Fate's Delusions: Legacy of One

[Delirion]

(continued from "It wasn't meant to be farewell this soon..." (http://pub2.ezboard.com/fswvstitanicstarwarsroleplayingarchive.showMessage ?topicID=3409.topic))

"Nya? What will we do now?

The child looked at her, once they were inside the ship. Delirion was sitting in the co-pilot's seat, Dalethria having slipped back behind the controls. It was better that way - she did not think her shaking hands could handle the ship too well right now.

She had to think for one moment. She had a promise to keep, and she would carry it out, yet she did not know where to find the Jedi girl that had captured her now dead brother's heart. All she could do was to try to find a Jedi, and request his aid in her search for Leeloo Mina.

But where could she possibly find a Jedi?

She disregarded the girl for now, and turned to Dalethria.

"Do you know where we could find a Jedi? Any Jedi? I need to find someone, and I need to know where I can do that."

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

Nya? The girl called Delirion by that name. A name that she never heard before. Could that be her real name? Dalethria fought the urge to ask. It was a question for another time and she would respect her sister's privacy on the matter ... for now.

She was already beginning the pre-launch for the blastboat as Delirion looked to her. Her gaze led her to look out the cockpit and not to her sister, thinking of what would be the best choice. First planet that came to mind was Coruscant but with the constant turmoil that planet seems to go through, maybe it wasn't.

"What do you think of going to Coruscant?" she asked, wanting some insight from Delirion.

[Delirion]

She nodded at that. It did not really matter what planet, although she wished it was one less populated. Yet it was the logical choice, the capital planet of the Galaxy being the most likely place to run into a Jedi.

Delirion turned back to the child.

"We are going to find someone I need to speak to."

As she looked up, she met the eyes of Dalethria. Her Dark Sister grinned at her slightly, the grin betraying her thoughts.

Hungering to spill Jedi blood, Dalethria? That is not what we want a Jedi for. But we shall see - maybe there is one too eager to spill our blood, and him we shall convince that his fate has something different in mind.

With that, she turned back and stared out of the front screen, her heart still heavy with the loss of her brother.

She would keep her promise.

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

She looked back behind her to look at the girl that had snuck aboard Delirion's ship. Obviously, she was coming with them and it made no sense to bring her. The child was going to get into the way. Once again she held her tongue. Suggesting otherwise would just probably not be a good idea.

With a sigh, Dalethria pointed out the safety buckles on the seat and spoke in a sharp tone, "Strap in."

Returning back to the controls, she commanded the ship to lift off and start flying out of the atmosphere. What her sister spoke of was on her mind. Seeing a Jedi almost always warranted an attack in full force, but the mind games that they could play … that sounded much more exciting.

"We shall test whoever comes our way then, sister. After you do what needs to be done."

The ship entered space and the final coordinates were plotted into the nav-computer. Coruscant. Once again she is going back to the place of her birth. Maybe that is why she still continued to move around so much. Nothing could replace what home was in her heart.

With a quick pull of a lever, the stars swirled and the blastboat broke into hyperspace.

[Delirion]

The child should not be with them. Coruscant was no place to bring her - too full of dangers lurking around every corner.

Delirion admitted to herself that she felt afraid. She had once before set foot on the planet... so many years ago, when she was but a child. It had seemed wondrous then, dazzling and splendid in her eyes. The eyes of a small girl. So many things were different now, and this weren't the same eyes anymore. The mind that was behind them held not the same innocence as she had possessed then.

So many things had happened. Adalric, his death, Dara Shadowtide and her own subsequent exit from the Rogue Sith Order, Danaan Kerr, the Black Hand... and Jeseth.

The knowledge that he was dead, that she was never to see him, never to feel his thoughts again, hurt her more than anything she had ever experienced before on a personal level.

She sat there brooding on his death for most of the trip, sunk into a reverie that nothing that her two companions on this journey said could dispel. Only when they had almost reached the landing pad that had been cleared for their arrival, did she return to the present, and to uncertainty.

Turning once more to Dalethria, she asked,

"What shall we do now?"

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

Her fingers danced across the console, readying the ship to land as the repulsors forced the blastboat to hover in mid-air.

"I'm thinking on what would be an ideal location to find a Jedi. The planet is huge."

Different places that she had been to with her Grandfather, Grand Moff Tarkin, flashed through her mind. Most notable was hiking through the preserves but to bring a child along ... would ruin that fun. Not to mention that anything that both her and Delirion did would be impeded by this brat. She hid her thoughts well on what she would like to do to this girl.

Finally the ship landed and a communication came in. Dalethria took it to be a signal from the docking guild but she couldn't be more wrong. It was encrypted and the message stated it was for Delirion's eyes only. She probably could break the code easily but she was still quite knew to the Black Hand. Such an attempt at inconsideration would not be tolerated.

"Sister, you have a message."

Delirion was quite surprised to hear that but said nothing. Even after reading the message over, she said nothing until they left the ship.

"Where shall I meet you? I have business to take care of."

Dalethria raised a brow and pointed at the child, "With her?"

Her sister nodded.

"I don't like this, Delirion. I should go with you ..."

She stared at her with tight fists but the sunking eyes that looked back at her told her what she needed to know.

"Meet me at the Imperial Museum. Contact me if there's any trouble."

[Morgan Evanar]

Josha always had a god awful sense of irony. Anyone who had been privy to Evanar's thoughts at that moment would have heard a long stream of thought following a similair theme. He wandered aimlessly through the corridors of the imperial musem. Early, as usual. Being late sometimes meant not getting paid, and Josha still owed him. Owed him around a half million credits. Which was a deal, considering Josha had made around 50 million from the information stolen by one Morgan Evanar.

Why the corporates were so busy to maurad each other still remaind elusive, but at least they paid well. Five jobs at 100k a shot, providing success, which was almost an unstated guarantee back in the day.

He slowed his pace, and began to drift through the technological achievements section yet again.

Yawn. Morgan glanced at his chrono yet again. I haven't got all day...

