{{ urbania's void - chapter 12
...the passing of love (day eighteen / +18)
It all happened in a span of roughly twelve minutes. Twelve minutes Jacen Solo could've killed himself for. He would never learn to forgive himself for that night, after the events that happened in those fateful and violent twelve minutes.
They had spent the evening out on the town, but they did it responsibly. Much to Kaidin's protests, there were no insane amounts of alcohol for any of them. They just got dressed up and went out to dinner, planning what to do with the bounty once it was collected. Tessick and Kaidin agreed that Khee and Rez should get a little bit of it, if they helped catch Ryled Mirdele. After that, they had gone to the Vina Lidrina and actually danced, instead of spasmed around in drunken stupors.
After returning from dinner, Tessick suggested a few rounds of sabacc, inviting them all to sit merrily around the table and feed any gambling addictions they might've had.
"I'm up for it." Khee sat down around the dining area's small four-sided table, Kaidin seating himself on the man's right and Tessick sitting across from him.
Kaidin glanced up to Rez as he raked his tongue over his lips, "Rez?"
"I think I'm going to pass. I need a shower." She winked one of her deep violet eyes towards Kaidin and spun on her heel, heading for the refresher.
Kaidin squirmed in his seat a little, absently picturing Rez in the shower as Tessick pulled out their tattered sabacc decks. Half of him screamed to go join her. The other half wanted to rob Tessick and Khee of every credit they had in these upcoming rounds of sabacc.
With Kaidin, sex won over money.
"Actually, all that dancing kind of tired me out. I'm gonna go sleep. Knock down the door if you need me."
Tessick stopped shuffling with the decks and froze, glancing up to Kaidin with an arched eyebrow and an expression of disbelief on his face. Khee was too busy trying to reach an itch on his back to notice the exchange between the two men.
"I have a lot to dream about..." Kaidin let a sly grin tug at his mouth.
A laugh slid through Tessick's pursed lips as he watched Kaidin walk towards his room before turning his attention to Khee. The two men started chatting as the rounds of sabacc begun.
Kaidin snickered as he entered his room, pressing the button on the wall, letting the door slide shut behind him. His eyes went straight to the balcony doors and he was over there in a heartbeat, exiting his room into the breezy never-ending night. The Urbania did a splendid job of controlling the temperature and weather effects on the station. It never rained or anything of the like, but there was a constant breeze and the air was never too hot or too cold.
The railing on the balcony was thin, as were the strips of steel that spiked from the floor to the railing. They formed a pattern, a pretty intricate one at that, but Kaidin was too blinded by lust to have anything to do with dainty deck patterns. He leapt over the railing that separated his bedrooms balcony from the living areas balcony and peeked inside.
Tessick and Khee sat across the room in the dining area, laughing, at the table with their cards at hand. Neither of them had any clue Kaidin was creeping by the glass. He leapt over the next railing and stopped, a malicious grin spreading itself on his face.
"Why is there a balcony on the 'fresher? Wahhh..." --- This is why, Tessick. For people like me.
Much to his surprise, the bathroom curtains were wide open.
And much to his anger, the glass was covered in fog.
"Damn," he spat. He didn't mind though. He would get inside. A giggle erupted from his mouth as he crept to the door. Using a trick he and Tessick learned when they were just starting out as bounty hunters, Kaidin effortlessly opened the back panel to the door's controls and rearranged wires. He heard a small click.
And the door slid open letting swirls of steam escape the huge room. Kaidin quickly entered and slammed the button to let it shut behind him. His nostrils flared as steam slipped into his nose and surrounded his body. He could hear the water running. His eyes darted to the direction of the shower and he snuck over to it, staying as silent as he could.
The woman in the shower tensed up, her cool, calm eyes trailing to the side. The curtain was closed tightly, but her instincts told her that someone was out there. And now wasn't the best time to be seen...
She passed it off as nothing after a few moments and continued to clean herself up.
Kaidin ripped his shirt off over his head and threw it to the ground, planning to strip down and sneak inside the shower, to join Rez in a lovely little clean-up session. He silently peeled the curtain back and peeked inside, expecting to see a smooth pale back and hands running through a mane of straight, deep blue hair.
What he saw almost drew him into shock.
Bronze skin, copper hair... the steam was thick enough that couldn't see much more. Kaidin shook his head slightly trying to shake the hallucinations from his system. He dropped the curtain from his grasp and stumbled backwards, shaking his head, his eyes twitching.
