EVENT #7: THE SIGHT

[abraxasmods]

Event #7 - The Sight

go to the OOC event info and plotting post

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The night before APRIL 18, your dreams are disrupted by a vivid image of the same eclipse that occurred last month. The black sun seems to be an endless void in the sky, growing ever darker - until it suddenly opens into an eye that stares straight at you.

When you wake up, much of your night seems a blur except for the vivid dream of that eye. Whether you find it unsettling or try to ignore it, the image is something you cannot get out of your mind. If you ask, you will discover that none of the locals of your faction saw another eclipse. Speak with your fellow Summoned, however, and you may learn that while there was no eclipse that formed over the world, you were not the only one who had this dream.

Of course, dreams don't need to mean anything. You can't feel or see any immediate effects, and nearly everyone around you is going about their day as usual. Maybe you should do the same.

The Awakening

It might happen that very morning or a day or two later. You could be discussing the dream with a fellow Summoned or perhaps you simply brush shoulders with them as you walk by. Whatever it is, as soon as you make brief physical contact, one of you is struck with a sharp pain in your temple that grows into a terrible headache. It's disorienting and painful as the world around you shifts to someplace you may or may not recognize. Like an old film reel, you watch the events of the past play out before you: the past of the other Summmoned. It might be something they would rather hide, a moment of failure or despair, or something they are immensely proud of and brings them great joy - or even a jumble of several images over the course of a person's life. But you see it as if it were real and right in front of you all the same. When you come to, you'll likely find yourself on the ground or bent over, possibly with one or more people around you to see if you're okay. It'll take you a bit to gather your bearings, and the subsequent pounding in your head could last from minutes to hours.

Or, maybe you aren't the one who receives the vision. Instead, as you watch, another Summoned might grasp their head and crumble in front of you. They may go silent or groan in pain. They'll be impossible to shake out of their stupor until it's over. If you ask what happened, they may be inclined to tell you the truth - that you, you were what happened to them.

Or, if your Arcana signs happen to line up in a specific way, you'll see each other in the shared memory itself. You may also find that for certain Summoned, you can help soothe the effects, calm their emotions, or help draw them out of the memory before it consumes them for too long. It's not entirely clear what determines which effect, but one thing is for certain - within each memory, every Summoned as they appear in the past seems to wear the mark of their Arcana somewhere on their person.

For some, they might experience this only once. For others, they might experience it multiple times: with the same person, with several other Summoned, or with a different memory each time. Over the next 7 days, you'll find the Summoned around you are all receiving a glimpse into each other's past, as if the Singularity has awoken an eye within each of you.

Flee for the safety of the Horizon if you want, but you'll find that in there, it's much the same. In fact, inside the Horizon, the other Summoned don't even need to be anywhere near you - just existing in the Horizon space itself together will be enough to possibly set off a headache-inducing vision.

The Factions

What has occurred between the Summoned will not go unnoticed within the factions. While it's difficult to say how faction officials have picked up what's happening, it'll be obvious they do know.

In THORNE, characters will be asked to remain in the castle walls until further notice. Characters will not be allowed to leave the castle grounds, not even to go into the surrounding city, and anyone who is already outside will be requested to not leave again as soon as they return. If asked, they will be told it's for their own safety, given the Singularity is behaving unpredictably and the Summoned have a unique connection to it. Soothing potions and healers are on hand to offer assistance, if anyone is particularly suffering from ill effects.

In the FREE CITIES, characters will find the army by the outposts show more activity than usual. A higher number of guards will patrol the streets throughout the event, particularly in areas frequented by the Summoned. Anyone who publicly and visibly experiences the effects of the memory share (pain, doubling over, etc.) will be offered assistance by the guards. They are generally there to help, but they are also there to maintain order and ensure anyone behaving erratically due to this incident is properly contained. This might include confinement for a day or two if anyone is especially posing a risk, but no one will be punished except in the most extreme cases, as the locals are aware this is not within the control of the Summoned.

