Private In Veré’s Wake

[Aurelian Veruna]

Location: Why is she so mean to me?
Tags: Sibylla Abrantes | Corazona von Ascania

Aurelian stared at Cora like she'd just claimed the sky was green. "All publicity is good publicity," he said without hesitation. "Obviously." His expression didn't shift from baffled as he glanced at his guards, then back at her with even more confusion. "They're paid well enough. What are you talking about?"

He muttered into his cup, just loud enough for her to hear, "You're in a mood today."

Before Cora could fire back, Sibylla spoke. Her voice was softer than before, careful in a way that made him straighten. When she asked if he would believe Set and Vere were truly trapped, he opened his mouth with the confidence of a man who absolutely planned to say something wise.

"No."

The word dropped between them with the bluntness of a stone tossed into a pond.

He lifted a hand, palm out, as if to soften it. "Don't get me wrong. I'm not saying it's all made up. Obviously stories start somewhere. I'm sure there were two people at the heart of it once, and maybe something tragic happened. Things like that don't survive a thousand years unless they mattered."

He reached for his tea again, rolling it lightly between his hands. "I just assume the truth is probably less… dramatic. Less cosmic tragedy and more real people being real people." He paused, shrugging a little. "But the idea behind it is lovely. That kind of devotion. It lasts. People want to believe in that."

He took a slow sip and settled back, entirely at ease. Whatever gravity Sibylla meant to place on the moment skimmed right off him. His smile was warm, almost proud of himself for contributing something thoughtful.

He looked between them, pleased. "Anyway," he said lightly, "if the legend is still being told, they clearly did something right."

And with that, he lifted his cup in a small, satisfied toast, completely unaware that he'd missed the point by an entire star system.

​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Up went the other brow. Then, two dark blonde lines scrunched downward. Really? She was the odd one for expressing her concern (and disgust) over a leading galactic figure dropping unannounced, shirtless, and sweaty upon a pleasant gathering to which he was not invited?

In the end, there was little to be gained from trying to argue that point further. Especially given the monumental task now laid out before her and Sibylla - she hadn't even stopped to consider that he wouldn't believe that the legend was true.

In that, she could not blame him. A part of her still didn't quite believe the Queen, hokey religions aside.

"I thought so too," Cora admitted. She tilted her head, as if to give Aurelian a point for them finally being on the same page about something.

For now, at least.

"But Queen Abrantes has had an experience which leads her to believe that the legend of Set and Vere may be more than just a story about love and devotion."

Her gaze slid to Sibylla, trying to nudge them along a path that would - hopefully - direct the conversation where it needed to go.

Sibylla Abrantes Aurelian Veruna

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

THEED PALACE GARDENS
Mood: So remember Kyric?
Interacting with: Corazona von Ascania | Soon: Aurelian Veruna

Sibylla had expected Aurelian to say no. Of course he would. Myths rarely survived the journey into adulthood with their magic intact, and even the most obsessive historians rarely believed wholeheartedly in the legends they studied. That kind of fervor belonged to zealots and dreamers.

And Sibylla was not a zealot.

She was a romantic.

A romantic who had discovered, to her astonishment and horror and wonder, that the story of Set and Vere was true.

So when Aurelian dismissed it gently, she gave him a soft, hollow half-smile. The sort that said, I know how it sounds… and yet…

Lady von Ascania had already hinted at Sibylla's firsthand knowledge. There was no more hiding. It was time to tell him everything.

"They are real. As real as Lady von Ascania sitting there. As real as you before me," Sibylla began, fingers tracing the sides of her cup in a nervous, telling rhythm.

"Before you joined us, I was recounting what happened a few months ago, not long after our meeting at Veruna Tower…" She paused, inhaled, corrected herself. "No. It began even earlier, before you declared your candidacy for Sovereign at the Rainspire."

That alone told him how long she had been involved with this matter, long before any alliance or shared purpose had formed between them.

"There was an archaeological site on Katabasis overseen by the Jedi Order. I overheard my mother speaking of it during a holocall. Something about their need for her historical expertise. And because the subject aligned with my interests, I offered to assist with the research."

She bit her lip, bracing herself.

"To make a very long story brief… the site turned out to be an ancient prison, one that had been tampered with by the Sith with an ancient device meant to destroy it. It failed, leaving Katabasis in ruins. And when the archaeological team accidentally reactivated the mechanism, it… released the two entities that had been imprisoned inside for over a millenia."

She lifted her gaze, steady despite the tremor threading through her voice.

"They were identified as the Goddess Vere and her lover, Set.... after they took possession of two Jedi at the site."

Her throat tightened.

"Vere chose the new Grandmaster of the Order, Ala Quinn."

Aurelian would understand the gravity of that. But the second name would strike a familiar note. It was the man Aurelian himself had hired to protect Sibylla from the Nogrhi assassin his father, Remus Veruna, had dispatched to kill her.

"And Set," she said quietly, "took Kyric Karis."

Which would explain why the man had yet to pick up the child he had left in Aurelian's protection.

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Location: Ew Jedi
Tags: Sibylla Abrantes | Corazona von Ascania

Aurelian listened without interrupting, which in itself was unusual. The skepticism stayed on his face, but it shifted as Sibylla spoke, sharpened by the way her fingers worried the porcelain, by the steadiness she forced into her voice. She was not performing. She was bracing herself.

