Scarlet Shadows
© Kaz, 2003

Chapter One – Suspicere

There was nothing Leia Organa Solo could see in the room she was trapped in, no matter how hard she strained her eyes. Nothing but the darkness that already devoured her and continued to devour her despite her efforts to stay away from its ghastly vortex. It seemed to have fun torturing her that way. It would pull her into its dark abode, making her shriek and scream continuously because of the emptiness that she wasn't used to experiencing; then it would push her out of it, making her crave for the light that existed at the end of the hollow tunnel. But before she could recover, the darkness would pull her again, and the cycle would repeat itself.

Just released from the hold of the unseen entity that caused her much misery, Leia pushed herself up from the stone-cold floor, and attempted to find her way through the dark. She didn't know where she was going, because she could not see a thing, but she knew what she was looking for. Who she was looking for. As she desperately searched for that person she wanted to come upon for many, many years, she bumped into the frigid wall of stone that made her remember that she was trapped in a cavity with no way out.

She fell on her knees, pounding the barrier that kept her away from the rest of the world, the cruel world that refused to acknowledge her existence. She knew that the young woman she was looking for was somewhere in that barbaric world, probably treated as worse as she was by people she did not know. "Jaina…" she whispered in a barely audible tone, shutting her eyes as she allowed her hands and her body to slide down completely towards the ground in a heap.

The woman then fell into a session of crying and yelling, demanding that her daughter be returned to her. But nobody came to her aid. In fact, nobody heard her. Her only companion was the darkness, which was, at the same time, her enemy. The darkness that, once again, began to take her away from the world of reality and into its own world of anguish and pain.

"Jaina!" Leia screamed at the top of her lungs, reaching out to touch the figure that only she could see, but her efforts were all in vain. Not only did the shape that she believed to be her daughter disappear, the darkness began to eat her like a giant underground demon. Realizing that it was once again time for her to go through the disheartening process, she stopped struggling and submitted to the unseen force that started to gnaw on her spirit, understanding its pattern well enough to know that in a certain span of time, it would soon be over.

And it started all over again.

"It's her again," Peter Stockher, a middle-aged doctor, commented as he heard an anguished howl from the far end of the corridor. He was used to the fact that his patients would go into such outbursts at one time or another, but not to the seemingly constant one of his most well kept shut-in, Leia Organa Solo. Sighing, he called his assistant over, handing her a syringe. "We better keep her mouth shut if we want the rest of the patients to sleep in peace."

The nurse nodded in affirmation, taking the syringe from her superior's hand, and followed him towards the detention cell labeled Z-099. Upon reaching the door, Dr. Stockher took out a chain of keys from the pocket of his trousers, looked for the appropriate one, and stuck it into the keyhole, determined more than ever to calm the patient down, as her cries grew worse.

Extremely curious, Dr. Stockher's assistant asked, "Doc, do you know who this Jaina is?"

He only shrugged in response, continuing in his effort to pry the door open. "Nobody knows, I'm afraid," he added, pausing to look at his subordinate who waited for his wordy answer, "not even Dr. Heese, who handled her when she was first contained here. Some of the nurses told me that it's the name of her daughter --- but she doesn't have a daughter." He sighed, going back to what he was doing. "The things lunatics say…"

There was a soft click from the door that made him smile in satisfaction. "Ah, there we go." He put the keys back into his pocket, checked if his own tranquilizer-filled syringe was within reach in case his patient would go berserk on him, then nodded to his nurse. "I would say ladies first, but I can't take chances in this situation. Watch out; she can be very dangerous."

They slid into the cell as quietly as possible, wondering why it grew calm all of a sudden. It didn't take long for them to see the answer, however, for Leia was slumped on the ground, either asleep or plainly unconscious. Smiling, Dr. Stockher knelt down by her side, took her arm and felt her pulse, then, he took out the syringe from the folds of his robe. "Precautionary measures, Mrs. Solo. I'm sorry," he whispered, before he injected the dosage into her cold, frail arm.

Leia moaned softly, then drifted into a peaceful slumber.

"That should do it," Dr. Stockher muttered, standing up. He looked at the woman intently for a few moments, examining as much as he could through his eyes with the light the open door permitted, before he turned around and walked away. His female associate did the same, closing the door and once again, shutting off the light that would've done wonders for the patient --- when awake, of course.