[Delirion]

An hour and a half later, she stood before the gates of the Imperial Museum, alone. The child she had left until it was brought back to her, yet she did not know when and where that would be. For now, she knew that the girl would be safe, and away from all danger that might have befallen her while on this journey.

The Imperial Museum was an immense building, and she did not know where she could find her sister. Not sure whether her mental call would reach the woman who had her mental walls up so high, she nevertheless called out for Dalethria through her mind.

Dalethria, where shall I find you?

[Morgan Evanar]

Morgan was brought to his knees suddenly.

"Dalethria, where shall I find you?" It tore through his mind like a violent predator. His hands clutched the side of his head, and he moaned low. He collapsed further to the left, and lay still for a full minute, after which the pain finally dulled. Morgan took a deep breath, and returned to his feet. He winced as he recalled the mental yell, from somewhere two floors down, and slightly south.

Gathering himself, Morgan set off for the nearest lift. He had a new set of questions, and the person who could answer them was nearby.

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

The museum halls held a person here and there. Not too many visitor's found their way here during this time of the day. Most of the citizen's of Coruscant were working and making a living while the scum and villainy were making shady deals in the lowest levels of the megalopolis. Yet here, Dalethria wandered through the Imperial Museum waiting for her sister and was desperately trying to unlock trapped memories.

Aimless walking led her to the grand holovid library that was placed in the center of the ground floor. Displays of great battles and speeches of the Old Empire washed through her senses. It was a homecoming of sorts. Emperor Palpatine's inauguration, Darth Vader's hunt for renegade Jedi, and the christening of the Executor caught her attention immediately. As clear as day they ran as if the viewer was really there and apart of the greatest glories that the Empire cherished.

The sounds of a firefight made her turn as a child called over his mother to look at the display.

Dalethria's mood soured so fast when it hit her what this was. Three X-wings were flying through a trench, avoiding laser fire. Suddenly, the towers stopped and two TIE fighters and a TIE interceptor were hot on their trail. Any satisfaction that could be gained to watch the X-wings fall one by one was lost, knowing what the true outcome would be.

She wanted to reach inside that scene and crush the lead X-wing with her bare hand. Killing the one that caused all the grief and misery of her old and new life in one stroke. To think such things was absurd. Dalethria couldn't change the past but watching it unfold in front of her eyes brought all the sorrow, rage and loss that Navaria ignored and which in turn, forced Dalethria into existence.

The metal holovid started to creek as Dalethria's will wrapped around it. Her hand became the Force and the display started to cut in and out as the the lone X-wing started its attack run. Before it was unhinged, she felt a slight knocking at the ends of her mind. The blocks refused entry and she had to hold her actions in order to understand who was calling to her.

Dalethria let her mind follow the small trail and she found herself outside the museum, looking at Delirion. Her defenses settled, as did her nerves when she called to her Dark Jedi sibling.

I am here Sister. Follow my thoughts. for they are opened to you now, and you shall find me.

[Delirion]

As she sent out the call to her sister, for a brief second, she thought she felt a strange reverberation, the reaction to her own thought reflected in someone else's mind. She momentarily had the feeling of falling down, onto her knees, then it was gone, and she was herself again, standing still outside the gates of the Museum building.

Dalethria?

No, it had not felt familiar. It was a strange touch, an unfamiliar view out of strange eyes; elusive, distant.

I am here Sister. Follow my thoughts. For they are opened to you now, and you shall find me.

Delirion shook her head out of the momentary confusion she had felt. The thought that now filled her mind was the familiar one, and it bore a deep-seated anger. Anger turned not against her own person, but something her sister was seeing, experiencing. Yet it was not the impression of fresh events unfolding now, but something distant, of the past.

Anger?

She kept her mind open to her sister's thoughts as she slowly made her way through the front gates, and stepped inside the entrance hall.

Yes, anger and frustration.

She could feel it, entering her own thoughts, the anger at an unknown source seeping into her mind.

Why?

An X-wing was flying down at dizzying speeds a long grey trench. A hand crushing the X-wing.

An X-Wing? Here? What was Dalethria doing? What did this mean?

In long strides, she walked along the corridors and halls, not taking notice of the exhibits she passed. She was drawing nearer.

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

Delirion was questioning what she was seeing as well as the feelings that came with them. They were familiar feelings to her sister, but didn't know what importance this event held for Dalethria. She could feel the confusion and decided that it was good that she didn't destroy the device that protected such history. Dalethria would now share with Delirion what this all meant as a recompense with her help in regaining the control she lost. Learning to understand madness by becoming mad and utterly insane. Thus, joining the ranks as a Dark Jedi.

You are watching my birth, Sister.

Red bolts of light shot into view, destroying one of the TIE fighters and causing the other to almost ram the TIE interceptor. In Delirion's mind, the X-wing was never crushed by a hand but continued its way down the trench. Two torpedos shot out from the fighter and flew off to safety. The scene changed to the full view of where the struggle was taking place.

She saw a battle station blow up and felt a cry of anguish in her mind as she suddenly woke up in a room. Delirion doesn't recognize this room but can hear her lungs ... but they weren't her lungs ... cry out for her grandfather. Her eyes are wet and her heart aches deeply for a loss. The lights come on quick in the room as a woman enters in a hurry and hugs her gently, trying to calm her daughter and the last thing she hears before Dalethria returns is ...

"It's alright Navaria ..."

My gift to you.

[Morgan Evanar]

he she it was nearby... seeking Dalethria Mal Pannis. Dale. Dale? dale, dAlE. Stranger, What have you done? It was a she. Find Dale, find her. Where are you Dale?

Morgan looked and felt about for the Sith Lordess. Corridors rappidly dissapeared underneath long, silent strides.

Military History... Ahhhhh..... here. He could hear two people breathing. Light bent and shimmered around him. His form dissapeared.

She was pale, thin. A light breeze could have thrown her about like a faded, fallen leaf. Her skin clung to her bones, holding for dear life. No physical threat from her.
Her.

~"My gift to you"~

Loud, painful. Again. He lost his grip on the light around him, and Morgan collapsed back into the wall as the two women turned to look.