He exhaled slowly through his nose and leaned back in his chair.

"This," he said at last, rubbing a hand over his jaw, "is exactly why we do not let the Jedi go on their little spiritual adventures unsupervised." He gave a short, incredulous laugh. "Two Jedi possessed? Come on. That alone should tell you someone made a catastrophic mistake."

He shook his head, glancing down at his tea as if it had personally disappointed him.

"And let me guess. This is why I am still paying for that blasted child." His gaze snapped back up. "Kyric vanishes, leaves his kid in my care, and never bothers to come back for them because he's busy being… what. A host for an ancient god?"

Aurelian scoffed, though there was a hard edge under it. "He's lucky I'm a man of my word. The kid's safe. Well-fed. Educated. Annoyingly polite." He paused. "Kyric should be thanking every star he ever prayed to."

He leaned back further, arms folding loosely across his chest.

"Here's my professional, deeply informed opinion," he said dryly. "You should never, ever set foot on an archaeological site run by the Jedi. Ever. No good comes from monks with shovels and a belief they know better than history."

His mouth twitched. "I don't fully buy the gods-walking-around part. I'm not there yet." He glanced back to Sibylla, softer now, more careful. "But I do believe this. Every time the Order starts digging around ancient ruins, the galaxy ends up paying for it."

Then his attention shifted sharply to Cora. His eyes narrowed, measuring.

"So," he said, "is that why you're here?" His tone was not accusatory, but it was no longer playful. "Trying to pull her into something that ends badly?"

He gestured once between them. "Because if the Jedi are involved, history says it never stays contained. And I won't have her caught in the middle of that."

​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"Kyric Karis has a child?"

Out of all the names she'd expected to crop up during this increasingly complicated conversation, his was not one. Had hosting Set contributed to Kyric vanishing? The young man was fighting against more than she knew.

Something else took hold of her interest, an outlier. Cora raised a disbelieving brow to Aurelian. "Pardon, you are raising his child?"

She said nothing more on that, as sipping her tea in silence said enough.

At least Aurelian was amenable to Sibylla's story - so long as it was framed within the fault of the Jedi. Fine, Cora could live with that.

His wariness wasn't entirely unwarranted. Jedi didn't have the best reputation in the galaxy, and there were times where they'd certainly lived up to it. Cora raised both hands in mock defense, noting not just the lack of edge in Aurelian's voice, but the way his lighthearted tone had disappeared.

"I am here because I was asked to be." She tilted her head toward Sibylla. "If I wanted to pull her into something you'd find questionable, I would have the sense not to do it in your garden."

Unlike some things she'd done in this garden.

"Respectfully, Chancellor, I don't believe that is your decision to make." Her voice was softer here, just by a hair, and measured without the snide drawl she'd been steeped in upon his arrival. Cora understood, in a way, his desire to protect through control.

"Perhaps it was the Force that called Queen Abrantes to the dig. Maybe it really was her own curiosity." A gentle shrug of her shoulder accompanied the next sip of tea.

"Queen Abrantes was consulting me regarding a particular Force-based ability that could help to untangle," she waved a hand, gesturing vaguely around them, "all of this."

Sibylla Abrantes Aurelian Veruna

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

THEED PALACE GARDENS
Mood: So what had happened was...
Interacting with: Corazona von Ascania | Aurelian Veruna

Now it was Sibylla's turn to pause in disbelief.

Wait. He was taking care of Kyric's child?

Delicate dark brows furrowed with confusion, mirroring Cora's expression as the realization caught up with her.

"I beg your pardon?" she echoed quietly, genuinely startled.

Whatever that revelation meant, it was something she would need to return to later with Aurelian. For now, the conversation had clearly shifted back to why Cora was here and why Sibylla had asked for her counsel.

She had expected this reaction from him. Aurelian had never made a secret of his distrust of the Jedi or Force users. That had been evident long before they truly knew one another. Yet he held a certain regard for Lady von Ascania, and that was precisely why Sibylla had asked her to come.

Especially when Aurelian turned toward Cora and insinuated that perhaps she had drawn Sibylla into something reckless.

"Lady von Ascania is right," Sibylla said calmly. "I invited her here. I sought her counsel."

She drew in a measured breath.

"This was not a single endeavor, assisting with the dig. It became more complex. Removing Vere and Set from Grandmaster Quin and Kyric was imperative, and there were far too many unknowns. The iconography alone required careful translation before we could determine what to do next."

Sibylla's fingers tightened slightly around her cup as she continued.

"It was the information you gathered for me on Nabooian myths that allowed me to find the link. To understand what was truly happening on Katabasis. So I returned there to confirm it. I was still Voice at the time." she wanted that to be clear. To provide a timestamp. That this was before the invitation to Nar Shaddaa, and before they had agreed not to keep anything hidden and to come forward with everything to each other. She didn't want him to think she had been withholding this from him at all. It had just all come about long before their closer ties. That she had been fully intending to tell him now.

Another breath. Slower now.

"The mechanism used to imprison Set and Vere had a damaged seal. I will spare you the finer details, as I can already see this is upsetting you. But I met them. Vere and Set. In the World Between Worlds. I experienced the visions of past, present, and future and felt the agony they were trapped within."

Her voice lowered.

