As Cecily lay unconscious on the dais, her mind drifted deep into the recesses of thought and she entered the realm of dreams...
Her eyes were open, yet they could not penetrate the darkness that enveloped her. From all sides she was assailed by auditory terrors, the deep snarl of some vicious creature, the cackle of a mad man, the hiss of a deadly viper. All signs spelled doom as her knees buckled and she slid to the ground, begging for mercy. When death seemed imminent, suddenly it all stopped and a voice spoke, a terrible voice, full of hatred, coming from the darkness itself.
'Poor little Senator, poor little girl... poor pathetic, stupid little girl. Did you really think it would be so easy? That you could just close your eyes and wish away the darkness? Did you think that you could pull the covers over your head and the big bad Sith would just... vanish?' It hissed, so laden with fury that it caused Cecily unbearable pain to hear, 'no, I think not... you didn't honestly believe that silly little phrase when you said it, did you? Evil is finite' A sharp cackle pierced the darkness.
'Well, the love in your heart didn't keep you alive very long, now did it, my dear? You have failed,' the terrible voice was a roar now, 'and we shall bring the Republic to its knees. Let me show you the infinite power of the Sith.'
She felt herself violently jerked upward as if a giant meat hook had been thrust into her navel and her surroundings exploded with light, so hot that it seemed to melt away her skin. Massive roaring explosions erupted from all sides and as she blinked away the spots in her vision she saw Republic fleets enveloped in fire. A flash and she looked on as planet after planet was conquered by the One Sith, people of every species marching in chains before massive effigies to ancient Sith paragons. 'This is the future of your Republic. This is the Sith.'
Every inch of her body cried out in rebellion against the force that bound her, the invisible fingers that pried her eyes open. Insider her head she called out for help, to who she did not know. Yet, as she cried to the universe, seemingly in vain, she felt a powerful grip take hold of her by the shoulders and a warmth washed over her. 'No!' she was not sure if she had said it, but a blinding flash extinguished the visions before her and the voice came like thunder. She fell to her knees and all was dark once more... except, this time there she could see. A light seemed to emanate from her form and she could see.
'As long as I draw breath, that will not happen,' it was her voice, she was certain now, but it was stronger, more sure than she remembered.
'Darkness will take you,' the voice from the darkness was still filled with rage, but it was a mere whisper in her ear now.
'Darkness is merely an absence of light, where there is light... it cannot prevail,' she looked up now and beheld a terrible withered face that held no definite shape before her eyes, and yet she recognized the anger in its eyes, 'and there is light left in me.' It was not merely a statement, a guess, it was a pronouncement. With these words she passed sentence and sealed fate.
The face lashed out in anger, barreled toward her, but as Cecily held her hands before her it was met with a burst of radiant light. Brighter than the brightest of stars, the darkness fell away before it and was gone.
Cecily inhaled sharply and darted forward as the nameless Jedi ( [member="Mantic Dorn"] ) closed her wounds. Pain shot through her abdomen as her head reeled and she fell back into his arms. Memories of what happened came flooding back to her and she made an effort to sit up again, desperate to see the King, to see if anyone else had been injured, but she was too weak to move. She could only see the face of the Jedi and a ring of assorted guards who had created a perimeter around her body.
"Stand aside!" she heard a gruff voice bellow as the wall of guards parted. A contingent of Senate Guards pushed through with two medic droids and a hovering stretcher.
"Lady Cecily, can you hear me?"
"Yes, I-- the King, he's been--"
"We know, madame--"
"Did anyone else--"
"We are taking you to hospital, madame," there was no reply to her question, but she felt herself hoisted onto the stretcher and the hovering medic droids busied themselves tending to her. She resisted momentarily as she demanded answers, but when she felt the restraints tightened she knew it was no use. A few moments later and there was a rush of sound as a Republic ship descended, escorted by a compliment of smaller fighters.
The world around her shifted as she the soldiers quickly shuttled her to the ship and secured the stretcher inside. As the ship lifted, she caught sight of the panic stricken Palace Square. Entire platoons of Republic soldiers were flooding the square and ushering citizens back inside as emergency bells rang all across the city of Iziz. It was the last thing she saw before a sedative was administered and she drifted back out of consciousness.
She did not dream this time, though her last thoughts before she slept were of her vision... was it a vision? Had she been given some prophetic insight into the future? Had she been mentally assailed by some mysterious Dark Lord? Or was it merely a pain enduced hallucination? She had no time to contemplate, but of one thing she was certain: she would never give up.
[member="Geneviève Lasedri"] [member="Valen Cerezo"] [member="Lok Jorunn"] [member="Mantic Dorn"] [member="Faith Balor-Organa"] [member="Nimue Stormson"] [member="Thalia Rist"] [member="Targon Paramithian"] [member="Darth Ophidia"] [member="Darth Ferus"] [member="Persephone Callas"]
