XIII

[Scherezade deWinter]

Something was gnawing on the insides of Madalena as the Nutcracker broke through Kashyyyk's atmosphere and began to land at the Rest. Perhaps it was because she hadn't seen Josh in a while and so much had happened since – whatever it was that was going or not going on with [member="Cardinal Vi'dreya"], her temporary role as Queen of Eshan, her advancements both in the field and out of it, just to name a few. And yet, she and Josh used to meet regularly, aside from the last month or two, so seeing her best friend again was supposed to be a happy event, no?

And yet, he had asked to meet at the Rest. Madalena wasn't sure, but it sounded like he was… Serious in a non-regular way? She wanted to say that he sounded like he had big bad news to tell her, but it could just as well have been nothing more than just her imagination. Looking over the Baal, she pet his head, smiling as he licked her hand in return. Baal always knew how to make her feel better, but why was she even in need of being made to feel better?

"I wish you'd speak to me too and not just to kids," she sighed before leaning down to kiss his head.

Once the Nutcracker was docked and all was taken care of, Madalena walked off the ramp, sensing out with the Force to find out where Josh was. While this was very deeply a Jedi place, the people there were used to her by now; or at least, she liked to think they were, because most of the smiles appeared friendly, but she wouldn't poke their brains to check and accidentally cause a diplomatic clusterkrak. It was very adulty of her.

Sighing, the former Queen of Eshan looked around, wondering if she should have let Baal come with her.


[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Josh was waiting for her, and when she would approach he would give her a warm, gentle smile as he would motion for her to walk with him. "So, I met your brother" Josh would admit flat out. It had been... Interesting. He was honestly disappointed with the man that he met. The man she had talked up was certainly not what he was expecting or hoping for. As much as he knew it was possible seeing as he was a Sith Lord, Josh was expecting him to be less... Typical Sith. And maybe more like Scherezade and Madalena. But in the end, as stated... All he really found was disappointment.

"You've been told about Scherezade then, by what has been told to me?" He would inquire as the two of them made their way to his office. It was still a bit barren in furnishing, the most character it had was the little building blocks on the floor, clearly left by Jason from the last time the two had been engaging in playtime. He turned to face her then, motioning for her to make herself at home. His expression had become serious.

"You don't believe them. That's what I've been told" Josh spoke curtly, as calmly as he could despite the severity of the situation. "As much as I hate to say it... They aren't lying, Maddy. But before I get to that... Have they told you what they wish to do with this information? Is there any questions you'd like to ask before I move on?"

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Madalena couldn't shake the wrong feeling off, even when Josh greeted her with a warm embrace. She wanted to open her mouth and say something, but he was faster, noting that he'd met her brother.

The Sithling froze, looking at him, unable to find words. She'd told Josh about the problems she was having with Brayden, and she knew that he and Brayden had been close friends, but she hadn't imagined that… Well. She was sure they'd not meet because of the changes in Brayden. But to be told like that, without warning, combined with the weird feeling she was having anyway, Madalena didn't think it was boding anything good.

And then Josh spoke of that Scherezade deWinter woman. Why? In his office now, Madalena definitely needed the chair that was there, and she sat in it, knees feeling wobbly. But she'd told Josh about that horrible prank joke people were doing, she'd told him she'd looked for her and hadn't found a trace. Why was he bringing it up now? And what did that have to do with her brother?

Yes, she didn't believe it. She'd told him as much herself. So why-

Madalena blinked.

Madalena blinked again.

They weren't lying? What? Move on to what? "Josh, what are you talking about?" she asked, her voice barely above a whisper, the shake in it very much present.

While Madalena could never claim to resemble a Jedi in any sort of the way, the Rest had always felt like a safe place for her, ever since stepped there the first time. But right now, the place felt intimidating, threatening. She didn't want to be there anymore. She wanted to go back to her ship, fly the krak away, and tell Josh to give her a call when he was normal again.

And yet something was stopping her. What? Why? Two words that were repeating themselves so much right there and then both in her mind and heart. "No one's told me anything and you're being super weird," she said, "stop it."

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

“You told me it was a prank, folks saying you are Scherezade. It was not” He answered, dead serious. But if she reached out in her senses, she’d be able to sense immeasurable pain coming from him. This wasn’t what he wanted to do. He could feel his body shaking as he tried to think of what to say. It was... Far more difficult than he could have imagined.

“I brought you here because your brother has devised a method to do something about this whole thing, but he’s not being considerate about you at all” He answered honestly, looking her finally in the eyes. “He only wants what you were before. He doesn’t care about what happens to you afterword. I’ve put a stop to it since he refused to get you to understand and actually get your consent to do anything. And will not even speak to him or your other friends until you understand and make decisions for yourself.”

He took a deep breath. Well, here goes... Clearly they didn’t give her as much context as they’d implied. Stupid, stupid arrogant, insensitive people. Making him do this.

“You are Scherezade. You wiped and replaced your own memories. Something in you was broken enough to deem it necessary, and there wasn’t a damn thing I could do to stop you. Only follow your instructions. I don’t know how much of your memories are from your real childhood. All I know was that I was told to go along with whatever you implied your memories to be. And to keep it from you until you were ready, or never at all if you found the true happiness you wanted.

Honestly, I was hoping for the latter. You’ve been happy the way you are, happier than I’ve seen you since I met you. But... Brayden and apparently some of your other friends, their intentions have forced my hand. Without my cooperation I don’t know what they’ll do... But I feel like it will be something terrible. I don’t want them to do that to you. Not if I can at least help you understand the situation and let you choose the life you want to live. You deserve better than that.”

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Not a prank? Had anyone else said it, Madalena would have hurt them. Terribly hurt them. She'd been violent with quite a few people in recent weeks over pulling that stupid prank on her anyway, but now that it was coming from Josh, she didn't know what to do about it. All she could do was just sit there, staring at him blankly, unable to even blink anymore. The pain that was coming from him was noticeable to her, but she couldn't understand its reason or source, didn't know what she was supposed to or what she even could do about it. None of it made any sort of sense.

And her brother mentioned again… Devising a… Method? What method? Why? Why would he not care about what happened to her? Sure, they'd had that ugly fight, and their differences, but… Consent for what?!

And then Josh said she was Scherezade. Wiping and replacing memories. And friends? What friends? If she believed Josh's every word, then it wasn't a prank, it was something much more sinister and real.

