Identity Crisis

[Prennis Keeoli]

Aes'ona outright yelped when the Mariya lookalike appeared in her stall. She was about to gasp next and ask if it was who she thought--hoped--it was, but she was interrupted, being misidentified herself. Her mouth gaped for just a moment before she understood--or perhaps did. It had happened a few times in her waiting room on FIMS Mountbatten, memories that were almost all lost to her thanks to either the sheer amount of passed time or broken conditioning leaving some of her Order memories fragmented.

Or maybe it was a combination of both.

Twins, maybe? Of course, Aes'ona didn't know one was or another for certain, but she knew that it was at least a possibility.

And then she was assaulted by the flying projectile. She ducked away just in time, and remained cowering, squatting, on the bathroom floor probably longer than she should have.

"I--I'm not--" she began, cutting herself off soon after. She paused to think, and quickly. Whoever this woman was, she was evidently not patient in any definition of the word. What was she supposed to say? What was safe to? Probably the truth, actually, most if not all of it. It seemed like this woman didn't like any of the factions that she had rattled off, or rather they didn't like her, otherwise she wouldn't have named them.

So, the 'missing in action' doctor started again, "I'm no spy. I'm running away from the First Order." Hopefully that tidbit explained the disguise.

Maybe. To be safe, she added, "And they have eyes everywhere."

Again, and perhaps unfortunately for her sanity, Aes'ona had not heard about the Fortan doctrine that had pulled the Order into isolation in its side of the galaxy.

Though, if she had known, she might have been reckless.

~ † ~​

[member="Marina DeVoe"], [member="Veronika Fleischer"]​

 

[Marina DeVoe]

Had both her friends lost their minds?

Marina didn't seem to get through to Mariya..nor Aes'ona for that matter. No amount of stammering her heels down to get her point across did anything to get Mariya to answer her. And Aes'ona, was just besides herself trying to get through also with disclosing she were now a fugitive of the First order.
But somehow or other Mariya didn't seem to care enough to tone down her demeanor toward both of them. No way her bestie were on drugs. Mariya would never do drugs. Alchohl, sure. But on drugs...no way.

"What's gotten into you?! " Marina shouted, just before the door of the bathroom burst open again.

"Gasp... oh Criton... we're all fraked now..." Marina could only despair. It were the bouncer again.
'No, no, no... not now...' her thoughts begged the gods.
Not now.
But yes, whatever the brute had left to take care of, he was now back and more irate than when Marina last saw him.

"What the hell is going on in here?!...
These two giving you trouble?..." He looked over to the blonde towering over the other in the stall and then over to Marina who had the look of a deer caught in the headlights of a speeder.

"YOU, off the floor and out of the stall." he shouted to Aes'ona as he grabbed hold of marina's wrist. This little troublemaker wasn't going to slip from his fingers again. He'd take care of her and take care her for good...

He didn't even say a word to Mariya as he thunderd his way past her and went in to reach for Aes'ona, with Marina being dragged by her arm like a rag doll.
"Ouww...my arm...you're hurting my arm..." She were crying as he seemed to have the death grip on her arm.

"Shut up you waif!... I've had enough of your antics and that of your friend here... I know a take when I see one!" He were meaning Aes'ona whom he now were reaching down to also get a hold of.

"I'm gona mark you both up so that you'd never set foot in here...both of you!" And he took hold of Aes'ona and hauled her up and out of the stall.
He seemed to know Mariya somehow or other, as Marina could see. It were the only explanation as to why he were not saying anything to Mariya.

"A good cut mark on your nose will take care of all that!" He said as he now had both girls and as struggling as both were, they were nothing compared to this colossus of a thug that was going to teach them both a lesson as to mess with him and this club. For all he knew, these two had some kind of scam going with their spill act. Well he wasn't a fool and certainly wasn't having none of it.

"My apologies for these two grifters...I'll have them out of your hair and bleeding in the alley in a minute" he seemed to be speaking to Mariya as he once more passed her.
Marina was at that point half being dragged as she lost one of her heals.
"No, no!...
But I didn't do anything..." Marina were crying trying to wrestle futilely out of his iron grip.

 

[Veronika Fleischer]

She was busy questioning the unknown woman in the toilet cubicle when the waitress had to come in to disturb her. Marina's never ending blabbering was certainly annoying, but Veronika had little trouble ignoring them when her attention was focused on the spy. She needed to see what was the reply from [member="Prennis Keeoli"] who had been cunning enough to wear a disguise. And yes, she could tell that the waitress knew the spy. Perhaps the two of them were spies.

"Don't you dare mention that name!"

That name referred to Mariya, of course. Her twin sister was no secret to her. Neither was her identity a secret to Mariya, since they had already met each other once in a weird dream like zone. Veronika never really liked her sister, finding it difficult to come into grips with someone who would possess the same looks as herself. No, she was the better one. The one who was more powerful in the Force.

She casually pushed [member="Marina DeVoe"] out of the way with a thought, summoning a Force push that was enough to make the waitress stumble. Meanwhile, the mysterious woman hiding in the cubicle claimed to be running away from the First Order. A possible lie, but Veronika knew she could squeeze the truth out if she wanted. She just needed a little bit of time.

The time was not granted to her when the bouncer came crashing into the Ladies, dragging two suspicious women away with his might. The insolence. Did the bouncer knock? The blonde did not remember that he did, so he was invading the privacy and modesty of the Goddess.

"You didn't knock, did you?" She cast a glance at the burly man.