"Set had become obsessed with finding Vere. His corruption was causing havoc. In an attempt to guide him to her, Vere placed a fragment of herself within me. It worked. Set found me. But we could not find a way to end the cycle."

Sibylla swallowed hard.

"To prevent the destruction of reality as we know it, Vere chose to imprison herself and Set once more within that same moment of separation and close the seal."

Silence settled briefly before she continued.

"Grandmaster Quin and Kyric are free of their hold now. But Vere and Set remain imprisoned. And I am left with dreams and nightmares of a place the Grandmaster believes is tied to the fragment Vere left behind. A clue that might lead us to whatever could finally release them."

Her fingers curled more tightly around her teacup that the whites of her knuckles would shine.

"To explore that, the Grandmaster would need to use a specific Force technique. I would be asleep while she enters my dreams to make sense of what I am seeing.... I was asking Lady von Ascania about her thoughts on the matter, so I fully understand it and would be able to convey it..."

To you.

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Location: What a great plan!
Tags: Sibylla Abrantes | Corazona von Ascania

Aurelian straightened slightly, irritation flaring before he smothered it with a sharp breath.

"I never said the child was Kyric's," he corrected, waving a hand. "Ward. That was the word. His responsibility. Or it was, before he vanished and dumped him on me." He glanced between them, brows lifting. "And don't look at me like that. I didn't steal him."

He leaned back again, folding one ankle over the opposite knee.

"I'm not raising the kid as my own," he continued, tone defensive but controlled. "He lives in my house. Eats my food. Sleeps under my roof. I pay for the best education Naboo can offer. That's it." He played with his cup in front of him. "Lavish, sure. But temporary. He stays until Kyric comes back and takes responsibility."

His jaw tightened. "If nothing else, I'm a man of my word."

Then Sibylla spoke again, and the humor drained from him by degrees. He listened, really listened, but his disbelief was written plainly across his face. His brows drew together. He shook his head once, slow and incredulous.

"So let me get this straight," he said, rubbing his temple. "The solution is… a Force technique where someone I don't trust enters your sleeping mind."

He let out a short, incredulous laugh. "What could possibly go wrong!"

Aurelian leaned forward now, forearms braced on his knees, agitation finally breaking through his polish.

"This sounds foolish. Dangerously foolish. You're talking about handing the most private part of yourself over to an Order that has already proven it can't stop tripping over ancient disasters." His voice rose despite himself. "Possession, ruined planets, gods in people's heads, and now dream invasion. That's the plan?"

He stopped. Closed his eyes. Drew in a slow breath through his nose. When he opened them again, he looked steadier, but the tension sat tight in his shoulders.

"I don't trust the Jedi," he said quietly. "I don't trust Force solutions that come with reassurances and no guarantees. And I especially don't trust anything that puts you unconscious and defenseless while someone else decides what's inside your head."

His gaze held Sibylla's now, unflinching. "Are you telling me this is happening whether I like it or not?" His expression softened, just slightly. "Or are you asking me if you can?"

​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

Location: I am asking you to help me decide how it happens. Or if it should at all.
Aurelian Veruna Corazona von Ascania

Sibylla did not flinch from Aurelian's frustration. She saw it in the tight line of his shoulders, the flex of his jaw, the careful way he reined himself back in before his temper could truly break loose. Others might have taken it for anger alone.

She knew better.

So Siblylla set her cup aside and leaned forward, closing the distance just enough to make this feel less like a debate and more like a conversation meant only for the two of them, her voice lowering to a more intimate tone.

"I am telling you because I trust your judgment," she said quietly. "And because I wanted to understand this fully before I ever brought it to you. Not after. Not as an afterthought."

Those almond-shaped eyes held his with a subtle softening.

"I do not understand the Force the way Lady von Ascania does. I will never pretend that I do," she admitted. "What I understand is faith. In Shiraya... and love. And what it would mean to be trapped in the heartbeat of losing the person you love, unable to move, unable to change it without someone else's help."

Her fingers curled lightly against the edge of the table, trying her best not to reach out for his hand when every desire within her wanted to.

"I am not seeking danger for its own sake. I am trying to understand what this truly entails. The risks. The redundancies. What safeguards can be put in place so that no one is left vulnerable or exposed? That is why I was seeking Lady von Ascania's counsel first."

She inhaled slowly, then spoke the truth she had been carrying since Katabasis.

"Because regardless of whether Grandmaster Quin finds anything useful in my dreams, there is still something inside me that I cannot ignore. Vere's torment. Her ache. Her love. It is not abstract to me. I feel it as if it were my own."

Sibylla's hazel eyes softened, but not in pleading, but in earnestness.

"So no," she said gently. "I am not telling you this will happen whether you like it or not."

A pause.

"I am asking you to help me decide how it happens. Or if it should at all... because I would never move forward without hearing you. Not on something like this at all."

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Location: Terrible idea
Tags: Sibylla Abrantes | Corazona von Ascania

Aurelian did not interrupt her. That alone said more than any reassurance he could have offered. He stayed still, eyes fixed on her face, absorbing every word with a focus he rarely gave anyone. If this had been a minister, a general, or a Jedi trying to justify themselves, he would have dismantled the argument halfway through. With Sibylla, he listened.

When she finished, he remained quiet for a moment longer. His fingers rested against the porcelain of his cup, unmoving. The tension in his shoulders had not eased, but it had changed, pulled inward, contained.

