Ask Confrontations

[Renfry]

Per my new OP template, thread is death enabled​

It had been a long time since Renfry had been to Kafrene. She knew that Jaikus had been here once before as well because they had come here to pull Emryc out of the clutches of pirates in a somewhat desperate operation that had left more than a few people dead.

Now she was back here at a place she hadn't thought about it many years, and this time it was to find a different person that she loved. She didn't know what had driven Arla to this place or why her daughter had gone missing from Dathomir without warning or without taking Renfry's attempts to call her. There was a nagging feeling creeping up the Queen's mind that something was very wrong. She could feel it in the Shadow, and it made her heart pound all the quicker.

She had asked Jaikus to come with her, and he had been privy to the fact that she paced around the ship the entire trip here. Normally she made an attempt to remain calm and composed, but this was her Little Gizka, and if there was one person she cared about the most, it was her.

A mind-trick had gotten them past the dockmaster, and although Jaikus's armor had drawn a few unusual looks, no one really seemed to care about them. Kafrene was a place for anything and anyone.

I don't know why Arla would have come here. Or why she's just been... out here, she said, the frustration and annoyance seeping into her voice even as she pressed through the crowd, hot on the invisible trail she could sense connecting her to her daughter. There was no doubt that Arla knew they were coming, and didn't seem to have made any attempt to leave this place despite it.

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

For days, Jaikus had been unable to find any semblance of rest - manifesting in the dark circles that formed beneath his eyes. Though he’d worked to ensure Jayna was moved to a safe location and under constant surveillance, the combination of Ezra going missing and the freedom of Raze left him reeling. It was the Axxilan’s worst nightmares made reality. The news that Arla, too, had disappeared.. It only made things worse.

Has she become a target for the monster? While Jaikus didn’t doubt Arla’s ability to defend herself - certainly better than his own children - none of that really mattered when Raze was in the picture. He didn’t hesitate for even a moment when Renfry called for him, donning the armor that he’d attempted to put into his past.

The Axxilan was uncharacteristically silent - a fact that Renfry would easily pick up on and attribute to his state of mind. He marched silently at her side - keeping his lightsaber and sidearm tucked against his side.

It had been years since he’d last been to Kafrene. Since he had stormed the pirate facility and cut his way to Emryc. He had almost lost his love that day, and the memory brought the faintest pulse of tension to his body.

“She wants to be found,” Jaikus said after a long moment, staring straight ahead. Arla had all the abilities and training to keep herself hidden - or at the very least, constantly moving. She wanted to be found. She was willing to face Renfry and whoever else the Queen brought as backup, and it immediately made the Axxilan suspicious of what he was talking into. He loved his niece dearly - and would walk through hell to find her.

But Jaikus couldn’t deny the instinctive paranoia - bred into him as both Sith and covert operative - that began to tug at his mind.

“I don’t like walking into this blind.” He said quietly. Something was off about the entire situation. He couldn’t quite place what it was, but he kept his guard up the entire time - senses expanding through the immediate area for the sigh of anything that might be cause for concern.

 

[Renfry]

Yes, she does, she said. There could have been any number of a billion reasons for that, but what Renfry cared about far more was why she had disappeared in the first place. Arla could be difficult and impulsive, and sometimes even reckless, but she was rarely illogical. She had a method to her madness whether right or wrong.

Jaikus's comment about walking into this blind caught Renfry off-guard. She frowned and turned to look at him.

What does that mean? she asked. Did he think Arla was going to attack them? Or that this was some sort of a trap? That led back to the question of "why Kafrene" of all places. They would weave through the streets, and although Renfry wouldn't know it, there would be no question in Jaikus's mind that the place looked familiar. It was where he had come when he had sought out Emryc.

Thank you for coming, Jaikus, she said. Renfry could sense Arla's anger in the Force, and she knew that often times Jaikus was able to settle her daughter when the Nightsister failed.

There was a growing sense of discomfort and perhaps even anxiety in Renfry as she drew closer, finally arriving at a cantina sitting across the street from where Emryc had once been held. Renfry looked up at it, noting the hotel rooms on the upper floors and wondered if this was where Arla was. She could feel her close now, that connection that could only be gained through years of spending time together. And for some reason, Renfry, former-Empress and Queen of the Nightsisters felt afraid. Afraid because the thing she loved most was here and something told her that she wasn't sure she'd be able to reach her daughter.

