Chapter 29: Wear My Chains

Chapter 29 of: The Fate of the Wandering: Wear My Chains

'I think I need a vacation.'

These words shattered the content and yet not so content silence that had fallen upon the rooftops of Coruscant, where two friends, one a redhead and the other a blue twi'lek, were deep in their own thoughts. Before them was the orange sun rising.

There was an exclamation of agreement from the friend near her at those words. 'Oh, I hear you.'

"We're supposed to be on vacation right now, though, right?" Mission said slowly. "That's why we're all here. It doesn't seem to be working too well though. No offense to anybody."

"Yeah," breathed Mira. "A few days of friends disappearing, a sense of restlessness and uselessness, plus all these secrets I feel everybody knows except for me; it isn't all it's cracked up to be. No offense to anybody."

Mission smiled slightly, and alternated standing on her tops then her heels, as she was not somebody who could stand still. Something was on her mind. Finally she said, 'Mira?'

'Yeah? I'm listening.'

Mission sighed and threw a breadcrumb over the edge of the balcony. 'What do you do when...something happens that you're not very sure about? I mean, it felt so right...and then it didn't. I'm not even really sure why it happened. Do you?'

She turned to look at the redhead beside her in black and green, who was lying comfortably in her low-back chair, her knee propped up.

'I'm going to need more than that,' Mira mumbled sleepily, shielding her eyes from the sun. 'Details, Mission. What exactly are we talking about?'

'Well, you know...'

'No, Mission,' Mira said as patiently as a sleep-deprived-former-bounty-hunter could do. 'I really don't.'

'That thing...'

'What thing?'

Mission gave an exasperated sigh. 'Dustil and I kissed, okay?!'

'Whoa!' Mira suddenly jolted from her chair and sat upright, giving a sharp intake of breath. 'Well, give a girl some warning! Geez, Mission.'

'I did!' Mission insisted, frustrated. 'You're a female; you're supposed to be able to pick up these kinds of things fast.'

'So, you and the Admiral's son joined a power coupling, did you?' Mira said, lying back down slowly, long legs stretching out. She grabbed a hat from the nearby table and put it over her face.

'It was one kiss!' Mission reddened and tightened her arms around herself.

Mira smiled and decided to give her a break. 'First time, huh?' she questioned, her voice slightly muffled from beneath the hat. 'How was it?'

'It was...It was...' Mission swallowed. 'Pretty exceptional.'

'Pretty except--!' Mira sat back up with a violent motion, giving a hoot of wild laughter.

'What?!' Mission demanded.

'I'm...I'm sorry,' Mira said through the tears. 'I'm just...I'm trying to imagine Dustil's face if we told his that his prized kiss was only...pretty exceptional!' She burst into laughter again.

'Well, it was!' Inside, Mission was thinking that perhaps speaking to Mira about this kind of stuff had not been the best idea. 'Isn't 'pretty exceptional' a good thing?'

Mira sobered down and gazed off into the distance, holding the felt hat between her hands. 'It's just so insane. You probably don't want to hear this, but one of my first kisses, this guy's tongue was just jamming down my throat...Force! It was not pretty. I felt pretty tempted to just get rid of him quick instead of getting the higher bounty. That's how bad it was.' Mira gave a sigh. 'You see, not everything's as nice as a fairy tale. Oftentimes, you have to leave someone behind, or they leave you.' No trace of laughter was shown on her face now. Her red hair shone with a golden light from the sun. 'Or perhaps you go through life and don't experience anything like love at all. Every day you feel lonely; every day is the same.'

Mission just stared at Mira for a few moments, before walking over and stepping on the redhead's foot hard.

'Hey!' Mira exclaimed in protest. 'I'm spilling my guts to you here! I'm just telling the truth, Mission. My truth anyway.' To herself she muttered, 'I thought being a Jedi Master protected you from foot-stepping and all other dignity-ruining things.'

'Thanks for that, Mira!' Mission grumbled. 'I'm trying to get some courage and all you're doing is scaring the heck out of me with tales of tongues down throats and love that never lasts!'

'Believe me,' Mira said sincerely, 'it was not intentional. I just...I just have this jaded view of love now. And relationships. For me, it's all a lie.' She turned her eye on the blue twi'lek with shining eyes and still that strength of youth and hope within her. 'You and Dustil, who knows? If you feel something, go and tell him. Don't ever make the mistake of not telling. I know it's easier said than done, but if you really like the guy--'

'Hey! There you are!' Griff's head emerged from the ladder they had climbed to get here, and cheerfully looked around. 'What are the two of you doing up here so early in the morning?'

