Beyond - Legends The Dathomir Secret - Adrian and Marie find something......

Fascinating ... Always happy to read more about Adrian/Marie and look forward to what they uncover.

 

Now I want to know what they found!

 

"You mean Allya?" Adrian asked, not sure if he got it right. "The mother of Dathomir?" The woman who had been the first witch, her daughters the founders of the clans? Slowly Adrian began making his way up the stairs to follow her.

Moving more of the vines she was able to see the carving of a woman standing taller than those around her, female forms standing around her and males, behind them on their knees. Marie squirmed slightly, this was where it all began, the foolish traditions that had lasted generations. "The same." She responded to Adrian.

"So, this is it then? The heart of Dathomirian culture?" Adrian asked while he wondered if the males had truly accepted their part in this society just as obedient as the carving showed them. For a moment he shivered when he thought back to Marie´s mother trying to have him sold into slavery as well.

Marie looked back. "Relax, I'm not selling you or anyone." She'd felt his feelings, she knew what he was remembering, she turned back to the carving. "Well at least not till you displease me." She smirked.

Adrian returned the smirk, "I doubt it would ever come to that." Since their 'manhunt' a few weeks ago and the following chess match their relationship had become stronger again, filled with the same levity as their first months together had been. The shadow that had, for a time fallen between them was gone. "But if it does, make sure to not sell me below my value, I think it’s gone up quite a bit from five thousand credits, now that I can ride rancor’s and hunt with a bow." He gave her a twinkle.

Marie began to brush the dirt away. "Yeah, but you've got some deficiencies, arrogance for one..." She straightened up and pulled her dagger out of it sheath. "Stay behind me." She said moving forward toward the gaping mouth of the temple. Vines hung low and she had to cut some of them to get through, she could hear creatures of various sizes scurrying away and wondered when the last time someone had been here was. It was dark, she turned back. "Adrian, did we bring any torches or glow sticks?"

"I will get them," Adrian said and made his way back, down the stairs towards Fluffy. He found what they needed in her saddle, two glowsticks they had brought with them just in case their hunt would last into the night. While climbing back up he wondered how serious Marie had been when she had called him arrogant. But knowing his wife he brushed he brief moment of worry away.

She heard him approach, "Bring them in, I don't want to go in deeper till I can see more." she said reaching her arm back toward him. The room echoed her voice slightly, but it'd gone still as the creatures had found new hiding spaces.

Adrian activated the two glowsticks and threw one of them to Marie. Hearing the movement of various creatures before them in the dark. "Do you sense any danger ahead?"

“No, there’s a sense of unrest, but nothing is threatening………” She activated her own glow stick and moved forward slowly, stepping over large tree roots that had consumed the space. “I wonder why this place was abandoned, I wonder why it was deemed sacred and the big one…” She craned her neck to a shadow near the corner at the back. “Why was it made against all rules to come here?”

"Do you know anything about the history of this place?" Adrian asked. "Maybe there was a battle, or a natural disaster around here some time ago?" It was purely guessing but he was truly grasping straws here. On Eriadu a place like this would have been turned into a museum.

“No idea.” Marie muttered, something was pulling her toward the back corner of what seemed to be a large rectangular room, with what seemed to be some kind of alter near the front. “Something wants us to go this way.” She said in a softer voice.

Adrian looked up, he couldn´t see anyone in the darkness, there was just the alter. Stepping closer he began to examine it. It was covered in symbols some he did recognized as the forms of animals found on Dathomir but others where unknown to him. And between the symbols, was that blood? Ancient blood splatters left from.

Marie watched him. “What have you found?” She turned to look where he was standing.

"Dark stains," Adrian answered. "Not sure what caused them. Ancient blood rests?"

Marie approached and held her white glow stick to it, black marks ran down the side of the stone plinth, some had hardened into blobs and they glistened. “Very old blood.” She muttered.