"I did. But the door was locked."

"That was before I had entered. How about just now?"

"I didn't."

"You didn't. I see. You didn't."

Veronika smiled flirtatiously at the bouncer who seemed confused by her reaction. He was even more confused when he found himself starting to be choked by an invisible force, kneeling down onto the floor while he gasped for air.

"You didn't knock. Why didn't you knock? Didn't your mother teach you not to peep?"

The blonde smiled wider while her right hand tightened into a fist. The man soon stopped gasping and went limp on the floor.

"Now, where were we? Oh yes, we were discussing why you were running away from the First Order, darling. Tell me why I should believe you." Her smile extended sweetly towards Prennis before turning her gaze towards Marina. "As for you. If you open your mouth or run before I finish questioning your little friend, you will bear the consequences. Now that would be very bad, isn't it?"


She broke into a giggle that showed her excitement. Veronika had just found two new playthings to toy with.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

It were difficult to say whether she were pushed or tripped, but stumble she did while still struggling to free herself from the brute.
Marina had not been aware she were force pushed, with everything about going haywire.

But what was Mariya so mad about that she and Aes'ona couldn't talk it out? And about Mariya's attitude...what was up with that?!
But at the moment, that were no longer Marina's priority, as the hulk were heading out the ladies room with two blonds in tow...her and Aes'ona!

That is, until Mariya took a moment to finally come to their aid... about time!

Not fully picking up as to what was happening or by what means, Marina found his grip release.
And at the same time had released Aes'ona also. That's all marina knew at the moment before the bouncer dropped to his knees and...and were chocking on something?

"Uhm..." Marina was besides herself, looking at the choking bouncer and to Aes'ona.
"...Aes'ona?..." Wasn't she a doctor?
Why wasn't she helping the poor goon?

"Sir?...uhm..." her eyes bugged out as she were witnessing such a stong hulk struggling for breath on his knees.
"Oh my God, I think he's choking!" She gasped as the man were struggling harder to get air in or out. He were now making that gurgling sound and even in the dim-lit bathroom Marina could see his color change. he were choking for sure.

Tha-thump! Down he went face first on the floor.

Marina scrambled over to him, now really concerned as to his welfare of all things. the very same thug who was going to cut her on her nose, so she'd be marked as a grifter. And she were concerned for him, leaning over him on her knees.
"Hey...hey.... " She were trying to get him to say something..anything. But no no avail. Last she heard out of him were the last gasp of air he exhaled.

"AES'ONA!!... Mariya!..
Stop fraking around you two, and help me!
Come on, I can't turn him around by myself. he needs mouth to mouth resuscitation!... Aes'ona! " She were serious.
In marina's mind, this was no time for her two friends to keep bickering as to what the frak was up between the two. The man lying on the floor needed help and she couldn't do it all on her own.

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

"Um, I," she stammered. Prove her trustworthiness...now, just how was she supposed to do that? Prennis swallowed. Her hands had grown clammy at her sides, but at least they weren't shaking. Somehow. By some grace of the Force.

Then it hit her--well, maybe not 'it,' but well worth a try, certainly. "I'm a doct--" she began herself, fishing in her purse with both hands for her FO clinic pin. But she didn't get a chance to locate it before Marina called to her. So, she'd get to prove it in a much more literal way than she had planned.

Alright.

"Choking?" she repeated, awkwardly skirting past Veronika, careful not to bump into her. "The Heimlich maneuver, Marina," she corrected as gently as she could. Yes, and then CPR. "We need to get him up first." She'd need help, hopefully that much was evident, but without wasting another moment, she squatted, slung on of the man's arms over her shoulder, and, with great effort, tried to hoist him up.

~ † ~​

[member="Marina DeVoe"], [member="Veronika Fleischer"]​

 

[Veronika Fleischer]

Veronika rolled her eyes at the waitress who never seemed to listen. Words were easily ignored. Actions, on the other hand, were louder. The celebrity waved her hand and summoned the Force, grabbing hold of the man by his neck and lifted him upwards. The bouncer looked like he was unconscious by the earlier choking but was probably still alive. She tightened her grip, slowly crushing the man's throat with her power until he went limp and stopped breathing.

"Forget about him. He's dead."

The blonde shook her head, directing her annoyance towards [member="Marina DeVoe"] who had ignored her warning words just now. Her hand stretched out towards the waitress' neck and lifted the woman up in the air with one swift motion with the aid of the Force. She wanted to choke her prey, but decided to merely toy with it a little while longer and just tightened her grip enough to make the breathing difficult.

"Told you to keep your mouth, didn't I?"

She repeated her warning and squeezed her hand tighter. She wanted Marina to keep quiet while she continued with her questioning with [member="Prennis Keeoli"].

"You said you are a doc running away? Fine, let's take it that I believe you for a moment. There are rumours out there that the First Order is dying a slow death from within. I want to know if that is true and why."

Veronika's loyalty with the Confederacy was a matter of convenience, but she certainly would not mind fishing out useful information that could be helpful. She might even use it to bargain for some benefits.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

How this night had gone from bad to worse to horror, it were to be blamed on her ever beating heart for humanity.
Marina's friendship went beyond the norm for whom she came to call friends. It went to the point of a a love which exists between siblings...family. A love that transcended beyond the limits of one's own life.
it were so with her bestie Mariya, the one she had been known to search the galaxy for... twice now in a lifetime. But unfortunately Marina's own life tonight would end in the very hand which held her life...or death...the hand and image of her bestie Mariya was the last thing her brain registered before it went dark.

