Private Rivaling Legacies

[Mathieu Brion]

It was fortunate that Palm was as forgiving and understanding as she was, for it was an important part in Mathieu being able to let go of how bad he felt for having stretched out that hand to potentially save her from danger. She had forgiven him - and he would not forget. It was his responsibility to do what was right and he had just now almost done something which was horribly wrong. In a way, he worried that it might be a path to the dark side - in the same way that stealing is wrong, the former Mercenary thought that using the force to affect the world around him was wrong - and if he kept doing what was wrong, what was there to keep him from falling further?

Mathieu shook his head to get back to the present - they were in the temple now, it was time to focus. With or without the help of the force.

For a few moments, he forgot how how unpleasant the smell of his clothes was when his eyes were drawn to the many Ysalamiri nearby. It meant that it would probably be some time before he could reach out to see if he could sense Caden again. Hopefully, this cluster made up most of the pack which meant that it wouldn't matter in which direction they went, seeing as they would be getting away from the central point of the force null-field regardless.

"You're probably right, Palm" he said, almost sounding a bit disheartened has he picked up the pace. He still hoped for the best - both that the presence of Caden would remain and also that he would be able to reach out sooner rather than later. It was then that they encountered the detached corner piece of the holocron.

Once again, she was right. It was amazing and seeing the high amount of Ysalamiri nearby, it was no wonder why it had not been found earlier - the animals were covering its force signature, keeping it rather well hidden. At least that was the theory he went by now - it was fully possible that it could also just be a hopelessly broken holocron they were looking at where the parts were dispersed across too wide of an area to even produce a force signature. Still, he hoped for the best - what else was there to do?

Nodding slowly, the new Jedi Padawan mumbled "I'm sure they would be" before closing his palm and leaning his head in towards where the corridor led "At least if we can find the entire thing. Let's check" It seemed like a solemn but peaceful place. Had he lived a few hundred years ago, this might have been a temple at which he could have learned at. It was a curious thought and one which brought a slight sense of solemnity as the halls had now laid empty for so many years.

Before long, the corridor lead out into a grand hall. But it was at a lower level with one staircase leading down to the left and the other to the right - both into the same wide-open area. This was mirrored on the other side of the room where two staircases lead up - but instead of leading into another corridor, they seemed to lead into a room. The open area below contained a fair amount of water but it was far more shallow than earlier - boots would offer enough protection and this water was completely transparent, letting them observe the stone floor below. "It's probably rainwater" he said, momentarily ignoring her question. He was in awe of what he saw and wouldn't be surprised if she was too. Rows of long-ruined archive databanks could be seen along the walls whilst what remained of a once beautiful mat was floating in the still waters.

This room also housed a number of Ysalamiri and many of them seemed to use the pool that had formed inside as a water source and playgound. At the corner by the other end of the room, two of them were causing a bit of a ruckus but the waves from it barely even reached Palm and Mathieu. He relaxed, letting his shoulders slouch low "Even without the force, I feel at peace here" he said before taking off his boots - they were rather dirty from before and he would prefer not too contaminate the water too much. In fact, he even tried to brush off his feet before moving down the stairs.

The large Morellian moved along the edge of the room, slowly letting his ankle produce a soft little sound as he dragged them over the calm surface of the pool. "I don't know, Palm." he said, almost out of nowhere. At least that was how it felt for him as his voice broke through the peaceful atmosphere like a hot knife through butter. "We were in a battle together. Fighting for the light and what was right." he said.

Pausing, he clicked one of the archive buttons to see if it would want to work but unfortunately, it did not. "I get hurt, badly. And when I woke up, my friend was gone. Caden was gone and all that remained was a note. I have searched for him, but it has been impossible to track him down so far and with what the note said-..." he spoke, still trusting her and being open about most things - but in the end, he trailed off. After a few moments, he had recomposed himself "With all that, I feared the worst. I thought I felt him now, but it was not the same."

