Private Ghosts and Fallen Angels

[Alicio Organa]

Alicio could tell Ishani was about to protest, but was stopped by the march of the conversation. That was for the best. Nobody in the galaxy could have convinced him to abandon this world in it's hour of need. Not when there was a chance of saving it.

Kai entered then, giving Alicio the message he already knew the boy would. He responded with a grateful nod, and a voice in the Sithspawn's mind. <And I will be with you, my friend.> There was more meaning there than Alicio meant there to be.

"Alicio, I— Thank you."

"Don't thank me too soon." Alicio let a teasing smile shatter his otherwise serious demeanor. "We haven't saved your planet yet."

Alicio turned to Toloth, his seriousness renewed. His resolve strengthened. "Take us to the dragons."

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

“I’ll go with you, if you’ll have me,” Ishani said, returning his smile (though hers was more relieved than teasing).

There was a brief, rousing pause, before Toloth broke the silence: “Have you ever ridden a griffin, Senator Organa?” he asked. “Or a leonardbird?”

“He’ll be alright,” Ishani reassured him before turning to Alicio. “It’s not so much different from riding a thranta. Just a lot faster.”

“If it’s all the same to you, I’d rather fly on my own,” Kai said, already beginning to sprout a pair of magnificent wings with feathers the same shade of white as his hair. Toloth waved his hand, giving him wordless permission to do as he pleased.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

"Of course," Alicio said, calmly nodded to Ishani. If she wanted to come along, he wasn't about to stop her from helping avert catastrophe on her world.

Toloth received a puzzled glance as he asked the Count whether he could ride two animals he'd never heard of before. He was about to say as much, before Ishani swooped in with the save. "Fast thrantas," Alicio echoed, finding a shallow smile. "I can do fast thrantas."

Kai's final thought was met by an arched eyebrow by the Count. He had no idea the shapeshifter could do that, though he supposed it made sense. It was a shame he hadn't learned it before...

Before what...?

Alicio blinked, and he was riding a leonardbird.

Reaching up from the reins, Alicio found himself needing to massage his temple again, recollecting his thoughts. Riding the chimeric beast was strikingly similar to thranta-back, down to the feel of the wing muscles beneath his legs. The only difference was the speed, and the low growls that shook his body whenever the leonardbird strained itself, rather than the low, mournful calls he was used to.

They had started their journey. That was it. The memories were finding him again. Alicio looked over to the others, shouting over the scream of the wind rushing past them. "How soon?!"

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Toloth led the troupe astride his leonardbird, while behind him Ishani rode her white griffin, her long blonde hair trailing behind her like a golden banner in the wind. Kai took the rear, carried by his newly grown wings.

"How soon?!"

“There!” Toloth suddenly swooped down toward the mountains below them, diving into a cave opening. Ishani signaled to Alicio, then followed her father. The buffeting winds were abruptly cut off by miles of rock, the light of the sun dwindling behind them. Toloth turned on a high-powered flashlight to see, and Ishani did the same.

The cavern was large enough to fly through, hanging stalactites and towering stalagmites the only obstacles to their progress. Further in there was the glimmer of jewels, coins, credits, and other glittering paraphernalia—the dragons collected anything shiny they could find, stowing it away here over the millennia.

Finally, they reached a cavern which seemed more narrow. Below them, the stone floor was oddly shaped, with curves and bumps like rolling hills. One of those hills started to move.

“Bamarri!” Toloth shouted, his voice echoing. “Tell them we mean no harm!”

But the dragons were already beginning to awaken, and the glow of fire lit the cave walls as they opened their massive teeth-lined jaws.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

“There!”

Alicio nodded solemnly, following Ishani down. He pressed himself flat against his leonardbird as it dove into the darkness, igniting his blade to give them a bit of light. Mostly, it was to connect with the crystal, and let Alicio guide the two of them through the winding stalactites. Alicio's catbird was none too happy about the arrangement, but seemed to allow itself to be driven into the unknown, following the lights of the others.

The glittering of precious gems below caused Alicio some amount of suspicion. Where were the horde's guardians? They continued on.

Then the floor began to move, and Alicio understood.

The Count tried to look ahead, but found he was barred from the Future. There was some unknown panic keeping him from it. Alicio felt his breath quicken, as he wheeled his leonardbird around. "Kai?!"

He suddenly became very worried for his bodyguard's life, and didn't quite understand why.

