You Thought Wrong

[Cameron Centurion]

Centurion Estate Ruins
Corstris

Death.

Aiden could taste it in the air and smell it on the wind. It was little more than a lingering sensation at this point. His brother, Caid Centurion, had informed Aiden that all of Cameron Centurion's holdings on the world had either been destroyed or relocated in the wake of their father's death. It seemed that Caid had taken it upon himself to abscond with the collected wealth and trophies of their late father. In a way, Aiden supposed he could understand.

What he did not quite get, however, was why Caid had felt the need to literally wipe out everything Cameron had ever created on the world. Was it some sophomoric attempt to distance himself from a family he was never really shackled to? Aiden did not have any great degree of misgivings about Caid, but he thought perhaps the young man occasionally took himself too seriously. Caid always seemed like he was attempting to prove something to the entire galaxy...but what? That he was as good as Cameron? Better? Different?

It never matters... Kneeling down near what used to be the foundations of the sprawling estate, Aiden reached out a single finger to touch the corroded material. In a moment, the large Sith was transported to another time, another place in his mind. For several moments, the large Sith allowed confusion to color his features. Then...he saw it. The uniforms of Shadow Force were unmistakable. A tiny infant crawled joyfully across the marble flooring. The infant, clearly a girl, had its back to Aiden but the moment his thoughts ran to the child it seemed to stop. Abruptly it turned to face him and the unmistakable, brilliant glow of green eyes gazed back at him. In that moment it was as if he was connecting with the entity in the vision. He knew the girl's name instantly. [member="Elora"] was, after all, the youngest of Cameron's children prior to the Gulag and, therefore, the second youngest overall.

More importantly, she was the only one to share a familiar method of conception as Aiden. As the large Sith glanced up to Cameron Centurion and [member="Shery deWinter"] in his mind's eye, he noted the dream-versions of them did not seem to notice anything amiss. Silver-green eyes snapped back down to Elora who had crawled to his feet in the time he looked away. The girl's expression was blank, but her gaze spoke volumes.

Slowly, Aiden allowed himself to retreat from the vision of the past. Exhaling softly, the large Prince looked past what remained of the burned forest and estate grounds towards the horizon. Utilizing information provided by Caid, Aiden had dispatched a message to the woman that was the oldest known offspring of Cameron until a mere few months ago. More importantly, she would have a great deal of insight into the Witch side of the family that Caid simply did not...by choice.

[member="Gemma Cavataio"]

 

[Gemma Cavataio]

She was a Witch, a Dathomiri, a child of Darkness. She didn't see herself as a goddess nor did she see herself as someone intended to live forever. Yet, she lived through the dark, she lived through the mist, she lived through the plague. She was a Cavataio, she was Centurion. She was everything. Her soul was blessed, her soul was damned. She was Cavataio, she was Centurion. She was blood of darkness itself.

Remember.​

The Witch chanted in her slumber, unaware of her unleashed magic upon her world.

Remember Dathomir.​

Deep her sleep, she had been aware of the magic she cast out. Some Witches would hear, others would remain oblivious to it. Yet, the Witch considered the planet of Witches to be home. She was born there, raised there, trained there. It was home. There was Endelaan, there was Cortosis and yet, it was Dathomir where she had been raised, where mother and father had been there for her. Decades of her life, where she had lived. A whole century, close to two. Yet, when the sound of the message had come through, she awoke, taking in a breath at that moment as she inhaled deeply, eyes opening quickly as her Coms went off again. Definitely a message, the repeated sound had revealed, making her eyes opened as her mind remained unaware to the magic she had chanted in her sleep.

The message that had awoken had her, it had been confusing yet revealing. Just enough information to make her suspicious of the brother she knew, who knew enough of their mutual father yet possibly not even him. Gemma was curious despite it, enough to not to return to her slumber - enough to for her to awake enough for from her slumber and begin her journey from Dathomir to Cortosis. Though it would never mean home, Cortosis was part of her legacy, and her message had been enough to summon the Witch of Dathomir on her journey, a place of where her Father had come from. Cortosis. It was where Gemma would travel upon receiving her message. And when she would arrive, ship descending to the ground, before the opening would reveal the Witch. The message had contained something, enough to grasp the eldest of Centurion, the eldest in a small count of surviving children fathered by Cameron Centurion. Enough to bring her to his homeworld, a world she had not been to for centuries. Yet, she knew the way to it all too well. From the skies, she had seen, through the distance. The home was no more. Yet even the ground she walked across, she remembered, memories distant but clear in her mind's eye.