'Girl talk,' Mira said simply, lying back down and putting the hat back over her face. 'And since you're a guy, and girl talk can only make sense if it involves only girls, and not guys, which, if you need reminding, you are...'

Griff held up two hands. 'I'm gone. But Miss Brunette Jedi is calling a meeting. I'm thinking it's urgent. She had her 'all-business' face on, you know, and I didn't want to mess with her.'

'Another meeting?' Mission said curiously, as Mira said back up and put the hat away for good. 'What about?'

'I'm going to find out,' the redhead declared, grabbing her black jacket off the chair and pulling it on. 'You coming?'

'I gotta talk to my sis first,' Griff said, and stepped aside so Mira could head to the ladder.

'Be my guest,' Mira proclaimed. 'See you, Mission.' Then she gave a conspiratory wink and added, 'Good luck.' The sound of her steps clanking down the rungs ceased as her red hair disappeared from view.

'Bye,' Mission called after her. She turned to Griff.

''Good luck?'' Griff echoed, raising his eyebrows.

'Girl talk,' Mission confirmed, and leaned against the railing. 'So, what's up, Griff? Are you in trouble or something?'

Griff called upon the most offended look he could. 'Of course not! Is that the first thing you think of whenever I come and talk to you?'

Mission just crossed her arms and looked at him. 'The last thing you said to me was at the dinner table.' Here she called upon her best Griff impression: ''Pass the buns, will ya, Sis?' The last real conversation we had was when you got back from some company infiltration, and that was days ago!'

Griff gave in and sighed. 'I'm sorry. It's just...' He rubbed his head and looked around. 'I can't go to the meeting today.'

'Why not?'

'Business.'

'Again?'

'Yeah.'

'What kind?'

'It involves credits.'

'So?

'So I can't go.'

'To the meeting.'

'Right.'

Mission rolled her eyes. 'So?!'

'I need you to cover for me.'

'Cover? Griff...'

'Yeah. You know, tell the terrifying Jedi lady I can't come.'

'Why don't you tell her?'

'Because,' Griff said, 'she scares the crap outta me!'

'No way,' Mission said in surprise. 'You're scared of our little Bassy? I mean, I know sometimes she can come off a bit too strong, but she tries so hard to be the kind of person people want her to be. Okay, yeah, so she turned Dark Side once, but she's really just a love-deprived softy.'

'Mission, I don't think that's the right term.'

'Love-deprived?'

'Softy,' Griff clarified, in a whisper.

'Oh.'

'Yeah.'

There was silence for a moment.

'This is bantha poo-doo, Griff!' Mission exclaimed. 'I'm so sick of this! I'm gonna drag you to this meeting if I have to. I really will.'

'Look,' Griff said, his voice suddenly more serious. 'I know I'm not perfect. I know I've made mistakes. I know that when you look at me, or when anyone looks at me, I'm not something even I can exactly be proud of. I'm sorry about the Griff clone that got sent here, and I'm sorry for whatever big, dumpy mess he made. I think they only used him 'cause he was supposed to be the first test run. And you know what? I hate how I can't be this idol or somebody dependable in your eyes, but I'm trying to make a new start, Mission, and I've got a new lead.' His voice broke. 'Mish, I'm really, really trying.'

Mission was quiet for a moment. 'I know you are, Griff.'

'I'm broke, Mission. From past mistakes. That's why I'm doing what I have to do now.'

'Past mistakes?' Mission pretty much yelled. 'Griff, you've been broke. And you've been broke ever since I can remember! So that's gotta equal to a lot of 'past mistakes', and those past mistakes never seem to end.'

Griff hastened to interrupt, but Mission interceded. 'And the only reason why I think you could need money is because you're leaving! You're thinking of taking off again! Am I right?'

'In...In the loosest sense of the word.'

Mission gave an angry groan and turned away.

'Mission, I'm trying to make a living.'

'Griff, you don't make a living! You--you scheme and you plunder and steal and borrow and beg and sneak. That's not making a living. That's scavenging for a living.'

'Well, I'm breathing,' Griff said angrily, 'so it seems to be working, doesn't it?'

Mission sighed, her eyes tired. 'Why'd you come back, Griff?'

'To--to apologize to you.'