"I believe you," he said at last. His voice was calm, stripped of edge. "Every word."

He leaned back, gaze drifting briefly to the garden beyond them before returning to her. "Now that is exactly why this worries me."

Aurelian shook his head, slow and deliberate. "I do not think this should happen at all. Not now. Not like this. No matter how much Lady von Ascania can explain the mechanics, there will never be enough safeguards for me to trust the Jedi with something like this." He glanced toward Cora, polite but firm. "No offense."

His mouth tightened, old frustration surfacing. "They play at being gods of the galaxy. They speak as if knowledge and wisdom are the same thing, and most of the time they are just as blind as anyone who can't touch the Force. They dig. They prod. They decide they know better than history, better than consequence."

His tone sharpened. "And when they get too close to the fire, when it burns them, they don't stop. They turn into fething Sith and terrorize the galaxy instead."

A humorless breath left him. "For Shiraya's sake, one of them even thought she could run for Sovereign of Naboo against me. No experience. No understanding of governance. Just the arrogance the Order cultivates and calls enlightenment."

He looked back to Sibylla, expression steady but unyielding. "I trust Cora. As a person. As an individual. I do not trust the Jedi as an institution, and I never will. Not with something this intimate. Not with your mind."

Aurelian exhaled, heavy and honest, the sound of someone conceding something he did not want to concede.

"Your life is not worth theirs," he said quietly. "Not Set's. Not Vere's. I understand they are trapped. I understand the suffering. But your life, your sanity, your sense of self is not an acceptable price."

He leaned forward again, voice firm now. "They have endured this long without anyone crawling through your dreams. They can endure a little longer while those mystics find another way. A safer way... Without you."

Then he settled back, decision made.

"You know where I stand," he said. "I don't like it. Every instinct in me says no." His gaze softened, just enough to matter. "But I also know you are your own person. I trust you."

His lips tightened in frustration.

"If you choose to do this anyway," he continued, measured and resolute, "I don't want to hear about it. Not before. Not after. I won't bless it, and I won't pretend I agree. But I won't try to cage you, either."

His eyes held hers. "That's as far as I'll go."

​

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

As the conversation between Aurelian and Sibylla unfolded, Cora remained in the periphery as a quiet spectator. The teacup no longer bled heat, but a fading warmth as she cradled the porcelain with both hands.

She didn't drink, because somehow, that would feel like an interruption. And when their voices lowered to the hush of something a little more intimate, Cora couldn't help but feel as though she was witnessing something that she was not meant to. Something private.

Aurelian's opinion of the Jedi strayed from distrust to distaste. Possibly something even further than that given present company, but he wasn't the sort to mince words.

No offense, he'd said with a glance to her. Cora didn't change the quality of her contemplative stare. The lines of her face only shifted when he mentioned Sith, sweeping downwards as she found her own distorted reflection in the surface of the tea.

Finally, there came a natural point in the conversation where she didn't feel entirely like an interloper. Cora lifted her gaze and cleared her throat gently.

"Force-based techniques and your wariness of Jedi aside," she looked to Aurelian, "Queen Abrantes has taken on Vere's pain as her own. She is suffering. Dreamwalking may be part of the path to relieve her suffering, and in the right hands, will leave her with no ill effects."

Her gaze softened, and her voice held no judgement, only quiet, sincere consideration.

"I know that you don't trust in the Force, Aurelian. I can imagine that none of this is easy to hear - I've found it all rather shocking, too. But," she glanced down to the tea, the back to him, "if someone that I loved was suffering, I would want to be there for them - even if I found it unpleasant to do so."

The fingers of her prosthetic hand gave a gentle tap against the teacup, metal against porcelain ringing with a muted clink.

"And if someone were to go trawling through my mind, I would want the person I trusted most in the galaxy to be there."

Sibylla Abrantes Aurelian Veruna

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

THEED PALACE GARDENS
Mood: But if there is any path forward that allows you beside me…
Interacting with: Corazona von Ascania | Aurelian Veruna

Sibylla listened, not just to what Aurelian said but to everything he did not.

She heard it in the way he did not interrupt her. In the way his shoulders stayed tight, as if holding something in check. In the careful, deliberate cadence of a man who was choosing every word because the wrong one might betray how deeply this struck him.

Others might have heard refusal. Distrust. Control.

She heard concern.

He believed her. That alone mattered more than she could put into words. He believed her without mockery, without dismissal, without the easy refuge of disbelief. And he spoke to her as an equal, not a ruler issuing decree and not a man trying to cage what frightened him.

That also mattered.

Sibylla folded her hands together breathing slowly as she let his words settle. She understood his position. She truly did. The risks. The unknowns. The weight of trusting anyone with something so intimate as her mind. She understood how much it cost him to say what he had said, to listen as he had, to leave the choice in her hands when every instinct in him screamed to pull her back from the edge.

And she appreciated it, deeply.

But she could not ignore what lived inside her now.

She had seen the gods of their World. Her faith was now than mere belief. She'd seen. Touched their grief. Felt love twisted into torment and held there for centuries. This was not a scholar's fascination or a romantic's indulgence. It was empathy, the kind that did not allow one to look away simply because the suffering was ancient or inconvenient.

She did not want anyone to endure that. Not for a lifetime. Not for a millennium.

