“I’ve got something I need to do. I’ll be back later, I love you.”
Melissa smiled as she slipped from the room, taking in the quiet response from Draca to heart, absorbing the warmth of his smile, and beginning her plan. First, her exit from the Citadel. Without coming across Anderson. She ensured the door was closed before taking the odd direction. Down down down… not the common staircase most used but the one she’d explored many times while waiting for Ruka to leave meetings when she first arrived on Selen. It was useful. Especially when she didn’t want to be seen yet.
The last few weeks had been busy in thr Force. Her visions had flared, flickers taking her attention away more. Meditation had clarified enough that the Seer knew couldn’t let them come to pass. If Anders died… There was only one way to securely stop them that wouldn’t be sabotagable by Anders himself. He’d be cross.
But as the Astral Drake’s systems let the familiar Echani onto the ship, Melissa knew she didnt really mind. Not when looked upon alongside the bigger picture.
She left her slippers in their position beisde the entrance ramp, wiping her feet clean, all to ensure the Inquisitor didn’t notice anything amiss. From there sneaking and settling into place in Draca’s room was easy having visited so many times. Anders would have no reason to go there once he returned to the ship. Neither would Snaz nor Zoom who were almost certainly aboard already. Present, but neither would break through Anders reasonings. Either too old, already bested or not with the Force.
Melissa was none of those things.
Plan enacted, it was now just time to wait. Reading comics, watching the clouds and resting in the ebb and flow of her own mind as the Force ever called on her attention. The only focus she forced upon herself was to conceal her presence, so the stowing wouldn’t be easily undone enough she could be discarded.
“Aequitas, do you wish to know what separates us from the Jedi? We are not afraid to feel. From the highs of joy to the depths of despair, we do not treat our emotions as a crutch, but rather as a weapon to fuel our power.”
It was those very emotions that led to this confrontation between Anders and Draca. Lenora mat have been a vile, evil, wicked, vindictive creature, but she was an excellent teacher when it mattered.
“I’m coming with you.”
Like right now, where Anders was being extremely stubborn.
“Absolutely not! You are not healed yet. You will remain here on Selen until I return,” Anders’s rone gave no room for negotiation.
Draca attempted to close the distance between them but keeled over in pain. He had to support himself on the nearby coffee table to stop himself from collapsing, his breathing ragged and hoarse.
Anders had to fight the temptation to help him. Alas, Draca needed to understand his current limitations. He was a liability, and coming would get him killed.
“I can still help… I…” Draca lowered his head in defeat. There was no arguing now.
“Go back to bed, young man. Where is Miss Luxor?”
“I don’t know. She said she had to do something and disappeared.”
“Then wait for her,” Anders was about to leave when he saw the look on Draca’s face.
He sighed and placed a hand on his shoulder. “You are not weak. What happened was… my fault. It is a mistake I… we… will correct. However, for now, the most efficient way for you to provide aid is to rest. Once you have recovered, you may join me again.”
Draca nodded with a smile. Good. Anders felt content enough to leave.
He would ask Evelyn to keep an eye on him, though. Just in case.
“Always expect the unexpected, then nothing can take you by surprise.”
Yet another lesson from Lenora. They seemed to be playing in his mind ever more frequently ever since her resurrection. If he didn’t know any better, he would have said it was her communicating with him.
Perhaps he was being paranoid? When it came to Lenora, he could never be sure. Doubling down the efforts of hunting her holocrons and artifacts became a necessity, discovering a weakness becoming the utmost priority.
He was not sure what to expect when he entered the cockpit. UWOT-M8 was at the helm, of course, but seeing Snaz and Zoom'aski there and ready to leave was not high on the list of occurrences he expected.
“Where to, boss man?” Zoom asked from the pilot’s seat.
Anders raised a brow. “It was my understanding that you contemplated quitting.”
Zoom released a snort. “Oh, believe me, that’s still on the table. Just… you know, you and Draca never abandoned me, so I ain’t leaving you either. Plus, where the Hell would I even go?”
Fair point. Anders then eyed Snaz suspiciously.
“I helped you cover up her death,” the old Aleena shrugged his shoulders. “She’s gonna hold a grudge against me too. Not as much as she holds against you, but we are better working together than separately. I wanna see that bitch dead and make sure this time that she can’t come back.”
Anders was feeling somewhat inspired by the resolve of his companions. He was not one to admit his concerns in front of them, but he had serious doubts about the possibilities of ending Lenora again.
“Don’t get me wrong, I’m still pissed at what you did. Real pissed, but we got bigger problems right now. So, what she said. Where to?” Snaz was, as always, straight to the point. Right now, Anders appreciated that about him more than anything.
“Coruscant,” he finally answered.
Without another word Zoom and UWOT-M8 started the ship with a jolt, sending them soaring out of Selen’s atmosphere and into space.
He blinked. Once, twice, thrice, and then shook his head. He wasn’t the only one surprised by the unexpected presence of Melissa Luxor. Zoom’s head practically did a one-eighty as she sputtered about how she could possibly be here.
Anders knew damn well how she was here; the ship was programmed to recognise her as a familiar face. The alarms refused to activate when she snuck on board.
The absolute nerve of that girl! Who did she think she was!? She was not even wearing shoes!
With a snarl through his teeth, he spoke. “Zoom'aski. Turn the ship around at once. We have a stowaway who seems to have forgotten her manners.”
Snaz suddenly clutched his chest, breathing heavily, eyes widened, he collapsed out of his seat and onto the floor of the cockpit.
“Snaz!” Zoom cried out.
Melissa had been about to give her protest, a speech shed somewhat planned out. Mostly. Kind of sort of-
It was a plan!
However on the intake of breath to tell Zoom to not turn the ship around, Snaz gasped for breath. Had she surprised him so terribly he had a heart attack?!
Melissa was moving toward him before she’d even fully registered her own thoughts, reaching down to sense, to heal with the Force. If she was quick enough, there wouldn’t be any damage.
It was a gamble whether or not Draca had warned told her about his little party trick. For added effect, he even stuck his tongue out of the corner of his mouth.
She fell for it. Perfect.
Snaz suddenly rose, his face inches from hers, eyes wide as he yelled in her face.
Melissa squealed. Jumping in place, it only took a moment before the Echani was promptly shoving herself backwards and away. Her eyes may as well have been saucers for how wide they were, adrenaline pulsing in shock.
“Damn it, Snaz, you frackin’ asshat! I swear, if you pull that kriff one more time, I’ll give you a reason to have a heart attack!”
