No Regrets Here

[Angelo Cavataio]

Voss, it was chosen because of the stories that Nox had told Angelo long ago. The stories were more about his father and their mother. Nox did not have all the details; however, two things stuck out to Angelo. Mystics helping the two Sith out with visions and understanding, and the other had been the birth of the Cavataio name and family. If Mystics did that, then he was placing wishes on them for helping his niece out. He wanted her to see what the universe saw.

Sitting on the edge of the bed, Angelo looked over his shoulder at a sleeping Asteria. Time had flown by faster than what he thought it would. It was not a complaint. It just meant the say was true, sadly. Time la flies when having la fun. It had been almost a month since first arriving. He got his lazy butt up to go clean up in the shower. As he went to the bathroom, he had to think the last time he saw Scherezade anywhere in the penthouse. It was a bit difficult to find a memory after arriving that had her in it. He believed she slipped out. Going into the shower, he assumed she was off world somewhere.

After the shower, Angelo quickly got dress in simple shirt and common slacks. He wanted to be more relax compare the last time Scherezade last saw him. Before even leaving, it would be stupid not to tell Asteria that he was leaving. Going over, he leaned down to kiss her cheek. He spoke softly that he was going to find Scherezade to help her and get some answers himself on Voss. He would be back in a week or less. It was unsure where Scherezade was so that would take the most time. Then he pulled the covers up and sort of tucked her in.

Once in the ship, a message was sent to Asteria’s assistant to schedule his time away so Asteria when he was coming back for sure. He had to make sure there was not any miscommunication between the two. Following that up, he used memories of how Scherezade communicated. Messages were sent out. It was simple requests of wishing to meet up and he would pick her up if she would tell him where to go.

Angelo decided to plot his course to Leritor. In case he had to wait. He could update his mother on the matters she wanted. It would keep the spell in check while away from Asteria. Oh, how he did not want to see her, but he did not want the spell to takeover to ensure Petra’s commands were carried out.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

She was... She was actually doing better. Or well, doing less worse. She was still not eating, still not sleeping, still drunk, but... She wasn't drunk 24/7 anymore. No. After her success in bringing her uncle and aunt back together, after receiving the lightabers from Josh, after... After a few successes under her belt, she'd made an actual advancement. She found a place in which she could not think, not feel, not have the bad memories swat at her insides and make her feel like dying with every breath.

That place was the training room.

And while it hadn't been too long, she'd managed to spend anywhere between two and four hours a day training like the predator she was meant to be. Muscles ached, bruises formed, and her body hurt in that sweet way that a body did after intense work outs. Once, she had tried running, but it had demanded too much thought, so she didn't go back to it. But against training droids, training dummies, with her lightsabers out, with her knives dancing in the air, even with vibroswords that were not the Sword of Darkness, Scherezade was training again.

And then celebrating the end of every work out with a bottle and a shower. You couldn't have it all. Her face still looked like crap, but her body was holding itself up just a little bit straighter.

When she received Angelo's message though, she bit her lower lip. Her droid was by her, still scanning messages of the CIS, collecting anything and everything it could find that had to do both with the Mandragora and the Knights Obsidian. But Leritor...

"Petra will know if I am there," she sent him back, "I'll wait for you in orbit. I don't want to see her."

She still had to tell him. She had to tell him she'd made a bargain with Petra. In the memories she had shown him, that had not been a part of it, and somehow the subject had not come up while they'd made their way to Spira.

Scherezade took a swig from her bottle and set the ship to Leritor's orbit. She had no intention of landing there.

[member="Angelo Cavataio"]

 

[Angelo Cavataio]

Travel took a bit, but hyper lines made it go a little faster. Still, Angelo was surprise to get a reply that she would be in orbit. He assumed that sharing pretty much everything with her gave her insight to him. However, the Petra remark made it sound odd because he was unaware of any deals Scherezade and Petra had made. The comment of Petra stuck with him. It would need to be asked about later.

Right now, Angelo needed to get Stabby McStab-stab onto his ship. Calling over, “See you beat me here…” He wanted to add a little more but they were would have some time to talk. “I’ll dock, and you can join me. We’ll head to a planet that’s new for ya… you know one that’s all green, large animals, and people that use the force.” Chuckled afterward, one had to love dry dad humor. Then he maneuvered his ship to latch on to Scherezade’s ship.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

"We are NOT going to Endelaan!" Scherezade send back, almost screaming. She couldn't. There was no way Angelo was going to take her back there. She couldn't. She was too weak, too broken. She couldn't show up there. They'd know who she was immediately and kick her out, or worse.

Moments later, she'd docked and joined him.