"Is this a place for sacrifice?" Adrian asked as he tried not to shiver at this thought.

Marie stepped back. "I don't know............If they did this sort of stuff, I was never told about it." She frowned. "Sacrifice what?" She shook her head, "Allya wouldn't have wanted that ...........would she?"

"Didn't you tell me once in these days they would feed men who sire sons to the rancor's?" Adrian suggested.

She turned to him. "Not for a very long time, and I didn't think they did sacrifices as well." She was feeling ill inside, her Clan, her worlds history was bloody, violent and very female dominated. She knew it was so wrong. "I don't want to talk about this." She turned to the corner where she'd been heading before, it was still calling to her.

"Seems like a religious site, you do not worship Allya as a goddess, do you?" It was a question both directed in regards to Dathomir as a whole as well as Marie’s own feelings for the great mother.

Marie snorted, “Maybe in the past, but not my mother and certainly not me now I know what she was…..” She stopped holding her glowstick up in front of her. “What or more to the point……who is that?” she croaked out.

Tag(as requested): @Sinrebirth

 

So happy the easy, bantering warmth has returned. Wow, Marie and Adrian have certainly made quite the discovery.

 

Oooh, the plot thickens....

 

Ominous hints of what happened long ago and to end on a cliffhanger.

 

Ack! He fell. And thanks to ROTJ, we have an idea what rancor pits are like. They're big critters. So even without a rancor in it to deal with, falling into one has got to be ouch!

 

Thanks @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha yeah that´s a bit of cliffhanger.

That´s true @Cowgirl Jedi 1701 its quite a fall.



Marie sensed it only moments before Adrian disappeared, not having time to warn him or even get to him. She surged forward, "ADRIAN!!!" Skidding to a halt at the edge of the pit. "ARE YOU OK?!?!" She almost pleaded.

Adrian spat out a mouth full of sand and coughed for a moment before pushing himself up on all fours. "’´m okay," he said, breathing heavily, his heart racing in his chest from the shock of the sudden fall. Standing up slowly, he looked up to his wife. "Seems the ancient witches didn’t want to make it too easy for their rancors." He tried to smile, to lighten the mood a bit and to assure her he was okay.

Marie let her breath out. “Thank the ………….” She stopped, she was about to thank Allya, but that was years of ‘brain washing’ by her mother that made that happen. “…The Force.” She finished, noticing his glowstick had fallen with him. “Anything down there, bones, creatures, man eating rancor’s?” She asked.

Adrian examined the ground. "Mostly sand, it’s really getting everywhere..." Then he stopped as found the first bone. "And yeah, bones, human ones as far as I can tell." So, it was true, the over the top stories his sister had told him, the sensationalist documentaries, there was at least some truth to them.

Marie frowned. "Intact? How could the bones be intact if they were.....eaten by ........." she didn't finish the question, but it was clear.

"Mostly broken from what I can see," Adrian admitted.

Marie nodded silently. "Just so you know.........this was a long time ago, not in the last three or four generations at least."

"I know, and who am I to judge it, it’s not that my homeworld is much better when it comes to past atrocities," he said to reassure her that he wasn’t holding anything of this against her, or even anyone else on Dathomir.

“So…..can you see a way out? Or up?” She asked slipping to her buttocks, “Or are you planning to wait for the next rancor and give a good talking too?” she teased.

"I was already taming rancors before you were born... well before our daughter was born." Adrian shot back. He approached the iron gate and tried to push it open. To his surprise it wasn´t too hard. "Seems whoever last left the place forgot to properly lock the door behind them." He turned back to Marie. "Do you have your rope with you?"

“Liar! Fluffy was already trained!” She reached to her hip and found her rope. “Yeah, but it’s the shorter rope for binding not pulling clumsy husbands out of holes.”

"Maybe I should bind you with it when I get out of here," Adrian 'muttered' loud enough for Marie to hear. "Then I guess it’s either you climb down to me or we go separate for until we find some stairs?"