[Delirion]

This memory that her new sister had decided to share with her, caught her more by surprise than she would have thought. Maybe out of her own self-absorbed mind, she did not perceive others as having a history reaching back as far into the past as her own. Maybe she had not seen past the Dalethria she saw before her now, past the facade, past the present, until now. Therefore, to now be confronted with the innocent child Dalethria had been, and to have to make a connection between the child that was, and the fearless and powerful woman she saw now, seemed a difficult task to Delirion.

Yet the real surprise lay not within what she saw, but in the realisation that, like herself, Dalethria had once had a different identity she had chosen to discard, for whichever reason she had deemed it necessary. And that revelation brought Dalethria closer to her own person, made her more substantial, more trustworthy, more understandable.

My gift to you.

Again, as she heard Dalethria's words within her mind, it seemed to her as if a strange echo rang through her thoughts, bringing with it a vague feeling of standing outside herself, looking upon herself out of strange eyes. Then it was gone, to be replaced by a a brief surge, like an intake of air.

And from behind her, a hollow thump could be heard - she turned her head, noticing out of the corner of her eye that Dalethria did the same.

A man was the source of the noise. A man slumped against the wall in a manner that betrayed the fact that he was not leaning against the wall intentionally. What was more - she had not felt his presence before, had not sensed his arrival.

What is he? A Jedi?

She exchanged a glance with Dalethria. Then they walked over to the stranger.

[Morgan Evanar]

Why can I hear her thoughts, like vauge murmurs?

"What is he, a jedi?" Morgan winced yet again. Why did it feel like she was screaming every time she said anything through the force? It made no sense. I wonder what will happen if I try talking to her?

"STOP TALKING TELEPATHICALLY, YOU ACURRSED WOMAN."

[Delirion]

"STOP TALKING TELEPATHICALLY, YOU ACURRSED WOMAN."

The mental call struck her mind like a hammer, the ferocity of it nearly driving her to her knees. Her legs trembling, she reached out to clutch Dalethria's arm for support, as echoes of that call rang again and again through her mind.

Steadying herself against her sister's arm, Delirion straightened up again, and stared at the stranger with unrestrained anger, waiting just a little longer before addressing him, long enough to deal with the more serious problem she was faced with.

This should not have happened - never before had anyone been able to have such a hold on her thoughts, able to affect her mind so strongly and without being allowed to do so. How had this man managed to penetrate the mental walls she had so darefully erected between herself and everyone else? Was this a result of the mental link betwen herself and Dalethria?

What hold did he have now, what could he see?

Frantically, panicked, she tried to shun every thought, close off her mind to all but Dalethria, yet the echoing in her mind grew only softer, did not subside. This was one mystery too many, one problem too much - she needed to know.

She dropped her hand from her sister's arm, and came to stand proud and arrogant before the stranger, her eyes filled with a burning anger as she fixed him with a cold stare.

"Who art thou then that thou can'st do this to me?"

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

She held Delirion steady, taken aback by her sister's sudden effect by Morgan's telepathic response. Dalethria too felt the strength behind his mental command's but it wasn't enough to make her falter. Delirion was panicking and the impact of the doors closing quickly in her mind did force Dalethria to squint every now and then, realizing that they were both still linked. Strangely, it felt comforting that Delirion trusted her as it was mutual with Dalethria.

Her right hand came to rest on her sabre. Dalethria wasn't just going to pull it out as there was already a small scene here but ... if this being so much as looks at Delirion wrong, he would live to regret it. Dalethria's eyes narrowed and waited to hear what he had to say for himself.

[Morgan Evanar]

Morgan shook his head slowly. Her speech was as strange as the incedent that had just occoured. Dalethria Mal Pannis was at this frail woman's side as soon as she began to falter, and now that she had recovered, Dale's hand hovered on her lightsaber.

Morgan sighed. Conflict with a Sith Lordess was never wise. He looked again at the woman who shared a plight with him.

"I don't know what happend. I heard a mental yell for Dalethria, and it somehow mentally linked us. Or something. I've little experince with mental use of the force."

"Thou hast a name?"

"Morgan"

[Delirion]

Questioning his words, she looked into his eyes, tried to perceive the thoughts that lay in his mind. Yet she could not see or sense or feel them.

What was this? How could he gain entrance to her own thoughts, yet she had not the same power over him?

"What art thou then, that thou hast any such power over the Force? Thou art a Jedi?"

Something in his eyes, in the way his pupils dilated and contracted, almost imperceptibly had she not looked into them, something about his stance shifting suddenly, slightly, told her that she had hit upon a raw nerve. And in her own perception of him, something changed, almost unnoticably, yet the sudden sensation of recent memories he had stored, had stored his anger inside and upon, seemed unfocused, unclear. A Jedi? No, Jedi would feel no anger, would not allow themselves to feel anger. What was he then?

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

Morgan didn't answer right away which was unacceptable to Dalethria. She took another step forward, her hand ready to spring the weapon into action. Her glare was as cold as her sister's and the last she knew of this being was that he indeed was a Jedi, but the aura and emotions surrounding him conflicted with that thought.

"Answer her question."

The small group of people that had turned their attention towards this small gathering was starting to get on her nerves. This needed to be resolved soon and move somewhere else. Unless of course he was indeed a Jedi. Then all bets were off.

[Morgan Evanar]

He almost growled, but caught himself.

"No, I'm not a Jedi. I've abandoned them, as they've abandoned me. Even my own damned cousin." Morgan's words were laced with disgust, as if he had seen a diseased people that embraced the disease. He had found that he, too was infected, and left.


"I don't really know what I am," as if to answer Delirion's thoguhts. He glanced about. People were begining to take notice.

"Maybe we should continue this in a less public place..." trailing off.

[Delirion]

Abandoned...

As she heard that word, her thoughts began to wander again. Abandoned. Yes, that's what she felt herself, in a small way. Abandoned by this brother of hers, by Jeseth, who had sought his own death when the happiness he'd tried to gain, escaped him. Why did it hurt so much, this loss? The memory of his death was still so clear, when she had held his dying body in her arms upon that plain on Naboo; so clear, and so painful.

