Hvothe (Ailyne)

[Manu Xextos]

The dream descended with a whisper. Admiral Manu Xextos had nodded off in his Captain's chair, patrolling the outskirts of Sith Space with his Army of Light crew aboard the Brynjar when the whisper, that self-contained exhale descended again, and paused, and descended with the severity of muted thunder to a pacified child. Manu's eyes shot open. His Second in Command, a stern Echani woman clicked her heels and offered him a nod. She'd take this shift, had the woman seen Manu sleep yet? Meditate yes, but sleep?

There was no bed in his quarters, she remembered casually. Perhaps the ancient one was used to a different sort of sleep. As he rose on crackling limbs, he tapped at the helmsman's station. There. Go there.

As he walked from the Bridge to his quarters, Manu heard the sigh again, that whispered sigh. ​An exhale resounded in the deep cavern of Manu's tentative connection with the crystalline caverns at the bottom of the minuscule world. Love them or hate them, the House of Keth who served as his officers and warriors functioned with the minimum amount of wasted breath. Drove the humans and humanoids on the ship nuts, how the Echani could have conversations in an eye line, the sweep of a hand. The former Jedi didn't mind it, coming back to feel the mystique settle in his bones. If a few hundred if not thousand people walked with more care around him and his own, maybe that was for the better.

That quiet exhale, the whisper.

Manu curled up in his cloak and slept in the corner of his quarters, until the Brynjar took orbit of the planetoid in neutral space, hidden inside a nebula no one had cause to enter. "I'm coming, my friend. Patience." Manu whispered back, leaving everyone else behind to the crisp stasis of the surface. Nothing moved, but the wind, a flicker in the distance let Manu know the Kinraith were ever vigilant. He sent the hive a brief touch of his telepathic presence, made his way to the cavern and his eyebrows compressed. The cavern was empty but for a lone warrior locked in the throes of his final battle. Alone.

Ahani had left the Krystallsøvn, and she hadn't let her husband free. Standing back, Manu felt some of the ache slough off his bones. "I see. Took eight hundred years but you finally proved her right. You finally proved to Ahani that your wickedness makes anyone leave. Proud soldier! General of Intents, the victorious buffoon." Manu bowed courtly, spitting on the ground by the crystalline coffin he had once been thus imprisoned. As he stepped closer to the centre of the cavern, he felt his skin lighten with a healthy glow, he felt muscle and sinew grow back onto his anemic bones. "Ahani was the best mistake you made. She proved herself in the end, didn't she? Proved she could best us both. My silly little mother. Confused, terrified woman. She beat us both." Shrugging, he let his arms fall and slap against the sides of his thighs.

"I found your chiseler, family member of yours. Oh, the House of Keth answers to me now. May- Heh. You know, I have to give you this much, you sure woke me up Raien. Woke my apathy, woke my loved ones from their graves to howl round my head incessantly. All their noise! All of it! All I can think about is destroying every frelling little morsel of your putrid wickedness 'cause I know enough to never wake you up, but that's not enough for me.

You took my family from me, Raien Keth! I shall rend each micron of you from the stars! I will pull them down and engulf you, each flicker of you. I will end the memory of you. What will you be then, hmm? What will you be when I've destroyed every holocron, every pebble you crunched between your metal boots, what will you be when I've ended everything that made you? Will you finally be unmade? Will you finally no longer exist? I'll absolve your family then name it my own. In memory of my wife, I all claim the House of Keth for House Xextos, use them as happy lieutenants lapping at our attention. I will rebuild and you, my friend, you will diminish and waste to petty ash." As he spoke the Echani veered closer to the once-scourge, coming to the distant coal-black eyes even now scorned with the hatred of absent parties, and once loves.


"You will waste to ash, and for all your infamy all that will remain is me. I will cleanse, wash pale as snow and then I will find her. I will find Ahani and I will cleanse her until every inch of you is scoured from her skin and bone and soul. This is my revenge, Raien. It always has been my revenge on you.

I will redeem everything you've ever touched, and make it beautiful in my image."

@[member="Ailyne Viren"]

 

[Amz]

The crystal caverns had always given Ailyne an eerie sensation, almost able to hear the ghosts lullabies being sung in hushed whispers around the Gods who'd been so long entombed. The place had frightened her as a force sensitive child, unable to understand how she could feel life flowing through what looked like beautiful sculptures of ice. Through the years she had come to understand, had often after meditated and prayed to these sleeping entities. Now, standing face to face with her ancestors, Ailyne saw the barebones of who they were. Defeat, destruction, and turbulence.

