Private A Matter of Perspectives

[Viera]

The Maw’s attack on Coruscant had left the Jedi Temple in shambles. It would take time for it to heal, for its halls to be as filled with Jedi as it had been before the assault. But enough time had passed, that occupants were filtering through it day by day. Sections cordoned off for potential health hazards, falling roofs and the like.

Viera for her part had returned from the Lower Levels. She felt she had done as much as she could down there, without further exasperating her injury. Now she just wanted to rest somewhere, maybe drink some tea and try to figure out what to do next. And what better way to do that, than with a friend?

Out of her small group, there were only two options right now, Aeris Lashiec and Dagon Kaze . Both were on Coruscant, or at least she believed they were. More so Aeris than Dagon, who she imagined had probably left by now. Plus the blonde librarian’s recent actions had stirred an idea in the Thyrsian’s mind.

She had sent a message to Aeris, asking if they could meet up in her office. Unfortunately said office was currently non-existent, lost in the chaos of the attack on the Temple. Instead, an alternative was agreed upon, a balcony close to the library. From there it was just a matter of securing what she needed, especially the right kind of tea.

Fortunately she was the first there, giving her a means to avoid questions about the limp in her left leg. Viera focused on setting everything up, and as if to announce her arrival, the teapot began to whistle as Aeris appeared.

“Aeris,” she greeted with a smile. Taking a moment to stand up and give the blonde a brief hug. Although, there was a moment in that movement where Viera winced, feeling the ache in her injured leg. “Thank you for coming, I’m sure you’ve been insanely busy since the attack.”

Sitting back down, Viera grabbed the teapot and began pouring herself and Aeris some tea. “I hope you’ve been doing well, I know you were up here in the Temple during the fighting.”

The Thyrsian said nothing more, just listened to what Aeris had to say. It wasn’t until they were both settled, and both had taken a sip of their tea that she finally spoke up again.

“I’m dying.”

Aeris Lashiec​

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

Viera

If one of them had tried to hide their limp, there was not a single effort put in from Aeris to hide hers. She carried a determined stride between grunts and groans as she hastily made her way towards the balcony that Viera had told her to meet at. Her arm wrapped around Viera’s shoulder as they greeted one another.

“Viera,” She greeted her old friend back and quickly took a seat. “Of course.”

Oh it felt good to just sit the hell down. Aeris felt her entire body revel in relief as she let the slightly damp cushion wrap against her battered muscles and bones with a cold that quickly turned to warmth.

“I was.” She said and pointed at Viera’s leg. “Seems that so were you.”

“Me and a Padawan were securing the archives when the Sith struck. I managed to send most of it off-world, but not without a few injuries.” She said and rolled back her sleeves to put the wounds on display. The sleeve rolled down and Aeris picked her tea up again to take a sip. “What about you?”

She was dying.

That was all she said, and exactly how she had said it. Aeris slowly began to nod as she put the cup back down on the nearby table to look at her friend. There didn’t seem to be any sort of mockery or deception to the words.

A deep breath filled her lungs, eyes closed before she exhaled to open them again.

“I see.” Was all that she could muster before she gave her friend a grim look. “What has happened? Can something be done for you?”

 

[Viera]

Viera was never one to talk around a topic, especially a serious one like this. Some would paint her as being overly blunt because of it, but it was just how the Thyrsian rolled. How she had been taught by Allyia, hell...how she had raised her.

That, and she knew Aeris could take it. Her reaction was as Viera expected. Surprised, but professional. Immediately asking questions; how had it happened? What was being done? Very straight to the point, like the Thyrsian herself.

But she could see it in the blonde’s eyes, it was always the eyes.

They had just come out the other end of a battle, one that struck at the very heart of the New Jedi Order. A place that was meant to be safe and secure. Either of them could’ve been killed during the attack. An untold number had died.

And now one of her friends was sitting before her, declaring herself to be dying.

“I was down in the lower levels of the Temple, helping evacuate the younglings. Managed to get a group out safely, but by the time I went to return the tunnel I used had caved in.” Viera paused, taking a sip of her tea. She was reminded of the frustration she had felt at the time. Part of her wanted to just Force blast the rubble away. But she hadn’t dared to potentially cause more damage.

“So I remained in Coruscant’s Lower Levels, where Sithspawn had been deployed. And then during that time, I was ambushed by a Sith. He didn’t stand a chance, as I was already on guard and running on adrenaline. However...before he went down he managed to stab me in the leg.”

Viera shifted her left leg out from the table, revealing it. She rolled up the trouser leg, just enough to reveal a bacta patch secured over the wound.