Palm-Imer

 

[Palm-Imer]

Location: Forests of Myrkr.
Wearing: XxX.
Equipment/Armament: The Wraith Blades.
Tagging: Mathieu Brion

Her eyes wondered through the room that the passage way had led them to. It was beautiful, and Palm too could feel that sense of strange familiarity, of past belonging, that temples tended to offer. It had been a home to many people, and sometimes Palm felt as though the walls remembered this past and felt gladdened at the idea of embracing newcomers. Much like her own Navah-Xaes did. "Spoken like a true soll'nav," She said, jesting but with a proud smile on her face. One of their main teachings, after all, was to find purpose and balance beyond the Force.

She imitated Mathieu's actions, removing her boots so as to not disturb the water. The gesture made a very slight anxiousness set within her, the geminaie were very careful of their hands and feet which were the tools that allowed them to climb. Although, truth be told, she hadn't properly climbed using them for a very long time. Grip strength or her hands alone had gotten her so far. Even though her eyes still explored the new surroundings, she was listening very attentively to Matt as he spoke.

A pang of worry ran through her when he said he had been injured, and even though he seemed perfectly fine to her now she couldn't stop herself from asking, "You are okay now, right?" Not all injuries were evident, and she hoped no long-lasting damage had been inflicted upon him. Palm was protective, but she didn't want to mother-hen Mathieu. Not when she knew she ran into dangerous situations quite frequently herself, she had to trust him to take care of himself just like he trusted her.

Her eyes reached the ceiling, but for a moment her concentration was more on her own thoughts as she processed Matt's words. Battle was...difficult. Palm had learnt quite quickly that situations like that were triggers, they augmented everything you ever felt, specially the bad. And even though she did not know this friend, it was not difficult for her to imagine millions of possibilities of what could have happened. But right now, she did know Mathieu and it was even easier to empathize with the pain that losing someone he cared for could mean. Hell, she knew that fear and that pain herself, in many ways.

"If he is here we'll find him, Matt." She didn't want to say 'i promise', because Palm had lost faith in promises a long time ago. She would not claim to be able of something she wasn't sure of, but the tone in her voice did carry an assurance: she'd do everything she could to help. It was then that something clicked within her, when her focus finally returned to the ceiling. There were a series of carvings and images, all revolving around a central circle. It looked like...

"Hey, doesn't that look like....a gate?" She asked, brow furrowed. There was only one way to get up there, and after sending one look to Matt as if asking for confirmation, Palm un-clipped her backpack and removed her gloves, setting them down in the nearest dry surface she could find before walking towards one of the pillars present in the room. Placing her hands on the pillar, followed by her feet, she was soon climbing up the smooth surface not unlike a spider, swiftly and with ease. Once she reached the ceiling she maneuvered herself to the new position, now hovering several meters above the shallow pool as she neared the center of the ceiling.

There was a lot of dirt, probably dragged there by the rain and humidity, covering part of the design. Making sure to keep her face away, she rubbed one of her hands across the circle, letting the dirt fall and revealing the carving: symbols, like the ones that were carved in the bases of the pillars. Palm admired it for a second, her mind working with the newly found information. "Its a puzzle, I think. A code to unlock this thing."

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Another dead button. Getting the archives to work again seemed like a hopeless endeavor. His wide back was turned against the Diplomat when she asked if he was alright now. To him, the words felt as sweet as honey. Truly, she was a good friend to him. A sweet smile spread across his lips as his heart melted "Oh you" he said whilst wading over to where she was - weather they were a little bit stinky from the swamp swim or not, he would not give her much of a choice as his arms opened wide for a hug. "I'm just fine" he said, sweetly as the side of his head was pressed against hers and his chin being pressed against her shoulder. Both his legs and his torso were bent a little to accommodate for the height difference - but it was nothing which he had not already got used to.

Another smile spread across his face as they released the hug and she told him that they would find Caden if he was there. Palm was an accomplished force user, especially in regards to force sense, and so, it gave him some more hope. "That means a lot to me" he said smilingly before adding "In the end, I suppose the force will decide. Either that, or these guys will." he said, pointing a casual finger at the Ysalamiri playing in the distance.

