Character
"What are you doing, my love?" Alicio questioned, his arm still extended. "Just take my hand." He bared her a smile, his eyes like stars. He sounded more desperate now, almost pleading, half-angry. It was only at Amani's challenge that the Alderaan noble seemed to break, a flash of surprise crossing his pale, handsome features—and something else. Something darker.
As the healer raised her palm, Alicio's body twisted. "No," he said, then shouted, "No!" He lashed out, lunging for the healer as if to wrap his hands around her throat, right before an explosion of blinding light consumed them.
Maeve staggered against the wall. She was unable to escape the haunting voice of her father, whose every word was like a rusty knife plunging into her chest. A part of her knew he wasn't real. Just a figment of her imagination. But what pained her most was that he wasn't wrong. She had left his body and the rest of her family's to rot in that cell while she escaped. She had abandoned them. She had failed them.
But while she clutched her head fighting to keep his voice out, Maeve saw it. A burst of white light. It was like watching the sunrise up close, and the heavy blanket of darkness around her seemed to melt away against it.
A voice came next, a beacon in the dark. Maeve knew it was Amani in an instant, and she followed it, shuffling towards it until she found the healer standing on the other side of the chamber, the floor around her cracked and broken. "Amani," she said, awash with relief. "Thank the Force. I thought I'd lost you for a moment there. I thought I… lost myself."
Maeve hesitated. She didn't want to admit what had happened while they were separated, and she didn't ask that of Amani, either. Whatever it was they saw, perhaps it was better kept to themselves.
The real problem was who had attacked them in the first place.
As the healer raised her palm, Alicio's body twisted. "No," he said, then shouted, "No!" He lashed out, lunging for the healer as if to wrap his hands around her throat, right before an explosion of blinding light consumed them.
—
Maeve staggered against the wall. She was unable to escape the haunting voice of her father, whose every word was like a rusty knife plunging into her chest. A part of her knew he wasn't real. Just a figment of her imagination. But what pained her most was that he wasn't wrong. She had left his body and the rest of her family's to rot in that cell while she escaped. She had abandoned them. She had failed them.
But while she clutched her head fighting to keep his voice out, Maeve saw it. A burst of white light. It was like watching the sunrise up close, and the heavy blanket of darkness around her seemed to melt away against it.
A voice came next, a beacon in the dark. Maeve knew it was Amani in an instant, and she followed it, shuffling towards it until she found the healer standing on the other side of the chamber, the floor around her cracked and broken. "Amani," she said, awash with relief. "Thank the Force. I thought I'd lost you for a moment there. I thought I… lost myself."
Maeve hesitated. She didn't want to admit what had happened while they were separated, and she didn't ask that of Amani, either. Whatever it was they saw, perhaps it was better kept to themselves.
The real problem was who had attacked them in the first place.