“Initially I thought little of it beyond just being a stab wound. Went to a doctor in the area that was helping any injured. Got patched up and went back out again, this time to go help those trapped in the rubble. It was only when it eventually started to burn that I realized too late...that it was poison.” The Thyrsian sighed as she returned to her tea again, taking a heavy sip.

“I’ve been to see a healer, but they’re already thinned out as is right now. From what they said, not even a little Detoxification will work. Regular ol’ Force Healing doesn’t work either, hell it makes it burn, as if the poison is reacting negatively towards it.”

Aeris Lashiec​

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

Viera

Down in the lower levels while protecting others from Sithspawn. Attacked by a Sith in the effort. Died, but not before being stabbed in the leg with a poison. It took no response to treatment, not even in the force. Aeris took one last sip of her tea before she put it back down. There was only one thing she could really think of and it left a pretty grim diagnosis. The librarian reached up to tie her hair back, her fingers tucking the loose strands of hair back behind her ears.

"Are you experiencing bouts of uncontrollable emotions, specifically darker ones? Does the usage of the force or the light cause you disorientation or pain?" Aeris crossed her legs and placed her hands in her lap. "More to the point, have the doctors and healers checked you for Sith Poison?"

"There are procedures for that but they are widely obscure. My master as a child went through it, but healers that practice the art are very rare."

"Tell me every little detail that you can think of."

 

[Viera]

She smiled slightly, despite the seriousness of the situation. Aeris tying her hair up was the blonde’s go to whenever entering ‘time to get serious’ mode. It was something Viera could appreciate about Aeris, when everything was put on the table there was no time for nonsense.

“I haven’t noticed any, no. But then I haven’t been using the Force heavily since.” Not necessarily on account for trying to avoid using it. But the Thyrsian was exhausted, having been fighting then helping haul rubble. It did give her pause though, thoughts drifting towards whether this poison was causing a greater degree of fatigue.

“Not to mention I was trained with knowledge of both Light and Dark, so I have a better control over emotions that might become influenced.” She was ultimately speaking hypothetically. Until Viera experienced such a thing, she wouldn’t know if that would hold true.

The Thyrsian shook her head at Aeris’ second question. “No, unfortunately they haven’t.” One final sip of her tea, and Viera placed the cup down. “Neither were able to provide anything beyond a preliminary examination. On account of being busy.” Viera seemed strangely calm about it all, despite having death looming behind her.

Her interest peaked at the mention of obscure, a keyword to spark the Thyrsian’s curiosity.

“I can probably do one better.” Viera leaned over to the right, down to the bag nestled against her chair. She flipped it open and rummaged through it for several seconds. When she returned, she held something wrapped in a protective cloth. The Thyrsian placed it down on the table, then carefully pulled the cloth layers away.

It was a dagger, presumably the one that had been stabbed into Viera’s leg. Still stained with her blood, but with no obvious signs of having poison on it. Overall, it appeared to be a fairly ornate weapon. A handle that was old and had markings carved into the wood. The metal blade had something similar on both sides, but they were more crudely etched in comparison.

That, and they were filled red now.

“I went back to the doctor, fortunately he still kept the dagger after removing it."

Aeris Lashiec​

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

Viera

The dagger had been inside her leg still when Viera had come to have her wound checked? A questioning eyebrow rose in defiance of Aeris' better knowing before it promptly sank again. The doctors had definitely been busy, but this certainly struck Aeris as something that needed to be checked out sooner rather than later. Her head shook as she crossed her arms and placed a finger across her lips to think.

"You would have known if it was a Sith Poison." She grumbled for a moment. "That does not mean it was not an inspiration somehow."

She ran the index in her head, toxins and neural agents. There were a few but then there was also the possibility that this was the deranged brainchild of numerous freelance scientists out there. Which was really just a nice way to say 'Sith' but Aeris generally tried not to generalize.

Generally.

"As much as I want to say that I would have the answer," Her head shook with an increasingly sympathetic frown. "I am afraid I do not."

"Do you have any idea how to fix this yourself? Any idea what resources I can provide you with?"

 

[Viera]

Viera caught that look Aeris gave her, and couldn’t help the sheepish look in return. In hindsight, it was a questionable move keeping the dagger in her leg right until she was seen by a doctor. But at the time she had no way of knowing what the blade really was, poisoned, alchemised, or whatever. The Thyrsian hadn’t removed it in fear it had hit an artery in her leg.

Albeit, losing a significant amount of blood was now the better option of the two.

Hindsight was hell of a thing…

“Meditation, it’s at least what immediately springs to mind.” It was Viera’s answer to a lot of things. Despite how gung-ho and un-Jedi-like she was at times, the Thyrsian had a particular interest in the art. “Not that it’ll fix anything, but it’s an indirect action I can take to try and figure out a solution.”

