Private The Adventures of Snotface and Goofball - Unexpected News

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

A transmission is sent to Caedyn Arenais through his private channel.

~Hey Snotface!

Yeah I know, you HATE that nickname, but at least I didn't say it in public! Anyways, I need to see you right away! I have good news and bad news. Going through the holonet is not the best idea. So....where should we meet up? Somewhere safe for me, obviously. And you should be happy to know that I have been keeping my nose clean, for the most part. I even had a little vacation, can you believe it??

Anyways, message me back soon!

Love Goofball~

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Life had not been simple lately for the Jedi Knight as the sense of duty to the Jedi Path had been muddied by the involvement of Concordian Politics across the Silver Sphere. Thus far Caedyn had kept himself pretty well confined to Silver Space, either teaching within the Silver Rest or otherwise doing some research into a particular world that had most curiously crossed his path in the most surprising of fashions.

He hadn't yet visited the World of Mnemosyne; In fact, Caedyn was still waiting on the official documentation to reach him in order to verify his parent's ties to the World. Out of sheer suspicion of doubt, he had also neglected to raise the subject with his sister Loreena Arenais-Valhoun , however as it so happened, Lori herself seemed to have reason to contact him.

~Hey Snotface!

Yeah I know, you HATE that nickname, but at least I didn't say it in public! Anyways, I need to see you right away! I have good news and bad news. Going through the holonet is not the best idea. So....where should we meet up? Somewhere safe for me, obviously. And you should be happy to know that I have been keeping my nose clean, for the most part. I even had a little vacation, can you believe it??

Anyways, message me back soon!

Love Goofball~

Loreena knew him well, he wasn't at all fond of the nickname, yet they rarely seemed to see one another nowadays compared to when they were children and the name had first been thrown his way. There was still a bit of guilt on his part for pursuing the Jedi life and otherwise being kept at arm's length from the rest of his family, now that only being Loreena since the passing of their Mom.

Lori,

I've been putting off a trip to a particular world in Silver Space called Mnemosyne. I'd like to meet you there if you're open to a bit of exploration while we catch up on old times. The coordinates are enclosed with this message.

See you soon.

Now then, it seemed fate had forced him to take in this relic of his parents past after-all. With Loreena at his side then at least they'd be looking upon the new world together, sharing in the heritage of a governed world kept secret from the rest of House Arenais and the previous Commenori office of monarchy that they'd grown up within.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Mnemosyne? How does one even pronounce that? Lori scratched her head in thought. Was the M silent? Or the N? Did the Y have a soft or hard sound? Thank the Force she only had to type it into her navcom instead of saying it. Well that and Caedyn Arenais did provide her the co-ordinated to where exactly she was to meet him.

She whipped up her reply, still insisting on using the nickname codenames:

~Understood ! See you in a bit!

Love Goofball~

Moments later the Jaster's Sparrow was on it's way.

Some time later, Lori was eyeballing the planet below through the transparasteel glass of her cockpit. It was certainly pretty. Could be another vacation spot! She piloted Jaster's Sparrow down to the Capital City of Port Solaris. There was a bustle of activity all around and it reminded her of Commenor before the Sith came. She flew to the designated landing pad and landed it ever so softly. Lori missed having Arla on board, but Curtis Learchin was picking her up from MandalArms where she was getting some repairs done. They were much needed repairs too. Lori was glad that she wasn't human or she might not have survived.

After shutting down the Sparrow, Lori bounded out of the cockpit and headed down the steps to the cargohold. With a slap of her hand on the button on the wall, the loading ramp was lowered with a hiss of hydrolics. Plastering on her characteristic grin, she walked down the ramp in search of her brother.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Nem-O-Zeen (Mnemosyne).

So perhaps it wasn't the easiest name to pronounce off of a datapad message, but the world itself in all of its beauty and splendour would more than make up for the rather original spelling and sound of the name.

Port Solaris was the largest city on the planet, a metropolis that could only be compared to the likes of Taris or coruscant, at least until you hit the edge of the city limits and were greeted by the flourishing wildlife and the incredible weather that seemed to change depending on which direction you took off to, which side of the hemisphere you intended on visiting.

