Star Wars Jedi: The Haunting

Chapter 10

Cal slowly approached Merrin. She looked angrier than he'd ever seen her. This was not going to be an easy chat.

"Merrin, please just listen to me-"

"No, Cal," Merrin said darkly.

"What? What do you mean no?" Cal exclaimed. Merrin was normally willing to listen to him. The fact that she wasn't this time caught him off guard.

"I cannot do this with you anymore, Cal," she said, shaking her head.

"Merrin, you don't know it was me. Kata-"

"It WAS you," Merrin raised her voice.

"Merrin, it wasn't me. I would never do such a thing. You should know. You know me, Merrin."

"See, that's the thing, Cal. I don't know you anymore," Merrin said, forcing him to look her in the eyes. Cal felt too ashamed and tried to look away, but this only seemed to anger Merrin more.

"You've changed, Cal. In ways that I never thought you would."

"What? How? I don't understand-"

"Enough," Merrin said abruptly. Cal could sense that her composure was wearing thin. "You are not who you used to be."

Cal's own anger began to rise a little. Merrin was just assuming things, wasn't she? She didn't actually know it was him. She was just jumping to conclusions, right?

"Merrin, I think I know what is going on with you. Because I was near Kata when she happened to lose her memories, you associate me with the event. However, I had nothing to do with it. You are jumping to conclusions. You have no proof."

Cal could immediately tell that those uttering that last sentence was a big mistake. Merrin's composure wore even thinner, and she made a primal growling sound.

"I know for certain it was you, Cal. Do you want to know how I know? There are traces of your presence still in Kata's head. And Greez'. I can tell that you went there, Cal. I know you did it," Merrin said quietly.

Having realized that he could no longer talk himself out of the situation, Cal changed his tactic. "Merrin, you are lacking the necessary context. You do not understand, and you have let your emotion cloud your judgement. I had good reasons for doing what I did, Merrin. Listen to me," Cal said firmly, trying to get her to listen.

Merrin shook her head but said nothing, so Cal pressed on. "I was having a hard time with Kata, and Greez noticed how unhappy I was. So we got talking about how I could be a better father to Kata, and I told him that there was 1 way that would allow me to warm to her for sure: I could wipe her memories. Greez got really freaked out and threatened to tell you about my ability. Of course, I couldn't let him, because it would have ruined our relationship. So I made sure he didn't remember that I'd told him that, and I thought I had it all over and done with. But no."

Merrin felt shocked. She couldn't believe what she was hearing right now.

Cal carried on. "A little later, Kata came to speak to me. She said that she had seen me raping Greez."

"What?" Merrin interjected. She hadn't known that.

"She had a 10-year-old way of saying "rape," but... well, I knew what I had to do as soon as I heard her hear that. She threatened to tell you that I fancied Greez and was unfaithful to you. Naturally, I couldn't let her do that. Besides, wiping all her memories after Bode's death (including his death itself), and making some adjustments to her image of Bode... well, now it gives me a fresh start. I can finally be the father that I wanted to be. She doesn't look at me in a negative light anymore, Merrin. Her image of me has been completely wiped clean."