It's not normally my thing to do, but I borrowed and translated the first verse of a French song in this post. Au Claire de la Lune doesn't belong to me and you can PM me for the original version.
Part 23
"In the lovely moonlight, my dear friend Pierrot. Lend me your feather so that I can write… Let me through your doors, for the living Force." Valin fell off the couch on which he had somehow dozed off as he heard the cherubic voice that could belong to only one person. I must be hearing things. Remind me to get Cilgal to check my ears. I swear this is the last time I'll ever fall asleep in front of a Holo. Valin thought. However, if he was not dreaming, then the girl who could mimic and enhance almost any song was alive and singing through the Force. Jysella was singing her rendition of a favorite, million-year-old folk song and her brother had the honor of being in the audience.
"All pilots please report to the hangar. We're dropping out of hyperspace." A voice on the comm interrupted Valin's thoughts. The Jedi Knight stuffed himself into his flight suit and disappeared down the large ship's corridor without delay.
-scene change-
When they reached the bottom, both girls managed to cross back into the land of the living and into their bodies without difficulty. Much to Jysella's surprise, her broken jaw had been healed and the scars were treated so that she could only attract male attention. As her senses came to her, she felt a nauseating taste in her mouth. She groaned groggily. "Oh, what is that taste? It's worse than Yuuzhan Vong food."
"It is Vong food. It came from the walls." The blonde corrected. For a minute, Jysella appeared as if she was about to regurgitate the contents of her stomach. The blonde then added. "You don't mind, do you?"
Jysella shook her head. "I'm used to it. Thanks. I don't know how to repay you."
"Well, it's about time you woke up." Commented the blonde girl who shared the prison cell with Jysella and Sil. The groggy princess muttered something in a mix of Basic and Hapan, which took both Jysella's prodding through the Force and the blonde's translating skills to make sense of.
"Sorry about that. Now that I'm awake, I should undo my hair and get my lightsaber out of it." Sil apologized in Basic. With the help of Jysella, Sil quickly freed the lightsaber, which was disguised as an ornament, from her long, messy hair. The girl wanted to complain about the knots that formed in the process of retrieving her weapon, but she knew she had better things to do. The princess turned to the blonde in the flight suit. "Thank you for trying to wake us both up. What is your name?"
"Princess, I am Crest." The blonde replied and then turned to Jysella. When the oldest girl of the group revealed her identity, Crest's jaw dropped and Sil had to use all of her training in making appearances to stop herself from squealing in delight.
"I knew it! I knew you're a Jedi when you touched me. How did I end up counting nerfs?" Sil asked. Jysella carefully explained the Jedi apprentice the error in the healing technique she used.
"So that's not how a healing trance works?" Sil inquired.
"It's not the most efficient way and you can't let yourself stretch or sleep." Jysella clarified.
"I see. Wait 'til my aunt hears you're alive. You should know how angry she was when you were killed." The words just gushed from Sil's mouth.
"Uhh… Thanks, but I'd really appreciate it if you keep those reporters and fans off of me if we get out of here alive. I didn't know I had such a big fan in the Royal Family." The ignorant and flattered Jysella blushed and backed up slightly.
"Princess, I don't think she knows the royal secret." Crest whispered into Sil's ears in Hapan.
"Jedi Horn, there's something you must know. Before I tell you, however, you must promise me not to be angry at anyone in my family." Sil lowered her gaze and sighed. The secret that had protected her for as long as she lived as out, and now that the war was finally ending, it was time for the royal skeleton to be dragged out into the open.
Jysella nodded and gasped as Sil's words danced in her ears. The man who was like an uncle to her back when she was an apprentice was the 'mystery consort' who collaborated with the Hapan Queen Mother to formulate defenses? Her former Master, one of the most trusted Jedi, had been keeping a big secret for all those years? iAnd that princess…/i Jysella gritted her teeth and reddened in anger. They had met each other on a few formal occasions before, and yet she said nothing until now?
"Solos are wanted people. Hapan lives depended on our silence. You know what happened to your world, Jedi Horn. We couldn't have the same thing happen to us, especially since we have sixty-three worlds to worry about." Sil was slightly out of breath from all the talking, but she feigned composure out of habit.
"Be rational, Jedi. You promised not to be angry." The blonde Crest's glare was coldly fixed on Jysella, making her words sound like an edict from heaven.
The words slammed Jysella like a cold, hard slab of stone. She knew all too well the ravages that Corellia had suffered when the invaders learned that the dictat's mother and Han Solo's father were twins. Her family was lucky to have been off-world when the half the planet plus that anti-Jedi dictat were lost. She finally grinned and spoke. "Well, that's fair enough. The most strategic exit is that wall."
Sil thumbed the activation button on her lightsaber stud and sliced through all the girls' bonds before driving the blade into the wall that Jysella pointed at. The wall began to melt and the ground began to shake as the blade of blindingly white light was thrust deeper and deeper into the coral. As half of the saber penetrated the wall, Sil struggled to collapse.
"My leg can't take much more. Can't get through." Sil struggled between pants as she fought to keep the activation button depressed. Without hesitation, Jysella laid her hands over the top of Sil's and the effort doubled.
"Ugh. This is one hell of a thick wall." Jysella groaned as the lightsaber only cut a few centimeters deeper. She should have told Sil to just dig up rocks or maybe undermine the buildings beneath the damutek. Jysella drew some energy from the Force and renewed her effort. Every visible part of the saber was deeply embedded into the wall and with a leftward push from the Jedi, the blade began to cut left. When the girls drew a quarter of a circle on the wall, Sil's not-completely-healed left leg struggled to give in and Jysella, who was struggling to keep both women on their feet, was on the verge of fainting.
"That's the worst bad feeling he's ever told me about." Crest muttered as she threw her weight into the equation. The three women pushed the lightsaber down and formed an oozing semicircle on the living wall. The trio struggled to bring the weapon up in the opposite direction, for they weighed no more than 150 kilos collectively.
As Jysella felt all three collapsing, she began to consider the forbidden. From Ben's information, there should at least be a huge fleet up in the sky, and whenever there was a fleet, there was a Jedi mind meld. Since the planet was too Vong-formed to draw energy from, they could only borrow from other Jedi. Jysella finally made her decision when she saw the strain on Sil and Crest.
Jysella reached up as high as she could and touched the Jedi mind meld that Jacen glued together. She didn't care if her appearance and health greatly surprised many Jedi; she merely wanted out of the prison. Jysella then touched the enervated Sil and dragged her into the meld without regard for the age restrictions placed.
The coral floor hungrily drank the droplets of sweat that the three girls gave off as two of the three pushed on with a new bout of strength. After an indefinite amount of time, they finally drew a full circle on the wall. Much to the girls' surprise, however, the circular door refused to come in or out.
"Oh no." Jysella broke off from the meld and assessed her immediate surroundings with the Force.
"Huh? What is it?" Sil leaned against the 'door' and turned toward Jysella.
"Cousin, that wall's thicker than your lightsaber is long. It's about one and a half saber lengths." Jysella blurted the bad news.
"How do you know? I thought you Jedi couldn't sense scar-head stuff." Crest seemed curious.
"Are you sure, big cousin?" Sil considered the logic behind what Jysella had called her and then followed suit.
"That's what I felt when I traced your lightsaber to its tip. The air on the other side is half of a saber away. Feel it for yourself if you want." Jysella snorted. Normally, her attitude was jollier, but she did not have the energy.
"Exactly half a saber length, you say?" The blonde Hapan asked and Jysella nodded. Crest kicked her weight against the round 'door' and grinned. "Then there's a way out."