In SOLVUNN, the locals will be watching what's happening with a mixture of trepidation and curiosity. Host families and neighbors will be on hand to help with charms meant to offer protection, as well as general care and assistance (soup, blankets, and so on) if your character seems to be especially under the weather or afflicted by the event. Towards the end of the event, more elders and mages will be out and about to check up on the Summoned to make sure they're doing okay. If asked, the mages will say they aren't sure what's going on, but that they are currently divining with the gods and hope to have a definitive answer soon in the upcoming days.

None of the factions appear to be doing much more than keep a watchful eye on the situation - but as the week comes to a close, officials will start making a decision as to what they want to do and how to handle the Summoned who have demonstrated this unforeseen connection to the Singularity.

Comments

[shadowthief]

"We would have lost you to it," she's, unfortunately, incredibly certain of that, and it shines in her eyes.

Eyes that only shine impossibly brighter when he reaches for her. So soft. So gentle. So full of earnest belief in the words he's saying. Belief in her. Not just her skills. But her worth. She blinks and the tears spill like ink across her cheeks.

Sometimes, you can't know how much you need to hear something until someone finally just says it, and the way she crumbles against him is proof enough this is one of those things she needed to hear. She's so small against the height of him as she presses her face into the solid wall of his chest, fingers curling tight and desperate into the material of his shirt at his back as she clings to him.

wrap...? ♥

[shadowthief]

She had no reason to expect the leap, despite the all too familiar flash of something roguish that crossed his features. It shocks a laugh out of her, genuine and delighted.

She never had anyone to run across rooftops with– the last time Jesper tried to follow her, he'd done a number on himself. She doesn't waste any further time before following after him.

[itookashot]

"Always ask for what you're worth and nothing less, Shepard." Jesper winks at her. Honestly, she couldn't afford him as she is now, so this is all just playful, he'll work for her regardless of whether she has the starting funds. It's fine, he has plenty of money himself, now that he's no longer gambling it all away.

"I do, and I think Inej will too, we're both restless." She'll still have to ask Inej though, he doesn't do anything without her. But Jesper has been here longer so he is a valuable asset. "For you and your boyfriend to get guns, you need to either save money, or sell your services to the military or see if you can get a deal with a gunsmith. You want to talk to Geralt, Ciri, or Dean, they're all Summoned here in Cadens and they're hunters. They've been making a living off of it already, and I suspect at least one of them might have gone against bandits by now."

They do tend to lean more toward monsters, he knows that much, but if the bandits are a serious problem, he suspects they've been hired for that kind of thing too. Jesper actually has a lot of connections, he's always been good at this part too. It's why he was Kaz's legs. "It's possible the military hires to take care of these things, you'd have to ask. Then we'll have to gear up, get good advice, and head out."

He smiles. "High risk, high reward."

[piqure]

had the trip been exciting? maybe too much, at the end.

but it’s impossible not to feel the giddiness he had back then, back at this one day of the many. it was easier to ignore the aftermath of a victory against thanos, funeral suit still wrinkled in his closet; easier to ignore the five years they missed in the snap. easier with his friends, easier to pretend to be normal in their lateness to math and their packing plans (or lack thereof) to a trip to venice. college plans. ] It was — an interesting trip. Definitely a little more exciting than I thought it would be.