It seemed almost impossible that she would be so far away now, that only hours had passed since then, and here she was, standing on Coruscant, in a museum, looking for a Jedi she barely knew... when she looked at her own hands, she could still see faint traces of his blood under her fingernails, could see a dried patch of blood on her own cloak. Again and again, she almost had to remind her that it was true, that he was dead - that she had embarked on this journey as a result of this death. It seemed so unreal...

The man's words brought her back to where she was. Lookng around, she saw the little commotion they were causing. Yes, it would be better to continue this conversation somewhere more private, yet where? She did not know, did not know whether she even really cared. Yet... maybe he was what they had been looking for - maybe he would be able to help.

"Know you of such a place where we could talk more privately?"

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

Still being connected with her sister mentally, Dalethria could feel the distraught over Jeseth's death. She could catch glimpses of her memory and feelings while the broken winged Jedi died in Delirion's arms. She knew little of their relationship but she did know one thing, Jeseth was very dear to Delirion and she would do all she can to help complete her sister's quest. This Morgan may not be a Jedi any longer, as he says, but his once ties to them could help speed their journey to finding Leeloo. Considering how Delirion is, she needed desperately to but this demon to rest.

It was a good idea to leave but where was the question. They could all go back to the ship but it was far. Dalethria didn't know if all three of them could coexist for that amount of time.

Maybe.

"Perhaps we should just leave and wherever we end up, that's where we'll go?"

[Morgan Evanar]

Yes... Jeseth Cloak, one of the most confused beings in the universe. Delirion cared deeply for that distraught, now passed soul. Maybe misery did really love company. He didn't partictularly care at this stage, except that he felt her feelings.

Damn her. Delirion's demons could be the death of them all.

Aye Nya, I'll help, if only to get you out of my head and to get me out of yours. He whispered between their minds. No painful feedback. Good.

"Lets. There too many sets of eyes upon us for my taste."

[Delirion]

Her mind threatened to drift off once again, yet she was brought back sharply as he whispered into her thoughts. Her name? Her real name? Where.. how... how could he have known?

Her eyes narrowed to slits as she watched him, a dreadful suspicion overlaying her thoughts. If he had found his way into these memories, then nothing was safe from him. And there was nothing she feared more than sharing the memories of her own past with anyone else. And her name... well, that was part of those memories she wished buried forever. Only Jeseth had been able to catch a glimpse of her past, and the occasion had been a special one. But for this now to have happened, for a complete stranger to gain access to her thoughts and memories... that was unbearable to her.

Yet now they walked through the tall halls, around the displays, towards an unknown place. She watched him out of the corners of her eyes as they walked.

"What is thy name?"

They had reached the exit of the museum again, and now walked down the pathway leading back onto the streets. Ahead of them was the Palace square, with the access elevator to the Imperial Skyhook Gardens. It seemed that this was what they were drifting towards.

[Morgan Evanar]

Morgan had shrunken back from the very little of her mind that he saw. It was very odd. Intensely weird. And she was scared he was going through her mind like an unsecure database. Somehow, he did stumble upon a name that she was refered to. Morgan snapped himself out of his mental retreat before he crashed headlong into a material pillar.

"What is thy name?"

"Morgan Evanar." No point in lying. She could probably easily read his emotions. Now he wished he had never met the woman, had never fallen into her mind.

"You terrify me, woman." He shuddered from the glimpse he had of her mind. Nothing this chaotic had ever been beheld by his eyes before.

[Delirion]

They had come almost to the entrance of the elevator shaft leading upwards, when she heard him tell her his name. The she froze.

Morgan... Morcant...

Her mind sank back into one of the recurring waking dreams she had suffered from since the illness (http://pub58.ezboard.com/fcandelabraofmalicefrm3.showMessage?topicID=2.topi c) that had befallen her that one day.

<font color="#A0B0E0">Away, crows, away ~ Take a little, and leave a little ~ And do not come again ~ For if you do ~ I will stab you through ~ And there is an end of you ~

The old sing-song voice of the woman holding her in her hand. As lifeless and dead as she ever has been.
(Death is coming. Death is near. Death shall hold her, hold her dear.)
A triumphant glitter in the eyes of Morcant, of the witch, as she holds the obsidian dagger poised to strike. Strike at her, in her carrion bird's form that she inhabits in these strange dreams.</font>

With a start, she returned to the waking world, heard him address her again. They were at the entrance to the elevator now.

Had they not stopped? How long had it lasted, this waking dream? The mere seconds it took for one footfall to appear frozen onto the ground?

"You terrify me, woman."

She heard him say that, and something like a warm glow returned to her weary mind. Terror and hatred, fear and suffering - those were the elements of her life, the elements she could live with. Not this strange recurring dreamstate in which she had no weapons to fight other than a beak and two talons.

That she should strike him with terror, rewarded her. She did not say more to him, but looked upwards to the transparisteel ceiling of the small elevator they stepped into.

It took them high up into the sky above Coruscant, all three of them, silently gliding upwards.

[Morgan Evanar]

Morgan grumbled. Being jacked into this loonie's mind was no treat, and sometimes, he was borderline looking through her eyes. Delerion's visions, her waking nightmares, were odd. He still had no clue how he did it, only knowing that it was defensive against whatever she had tried to do. Maybe he was too good at slicing for his own good.

"I'm glad it makes you feel warm and fuzzy to know that you scare me shitless." If you would have written the words on paper, they would have oozed with a substance known as sarcasm. He looked away from her pale, waiflike form. So damn depressing.

"Hopefully, finding her won't take too long. The sooner you find her, the sooner we undo this link."

[Delirion]

Something akin to a smile appeared on her face, as she heard his sarcastic remark. But it was the truth - she took pleasure from the fact that it scared him. Nothing would change that, and it pushed the dreams off into the distance for a little longer.

But at his next remark, a deep frown creased her forehead.

Finding her? Finding who? Who was he talking of?