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Kai was already locked in a dive, shooting down like an arrow with his arms above his head. For a few nightmarish seconds, it seemed like he was about to plunge directly into the molten maw of one of the dragons. But then he changed course, landing on the beast’s head and sliding down its scaly back.

The dragons awoke in an uproar, and again it seemed as if the worst might come to pass. They snorted and sniffed at Kai, flapping their leathery wings excitedly. The young Bamarri accepted their treatment passively, letting them nudge him from snout to snout, passing him around the gathered group for identification.

Whatever conversation occurred between them happened telepathically. But when he sensed his lord’s distress, Kai assured the Count in his own way. He laughed in Alicio’s mind.

“What are they saying to him?” Toloth asked impatiently, deafened to the Force.

The scene below was beginning to look a lot like a long-lost family reunion. Kai was cradling a baby dragon that had found its way into his arms, stroking its tiny scales and grinning when it belched a little plume of fire. Watching it all from her griffin’s back, Ishani was sure whether to laugh, cry, or be annoyed like her father.

Finally, a clear and concise order came from Kai: <Land over there.> It was followed by a clear mental image of a flat, smooth rock a little further back in one of the caves.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Alicio didn't know what to make of the scene below, despite the panic gripping his heart. The dragons were roaring, their mouths lit by flame, but... they weren't attacking? All they did was pass Kai around for inspection.

He only relaxed as he sensed Kai's pealing laughter tickling the corner of his mind, and then only slightly. His shoulders dipped, the death grip he'd held on his reins loosening. He even summoned a ghost of a smile.

“What are they saying to him?”

"I'm... not sure." Alicio kept his smile a moment more, before letting it drop. "I suppose we'll simply have to trust."

Finally, Kai directed them to a landing area, and Alicio was quick to wheel his leonardbird that direction. Letting the avian descend to the ground, the Count swung a leg over it's back, pushing off the creature, and scratching it's neck in thanks. Waiting for Ishani to fall in stride with him, Alicio then exited the side cave, his hands unthreateningly, but prepared, at his sides.

He waited for Kai to finish communicating, before sending him a message. <How goes negotiations?>

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Since Toloth couldn’t “hear” Kai’s telepathic command, it took longer for him to catch on. Ishani was already walking at Alicio's side by the time he landed.

<How goes negotiations?>

<We’re still getting acquainted.> The Bamarri spoke to both Alicio and Ishani. He gestured with his hand for them to come over, indicating it was safe for them to approach. <They’re a lot friendlier than the old man made them seem.> He was still cradling the baby dragon, scratching the back of its head while it cooed in appreciation.

“They are friendly toward you because of what you are,” Ishani remarked.

Kai’s eyebrows rose. <Well, that’s a first for me. Usually it’s the other way around.>

"All creatures native to Chaldea revere the Bamarri. To them, you are the closest thing they have to a god." As she spoke, she turned to the count with a bemused look, as if to say What strange superstitions they have, eh?

Toloth finally caught up with the rest of the group. “Tell them we need two days to remove the invaders. If they cannot give us time, we will have no choice but to fight."

"Such bloodshed will benefit no one," Ishani added. "We would all stand to lose."

Setting the hatchling down, Kai turned his back to them and closed his eyes. The dragon directly in front of him suddenly reared up, its long spindly neck stretching far above them. It exhaled a great big sigh; the sound of its breath shook the walls of the cavern.

Kai opened his eyes and faced his companions with a grin. "They said yes. But only because I'm the one asking, and if we take longer than two days..." He left the phrase unfinished, the rest to their imaginations.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

As Kai beckoned them forward, Alicio took a few steps out, though he stayed a healthy distance from any of the dragons. He let the Bamarri and Ishani speak uninterrupted, nodding sagely as the latter brought up the idea of being a god. He knew how that felt.... A touch of confusion returned the Chaldean senator's glance.

How did he... know how that felt?

Unable, or perhaps unwilling, to follow that line of thinking, Alicio focused on the actual negotiations. Ishani and Toloth made good points, he felt no need to add his voice to them, save a grim nod.

"They said yes. But only because I'm the one asking, and if we take longer than two days..."

Alicio's communicator was already in his hands, as he attempted to message the fleet in orbit. The cave was blocking his signal. Alarmed, but determined eyes scanned the gathered humanoids, before he bowed to the dragons. He spoke out loud, unsure if the scaled creatures would understand, or if Kai would have to translate. "Thank you for your generosity."