The woman heard the noise of the curtain falling and stepping out from under the steady stream of water, she reached up to the bar that held the curtain, grabbing her robe. Wrapping herself up in it and tying the front closed, she stepped out of the shower, opened herself fully to the Force and prepared herself for whatever was out there.
Nothing could prepare her for this.
"Your highness..." Kaidin was backed up against the door of the refresher, hissing his words.
The Queen Mother of Hapes, Tenel Ka Chume Djo stood in front of him, her bare feet firmly planted on the slippery floor. Water dripped down her legs and from every inch of her body. Her fiery hair was laying matted and damp down her back, the water soaking into the cloth of the robe. Her gray eyes became sharp as she glared at Kaidin. "Do not say a word about this to anyone." She didn't know what else to say. She had taken her Mindmap out of her eye before stepping into the shower and she obviously didn't look like Rez at the moment. She didn't know if she could trust Kaidin to keep her secret---
"What are you going to do If I tell? Punish me? I might like that..." The words seethed out in a growl. "Well, darling. How incredibly awkward is this situation? It's oh-so sexy though. Don't you think?" Kaidin's voice dripped with sarcasm and lust. A hybrid of feelings that Tenel Ka could do without. She had no clue about Kaidin's obsession with her. And she had no clue of Kaidin's true identity.
Without warning, he lunged forward shoving her back into the wall.
Kaidin was stronger than Tenel Ka had expected. Her right arm was busy reaching up to snare him in the face as the installed left arm hung limp by her side. It was hard remembering to use it as Rez, for her disguise, she definitely didn't need it while she was herself. Kaidin, after some seconds of fumbling, managed to hold both of Tenel Ka's arms down against the wall. His body was pressed up against hers and he could feel her squirming against him, trying to get away from him, trying to hurt him.
It felt good.
Kaidin's mind was a buzz of thoughts and actions. From both Kaidin and Jacen. Kaidin was begging for rape while Jacen was practically screaming bloody murder. A thought connected throughout his body and he reached up quickly, grabbing her hair. Pulling her head forward and snapping it back into the wall, he pulled a clump of red hair out into his clenched fist. Tossing it aside, into the tub, the mass of loose copper swirled into the drain and began to cause the clear glass basin to slowly fill up with water. Tenel Ka went slack against him, after the loud, wet thump her head made on the hard wall and he took the chance to sweep her up in his arms and stare down at her limp body. The black robe clung to her wet skin, her right shoulder exposed where it slid off.
Kaidin's eyes landed on the skin of her shoulder and trailed down to the swell of her breasts. He'd seen lots of cleavage in his life. But this was Queen Mother Tenel Ka Chume Djo. His lifelong obsession. Kaidin could feel his mind whirling.
"Now get in the tub, sweetheart." His eyes were glazed over with tears and steam and the absent, hollow feeling of love as he set the motionless, robed Queen Mother into the filling tub. He knelt down beside the edge and pulled a small vibroblade from his boot. And with that, he took her right arm and effortlessly made a cut from her wrist to the inside of her elbow. Leaning forward, he wrapped her limp arm around his neck and planted a small kiss on her cheek as blood trickled from the huge gash, down his own neck and into the tub of water she half-floated and half-sat in. He didn't want her trying to use that arm to hurt him, therefore he hurt it first. Kaidin luxuriated in the feeling of her warm blood dripping across his skin and he turned his head to the side to catch trickles of it on his tongue, running it up her arm.
Tenel Ka came to her senses a few moments later and as she opened her eyes, she saw and felt Kaidin leaning over the side of the tub, gnawing at her neck, insanity seeping from his pores through the Force. Slowly shuffling herself around in the tub, she tried not to disturb him as she planted her foot in the slippery corner of the basin.
The steam seemed to move more lethargically than normal as Tenel Ka waited for the right moment.
And it came.
She launched herself out of the tub and tackled Kaidin, drops of water and blood jetting off of her body.
"How dare you touch me like that." Her voice was steeled with a thick layer of anger, which overlaid her surprise at how violent and perverted Kaidin really was.
"I haven't even begun to touch you." Kaidin grabbed her wrists, the prosthetic left and the bleeding right, and switched positions as he rolled her over and straddled her, a triumphant and treacherous grin on his face.
Kaidin's nose twitched. He pulled his knees up under him and planted one on Tenel Ka's prosthetic left arm; his other was set on the ground, beside her as he held her weakening right arm up above her head. One hand held her right arm while the other went straight for the two belts that hung around his pants. He fumbled with the buckles as Tenel Ka shuffled under him, glaring up into the eyes of an animal. He spoke as she tried to wrestle him off of her.
