Private Debt

[Noelle Varanin]

The chamber was dark, lit only by the subtle glow of the soul stone at her neck. Lake Krul existed as a dark nexus, its energy corrupting the life forms that lived on the twisted planet. Noelle had learned of it from Ashin. It had been a perilous journey alone, through the lake's murky depths and to the hidden temple deep within. She sat cross legged, unharmed and unbothered by the clothing that stuck to her skin.


The thin silk sheath would dry quickly, it was location itself that had her concerned. How long could dance this line before she slipped? Actions had consequences. Noelle had once thought she only resembled Spencer in demeanor, but when put to the test it had become abundantly clear.

There was no length she wouldn't go to to protect her family. There was no price she wouldn't pay.

She closed her eyes, a single tear slipping down her cheeks. "Evenire," she whispered, the sith words falling from her lips as she released Kal from his imprisonment.

 

[Kal]

For a royal, Noelle was surprisingly willing to make do with simple solutions. It would have been possible to airlift a submarine, certainly, or failing that procure some kind of hideously expensive skin-like anti-elements shield; instead, she had opted for a silk attire not all that different from a nightgown, yet this one was socially acceptable in public spaces whereas the other one was not. Organics baffled him, sometimes.

Emerging from the Soulstone after significantly less than the decades of imprisonment the Echani had threatened, Kal opted for the same lean male humanoid as before, this time clad in the shadowy equivalent of a pair of swimming trunks; he found mortal fashion curious, not incomprehensible.

<Such sadness over your lost kin, yet you keep me from my close ones. Seems a bit hypocritical, you know.>

Eying the room curiously, he seemed to inhale, form briefly flickering red before he let it pass. <A potent source of Dark energies; I do hope you are here for the lab, not this... murky wellspring. You did not seem to handle the power very well, last time.>

Noelle Varanin​

 

[Noelle Varanin]

"I can handle it," she insisted, a stubborn start to a long awaited conversation. She had done remarkably well at ignoring him over the weeks, though she had never stopped feeling him.

Nor him her.

She opened her eyes, her expression tempered and impassioned as she met his 'gaze' head on. She had learned a lot over the last few weeks. She had pushed herself farther and further in her training than ever before. She wasn't strong enough to do what needed to be done, but she would be. Her mothers needed her to be.

Today, she was sure she was strong enough to do this.

"I have a deal for you. There is something that is lost that I need to find. This place will help connect me to it, but I need you to follow the leads and tell me if you see it. It will not be easy. It's energy lingers many places, but if I can serve as your compass-- we might just find it yet. ... Once it is in my possession, I will set you free. I will not summon you again. I give you my word."

 

[Kal]

It would have been oh-so-simple had someone less stubborn bound him; weeks of prodding, teasing, and the occasional surrealistic dream whose true message was meant to be a subconscious desire to free him should have worn her down, yet here she was, as determined as ever. It spoke to a certain strength of mind, certainly, but also clarity of intent - her desire to see her mother restored shining through her every action.

Only time would tell if her mother was able and willing to return to life; not all who perished wished to return to the struggles of life.

Eyes growing brighter by the moment as she laid out her long-overdue bargain, Kal tilted his shadowy approximation of a head sideways.

<Hmm.> Telepathic tone turning oddly formalistic, he seemed to suddenly attribute special significance to every word he "spoke". <I will aid you in this endeavour and in return, you will set me free and swear to never again bind me through word or deed.> After a moment's consideration, he tacked on an optional clause. <Should you see to it that I am recompensed for this affair, I will see to it that the usual sanctions are voided.>

Quite unsurprisingly, his associates did not usually view those who would bind one of theirs in a charitable light.

Noelle Varanin​

 

[Noelle Varanin]

Noelle's lips pursed.

"..."

She bit back the stubborn urge to resist, some things just habit. She tempered herself to at least hear him out, the severity of her needs weighing heavily on the back of her thoughts.

Her nostrils flared. She spoke through her teeth. "Elaborate."

 

[Kal]

Elaborate?

The offer had been more or less equivalent to hers, so clearly she was referring to his little addendum. A mixture of amusement and bafflement passing through the bond, he tilted his shadowy head slightly to the side, as if trying to figure her out. After a moment, he responded.

<I am not just an individual, Noelle, I thought I made this clear? We are civilised beings, not Smoke Demons, and as such do not take kindly to our own being abducted and bound.> It was quite sensible really; had he kidnapped her, he felt confident the Echani Royal Court would be quite wroth. Perhaps the Silver Jedi Concord too, as their territorial suzerain, but he had not had the opportunity to study their sociopolitical culture.

<No Shadow would press the point if we resolved the differences among ourselves, of course. A bargain is a bargain.>

Noelle Varanin​

 

[Noelle Varanin]

Noelle had not calculated demonic retribution into her plans, nor had she truly given him a chance to warn her about it. Ashin would not have made that mistake. A lash of frustration rippled through her, her fingers flexing over the crystal.