"I am not Scherezade," she said, her voice shaking, "I am Madalena. Other than the Brayden situation, I am happy! I'm not some other girl. And even if I were, how would you expect me to make any choice between me, knowing me, being me, and someone else that I know nothing about other than how others have treated her?"

Rising from the chair, Madalena began to pace around the office. No. This was impossible. You couldn't just… create someone, like that. Wipe memories away. Put false ones.

"Everything I remember is real…" she whispered.

Life on Coruscant. Telling stories at night with her brother, under blankets, holding each other's thumbs. Josh. A happy childhood. Mom and dad and their loving hugs, and songs, and training, and doing things. And then their death, and the two hard years, and coming to the Confederacy… Why would anyone make something that elaborated up? She could taste her own memories. They were real. And if they weren't… But how could they not be?

"This can't be," she said, stopping her pacing, turning to look at Josh, "maybe someone altered your memories. It's easier to make someone think something specific happened rather than invent an entire life. My life is not made up. My life is real!"

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Why hadn’t he seen this coming? Maddy reacted as she should have in this situation but the more she did, the more his gaze fell. But it was her saying she WAS happy that made him realize.

He couldn’t do this.

He stood up and practically zoomed across the room to wrap his arms around her in a tight hug, his body shaking. He was trying to be there for her and he knew he needed to be her pillar right now, not the other way around. But… He hoped she wouldn’t mind helping him get through this even if she didn’t know why. He hated to admit it, but Brayden and whoever else had signed on for this had given him a task too difficult to achieve, ironically, without her.

“Maybe? I don’t know” He spoke softly. He knew for sure. But he didn’t know if he had the heart to tell her that straight anymore. Her saying she was happy had taken almost all the will out of him. What right did he have to take that away? These idiots, these selfish, heartless idiots had given her no context, nothing... Probably barely even tried. And left all this to him to do. He couldn't do this. Not the normal way. He couldn't continue to go head to head with her on this. He wouldn't be able to take it.

All Josh could do was tell her what his “memories” said. And warn her about the potential danger. She would have to do the rest to protect herself if it came to it. But even if he missed Scherezade… She was still here. Right there. No matter what form she took, she was right here. It didn’t matter if she didn’t remember all he’d done to try to help her… If she was happy, he realized, he could live with that.

And while Brayden may not like it… And Daisy might not like it… At the end of the day it was her body, and her mind. And only she had the right to choose. Josh would do rightful courtesy and no more unless it was by her order. Nobody else’s.

He let out a sigh. “I don’t know, and I might need to get my head examined, who knows? What my memories say is that shortly after what happened with Shmi, I met a girl named Scherezade who was hurting too. And she was really hurting. And for months and months and months… I kept trying, and trying, and trying, to help her. Because some stupid boy and someone she considered her sister betrayed her and she was just… Endlessly broken. She was frigid, kind of a jerk… But while I feel like no matter what I did, I barely got anywhere… I feel like she at least warmed up to me. She became my best friend. Sure she wasn’t the nicest person, far from it. She was impulsive and selfish and hurt people without caring. But she drank endlessly, alcohol, I mean, barely if ever had proper food and drink. And would scream bloody murder whenever she slept. Something about a realm of darkness or something trying to pull her in while she slept. I don’t have any experience with darkness realms or any chit like that, but I tried for her sake. All while trying to just… Be a friend, make her happy. I lost a lot of nights without sleeping staying up with her and trying to piece this all together but I don’t know if we ever got anywhere. She just wasn’t happy. Didn’t want to rely on any of her happy memories in case they all had to do with that girl and boy, which I don’t… Know if that’s true or if she had more besides that. Because my memories say she designed yours but… They had to come from somewhere, right? Your memories seem far too real and too in depth to come from nothing. Which means even if I’m not imagining all this, it might not be all your memories are manufactured after all.”

He let out a groan against her. “This whole thing’s a massive headache. All I remember right now is that at the end of the day, this Scherezade woman decided the only way she was going to be happy and not be what she perceived to be a terrible friend and not scare Jason as she’d been doing, was to use some kind of spell to rewrite her own memories. Ordered me to stash her ship because it held the key to all those horrible memories and that if you were to find happiness or love or something like that… I don’t know, it was horribly cryptic and vague… To destroy it, but otherwise keep it because she had some kind of plan if she, if you I guess, felt it would be needed. I tried to get her to change her mind, but she refused to listen to me and… All I could do was be a friend and… Support you in any way you could.

So that day you woke up with the massive hangover? According to my… Present memories, that was our first time meeting. That was the first time I met Madalena. I didn’t give you any details besides what you told me beforehand I could since you implied anything that could cause any recollection could be irreversibly painful. If you remember as well, I was in a sling. I’d dislocated my shoulder saving your life in a mission shortly before that.

But… The fact is, no matter what my memories say, they still say that Madalena became my best friend. No prior relationship did that… That was all you. The relationship you have with Jason… That is all you. Scherezade didn’t have much of one with Jason, but… It seemed like, by how she designed your memories of him, it seemed like she really wanted to. And ensured you had the means to make that happen… Which you did, again, I stress, on your own. All Jason remembered about Scherezade probably is a scary lady that screamed bloody murder and blew up a porg. So you had an uphill battle with him… But you pulled it off, on your own merits.”

He took a deep breath as he finally looked her in the eyes.

“No matter what my memories say… The relationship between you and I is very much real. It doesn’t matter to me if Scherezade, you I guess, gave yourself the memories to help make that happen… We basically started over and you know I don’t trust easy after what Shmi did. You did this, you made this happen yourself. Nothing can take that away.

As for why I’m saying this now… Well, my memories say recently I met your brother for the first time. Scherezade’s brother, as he’d prefer to call himself. The truth is…”

He bit his lip. He didn’t know how to say this.

“He wants his sister back. He says he’s found some way to split you into separate bodies, probably because he knows none of your friends he’s seemingly gotten on board with this would agree otherwise, since none of them I’m sure want you gone besides Brayden, who doesn’t seem to care.”

He hated saying that and it was written all over his face. How was she feeling, hearing that? That was her brother!

