting for the Commenori People...-Doing away with Slavery and criminality where ever it could be routed out, no I don't believe you chose this in the slightest..." yet her actions would condone such an injustice if she were to continue on this path, he wished to point this out but in the heat of the moment, nay, it would have gone afoul.

Death steals many things away from us...-This was an interesting concept. Was it her death that she was speaking of or that of her late husband who had also been killed by one of the Sith. "Who's death do you refer to..." He asked with a quieter tone and a hint of caution in his words, her husband was always a touchy subject for a number of reasons, most initially because he wished not to hurt her in their discussing such private matters but later even more so as their relationship grew. "There was something special to me, someone close" he bit the side of his cheek, unable to know just how to feel in speaking these words, "But she looks at me through very different eyes now..." he glanced back to meet [member="Lady Kay"]'s gaze, both curious and reluctant to see if she was hearing him right, "I'm afraid I have little else to give to 'death' as it were".

 

[Kay-Larr]

Good. [member="Veiere Arenais"] saw her for what she was; the rightful leader of Commenor. Even for a Jedi he knew this truth. That faired well for him. It meant that he wouldn't be one of the ones to try to steal her power, steal her throne and rule over Commenor in their own way. This Palace and this world was hers to look after and protect.

It was odd though, how he never made an attempt to break eye contact, though she had shifted her focus off of his at least once. Her old self would have turned a slight shade of red or done something to distract, but not this Kay. In a way, she thought he was challenging her, but that was not what she was reading in his eyes. The whole matter was confusing and frustrating.

Who's death was she referring to? His, hers, all of the above. And still he continued talking in that soothing, quiet tone of his. Where was that voice when she was suffering? Where was that voice when she screamed and almost begged for death to come, only to wake up and go through even more pain. Where was he?!

Kay suddenly rushed forward and wrapped her hand tight around his throat, leaving him room to breathe but little else as she drew her face close to the side of his so that she could whisper in his ear. "Death made me stronger, pain made me stronger. My weakness led me to my suffering, just as it leads you to yours. Death takes that away. I can take it away...." Her hand remained on his throat while she pulled her head back so that she can meet his gaze. "...Or you can shed your weakness and grow strong by my side. Serve me as you once served her."

 

[WolfMortum]

His head snapped back, she had him by the throat and yet held him not hard enough to stop him from breathing; there seemed to be some reluctance there yet. Still she was playing a serious card now, one her hand wasn't stacked in her favor. Veiere had never wished to challenge [member="Lady Kay"] in any form of combat outside of their own training together yet now she had crossed the line and taken the first hostile step to proving that such a confrontation was very much a possibility. She was unpredictable in her new self, this lack of memory over her past experiences coupled with the destructive empowerment of the Dark Side of the Force that had been given to her through Prazutis had boasted her confidence in herself, she had never been one to move on the attack before now.

Blind to the truth, so many in both the Sith and the Jedi alike. The Dark Side held nothing over the strength of the Light and vice versa, the Force flowed in balance and without one, you could not have the other. Perhaps she did truly believe herself weaker before, Veiere would have to disagree yet it wasn't this dark hatred channeling through her force signature that would make her any stronger, she'd only open herself up to further pain had she not the mind to look beyond her temperament. His lightsaber hung heavy against his belt, it was not to be a weapon used against her if he could help it. His hands had been left free, she used nothing of her training under this supposed Sith Lord to do any real harm to him other than make idle threats to which Veiere could only respond to such fictitious propaganda with an indisputable truth...-Though he knew not if he could breach her mind, had Kay the resistance to block him telepathically.

Reaching for her side, his left hand grazed her cheek before his palm fell warm against her forehead, eyes closing half way as the aura of the force around him seemed to strengthen and project itself against her own dark visage. He might have had only seconds before she would respond, that much was out of his hands and yet he did his utmost to summon the force and strengthen their connection in such close proximity, so much so that he fueled the trance whilst focusing on the memory of her failed assassination.