"Love... this is for all of those kisses you shared with Gadell."
She stopped struggling.
"It's for dropping me off of Cloud City."
Her gray eyes widened.
"It's for tying me up in that kriffing chair and leaving me there to rot."
Her lips pursed with words not yet formed.
"It's for teasing me with kisses you never meant."
One belt undone. It clattered to the ground.
"'I love you, Jacen Solo,' she says."
He began fumbling with the other. She could've easily struggled free and beaten him many times by now, but she was in total shock at what Kaidin was saying. How did he know all this? Why was he talking as if he were Jacen Solo? Could it be a Mindmap?
"Jacen...? Jacen..." Her voice was a mumble, as her widened eyes froze.
"You love me. Ha."
Second belt. Steam enveloped it as it was tossed to the side.
"This is for pretending I don't exist..."
The clasps on his pants were now undone but his mind had already lead him further as he leaned down and smashed his lips to hers. Kaidin forced his tongue past Tenel Ka's lips as his free hand ran up and down her side and up her neck. She cringed at the rough, calloused skin of his hands, wishing she had enough strength to fight back. Breaking the vile kiss, he leaned down and hissed in her ear.
"You're gonna know I exist after this, sister. And that's a fact."
Pushing his lips back to hers, he reached in between her and himself for the tie that held the robe shut around her and his fingers grabbed at one of the ends. But before he could pull...
"Kaidin?!"
His eyes shot up as his lips left hers. Kaidin could feel Tenel Ka's warm, deep, panic-laced breaths against his neck as he stared up to the closed door. He could hear pounding on it. He could hear two men yelling for him.
"Kaidin?! What are you doing?!" It was Tessick.
No... It was Zekk.
"Don't you lay a finger on her, you hear me?!" Zekk knew what Kaidin would do to Tenel Ka.
Khee and Tessick had been out in the dining area playing sabacc. A rule that wasn't clear to both of them was about to be questioned on, to Kaidin, when Tessick opened his bedroom door and found nothing there.
As the bedroom door slid open, Tessick heard Khee behind him. Khee had suppressed a sneeze, which he clasped his nose for. Tessick had heard a faint clatter and a loud curse and spun around, only to see Khee's hair fading from a strawberry blonde to pitch black. His eyes had turned from a rich viridian to a calm, azure color.
"Gadell?"
Admiral Gadell Vessau. His eyes widened as he stared to Tessick, wondering how this bounty hunter knew his name. Tessick had registered Gadell's confusion and pinched his own nose, letting his small Mindmap, fall into his open hand.
"Zekk!" A big grin formed on his pale visage, relief pulsing through his system that it was Zekk he had made the mistake of sneezing in front of. Zekk had a huge grin that rivaled Gadell's on his face, as he looked back to the newly promoted Admiral, thanking the Force that he was staring at a familiar face.
His smile vanished in a heartbeat.
"Wait... if you're..." Zekk pointed to Gadell and then let his finger move to Kaidin's empty bedroom, "And he's..." Zekk let his finger move to the refresher door, "Then she's..."
A pause.
"Oh no." Zekk bolted across the apartment and began banging on the door of the refresher. Gadell had gotten up and followed him.
"What's going on?"
"Something terrible." Zekk stood, slamming his fists into the locked door. Gadell followed suit and began yelling for Tenel Ka, who he knew was in there also.
And that's where time sat now.
Kaidin glared up to the door, thin trails of steam curling around the edges of his vision. His eyes watered from many things.
The steam.
The pain.
Everything.
Jacen Solo was like a little child in his head, kicking and screaming to be let out. To stop this madness, this insanity, this violation.
STOP IT! STOPITSTOPIT! KAIDIN! QUIT. NOW. STOP! DON'T YOU TOUCH HER! TAKE THE MINDMAP OFF!
"I'm in the middle of something!"
"KAIDIN!"
Serasai paid Zekk no mind as he leaned back down, hungrily kissing Tenel Ka. She took the moment to her advantage and bit his bottom lip, causing him to pull back and growl in pain. Tenel Ka used the last of her strength to kick him off of her and scramble to her feet, slipping towards the door. Only moments passed and Kaidin was grabbing at her again, shoving her up against the door, her chest slamming hard into the metal and knocking the breath out of her.