“I originally agreed to help since apparently they need that ship you gave me to make it work… But when he met with me, it turned out they hadn’t entirely filled you in… Made you understand… Or even obtained your consent. Just some half assed attempt and then they wanted to do it without even thinking about how you'd feel. Understandably I was furious, got into a fight with Brayden and… That was the end of it. Honestly, if you’re happy… I can live with whatever you choose to do. Even if these memories are real… I mean, Scherezade… Madalena…”

He shrugged his shoulders. “You’re my best friend either way. Who cares what form you take or what name you decide to use? As far as I’m concerned, if you’d gone along with his plan and it worked… I’d just have two best friends. Didn’t matter to me so long as you were happy. But he wanted to catch you unawares. Wanted me and others, don’t know who, Daisy is the only friend of both Scher and Maddy that I know from your friend group… To trick you into walking onto that ship, seeing whatever would trigger your memories and he could do whatever he wanted.

I wouldn’t stand for it. So… That’s off the table. I barely trusted him to begin with, anyway. He was…”

He thought over how to word it. But all he could really do was be blunt.

“He wasn’t like you at all. He was nothing like how you described him, and even if these memories are right… I don’t know why Scherezade would make you believe him to be like that either. He was very much just… Just… Another Sith, I guess. He wasn’t like you. He wasn’t like Scherezade. Nothing like either of you. It’s very possible he intended to just get rid of you and was playing me and whatever one of your friends he made promises to that he would ensure you survived.

It’s very much the Sith thing to do.”

He scratched his head in turn.

“I’m telling you this because… While I don’t know for sure if these memories are right or not, the fact is that I have memories telling me that he very much looked and seemed like the sort of man that was going to try and do this with or without your consent… Or my cooperation.

And that scares me. I feel like… It’s very possible he might come for you. He clearly didn't care about what happens to you after, or what sort of mindset either you or Scherezade would be in... He just wanted to get what he wanted, no matter the cost, and he may try to do so without that ship. He may very well come for you, as I said... And if he does, I want you to be ready. I refuse to let anyone hurt you.

And if you do decide for whatever reason you want that split? I want you to do it. Not him."

He pointed toward her torso.

"You I trust, more than anybody, that if you try something like that, you will do it right. And I think that's what Scherezade would want too. She'd want for her, or for you, to be in control of the situation. To make the decision yourself and if so, do it yourself in a way you know will ensure the best outcome for you. I made the decision that day that while Daisy might not be happy with me for this... This is about you. You as a person. Your body. Your mind. You. Nobody gets to make that decision or decide the way you get to live, except you. You, as Scherezade, made the decision to put yourself in the position you are in right now. And only you, as Madalena or otherwise, should have the right to choose whether something changes. I'm sure your brother will hate me all the more for that decision, and maybe some of your friends will hate me too.

But... I'm okay with that. I don't care what they think... Only what you think and what you want to do, when it comes to this. Only you should have any sort of authority on this matter."

He took a deep breath, and then shrugged his shoulders again, ever so shakily. The truth was he was very much willing to kill Brayden for Madalena's sake, if he came for her. But he didn't know if he had the heart left to tell her that. He was tired. Oh so very tired. He didn't even want to talk much anymore, he just... Wanted to go lie down.

“... But it’s very much possible this is all a fallacy. And if you think so, we can go see if Celeste’s around and get me examined for evidence of tampering. I don’t mind checking. That’s no big deal.”

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Josh was up and his arms were around her, but Madalena could find no comfort in that right now. She closed her eyes as he spoke, kept them close all the whilst he had so much to say. Scherezade was a real person. Josh knew her. Josh knew her, and had not told her the depth of how much he'd known her, the last time that Madalena brought it up, in his new house on Kashyyyk, the one that had no oven because Josh hadn't wanted fire in a wooden tree house.

She wanted to deny it. She wanted to deny all of it, because none of it made sense. But the more he spoke, the more she realized that he was giving her the missing pieces to a puzzle she hadn't realized she was part of. Scherezade was a real person. But then how was she off any database that Madalena could get her hands on? And was her being drunk and a broken mess as he described, the reason that people in the Confederacy allowed themselves to treat her so badly when they thought she was her?

It even matched up with the things Gerwald had told her, after she'd saved her life. It matched up with what the man who said he was her uncle had told her, when she came across his glowing green eyes at the Live Ball event. It matched with what Darth Tacitus and Exarch Talon had tried not to tell her when she'd been on guard duty at that rave. It was… No. It couldn't actually be true. But so many things were adding up in her mind now, pieces of a web stringing themselves to each other.

The memories had to come from somewhere? If it was anyone else, Madalena would have thought the same. But this was not someone else. This was her! Her life! Her memories! All just… Modeled, to live the dream life of someone who wasn't able to live the life she wanted.

Which meant that she hadn't done chit. All Josh was speaking of, the relationship with Jason, the relationship with him, that was all… That was all fake. Because Madalena hadn't been Madalena, Madalena had been someone designed by someone else to behave the she had. Did she have any free will in any of it? In an inch of it? If everything that Josh was saying was true, where did this Scherezade stop and Madalena begin? Did she want to be friends with Josh because she wanted to, or because Scherezade designed it? Did she want to be a Knight Obsidian because she wanted to, or because Scherezade designed it that way? Did she…

Her head dropped on Josh's shoulder. Madalena didn't know why she was crying now. If Josh was lying, she was about to lose her best friend. He was telling the truth, she was going to lose herself. There was no way to come out of this unscathed, there was no way to come out of this on top.

And Brayden… Her heart shattered at knowing that her brother truly had not cared. Everyone had tried so hard to convince her otherwise, to say it was a temporary thing, that sibling fights happened even though she could never recall fighting with him, but… But he wanted to just get rid of her. He had no love or like for her, his twin sister. But she was not his twin sister, then. Scherezade was. And Brayden… That was why he hated her so much. That was why they'd had their falling out just before Life Day.

And other people… Who could she trust? Madalena had so many friends, but how many were involved in her brother's… No, in Brayden's plans? This was worse than thinking the Confederacy was in on some joke or a prank. This… This was betrayal. Deep and horrible. People were planning to get rid of her, after all she'd done, after all she'd tried to do…

The Sith part didn't even matter.

But Josh trusted her. Her. Which brought her circling back. Did he? Or was it Scherezade he trusted? Trusted some creation someone he once knew had made?

"I wake up screaming at night too…" was all she could say with a broken voice.

Was she giving into Josh too quickly? Maybe. Yet she could taste his words through the Force and she knew without a doubt that every one of them that came out of his mouth was one he believed to be true.

"If… If I'm her…" she tried to put her thoughts into words that would come out loud, "then we're not friends. Because I'm… I'm not real. Because it means… That whole thing you just said about trust and all that stuff, it means you trust her. And her creation. Because if she made me to be what she wanted to be… Then everything…."