It was a different day, a past hour, her speech as a candidate for the presidency of Commenor had just ended and Veiere had been roaming the grounds when he had sensed trouble. Kay Larr stood not to far alongside that of some rogue, a thief looking to steal her purse. The Man did not care for who she was, he was a roughneck and a rather poor individual at that. When things got heated however and Kay had refused to let him steal from her, things had turned hostile and so Veiere had sought to intervene. In the haste of emotions the thief had let loose a small explosive device. Had it not been for the Jedi grabbing her and taking her to the floor, throwing up a telekinetic barrier around them, she would've died that day...

He couldn't initially tell if she'd allowed herself to be receptive of the memory though nor did he have the patience to let her get to such a point that she might grow desperate in her anger and move to attack him. His right hand still free, he dropped it to her midsection and with faint effort, he let loose a large enough burst of telekinetic energy to separate the two by a mere meter. It was not a method of harm but simply a means to free himself from her grasp and upon finding herself unharmed, perhaps then it might open her up to another time. A time in their training when he had used the same move to catch her off guard...

"Had you truly experienced death, you would not be standing before me now. Your life wasn't brought to an end, it was stolen from you..." Veiere spoke heavier words now, his tone flustered by her attempt to intimidate him, such a thing she would never have done in her right mind and the blame for this lay on the one behind her fighting her feline friend. "The Force gives us our strength, for what means we might seek to use it, there is no amount of power in you now that wasn't already present before and walking by your side before was never about receiving anything more than your company. The lies you have been fed have made you blind, Kay...".

 

[Ultimatum]

The ship guided itself to the landing pad and dropped itself onto the pad as if it were being flown by a veteran pilot. The ramp lowered on its own to allow Ultimatum to step out into the light. It was a bit too whimsical to think it, but he wished that it was rainy with a little thunder and lightening. He figured it would have fit the occasion better. Certainly the situation was rather more somber than he would have preferred. After her disappearance, Ultimatum would have far more enjoyed a reunion in a better light, perhaps a celebration.

Now it was a matter of waiting, but before that he should probably be close enough at hand should the appointment change time or some unforeseen event occur. Thus he began to make his way through the city, after paying a landing fee of course. He wondered how much of this world would be changed underneath the new government, if perhaps the way of life of these people would be affected negatively or positively by this return of the queen. He looked forward to, and at the same time was quite apprehensive about, his meeting with [member="Lady Kay"]. He hoped to learn much about her changes, if only by listening and watching. Perhaps she would be doing the same to him, if she even remembered who he was then she would know that observation was important to the droid.

 

[Kay-Larr]

His hand touched first her cheek and then her forehead. He was still so calm. What was he up to? She felt the Force flowing through him, but that wasn't all. The flash of a memory seen through [member="Veiere Arenais"] ' eyes of herself struggling against a thief. The Jedi rushed to her aid and protected her from the explosion. Then it ended.

Kay let go of his neck as she was pushed back from him. It wasn't a strong push, but it was enough. So he was testing her. And he held within him what she had sought. Her memories. Of course what he had shown her could easily be lost if he were to die. And she couldn't let that happen. Not yet.

She reached out through their connection in the same manner that he did, sending him a memory of her own. All that there was was darkness and loud sounds that never ceased and always changed. A door opened and she was picked up and thriwn against the wall by the guards, beaten, head covered and then dragged out. Another flash and she was bound against a wall, her back exposed while she was being whipped so hard, her flesh was not only ripping, it was coming off. Then she spoke in his mind, {He might steal your life too. Go now, while you can.}

She brought up her hand and stared at it as though she was seeing it for the first time while she spoke out loud. "I'm not blind, I've been taught to see, to see how I never had control to begin with. I was a puppet. But no more. I can crush you with a thought, but I'm giving you a head start to leave. Call it being generous for old time's sake." Kay didn't want to have to kill him, she didn't want anyone else to do so either. And she needed time to think about what she would do. This was not a time for haste. He needed to go before her Master got a hold of him. She didn't dare glance over her shoulder to see the duel behind her. She could hear it. Out of her own selfishness, she wanted Veiere to be left alone and for her to deal with alone.