Snaz responded to Zoom’s outburst with full on belly-laughter.
“Sorry, sorry, I couldn’t resist,” the old Aleena dusted himself down, grinning at Anders, whom had closed his eyes and pinched the bridge of his nose.
“If I may interject,” UWOT-M8 raised a mechanical hand. “You wished to turn the ship around, Master Anderson?”
Melissa had a hand on her own heart when the droid’s interruption reminded her of her plan. Right, the plan!
She shook her head, brushing off the shock and pointed a finger at Anders.
“Do not turn the ship around.” She inhaled, still somewhat out of breath from the scream and creating a moment long enough for Anders to begin speaking before-
“I’ve seen you die, Anders.”
“Yeah, die from laughter. Am I right?”
Seeing the unamused faces of everyone surrounding him, Snaz placed his hands in his robes and huffed indignantly whilst mumbling something about ‘tough crowds’.
The co-pilot droid rounded on Melissa. “It is not your decision to make, mistress of Draca. I am programmed to only follow the orders of…”
Zoom reached for a little switch under the droid’s chin. It immediately powered down and lowered its head.
“Sorry about him,” she said. “He can take things a little far.”
“You will need to clarify, Miss Luxor,” Anders was staring daggers into her, the look of an Inquisitor.
He was listening. Step one of the plan, successful. Step two was actually explaining herself properly. She lowered her hand, interlinking her fingers in front of herself.
“Thank you Zoom.” She smiled slightly to the pilot before refocussing on anders. Her silver gaze didn’t waver under his stare. Determination, fuelling her resolve.
“I have the Force, you know that. I’m not sure how much Draca has told you aside from it but..” She exhaled, “I’ve been having visions. It’s only in the last few days they’ve been clear enough to act on them, but you’re in severe danger over this mission. You fly in together but enter alone and.. you do not return. Fate is ever changing, ever in motion. But only if you heed the warning.”
There was a sadness. Fear, almost though not of Anders. Failure fuelling a desperation to be heard, to be taken seriously.
“And if that.. isn’t enough then maybe the fact Draca never forgives himself for it, is.”
The Force was forever in motion. As a Sith, Anders believed that no-one was in charge of his fate but him. No doctrine or mysterious power was in a position to determine that for him. He was the Master here.
Except for when Melissa spoke that last sentence, he felt his tower of resilience crumble.
“Made me like you?”
Draca’s words remained with him even after Mor'ya. The cockpit had gone eerily silent, eyes glaring at Anders for an answer.
“You,” he said, beckoning Melissa closer. “Come here.”
If there was one thing that most would learn about Melissa within moments of meeting her, is her naivety. Why, or how, were much less obvious but even knowing Anders’ status, a vague notion of what he does, what he did to the Jedi Draca was taken in by, she stepped forward.
She frowned, caution visible and watching him with more focus than she usually had. Even her presence in the Force seemed to stabilize, stopping its usual drift to and from her pysche. But she still stepped within arms reach.
She trusted he wouldn’t hurt her. Melissa also trusted that whatever he was about to do, would show her truth. The Force was with her, and it gave no warning flare of danger. That was enough.
It was time to put the intruder to the test. Did it matter that Draca cared for her? Perhaps. Perhaps not.
He raised his arms, the fingers on his hands outstretched as they came within inches of her temples. He did nor wait to she if she shuddered, resisted, or trembled.
After all, there was no telling what Ruka had said to poison her thoughts regarding him.
“You must relax your thoughts,” he instructed her in a similar manner to the one he used for Draca.
Goosebumps rose across her arms. It was cold, in a way foreign to the Seeress. It wasnt like snow, or a bitter wind. It was as if it began from under the skin, seeping out rather than piercing in.
She could almost feel Ruka’s disapproval from all these hundreds of miles away, yet she remained in place. Relaxing her thoughts wasn’t as easy as one would expect.
“You’re probably going to see things you don’t want or need to see. I don’t.. have full control.” The admission became quiet, the first waver since Melissa stepped into the room. Since understanding that having no control over it was bad, it had become something of an insecurity how little say she had over her visions’ coming and going.
Still, she relaxed as much of her conscious thoughts as possible. After one long investigative stare, she closed her eyes to aid the effort.
She was far too tense. Alas, it would not be tbe first time that Anders had forced his way into another’s mind. All he needed was something to catch on, something to glimpse.
Then, he found it.
Images began swirling in his thoughts and hers. Not only what she had seem, but touched, smelt, heard, even tasted. Images flickered tbrough like mini projections, Zuza, Draca, Arcona, of course, before the warm iron of blood assaulted him.
“Relax. The image is coming through now.”
Most glimpses were mundane. It was difficult for Anders to discern the different between those, flashes of day to day for Melissa and strangers alike. Sadness, fear, hope, anger, elation all flickered through passing like heartbeats.
Ruka’s eyes, the colour faded more with glasses firmly in place on his face. A stranger faced peril, and then-
Zuza. It was only a moment, Anders shuffling through and past in his push to find himself, but it was undeniably her. Despite the state she was in. Blood trickled from her nose over her lip, her skin pale and eyes tired and unfocussed as she sat far back in the Serpentine Throne.
Blood, on the tongue, sticky and covering hands, filling his nose. Hed found himself.
Melissa was trying to relax, and did improve on it. Somewhat. There was only so much she could relax and keep the visions from interceding and complicating the search.
He was going to need to talk to Zuza about what he saw when he next had the opportunity to do so. At the very least, she should be warned.
Then he saw it. His eyes, once shining a bright crimson were now dull and lifeless. His body remained motionless on the floor, blood trickling from the cuts on his forehead and out of the corner of his mouth.
The Sith feared nothing. That was what they wanted the galaxy to think of them. However, that was far from the truth. They feared weakness. They feared being powerless. They feared death.
Anders was no exception. The sight paralysed him for a moment, almost breaking his concentration. Yet, he remained firm on his hold of Melissa’s mind. There were clues to be gathered here. It seemed he had not taken any injuries to his body, and he was lay in such a position where his arm pointed to another… figure.
A shadowed woman towered over him with bloodied eyes and clawed fingers. It could not be Lenora.
Could it? They were holding a strangely familiar object in their hand. The object he sought.
Coming back to reality, he released his hold on Melissa, taking a moment to gather his thoughts.
“You may open your eyes. I am done.”
Silvery irises peered up at him, “Do you believe me?”