The very moment when she were lifted off her feet and her windpipe contracted, she in every sense of the word, her heart broke, stricken with the undeniable realization that the woman she loved more than herself could do this to her...or to anyone.
Proof that it were happening lay there lifeless on the floor...the bouncer.

But as the air passage were restricted and the image of her bestie holding, squeezing her throat, Marina recalled their first encounter and the years following..ever growing closer like sisters. Marina couldn't be closer to anyone but her own family like that. Never in her most horrid nightmares had she dreameth anything of this magnitude...not from her Mariya. Never from Mariya... her Mariya... her Mariya..........Mariya...............Mariya......

Her Mariya....the love of whom Marina would herself die for, was truly ending her life. But it were not of the person whom were force chocking her that she were now dying...it were her heart. Marina's heart seemed to be dying on its own. It were surely broken. Broken and in pain despite it were just beating a kilometer a minute not a few seconds ago.

Then just as it had rampped up to that fast rapid heart rate...her heart slowed... slowed and dipped...it fell to 10 beats, to just a few beats... to one beat...then, no more ~~~~~~~---~~~~--------~~~-------~~---------~---------*

Marina's heart stopped beating and she went limp. All of life's struggle to continue life, ceased.
Even when the force of the choke could be well regulated by one with such capabilities to prevent that, it nevertheless didn't. Marina died.

One could say that a force user could very well feel the victim's pulse... that they could feel the victim's heart beat and state of welfare under such a force choke. And they...they can can regulate, control that choke with near medical precision. They could decide like the gods they feel they are, if death or a long drawn out gasp for air warrants their attention and amusement.

Even if that force user could feel the waitresses heart suddenly start to diminish and had eased up on her control of the choke, it would not have worked on the waitress in her control, for that force user had lost control and the woman died... And that force user could feel the waitresses heart, her panic, her sadness, and of the woman's breath no longer struggling for air in her hand.

What what did it matter? The force user had already killed a much heftier, more robust man with her force choke. So the waif feeble waitress died much sooner, much more quickly...what did it matter...

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

What?

Was that true?!

She felt a twang of guilt so suddenly that it actually sent her down onto one knee. Kiearan, Madine, Dermin...Luther, Temp...Taeir, Nileeta, Rache--were they alright?

It was just natural that she wondered that to herself, for she did not leave because of any of those individuals, she dare say she even cared for the middle two, but she shoved the thought away nonetheless, almost as quickly as it had come. She didn't need any reason to go crawling back. It was better, then, that she put all of that life out of her mind.

She looked up a Veronika. As she did, she realized that she was clutching at her own heart, so she lowered her hand and slowly battled with her balance to rise. She was about to answer verbally when she heard yet another cacophony from a blocked airway behind her, but, before she could even turn towards Marina, the waitress fell against the bathroom floor.

"Force!" the fake Coruscanti exclaimed before running to kneel at her friend's side. Immediately, she placed her right hand flat on her chest, interlocked her fingers, and began chest compressions. As she pressed harshly, she counted aloud to keep on-beat, "One and two and three and four and five and six..." Continuing on, she then announced, "...thirty!"

Aes'ona paused there to give Marina two rescue breaths. Supporting her jaw with one hand and pinching her nose closed with the other, she breathed into Marina's open mouth before pulling back and quickly listening to her chest. Both times she did not hear what she wished to:

The first, Marina had not begun to breathe on her own.

The second, a fleeting moment of hope pulled at Aes'ona's heart before she realized that the passing of air out of the blonde's lungs was the soft wheeze of a death rattle.

The expatriate slowly withdrew her hands. Her shoulders slumped. She didn't want to, of course, but she knew that she couldn't do anything more. Marina was, in fact, gone.

~ † ~​

[member="Marina DeVoe"], [member="Veronika Fleischer"]​

 

[Veronika Fleischer]

The witch was holding on the neck of the waitress, eyes watching the other blonde who claimed was from the First Order to reply to her question. Her eyebrows knitted together as [member="Prennis Keeoli"] seemed to be in a state of shock from her words. Surely the good doctor would have known by now that there was something amiss within the Order? Or perhaps Prennis was merely pretending, putting up an act to avoid her questions. No matter, the witch was confident that she would be able to force the truth from the woman. The only thing which mattered was how she was going to do it, by making it painless or prolonging the torture.

"What-?"

Her attention turned towards the waitress who suddenly went limp from her grip. Veronika felt the life force slowly extinguishing as Marina started a journey towards death, surprised by the whole outcome. The witch had done Force choke enough time to know that it was impossible to have killed the waitress, not when she had allowed the breathing to continue, abeit with difficulty. As the body collapsed on the floor, Prennis was already in action, leaping towards the waitress and started cardiopulmonary resuscitation.

Veronika made no attempt to move, merely deep in thought, trying to figure out the mystery. Her first thought was to summon her patron spirit Jart, who responded swiftly by communicating back telepathically.

"You killed her."

"I didn't."

"Sure did. Look at her, lifeless."

"No. I was merely toying with her. Without getting the information I want, I won't be so silly to squeeze her to death."

By now, Prennis had given up on the resuscitation attempt and appeared to be distressed by the death of her friend. Veronika, however, was not about to give up. She closed her eyes, summoning the Force to give her the means to heal and started chanting words of power that only members of the Coven would know. As she continued chanting, her hand glowed softly in pale green light, indicating that the spell was working. It was an impressive feat for the young spellweaver, draining much of her energy and focus as she tapped on Marina's chest, letting the power flow through the skin to reach the heart.