Madalena took a few steps back, needing to put distance between her and Josh. Needed to think. To plan. To be the Warrior she… Was she even? If she was a fabrication, what was she without Scherezade's designs? There was this whole thing about splitting a body but…

But…

"I think…" came the realization to her. "I think I saw her. I met her."

The dark beach. The gray sky. The Darkness.

"She told me to forget…"

It was a fragment of a memory, but Madalena remembered. It was the girl that was always in her nightmares. The girl because of whom she'd always wake up screaming. And the thing that Madalena had called the Nothing…

"She's been protecting me…" came the realization. Wide and teary eyed, Madalena slumped into the corner, her knees folding until she was folded into herself in the corner, hugging her legs. "And the Nothing is the Darkness… And she was always standing between us. Making sure that it wouldn't reach me… Those are my nightmares… That's why I can't sleep at night."

It was fake. All of it was fake. Madalena did not exist. Madalena was just a fabrication of another girl who'd gone through too much. Now she understood the look in the other woman's eyes. It wasn't one that said Madalena was in danger. It was the look of someone who knew someone else was living their life and still tried to protect them, to make sure it was safe for them to live. Her friendship with Josh only happened because he was friends with Scherezade before that. Why else would a Master of the Order ever be friends with a Sith?

And Gerwald had been on her ship, trying to tell her that, but he'd been so smug and arrogant about it all that she'd taken a dislike to him that was greater than when he was just Mister Rude.

And Cardinal…

Madalena looked up. Did it mean that her relationship with Cardinal was a fabrication as well? That what she felt… What he said he felt… Did he know? Did he have an inkling about the whole Scherezade business? Was he part of it too?

"If I'm a fabrication…" she whispered, "then none of this was real. It's been almost a year since that night you mentioned. If I'm a fabrication… What use would there be in putting me in a different body? I'm not… I'm not real…"

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

He hated what was coming out of her mouth. He hated the doubts. He hated what she had decided this had to be. But he let it go for a bit longer even after she separated from him and went on her ravings. The first thing he did was nod when she would admit she'd woken up screaming. "You did pretty soon after you woke up from that hangover, if you recall. I was there. You scared Jason. It made me wonder how thorough the process was... I had honestly hoped you would be rid of this whole darkness thing with it, but I guess it's a bit more of a complicated issue than just simple memory working" He spoke up, but didn't speak further until she finished.

When she did, he lay silent for a few moments, before he would stare at her long and hard with a glare. He'd held in his frustration as long as he could.

"You don't get it" He remarked flatly, looking her dead in the eyes. "You don't get what I've been trying to tell you. Not a single one of your friends, I'm sure, besides Brayden who's an idiot... No sane person has gone into this with a scenario in their head that did not involve you still being here. And nobody would have even given Brayden the time of day if he'd told any of us otherwise."

He shook his head. "Do you even realize why that is? Do you not realize what you've done? It doesn't bloody matter if you were created. You've made a huge impression on a lot of people. People who aren't willing to say goodbye, even if that means they gotta wait for Scherezade to come back, or even if that means Scherezade's going to instead live on as part of you. Because regardless of what motivated it, regardless of the circumstances that led you here... You have carved a place here. You have cut yourself out a life as your own person, and the circumstances leading to that are irrelevant. You've done something with this consciousness, this body, this set of memories and there are people who want you here. I don't know how you don't understand that."

Josh took a deep breath, doing his best to settle down. "I told you. Even should Scherezade ever come back... I'll just have two best friends. Nothing changes. It doesn't make you any less relevant, it doesn't change what you've done, it doesn't change what we've been through. It doesn't change the relationship you have with myself and my son, and these are relationships I cherish dearly. I don't give a damn if you think they're fake or not... They're real to me. And I cannot and will not ever imagine a world or a life without you."

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Madalena looked at Josh, and the look on her face was horrified.

"What friends?" she asked with a gasp, "you played along with it. Right up until today, you let me continue believing. You knew I was a summary of fabricated memories and you just… You and everyone else who knew, who that they had a friend that is not around anymore and now you don't even want her back because I somehow ended up being not as much of a jerk or whatever as she was. So why tell me? Why say I have consent in any of this?"

She let her head drop on the wall, looking at the ceiling now. It made no sense. It made absolutely no sense. If others knew, why had no one truly told her? Told her the depth of it? Gerwald had tried, but she hadn't believed him. Everyone else just played with it, nodded their heads as they looked at the body of someone who was once their friend but then decide to pull out and leave someone else beneath her skin.

Moments ago she had been ready to believe that it was Scherezade who was the monster. Now… After Josh's words, it sounded like the monsters were everybody else.

"But right, you get two best friends," she said bitterly, "because this doesn't change anything."

Getting up from her place, she turned around, punching the wall. Not hard enough to make a dent, but enough so her knuckles would feel the pain. It wasn't enough.

"This changes everything," she screamed, "because I'm not real. Because you and I don't know how many other people I thought were my friends were playing alone. Because you let your own friend do this and then played along with the lies. If we started building a friendship that night you mentioned, it's all based on nothing but lies and nothing I've got is real."

Turning around, she glared at him again. "And now I'm in the body of your friend, a body that is not mine to be in, and once she's back, I'll be gone. Because I was created, not born. Which means there is no soul to do a transfer for. I won't exist anymore. How will you live with yourself knowing that you still do?!"

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Josh had a comeback prepared through most of this, and his expression said it. But the moment Madalena said her last words, his eyes widened, his pupils shrank and nothing left his lips. It was the hard realization, the hard reality of what she'd just said. And then the rest of it began to make more and more sense too... And the more he thought on it, the more distressed his expression became. Until finally he just dropped his head.

"I... I..." He stammered, losing his balance a moment and finding a seat as his hands gripped hard on the leather.

"I... I never thought of it that way."

He was trying to make sense of it all, find something to say...

"I didn't think of it that far. I just... I wanted to help my friend" He answered honestly, at this point just rambling the first things to hit, the bluntest of thoughts, untempered, more simple than anything he usually said. "I tried to keep her from doing this, but she didn't stop. And I couldn't just... I couldn't just abandon her. I played along but then I really did befriend Madalena and I... I just... I thought... I... I thought..." He started stammering harder and harder as he kept trying to bring some coherent thought to all this. "... I was stupid. I figured eventually that you were the same person either way, you were who you wanted to be, and regardless of what form you were, you were still Scherezade, but you were also Madalena... Oh, no, no, I'm contradicting, I... I... I just... I thought... Agh... I... I figured if you were the same, you'd still be the same, yet still the both of you, I thought if you separated, then you'd just be Scherezade and Madalena and... I just..."