Once again, her mind got pushed back into a state of confusion. For a short moment, she thought he was talking about her - find herself? No... that couldn't have been what he meant. The Jedi girl? Yes, that made more sense, but surely he did not mean he would be there alongside her and her sister? No, whatever this link was that he had to her own mind, it would have to be severed before they left this planet.

The elevator came to a stop - the three of them stepped out into the lush gardens on what had once been the Emperor's private skyhook. The fragrance of a multitude of blooming flowers hit her senses, the greenery and light instilling her with a disturbingly peaceful feeling. She felt almost compelled to walk over to one of the trees nearby, to feel its life under her touch, as she had done when she had been a child on Corellia, before her parents had begun their exile that had ended in their own death.

Their own death... at my hands...

She shivered.

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

She stepped off the elevator last, keeping a watchful eye on Morgan. Dalethria said nothing on the ride up here, more intent on listening to the conversation then participating. She was only here as a protector for this was Delirion's journey. It was her priviledge to make sure that her sister completed it.

Delirion was quite pleased with herself that she scared Morgan and Dalethria was very amused as well. Her hidden smirk melted away as something troubled Delirion. She was standing very still and she brushed past her, squeezing her shoulder reasuringly and looked right at Morgan.

"And how do you know who we're looking for?"

[Morgan Evanar]

"Because," Morgan pointed at Delerion's skull, and looked right into Dale's eyes, "I somehow got plugged into that. Unfortunately, I've got very few ideas where she is at the moment, but I could find out."

He leaned against the wall, staring at the floor, frowning.

"I like this as little as you do."

[Delirion]

<font color="#A0B0E0">
The sword lands on the floor with a loud clatter, her fingers still outstretched yet they lack the strength to hold it. Blood languidly flows over the wooden planks of the floor, a sea of blood mingling with the age old dust on the ground. Horrified, she steps back as it threatens to envelope her bare feet.

Lord Brandl's loud laughter fills her ears, and now there is nothing warm and friendly in it anymore - malevolent, full of angry hate and glee it sounds to her now. He gloats at her, then, with an almost negligent gesture, sweeps the heavy curtain away, exposing to her eyes what lays behind.

Eyes full of tears, and sorrow, and confusion. Two pairs of eyes, one deep brown, one sea-green, staring back at her, dead, life-less, yet containing so much life as they seem to plead with her. Too late. Too late now. Two deep stabs into each heart, still pulsating blood, soaking their pristine tunics in angry red.

Brandl's laughter blends over into his words, as he pronounces with a theatrical flourish,

"Nae delirion, cha rhaba ke seeja ne da... Behold, Delirion - for that your name shall be from henceforth: behold the death of your past. What once was, is no more - weak they were, and a hindrance to your education. Now I shall fill their places in your heart, as you wished when you first came to me."

She shivers, her tears falling freely now. What has she done???</font>

At the edge of her mind, voices touched her. Voices that sounded familiar, somehow. Unable to stop the dreadful images of her past, as they flooded her thoughts again and again, she nevertheless centered her thoughts onto these voices, and the calm they seem to bring.

Light seeped through the darkness of her mind, and suddenly she stood yet again surrounded not in the dusty, gloomy darkness of that dreadful afternoon, but amidst flowers and trees, high above Coruscant.

She looked at Dalethria and the man called Morgan. Why were they here? Oh yes... the link. That fearful link of her thoughts to his. What was he? Abandoned, he had said. Abandoned by his kind, by his family, so he had abandoned them. Had he killed them like she had?

Almost murmuring, in a low voice, she cut into the conversation he seemed to share with her sister.

"What are you? Who are you, besides a name?"

[Morgan Evanar]

"They call me a fallen Jedi at the Sith Order, where I now reside. What am I?" His eyelids blinked quickly, and his pupils shifted, revealing feline eyes. Morgan stared into her eyes, although it was slightly painful to use them in the light.

"I am not entirely human, Delirion. Who am I? I don't know. I know my damnable cousin, Nupraptor, dissapeared, leaving me to run an organization which was on unsteady legs as it was." Morgan involuntarily pounded the elevator wall once as he spoke of his cousin, swaying it slightly. I would like to do that to your head, cuz. He blinked once again, eyes returning to what was deemed as normal.

[Delirion]

She met his eyes, saw the strange change in them. What wondrous thing was this?

So he was no longer a Jedi, yet he did not call himself a Sith? An interesting concept - his uncertainty and doubt could be made to serve her and her brethren, if he were willing...

His next words stunned her. Cousin to Nupraptor?

What horrible twist of fate had conspired against her, to make that Jedi again and again cross her own path? She did not want to be reminded of each time she had met him, first in that crystal cave... shards falling all around her, brilliant light exploding, spreading all around her, as she stands opposing him, a look of horror written on her face, in her eyes. Pain stands behind it all, searing pain spreading through her veins, now that the energy she contained, that her body had sucked in from the blade of his saber.Too weakened to move, she sees him turning and running away, then blackness envelopes her, crushes her to the ground.

Twice more they had met, two accidental meetings during which they had been brought together by some ironic twist of fate. Her hatred for him had grown, as he made her feel weak and helpless each time, his face reminding her sharply again and again that it was him who she owed her life since that day in the cave. Like Jeseth, who had saved her...

Yet what had made him appear by her side that dreadful night (http://pub58.ezboard.com/fcandelabraofmalicefrm3.showMessage?topicID=2.topi c), when she had wished for no one to be there? Like Jeseth, he had come, and had found her, had found a way to save her from herself, from the dreams, from the darkness that had befallen her. Why?

She had no answer, nor had she received any from him. He had disappeared, as his cousin here had said. And she had tried to forget... until only the waking dreams still haunted her.

Why did fate now have to remind her again of the past? Was it fate that had brought her together with Morgan now? For what purpose?

She dropped Morgan's gaze, stared to the ground at her feet.

"I have met this cousin of yours. The anger you feel for him is like my own. Maybe this was what caused your thoughts to link with mine in such a way - that we share a common bond of anger for someone."

She looked back up and exchanged glances with Dalethria, then met his stare again.