He looked up as she drew his attention to the ceiling. "What are you talking about?" he asked before, just a few moments later, letting out a long "Oooooh" as he finally saw what she was referring to. He was not just a little impressed as his Diplomat friend started to scale the walls up to the object of interest. It was a symbol of a gate, similar to the ones they had seen on their way in and it was inside a larger round pattern. In a way, it looked like a wheel that had been partitioned into five segments. Each segment had different sayings inscribed to them.

"Always search for the eye of the storm, for that is where the waters are tranquil"

"Do not rush to profess your own truth. For only through understanding your neighbour, will you understand the world"

"When drowning, relax and let yourself float for tensing up, flailing and grabbing for a raft will only make you sink faster"

"Even the tallest of waterfalls are calm and melodic from a Thranta's point of view. Do not be fooled to think that it is vile and wild when you are in it"

"Live your life to the fullest every day and trust in what binds us all together and keeps us alive."

It was an odd set of words "Maybe this wasn't a temple. Maybe this was always supposed to be a swim hall for the Ysalamiri to learn swimming in" he joked, not quite managing to wrap his head around what it meant. For that, he would need some more time, or perhaps a lot more time unless Palm had any insights. "Do you recognise any of those sayings from your travels? I can't recall having come across them at all. Waterfalls, Thrantas. Could it be and old reference to Alderaan?"

Palm-Imer

 

[Palm-Imer]

Location: Forests of Myrkr.
Wearing: XxX.
Equipment/Armament: The Wraith Blades.
Tagging: Mathieu Brion

Her nose did not feel happy about the suddenly doubled swamp-smell around its vicinity, but Palm did and so it’d have to put up with hit. When Mathieu came in for another hug, she complied happily, a sweet smile setting on her lips as she leaned her head slightly to the side to rest over his.

For a second, she thought they must have looked a lot like Maro and Nekran did when being affectionate with each other, and that turned her smile into a funny one. “Happy to hear that, although I did have a lecture on being careful that I was dying to berate you with…” Her first four words had been full of honesty, the rest merely playful banter made clear by the jesting tone in her voice.

XxX

Palm’s eyes scanned through the words on the carving, hovering only a few centimeters below them still securely attached to the ceiling. That was, until she heard Mathieu mention something about ysalamiri swimming lessons and her concentration was shattered, a laugh coming from her belly so suddenly that she almost lost her adhered grip. “Matt!” She exclaimed, still laughing as if play-scolding him for almost making her fall.

Trying to return her train of thought to its previous tracks, she began moving back towards the pillar, climbing down it until her feet were once more on the ground. She walked towards the Morellian, held tilted upwards to look again at the ceiling. “Sounds like it…” She had never been on Alderaan herself yet, but she knew the iconic references to the planet.

Her mind wrapped and unwrapped itself around the words in the inscription time and time again. “Turmoil from a Thantra’s point of view…” One of her hands was resting on her chin as she thought, trying to decipher the meaning. “The eye of the storm…” And then something clicked, her eyes widening slightly.

“Look at the rest of the carving around the ceiling, they look like a swirl, right? A storm. And the gate, the circle, is the center. The eye.” She moved to stand below it, as if to exemplify her words while her mind was still at work. Palm was silent for a moment, and then she looked down once more, her gaze meeting Mathieu’s.

“I think it means meditation…objectivity, the Thantra’s point of view. And well, its Jedi temple so I guess the rest of the wording, tranquility and calmness, that’s the Lightside.” Still looking at him, she walked away from the center, letting him take her position. Palm could try to meditate on the Lightside, but it would come easier to Mathieu.

In the meantime, there was a second problem to solve: the ysalamiri. The geminaie walked towards the playing creatures that hadn’t seemed to mind their presence so far. Luckily only a gentle shooing away was all that was needed until they scurried off.

