[Kylo]

(Solace AU)

The restless spirit watched from the end of the bed as his target tossed and turned in his sleep, nightmares plaguing him. He intended to make the man suffer until he understood. Until he knew the truth. If it took him years he would do this every night, until he finally understood.

Orion woke with a gasp, desperately trying to get air back into his lungs. He felt like he was burning alive and suffocating at the same time, as the nightmare still clung to his mind.

He shook himself violently and took a deep breath before slowly crawling out of the bed and into the bathroom.

[Kylo]

Orion splashed water onto his face and sighed deeply as he washed away the sweat from his head. He was losing it, he was sure of it, but he could have sworn he felt him in the room when he awoke. He shivered at the thought and started to get ready for the day. There was the festival coming up and he needed to be ready, both physically and emotionally.

They had married at the festival, a year ago. So much had happened since and he...he shook the memories away as he stepped into the shower and turned on the spray.

[Kylo]

The spirit watched him from within the bathroom and Orion shivered as the temperature dropped. He turned up the heat on the water and began to scrub himself earnestly. His mind wandered back to the dream. Of acid, of drowning in it as it ate away at his flesh until he was nothing. Not even bones remained. He could feel it fill his lungs and burn him from the inside out.

Orion frowned and scrubbed at his hair harder. He had had the same dream for weeks now and was no closer to understanding it.

[Kylo]

It was how he died and Orion had not been there to witness it. How he could possibly even imagine such a thing so vividly bothered him a great deal. It truly haunted him to even be dreaming such a thing.

Turning off the water, Orion stepped out of the shower and toweled himself off with a shiver. The air was still freezing.

The spirit watched him intently and reached out to touch him on the arm.

Orion jumped as he felt something hot touch his arm. He turned to look and where he felt someone touch him his skin had turned a blistered red.

[Kylo]

With a startled whimper, Orion left the room in a rush, leaving the spirit behind. He quickly threw on clothes and headed out the door. He had no intention of analyzing what had happened and every intention to only return later to pack his things and leave.

Between the nightmares, the feeling of being watched, and now this, Orion was sure the place was haunted. He didn't give much stock into the paranormal on most days but as he experienced more and more activity as he went through his life the more he was convinced that people could escape the Force's grip and become individual spirits in the afterlife.

[Kylo]

Orion pulled on his cloak as he went out into the city and pulled down the hood to cover his face. The last thing he wanted was to be recognized by anyone here. He didn't want to explain why he was now alone, or what happened to his husband, not when even he wasn't exactly sure what had happened.

He shook off the thoughts of Xanatos as he entered the crowd and began to move his way through it.

[Kylo]

Obi Wan made his way through the crowd easily, moving to avoid the festival goers and collected party-goers that littered the streets. His master had instructed him to go out and have "fun", something that Obi Wan and Qui Gon often argued over. Obi Wan, a stickler for the code, and Qui Gon, a free spirit who preached living in the moment, butted heads over how one was to spend their downtime between missions. Obi Wan preferred reading or training to going out and mingling with those outside the order.

[Kylo]

It wasn't that he wasn't interested in those outside the order, it was that he revered the code too much to allow himself to fall to the temptations that the outside world offered. He sighed inwardly as he approached a street merchant and bought himself some local food. At least this was something "fun" that didn't go against the code. He choose a spot out of the way and sat down to eat his meal.

[Kylo]

Orion blinked and looked around the crowd warily as he felt a presence that he recognized. The Jedi boy? What was he doing here? Orion cast out his senses further but found he couldn't sense the Master that invariably followed.

With a frown he followed his senses towards the boy's presence. He needed answers, and the boy was the most likely source of them. His Master had been less than helpful in the past, even going so far as to threaten him, but Orion needed to know what had happened that day.

