Private Long Overdue, But Still....

[NPC Treasury]

Kay nodded her head a little. "Yes, he's in my head. But trust me that I'm not crazy! No moreso than you speaking with your Dad and working with him in the Netherworld. It's through the Force that Mayhem reaches out to me. Yet I have a tea that nullifies the Force. I'm using it now so that he can't see or hear us. Right now we're safe."

She leaned forward, resting her forearms on the table as she focused on Caedyn Arenais . "He's not imaginary, Caedyn. I'm not having a breakdown again. I know the difference. Mayhem knows about my instability and he's using that to make it harder for me. He's counting on it so that I'd fail in finding him. But I've had glimpses of where he is...Yet it's not specific enough."

Killing him wasn't the answer either. No doubt Lord Mayhem had a back up plan for that too. Afterall if she could be brought back from the dead, so too could he.

"Lord Mayhem is a scientific genius. Something has caught his attention. It was out of boredom that he chose to sleep. I don't think that the Galaxy needs him causing trouble and working on experiments that will no doubt be placed in the wrong hands. He wasn't given the nickname of Mayhem for no reason...".

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"Yes, he's in my head. But trust me that I'm not crazy! No more so than you speaking with your Dad and working with him in the Netherworld. It's through the Force that Mayhem reaches out to me. Yet I have a tea that nullifies the Force. I'm using it now so that he can't see or hear us. Right now we're safe.".

So Caedyn was right about his Mother's Tea affecting her presence in the Force. He had presumed as much when he had arrived and knew her desire for secrecy but it was good to have it confirmed rather than having lost her connection to the Force entirely since her ill-fated demise. It was also rather curious to hear that Mayhem spoke to her through the Force, leading Caedyn to wonder if he was some form of spirit or Force Ghost, or if he was otherwise somehow stuck between worlds.

"Do you think it's telepathic communication like you and I can perform easily, or do you believe he's speaking from the nether and hasn't yet possessed a physical form in the living plane?" Caedyn asked, politely waiting for a moment to speak as they conversed.

"He's not imaginary, Caedyn. I'm not having a breakdown again. I know the difference. Mayhem knows about my instability and he's using that to make it harder for me. He's counting on it so that I'd fail in finding him. But I've had glimpses of where he is...Yet it's not specific enough.".

"Oh you don't need to worry about me thinking you're crazy at all" Caedyn added with a soft laugh; "I think I've experienced enough to leave me fairly open-minded these days. Between the Nether-realm and apparitions in the Force. Honestly, travelling to the Nether caused me to question how much I really thought I knew about life and the Force..." he elaborated. It had been a mind-blowing experience and according to Veiere, he had only seen a form of what his mind was capable of showing him compared to the infinite wonders that the soul was capable of being exposed to.

"Lord Mayhem is a scientific genius. Something has caught his attention. It was out of boredom that he chose to sleep. I don't think that the Galaxy needs him causing trouble and working on experiments that will no doubt be placed in the wrong hands. He wasn't given the nickname of Mayhem for no reason...".

"Hm, okay..." Caedyn muttered quietly under his breath as he thought about what possible cause could have awoken this person, or spirit or whatever they were; "Do you know what happened to have awoken him?" Caedyn asked, unable to give any plausible guess aside from NPC Treasury herself given Mayhem's clear interest in her. "Could it have been your death or something else? This certainly seems like it's a personal thing if he's coming back from the Nether to communicate with you".

 

[NPC Treasury]

"It's telepathic. I know that it is because others don't see."

At least Caedyn Arenais didn't think that she was crazy. She was sure and certain that she sounded insane, talking about voices inside her head and of seeing someone that wasn't there. She had been admitted to an insane asylum before, but that was long ago. The whole thing was a ruse anyways to get her to break. Yet it wasn't until years later that she did finally break; after the watching her family die...

Those images haunted her throughout her time in the Netherworld, until she was finally rescued.

Caedyn didn't seem to understand what she had meant by Mayhem sleeping, attributing it to a metaphor for death. But really she was being quite literal.

"Mayhem's not dead, Caedyn. He's asleep, like in hibernation. I doubt that my death would have anything to do with it. I don't hold any significance or importance. To Mayhem, I'm just his favourite toy. He's learning from me, trying to fish for information before he wakes up completely. I'm trying to convince him that it's not worth it, but I'm not a good liar. There's a lot of chaos out there and Mayhem thrives on it. I just want to find him and keep him asleep."