Palm then stood to the side, watching as the Jedi Padawan began his meditation now that the Force was with them again, weak but there. For some reason, she couldn’t help but make sure to keep her hand near the hilt of her saber, a slight feeling of unwarranted worry suddenly taking over her, as if she didn’t trust what would happen after Matt unlocked…whatever it was that was going to be unlocked. Palm wasn’t one prone to unnecessary fear or worry, this was unlike her, but it was minimal enough to shrug it off, to go unnoticed even by her.

And then it happened.

As Mathieu provided the answer to the vague riddle, the circle in the ceiling began to slowly spin, the sound of rock against rock filling the silence of the chamber as the force seemed to strengthen momentarily. Then, the floor trembled and another circle, exactly where Mathieu had been kneeling, began to rise out of its own accord as the water in the pool fell like waterfall down the hole that had just been opened while the Morellian was raised towards the ceiling Palm had explored, through different means, some moments ago.

Once he reached a decent, reachable distance from the ceiling, the spinning circle split in two and receded into the rest of the roof, revealing a small, golden surface with two artifacts encrusted onto it: two ancient holograms.

 

[Mathieu Brion]

He was thinking hard on what the sentences could mean and listened in as Palm reasoned on the matter. She was making much better progress than he was. In many ways, Mathieu admired his friend and hoped that one day, maybe he could be more like her. At least when it came to thinking and reaching good conclusions.

And then she said it "that's the light side" and the pieces of the puzzle fell in place. Of course. Almost instinctively, he walked in under the symbol of the gate in the middle of the room, taking the spot she had left for him. He looked up at the symbols above "Can't hurt, right?" he said, looking at her with a soft smile before going down onto his knees, drenching large parts of his legs in the shallow waters. Meditation did not require the force - but the results were much greater when in connection to it. And as soon as the Ambassador had removed the Ysalamiri, allowing him to connect with the force once more, he meditated for real.

It was hard to concentrate properly - his mind kept going to Caden. But the sense of his presence was no longer there. Hopefully, it was because of the many Ysalamiri populating the forest, for the idea of him simply having sensed wrong, the idea that it had all just been wishful thinking: That idea was heart wrenching. His eyebrows furrowed as he grew more and more weary. Mathieu tended to be quite the optimist, but now he felt sad. Had he truly lost his friend forever? He let out a sight before trying to concentrate on what was good and the light. His thoughts went to the text on the 'wheel' and as if in a natural flow, they soon carried over to the Jedi code. It finally made sense to him.

Internally reciting first the five lines written up on top and then the five lines of the Jedi code, he started to see how well the sentences were flowing together. Despite the sudden spike of darkness that he had felt, Mathieu had soon found his way back to the light. With the waters now still and his connection to the force restored, Mathieu subconsciously started radiate. Glowing in what could best be compared to force light, he felt how the darkness started to recede and how the water slowly started to vanish from the platform he was on.

He never stopped meditating until the platform stopped rising and the 'gates' opened to reveal the two holocrons. Opening his eyes, he noticed how he was still radiating brightly. The square shaped holocron seemed to be inactive whilst the triangular one had an extremely faint glow to it. He picked up both and managed to grab the last piece for the cubical holocron before the platform slowly started to fall back down and the familiar process of stone grinding against stone could be heard once more.

SPLASH the little water that remain made quite the noise as the Ysalamiri found their way back into the pool, once again enveloping the two force sensitives in their fields. Mathieu immediately stopped glowing and the faint light that could be seen in the triangular holocron vanished. His eyes stood wide open, and so did his mouth. "Palm, what just happened? And will you look at this? Two Holocrons! This is huge" he spoke with a careful sense of awe a his eyes shifted between the two objects. "Let's have a quick look through the office over there before we go, come on." he said, walking towards it with excited steps. "I wanna go outside and see if we can open them. And fix this one!" he said, now clearly rather cheerful.

Palm-Imer

 

[Palm-Imer]

Location: Temple of Serenity.
Wearing: XxX.
Equipment/Armament: The Wraith Blades.
Tagging: Mathieu Brion

Palm remained silent and looked as her dear friend fell to his knees and prepared to meditate. Now with the ysalamiri removed, she could feel him once more through the Force and his sudden sadness made something deep within her stir, something unsettling, something that fed off her own concern for seeing her friend out of his usually high and energizing spirits. Mathieu soon found his way back into serenity, and lost himself in the Lightside which made her heart swell with pride and happiness for him. She was sure of it, this was his path, and she was grateful for being a witness to it...but why did that unsettling feeling still linger in the depths of her being, then?