Standing at the base of the platform leading higher up to each individual landing pad, Caedyn Arenais awaited his Sisters arrival whilst keeping an eye on the locals coming and going from the Spaceport. Being one of the main points of entree to and from Mnemosyne, the was a rather significant amount of traffic coming and going, making it difficult to spot any particular individual were it not for being able to sense Loreena Arenais-Valhoun presence with such familiarity.

"Lori!" Caedyn called out across the crowd as he spotted her, quickly moving to part his way between people in order to greet her at the base of her landing platform. He didn't hesitate to wrap his arms around his Sister in a warm and welcome hug, a smile to accompany his relief in seeing that she'd found her way to Mnemosyne safely.

"I'm glad you made it. Safe and without incident, I hope?".

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Oh there he was! Lori heard the voice of Caedyn Arenais calling out her name before she saw him. He weaved through the crowd with what seemed to be little effort and she was quick to greet him part way. Her arms wrapped around him tightly. As she was dressed in her spacer outfit, that made the hug more comfortable and one in which she could feel her brother's embrace more.

To his comment she laughed a little until she snorted. "Yeah I think so. And no tails either. So....this is a new place. Looks kinda nice. Where could we go for a chat? There's plenty for me to catch you up on." Both good news and bad. The need for privacy was there and she wasn't about to head off to some cafe or something. If worse came to worse, Lori figured she'd just bring him inside of her ship.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"There's a good question" Caedyn replied, turning to look away from where she had landed and wondered himself where they could go to sit and maybe have a stimcaf in a more relaxed environment; "Let's go have a look shall we?" he suggested, his hand giving a casual wave in encouragement as he began to walk down from the landing pad.

"This is actually my first visit to the place" Caedyn admitted, glancing back to Lori with a peculiar smile; Naturally she didn't understand the purpose of why Caedyn had suggested they meet there of all places but he'd tell her as much in due time. Leaving the Spaceport and stepping out into the open street, the massive buildings around them towered high above, some of which stood so tall it was impossible to make out the peak of them.

Together they'd enjoy a small walk along the path, passing other pedestrians and having air-speeders moving back and forth over-head, it was all a rather pleasant sight to behold given that Port Solaris was the capital metropolis of Mnemosyne. "I'm sure we'll be able to find a cafe somewhere" Caedyn thought aloud, pleased to simply be able to spend some down-time together with his Sister for a change.

Loreena Arenais-Valhoun

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

"Well, what made you pick it? I hadn't even heard of the place. And hopefully no one else has either." The last thing that they needed was for it to get attacked. There was nothing bad about being unknown in the universe. It made you less of a target.

"A cafe? Isn't that rather....public? This might seem like a safe place, but I just worry that the Empire has people here. And with what I have to say, I don't really want it to be let out just yet. It's kind of all....secret." She had much news to give Caedyn Arenais , both good and bad. Some he will probably love, but others.....not so much. And the last thing that she needed was to be lectured in front of a bunch of strangers. She'd rather have to go through that where no one could see them. She couldn't keep her emotions so tightly in check like her brother could. At times she was envious of him, but now she had fully accepted that although they were twins, they were entirely two different people.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"I'd seen it on the navigational charts of Silver Space but I'd never had any reason to visit the place until recently, myself" Caedyn replied with a faint smile, "Not until I was contacted by a solicitor who claimed to have been operating under Mom's will" he glanced back to his Sister, expecting that she'd be far more intrigued now that he had mentioned their late Mother. The sheer disbelief when he had been informed of their families connection to the world had been palpable and he had no doubt in his mind that Loreena Arenais-Valhoun would likely react with a similar mind and heart.

He didn't go into details until they had found a rather cute little diner where they could sit and order some lunch, Caedyn leading his Sister to one of the booths in the far end of the small restaurant in order to give them some space from the few others that had taken up their places at the counter well before the twin's arrival. Shortly thereafter the twins would be greeted by a waitress who'd take their order and then soon move off to continue about her business leaving them alone for the time being.