I was kind of — looking forward to it being a normal trip, you know? Just a high school trip but, [ there’s a small shrug tossed her way as he thins his lips, left corner of his mouth upturned. you know how it is, it seems to say.

he is tugged along the familiar hall and it occurs to him, sharply, that she grew up in a far different place. he snorts - malcolm in the middle, huh? ] Oh yeah! Most schools look like this here, actually. All of them kind of look like they’re out of one of those old movie sets, like the Breakfast Club though, right? Have you seen that one too —

[ his reply dwindles down at the end, an absentminded continuation to her commentary, snapped forward by her precision. he looks at her, standing in the threshold of the math classroom.

then, he looks past her, at ned, and mj. he misses them. he wished he valued moments like this more, back then. but how could he have known?

but, he’s already dumped enough of his pain onto wanda’s plate, hadn’t he? he shakes his head, expression sobering up again and tries for acceptance to the set of his shoulders. ] It’s more like — I’m not part of theirs, anymore. [ a wince, a single corner of his eye creasing. ] Maybe that can change later, but it’s better this way, right now.

[ the memory shudders around them, and peter instinctively turns to look around, wondering what things will morph into next. or perhaps this is the end of it? guilt chases at the corners of his conscience. from the glimpses of wanda’s life, her’s was filled with so much chaos and loss and god only knows what experiments, and here he was, missing his high school friends, his girlfriend. it felt disproportionate. ]

[meiren]

Aish.

[ He lets himself be pulled in without resistance, even if he does roll his eyes extravagantly. Things are starting to make a bit more sense, however. ]

Is that what you're so upset about? That he called me zhiji?

[ It hadn't worked out that well for him, but Wen Kexing will be Wen Kexing. Zhou Zishu will let him fuss for a moment if only because it's an unusual situation.

He's not entirely sure Wen Kexing didn't see what happened in the dungeon, either. That would certainly send him into overprotective mode. ]

[impressionism]

Hennessy can only watch in horror as the young girl is shoved into the slaver's ship with the rest of the children, and as it becomes clear that there's no rescue awaiting these kids. The language they're speaking isn't one she's ever heard, but she doesn't need to know what's being said to understand.

She tenses up as the child Inej curses her captors, waiting for inevitable retaliation and wishing she had any power here save that as an onlooker. Hennessy's no hero, but she'd have gotten those kids out and found a certain grim satisfaction in the violence such a thing would've required.

The memory fades and she comes back to herself -- slumped forward, head spinning, tears coursing their way down her cheeks. It's a long few moments before she finds her own voice again.

"I hope you killed those bastards for what they did."

It's a low rasp, her breath still coming too hard and fast for her liking or for speech, but the sentiment is clear enough.

[impressionism]

Hennessy snorts faintly at the idea.

"It's just me and Ronan, and he's far too Catholic to make a good murderer."

She still thinks he might end the world, but even she'll grant that he probably won't do it on purpose. It's what's so awful about the whole thing, really. The likelihood that she would've succeeded in killing him as a secondary effect back home was more than she liked to admit even to herself. And she'd do it again if it came down to it.

Ronan was stronger now. She'd been holding back. It wasn't the best idea, but it was the best one she had that didn't involve maybe setting loose something she couldn't put back and having to die for it. But it was a holding pattern, and Hennessy knows it.

"I need better control. That thing in my head only stays away because Ronan can dream with me and back me up, and if I slip up and think about it --"

Well. They've had to wake up in a hurry before. One day she'd slip up alone, and that would be it.

[shadowthief]

That does seem to be the one that people keep seeing. She draws her hand back and tucks it against her chest, arms folded there in a protective sort of way– she'd like for this to end any time, now, thanks.

"I didn't have a chance," she admits, her own voice low and dark, a frown etched hard across her features. "They sold me to a woman worse than them." If only because they hadn't kept her long. Who knows what sort of things she might have been subjected to by the slavers, had they not arrived to Ketterdam as quickly?

But it's true, to her. Heleen was worse. Oh, she absolutely plans to take down every damn slaver ship she can find in her mission back home, but at least they only sold her once. Heleen did it again and again and again, on top of the abuse she gave at her own hand. On top of the dehumanization she put all of the girls through. And on and on and on. Heleen was the worst kind of monster.

[funbreaker]

[ That's certainly his cue to leave, and in truth it's overdue. Thancred should not have been here in the first place, and yet he can't say that he regrets it despite everything that they witnessed. It allowed him and Wanda to connect on a few different levels, ones they may not have otherwise.