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

Jaikus took in a deep breath, selecting his next words carefully. Renfry was Arla’s mother - and he had no desire to unintentionally feed her anxieties. Even still, the thought was one that hadn’t left the Axxilan’s mind since the moment they departed. “Only that we need to be prepared for the worst.” He finally said, turning his gaze to meet her own. “For the same reasons I fear Ezra going missing after everything that has happened.” The Axxilan hadn’t forgotten the situation with Raze, and knew that his family would eventually be a target for the monster.

Why had Arla vanished so soon after the pulse? Why had she gone off the radar for weeks, only to resurface here? Jaikus immediately recognized where they were, as the memories came flooding back to him at once. He knew that Renfry would recognize it as well - but that didn’t put his mind at ease one bit.

There were only a handful of people that knew the significance of the cantina. Outside of them and Emryc, Morgan was dead - and Amon had been off the radar for some time. Arla had no reason to know about it or to come here, and his mind couldn’t help but return to the single other entity that would know.

“Of course,” He said simply, though Renfry would recognize the conviction behind those words. Arla was like a daughter to him. She was family. And he would go to the ends of the Galaxy for her as he’d promised dozens of times before.

Gritting his teeth, Jaikus began to steps through the cantina and make for the steps that took them to the upper floors. He ascended the steps closely, his fingers twitching towards the weapons on his belt. He didn’t reach for anything, but the Axxilan was prepared for whatever he was about to walk into.

“Arla?” He called out, the mechanized voice echoing down the hallway. If she was there, she would hear it.

@Phoenix

 

[Renfry]

Renfry knew there was more that Jaikus wanted to say, but he held his tongue. Just because things could turn out terribly didn't mean that they would. It also didn't mean that she wanted to hear those things verbalized either.

There was no question that this place wasn't something she would have just happened upon in the entire galaxy. Something had driven or drawn her here, and she didn't want to think about what that "something" was.

She followed side-by-side with Jaikus as they made their way into the upper levels of the building and he called out for her. At first there was no response, but Renfry pressed on until she triggered a door that slid open.

Inside, she saw Arla sitting, not even looking at them. Strewn across the bed were news clippings and holorecordings of Emryc including many from the day of his capture and the Empire's "accidental" assistance in his recovery.

Arla, what are you doing here? Where have you been? she asked, though she suspected she was starting to put the pieces together.

 

[Arla]

It had been Raze that finally told Arla the truth. The truth about who she was, who her parents were, why she existed. All of it. She finally had her answers, and somehow it felt like a betrayal. No one had ever told her about it. Not Uncle Dub, not Tia, and of course, not her mother.

Arla knew Mother was coming. She could sense the magick connecting them, but she wasn't trying to run or hide. She knew that she wouldn't avoid her forever, but she had needed the time to gather her thoughts. To figure out the next step and to decide who and what she would become.

And she needed them - because she could now sense that Mother had brought Uncle Dub along - to know that she knew.

The door to the room slid open, and Arla didn't look at them. It wasn't like they were going to attack her and it wasn't like she didn't know who it was coming through the door. She just flipped through another piece of flimsy at the articles that covered the origins of the ISC. So much that her other father had accomplished, but Arla had always been kept away from it. Separated from the two that she now knew were her siblings. Was she that much of an outcast? That undervalued by everyone else in her "family" that she couldn't know the truth?

Mother spoke first, of course, but Arla didn't answer her. Instead, she looked up, the golden flecks in her eyes seemingly just ever-so-slightly more prominent than they normally were.

You can get rid of the helmet. No need to hide your identity from the black sheep anymore, Uncle Jaikus, she said. The words seemed to lack any of the joy or happiness that was normally present when she addressed him. Instead, there was just a mixture of hurt, frustration, and betrayal.

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

It wasn’t until Arla was visible - alone in the hotel room - that Jaikus allowed himself to relax ever-so-slightly. He had been trained to fear the worst and prepare for any outcome, but the lack of additional presence in the room confirmed to the Axxilan that it truly was only them three he needed to worry about. That, of course, didn’t necessarily mean the next steps were going to be easy ones.