Turning and reaching into his satchel, Caedyn then produced a datapad, not of his own but a second device that Loreena could keep if she so desired, and containing within it were all the legal documents that bound he and his Sister to the Monarchy of Mnemosyne itself. "So, apparently Mom and Dad still had some secrets kept away from the Galaxy after all..." Caedyn elaborated somewhat vaguely, knowing that she'd catch up via the data placed in front of her; "They didn't want a repeat of Commenor...-Or so I was told, anyway".

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Their Mom's will? Lori hadn't even thought about it. She didn't even think that there was one, for she hadn't even seen their Dad's. But it wasn't as though she had allowed herself time to deal with the untimely passing of their parents. In her own manner of expressing her grief, Lori had jumped into the Eclipse Rebellion with both feet, keeping herself so busy that she didn't even think of them for doing so tended to bring her to tears.

She kept quiet as they walked into the little cafe, speaking only to place her order. She let Caedyn Arenais do most of the talking for once. And as he handed her the datapad, Lori couldn't help but pour over the documents contained within it, reading them over and over again to herself before slipping the datapad back to him. When she spoke, it was a loud whisper. "Are you serious?? There's a monarchy here and WE'RE supposed to lead it?? What makes them think that we're capable? And what about you and the Jedi and me with the Rebels? Wouldn't our work almost ensure that another Commenor could happen?!" If Ingrid L'lerim got wind of this then it could be something else that the woman could use against her.

"I've inherited MandalArms....Not by Mom but by Kaine...he was killed and...had left it to me. I'm sure that there's plenty that I can use to defend this world and others with." That was one item of news that she had to share. There was of course, even more news.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"Well that's the interesting thing...-Mnemosyne is run by a constitutional monarchy with a parliamentary system of government, which means while you and I have inherited the Monarchy, we're not actually needing to do anything. The Government runs itself and it looks like we're just sitting back on the sidelines unless there's a need for us to intervene" Caedyn explained, sounding as though he was still trying to wrap his head around it himself.

Naturally, the subject of a Will hadn't come up when their Father had passed, they'd both been so distraught and any of Veiere's assets and unfinished business had been passed on to their Mother, but when NPC Treasury had passed away...A solicitor had wound up on Caedyn's doorstep, so to speak.

"I guess this is how Mom and Dad were able to keep their distance and keep anyone from suspecting a thing about it all..." he added after a moment of consideration. How they'd managed to keep a Monarchy over an entire world secret from friends and family, Caedyn couldn't fathom until he'd taken an active interest in Mnemosyne and learned how self-sufficient it seemed to be.

"Hell, if we wanted to, we could do the job from a datapad on the other side of the Galaxy. It's really quite hands-off" he chuckled softly, slightly in disbelief as the sentence sounded almost too good to be true, yet the documentation was all right there in front of Loreena Arenais-Valhoun .

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori just stared at the datapaed, but wasn't really looking at it. She was too focused on her own thoughts and worries. She had mentioned her bad news and yet Caedyn Arenais didn't even bat an eye. Perhaps he was far more used to the death of family than she was. That and this whole Monarchy thing was a distraction in and of itself.

"So....what? Do we get crowns or something? Some castle? Some big coronaton? I don't even want my wedding known, in case the Empire decides to attack it. You've seen Ingrid L'lerim in action. You know some of what she's capable of; and she's just one of them. There are many more with different skillsets." Without even thinking of all of the fun things that she had wanted to tell her brother, she let her biggest news slip out. "I don't want anyone to know about this. They'll use it against me to force me to stop. It'll turn into a political affair, and the last thing that I need is to be the cause of a big war between the Jedi and the Empire. Especially when I'm not a part of either of them."

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"Your...What?" Caedyn's gaze lifted, staring back at Loreena Arenais-Valhoun as she let slip the reason for wanting to meet with him. "You're getting married?" Caedyn asked, wanting to make certain he had heard her correctly, although the question was mostly rhetorical because it seemed unlikely he could have misheard her, given how sudden and surprising it had struck him.

"Wow..." Caedyn smirked shortly thereafter, "Imagine that...-This is the same guy, right? What's-his-face?" he chuckled warily, having forgotten the man's name and only having met him a couple of times. How estranged their lives had become where Caedyn couldn't recall his Sisters fiance's name...

