Warning: Murder, Attempted Child Murder, Almost Frostbite, and Child Abuse

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Peace is a lie. There is only Passion.

Melinoe has never known true peace. Ever since she was a child, there had been no rest: only fear, anger, and pain.

Born on the planet Csilla in 54 BBY to Nize'etune'rrazi (known as Nietune to her loved ones), a caring woman and a committed healer, and Hypnos, a proud man and a member of the Jedi Order.

Melinoe's birth was initially celebrated by her mother's family. This happiness quickly turned to concern when the child was discovered to be force sensitive like her father.

Nietune feared for her daughter. She knew that no matter what she did, she was more than likely going to lose her daughter. She didn't want her to be taken away and forced into the lonely existence that was being a Jedi, but if she stayed and her people found out about Melinoe's abilities, she would be killed on sight.

In the end, Nietune didn't let her sentiment get the better of her. She made Hypnos promise to take Melinoe to the Jedi Order. Where she would be safe. Hypnos did so but warned that it would take time. Maybe if Nietune knew what was going to happen to her precious child and her lover, she would have done things differently. Unfortunately, this has all passed, and there's nothing we can do about it.

Hypnos later disappeared after he made his promise to Nietune. Melinoe remembers nothing of her father. Except for the things he left behind.

Life went on. Nietune continued to work, and Melinoe helped out in any way she could. Melinoe learnt a lot of useful things while working with her mother. Such as how to repair beaten bodies and mend broken minds. She even earned her full chiss name, Nize'linoe'rrazi, from doing so.

Growing up among other chiss was strange for Melinoe. She looked much more human than chiss, with the exception of the blue diamond birthmarks on her cheeks.

Her cousins would often ask their parents why Melinoe didn't look like them. They didn't mean anything by it. They were just young and didn't know any better.

But honestly, her appearance wasn't the biggest problem for Melinoe. The fact that she aged like a human is what really bothered her. You see, a chiss tends to age reasonably quickly by human standards. By the time they reach the age of ten a chiss will have grown to the size of a twenty-year-old human and be considered fully of age.

It can be quite jarring to have grown up around children who mature twice as fast as you. One day you're all the same age playing and joking around as children do. But then suddenly everyone else is all grown up and want nothing to do with their 'annoying child cousin'.

Melinoe tried to never complain, but Nietune knew that this situation took a toll on Melinoe. It was just another thing that helped alienate from the rest of her family and people.

Nietune would offer reassurance whenever she could. She knew deep down that her little one would achieve great things one day, and that she would most likely do this far away from Csilla.

Right before the girl's eleventh birthday, Nietune rushed into her daughter's bedroom. Pushing her into a nearby closet, giving her instructions to head to some nearby caves in the mountains when she saw an opportunity to escape.

Melinoe didn't see the men breaking into their home. She did see them firing their blasters. She didn't see her mother fall to the ground.

But she heard it. She heard the shots. The screaming. Her mother's body hitting the floor. Everything.

The men started searching the apartment. It took some maneuvering, but Melinoe saw an opportunity to sneak out a nearby window. While doing so, she passed by her mother's body. Her dead eyes were wide open with fear. It took all of Melinoe's strength to not start dry heaving and openly sobbing.

Once she was out the door, Melinoe started running as quickly as her little legs could take her. She followed her mother's instructions, made her way through the snow to the caves.

By the time she reached her safe haven, the girl's legs were in pain. More pain than she ever felt before. She looked down to see that her feet had become a concerning red colour. She limped over to a nearby rock and sat on it. Hoping to elevate some of the agony shooting up her legs.

It wasn't as if she'd never gone out to play in the snow before, but given the distance and the fact that she wasn't wearing shoes, her body just couldn't take it. She didn't know how long she had been sitting there. She became distracted with replaying the night's events over and over in her head.

As the night got darker and colder, Melinoe started feeling weaker and weaker. Eventually, it became impossible for Melinoe to see anything. It also became so quiet. Melinoe couldn't even hear the wind from the entrance anymore. She just sat there. Seeing no point in moving.

Then something strange happened. She started hearing whispers. She couldn't tell where they were coming from. It was as if they were all over the place. Melinoe kept looking around, trying to find the source of all of the voices.

No matter where she moved the pitch of the voices didn't change. After a while, she just couldn't take it anymore.

Melinoe fell to the floor. The image of her mother. The throbbing from her feet. The voices. It was too much. She started sobbing uncontrollably.

She started calling out for a mother that would never come. Screamed for the pain to stop. For the voices to shut up.

As she cried, the voices started to become more transparent and louder. It went on for what felt like days. They were all asking the same question. What did Melinoe want? They just kept asking and asking it over and over.

Everything subsequently went quiet. Melinoe paused. The girl squinted her eyes open and stopped clutching her ears. She started looking around again. It was just as dark as before. Melinoe could feel the second wave of tears welling up behind her eyes.

Melinoe let out a gasp when another voice made itself known. This voice appeared to be much calmer than the rest. Speaking to the young girl in a polite tone. Melinoe and the voice talked to one another for a while.

