Before - Legends "Cat litter" (re-loaded), an old fanfic in a new coat

There was so much to gain from each other in the hostile climate that we moved in. Talking was no necessity, and we spared our wheezing breath. Our cooperation lay mainly in touch and eye contact.

I love that camaraderie between them.

My siblings Caelestris, Iocus, Blandita, Rubio and Calathus were there, fighting for the best mounts in humorous ways.

Family


She believed my godmother had done all this. What a fortunate coincidence for Draň and Luçien!

*headdesk*


Other activities of mine had been doomed to failure. Burned dishes were the rule. I had even managed to let soups scorch.

a friend of mine was just saying (almost) this last night. I forgot Gri was like that too!


“Nonsense,” he insisted. “You have loved xocolatl in all possible forms since you were able to walk. I cannot imagine you without it. Have a sip!”

And it’s goooood for you!

It was a beautiful song.


He had grown so self-assured that he did not even bother to conceal himself properly. Arrogance had become a major weakness in him.

Pft, I’ll say


There were places were Luçien would never go. The women’s rest room was one of them.

I can see him going in there, under dire circumstances.
Or maybe not. The men showed a lot of respect and disregarded the way of females at those times.

 

And the beauty of your paintings enhances the story. Fabulous.

 

*blushes* Oh my, thank you and happy birthday by the way!

 

Thanks, my dear for taking the time to read and commenting to it. Even though you did so in my old thread.
http://boards.theforce.net/threads/...-33rd-update-19th-march-2012.31886873/page-11

In future you can leave your witty & philosophical comments here in this thread.

I also consider reading Shannara when you go on ranting about it that much. Oh wait, I need to read the 5er box of "Game of Thrones" first, dang!

Well I better join you upstairs and we can have a pillow talk about that. But seeing the time & knowing that I must get up at 5:30 am to reach the 6:44 am train, I better go straight to sleep.

 

Catch up is raarely fun.

but a nice refresher.

 

I know, it was a lot of posts, but from now on there will be nice little update portions each weekend. My beta did work very hard to get us so far.

 

Oh, in between I should check my update list:

* SWpants666, brilliant beta and faithful reader (even though she knows the future to come)
* earlybird-Obi-Wan, RL friend and enthusiastic about the chance of Lucien getting redeemed
* Lady_Misty, also a great fanfic writer & keen reader of various fanfics around here
* DarthUncle, husband & sometimes able to state his opinion in black & white
* perhaps Tyrannus230, if he catches up despite his many RL life things going on
* definitely Fisto, if university duties let him

People having a break at present:
* Chilla, also a dear RL friend and being in Asia for her studies for one year
* Gkilkenny for other RL matters need her care & attention

Anybody more on or off?

 

Chapter 24: Friends will be friends


“Let me add first that doing a profile on a person from an entirely different culture...” started Mora.

“The short version please. I had a long day. Sbrigati!” I pointed out, feeling my pain increase so much that I could hardly mask it. Hurry up!

Mora twitched her nose ruefully. “Well, my team of researchers declared that he might suffer from a controversial mental condition.”

“What a surprise, eh?” Luna muttered. “Clever profilers you have there!”

Mora poked her hard in the ribs. “He may be bipolar but the results are inconclusive. Some argue that he’s on the cusp; others think it may be more severe than that.”

Aranea interjected, “Grianán, personality disorders are relatively resistant to treatment. Some can be treated, but the treatment is likely to take many sun years. You do not have that much time. And if it is borderline...”

I shook my head, ruling out the possibility. “It is the dark side speaking. There is no mental problem.”

“Yeah, right.” Anger darkened Aranea´s features. “You sound like a family member of a person with drug problems.”

“Let us face the facts and not repeat my doctor thesis word for word”, Mora went on smugly, “Luçien has great difficulties controlling his emotions. There seem to be a lot of stress-related breaks with reality lately. The temple raids are just one of many examples.”

A holocron flashed on in the palm of Luna. “Care for visual evidence? We have the toilet close anyone with a weak stomach.”

Mora, Aranea and I reached out simultaneously and shouted, “NO!”

Luna shut the device off again. “Pity. I´ll keep them for Éleos and his boys then.”