He pushes out of the seat and straightens out his coat, nodding to Wanda in swift agreement. ]

I would be happy to. It's a nice spot that you have here.

[ He gives the cabin's interior one last look before making for the door, then pauses right inside of it. ]

And I appreciate you offering company to Himeka. It grants me some peace of mind.

[ Himeka is, of course, completely capable of taking care of herself. Still, Thancred worries, and she certainly isn't immune to loneliness. ]

[meiren]

[ There's a brief pause before more genuine humor begins to slip into Zhou Zishu's expression. ]

Drinking. [ So deadpan.

It's not as if he doesn't know what Thancred is asking, but despite the flippancy his answer does have the bonus of being true. He hadn't intended to do much with his retirement other than drink and laze through his remaining time, and the fact that he hadn't managed much of the laziness part probably says something about him.

Still. It is at least a goal. ]

Ten years was enough.

[unnecessaryflourishes]

[It is hard to deny that his tendency towards the dramatic is very much something that is very much visible even on a casual glance. Which is not to say that he's incapable of being otherwise, but he has long since decided that there's no point in not being exactly as dramatic as he cares to be. Especially when it is very well-suited to the vast majority of his goals.

Nor can he deny that there's something almost satisfying in seeing Zenos' pitiful attempt end in failure, as he's tackled to the ground by Himeka. Even if it's not something he's inclined to acknowledge.]

Nor were we, once.

[It has become a necessity, yes. And one that he would be lying to say that he wouldn't willing to do as many times as had proved necessary, had Himeka not defeated him as she had. But not something any of them had known prior to it becoming immediately necessary.

And if as colored by his words, as Thancred's memory fades what replaces it is not reality but Amaurot. Amaurot as it was, rather that the faded replica that he had created under the seas on the First, or the version of it that stands as his Horizon; the people as real as anything else as they drift through the streets, the ideal buzz of chatter filling the air. But what might stand out most is the fact that the people - though still robed and masked - are nonetheless individuals, and all of a height that would otherwise be considered normal rather than the over-tall giants of either Emet-Selch's Horizon or the recreated Amaurot he had made.

There's a moment's silence from Emet-Selch as he watches the gentle bustle of the evening - and surely it is that, for the streetlights are lit - and then a soft sigh.]

I had wondered.

[gynvael]

Of course not. I never leave details out of any tale.

[ Details are definitely what he's known for. (There's more to it, to be certain, but that's a story for another time. She may or may not be far off the mark imagining a mouse.)

He glances down at her. They did what? ] Sounds like they deserved whatever you did to them afterwards.

[ He can only assume the incident ended with retaliation of some kind. More sticky liquor, perhaps. Geralt does not, in fact, realize punch is not strictly an alcoholic beverage. He's only ever had it through Julie. ]

[princessvegas]

That is why we call you the wordy Witcher behind your back. You just never shut up.

[ She sighs, hooks her ankle over his. If she's truthful, she can barely remember that incident at the wedding, both because she had been so young, and because it was only one instance of having far too many rowdy children present at every family event. The older ones were always supposed to look after the younger ones, but no preteen or teenager really wants to be childminding when they could be swiping unattended drinks and cigarette packs instead. ] Well, I was only like, three, I think? Maybe four. So I couldn't do that much to 'em then, their parents had to do it. Most of 'em, I didn't get back until we were older. I had a box of every embarrassin' picture we had of 'em. Awkward school pictures, naked baby pictures, couple of mugshots. Everythin' a teenage boy doesn't want anyone else to ever see. I used to mail copies to all their girlfriends. At Christmas, I'd send anonymous presents with the pictures printed on 'em.