Uncle Angelo had a pass that other people didn't. As soon as she saw him, she gave him a hug. "I take it things are going well with Auntie Asteria?" she asked with a shadow of a smile. Her one true success, getting those two back together.

[member="Angelo Cavataio"]

 

[Angelo Cavataio]

In space one cannot hear you scream in space; however, everyone could when it came to Scherezade’s request of avoiding Endelaan. Gladly, it was not where they were going. Angelo had another plan. Voss was a better choice for them. He wanted to see if there was a happy Scherezade and he knew how to permanently kill Petra.

A hug was always welcomed. Angelo returned the hug, and happily replied back. “Everything is great with Asteria.” Then he let the little goober go. He released the clamps that held both ships together. Adding, “And the planet I was talking about was Voss… since it has common features to like a million other worlds.”

Angelo went to the cockpit to enter in the coordinates. Before returning to Scherezade, he sent the ship into hyperspace. Then he continued to add more about time with Asteria. “You did good with pushing me forward. I was a bit stuck. Thank you and cause of that. I discover the dumb spell doesn’t talk or does anything when with Asteria. That’s been a big plus.” He had to give her a big hug for all the good she had done.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Voss? Not Endelaan? Okay, that meant Scherezade could breathe a little. And then her grandmother's information flooded her mind and she staggered backwards, feeling as though they were punching her from the inside. It was a planet of power, a planet of... Of danger. Why would Angelo want to go there? There were all sorts of Force moogah boogahs there. Were they really going to be safe? Sure, Angelo had the experience with the Force that she did not, while she had grandmother's memories, but would that be enough?

She said nothing though.

When Angelo came back and they were in hyperspace, she was already sitting down, drinking from her bottle, her array of weapons (12 knives, 2 lightsabers, a gun) spread next to her. He hugged her again after explaining what happened with the spell next to Asteria.

Scherezade smiled.

"I'm happy for you," she said earnestly, feeling the pain on the inside, knowing she was not going to have a moment like that with Gerwald, not in a million years. "So why are we going to Voss instead of you spending more time with Asteria?"


[member="Angelo Cavataio"]

 

[Angelo Cavataio]

“One, we are family so instead of worrying about you. You get force family time with your favorite uncle.” Angelo chuckled with that cheeky grin of his. Always trying to be lighthearted, the other side would be depressing and trapped under Petra’s spell completely. As darkness and the awfulness of his mother was trying to consume him, he was dead set on making sure HIS family was loved and protected. It also meant the girl with him that had a small weapon locker on display.

After the chuckling, he continued. “Second, we are going to Voss for answers… I have questions and I bet you have your own set of questions. I am hoping the Mystics can give answers to help us. Plus it is always good to see the galaxy.”


[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Her favorite uncle. Right now, he was her only uncle. She knew that her mother had a brother named Adam, and that he, along with Asteria, was the apple in their mother's eyes, but despite her best efforts, she had found no mentions of him, no whispers. Nothing. It was as though he'd died before the Gulag, and while she doubted that was really the case, she knew with a certain certainty that he was not alive right now anyway. Still, Angelo was right. Even if by a technicality, he was her favorite uncle. And of the family members that were alive, he was the closest one to her.

And then he explained why they were going to Voss. She understood that he had questions, but as for herself... She wasn't so sure. The Silver Jedis were trying to help her, but it wasn't really going forward. It was all theories and failed attempts anyway.

"I don't believe in the Mystics," she said quietly, "Mystics, Seers, whatever you want to call them. Endelaan as an entire ring of them and they still didn't see or do anything about what was supposed to happen. If the power of Mystics and Seers was real then things would not have played out the way they have. I don't care if my mother was labeled as a Seer too. It's not a real thing."

[member="Angelo Cavataio"]

 

[Angelo Cavataio]

Angelo could understand Scherezade’s view. He was like that once. Then he met a niece that loved to talk to anything like shoes and walls about events. The little girl predicted several bad turns in missions he had before they happen with ways of handling them. Remembering those predictions, he got out alive. It showed him that force had many more ways than he thought. It allowed him to be a little more open to ideas and rumors. There could be bases of reality in them, but like Voss, seeing was believing.

“That’s understandable, Scherezade…” Angelo said, adding to it, “Just view it like this… the Voss see and use the force differently than us, so maybe their different perspective on life and force could give them a way to view that we might not have thought of.” He finished that but then earlier floated up. So he continued, “Like, I might ask why my niece did not want Petra know she was on the same planet?”

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

There were an endless ways to use the Force. Just because the Mystic on Voss used another method, didn't mean that they were right, or even really able to tell anything. Scherezade was more willing to bet that they took a look at those who asked questions and made some cold calculations before answering. The Force held within it all the possibilities, so how would those stupid Mystics have an inkling to guess with what might even maybe be the right ones?