Aeris’ question earlier about her emotions had ignited a thought in her mind. What if whatever had afflicted her, fed off those kinds of emotions. Dark, negative, Sith. But then why bring it to attack Jedi? Had it been designed to be used against the more inexperienced Padawans and Younglings?

Those that were still vulnerable to such volatile shifts in emotion.

“Hmm, I think Sith Alchemy is probably a good start.” Provided there were even accessible resources for that in the library now. Be it unrestricted or still functional after the attack. “Oh! Actually that does remind me, I had a specific thing I wanted to ask of you.” Viera chuckled quietly, only just now remembering the main reason why she had asked to meet.

“I need your help to set up and create a holocron.”

The Thyrsian leaned over to her right, sifting through her bag again. When Viera returned, she had a holocron in hand.

“My Master, Allyia, created this sometime after she had left her Order. Specifically after a fateful encounter with a former student of hers. She created this to be passed down to her student, her final one.” Viera’s face became a mix of emotions, mostly sad and mournful. Remembering the Togruta Master, someone who had been more of a mother to her, than her own flesh and blood.

“And now I've found myself in potentially the same situation as her. Only...I don’t have a student, nor do I think I'll ever have the opportunity to.” Viera took a breath, fingers gently running along the sides of her old Master’s holocron. “But I’d still like to leave something, pass on my knowledge to someone who might need it in the future.”

Aeris Lashiec​

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

Viera

The glance Aeris kept would change from questioning to surprised and finally to curious in a matter of seconds. A holocron, now that was certainly something that not many people had the ability to create. Never mind the components for it, but the wisdom and patience that went into creating one. For as commonplace as they were, their creation was still no small feat. A small piece of a soul for figurative immortality.

Aeris slowly nodded.

"Well, Sith Alchemy is… A sensitive if not controversial topic." Aeris frowned and rubbed at the back of her neck. "Are all alchemists bad? Should it's usage be limited on account of how it was made? In recent years the waters have been muddied enough that I would say it is up to whoever wants to wield it, but…" Her shoulders lifted in a shrug. "I trust you. I will dig up whatever you need on the subject if you give me enough time for it."

There was a bitterness in the air that Aeris refused to acknowledge. In part because of what it entailed, and in the other because she doubted it was what Viera needed. What she needed were answers and resources to help secure a form of legacy, not pity. If this was to be her parting gift to the galaxy, then Aeris had the resources to spare. It was just a matter of finding them.

"What is it that you are hoping to pass along?" She asked and took a sip of her tea. "You are definitely an oddity in the ranks, I am sure there are many things you would be able to tell."

 

[Viera]

“Thank you Aeris, truly.” Relief seemed to immediately wash over Viera, a smile forming as Aeris agreed to help. A part of her had worried that the blonde librarian wouldn’t be too keen on helping. Not that she wouldn’t, but rather would be hesitant to dip into areas that weren’t exactly ‘okay’ within the Jedi Order. She was after all one of the people responsible for who had access to such knowledge.

Sitting a bit less rigid in her seat, Viera relaxed as she thought upon Aeris’ question. There were a number of things that had been on her mind since she began to form the idea. But there was only going to be so much energy and knowledge imbued into a holocron.

“I want to talk about…emotion.” Viera’s attention seemed to drift away as she slipped into deep thought.

“It’s what we as sentient races all have in common, no matter who we are, or how different we are to one another. Now, I don’t personally know how the New Jedi Order teaches, I’ve only the lessons my Master taught me, of her experiences with the Galactic Republic’s Jedi at the time.” Already, the Thyrsian’s drink had been abandoned as her arms started to become animated with her words.

“It binds us all, influences our actions on a daily basis, be it Force sensitive or not. Yes, we pose a greater danger due to our abilities, but is that any more different than those without? The only differing factor is that they don’t have power at their fingertips. But that’s no reason to outright shun certain emotions, brush them off with cautionary tales. They should be taught, accepted as part of who we are, so that when we are confronted by those defining moments, we’re prepared to face them, and not crumble beneath their weight…”

Viera drifted off as she seemed to finally come back to reality, realising Aeris was staring at her. The Thyrsian chuckled sheepishly, rubbing the back of her head.

“I should probably save that for the actual holocron.”

Aeris Lashiec​

 

[Aeris Lashiec]

"No, please," Aeris said and reached out for Viera. "I was listening, that was my listening face."

There was a reason she was a councilor and not a counselor. Aeris cared, but her face would never quite tell the story. Brows furrowed, eyes staring with intent as her lips twisted and turned with her own thoughts on the matter. She was a great listener, she was not a good… Facer?

"Emotions are very important, we could stand with knowing more about it."

"Please, go on."

Viera