So when Lady Corazona spoke something clicked into place that it almost stole Sibylla's breath.

The person I trusted most in the galaxy.

Of course.

Sibylla lifted her gaze back to Aurelian, and this time there was no fluster in it, no embarrassment, no teasing. Only clarity softened by affection.

"I hear you," she said quietly. "All of it. Your fears. Your refusal. Your boundaries. And I am grateful that you trust me enough to let this remain my choice. That you care enough to be angry on my behalf. To fear for my mind when others would only see it as a tool."

A breath. Steady.

"But if I do this, I do not want to do it alone."

Her eyes held his, unwavering.

"If there is any way forward, any compromise at all, then this is what I ask." She swallowed once, then continued. "I will not be unconscious without you present. I will not let someone walk my dreams without knowing that if I falter, if something goes wrong, you are there to pull me back."

She desperately wanted to reach out to take his hand, but out in the open like this... so her fingers curled tighter into her palms.

"I understand your fear," she said. "Please understand mine. I cannot live knowing I might help them and choosing not to try."

A pause.

"So if the answer is no, then it is no. I will accept that." Her gaze did not waver. "But if there is any path forward that allows you beside me… that is the one I choose."

She leaned back slightly, her heart a little bit steadier now that the decision was finally clear.

"Not because I need permission," she added softly. "But because I want you there."

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Location: I dont think I can
Tags: Sibylla Abrantes | Corazona von Ascania

Aurelian's attention shifted sharply when Cora spoke. He looked at her then, really looked, irritation cutting through the careful restraint he'd been holding onto.

"In the right hands?" he repeated flatly. His jaw tightened. "And how am I meant to know whose hands are right?"

He leaned forward, elbows braced on his knees, restless energy starting to show. "Is it you?" he asked her directly. "Are you the one doing this? Because if you are, say that. If you aren't, then I don't know a single other Jedi I would trust with her mind."

His fingers tapped once against his cup, too hard. "And if I don't trust them, then they are not the right hands. Which means there are risks you're all politely pretending won't happen. So don't tell me there will be no ill effects."

He shook his head, incredulous. "I don't understand how you don't hear how foolish this sounds."

Aurelian dragged a hand through his hair and turned back to Sibylla, frustration bleeding into something more raw. "I understand wanting to help. I do. You're good. You don't look at suffering and turn away." His voice softened, then hardened again. "But this isn't your burden. It shouldn't be."

His knee began to bounce, the motion sharp and uncontained. "You're carrying this because you're close enough, because it touched you. That doesn't make it yours to fix."

He sat back abruptly, words tumbling faster now. "Why are we even talking about walking through your dreams? Why is the solution to put you on the altar?" His hands spread, restless. "Forget Vere for a moment. Forget Set. Focus on you."

His eyes lit with sudden, desperate clarity. "Get it out of you. Whatever fragment is in your head, force it out. Remove it. Contain it. Lock it in a box if you have to." He exhaled sharply. "Then the Jedi can dreamwalk someone else. Someone expendable. Someone trained for it."

The agitation caught up with him. His leg bounced harder. His fingers flexed and unflexed like he didn't know where to put them. "I don't know," he admitted, the words rough. "I don't know if I can sit there and watch this happen."

He swallowed, gaze fixed somewhere just past her shoulder. "If something goes wrong. If you get hurt. I'm not just. I'm not righteous. I won't meditate about it." His voice dropped. "I will hurt whoever did it."

The realization hit him a second later. Cora was still there.

Aurelian stopped speaking. His mouth snapped shut. He pushed back from the table and stood, chair scraping softly against stone. He dragged in a breath that did nothing to steady him.

"I don't know about this," he said tightly. "I don't." He looked at Sibylla, conflicted and agitated, then away. "I need time. Because right now, every part of me is screaming that this ends badly."

He turned slightly, pacing once before stilling. "That's all I've got."

He glanced back at the table. At the untouched tea. At the quiet he'd left behind. "…I'm sorry," he said, not quite looking at either of them. His voice was lower now, stripped of the sharpness. "I ruined your tea."

A brief pause, then a crooked exhale that might have been almost a laugh if it carried any humor at all. "That wasn't my intention."

​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

THEED PALACE GARDENS
Mood: Walk with me.
Interacting with: Corazona von Ascania | Aurelian Veruna

Sibylla had been holding herself still by sheer force of will.

Her hands were folded in her lap but her fingers were clenched tight enough that halfmoon crescents had already bitten into her palms. She welcomed the sting. It gave her something to tether herself to while every instinct she had urged her to reach for him. To take his hand. To ease the storm she could see tearing through him with frightening clarity.

They were in the gardens. Cora was here. The guards stood only a short distance away.

Eyes everywhere.

And yet none of that mattered when she saw what others would miss.

The restless bounce of his knee. The way his jaw flexed as if grinding down words he could not afford to say. The sharp angles of his face pulled taut with restraint. And beneath it all, the dread in his amber eyes. Not anger. Not control.

Fear.

Fear for her.

It struck her then with aching force how deeply this was cutting him. How much effort it was taking for him to remain standing, breathing, civil. How close he was to breaking open in a way he would never allow in front of anyone else.

When he stood so abruptly, chair scraping softly against stone, something in her snapped.