There was hesitation and genuine concern. A steeling of nerves as if expecting to be brushed aside and a bristle to her posture that indicated she was ready for that. Ready to press, to convince him further should he not.
Melissa did take a small step back, away from the cold and also remembering people usually liked personal space bubbles being untouched.
That was a good question. The answer was… perhaps… perhaps not.
“So… what did you see?”
It was Zoom who broke the silence, three separate sets of eyes awaited his response.
“It is as she says. I witnessed the state of my demise,” Anders folded his hands behind his back and turned to face away from Melissa.
He seemed to be lost in thought for a moment before turning back to her. “How accurate would you say your visions are? How likely are these events to occur if no intervention happens?”
“It’s not certain.” Melissa sighed softly, “But there’s a reason I made such an effort to be here, and not try to tell you in a way more easily.. ignored.”
She brushed her hair behind her ear, “I think it will happen. They are rarely completely false so even if you don’t die, you’ll be severely injured or taken or.. some other fate that I doubt you’d want to be in. Please believe me. You.. didn’t see everything. The aftermath, that would happen if that comes to pass.”
It seemed he was, truly, but… She’d seen her own parents die because of this. It always brought up those memories, she couldn’t let it happen again if she could help it.
He weighed his options. He almost laughed to himself. The alternative was that he yelled in frustration. He seemed to be carefully considering his steps so wearily often. He placed his hands behind his back, head lowered, pacing back and forth in the large cockpit in whatever small room he was granted.
“That settles it, then,” Anders faced her with a triumphant grin on his face. “Draca would usually be thr one to accompany me on such an endeavour, but since he is unavailable, you will take his place. Though, i must highlight that i will not tolerate any form of incompetence or disobedience. You are to listen to what I say and do whatever task I require of you. Is that understood?”
“You sure about this, Anderson?” Snaz furrowed his brow. “If you are that concerned, I can always accompany you?”
“And leave the ship undefended? I think not, unless you would be willing to join us, Zoom'aski?”
Zoom blinked. “Yeah. No. I’m good.”
“Hopefully with your presence, Miss. Luxor, we can avoid whatever events occured in your vision. What say you?”
Melissa’s relief was palpable. Those with the Force could practically feel the buzz radiating off of her, though it wasn’t like it wasn’t obvious in the mundane ways as a wide smile cracked across her face and she finally relaxed her arms.
“Yes. I understand.” She glanced down, aware of the fact she was technically very actively breaking one of Ander’s rules. Melissa chuckled slightly, taking one small step toward the door. “…I will go put my slippers on now. I normally would have but you would have known I was here too soon if I had worn them.”
She’d probably have to wear them on the mission, the Seeress had completely forgotten to bring her actual shoes that she’d usually wear on such trips for safety.
Absolutely, she must wear some form of footwear. Coruscant was a planet filled from species from all corners of the galaxy with various customs. Very few of those were shoeless.
Not to mention, it was one of his rules on the ship.
“Yes, you go do that,” Anders instructed. “Zoom'aski, reactivate UWOT-M8, if you please?”
“Aww, do I have to?” Zoom asked, getting a look from Anders that gave her the answer. “Fine.. ”
She reactivated the droid, much to her dismay.
“Oh, my, what happened? I appear to have dozed off, how terribly unprofessional,” the co-pilot droid fumbled with the screens in front of it. “We will be arriving on Coruscant within the next ten minutes. I appear to have powered down through the majority of the trip. I do apologise leaving Lady Zoom'aski in charge without me.”
Zoom gave Anders a begging look, though the Chiss just smiled in response.
Melissa had quickly slipped away, making her way to the entrance ramp of the ship and finding her slippers stored there. Far from ideal for long term wear but it’d be better than nothing.
She wandered back, slower than before, taking the time to relax herself and soak in the relief. She could save him, someone, finally.
By the time Melissa returned to the cockpit, she was gently smiling and much of the tension had disappeared.
“I’m ready!”
She was just in time to see the Coruscant skyline. Mile after mile of skyscrapers that rose into the heavens as far as the eye could see. It was impossible to tell where one building began, or even ended if the platforms above were any indication.
There were no end to the sea of speeders that zoomed in every direction.
“Tell me, Miss. Luxor. Have you ever ventured to Coruscant?”
Melissa’s expression answered the question before she did, staring in a mix of horror and awe. It was incredible but at the same time there was so many people. Not that she minded people but… it was so much.
Still, once Anders had asked a moment later she replied with eyes still locked onto the view, “I haven’t. This is the first time I’ve been.. around here at all really.”
It wasn’t like shed ever visited the inner galaxy anyway.
Her face. Her expression. It reminded him so much of when he first brought Draca to Coruscant. The eyes full of wonder and curiosity, but also fear and anxiety. The ecumenopolis could induce megalophobia in the unprepared.
The Astral Drake landed on the large docking platform in the Coruscanti upper levels. The ramp lowered, and a gush of the nighttime wind wafted past them.
Anders was the first to descend the ramp onto the platform. He turned, a brow raised.
“Are you joining ne, Miss Luxor? Or have you had a sudden change of heart?”
Melissa had followed him, though stood at the edge reconsidering the slippers. She’d been a step from just kicking them off and calling it good but his voice reminded her Draca was not here. Her eccentricity would probably not be as welcome. Begrudgingly, the foot cages remained.
“I’m coming.” She patted herself down, ensuring Veli’s presence and catching up to stand beside Anders. They walked down the ramp, her keeping pace but doing little to hide the wonder at the sight before her. “This place makes Arx look tiny…” She spoke quietly, aware of the hidden nature of the brotherhood enough to not shout the name in a crowded dock.
He almost chuckled at that.
almost. It was certainly a far cry from the way Draca clung to him when he had first arrived on Coruscant.
“Hurry up, droid. I do not wish to dawdle any longer than necessary,” Anders folded his arms and awaited the Co-Pilot droid to make its way down the ramp.
At least Zoom would be happy with the piece and quiet. Probably. Most likely. She was probably looking for a replacement already.
“Apologies, Master Anderson. I was just ensuring that Lady Zoom'aski understood tbe protocol for-”
Anders began to walk away whilst the droid prattled on about rules and regulations. He had to admit that even he was getting tired of it. A quick glance was all it took to see Melissa keep pace with him, lest she get lost in the never-ending crowds.
They entered a speeder cab, the droid driver looking back at them.
“Where am I taking you?” It’s autonomous tone asked.
“Coruscant level five. The Royal Society Apartment Complex.”