Then, he practically sprinted back to his leonardbird, hopping on it's back, and taking to the sky with the tap of his heels. Once he could contact the fleet, he did so, alerting them to begin the evacuation immediately.

They would have to be quick, if Chaldea was to be saved.

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Kai dutifully translated for the Count. But then he spoke to Alicio alone: <I’m staying here. One of us should monitor things on this end, at least until the crisis has passed.>

Nothing Alicio said could move him. If this was the first time this vision of a parallel world had defied the dreamer’s deepest wishes, withholding something he desired, then it should hold great significance. Or perhaps the artifact’s hold upon Alicio was still too great, especially now that victory snatched from the fiery jaws of defeat was so close at hand.

Toloth and Ishani were already heading back to their mounts as well. She in particular seemed in a great hurry to catch up to Alicio, clambering onto her griffin and racing after him.

“I will return to the camp,” Toloth told them before heading in a slightly different direction. Meanwhile, the skies above the city of Calabiyau were soon swarming with Alliance evac ships...

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

Alicio paused as Kai stated his intention to stay. There was a flicker of fear, a flash of uncertainty, before he nodded to his bodyguard. He wanted to stay by Kai's side. He wanted to make sure the boy was safe... But he trusted Kai with his life. He could trust him alone.

But it did jostle his mind enough for questions to begin forming.

Soon, Alicio and Ishani were soaring up into the sky, and already, Alliance ships were descending on the city. Sure, they were in a crisis, but the Count had just contacted them. Alicio's eyebrows raised. "That was..."

"...fast."

Alicio stood at the bridge of an Alliance vessel, staring down at Chaldea with a nervous expression. But he quickly found himself confused, as his mind tried to catch up with the events of the last day and a half. He'd... helped as much as he could, with the evacuation, personally organizing the people's escape as best he could. It had taken more convincing of the refugees than Alicio had anticipated, they had made the city home. But in doing so, they had unbalanced the planet. So they couldn't stay. He hadn't slept since the talk with the dragons, nor had he seen Kai in that time.

"I can't believe how quickly we've been able to work." Alicio turned to Ishani, an uneasy smile on this face. "We'll have a few hours to spare, by my calculations."

It seemed there was something else on his mind, but he decided not to voice it.

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

Time and space warped, and suddenly both Alicio and Ishani were in on the bridge of a starship overlooking Chaldea. The refugees had been evacuated, and the planet was apparently saved.

Ishani could hardly believe their good fortune. It could’ve been so much worse, yet everything turned out better than she ever could’ve hoped.

Her attention shifted from the viewport to the Count as he began to speak. Her green eyes were full of emotion. “Thank you for your help,” she said softly. “I don’t know how I would’ve done it all without you.”

He had something else to say, she could tell. So she stood in silence, looking up at him in expectation. There were things she wanted to say to him too, this little golden-haired figment of Alicio’s imagination, especially now that he had new information about Ishani with which to furnish the image of her in his mind. But she was limited by his willingness to address it. Unless he wanted to hear what she had to say, she could not speak. That was another of the Eye’s mercies.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

"No. I couldn't have done this without you." The words came out more clinical than he meant them to. "Didn't... do this... without you."

Alicio was still, like a marble sculpture, or a shadow on the wall. The world began to shift around them, colors blooming and bleeding like a painting dipped in water. Alicio's influence, as he fought for control of the vision.

"I wish it could have been like this."

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Ishani Dinn]

The vision shifted, colors blurring and bleeding together. Frightened, Ishani reached for Alicio's hand. Her touch still felt real, but with the rest of the imagined world around them falling apart as he gained more awareness, it too would soon fade away.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

She wasn't real. A figment of his imagination, he decided. Not an alternate future. Just a small snippet of what he thought of when he pictured Ishani as she was. Or at least, how the disk interpreted his interpretation. Alicio shouldn't have cared how she felt. She wasn't real.

As she reached for his hand, he took it. Used it to pull her into a hug.

"I'm sorry," he said, his voice low. Kai was dead. The people were dead. Chaldea was dead. "But it wasn't like this. Will never... be like this. I wasn't... enough. I failed you."

"I'm sorry."

He would hold her, grieve with her, until she ceased to be, leaving him alone, longing for an impossible reality.

- Ishani Dinn -

 

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

"Sir? Are you all right?"

Kassogtha happened to be in the vicinity when she noticed Senator Organa sitting alone. Well, the glowing Dark Side object inside the bag he held was a little hard to miss, but she was mainly concerned about him. He seemed to be in a trance, and hadn't responded to her attempts at communication.