She was not alone.

That revelation caused her to stop, head slightly tilting as she listened to the Force whispering. Onward, Gemma had continued, curious about the signature becoming stronger as she walked towards what she remembered as the home of her Father. Even she knew he was gone now, she had felt his passing just as she felt the descent her Mother had taken, the changes that were slowly making Lauda Cavataio become less than she was meant to be, who she was supposed to be. Gemma's connection to her parents had been strong from the moment she was born, the magic within her blood was potent, especially to those she held connections to, no one more than her two parents. Not even the siblings that had come after her, she hadn't been able to connect to them for how different she was to them. Too different, with her too much like herself and them, their own. It was a strange thing, the acceptance in their difference. Gemma hadn't understood growing up but at a moment, the realization had struck, centuries ago. And she let go at that moment, no longer pushing her Cavataio siblings to be more like her or their Mother. They could be what they wanted to be, they could succeed or fade.

Her thoughts subdued as she gained a better look upon the destruction, the remains of what was once Father's. There was nothing else, not a trace. There had been energy here once, bringing Gemma a joy while she had been a child to be here. Now, that was gone. There was nothing here.

Except for the signature that wasn't too far from her. "Who are you?" The Witch called out softly, her voice barely raised. No new face was worth the fear and the signature she felt, it strangely felt familiar. In all the time Gemma had lived, she knew such things happen in a certain situation. The family gave out that sensation inside her blood, never a complete stranger.

[member="Aiden"]

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Time slipped by slowly as Aiden tore his gaze from the horizon and continued his slow walk through the ruins of his father's former estate. As he walked, the large Sith allowed himself to feel and taste inklings of emotional residue that Caid had left upon this world when he set it ablaze. There had been so much anger and confusion. While Aiden held a fondness for his brother simply because of the blood they shared, he could not say he fully understood the man's personality. In fact the last time that Aiden had even seen Caid, he'd been very...detached almost indifferent to the galaxy around him.

That was not the Caid he sensed lingering among this place. The Caid that did this and sequestered all of their father's treasures had been...vengeful and full of hate, sorrow. Aiden had little place in his life for such emotions. Then again, he'd had the benefit of understanding the reality of his childhood from the moment he was old enough to comprehend the words being pressed into his mind. There was no reason to lash out or complain about the presence or lack-of-presence employed by some parents. In the end of the day, sentient beings were what they were.

Emerging from the jagged rubble of the ruins, Aiden felt a sense wash over his body. The hair on the back of his neck prickled ever so slightly. Within a matter of minutes, he heard a voice calling softly to him from the distance. Shifting his abnormally bright silver-green gaze in the direction of the approaching presence, Aiden allowed the Force to supplement the senses he could not yet employ. Slowly his own presence groped and crawled over the curves of [member="Gemma Cavataio"]'s own presence. It created a clear picture in the mind of the Sith Lord - a picture as to the woman's physical stature, her quality, and her capability. Indeed there was plenty of their father inside of her, but there was also a great deal of that which he could sense inside of Caid from time to time. Aiden wondered if Cameron Centurion's obvious intensely fertile nature had been inherited.

Up to this point, Aiden had no children that he knew of. That he knew of.

As Gemma came further into view, Aiden gazed at the woman from behind a couple long strands of hair that had fallen in front of his eyes. Clasping his arms behind his exposed upper torso, the tall Sith watched his sister with interest. "Aiden, son of Cameron and Alia. You are Gemma, daughter of Cameron and Lauda." There was but a brief pause. "I am your older brother." Unclasping his hands, he motioned to the destruction that surrounding them with one hand. "Forgive the theatrics. I obtained your contact information from our brother, Caid." In that moment, Aiden's gaze momentarily diverted to survey the burnt out forest around them. Quickly, they returned to Gemma's eyes which nearly matched his own. "Caid did quite a number on this planet."

Naturally, Caid had already told Aiden that Gemma did not see Cameron in such a way. She was the one child Cameron had ever fathered that he also took the time to raise. More importantly, as far as Cameron Centurion knew, Gemma was his very first child. According to Caid, it was no great secret among the Morte Clan that Cameron Centurion had always held Lauda closest to his heart. That was, of course, until [member="Shery deWinter"] and Elora became the center of his galaxy.