"Revitalization of the Whuffa. Impressive, Veronika."

The witch opened her eyes and stared at the body, noticing that the energy had quickly healed the wound from her Force Choke, but failed to restart the failing heart.

"Impossible... the spell should have worked..." Veronika wiped the sweat that had formed on her forehead and stared at the lifeless body, the green glow on Marina's body indicating that most of her spell power had not been absorbed by the body. It was as if her spell was being blocked. No, the waitress was not wearing any force resistant object or jewellery to allow that to happen, eliminating her first guess.

"Unless there is nothing to heal."

"Nothing to heal? Nothing to heal..." the witch pondered upon the cryptic words and gasped aloud, ignoring the fact that no one else could hear Jart except herself. "The waitress is in a hibernation trance of sorts. Her body seemed to have slipped into that state to keep her alive. But how? She doesn't look like she can feel the Force."

Veronika reached out for the remainder of the strange glowing energy and recharged her fatigue, her hand placing on Marina's head and closed her eyes, letting her mind slip into the another world. The world of dreams. Of life and death. Of the Force. She found herself focusing on the heart that was dead, feeling the presence of interference. Veronika forced her senses to squeeze through the wall, getting blinded slowly by an energy that seemed to guide her towards total darkness.

She broke the trance, trembling softly besides Marina's body and spoke in a nervous voice.

"Listen up, doctor. You can don't believe me, but something or someone is interfering with my powers. Something dark. And yet despite the darkness, it is shielding her. And yes, your little friend isn't dead."

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

Prennis looked up only when the witch spoke, revealing watery eyes slightly bloodshot and puffy cheeks. She sniffled softly, lest the frog in her throat become more pronounced. No, she didn't even understand--Marina had to be dead, because there was no longer a pulse--but she knew better than argue. She wanted her airway to remain open, thank you very much. At least from Veronika's influence, that was; it already felt as if it was contracting, burning with grief.

"I don't..." she began, blabbering to try to save herself, "...I can't help you. I haven't heard anything." She was telling the truth, of course. Aes'ona still was an awful liar even after becoming Prennis. She'd just have to get better though, if she was to continue living under an assumed identity in holographic skin.

Again, she sniffed, this time unceremoniously wiping at her nose with her wrist. Then she swallowed, prolonging the pause to further collect herself. "Please, ma'am, don't make me think of the Order anymore." The choice to defect had really only been an impulsive decision that she had made on that moon while stranded with a Jedi padawan-soon-to-be-knight, not that she knew that much. Actually, he would have said that the she had sown the seeds of sedition long before they had met, but she had simply refused to care for them. She knew nothing, yet, about the Fortan doctrine or the Sacking of Dosuun. She had left simply because, deep, deep down, she knew that she was on the wrong side for a humanitarian medical professional. Cassius had helped her come to terms with that, acting as a vessel for the escape she so desperately needed.

But what would she do now? Her disguise matrix was broken, she was on a strange planet, locked in a club bathroom with her dead friend and an accidental and negligent killer.

~ † ~​

[member="Veronika Fleischer"]​

 

[Marina DeVoe]

For a time all which existed were nothing but the void of darkness...

It were what one would come to expect when life comes to an end. Yet this darkness is without fear, without want or sorrow. It is however serene...peaceful and quiet. One would think it were nothing more than sleep without dreaming.

But why, how could she come to realize, know or think that? Were she not, dead?

She could neither see, feel or hear anything but the serenity of darkness void.
But she were still there.
Where?

Marina came to realize she were someplace, somewhere she herself could not explain. Her mind, her memories her love for family and friends were still there, she could feel them like she had felt them before she were to find herself in this void.

No, she could not feel herself breathing...could not feel her heart, could not feel pain, nor sorrow...just serenity. But she were aware of her consciousness. She existed still...somehow.

'Where am I?', she asked without speaking, now mattering little as to how she even got there.
She felt at ease. She felt...weightless.
She felt the golden light she wished to feel.

'Gasp..' she actually felt the light envelop her, surround her and warm her, as if she could then feel the sun itself upon her skin.
Why yes...YES!! She could feel it.
If her heart were beating, it would be beating a kilometer a minute. Only it were as calm as the serenity around her.

'Gasp...' She could see herself. Could see her hand feel across her arm, the warmth of the sun on it...her hair even in front of her eyes.

'Gasp...' the countryside swept all around her, like a warm comforter.
The grass below her bare feet, the sound of wind whispering in her ears as it passed her, touching, blowing her gold-lit hair about.

Marina found herself on top of a familiar hill. feeling the sensation of breath not taken, but of the air nevertheless. She could smell the air..the countryside...could smell life itself without breath.

She knew this place, had been here before many times. Her eyes could see the all too familiar landscape and the True Mountains in the distance like they were part of the sky itself. No, this were not Alderaan, but someplace her heart had always sought among the stars. It were what had driven her to the stars since she were a child...seeking this place. She knew this now.
And she knew what lay behind her without seeing it.

Slowly she turned and there not too far a walk up in the countryside were the castle. It's steeple towers with the dragon banners flying about like her golden hair in the wind.

 

[Veronika Fleischer]

The whole day had just turned for the worse.

