Efnir and Nomi 8

After the morning conversation between Efnir, Nomi and Somi it becomes apparent to Efnir that Nomi is avoiding him, while not actually avoiding him. She stays up late with "ship duties" and sometimes when she comes into their shared cabin she goes to bed in the extra bunk. If Efnir asks her about this it is because she got in so late she "didn't want to wake him." She gets up early to do rounds, or is sleeping so soundly when Efnir rouses that she doesn't wake up until after he is gone. She doesn't stop being affectionate with him, she just avoids being alone with him. She doesn't seem sullen or angry with him when interacting around others or in brief periods at night when she tells him good night and sorry for waking him. This becomes a little harder on Zoph, when the captain's responsibilities are no longer an excuse. There are indeed many places to sleep in the temple. Before it becomes a question on if they will be staying together, Nomi approaches Efnir and says "I would like to stay with you while we are here, if you don't mind."

Efnir turns sideways so she can enter. "I like having the company but I hope this means you are done avoiding me. As you can see the bed space is fashioned for one." He gestures towards a raised platform where mattress and bedding would lay. "If you like I can take the floor instead." She can also see 2 lightsaber hilts sitting on a shelf in a small cubby for personal storage with his backpack on the floor.

Nomi crosses to Efnir quickly and wraps her arms around his torso, ducking her head to fit in the safe space between his horns. "I'm sorry. I thought a little time to think to myself would help me," she says into his chest. "If anything and you've gotten used to the extra room, I'm the one who deserves to be relegated to the floor. But no, I don't want that." She tilts her head up to look at his face. "It's a good thing I don't take up a lot of space? Plus, I can help keep you warm in these drafty caves." She gives him a hopeful look.

He guides them over to the bed and sits. “So did it help? Are you ready for this?”

Nomi sits next to him at an angle so that she can look at him. Her knee rests against his and she takes his hand, weaving her fingers between his. She shrugs. "I am not as upset. I've found some sort of peace."

She presses her lips together as she thinks about his next question. "Ready for what?" A small quirk of her lips. "That could refer to many things that are happening or about to happen."

“Indeed. Part of the answer was going to be how you responded, but mainly I was talking about Lilikai.” Efnir looks at her steadily.

Nomi shrugs. "Ready or not, here she comes?" She blinks a couple of times. "Joking aside. I don't know. I don't know what I am going to do or say or how to make it work. I know it's possible, I am just not sure how. Or if it can be done in one conversation, which I doubt. Or weather having Somi there will make it worse or better."

Nomi takes a deep breath. "And I am afraid that in my pursuit of this- helping Lilikai- I will lose Somi. I'm not sure how to have them both in my life. I am afraid I will be forever creating resentment in Somi or upset with Lilikai."

Efnir replies, “If Lilikai can be brought back to the Light side then they can figure things out between themselves. If not then the problem resolves differently.”

He gets up “Come, let me show you around a bit.” Taking her hand he leads her around the complex, pointing out the various living areas and where it leads off to the Trial section and describing the ordeals and his and Vesper’s battle droid fight. He then wonders out loud “I wonder if some of those could be fixed back up...”

They move on to the armory area “This is where we fought that Force spirit. There used to be Sith armor pieces and artifacts stored here but I melted them down over there.” He points. “The Dark aura here faded, though maybe there are still some faint echoes.”

Lastly he heads to the cavern with the crystals where they found Zernvik. He sits and motions for her to as well. “Here is where we found Zernvik and also got our sabers.” He looks up at the crystal formations. “I wanted to feel them again.”

Nomi walks with him, listening intently. She takes in all that he shows her with interest, asking a few questions about what happened, but mostly just listening to him talk with a contented look on her face. In the crystal cave she sits next to him.

"So, these are lightsaber crystals? Or could be?" She asks, having been taught nothing about lightsabers. "They are certainly pretty. What do they feel like to you?" she asks curiously.

Efnir nods. "Ones like those" - pointing to the smaller ones- "are what would go in a lightsaber. As you can see there is quite a variety of sizes. I have not seen any other sources like on the Temple on Ilum so I don't know if this variety is normal or maybe related to the vergence. Or maybe there needs to be a vergence in the first place to even grow." He shrugs. "That is where Zernvik was sealed." It is hard to miss the large crystal large enough to fit a person inside. "I sense a faint resonance with the Force, like a crowd mumbling in the background but more of a feeling rather than hearing anything. When we got our crystals a single kyber crystal called out to us, like finding a partner. Like we had shared purpose. We are bonded with our sabers in a way. I have been looking at that red one from the... Warden? at the Citadel. It feels wounded to me. I was hoping that maybe spending some time here might grant me insight into how it might be healed. I thought maybe learning how to do that might help us figure out how to bring Lilikai back." Falling silent for a bit and taking in the shimmers, he then adds "if a lightsaber is powered from these small ones, I wonder what these others could do? Think of how big a hilt would need to be for something like that one there."