[ Is that really a fair variety of revenge against childish actions done a decade or more earlier? Absolutely not. But Julie is nothing if not a little unreasonable. ]

[vixening]

[ she watches as he struggles with the smile, as his voice remains uneven even as he continues. secret engagements to avoid social restrictions aren't unheard of - and honestly, she is sure jaskier has had more than a couple of songs about that matter specifically, but where she might have tried to make something joking or lighthearted about it, there's that heaviness in anakin she can't quite ignore. one that shades in the lines of his attempted smile.

so where yennefer might have made some comment - about how repressed an entire order of men who weren't allowed to marry were sure to be - instead she waits. finds a way to squeeze his hand back in return, confirmation that whatever it is these memories are dragging up, he's not alone in it either.

we made it work he says, and yennefer doesn't have to comment on the flatness in his tone, but her eyebrow does arch. a silent do you really believe that? right as she feels a shift in the air around them. the scene changes, from sand to bright red magma, to dark stone. she can't help the way her attention turns to the ship, to the scene as it unfolds, to the very pregnant padme and the desperate tilt to anakin's voice.

whether or not anakin notices, there are moments that hit yennefer differently than others. moments where she tenses at his side, where her hand digs into his arm for just the briefest second. that you killed younglings and only my new powers and you've changed. moments where yennefer understands more than she probably has any right to, on a very personal level. when the memory of anakin's attention is drawn up to another figure, yennefer's eyes go with him, her own jaw tight not with judgement but with anger, anger because she knows, she knows, what anakin means when he screams liar.

it is only then that yennefer's eyes turn to the anakin at her side, trying to try and read what it is this memory brings up for him. she can only assume it isn't good, and despite herself there is a surge of...what? defensiveness? protectiveness? ]

That man. [ it's clear she doesn't have the highest regard for this obi-wan, if only from the conversation she'd just overheard. ] He's from your order?

[vixening]

[ she absolutely sees the look he shoots her and is very specifically ignoring it, holding the concept of a secret hidden library right out of jaskier's reach. especially as he shifts the topic onto the lingerie, onto whatever it is they are.

yennefer rolls her eyes at his smile, at the promise of you know where to find me, if only because she feels intimately aware of just how different things would be, now, from before. how she feels so very different. in a way, it feels like lifetimes ago when she had been helping him with his magic, lifetimes since that night in her tent. the tent doesn't even exist any longer, the closest thing to it left as a pile of ashes hidden back in her domain, and yet here was jaskier. joking, commenting, surviving on. moving on. building great things and even greater spaces and taking the time to build one for her.

there is something in the way his smile grows that she could chase after. some grand story he could weave for entertainment purposes, about their different paths in similar circles. but then there is a tension that shoots through jaskier, and yennefer's attention turns from her glass back to him. had she said something? had she done something? but when jaskier finally does explain she understands where the tension had come from. what she had stumbled upon by asking.

it does make sense, and for the weight it brings, yennefer doesn't seem all that uncomfortable by the topic. more so it seems like something that hasn't been far from her mind, that isn't ever far from her mind. she nods, takes a sip of her wine. ] That does make the most sense - the Sandpiper had been a settled name by the time I heard of it, and that's not something that just happens. Your work there speaks for itself.

[ another compliment, another acknowledgement, yennefer should probably be aware of how easily it comes now. how that doesn't exactly fit their exchanged barbs. how she should be worried for his ego. but instead she gives him a small smile, her own stature less like the clothes and cleanliness that her current appearance would assume and a bit more like she'd been in that tavern, tired and dirty and just trying to survive. or, maybe, it's somewhere in between. something that isn't quite scared but isn't quite straight-backed. someone who she isn't really all that sure how to be, yet. ]

No, of course not, and I'm sure the pig farmers didn't love having to share their swill with the lesser bards, either. Doubt they had much to spare. [ which... yennefer may be coming from a more personal place when she says that. like she would know a little more than just assumptions. not that she leaves much room for jaskier to poke into it, taking another sip from her glass and turning her eyes to the bottles that surround them, pulling up one arm to settle her chin in her palm. ]

And are all of these from home? I can't imagine there's good wine out in the desert of the Cities.

