A Fearsome Godmother

[Ereza]

In the far rolling skylanes of Moross space, the stars shone quietly in the distant black. Much as it always had since it's inception, the Crusade continued forward like clockwork. Day in, day out, the people slowly piled in from far-away systems, seeking faith and belief, power and purpose. They came to Moross because word had spread that utopia had been found and harnessed. Because the promise of a better future was something few could resist. Because the mystery of the Aesirs tempted the curious and the wandering.

Inari watched this with calm consideration. Her days spent in deep meditation within her hall, receiving new pilgrims and faithful worshippers in serene peace. Thrumming, the heart of a massive movement, Inari's presence beat ever steady since her return.

But she had seen something in the Flow, something that both upset her and concerned her. A shift. A change. A rapture. Millions of lives gone in an instant, and the shattering of the very foundations of this belief she had grown to nurture and love.

This was why she called upon [member="Kassandra Distorith"].

 

[Kassandra Distorith]

| [member="Amorella Mae"] |​

It was strange how a place could come to feel like a home, though the time spent there was relatively brief. The woman held Exocron on a level similar to that of her homeworld, Dantooine. The two places she felt most comfortable and able to simply exist. A peculiar thing for a Sith Lord of some repute, but five centuries in cryostorage would change any sentient to some degree.

An exhalation of breath heralded her rise out of deep meditation. With Vascious gone, Kassandra found herself bereft of the one person she'd come to depend on. There were times she had little idea of what to do with herself aside from keeping to her duties within the Temple of Kalee. Endless hours of meditation and introspection had brought no answers, but the outlet of sparring certainly did. There were many who wished to pit their blades against the Crusader, and she was only too happy to oblige.

It left little room for thought and thus provided a means of distraction.

The summons from Aesir Inari needed to be answered promptly, and she nodded to the pilgrim that had been sent to rouse her. Clad in flowing robes of silver silk accented in bronze, the Lordess made her way to the peaceful enclave that was the Hall of the Reviver. It was not long before she was in the young woman's presence, and Kassandra offered a graceful bow by way of greeting.

"You wished to see me?"

 

[Ereza]

"Crusader Distorith," Inari spoke gently, breaking from conversation with one of her Priests to greet Kassandra as she arrived "thank you for coming so quickly. There's something of urgency I need your help in - I will explain on the way. Please follow me."

Without a further moment of pause, The Reviver lead [member="Kassandra Distorith"] through a back entrance of the hall and up a flight of spiral stairs that lead to a landing pad over the Hall. Here they boarded a small ship, followed only by Inari's entourage of White Guard, and were soon lifting off. Silence, still, as they pulled away from Exocron, and still yet as the planet grew smaller below. It wasn't until they had exited orbit and entered hyperspace that Inari motioned for her Guards to leave the waiting room they sat within.

Once alone, the Aesir removed her mask and pulled back the hood of her white robes. A soft sigh passed her lips as she set the silver piece aside.

"I am certain, with how close you are to Commander Relens, that you are aware of a certain many things here within the Crusade. Are you aware of who I am?"

 

[Kassandra Distorith]

"As the Aesir bids me, I follow."

Kassandra bowed and matched her steps to the Reviver's, leaving the proper distance between herself and the Aesir to preserve appearances as was only proper. They boarded a small craft with an entourage of White Guards, and swiftly lifted off. It left the Lordess to wonder if it was the Reviver who needed the presence of a Crusader, or [member="Amorella Mae"] who wished for the presence of her private self.

The question was not long in waiting for an answer. With the removal of Inari's mask, Kass lowered her hood and ran her fingers through the loose raven curls that tumbled to her waist.

"I have known Vascious as long as I have known your mother, though we have never been properly introduced." she said softly, a smile warming her features. She regretted that she'd not been able to see Silencia in the time since she'd awoken, and wondered briefly about finding a moment to ask after the woman she had regarded as a sister.