"Lady von Ascania," Sibylla murmured in a quiet but urgent tone, "I beg your pardon, but please excuse us for a moment."

Hazel eyes flicked toward Cora, an unspoken plea there, before returning to Aurelian. Her own agitation was no longer hidden. She rose before she could think better of it, the need to soothe him overriding caution, propriety, and every sensible restraint she had been clinging to.

She reached for his hand, her fingers closing around Aurelian's with gentle insistence. Not possessive. Not public. Just enough to say I see you.

"Walk with me," she murmured in a low coaxing tone meant only for him.

Stay with me. Breathe with me.

Her grip tightened slightly, even as a silent understanding passed between them. She knew exactly where he stood. Why he was so afraid. Why the thought of losing her, of watching her placed in danger while he stood helpless, and what he’d do if anything went wrong was tearing at him.

They needed space. A pause. A breath that wasn't shared with witnesses. Just a few minutes, perhaps down the path where the thicker hedges and gently weaving willows could hide them from sight.

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"Is it you?" he asked her directly. "Are you the one doing this? Because if you are, say that. If you aren't, then I don't know a single other Jedi I would trust with her mind."

Cora only shook her head. For once, it didn't feel right to interrupt the chancellor's diatribe - he was right to be concerned, and she'd learned in the refugee camp that this was just how Aurelian Veruna showed his concern.

"There are risks," she admitted, "but there are risks to leaving things as they are - risks we cannot quantify. We know that dreamwalking is generally safe, so long as her body is not moved during the act.”

Cora met Aurelian's exasperation with a steady gaze, but it was not without understanding. His worry was palpable, even in the face of Sibylla's noble intentions, and it softened her voice.

"Even if I were to be the one seeing inside Sibylla's dreams, I wouldn't know how to interpret them, nor how to best separate Vere's suffering from her psyche. Grandmaster Quin, having been…er, possessed by Vere, is in the best position to do so."

Now that it was said aloud, it did sound strange. Perhaps it wouldn't have if she'd known about Katabasis earlier, or if she'd had taken time to truly meet Ala and sign off on her as a trustworthy figure.

Her gaze flicked from the King, to the Queen. It settled in the space between them, focusing on the unsaid - the subtle flex of a hand, the way their expressions shifted and pulled with grief, fear and desperation.

"This is a big decision," she said quietly, her voice carrying in the sudden stillness of the garden, "and it's only natural that you take your time. I'd be happy to provide more details as you need." Blue eyes passed from Aurelian to Sibylla. "And, if you do decide to go through with this, I'd be happy to accompany you."

Aurelian, the bite thoroughly drained from his voice, sought to excuse himself. Sibylla intervened, and Cora assented with a tilt of her head.

"Of course," she nodded. "Just sit with it. Let your feelings settle." Maybe then, the path forward would be clearer, but it wasn't hers to walk.

It was Sibylla's - and Aurelian's.

As the pair excused themselves, Cora's gaze lingered on the way Sibylla took his hand. It wasn't an awkward, fumbling gesture. It was practiced. Intimate, even.

The royal not-couple drifted away, and Cora took the opportunity to stack several of those delectable little tea sandwiches onto her plate. It wouldn't be considered polite or prim by Ukatian standards, even for a pregnant woman, but nobody was watching.

Except for the guards, maybe.

Sibylla Abrantes Aurelian Veruna

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Tags: Sibylla Abrantes | Corazona von Ascania

Aurelian barely registered Cora's reply. The words reached him in fragments, muffled, like sound traveling through water. Risks. Safeguards. Best position. None of it landed. His thoughts were already careening ahead of him, tripping over one another, spiraling into places he refused to look at too closely. This was how it started. Explanations. Reassurances. Calm voices telling him it would be fine. It was never fine.

If he didn't think about it, if he didn't hear the details, if he didn't let it settle into something real, then maybe it wasn't happening yet. Maybe it wouldn't happen at all. He could feel the urge to flee rising sharp and undeniable. To leave the garden. Leave the conversation. Leave the entire mess behind. If he could outrun it, it couldn't touch her. That was the lie his mind clung to.

His pulse hammered. His thoughts fractured. Every possible outcome flashed too fast to hold, each one worse than the last. Her unconscious. Someone else inside her mind. Something going wrong. Him standing there, useless, watching.

His jaw clenched hard enough to ache. He wasn't listening anymore. He couldn't. The air felt too thin. His body was already halfway gone, coiled to move, to escape, to put distance between himself and the idea that this could be real.

Then her hand closed around his. The contact was gentle. Steady. Real. It cut through him like a tether thrown to someone slipping off a ledge.

Aurelian stilled, breath catching sharp in his chest. Her fingers were warm, insistent in their quiet certainty, and suddenly he was back in his body. Back in the garden. Back in the moment. The noise in his head dulled, not gone, but muted enough that he could breathe again.

He didn't look at her. He didn't trust himself to speak.

She asked him to walk with her, low and close, and he nodded without thinking. Let himself be led. Let himself follow. His grip tightened around her hand as if letting go might send him spiraling all over again.

He turned with her, steps automatic, eyes fixed somewhere ahead that wasn't anything at all.

Aurelian said nothing as they moved away from the table, from the tea, from the watching eyes. Silence was the only thing he had left to offer. Silence, and his hand in hers, holding on like it was the only solid thing in the galaxy.