I hugged her. “Luna, you are the best. This is why you climbed so high in rank in just two sun years. But we had a deal. This is all between the four of us. No information will be given to a third party unless I allow it. Mora, go on please.”

“Taking his history with Dealg into account, we’ve noticed that there is obsession with abandonment. We can clearly see how that worked for Isa and Sionnach thus far. The way he treats both of them have a pattern of unstable and intense interpersonal relationships.”

I kept my mouth shout about his twin sister Lisiére and how exactly she had died. It was too private for Luçien, too painful a subject. I also would not speak about his various concubines, especially not about Captain Temperance Magenta. That would make matters worse.

“Characterized by alternating between extremes of ideation and devaluation,” observed Aranea, interrupting my thoughts.

There was no way that I would give up on Luçien right now. I had already gone too far. My latest sacrifices had been dear. I had to go on. There was no alternative. I let out a deep breath and told them what I wanted. “Let me undergo all the medical, physical and psychological assessments that you all had to do for fovea centralis.”

“What?” Aranea blinked at me. “The complete intensive training of the academy alone takes between seventeen and twenty-two sun weeks, and that doesn’t include the battery of assessments.”

Luna, who stood behind me, wrapped an arm tight around my throat. “Come on! Let us do her the favour! She has had recent experience with tough treatment already. I just think she needs to refine her breaking point. We can assist there.”

I was able to nod briefly. Breathing already became a problem. I hoped to be taught methods against loss of oxygen.

“This is madness!” Mora proclaimed.

“Volente o nolente,” Aranea sighed. “Like it or not, she’s going to do this. Better to learn from us than Luçien.”

A long pause followed while Luna went on choking me. I could not tell whether this delay was in hopes of unnerving me or merely that my old friends could not decide what to do next.

“And we are the ones with a toilet,” Luna tutted. “Honey, you are in for a long ´stress and duress´ session. We start with water boarding. This is way better than strangling.”

Soon, I forgot the burning pain in my bones, because the girls opened a new plane of existence for me with entire new pains.



********************************************************************

It was Daná who found the girls and me hours later. With a cool, levelled voice she stated, “Seriously, what is wrong with you four? Out with you, before Isabeau finds you. She might give you all a good thrashing with her bamboo cane.”

Luna, Aranea and Mora, as sweaty and blood smeared as I was, gazed up at her. “It is impolite to peek into the toilet boxes of other people,” they answered in unison.

“To hurt a princess of blood on purpose is high treason. And to try to flush her down a toilet is madness.”

They pushed the toilet door open and passed her in grim silence. I could see them all making our secret sign behind her back. Despite my utter irritation with Daná I had to smile. My friends smashed the door open with almost childish ire. I moved to follow, but was pushed back.

“Explain!” Daná growled.

With my good eye I glared at her. “Girls just wanna have fun.”

“With water-boarding?” My sister trembled with rage. “You have changed, Grianán, and not for the better. Your actions are deranged and perverse. I will not watch you travel such a twisted and evil path!”

I was dragged outside by my elbow, and noticed that Luçien was still there, hiding behind a column. His eyes widened at my side. He was unveiled. A confusion array of emotions rushed over his features. Finally a hard line pressed in his mouth. It was dismay.

I stared down at my bloodied hands, as my twelve fingers knotted together.

“Non mi rompere i coglioni!” Daná was only focused on her anger and so she did not notice him. “Do not bother me! I wonder what thoughts go through that head of yours. Mórag did not improve your brain functions with her dark side obsession. Did you become her dark acolyte? What´s with all the tattoos?”

Her voice became louder with each question. As we headed towards my bedchamber her pressure on my elbow increased. She ranted about the Order of the beanmna feasa, never allowing me a word in edgewise.

**************************************************************************************************

... (To be continued!)

When writing this fanfic I stumbled over a great on-line article. It is called "Anakin Skywalker: Borderline Personality, Bipolar or Narcissist?"

http://www.wired.com/medtech/health/news/2007/05/anakin_syndrome

If you are really interested, please read it. It is very interesting.