'And now, you're going to go off and make the same mistakes again, so you can come back and apologize--again. Tell me this, Griff. When you apologized, were you thinking of actually making up for everything, or did you just apologize to make yourself feel less guilty?'

'Mish,' Griff half-laughed. 'Come on.'

'No! I'm not a kid anymore, Griff! Mom and Dad aren't alive, and I've seen things. I've seen planets die, people change, people suffer. I love you, Griff. You've taught me almost everything I needed to know to survive on Taris. Perhaps too much. I came to rely on you, depend on you. And then,' her voice cracked, 'you just left. And that's something I can never fully forgive, Griff, you know?'

'Mish,' Griff said sadly, eyes wide. His pride was hurt, his conscience heavy, but he still found the strength to open his arms to his sister. 'C'mere.'

Mission shook her head and tightened her arms around herself, sniffling. Griff stepped forward and hugged her anyway, long and tight, and kissed the top of her head before pulling away.

'I've changed my mind,' he said. 'I'm going to the meeting. I've always liked those free rolls that were there anyway. I'm not in any real rush. I can go to the business thing tomorrow. Are you coming with me to the meeting now, Sis?'

Mission wiped her eyes and rubbed her hands on her pants. And even though she wasn't entirely conscious of it, a tiny part of her was thinking, I don't want Dustil to see me like this. 'Yeah. Yeah, okay.'

'Good. That's good. Right? Are we good?'

'In the loosest sense of the word.'

Griff smiled. 'It's progress, anyway.'

'Whatever you say, Griff.'

'Mission.'

She looked up.

'I'm sorry,' he finally said. And this time, there was real meaning behind his words, like he was unloading everything wrong that he had ever done from himself, and offering it up for someone to please take away, but more especially, to take away the pain that he had caused upon his own sister. 'I really am.'

'I know you are, Griff,' Mission said softly, turning and heading towards the ladder. 'But it's not enough. Not yet.'

Gone to find Atton. Will be back. Take care. Demi.

Leo sighed and dropped the datapad back down. So short and concise, he thought. Then, he turned his gaze down the hall to the medbay where Brianna lay, still and white, trapped in a coma. An unspeakable, heavy burden seemed to fall upon his chest, a feeling of dread.

I can't do anything, Leo thought. There's so much I have to make up for and there's nothing I can do. Brianna...she didn't deserve this.

With one hand on the doorframe he made his way inside. There she was. She was the perfect image of everything he had failed to do right, everything so good that it hurt. He sighed, shook some of his silvery hair out of his way and sat down on the chair beside her, staring down at his wrung hands.

'Heya, flyboy. Am I interrupting something important?'

Immediately, Leo stood up, pushing his chair back. He stared at the brunette standing just a few feet away from him, leaning leisurely against the wall. He recognized her face from the poster. How long had she been there?

'Don't worry,' Renee said, as though reading his thoughts. 'I haven't been watching you in your whole pathetic despair that long, thank the Force. I've just arrived.'

'You need to get out,' Leo said threateningly, stepping forward angrily.

Renee just laughed. 'A welcoming host, aren't you? Hmm. So that's her, isn't it?' She observed Brianna who lay there, oblivious to those around her. 'That's the whole reason why you're stranded here in the first place.' Renee gave a half-chuckle. 'How ironic. And how...peaceful she looks. I wonder if she'll remember any of this when she wakes up. If she'll remember you there, patiently waiting by her side, day and night, day and night...' She reached out as though to touch Brianna's hair.

Leo grabbed her wrist, his grip firm. 'You're not going to touch her either.'

Renee's green eyes glowed like simmering emeralds, feeling the tension in the air just as well as him. 'I'm not here for her.' She used her other hand to push him hard in the chest so he got off-balance and her arm was freed. That accomplished, she turned to the wall to light her cigarra. Flicking off the lighter and turning back to Leo, she took a little exhale of smoke.

'So you're here to become smoking buddies. No, Renee. I don't think so.' Leo's voice became hard. 'You obviously have many contracts in this city. What are you, one of Vincentii's cronies now?'

'Crony?' Renee said thoughtfully. 'No. I'm not a crony. Far from it, actually. Voren just tells me who he wants killed and when he wants it done. But the 'how...'' She smiled crookedly. 'He leaves that part all up to me.'

'Sounds like a real nice partnership you've got going.'

'Oh, for sure. But see, you would know all about it, wouldn't you? Seeing as you worked for him for a couple of years as well.'

