{{ urbania's void - chapter 11
...scream until it's gone (day seventeen / +17)
The trip back to the apartment was plagued with stumbles and falls, as Khee carried Kaidin's feet and Tessick had a grip on Kaidin's wrists. Rez walked at a clumsily brisk pace beside Kaidin, making sure he stayed awake. They were afraid he would choke on his tongue, they were afraid he would cough his lungs up, they were just afraid he was going to die. They didn't know what was coursing inside of him. And they didn't know how to find out.
They had no idea how to help.
Kaidin stared up to Rez with half-lidded eyes. Whatever was in his drink had seized Jacen more than it did Kaidin. Serasai could hear Solo in the back of his mind, screaming and begging to be let out.
TAKE OFF THE MINDMAP, YOU IDIOT!
Through Kaidin's eyes, Jacen could see Rez. His vision blurred around the edges and she began to take different forms. Her hair changed colors and her eyes faded to different shades while her body and facial structure took on a host of new shapes.
Jogging beside him, he saw Danni Quee.
Then he saw his sister. He saw Anja Gallandro. He saw Tahiri Veila.
Tenel Ka. His mother. Anhaje. Wyn Fel.
Lomi Plo. Her hair locked back behind her like icicles, slowly fading into a crest of feathers. She grew shorter. He saw Vergere floating beside him.
Rez reappeared beside him, her petite hand on his forehead.
It burned to keep his eyes open. He could feel the Force pumping inside of him, but he couldn't open himself to it. He wasn't allowed. Kaidin was oblivious to the power he held inside of himself as his head twitched to the side. His cool gray eyes painfully moved to the man holding his feet. His shape performed the same hallucinations Rez's did.
He saw his father. He saw Jag Fel. Kyp Durron. His uncle.
Gadell Vessau. Corran Horn. Wedge Antilles. Kam Solusar.
Welk. His head deforming after that, only to leave a shade of the Yuuzhan Vong, Onimi.
Kaidin screamed, his voice cracking and echoing in the alleyways they were taking back to the Klecttrinn. It was approaching morning, even though the overhead light of space never changed, and there weren't many people on the streets. The people that were on the street that time of morning paid no attention to drunken drifters and the like.
"GET OUT OF MY HEAD!" Kaidin's body spasmed, Khee and Tessick almost losing their grip on him.
Tessick, even in his inebriated state, knew he had to stop Kaidin from saying anymore. He was afraid Kaidin would start rambling about this person who was inside of him. Then they would be found out... Yanking on Kaidin's right arm as they approached the front of the building, Kaidin whimpered in response.
When the quartet finally got into the apartment, they instantly pulled him into the refresher and dropped him on the floor, Tessick reaching down and switching on the water. Stopping the drain, he looked back to Kaidin's limp body. "Come on."
Kaidin snapped to life and began screaming again, shifting his head back and forth on the ground. His back arched and his head rolled back as blood streamed from his mouth, his eyes taking on a glazed absent look. It all frightened Rez and she began backing up towards the door of the refresher, her hands over her mouth.
"Come on, Khee!" Tessick dropped to his knees beside Kaidin and grabbed the collar of his shirt, ripping it open, the buckles easily coming apart. Khee fell on the opposite side of Kaidin and began unbuckling holsters and throwing aside any weapons and other items that Kaidin had on him. That was when he turned to look up at Rez, strands of blonde hair that weren't tucked behind his ears falling into his eyes.
"Go to bed."
"Khee..."
"Go!"
Khee knew Rez was squeamish. And he knew she wouldn't want to witness anything that might happen while Kaidin was in the midst of seizures and coughing fits. She turned and ran from the room, slamming her fist on the button to shut the door behind her. Running over to the couch, she collapsed onto the cushy surface and buried her head under her arms, trying to block Kaidin's screams from her head. He wouldn't stop and it was driving her mad.
Back in the refresher, Tessick was attempting to fumble with the belts at Kaidin's waist. Khee talked firmly, over Kaidin's howling. "He's too hot! Just get him in the tub!"
Kaidin's exposed skin, his chest, his arms, his neck, his face, his feet... they were all deathly pale and the veins were showing through. They could be seen pulsing... faintly pulsing black. Khee noticed it and stood up, his mouth agape. Tessick noticed it too, but he paid it no mind.
"Come on!"
Khee snapped out of his trance and helped Tessick, the two men picking Kaidin up and setting him into the cold water. He thrashed around helplessly, his fever raging. His veins calmed themselves down, but Tessick and Khee watched his face flush. For a few deathly intense moments, Kaidin continued his flailing in the water and then he became still, dribbles of blood seeping out of the corners of his mouth as his eyes slid shut. Drops of water that flew off of his skin settled on the ground and others seeped into clothes lying around on the floor, over weapons scattered as well as onto the two men, standing beside the tub. Tessick knelt by the side of the tub and felt Kaidin's forehead.