I also made a lot of on-line research about military training and training secret service agents, which made me more sick than Daná when finding the rat pack on the toilet. Unfortunately the health and life of a single human being is not worth much when matters of a state are involved. Democratic seeming countries can be as bad as some power crazed war lord. There are reasons why organizations like "Amnesty International".

Recently I watched "The wind that shakes the barley" and "The last king of Scottland" on DVD. Rented from our brilliant local library. If you give persons power over others, it goes utterly wrong, because there are always those who crave power, accompanied by folk who blindly follow orders. This is why the Empire works so well, with a sith lord as its leader.

More next weekend.

 

'Just wanna, they just wanna . . . girls just wanna have fun!'

Some people just don't like to be treated of different things.

 

Well, for Gri´s family her behaviour is strange, but she believes that if she can activate the sense of responsibility in Lucien, all can be well. She grew up with a mother who was afflicted by the dark side. Had to serve under a notorious Darksider that was her godmother. And she is in love with a man whom other find creepy and not likeable. She sees something in him that nobody else can. Knows things that almost nobody knows about him, due to her gift of Psychometry.

That she sets the girls up to torture her a) to make Lucien pity her and b) to find distraction from her already existing pain might be a plan that Daná would dislike even more than her smart remarks.

We´ll see more of the drama unfolding next week.

 

Hurry up!

Mora twitched her nose ruefully.

D'aww well, you can't blame Gri.


I shook my head, ruling out the possibility. “It is the dark side speaking. There is no mental problem.”

or it could be both, seriously.
He has mental issues, IMO.
Though....the dark side, I wonder if that can be considered a mental illness. Huh.


I kept my mouth shout about his twin sister Lisiére and how exactly she had died. It was too private for Luçien, too painful a subject. I also would not speak about his various concubines, especially not about Captain Temperance Magenta. That would make matters worse.

I can't remember what this looked like before, but I can tell you cleaned it up well.
Also, Gri can keep secrets very, very well.


“And we are the ones with a toilet,” Luna tutted. “Honey, you are in for a long ´stress and duress´ session. We start with water boarding. This is way better than strangling.”

To me, this shows that they're not her friends. They're kriffing witches.



“With water-boarding?” My sister trembled with rage. “You have changed, Grianán, and not for the better. Your actions are deranged and perverse. I will not watch you travel such a twisted and evil path!”

Mm, and see, I want to agree with Dana there.

 

Girls and their fun. They are borderline and not friends at all.

Good update

 

Nope, nobody is borderline here. Sorry, bird. Grianán just goes through extremes to win Lucien over to the light side of the Force. And her friends believe as well that their harsh actions can support her in this specific goal. They do not like it either. But they also believe that crazy solutions will make the impossible happen: Lucien´s redemption.

 

Ach, you know what, I simply make a new update now, to get you all more at ease. Perhaps you understand Gri way better then.



*******************************************************************

When we reached my chambers, Daná almost threw me into the copper bathtub. I moaned softlyat the pain, which increased the flow of her abusive words. “Porcamiseria!” she scolded me. Miserable pig!

Anger flashed in her eyes as she scrubbed me hard with a sponge and lavender soap. Daná was strong from endless exercises in the gym and her instructors, including Isabeau.

“I will call for Valiant,” she spat out. “He is a very skilled Force healer, almost as good as Sionnach. I do not want anybody else to see you this way. You look so pathetic. A rancor could mistake you for a lump of food.”

Physical pain held my focus, not her words. Her anger could not hide the worry she felt for me, and her voice dropped an octave at my silence. “I would search for new friends if I were you. I never liked those girls. If they were not so damn good at the things they do, I would have Caelestris remove them from court.”

She dried me with fresh towels more gently than she had cleaned me. I was helped into a soft cotton nightgown and was confined to bed. I welcomed sleep.

********************************************************************

Not much later an unveiled Lidérc was let in by Daná. His presence woke me from my slumber. Uncertain I blinked at the visitor. I thought I had seen his face some place before. If I only could remember where and when that had been.

“Val, may I introduce you to Gri?”

The Force knight gave me a perfect bow. “Enchanté!”

I granted him a weak smile.

Daná crossed her arms in front of her chest, giving me the cold shoulder. “My sister has crossed the line with her... experiences. Somebody tried to flush her down the toilet. Fortunately for her it did not work.”