'It wasn't a couple of years,' Leo said through gritted teeth. 'It was a year. And you'd do well to remember that.'

'Gee, oh gee, I've just gotten here and already I've received about three threats. But you see, Leo, a year, a couple of years, to Voren, it's all the same. You turned your back on him and his company, flyboy, and Voren figures you owe him big. Now, personally,' Renee started walking around Brianna's bed, 'I don't care one way or another if you abandoned him. I hate the man. But as you might know, I owe him as well, and I thought, well, now's the time to get rid of the debt once and for all.'

'You haven't sworn a Wookiee life debt to him. We owe him nothing.'

'Oh, no, White-Haired Boy.' Renee had picked up the nickname from listening in on conversations. Back on Central Port, the Sith had installed cloaked listening devices all around. 'As a matter of fact, I do owe him. My life, in fact. But it goes deep than that. I plan to get off this miserable junk heap as soon as I can, but Voren's made that impossible, hasn't he? We're under quarantine. We try to leave, we blow up. Literally speaking. Those aren't the kind of odds I like to work with.

'He informed the Republic authorities of my presence, and as a result, the seal was put up. But he makes sure the Republic doesn't get me, that I can't reach them, and that everyone here on Nar Shaddaa including the other crime bosses are just trapped, going around and around in this abominable circle that just never ceases to end.'

'That doesn't explain why you're here.'

'No, it doesn't, does it? It's because, good old reliable Voren has made a list. I complete the list, he tells the authorities the Sith have killed me off, I jump free, and cause chaos elsewhere. Everyone's happy.'

'And what exactly is on this list of yours?'

'You ask all the right questions, don't you, flyboy?' Renee smiled between her two fingers holding up the cigarra. 'Let me tell you, your name, Demi's name, and Jaq's name are on it quite a bit.'

'Demi,' Leo exclaimed in surprise. 'What do you know about her?'

'What I know,' said Renee, slightly hysterically, and Leo noticed the bruises on her face, 'is that I've been going way easier on your sister than I ever should have. But you, Leo.' She walked up close to him and nodded thoughtfully. 'You just may be more important to Voren's cause than you ever realized.'

'I'm not doing anything for him,' Leo said, ignoring her penetrating gaze, his words more spiteful than usual, surprising even him. But whomever he had been when he was part of Vincentii was someone he wanted to leave behind there. He did not like him at all. 'Not anymore. Never again.'

'Yeah,' Renee said, but it was obviously clear that she didn't believe him. 'Yeah, you go on thinking that.' She sighed and stamped out her cigarra on the ground of the medbay, leaving a scorch mark on the Ebon Hawk that would lie there forever. 'I don't even like the damn things, I just think it's kind of funny, seeing all the many different ways people react to it. Some people even find them intimidating, if you'd imagine that.'

'Really.' Leo's eyebrows jolted up in surprise, and his hands started wandering towards Brianna behind his back, where he was hoping a weapon still lay fastened at her waist. Where were HK and T3? 'Intimidating? Whatever happened to revolting, and I-hope-your-lungs-freeze-up-and-die?'

Renee laughed lightly. 'Oh, I like you, Leo. I really do.'

Then, from behind Leo, something was plunged into his side. He crumpled to the floor just as two Sith appeared, flanking him, stealth field generators crackling and deactivating, the weapon held in one of their hands.

'But if my boss wants to see you, then he's going to see you, because all I really care about is getting out of here alive.' Renee smiled down at the figure on the floor, as Leo looked up dazedly beneath his eyelids. Her image became increasingly more blurry. 'Sweet dreams, White-Haired Boy. Sweet dreams.'

Once she was sure Leo had passed out, she turned to the two Sith. 'Leave the droids. Once they get unfrozen, Demi's gonna need somebody to tell her what just happened. Then, everything can go exactly as the dear old boss planned.' Renee's voice, holding tones of sarcasm and irony in its depths, softened, and she turned on her heel to exit the medbay.

As though to herself, she muttered, 'Somebody's gotta wake that blondie up, 'cause she's missing all the fun around here.' And the sound of her shoes clinking against the Ebon Hawk's floors slowly melted away.

---

Not too far away, a Jedi lay dreaming...

One year ago.