He heard the words at Renfry spoke - but otherwise kept his eyes locked onto Arla. He made clear note of the gold that tainted her silvery gaze. He felt the tension in her body language and through the Force. The way that she flipped through the articles and displayed more interest in those pages than anything her Mother had to say.

It was by virtue of his helmet alone that the surprise on Jaikus’ face was hidden when Arla spoke. Of course.. He wasn’t entirely surprised, but rather felt his worst fears realized in that moment. There were only a handful of people in the Galaxy who knew Jaikus as a Sith, and knew who wore the Wraith mask. Of them, Jaikus could guarantee that they’d either died or would never reveal that secret without cause. Except for one.

The one creature that knew all of his secrets.

“You’ve seen him, then.” Jaikus said without missing a beat, staring back at Arla. Neither of the two Nightsister’s would have any doubt who he was talking about. He knew that Raze was the only person who could have revealed his identity, and that Arla wouldn’t have simply guessed at the secret he’d been living for nearly twenty years.

Slowly but surely, Jaikus reached up to remove the helmet. For the first time in her life, Arla would see the face of a Uncle Dub staring back at her - his hair messily out of place from removing the piece of armor, emerald eyes locked onto her. He gave Renfry a look - as if to tell her to allow him to do the talking.

“And that is what you think you are to us? The Black Sheep?” He asked flatly, keeping his gaze locked onto her own.

 

[Renfry]

Renfry was beginning to see the reality of the situation as she heard Arla speak. She heard not only the words, but the poison of Raze behind them. She knew that this was his doing, and she knew that whatever seeds had been planted there wouldn't be easily rooted out.

Arla, she said, her tone somewhere between its maternal tone and a more disappointed one. Disappointed that her daughter actually believed that, and disappointment with herself. Disappointment that she hadn't been more up front and made more of an effort to involve her daughter with the other members of her family. Maybe she could have averted this. Maybe things could have been different. Maybe there would have been less bitterness. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

You are not the black sheep, she said, but as she looked at it from her daughter's perspective, she knew why she would think that.

I should have told you sooner, and I'm sorry. But know that nothing Raze told you is out of good will. It's to manipulate, she said.

 

[Arla]

Arla scoffed slightly at the words of them both. Yes, I've seen him. On Ithor among other places. It was a very illuminating experience, she said.

And what would you call me? Kept away from siblings I never knew I had, my uncle wouldn't even tell me who he was, and my father... well, I think that speaks for itself, she said, holding up a news clipping with Emryc's face on it covering his "rescue" so many years ago on this very station-planet. It was still difficult to swallow, and she knew she needed time to process it.

She was all frowns and stifled fury as she looked at the two of them.

What would you say if I told you I wanted to sit down with my whole family? she asked. She knew there was no way he would want her siblings meeting her, and that was the reason for the pointed question.

It took him - who you all seem to detest so much - to tell me the truth, she said.

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

For once, Jaikus was completely silent. He listened to everything that Arla had to say - the venom, pain and anger that seemed to lace together in every sentence she formed. The Axxilan didn’t miss her comment about being present for Ithor, and that fact alone caused his jaw to tighten at once. Jaikus knew that his son hadn’t been on Ithor, but Arla didn’t. And she had contributed to the attack anyway.

“I am sure that it was,” Jaikus said flatly, uncharacteristically calm and composed. “And fortunate that the brother you speak of wasn’t present for it.” Arla claimed to have a desire to meet her siblings - she claimed to feel rejected by the family she never knew she had. She would have to reckon with the fact that following Raze would put her, and already had, in direct conflict with that family.

“You are your mother’s daughter, Arla. You are my niece - and I have loved you like my own since the moment I pulled you into this world.” He began, emerald eyes staring back at those familiar silvers. “I have tried to be in your life - whenever you needed me - to the best of my ability. You are not even remotely close to the black sheep.”

“The secrets we kept were for your own protection. To protect your siblings from the reality of what me and Emryc were, and to protect you from being unable to know them as children. But we should have told you - all of you - sooner.”

Jaikus stared right back at Arla. “I would say that our secrets have done nothing but damage our family. And it is past-due that you sat down and met with your siblings,” He tilted his head a bit. “Knowing, that they need time to process everything that they are now learning.”