The uneven crystal ground glittered, breaking unevenly underfoot, rising and falling to each step as though the grounds had carried the burden themselves. Ailyne ascended the familiar weaving roads, following the trail of tears and pain that lead her to one [member="Manu Xextos"]. His promises to the slumbering destruction God was like a cold winters wind, filling the entire cavern with his bitterly frozen oaths. He was no more God than he was man, Ailyne was beginning to realize.

With careful steps, Ailyne let her presence be known. "Manu Kae," she spoke in a soft tone of reverence, hoping to peel the warrior from his cantankerous revere, clutching in her fingers a holocron that had waited nearly eight-hundred years to be delivered. The seal had not been broken, forbidding any to see it's content save the eyes of this one person. What secrets did it hold, what secrets did this man carry? "I am Queen of Chandaar, Ailyne Viren."

 

[Manu Xextos]

The Force within @[member="Ailyne Viren"] was a current of clear green water in the turbulent ocean storm of the Krystallsøvn. Touched upon it was a deeper empathy, a connection built on blood and water, on hundreds of years in kindred company. "You bear the fragrance of my mother, little Queen." Manu's thick baritone was musical and soft. He held none of the vehement anger he'd spewed at Keth's ragged bone bag locked as it was in crystalline state. Turning to face the young Queen, the Echani's entire being luminesced. His hair, skin and eyes were white, hair drifting as if caught in the gentle waves of a calm sea.

"Also a resemblance far more Echani than I gave the Chandaari credit for." A smile quirked on his lips, head tilting to the side as he peered at this wondrous silver woman. "Yet you still keep this place sacred. How is it the Queen of Chandaar knows of my name? I knew a Princess of Chandaar once, saved her from an eternal winter. Brought her into my house, a daughter. Ah, Chiara. You probably wouldn't remember her name now. It's been so many centuries already." The smirk increased on his face as he thought of Chiara, flickers of coloured light sparking into the crystal cavern - Manu's memories of his adopted daughter in the brilliant kaleidoscope of a doting father. "House Viren holds the crown? Did my daughter make it, then? Did she too find her way?"

 

[Amz]

The faint smile, accompanied by her impenetrable silver eyes, and inscrutable countenance, gave little away of the Queen’s inner thoughts. “When I was a little girl, I was anointed with the oil of promise as the next protector of the Krystallsøvn like my Mother and grandmother, and so on. Ever since I can remember, these caverns have been sanctioned as holy ground. You, Ahani, Raien, I grew up on your legends. The life of crystal light flowed like a gentle white current when I prayed here, and the three of you were always very real to me.”

Ailyne moved toward Manu, standing in front of the lifeless form of Raien. She always felt a coldness here, Raien reaching with death's grasp, trying to steal the breath of what was still living. Even in slumber, Raien destroyed life. Without Ahani and Manu to balance this monstrosity, what would swallow the darkness? Looking closely, Ailyne thought she could see the faint ripple of movement deep within the Krystallsøvn. She hoped to be wrong.

Her silvery gaze laid easily back on Manu, hands casually folded at the small of her back. “Chiara Viren, or Chiara Xextos. I’m versed with my history, Manu Kae.” She paused, and softened her tone. “Your daughter reformed Chandaar into the haven it is today.” There was a slight hint of tiredness in her voice, and Ailyne sighed. Darkness was beyond their planet, the twisted side of the Force that wanted to destroy centuries of peace.

Ailyne pushed those thoughts from her mind, and took the holocron from her hands, passing it to the phantom Echani. “I was told… that should you ever awaken, I was to give you this. It was part of my duty as protector. The Queen’s seal is still on it, it’s never been opened, but I feel as though it will answer your questions.”

--- Holocron ---

Clothed in fine raiment and hand tenderly dropped on a heaving chest, clinging to fleeting moments of life, laid Chiara Xextos. Grey hair and tired eyes, replaced innocence and life, each crinkle redesigned with the sharp blades edge of battle, a woman hardened through wars, a woman ready to breathe her last.

The image appeared in blue lines, fizzing in and out until finally the picture was still.

“Father, Friend … time spares no one, and if you are watching this holo then I have indeed finally passed on and become part of the all encompassing Force. I have at last found rest. My only regret was not having the chance to meet you again face to face. I don’t know what time or year you have awoken, but my hope is you have finally found peace.

And yes...I did survive.

My demise was more than largely exaggerated. Ressa, saved my life, but with complications. My body survived in a comatose state, but my soul live inside of Ressa as a second entity. With so many unseen enemies circling as the vultures they were... we could not guarantee safety for the Kae. Years we kept our condition a secret from everyone. By the time we corrected our error, I could not find you . . . No one could find you.