Nomi is quiet, almost dropping into a mediative state. "I'm not sure I feel them. Certainly I don't feel any crystals calling out to me. Are they... Sentient? You said it was wounded, not broken, which implies an organic nature, I mean, not mineral." She thinks for a moment. "I didn't realize there was a bond. I'm... Sorry I used your saber on Hapes. I shouldn't have taken it. I guess I should be thankful it worked for me?"

Nomi leans against Efnir a bit as they sit. "Have you tried communing or connecting with the red saber in meditation? Or taking the crystal out of the hilt to see if you can sooth it directly, somehow? I would be willing to try and help you, if you'd like. If it does offer some insight, I would be grateful. Perhaps the crystal was somehow tortured with the dark side like Lilikai was."

Nomi looks at the large crystal Efnir points out. "Perhaps a lightcanon."

"I have tried all those things. 'Broken' might have been the technically correct term however it feels more like wounded. The connection is not such that a saber won't work for someone else. I am sure you noticed no difficulties on Hapes and I do not mind its use when needed. I certainly couldn't have used it at the time, and if such a situation comes up again then you have up front permission." Looking down and drawing circles on the stone with a finger, he says "I suspected something like Dark torture after my earlier meditations which is why I thought there might be clues there. I exhausted the ideas I have had so have not really looked into it in awhile, hoping some epiphany would arise during our travels. Maybe I can try again here at the vergence."

"Regarding the crystals, maybe Vic could invent up something. Looking at how a lightsaber uses a crystal and ramping it up might work. Or at least make a saber so large nobody could wield it." He puts a finger to his chin in thought, "unless it could be wielded with the Force...."

Nomi slips her feet out of her boots and draws them up onto the stone, wrapping her arms about her legs and resting her chin on her knees. She closes her eyes again and Efnir can feel her reaching out with tendrils of the Force, trying to sense whatever is there to be sensed. Quietly, attempting not to break the peace, Nomi says, "Iscandar confirmed that there was torture. Remember the first time that Somi reached Lilikai through meditation? She was in such strong pain. I had always thought it was due to her injuries from the fight that she had apparently escaped alive. But now we know she did not escape. She was captured, or turned herself in for her own reasons, perhaps to serve as a distraction. Maybe she lost her arm not in the initial fight, but during the time when work was being done to fill her with pain, fear and hatred. Maybe meditation with the crystal is not enough. If it was filled with the dark side, filled with the pain and fear and hate on which the Dark Side feeds, maybe you need to consciously push or give the crystal peace, compassion, vitality and love. I think it would be good to try again."

"If anyone can do it, you can." She chuckles. "You're the right being for the job to wield a giant lightsaber with your mind too. What are you thinking? One big enough to chop that corvette up there in half?" She cracks one eye and looks at him sideways. "It would be impressive, that's for sure."

Efnir chuckles. "In all the years lightsaber technology has been around I am sure there are bright minds who have explored all this already. I can't even imagine the power source something like that would need. Obviously nothing we have down here. This was all the spots I knew about for a tour, there might be other things Revo has found though. What do you want to do now other than dinner?"

Nomi looks confused. "I thought the crystal was the power source?"

When he asks what she wants to do, she hesitates, then looks him right in the eye. "Can you... Teach me or guide me in more meditation? I am obviously lacking in the peace of mind and emotional control that I have the idea Force users are supposed to have. I will never be a Jedi since there's no Jedi order to join. And I'm to old anyway, they wouldn't take me. But I can at least be in better control of myself and thus Force and my abilities."

"Sure, we can practice some here since it is quiet and I can give you some tips as we go, but the best thing to get better is to practice. That's why you see me make it a part of each day. I assume Vesper and Somi too, since we got in the habit at the Temple, though each of us has carried forward some different parts of that life. Let's see if we can set up a good calming routine here for a bit then go get some food." He then asks, "Did the cargo loader of various meats get you hungry too?"

Nomi laughs. "While I think I could digest lizard steaks, I can't say I thought they looked amazing. Probably better than emergency siege rations though. We should have brought some of that Choulder bait in here with us." Nomi bumps Efnir's shoulder with her own and then slides to the floor where she will have a better chance of sitting comfortably to meditate. A rock is a rock, there is not much choice, but at least the floor is flat and doesn't pose the threat of falling if she were to lose her balance. She folds her legs like Efnir showed her and sits quietly amongst the crystals, trying to clear her mind and her emotions, until Efnir lets her know that he is done and ready to get food.

Efnir teaches a breathing technique and a thought exercise for her to practice with, spending some time with each until growling stomachs overcome. Returning to the common area they grab some emergency rations before turning in the room for the night. Efnir grabs the red lightsaber hilt and sits on the bed and looks intently at it, though it is hard to tell if simply thinking or trying something at this point.

Nomi sits across from him, also on the bed. She is quiet, just listening and watching and matching her breathing to his to create the least distractions possible. Her eyes flutter closed and she finds herself in the Force space that allows her to boost others, enforcing the efforts of her allies. Efnir can feel her will joining his and she speaks quietly. "Tell me what it feels like, the saber."

