Private Mortis

[Kahlil Noble]

He jolted awake.

Kahlil's silver eyes opened as he sat right up, looking around his ship with mild concern. What was.. He was on a job. Find a route through hyperspace. Usually dangerous stuff, but the actual job itself was completed with minimal hitches, comparably. But.. Something called him. An echo. Right. He pushed himself up, holding the side of his head. It was fleeting, but he recognized it. Like the voice of a close friend barely coming through a thick wall. The Force.

On instinct he followed it, much to R6's disma- Wait R6. His gaze settled on his inactive friend. No sign of damage, but the little Astromech wasn't able to turn on. He frowned. EMP? .. Maybe. What did he remember? A.. Space station. A blinding white light.

His head didn't hurt, so he didn't crash? The man stepped away from R6, muttering a promise to figure out what was going on. As he made it to the exit of his ship he paused. The ramp lowered with only a thud as it touched ground, light spilling into the hold to illuminate Kahlil's form. Just outside his freighter was a seemingly endless horizon of trees, each one rippling in bright vibrant colors ranging from brilliant greens to boisterous oranges and yellows. At the farthest end of his sight was a towering mountain, the faintest hint of a monastery aged beyond all mortal reckoning situated neared its peak.

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He didn't have words. It was.. Magnificent. Unlike anything he'd see- No. The image of the monolith before the flash of light filled his mind. He'd read about this place. His father had come here. Wonderment mixed with concern as he descended the ramp.

This was Mortis.

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Mortis​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Long, white dress​

Tag: Kahlil Noble ​

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On a world in tune with the Force like no other, many things are possible. From seasons shifting from one day to another to vast dreamlike landscapes skipping across the surface, making it impossible to map; to time itself playing no role in the existence of it all. To many, Mortis was believed to be the source of the Force itself, a place outside the bounds of the known Galaxy and Universe, and one that occasionally received visitors.​

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While very little was known about the intent of such meetings, with reported cases varying greatly in detail, many were often confronted with challenges capable of altering their paths forever. Today, such a challenge awaited Kahlil Noble , who entered this domain many years after his father once did but to hopefully walk a distinctly different road in life.​

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Ahead of him, beautiful landscapes reached out to the horizon, touched only by luminous creatures and gentle winds that allowed the flora to dance along its currents. But within one such field, walking between tall trees and colorful flowers, was a woman with a familiar appearance, and a presence strong in the Force that reached all around undisturbed.​

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Her long, dark-brown hair was let loose and waved along with the wind while a thin, white dress hugged her form tightly. From her lush lips, a melodic hum escaped that somehow could be heard miles away, drawing in many small creatures of the realm. There was something peaceful about the scene, but it took no expert to realize that such a familiar sight would have its reasons.​

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Only time would tell what exactly Mortis had in store for the Man.​

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[Kahlil Noble]

He didn't see her at first. Still grappling with the realization of this world, no, relic he'd stumbled upon. Even with his connection to the Force utterly severed he could feel it. An echo, something not directly from him yet still very much a part of who he was. Was it Mortis that brought it out, or did it only strengthen something that was already there? The Force always had it's reasons. That much he trusted and believed in, even when he himself couldn't hear it's call.

Then he heard the hum. The familiar tone of the woman he'd been searching for. His eyes widened as he finally saw Valery Noble . A step, then another, then a run. He ran as fast as he could, practically tackling the Keshain as he lifted her into a warm embrace. No words, just holding her. Real or not, this was what he wanted most in the galaxy.

"There you are.."