“I suggest we go our separate ways but keep within calling distance.” She started to stand up and held her glowstick out, “I’ll head in that direction and see what I can see.” Adding in a mutter, “as if you could get the better of me…” Marie began to skirt around the pit, watching where she put her feet as there was a lot debris on the floor, less plants due to the darkness. “Still hear me?”

"I can, at least from here." Adrian said as he pushed himself through the halfway opened gate, glad he had taken two glowrods when they had entered. Behind the gate a large dark corridor awaited him, to the left and right of it he saw equally large cells, each locked with a similar iron gate, one still holding the skeletal remains of a rancor. In the past Adrian wouldn´t have been too unnerved by this but now, having formed a bond with Fluffy the dead rancor hit him as much as the human bones in the pit.

Moving to the opposite side she found an opening. "I found a doorway, "I'm going to take a quick look." She entered, continuing to light her way and came across some stairs heading down. "You down there?" She called.

"I found the place they kept the poor rancors," Adrian yelled in hopes Marie would hear him. As he made his way further, he noticed a set of stairs leading up, but also another doorway, where he saw something he hadn´t expected to find in a place like this.

Marie could hear him but she wasn't sure if it was in front of her or behind her. Following her gut feeling she pushed on and proceeded to descend the stone stairs, more creatures scurried away and she was glad she couldn't see them. The place was alive with life but nothing big as far as she could tell. "Adri?" She called.

"Mistress?" Adrian said, glad to hear her coming down the steps. He usually only called her that when he was annoyed by her, or when she called him Adri

“What have I told you about that?!?!” She snapped, hating the name he called her when he was tormenting her. “I swear Adrian, I will lock the gate and leave you here.” She stopped on the steps, “Or better still I will feed you to Fluffy!”

"I would love to see you try that," Adrian replied coming up a few steps to meet her. But his conscience did bring him to add, "but sorry, Sweets."

“Sure you are.” She muttered glowering at him, softening a little at the mention of her former callsign. Adalia had given it to her due to her love for sweet food, chocolate in particular. She’d been overwhelmed when she discovered the woman grew cocoa beans on her home estate and owned a small chocolate production business. “What did you find? I sensed you were surprised by something.” She pushed on.

"Something I didn’t expect down here, a desk lamp, still glowing."

Marie raised her eyebrows. "That is..........strange. It’s been hundreds of years!" She stepped down to be beside him, "Show me."

"With pleasure," Adrian said as he took her hand and lead her down the stairs. Into the hallway opposing the animal cells. There in a large room, on a stone desk several objects rested in the light of a desk lamp. As he stepped closer Adrian grinned as he recognized it, "it’s from Eriadu, a product of House Neris, said to run for a thousand years, seems it was more than just advertisement speak. Lamps like these are sold in the whole galaxy."

“Wow, that is impressive………….” She looked closer. “So that came here when ………….Allya did?” She turned to him. “Are these lamps that old?”

"I think so, I´m not Ilona but I think house Neris has been around for many generations," Adrian said as he further examined the lamp, it was connected to a small, makeshift generator behind the desk. "If I had to guess than Allya owned one of these or the Jedi gave it to her before she was sent into exile." He turned his gaze from the lamp to the other items on the desk, one of which he recognized, taking it, he took a step back and activated the lightsaber. Nothing happened.

Marie stared in disbelief; she was sure she knew whose blade that was. “Put it down.” She hissed stepping back.

Adrian felt shocked at her harsh words and quickly put the weapon back. "Sorry, just thought..." As he did so he noticed something else, something also connected to the generator.

Marie swallowed hard, she had a feeling awe and disbelief washing over her. Was this place what she suspected it was, was this place sacred? "I think we should leave here."

"Are you sure? Couldn’t it have been this place that drew us here?" he pointed at the small pyramid next to the lamp. "Is that a holocron?"