As soon as the gates opened and she saw the holocrons she pushed these thoughts behind the curtain of her mind, willing herself to shrug that tiny but powerful disturbance off, ignoring it. Maybe it was not the wise thing to do, but it was the one she had unconsciously chosen. A smile stretched her lips as she walked towards Mathieu, happy both for their finding and for what she had just seen. "You, my friend, will be one great Jedi." It was not the first time that she had made this claim, with utter certainty, but she couldn't help but state it once more.

In other circumstances, she would have wanted to begin perusing the holocrons right then and there, but there was a more pressing matter at hand. They needed to get out of the temple to search for Mathieu's friend. Palm proceeded to go up the opposite stairs they had come from, allowing the holocrons to stay with Mathieu. Those were Jedi heritage, and although the Ambassador in her would have gladly taken them back to Geminidae, she felt they were his to claim. They belonged with Mathieu and the Jedi Order, knowing what was within them when they got a chance to study them would sufice to quench her curiosity.

A hallway and a turn later, Palm found herself in what looked like an old archive room, an office. Most of it seemed to be power-dead, much like the main hall had been, and only a few shelves contained some boxes and some severely damaged scrolls. Nature had not been gentle to the works that had remained in the temple, but that was no surprise. "I'll do a quick check" Some ysalamiri were sleeping idly in the corner of the room, enough to nullify the force in the whole space.

Palm moved swiftly and with purpose, checking boxes and scrolls. Most of it was unusable, but some books and some pieces of what she guessed had been artifacts in the past seemed valuable, those she stored into her sample containers where they would be preserved. Once she was ready, she immediately turned towards Mathieu and bumped her shoulder playfully into his - or into his arm, more precisely, given the towering height of the Morellian -, as if to nudge him forward, a smile on her face. "Come on, we've got some Friend Hunting to do," Although she was taking the matter very seriously, she tried to lighten up the mood a bit with her wording. She truly hated seeing Mathieu crestfallen.

 

[Mathieu Brion]

Sometimes, Mathieu had to restrain himself. This was one of those times, because he simply wanted to give her another hug upon receiving her nice compliment. Instead, he smiled - it was the kind of smile that he couldn't hide even if he tried. "You're not a Jedi, Palm. But that means a lot, coming from you. Thank you" he said

Mathieu followed the Geminian to the room. She was a much more capable explorer than himself. Even though he may not have been able to help as much as he would have hoped, he tried to pitch in when she needed a hand in moving the tablets and packaging them. Importantly, he also tried to pick up a few ticks and methods she was using to find and store old items.

The reaction two her bump didn't come immediately, but he did comply. Mathieu rarely had any qualms about following suggestions made by his friend and this was a sensible one too. And with that, he moved on out towards the exit. "That's a plan" he said and now - unbeknownst to him - that the dark side holocron was completely subdued due to the Ysalamiri presence, he managed to remain optimistic. "I couldn't sense him before, but I have faith." he said, looking down at her with a smile.

Taking the same familiar path out, the two of them would soon go back into the vegetated corridor. Mathieu stopped just before he left the temple and looked back at her "This was a successful trip. I hope we can piece this thing together once we've found Caden." But as soon as he took a step outside the temple, his hope seemed to falter once more. "But..." he said, trailing off as his gaze fell. The pyramid of a Holocron was now glowing brightly as the force light he subconsciously produced earlier was no longer there to suppress its dark sided force connection.

"But I can no longer feel him, Palm. My friend, I can't feel him." Mathieu put down both holocrons on the ground. They stood a real risk of sliding down but for the moment, he didn't think much of it - they could be picked back up when they got down there. He did not know that its dark presence affected him - in fact, he did not know that it had a dark presence at all, for its manipulative power was strong."I need to save him. But I'm too weak." he said, thinking of what he could possibly do and for the moment, his answer was to become more powerful.