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Mortis​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Long, white dress​

Tag: Kahlil Noble ​

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The woman in white continued her song as she passed by a group of small animals, her hands gently petting them on the head before going down their backs. She smiled happily but she was extremely aware of her surroundings as well. The moment Kahlil came sprinting down towards her, she stopped moving and looked his way.​

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Even from a distance, he'd see the familiar smile she always had when he was with her, and its warmth carried over to him despite his lack of connection to the Force. With her arms wide, she let then his wrap around her waist, and returned the hug as her feet came off the ground. ​

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"It has been so long." the woman said with a smile, as her head rested against him. But what she said carried more than one interpretation. Kahlil and Valery had been separated for some time, but she wasn't the Valery who was waiting for him to return. She represented their unique bond, which had not been felt in the absence of his connection to the Force for some time either.​

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But now, he could feel it again. He could feel her.​

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"It's good to feel you again — I've missed you so much." She leaned back, and caressed his cheek with her hand, the smile still present on her face, and it was unlikely it would be leaving anytime soon.​

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[Kahlil Noble]

She was there. Actually there. Well, Kahlil knew that this wasn't the real Valery Noble , but the warmth of her voice, her weight in his arms. It was a part of him he'd missed since he was cut from the Force, and here she was. "Too long, love." His eyes closed as he leaned into her hand. Just for the moment nothing else mattered. Not the planet they were on, not the echo of his father he could still feel around them. Just her.

Just them.

After a moment his eyes would open again, his smile just as wide but his grip around her laxing so she could stand on her own.

".. So. The Force guided me here, and while I appreciate it letting me seeing you I don't think that's it's goal. You here to help me figure out why I'm on Mortis of all worlds?"

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Mortis​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Long, white dress​

Tag: Kahlil Noble ​

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Even though it wasn't the real Valery, the woman held onto Kahlil as if she were the real thing, as if the feeling of longing for him was so powerful that it lingered in this manifestation of their bond. When he finally did set her down, she looked up at him with her loving smile and nodded.​

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"That's right. I'm a part of you that you've been severed from." In more than one way, again. "But that journey hasn't ended yet, and that's why you're here." she looked around for a brief moment before her eyes turned back to him,​

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"I will be with you, but I can't always help you. This is a challenge, a test, that you must go through yourself." Valery then took his hand and held it between her own while she looked him in the eyes. He had to be strong, confident, and determined to push himself through Mortis' challenge of the spirit.​

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Only then, he would become one with the Force again. One with this wandering woman who would accompany him for as far as she could.​

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"I believe in you."​

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[Kahlil Noble]

Some things were too good to be true. But, while the Valery Noble before her wasn't the real one, it still was her. Their bond, an echo. He squeezed her hand gently as she held it, smiling warmly. Together he could face anything, that much he believed for sure. But the lingering shadow in the back of his mind pulled his attention to Mortis itself, scanning through the fields. The Force had lead him here, yes. To fix what had been broken?

Or to show him something more?

"Well, do I get a hint where to start?"

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Mortis​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Long, white dress​

Tag: Kahlil Noble ​

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"You have to face the mirror." ​

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The woman let go of his hands and stepped back to turn around as if she was going to show him something. Suddenly, he felt a drastic shift in the Force, echoed through her so he could feel it too. It felt cold, dark and there was a somber tone to it that could make one feel as if they had lost something important.​

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"That is where you must go, into the Well of the Dark Side to confront who you really are," she said as her almost glowing orange eyes turned back to him.​

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"I will travel with you but I cannot help you with your task there," she said.​

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What awaited him there had the potential to be traumatizing and life-changing all at once. He can find strength and be assured of his soul and nature, or he will crumble down into the dark abyss, potentially never to recover again. This was his moment in his life to show which path he'd carve for himself.​

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"Are you ready?"​

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[Kahlil Noble]

The mirror.

Even without an explanation, Kahlil could already tell this was going to be a test of the darkness within him. All to.. What? Regain his connection to the Force? Was that something he even wanted? He wasn't sure, but standing here with Valery Noble made it more obvious that, perhaps, he needed to. Whatever the case, he was certain he'd find out if he went. "As ready as I'll ever be."

He smiled, squeezing Valery Noble 's hand more firmly. They had always been a part of each other.

"What better place then a lava filled chamber to reminisce on the past, hmm?"