 

[Ereza]

And a warm smile grew on Amore's face in return, "Since learning of your presence here she has taken the liberty of informing me of your... history. I regret that I have not approached you until now," until now, at the end of things, her thoughts finished what her words did not. Amore's smile faded some, but persisted faintly.

"She wishes me to inform you that you have been named my Godmother and you are to begin fulfilling your duties immediately," there was something of a chuckle there as the young woman shook her head, "has she always been so very straight forward?"

[member="Kassandra Distorith"]

 

[Kassandra Distorith]

"I shudder to think of the tales she's told you...I was not precisely a sensible creature in my more youthful years."

FIngers rose to gently rest against glossy lips, warmth in her cheeks to match her smile. Concern crossed her features as [member="Amorella Mae"]'s smile began to fade, the words left hanging unfinished between them. While she wished things had happened sooner, perhaps it simply wasn't meant to. Kassandra would have said as much, but the young woman continued.

The Lordess could not contain the soft laugh that passed her lips, choosing instead to lower her hand and clasp it together with the other at her waist. "I am honored...and more than delighted to begin immediately. I have some few years to catch upon, and yes..."

Crimson eyes were lit brightly as she nodded. "...she has always been that way, as long as I've known her. She always gave excellent, delightfully bluntly worded advice when I needed it most." ...would that I had listened to it where Maize was concerned, and not found myself betrayed on every front, she mused softly.

 

[Ereza]

"Ah, well," a short nod followed with a marked look of relief to Kassandra's offer humor, "yes I've heard much the same from her other associates. Though none yet have spoken ill of that particular personality trait..." another light chuckle, something of mild concern. Amore's gaze flickered off to the side for a moment before returning to the woman.

"But I am glad that you accept this new ....ahm, responsibility. Hopefully not a burden. I'm really quite eager to become familiar to those my mother has called friend and kin in her past. I know so little of it, but she spoke very well of you. Fondly, even, which was quite a strange thing to hear coming from her."

A sigh.

"Though, I do wish to catch up - I'm afraid now's not the right time. You see, there's a very pressing matter I need your help with. What is your experience on visions and premonitions?"

[member="Kassandra Distorith"]

 

[Kassandra Distorith]

"I doubt you could make it a burden even if you tried, my dear." she said softly, otherwise allowing [member="Amorella Mae"] the time to think and speak as as she wished to. Kassandra retained her smile to hear that Silencia spoke of her fondly still, and it was difficult to restrain herself from asking any questions.

The last thing Amorella said, however, chased those thoughts straight out of her mind. Her brow furrowed slightly as she took the opportunity to find a comfortable seat, hands smoothing out her robes over her crossed legs. She gave it a moment's thought and gently shook her head.

"Directly, very little, I'm afraid...I have had few over the years, and they were rather far between. I have been around those so gifted, however, and have acquired a bit of a knack in interpretation. While the Force does not grant me the visions, it will sometimes grant me a modicum of understanding to the visions it has given others. What troubles you?"

 

[Ereza]

"Well, I'm not even entirely sure they're visions. The gift runs in the family to an extent, but I've not experienced anything like this until now. I suppose-" the woman stopped, took a short breath, and gave Kassandra an apologetic glance, "I suppose... I should start from somewhere at the beginning for it all to make sense. Since my coming to the Crusade and implementing myself as Inari at the cleansing of Aing-Tii, I took the responsibility of looking after that place and it's people personally after seeing what Soliael did to them. I've since come to understand them, to bond with them, and they have shared with me many of their secrets and their skills. One of which was the art of Flow Walking."

"I've spent a great deal of time sitting in meditation with their elders, Flow Walking alongside them. The things I've seen are nothing short of remarkable, incredible, and once I felt I could manage the task myself I brought it home to Exocron, and eventually to the other Morossi territories. I've seen the entire history of Aurum span before me as if filmed for public entertainment. I've watched a woman arrive at Aing-Tii not just once, but twice through means of a stealth ship to do as I do and learn from the Monks. I've seen Exocron grow from an unexplored husk to the thriving metropolis it is today."