Everything was supposed to be under her control. The silly bouncer was a blip in the plan and she had settled him. But no, someone else had come in and interfered with her interrogation. The waitress had entered into a coma, a Forced induced hibernation state that made her doctor friend cried like it was the end of the world. And judging from the sobs, the witch decided that either [member="Prennis Keeoli"] was a darn good actress or those tears were real.

She did a mental probe, trying to read the surface thoughts of Prennis and caught nothing. No panic thoughts about how to deceive or keep the cover from being blown. Maybe she had been overreacting. Maybe. But still, the self proclaimed Goddess had to settle the bodies, whether they were dead or alive.

First, the alive one. Veronika ignored the crying doctor, deciding that the crying woman was in no state of helping and closed her eyes again. Marina's body floated off the floor, levitating in the air and went upwards to the ceiling. The airduct was ripped off, allowing the witch to squeeze the body through the vent and closed the airduct back. It took some concentration but luckily there was no one to disturb them.

"She should be safe up there until she is awake. Stop looking at me like I'm crazy. Told you she's alive and you will thank me for the effort later..."

Veronika muttered under her breath and turned her attention to the dead bouncer. The closet nearby storing the cleaning equipment looked big enough. A few broken brooms later, the body was safely levitated through the air and dumped in. The closet door was slammed shut and the witch bent the metallic handle, twisting it to stop the closet from being opened.

"That... that does it."

She was looking slightly pale by now from all the usage of the Force, her forehead feeling the dull thumping of a headache that seemed to make her more irritated.

"If you want to live... you will follow me quietly out of the club. We can make this the easy way or the hard way. But either way, you will come with me."

Veronika stared at the teary doctor, her pale face showing signs of fatigue but still determined to get things done. The night was ruined, so she was going to leave the club but not without the doctor. Not when the doctor could blabber about the celebrity murdering someone.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

Reality seemed to do a switch around...

It had been no easy task getting to the rampart, but the dream...were it a dream?... the dream was unbroken, unlike the others of the like, which she now recalled.

Or...or were her other life the dream and this here castle... real?
It felt real and yet she remembered knowledge of both worlds whereas she had never touched upon one while in the other.

Marina stopped just short of the main gates. She knew those gates. Knew them well. The two guards...
The two guards looked at one another, not knowing what they were to do, as they seemed to know her.
"My lady..." One of them took to move away from his post, lance still held up in the air.

"Lady Marina....are you well?" he asked.

Was she well? Was she well?
marina definitely looked confused as to his inquiry, suddenly recalling a peculiar room.
"Gasp!.." It were was was called a lady's room, only...only not literally for ladies.

Marina suddenly faltered taking a step back to prevent herself from falling, bracing herself on the stone bridge's stonewall.
The guard dropped his lance and reached out to assist her, as the other one made his way over also.

"Halt!....unhand her and move away." A woman's voice commanded the guards to move away.

Marina hadn't fallen, nor collapsed but she were now between two realms, not knowing which one were real or dream.
One were dark, but the resonating beat of what she understood to be the club was all around her. She...she were in a box!
Then suddenly she were on the bridge.
And there grabbing hold of her were not Erint that she had always seemed to dream about, but a woman she found herself also familiar with but couldn't place where she knew her from.

"Marina..." the woman knew her name.
"Marina, stay here a moment..... listen to my voice." The woman took hold of her arm, drawing her closer.
This panicked Marina as her last memory were of someone she loved whom had hurt her.
Marina drew back from the woman only to open her eyes a moment to the metal box she were trapped in. She struggled, fisting the metal, resonating it like a drum she were now trapped inside.

"Gasp!...gasp..." She were wrenched back on the rampart with the woman towering over her. Marina was on her back and on the stones.

"Marina!...LISTEN TO ME " the woman's voice beat through the drums, pierced through the music of the club resonating through the metal duckwork like it were an amplifier itself.

"CALM!....CALM....calm...calm....calm.....calm..... yourself...." Her voice turned sweet and caring like that of her grandfather's when he calmed her down during some of her nightmares.... when she were a little girl.
And this woman seemed to have the same calming effect in her voice..her touch...her eyes.

"Pant...pant..pant..." Marina were staring into the woman's blues. They were her grandfathers..her mothers blues.
Then Marina started to tear as she came to realize that her best friend, the friend she loved had hurt her as such. Had her Mariya killed her...or tried to?

It were when Marina calmed down a bit that the woman let go of her arms and parted her hair from her eyes. marina stayed focused on the woman's eyes.
"Yes...that's good.... stay focused here... stay focused on me..." The woman were saying in her calming voice.
"No, no...don't try to get up...you won't be able to right now.
ME!...look at me, Marina.... Look at only me... only open your eyes when I ask you to... listen to my voice... " She commanded before Marina could slip back into her present physical reality... the box she were in.

"Uh-uhm..." Marina managed to nod.

"Yes, just stay focused on me...
Now, without opening your eyes... feel around you.... Does it give...is it hard... is it soft?... does it have a smell... can you hear anything?..." So the woman went about to find where Marina was actually and how she could help her out without the poor girl panicking.

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

As Veronika began to clean up after herself, Aes'ona wanted to get up and do something, but what could a doctor possibly do against a witch? So, instead, she sat aghast as she watched the blonde work, shaking her head and wiping at her eyes when ordered to get up.

This might as well go the easy way, for herself at least.

As she followed Veronika out of the bathroom, Aes'ona offered one last glance up to the ceiling panels above which poor Marina's body was hidden. Maybe, once back in her apartment, she would call in an anonymous tip?