Before Melssa could question anything, the speeder shot away at breakneck speed into the traffic. If Anders showed any fear at the heights they were at, he made no indication of it, simply sitting with his hands and fingers on his lap, back straight.
If Coruscant looked massive from above, it was like a city maze one could get lost in up close. The lights, the sounds, smells, they were enough to overwhelm a person.
It only took a few minutes to reach their destination, but maybe it felt longer than that.
“Keep up. I am not slowing down for you. Either of you.”
With a brisk pace, the Chiss entered the nearby skyscraper and entered the nearest turbolift with Melissa and UWOT-M8 barely making it before the doors hissed shut. The lift shot up at great speed, the cityscape growing smaller outside the windows.
He input tbe combination and the triple layered doors opened up into an apartment the likes of which Melissa had likely never seen before. It was spacious, luxurious, pristine. Furniture fit the carpets perfectly, the large rectangular window of Coruscant providing the most spectacular view of the sunrise. The lavender sofas, comfy and exquisite, looked like they would put clouds to shame. A state of the art en-suite kitchen was stocked with every and any tool necessary, whilst a small staircase led upstairs to two separate rooms. Bedrooms, most likely.
Furniture dotted the room, in particular, photos of both Anders and Draca when the latter was younger. Much younger.
Melissa had no problem keeping up. Maintaining spot beside Anders’ side had been a little harder, easily distracted by the sheer number of people around her but practise made perfect and the Echani kept in place. It did seem… rushed.
This whole place felt like a rush though so it was hard to tell. The elevator was the worst part. Speeders, Melissa had gotten used to. Even at heights, she was okay, having climbed the tallest trees just for fun as a child. They didn’t bother her. The way the ground shrank away, her stomach dropping and sheer speed of the lift however…
To the keen eye, the Seer was a few shades paler than when they stepped into it by the time they exited.
She almost missed the photos in lieu of the sudden nausea, but after a few steadying breaths, her focus returned enough. This.. was theirs. Their home. But.. they had a home? Two homes?
Melissa approached one of the pictures, a smile breaking her confused expression. Draca was adorable when he was little. The small gust of sadness about her childhood was hurriedly brushed away, turning to look toward Anders.
“I thought you both lived on the Astral Drake?”
“People assume an awful lot regarding myself and Draca,” Anders made his way towards the kitchen, grabbing what could only be an exquisite glass and filling it with water. “I currently own the Anderson Operatic Theatre Group, which was once the Lenora Operatic Theatre Group. I have amassed wealth few can only dream off. Though, it remains to be seen how long that will last given my Master’s return…”
“Excuse me, Master Anderson, sir. Shall I retrieve the container?” UWOT-M8 asked.
“Yes. We will descend into the basement of this apartment once you are ready.”
“I didn’t mean to offend, I just… well. It doesn’t matter.”
She had assumed, she supposed. Not likely in the way Anders thought. The carpet was soft even through her shoes. Melissa exhaled slowly. This was the kind of luxury Cora had mentioned sometimes, though shed never really seen it. The Ya'ir home was modest, despite the postings of its occupants.
Though even modest felt like a lot to her. This felt more like walking into a story book royal’s home.
She was careful with how she walked around, out of place. There was no fear or anxiety to her behaviour, simply a piece that just.. didn’t quite know how to fit.
“What.. is the plan exactly? I know fleeting pieces but it’ll probably be better if I have the full picture.”
Indeed, it certainly would be more ideal if Melissa had the full picture. He could explain it. Very easily, in fact, though there was a part of Anders that wanted to take this as an opportunity to teach the young Echani some independence from what he dubbed The Ruka Family.
“Open up your senses and tell me what you feel,” it was not a request, but an order.
Melissa looked a little confused but inhaled, reaching into the Force. It was like a yawning pit had shifted open within the earth, pulling down down down.
She shivered, visibly.
“That’s.. The dark side of Force right? A lot of it.” Shed seen it in the ethereal plane of course, brushed against it elsewhere but this wasn’t comparable. “Its pulling.”
“I suggest you get acquainted with that feeling. You volunteered yourself for this. Remember that.”
Anders approached the large window overlooking Coruscant, his arms folded behind his back.
“This apartment once belonged to my Master. Naturally, since she has returned, this will likely be the last time I venture here until she is destroyed.”
*‘If she even can be destroyed again…’ he thought, bit chose not to voice it.
“Since I… acquired this location, I have been gathering artifacts that once belonged to her. Artifacts, scrolls, tomes, holocrons and more. That dark mass you feel are those very objects she poured the Dark Side into. We cannot allow them to fall into her hands. As such, we are relocating them.”
Melissa nodded slowly. That all made sense. She looked down, toward the miasma of energy and frowned.
“She knows they’re here, doesn’t she?” Itd explain how this could go so wrong that Anders could die.
“Undoubtedly,” Anders went straight to the point. “This apartment once belonged to Lenora. Whilst I have taken measures and changed security details, I have no doubt they will be trivial in the grand scheme of things.”
After all, if Darth Lenora wanted to get anywhere, she had all the power in the galaxy to do so.
“Will she be able to track them after we move them? This is such a large signal, if she can wherever we go with them may end up being compromised.” Melissa noted, frowning. “I.. don’t usually advocate for the destruction of items but this might be the case it’s necessary surely?”
Her focus seemed to slip for a moment, before returning. Melissa didn’t react to it, simply returning her gaze his face again.
“Oh, you sweet, naive, innocent child,” Anders chuckled to himself and shook his head. “If it were that simple, I would have done so years ago. Alas, there are failsafes in place in the event that the energy within these artifacts is compromised. There is a location I have in mind within Taldryan territory that will be difficult for my old Master to infiltrate. Moving them is the most logical option.”
“Master Anderson, sir” UWOT-M8 emerged from a small hallway near the rear of the apartment. “The preparation are complete.”
She frowned for a moment, though whether it was at his condescension or the facts of the matter… It wasn’t exactly obvious at a glance. Melissa nodded, accepting the information and focussing on the droid upon his entry.
Well, it was time. The Echani glanced toward Anders, prepared to walk beside him once they headed presumably back to the elevator.
Well, she was half-right. They were taking an elevator, but not the one they had taken to get up to the apartment.
Anders strolled over to the hidden corridor UWOT-M8 had come from. There, hidden from plain sight, was another smaller turbolift. This one had the large trunk that Melissa assumed would be holding the artifacts.
“After you,” he gestured to the Echani.
How was this hidden within a whole building? Melissa turned in fascination, walking backwards down thr hallway a few steps before, as directed, stepping onto the turbolift.