For the first time, Jaikus’s expression grew a hint more stern. “What do you believe his motivation for telling you was?” The Axxilan said, allowing Arla a moment to consider the words. It was eerily similar to the conversation he had with Tiamat not long ago. “Was it a kindness to his ‘daughter’? Was it to break your chains - or to benevolently give you the whole truth?”

“No.” Jaikus said. “He is manipulating you, Arla. By turning you against the people who truly care about you. Isolated and all the more reliant upon him. That is what he does,” He continued. “That is how he controls the people around him.”

“I detest Raze for nearly killing me years ago. I detest Raze for the war he had waged within my husbands mind for decades. I detest Raze for the slaughter he led across Dathomir that killed your own people. I detest Raze for the threat he poses to my son and daughter.”

He took a single step forward. “I detest Raze because he is a threat to you. The moment you are no longer immediately useful to him.”

 

[Renfry]

Renfry's teeth gritted together as Arla mentioned that she had been to Ithor. She had helped with the slaughter of the Jedi, and she had nearly killed her own brother. Something that Jaikus didn't know either.

You could have killed your brother, she hissed angrily. Renfry was still Renfry after all and she still had that same wild side to her after all these years. She loved her daughter more than life itself, but she would have moved mountains for the twins still, and the reality that Arla had done something so reckless to endanger the family didn't sit well.

And yet, she still understood that her daughter was having a crisis right now. Renfry let out a quiet sigh and moved over to take a seat, choosing a less aggressive position than just standing in the door arguing.

What is it you want, Arla? she asked. The two women were more alike than either of them wanted to admit. Renfry knew that above anything else, Arla was looking for an anchor point. She was desperately seeking approval that she wouldn't admit to.

 

[Arla]

Arla was still all scowls and frustration, but she was silent. Her gaze was steely and direct, swapping between the two people who had been like her parents throughout her life.

She bristled silently as he mentioned the people that really cared about her. Deep down, she knew that it was true. She knew that he was probably right. But she also knew how she felt about being a consolation prize.

And to you. I'm just your consolation prize for a man that can't ever love you, she said, her eyes falling on her mother. The words were cutting. They were a harsh accusation.

And yet she had met Raze. She knew that he had no love or affection for her. He looked at her with disdain. As a weakling. He looked at her as being overly attached and unwilling or unable to break her chains.

Isn't he? she said, her gaze now falling on Jaikus. Isn't he helping me to break my chains? To find out the truth and let me decide for myself? she said, but even as she said it, she knew it wasn't really true. But in telling her all of that, he was letting her form more attachments, wasn't he? Or was he just looking to drive a wedge. Hadn't Uncle Jai been here all her life? Her Mother, too? And her Sisters? The Nightsister magick derived from each other. Unlike the Sith, the Nightsisters were stronger together.

Maybe what she needed was distance. From Mother, from Jaikus, from Raze... all of it. Maybe she really did need to stop seeking the approval and affirmation of others and live her own life. Maybe, maybe, maybe.

 

[Renfry]

Renfry stiffened at the slight that her daughter launched, feeling it cut her to her heart. The reason it hurt so much is because there was an element of truth to it. It wasn't the truth, but she knew she wasn't likely to convince her daughter of that.

She could only tell her the truth, and for a moment she was silent as she thought about what to say. How to say it. Finally, she scooted the chair forward toward her daughter so they were only a few feet apart.

Arla, your father and I had a complicated relationship, she said. This was made all the more awkward by Jaikus being here, but it wasn't like it was anything he didn't already know, and her daughter - not losing her daughter - was more important to her than anything now.

I loved him, and he... she paused, even after all these years it was difficult for her to describe precisely what it was. She had been angry at him for some time, but had come to accept and move on from it.

He cared for me, but not in the same way. We were never going to be together, she said. The reality was a wound to her pride, but she wouldn't risk losing her daughter.

Arla, she said, reaching out to take her daughter's hand in her own. I wouldn't trade anything for you. My daughter. You are the greatest prize in my life, no consolation. I wouldn't trade you for anything. Not even the chance to be with your father, she said, reaching up and placing her daughter's hand against her mind. She let the walls around her mind fall away, perhaps the first time in her life that Arla would have ever really felt what her mother was thinking and feeling.

Search my feelings, she said.