“How do you know about them?” Marie asked astonished. Most the galaxy didn’t know about holocrons, they were strictly Jedi or Sith, and Marie had only ever heard about them, not seen one.

"Dad mentioned them, maybe he knew from Amber Tehanis," Adrian explained.

"I really think we should go." Marie's up bringing was kicking in. She started to back out of the room, a sense of disturbing a sacred site creeping over her.

Adrian turned away his gaze from the desk and towards the door, his heart stopped for a second, someone was there, a shadow in the doorway, watching them.

The expression on Adrian’s face made Marie spin to see what had caused it, what she saw made her stop breathing.



@Sinrebirth

 

Enjoyed the banter and how the fascinating discoveries continue! Absolutely enjoy the tie-back to Amber and Adrian's dad.

A chocolate production business? That's my kind of business.

 

Marie couldn't believe what she was seeing. A woman, tall and lithe, in what looked to be leathers, long dark auburn hair and deep dark eyes, a gold band across her forehead with a gold disc in the center. She stood in the doorway; a hazy light glowed around her as the seemed to be glaring at Marie. Adrian had reacted so he must see her too. Marie swallowed hard, "who are you?" she asked cautiously.

Adrian could only see a shadow even as his eyes got used to the darkness it remained a shadow, nothing more. He closed his eyes for a few seconds, opened them again. Nothing but a shadow.

The woman moved her gaze to Adrian then back to Marie, speaking to the woman alone. “Is he yours?”

Marie glanced at Adrian. “He belongs to no one; he is his own man. I ask again who are you??”

"Is it, talking to you?" Adrian asked, instinctively stepping closer to Marie.

She glanced at him. "You can't hear her?" This had to be a vision. "Can you see her?"

"All I see is a shadow," her husband explained.

That confused Marie. “I see her, all of her.” She whispered.

“He will not see me, he is a man after all and therefore not worthy to be in my presence, or to stand at full height beside you. Why do you disobey the laws I created?” The woman’s voice was cold.

Suddenly Marie’s heart began to race, she knew who she was seeing, who she was speaking too. “Your ways are of the past, he’s more worthy than most and he stands beside me as my partner, not my slave.” She stated clearly. “Are you Allya?” she asked directly.

"Allya?" Adrian whispered. Marie defending him filled his heart with confidence and so he said, "so you are the one responsible for this? You should have been fed to the rancor’s not all those innocent men."

The eyes of the woman glowed brightly as she lifted her arms “SUCH INSOLENCE!! HOW DARE THIS MALE SPEAK TO ME LIKE THIS?” She bellowed. “HE MUST BE STRUCK DOWN!!!”

Marie moved to stand in front of Adrian. “If you are who I think you are, you will have to kill one of your own to reach him.” She defended, stepping back to be against Adrian. “You hurt him, you hurt your own blood!”

Adrian was moved by Marie´s action but he wouldn´t let the love of his life fight this battle alone. So, he stepped next to her. "We will fight her together when it comes to it."

"I am Allya!" She announced, "I am your Goddess! You will do as I ask and you will allow this male to die for his transgression!"

Marie gave an almost half smile. "No, I won't, no...." She glanced at him, "WE Won't." She was more than proud of his courage beside her.

Adrian asked himself how they even should fight a shadow like that, but standing next to Marie had taken away and fear he might have had. "When we are done with her, we should feed her corpse to Fluffy." he said with half a smile.

“Don’t push it!” Marie hissed. “Show yourself to him, allow him to hear you and see you. Unless you are afraid of him?” She challenged.

Allya stood glowering at them both, attempting to scare them, to get the man to back down, the woman to follow the old ways, but it was clear this was a wasted effort. She suddenly softened her stance, closing her dark eyes and opening them again to reveal a softer look. “He may hear me now, I cannot make him see me.” She conceded. “I am Allya, but not the one of your Clan’s stories, not the Witch you have heard about in stories. That was me, but it stopped being me later in my life.” She confessed. She moved forward, but not in steps, more of a floating movement. “I see you have found what I found, sadly too late in my life, you have found a man who is your equal, who would die for you as you would for him.” She looked to Adrian, “Do not let his fate be that of my lover.”

