Caretaker and Captor

[Lira Dajenn]

Rahvin sat on the outer edges of a massive limestone palace in the center of Zygerria's capitol.

Orange eyes shifted across the city as his arm rested on his upraised knee, his other leg dangling over the hundred meter drop down into the courtyard below. He frowned slightly as a breath of warm air struck him, his jacket flipping and fluttering slightly as the gust rushed across him. Even the wind was hot on this world.

Far below in the courtyard he watched a dark haired woman leave and head towards the market. The force flowing through him, he could see her easily, Cerise.

Lips turned down into a scowl.

She was the reason he was here. The reason he was trapped within this palace. The reason that he could not leave and the reason he was the way he was. Cerise was a caretaker, a mother of sorts, though she had always been far more so to Ilyena, than to himself. Still, she claimed to love them both, claimed to want to keep them safe, her excuse for trapping them here.

“She's leaving again.” Rahvin said to the figure sitting on the other side of the pillar.

His sister had joined him up here, though while Rahvin had come to brood, Ilyena had come to read. She did not dwell on what she could not change, though he knew that she was just as unhappy as he was, trapped within this place.

Guarded like prisoners.

 

[Louise]

Lips found themselves pursed in the unforgiving heat of Zygerria.

Rather than dangling her legs off of the edge Ilyena Talith opted to lean with her back against the pillar, knees drawn upwards with her datapad resting upon them. Emerald eyes flitted over the same words, not once, not twice but three times as the young woman who sat there struggled to summon the will or care to study.

It was a large text regarding the human anatomy, Cerise had without mercy pushed the information upon her the very moment that she was found to have a unique set of healing talents. She couldn't help it, the Slave Mistress was under order, even from beyond the grave. If either of the children showcased Nemene's talents in the realms of healing it had to be fed and nurtured, and learning the ins and outs of the human anatomy helped immensely.

Sadly, the finer details of the gastrocnemius muscle was about as fun and as interesting as bantha poodoo.

The voice of her brother stirred her, head titling upwards and away from the incredibly droll studies, she too looked down into the courtyard, mouth forming into a frown. “Good,” she responded curtly, her eyes following the figure from on high, “let us hope she doesn't return this time.”

That's not a nice way to talk about the woman that dotes upon you so, young lady.

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Rahvin let out a loud scoff, his head turning away from the courtyard and back out to the city. He didn't like this place. He didn't like the lavishness of the palace, he didn't like being constantly watched, and he didn't like being treated like an outcast by a woman who was supposed to take care of him. His frown turned into a scowl.

“You're hoping for too much.” Ravhin said, mulling over thoughts of Cerise being killed by a band of brigands.

He knew that couldn't happen. Not that it wouldn't happen, but that it quite literally could not. The Sirens protected Cerise just as they protected Rahvin and is Sister. They watched over the three of them like hawks. Truthfully, Rahvin admired them somewhat, the women were strong and capable, and cared for the children deeply, seeing them as surrogate siblings. Unlike Cerise, Rahvin respected them, though he still wanted rid of them.

They followed Cerise' commands, and that made them worthless in his eyes.

“They'll protect her on her errands, bring her back here, and then she'll inevitably dote on you again.” His voice was dry “After all, you have to finish your studies.”

Rahvin said it all with a straight face, never mentioning himself.

 

[Louise]

“I know,” Ilyena responded quietly. With the Sirens there was no such luck of Cerise having an accident, a pity really. If it weren't for the silent women then protected them all then their caretaker would have been finished a long time ago, whether by an accident, the hand of an opportunist or even her two charges. She sighed softly, both head and gaze returning to the datapad.
The plantaris muscle and a portion of its tendon run between the two muscles, which is involved in...

No, no. Too dull.

The young woman closed her eyes for a moment, the look of adoration that Cerise often gave her ever since she had blossomed (so to speak) almost haunted her. “Please, don't,” she said in response to her brother's comment regarding doting.

“I didn't think it possible to suffocate somebody with affection,” she stated, decidedly turning off the datapad for another day, “but it is.” Naturally Ilyena had tried to push Cerise away but she was resistant to any form of verbal abuse that the girl had thrown her way, yet like a disease of the genitals her ward clung on.