[vixening]

It isn't that she wasn't used to these memories by now - it was just that over the last few days, Yennefer has only seen things she didn't recognize. Parts of people's lives, their paths, all things she didn't know or recognize that she then had to decide what to do with. Except this time was different - this time Yennefer didn't even recognize the girl who bumped into her, whose memories she dove into, but she did recognize him.

The pain behind her eyes was immense, but she had come to expect it now. Knew it was coming and could breathe through it just fine. She looked at the girl with a tight frown, the image of Kylo still echoing, mentions of Skywalker. Does Anakin know? Does Kylo? Yennefer, who had been gone for weeks up until just a couple of days ago, suddenly feels a bit out of step.

"You're from the same world as Kylo Ren, then."

Her tone isn't harsh so much as it's blunt, matter of fact. Might as well let her know what it was she's seen, or at least a part of it.

"Yes, I am Yennefer. And you are...?"

Can wrap on yours.

[itookashot]

Jesper grins because he knows she wants to say that's different. He has no problem with Saint Alina, if it's true what she did, she was someone worth worshipping, to be honest. Fixing the Fold and dying while doing it? That's pretty heroic. He respects that.

Jesper doesn't know really what he thinks about life after death. He's not rejecting the idea, he is not so stupid as to think he knows everything. "I hope you're right. On both counts." If the other option is he never gets to see his mother again, frankly, who wants to believe in that? Not him. He wants to see her and hear her. Whether she's proud of him, he can't know, but maybe he can spend the rest of his life trying to be better, and by the time he meets her, he will be worth it.

Jesper pulls Inej into a warm hug, kissing the top of her head. "You know I love you, right?"

[itookashot]

"You didn't lose me. And you won't. No matter what." The Singularity might send one or both of them back, it's out of his hands, but Jesper believes no matter where they are, they will find each other. And he will carry her with him wherever he goes. It's all very poetic and spiritual the way she likes it, but fine, he can adapt to those things for the right reasons.

Jesper knows he got through to her because of her reaction and he immediately closes his arms around her, hugging her tightly, holding her the way she deserves. He meant every word and it's clearly something she needed to hear. If he knew she did, he would've said it sooner, but he said it now.

"You are good, and brilliant, and loving, and stronger than anyone I have ever met." He will keep telling her nice things because he has a whole lot of them to list. "You deserve the world, Inej."

[shadowthief]

The quiet murmur of his words feel so genuine, and like such a farce all at once. She doesn't feel strong or good sometimes. Weakness she can handle. She's not Kaz, she isn't afraid of being perceived as weak, her reputation or character would not be ruined for it. But the other bit? That gets under her skin more than she'd ever like to admit.

Inej has stains on her hands she can never truly scrub clean anymore, and in the darkest of nights, on the worst of her days, she thinks maybe her Saints will reject her. That she won't reach the afterlife the rest of her family will find themselves in. She'll be boxed off, separated from them in death as much as she has the last few years in life.

She doesn't talk about it. People get strange in conversations about death and the afterlife; religion and spirituality are not easy topics for people to hear. But the fear is there, it's made a little home in a small corner of her heart, and it likes to remind her it's still there from time to time.

At least his voice is soft and his arms around her feel like safety instead of a cage she cannot flee from.

💖

[shadowthief]

She's glad he doesn't call her out any further on that score. She's not sure she has the tools nor the words to defend herself on it.

She smiles at him, soft and bright and warm and lets herself be tugged into that hug. "Of course," she says softly. "I love you, too, Jesper."

[a_better_man]

[Thank the Light it's over, Mat can't handle any further reliving of these memories. What's been shared is bad enough.]

Moraine-Sedai.

