The Dark Side

~31~

Astrid stayed for several more hours with Neri'el. She told her that she had been the one that Kylo Ren brought Neri'el to after saving her from the execution. She had also been the one to clean her up.

As they continued to talk, the conversation drifted towards how Kylo and Astrid had managed to pull off the rescue. Astrid explained that the blood Kylo had sprayed onto the Jedi had been stolen from the medical bay along with the chemicals for the serum that she had created. That had begged the question of how Olga had not noticed the disappearance of these items.

Astrid had, somewhat hesitantly and with a great deal of uncertainty, explained that she had lied about breaking the blood vials and misplacing the chemicals, however, Neri'el doubted that the lies would conceal the truth from Olga.

So the question remained unanswered.

Both women fell into an uncomfortable silence. Astrid began twisting her hands in her lap and Neri'el could sense she was fighting with herself. Without invading the woman's thoughts, Neri'el reached out towards Astrid with the Force. She felt doubt and fear to battle ferociously in the mind of the woman beside her.

"You can't stay here!"

Neri'el jumped in surprise at Astrid's shrill outburst. Her slim connection to the woman's mind snapped instantly. She brushed away her irritation with some difficulty before summoning tranquility and turned to look at the woman who had caused her heart to thunder within her.

"What do you-?" She began, but Astrid cut her off.

"It's not safe for you here, Neri'el!" Astrid cried. She buried her face in her hands but didn't cry. Her shoulders quaked violently as she peeked over at Neri'el, her green eyes overly bright.

"It's dangerous!" Her normally pastel blue face looked more like ice. The orange tattoos on her face starkly stood out from the paleness.

Neri'el barely was able to suppress an eye roll at that remark. Really? It was dangerous for her, a former Jedi, to be on board a base that had one of the galaxy's most notorious Siths on board?

It took all her self-control to restrain herself from saying something acidic in return. Biting her tongue and minding her thoughts, Neri'el let out a slow breath before responding.

"Astrid, I can go nowhere in this galaxy and be safe," She replied with an artificial smile. "Someone always finds me."

And tries to kill me, Neri'el wanted to add but she didn't. She also stopped herself from saying that it always seemed to be a certain person set on destroying her.

"This is different," Astrid said in a very distraught tone. Neri'el saw her twist her fingers into knots, the joints popping.

"Is it?" Neri'el asked tiredly, pulling her eyes away from Astrid's knotted fingers. She looked up at the girl's face and found herself caught in the girl's gaze.

Vibrant green eyes met Neri'el's duller ones and Neri'el was startled and a bit unnerved to see the naked dread within them.

"It's not safe here," Astrid whispered again.

Footsteps at the door frightened both women and Neri'el broke their eye contact. They ducked down along the edge of the bed as the door slid open. Neri'el's food thudded loudly on the ground and she cursed under her breath.

Only when the door was fully shut did the intruder speak.

"It's me," said Kylo, his voice crackling through his mask.

Astrid peered up at him from behind the bed and Neri'el popped up beside her. Underneath his mask, the man almost smiled at the sight of both women peeking up at him. Then he sensed Neri'el's anger and uneasiness.

"Go," Kylo commanded nodding Astrid.

She stumbled as she got to her feet then quickly brushed off her uniform. Shooting a quick, nervous look at Kylo, she turned back to glance at Neri'el, who was also getting to her feet.

"Thank you, Astrid," Neri'el smiled. She leaned against the bed, her hair slowly falling across her face.

Astrid nodded and scurried past Kylo towards the doorway. She raised her hand to press the open door button but then she paused and looked back. Her eyes spoke right to Neri'el, holding a warning deep within them.

'It's not safe.'

Then the girl was gone. The door slid shut behind her, leaving only her earlier spoken words resonating like gongs in Neri'el's mind.

It's not safe.

It's not safe.

It's not safe.