“I cannot handle these affections any longer, Rahv,” she conceded, deftly lacing her fingers together and placing them under her chin, “If only I was so neglected,” she said, grinning slightly, a thought spared for the less loved brother.

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Rahvin let out another loud sigh, lightly bumping his head against the stone column in frustration. He couldn't take this much longer, he was going insane being stuck here.

“You would be able to move around freely.” He said quietly, pointing out the one advantage that he had over her. “But you still couldn't leave.”

He kicked a rock that had been laying next to his foot. The pebble flew off the edge and tumbled until it crashed into the ground with a loud clang. He heard the swearing of a Zygerrian man down below, one that the pebble had barely missed. Rahvin looked down for a moment, then his eyes flickered back towards the city sky line.

“Being ignored is all well and good, Ilyena, but she still watches, still makes sure I'm here. She'll never let us leave.” That was simple fact. While Ilyena was doted and watched after, Rahvin was mostly left to his own devices, he had choices that she did not, but he also did not have the same care. It would be said that Ilyena was smarter and more knowledgeable than him, mostly because of the learning that Cerise forced onto his sister.

Rahvin wasn't jealous.

Slowly he swung his other leg over the edge of the abyss, letting them dangle as he looked downward. “We do have some choice though.”

Rahvin said with no hint of wavering in his tone.

 

[Louise]

“The illusion of freedom.”

Ilyena observed as the pebble made the long descent down, almost leaving a pretty little dent in the head of some pleb on the ground, the sound of his curses giving the young woman great amusement and an accompanying smirk.

Poor Rahvin, being neglected and ignored had left him with a rather grim personality. Serious to a fault was her brother. About as emotional a pet rock, perhaps even less emotional, after all pet rocks tended to have those googly little eyes that granted them character and quite often an expression of shock.

Ah, the problems of the first world children.

Whether or not her twin brother meant to insinuate suicide was left up in the air, but the moment that he swung both legs around to dangle off the edge the woman's eyebrow was raised

Choices, eh?

She moved, arm snaking around the back of the pillar, hand aiming the slap her brother in the back of the head, a playful slap, not intending to push him over the edge.

“Don't be so morbid!"

 

[Lira Dajenn]

“Careful now. You may push too hard.” Whether or not he was joking, was impossible to tell.

His legs however swung back from over the edge of the balcony, and he turned around completely, jumping onto solid stone and stretching himself. He had been sitting too long, waiting too long for Cerise to leave the palace so he could move around more freely. Rahvin bent backward for a second, relaxing tense muscles as she did so.

It was time to move around the palace a bit. Now with Cerise gone was the only time he could truly do it.

Oh he had boasted freedom earlier, but he knew that she was always aware of him, always watching him. For some odd reason the woman seemed to think that he was a source of trouble, though Rahvin had never shown a rebellious bone in his body, at least not to Cerise anyway. With long confident strides he moved past Ilyena, stopping only for a second to regard her. “Coming?”

He asked her before quickly moving on.

 

[Louise]

So dreadfully serious.

While he stretched, she now took her turn to lay her eyes upon the horizon, bright emeralds studying the skyline seemingly in great thought. It was a peculiar situation they were in. They had comfort, vast wealth, they lived lives that the slaves that built such a fortune could only dream of and yet here they were, slaves in their own right.

They were slaves of privilege.

The notion caused Ilyena to smirk somewhat, it was such a dramatic phrase, the young woman would be sure to use that one in her next argument with Cerise.

Rahvin started to walk away, barely giving her a moment to react as the woman slid off the ledge to join him in his jaunt. She left the datapad behind, no worries, somebody would likely pick it up after her. Moving in a half jog to catch up to her brother.

“So, what grand escapades do you have planned for today?” she asked, smaller legs working just that piece harder to keep up with his taller frame.

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Rahvin walked at a quick brisk pace. He allowed for Ilyena to catch up to him, but didn't really slow down anymore than was necessary. The young man didn't want to waste time, didn't want to wait for Cerise to return. The accursed woman would likely ruin anything that he could think of, and then she would scold him for being a bad influence on his sister.