Adrian was confused, too confused to react right away. Now he heard a voice, yet the shadow remained just that. Whatever she, Allya was now she seemed to be more ghost than a being of flesh and blood. "You are saying...?" He stuttered, "you say... you changed?"

“You hear her?” Marie asked hopefully without waiting for an answer she turned to hear the answer to Adrian’s question.

The figure bowed her head once, “yes, I found late in my life what you two have found now. I quickly saw the world, my world, through my beloved Kellan and it was not the image I wanted anymore.”

Marie frowned. “The man bound in the other room, was that……..” She couldn’t finish the question.

Another slow nod. “He tried to defend me against my daughters. I tried to guide them to change, to show them I had been so very wrong, but they had grown accustomed to their lifestyle and they tried to kill him, blaming him for my change of mind. I fought, I was wounded and fell on the alter.” She paused and clasped her soft glowing hands before her, “I tried to stop them, but they bound him and stabbed him……over and over…..and over.”

"So that´s your blood on the Alter?" Adrian asked, still unsure what to make of this situation. The apparition had changed its tone, but he was still suspicious. Had her earlier words been a test?

“Yes, my wound was a mortal one and my daughters made the decision to allow the Force to take me as it would alleviate their problem.”

Marie turned her gaze to the floor, this was not the story she had been told growing up, this was not the Dathomirian story of Allya. She was struggling to absorb the images being painted for her. She looked up. “Are you buried at the memorial or elsewhere?” She wondered if the alter her clan worshiped at was even sacred in any way.

"Yeah we only found his body," Adrian explained. Talking to a shadow was weird but the longer they spoke the more he slowly began to relax himself.

The image shimmered. “He remains there as they chose to leave him there. I have been buried but not as you believed, the falls, I am there.” She explained.

Marie was stunned. “The Misty falls? The namesake of our Clan? It’s your final resting place? I’ve been there many times; I’ve never seen a grave!”

Allya gave a serine smile. “The rock, the one you used to dive of child, the one the children play on, I am beneath it.”

"We´ve been there, haven´t we? Its where we go swimming?" Adrian asked.

Marie nodded, “We’ve dived from that rock.” She looked to the image. “Forgive us, we had no idea!” She explained, “It’s not what I was told, not what I believed, none of this is.”

“I know child, and you and all before you and after you will be forgiven. I have been watching, I have seen what you are, who you are. I see what this man has gone through to be here and I see you both are the key to the future of this world, the image I had, I fought for and died for. I would ask one favour of you both.”

"What do you want us to do?" Adrian asked, now fully convinced that they weren’t in danger.

Marie waited as the question had been asked.

"I would have my Kellan with me, resting for eternity with me as he should have been." The image paused and shimmered golden, "my weapon. My Master told me it was my life; it should be with me in my death."

"We can do that," Adrian said. "If what you say is true you deserve to be reunited with him."

Marie gave a nod; this was a moment in her life she would never forget. She looked to Allya, "We will not speak of this, not yet. The time is not right yet, someday it will be, but today isn't that day."

"Thank you, my children, for you are both my children. Go, change your clan, change Dathomir and do it with my blessing." She gave a nod. "I will go now; Force be with you both." Moments later the shimmering image faded to black and the only light in the room was the glow sticks the couple had brought in.

Marie turned around, "the light?"

The lamp had gone out, no it had never been on it seemed. It had long since lost its energy. "It was an illusion as well, to lure us into this room." Adrian suspected. He took Allya’s lightsabre and handed it to Marie then he turned back around to the holocron. "We should take it as well; I think it contains the proof for what we learned here today. For the day when we reveal it."

Marie nodded silently as she took the holocron, it was time to go.