Looking at the Force knight, who had an unreadable face, I mumbled, “The girls had issues with my new hair style.”

Daná went purple. Her veins popped in anger. “You are a bad liar! Always were! Why did they do this to you?”

Even though it caused me pain, I shrugged. “There is a problem with my hair style anyway.”

“I could force the rat pack to tell me the truth,” she snapped. “They are servants of the crown and I am a royal princess.”

That threat I was able to deflate immediately. “I have returned to court on behalf of the beanmna feasa. The Draconian crown has to support my investigations. I am the Chief seeker of the Holy Inquisition.”

“I am beginning to understand why they were so eager to beat you up. You dare to bring the Holy Inquisition straight to our home. Mora, Aranea and Luna should have called me for help. Vai a morire ammazzato!” Shouting this, Daná stormed out. Go and be killed!

I sank back into my pillows. Lying to my family did not become me, but there was no other way to protect both Luçien and my plans with him. At least the girls backed me up and we would have more training sessions coming up in a more private setting. They would not let me down, no matter what I asked of them. In the positions that they held within fovea centralis, they had seen the dark as well. Together we could make a difference.

I felt a presence in my room. To my embarrassment I noticed that I had forgotten somebody important.

The Force knight had not moved one inch. His face was triangular with narrow lips and a nose that had been flattened by opponents more than once. His feline eyes showed utter disgust, though it was not directed at me. “If You want me to, Your Royal Highness, I will challenge my cousin for those tattoos at dawn.”

He was family to Luçien, of course. “Just call me Grianán! Gri will also do.” I leaped out of my bed, ignoring the immense pain that I was in and said sternly,
“Also, if you honour what I fight for, do not intervene!”

“He mutilated you!” Valiant protested.

“By doing so Luçien harmed himself more than me. He is a victim of his own darkness. I can help him to become something even better.” I fell on my knees just to hug his in a submissive way. It was the Lidérc way in a family argument.

“You should give your heart to somebody more trustworthy and sane, Your Royal... Grianán.”

“There is good in him. I´ve felt it.” I leaned my head against his legs, surprised by the information that this delivered to me. Pushing my special Force gift aside, I insisted, “I can save him. I turn him back to the good side. I have to try.”

His anger was controlled and just an outlet for his great concern. “Do you have any clue how many decades Sionnach has tried to do just that? Have you seen how broken she has become? And they do not even love each other.”

“This is where I come in,” I said eagerly and looked up at Valiant.

His face showed only pity for my innocence. He hesitated for a moment, then seemed to come up with the right words. “Dancing next to a lava river would be less dangerous than the liaison that you have in mind.”

My face flushed slightly at the thoughts I had had of becoming Lady Ankou. I had my daydreams about Luçien, true they had helped me to overcome the nightmare of Suaimhneas.

Valiant waited until my gaze had cleared up. Then he said, “On my world they call Luçien le angle noir, the black angel. Can you imagine why that is?”

Carefully, I suggested, “Because Death follows in his wake?”

He nodded. “Many believe him to be the Messiah, destined to bring peace and order to the entire sun system. Between us, Grianán, I believe him to be at the edge of madness where all Darksiders end up eventually.”

I was persistent. My path was chosen. “There is good in him... I know. I know there is... still.”

Valiant stripped off his dark brown leather gloves, beaten. “If you wish for any further training with fovea centralis finest again, take me with you. I can be there to stabilize you if needed. Your family does not need to know. Isa will never ever know.”

Something in his look told me that the Force knight had experiences with keeping injuries hidden. “You are a member of the Brotherhood of Shadows as well,” I guessed. “You understand the glory of pain that Luçien believes in since he turned nine.”

He said nothing and just gazed down at me with a small smile.

“It is whispered that they have a department of Force healers,” I said evenly. “It is not always a smooth process to train warriors and assassins.”

Valiant smirked, reminding me of Luçien, only with less sarcasm and more genuine humour. “Perhaps I am good at concealing the mess that others make, but is my cousin aware that you are a Seeker?”