 

[Gemma Cavataio]

He came into view and her silver-green gaze paused on the tall posture of a man, unaffected by his size. She was raised among rancors, humans his size was not intimidating in the slightest. Odd, perhaps, but not intimidating. Instead, the Witch had watched the way his hands had adjusted behind him before he introduced himself. Aiden, he had said, son of Cameron and Alia. He knew her name, her bloodline. Gemma spoke no words, only observed quietly and listened. A small reaction broke through though as he spoke his next words - I am your older brother. Was this true? She wondered as the silver flashed across the green in curiosity. All her life, and a long life it had been, Gemma has believed she was the very first child to each of her parents. Their first child, their first daughter; on both sides. And now, this tall large man spoke of a different story.

Gemma didn't speak though, her mind wandering back to a conversation she had had with her brother Caid some time ago, the way he had spoken of their Father, a man she didn't recognize in his words. Time had passed, she had grown, life had gone the way it had. Maturing, Gemma didn't have the contact with Cameron Centurion she had as a child yet she valued the time given and the time offered, loved the lectures and tutorage provided. The love. Gemma Cavataio knew the love of both of her parents, each giving it in different ways and yet strangely, oddly enough, similar. Both Cameron and Lauda valued knowledge and power, valued strength. They thought their daughter these lessons in their own ways. She valued and honored, respected as she grew. Like her Mother, she was a studious creature, eager to learn, eager to make both of her parents proud. She refused to fail, she accepted success. She was a child of their blood, she was their daughter.

Yet, Aiden, son of Cameron and Alia, supposedly, her older brother, spoke of a detail that seemed so minor, so insignificant but was something Gemma had always lived with - she was her parents' firstborn, their first daughter, their progeny. He spoke of Caid, hand gesturing behind him. He obtained his information about her from their brother, who was the one who had caused this destruction. Gemma looked beyond the man then, into the destruction that had made the imagery unrecognizable. Caid had caused this. "What did it matter to him to destroy our Father's home?" She wondered quietly, looking upon the scene. There was a home here once, a place that made her happy to be shown all of it, to be here.

And it was her brother who had destroyed. So little did the youth value legacy, Gemma thought for a moment as her eyes observed for a moment longer before she looked back to the brother she didn't know until now. "Life is full of surprise, isn't it, the Witch spoke, seemingly a question yet not. It was just moments ago, not even a full minute that Gemma knew she was the eldest to both of her parents and realized the devastation beyond the man. And now, she knew two very different facts. "I wonder, why have you called for me, Aiden?" She spoke next, taking a few more steps towards her newly discovered brother.

[member="Aiden"]

 

[Cameron Centurion]

[member="Gemma Cavataio"]'s appearance did not escape Aiden. It was curious, however, that Aiden had uncovered so much about Cameron's life while the man was still among the living...yet had never truly heard of his involvement with Lauda Cavataio or raising Gemma. However, as time would have it, Aiden had been heavily invested in his own education and training well into what would have been early adulthood for Gemma. Certainly by the time the Sith Lord had cared to look, Gemma Cavataio was living her own independent life and Lauda Cavataio had moved on completely. With her piece to the puzzle of their family finally laid into place, Aiden finally had a...complete image of all the children sired by their father; living and dead.

In truth...Aiden should have been the one out of the loop. He was the secret, the one that even their father never knew of. He wondered...had Gemma been alive and vibrant through the intervening years of her childhood and now? If she had, that would make her...much closer to him in many more ways than just age. However, Gemma seemed interested in Caid. No, the inflection of her voice seemed to hint more at a concern for Cameron. It was curious.

"Caid slept through much of the intervening years of the Gulag. I imagine you were not much around during his youth, but as he relays it, his acceptance was marginal. His mother, I believe, was among the youngest of Petra Cavataio? Spoiled and more than a little...well... Let's just say it does not truly sound like she was prepared for motherhood. At any rate, Caid resented Cameron for a time. Cameron, apparently, was never involved in the boy's life." Shrugging his shoulders slightly, Aiden began slowly circling Gemma. "He is yet very young."

To Gemma's comment about surprises, Aiden could offer little more than a snort of derision as he completed his lap around her body. Yes, she was of course beautiful, but Aiden's evaluation was much more...intrinsic than that as he allowed his presence to roll slowly over Gemma's. She was different than the family member he'd met thus far. She seemed far more...confident, competent even. "Life is certainly not without its mysteries, yes. As for my motivations... I have called you here, of course, to get to know you in a more...sterile environment. The neutral ground of a legacy unto which we were both born."