But the would-be killer swore Marina was not dead. Medically, Aes'ona knew better but she had certainly encountered her fair share of the 'science' outside of medicine. Witchcraft, the Force... More arts than sciences, maybe. So it was possible that Marina was dead, that Veronika had tried to revive her but, as she said, couldn't produce the preferable result.

"Where are we going?" she whispered after letting the door fall closed behind her.

~ † ~​

[member="Veronika Fleischer"]​

 

[Veronika Fleischer]

It was a very good question posed by the doctor. Where should they go? Veronika had just murdered a bouncer who had crossed her path at the wrong moment and [member="Prennis Keeoli"] was one of the two eyewitnesses. The witch had toyed with the thought of ending the doctor's life as well, but decided that Prennis was worth keeping alive to squeeze out more details regarding the First Order.

"Where are we going? Out of here."

Veronika gave an uncaring reply to the doctor, merely gesturing a "follow me" with her hand and headed towards the club exit. With luck, no one should notice the bodies until much later, although the broken mirror might raise a suspicion or two. By then, the two of them would have been long gone. The duo squeezed through the mass of sweaty bodies across the dance floor and entered the cold underground streets.

"Hmm..."

The witch looked around for a moment to search for her ride. Sure enough, a speeder drove up next to them and the chauffeur opened up the automatic doors.

"Hop in."

She ordered Prennis to enter into the car curtly, clearly not the mood to entertain any refusal. Soon, the two of them were sitting comfortably in luxurious leather seats as the speeder headed out of the underground. The witch took another look at the doctor and shook her head.

"Some friend you have for ruining your dress. A pity. Now, what's your name again?"

 

[Marina DeVoe]

It flexed where she pushed on it with her hand... it were of thin metal... it were still somewhere in the club, as the music resonated about her...
So Marina went on to describe her surrounding, her dark box to the woman in her dream...

But how and why was this woman in her head and in her dream able to help her like she was?
These questions were only superseded with the fact that her friend, her best friend as she had ever known Mariya to be had done this to her in the first place.
Marina couldn't help but revert to despair, to just give up and die in whatever hole or box she were trapped in. A coffin maybe?

'STOP IT!...yeu be not dead. Keep yuer attention on me, Marina.
Tis no coffin yue are in. Tis whar yue may know as... as, duck wall?
??.??...Duckwall?...thou jest with thy sister this time at hand?!" The woman's voice changed tones as if she suddenly were speaking to someone else besides Marina.

"W..what?..You still there?" Marina almost slipped back into her dark box...

"Yes!...I'm still with yue. Thou..yue stay focused on me, understand?! Tis of upmost importance yue do this, Marina.
Yue be in a venti..la..tion..duckwall... no, duck-work." It was clear now that the blond woman herself were struggling with describing where Marina seemed to be in, as if it were unknown to the woman of what she were repeating to her.

Marina stayed focused on the woman's features and of the blue skies, the stones wall of the rampart...stayed focused in her dream.
"Who... who are you speaking to, besides me?... I know there is someone else there with you...I...I can only see...hear you though..." Marina finally asked as it were obvious the woman were only repeating things that she seemed to have no knowledge of. And of the woman's pronunciation of pronouns too. It were as if they were new to the woman.

'Tis not of importance now. Just understand what I am saying.'

"Y..yes...
I...I do, yes."

'Good. Good...now I understand that this wall lacks any strength.
Yuer legs...fold them up to yuer midriff....then trust them outward. Do this and see if it gives.' The woman went on to explain.

Marina knew what the woman were meaning. She kicked and kicked against the duckwalls of the duckwork...it became apparently clear as to what it were now as to where she were physically in.

"I...pant..pant... I SEE IT!...I see light. It's coming apart!...pant..pant.." Marina became excited and more aggressive in her kicks, which now were splitting the seam to where two pieces of the duckwork had been joined.

'Good...good...
Now tis time for you to return.'
The woman then said.
Marina momentarily stopped, despite the seam nearly fully opening. She were still between reality and the dream..the witching hour phenomenon.

"Wait..who?...who are you?" Marina asked of the woman who's features started to distance...the sky greying..the stone she were laying upon becoming the smooth surface of the duckwork.

'An ever faithful servant...Thy loving aunt, my lady.' then she were gone entirely. All that remained were Marina in her duckwork, panting, catching her breath and trying to make sense of what had transpired. Her attempt at reaching the lady in her dream..her aunt? She had no aunt!
Marina's attemp in reconnecting was of no avail.
The only thing now weighing on her mind were her friend Mariya who had hurt her. The why and hows kept cycling over and over for a time. But that eventually she had to put aside for later. Now she needed to complete her task in getting out of the duckwork.
Duckwork...oh yes, the duckwork...
What had possessed Mariya to seal her up in the duckwork?!....how could she be so mean to her?

~ ~ ~ ~ ~​

"Eeek...."

Rip-snap went her waitress support top, before she slid out of the duckwork. She were lucky not getting cut on the metal edges, but nevertheless landed on her butt on the same refresher floor.

"Frak... " Marina managed to scramble to her feet, looking around. The broken mirror. Yes, it happened for real. She remembered. But where was the bouncer?..Wait! Where was Aes'ona!!!
"Oh God...where's Aes'ona?.." Marina had to word it out to hear it herself.
If Mariya could do this to her, then what had she done with Aes'ona?!

