Chapter Twenty-One: Considerations of the Soul
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That Jaina beat Kip was not a surprise to her. Before, they had been evenly matched. Now she had the advantage of possessing two separate, masterful fighting styles, on top of a superior connection to the Force. What bewildered her was that her victory was so quick – so easy.
Kip had been created to adapt. Thus far, his only failure to exactly meet his programming was when he, and the other clones, had rebelled against the Empire. That the Empire had chosen to clone Kyp Durron, Jedi rogue, was a mystery to Jaina, though she suspected it had something to do with Miko. The Empire had realized their mistake only too quickly, and killed the clones. Kip, however, had escaped to the government to which his original matter had belonged.
Despite the prejudice against him, Kip had proved himself an invaluable asset to the Rebellion; programmed in the Empire's strategies, he had saved more than one battle. He had also become, just like that, everyone's dirty-job boy. Only Kyp's loyalty and pride, which the Empire had hoped to twist in their favour, remained in Kip, so he could feel no disgust, and he had few moral problems. Younglings were shuttled to safe places; Knights had a sparring partner; the NR Intelligence had an interrogator.
His weaknesses, quite simply, were not in his body or mind, which was why Jaina's rapid triumph was absurd.
"Are you feeling alright?" she asked, although she knew he couldn't get sick.
Kip's face was a little paler than normal. "In mind and body, yes."
It was like him to be that specific, and Jaina almost let it go, but then she reconsidered his choice of words. "What about in spirit?" she tried.
He powered down his grey lightsaber. "I…" He hesitated, then decided to confide in her. "There is something…lacking." Seeing her consternation, he added, "No doubt it is meaningless. I simply do not feel myself."
But Kip couldn't be anyone – or anything – other than himself. Technically, he had no soul, only borrowed DNA and an enhanced mind.
"I do not wish to speak of it," the dark-haired clone finished before Jaina could pursue the subject further.
She frowned but accepted it, being used to people and their secrets. "Meet you in the lounge in fifteen minutes?" she said, brushing her slightly damp hair out of her face.
Kip smiled in agreement, and Jaina headed for the gym locker room. Showering and changing quickly, she still arrived in the base's lounge five minutes after Kip. The room was mainly empty, and two pilots, who had heard about her death and resurrection, left when they saw Jaina. Garik, sitting on a hover-couch with datapads scattered on the desk before him, smiled encouragingly when he saw her. "They'll get used to it," he reassured her.
She ignored his words, opting instead to turn on the holo-net, flipping through news channels. "I suppose it's too much to ask if we're doing a bit better?"
"Actually," Kip said, "there have been some interesting turns of events." He nodded at the holographic image of a stern, Imperial anchor, and Jaina turned the volume up.
"…Although the Empire re-sent their request for the supplies, sources admit that much was lost, and it will take some time for the military to recover. While the Jedi are unaware of who sabotaged the food line, this station has been assured that the criminals will be caught."
"Huh," Jaina started softly. "Guess Zekk and Krista…"
A pair of hands dropped down on her shoulders. "Do the wiggle, girl!"
Startled, Jaina looked up into Cerasy's face. Fighting to keep a straight face, Jaina replied, "I am not doing that…dance…again."
"Aw, c'mon," Cerasy ribbed, eyes twinkling. "You loved it."
"I was drunk." Jaina's eyes closed as her cheeks burned in embarrassment. "Very drunk."
The bounty hunter loosed a hearty laugh. "It really is you, then!" She vaulted over the couch's back and landed next to her friend, slinging an arm around the Jedi's shoulder. "Back from the dead, eh? Couldn't believe it when I heard it. You, missy, have plenty of talking to do, but since half of that is an explanation for how crazy you drove Zekk with love…" Cerasy winked. "We'll save the chat for later."
Jaina's grin became unexpectedly watery. "Thanks."
The other woman smiled understandingly before releasing her red hair from its ponytail. "I just changed it again today. Like it? Will Tir go wild?"
The brown-haired woman shrugged happily, revelling in the normalness of the conversation. "That's part of tonight's chat," she admonished. "You won't see Tiran before then, anyway."
"Oh, I suppose I can wait that long." Cerasy stood, dancing a little to music only she could hear, apparently hyper now that she had been reassured of her friend's continued existence. "Hey, Kip, Garik. Worried anyone with your overuse of logic yet?"
Garik raised an eyebrow over his mug of caf, his eyes light. "Hello, Cerasy. I don't suppose you're finally going for the kill with Tiran?"
Much more serious now that her chase after Tiran had been brought in, Cerasy bit her lip and carefully sat on a chair. "I have to come up with my game plan first. Mostly," she conceded, "I have to figure out how to not argue with him for more than five minutes. But," Cerasy brightened, "what would be the fun in an easy relationship?"
Jaina snorted.
"By the way," Cerasy continued to Jaina, "I had a run in with one of Onyx's dancing girls – she's the one who told me you were still alive. I think she was called…" Cerasy snapped her fingers. "Sanar? Yes, that's it. Should I have chucked her into hyperspace?"
Garik chuckled at Jaina's expression. Cerasy had no idea. "If you had," Jaina retorted heatedly, "I would have thrown you out after her!"
Cerasy looked at Garik quizzically.
"Sanar Klis was the one to bring Solo back to life," he explained, "through quite extreme measures. I'm afraid that if you had hurt her, you would have had an angry sister on your hands."