Inside the dark and eerily quiet detention cell, the suffering woman stirred lightly, moving slightly to lie down on another side of her body. The tranquilizer might have stopped her from screaming and shrieking, like what she had done time and again, but only for a short while. It would not be able to hold the darkness out for long, nor would it be able to keep away the pain, the hurt, the sadness and the anguish from Leia's fragile heart.

"Ninety-eight… ninety-nine… one… one hundred!"

Rolling over to lie on the soft patch of green grass that decorated the back lawn of the establishment popularly known as Feu de Joie, Tahiri Veila inhaled deeply and successively, trying to regain the air she had lost during her attempt to strengthen her body through various exercises. She had just completed a hundred push-ups; the next thing she was going to complete was her fifty rounds of jogging and twenty-five rounds of running around the area.

Blond, willowy and undeniably attractive, she was one of the most sought-out courtesans in the nightclub, especially among the younger members of the elite society. Her popularity, however, was not only brought about by her beauty, but most especially because of her wit and charm. Only fifteen, she was already wise beyond her years, and she knew how to deal with sticky situations that most fifteen-year-olds would not be able to handle.

She stood up, having recovered from the tiring exercise that she submitted herself into just a few minutes back, and prepared herself for the next round of her training that scorching afternoon. Barefooted like she always was --- for that was how she wanted to go about --- she sprinted around the grassy turf slowly but steadily, moving around it fifty times, as she intended to do. Taking only a short break from that exhausting activity, she began the faster twenty-five-lap exercise until she was clearly out of breath.

"Wow, Tahiri. I could never pull that off like you could."

Fanning herself with the use of her face towel, she turned around to face one of her two closest friends, Danni Quee, who looked like her adult counterpart with her long curly blond hair and emerald eyes that always seemed to be asking questions. All sorts of questions. Tahiri didn't blame her, of course. The twenty-three year old was a gifted young woman, with an impressively high intellect and level of curiousity that rarely accompanied dames as beautiful as she was.

"If you weren't as sickly as you are now, I bet you could," she told the older woman, before she flashed her an apologetic smile along with a slight wave of her hand as she flipped her hair. "Hey, I'm not rubbing it on you or anything. I don't think of you as a weakling at all." Then, they started walking towards their quarters, the rooms that were generously provided by the owner of the nightclub, Arica Jade. "In fact, I look up to you a lot. You're basically an older version of me, only with a bigger brain."

"Actually, smarter people have smaller brains."

"Really?"

Danni shrugged lightly, almost imperceptibly, but the fifteen-year-old knew her too well to notice it. "Or so I've heard," she added to the gesture in explanation. Smart she was, she didn't want to go around spreading unverified information, especially when she gets the credit if ever it does get verified. Before she could add anything more to her statement --- not that she had anything more to add, anyway --- she came to a halt, apparently remembering something out of the blue. "You go on ahead, Tahiri. There's something I was supposed to do but I haven't done it. Argh, me and my memory."

For someone very smart, she sure is forgetful, the younger blond woman thought, rather amused at the sight of Danni Quee commenting on her rather off memory, before she nodded and said confidently, "Oh sure, Danni. I'll be fine on my own." She then winked, the light-hearted smile on her face becoming even more playful. "Besides, you won't be gone 'till nightfall, are you? I mean… you are helping out tonight, remember?"

The other groaned, not actually pleased with the situation, but was left with no choice in the matter. "I'll be back soon," she assured Tahiri, before she, too, broke into a playful smile that matched the other girl's very well. "Unless I forget that I'm supposed to help you out tonight, of course. You know, me and my memory…"

It seemed to be somewhat miraculous that someone as serious and contemplative as Danni pulled off a joke like that, and it was evident in the way Tahiri gaped at her while laughing in a totally heartfelt fashion. The older woman burst into laughter as well, not realizing the full value of what she had just done, aside from making Tahiri laugh. As soon as the fit was over, she gave a mock salute to the younger woman, then turned around and ran off, fearing that the use of words for a short goodbye would only cause her delay in accomplishing the errand.

