MEMORIES V

Vigan'ara

Narah had run as fast as she could as soon as Ar'alani had given her leave. In this case, she didn't much care if the Admiral had or not, but if it weren't for her, Narah wouldn't have even had a reason to run. Her legs could only carry her so far so quickly, however, and the speeder she commandeered raced across the snowy landscape of winter on Copero. She'd broken multiple traffic laws, but with the insignia of the Chiss Defense Fleet on the door, no authorities found the courage to stop her.

Her legs did the work once again as she reached the House Vigan estate, her boots pounding against the brick walkway and up the stairs, just before the guards reached out with open palms to stop her.

"Ma'am, you cannot just—"

"I am Blood of House Vigan! This is my home!" she shouted, pressing forward regardless, only to be stopped. "Let me in!"

The guards didn't budge.

"LET. ME. IN!" she demanded, only to hear the spine-tingling buzz of a stunner. She ducked beneath, kicking out her attacker's knee with a satisfying crunch as he cried out, ducking under the second's attack. Far quicker…and far more skilled than he…Narah's cavvit'cah overwhelming his basic standing attacks as she wrapped around him and pulled the man to the ground, keeping his head held tight in a solid choke.

"Narah, stop!"

She looked up, not being stupid enough to loosen her grip, but felt her eyes soften upon the sight.

Nerah knelt, pulling at Narah's shoulders. "Big sister…please let him go."

Her sister…she looked…she hadn't seen her in so long, but not long enough for her to look so much older than she last remembered. Now, however, she didn't care much at all about that, and instead released the man and pulled her sister in for a tight, tear-creating hug.

"Nerah…I'm…I'm so sorry," she whimpered, holding her so tightly she could feel the woman's bones in her grip. "I tried everything I could, but—"

"It's alright, Narah," Nerah whispered, returning the embrace. "I'm still here…and I missed you so much."

She…sounded so different. There was no quivering, no undertone of uncertainty or perpetual nervousness…no reason for her big sister to stand in between her and danger. Part of Narah froze at the realization, pulling away slightly as she ran her fingers through Nerah's hair, before kissing her on the forehead.

"Ar'alani told me something was happening…I…I wanted to see if you were okay."

Nerah's crimson eyes had a fading effect to their glow, her expression looking somewhat bitter…not at all reflecting the affection Narah was showing her way. Her sister's hands gripped her wrists, pulling them from the back of her neck with…enhanced fervor.

Father.

Nerah didn't even have to speak. Narah already knew she had been too late.

"You don't have to worry about me anymore," Nerah said, the softness in her pleasing voice gone. "I'm happy you've found your calling, sister."

She then turned to the guard recovering from Narah's kick to his knee, moving to help him along. "Search her for weapons, then bring her inside," Nerah commanded.

"What?" Narah gasped, and immediately felt herself being frisked by more guards, tearing her blade and blaster from her concealed areas, before pushing her through the doors she had originally tried to force herself through. No binders were applied, but their grips on her shoulders made it quite obvious she was not allowed to go where she pleased within her own home…even if to her, it was no home at all.

This place…a place of nothing but shouting, memories of her dead and forgotten mother, and needles…so many needles. Panic began to set in as the realization that she had just been lead into the very place she escaped fell into place, and these guards knew she didn't need weapons to take them all out.

She played along until they reached the very wing in which she had been stripped nude and poked so many times, before the guards released her. Nerah appeared again, now in nothing but a bra and pants, revealing various spots of purple bruising against her dark blue skin…as well as stitches where cuts had been made in her chest and abdomen.

Narah felt her chin shiver with fear. "What did he do to you?" she asked, grasping her hands. "Nerah, please tell me what's going on."

She felt so pathetic, but her sister's demeanor, the innocence in her eyes and face had disappeared…looking defeated, soulless.

Broken.

"We've found a way…made a deal," Nerah said. "This is how I get out."

Narah looked back towards the sliding door, seeing the operating table through the window…and knowing exactly what she was referring to.

"No," Narah shook her head, frantically grasping her sister's shoulders. "No, you don't have to do this. Come with me. Come with me a-and we'll figure something out. I promise. I'll talk to the A-Admiral and w-we'll—"

"Listen to yourself," Nerah shook her head, her voice just as soulless. "Narah, there is no other way."

"There's always another way!" she shouted, the pain of her own experiments returning, now with the image of Nerah suffering them instead. "I can get you out of here…you can be free!"

"We are never free, Narah," she almost growled, her brow slanting menacingly as her annoyance began to blow over. "Not even you are free, no matter how desperately you want to believe such a thing, not while our father still controls our House…and not while I can't be what he wants me to be."

Narah swallowed, unable to even speak.

"Don't you see?" Nerah said, her tone softening, letting her hand brush against Narah's cheek, and she savored that feeling. "If I do this…if I become that…he'll be satisfied…he'll leave you alone."

Tears began to leak from Narah's eyes. "I don't want you to take that burden alone. I protect you, remember? I promised you!"

"I know," Nerah promised, letting her forehead rest against her sister's. "But Narah…I couldn't bare to watch you suffer in my stead anymore. Your screams still exist in my nightmares, freezing me in place as I desperately try to pull those machines away…only to watch you suffer even more."