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Mortis​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Long, white dress​

Tag: Kahlil Noble ​

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Valery smiled warmly when he squeezed her hand more firmly. If the real Valery had been in her place, there would have been no way she'd ever let him go. But right now, the woman was here to guide and support him more than anything else. To help him along the path to finding her and his Force-sensitivity again.​

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It didn't, however, stop her from being quite like the real Valery.​

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"What better place than a lava-filled chamber to reminisce on the past, hmm?"​

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"I know a place or two," she said with the faintest of smirks, making it more difficult to tell whether she was joking or being serious with him.​

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The woman then turned around and began to walk down the road leading up to the volcano that held the Well of the Dark Side within. The transition was a strange thing, going from a vast and beautiful forest into scorched lands with large cracks forming in the ground that ran up all the way to the caldera.​

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As they walked through these shadowy lands, creatures stood within the darkness, lurking as they passed by. While Valery seemed to pay no attention to them, they were certainly looking at her, but even more so at Kahlil. They all felt familiar, and their figures had something recognizable to them as well.​

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"Don't let those demons stare too deep," Valery commented as they reached the entrance.​

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"Inside the Caldera, you will face the mirror — you will see things, feel things; much like you may in the darkest of visions at night. But no matter what, you can't break." she turned to him, her eyes glistening against the light of the lava around them. She wasn't real but her emotions towards him certainly seemed to be. She was a part of him.​

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[Kahlil Noble]

Kahlil kept his gaze forward as they walked through the shadows. He knew all too well what demons could be watching him. Echoes or real, the dangers they presented were real enough. But even in the dark there seemed to be light. The lava filled chamber burned just before him and Valery Noble . He kept his hand in hers, still squeezing. Still not really wanting to let her go. She might not be her, but already the idea of pulling away now left him feeling.. Hollow.

Yet as she seemed to be worried, he just smiled. His hand pulled from hers as he reached up, gently patting the top of her head before leaning down to kiss her forehead. "I'll see you soon, then." He wouldn't fail. He turned then, walking into the chamber and leaving her there, ready for whatever trial the Mirror would bring.

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Mortis​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Long, white dress​

Tag: Kahlil Noble ​

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A tremor could be felt between the two as Kahlil retrieved his hand, a sign that he was about to enter this trial. But his touch and kiss against her forehead made the woman smile, and feel more relieved. As worried as she was, his confidence mattered most right now and gave her the strength to let him go.​

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"I'll see you soon, love."​

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She then watched as Kahlil stepped away and into the dark chamber ahead of him, a soft smile resting on her face, a clear desire for him to return to her soon. But as he ventured deeper into this Nexus of the Dark Side, all of his focus was forced away from the woman he left behind for now — something dark awaited and it demanded his attention.​

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Stepping into the dark chamber, the call from the Dark first manifested itself as a cold breeze blowing against him, breaking the eerie silence inside like a whisper. ​

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But then, a voice.​

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"Welcome, my apprentice." the familiar voice of the Dark Lord said with his usual aura of Dark confidence.​

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The man's face and his corrupted eyes seemed to stare at him from the darkness around him, drawing in his son's gaze until another voice spoke to him.​

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"Why did you leave me?"​

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An image of Valery looking up at Kahlil with teary eyes on Spira moved around him like a Shadow, showing their last moment together before his fall. But something felt different about it — as if the images showed some twisted reality where all hope of ever being together in the Light had vanished. ​

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There was only the Dark Side now.​

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[Kahlil Noble]

It was an odd feeling to step into a heart of darkness with only a numb connection to the Force. The Echo didn't feel cold, not like when he'd stepped before his father before. His gaze lingered on the image as the trial seemed to begin, only to watch as it shifted to something else. Valery Noble again, like before. But.. Wrong. The images continued to swirl around him. Joycelyn Zambrano on his ship, her molten image before she knocked him out cold. The near empty room he spent a week in study trying to find a way to break his Solari crystal. The streets where he'd been cut from the Force.

Images of his path forward. Death, pain. Darth Carnifex coming for him and Valery. His lips thinned, but the swirl of twisted imagery didn't consume him. He walked deeper into the room, before the chasm of lava. The literal heart of darkness here on Mortis. HIs silvery gaze lingered.

"This isn't my future. Not anymore."