Palm-Imer

 

[Palm-Imer]

Location: Temple of Serenity.
Wearing: XxX.
Equipment/Armament: The Wraith Blades.
Tagging: Mathieu Brion

In the last few months Palm had frequently found herself in the presence of the Darkside of the Force. Whether it was out of overconfidence or her refusal to acknowledge the feelings and changes that this had provoked, which so far she had handled fairly well, she liked to tell herself that this had made her stronger. That exposure was granting her strength against its whispers and its sways. But even if there was a slowly growing familiarity between her and the darkside, this did not mean she was any less taken aback when she stepped out of the temple alongside Mathieu and the presence of something powerful and deeply obscure hit her like a convoyex train.

For a split second she swore she could hear the whispers, the ones she knew so well from Dragonne Palace's reflecting pool, and her skin crawled, eyes widening as she suddenly feared having been dragged into an illusion or into the corners of her mind once more. Out of reflex she tried to reach out through the Force for the one person that had been her guide in such scenarios, Adron Malvern, but there was nothing there and the whispers receded.

An image ripped through her mind in a blinding and almost painful flash, so fast she could not even make out the clear shapes and forms. Yet even despite that, a terrible anguish set in her chest. It was not hard to recognize what that was, the Force had tried to show her something but she had missed it. Her breathing became heavy, one of her hands going to rest over her forehead as her knees attempt to buckle under her own weight, and would have if it wasn't for the fact that her other hand had braced against one of the temple walls.

She could hear its call so clearly, emotions trying to claw their way to the surface to feed on it. In a matter of seconds a profound fear and worry had taken root within her, and for a second she was desperate to try to stop it and avoid the incoming spiral that this could lead to. So her focus shifted onto the one beacon of light and security that was near: Mathieu. Her eyes set on the Morellian as she listened to his words, they sounded so unlike him...and then her gaze fell on the holocrons. One gave off a calming presence, but the other one told a much different tale.

Palm shrugged off her backpack, laying it next to the holocrons and taking out a strange box. It didn't look like the containers she had used before, this one was of a dark material. She opened it and, being so near it, could immediately feel its numbing and warping effect on the Force. The insides of the box were encrusted with small pieces of void stone. It had been a gift from Master Artem-Lahs, one she never thought she'd need to use until now. Taking the pyramid-shaped holocron, she put it as carefully but hastily as possible within the box before sealing it again. And soon the corrupting presence of it withdrew until it was nothing more than a distant, but still present disturbance.

Her amber gaze then locked on Mathieu's own deep blue one. She had never seen something as violently manipulative as this small artifact. Palm could still feel a slight tremble wanting to take over her body as she fought a silent war within her to push down the flashes of images and feelings that had wreaked havoc within her a mere moment ago. But she pushed through it to reach the Jedi Padawan and put a hand on his shoulder, not only to reassure and ground him, but herself. She did not trust herself with words right now, and didn't want to risk Mathieu taking notice of it.

 

[Mathieu Brion]

This was not sustainable. Mathieu was starting to realise that his current thought patterns were bad and unsustainable. While it was true that emotions could drive one towards the light, they could also have the opposite effect - once the dark had taken hold, its evil corruption could be hard to rid oneself of. Mathieu knew this, and so, he started mumbling the Jedi Code to himself, all whilst his mind simultaneously brought him back to the inscriptions on the puzzle from before. Slowly but surely, he was finding his way back to stability and to the light, ridding himself of the influence of the dark sided holocron.

Before it had completely dissipated, however, he felt how its effects were removed completely and suddenly. He looked around and saw how the triangular holocron was gone and that Palm had a box with the right size to store it. She came over and put an arm on his shoulder. Letting out a heavy breath, he looked to her with a smile "You did it" he said - not quite as affected as she seemed to be after having recovered by finding his way to the light.