"Yet I do not know how to stop this - all I do know is that it has to stop. Maybe a solution will offer itself shortly, maybe not for a while."

Delirion's eyes were almost pleading with his, as she finally asked a question she hoped he would have an answer to.

"Will you help us find this Jedi - seek her out in the place she will most likely be?"

[Morgan Evanar]

"Aye, a solution. We need one soon. I dread going to sleep."

A crow's talon's flickered passed a crude, black, obsidian dagger.

He walked alone in this forest, and crows would dive at him, and armed only with the dagger, he would try to slice them out of the air.

Dark trees loomed above as he looked about. A pale yellow moon hung in the sky sickly, giving some light. He scowled, his eyes would not adapt.

He stopped for a moment, looking over his shoulder. Shaking his head slowly, he continued to stride over the snowy floor.

Craaaaaaaaaaw. Craaaaaaw!!!! Talons bit into the skin on his scalp, and again, the dagger swished by in vain as he yelped, suprised by the sudden pain. More came, and occasionally, the dagger took purchase into a wing or a body, but soon, there were hundreds, pecking and tearing.

He fell into the snow, screaming.

Morgan's eyes snapped back open. Flicking about quickly, they examined his surroundings with frantic urgency. His face had a frantic look to it. Dale stood to his left, and Delerion to his right, and he was breathing quickly. He was glad it was just them. Just a Sith Lordess and a dangerously damaged Dark Jedi.

"Yes, I'll help you find her." Forest green eyes flicked about again, double checking.

[Delirion]

She eyed Morgan suspiciously. A glimmer of white, black feathers fluttering panicked in the air... something flickered at the back of her mind, and she did not know if it was an echo of her own thoughts, or something belonging to Morgan.

He seemed frozen to the spot, standing with eyes shut tightly, and the sight of this made her shiver. What was he seeing? Something in her own mind?

His eyes snapped open suddenly, and he looked around himself, as panicked as what she had perceived just a moment ago. When he finally addressed her again, his voice was firm, even though his eyes betrayed a deep unrest.

Delirion heard him, and she exulted. What they had come to this planet for, they had found - they could now leave.

She was eager to get away from this world - its mass and population seemed almost claustrophobic to her, to someone who had not been amongst so many people for most of her life. The sooner they could leave, the better.

Taking one last look at the greenery around her, she bid it a cold farewell, then turned away and walked back to the elevator at a fast pace. This had been a bad mistake, coming up here, into the lush gardens. Why had they come up here?

Taking a look over her shoulder, she saw Dalethria and Morgan still standing there, and she called at them.

"We can leave this planet, no? What we seek is not here, therefore we will leave. The sooner the better."

She did not know if it was grief, or the effect of this planet, that made her feel other than herself now. Her restless mind seemed empty, as if the hurt and pain and loss she had felt just moments ago, had been shunned aside, to be replaced by something she had felt when but a child - excitement, eagerness... where were the waking dreams now?

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

She grinned and made her way over to the elevator without saying a word. All that mattered to her was that Delirion was safe and that Morgan, eventhough he was not a Jedi any longer, could help lead her Dark Sister to Leeloo.

Looking Delirion over, she could feel the relief of leaving the beauty of this unnatural garden. This caused curiosity to swell within her mind, wondering why such beauty caused such grief.

[Morgan Evanar]

Finally. The constant subconsious visions Delerion unknowningly projected seemed to have decided to take a vacation. Morgan sighed in relief.

He stood near the two women, all three looking about at the amazing garden. A vibrance of color and smell, it was astounding. After a good number of minutes slid by, Evanar spotted some striking orange flowers.

Leeloo

Morgan sighed again, knowing Delerion's mind would soon be up to her old tricks.

"Time to get moving."

[Delirion]

They made the trip back to the ship in silence. Delirion did not ask how he had come to this planet - if he had a ship, he would have to claim it back later.

The crowds of people on the streets unnerved her, pushing against her, pushing her onward. She kept her mind link to Dalethria open once more, fearful to loose her amongst the crowd as they were pulled apart and pushed together again by the eager masses. It seemed an eternity before they finally reached the hangar.

Her ship still sat where they had left it, in the centre of an otherwise unused hangar platform. It was merely a matter of seconds before the security locks were disengaged.

Once inside, she sat down groggily onto the co-pilot's chair, once more yielding the controls to her sister. It seemed strange that now the seat where the child had been before remained empty - as if a part of herself had been left behind with the departure of the little girl.

Morgan remained standing, looking around the cockpit. She turned to him.

"Where do we go?"

[Morgan Evanar]

"Yavin Four, where the rest of the Jedi are"

Morgan began to turn on the navicomp and bring the ships systems up in the most efficent order. Dale glared at him as the ship began to hum, it's various systems nearing full power faster than normal.

The navicomp began to digest the data fed to it.

"Just what do you think you are doing?" Dale asked coldly.

"Hum? I'm bringing the ship up and telling the Navicomp we are headed for Yavin." Dale continued to glare.

"Oh. Your ship. My appologies." Morgan lifted his hands away from the controls, and took a step back.

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

She continued to glare at him and then her eyes moved to the free seat behind her.

"Sit down and don't touch anything without asking," she growled and returned to the controls. She tapped the side of the panel and fought the urge to swear, turn around, and choke the life out of that fool behind her.

She didn't. Her sister would not be pleased by such an action and Dalethria would let him live anyway. He told her where the Jedi were. Perhaps Dalethria would run into Leia there, maybe even Luke. Maybe not as well but at the very least Dalethria could make a surprise visit another time.

The blastboat started to rise up from the ground and the all clear was heard over the comm. With a grin, she lifted two fingers to her forehead and waved at one of the mechanics through the panel ... and the ship took off like a rocket into the sky without any warning. Those that were still near the landing area were knocked back quick take off.

"I guess they didn't understand the warning," she said somewhat disappointed. It quickly vanished and she smiled like a kid, "Oh well."