In Atton's experience, there were normally four different stages a person could go through while in their drunken state, if they started out in a neutrally good mood. The first one was of course, tipsiness. Laughter and giggles at the most unfunny thing, where everything is happy and troubles are forgotten. The second was impatience and an increase of more daringness and risk-taking, mostly in the doing of stupid things. Making a pass at someone, demanding more drinks for free, starting a fight. After that, the person might go through a sober phase, where they spilled their deepest secrets and worries and sadness and basically their whole life story, whether anyone was listening or not. And then, of course, there was the fourth stage which generally involves a large amount of puking, but that can be skipped for now.

It was very interesting watching a Jedi Master get drunk, shedding all dignities and whatever armor they held to keep other people at bay. It was all gone. At the moment, Demi seemed to be at the first stage, and it was strange, although not the least bit displeasurable, watching her be truly carefree.

'Just one more cup, I swear,' said Demi, for the twelfth time, gulping the juma down in one breath. Atton watched as her eyes got misty, and took over her senses. 'This...this is good. It's very...' Demi searched for a word...'Juma-y.' She giggled madly. 'Is that a word? It should be a word. It's very wordy.'

'Yeah, I've, ah, I've heard that.' Atton couldn't believe he had actually gotten her to come to the cantina. All he knew was if anyone deserved a break, it was Demi. She admitted that it would be her first juma in about five years, and Atton said to drink all she wanted and have some fun, something he personally thought she had been lacking ever since the old witch had joined the party. Now, Demi wore her hair down, out from her ponytail for once. Down to her shoulders, white-blonde, and silky. The pink flower that had been in her previous drink as decoration was now in her hair. She laughed giddily and freely, as the empty cups lined down the bar. Atton had never seen her like this before.

'So...tell me about Kavar,' Atton said, deciding that as long as she was like this, he could try to get some information out of her. He had always had a sneaking suspicion there had been something going on between them.

'Kavar?' Demi hiccupped. 'What's to say? I don't like him. I don't like him at all. He didn't say a word when they banished me, you know. What a friend he was. Really.'

She was quiet for a moment and then she looked back up at Atton, mischieviousness hidden in the corner of her mouth. 'I do say, Atton, you're trying to get me drunk, aren't you? You've never been very subtle, you know, although I think you like to think so. You're not touching your drink. I'm not so intoxicated that I can't notice things, Atton, I don't know why you're under--'

She wobbled a bit as she attempted to hop off her seat, '--estimating me like that.'

Atton lay a few credits down at the bar, a brow risen quizically in amusement, and followed her.

'No!' said Demi, to a complete stranger who looked quite bewildered. 'I won't dance with you! I'm here with someone else.' She held up a finger warningly. 'I have a spatula!'

'Okay,' said Atton, rushing over and grabbing her by the elbow before she could make any real damage. 'Come on now, Demi. Leave the nice man alone.' Apologetically he said to the man, 'Sorry 'bout that. These Jedi...they don't know how to hold their juma.'

'Juma?' asked Demi excitedly, clinging on his vest. 'Where's the juma?'

'In your stomach, Dem. You drank it all.'

'All?'

'All.'

'Oh,' she said disappointedly.

And then, it was as though a bit of sense came back into her, and she stumbled backwards a bit. 'Force, why'd you let me drink so much?' she groaned, putting a hand to her forehead. 'Remember this one time I was at this inn, and I was drunk? I mean completely wasted.' She held her hand off into the distance, hanging lazily, with no control at all at the wrist to emphasize her point. 'I was so quiet. Now I can't seem to shut up. Oh, wait, you weren't there, were you? Were you, Atton? I can't--I can't remember.'

Just then, an upbeat song came on. Demi grabbed Atton by the hands and dragged him into the center of the dance floor. 'Let's dance!'

Atton was a bit uncertain but he wasn't going to argue. In spite of, or perhaps because of the alcohol, Demi moved gracefully, totally relaxed, swaying her hips from side to side, and gazing off to a place somewhere beyond Atton's head dreamily. She placed Atton's hands on her waist, almost instructively and business-like, and that made him smile. As she draped her arms around the back of his neck lazily, he suddenly felt a thrill go up and down his spine. The music was pulsing in Atton's blood. A bit of guilt that this was happening at all because of him came into the back of his mind, but he pushed it away. She'd thank him later. Maybe.

'I'm drunk,' said Demi, matter-of-factly. She twirled to the music, tilting her head back and laughing. 'I love it!'