His eyes went big, as he went harder into panic the more he tried to overthink it. His grip started to tighten even more on the chair as tears started streaming down his face.

"I was stupid, stupid, stupid... I should have known he was lying, I should have known there was no way to make this work. I was stupid, I got my hopes up... I didn't think on it too hard, because for whatever reason, I... I just...

... I never thought of the fact you might ever have to go."

He couldn't look at her anymore, all he could do was continue trying to figure out just... Anything about this. Make sense out of any of this. Memory rewrites, body doubles, essence things, Madalena, Scherezade... None of it made sense anymore. He felt stupidly naive for thinking this was all going to work out, that either he'd still have his best friend as one person with two sets of memories, or as two people.

"I didn't think of any of this, I didn't think you might have to go, I didn't think I'd possibly never see Scherezade again, I didn't think... I didn't think... I didn't think... Didn't think... Didn't think... Didn't think... Didn't think..."

And it finally just... Became too much. Too much emotion built up from this entire thing between Scherezade, all the way to Madalena, over the last year and then some, and now all this, and what it'd led to, and just... He broke into uncontrollable sobs, holding his head.

"I don't know!" He just admitted flat out. "I don't know, I don't know, I don't know! I don't know what I was thinking, I don't know what makes sense, I don't know what's what... I just... I don't know what to say or what to do and I haven't known what to do for a long time. I don't understand any of this! I don't! I can't take it anymore! I've done nothing but make stupid, uninformed, naive decisions because you're my best friend and I love you, and Scherezade is my best friend too, and now I've hurt you and I never wanted to hurt you and I thought I was protecting you by telling you and I just... I..."

A sharp pain caused him to grab at his chest as his breath caught. "Ow" He muttered, realizing his breathing was becoming rushed and outward. He'd overthought and stressed and worked himself up to the point that his body was starting to suffer for it. His heart rate was skyrocketing, and it took all he had to just try and calm himself down when he found himself aware of what was going on. He found himself slumping in the chair, arm fidgeting against the side as he just tried to... He didn't know anymore.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

He never thought of it that way. Of course. Why would he have any reason to think of it that way? He got to think he'd be getting two friends out of this, but in reality all that had happened was that one had disappeared and the other was based on nothing but lies. When she put all he'd told her together, of all the relationships she'd formed, all the people she'd met and known, the only one that she could trust was entirely innocent of anything was the one with Jason. And he was just a child.

How was she both Scherezade and Madalena? Madalena didn't know. She didn't understand. Everything to Madalena still felt like her. Her brain was processing the information, but in her heart she was just herself. She was the girl who'd grown up on Coruscant and then moved to Confederate Space. How could she be anything else? How could such a depth of memories be so fabricated? Her questions were just looping themselves, repeating themselves, she knew.

"You didn't think," she agreed with him. She wanted to yell that at Scherezade too, but Scherezade wasn't around.

Madalena wasn't ignoring Josh's tears. She could feel them, she could taste his pain, but she couldn't reach out to calm him down. Not yet. Not when she herself was in turmoil about all the new information.

"And now I need to apparently consent," she said bitterly, "Consent to being removed like a tumor because I'm in a body that isn't mine, to make way for a woman who's so broken and mistreated by everyone around her that she thought pulling a stunt like this was the lesser evil of what she could do."

And they both knew what the right thing to do was. To accept it, to go to that ship and do whatever it was that would bring Scherezade back, and let Madalena fade back into a place where she was just something made up, something not real, something that had never truly been real.

"Tell me about her," Madalena said with a softness that surprised even herself, "not the bad parts. I know enough about the bad parts. Tell me about the good stuff. Tell me why you wanted to be her friend. Tell me about her as a person. Tell me what the 'verse gains by having her back."

---

As Josh and Madalena spoke in his office, another presence appeared at the Rest. The woman was tall, clad in what appeared to be a gentle desert garb, covering her from head to toe. Her face was veiled, only the black doe-sized eyes peeking through the layers of fabric.

There was no denying the Darkside that came from her in heaps and bounds, almost like smoke curling. The woman was a Sith and a Master and anyone with the slightest connection to the Force would know as such at a glance. And yet at the same time she omitted a softness that was almost like that of a mother, inviting those who gazed at her to come closer, to be embraced.

And under her veil, the woman was smiling.

She had not come here for evil purposes. She had not come for any Sith intents. The woman had been searching for a long time, while managing to remain hidden from those who would kill her for the perceived treason she had done on the very same planet that both she and the woman in the Master os the Silver Order's hailed from.

Oh yes. Both of those women hailed from Endelaan – the original and the one placed in her. And Sod, at last blessed visions that were very true and very precise, had found the girl, after all those years. She'd been searching for years now, even without knowing that it was the daughter of her King and Queen that had returned, that it was her whom she was meant to find and not the other Princes or Princesses of Endelaan.

And the small package in her hands… That was precious, above all. And now Sod knew why she had taken it, and what it was meant for.

Softly, the willowy woman knocked on the door of office. There were keys to doors and doors to keys, and as she waited for an answer, she knew it was time to brace herself, for it would be the first time she'd use her mouth to speak in so long….

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Josh just sat there quietly for a bit as she continued. Of course he hadn’t thought. It was Scherezade. Literally nothing about her situation made sense. No eating, no drinking, no sleeping, darkness world, sword of darkness that could be spawned into any item, entire family in realm capsules or something, super evil aunt or something that can create and control entire dimensions, being birthed from a pebble and living in a pebble for 500 years, being a “sithling”, not thinking she could be anything else but a Sith because she had Sith family members despite a literal race existing with the Sith name that had spawned multiple Jedi during his lifespan. Blood magic, witch magic, wiping and re-writing her own memories after months and months of somehow surviving all this and apparently having no good memories that didn’t involve a dumb teeny bopper crush that could keep her going, the entire premise of Madalena, nothing triggering Madalena’s memory proper even now when he had literally told her almost everything, Brayden somehow being out of his time dimension capsule without any input from Scherezade who had no knowledge in her new memories of him even being “trapped”, Brayden being nothing like she described, literally ever… Was it really all that far fetched after that to believe that Madalena could get out of this without being gone, that Scherezade and Madalena could exist separately after all that other far fetched bull? Apparently not, and even if he kind of wanted to say it, he didn’t say anything. He deserved it, didn’t he? He’d blindly put faith in this plan. What had Scherezade expected? How did she not think she was going to get out of this without destroying the world of whatever she had become from her own doing? Did she expect Josh to just trick her like Brayden was going to? Did she really think he was like that? Did she even know him at all? But he’d blindly followed, hadn’t he? He’d done all this without meaning to hurt a soul and now he had. Great. Flashing aspects of almost every feeling under the sun from depression to frustration to bitterness, he just let her talk. She wanted to yell at him and tell him how horrible he was? Fine. Just fine.