“Woah.” She spoke softly, a mixture of the sheer sensations of standing beside the trunk as well as well… secret lift.
Down and down they went. If Melissa thought going up was rough, perhaps going down was worse.
At the very least, she couldn’t see the sprawling cityscape any longer. Their surroundings seemed to blend into sterling silver like they were melting into the building itself.
Mercifully, the turbolift stopped, the doors opening into a vast, open space. It was cold despite the lack of wind. At tbe far end of the room stood a vault entrance that stood about twenty feet high and wide. A computer terminal stood beside it, an extra failsafe against unwanted intruders.
It was like her stomach had been pulled backwards up her throat. The draining of blood from her face was barely noticeable considering the starting point of was already almost unnaturally pale.
Melissa waited for Anders to step out, the pair with UWOTM8 behind them approaching the computer terminal.
“Did you have this built?” She asked. How would something like this be added after the building was constructed? Melissa had no idea but somehow she knew it was simply something she couldn’t imagine, not something that was impossible.
Though surely easier if this had all been constructed with the building.
“Actually, this structure was already here. Lenora, I believe, commissioned it. No doubt she had some nefarious purpose in mind for when it finished construction. Fortunately, I put an end to that and repurposed it for my own needs.”
A retinal scan covered Anders’ left eye. He placed his hand upon the panel and input the long, twenty-digit code. Surely, but slowly, the vault door hissed open, a strong gust of cold wind brushing past them.
She smiled slightly, in on her own revelation and pleased with herself about it.
Nefarious purpose…
Melissa tried to not think much on that, walking toward the vault door to peer into the gap. She shivered again at the cold, it was more than just a natural wind, that was certain.
The room was much smaller than Missa might have anticipated. Though, it was neatly decorated. Several podiums were home to objects that were a bit unusual.
One of which was a musical instrument. A flute of some kind, black as the night sky with golden trimmings. It looked so harmless, yet reeked of evil.
Another was a small orb of some kind. Upon closer inspection, it was a large marble that seemed to reflect their image back at them.
Then there was the conductor’s baton… in fact… there was no holocron or Sith weapon in sight.
It was like she’d walked into a freezer. Or into a blizzard without snow, bitingly cold and unforgiving. It was so foreign to her that despite the discomfort Melissa showed no emotive reaction. There was no fear, no repulsion. Only confusion and a twinge of curiosity, if the tilt to her head was noted.
But nothing in the room struck as the item they needed to collect and take away. Unless it was all of them? That’d make sense, really. Melissa looked back over her shoulder, white hair falling away from her face like a curtain as silvery eyes met red.
“Which ones are we moving?”
“All of them,” Anders answered very matter-of-factly, more so than Melissa was likely inspecting. “UWOT-M8, begin placing the items in their respective storage containers. Miss. Luxor…”
Anders’ eyes narrowed on her. “Do not. Touch. Anything. Do you understand?”
Melissa had blinked, nodding in affirmation. It certainly hadn’t been her intent to do so. “Of course. I understand.”
Though she truly was beginning to question how her vision could come to pass. She had expected a direct conflict with Zylar or perhaps a scrape with Lenora herself to gain something at their behest. Not moving safe items from one location to another.
Her presence wasn’t here in the visions. She wouldn’t make whatever was coming happen, yet something was off.
Melissa took a few steps deeper into the room, planning to retreat once she’d at least gotten a glance at everything. Looking was surely fine.
It was like honey had poured into her ears, the softest melody playing within the depths of silence, welcoming, warming, like an embrace from someone she loved.
The sound enticed her, beckoned her to come closer. It whispered to her, the melody getting louder. Melissa… Melissa… it was foreign, yet sounded so familiar. She wanted to follow that sound. That sweet, sweet, melody that called to her.
At the far end of the room sat a music box that seemed to play itself on its own. Regardless of how impossible that might have seen, Anders was too busy arguing with his droid about the positioning of the items within the container to take notice. It was like Melissa could hear the voice of the box itself within her mind. Everything else faded away. All that mattered was this one, little object.
Any caution was drained away. She would normally be cautious. Melissa would swear that. But how could she be? The cold of the room had passed, the evil as Ruka would call it, with it surely? She took step after step, slippers deadening the already light footed progression toward the box. It was calling to her. Who was inside?
Did they need help? Or.. was it familiar? She couldn’t tell but it raised the need to know.
It was an intricate thing. A blackened wood with silvered inlays filling carved patterns across the surface of it. She didn’t think too hard on how much they looked like words, as it was beautiful. She wanted to pick it up, hold it close and go to sleep just like that. In the embrace of the music.
Why couldn’t she pick it up?
The warning was far away now, battered back by the spell cast upon her.
She was stood before it. Her eyes were unfocused, shoulders loose for a moment before Melissa’s hands both raised to take it from it’s place.
Just for a little while…
“No,no, no! You are doing it all wrong! The baton must be placed horizontally, not vertically and…”
Anders was still in the process of berating his droid when he felt it,the unmistakable surge of the Dark Side. The air in the room got colder. The lights got dimmer as if life itself was being swallowed whole.
He heard it, the music box chiming it’s melody. It just so happened to be the most accursed item in the room. That sweet, misleading, destructive melody spelt certain cirruption for anyone who listened to it.
Melissa… where was…
She was right beside it. That foolish girl! He had told her not to touch anything!
“Melissa! No! Do not touch it!”
The warmth left but she didn’t fear it. Melissa knew the cold, had had it seep to her bones but it was never final. No.
Some part of the Echani registered the yelling but it was overpowered. Having never been truly exposed to the corruptive energies of the dark side, Melissa was like a sponge to its effect and her senses were focussed, locked. Her true intent to respect Anders’ command was washed behind the influence.
Pale hands reached forward, touching either side of the music box with her fingertips. And all focus on reality where she stood was lost, the familiar sensation of her awareness being dragged away from herself not balking the young seeress.
Anders lunged forward, his legs acting on their own accord. He had to reach her. He just had to. Not another one would be injured because of his carelessness.
Yet, as he approached, an explosion of Dark Side malevolence halted him. It was so foreign, yet so familiar, and it froze him in place.
Past and future ran past her silver gaze. Reflections of what had passed, whispering to her as the future silently formed and faded and slipped through her fingers. The music from the box filled the air, like the rustle of needled trees. Her little brother’s laugh burst behind her, his form rushing through her followed quickly by her own younger form. They were so small, pursued by the two Echani who loved them. Always. Now they were always in the grave, rocks binding their love together in death. Melissa got barely a glimpse, yet she could have stared for an eternity and felt it no differently.