​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

THEED PALACE GARDENS
Mood: Just breathe
Interacting with: Corazona von Ascania | Aurelian Veruna

"Thank you, Lady von Ascania."

The words were soft, but full of gratitude that conveyed more than met the eye, a subtle smile lingering upon Sibylla's lips as she gave another incline of her head before leading Aurelian along.

It was his subtle nod that fueled her, the way she felt the strength of his fingers tighten upon her own, focused entirely upon that connection that held them.

"Leave us." Aurelian would hear Sibylla's soft command that bore no objection, her hand coming up with a gesture to the guards that they were not to follow.

There was just the subtlest look between the guards, but they listened nonetheless, giving a bow and ensuring they remained behind far enough to ensure their privacy but close enough that they would still be able to do their duty protecting Aurelian if need be.

The soft pad of her low heels gently cobbled over the intricate stone pavement as it wove and twisted, moving deeper toward the hedgework and a large willow tree whose lengthy branches dipped and swayed like a verdant veil.

Fingers tightened around Aurelian's once more before she finally came to a stop just under the delicate privacy of the willow tree.

There she swung around, turning up to look at him, seeing the distance in his eyes and feeling her heart break for him. She'd caused him to spiral, to revert into his mind much like Thessaly had done to him when her sudden appearance had shocked him into doing the only thing he could. Run away.

And while he wasn't doing it physically, she could see the effects enough to know it had his mind.

Without another word, she drew him close, sweeping him into a tight hug, needing to let him feel not only her embrace, but selfishly, to also feel his in turn. She knew this was going to be a difficult conversation, that the topic was going to upset him, much less the options set before him. It was why she had wanted to have it in a more intimate setting… not like this.

But life isn't about the best laid plans, and to be honest, her focus was on the now. In him.

And just letting him breathe.

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Tags: Sibylla Abrantes | Corazona von Ascania

Aurelian followed her without resistance, feet moving because she asked, because her hand was still in his. The garden narrowed around them, hedge and stone giving way to shadow and green, until the willow rose up like something ancient and watching. Its branches draped low, a curtain drawn across the world.

When she pulled him close, he didn't hesitate. His arms came around her on instinct, tight enough to anchor himself, his face angling down toward her hair. He closed his eyes and focused on breathing. In. Out. Again. Her warmth was real. Her heartbeat steady beneath his palm. For a few precious seconds, the panic loosened its grip.

He stayed there longer than he meant to, letting the moment do its work. Letting her do her work.

When he finally drew back, it was slow, reluctant. His hands lingered at her arms as if he were afraid she might vanish if he let go. He looked at her then, properly, and the sight of her framed by the willow hit him like a physical blow. Soft light through leaves. Calm on her face that didn't match the storm she'd stirred in him.

The calm shattered.

"If something goes wrong," he said quietly, the words sharp-edged despite the low volume, "if this Grandmaster botches it, I will burn them all."

The admission startled even him. His jaw tightened as if trying to lock the thought back in place, but it spilled out anyway. "I don't know if I'd have the strength to stop myself. Not without you."

His hands dropped to his sides, fingers flexing, restless again. "That's why I can't be there. You think I'd help, but I wouldn't. I'd make it worse. I'd see you lying there and I'd hear them say 'trust us' and something in me would snap." He shook his head once, hard. "This won't be good. None of it."

He took a step back, putting space between them he clearly didn't want, anger bleeding back into his voice because fear had nowhere else to go. "The Jedi are no good for this galaxy. They never have been. Every time they get involved, they leave wreckage behind and call it balance."

His gaze locked onto hers, fierce and unyielding. "They should be focusing on getting that damned spirit out of you. Not wandering around your mind like it belongs to them."

Aurelian dragged in a breath, shoulders tight, eyes still burning. "I can't let this go," he said, more to himself than to her. "And I don't know how to hold on without breaking something."

The willow leaves whispered above them as he stood there, caught between wanting to pull her back into his arms and wanting to tear the whole plan apart with his bare hands.

​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

THEED PALACE GARDENS
Mood: I know
Interacting with: Corazona von Ascania | Soon: Aurelian Veruna

Sibylla did not step away when he put distance between them. She allowed it, understanding that sometimes space was not retreat but restraint.

She watched the way his hands flexed, the way his shoulders stayed wound tight, the way his gaze burned with that terrible mix of fear and fury that only came from loving something too much to risk losing it. She heard what he said. And she heard the very real revelation of the rampage he'd let loose should something go wrong.

And Sibylla didn't fault him for it. She didn't judge him. It was human to want to lash back and harm those who harmed who they loved, and it was Aurelian's very real admission to her that only made her affection for him grow. Not because of what she knew what he would do, because she wouldn't want him to lash out in that manner at all. But in that he was being completely honest with her on the very real ramifications and worries he had.

It meant they could talk about things openly with each other when he could have just kept it to himself.

"I know," she said quietly. And in those two words, she offered him understanding rather than resistance, meeting him exactly where he stood.

"I know that if something went wrong, something in you would snap....and I would never forgive myself for putting you in that position." she repeated quietly, confirming that she knew exactly what he meant by it. "I am not self rightous to believe that I would not be of the same mind if the situation was reversed."

That hazel eyes looking up at him softened, but did not waver.

"And you are right," she said softly. "About looking for other options. About not accepting the first path simply because it is the one presented."