At some point, Melinoe felt the energy around her shift. She started focusing on her legs again. She started wishing for the pain to go away again. She put all her focus into trying to do so. She didn't expect this to work. That wasn't how things worked. You don't make a wish, and the pain will go away.

But for some reason it did work. She didn't know how, but more she concentrated the pain started to slowly fade away.

The voice spoke up again. Congratulating her. What for? It eventually started to sound distant. As if it was moving away from her.

Melinoe started following it on instinct. She figured that it was her best way of finding how to get out of the darkness. The child had so many thoughts and feelings rushing through her head. She tried her hardest just to focus on the voice.

To Melinoe's surprise, she actually saw a light. It was small, but definitely real. Melinoe rushed towards it. As she hurried, the light started to get brighter. Melinoe was relieved to be able to see where she was going. She noticed that the brightness was coming from a small opening towards the top of the cave.

Melinoe started making her way up to it but found it to be a bit tricky, and she found herself doing a lot of maneuvering. After slipping three or four times, she managed to reach the opening. She peeked through to make sure there weren't any immediate threats on the other side.

When seeing nothing but the seemingly endless amount of snow Melinoe made a move to shimmy out to the other side. Once she was out, Melinoe scanned her surroundings again. She didn't recognise the place, but then again, she never ventured very far from the house.

Melinoe continued to look around and spotted a house nearby. It was hidden away. If you weren't actively looking for something like Melinoe you most likely wouldn't have seen it. It was built into the side of the mountain and almost completely buried in snow and looked like it had seen better days.

Melinoe slowly made her way down towards it. Making sure not to slip and fall while heading down the snowy mountainside. She forced a window open and climbed inside.

The inside was much worse than the outside. Melinoe could tell that no one had been in there for a long time. Although Melinoe went further into the house. Hoping for something, anything, that could help with her legs.

Most of the pain had faded away, but there were still some small open wounds that she didn't want to take a chance with.

Her luck didn't seem to get much better. She looked through the cabinets only to find more of the medicine was either on the bottom of the cabinets in a sticky glassy mess, or it had gone rotten a long time ago. Melinoe let out a frustrated sigh.

Melinoe had no choice but to simply wrap up her legs and hope to find something that would help later on.

The next couple of days were uneventful. They were mostly made of looking for food and trying to think of where she could go before the wrong people found her. She had found some old clothes inside the house that would protect her from the harsh terrain and weather while travelling around.

Every now and then her mind would drift back to the caves. What had happened in there? How did her legs heal so fast? Was it something she did, or was it the voices doing?

Speaking of the voices; they were still talking. Ever since she made her escape, they had been talking in the back of her head. Admittedly they weren't nearly as loud the further away she went from the caves. But she could still hear them in the back of her head sometimes. Telling her how to move boulders and pick birds out of the sky without even touching anything.

It gave Melinoe such a strange rush. Being so small, but able to control things with such ease.

It took about a month for Melinoe to make her way back to the populated areas. She could have made it back sooner, if she went through the caves again, but refused to do so.

She figured that her best option would be to try and hide with one of her aunts or uncles. She would be safe with them. Hopefully.

Melinoe took extra precaution while making her way to her destination. She didn't know who she could trust anymore. Any one of the people she snuck passed by could have had something to do with her mother's death.

When she made it to one her uncle's house she checked the window expecting that she would see her uncle. What she didn't expect was two of the men from that horrid night. Her uncle was sitting at a desk, barking at them. Melinoe ducked out of view but continued to listen.

What Melinoe heard next made her stomach churn. Her uncle was berating the men for failing to kill the right person. He yelled about how they were supposed to just kill the girl, not Nize'etune'rrazi. Melinoe continued to listen, but couldn't believe what she was hearing. It wasn't possible. Her family wouldn't do this, would they?

Melinoe could feel the tears welling up in her eyes again. She couldn't process what was going on. She was so distracted by the pounding in her head that she didn't notice a third man making his way towards her.

He grabbed her roughly by the neck and started dragging her inside the house. Melinoe desperately kept trying to concentrate long enough to use the tricks the voices had taught her. When it became clear that wasn't going to happen, the girl started kicking and screaming to try and escape. Due to her small size, this also wasn't successful.

The man dragged her inside to where her uncle and the other men were talking. When seeing her, they all started screaming at one another. Trying to decide what to do with her. Her uncle kept calling for them to just kill her and get it over with.

One of them must have gotten sick of the arguing and pulled out his blaster. Aiming it right between Melinoe's eyes. Before it even happened, Melinoe saw an image of the man pulling the trigger. This caused her to put her hands up in defence.

This caused the bolt of energy to bounce right back at the man. Everyone in the room stared in horror as they watched him fall to the floor. One of the other men tried to do the same. Only to get similar results. The third attempted to run out of the room to be launched into the ceiling, then slammed back to the floor.

Melinoe slowly turned back to her uncle. She felt numb. Almost like nothing around her mattered. She looked at her uncle. He was standing there. Uncontrollable shaking with his eyes filled with fear. He suddenly started screaming. About how this was why Melinoe needed to be gotten rid of.