The very thought made Rahvin roll his eyes.

His ears twitched slightly as Ilyena asked a question. He pondered for a moment, and then regarded his sister with cold orange eyes. There was a sternness to those eyes, a serious born of an age that far surpassed him.

“Were preparing to leave.” Rahvin said with a completely serious voice.

No one was here to overhear them, and he felt save enough to share with his sister what his plan was, or at least a small part of it. He never stopped however, even after revealing that small bit of stunning news. There was no time to waste.

 

[Louise]

Sometimes in the presence of her brother Ilyena still felt like a child (hilarious given that on a technical level, they were only over one year old). She herself had matured into a fine young woman, but Rahvin held this air about him, something almost wise, perhaps even scholarly if he threw on a pair of robes. The woman could only counter his serious stare with her own raised eyebrow.

Leave?

That's a bold strategy, Cotton. Let's see if it pays off for him.

Ilyena's head immediately tilted at the suggestion. Leave. It wasn't exactly a foreign notion, both of the twins had pondered escaping from their privileged prison but they hadn't actually gone through with it before. Could they even do it? The Sirens were nothing if not well trained and vigilant, and only one of the twins would really face the repercussions if it went wrong.

“Really?”

The raven-haired twin stopped walking, letting Rahvin storm ahead of her.

“How?”

 

[Lira Dajenn]

He stopped after getting a dozen or so steps in front of her, looking back towards his sister with a look of exasperation. He didn't have time to stop and explain! They needed to gather supplies, they needed to move fast. The Sirens would be looking for them now that Cerise was gone, and it was best that they not see him prepare.

“We can't fly.” That was stating the obvious “But we can get a droid to do it.”

Again that was obvious. For some strange reason both Ilyena and He could not fly a ship without crashing it. They could fly it for a time, but inevitably the thing crashed and they would end up much worse for ware. He shook his head slightly, dispelling those thoughts. “In the slave pits, where they keep the servants and such. There's half a dozen broken droids. I've been repairing one. After its fixed, its just a matter of getting to one of the ships and outsmarting her.”

Rahvin didn't sate just how simple that would be. Cerise was a complete idiot to the minds of the two children, and outwitting her wouldn't prove difficult. It was the Sirens that worried him. They would be the ones to stop this little plot, if anyone could.

Though Rahvin was determined to get out.

 

[Louise]

As soon as Rahvin shot her that look of vexation the young woman began to move again, following her brother's fast-footed pace throughout the halls again. Obviously this was a very urgent matter to her twin brother, although from his basic mannerisms it felt as if everything was an urgent matter to Rahvin Talith.

Hold on a moment.

He was really serious about this, about escaping. How long had this been going on for? The droid. The sneaking. Ilyena wanted to leave their gilded prison too, but evidently not as much as Rahvin.

“Rahvin. Stop.” Ilyena exclaimed, a touch of concern lacing throughout her voice, “What if we get caught? I think Cerise would really punish you.”

There it was, a touch of sibling love and concrete proof that monsters are not born but rather raised. Ilyena knew that if they got caught trying to leave that she would receive barely any repercussions, a few more eyes watching her where she went but, Cerise at times held no love and only suspicion for her blonde brother, he would take the full brunt.

“I think she'd hurt you, Rahv.”

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Rhavin stopped, his boots thudding onto the marble floor one more time before he turned to his sister wearing a very serious, very stern scowl.

“I don't care.” He said passionately, anger rising through him. He was done with this place. If he could escape, he would, if he got caught, he was prepared to deal with the consequences. “I will not live with that...thing any longer.”

He regarded Ilyena with his cold orange eyes, shaking his head slightly as if trying to think of some words of wisdom that would convince her to follow him out of this place, it wouldn't take much. Ilyena was just as eager to leave as he was. “Our lives are controlled by a woman with less intelligence than an eighty year old Bantha, and why? Because our mother held some strange affection for the twit.”

