Private The Unofficial Trial of Jem Fossk

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Trial Room
Appearance: Link
Tag: Kahlil Noble Dagon Kaze Corin Trenor Jem Fossk Ishida Ashina

With a gentle nod of her head, Valery also offered her agreement with the departure of the guards. With all these Jedi together to address the situation, there was no real need for protection, and showing Jem that they were willing to help her into a new future was important as well. If she felt cornered or helpless, the Dark Side would become far too comforting.

Valery then looked at Dagon as he spoke to his former Padawan, and offered a gentle smile, "He's right," she said, her calmness echoing through the Force and wrapping around those within the room. "Whether you truly want to acknowledge it or not, deep down you've already made your choice to stand against what your father represented."

"You've said it yourself — he can't win." she paused for a moment, "And because of your decisions, he won't."

 

[Jem Fossk]

"N-No," she balked. She could feel its pulse under the current of the around her, stronger than Val's calm or Dagon's strain. Her father had stripped the veil between the darkness and her. It felt like another person there-- present and heavy with its expectations. She tried not to acknowledge it, it fed on the attention, but a spark of uncontrolled panic was all it needed to grow larger.

And louder.

And more demanding.

And they were able to sense it all inside her.


"Fuck you," She snapped, "You don't know what you're talking about-- You just want to feel better about yourselves-- Is it working?" She asked Dagon, stepping abruptly towards him. "Now that you've felt like you've tried. You get to walk away with your new apprentice and I get to be nothing but your failure. That is all I am to you and expecting otherwise isn't kindness, it's cruel."

The lights flickers, a dark aura slowly forming around her. It sucked at the energy in the air, pulling all the light in. Her fear of failure was palpable, it undermined their trust and her self-control.

"You’re pathetic. All of you.”

 

[Ishida Ashina]

"I am the Dark Heiress. It's fated."

Ishida rolled her eyes.

here's no amount of redemption or testimony that will erase those sins. And yet, there's nothing wrong with surviving.

Although she remained unmoving, the mutual appeal of redemption and growth from one Sith offspring to another warmed her blood below the surface. There wasn’t anything anyone was saying that was untrue, but Jem wasn’t hearing it.

Masters Noble, Knight Kaze and Padawan Trenor were all invited to her pity party, and with their gifts of splendour and patience —they'd all just repeated sayings of encouragement and affirmation—Jem revelled in the opportunity to lash out and bounce between certainty and doubt.

Things almost got exciting when Jem snapped at the guard, but that was quickly intervened and reduced back to pleasant appeals to the beast inside. Ishida folded her arms across her chest and narrowed her eyes at Jem.

Whose performance were they watching? She knew this character well. This was a war Ishida’d lived before, but Jem’s version was corrupted — she was ahead at war with herself, caught in the tender space of who she was and who she was supposed to be. Because if she made a choice, it could be the wrong one. She could fail. She could be wrong. It was a contrary thing to have inside of oneself, agonizing and feathery that turned around and around.

Jem had to replace her fear of failure with the courage to decide a direction. Otherwise, that creature inside of her would take over, and the firrerreo she'd befriended would be lost to a girl —a promised heiress — who just followed the suggestion of an ill-fated prophecy.

How could she get that across? How could Ishida encourage that perspective when the other approaches hadn't succeeded? The light's healing side existed here in spades, and yet Jem evaded its luminance. She needed something colder and unapologetic. Something only a student of Sardun could exemplify.

“No, what’s pathetic and cruel is your indecision. You’re wasting our time.” Her tone was as sharp as the wings of her eyeliner.

“If you want to die, then die. If you want to be Dagon’s failure, Solipsis's heir, or something else entirely, then be it.”

Until Jem made her choice, everyone was relegated to inaction, or more fruitless attempts to soothe the building savagery within.

“Make your choice.”

She levelled her glare at Jem and held eye contact for a few beats. Then she turned on her heel to leave, unable to stand Jem and the situation she put her company — the family she'd once wanted, once chosen to fight for — in any longer.

---

Jem Fossk | Valery Noble | Kahlil Noble | Dagon Kaze | Corin Trenor

 

[Jem Fossk]

Silence.

Jem's veins ran cold with shock as her friend left the floor. It cut deeper than any look-- any judgment that had been leveled her way. Ishadi did something she hadn't expected. She walked away.

Not even her father had done that.

Jem snapped from her shock and reached out. "Ishida, I-" the door closed. Jem was left with it's polished surface, her own aghast expression staring back. There was something intimate about the pain that managed to reach her through the chaos. It wasn't grief, or jealousy, or the fear that they had already seen her succumb to.

It was shame.

She squeezed her eyes shut and turned away. How the hell was she suppose to move forward with that?

 

[Valery Noble]

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Location: Trial Room
Appearance: Link
Tag: Kahlil Noble Dagon Kaze Corin Trenor Jem Fossk Ishida Ashina

Valery quietly watched the interaction between Ishida and Jem and stepped away from her place when the younger woman was overcome by guilt and shame. She directly approached Jem and gently placed a hand on her shoulder, hoping to provide even just a little comfort, "There is a path forward, a choice you can make to change directions," Valery said before she glanced around at the other Jedi.

"I'd like to take you to the Dawn Temple, an old temple on Spintir meant to help Jedi reconnect with the Light Side of the Force. While none of us will force you to become a Jedi again, it will help you leave behind what has caused so much pain." She looked at Kahlil with a smile, then Dagon and Corin.

"It's going to be a long journey, but one we can help you with. I can be a guide for you there, and Dagon and Corin I'm sure will be there for you too." If Corin decided to say anything stupid now, he'd definitely earn his death glare. "Maybe my husband and I can actually rebuild things there now, too. Bring supplies and offer our help where you need it."

She then paused and made sure to look at Jem.

"But Padawan Ashina was right, it's time to make your choice. What will it be?"

 

[Jem Fossk]

Jem's form quaked under Valery's hands. She felt weak; it was hard to remember her convictions now. She had been so sure of them when she pulled that trigger. She had been sure of them again when she walked in but that confidence was gone now. They had shaken her. Her emotions left her foggy and drained. She didn't know what the right choice was, she knew just that it would hurt. The right thing always did.

She felt the urge to reach out to Dagon, he always knew what to do, but he was a million miles away and silent. It hurt. It was Valery's weighted hand on her shoulder that kept her steady, reminding her that not everyone had walked out on her.

And she didn't want them to.

"Help me." She managed to whisper to Valery, a sign of weakness... or strength. She wasn't sure anymore.

But there was no turning back.