@Sinrebirth

 

Awesome and wonderful expansion of Dathomirian lore!

 

Sweet and very deferential

 

Thanks @WarmNyota_SweetAyesha Nice you are still enjoying the story.

Epilogue

The falls where glowing in the sun, the water streamed loudly down into the basin where their kids where playing, swimming, spraying water on each other or diving down from Allya’s rock. In their own lizard hide bathing suits Adrian and Marie sat at the edge of the water watching them, while enjoying the warm summer sun on their skin. They had come here many times since that day over ten years ago when they had buried Kellan with Allya. Much had changed in their lives since then, Marie had found a brother and a crown, the twins had been born and the tribe as a whole had changed. But here at the falls things where as they always had been, well almost.

Marie sat with her arms wrapped about her legs bent up, her chin resting on her knees. She was content, the day was warm, the children happy and she was beside her one true love. She smiled gently.

Adrian took a hand of water and gently let it run down Marie´s neck and down her muscular body. Even now in her early forties his wife was still toned, still the warrior he had fallen in love with all those years ago.

Marie sat up gasping then turned and glared. "And you know that deserve retaliation!" She threatened.

Adrian gave her a teasing grin. "Is that so?"

She smiled and gave her head a shake, she knew he loved to torment her, and she knew where it often led. "No...not getting to me this time."

Adrian grinned, and decided to go a step further and took another handful. "Let’s test that statement, shall we?"

She sensed his second assault before it happened and rolled away, sitting up again. “Let’s not!”

"Spoilsport," Adrian said with a grin as he threw the handful water in Marie´s direction.

She ducked slightly where she lay on the thick green grassed area. The water had encouraged much of the vegetation to flourish and constant attention in the warmer months meant it was trampled flat. Looking back at him she caught sight of the large rock and the children jumping off it. She smiled. "She'd love this I think." She said absently.

"I think so," Adrian said, his gaze following Ana and Julien for a second, seeing how the twins so readily took the dive together made him smile. "Think we did her proud, well them."

“Yeah………and I’m thinking its time we write down the truth, we show the elders the truth.” Her gaze returned to him, his clear eyes still sparkling with mischief. “What do you think?”

"We should, much has changed, the tribe deserves to know, maybe in time Dathomir as a whole," Adrian said, after a moment. When they had first discovered the truth, he knew sharing it would have endangered them. But now... the young witches stood behind Marie, behind both of them even, as did the former warlocks as did the now free males, even some of the older witches had at least made a few steps in their direction.

She nodded sagely. "I'll start tonight. You should too, two accounts of the same story, from two points of view will make it more real." She smiled as she lay on her stomach and crooked her finger toward him, indicating for him to come closer.

"The holocron will help no doubt," Adrian said he lay down next to her. It had taken them years but eventually they had been able to fix it. It indeed contained Allya’s private thoughts especially in her final years. They had so far only shown it to Sunil'na as well as Sahria and Davron. "But it’s a private thing so we should put her will into our own words." He made a pause, "maybe we could show it to your mother? If she vouches for it, any doubts the elders have will disappear." It was a bit risky but over the years Chalise had softened somewhat to her son in law as well as her grandkids and while she still saw males as beneath her, she at least seemed to have made an exception for Adrian and Julien.

Marie leaned against him as she thought. “I’ll think on that, one step at a time.” His skin was warm. “She’s not as far along as I’d hoped.” Marie closed her eyes; she was really content again.

"She has had these beliefs her entire life, I think a part of her is afraid of admitting she was wrong, while another part knows it’s true," Adrian mused. "Maybe showing her the holocron will help." He comfortingly placed his arm on Marie´s back.

Yes, this was perfect, her family, her husband, her clan, her world was perfect. “Only time will tell.”

"It will," Adrian said, just seconds before both he and his wife where hit by a wave of water from the pool, sprayed by their kids.

 

Lovely serene setting and a nice discussion, as they bask in contentment