Atton had never met someone who was so aware or conscious of the fact that she was drunk, while it was in effect. Most people, as they attempted to walk a straight line for the authorities, would always deny it vehemently, even as they tripped over every visible object in range.

'I love you,' Atton said quietly, finally blurting it out. He didn't even know what he was about to say until he said it. But he knew it was exactly what he felt. However, even as he said it, he felt a part of himself miss Demi, the other her, the one who could be serious, the one who could relate to whatever someone said, the one who listened, the one who punched him over the shoulder at random moments. He missed her.

Demi stopped laughing, then punched him playfully on the shoulder. Well, at least that part hadn't changed. 'You crazy,' Demi said.

'Maybe I am,' Atton sighed, his eyes going dark. Was he taking advantage of this situation? Ashamed, he knew he wouldn't so what he was about to do if Demi wasn't so drunk. It didn't matter. The juma, the music, the dance, and Demi. Beautiful, laughing, carefree. Like she always should be. It was now or never. Consequences didn't matter now.

As the music pulsed a beat louder and faster, Atton grabbed Demi to him by the waist, and he placed his lips firmly on hers. He felt Demi tense up, then relax and fall willingly into the kiss. He picked her up like she weighed nothing, swung her around, and kissed her. He gently put her back on the ground and kissed her again, tasting the juma on her lips and not caring one bit. The monster inside of him sighed contentedly, as he dragged his fingers through her soft hair, unaware of anybody else around them. It was wild, gentle, passionate, and so much more all at once. Time seemed like it would never stop. But it did.

Demi slowly pulled back, eyes closed as though in a dream, then slowly opened them. She looked at him gently, straight in the eye. Those magical eyes of hers. 'You still crazy,' she said. She gave him a sweet, lingering kiss one last time that was too short to give him time to react, then walked away, using the wall to support herself.

Atton gave her a head start, then headed after her. He found her a moment later just outside of the cantina, slumped against a pole, sleeping the liguor off. Silently, Atton picked her up and carried her in his arms all the way back to the ship.

The next morning, when she woke up in her bed, the alcohol seemed to have made her forget all about the event, and so they did not speak of it. They went about their normal business. Demi upgraded her lightsaber in the garage, came to talk to him, and asked him to fly them to the next planet. For a long time after that, everything seemed like business, nothing more. But it was her not playing their customary game of pazaak with him as though she wanted to get out of there as fast as possible, and her not mentioning the burning headache that Atton knew she had, that made Atton think differently. Perhaps she had remembered that last night, and had chosen to keep silent as though that would make the night and its events go away and remain forgotten. And that last possibility, that hurt Atton most of all.

It all happened so fast. First she had been sprawled out upon a cold, bumpy stone floor, slowly lifting herself up in an attempt to find out where she was, and what she saw was unlike anything she had seen before. She was standing on a lone slab of stone, and beyond that was an abyss. Dark, cold, never-ending. An attempt to lean over and discover what lay beneath and beyond the blackness would result in her death.

And it was dreadfully cold. Not cold enough to hug herself tight with her arms, but cold enough to truly understand the reality that yes, she was standing on top of some Force-forsaken column, the foot of which she would never be able to fully see. And all around was nothing. Everything felt empty. Cold. Forbidding. And dark.

Elaine carefully turned around and looked above her and all around her. A single shard of light fell upon her column and herself, its source a mystery. 'Hello!' she called into the nothingness. It wasn't particularly one of her best ideas, but she was stranded and it was a vain attempt to prove that she wasn't.

'Your time is up, Revan.'

The words were boomed from all around her, chilling, forseeing some empty fate. It was the voice of Aleksander.

'No more will you be held back. The time for action has come.'

Elaine spun around wildly. 'This is a dream, isn't it?' she yelled towards the heavens. There was no answer. 'Isn't it?!'

And then, came the sound of something heavy clanking open. Elaine slowly looked toward it, and what she saw caused her heart to stop for one fearful moment.

It was a machine, an ancient mechanism, carved with the face of some other-wordly creature god, as large as a monument, slowly encroaching upon her one territory and safety, the column she was standing on. It was help up by chains and was steadily moving towards her. At first had thought she could lunge and hold onto it as a ride out of here, but then the machine opened its tremendous mouth. A blast of fire spurted out, tongues of yellow and orange whip-lashing through the air, casting heat upon Elaine's face and momentarily hypnotizing her.

It was about to run her over, about to engulf her within its flames.

'You have no more options,' came his deep voice again, from above and all around.

