{{ urbania's void - chapter 34
...food for thought (day thirty-three / +33)
The feast was set in front of them, an array of everything imaginable. Fruits from planets dotted around the galaxy, nerf steaks, salads spruced up with spices and dressings... Drinks pouring from endless decanters: Hapan wine, Corellian Ale, caf, cocoa, water, everything...
After the gold-faces set everything atop the smooth, slightly reflective surface of the table, they returned to their places behind the chairs, watching the banquet with their hollow eyes.
As Welk, Raynar and Lomi Plo, who were all still standing, bickered quietly to each other, the guests glanced around nervously. Jaina gazed across the table to Kyp Durron, who was glaring back at her with anger in his eyes. She shook her head ever-so-slightly to motion to him not to lose it and with a small tilt of his chin and a slight bow; she knew he would stay calm. His jade stare traveled to the right where it concentrated itself on the group standing in front of the table. Jaina and Kyp were the lucky ones who ended up in the seats at the edge of the table nearest them.
Lomi Plo, Welk and Raynar Thul.
They were now joined by Lusa, Eryl Besa and Anja Gallandro who all stood idly by.
With no warning, Alema Rar pushed her chair out and stood, speaking up. "I'm not eating this."
Their conversation instantly came to a halt as Welk and Lomi Plo's heads whipped around, Raynar peering over them, as they all stared down to the pale blue twi'lek.
The nightsister left the group, slinking down the small set of stairs at the front. She slithered her way towards Alema, running her long pale fingers across the backs of chairs as she went, her nails into grooves in the wood, her palm across designs along the tops. She stopped and moved her hands to Alema's hips, where they rested on the smooth fabric of the floor-length vest. "Are you afraid of losing your girlish figure, Alema?"
Crossing her arms over her chest, Alema tried to appear as if Lomi Plo's proximity wasn't bothering her... but she couldn't help it. Her face twisted into a smirk. "You could've poisoned any of the food on this table." She kept her voice firm, despite the uncomfortable feeling she had from the Nightsister.
Lomi Plo threw her head back and cackled, smacking Alema's shoulder. "I'd be more worried about that figure of yours!" She peered down. "You know you're not really flattering yourself in that man's attire."
It was as if she was trying to use basic psychology to mess with Alema's mind. The twi'lek scowled. "I'm comfortable and that's all that matters."
"No. You're hungry too. And no, we didn't poison any of the food."
As much as Alema hated to admit it, and as much as the others did too, they were all hungry. Their stomachs were rumbling and all of the food in front of them wasn't helping that predicament at all.
"Go on." Lomi Plo waved her hand, motioning to the edible treasure spread out across the table. "Eat." Stepping away from Alema, the Nightsister meandered back to the front of the room, tossing her dark hair behind her shoulder. "We'll join you."
The table puckered out at the two ends, leaving a smooth crescent of space at the end where Welk, Raynar and Lomi Plo seated themselves. They were all at the head of the table, staring down the rest of the guests. Then glancing down at roughly the same time, they silently began to eat as Lusa, Eryl and Anja took up spots behind each of their elaborately designed chairs.
Gadell peered past his plate. The mountains of food and rivers of drink that were landscaped in front of him made his mouth water. Poison seemed too easy.
"We should eat." His azure gaze moved upwards, to travel around the table, stopping on each of his companions. "If they wanted to kill us, they could've done it a million times by now."
Only a few guests caught it, but at the head of the table, Lomi Plo, Welk and Raynar were all nodding quickly in agreement as they stuffed their faces with food.
"Why do you want us here?" Jaina suddenly inquired, ripping her gaze from the Hapan Admiral. She found it infuriating that they had to sit and wonder if they were going to be poisoned or not, when all they desired and needed was a simple meal. She sluggishly stabbed at a piece of juicy nerf steak that she had pulled onto her plate.
"To see how you're doing! Why else?!" Welk responded, through a mouthful of salad.
"Psh." Zekk sounded, adding the last bit under his breath, "For some reason I highly doubt that."
Dinner actually passed in silence after that, save for the grinding of teeth on food, the pouring of drinks and the neurotic shiftings of the guests. There were many instances where many of them wanted to speak up... but for some reason they just couldn't.
Tahiri was the first person it hit.
Her eyes began watering and her hands slammed onto the table as her head began to fall forward. Gadell reached over and firmly clasped his hand on her shoulder.
"Tahiri?"
The other guests peered to her nervously, worrying for her, worrying for each other and worrying for themselves. Moments later, Tesar and Tekli realized they both felt a bit shaky and they tried to steady themselves by leaning back in their seats, Tesar rolling his black eyes up towards the ceiling. As Kyp's breathing became heavy and he pushed his chair away from the table, Jag turned to ask if he was alright when he felt a stabbing pain in his own chest. Jaina watched across the table to the two dark-haired men, when instantly she dropped her fork and leaned forward, resting her head in her hands. Lowbacca threw a sideways glance over at her, trying to blink his dizziness away. It overtook Alema and Zekk too, as they look to each other with wide, questioning eyes... a pain, a tickle in their chest.
Gadell Vessau continued to clutch at Tahiri's arm until he whipped his head around to Jacen and Tenel Ka, who seemed to be unaffected at the moment. The Admiral fell into a coughing fit as he used his other hand to hold his throat.
Half of them had already fainted by the time Jacen turned to Tenel Ka, who had an unnervingly disturbed expression plastered on her tan face. Her right hand was now up at her chest, her slender fingers wrapped, white-knuckled, around the crushed velvet of her gown, up near her collarbone. He could see her chest moving slowly.