Killing him wouldn't be a good idea. Who knows what his Force ghost would be capable of! At least while asleep he'd be under control. Someone had to be watching over Mayhem while he slept and Kay could only think of two people; his wife Asyardra and their daughter...

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

"Mayhem's not dead, Caedyn. He's asleep, like in hibernation. I doubt that my death would have anything to do with it. I don't hold any significance or importance. To Mayhem, I'm just his favourite toy. He's learning from me, trying to fish for information before he wakes up completely. I'm trying to convince him that it's not worth it, but I'm not a good liar. There's a lot of chaos out there and Mayhem thrives on it. I just want to find him and keep him asleep.".

Each time that NPC Treasury spoke about Mayhem led to further questions. Answers were intriguing and left Caedyn curious to know more, not only about Mayhem themselves but also his Mothers' past history with this person. How were they placed in such a stage of hibernation? Was it akin to something like cryo-sleep or stasis pods used for long-term voyages through space?

"What sort of information is he trying to get out of you exactly? Perhaps we can learn what his first target would look like, just in case he does wake up before we're able to find this person" Caedyn replied. He wished to know more about the telepathic interactions between her and Mayhem, and more about what his objective was, and especially his intentions for his Mother.

"I'd also like to ask what happened in the past between the two of you that's made Mayhem target you specifically. What was he trying to do back then and could it shed any light on his motives today? Possibly help us to find him again?".

 

[NPC Treasury]

Kay looked at the clock, clentching her jaw a little. She didn't have much time before the tea wore off and to extend it would only draw more suspicion.

"He watches my interactions with others, especially in regards to anything outside of my tea business. He knew of my political ambitions when I was younger and only in this am I ever glad to not be anyone of note in the Galaxy. I'd rather be a bore because otherwise he might already be causing trouble."

Her eyes then turned to Caedyn Arenais as he questioned her past. "Mayhem experimented on me, testing out my healing abilities. I could have been one of the best with it, yet his experiments tore me away from it. I didn't want to give him anymore reason to experiment on me. So I quit." And instead she chose to hide her Force sensitivity altogether.

For the most part.

"He's in a ship. I just have to.....figure out where...I'll need your help in learning to fly. It'll be a good cover."

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn didn't enjoy the idea that his own mother had to hide away and pretend to have no ambitions because of somebody else, no matter how powerful they thought they were. The fact that this man had experimented on her in the past and used her abilities for his own benefit only angered him more. He didn't allow it to show on the outside, but he was far from happy about any of it.

"I'll be returning to Mnemosyne soon..." Caedyn informed NPC Treasury . She hadn't spoken to him of the Mnemos people before, but now that he had mentioned the world, she would surely know that he and perhaps even his twin sister had become aware of Kay and Veiere's hidden gem out there in the wider Galaxy.

"Perhaps we can avoid hyperspace for a while and travel there the long, old fashioned way while you help me co-pilot the Repertoire", the idea also held the benefit of spending some more time with his mother, learning about this Mayhem character and her past. The real challenge however was what this meant for his retirement, as the trip back home was planned to be his last. Not something he was yet willing to divulge to Kay, however.

"Is there anything special that enables this man to communicate with you, as opposed to others?" Caedyn asked, wondering how the man was able to do so telepathically over such vast distances. It wasn't unheard of, but it required a great deal of skill to achieve. "Do you share a Force Bond with Mayhem or...?".

 

[NPC Treasury]

Kay raised a brow as Caedyn Arenais mentioned Mnemosyne. She looked down at the table for a moment, lost in thought. Veiere must have told him. She had planned on doing so herself, but her own death had gotten in the way, among other things. She didn't dare live there as a recluse for she didn't want to draw bad attention to the little world. Trouble always had a way of finding her...

"That sounds like a good idea." Avoiding hyperspace would give her ample time to learn to fly. It would also give her less to crash into.

She gave a small smile as she looked up at her son, yet that smile faded as he began to question the connection between herself and Lord Mayhem. "A Force Bond? Oh I certainly hope not. As far as I know, the only Force Bond that I ever had was with your father. But I will try to find out..." And by that she meant that she'd ask. Such a question wasn't one that she needed to hide. It just wasn't something that she had considered before. A Force Bond with him would be....terrifying. It was bad enough having him invade her mind as it is.