[He presses the heel of his palm to his forehead and lets out a long, low sigh. His head feels miserable. Mostly he looks tired and frightened. It's not usually so very clear in his regular recollections.]

She saved our asses more than once. I don't generally trust Aes Sedai but I trust her. She's like you.

[a_better_man]

Mmph.

[It's all Mat can manage at first. His head is pounding and that had been a lot. He's still trying to process it as he finds himself back in reality, collapsed on Anakin's bed.]

Happens.

[He rolls over with a groan, lying on his back, hand over his eyes. Oh fuck. How the hell does he even begin to explain what he'd seen?]

You have lived a very strange life.

[It just comes out without much thought.]

[chosenfordarkness]

[ Anakin nurses his own headache, fingers rubbing at his temples as he tries to just overcome the throbbing pain. It doesn't work as well as he wants it to. He cracks open an eye to glance at him whether or not Mat sees it. ]

Could say the same thing about you, y'know.

[ He's silent for a few long moments before trying to ease the tension. ]

Does this mean I win?

cw: choking

[chosenfordarkness]

[ He wants so desperately to believe that they would have been okay if Padmé had just taken his hand and accepted. The could have changed everything. Seeing things from the outside looking in gives him less perspective than he was hoping for. It doesn't keep his heart from beating almost painfully behind his ribs nor causes the lump in his throat to cease.

Anakin barely feels those hands digging into his arms as his failures play out in front of him. How tenderly and caring Padmé caresses his face, trying to get him to just go with her. His lips are drawn in a tight line, his jaw clenched the longer they stand there and watch. He feels ashamed for what Yennefer is forced to watch and he can't find the strength to look at her, afraid of what he's going to see.

He's such a coward..

His eyes are locked onto the scene continuing to play out and hot, angry tears find their way down his face as his attention turns to Obi-Wan. ]

He was my Master. [ He shakes his head. ] He was supposed to be my brother. I trusted him!

[ In front of them, Padmé whirls around to look at Obi-Wan, shaking her head. "No!"

"You're with him. You've betrayed me! You brought him here to kill me!"


Her attention turns back to Anakin as she starts to back up as he advances a few strides. "NO! Anakin... I swear..I--" She freezes in place, eyes wide as she struggles to find her breath when he raises his arm, hand out and fingers curled as if grasping at something.

"Let her go, Anakin."

His attention turns to Obi-Wan as he descends the loading ramp, though he doesn't stop. He looks to Padmé, her eyes pleading. "Let her go." He releases her, looking at her collapsed form. She's alive, at least.


He scowls at Obi-Wan. "You turned her against me!"

Obi-Wan looks at his former apprentice gravely. "You have done that yourself."

Anakin stalks away from Padmé in a wide arch, shedding his outer cloak. "You will not take her from me!!"

"Your anger and lust for power have already done that." Obi-Wan does the same, throwing his cloak off. "You have allowed this Dark Lord to twist your mind until now . . . until now you have become the very thing you swore to destroy."

They circle each other, and when Obi-Wan is close enough, he crouches down to place a hand on Padmé. Anakin turns away, unable to look at them near each other, that rage bubbling beneath the surface. "Don't lecture me, Obi-Wan. I see through the lies of the Jedi. I do not fear the dark side as you do. I have brought peace, justice, freedom, and security to my new Empire."

"Your new Empire?"

"Don't make me kill you."

"Anakin, my allegiance is to the Republic. To democracy!"

"If you're not with me, you're my enemy."

"Only a Sith Lord deals in absolutes...I will do what I must." He ignites his lightsaber as Anakin does the same.

"You will try."

The memory fades around them. ]

[a_better_man]

I don't know.

[Maybe there is no winner here.]

Fuck me. Sorry...for peeping into your memory and all.

[He doesn't know what else to say. How do you talk about these things? But it warrants an apology. Neither one of them did it on purpose, but it's done now.]

I...to be quite honest, Anakin, I don't even know exactly what it was I saw.