The other holocron with the cubical shape still missed two corners. It's force signature was faint and when Mathieu tried to make it open, it wouldn't work. Bringing out the two corner pieces from his pocket, he tried to restore it. Sitting down with his legs crossed, the large Morellian closed his eyes and focused. Soon, the three components started to levitate, all floating a few decimetres away from his face. Through the force, Mathieu brought the pieces together. It guided him to set them in the right way, making the rather complicated and intricate process look easy and natural. This was not, primarily, thanks to his skill in the force, rather, it was him trusting in it and letting himself be its conduit.

With careful enthusiasm, he opened his eyes at let the cube drop into his open palm. It shone in a light blue light. While the initial concern was that it would have the same effect as the last one, this seemed to have quite the opposite one as Mathieu quickly felt reinvigorated in the light. He looked up to her with a smile "It's working" he said with a calm but happy voice.

Standing up once more, he held the holocron in his hand. "I wonder why they were together. I think we should listen to what this one has to say. But we should probably destroy the other one after. It was a source of darkness."

Palm-Imer

 

[Palm-Imer]

Location: Temple of Serenity.
Wearing: XxX.
Equipment/Armament: The Wraith Blades.
Tagging: Mathieu Brion

Her amber eyes followed Mathieu has he prepared to restore the remaining holocron, still not uttering a word. The other one now rested within the void stone box, and thinking of it made the images and feelings that had just plowed their way through her threaten to surface again, so she diverted her mind and concentrated on her surroundings and on Mathieu. Palm remained a bit closer than usual to him, sensing his presence in the Force, allowing his light to compensate for the sudden assault of the dark within her. Allowing it to pull her back towards her own center, her guarded neutrality.

She closed her eyes for a moment and breathed in, focusing on the flow of of the Force and re-finding her anchor point within it. Even if there was still a breakage in it, a disturbance that she couldn't quite dissipate, that would remain there and keep on pricking at her until it was addressed. But right now was not the moment or the time, she didn't have the answers needed and she knew Mathieu wouldn't either. At some point, Palm would be forced to revisit that flash that tried to tell her something, it was only a matter of finding the right timing.

Soon the light-side holocron was complete and usable once more, a smile offered to Mathieu at his accomplishment. "Good job," Finally breaking her silence, her voice sounded introspective and a contemplative, but there was a warmness to it inspired by her friend. Slowly but surely, she had returned to a safer and more familiar calmness. That unmistakable and faint strangeness or wrongness still lingered, but it was no longer keeping her from clear thoughts and better, less worrying emotions.

Then Mathieu mentioned destroying the other holocron, and Palm could feel herself disagreeing immediately. Whether it was caused by the artifact's influence or her curious and determined nature as an Ambassador could not be known, but she leaned towards believing the second one was in order. Even if that wasn't the case, the soll'nav could still study it when she returned to Geminidae and could give it to them, "I understand why you say that, what it made me feel was not...pleasant," Her tone let on that there was something more to it, but she was doing her best to be as open as she could bring herself to be.

"But I would like to keep it. It is not dangerous within the void stone box, and I'm sure the Order would like to have it." Of course, she meant the Soller Navah. They were very careful with these artifacts, it would not be the first time they procured and guarded a Darkside artifact. In their opinion, even if dangerous, all knowledge was valuable so long as one had the strength to attain it without being controlled by it. Palm waited for a moment, wanting to hear his opinion. Even if she did want to keep it, she also hoped that Mathieu would understand.

An ancient artifact wasn't worth fighting over with someone she cared as deeply about, but her obligations as an Ambassador had to take precedence sometimes. She was sure she'd already hear some reprimands if they found out she hadn't retrieved both holocrons. Although that, of course, was not up for debate. Maybe if Mathieu hadn't been a close friend her opinion would be different, but he was and Palm had no doubts that the holocron belonged with him and the Jedi Order.

"I'm ready when you are." Whether he chose to listen to the holocron now, or begin their way back towards the ships so they could begin their search for his friend, Palm would comply and follow him.