Narah sobbed. "Nerah…"

"This is our burden," Nerah eased. "But this…I must do. I'll be alright."

"You…you don't know what it will do!" she whimpered; her hands wrapped tightly around Nerah's wrists.

"I have to try."

Narah hadn't cried often during her childhood, but this broke her heart worse than she ever imagined. It was her worst fear coming true before her eyes, her sister believing she had to give in to their father…just to protect her.

If this went wrong…Nerah could…

"I'm…I'm terrified for you," Narah trembled. "Nerah, please don't do this. Please just come with me. I want us to be together…I can't bear to watch you die."

"I won't," Nerah promised, stooping in for a long, meaningful kiss to her forehead. "Wait right here for me…" guards stepped in, grasping Narah tightly and pulling her away from her sister, making her emit a fearsome scream as her sister only watched her go. "…I'll see you on the other side."

"NO!" Narah struggled. "NERAH!"

But by then, she was through the door…and the window shut closed.

Her heart was shattered, and all that remained was rage.


Killing every guard in her path had proven to be a difficult challenge, but no price was too small to pay for Vigan'ara'hro as she limped towards the magnificent double doors into her father's foyer. She had glass in her arm, multiple cuts in her face and legs as the drip of blood droplets splashed onto the floor against the quiet interior.

Pain was immaterial.

Guards shifted as she kicked open the doors, but they dropped dead before their fingers even twitched, blaster bolts ringing through the air…leaving only one. His cape flapped as he turned, the rage in his eyes so obvious, she could feel them burning into her soul.

Her blaster hand hung at her side, holding herself up as her boots soiled his beautiful rug, a painting of himself and her mother hung against the back wall.

She licked the blood from her lips.

"You…you dare!" he spat, but stopped his advance immediately as Narah leveled her blaster his way.

Narah stared back into his eyes, letting her broken heart feed its insides into his pupils. "Sit down. Now."

"You coward…" Nator growled, unmoving. "Disgrace!"

"I SAID RIGHT NOW!" Narah screamed, her voice echoing off every wall as the blaster shook his way. "RIGHT NOW!"

Nator glared…but complied, sitting with a look that could kill upon the velvet couch situated around the golden-crusted table. Narah limped her way to the couch's counterpart, and took the seat across from him, keeping the blaster pointed his way.

"Ungrateful…spiteful worm," Nator spat, his cheeks twitching with distain. "I gave you everything…and you threw it all away."

Narah trembled, unable to blink as she met those terrifying eyes once again, the little girl she once was reassuming her body. The trigger felt heavy against her finger, the cold steel spreading through her veins and into her heart…slowing it to a crawl. Time slowed…encasing just the two of them in a purgatory of her own design.

"What…did you do…to my sister?" she growled, blood spewing from her mouth as her cut lip pulsed with pain.

Nator's glare morphed slowly into a sickening smile. "I made her what you were always meant to be. She had the courage and knowledge to accept that…and now she will reap the rewards," he promised.

"Rewards?" Narah questioned, feeling her heart begin to pump faster against the cold. "What? Being your slave for the rest of your life?"

Nator chuckled. "You stupid, stupid girl. Nerah is the future," he said, a madness to his tone. "I've seen it…the future of the Ascendancy. She is House Vigan's redemption; the reckoning of all our enemies for all time."

He looked to the display at the central table, an altar holding up a mysterious object closely resembling a sword hilt.

"We once spanned the stars, our House implanted in every outside power…the Republic…the Sith Empire…the Jedi," he whispered the unfamiliar words, and looked back up to her. "We had transcended our own comprehension…until everything fell apart. Now, we are nothing more than a cursed House…forgotten and hated…but time…time can heal, time you are running short on."

Narah snarled. "I'm not the one with the blaster pointed at my face."

Nator chuckled again. "You…you're nothing. You abandoned your sister, left her to suffer the burden you had been so willing to endure in her stead…but you needn't worry. She won't forget who you are…in fact, she won't forget anything."

Narah felt her wrist heat as the trigger became lighter to the touch.

"It will be gloriousshe will be glorious," Nator said, his expression turning maniacal. "Everything I have worked for…everything you both have suffered will finally come to fruition."

"Shut…your…mouth," Narah growled, drawing his insanity back to her blaster. "Do you even remember what you said to me when Mother died?"

Nator stared.

"You pulled me in close as I cried, holding her limp hand in my own…and whispered: She was just another obstacle…there's really nothing to be said."

He cocked his head. "You understood."

"I was FIVE!" she shouted, breathing fire from her breath.

"And if you had heeded those words, perhaps you could've become what I envisioned," he said, leaning forward. "Your mother was but a vessel to carry you."

Narah felt her finger heat.

Falling back in his chair, Nator shrugged. "Many have tried to stop me. You won't be the—"

TWOONG!

A hole appeared at the front of his forehead, and Narah turned frantically to see where the shot had come from. No one jumped out…and she was still alive to see it…to see the velvet of the couch through her father's brain.

Only then did she notice that her blaster was hot to the touch.