But it stopped sooner than he expected. When she asked to know about her. He let out a sigh. He supposed it made sense for her to ask.

“Selfish a lot of the time. Impulsive. Bitter. Seemed to hate a lot of things” He admitted flat out, sure she said no bads but they were part of the package. “Yet there was clearly a lot of life under the surface that came out at times. She genuinely seemed like someone that wanted to live life to the fullest, even if she didn’t know how. She tried to do good even at the times it was misguided. She tried and tried to deny it but she had one of the biggest hearts deep down of anyone I know.”

He took a deep breath. “And that last vein is what always reminded me she was in there when you’re around. Why I felt like even if you stayed this way, I never truly lost her. It’s the biggest thing you two had in common. She was completely willing to lay down her own life so that a two year old she barely knew that didn’t even like her didn’t have to grow up without a father. It’s that level of selflessness when the cards were on the table that…”

He moved his dominant arm about a bit to illustrate his point.

“I was willing to give up doing what I’d loved doing most of my life, for a little while. If that meant she got to live too.”

Another breath.

“It’s that trait as well that until you told me it was impossible… I never once thought that this would end in your death. Because if I know Scherezade… If something went wrong or if Brayden lied… Most likely? She would be back all of ten seconds, see the heartbroken faces of her friends and within that ten would decide in a fashion even I couldn’t stop her from undergoing… She would move planets to bring you here. If that meant making the people she cared about happy. And if she couldn’t, which I doubt, it’s Scherezade… Well, she would bring you here no matter what it cost her.”

He stopped when he heard the door. He could feel that presence. How someone with that aura, even with the lack of ill intent, that he didn’t recognize… Even got this far was beyond him. But he wiped his face and steeled himself as he went to answer.

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Selfish. Impulsive. Bitter. No. Madalena had asked for the good stuff about Scherezade, not the bad stuff she'd already heard. The bad that she was now questioning about whether it was truly her or the result of how that woman had been treated. She could think of so many reasons for someone like that to develop into how Josh had described her with those few words. Especially when he finally did get to the good stuff, and Force…

Yes. It sounded like her. Was it her? She didn't know. But now the pieces of the puzzle were falling into place. Someone who was all these things at once, plus what she already knew…

Madalena closed her eyes and leaned her head against the wall again. There was no simple solution here. There was no way for them all to come out on top. Despite what Josh said, despite his claim that Scherezade would move entire planets to make her come back, she doubted it. By the force, she doubted it so badly. There were things that weren't possible with the Force.

And what if it did happen? What would Madalena be? Another creation again? Designed to fulfil a purpose? She was little more than an organic AI at this point. Would that change or remain the same?

But no. That was a direction of hope. It was not a hope that she could have, because people who weren't real didn't get to hope.

Madalena opened her mouth to ask more questions. She needed to know what was real and what not. What Josh knew that had truly happened prior to the night he had mentioned and what hadn't. But she couldn't. The few moments in which she was at a loss of words were more than enough for the knock on the door to be heard.

And then Josh opened the door.

Huge black eyes looked at him from beyond the veil, unblinking.

"You… are… the… Jedi," came the words. The woman's throat was raw and parched, and it was not easy for her to speak. Her accent came in thick, the accent of the clan of Moab of Endelaan, and it could be heard with every syllable. Like the woman herself, it was both soft and harsh at the same time. It was one of the old dialects that she had been taught as a child, before she'd chosen to give up on most words. And the accent of it radiated through her.

Only now her eyes moved, to peek behind him. Her gaze focused on Madalena on the floor, and she nodded.

"Then it has… Not happened… Yet…" came more words. "I am Sod, daughter of Dvar, daughter of Raz of Clan Vashti," she said, hoping that would make it clearer. There had been nothing in the visions of how much the Jedi knew or not. "I am here… To help… With the daughters of my Queen… The one that was… born… And the one that was… Transferred..."

Turning around to look at the Rest for the briefest of moments, Sod turned back to Josh. "I request entrance to your office… Master Jedi… I bring or mean… No… Harm…"

[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Silence. His expression fell as it was clear she was trying to digest everything. And the more that silence went on, the more he thought back on everything. The more he regretted. All he could think of was one thing. One thing he managed to get out prior to the interruption.

“… I’m sorry.”

He took a deep breath before he dared elaborate on that.

“To you, both as Scherezade and Madalena. I’m sorry for not having been there, for not having met you earlier, maybe I could have stopped what Gerwald did to you. I’m sorry I didn’t have the knowledge to fix this whole Darkness thing when you were suffering, as much as I tried. I’m sorry I ever told you that you needed to make new memories to truly move on and be happy, while I don’t regret meeting you, Madalena, and I never will… I regret letting you take that literally and that you are suffering now partly because of me. I’m sorry for not thinking more for myself and being more affirmative, more physical, about stopping you from undertaking this, because now you’re suffering for it and I can’t do a damn thing to fix it. I’m sorry I played along, and hurt you in the end. And… I’m… I’m sorry I’m so damn helpless after all I’ve tried to do. I’m sorry that everything I’ve ever done has amounted to nothing but pain for you.”

It was clear this whole ordeal had shattered his confidence, regardless of whether any of what he was saying was actually true or just his beating himself up. But it all came to a pass when the strange figure was at the door, talking about how what he assumed to be the memory reverting or whatever hadn’t been done yet… Claimed they meant no harm. Said something about transferring… While they were difficult to understand, Josh at least had some inking about what they meant.
While his gaze remained steely, he nodded his head, as wary as he was.

“Come in.”

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

What could she say? How could she respond? Madalena's mouth closed as she stared as Josh while he apologized, listing all the things that had gone wrong, which was more or less everything, which mirrored how she felt about it too. Part of her wanted to hug him and comfort him, but the other part of her wanted to just punch him in the face.