A Chiss struggled under lightning. His body writhed, his flesh’s scent filling her nose. Then it was overpowering, fire reflected in his eyes. Anderson’s back was lit by the fire, and as Melissa ran forward there was nothing to the red gaze. The shadows cast over his front, not facing the flames he had caused, encased him in darkness. The fire grew, lightning streaked from his fingers now. His own torment had fuelled him to inflict the same upon others.
She got the briefest glimpse of Draca, tear strained and frightened but when she took a step toward him, Melissa found the young man she knew today. He was fighting a woman she didn’t know, beside the man who had killed everyone he once knew. Draca was no fire to be invigorated. No. His hearts were twin stars, refusing to be snuffed out. Refusing to be removed. Warm and kind and stalwart against the world’s evil. He wouldn’t be breathed into something he wasn’t, nor would those stars dim until their time well and truly came.
He stood beside Anders. Then the Zabrak was gone. Anders was small, afraid. Only for a moment. It turned to anger so quickly. He hurt so many. The purge, a horror she’d only heard of, was committed with his hand among the many that chose the route of evil.
Melissa tried to grasp for the goodness within herself. The understanding. Yet it slipped through her fingers as each of the images did. Her home returned and she was once again stood behind the tiny form of herself. Dirty, without shoes and her arm wrapped in the torn up sleeves of her father’s worn shorts. She walked into town. Every eye turned away from her. It was strange, watching the memory anew as she walked through the town, refused any trade or supplies and ignored by those who once held her so warmly. Once she’d seen fear in their eyes, the mark of death stood among them only bringing the threat of more loss.
Now? They were pathetic. She had been a child! How could they have done such a thing to her? Alone and abandoned out of callousness and ignorance. They could have learned. They could have tried. They could HAVE LISTENED TO HER-
Melissa’s fingers tightened around the box.
The visions brought some peace. Her and Draca, they sat together close. Bands on their fingers and the pattering of feet in the halls. Hope. They flickered in and around many of the other visions, their faces undetermined but the sound unmistakable.
Yet smoke returned again andd again. Surely not while the fires burned. Anders returned, brutally destroying any in his path. His hands wielding a red lightsaber, poised and proud as he severed limbs, heads, in perfect precise murder. His hands grasping the sides of heads and not even flinching when their screams ripped their throats raw. His hands reaching for her.
Fighting the fire would only breathe life into it, running would give it the room to grow. It must be covered, suffocated or removed from what empowered it.
Melissa held no visible emotion as she turned to Anders, moving with an unnatural pace. The Inquisitor wasn’t expecting her to be more than a useless waif, wasn’t he? He didn’t move quickly enough, his wrist caught tight in her hand. She pulled on his connection to the Force, dragging it into herself. There was no wound to heal, but as fire filled her senses, Melissa cared little for the waste.
She pulled and pulled, as if digging in with her nails, the dirt beneath them unscrubbed as visions flickered across her awareness and replaced the present with the past. The desire to protect the future, to avenge the child who deserved better folded into empty eyes that only betrayed the simmering anger in how her nails dug into his arm.
The fire would be suffocated at the core of the blaze. The cycle he perpetuated would end here and now. His dead body, bleeding from the head and mouth, was at her feet before it was. That made her heart falter, in some distant way. Yet the music seemed to smooth over such things. It would hold her as no one else had, she would have the power to do for others as no one ever dared for her.
Every step he had taken towards her felt like the weight of a thousand sun’s being poured down his throat. He could feel himself weakening with every passing second, and yet, nothing had felt quite like the moment she put her hands on him. It was the gentlest of touches, yet it was anything but. It was like his very essence was being ripped out of his body. Veins began to bulge on his face. His skin, once a deep blue, began to pale. It was hard to breathe, impossible to ignore the ringing in his ears as his eyes rolled into the back of his head.
He heard her, the cackle in the back of his mind.
Even as the blue arm remained firmly in view, Melissa’s pale fingers wrapped firmly arojnd it, the world shifted. Flickers of the past, the backs of heads of strangers, faces she didn’t recognise experiencing joy, anguish, laughter, rage, disgust, frustration.
Bril held Minnie close, her features so much older than him. They both smiled but his eyes were sad. Leda and Noga, both obnoxiously tall as adults, excelling though at what she couldn’t tell.
Between the visages of people, she caught glimpses of herself and Draca. Yet she couldn’t reach them as she could only a minute ago.
Everything turned black, with a single sliver of light eventually breaking the monotony and reflecting off of her own pallid face. Where was she?
She had something clutched in her hands, grasping onto it even as those rescuing her tried to take it away. Why were they taking it away? Her hands were bleeding. Was this real or symbolic? A moment later the blood was gone, the item too. Her face switched between smiles and anger like a coin still falling through the air.
The music took her further away, her name whispered softly drawing Melissa to turn around. The strange woman Draca and Anders were fighting stood before her. She stood, as the woman ran long fingers down her cheek and neck, smiling perhaps too widely.
“Melissa.” She spoke, wrapping a piece of hair around her finger, “I see you.”
Melissa’s stomach dropped. She didn’t know why, but fear rose. The anger still flooded her, the typical emotions suffocated down beneath all of it but the fear had broken clear to the surface and up.
Why?
Melissa took a step back. She was falling, among sand that floated up defying the gravity she was victim to. The Ethereal Realm, and it’s mirror she still wondered about.
When the impact hit, Melissa looked up only to see she was sat in a building coated in black cloth. Cora was adorned in it, Noga and Leda beside him, their backs to her.
A coffin answered the rising question.
She turned away, the tears escaping her physical body as well as the one lost in the throes of the Force.
She flickered through again, visions and after visions. Reality after reality.
Anders died so often in them. Lightning or light saber, thrown across a chasm. It was hard to tell what was past or future unless he had wrinkles or was shorter. So many he looked simply like him, but the eyes empty. She couldn’t see him anymore, pushing past to try and find Draca.
Why did he look angry?
His words didn’t make it past but the tears squeezed from his eyes when he yelled, made it clear. Especially when she took a step back and saw herself stood before him.
Would she be alone again? The Force clung onto Melissa, as if reassuring shed never been alone, nor would be again. She just had to listen to the music.
To say he was restless was an understatement. At one point, the nurses had to be firm with Draca about getting as much rest as he could.