There was none who filled with the anger, and rage that I carried.

I spiraled along the vicious cycle of revenge. My raw emotions became a tool to reclaiming the throne on Chandaar. I tore apart the lives of those who had so long destroyed mine. Many that I grew to love, fell in battle. Yet their loss only worked to further fuel my madness. I thought if I could touch what belonged to my family, that my brokenness might start healing. I was wrong.

The Sith Master, Zarah Viren, whom many called the murderous Queen, I forced into a false repentance and claimed an atonement with her head. Bathed in the blood of the guilty, I ascended.

The people hailed me as savior, redeeming Mother, but I’d never felt so powerless and empty.

I made… innumerable mistakes.

I began to believe redemption would never come, swallowed in darkness that the brightest light couldn’t touch. Then Ahani sought me.

Ahani and Raien had a son. He was brought swaddled and sobbing, still surviving on the milk of his Mother. She asked me to take the child and keep him from those who would seek to kill him. Trusting that I would not harm him, either.

I peered down at this tiny bundle of blankets, surprisingly heavy in my arms. His hands were fisted and waving around with spirited vigor and strength, a tiny general. Yuca glowed, and my ice encased heart melted with each frustrated whimper. Hope rekindled.

Before Ahani left, she dropped clues to your whereabouts. I strapped a tracking beacon onto her ship and followed her to your fated planetoid. When I arrived, I was too late.

Not knowing if Raien and Ahani would be released in lieu of your wake . . . I left you in that slumber. Had there been another way, I would have leapt faster than a jump to lightspeed. I was lost without your council, without your presence… life was difficult Manu, for all of us.

However, take comfort in knowing that Erryn remained faithful, and never took a new Echanar. She was a strong, noble, and forceful leader, who pushed further with driving force. She never looked behind - she could not. In your stead, Kavi Raste faithfully remained near her side, not as Echanar, but rather companion and confidant, a friend who simply understood. Kavi dedicated his entire life to your family, remaining honourable and abstaining from any personal pursuits of life - fully faithful as a battle brother.

You had another child who was borne by your name, Locah Indra. The tiniest-little warrior, brimming with the brightness of hope and life. He was a blessing, but there was always a sadness that followed him. He yet lives on Thyrsus, a training war general to his sister Kae.

I tell you this, so you will know that they have lived fulfilled lives. The terrors that chased you, that chased us… our families will never see that horror. The price is lofty, some might say too steep, but our children have not suffered… and that thought has kept me going, has kept me pushing for the peace we dreamed of.

Finally... I leave you with this.

Never let go of faith. Fight the good fight, keep light in your heart, and never let go of hope.

… I must go now… soon the force will relieve me of my burdens. I have done my duty, I have fulfilled my promises to you, to Ahani. Forgive me, that I could not do more.”

--- End Holocron ---


@[member="Manu Xextos"]

 

[Manu Xextos]

Splashes of salt water hit the ground with a near musical resonance, taking the colours Manu donated to the crystal cavern and sealing them in. As the holographic image of his aged daughter flickered out of corporeality, Manu released a staggered sob. His face contorted, joy and a stomach-rending regret making its purchase. A near millennia and the daughter of Ahani's last child and his adopted daughter not only remembered but replied to the quest inside his mind. "I had a son?"

Manu's breath staggered out of his lips again. He looked down at this slip of a Queen, this @[member="Ailyne Viren"]. "We had a son." His face was not forgotten, nor his form lost to the Echani. Chiara's gift had donated a much needed present of discovery and purpose. Manu would find his House, and he would re-join it. "Locah. Child of Tears. Erryn was, well she must have been. How didn't I notice?" The hulking myth sat down and leaned against the crystal wall, facing his apparition, the scourge and ghostly marauder. "Kavi fulfilled it all, did he? Chose right when I kept him around, didn't I?" Manu laughed softly, looking up at the Chandaari Queen. "Sit. You've been staring at me for how many years? You must have questions… Did she keep the Xextos after I was gone? Chiara? How's Chandaar doing, last I saw it was within Sith territory…

What's your favourite legend? What did the tales say about me?"

 

[Amz]

Ailyne waited to go near the great warrior, Manu Xextos. It was a show of respect for his pangs of regret and the overwhelming emotions of loss that he must have felt. She had experienced her own sorrows in life, and looked on with eyes that were soft with compassion for him. Wistfully, Ailyne clutched the pendant of the silver krayt dragon hanging around her slender neck, a widely known symbol of the Viren family. The relic was passed through generations of Queens, and had come to Ailyne before her rightful time. Sovereignty had been the only Mother and Father life had afforded the young Queen.