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Mortis​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Long, white dress​

Tag: Kahlil Noble ​

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"What stops it from happening again?"​

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The voice came from behind and as he turned, he'd see the woman he left behind earlier, albeit very differently. Her hair looked like a mess, with long strands dangling in front of her face. Her dress was torn and bloodied, and her expression was somber as if she had seen the worst thing imaginable. She looked like she had gone through hell, and something about the way she stared at Kahlil made it seem as if he was at fault.​

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"You never returned to the Light, you just lost it all." her voice echoed harshly​

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All around him, images began to appear and fade within the lava and shadows, capturing every mistake he made as a young boy, up until his recent fall. Among them were also images of things that had never happened, but could have been — killing Jedi, striking fear into the hearts of people at his father's command, and confronting a broken woman desperate to get him back.​

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"Would you have returned if things had gone differently?" She asked more confrontationally, and in a way that made her seem distant from the Valery he knew. She never lost hope in him, but should she have?​

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"What stops you from hurting them in the future? From hurting me?" And our daughter? But the last question never left her lips, even here choosing for it to remain a mystery.​

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[Kahlil Noble]

Questions he wasn't sure how to answer. It was true. He hadn't returned to the light so much as been stripped of the choice. Denied the Dark. Could he really be sure that he wouldn't end up back in the dark, as this specter asked? He let out a sigh, turning his gaze from the swirling images to the echo of Valery Noble standing before him.

"Would you have returned if things had gone differently?"

"I can't say for sure, but at that time? No." No reason for him to believe any different. The drug that was the Dark had clouded his mind. Made what felt wrong feel good. Enough that he couldn't see how far he was falling. How much it was twisting him. "The only reason I'm here is because of the acts of a stranger. But.. The specter that hung over my head. My fate. It's gone. Whatever I choose, it's my choice."

The realization was there as he spoke it aloud. He smiled, a goofy sort as he rubbed at the back of his head. Even here, among all this darkness, he couldn't deny who he was anymore. "I'm Kahlil. I'll never hurt those I care about, not again. If you can't believe me, then just watch." The goofy smile turned to a grin, brimming with confidence. "I'll prove it. Every day."

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Mortis​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Long, white dress​

Tag: Kahlil Noble ​

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The realization was there as he spoke it aloud. He smiled, a goofy sort as he rubbed at the back of his head. Even here, among all this darkness, he couldn't deny who he was anymore. "I'm Kahlil. I'll never hurt those I care about, not again. If you can't believe me, then just watch." The goofy smile turned to a grin, brimming with confidence. "I'll prove it. Every day."

"But what if someone else does?"​

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As the woman asked her question, a tall and dark unrecognizable figure appeared behind her, and Kahlil would immediately feel a single echo of danger through the bond he shared with Valery. A large blade then thrust through the woman's back, exploding out her gut and within an instant, the light from her eyes faded away.​

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Darkness enveloped both figures and Kahlil would stand alone in the eerie silence again, only images lingering and the voice coming back through the chasm.​

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"Will your promise still hold?"​

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[Kahlil Noble]

He visibly tensed. Flinched. Kahlil reached out, as if he could stop the image from what was going to happen. Instead, all he could do was watch. His open hand curled to a fist as he took a breath, closing his eyes. The future, that imagery, he knew it all too well. It was his nightmare. His deepest fear and why he'd even dived into the dark to begin with. Him, but not. He let out the breath, let out the brief fear that had filled him.

"I cannot protect her from everything. But I will try."

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Mortis​

Valery: Appearance​

Outfit: Long, white dress​

Tag: Kahlil Noble ​

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"Very well."​

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The voice spoke one last time before all phantoms and images finally faded, leaving him within the hot Caldera. There was silence once again but he could feel something else as well — the bond called out to him, asking him to return the way he came. His trial was over; he had faced his inner darkness and now it was time to leave this place behind.​

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Stepping outside, he would be greeted by a warm smile, the familiar one he'd always see when he returned to her. She knew he had accomplished his task, and smiled proudly at him because of it.​

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"You've done well, love," she said, her voice gentle.​

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"While you cannot stay, I'm sure we will find each other again soon."​

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