Why their family had no choice but to send those killers to her mother's home?

Melinoe just kept staring at him. Not saying anything. Just looking at him with a vacant stare in her eyes.

After a couple more seconds Melinoe decided she had heard enough. She raised her hand and watched as an invisible force grabbed hold of the man before her. He started kicking and screaming. Begging for her to spare him. Melinoe felt nothing.

Five minutes later, Melinoe was walking down the street. Leaving behind a broken window and a man howling in pain in the middle of the street. Most of the people nearby would rush to check on him. A few would move towards her. Trying to get an explanation to how this happened.

They ended up in similar conditions.

Melinoe didn't know where she was going. She just kept walking. Eventually, she happened to start heading in the same direction back to the mountains. Once again, the closer she got, the louder the voices got. A lot of them were congratulating her. Some were telling her off for not finishing the job.

She didn't really care to be honest. She still felt that numbness from before and didn't know what to do about it.

News of what happened travelled pretty fast. A lot of people ended up going into the woods looking for Melinoe. None of them lasted very long. The cycle of people attempting to hunt the girl down lasted for a couple of months until someone different arrived.

Melinoe sensed the woman before she could even see her. Melinoe could tell this one was different. Her energy was.... Evil. It wasn't just dark or angry. It was downright evil. When Melinoe first sensed it, her instinct told her to run away and hide.

Unfortunately, the woman seemed to know exactly where she was at all times. Melinoe was chased for hours until the woman and accomplices corner Melinoe. She tried her best to use her power, but it all became mute when the woman raised her own hand.

Melinoe suddenly felt nothing, but pain. Like dozens of white-hot knives were being stabbed into her little body. She started riving around in pain until she passed out.

For a while, she kept regaining and losing consciousness. At one point, she managed to stay awake long enough to take in her surroundings. As far as she could tell, she was on a ship. She couldn't work out where it was going or what the people on the said ship wanted from her. She kept looking around until her eyelids started to feel heavy.

The next time she was woken up, it was because of another voice. All of the others had stopped since the woman had knocked Melione out, but this one was different. All it was doing was calling out her name in a panicked tone. It wasn't someone she recognised, but somehow familiar. It caused her to wake up suddenly. Snapping up from the ground.

The first thing she heard was a yelp. Melinoe turned to see another child around her age with her hands raised up in defence. Melinoe just looked at her for a while. Trying to decide if this girl was a threat or not.

When Melinoe continued to not say anything the girl piped up. Saying that it seemed like the guards had roughed her up pretty badly by the time Melinoe was thrown in the cell. She continued, introducing herself as Eglantine, and asking if it was okay to get the other girl's name.

Melinoe didn't say anything. Still trying to work out what this girl's game was. Melinoe looked her up and down. This was the first time in nearly a year that Melinoe didn't sense any malice coming from the other person she was dealing with. It put Melinoe on edge.

Melinoe asked where she was. Eglantine explained that she was currently on the planet Byss. Where she would be trained in the ways of the Sith. Whether she liked it or not.

Melinoe was confused for a second. What exactly was a Sith?

Eglantine explained it to be an individual who trained in the ways of the dark side of the Force.

Melinoe was sure Eglantine was helpful in some sense, but Melinoe still didn't quite understand. Eglantine was happy to keep answering her questions and providing details. About halfway into the conversation Melinoe realised that it must have been a long time since Eglantine had anyone to talk to.

When Melinoe finished asking all her questions, she felt that she had a good idea of what was going on.

The powers she had been exhibiting since she was a baby was called the Force. There were generally considered to be two sides of the Force. The Light Side and the Dark Side. The Force Wielders who trained and mastered the Dark Side were most likely Sith. She and Eglantine had been brought to Byss to be trained in the ways of the Sith by Darth Heiss, so that they could later be used as puppets.

This didn't sit well with Melinoe. She started looking for a weak spot somewhere in the small closed-off room she and Eglantine were sitting in. Eglantine warned her that she likely wouldn't find a way out, since she had been there for nearly a year and didn't have any luck.

Melinoe asked Eglantine if she expected her to just stay put. Eglantine bluntly told her no and promised that if she did find a way out, the two of them could go together.

Melinoe called her out on the fact that the two of them had only known each other for an hour. So why would she promise that?

Eglantine smiled and stated that she could sense that Melinoe was someone she could trust.

Trust?

Melinoe hadn't had anyone to trust for a long time. She looked Eglantine up and down again. She thought about it for a second. Eglantine had a strange energy about her. It reminded Melinoe of her mother. Maybe she would take a chance for this girl. Considering the circumstances Eglantine was probably her best bet.

Melinoe reached out her hand to the girl. Silently asking if she meant what she said.

Eglantine looked surprised for a second then eagerly took Melinoe's outstretched hand.

For the first time since her mother's death, Melinoe smiled. She introduced herself to her new ally. Stating that her name was Melinoe Lanami.