I.
3,950 BBY, 12:45 pm, somewhere on Coruscant...
You can feel it inside of you. You can feel it writhing beneath your skin, twisting itself around your bones. But most of all you can feel it tugging hard at your chest, prying your soul outwards a little at a time.
There is nothing you can do to stop the darkness, child. Nothing you can do to purge it from your being. No, you have but once choice, child. And that is to embrace it. Embrace it and you shall know power.
There is no point in struggling.
The more you fight, the more it will pull and the more pain you must endure.
Aeryn…
The more you try…
Aeryn!...
There is no hope, child. There is nothing you can do. Nothing but give in to the darkness.
Aeryn!
Nothing you can do but give up, give in, and join us…
"Aeryn Nelvar!" yelled Makare again. "Dammit, you sleep like a rock!" The young woman sighed as she pushed a strand of blonde hair away from her face. She was lying on one side of a dark green sofa, her legs draped casually over the arm. She had been reading something on her holopad, but the device now lay on her chest as she called down the hallway to the room where her sister had been sleeping. "Do I have to come and drag you out of bed? Again? Of course I do, what am I saying…"
"No, you don't," yawned Aeryn as she emerged sluggishly from her room. "What's the idea, anyway? Can't a girl be left alone for a little while. Some people need to sleep, you know." Aeryn yawned again as she wandered down the hall. Her long chestnut hair was lying in a messy braid over her right shoulder until she flipped it lazily behind her, landing with a soft thump against the back of her black silk robe.
"A little while?" scoffed Makare. "It's time for dinner, and you haven't eaten a thing all day, yes? I was about to go and get something, but I didn't know what you wanted. I'd go and pick something out for you myself, but last time I did that you got mad at me for bringing back something you didn't like."
"Yeah, well, that was your fault."
Makare looked quizzically at her younger sister. "You didn't sleep well again, did you?"
"Not especially," replied Aeryn as she rubbed her forehead gently.
"More nightmares?" Makare asked. "Because if so, this is becoming quite a regular thing…"
"You know me so well," said Aeryn with a chuckle.
"Well, you look terrible…" Makare frowned as she noticed the dark rings underneath her younger sister's eyes. Together with her dishevelled hair and slouching posture, Aeryn looked beyond exhausted, even though she had just woken up. "This is becoming a problem, you know. Look, I know you don't want to talk about what happened to you wherever the hell you were, but it's been almost half a year since you got back and you have barely slept the night through since. At first you were just restless, but for the last few weeks you have been having these nightmares almost every night. That and you haven't left the apartment for over a week now…"
"And that's why you're here with me, Mak," Aeryn yawned again. "You provide me with food and socialization, the only reasons why I'd need to leave."
"Look, I'm happy to stop over at your place on my way back from work, really. But if you're not going to wake up until an hour after I arrive? That's ridiculous. Look, what's going on? If it's just nightmares keeping you awake, I'm sure you can go see a – "
"Hell no," snapped Aeryn with her index finger pointed towards her sister. "I am not seeing a therapist. It's not that bad…"
"Aeryn," frowned Makare. "You sleep all day because apparently you have lost the ability to do so at night. At the very least that's quite abnormal."
"Hey," Aeryn shrugged. "Maybe I'm just becoming a nocturnal creature?"
"Aeryn. I'm serious."
"So am I, Mak. Look, I'll admit that I feel as terrible as I look, but I'm managing. I'm sure it will be over soon. I mean, I'm up two whole hours earlier than last time you stopped by. That means I'm getting better."
"Yeah, sure…"