Khee watched the bounty hunters at the basin of water and narrowed his eyes.
And for one brief moment, Tessick vanished and Khee saw a man, a very familiar man, floating face up in the tub, as it overflowed with blood.
"Wha...?"
"Hmmm?" Tessick turned and looked up to Khee.
"Nothing... nothing... I'm going to... go check on Rez."
"Alright good. Make sure she isn't freaking out. I'll stay here with Kaidin, I think his fever broke."
Nodding, Khee left the refresher. Tessick locked the door behind him.
And rushing over to the tub, he reached down, pinching Kaidin's nose as hard as possible. The Mindmap slid out of Jacen's eye and drifted into the water. Tessick shoved his fist under the water and grabbed the small clear device ...and that's when Jacen woke up.
"Don't touch me! What do you---?!" He blinked. "Zekk...?"
Tessick took his own Mindmap out and then Zekk jammed his pointer finger in Jacen's face. "Man. Don't ever do that again."
General Jacen Solo sat up in the basin of water and rubbed the back of his neck, a pained expression crossing his face. "And Dad wonders why I don't drink."
Sitting down on the ground beside the tub, Zekk placed the two Mindmaps on the floor at his feet. "You okay?"
Jacen nodded. His head continued to shake up and down until something clicked in his mind, something he actually remembered from when he had his Mindmap in. His head changed directions, shaking back and forth. "No... no wait."
A slender black eyebrow arched in a quizzical stare.
"Rez and Khee. They aren't who they say they are."
"Huh?"
"I don't know what it was, but when you guys were carrying me back here I had these weird visions. I saw them as everyone, everyone but who they say they are."
"Everyone?"
"Well, a whole damn lot of people anyways. It was just odd. Something we should keep in mind, just in case they do something suspicious."
Zekk nodded in response and stood up, grabbing the Mindmaps off of the shiny, wet floor. Stretching, he checked his chrono. It was approaching the afternoon. They had been out all night and had been up helping Kaidin all morning. "It's almost the mid-morning. You should rest."
"We should all rest."
As Zekk helped the still slightly drunk Jacen out of the tub and wrapped him up in many layers, Khee and Rez were wide-eyed and confused out on the couch.
"...and he was all bloody -- he was in a tub of blood. I don't know why I saw it. But I did. And it disturbed me to no end. I think---"
Khee stopped in mid-sentence as Kaidin and Tessick emerged from the refresher. Kaidin was wrapped up in plethora of blankets, while Tessick guided him towards his bedroom. "I'm naked under these blankets!"
"And you're still totally drunk also!" Tessick rolled his eyes as he pushed Kaidin towards his room, glancing to Rez and Khee. "I think we should all get some shut eye. We had a... uhm... pretty busy night. And we're not sure what was in his drink, but we have to keep an eye on him to make sure nothing else happens."
Rez and Khee nodded, then watched Tessick enter Kaidin's room with him and emerge a couple minutes later, and saying goodnight to them he vanished into his own room, shutting the door behind him.
She let her eyes trail back to Khee's wide viridians.
"Hm." Standing up, Rez began to stalk towards Kaidin's bedroom.
"Where are you going?"
A sly smile that could easily have passed for a sneer appeared on her face as she left his question unanswered, turning away from him. He called from behind her.
"Don't you dare do anything with him. You're taken, remember?"
Rez nodded quickly, the voice swimming in her head knowing exactly what Khee meant. And with that she turned the corner into the short hallway that led to the door of Kaidin's bedroom, silently pressing the small circular button. Sliding into the dark room, she stopped as she saw Kaidin.
He was standing by the bed with his back to her, his arms in front of him. He was buckling his pants. The pair he had on all night that were soaked from his ordeal in the tub were still lying in the refresher and now he was putting on a light pair to sleep in. Rez stared at his bare back. There were scars criss-crossing it, they looked as if they were in the last stages of healing... but something in her mind clicked. Not knowing what it was, Rez passed it off as nothing.
"Kai..."
Spinning around, she saw the same type of scars on his chest. "Rez. Hey girl. Come to finish what we started?"
Giggling, she skipped across the room and dove into his bed, nestling herself under his sheets. "No. I was just getting tired of the couch."
"Well I'm too tired to do anything anyways. Which is horrible, cause I'm always in the mood to do things." With a laugh, Kaidin fell backwards on the bed, scooting himself up so he was beside Rez and turning sideways, he faced her. Within seconds, she was asleep with her head nuzzled in Kaidin's shoulder. He slid his arm under her neck and pulled her closer to him. A familiar sensation washed over Kaidin's body as he stared down to her peaceful face.
Who the kriff are you, sweetheart?
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