Holding her top securely, she peered out to see if the bouncer or Mariya was out there waiting to hurt her again.
With the coast clear, Marina sneaked past the crowd and back to the changing room, where she quickly got redressed.
It were only after she slipped into her last boot, when what Mariya had done, hit her again. She despaired for a moment, braking down crying into her hands on the locker room bench..
The background music and beat became nothing more than a background headache...

 

[Prennis Keeoli]

{ Tags: [member="Marina DeVoe"], [member="Veronika Fleischer"] }​

~ † ~​

Of course Aes'ona was obedient. What else could she be?

After climbing into the speeder, she considered the question for a moment. Which name to give? Finally, she answered slowly, "Aes'ona." That was safe, or so she thought. Maybe it wasn't. After all, the current situation didn't lend itself well to a rational and comprehensive thought process. The licenceless doctor fell silent then, looking to where she had unconsciously started wringing her hands in her lap.

Another moment passed and she spoke up in a whisper as not to concern the cabdriver: "I swear to you, I don't know anything. I...I'm trying to forget." A quick gnaw on her own lower lip. "Please, let me go. I won't say anything. I just want to start over." Yet another pause. "I have some friends on Commenor." True enough. Some more of Aes'ona's friends that Prennis probably wouldn't introduce herself to, especially not after what trying to do so had gotten her, and Marina, today.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

"What happened to you?
You crawled out of a hole or something?" Another waitress took notice of marina's disheveled hair and soiled scuff marks on her features and exposed skin.

"Huh?.." Marina looked up from the bench taking a moment to wipe her tears before getting up and looking herself over in the dressing room mirror.
Good lord, she looked...awful!
And the surprise showed in her face. this prompted the girl to go over to the vanity and bring over a box of towelettes, the kind the waitresses used to clean off their makeup.

"Here...take these." The girl handed her moist towelettes. " I'm sorry, I didn't mean that literally..the hole thing. Did you get into a fight with someone?...boyfriend...girl?" She asked.

Marina couldn't help herself but start to cry again, nodding her head.
"Girlfriend?...wow...hey look, I've been through that myself. You don't need anyone like that in your life. You are very pretty. There are plenty of others out there, you know. "

Marina had to pause a moment and do a double take at the girl's reflection, when she realized the waitress were mistaken as to her feelings about Mariya. Still, it were..could be the same feeling of betrayal and hurt. marina didn't feel the need to correct her for the hurt was indeed the same. The bestest of friends had not only hurt her, but stuffed her in the bathroom duck-work. How twisted had Mariya gotten these past few months she had gone missing?

"Did you happen to see two blonds...my age, coming out of the ladies room?...the one near the stage?"

"No...no, I don't think so. I just came off the floor. My shifts over, didn't pay no mind to anyone...sorry.
She...she left with someone else, huh?"

"Sigh...yea.." Marina answered, again about to break down in tears. now she were concerned about Aes'ona, as she remembered Mariya picking a fight with her for some reason or other. Things were so unclear and confusing...
Really? Mariya had put her in the duck-work?! " snifle, snifle......wimper, wimper...sob, sob..." it were all she had to think to just loose it again.

But she had to get herself together and try and go find them. She owed Aes'one that. At least she was still her friend. Putting the last wipe in the wastebasket, she ran her hand to comb her hair back and out of her face. "Thanks, anyway...." She then turned to the woman and gave her a good hug.

"Good luck to you, sweetie. Take care of number one...you. You hear?" The woman then said before marina booked out of the dressing room and out the side alley.
The sound of the club quickly snuffed out once the door shut behind her.
Marina was in the subterranean levels of Coruscant, the known labyrinths of what was part of the Underworld. And this was just one neighborhood in a district. there were thousands of such subterranean levels throughout the planet size city. To think that Mariya and Aes'ona were still anywhere around here was delusional. Marina knew this, but where was she to begin looking?

"Miss DeVoe?..." A little boy's voice got her attention as he came out of the shadows. it was the same little boy who had stolen her bag..the one from her shuttle. And sure enough, he had the same bag in his hand.

Marina stood there, not sure of what she should do or say. She were still pretty distraught about what her friend had done to her and what she were going to do with Aes'ona. But one thing was certain, the little boy seemed remorse. remorse about steeling her bag?..really?

"Yes?... " She answered him upon realizing it were the same boy in the upper levels.
"Where had you run off too?..how did you get down-" Was all Marina were able to say before the boy stopped approaching.

"Go on..." came a man's voice from behind the boy which startled Marina a moment. What was this, a mugger using the boy as a decoy? Was the Underworld this horrid?

"Miss DeVoe.... I...I'm sorry for taking your bag..." the boy then resumed his steps, holding the bag up for her to take.

"It's all there, Lady DeVoe." the man's voice said, as she cautiously took it back.

"Wait..." she said as the boy turned.
"I don't understand...why?"

There was a momentary pause before the man spoke again.
"For many things. Not all on Coruscant are from here. Some like my boy and I had a home elsewhere. We were never well off or privileged, always had to find the means you see. But just the same, people like yourself risked their lives to come and aid us in our most desperate hours. You may not remember all of the people you helped...but we remember you." The man said as part of him stepped out of the shadow.

"Gasp..." Marina were taken back.
She were speechless and newfound tears of joy were suddenly washing over those of self pity and betrayal.
It were not often she would run into those whom she helped. The galaxy was too big for chance encounters such as these. But when such stars aligned...

 

[Veronika Fleischer]

"Aes'ona."

