Private Day 53

[Kai Bamarri]

Much of the tension in the room seemed to bleed out after he apologized. It didn’t go away completely, but it was easier to breathe.

Jem didn’t say she was sorry, but she did admit that she had been hard on him. It was the best he was going to get out of her, it seemed—but it was more than he expected.

To her remarks about Dag, Kai just shrugged. <He’s busy out there being a hero. Force help him if he ever becomes a father.>

Force help the kid, too.

<What are you going to do after this?> Kai asked, gesturing to her work. <Or do you not really know yet?>

That was the thing about Jedi. There were too few of them available. So when one Jedi committed war crimes, went off the deep end, or apprenticed themselves to the Dark Lord of the Sith, rather than executing them or imprisoning them for life, the Order and the governments they fell under were more likely to attempt rehabilitation. Take the Barash, do some community service, and your slate will be wiped clean. Legally, at least. Jem would probably have a fresh start within a few months, granted the freedom to do as she pleased.

Jem Fossk​

 

[Jem Fossk]

The lump in Jem's throat grew, her inner eye drawing towards the voice of Darth Solipsis that had been pestering her the whole visit.

"I... can't really picture an after," she admitted, leaving the freshly laid cement behind for a new stone. Others could for her, but she didn't dare let herself entertain the futures they talked about. They seemed to be able to trust in Jem's progress, in Jem, but she couldn't see herself like that.

Even if her fall had been forced all along.

"There's a lot of walls here," she shrugged off, laying down the next stone. "...You?" Now that the impending doom was removed oof all their plates, she imagined life had really hoped up for some. It was a small silver lining to her struggle.

She suffered so they didn't have to. Or so she told herself.

 

[Kai Bamarri]

<I don’t know,> Kai replied. <Everything I knew is gone. Even I’ve changed. I don’t feel like myself anymore.>

She didn’t need to know the details of his personal life, and he’d already talked too much about himself, it seemed.

<I can’t picture my future either, and that scares me. But I’m not so sure I’d want a vision from the Force of what lies ahead.> Uncertainty was better than certain doom, in his opinion.

Jem Fossk​

 

[Jem Fossk]

"He's dead though, right?" She asked with a bit more force than intended. She turned, fear gleaming across her vision as she pushed the question she asked everyone.

"They aren't bothering you guys? The MAW's crumbled?"

 

[Kai Bamarri]

Kai blinked, a bit taken aback by her reaction.

<Yeah, Solipsis is dead. But that doesn’t mean the entire faction will just fade away like a hot fart. I mean, I wish it would, but… that’s not how it works.>

Had she really believed that killing her father would end the war? He rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly.

<Someone else will just step in and take his place as the new leader of the Maw. Maybe someone better, maybe someone worse.>

Jem Fossk​

 

[Jem Fossk]

Jem blinked hard.

No.

Impossible.

Why would he say that?

Why would he-- Her head whipped to the side, hallucinations of her father's grin catching her--- left-- right-- up--down.

She could hear his laugh. She could feel his glee.

“Even if I don’t live to see it my WILL shall be made complete. A second genesis will be at hand one way or another.”

"No!" The force burst off her, erratic and twisted with her sudden, unstable fear. The warden rematerialized, it's golden energies enveloping Jem and holding her in place. Jem thrashed, wild and unrecognizable. There was no reaching her in that moment. The warden gave Kai a firm look.

It would be time for him to leave.

I am inevitable. ​