His grip on the bag was ironclad, preventing her from taking it from him. She gingerly poked his shoulder with a tentacle, then gave him a little shake, trying to rouse him from his apparent stupor. "Oh, this isn't good. Poor man. I'll have to call..." Well, she technically was the person to call when it came to Dark Side artifacts.

Why did the Senator of Alderaan even have such an object in his possession?

"I suppose I'll have to call your wife, Senator," she said sternly. Maybe the threat of Amani finding out about this would snap him out of it?

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

"I suppose I'll have to call your wife, Senator."

By nothing but happenstance, Alicio's eyes opened.

And immediately, a tear sprang from one, wetting the corner of his face. He didn't sob, didn't even look anguished as he opened his eyes. He just frowned, as a droplet inched down his cheek, as he mourned a planet of people, all over again.

He swiftly wiped away the stray tear as he realized the company he was in. "Master Cthylla. Sorry, I..." His frown intensified as he realized he was holding the bag. He put it down on the fountain next to him, as if it would burn his hands. "I was going to meet Amani here. About this." His eye turned to it. "Don't touch it, don't... reminisce. I wasn't even holding it, and it... got me."

The Count hugged his arms over his chest. He wasn't ashamed. He felt... violated. His mind, his memories, his wishes, had been hijacked against his control. Showing him something he could never have. It left him feeling sad. It left him feeling small.

- Kassogtha Cthylla -

 

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

Whether out of fear of Amani’s wrath or pure chance, Alicio awoke. Kass exhaled in relief, though the sight of his tears gave her pause. Now that the artifact's dark power no longer overwhelmed her senses, she could tell the Senator was deeply distressed by whatever ordeal he’d just been through. Her numerous eyes fell upon the discarded bag, and she reached down to pick it up…

"Don't touch it, don't... reminisce. I wasn't even holding it, and it... got me."

Her tentacle recoiled at once. “What happened?” she asked, then made a sympathetic noise when he only seemed to curl in tighter on himself. Perhaps it was too soon; she didn’t want to upset him further. “Never mind, you can tell me later. Are you all right? Did it injure you in any way? Are you feeling sick or poorly?” She gently laid a tentacle against his brow to check his temperature.

Alicio Organa​

 

[Alicio Organa]

“What happened?”

Alicio tried to find the right words, but quickly gave up. How could he even begin to explain the depth of what he'd just been through?

Her revocation, and new question, was a little easier to answer. He looked up at the startlingly-shaped Jedi Master, his face obviously defeated. "I'm... alright. It didn't hurt me." In fact, until realizing the reality of the situation, the artifact had been downright pleasant.

Alicio let Kassogtha check his temperature, before responding further. "I feel... fine." A loaded answer, of course. But physically, he was unharmed, untouched.

"I... swear, I didn't purposefully use it." Considering his location, it was a little obvious. "I was waiting here for Amani. It... latched onto my regrets. Showed me a past of... fixed mistakes." And then left him in the real world, to feel the pain of his failure.

- Kassogtha Cthylla -

 

[Kassogtha Cthylla]

He seemed fine. Physically, at least. Kass listened intently to his explanation. Her eyes kept straying down to the bag containing the strange artifact.

"It... latched onto my regrets. Showed me a past of... fixed mistakes."

“Hmm.” Kass once again reached down, but this time she opened the bag and plucked out the Eye, holding it up for inspection. The power of the Eye awoke, setting its sights on her. For a brief moment, she was allowed a glimpse of the vision it had in store for her. She stood in a forest clearing on her homeworld, a boyish Oukranos at her side. The foliage around them was splattered with the green blood of the Brides of Darth Eirie, while the young couple stood triumphant amid the carnage.

If only you hadn’t been so slow and weak, the Eye seemed to whisper. Would you like to see the rest of what could have been?

Kass remained in control. Not only did she already know to resist its seductive offer, the artifact had chosen to dredge up a regret from her youth. She supposed she had never fully gotten over the horror and sorrow of that night, but there was enough of a difference between the naive teenaged girl and the wizened middle-aged adult to put some much needed distance between them.

“Well, this is new,” she muttered, turning the Eye over in her tentacles. “There are some similarities to the more recent alchemical handiwork of the Sith, but I’ve never seen anything quite like this…” Looking up at Alicio, she adopted a slightly more stern tone. “How exactly did this device wind up in your hands, Senator Organa?”

Alicio Organa​