At least, a legacy unto which Gemma had been born. Aiden's entire existence was the result not of a willful or even knowing Cameron and Alia...but the machinations of Boadicea and Maximus. "I'm very interested in the...success of our family. Tell me...were you alive and...alert these past hundreds of years? Or did you prefer to sleep, to allow life to pass you by while you preserved what you were?"

 

[Gemma Cavataio]

In the way he looked at her, Gemma recognized a curiosity and interest. She was raised to observe, study those around. There were ways others looked at her, even in her own family and yet Aiden's eyes on her didn't display this. It was sincere curiosity, a form of purest desire to see through her. This form of interest made her curious in return, her silver-green eyes following him slowly as but it was his eyes that kept her attention. For they spoke more than anything could about another person. They carried the depths of a human soul, the fire or ice that lived inside someone. Their truth.

Aiden knew Caid had slept through the Gulag but clearly, he didn't know she had as well. Caid's mother was her Zia Kristin. She remembered the beloved children of her Nona. Gemma held no jealousy for these two though she had never come to connect with them. They were different than her other Aunts and Uncles. The connection with Nona and Nona Anna was different which made them and their lives different. Her Mother had not had a bad upbringing, she was special and in many ways a unique Cavataio which made her stand out. Familia e Familia, she could hear her Mother's voice inside her mind. She was Cavataio and she was Centurion. She was loyal to her family, her parents more than anyone else yet you didn't turn your back on your family. Caid had turned his back on their family, she realized as her head turned to the remains of their Father's house. He had turned his back. Nona had betrayed their family as well when she had murdered them one by one. They were coming back, one by one, as she needed them. Mother included yet the ats had been done, the betrayal had been committed. The woman in her Mother's place was not as strong as Lauda Cavataio was. Not as strong as the woman who had raised her. The clone was weak. Broken. Unable to find herself with her Blade. There was nothing Gemma could do.

Cameron was never involved in Caid's life, she heard Aiden, her thoughts not taking her far from the brother she had just met. "I do believe so, in the way he wondered about our Father when we had met. I wanted to know about him, what kind of man he was," Gemma shared.

"He is young. Too young to comprehend the life of our father, the history of our family or the reasons that lead a person to do what they do." Not even she knew everything, Gemma was aware but there was so much that had happened to Cameron Centurion before she had been born and even after. Caid could never begin to understand for if he did, he would not do what he had done here. He would understand that this was not the way to kill the man or destroy the past. This was not what would help him achieve his goals.

Finally, her newly discovered brother began to tell her why he had invited her. He wanted to know her in, what he called, was a sterile environment - neutral ground. "I can understand this," she responded quietly, aware of the way he was circling around him, his signature dancing behind him like a shadow of darkness. The dark side of the Force was potent. He was strong. They all exhaled a trail of strength, their genetic history provided them with enough source to grow and yet, what followed in their lives defined them. Whether they could capture that and grow even further depended on them in the end. Aiden had discovered his strength, there was no denying that.

He was interested in their family, the success of it. He was curious about whether she was alive and alert in the past centuries. "I too have slept through the plague. I am Centurion, our ancestors provided safety from the dark times." For the Cavataio though, the dark times were not the Gulag. They were the madness of the goddess, the destruction of their bloodline. For she was Centurion, she had been set to slumber before she could be harmed and cloned. She was saved. However, Aiden didn't quite know how the other half of her family existed. "This body is close to two centuries old, Aiden. And I only count the years I have not slept. My Cavataio blood permits me longevity. My time on Dathomir as well. But there is something I do remember about our family. There were some of them who chose to remain as youthful as they chose to be." It was of great fascination to her when she had been a child. Before she had even realized the connection she had felt to deWinters when she had first met them. Shery deWinter for one felt as though she had refused to age.

Remembering that now made her wonder if the woman lived still or if she had finally gone beyond. It was a name she hadn't thought of in so long. Yet, she too was family. Not only was she was that but she was the one Father had chosen in the end, the woman he loved. One could say what they wanted of the Sith but Gemma grew up knowing she was loved and she knew that a part of Cameron Centurion was very much capable of those emotions. "I didn't choose to sleep yet sometimes, it is better to recharge and ready for the future when what was coming was nothing to witness." The Cavataio was weak, unable to fight their mother and grandmother. It was nothing to see, nothing to experience. In the end, she was glad to be a Centurion. She rather had slept than be yet another toy in the game of Petra Cavataio. A clone. A broken creature fighting to find what is real. Unable to see reality without some sort of anchor as Lauda's clone had come to be, trapped. She was glad she was Centurion.

[member="Aiden"]