"The tea will be wearing off soon. Let's just stick with the talk of piloting for a while, hmm? I'm not yet ready for him to find out what I'm up to."

 

[Caedyn Arenais]

Caedyn gave a short nod, offering something of a small smile in response to NPC Treasury finding the plan to be agreeable. Looking around her Tea Shoppe, he wondered if the place would be okay while she would be away. Come to think of it, he had to wonder if she herself would be alright with leaving this place, given her more isolated lifestyle that she had made for herself.

"Are you going to be alright being away from this place for a while?" He asked his Mother with an uncertain tone, though doing so out of consideration and care for her; "Travelling through deep space can be a longer journey than most are used to these days. You'll want to pack for the trip. I've got supplies aboard the Repertoire that will see us through but it's not like you do this a lot nowadays, is it?".

The Repertoire wasn't exactly a small ship when it came to personally owned vessels. It was rather lavish and would cater to their needs comfortably along the way back to Mnemosyne. Caedyn had his own private cabin of course, and then there were guest quarters where his Mom would be able to stay. His Droid Co-pilot would do much of the work and they would otherwise be able to relax and catch up on old times.

 

[NPC Treasury]

Kay glanced around the shoppe. It had been her home for some time, except for when she was in the underworld. She didn't have a want or need to go anywhere else other than in the forest to collect more supplies. Everything else was done at the back in the warehouse and kitchen.

"I'll be okay. I'll just move my supplies to secure locations and then close up shoppe for a bit while we're gone. I could use some days off anyways." She never had any days off or vacation. At one point she had an employee, but he said that working with Spice and other not-so-legal things were too tempting for him, so he quit. There were no hard feelings though. She understood.

Already she could feel the tickle of her connection to the Force returning, with the Ola tea starting to wear off. So she got to her feet, her mind already working on a packing schedule. "I'll get right to it. Thanks Caedyn. Just give me a couple of hours and I'll be ready." Kay looked to Caedyn Arenais , still seeing a little of the boy that she once knew, wanting to hold him and coddle him. But no, she couldn't do that. And there was far too much work to do.

Without another word she set about doing it, going first to her supply room and moving the small amount of spice and other ingredients to a secure lockroom. Then she took her more dangerous teas and goods out of there too and brought them to the lockroom.

~What are you up to, Kay-Kay?~

She faltered in her pace only slightly, but kept going. "I'm going on a vacation. My son's going to teach me to fly."

~You don't know how to fly?~. Lord Mayhem broke out in laughter.

"It's never too late to learn. Could be useful if I ever had to escape this place."

~And why would you have a need to escape?~

"War could come, and I'd rather not be around here for it."

~What a pity that you've become such a coward.~

"I don't care, Mayhem. Nobody does."

~What a pity.~

She breathed a sigh of relief as he disappeared and then continued closing up her shoppe.

A couple of hours later Kay exited her shoppe with a few satchels slung over her shoulders. She locked the door, set the alarms and put a note on the door stating that she was on vacation and then turned to look for Caedyn. "Alright, I'm all packed now..."

 

[NPC Treasury]

Her words where whispered mostly to herself. Caedyn had already headed out to the spaceport and that was where she should have gone off to....


....But she didn't.

Instead Kay turned and headed into the woods instead. She couldn't ensare her son in her mess. His eyes told her as much that he was long since tired of fighting. So getting his help was just wrong and selfish. And as much as she hated bailing on him like this, she knew that it had to be done. She had to disappear again. Caedyn would understand. She needed to deal with Mayhem on her own, even if it meant dying in the process. To the rest of the Galaxy she was dead anyways, so what did it matter? She had nothing to lose and nothing to gain.

The Galaxy was a harsh and cruel place filled with emptiness. She learned that well. And death brought the very same thing. It was no different. It was just as mean and just as lonely.

Maybe if she was lucky Mayhem could put her to sleep, forever lock her in a stasis betwen death and life where she'd be just stuck in a dream state. But that was only if she was lucky.

Mayhem was unpredictable though, yet she was sure that one of these days she'd find him. She was his favourite test subject, afterall.

-The End-​