When the Echani beckoned for her to sit, Ailyne did so without a thought of hesitation, drawn from her hankering of what a family life might have felt like. Rulers were given the greatest privileges, the greatest responsibilities - but to let her heart yearn for anything outside of her obligations to her people and to her planet? That was not a privilege she could know, and a burden she'd resigned herself to carry.

Ailyne smiled gently, unfamiliar with these new feelings of warmth that radiated from the man she had watched in crystal slumber her entire life. "Xextos is a name in our history, given to some of our greatest warriors as a title of honor, but Viren was the name that Queen Chiara established when she retook the throne, as it was more widely known and recognized."

"As for Chandaar ... we have no shortage of enemies. Sith space surrounds us, but their presence has been growing weaker. My people are holding out on hope of a miracle, as are we all."

"We have time to discuss stories of legend and valour, but first I need to know - was Raien Keth as fearsome as the legends say?" There was a subtleness of concern in her tone at the inquiry. She folded together both pale hands in her lap of fine lavender linens, letting her silvery eyes gaze toward the behemoth of slumbering Echani.

[member="Manu Xextos"]

 

[Manu Xextos]

"So the Xextos are the honorary warriors on Chandaar, eh? I hear the House Xextos survived, mine and Erryn's line. I've got some on my ship, the Brynjar. Miracle, eh? We might be able to work something out with that." Manu smirked, watching the way her fingers tugged into the lavender linen and restless eyes pool at the Betrayer.

"Depends on what the legends say, but I can tell you this." Manu pushed off his own knee and rose up to pace in front of the monolithic crystal binding his greatest foe within. "For as brilliant as I was and I had to be brilliant to withstand him, as tempestuous, as effervescent and altruistic as I had been, Raien Keth was my immediate opposite. Similar paths created divergent futures as where I would turn my face to the sun and bathe in the holy and healing Light of the Force, Raien would sink deeper into the mire. He lived in pits and poisoned planets. He was the most efficiently dangerous man I'd met, he threatened his own people. Those who did not fight the way he wanted were unworthy of carrying on their lines. Raien Keth was degradation personified. He was the unholy rot. Broken consort to a false Kae, he was discarded by every love he had, it tempered him in villainy."

Manu's face took a dark timbre and sheen, he turned to glance at the young Queen with a ribcage caving sorrow. "I met him when I was little younger than you. When he realized he could not turn me, it became his obsession to force me into the same life he had. We were opposites on the same coin, great Echani Protectors who fought to the bitterest ends to save our people, or in his case immolate them. Ailyne my child…"

His ribcage rose and fell, he put his hand on the crystal and pushed off it back to the young Queen and got down on his haunches, stroked her cheek with his thumb as an aura of divine grace emanated out of his body into the very walls of this sacred place. What grace and mercy, what healing had been found in the Krystallsøvn had been Manu's to give.

"I was the great conundrum: An Echani who dared not fight. Even for the Jedi, I refused a Lightsaber and plied only the medical trades. I learned healing, mystic arts and healed well all who came to me. A contented pacifist, I watched my peoples' movements with fascination, but took not to them myself. Perhaps it is the greatest image I can give you of the dangers of this beast: Raien Keth made me fight. He made me grow strong in battle. I became a General to rescue my wife from harm I saw looming. This degraded soul before us was so incredibly dangerous, he made water turn to vapour in fear. I would not see his like again. My sacrifice in the Krystallsøvn was right. It was all right to keep this xar'chath at bay. Keeping Keth in his cage is the utmost priority, and I fear it is my Mother's place to do it. The House of Keth has been atoning for Raien's sins since the day he first stepped off Wodenstam and aside from divine mercy, no timespan in the universe is enough to make right his wrongs. If any man could get one like me to take up arms and lead armies in my Echanar's name, there was only one who could do it. Did I take to the warrior life? Oh yes, faster and more viciously than a raptor. The House Najwa was a House of the Vornskyr, we went naturally for the throat and it was that sense of combat I brought to the House Kae. You should know, if Yuca is in your bones. Seems Chiara repaid me for my kindness. What was he called? Yuca Najwa, or Viren?"

His eyes began to shine with a pale light. "Force, I miss them. Chiara, Erryn, Divya. Heck, I'd give Kavi a hug like you wouldn't believe. It's no small consolation that they left me families to connect to, little Queen. Heh. If you'd asked me when I joined the Jedi to believe someday I'd have two Royal Houses to my progeny I'd have asked you to go back and learn Farseeing again. It's sort of unbelievable, but here you are."
[member="Ailyne Viren"]