I felt a light grip on my right wrist and my entire arm was carefully moved upward. Warm, tingling fingers played with my palm. I recalled all my training sessions with Isabeau and remained silent, my eyes fixed on his shiny boots in submission.

“All those secrets your small, white hands found out by accident. I wonder if this is your motivation. You know things about Luçien nobody else does.” The Force knight considered and released my hand again. “Things he wishes to remain unknown. Even to himself.”

In a fluid movement, I grabbed both of his hands and pressed his knuckles against my mouth. According to the social protocol of his people I kissed them one by one. “His secrets remain safe with me. So will yours, companion of the Holy Consort. May I call you ´uncle´ in private?”

********************************************************************

Valiant was not surprised that I had gained knowledge of the best kept secret in the realm. Actually, he was relieved. “There is no need to call me thus,” he chuckled. “Isabeau and I always have been careful. It is more comfort than love that binds us. We give each other a semblance of normalcy while we’re both far from home.”

I felt his hands wandering over my skull lovingly. In the privacy of their homesteads it was common for Lidérc to be gentle with one another.

“The first time it happened we were both surprised,” Valiant continued, his voice dreamingly. “We told ourselves it was an accident, a common circumstance where a man is drawn towards a woman four years his senior. Then it became a habit. A very nice one I must say.” He hesitated for a moment. “If Luçien ever finds out, we will have a problem.”

“I certainly won´t tell,” I ensured him.

“Only Éleos knows; as my commanding officer, he had the right to know.” He stroked his goatee, changing the subject abruptly. “Can I heal you now, or will you wait for your dark lord to do so?”

My smile grew radiant. “He will come to me. I can heal us both. The dark side will set him free.”

 

Valiant has a point it's dangerous to try to redeem a dark sider. Luke was playing a very dangerous game when he went to redeem his father.

 

“I will call for Valiant,” she spat out. “He is a very skilled Force healer, almost as good as Sionnach. I do not want anybody else to see you this way. You look so pathetic. A rancor could mistake you for a lump of food.”

*sigh* I know she's angry but anger isn't going to help Gri.


That threat I was able to deflate immediately. “I have returned to court on behalf of the beanmna feasa. The Draconian crown has to support my investigations. I am the Chief seeker of the Holy Inquisition.”

“I am beginning to understand why they were so eager to beat you up.

*snerk* we-ell......


“He mutilated you!” Valiant protested.

“By doing so Luçien harmed himself more than me.

*headdesk* I am so with Valiant here.


“On my world they call Luçien le angle noir, the black angel.

A very apt name.


You know things about Luçien nobody else does.” The Force knight considered and released my hand again. “Things he wishes to remain unknown. Even to himself.”

This is very true. And again, knowing about the end, I'm less upset with her. But really, he's abusing her. She doesn't have to make idiotic excuses for him.

 

*breaks out in spontaneous cheers*

Yes, you understood me 100%, dear Misty. To be honest I had the scene in the Emperor´s throne room in mind, when I wrote this. See, as a little girl in the 80ies I had this gorgeous MC with the German radio play from RotJ. I remember the text bits of the narrator & all the German dialogues by heart.

Erzähler: Der Imperator aber hat Luke Skywalker zu Boden geschmettert. Mit seiner magnetischen Kraft. Die dunke Seite der Macht hat gesiegt. Oder?

Luke: "Argh... ahhhh... Vater... bitte... argh! Arghhhhhhh, hilfe... hilf mir! Argh! Arghhhhhh!"

*Klang von knisternden Machtblitzen und dramatische Musik von John Williams, untermalt von Vaders mechanischem Atem.*

Erzähler: Tödliche Blitze treffen Luke Skywalker. Er windet sich. In Todesangst. Und diese Angst. Dieses äußerste Gefühl der Verzweilfung, der Ohnmacht... erreicht Darth Vader. Erreicht Lukes Vater. Erreicht Anakin Skywalker. Er ist zwar verwundet. Doch er kämpft. Er kämpft für seinen Sohn. Für Luke Skywalker. Den Jedi-Ritter.

Translation:

Narrator: But the Emperor has thrown Luke Skywalker on the ground. With his magetic powers. The dark side of the Force has won. Has it not?