He couldn’t help it, though. Injured though he may be, he still had access to the Force, and with nothing better to do with his time, he decided to track the whereabouts of the people closest to him in the vague hope someone would come alleviate him from his boredom.
He really wanted to go with Anders, though, as he felt his surrogate father-figure leave the planet, there was a presence with him that Draca recognised. Melissa.
What was she doing? Did Anders agree to let her go instead of him? Why didn’t he say anything? He focused and focused, yet, their presence vanished the further away from Selen they got until it was little more than a blip on his radar.
All he could do was wait. He raised a cup of water to his mouth when his eyes widened. There was no mistaking that evil, malevolent aura. Even from here, he could feel it. The cold ran down his arms and he shuddered.
Melissa… what had happened?
Every second was like needles being dug into his body. Hundreds at a time, on fire, into every fibre within every muscle. He could hear Lenora cackling from within Melissa. That foolish girl… he had told her not to touch anything.
That was irrelevant now. He had to act quick and there was no other option. He had no idea if it was ready, but right now, it had to be. It was do or die.
Coiling what remained of his power within himself, Anders poured it in between both himself and the possessed young woman before him. Like a pair of scissors, it acted to sever tbe Force acting within Melissa’s body…
The music got quieter. Melissa cried after it amongst her visions but then reality began to weave back into her vision. The rage, the grief, it all eased and the young woman was left with the actions she was taking.
She was going to kill Anders.
A look of horror crossed her face, releasing his wrist as if it was burning her. Yet he wasn’t. Ice was building in her veins, tendrils up her arms and legs. Melissa was sure if she looked into a mirror her lips would be blue but there was none and it wasn’t the time. No.
The music was still playing. But Melissa had herself with her now, turning on heel and slamming her hand downward. The telekinesis she performed was far more gentle, closing the lid of the box and ending the music.
She shuddered visibly, and without the Dark side funneling into her she suddenly felt weak in body and soul. Empty, the cold fading though leaving a stain. The powers she had performed were ones her body was unprepared for, and Melissa wavered in place.
Not that she let it show in her expression, nor commented. It was still hard to process everything that had just happened.
“It.. took over so easily. I’m so sorry.” She breathed the words out, not turning back to look at Anders just yet. Melissa understood how terribly she messed up and wasn’t quite ready to face it directly. Not when she’d seen the fires he’d caused. Two sides warred, should she fear his wrath or not? Shed almost killed him and that terrified her as much as Anders.
It was like Anders had taken his first breath of fresh air in days. He did not have the strength to answer Melissa right away. He barely maintained the strength to remain on his feet, dropping to one knee. He clutched his throat, coughing, gasping. With each breath, his fury rose within him.
That stupid, naive, imbecile! In the moment, it did not matter to Anders if she was Draca’s muse or not. If she were literally anyone else, he would not have hesitated to punish her in the most severe way his twisted mind could think of. He warned her.
She broke her promise.
Anders carefully rose to his feet and dusted himself down. He took a deep breathe and scowled at the young woman.
“UWOT-M8, retrieve the music box and close the lid on the container. We are done here.”
“Yes, sir,” the droid picked up the music box.
Anders turned to leave the vault, his footsteps echoing in the space.
It was hard not to feel his fury. Melissa knew she deserved it yet the fear that rose was still unexpected, as if preparing for the crackle of lightning to hit her back at any second.
It didn’t, yet. She turned once he began walking, giving the music box a glance. A part of her was frightened of how it controlled it, yet.. there was temptation. Visions like that were almost impossible to achieve normally. Melissa certainly hadn’t before. If she could focus forward shed be able to see so much. More than the haunting history of a man she was trying to save. For Draca.
She let Anders get a few steps ahead before following him, her slippers deadening the noise to the almost silence still and thankfully masking the way she stumbled. The first step truly made it register how much power shed been wielding, and how much of a toll it took. It took a few steps before she adjusted, hiding the fact it felt as if they’d give way any step.
They were approaching the elevator. Did she speak more? She already had and he certainly heard her. Anxiety rose, it took interlacing her fingers to stop them from shaking. All her emotions were sharper, harder to control or feel when they were about to spark up. It also didn’t help she kept getting flickers of visions across her sight, a years worth of training seemingly undone in a minute. Tears threatened to form and Melissa simply tried to control herself as the three stepped back into the elevator.
He was not just furious, he was incredibly dissapointed. After all, he had put his trust in her, and that trust had been broken, perhaps irreparably so. The elevator whirred and shot upwards.
Anders did not justify his indignation by looking at her. He could feel her inner turmoil. Of course he could, and he was willing to let her stew in it for a while longer. With any luck, she would see how irresponsible she had been. Her immaturity had almost gotten them killed.
The turbolift doors opened into the apartment.
“Keep pace, or else I will leave you on this planet,” Anders did not look at her when he spoke.
He stormed out of the turbolift and made for the entrance, his droid following suit with the container.
That left a shiver down her spine that quickened her step. It probably had more effect than Anders realised.
It definitely didn’t help her situation, though she did catch up to only be a pace behind him. Melissa wasn’t going to ensure a spot beside him and be in line of sight-
Melissa pressed a hand to the side of her head, as if it’d calm the tide. It didn’t. She reapplied the attempt to the other side, pressing harder but faces crossed her vision. They weren’t there and she didn’t know. She didn’t know.
She was glad Anders wasn’t looking at her. Strangers would just see a strange girl but he’d see the difference and Melissa was terrified of the sudden shift within herself. Still, she kept close enough, catching glimpses of his blue hands curled into fists and resisting the urge to just find her own way.
The vision’s situation may not have come to pass. She had to stay with him, for Draca’s sake.
Despite how infuriated Anders was, and he really was, it was impossible to ignore the amount of strain that the young woman was subjecting herself too.
When he connected to the Force, he felt the well of darkness that threatened to build within Melissa like a star awaiting to explode. Apparently, her brief interaction with the music box was more than enough to subject her to the Dark Side of the Force.
Was it the first time she had experienced the allure of that mythical power? It always came with a price, as she was learning now.
Anders sighed heavily. There were only a short distance from the ship now, the sun beginning to set over the Coruscanti skyline.
How he used to admire that sight. It would be a long time before he saw it again.
“Did Ruka never teach you about the Dark Side?”
It was tbe first words he’d spoken to her since the incident, and it was a question of all things.
Melissa jolted slightly. She inhaled, focusing as Mune and Ruka had taught to bring herself into reality and stay there. Thus, she did not respond immediately.
