Chapter Text
Jango knows how to be patient, he would not be Mand’alor if he did not, but the longer he has to wait for Kenobi to open a portal, the more time Vosa has to escape. She murdered so many of his people for one of her rituals, and Jango, for all that he is extremely powerful, has never been much for runic magic, so he does not even know her purpose. It chafes to be away from Mandalore for so long, but as Mand’alor, it is his duty to ensure that demogolka such as Vosa do not survive to harm his people again.
Kenobi says he can accurately guess where she will end up, but the fey are tricky beings, and Jango cannot quite bring himself to take Kenobi at his word. He seems familiar with Dooku, and Dooku specifically has been responsible for the abduction of Mandalorian children for as long as Jango can remember. Shapechangers, apparently, make good toys for the darker of the fey courts. And it would make sense for Kenobi to be close to Dooku. Kenobi is the clan name of the current rulers of Stewjon, and noble fey lines have always taken interest in the Stewjoni ruling clans. Along with having enough influence in Faerie to compel Dooku to give up Vosa, Kenobi’s clan name is all but indicative of him being from a noble lineage.
Alpha-17 interrupts his musings. “Are you just going to pace all night, because Fox might protest having holes worn in his carpet?”
Jango snorts. “Fox is barely here anyway, and I can blame it on Rex.” The joke falls short and Alpha-17 fixes him with a look.
“Does Kenobi really bug you that much?” Alpha-17 frowns contemplatively.
Jango sighs. Alpha-17 knows him too well to get anything past him. “In my experience, fey always have their own motives that they serve. I don’t know what Kenobi gets out of this, and I don’t trust that.”
“Kenobi was raised by his human family,” Alpha-17 begins, “he had sporadic company from the fey side, from what I know, but his mindset has always been more human. That, and the members of his fey family that he actually likes have a habit of disappearing into the wilderness for centuries at a time. So, I would say that in addition to the fact that he does genuinely want to see Vosa brought to justice, he is also a good person, weird as it is to say that about a fey.”
Jango narrows his eyes at his brother. “Kenobi struck me as someone who doesn’t give a whole lot away about his past. How do you know all of this?”
Alpha-17 laughs darkly, a sharp bitter sound. “Trust me, we bonded those weeks we got tortured together. He barely knew me at that point, and he was willing to draw Ventress’s attention away from me. I’d trust Kenobi with my life.”
Jango lets out a deep breath. “I already agreed to give him the benefit of the doubt and I trust your opinion, but the smell of his magic just sets me on edge.”
Alpha-17 nods. “His magic falls more to the mental talents. It makes sense.”
Jango groans and runs a hand through his hair. He resolutely ignores the part of him that finds sharp gray eyes and an even sharper wit ridiculously attractive. “I should probably check in with Boba,” Jango changes the subject.
Alpha-17 hums in agreement as Jango walks into the kitchen to get some modicum of privacy. Jango calls Boba, who picks up promptly. “Buir?” Boba says as he answers the phone.
“Hey Boba, I’ll be in Faerie by this time tomorrow. Is everything alright in Mandalore?”
A snort. “Other than the fact that Fives is driving me insane? Yeah, everything’s fine. Cody has decided that despite me being older than him and your heir, he’s the responsible sibling, and came back to help, so even if things do happen, Mandalore should be fine.”
“Don’t kill your brothers,” Jango says on reflex. Boba is the only one who does not have a twin, and Cody, Rex, and Boba are all too close in age for them to have gotten along growing up. Jango has lost count of how many times he has had to pry one of his children off the other. Echo and Fives are in their teens and have decided that their one job in life is to irritate Boba. Jango sometimes wonders if Ka’ra is punishing him for all of the trouble he caused for Jaster.
“I would never.” Boba’s tone is sarcastic, and Jango suddenly feels like he has made a grave mistake.
“Boba,” Jango emphasizes, “please do not maim Fives or Cody.”
“Fine,” Boba sighs. “No serious harm will come to my brothers while you’re away.” All of Jango’s children, besides Fives and Echo, are adults, Jango just wishes they would act like it.
“Thank you,” Jango says, relieved. “I’ll see you when I get back.”
“You too, Buir.” Boba hangs up.
“Well?” Alpha-17 yells from the living room.
“Mandalore will be fine,” Jango calls back, “Fives on the other hand…”
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Jango and Alpha-17 meet Kenobi in the alley behind his shop the next day. It is still overcast, but that is preferable to the downpour of yesterday. Kenobi, with what appears to be an enchanted sword at his hip, turns to look at them and smiles. Jango exchanges a look with Alpha-17. Swords, even enchanted swords, are quickly becoming obsolete with the development of guns run fueled by magical energy, called blasters colloquially, and the only people that use swords anymore are people who use kyber enchantments. And, knowing Kenobi, that is incredibly likely.
Kenobi pulls out two small cloth wrapped parcels. “Here, these should help in Faerie.” Jango unwraps the one given to him, his eyebrow raising. Inside, was an iron pendant necklace that smelled strongly of Kenobi’s petrichor magic, and with the solid presence of wards. “That should keep most fey mind magicks from affecting you,” Kenobi explains before drawing his blade slightly.
The crystal embedded where the hilt meets the blade and the slight blue sheen to the actual metal gives away the fact that Kenobi’s sword does, in fact, have kyber enchantments.
He slits the tip of his finger on the exposed part of the blade, then scawls fey runes onto the preexisting runes already on the wall. They glow electric blue, matching the glow in Kenobi’s eyes as his glamour falls slightly. “Well,” he smiles back at Jango and Alpha-17, “you coming?”