Luke: "Argh... ahhhh... father... please... argh! Arghhhhhhh, help... help me! Argh! Arghhhhhh!"

*the sound of crackling force lightning and dramatic music from John Williams, emphazised of Vader´s mechanical breathing.*

Narrator: Deadly lightening hits Luke Skywalker. He convulses. In mortal agony. And this agony. This utmost feeling of despair, of powerlessness... reaches Darth Vader. Reaches Luke´s father. Reaches Anakin Skywalker. He is admittedly injured. But he fights. He fights for his son. For Luke Skywalker. The Jedi Knight.

I am very sorry for the torture scene. But having had that German SW audio play as an elementary school-girl of 7 years of age, has left a deep impression on me ever since. This scene proved to me that self-sacrifice is the highest act of love. It contains so much light and hope that the dark side of the Force has no chance any more.

Yes, Grianán goes through the extremes for Lucien´s soul. But she has a will, a wanting. She wants to shake him up to the core. Stop this whining about his own hurt, his own pain. She wants him to focus on another being, to be his bright mirror.

Perhaps she does not always chose the right measures, even makes her best friends do sick things to her as part of this salvation mission.

It may be even wrong that she does not include her entire family in his redemption process, but she is a Seeker. Her powers of touch, her skill of psychometry give her insights into Lucien´s character that nobody has. She does not want to give him up.

Next weekend we will go on! But I thought I needed to explain myself in between. And be aware that I wrote this long ago. In a time where I had not read "Fifty Shades of Grey" and in the aftermath of that triology the "Twilight" books. Grianán definitely does not seek pain, nor death. But she is prepared to do ultimate sacrifices for the man that she loves. She knows the hurt and anxious child in him.

In "Wolf whelp" Sionnach never really told us about this side of Lucien, because she is a healer and does not share such precious information with anybody. After all that she has been through with him as his Force student, she might have even turned a blind eye to certain facts.

And Isabeau is not the most objective person when it comes to her step-brother. In "Serpent-spawn" love turns to blind hate.

So be prepared for interesting times!!!

 

Ups, while I wrote an answer to Misty and posted it, I stumbled over your post, my genius editor.

 

anger will lead to the dark side. And Lucien and Lucifer don't differ that much

 

Bird, you astonish me! He was NOT even in this chapter! I know the suspense is evil, as you know cliffhangers can be really devastating for a reader. But I am not sure that you should blame them on Lucien.



Or was it something that you read in "Human heritage"?

 

“He mutilated you!” Valiant protested.

“By doing so Luçien harmed himself more than me.

*headdesk* I am so with Valiant here.

“On my world they call Luçien le angle noir, the black angel.

A very apt name.

Pants quoted Lucien

 

Well, Darksiders are difficult to understand at times. Let the villain talk to Gri next weekend in Chapter 25 and explain himself, okay?

 

Sorry for leaving it so long to comment.

Well, that was a nice conclusion to that episode, and with a little bit extra knowledge about Isabeau that she never mentioned to us
I like how Valiant comes over, and it is nice that Isabeau has someone to share passion with - she seemed a bit lonely in some ways.

I am not sure that being pitiable and hurt so your beau will feel compelled to care has ever worked well with abusive partners. But as you say, young love is crazy at times.

Of course, it also comes back to how we see the dark side. Is it a character trait, a flaw, is it like a drug? What's certain is that once you are caught by it, the dark side won't easily leave you at piece, and the weaknesses that led to you being ensnared by it in the first place probably make it extra difficult to get over it (yourself?) and find the way back to the light.

As misty says, it is a dangerous game to play, dipping your toes into the dark side to get at someone drowning in it, thinking you can pull them out once you are done, and it is hard to rescue someone when you yourself are now drowning. Here it seems Grianan even contemplates diving into a dangerous current in those dark waters (or being pulled into it by lucien) so Lucien will snap out of his aimless tour deeper into the dark waters to come save her. Seems madness really; she's pretty optimistic and, well, arrogant, isn't she?

I guess that's something those two share, being secretive and sure they are the saviours of their universe! And both have friends that dare tell them harsh truths (some of them the same now, ie. Taran). Perhaps they could rule their lives in light of that knowledge