It came after a minute instead, her voice hiding nothing of the chaos within, “He told me about it. How.. it works, the dangers of it. The cost.” There was a pause before she added, “I’ve never experienced it before. Not like that. In the Etheral Realm it was there but it didn’t…”
Melissa frowned. What had been the difference?
“Everyone was fighting. Finding you was the calmest part of the entire battle and those spirits were after you.” She finished, softly. It had never looked upon her directly before. A balance had shifted. Her balance.
Anders considered what she said for a moment. The ship was in view now and he began to march up the ramp.
“Tell me, young Melissa. What do you think of the Dark Side? What are your beliefs?”
There was a point to his question, he just needed to see if she would realise it.
Melissa made sure she was right behind him on the ramp, not wanting to vaguely risk getting left behind. She paused beside her slippers’ spot, before remembering she never took them off.
Her beliefs?
“I.. don’t know.” She admitted, “I have the beliefs of those around me. I don’t think its pure evil, but it.. it hurts people.”
The young Echani inhaled slowly, before adding on somewhat unsteadily “That’s the most powerful i’ve.. ever felt. But I hurt you.”
It occured to Anders that the moment Melissa came under the care of the Ya-Ir’s was the very moment she sacrificed her independence and ability to think for herself. Where was the young woman that supposedly lived in the woods by herself? If it were not for her abhorrent lack of footwear, one would never notice.
“Think harder,” Anders stated, walking into the ship. “Are you so pitiful that you are incapable of producing your own thoughts? Has your mind been poisoned so abruptly? Draca, even under my tutelage, has his own opinions. There is no such thing as not knowing when it comes to the Force, only that you have not tried yet.”
Melissa looked somewhat offended.
“I didn’t know what the Force was before-” She exhaled sharply, resetting the thought, “As far as I knew it was just a gift I had. Nothing more or less. Dark or light didn’t exist to me. It just.. was. I’ve since learned I use the light side, and that the Force is… beyond what I understand.”
There was so many layers, uses, opinions. Utilizations. Some used the light for evil, some used dark for good. Some saw it as a religion, others a curse, others as part of their soul while some thought it a tool.
“I’ve had two years to learn everything people grow up with in a life time. I’d rather admit I’m unsure than pretend I’m educated. I had to learn how motion sensors work.” Her mood quickly declined, the dutifully ignorant faces of the villagers rearing in her mind. She blinked back tears, adding on with weary confidence trying to hide the upset. “I have my instincts.”
Finally, some honesty. At least Melissa had some understanding of her circumstances, though it certainly appeared that she had been coddled by Ruka and Cora since she was in their care.
Unforyunately for her, Anders was not in a placating mood.
“Your lack of understanding almost got you taken off and nearly resulted in my death. The Dark Side flows within every living being. Yes. Even the most pure of heart feel the temptation of that malevolence within their souls. I have it. You have it. Even Draca has is. What separates the Sith and the Jedi is how they embrace the Force. The Sith attempt to control the Force, whilst the Jedi are part of its current in the lake. You had a taste of the Dark Side today in its purest form. Does that make sense?”
“It does.” Melissa answered, softly. She did feel guilt, even if Anders did a good job of hiding the damage of what she’d done she.. knew. Could feel it, almost still.
Temptation. Ruka had warned her plenty about that. How terrible it could, the effects it has. Yet, she couldn’t deny the fact she was tempted. In what must have only been seconds she saw much of Anderson’s past, the potential of her and Draca’s future. And-
“I saw you and Draca fighting her.” Melissa spoke suddenly, working through the recollection. It should be shared, afterall. “It was brief, I couldn’t say when exactly though not too soon. But.. you both will face her again.”
She tapped her fingers against the back of her other hand, debating if he should know the rest. That was the important part. But- No.
“I saw a lot. Glimpses of the future and.. a lot of your past.” Silver eyes shifted downward, avoiding his gaze should he turn it on her again. Her emotions were still in flux enough Melissa had yet to work out her actual opinion on it all. She finished with a quiet addition of, “Some of my own, too”
Anders froze just as they were about to enter the cockpit where Zoom and Snaz were waiting for them. His mind took him back to Iridonia, the smell of smoke and the heat of fire permeating his senses.
“How much did you see?” He asked in a tone not much louder than a whisper.
Melissa’s voice hadn’t been loud by any means, yet it lowered further with Ander’s sudden drop in volume.
“Some of your training. Your work for the Inquisition. I saw you burning the temple on Iridonia. Draca then, when you found him, though only for a breath before it moved on.” She continued to avoid his gaze, despite him not even facing her. “I saw her torturing you. You torturing others, killing them. I’ve seen you die young, now and older. I s-saw her.” The stutter was brief, still conflicted on her emotions surrounding any of this but that touch had… It had felt so cold. So different.
“It is not my place to discuss what happened on that fateful day when I burned the temple. If you wish to know more, you must speak with Draca. You will not speak of what you saw with anyone else. Am I clear?”
There was a small hint of a threat in his last few words. He had underestimated Melissa’s abilities as a Seer, and whilst part of him wanted to probe her mind for more, he knew better of it.
“Hey!” Snaz’s voice rang out from the other side of the cockpit door. “Those were mine!”
“Finders keepers!” Zoom laughed with a muffled tone that suggested she had broken into Snaz’s supply of snacks…
Again…
Melissa had nodded. It wasn’t something she would ever do. Not without… well. Not without a large intervention forcing her hand. Those were his memories and a part of her felt guilt for having them. A part.
Her gaze switched to the door, her expression softening. The normalcy was nice, even with the turmoil. Snaz would surely be able to sense it within her but the Seeress would hope he’d take Anders’ fury as a signal to not poke. This time or- Well. For now at least. Or at least maybe after she was back on Selen?
Maybe.
And back to Selen was now the objective. The doors to the cockpit slid open, all eyes drawn to their entrance. With their cargo secured, UWOT-M8 took its place in the co-pilot seat.
Snaz seemed to be eyeing them suspiciously, though, if he had any opinions, he did not voice them.
Not yet, at least.
“Zoom'aski, take us back to Selen,” Anders ordered.
Without another word, the ship shuddered and began to lift from the landing pad. Anders spared one last glance at his apartment. It would be a long time before he cod use it again. A deep pang hit his heart. When had he become so cowardly?
No. It was not cowardice. It was caution. Necessary lest they want to be destroyed by Lenora. There were no shortcuts when it came to his old Master.
Melissa’s insight at least gave him some hope. They were to meet again. Hopefully as equals and not as the former student to his Master.