He threw her backwards onto the floor and she tumbled to the ground, sprawling out on her back. The robe fluttered around her, with the tie still done in a perfect knot. Kaidin slammed his fist into the door panel and the door slid open, revealing Zekk and Gadell Vessau.
"I'm trying to achieve my life goal. Do you mind?" His voice was heavy with anger and husky with obvious fervor. His eyes darted to Zekk and then to Gadell, where they stopped, "Who in the Corellian Hells are you sithspits?"
Zekk lurched into the humid room and wrapped his fingers around Kaidin's neck, shoving him past Tenel Ka's limp body and into the wall. Kaidin was taken by surprise again as Zekk reached up and squeezed his nose. Zekk caught the Mindmap as it fell from Jacen's eye and the General instantly spun towards the wall, slamming his fists into it. His own thoughts were filling his mind up again and he was trying to process what had just happened.
He silently apologized to his Uncle Luke and fully opened himself to the Force, piecing together the events of the past ten minutes. He was hit with a wave of grief coming from the two other males in the room... and from the female... betrayal, depression, violation.
The tears that had been building up in Kaidin's eyes were released through Jacen's as he wailed, his voice bouncing off of the wall in front of him.
"What did he do?!" Jacen's voice was hoarse and cracked. "What did Kaidin do to her?!"
Zekk placed his hand on Jacen's shaking shoulder and squeezed lightly. The General slowly turned around to face Zekk, who took a few moments to study his friend. Brown, bloodshot eyes brimmed and overflowing with tears stared back at him. Jacen's shaggy hair hung in sweat-drenched strands around his tired face and his lean chest heaved with uncontrollable sobs. The General's hands clenched into fists and opened, the skin on them smooth again after the Mindmap's effects had faded off. Zekk had seen Jacen cry, but never like this. He hesitantly stepped aside, giving Jacen a full view of the scene.
Kneeling on the ground in a spreading pool of dark red liquid that didn't belong to him, was Gadell Vessau. His head was shaking slowly, back and forth... his eyes locked on what was in front of him, tears escaping them. He was staring at the body of the Queen Mother of Hapes. Her head was turned to the side as blood trickled from scratches and cuts all over her body. The black robe was wrinkled and damp and the top was still hanging off of her right shoulder... rips and tears from where Kaidin's fingers violently worked their way over Tenel Ka's body were obvious as splotches of dark skin showed through. The bottom hem of the robe was hiked up around her thighs and Jacen could plainly see where his own hands, powered by Kaidin's lust, had scratched at her legs, clawing their way upwards to untie her robe...
Jacen could feel himself choking at the scene. He could feel his throat closing and opening, as if he was going to vomit. He wanted to scream. He wanted to cry. But Tenel Ka's feeling of pure violation was seething into his mind, assaulting his senses and he could do nothing but let out a painful moan as his eyes rolled back into his head and he swayed back and forth, ultimately collapsing into the tub full of water and blood.
Watered down red splashed over the sides of the bath, dripping to the floor. Jacen's form could be seen through the semi-translucent liquid, floating face up in the Queen Mother's blood. His face was the only skin that broke the surface of the warm fluid as the rest of his body sunk under the pressure. His eyes stared unblinkingly to the ceiling as his mind exploded into a world of pain. He could feel the wisps of Tenel Ka's hair that were clogging the drain, floating against his bare back.
And for a moment the steam dissipated and the universe froze.
Zekk, arms crossed, standing by the back wall, his head turned to the side and his eyes locked on the empty patch of floor beside him. Part of him wanted to punch Jacen as hard as he could, the other part of him knew it wasn't really Jacen's fault...
Gadell Vessau, on his knees beside his best friend, his sister; tears streaming from his eyes as his chapped lips worked around soundless words and pleas for Tenel Ka's health and sanity.
Tenel Ka, splayed on the floor, the prosthetic left arm for her disguise shifted upwards at an odd angle and her right arm lying above her head. Her legs out in front of her, pulled up towards her, knees bent. The black robe still tied purely around her lithe form and her eyes, half-lidded, locked on Jacen Solo with a watery gaze before drifting shut.
Jacen Solo, floating in a vessel of blood, water and sin. He felt immoral and impure; and Tenel Ka's blood washing over his jaded form just made him feel worse. He drew that blood from her, himself.
The water continued to run, beating on Jacen's stomach as his heart froze up in his chest.
Forgive me, Tenel Ka.
And the galaxy continued it's endless motion.
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