Elaine lost her balance as the mechanism more than twenty times her size smashed into the column with an almighty strike, crumbling it into pieces as it slowly sunk down. Elaine started to fall with it; she used her hands in an attempt to grasp something; anything...Her fingers that had been unintentionally scraping were now bleeding.

She found her footing against the rock of the column, and she held herself there almost horizontally, gathered her strength, and jumped, just as a tremendous chunk of stone from above was about to crush her.

She was free-falling through the dark air, the wind rushing through her hair and making her feel alive, but who knew how long that would last. There was nothing to hold onto, nothing...

And then her arms found a solid bar to hold onto. A bar? she wondered. That makes no sense...

As she thought that, light from above shined down and revealed a whole jungle of equipment, strangely suspended in the black air. More bars and rock walls and all sorts of things she could use to climb...These were things she could use to get out of here. This is a dream, this is a dream, Elaine kept repeating to herself.

There was another clanking sound from behind her, and Elaine spared a fraction of a second to look back. The monstrous structure had been lowered even further on the chains, and if she didn't move fast, the fire would take over her; it would take over everything.

And so it started. Elaine was trying to outrun--outclimb--something that was supremely superior to her by so much more. She used the power in her arms to propel her from one bar to another, and when she came to the end of the bars, she remembered:

The Force.

She had not felt it in so long. Dare she try it now?

Elaine configured a barrier out of nothing, its whispery, blue and silver shape weaving its trail out of Elaine's fingertips and slowly becoming bigger and expanding into a large bubble-like sphere that tried to hold the fire at bay.

The machine smashed through the barrier just as it had smashed through the column, dispersing it entirely, and Elaine felt a snap within herself, as though the machine itself had crashed into her. So she could only rely on her Force to give her strength, nothing more.

Her breath came out in sharp, small exhales, and she hoisted herself on top of the bar she was on--she didn't have time to gather her balance--and jumped to the rock wall beyond, hoping to grab at the top of it. Everything was risky, but it was the natural instinct of survival that was kicking in now. Behind her, the machine was demolishing the bars she had just been on, one after another, metal clinking, metal falling. There was no going back.

She had made it. Barely. Her face had almost rammed straight into the stone if she hadn't turned her head to the side, and her grasp at the top of the wall was slippery. There were a few creases in the stone but it felt so unforgivingly flat. Elaine summed up her energy and flipped her legs over the top to find out what was on the other side.

To her surprise, it was a stone ramp. Her beat-up boots slid down it easily, and she got into a stronger stance with bent lengs and outheld arms. Wind rushed through her senses and her heart beat with an unquenchable excitement. Despite herself and the situation she was in, she smiled. She had been held in that cell, tied up and bound, for far too long. Forget the danger; she was free.

Above her, the machine smashed into the top of the ramp and chunks of rock sped down just as fast as Elaine. A smaller one rammed into her elbow, causing her to hiss in pain and get knocked over to the side and lose her balance a bit. She felt blood and soreness. She attempted to make her body as small as possible to avoid being a target. It wasn't enough, so she started running down the ramp.

She almost tripped, but she used the downhill as much to her advantage as she possibly could. And then, abruptly, she saw the end of the ramp. Before she reached the edge, she jumped, and swung onto the handles of a bar further on, that she had spotted while she had been above. Behind her, the rocks rolled and fell into the ever-surrounding abyss. Wind was piercing and whistling in her ears and the world was turning at a remarkable rate, but she kept her hands on the bar and kept spinning through the air, finding herself over the bar then swinging down below the bar, and over again. She looked towards the direction she had not gone yet and saw a doorway, bathed in pale blue light. Everything was surreal. It was all dream-like and moving so fast; there was never any time to catch her breath.

So she let go, and flew through the air towards it, landing in a tumble at the floor before it. The fire monster machine gave a roar and it was mostly then that she realized just how loud everything was. The crackling of the fire, the clanking of the chains, the roar of the wind and monster, and the destruction of everything in its path. She had been blocking it all out, for the better, to enchance her concentration.

And then, she heard something else that made her stop in her tracks and not go through the door. It was the sound of a little boy crying. It filled the air, high-pitched wails of desperation, filled with longing and despair. It reminded her of when she had cried out back in the tower room. And it reminded her of Ian. A little boy crying. Where was he? And who was this boy crying? Was he another prisoner? Dare she trust anything in this place?