Cerise had never really elaborated much on that. Of course, they knew about Nemene. All glorious Queen Nemene. Even Rahvin had been there for those lessons. The tales that Cerise told of their Mother, how great and powerful she was. Rahvin never doubted that their mother was strong, after all he had spent time with her holocron and thus her in a fashion, but he knew that Cerise was nearly obsessed with their Mother, another thing that made them both weary of her.

Rahvin frowned, and then turned away from Ilyena, walking again.

“I'm leaving Ilyena. You can come, or you can stay.” That was that.

 

[Louise]

This time, instead of a raised eyebrow her brother was given an extremely wry eye roll. It wasn't that she thought his plans were worthless or ridiculous, it was just the way that Rahvin went about things. He was so very serious, issues were very cut and dry with the boy, it was either nothing, or the end of the world. Cerise wasn't simply annoying, she was a thing.

A thing! How dehumanising!

He had a point, mind you, although that being said Rahvin always seemed to have a point, seemed to always be right, there was no denying his intelligence. It was likely when it came down to it that the blonde was the smarter sibling, although there are different smarts for different situations.

“You're right, of course,” Ilyena conceded, sighing softly following her determined twin once again. Cerise was a ridiculous excuse for a human. She was completely and utterly obsessed with their mother and spoke of her as if she were a deity, it was cult-like behaviour, a cause for concern. Not only that though, since blossoming into the spitting image of a young Nemene Talith the way Cerise looked at the girl was growing increasingly...amorous.

I just don't want you to get hurt.

A statement reserved for her own thoughts and she granted him a curt nod, the expression on her face almost grim in nature.

“You already know I'm coming with you.”

 

[Lira Dajenn]

“Good.” Rahvin said, not a hint of joy in his voice.

He was glad that Ilyena would be coming with him of course, he wasn't about to leave his sister behind to be raised by that...thing. But it was difficult for him to show any kind of emotion, regardless of circumstance. Emotion got in the way, emotion got you killed. Anger, rage, joy, depression, Rahvin had gotten rid of most of them a long time ago.

It had been his natural response to the abuse he suffered at the hands of Cerise. Never let her get a rise out of you. Thats what he told himself, and thats what he did.

Rahvin moved through the palace quickly, skirting through halls and dashing across rooms in an instant. The two siblings moved quickly, at a practiced pace that told of multiple escape attempts. Quickly they wound their way past Zygerrian Ministers and slaves down into the deep parts of the Palace. There Rahvin pulled a small key from his pouch.

He walked over to a nearby door, small and unassuming.

Unlocking it, Rahvin pulled open the door to reveal a small protocol droid, its eyes bright and fixed in front of it. The droid said nothing, but seemed to perk up slightly at the sight of Rahvin, moving out of the small closet almost eagerly. “I removed its voice box.”

Rahvin said to Ilyena as he pointed toward a dark tunnel. It lead to the hangars.

 

[Louise]

Talk about your unhealthy emotional repression.

Ilyena's Cerise coping methods were similar, but in the same breath also different, the brunette would simply switch off and become disinterested in the futile hopes of deterring the woman's affections but no such luck. She could be as cold as callous as she wished to their caretaker but it only spurred her on further.

So throughout the palace the pair silently shot, the Sirens would surely be searching for them now. It really wasn't a healthy amount of surveillance to put your wards under.

Or given that they were trying to escape, not enough.

Finally the grand reveal, the fruits of her brother's labour. Apparently there was a future ahead of him as a droid repairman, hardly a grand fate for the son of Nemene Talith mind you but still, good to have some basic skills prepared in case you fly too close to the sun.

A wry smirk appeared upon the woman's face, of course he had removed the voice box, it wouldn't be like Rahvin if he wasn't already two steps ahead of himself, prepared for every outcome. The upside of being so joyless, is being oh-so-meticulous, with him around Ilyena never needed to plan for herself.

Freedom was on the tip of their tongue. They just needed to traverse the tunnel, get on a ship and that was it. Sounded simple, really, but as with most things, it's not as easy as it seems,

 

[Lira Dajenn]

The strange trio began to move down the dark passage almost immediately, Rahvin leading the way. The young man had a stern face on, concentration showing as his eyes began to glow ever so slightly. This was the one advantage that he and his sister had over the Sirens, they could use the force. They were not well learned in it of course, not yet well taught, having only the Holocron of their mother and a few notes from their Grandfather.