"As far as I know there's a property here that's been left under our name since Mom's...-You know" Caedyn replied to Lori's question, albeit a little dismissively as he was still trying to wrap his head around the good news. Force knows he needed something worth celebrating lately; "But no, as far as I'm aware this World's fairly secure given what lengths Mom and Dad went in hiding her from even us of all people".

"No Crown or Castle, thankfully" he added with a grin, "Just a property I've yet to check out".

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

Lori rubbed the back of her neck a little as she realized that she let her news slip. She gave him a bit of a sheepish grin and then showed him her engagement ring, which was really just a metal band. There was no jewels or finery. It was just simple and basic. "Yes to the same guy. Curtis Learchin . He has a bit of a dark past, but he's a good man. I just wish that Mom and Dad could have gotten to know him and could get their approval. I guess that's your job now. You are the head of the family." And the head of...well this world that their parents had left them.

At the mention of no crown or castle, Lori was relieved. Yet she wasn't entirely confident in how secure Caedyn Arenais had said that Mnemosyne was. The Empire would find out. She was sure of it. But what it would do with that information, she could only guess. And of course those guesses weren't very positive ones.

"Property, huh? Any ideas of what kind?"

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"Curtis! That was it..." Caedyn echoed, rubbing the back of his head in sheepish embarrassment, "Sorry about that, I'm pretty sure I met the guy twice now?" he said uncertainly. Although from memory, he had found a good impression from that one and for Loreena Arenais-Valhoun to be so committed as to marry the guy, Caedyn knew he'd live up to expectations. Lori didn't just settle for anyone, after all, she was very much one to find and admire the good in others.

"As for being the head of the family, I'm not sure I agree...-Or even see why there needs to be a 'head' at all, given it's just the two of us" Caedyn commented. Sure he was the 'Man of the House' so to speak but those old stereotypes and gender-based roles didn't fly with him so much as they might with others. He and Lori were only seconds difference in age and neither of them needed hand-holding in life; "You and I are both on the level as far as I'm concerned" he smiled to his Sister.

"As for the Property, it's on the list there" He gestured to the datapad where Lori would find a couple of screens taken of their parent's estate.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

"It's okay, Cae. There's been so much going on that it's easy for little things like that to slip. And yeah, you've only seen him twice. We haven't exactly been in the same part of the Galaxy much." Usually when they were in the same sector, it was either for bad news OR she needed Caedyn Arenais to get her out of trouble, which was much to Lori's dismay.

As for being the head of the family, she didn't agree with her brother's lack of wanting to take up the position. His believe in that they shared it was admirable, but not quite what she felt. "Cae, you are the head of the family. You're older, you're a leader, whereas I just find exciting ways to get myself into trouble. And besides...someone has to give me away at my wedding, right? Dad's not here to do so...." Neither parent were going to be there and just the thought of it made her sad. "I could always get Uncle Darlyn to do it though, if you'd like." He was older than the both of them. And although he wasn't related to them by blood or marriage, he was still their Uncle. Recently he had been helping her with the Eclipse Rebellion as well. Hopefully that wasn't going to get him into trouble with the SJC. No doubt there'd be some political turmoil created there.

Lori looked down at the datapad and looked at the property listed there. It was unique in it's own way, tucked away in grassy hills with only parts of it visible. "Well that looks cozy and regal at the same time. But not too much....not much at all. And there's a pool! I wonder if Mom and Dad ever spent time there together..." Their last few years of life had them separated in different parts of the Galaxy. The entire family was. But that was the consequences of war. Families never really returned to being the same.

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"Either way, there's not much need for leadership within our family any more, or upon Mnemosyne" Caedyn replied with a half-smile, glad of the fact. The Government in place was already doing a stellar job of it, judging from what Caedyn had managed to decipher of the archive files and latest holo news reports coming out of the Mnemos media-centre.

"Yeah, no, I don't think we need to get Uncle Dar involved" Caedyn quickly added, a slightly wary chuckle escaping him afterwards, "He's a bit too fond of explosives for my liking" he admitted, knowing well their Uncles explosive personality tended to match the possessions he owned and liked to play with.