Veronika took a good glance at the dishevelled [member="Prennis Keeoli"] for a moment and made a mental note of the name. She had every intention to dig up more information about the woman later on, but for now everything was under control. Her control, just the way she liked it to be. The doctor seemed pretty nervous about the whole incident so far, but at least she had been obedient.

"I'll let you go once I am certain you ain't going to be a blabbermouth."

The witch knew about a little about Commenor, having keeping tabs on her sister every once in a while.

"I know someone in Commenor too. Someone whom I don't like."

She smiled thinly, expressing her distaste for the person in question. No, there was no need to sour the mood more than necessary. The rest of the ride was an uncomfortable and tense one for the doctor, since Veronika made no other comment except spending her time to admire the exterior scenery. The speeder finally stopped in front of a tall office building decorated with glowing orange words of Chrisyakova.

"Get out."

Veronika curtly told her guest to move her bum and follow behind. She led the doctor across the security gates and entered into the lift which headed downwards to the basement. The door opened and they walked down the corridor, ignoring the security on duty. Lights flickered on when they entered the room with the label "Authorised Personnel Only".

"I'll give you ten minutes to change. Hurry up."

A rack of dresses filled the room, including multiple jackets, pants and shoes. They were part of last season's summer collection, unsold and neatly arranged.

 

[Marina DeVoe]

It had never occurred to her that she would ever run into some of the people she had helped. At least not on Coruscant of all places. Still, it weren't something that she put much thought on it as she just did what she knew was right to do and that was to help those whom could not help themselves due to many misfortune events.

The little boy had not remembered her at first when he took her bag. It were only after he had run back to his home, a hole in the wall apartment that he proudly presented his father with his take. They had always been a poor family here and on the backwoods on Commenor. Life for this family like many of the same genre had always been hard and for the most part unfair. They had been labeled 'gypsies' and had always been shunned basically in every system..even here now on Coruscant.
But these so called 'gypsies' had their own kind of honor...pride...codes.

The bag the little boy presented to his father was certainly a good take by the amount of credits that were first inventoried. Then...the name...the crest...the holo id chip...Marina DeVoe from Alderaan...Lady DeVoe as his Clan referred to the lady that saved them , their once golden hair savior.
No, the boy did not get reprimanded, but were met with his father's embrace and tears. he then went on to explain who's belongings his son had found, as he placed all of everything as he had found in the bag, including the credits. He then had his son take him to where he had found the bag. Of course it were a few levels above where Marina was at the time, but the boy knew what her shuttle looked like. These gypsies knew the underworld, and had their own string of connections, for their Clan came to resettle in the dark depts of Coruscant, here in the Underworld.
The shuttle was soon enough located near the club and the man and his son waited it out. If this Lady DeVoe was in there, they would wait for how ever long it would take. At the same time, they watched over her shuttle, signaling twice to other street workers (thieves) to pass it by.

~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~ ~​

"A limo?...are you sure?" Marina asked one of the man's associate whom worked the streets down this level. He was certain it were a black limo speeder...it spoke of credits, power and it had a chauffeur whom were under the league of the taller woman..the blond.

"Was it Mariya?... did you get their names?" She asked, hoping he had gotten a name.
But no name she knew of, like Preenis. The other gypsy was there about in the shadows of the alley working on an opportunity in relieving a patron or two coming out of the club of their credits. Only that he knew enough not to hit something like the limo that showed up when the two women he described came out of the club. The limo was one of high end which spoke of power, connections above and beyond their string. But he did go on to describe the two women. They were definitely Mariya and Aes'ona.
But no. No registration tags on the limo. The associate had not been interested in knowing that, since something of that magnitude were off limits for him to hit without consent. he simply remained in the shadows waiting for something else he could hit.

Marina thanked him and were reaching into her bag when the associate put his hand up and asked her not to thank him. it were he whom were obligated to thank her. Marina looked over to the boy's father whom nodded that his associate spoke the truth. The boy's father had even refused the credits that Marina offered him for not only returning her bag, but for the sake of his misfortune for the life dealt upon his kind. The gypsy let her know that their honor would be intact if they did not accept anything but forgiveness for their err. She nodded, giving them what they thought were of more worth.

"What is your name?" She then asked the man's boy after the associate thanked Marina, wishing her the god's grace.

The little boy's was Jeter and the father, Grahn.
Sending his boy off, he accompanied Marina to her shuttle, urging her to get herself up a few levels for her sake. She were deep within the underworld and there were no guarantees he could give for her safety, as there were bigger bosses with no honor or codes worth mentioning.
She understood and told him that she would return, hopefully to see his son again...that maybe she could help.
She had more than helped them enough. His Clan were here thanks to her.
marina knew there was nothing she could o or offer as they had their ways, their code and traditions. She had to respect that..respect them.

Not knowing where that limo had come from or whom it belonged too was definitely a hinder in her continued effort in finding Mariya and Aes'ona. Yes, Aes'ona...poor, poor Aes'ona. What had happened to her Mariya to make her so mean? This definitely weighed heavily on her mind. But not as heavy as worrying what Mariya would do with Aes'ona.

She fired up the shuttle giving Grahn a farewell before she lifted off and started up the levels again. Her destination was once more the dive bar, Jagger's Slim Kin. She would have to find Carru again if she could. Maybe, just maybe the chubby ol'man could help her locate Mariya again. Locating her would lead Marina to Aes'ona. She didn't know what she'd do when she would confront Mariya again, but that didn't matter. It was Aes'ona now that she was concerned about.




[member="Veronika Fleischer"] ~ [member="Prennis Keeoli"]