Training The Apprenticeship of Keres Dymos

[Dark Lady Makaria]

IC: Keres Dymos
Kaas City Opera House, Dromund Kaas

How embarrassing. She must entirely missed the calls and dozed off. That would teach her. No one was going to care about the time and effort she put into rehearsals if she slept through the actual show! "Sorry, Director Polloc!" Keres said apologetically, scrambling to her feet. At least she passed out after getting in costume, though it seemed to itch, oddly. Made her skin crawl in some strange way. Shame? Could be.

The wing were dark, and silent, and Keres felt oddly disconnected from the experience. Like she wasn't really there. It was the nerves. The same nerves that meant that even though her body was primed and ready, her brain couldn't even remember the moves. Or even who she was playing. But that was okay. Wasn't it? After all, she had practiced so much, it was muscle memory now.

Her cue. The smile fixed itself into place, even as her mind kept churning. Why did this feel strange? Her body was moving correctly, even if the costume still itched at her. Was it the director? Maybe. Yes. She had woken up and expected him to be... taller? Maybe she'd been dreaming. Easier to not think on it. After all, what would dwelling get her? Now all that mattered was the show.

TAG: @Darth Kain

 

[Darth Kain]

IC: Director Polloc
Kaas City Opera House, Dromund Kaas

“Go, then!” he shouted after her. “Go, go!”

She would make it past the curtain in a hurry. No doubt she had already missed her cue, no doubt the audience was sitting there in silence, awkwardly wondering where the star of the show could be. But she had appeared before them, the lights overhead casting dark shadows upon them. Not a single face among those watching were visible to her; they were simply malevolent shades, silently demanding their entertainment.

No doubt her confusion of it all was what made her stumble the moment she stepped past the curtain, finding herself ankle-deep in artificial snow powder - almost indistinguishable from the real thing to the naked eye. And now she was careening towards it, a floor of snow that threatened to chill her to the bone and soak past even the thickest of clothing.

TAG: @Keres Dymos

 

[Dark Lady Makaria]

IC: Keres Dymos
Kaas City Opera House, Dromund Kaas

Somehow, the snow was unexpected. It shouldn't have been, right? The audience didn't react when she stumbled, silent as they waited for the show to go on. It felt strange. Angry, almost. It was cold, colder than it should have been, melting through her thick woolen clothing. Why? The whole point was that it wouldn't melt, right?

Stumbling to her feet, Keres attempted to resume her dance as though nothing had happened. Her costume would be fine, she'd be fine. If she played it off well enough, the audience would never know. But it was hard, suddenly. It felt like all the dark shapes in their seats were judging her, waiting for another failure. Into the dance. Just let it melt away, remember how to move through the artificial snow. She'd practiced for hours, getting it right.

Why couldn't she remember it? Like it was hidden behind a gossamer veil.

TAG: @Darth Kain

 

[Darth Kain]

IC: The Show
Kaas City Opera House, Dromund Kaas

The show would go on. Her dance would continue.

Arms raised in the sky above her, she whirled around. Foot forward. Back. She couldn’t remember the last time she’d done this — why had she ever stopped? She did not even notice as the scenery around her morphed and twisted as she moved. Faces of familiarity, of mothers, of fathers, of brothers and sisters, of colleagues and peers… they flashed by in their unassuming ways, smiling politely but disappearing with nary a whisper. The set changed from winter to summer to winter again, with lightning cracking in the sky and fires raging around her. It was chaos. It was madness. It was life.

The dance slowed as she found something resting in her arms.

Life.

Perfection. Her child. Beautiful in every way. A blinding light in a sea of muted gray.

The dance continued, slower now, her eyes never taken away from that which was nestled in her grasp. She did not notice the man standing before her, or the fact that he had slid a ring on her finger. He danced at a different pace from hers, as if he was intentionally trying to step on her toes, to have her trip again and fall face-first into the stage.

TAG: @Keres Dymos

 

[Dark Lady Makaria]

IC: Keres Dymos
Kaas City Opera House, Dromund Kaas

Nothing mattered but the dance. How freeing to do this. She felt as light as air, as though she could dance forever and not feel the strain. The stage seemed to whirl around her, smearing into streaks of seasons, of fires and storms. Shadows skirted the edges of her dance, faces blurred into bland impressions of who they might be.

And it was all background, Keres' attention wholly captured by the warm weight in her arms. A steady flame that warmed her whole body. All the grief, the anger, it all dropped away, and she was lighter than air.

The grief? Keres frowned, and her turn stuttered. What grief? Her body kept moving, barely missing the man's outstretched hand, as if to grasp her. What grief? Wasn't her flame here? Something prickled in her head, and she stumbled over the man's foot, barely catching herself. Fear was rising instead. Yes, yes, she remembered that grief, that loss. But, how- it didn't. It didn't make sense? No. Keres kept trying to dance, clutching her child tight, eyes moving across the stage, warily tracking her partner in this unwanted pas de deux.

TAG: @Darth Kain

 

[Darth Kain]

IC: The Show
Kaas City Opera House, Dromund Kaas

The babe in her arms grew. More and more until it was a babe no longer. Well, it would always be her baby; that would never change. Not in life, and certainly not in...

The dance stopped. Her child dropped. Still. Pale. Gone.

The man with the ring stood over the child, a wicked grin on his wicked face. The crowd was frozen in anticipation.

She knew it. He had been responsible. He had taken everything from her. He was the bane of her existence.

He needed to die.

TAG: @Keres Dymos