As Nomi joins in, Efnir levitates the hilt up in front of him and opens it up with his mind, something he has practiced a number of times both with this as well as his own saber when working on it, revealing the angry red crystal sitting within. "It feels like it was subjected to an immense amount of dark emotion- anger and hate and hurt and like adding weights to a stick it eventually snapped or cracked, and now is awash in those things having lost all barriers. There is still a connection to the Force, in fact in a way it is stronger, but now entirely attuned to the Dark side. I bet gaining power from the Dark side is aided; easier for the user. I have not seen or heard about anything similar for the Light side, but the Archives are no longer accessible to learn more. For now at least." While channeling the Force to Move the hilt he touches only the Light side and lets it fill him, more than he would need for the task, and lets it fill with feeling of hope, love and support which comes easier now with Nomi near and similarly engaged in the meditation.

"Mmmm." eyes closed Nomi listens to Efnir, but from a place outside of the purely physical moment, hearing him less with her ears and more with the Force. "Perhaps it is a matter of helping it build those boundaries? Like a harbor with wave breaks that keep out the storm. The dark can then wash harmlessly over and around it, but it is safe. Though the crystal may still need to be cleansed even after it is defended if that is how we are looking at it." Nomi reaches for that same Light, though the Dark is there to touch as well, she doesn't, ignoring the temptation for extra power. She is not in need of extra power at the moment, just that which she can give to help Efnir and she does, pushing that toward him with the part of herself that Damasa opened to the Force.*

As the red crystal is cautiously removed from the saber's hilt, both Efnir and Nomi feel a sudden echo of the negative emotions Efnir describes - startling and disconcerting both for their intensity and for the way that they obviously come from a source outside either of them. It's easy to see how another being - less prepared and protected, less strong in the Force, less sure in themself - could be taken in by it. But the sense of peace that the two of them have created together pushes back against the darkness, cushioning and filtering it and making it possible to explore its depths without becoming lost in them.

The crystal itself doesn't seem to have an intelligence or consciousness of its own. Connecting with it doesn't feel like touching the mind of another living being, or even like interacting with the imprint of Firith left behind in the artifact. It's more like tasting tea, and how the flavor of the herbs infuses the hot water long after they've been removed from the cup. Even so, Efnir senses that something in the crystal is still malleable, capable of changing or being changed. This tea can still be un-steeped somehow, if the right method of doing so can be found. **

Experimentally, Efnir focuses on the image of building a barrier around the corrupted crystal, as Nomi suggested. The effect is obvious and immediate. The energy inside the crystal recoils, then surges forward as if immediately testing the boundary. They both perceive the crystal's pain and anger shoving itself at them, trying to hurt them as badly as it was hurt in the past. But Efnir's will holds firm, and in time the storm subsides. They're left with the sense that the crystal is somehow trying to communicate with them, and the impression of a question:

What do you want from me?

Efnir is surprised at the intelligent response even if it was only an impression. He sends forth a response carried by the of emotions of healing, repair and assistance. "I seek to learn about what was done and undo it if possible. To counteract this act of Darkness would be enough alone, but I also believe that this knowledge could help in similar situations. What happened with you appears to mirror what happened to someone I know."

Quickly Efnir understands that language or attempts at detailed communication won't be comprehensible here. With Nomi's guidance, he reshapes his message into a general emotional impression of what he wants to convey: a desire for understanding, and a wish for healing. He gets the sense that he's been understood. A ripple of energy runs through the connection he has forged, followed by a sudden startling shock. He and Nomi both snap out of their meditative state and back to the present moment. Looking at the crystal, Efnir is certain that its red hue is noticeably lighter than it was when he first removed it from the saber's hilt. He is equally certain, as only an Iktotchi could be, that he should keep this item close at hand. It has a part to play in something that's coming.

Nomi makes a startled little cry, eyes wide. "Wow. That was not what I was expecting. You did amazing!" she effuses.

With the meditation ended, Efnir uses the Force to place the crystal back and re-assemble the hilt. "I will take that lighter shade of red as progress. Thanks for helping out." Suddenly feeling a wave of fatigue, he muses "I wonder how long we were engaged with the meditation. Hard to say from an artificially lit room in a deep cave, but I think we should get some rest."

"You're very welcome," Nomi responds. Then she yawns rather involuntarily. "I think you're in the right. You did mention to me that once that more time can pass in meditation than you realize." Nomi readies herself for bed, removing her holster and pistols, one of which once belonged to Lt Seth Iscandar; she sets them aside with her boots and jacket. She reclines on the small bed, patting the space next to her and waiting to snuggle up on her customary spot next to Efnir.

Efnir disrobes, lays down on the bed and turns out the lights.

Before they drift off, Nomi sleepily says "Efnir, I just want you to know, I wasn't mad at you, I was upset with myself, but I am sorry that I acted out at you about it, it wasn't fair."

Efnir gives her hand a squeeze and replies, "Tell Somi."

Nomi nods against his shoulder. "Ok," she says quietly. After that, she is able to sleep.


 * Leadership and Battle Meditation rolls were made here. Leadership produced 3 successes and 3(5) advantage, giving Efnir an auto-success and two boost dice
 * Efnir's discipline roll resulted in 2 success, 1 advantage and 1 triumph