"Interesting," Cerasy mused, filing the information away. "I offered to help her escape, but – "
"She's still with Devnos?" Jaina demanded, her gaze becoming sombre.
The other woman nodded thoughtfully. "In return for telling me about you, I offered the boon of dropping off somewhere else, but she refused."
Jaina withdrew from them, her forehead creasing. When she spoke again, she appeared uncertain. "She has a part to play, still." Jaina sighed. "I just hope she'll be safe until then."
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Something about Sanar's brief exchange with that bounty hunter – Cerasy? – had been picking at Devnos' mind for weeks before he realized what it was.
//"Jaina changed him."
"Is she alive?"
"The Emperor saw her as a threat. He captured and wounded Jaina. I've never seen anyone survive that kind of head trauma, no matter how strong or how smart they are."//
True, he had considered the possibility that Jaina was still alive…but what had Sanar actually seen that day?
A new thought struck him. Had she…helped, somehow? Had she known about Jaina's continued existence, and lied to him? But Devnos was certain that she had been honest when she told him that Onyx was gone.
//"Jaina changed him."//
Oh, Larifyx. Had Onyx…turned back? Turned to the Light side?
The pieces falling into place, Devnos stormed to his sister's room. She had been curled up into her blankets with a pillow over her head, but when she heard his entrance, she looked up dazedly. "Devnos?" she muttered.
He threw the covers back, and Sanar wrapped her arms around herself as if she was cold, even though she wore a warm sweater and pants. "I am going to ask this once," he said quietly, "and once only. Do you know where Zekk is?"
Sanar's eyes widened, despite herself.
When she didn't reply, he had his answer. Ice shards clogged his veins. "I see. Did you help?"
She snatched her blankets back, wrapping them around her as she shivered. "How was I supposed to stop him from leaving?"
"Answer the question!" he seethed, dark eyes narrowing as he took a step forward.
The woman swallowed and put a hand to her head. If only the world would stop spinning, she might be able to think straight! "I…yes," she finished softly.
Devnos stared at her, stunned by the miserable honesty in her eyes, and by the fact that she had just admitted her betrayal, yet seemed unremorseful. Then electricity began to crackle in his hands. In his exhaustion – of his search, of the Darkness, of the Strings' battering – he struck out.
Sanar cried out the first time the lightning hit her, then rapidly lost the strength to do anything more than uselessly try to twist out of the way. Although Devnos' bursts of electricity were not uniquely high-powered, it crackled up her skin, and Sanar, in her weakened state, could do nothing to fight it. It paused only for a minute when she fell off the bed, but then Devnos relocated her.
Devnos couldn't see her pain – he could barely even see Sanar. All he felt was everything pulling him in every direction, demanding his loyalty, spurning the most basic things that he tried to protect. IT cheered him on, which only raised his temper, and again and again he struck out, trying to somehow rid himself of his increasing rage and hatred, but only contacting his sister.
It had been building up for a long, long time.
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Kyp Durron could see it, but he couldn't stop it. On instinct, he had tried to step between Sanar and Devnos, but he was useless, and the Force, which controlled his ability to take form, was maintaining his invisibility. Sanar's mostly untrained mind flailed to use the Force, but she hadn't the control – or strength, at this moment – to summon it.
Then, the nudge.
Reach out, the Force seemed to tell him.
Could he still do that? Brushing aside the uncertainty that had never been his before death, Kyp threw a line of his presence out to Sanar and latched on. She fought him at first, but with electricity streaming through her, she had little choice in the matter.
Trust me, he murmured into her mind, then gathered his power. It had been two years since he last used it, and at first it came creakily – then in waves. Sanar jumped a little as she felt it flood her mind, and Kyp moved as delicately as he could, leading her, showing her how to use his strength to fight back.
It felt normal.
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Devnos was stunned when, without warning, his bursts of lightning sprung back at him. The electricity swarmed him, startling even IT, before he managed to build up his defences. The fight began in earnest, Sanar having found a new supply of energy that surpassed anything Devnos had before met.
But Sanar's weakness still plagued her, and not even Kyp's devastating amount of power could entirely tip the scales. Fortunately for her, when she ran dry, so too did Devnos, and the two siblings fell back, gasping for air, trying to recover.
Devnos managed to pull himself up first, and he fought his way to the side of Sanar's bed, where had she fallen. Her gaze was erratic with dizziness and pain, and her skin crawled with a chill only she could feel. A part of him knew it was not the Dark electricity that was destroying her, and he felt even worse.
She convulsed, so hard that she bit her tongue, and blood trickled from her mouth. He dragged himself along the carpet on his elbows until he was right next to her. With a movement that was ironically gentle, he brushed the copper liquid away, and weakly tucked her brown, tired locks behind her ear.
When at last she could speak, Sanar's head lolled to the side, so that she was staring into Devnos' gaze. "Zekk loved her," she whispered, choking on her pain. "He loved her so much. I couldn't…" Her eyes closed, and tears leaked from them. "I wanted to deserve something like that."
"There's no such thing as love," he replied, an unacknowledged sliver of his heart breaking with the truth. "Not for people like us."
She found her strength again, in an impulsive burst that was wholly Sanar. "I don't care," she said, her voice cracking. "I think…I think there is. And I want it. I want to live, and I'm going to be loved. I don't care what you say. I need it."
Her brother wanted to reply, but Devnos had shut that part down a long time ago, by necessity. So, instead, he shut his eyes.
There was silence.
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Any comments would be appreciated :)
.Tjz