Yet they knew how to use the force to enhance themselves. Make them quicker, stronger, be able to see in the dark. Small quirks that gave them the advantage over normal humans, or even enhanced ones like the Sirens.

The droid was the only noise that was heard in the dark tunnel. Rahvin and his sister making no sound at all as they moved through the blackness. The slight whirring noise of the servos grated on the young man slightly, and as they moved nearer to the light at the end of the tunnel he scowled slightly. If they were caught it would be the droids fault.

As they reached the end, Rahvin put a hand up, stopping his sister and the droid. Slowly he slipped into the light, poking only his head out.

Directly outside of the tunnel lay the southern hangar bays. Within was a collection of old and nearly broken down ships, each one only barely functioning. These were the ships that the slaves were given if they were sent off worlds, half of them were death traps, and the other half were filthy, but it would be their escape.

With a nod to himself, Rahvin signaled to his sister.

 

[Louise]

The near silence was awkward, how you could barely hear the pair breathe or their delicate footsteps, two masters of stealth and then, then the very obnoxious whirring of the droid accompanying it all. It made the young woman want to laugh, or hit the droid, either or.

In her mind it suddenly became this do or die covert mission, sneaking and escorting the hostages from their prison, of course, they were the hostages and the droid was hardly an elite operative aiding them in freedom. No, that would be silly.

He signalled to stop, and here it was, the drama, the suspense, the...the...

...surprisingly deserted hangar.

Entering the dilapidated ship zone Ilyena tilted her head to the side. Was it always this empty? No, no, couldn't be. Something wasn't right, the woman could almost sense it in the air. Wordlessly she turned to look at her brother, giving him an inquisitive look that enquired if he felt the same unease in the air.

 

[Lira Dajenn]

Rahvin had the same instinct, but he didn't seem to care.

He moved across the hangar, singling out a ship at the far end and moving towards it. The droid followed him, servo's whirring loudly as Ilyena fell in step behind it. The Young Blonde moved across the hangar quickly, reaching the ship in only a few seconds, before suddenly stopping. A pair of legs moved down the ramp, a pair of legs that quickly turned into a full grown woman.

She had a smile on her face, and her finger was waggling.

Rahvin stopped dead in his tracks, recognizing the woman instantly. His head flickered back for a moment, turning to look over his shoulder, there behind his sister he saw the womans twin. Sirens. They had found him out, again. A scowl quickly formed across his face, and a very stupid idea came into his head.

With one swift move he reached for the lightsaber strapped to his thigh, pulling it out of its leather holster.

Before he could ignited the blade however the Siren dashed forward, grabbing his arm and slamming her palm into his throat. The sudden pain caused Rahvins grip to loosen, and the Siren disarmed him, thrusting her leg between his and tripping him onto the floor. The mute woman made a tsking noise, and then flicked her fingers at him.

I taught you better than that.

She mocked him, but she was right.

Rahvin let out a loud exasperated sigh. He knew what was going to happen next. The creature would be alerted.

 

[Louise]

There it was, hopes of freedom dashed again.

Poor Rahvin, he tried, he really did. Coming up with scheme after scheme after scheme. Perhaps if Cerise had ordinary guards and not Sirens then there would have been success but sadly this was not the case. This blip however would likely not prevent her brother from trying to escape again, of course not. He was stubborn in his quest.

Did the Sirens appreciate that the twins kept them on their toes?

Rahvin, acting without a shred of sense decided to fight, and was very swiftly neutralised by the powerful woman. Of course, Ilyena did not lash out against the other woman. No, that was not wise, but instead folded her arms across her chest and gave the ultimate eye-roll in exasperation.

Turning her back to the Siren that faced, the girl addressed her downed brother, offering him a hand back to his feet. “Are you alright?" She inquired, likely referencing his dashed plans more than his sore throat or bruised bottom.

Cerise would have been informed, and very likely on her way back now.