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ysonesseReal World: Aeithera
It wasn't until near the end of breakfast that Nalieza finally called up enough courage to tell her friends about the dream.
The same sequence of images had continued showing up while she was asleep for the past eight days. When she had awoken that morning with the feeling of being trapped in cold metal yet again, Nalieza decided to forgo breakfast at home, and headed out for the Laseto Boarding Establishment. Two of her friends rented rooms there. Her third friend would definitely be there, as it wasn't a long walk from the boarding house from his small apartment several blocks away.
With the other student boarders gone for the day, it was safe enough to talk about without having to worry about who might hear the discussion.
"What did you say happened to this man again?" Josym asked. He took the last graincake from the serving platter and put it on his plate.
Nalieza drank some of the kahve in her cup, even though it had turned cold some time ago. "It was...he...he was put in carbonite."
Meaithe leaned her elbows on the table while finishing a piece of toasted ishfa. "That can't be right. No one would still be using that as a means of torture anymore." She hesitated. "Unless they were truly barbaric."
"I saw stormtroopers there. We all know who they work for."
Josym sighed. "Yeah. And they have founders' rights on performing random acts of sadism."
"But it's more than just that I saw him being put into carbonite. I actually felt what it's like to be frozen. He was aware of the whole thing...and if what I saw is really true, he could feel everything."
"Feel what exactly?" Civriel gently stirred a spoon in the cha mug that sat in front of him.
"That he was trapped in it. That he wanted to breathe, and he couldn't. Being frozen, he could feel how painful it was. And it does hurt, terribly. And he could feel himself trapped in that stuff. And he can't move or do anything else but think. Yet...he can still feel everything. That's got to be the worst part for him...feeling helpless..."
The conversation came to a standstill at that point, until Arah, the owner and namesake of the boarding establishment, entered the dining room carrying a serving tray with a fresh pot of kahve and five pottery cups on it. "Perhaps the man was trying to reach out with his mind," she commented, setting the tray on the table. Then she began removing the empty breakfast dishes and taking them over to the sideboard.
"Or the pain was so intense that his conscious and unconscious split in two," Meaithe said.
"What do you mean?" Nalieza asked.
"The pain and shock of being frozen caused his mind to temporarily lose its balance between conscious and unconscious. And the unconscious part was what you came into contact with."
"But why did I have to feel it? I don't even know who he is."
Civriel leaned across the table and picked up the kahve pot from the tray. "Could all of this be some manifestation of the Force?"
Meaithe shrugged. "There's so much that isn't known about how the Force works. Every record of it seems to have been destroyed or appropriated by the Emperor. It's even difficult to find material on other mystic traditions if they resembled the Jedi in any way."
"Do you remember anything else?" Arah picked up the serving platter with one hand while using the other to grab the last empty mug off the table.
"Well, there were stormtroopers. And there was the woman that he thought of..."
"Wait, you're saying that you could read what he was thinking?" Josym asked.
"More than that. I think our minds actually merged. He was trying to keep his head together, because he didn't want Leia to get hurt..."
Arah almost dropped the serving platter on the floor. She quickly recovered her composure, then asked, "Leia? Are you sure that was the name he was thinking of?"
"Very sure." Nalieza paused. She tapped her finger on the table. "The name sounds familiar, but I couldn't place it. I still can't."
"That name certainly is familiar if you ever lived for more than a day on Alderaan," Arah said.
"Wait, that couldn't be her." She looked up at the others. "Or could it be? And if that woman was the princess, then I must have connected minds with one of the guys she brought into the Rebellion."
"But which one?" Civriel asked.
Arah smoothed the back of her morning dress before sitting down in the empty chair next to Nalieza. "In the refugee community, we have spent so much time talking about them. It's really like a child's sleeping tale. The princess, the knight, and the pirate. She's been so close to both of them. But we've noticed over the last year..."
"Come on, enlighten us. It might help," Josym said.
"It's not usual in the child's tale for the princess and the pirate to fancy each other. She always marries the knight at the end of the story. But in this tale, her suitor is not the knight. It's the pirate."