[Delirion]

Dalethria's careless manner brought an amused smile to Delirion's otherwise still face. It still startled her how different they were in some aspects - destruction and death were not things she herself was deliberately seeking out, yet for her sister, it seemed a natural part of life. Something brought forth by a certain arrogance, she assumed - arrogance and a feeling of aloofness over everyone and anyone who did not share the Force? A certain trait that seemed to be inborn with a Sith.

They left Coruscant behind, and soon after clearing orbit, the ship launched into hyperspace. It would not take too long to reach Yavin, but several hours at least.

She leaned back in her seat, and pulled her legs up underneath her, until she sat curled up in her seat like a ball, with her arms around her knees. Her gaze once more fell onto the empty chair where on the journey in had sat the little girl.

Where was the child now, she wondered? Safe on some world far from here? Delirion didn't quite know what it was that made her think of the little girl now - or even what had made her bond with her so closely since they had met. But yet she had, and it was not the only one. There had also been Jeseth...

Jeseth... why???

She sighed to herself, and closed her eyes, sinking deeper into her thoughts. It seemed already a long time ago, yet he had not been gone from her for much more than a day. So final...

What is there left now?

But she was too tired and exhausted, emotionally as well as physically, to follow that thought. Instead, she drifted off into sleep as the ship brought them closer to the fulfillment of his last words.

[Morgan Evanar]

Morgan kept imagining sights and sounds as he fought sleep off. Screams of humans and animals alike.

No. I shan't sleep. I can't let myself...

He lost the battle, and was plunged into an unwanted darkness, his lids sliding over eyeballs already rolled up and back.

NO.

His body jerked upright in the seat, and slapped himself, leaving a red mark that quickly faded. Despite Dale's request otherwise, he couldn't stay still. Not if he wanted to stay awake. Not if he wanted to stay sane.

Morgan swung the fridge door wide open, looking for something with caffine. Damn, deviod of anything that would contain the wanted drug. He dared not search further.

Evanar paced about for an hour? Two hours? He grew tired, and leaned himself against the wall. Eyelids snapped shut, pulled by weights.

He began to dream...

Moldy stone walls were a sickly green yellow, and torches sparsley lit the way, cutting odd shapes from shadows. There were noises, but not of stone settling. Strange noises. But worst of all, the air reeked of death and sickness.

Morgan glanced over his shoulder staring into the darkness. "Why is it dark", he worried. "I can normally see in this!"

He closed his eyes and opened them again. The same. "But I'm supposed to be able to see this as if it were day..."

Something scraped against stone, but it's direction was hard to pan out, with the sound bouncing off the walls. Morgan slowly turned, and looked straight into a wall. A wall that wasn't there before...

[Delirion]

<font color="#A0B0E0">Once more she was in the maddeining world of her dreams. The corridor was old and decayed, the stones of wall and ground and ceiling cracked and breaking. Here and there, light pierced the darkness as torches gave off enough light to illuminate their immediate surroundings, leaving all else in flickering shadows.

Somewhere ahead of her she could hear the strange scuttling sound of a crow. She knew it was there, yet she could not see or feel it. It had to be dragging itself along the ground, wings broken, bleeding, leaving a trail of blood behind. For a moment, it was as if she had double vision - she was herself, standing high overlooking the corridor's shadows, and she was low on the ground, the agony of her broken wing dragging along the ground with every short hop that her weary feet made. Then it blurred again and she saw only the corridor ahead, overlooking all.

Somewhere behind her had to be the old woman. She would laugh now, soon. Laugh as she had always laughed, with that cackling, hollow voice. Delirion looked behind her, but could see nothing.

Whispers seemed to fill out the corridor, echoing off the walls - whispers in a language she could not understand. It felt so vague, so irritating, that she could not understand.

Something scraped against stone, behind her, where the old woman was, and she knew it had to be the knife - the cruel bloodthirsty obsidian knife that had stabbed her. No - not her, not her; had stabbed the crow. But the crow was her, was it not?

She did not know. Everything was so vague now. She felt so weak. Blood was everywhere, draining her body of strength. Her arm hurt, a stabbing pain coursing through it with every step she took forward.

In the darkness, she stopped before a wall. What was this? The wall should not have been here - the wall was where the gate should be; the gate to her quarters. But where was it now?

Frantic now, hearing steps behind her and knowing that it had to be the old hag with her obsidian knife, Delirion began scratching on the wall with her fingernails, digging into the stone with her fingers, soon leaving bloody trails upon it.

The stone did not give away.</font>

[Morgan Evanar]

Morgan whirrled around, just as the dagger began to fall. It bit deep into his shoulder. His eyes went wide with pain as she withdrew the obsidian weapon, now gleaming his blood. The old hag smiled, teeth hideous, almost more greenish than yellow, rotting. He tried desperately to run but couldn't. Morgan glanced down, his feet had taken root in the decaying stone. The blade again fell, and Evanar brought his right arm up protectively. It hissed as it grated against bone, tearing through his forearm.

"Stop! Please STOP! " Desperate, pleading.

The hag's conviction to cause more pain grew, and she burrowed the obsidian into his stomach. Morgan pulled his hands to his stomach, forced to watch his life ebb away while she stood there and laughed.

Laughed.

Suddenly, he sneezed, and awful combination of mucus and blood. His tounge went out. No No No no. Don't make me.
But he did. Morgan's tounge collected the vile combination, and it sat on his tounge.

He tried to throw up. Tried. His torn stomach destroyed itself some more, and he tried to scream, but only a sick, sad gurgle came from his mouth.

Let me die. Let me die...

[Delirion]

<font color="#a0b0e0">The stones had her. The stones would not let her leave, held her. The hag was there, stabbing the knife into her body, laughing... laughing...

So much laughter. So much pain.

Drip, drip, drip. Was it blood that dripped, or water?

She opened her mouth to scream out in pain as the knife hit her once again. She choked as something huge seemed to fill her mouth, feathery. It was the crow.

Chewing on feathers, swallowing bones. Her throat was expanding as she swallowed the bird.

Nice. Warm. Red. Sharp. Knife. Air. Need air.