She stepped closer, not to crowd him, but to stand beside him aligned rather than opposed.

"I can ask," she continued. "I will ask. Lady von Ascania may know of another method. The Grandmaster may as well. There may be ways to understand, to contain, or even to resolve this without dreamwalking at all. To know any path available is prudence."

The willow whispered above them, leaves brushing together like breath.

"But eventually," Sibylla added a bit quietly now, but no less firm in presenting the Nexu in the room, "a choice will have to be made. Either to remove the fragment Vere left behind… or to find a way to lay it to rest... because I am not sure what will happen if we do not."

Her shoulders rose as she took in a breath.

"And this is where it ceases to be only about me." and this was when Sibylla's tone turned to conviction.

"I have crossed a threshold I cannot step back from. I have seen our gods. I have spoken to them. I have felt their grief and their love as something living, not symbolic." She swallowed once. "Their existence is no longer a matter of belief or legend. It is real."

"This is about faith," she said. "About what it means when the divine is no longer distant, no longer abstract, but present. Suffering. Enduring."

She looked at him with gentle resolve.

"I cannot pretend that knowledge does not change me or that it does not demand something in return...but I will not walk any path blindly. Not without asking every question. Not without honoring your fears."

 

[Aurelian Veruna]

Tags: Sibylla Abrantes | Corazona von Ascania

Aurelian stood there under the willow, breathing through the last of the heat in his chest, and it was her understanding that finally slowed him down. Not agreement. Not concession. Just the fact that she saw him clearly and did not recoil from what she saw. It steadied him in a way nothing else had.

He looked away for a moment, jaw tight, eyes fixed on the ground as his thoughts slipped into darker places. Losing her like that would hollow him out. Not to age, not to distance, not even to some clean, comprehensible tragedy. To something unseen. Untouchable. Something he could not fight, could not bargain with. It would crush him. There would be no rebuilding after that.

They were already too tangled together. He felt it in the quiet moments, in the way her presence had begun to feel inevitable. He had only just found her. Only just allowed himself to believe in something that wasn't duty or ambition or survival. The idea of letting her go now, of watching her slip away into something ancient and unknowable, made his chest ache.

He swallowed and looked back at her. "I know," he said quietly, echoing her words back to her, but this time they carried surrender instead of resistance. "I understand why you can't walk away from it. If I were Vere, I'd do the same. Tear the galaxy apart just to find my way back."

His mouth curved faintly, humorless. "That's probably what scares me most."

He stepped closer again, careful now, his voice lower and steadier. "I'm not saying you're wrong. I'm saying I need time to catch up to you. This is a lot. And I'm not built for gods and faith and fragments of divinity living in people I love."

He exhaled slowly. "It might take me a while."

His gaze softened, honest and unguarded. "But I hear you. And I believe you. That matters more than I can explain."

Aurelian ran a hand through his hair, some of the tension finally bleeding out of him. "If you're going to ask questions, if you're going to push for other options, I can live with that. I can stand beside you while you do that. And," he added, quieter now, "please tell Cora I'm sorry. I shouldn't have snapped at her. None of this is her fault."

He looked at Sibylla again, resolute but tired. "I don't promise I'll ever like this. But I'll try to understand it. For you."

​

 

[Sibylla Abrantes]

​

THEED PALACE GARDENS
Mood: It matters more than you know.
Interacting with: Corazona von Ascania | Soon: Aurelian Veruna

Sibylla took in every word Aurelian spoke, each one settling gently into place. She could feel the shift in him, a willingness to stand still long enough to breathe instead of burn.

This was the man she fell in love with. The one willing to at least listen. He needed time and space to think it over, and anyone in his position would, and Sibylla understood that. It was a wild story to believe, much less make a decision now. He was right to ask her to find other options, and she will make sure to promptly present them to the Grandmaster in short order.

"I know this is a great deal to ask of you," she said softly. "And I would never expect you to reach where I am at the same pace...faith does not arrive neatly; It arrives when it must."

Her gaze warmed at his admission, at the way he spoke of Vere with something bordering on recognition that he'd do the same. She did not miss the fear beneath it. She honored it.

"You believing me does matter," Sibylla said quietly. "More than you realize."

At his apology, she smiled faintly in a thoughtful expression, a slight breeze shifting the long branches of the willow tree with a soft whispering murmur.

"I would offer one in your stead to Lady von Ascania," she said, then gently shook her head. "I believe this is one best addressed by you."

She turned slightly, angling them both back toward the garden they had left behind.

"I know you hold her in regard," Sibylla continued. "... and from what I can tell in the way both of you are interacting with each other, that perhaps there is the possibility of a real friendship. And if there were ever a time to cultivate those who see you as you are, not as a title or just a charming, maddening challenge," the corner of her mouth perked, "...it would be now."

She retook hold of his hands, giving them a gentle, encouraging squeeze.

"We began as political partners. Then we became friends. And now we stand where we are ...professionally, of course..." Her brows gave a slight knowing perk to try to lighten the mood about the lack of professionalism when they were alone.

"I realize that your inner circle is small by necessity. I understand that. But allowing one or two more within it does not weaken you."

That tawny gaze settled upon him with the depth of her affection and encouragement.

"It shows them who you truly are, the man beneath the crown... just as you have shown me."