"Until now, all I've ever seen were glimpses of the past. Things that were, things that have been, and managed to experience the here and now hundreds of miles from where my body rests. I've never once seen the future - until recently, I think."

"I've seen things, Kassandra. Terrible things - more frightening then all the 500 years of life shown to me as experienced and lead by a merciless Sith Lord. What I've seen I can't explain ... I can't even tell if they are true visions or something else, but the unknown of it terrifies me for what possibility that it may actually happen. That they may be true..."

[member="Kassandra Distorith"]

 

[Kassandra Distorith]

Hands folded together in her lap, the Lordess sat back and regarded [member="Amorella Mae"] with quiet consideration. A deep breath was taken in and then slowly exhaled in a measured manner, then repeated, as she set her mind on a proper path. Darkness rose up within her as she beckoned to it, flooding her senses with a fine level of detail. The ship, the people within it, pulsed with a dark, viscous energy she could see as well as taste. It was a bittersweet flavor on the back of her tongue, that electricity, forcing her gaze to glow a bit brighter as she replayed Amorella's words in her mind.

Kassandra hadn't been to Aing-Tii at any point in her life, though she knew of the Monks that dwelled there and had heard tell of the abilities they possessed. Flow Walking was the immersion of the mind and spirit into the Force itself, to be carried along it's ebbs and flows and to read them. It was a rare ability in any Force user and one of untold potential in someone like her goddaughter, in who's veins flowed the power of two powerful bloodlines.

So it was with all due gravity that Lordess considered what the young woman was saying, in the hopes that something would reveal itself to her. Tendrils of thought plumbed the very depths of the darkness and rippled with the flow of the energies she had long since begun to understand. But this time, there was nothing.

No kernel of knowledge, no scrap of information, nothing.

The darkness always demanded a price from Kassandra, and this had no price. It was blocked from her and no amount of coaxing would draw any detail out.

She sighed and shook her head, finding a handkerchief within a pocket of her cloak and pressing it to the trickle of blood that emanated from her nose. "There is no amount of coaxing that will pull the information out of the depths of darkness I am accustomed to dealing with. This tells me at least that your concern is most certainly a valid one, but it does not tell me anything of the veracity or falsehood of your vision." Pulling the square of fabric away as she managed to stop the bleeding with a touch of energy, she lifted her lambent crimson gaze to Amorella once more.

"What have you in mind? Is it too much to presume our intended destination may be a step towards beginning to unravel this riddle?"

 

[Ereza]

Tension tugged at Amore's frown, pulling deep lines into her expression. There had been no expectations for answers within this conversation. A hope, perhaps? Rarely did things ever come so easy, as she had come to learn over the last two years of her life - anything that did was likely a farce. The truth of the galaxy always came with a price, and Amore wasn't sure just what concerned her more.

Resigning with a nod, she glanced off, "Yes, to Aing-Tii, back to the place where it all began. If I must be honest, Kassandra," blue eyes settled back on the woman, "I'm not entirely sure why I've called you here. It may be all for naught, but - time spent with family is never time wasted and I thought perhaps you might appreciate a visit to the place before ... before there might not be another chance."

[member="Kassandra Distorith"]

 

[Kassandra Distorith]

The woman simply bowed her head, briefly closing her eyes and reclaiming her scattered thoughts from whence she had sent them. It took some few moments to assemble her mind to the proper path once more. A deep cleansing breath was taken in, then exhaled slowly as she brought her head up once more.

Tucking the handkerchief back in it's hidden pocket, her hands clasped together atop her knee. Her brow furrowed slightly at the way [member="Amorella Mae"] had chosen to phrase the last thing she said. Crimson eyes met those of a troubled blue, searching them with a gentle intensity.

"I am more than happy to be with you on this journey...I've not been to Aing-Tii before in all my years..." Kassandra's voice trailed off as she rose from her seat and took a few tentative steps towards her goddaughter.

"...I know I've been a touch reclusive since Vascious disappeared, throwing myself into my Temple duties as a means of coping. But are things so dire within the Crusade? Or is this more to do with your vision?"