 

[Mathieu Brion]

His gaze went up, from the box containing the holocron up to her eyes. She didn't agree. Up until now, the two of them had often seen eye-to-eye on most things. Suddenly finding himself in disagreement with someone whom he respected so much and whom's friendship he valued so highly felt wrong to him.

But even though it felt wrong to disagree with her, his convictions mattered too. He had kept many of the core tenets of the Soller Navah and knew that they were adept at handling both light and dark sided teachings. But even with that in mind, did the young Morellian firmly believe that the darkness should be fought. He remembered how it had claimed Okkeus and with that, he also seemed to have lost Caden. "Palm, this is important to me. I cannot risk letting the dark side claim more people." he looked at her with pleading eyes "Please, give it to me" he said, taking a step closer and holding his hand out with an open palm.

Mathieu looked down at her, waiting for her to hand the box over. His breath felt increasingly heavy and if regarded with an observant eye, it would become clear that his resolve was wavering. With a sigh, he let his arm fall down as his head tilted forth and his usually good posture transformed, giving him a bit of a slouch. He trusted her with his life. There were a very limited amount of lines which he wouldn't consider crossing if she asked him to do so - and now, she wanted to keep the dark sided holocron. Mathieu was going to let her do that.

He bit his lower lip hard - if he had gone on, blood would surely have followed. The Padawan was beating himself up for what he was doing. "Just don't fall, okay? I can't loose you too." he said, looking up to her face with sorry eyes, weary of the risks of letting the holocron remain intact.

Palm-Imer

 

[Palm-Imer]

Location: Temple of Serenity.
Wearing: XxX.
Equipment/Armament: The Wraith Blades.
Tagging: Mathieu Brion

A light breeze run past them, making the coldness of the wet clothes more evident against Plam's skin. It would have been a welcomed sensation given the humid heat of Myrkyr's jungles, but it went unnoticed for her attention was placed solely on the Morellian. There was a saddened, almost apprehensive expression on her face. Much like him, Palm didn't want to go against his wishes. She was in the crossfire between her own interests and her duties, and because the nature of her personal interests was related to a friend she cared deeply about it was weighting heavily on her.

But before she could say anything, Mathieu's hand returned to rest at his side. He had chosen to trust her with this, and gratefulness warmed her chest. She understood his reasons for wanting to destroy the holocron, and that made it feel all the more rewarding that he would put his faith in her to safe-keep it and avoid its tainted influence from reaching anyone else. Then his last words reached her, and a caged part within her that was still too silent to be heard or noticed doubled over in agony.

"Just don't fall, okay? I can't lose you too."

It was only a cry in the back of her mind that tried to alert her to the feeling of dread and insecurity that her responde would inspire. But right then and there, she was oblivious to it. There was a sweet smile on her lips and the bright glint of a promise in her eyes. Palm didn't want to let Mathieu down, and right in this moment, she didn't think she ever would. Once more she walked up to him, this time being her the one who would initiate one of his famous hugs. "You won't lose me, Matt. I promise." And the Force knew she would do everything to try and live up to her claim.

Light was beginning to fall again, and so they began their way back through the swamp and the forest towards the Stygian Vagabond. When they went through the are that had been their camp, they were welcomed with torn tarps and rollmats, and Mathieu's backpack was definitely...a little worse for wear. It seemed his sandwiches had attracted the attention of either the Vornskr or some other animal, and a little rough scavenging had taken place. "We'll need to get you a new one," She said, picking the backpack up and passing it to him. Right now they didn't have the time to go through it but maybe some of its cnotents had survived.

Just as the sky turned a deep, dark orange and the faint glow of the very first stars began to shine, they reached their destination. As soon as the ramp came down, Maro and Nekran walked out to greet them and do a quick check of their surroundings. The beasts were happy to see their master and the Morellian return. Once inside the ship, Palm decided to go about storing the dark artifact in one of the safety boxes and then getting them something to eat while Mathieu made himself comfortable in one of the chambers, to begin studying the light-side holocron.

Palm looked at him meditate for a moment when she passed by the room, an expression that displayed both pride and admiration in her features. She would keep her promise.

But oaths were easily broken.​