Breathing in, breathing out.
She crumpled over in a heartbeat, back pressed up against the chair's tall backboard, right limb splayed out over the arm, eyes closed.
Before he could say anything, scream out her name, scream out any of their names, before the darkness enveloped him... he heard words...
"Whoops! I guess I forgot to tell them about the drinks!"
And it was followed by multiple giggles of demented glee.
Lurching blindly towards a vast expanse of nothing, Jacen Solo danced.
He spun and turned, arms outstretched, throwing his head back and laughing wildly.
It was pitch black and Jacen couldn't see where he was going. But he was still moving.
Drops of liquid fell onto the General's cheeks as his face tilted upwards. They were warm, almost hot. They reminded him of the rainfalls of Yavin 4.
When Jaina and Lowie would stay inside and work on their mechanics. When he and Tenel Ka would dash outside together... Jacen would attempt to catch the animals that only seemed to come out during storms and Tenel Ka would just stand under an open spot that seemed to be cut out of the canopy and let the rain cascade down her face.
He would stop to watch her sometimes, his eyes following certain raindrops as they hit her armor or her skin and slid downwards, creating a thin trail. Kneeling in the dirt, pretending to wrestle an insect from the ground with his fingers, he would sometimes wish he was those raindrops... slipping through strands of hair, down her face, caressing her skin...
Jacen was thinking of her now, as he careened around the dark void, dancing and spinning alone. His lips curved into a smile and his mouth opened as he laughed, the drops of rain falling onto his tongue...
The rain...
Suddenly crashing to his knees, Jacen's head ricocheted forward and he spit the liquid out of his mouth...
Not rain... Jacen knew rain didn't have a metallic aftertaste.
This is blood.
Breathing heavily, on his hands and knees, Jacen Solo looked upwards again, his eyes trying to adjust. They did as millions of miniscule lights appeared.
Dravells.
They filled the void with their warm light, millions of tiny shimmers. Their light couldn't even reach the edge of the void --- and past the edges of where their golden glow illuminated, Jacen could only make out continued darkness, for who knows how long.
He stood, cupping his palms out in front of him. The shower of blood had slowed, a few drops splaying across his palms here and there. He could feel drops of it in his eyelashes, soaking into his clothes, dampening his hair. His eyes followed a few of the dravells as they spiraled downwards towards the ground... that's when something else disturbed the void.
The dravells floated around a person. Tenel Ka.
Blood drizzled around her, giving her an angry red glow and all Jacen could do was stretch out his arms and open them wide. He couldn't find his voice and his mouth could only form soundless mumbles.
She slammed herself into his arms, blood splashing off of the both of them. He could hear her breathing, he could feel it, her chest against his. And as she pulled back from him, her right hand grabbed his left...
...and they began to dance.
The dravells froze in the void, above them; and the shower of blood continued to fall at it's slow pace -- a drop here, another drop there. Jacen was paying all of that no mind.
He was looking into Tenel Ka's eyes. She danced, carelessly, effortlessly, snaking her arm around his neck. He seemed to dance the same way, leading her across the onyx floor. Her eyes didn't mirror the simplicity that her steps were showing. She was thinking of something totally different, letting her feet carry her...
A storm was brewing in those gray eyes and Jacen watched as she closed them and threw her head back as he twisted her into a spin.
A single drop of blood fell on her cheek, and as he dipped her back slightly, the momentum drove the drop off of her cheek, like a tear.
His brandy-browns shot open and he could feel a weight on his leg, and another on his shoulder.
Trying to shake the dizziness from his head, Jacen threw a glance left, then right. Tenel Ka's head was resting on his right leg and Zekk's head was planted on his left shoulder. His eyes darted forward to the sound of shuffling, clicking of heels, and a voice.
"Ah," Lomi Plo said, from the center of the unfamiliar chamber, "Jacen. You're the first to wake up."
Jacen realized they were all sprawled out on chairs, asleep or unconscious -- he actually was the first to wake up. Zekk stirred a bit in his restless sleep and Jacen shifted his body to give Zekk as much comfort as he could manage. Draping his arm across Tenel Ka's shoulder, her pulled her a little closer to him and waited.
He couldn't help but look around the chamber. It was enormous, at least three times the size of the hall they had eaten dinner in. Delicate columns of glass rose up from the clear floor and stretched upwards to the ceiling, branches of crystal swirling up from the top sections of the column onto the transparisteel of the material overhead.
The floor was also made of transparisteel and Jacen peered down at it, in awe. It was clear, crystal clear, and he watched as water flowed over and around multi-colored shards of glass that were placed all over the real floor, which was a layer of durasteel. It vaguely reminded him of the Vina Lidrina. About a standard foot above the durasteel was the thick layer of glass. In the water, in the piles of hypnotizing colors, there were lights; their glow lit the room with a soft rainbow of dark shades that slowly danced and moved with the flow of the water.
Small lights dangled from wires attached to the ceiling, all at different heights, their tiny shapes instantly reminded Jacen of the dravells he had seen in his vision, frozen and immobile. His eyes trailed to the walls of the chamber, which were far apart, all made of glass as well, with a layer of durasteel behind them. Water flowed downwards behind the crystal, like a silent rainstorm. A haunting melody, almost inaudible, drifted throughout the chamber. It was a beautiful tone... but it sent a shudder down his spine.
His gaze locked onto Lomi Plo, Welk and Raynar, who stood in the middle of the chamber facing the row of tired and knocked out people. Jacen tightened his grip on Tenel Ka.
He was the first to wake up... now what?
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