 

[Arla]

Arla wasn't accustomed to seeing her mother like this. The Queen of the Nightsisters, former-Empress, and formerly one of the most powerful Sith Lords in the galaxy. She was unflappable and fierce, never shaken and never afraid. But now, Arla could see something in her mother's eyes: real fear.

Her mother's mind had always been a closed book. Though she was never standoffish with Arla, she had never had that kind of access to her emotions or feelings. She had hidden them behind walls and shields from the girl's earliest memories, but now that changed. In that single moment, Arla reached out and into her mother's mind. She felt the truth behind her words, and the love she felt for her daughter. She felt the fear that was there. Fear of Raze and fear that she would lose her daughter and those in her family she cared about.

And beneath that she felt the truth. That Renfry would have done anything or made any sacrifice to save Arla. That she had a love for her that ran deep.

Arla wasn't the type to cry, and she wasn't about to start now, but any other person may well have done just that.

Arla was already a relative swirl of emotions before the conversation even started, but the emotions now were different than they had been. Now they were... more complicated.

Arla leaned back, pulling her hand away from her mother's head and sat in silence for a very long moment. Her eyes flicked from Renfry to Jaikus and then down to the many news clippings of her father.

And then she reached up and touched the gem hanging around her neck. The thing that connected her to Raze. The thing that had been given to her by him. But... when they were one. Essence transference, Raze had said.

Who is Raze? And who is Emryc? And which one of them gave me this? she asked, pointing to the necklace. Despite all she ahd discovered, the truth was that she still didn't truly understand the dynamic between the two of them. She had thought Raze had given it to her, and it seemed to connect to him... and yet, they all hated him. They feared him. And it didn't seem that they had had such an issue before... now.

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

Jaikus.. Was silent, watching the exchange between mother and daughter. Perhaps it was only because he was a parent, that he keenly understood how the words of their children could wound like no other. Renfry didn’t need to utter a single word for the Axxilan to know how badly Arla’s callus words had cut, and it brought the faintest displeasure to his expression. He didn’t, however, intervene.

He didn’t speak until Arla had stepped back from Renfry - clearly having gone through her mother’s mind and feelings. He slowly took a step forward, emerald gaze fixed upon Arla. “You have known me your entire life - and my feelings have always been available to you. You already know exactly what you mean to me. To our family.”

The Axxilan took in a breath, his gaze flicking down towards the amulet she wore. Even from where he stood, Jaikus could feel the power that hummed within the small piece of jewelry. A relic of arcane energy, forged by his husbands own hands. Imbued with the very essence and strength that Raze possessed. It was a deadly and powerful tool, and it was a source of protection from the monster himself - even if Arla didn’t realize it.

“Emryc and Raze once inhabited the same body, but Emryc has always been the man.” He began, tilting his head a bit. “The one that your mother loved, and fathered you. The one that I left the Sith for and married.” He pointed a finger. “And it was Emryc who gave you that amulet, Arla.”

“It is the best gift that he could give to you. Power and protection from the horrors of this Galaxy, and the tools to take care of yourself.” He took in a breath. “Just as he instructed Ezra and Jayna in Teras Kasi.” Jaikus understood his husband better than anyone. He knew the half-Sephi wasn’t the type for shows of affection or love. But it was in those acts - preparing his children for the Galaxy - that Emryc demonstrated how he cared.

“Raze?” His eyes narrowed. “Raze is a monster. One who will use and take from others until they have nothing left, before disposing of them. You aren’t his daughter - and he will give nothing to you.”

Once more, Jaikus pointed to the amulet. “That artifact is imbued with his own strength. It is protection against Raze by using his own strength against him.” He paused. “Do you honestly believe he would desire you to have it?”

 

[Renfry]

Even as Arla rifled through Renfry's thoughts, she didn't pull back. As Arla finally pulled away, there was no comment. No admission that Arla understood. It frustrated Renfry, but she could understand it. More than that, the frustration was driven by the fact that Renfry felt pain. Pain that she had so alienated her daughter on an issue as important as this.

She knew there was no changing it, but she hoped that with time, Arla would come to forgive her. That the relationship they had built over an entire lifetime wasn't shattered beyond repair.

Raze only knows how to consume, she said. Jaikus had answered the question quite well.