"I was happy…" she whispered, "I thought you were my friend. I thought Daisy and Dia were my friends. I thought Alwine was my friend. I thought I had a lot of friends. I thought things with Brayden would get better. I was rising up at my job. Cardinal and I just became a couple after all these months even though we hadn't…"

And it was fake. That was what danced through her mind. Fake. All of it. Not real. Designed. Constructed. Glorified AI.

And there was that knock on the door, and while Madalena couldn't claim to know who was on the other side of it, she knew her time was up. There would be no consent. She would soon enough vanish and disappear as though she'd never been there at all.

Ignoring the conversation Josh and whoever else was there were having, Madalena picked her commdevice up. She couldn't bear to talk with Cardinal now. Not after all they had been through, all they had done. For once in what she had thought had been her life, she was taking the coward's way out. Tears swelled in her eyes and dropped as she pushed the buttons.

"Cardinal," she paused. No. That was the wrong way to do it. She needed… She needed something else. Erasing her message, she recorded a new one instead. "Cardinal… To'Kola… I don't know if you knew any of this. I don't know if you were in on it or if what we have… If what we had… Was real. Even if you were in on the scheming, I just… I know it's fresh and I was the one who asked to take it slow and now I'm going to be sent back to where I came from... Please know that I love you. If any semblance of consciousness of me remains after what is to come shortly, you will be remembered in it. My heart is yours. Please… Please don't forget me…."

The anguish and the pain could so easily be seen on her face as she clicked the button to send that message to [member="Cardinal Vi'dreya"], her fingers then closing around the commdevice. She squeezed, and the device shattered into so many little pieces. The tracking signal in it would be ruined as well. He would not be able to find her location now. It was better this way.

When Madalena looked up, there was a woman crouching in front of her. Madalena did not know her, and she stared into those gigantic black eyes, and swallowed hard.

"Many parents…" the woman said, "when they have children, it is by mistake. You are no different in that regard, Madalena Antares. It is a mistake that has brought you here, yet like many children, it is the best mistake of all. I am Sod and I have been looking for you for several years now, though I did not know it. The Force has shown me the way."

Taking Madalena by the hands, Sod rose up then, pulling the Sithling with her.

"Sit, Master Jedi. And you as well, Madalena," she said with a nod, and waited for them to take their seats, "I do not have much time. You were not born of the womb of Nessarose deWinter, your mother. That is a position that only Scherezade and Brayden hold. But neither were you entirely created. The Force has shown me this. Scherezade, while powerful, was a child playing with spells and blood in manners she did not understand. She thought she was creating you, but she was not. She had summoned you.

You know that the Darkness is another dimension. You know that there are many others like it. You, ahuvati, were pulled from one on the brink of destruction. Sometimes dimensions crash and cease to exist. You come from one of those, where you were a Princess of Endelaan and were surrounded by people. Yet all the strength of Endelaan could not keep the dimension from collapsing. And when Scherezade thought she was creating you, she pulled you from there and put you in her own body.

Your memories have been tempered with because she did not truly know what she was doing. You may never remember what you were like in that dimension, and you will never see that dimension again for it no longer exists. But you are here because you wanted to be here. Because when the blood called to the blood, you were the first to answer. Because your thirst for life and love, like of your sister's, is strong beyond compare.

And now you must leave this body. The Jedi will guide you along the way. He will hold your hand when it happens, and he will be there for you as you leave this body, just as he was there for you when you entered it. Perhaps there will be another. This is not something that either of you can stop from happening. The time for Scherezade to return is now.

So go with love, child, and embrace your heart, for it will keep you alive, and embrace your sister's heart, for in playing with forces she did not fully master, for performing the mistake that is usually the parents', she has given you life and more than you know, given you love. This is not the end of the road for you."

Turning to Josh, the woman smiled beneath her veil.

"And to you, Master Jedi. Endelaan owes you a great debt. You have done more than you could ever imagine. When the sisters are ready to go home, be it a month from now or years, should you choose to come with them, you will be safe."

Removing the small package from her side now, she held it out, waiting for the Jedi to take it.

"Give this to Scherezade when she returns. She will know what it is and what to do with it."

And then taking a tiny jar from her pocket, the woman removed her veil. Beneath it was a face that could have been built out of the brown marble. There were no lines that showed age, no marks of years to show how long she had been alive. Each and every future seemed entirely sculpted, giving an ethereal look that was almost unreal. The woman smiled, and sharp fangs could be seen, yet before anyone could move she had bitten down on her wrist, breaking the skin and allowing the blood to flow.

She captured the blood into the jar and closed it, handing it over to the Jedi as well.

"Give her the blood as well. The answers are in there."

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

Josh didn't get a chance to say anything when Madalena would mention her lover, but he sure as hell would have if not for the emergence of the space desert gypsy. He didn't understand half of what she was saying, it was a lot of mumbo jumbo, but the gist he got was that Scherezade, predictably, didn't know what the hell she was doing and Madalena wasn't created but summoned. So they were two actual people sharing a body and Madalena's memories were all mixed up because of Scherezade trying to play with her own memories. That was the gist of what he got from that. And then she said something about her leaving soon and he was confused again. And then she handed him something with instructions to give to Scherezade. Well okay. And then she titan bit herself and gave him the blood. Well okay that too. His expression was stoic and steely as a Jedi Master with a world of patience had practiced, despite his patience already running out before she'd walked in the door. But he was very confused. He had little context as to what was going on, which pretty much summed up most things that had to do with Scherezade at this point. She and her associates had made him an expert on cryptic vagueness at this point.

"Thank you" Josh managed out softly. With that, he looked at Madalena, staring hard at her.

"... You should have told me" Josh pointed out flatly. "About your lover. Scherezade gave me one last instruction before she left. About the ship that holds the key to your memories.

... If you find love, destroy it."

He let out a sigh. "At this point, I have no idea if it's a good thing or a bad thing that I didn't know though. I'm uh... Still kind of grasping what's going on here. But it sounds like things... May or may not be working out right?"

He turned his attention back to the newcomer, deciding to ask what was on his mind. "If I may... Please just answer me this. Maddy's going to still be here when Scherezade gets back, right? I'm kind of lost in all this, but... Honestly, the thing I care about most right now is knowing Maddy survives this. I don't care if you don't have enough time to answer any other questions, I'll be satisfied with the one answer. I'm very much attached to Maddy and I have no interest in saying goodbye for good."

