"I did it because I wanted to."

"I suppose I can't argue with that. And..."

"Thank you - I don't want to encourage bad habits, but... I appreciate that you want to listen to me, to protect me, even when you don't have to."

Smile. "You're welcome."

(Bright smile.)

So... Where were they with the history lesson...?

Elesse will check her notes!

She picks up where they left off. 

-

Meanwhile...

She doesn't head to her rooms. Instead, she goes to one of the little used training salles in the older, inner layers of the Temple - a small and austere room, with no natural light and a single ceiling light which flickers unpleasantly. She always leaves it off, the deep glow of her purple saber and its gentle hum the only light and noise as she runs through her katas. The Force flows through her motion, through her stillness, through her thoughts. 

She leaves any electronics beyond her saber outside; if someone needs her, they can reach out to her in the Force, or else knock on the door. (Assuming they can find it; she's fairly sure the only ones who know where she goes to practice are Elesse and Master Antilles.)

She loses herself in the rapid, energetic movements of the style she's gradually developing. Her mind frees itself from its usual noise and worries, and into that peace she pulls her memory of Vader's words. 

She supports Elesse, because Elesse is her friend if nothing else. Elesse is also wise, with good insight, a strong sense of the Force... But that isn't everything, and as Vader just pointed out, it doesn't guarantee you'll make good life choices. 

(She's also fairly sure that every single Jedi Master who failed Vader was, at some level, wise and insightful and strong in the Force, and Vader herself very well might have been all those things too - it's... Comforting, she thinks, that Vader is trying to make sure she sees the potential pitfalls in her and Elesse's relationship. Vader's still hiding something, but... Meinwen doesn't think the thing she's hiding relates to her intentions for Elesse, nor even her opinion of the Jedi.)

(...Meinwen would not probably be able to say she loved the Jedi if she'd led Vader's life. Vader is... A strange person. But perhaps humans simply aren't built to hold grudges for millennia, even if they're deeply traumatized Sith. Or perhaps Vader is wise - perhaps it's possible, in fact, for Sith Lords to be wise.)

That thought rolls over her as she lowers her shaking arms at the end of her last kata. Sweat beads on her face and soaks the robes on her back. She doesn't know how long she's been exercising - that's rather the point of leaving everything but herself, her blade, and the Force outside this room. Her body's sore now, though, and her throat is dry, and her stomach is considering hunger, and she thinks she's come at last to a decision.

She extinguishes her blade, gathers her things, and grabs food from the cafeteria to take back to her room. 

She wakes up early the next morning and waits for Master Antilles in their shared living room. 

"Something we need to talk about?"

"Yeah. It might take a while, though. And it... Involves that woman Elesse and I met."

Asha goes to get her caf ready. "I have a feeling I'm going to need this... Start talking."

Well, first...

"I spoke to Fidela's Master - Darth Vader."

"You did what? Why?"

...She really doesn't have a better excuse than Elesse's 'it seemed like a good idea at the time,' does she. 

"She had information on Darth Plagueis," even though that wasn't actually the initial reason why and Meinwen is not the best liar.

"Keep going."

"His real name is Hego Damask, Magister of Damask Holdings of the InterGalactic Banking Clan. His father was an agent and his mother a disciple of his Master, Darth Tenebrous - also known as Rugess Nome. The IBC is fairly thoroughly infiltrated." She also has information on their allies and patsies, plus the various places and times and ways they meet - not everything, not by a long shot, but she's hoping she can get some actual documents, even proof. (...She should ask Elesse to get Fidela to send those...)

...She also admits to having asked questions about Darth Vader's own branch of the Sith. 

"And you believe- any of this?"

Elesse believes it, and she's presumably had time to verify things, but also... "She felt honest, and she didn't initially realize I could see shatterpoints - she guessed after I caught her in a lie about her own identity, but her presence in the Force didn't shift at all after - no one I've met could hide lies from me if they only learned they need to mid-conversation without obvious discontinuities. And I don't think she let me see a false lie on purpose."

"And... Everything she said about Plagueis seemed right, and most of the details are verifiable. She didn't feel at all malicious towards me or the Jedi; she indicated she was only bothering to oppose Plagueis because he started it by attacking her apprentice - that seemed... Mostly true - Fidela on our first conversation accidentally hinted she used to be Plagueis's apprentice, and it seemed he attacked her once she tried to leave; Vader stepped in to defend her. I don't think Vader's been... Doing anything, as far as I can tell from her words and shatterpoints, she figured out life extension and then decided to be an immortal historian totally uninvolved in the things she was observing." Well, she definitely figured out coming back as a ghost. "She didn't feel ambitious to me - her apprentice might be a problem someday, Fidela was... Higher energy? Portentious? But I think Fidela's currently listening to Vader, who I really don't think is going to start anything. Vader also didn't actually feel... Powerful, I think all of her comparative advantage is in knowledge." Including that obtained through invisible spying.

"There are things she's hiding, including her identity, but..." Awkward shrug. "I think we can trust her information on Plagueis."

"Uh huh. And where the fuck did this conversation happen?"

...'Elesse's room' is right out as an answer, as is her previously prepared idea of 'she messaged me' since Meinwen can't usually get much over even holocalls. 

...She has left the Temple a few times since being released from unofficial house arrest. Not yesterday, but she did the day before, so...

Ugh. Well, this should be a pretty good preview of how hard Elesse is going to get yelled at for 'unofficially' meeting with Fidela, even if her frequent meetings with Vader in her own room don't come to light. 

"When I went to the library the day before yesterday." Not a great lie, but at least it's not easily falsifiable. 

"Force save me from teenagers and their damn fool ideas. You couldn't have gone for a joyride in one of the ambassador boats instead? That was a dumbass decision and you're lucky to be here for me to yell at. But I'm guessing you know that, since it's been a day for you to work up to telling me. So. You're grounded. Again."

She just nods. "You'll look into the information, though?"

"I will look into why this is a trap, what Vader hopes to gain, and how to stop her from profiting by our actions."

She crosses her arms. "And if you find Plagueis is a threat, and that he is in fact Hego Damask - ? I'm pretty sure all she hopes to gain is us taking out a rival for her - but if he's Sith, and if he's in fact actively propping up Black Sun and the Hutt Cartels, we want him taken out, too, and I don't think it's worth it if we end up dragging our feet moving against him just because a mutual enemy is offering to help, no matter how we plan to deal with her after."

Asha snorts. "If he's Banking Clan, of course he's corrupt. I would be more surprised to learn there was an executive who didn't have ties to Black Sun or the Hutts. But Sith or not, taking out one person isn't going to collapse the underworld. So don't get your hopes up."

"You have a written report?"