It wasn't until near the end of breakfast that Nalieza finally called up enough courage to tell her friends about the dream.
The same sequence of images had continued showing up while she was asleep for the past eight days. When she had awoken that morning with the feeling of being trapped in cold metal yet again, Nalieza decided to forgo breakfast at home, and headed out for the Laseto Boarding Establishment. Two of her friends rented rooms there. Her third friend would definitely be there, as it wasn't a long walk from the boarding house from his small apartment several blocks away.
With the other student boarders gone for the day, it was safe enough to talk about without having to worry about who might hear the discussion.
"What did you say happened to this man again?" Josym asked. He took the last graincake from the serving platter and put it on his plate.
Nalieza drank some of the kahve in her cup, even though it had turned cold some time ago. "It was...he...he was put in carbonite."
Meaithe leaned her elbows on the table while finishing a piece of toasted ishfa. "That can't be right. No one would still be using that as a means of torture anymore." She hesitated. "Unless they were truly barbaric."
"I saw stormtroopers there. We all know who they work for."
Josym sighed. "Yeah. And they have founders' rights on performing random acts of sadism."
"But it's more than just that I saw him being put into carbonite. I actually felt what it's like to be frozen. He was aware of the whole thing...and if what I saw is really true, he could feel everything."
"Feel what exactly?" Civriel gently stirred a spoon in the cha mug that sat in front of him.
"That he was trapped in it. That he wanted to breathe, and he couldn't. Being frozen, he could feel how painful it was. And it does hurt, terribly. And he could feel himself trapped in that stuff. And he can't move or do anything else but think. Yet...he can still feel everything. That's got to be the worst part for him...feeling helpless..."
The conversation came to a standstill at that point, until Arah, the owner and namesake of the boarding establishment, entered the dining room carrying a serving tray with a fresh pot of kahve and five pottery cups on it. "Perhaps the man was trying to reach out with his mind," she commented, setting the tray on the table. Then she began removing the empty breakfast dishes and taking them over to the sideboard.
"Or the pain was so intense that his conscious and unconscious split in two," Meaithe said.
"What do you mean?" Nalieza asked.
"The pain and shock of being frozen caused his mind to temporarily lose its balance between conscious and unconscious. And the unconscious part was what you came into contact with."
"But why did I have to feel it? I don't even know who he is."
Civriel leaned across the table and picked up the kahve pot from the tray. "Could all of this be some manifestation of the Force?"
Meaithe shrugged. "There's so much that isn't known about how the Force works. Every record of it seems to have been destroyed or appropriated by the Emperor. It's even difficult to find material on other mystic traditions if they resembled the Jedi in any way."
"Do you remember anything else?" Arah picked up the serving platter with one hand while using the other to grab the last empty mug off the table.
"Well, there were stormtroopers. And there was the woman that he thought of..."
"Wait, you're saying that you could read what he was thinking?" Josym asked.
"More than that. I think our minds actually merged. He was trying to keep his head together, because he didn't want Leia to get hurt..."
Arah almost dropped the serving platter on the floor. She quickly recovered her composure, then asked, "Leia? Are you sure that was the name he was thinking of?"
"Very sure." Nalieza paused. She tapped her finger on the table. "The name sounds familiar, but I couldn't place it. I still can't."
"That name certainly is familiar if you ever lived for more than a day on Alderaan," Arah said.
"Wait, that couldn't be her." She looked up at the others. "Or could it be? And if that woman was the princess, then I must have connected minds with one of the guys she brought into the Rebellion."
"But which one?" Civriel asked.
Arah smoothed the back of her morning dress before sitting down in the empty chair next to Nalieza. "In the refugee community, we have spent so much time talking about them. It's really like a child's sleeping tale. The princess, the knight, and the pirate. She's been so close to both of them. But we've noticed over the last year..."
"Come on, enlighten us. It might help," Josym said.
"It's not usual in the child's tale for the princess and the pirate to fancy each other. She always marries the knight at the end of the story. But in this tale, her suitor is not the knight. It's the pirate."