Still, she would humor Angelo. It beat hiding on planets Gerwald wasn't on and drinking herself to death. Not that she had any inclination to stop drinking in the foreseeable future. Those two to four hours of training a day were hard enough as it were.

And the he hit her with that question.

Truth be told, Scherezade hadn't actually meant to hide it from him. With all the things they were dealing with when she was on Dathomir, it just didn't seem important enough, and then she left him alone with Asteria. So really, it just hadn't come up. And now that it had, she sort of wished she hadn't.

She sighed and took another swig from the bottle.

"Before I found you, she invited me to Leritor," she sighed again, "she gave me witches' brew and I lost consciousness. When I woke up I was in a room, and she was sitting there. After I made a deal with her, she told me where to find you."

Before Angelo could ask exactly what kind of deal, Scherezade resumed, "the deal was that she finds my mother, my father, and my brother. And then I help her destroy Dathomir." Scherezade looked at Angelo. He'd show her what he'd done, under Petra's command, "I guess she really hates that planet if she has a bunch of people working on ruining it. She gave me a whisper stone that's tethered to her."

[member="Angelo Cavataio"]

 

[Angelo Cavataio]

Oh, his blood was boiling, Angelo quickly went into tunnel vision with the last bit Scherezade had said. He knew what that stone was really for. They, being Cavataio, saw Petra give gifts to Clan Mothers on Dathomir all years ago. Tokens of a united world was what they were sold ass, but Petra used them to corrupt them so Clans could be converted into the cult that Petra had running. Concern were in his words while anger sat at the base to support the worry in his voice. “Please say that stone is on your ship still…”

Angelo stuck his right hand out as his other was reaching for one of the sabers Scherezade had out. “If it’s here… I need it now.” The tone remained the same. He needed to protect Scherezade from Petra. A wish of being around before now came to mind. The girl had a lot on her plate already. She did not need Petra’s corruption and twisted plans.

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

She could feel the boil of his blood. Scherezade didn't stagger back, didn't pretend to be surprised. She had made the deal with Petra long before she had found Angelo and he shared his memories with her. And while it was true that even while meeting Petra she had come to the conclusion that Petra and her mother were essentially made of the same stuff... No, she didn't really have an excuse. If Angelo was angry at her, he was right, and she wouldn't shy away from it. Though she did find it hard to not stare at the floor.

"It's here," she said quietly, looking up at him only now. Why did the tethering stone matter? It was just a way to communicate, to call Petra and a sort of SOS moment. Still, Scherezade trusted Angelo. The little voices in the back of her mind hissed, reminding her that she wasn't allowed to. That if she trusted him, it was only a matter of time before he betrayed her. She ignored the voice, and dug into her pocket, removing the little thing.

"The saber is set to lowest setting," she told Angelo, "it can't even remove a limb like that. But before you up it and destroy the stone, would you tell me why you're reacting like that and what this stone is beyond what I was told?"


[member="Angelo Cavataio"]

 

[Angelo Cavataio]

“It is an item that Petra personally had a hand in.” Angelo said as best he could while forcing to calm down. He had to from what he noticed. Scherezade was looking down. He might have been a little over board; however, things with Petra were always extreme. Taking his right hand from waiting the stone, he put his arm around her to give her a side hug. “None of this is your fault… Petra has used items to corrupt people into following her. She used necklaces with gems to get into the heads of the Clan Mothers on Dathomir. She used the method to make Dathomir part of her cult.”

Angelo put the saber on the table. He felt a bit bad of overacting. “I’m sorry for my behavior. I am assuming she is using the stone to corrupt you enough to use you for her plans. I’m just trying to protect you, Scherezade.” Angelo wanted to handle all this better; however, his emotions got to him so quickly. “What would you like to do?”

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Petra used things in the past to corrupt other witches. Scherezade blinked, looking at the stone in her hand. It didn't feel like it was corrupting her. A quick glance at her own memories, she didn't see any differences in behavior except...

"I don't think it's corrupting me," she said, looking at her uncle, "the only thing that's changed since I got it is that I... Is that I trust you. And I don't really trust anyone. How is that corruption? I don't think the stone had anything to do with it. I'm still drinking, and not sleeping, and not eating... I do some training, but again, that's not corruption."

She sighed, taking a seat now, playing with the stone in her hands. "How do I know if it's corrupting me? What if it's not?"