"Get out of my home..." With a tug of the Force, her lightsaber flew to her awaiting hand from it's holster behind her back. This was a new hilt, the blade not yet engaged. Still decorative, still pretty to look at, yet deadly. Kay was putting on a show and she hoped that Veiere would understand that.

 

[WolfMortum]

So sure of herself...-Had she fulfilled her training under this new mentor of darkness? Veiere frowned at the thought. The last they had sparred together, she had been adept at best though it had only been by her choosing to keep her force signature a consistent secret from all around her that she had neglected to strengthen her abilities in it's practice. How much had this Prazutis taught her...

These memories, the images of her torture flooded in and in this his emotional barrier finally wavered and he found himself struggling to hold himself together. He dared not imagine her path before yet now seeing and almost feeling it all as she had, he took a step back and turned to the side, daunted not by her reach for her lightsaber but by the truth of her time away from Commenor. "How can you stand there, defending the man that took everything from you..." He spoke solemnly, his gaze crossing the floor and slowly casting his focus towards the entrance that he had come in through. Guilt shook him, he had done as best he could to search for her but the Galaxy spanned incomprehensible distances for one man to traverse, she had been a pine-needle in a bail of pine-needles to find and he had failed her; the odds had been stacked against them from the start. To leave her here however? There was always a chance that she would force him to leave but there were other lives at stake than simply her own and he had come with those in mind as well...

"You could attack me but I fear that would be unnecessary", he spoke before taking a slow breath and doing his utmost to center himself within the force, pulling his aura in unto himself so that the power and warmth of life might aid him in forgetting his far more desperate passions, at least for the time. "You know that I can show you what has been taken from you...-Furthermore you know that I wish to help you see who you really are and I can sense that longing in you...", his voice faded a moment and he appeared very reluctant to continue but this was really his only possible card to play without forcing [member="Lady Kay"] into violence; "You have captives. Friends of both yours and my own that do not deserve to be punished for their ignorance...-Spare them and I will return. I will help you find all that you've lost...-All I ask is that your prisoners are set free and escorted off of this world. They cannot harm you if you are truly as powerful as you claim...".

 

[Darlyn Excron]

Darlyn watched Einon leave the city limits, ensuring his safety up to that point with tensed concern. Every step, every moment, was another chance for everything to go completely wrong, for everything to collapse around him. He was certainly far enough that Einon could fall without himself being implicated, immediately, in anything wrong. But given what he'd told the man, he had to be certain he made it out. And the moment he did, he turned on his heels, quickly moving back towards the palace. He had to move swiftly, if he was to beat Ghorua's arrival, but too quickly and he might be, suspicious.

His head was looking off to the side, relying on his force sensing capabilities to move out of the way of others. Of course, [member="Ultimatum"] wasn't 'alive' in the same way, so Darlyn almost ran into him before turning his head back, barely in time. He turned a bit, avoiding collision, and nodding his head. The droid was given at least recognition, as the ex-sith was unaware his nature, and passed without a second thought. Of course, if Ultimatum was in fact observing everything, it did mean the mirror-masked hunter would be remembered should they meet again.

And given their destination, it was almost certain. The darkside flowed around and through Darlyn naturally, perhaps masking, to a certain extent, his approach in this darkened city, as he neared the palace gates. If it did or didn't mattered little to him, only that he would not be mistaken for a Jedi, like the other force-users who had come. The guards stood in his way, as the palace was on lockdown, but Darlyn had a few ideas on how to get inside. Naturally, one was something he'd never done, and could just as easily fail, but if it succeeded it would only fuel his mission. Walking up to one of the guards, he spoke calmly and even-toned, attempting to use the force to trick the man. He had trouble with new abilities, but he at least understood how this one was meant to work. Perhaps it would work... at least just long enough. "I have an urgent message for the Queen. Please take me to her, with all haste." The words were a poor attempt at trickery, and if it didn't work he'd have to fall back and find a new way inside.

[member="Lady Kay"]