[Kylo]

Just as he was closing in on Obi Wan something caught his eye. With a frown Orion followed it before a voice  told him to leave. He narrowed his eyes and snorted in disbelief. Something felt wrong and he was going to find out what it was...even if it meant delaying finding his answers. He made up his mind and went to try and slip into the tent from the back. Little did he know that his actions had attracted the attention of Obi Wan himself.

Investigate Commotion

[Kylo]

Two scientists appeared and pulled Orion aside and began to explain a rather odd situation to him. Giant lizard people? He's certainly seen his fair share of strange beings in the galaxy and this didn't seem too far fetched to him. He agreed to help them search the crowd and turned to leave only to bump into the Jedi boy.

"I'll help look as well." Obi Wan said with a smile before hastily grabbing Orion by the arm and dragging him into the crowd.

Orion glared at the youth for man-handling him but soon let it fade as Obi Wan peered up at him with a scowl.

"What are you doing here? If my master sees you he'll throw you in prison."

"I happen to live here now. And throw me in prison? I'm not the one who killed a reformed man." He hissed quietly back, not wanting to draw attention to them.

"But you're with OffWorld, aren't you?"

"I was never with OffWorld. That was Xanatos' business not mine."

The air suddenly grows cold and they both shiver.

"I'll explain everything later, Jedi. For now let's search for this lizard person."

The spirit watched them both and came to wrap itself firmly around Orion's shoulders. It was so close to its goal and now they were delaying again. It wanted justice.

Orion shivered and drew his cloak closer before marching further into the crowd, not looking back to see if Obi Wan was following or not.

[Kylo]

The two searched the crowd thoroughly in the area surrounding the tent and while they did not sight a giant reptilian, they did overhear a woman say she saw a man with lizard eyes. Orion stopped to question her on where she had seen the person and uncovered that the person was sighted near a food stall.

He thanked the women and the pair went off to search for the lizard-eyed man. Obi Wan was unusually quiet the whole way there, instead concentrating on the search. It unnerved Orion in a way. He was used to the youth having comments and opinions to share.

[Kylo]

Obi Wan meanwhile was much more concerned about the man next to him than some supposed giant lizard folk. His master had warned him to not trust the man, but he couldn't ignore the feeling in the force that his master wasn't telling him everything. The only way to find out the whole truth was to confront Orion himself.

It wasn't long before they reached the food stall where the supposed lizard-eyed man was sighted. With a mental jab to himself to pay attention to his surroundings he cast out his senses in the force and questioned the man running the stall.

[Kylo]

The man in the stall had offered little to no help, claiming he never saw such a thing. Back to square one and with time running out Obi Wan suggested to Orion to head back to the parade before it started.

They walked in silence for a while, Orion staring straight ahead and seemingly refusing to look at Obi Wan. The youth frowned before moving into Orion's way.

"What?" Orion asked irritatedly.

"I need to know the truth."

"What truth?"

"Did Xanatos really try to redeem himself? Or was it an act? Master Jinn says Xanatos was just acting but I need to know."

[Kylo]

Orion snarled and snapped at Obi Wan.

"What does it matter? He's dead now! My husband is dead and I didn't even have a body left to bury! I lost the man I loved most and all your beloved Master wants is to throw me in prison for crimes I didn't commit! So why do you care!?"

Orion sniffed as tears filled his eyes.

"Xanatos did his best to start over as a better person and his reward for righting his wrongs was death. I wasn't even able to be there for him. I felt him die and I was helpless to help him. I still don't fully know what happened that day and I probably never will."

An icy breeze wrapped itself around them both and the temperature plummeted.

"All I wanted was to live in peace with the man I loved. He wasn't perfect. He made mistakes that cost people their lives. I know nothing he did would ever bring them back, but force damn it did he try to fix things. His death wasn't justice; it was a tragedy. Just...leave me alone. I've suffered enough without you trying to dig up old wounds."

Obi Wan tried to open his mouth to apologize but Orion cut him off.

"There's the parade. Once this is over I want you to leave."