Delirion fell to the floor, swallowed up by the stones as the bird was swallowed by her. The Bird was clawing and pecking its way out of her stomach, through the cut. It hurt more than the knife.

Laughing, she was laughing as she died.</font>

[Morgan Evanar]

He started to panic for a moment. And then he realized his head hurt.

"Ow." Morgan stared at the cold, hard metal that composed the floor of Dale's ship, mere centimeters from his eyes. It was very, very comforting. Vauge visions of those awful things still danced through his subconcious. If that woman falls asleep the same time I do again, I think I'll put her out of my misery, he though as he lifted himself from the metal floor.

Morgan stood. Despite the fact that he now had visions of things he really, really wanted to forget, his body had apreciated the brief respite.

Killing her. Not such a bad idea.

[Delirion]

<font color="#a0b0e0">The bird~{!/~}s sharp beak was out in the open now, through her skin. Pushing its head through the cut, it pulled itself out and---</font>

She woke up with a start. Her head hurt, and so did her stomach. Vividly, she remembered the dream, and her hand flew to her stomach, but there was no cut. It had been no more than a dream. She did not know what made her think it was real.

Lifting her head, she looked at her two companions. Dalethria was still at the controls, staring out of the viewport into nothing, and Morgan...

He was getting up from the floor; he looked a little less tired. His face wore an odd expression - something between horror and disgust.

She wondered if the link he had to her mind also penetrated his sleep. If it did, then he more than likely had witnessed the same dreams as she had. Something about that idea made her chuckle - how unfortunate for him to have to see all that; she regarded it as a kind of revenge.

~{!0~}Slept well? Did you have sweet dreams?~{!1~} She asked him, grinning maliciously.

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

Dalethria continued to oversee the progress they were making. So far the trip had been going well but through the Force, she was able to sense something pass between her dark sister and the fallen Jedi. If it wasn't for the fact that he was just waking up, Dalethria was uncertain if she would have been able to read his mind so easily, "Morgan. Please ... let's behave and try to keep such thoughts to yourself."

[Morgan Evanar]

Morgan scowled and frowned.

"You aren't privy to her nightmares, I think. I'm frelling plugged into her brain, by accident, and its not a happy-fuzzy-go-lucky-hug-a-stranger place."

"And you..." he turned to Delirion, "If I dream like this every night I will kill you." Evanar shuddered, accentuating his reaction to Nya's dreams. Nya grinned at him, causing Morgan to scowl again. Unnerving!

"How, in the Force did you get so drokked up?"

[Delirion]

Her grin faded, was replaced by a sudden and brief look of profound sadness, before the calm mask that usually hid her emotions surfaced once more.

Her voice was flat, emotionless, but there was a bitterness to her tone that betrayed that.

"I can assure you, it was not my own wish to be haunted by these dreams and visions."

A tremble ran through her body - for a brief second, she seemed as if she would fall, faint - but then she turned her head to Dalethria, and seemed to have forgotten Morgan; seemed to have forgotten everything that had come to pass.

"When will we be there?"

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

She let Morgan and Delirion dish it out. Her Sister could take care of herself and had a wicked tongue at times. The exchange was most amusing and helped to bring some humor to this rather restless journey. She was so engrossed in her own thoughts that she missed what her Dark Sister had said to her and could feel eyes on her.

"What?" Her expression was quizzical but Dalethria stopped to think and then sighed, "Oh ..."

A red light blinked on the console that alerted any passengers that the ship was exiting hyperspace, "We're here."

The swirling expanses of hyperspace opened up to stars and black space. A planet that was hidden partly through cloud cover was visible and seemingly not that far away.

[Morgan Evanar]

"Good. Maybe we can undue this mess. Besides, I'm still owed a good deal of money."

Nya mentaly snickered at him, and seemed to have regained her composure.

Shut it, you.

"I'm catching a nap before we get there. Don't go to sleep, Delirion. Wake me if you really need something."

Morgan leaned against the wall, and slid down. He wrapped his arms around his knees and closed his eyes. Dale raised an eyebrow, and looked at him for a bit.

"Is he asleep already?"

Nya nodded in acknowlegement.

[Dalethria Mal Pannis]

"Thank the gods he is."

Dalethria was getting sick of the back and forth between the two. Now that Morgan was asleep, there was finally some peace and quiet in the ship.

The trio finally made it to Yavin IV and Dalethria used a code that Morgan had given her to get through the initial inquiries to why they were here. Dalethria orbited the ship around the planet and it didn't take that long for someone to comm her.

"Unidentified vessel. Your code is invalid."

Dalethria licked her teeth in annoyance, "I knew it was too easy."

"In the name of the Greater Jedi Order ... identify yourself immediately."

She narrowed her eyes and snarled, flipping the comm over to her so she could speak to whoever this was. They wanted an answer she would give them

[Delirion]

Delirion grabbed for the commlink and spoke into it before her tongue-loose sister could.

"This is the Silverthorn, registered to Nya Thyan."

This was a foolish move, to use that name, but she had used it before, and it had brought her no worse luck then. Besides, they did not plan to come near the Jedi.

"We are on a mission sent by one you used to call your own. We have come to bear the last words of the Jedi Jeseth Cloak to one Leeloo Mina."

[Delirion]

The reply was slow in coming. The Dark Jedi and her companions sat there, waiting; impatiently, Delirion drummed with her fingers on the console before her.

When the comm-line finally went active again, however, it wasn't what she had expected.

"How did you get the code that let you in this far? You shouldn't have been able to do that. And who are you? Jedi?"

Angrily, Delirion snatched up the comm-link, but caught herself before she could do anything to compromise herself. Instead, her voice remained calm, normal, with just a hint of mournfulness in it that she hoped would make her plea realistic.

"I told you - I am here to deliver a message to Leeloo Mina. We are friends of Jeseth Cloak, and were sent to do his last bidding. Please, if you honour his life, and even his death, at all, then let us meet with Leeloo."

The line on the other side went silent again. Delirion switched off the transmission button and cursed the Jedi, turning a glowering look at Morgan, who simply shrugged.