"The place does look nice...-Though we'll need to air it out a bit I think" Caedyn agreed, the screens complementing the look of the residence now owned under their names. "Mnemosyne certainly explains the financial status of our family. I wondered for the longest time how we managed to stay ahead of our expenses for so long and some of the income I couldn't trace...-I'd wager Mom and Dad might have bent a few rules to keep things off the books in that regard" he theorized. House Arenais had presided over more than just a few world's now and was responsible for no small amount of humanitarian efforts across the Galaxy. Neither he nor Loreena would go wanting for some time, even were all assets to cease their earning.

"How would you feel were I to finance yours and Curtis' Wedding?" he asked, a smirk crossing the Jedi Knight as he looked to Loreena Arenais-Valhoun expecting a fuss to be made of the offer.

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

"Well then why bother having us as Monarchs at all? Especially as there's no need of us." They could be free and not have to worry about the place. Of course if it was attacked, that'd be a whole other story. Yet Lori was certain that the little planet would be safe from that.

She smirked as Caedyn Arenais declined the idea of having Darlyn give her away at the wedding. It just cemented the fact that Caedyn was the head of the family, just like she said. "You know that any explosives that Uncle Darlyn would use at the wedding would be filled with confetti and glitter, right?" And that would be HILARIOUS!!

In regards to their mom and dad bending rules, Lori snickered. Of course they would do that! Especially if it meant providing and protecting their children.

"Finance the wedding? I'm not planning on some big fanfare you know. We don't have many family left and I don't have a lot of friends either. The smaller the better. And it's safer that way too."

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"I suppose it's a sort of insurance against the Government acting against the good of the Nation, or in times of war or some other disastrous circumstance," Caedyn shrugged a little, speaking from the presumption rather than from knowledge based on fact.

The truth was that it was their parents that put the Constitutional Monarchy in place to preside over the Government. What their motives were, he could only guess at but the assumption was that they could retain a sense of control for the purpose of seeing the Nation grow and develop in line with the same morals and virtues as Commenor had, while also keeping their distance and endangering the people.

"I suppose you have a point when it comes to our list of friends, mind you," Caedyn remarked, a frown crossing his brow as he was forced to agree with the fact that they were far smaller in number than he recalled them ever being.

"Uncle Darlyn...You and Curtis, myself and...-I'm not sure whether I should expect to bring a date or not. That'd fall to Asa" he glanced off momentarily. Were she able, Caedyn knew Asaraa Vaashe would jump at the chance to be there with him to celebrate his Sisters wedding...-However time was rarely on their side given their split paths and allegiances to different Orders.

"Still, at least one of us is getting married eh" He chuckled quietly, "Give the folks something to smile about up there".

Loreena Arenais-Valhoun

 

[Loreena Arenais-Valhoun]

"I suppose so." Lori wasn't quite learned in politics. Yet due to the Eclipse Rebellion, she was going to have to learn. This was just another reason to do so.

Matters of state. How BORING!

It was true. Their list of friends was small. Just like their list of family members. And of course she knew who to blame for all of that.

"I miss them. I didn't get to see them much because of the war. And then the Rebellion kept me busy. Which reminds me....Ingrid gave me some of Mom's belongings that Tacitus had in his possession. Some of her clothes, jewelry, umbrella, a little pistol and even her lightsaber. We should probably keep them here at their house. They'll be safer there...don't you think?"

Caedyn Arenais

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"You have Mom's lightsaber?"

Caedyn stared back at his sister with renewed interest. To be honest, he had forgotten that Kay had owned a lightsaber, for she very rarely referred to that side of her life, be it the Force or her skill with a blade, to his memory at least. "Perhaps you should hold onto it Lori" Caedyn suggested, his words encouraging; "It's not a bad idea for you to have one, given your choice of lifestyle these days" he chuckled softly.

Although his Sister hadn't explored the extent of her potential, their Father had encouraged her at one point, however, the strict conduct of temple life was never likely to mesh with her character. "The weeks ahead are likely going to see me pulled between Mnemosyne and the Order of the Silver Jedi, but I also want to do what I can to help you with your Imperial problem with the Eternal Empire and the Rebellion" Caedyn explained, soon to get to the point and his offer, "I can help you in your skill with the Lightsaber, as well as your training in the Force if you'd like?".

Loreena Arenais-Valhoun