"Name your price, Shadow," she leveled, her tone tenuous and tight.

If one wasn't bonded to her, she would be as unreadable as stone in that moment. Instead she would find her tense. Impatient. And liable change her mind on the drop of a dime. This would not be a good time for teasing or games.

This was business. She awaited his answer with a serious air.

Kal

 

[Kal]

Some frustration notwithstanding, she was being uncharacteristically diplomatic; or perhaps it had simply been longer since she had exposed herself to the Dark's insidious influences. The importance this little excursion held for her and her family no doubt had something to do with it.

<I was thinking something as simple as you owing me a Favour, to be collected at a later date.> It was a nascent hobby of his, truth be told. There was something very appealing about various people going about their lives while in his debt. Given her disposition, she might well be averse to such a, well, vague agreement, however. <If that is not acceptable, I am sure we can come up with something else.>

Stroking his approximation of a chin in the exaggerated manner of someone trying to look normal and failing, the impressions that flowed through the bond between them made it clear that the consideration, at least, was genuine. No real trace of animosity made itself known either, though it would no doubt be difficult to tell whether this was a genuine absence or careful concealment. Shadows were, after all, innately telepathic.

<Secrets are always acceptable currency, or perhaps something... collectable? Then you have the kind of thing spirits ask of plebs with nothing of their own to offer, but I doubt that interests you - memories, feelings, firstborn children.> The impressions following the last one made it quite clear that the last to be listed was quite inexplicable to him. What in the depths of Chaos would one possibly do with a child?

Noelle Varanin​

 

[Noelle Varanin]

Noelle shifted on the ground, letting out a slow breath to mask her discomfort and mistrust. After a long, pained silence, she finally spoke.

"This favor will bring no harm to me or those I care for, or a blood debt will be invoked," she stated, loathing to sign herself over to such unstated terms, but she knew her parents would be there to help mitigate any damage that could pursue. Both of them, even, if she could strike this deal.

"A life, for a soul. You step out of line, my family and I will make an example out of your kind." Her tone was soft, yet matter of fact. She did not need Ashin's power to break someone to her will.

She found words could be enough. Particularly when you meant them.

She raised a brow, a slender hand extending in the human gesture of a shake. "Do we have a deal?"

 

[Kal]

A threat and a rather harsh one at that? Good. The very fact that she took the agreement seriously enough to levy it and nothing more made it clear that this favour was a valuable one indeed; the select exceptions she included were the kind he largely considered self-evident, to be honest.

The ideal favour was, after all, something that greatly benefitted oneself without unduly harming the giver. It built a reputation for honest dealings.

<Though you wound me with these implications, we do.> A shadowy hand extending as if to grasp hers, she would find a physical presence for the very first time; given how much effort was required for a Shadow to generate physical speech through soundwaves, the effort on his part was significant, as made clear by the ever-brighter glow of his eyes. <I swear to aid you in this pursuit in exchange for a favour owed.>

Hand turning incorporeal once more, he retracted it, the white glow of his eyes fading into a duller, more neutral state. The youthful visage of his current form twisting into a cheery smile, Kal bowed shallowly. <So, Noelle, where do we start - for once, I am at your command.>

Noelle Varanin​

 

[Noelle Varanin]

"Wonderful," she retorted wryly, eyeing his suddenly dutiful demeanor with something akin to dry humor.

So had exerted so much effort over him, only to end up here-- motherless, strained, and in debt regardless. The irony of it was not lost on her. Some lessons just needed the hard way to be learned.

"Now, we work together. You can sense my thoughts, yes?" She started, pulling a sealed baggy out of a sash at her side. Syringes rolled about on the rockface she sat on, filled with blue liquid. She began to roll up her sleeve.

"I am about to enter a very deep trance. I need you to stay in contact with me. If I'm correct, I'll be able to connect with my mother's throne on a planular level. But that's not a problem, you can travel those. Yes?"

She looked up, a brow arched expectedly.

 

[Kal]

His thoughts travelling along similar lines as Noelle's - if she had offered to bargain when they first met instead of so rudely binding him she could have avoided weeks of relentless teasing and prodding - he bobbed his shadowy head cheerfully, improvised swimming trunks and the bodily contours that went along with it fading away into the usual rough silhouette in anticipation of what was to come.

<Bits and pieces, but if you open your mind we should be able to communicate quite well, regardless of distance.>

Eying the syringe and the substance within curiously, he looked around as if confirming the safety of the location. Would be awkward if she became the snack of some local predator or another while in a chemically-induced trance. Seemingly satisfied, his attention returned to her.

<Yes, the Nether at least. There are other realms I... stay well clear of.> What mortals knew as Otherspace, for one. Nasty, nasty place, no Shadow in their right mind would go there willingly. <You may need to loosen your binding a bit, however. If I could simply leave, I would already.>

Imagine her surprise if she had released him back in the bathroom only for him to flee to the Nether and seek shelter among his kind.

Noelle Varanin​