The sound came from a small shape out on a column just like Elaine's old one, not too far away; she could see it clearly, but it was too far away. The boy kept rubbing his eyes and crying. He was real, and in the same situation as Elaine's. She didn't even look back at the door; time was running short and she needed to find something she could use to get over to him.

'Can you hear me?' she yelled over to the boy, who stopped crying enough to give an exclamation of surprise at her standing there.

'Yes,' he said, his voice articulate and clear. He had brown hair and tear-streaked cheeks. 'Who are you? What--what's happening?'

'Listen to me,' Elaine said desperately. 'Try to jump to me. I don't have any rope.'

'Why is the sky burning?' the boy asked, and he started crying again. 'I don't know why they took me. I didn't do anything wrong!'

'Shh,' Elaine consoled. 'Listen, you've got to get out of there! Do you see anything you can hold onto?'

'I can't jump!' the boy cried in terror. 'It's too far! I--I can't.'

The monster unleashing its fire was not stopping, not stopping at all. Slowly, the metal chain cranked down and opened the mechanical mouth, and a great burst of fire shone behind the boy's figure. It seemed that the eyes in the face of the giant statue were glowing red, as it slowly encroached on.

'Jump!' Elaine screamed, horror gripping and seizing her heart in its hand.

In panic, knowing he had nowhere to turn, the boy turned to glance behind him, and as he did so, flames engulfed him. His high-pitched wailing cry would stay with Elaine's thoughts forever. She looked away, tears streaming down her pale cheeks. Ian, Dustil, Ian, Dustil...I'm so sorry, she thought.

She put her hand on the doorknob before her and stepped into the dark, because, just like the boy, she had nowhere else to turn.

Elaine opened her eyes and a long stream of tears fell as she did so. She was trembling; she could not control herself. She was back in the tower, she was again chained up, and Aleksander was leaning over her.

'You did not save him,' he whispered, and Elaine shuddered and pressed herself as far into the stone wall behind her as she could go.

'Do you always state the obvious?' she managed to say, and at this moment, she knew she had never felt this much of hatred for anybody else. This...This was hate. And it forced red sparks to fully take over her eyes, to narrow them, and she stared back up at Aleksander, and he noticed them.

It forced him to smile a bit. His armor shone under only a small ray of light from the high window.

'You did not save him, Revan,' he continued as he began pacing, 'And although you may believe that there could not possibly have been anything that you could have done; you are wrong. You did not really try. Even though that boy symbolized your weakness; he could have been Ian. You just let him die. You were too focused on your own survival. But you see, Revan, that was your mistake. You shouldn't have cared about him at all. What use would he have been to you? He was just a boy. It doesn't matter what he might have grown up to become; he could do nothing for you. You should not have wasted your time or spared him a glance.'

'Why did you kill him?' Elaine demanded, her voice breaking.

At this, Aleksander spun towards her so violently. 'Are you so blind? Are you so slow as to catch on, Revan? He was a vision. And that, had been a dream.'

'That's how you live, isn't it?' Elaine exclaimed suddenly. 'You keep people prisoner in towers and chains and you fool them with dreams and words.' She shook her head, never moving her eyes from his. 'You think you have power but that 'power' is what you hide behind. All you are, Aleksander,' she said, and suddenly she smiled coyly, 'dear, dear, grandfather, is a coward.'

Aleksander's eyes narrowed into bloodshot slits. He lifted a hand up, commandingly, and as he cast it down, bolts and currents of lightning coursed its way through Elaine's veins, making her scream and squirm. The pain rattled and stretched her bones. Lights flashed before her eyes. Her knuckles tightened around her chains. When it was over, Elaine gasped for air. How long it had lasted, she did not know.

'You weren't raised a fool, Revan.' Aleksander dropped his hand down at his side, beside the hilt of his sword. 'Your parents were warriors. You have been a strategizer and a leader, destined for great things, not petty worries about those inconsequential to you. But then you fell, and you talk of things you can't even begin to understand.'

Aleksander's heavy footsteps made their way to the wooden door, the exit to her cell. 'I am disappointed in you.'

And the wooden door slammed shut.

Those words held more weight than Elaine could ever have expected. She felt shame. But mostly, she felt anger, boiling wrathfullness and fury.

I will kill him, she vowed. I don't care when and I don't care how...But he will die.

And through the darkness, Darth Revan's eyes shone deep, blood red.

:) tWiNkLeT.