After a few moments of staring at the woman's departing figure, Tahiri, too, turned around and went on her way, but not without heaving a sigh. Despite the fact that she considered Danni one of her closest friends --- and her older sister, in fact --- she barely knew anything about the woman. True, she was very intelligent, and would've done great as a researcher in one of the Solo's many laboratories that were just starting out, yet she was wasting her life in the Feu de Joie as a waitress.

It wasn't right at all.

There was nobody in the Feu de Joie, however, who could match up to the luster of Nadine Nietzsche, the star of each night's breathtaking show. A stunningly ravishing eighteen-year-old with no past to haunt her, she lived one day after the other with a smile, not at all caring what the future could possibly bring her. She welcomed every opportunity that came her way, whether that be a new job that she could indulge herself in during the day, or a new customer that she could toy around with during the night.

Her room, which was basically unoccupied during the day, was already packed even before nightfall, as her friends were busy dressing her up for the upcoming show. As usual, she sat on a wooden stool in front of a large mirror, already dressed with the best garments the nightclub had in store for its performers, while the other courtesans fixed her hair, put on her make up, and did everything else that would make her even more beautiful than she already was.

"Once again, the prettiest girl in the Feu de Joie," a voice said from the doorway, and immediately, all the women stopped to acknowledge the arrival of their superior, Arica Jade. She, too, was simply exquisite looking, with her long red-gold hair and expressive jade-colored eyes. In return, she nodded curtly to her subordinates, before she slowly motioned for them to go away and leave her alone with their precious starlet. Closing the door, she asked, "Where are the others?"

"Tahiri's in her quarters, changing; Danni's out on an errand," Nadine replied rather nonchalantly as she continued to brush her long brown locks that so many people envied. She was forced to stop what she was doing, however, as soon as she saw the expression on her boss' features through the older woman's reflection on the mirror. Putting the hairbrush down, she muttered, "Oh no. Don't tell me you're not going to let me perform again tonight!"

Arica shook her head apologetically, her green eyes fixed on their reflections, most especially that of her prized entertainer. "I need you three tonight," she stated plainly, and that was all Nadine needed to know. She gripped the doorknob and twisted it, but before she walked out, she told her, "Suit up. Run down and tell Tahiri, and Danni, too, once she returns. Work's going to be a little tricky tonight, so you might want a special briefing of what you're getting into."

It took a few more moments after Arica's departure for the young courtesan to stand up, sighing heavily as she did so. She then walked up to her wall calendar and crossed out the current date with a black marker, clearly disappointed at the sudden turn of events. After all, four X's were already lined up in a row --- and that was only for a week. "Things are getting worse every day," Nadine told herself as she ran her fingers through the row of X's, frowning. "And I wouldn't be surprised if I'll never get to perform again."

Just like every night, the patient in detention cell Z-099 began her spell of shrieking and screaming, once again calling out aimlessly for someone named Jaina, as well as the attention of everyone else in the area. A heavy sigh escaped Dr. Peter Stockher's lips as he stood up and picked up another syringe from his drawer of tranquilizers. It was once again time to visit the famous Leia Organa Solo, although there was no telling how his short appointment would turn out.

It had only been a few short seconds since the doctor's departure when a figure slid quietly into his office. Tall, slender and light-footed, she barely made a sound as she pressed herself against the wall just beside the door, hiding in case Dr. Stockher would turn around and go back to where he came from. She counted mentally from one to five, and when the doctor made no sign of returning, the mysterious young woman clad in a black bodysuit began rummaging through the stuff he kept inside his drawers.

Then, a head popped from the top bar of the doorway. Apparently, she came from the roof. "Lachesis?"

"I'm trying to find it, Clotho," the woman who snuck into the office replied, busy fumbling through the bottom drawer of the doctor's desk. Finding nothing, she quietly shut the tranquilizer-laden drawer and headed to the far corner of the room, which was, to her advantage, engulfed in darkness. If ever the doctor would return, she would have no problem hiding. "It might be in his safe. Watch out for my back, all right?"

The screams that came from the far end of the corridor faded into nothing a few heartbeats later. "Lachesis, hurry!" Clotho called out in a panicked whisper from her hiding place, still upside-down like she was when she first came in. Then, she heard the lock of the detention cell clamp loudly into place, making her heart beat even wilder than before. "He's on his way back!"

Footsteps.

"Not quite."