[member="Angelo Cavataio"]

 

[Angelo Cavataio]

Well that was a good question from Scherezade. Angelo did not know the answer. He was more reacting to the complete assumption that Petra was up to no good again. That was the pattern in the family. To him, it was safer to bet on Petra doing something bad over anything being done with good intentions. Then again, she was also bringing up trust and him. Could he be over reacting, he has done that before, but this could all be a game that Petra was playing. Poor guy did not know. There was one thing he stand by though. He was sure about the trust. Which he remarked on, “I believe the trust is more from you knowing who I am... Even down to the spell that Petra has going in my head, and for the stone, I don’t know… It could be harmless, bad or a game of paranoia. All I know when it comes to her corruption, it is a super slow burning one. She has all the time in the world, so she doesn’t rush with her plans. That leaves us stuck with not knowing until we get to Voss.”

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

Super slow burning corruption. Force. The same stuff Shery was made of.

Scherezade looked at the stone again. If it was corrupting her, she really did not feel it. And if it was slow... Maybe she could keep it for a time, just in case she had need of it, and then get rid of it when the first signs of corruption showed? No, that was not smart thinking. If it really was going to corrupt her, getting rid of it sooner rather than later was one of the most important things ever.

"So we ask the Mystics," she agreed with her uncle, "and if it's corrupted, we destroy it."

Looking up at Angelo, the Sithling gave him... Not exactly a smile, but something that was close to it, and she took her lightsaber back from the table. "It's called Smoke, and a friend built it for me. Part of a set, called Fire and Smoke."

[member="Angelo Cavataio"]

 

[Angelo Cavataio]

It was good they were on the same page. Not saying out right that the stone would be questioned with the Mystics, but Angelo was happy the hint was picked up on.

Angelo sat down on the other side of the table from Scherezade, looking down at the sabers. He asked, “Why did you name your sabers Fire and Smoke?”

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

"I didn't," Scherezade answered. There was no keeping secrets from Uncle Angelo. In a weird way, he was starting to feel more like a father to her than an uncle. But she wasn't going to say it. He had a daughter, and her name was Celestine. She was sort of scared to also ask why he was with her now and not with his daughter. Some questions though... Were for later.

"I have a Jedi... friend," she said, tasting the word friend very carefully. It was only recently that she started to come to terms with it. "He knows a lot about what's happened, with Gerwald and Katrine..."

She rubbed her eyes and took another drink from her bottle. "He also saw me fight because I killed some buttholes that tried to kill him the night we met. He thought... He thought making me sabers would cheer me up. He's been trying to cheer me up and help me all along. He made the hilts from silver because of werewolf folklore. And then he taught me how to use them."


[member="Angelo Cavataio"]

 

[Angelo Cavataio]

Jedi, they were a joke. Of course, Angelo’s view was more form from a few that came into the family then abandon when they were needed. There were exceptions, but they had become willing give up being Jedi. The ones that abandon, they were common ones. The three that stood out were Tony’s two ex-wives, Squeak’s ex-boyfriend… that boyfriend to Squeak and father of Meteora abandon Squeak when she needed help. Angelo came to the call. That would have been the end of it; however, the force loved to remain that it plays games too. That boyfriend was Kamon Vondiranach, same one that Scherezade showed Angelo in the memory sharing that almost killed her. It got his blood boiling again. He was not there to protect her. There were many reasons why he was not, but his mind decided to the pick the simplest one, Petra’s fault. No logic was needed. He was getting angry and everything was her fault then.

Still, this was Scherezade in front of him. He needed to be relax. Anger issues had to be put to the side. Taking a deep breath and exhaling slowly, centering himself before the dad side came out, “That’s nice he is trying to cheer you up… so what is his name? What Jedi Order is he with? And, how do you really feel about your friend? Have to ask because I know groups that view saber crafting being very personal so want to make sure all is on the up and up.”

[member="Scherezade deWinter"]

 

[Scherezade deWinter]

This time, she was confused when she felt Angelo's anger boiling again. Had she said something to set him off? Even if she had, he took control of it fast enough, and then rapid fired her with questions.

Scherezade took a swig from her bottle as she prepared her answers.

"His name is Josh," she answered, "and he's with the Silvers. He's their battle and weapon master."

The rest... Was more complicated.

"I randomly stumbled into him on Zeltron and I seduced him. Sort of. I thought... I thought if I could sleep with someone else, it would help me forget Gerwald. But it didn't. It was horrible, for both of us. We've never done it again, and we never will. We met again on Nelvaan when I found Katrine's mother. I broke down again because of that vile woman and Josh was there to help. We've been meeting regularly since, and he's been listening to me with infinite patience while I cry about Gerwald and Katrine. I told him not to love me, not to care about me... He didn't listen, and he does anyway. But not in the romantic sense of it. We're just friends."


[member="Angelo Cavataio"]