He scratched his head.

"Well, okay, maybe not satisfied if you say no, but... You get the idea. I'll probably bug you if you say no. A lot."

He smiled slightly.

"I'm pretty stubborn. But I think I'm pretty persuasive."

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

It was an answer to a question she had not yet asked. Endelaan was real. What she remembered as stories of her childhood, ones made up with Brayden, they weren't stories. They were actual reality, they were real, Endelaan was a true planet. Madalena froze n her chair, forcing herself to listen to it all.

The more of the story was became unraveled, the more she was shaking in her chair. Minutes ago, she had been a fabrication, an organic AI, someone who did not exist. Now she was someone who was not supposed to exist here, but did, because of a spell that had gone wrong. What else with that spell had gone wrong? What more did she not know?

She was tired. So tired. The past hour had exhausted her of any joy or smiles she usually had about her. Things that were supposed to be impossible were suddenly possible. Things of stuff and legends were suddenly all true.

And yet, the memories that she had – the true ones, from the other dimension… She would not have those back. Those were gone with her dimension. Was she supposed to care? She had no memory or inkling of it. And soon, Scherezade would be back. What was in those packages? And what was that about her wanting to be here? Why would Madalena choose to come her?

Yet despite it all, it seemed the confusion had done her well. There was less pain on her face now, only a little more shock.

"Of course they'd name someone like that Scherezade," she muttered unhappily, "only someone with that kind of name can cause a mess like this."

Turning to Josh, she didn't know what to say at first. She should have told him? But then their current situation would be entirely wrong. If she'd told him, he would have continued playing long for Force knew how long. If she'd told him, he'd have destroyed the ship and let Scherezade, someone who was supposed to be his friend, remain gone, forever.

"I didn't have to tell you anything," she replied at last, "it was bubbling for a while, it was brand new, and we only made it official after we kicked the Mandalorians off of Eshan. And by my request, we weren't ready to go public with it yet. I asked him for more time because I remembered Ge…"

Gerry. That had been his name.

"There wasn't any Gerry, was there?" she asked, wanting to cry again, "the man I remember from when I was 16, the one who cheated on me and dumped me a week before my parents died because of another stupid Coruscant war. None of that was real, was it? She just made that up?"

Sod looked at the Jedi, and put her veil back where it belonged. "The Force did not show me," she answered with a shrug, "But she is Madalena Antares. True daughter of Endelaan. And if she goes away, she will return. There is still sand in her hourglass."

Turning to look at Madalena, Sod nodded. She had made her mission come true. If nothing else, the package she had given the Jedi was now safe. Arastos would never have it.

"You are wasting time. Go and bring Scherezade back."


[member="Josh DragonsFlame"]

 

[Josh Dragovalor]

"Gerry?" He asked, blinking a few times when she asked. "You've never told me about a Gerry" He pointed out. It was a fabrication, probably. "But... It sounds like Scherezade wasn't entirely able to let go of Gerwald Lechner cheating on her, ditching her for her sister, betraying her... And basically causing all of this, so I guess I'm not too surprised if that's a memory she created" He admitted full on. "It was such a huge part of her, I don't know how I didn't think she wouldn't include it somehow, despite it being the one thing she was trying to get rid of. Though it's also possible she plugged that memory to make sure you stayed away from anyone that had a similar name. A safety precaution" He suggested with a shrug. "Certainly a possibility."

The answer he got from space gypsy was predictably vague, but she said she'll return. He'd take it. "Thank you" He spoke then. She said they were wasting time... And that it was time for Madalena to bring Scherezade back.

He turned to Maddy then.

"I don't know how you lot plan to do it if at all, but... I guess it's like I said before. Ball's in your court. It's all up to your decision."

 

[Gerwald Lechner]

Gerwald had made one final promise to [member="Scherezade deWinter"] that he had to keep. Whatever their past had been, the future was nothing like what she had wanted, and even though every bone in Gerwald's body told him he needed to break this promise, he went to find [member="Josh DragonsFlame"].

The injuries he had sustained required more care than initially thought, and despite the help from Madelena, Gerwald had needed another day in a bacta tank and another day of observation. By the time he arrived where he had been told Joshua could be found, Madelena was already there.

"But they are not to be disturbed," the receptionist had said trying to keep Gerwald from reaching where the other two were meeting.

"Except I am with the CIS and Madelena told me to come here two days ago. I cannot help it if I was injured and could not come right away. My business concerns them both so please, page them and tell them I am here. If they want to send me away, they can. At least then I would have kept my word, and I can say I tried."

The receptionist shrugged and decided not to argue with that logic. A small nod indicated the page and message had been sent through, and Gerwald waited for the response.

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Through her tears, through her shock, through the wanting to punch the veiled woman in the face for saying that they were wasting time and they had to be rid of her already, no matter if it would be a temporary thing, Madalena could still feel him. Like a beacon through the Force, a light that emitted and called to her. For months, she had ignored it almost entirely, dubbing him Mr. Rude and other less pleasant names. But then she had saved his life, and they had spoken. He had touched her bare skin when she had been having her nightmares, and she had not believed a word he had said, even though he had been speaking the truth.

Josh had said that the ball was in her court. But was it? Madalena looked at him, and the veiled woman, trying to piece her mind together. But she could not. The timing of Gerwald's arrival with the conversation these three were having… It was no coincidence, was it? Such coincidences did not exist. But then how did had he known? How had he known she would be there that day, and how had he known where to go to? More questions. Less answers.

"Gerwald is here," she said as she wiped her face on the back of her hand, "I can feel his presence. I could always feel his presence since joining the Knights Obsidian, whenever we were on the same planet, it was always there, like a beacon…"

Her gaze fell on Josh. If Gerwald had spoken truly, then he was part of the reason she was in this mess. And it was likely that Josh would know more details than she did about it. But if Josh thought it was entirely his fault, if he thought the Gerry thing was a protective measure set in place…

"Let him in," she looked at Josh again, eyes pleading, "I don't know why he's here. I didn't tell him to come here. But please, let him in. If he does something stupid we can always skin him and hang his fur on your wall."

She tried to smile. Tried to show that it was meant to be a joke.

The veiled woman squinted though. "He will not die by your hands," she said calmly, "but I would like to see him too."

[member="Gerwald Lechner"] [member="Josh DragonsFlame"]