Those words, and the figure that accompanied them, made Clotho sigh in relief. "Thank heavens, Atropos! Boy, are we lucky to have you watching over both our backs!" she exclaimed as she jumped down from her post and joined the third member of their work force. Her pleased smile, however, disappeared as a frown fell into place. "You didn't kill him, did you?"

The other shook her head, although there was a closed expression on her face. Luckily, the youngest member of the Moirae --- an assassin group which surfaced over the past few months from out of nowhere --- was too overwhelmed by the close call to notice it. "Innocent until proven guilty, Clotho. I just knocked him out inside the detention cell," Atropos answered calmly, before she strained forward to address their squad member who disappeared under the cloak of darkness. "Any luck, Lachesis?"

A few seconds of silence. Then, came Lachesis' answer: "He's guilty."

"The crime?" the leader of the trio asked, rubbing her hands together in preparation for the next step in their mission. She actually didn't have to ask, for their Commander already gave them the reason why they were hunting down the doctor, but she wanted to be sure, nonetheless. There was no harm in asking questions, after all. "Exactly as what we were told?"

"Exactly as we were told. Sleeping serum," Lachesis confirmed as she stepped back into the light, holding a piece of paper and two small bottles of fluid. She looked angry, although she tried to keep that anger to herself. "It was tested on some of the patients here. Women. And it worked. It killed them in their sleep." She handed the parchment and pointed to a scribbled note at the bottom of it. "In fact, he's planning to send the formula to the manufacturers the first thing tomorrow."

"That's horrible! And he tested it on women, too! What have we done to the opposite sex to make them despise us that much anyway?" the youngest of the three asked, not restraining the anger and hate she felt at all. She then put her hands on her hips, a sign of her exasperation at the situation. "Well? Don't tell me you're just going to stand here and do nothing, because I won't!"

"Clotho!" Atropos warned, her cinnamon eyes narrowing dangerously at the way their baby was acting. The young woman flinched considerably, and when the leader of the team knew she was back in charge, she began relaying her orders. "Go and get in touch with the police. They'll want to be here to find the body. Make sure you change your voice, act like a lunatic or a panicked nurse or something, so they won't recognize you. Lachesis, go back to headquarters. I'm sure you'd love to check that serum out. But I'll be taking this paper and one of the bottles."

"What about you, Atropos?"

Her eyes had a dangerous, lethal edge, now more than ever. "I'm killing him."

It was nearing sunrise, yet Nadine had not been able to sleep, even when the Feu de Joie already closed, making the noise brought about the dancing women and the drunk customers die down. As she lay on her bed, staring up at the bare ceiling, she joked to herself that she'd take a drop of the sleeping serum to make her drift off to dreamland, but took her words back soon after. All the women who died because of the crazy doctor's schemes made her heart burn even more with anger.

But it wasn't their mission that kept her up, for she was comfortable in the knowledge that the victims of the heinous plot had been avenged. It wasn't Tahiri's childish behavior of rushing into things back at the ward, either. Rather, it was the startling discovery she made in the duration of their mission, the fact that Leia Organa Solo was alive --- yet she did not know why that struck her so hard in the first place.

Leia Organa Solo's alive…

---

Author's Notes:

This fic is for my sister, Yuriko Oyama aka RaineSolo, who inspired me to write through our name-calling. You rock, girlie. *winks*

And that, ladies and gentlemen, was what I meant when I said that this is a different kind of Star Wars story. I had long wanted to write a SWNJO fic, but I found it difficult to do some minor insertions in between the books because I haven't read most of them. So to solve my problems: alternate universe. However, for those of you who prefer the Jedi and lightsaber-ish stuff, you can always stop reading. I'm not forcing you to.

Suspicere, by the way, is Old English for suspicion. I'm going to be using Old English words for the titles, so don't be surprised if they sound familiar but they are spelled incorrectly. Also, there shall be minor age adjustments, but so far, the only adjustment I made was for Ben Skywalker (Luke's son). I made him older than he's supposed to be, as he's still an infant in the NJO series. He can't do much as a baby, right? Also… I got a few questions. Does anybody know the age gap of Jaina Solo and Jag Fel? How about her and Zekk? I'm too lazy to go through all the books I have to figure them out. Anyway, that's all I have to say for now. Please be so kind to review and tell me what you think nicely. Comprende?