That amulet took you father - Emryc - over twenty years to shape. Raze doesn't know how to do anything so selfless, she said. It was the simple fact. Emryc was many things and complicated on more levels than Renfry had ever truly gotten to know despite knowing him better than most in the galaxy. Raze, on the other hand, was singular and vicious.

 

[Arla]

Arla didn't say a word as they both spoke. They had kept secrets from her, and they had in a way shut her away from others she should have been together with, but... perhaps she needed to simply stop whining. Wasn't it her own need for approval that drove her to Raze? Wasn't he the one that even said she was filled with attachments? Perhaps she needed to simply grow up.

Moreover, neither of them had truly lied to her, so she had no reason to assume that they were doing so now.

She had grown up on the stories of what Raze had done on Dathomir, and he had been revered there for it by many. Perhaps... what? That was wrong?

Or perhaps it was much more simple than that. He was not truly part of her family. They were things that would require thought from her, but the fact was that at that moment, her family made a good point. Her family. The words flowed from her mind without even thinking about it, and probably told more about this situation than anything.

She thought she understood. Or at least on some very superficial level. Raze was all the darkest parts of her father swirled into a single being.

I understand, was all she said for a long moment, still lost in her own thoughts. There was still so much she didn't understand, and she thought she was beginning to appreciate that.

Then what is next? And what does Raze want? she asked. If what Jaikus said was true, then perhaps his only interest in her at all was so that he could destroy the amulet. On another level, that hurt all on its own, but she reprimanded herself for the foolish and childish notion.

 

[Jaikus Thorne]

Jaikus took in a deep breath, allowing Arla the time to process everything that was said. He could feel the mixture of emotions that radiated off of her, and the Axxilan truly couldn’t blame her the feelings of hurt and betrayal. His own shortcomings and failures as a father - the look of anger and disgust in Ezra’s eyes - still haunted him every time he closed his eyes.

He couldn’t help the faint voice of doubt - the one that crept up to question what authority Jaikus had to even speak to Arla about family, when his own son wouldn’t even speak to him. @Sreeya

Jaikus swallowed down the lump in his throat, focusing back onto the moment. He nodded when she claimed to understand. Perhaps she did - or more likely those thoughts would still conflict in her mind. But he decided to trust her and take her word that Arla understood what they were saying, and the risk that Raze was.

“Your mother said it best - Raze only knows how to consume. He is a monster, an animal of primal instinct and with a desire to exist supreme. He will hunt for any sources of power that might advance his own. He’ll try to bring people under his wing to carry out his will, without ever exposing himself.”

Jaikus stared back at her. “Raze will strategically try to eliminate the few people in the Galaxy that can challenge him. Emryc, your mother, Tiamat, the Jedi.”

“What happens next? That.. Is your choice, Arla. Your choice to make - and one we won’t stop you from making, whatever it is.”

He took in a breath. “But if you wish it.. I believe it is past time that our family knew each other. No more secrets. No more lies.” Jaikus could feel the damage it caused the people he loved most. The knowledge of another sibling was something that Jayna and Ezra couldn’t be kept in the dark about, and Arla deserved to know her own blood. Her family.

 

[Arla]

Arla looked to her mother and then to Jaikus. It didn't seem that her mother had anything further to say add beyond what Jaikus said, and Arla knew that she would have a choice to make. Return to Dathomir and return to the same life she'd already lived? Return to Raze and be his... apprentice? Pawn? Possibly killed? Return to the Sith and become one among a diluted Order that had lost its power? Or set out on her own to find her own path.

She was inclined toward the latter right up until Jaikus said that she should meet the rest of her family. Foolish though she now thought it was, she couldn't help herself. She wanted to meet them. More than she would admit aloud and possibly more than she would ever admit to herself.

I will take time to find where I fit in the galaxy. On my own and away from Dathomir, she said, pausing a moment before adding.

But I will come and meet my family when you signal, she said. And just like that, it was decided. She half-expected the rest of her family to hate her and for the whole thing to be a terrible experience - Thornes weren't known for their bubbly and affectionate personalities - but she would go nonetheless.

I know you both care for me, but you were wrong to keep me - all of us - in the dark, she said. She knew they knew as much, but it needed to be said. A consent that she knew they wanted what was best for her, but what they had chosen was the wrong way.