An Echo Meets An Echo

[Aela Talith]

[member="Evelynn"]

Nemene stumbled.

She bit at her lip, her eyes wide and her gaze falling on all the things around her. She didn't quite understand what she was seeing, she didn't quite understand anything that was going on, but she did find herself feeling oddly at home. It was a sense of justice, a sense of right that she was here. That sense made a pit form in her stomach.

Somehow Nemene knew, somehow she knew what this place was.

Chaos.

The underworld, the place where Sith went to die. She scowled slightly, trying to remain hidden within the force. That was something she had never had to do before, her signature had always been laughably tiny. Now however, in this new body, things were different. She actually left a mark strong enough to notice.

That made her afraid.

They would be able to find her, the ghosts and wraiths of past Sith Lords. Nemene knew better than most what this place meant, knew better than most to be afraid. Her eyes darted all around, gaze shifting, searching for something, her nerves crackled and bit at her, on the edge.

She didn't like this.

 

[Evelynn]

This wasn't supposed to happen. Things weren't supposed to have turned out this way. She was destined for another afterlife, a small house out in the plains of Dantooine, with an old canine companion who had been long since waiting to see her again. That's how it was supposed to be.

Not this.

Never this.

It wasn't fair.

IT WASN'T FAIR!

Cast down from the perfect vision of heaven, a silly little girl called Evelynn Dorn had her wings cut and was cast down into the void, into hell, into Chaos. Those hands that had intervened in her life had guided her to this path and only this path. Vornskr, Ovmar, Talith.

Two of them were here. One of them she didn't judge so harshly. The other…

The...other…

She had thought [member="Nemene"] Talith was not strong enough in the Force to even make it to the suffering of Chaos, she had thought through a glimmer of unconscious consciousness that as she died her final parting gift to the galaxy was the final death of that monster. This was not the case.

She was alive. She was alive and well, so happily replacing her with some new blonde pet to slowly destroy over time in what was her favourite game of domination. She was alive while poor Evelynn rotted below, went mad below was stuck below knowing in what was her ultimate torment that Nemene Talith was still alive, and it steeped her only known in the afterlife.

The playing field shifted. Once she who was not gifted enough to come here was pushed, landing squarely in the mute spirit's side of the court.

Evelynn shambled slowly in tattered black robes, meta-physical flesh having begun the process of rotting long before this moment. One half of her face remained recognisable, eyes since long departing from that old Dorn green and into sickly Sith realm. The other half lacked an eye, the flesh over her cheek giving way to reveal the horrid maw that was her decrepit, decaying mouth.

Sweet reunion.

 

[Aela Talith]

Rage filled her almost instantly.

The screaming sounds of pain ripped through her mind, the words that Evelynn spoke biting and overlapping her own thoughts. It hurt, and pain surged through her, like a spike had been taken and driven into her skull. She winced, very nearly falling to her knees because of the pain. Her eyes shut, and she began to focus, trying to expel the familiar banshee from her mind.

It was no use of course.

Evelynn had always been the only one able to touch her thoughts, the only one who had been capable of piercing the barrier, the only one who had been allowed to caress her thoughts.

Now she used it to harm Nemene, now she dared to go against her Master. After what she had done! After what she had wrought for the two of them! Rage poured into Nemene, and almost immediately the carved lines of flesh began to glow a bright indigo, burning with carved lines that were so familiar to Nemenes skin.

“YOU!” She screamed as the figure approached.

There was no hesitation, not waiting, nothing. Nemene felt rage like she had never felt before. Red and black crackling appeared around her hand, and without a care in the world she threw it towards the specter of her former pet.

It was time to wipe away the past.

 

[Evelynn]

The lightning bit like an old lover's caress.

She had once lived for [member="Nemene"]'s pain, she had willingly taken it, relished and revelled in it. The streaks of red and black surrounded her, spiralling around those decrepit limbs, coursing through the woman and all around her. Nemene's pain had been Evelynn's pleasure and for so long that had worked, it was what made them both happy, standing once as near equals as the twin Queens of Rattatak.

Once.

Then it all spiralled downhill. Masochism became more liberal, not just reserved for the perfectly manicured hands of her bond sister and on the other side grew a more possessive element.

Lies. Poison. Betrayal.

Then suddenly they were down in the pits, Evelynn on her hands and knees sent steeping in the blood of her beloved creatures. Where had they gone so wrong? When did their own brand of twisted love turn into such violent, bitter hatred?

She continued to shamble forwards, the assault not stopping the grim spectre's advance but instead drawing a different kind of reaction. The decaying maw of the woman hung open, showing a discoloured bloated tongue lolling around within.

“…..gkk…..gkkkk…..gkkkk….gkk….gk…..gkkk..”

She was laughing.

 

[Aela Talith]

Confusion dawned on Nemene's face, but it was only for half a second.

The womans voice echoed in her mind again, and she found rage boiling within her. Rage was always the greatest fuel for the darkside of the force, was always the greatest tool that a Sith had. For Nemene that was doubly so, it fueled her, pushed her, made her want to do things that had once been impossible. With her new connection to the force, the rage that boiled within her was a greater motivator than anything.

“IT WAS YOUR FAULT!” She screeched like a banshee.

Her skin began that bright purple glow, lines on her face burning brightly.

Her eyes shifted, a small indigo pulse running through them. Anger mixed with a tint of jealousy.

“WE COULD HAVE LIVED FOREVER!” She cried. “BUT BECAUSE YOU COULDN'T HANDLE POWER, WE DIED.”

Of course Nemene had survived, but that didn't matter. Now now.

More lightning crackled.

 

[Evelynn]

The rotting woman's facial features shifted, tight palid flesh stretching over harsh bone, the mottled, weeping, oozing sores upon her face giving way to reveal the decaying muscle and skull beneath. It was an expression of surprise, one that quickly gave way to one of venomous scorn.

“….chhk…...gckk...”

Vicious red lightning still streaked across on course, the smell of burning rotten meat beginning to permeate the already putrid air that they existed in but still the gradual advance did not stop.

[member="Nemene"] spoke of handling power. She thought that Evelynn Dorn and Evie were one in the same but to handle real power one must have a mind in which they could call their own. Evie was a simpering fool that had no real consciousness, no real thoughts and concerns other than dancing to the tune that her piper played. Impatient and with little understanding of Sith magic it was no surprise that it all went so wrong when the petulant woman demanded more.

And more.

More.

But here power existed upon a different realm, the rules had been changed and in this so-called rejuvenation the spirit made putrid flesh knew that the shackles that bound all of her power was released. Evelynn raised a single arm up, fingers without nails, without flesh rigid and coiled as her palm came upwards. She was one with the very nature that surrounded her, and from the ground sprouted wicked vines, that would opt to bind around Nemene's legs.

 

[Aela Talith]

Nemene felt the constriction upon her legs, the ties of the vines that cut into her flesh and began to pull at her. She felt panic rise for a brief moment, but the searing anger within her quickly cut it into bite sized pieces. She would not falter! Not for this whelp! Not for her! Not for anyone! A scowl crossed her face, and rage began to boil within her.

“No!” She screeched.

Her hands dashed down, latices of Force Destruction cutting from her fingertips and slicing through the vines.

They fell away, piece by piece into they were naught but ash.

Her bright orange Gaze returned to the shambling corpse that she had once called her Sister, that called her Sister now. Nemene scowled, hatred growing in her eyes like never before. Force destruction surrounded her palms, peeling away at layers of skin.

“You were never my sister.” She spat. “Always just a whelp.”

She threw a wave of destruction towards Evelynn, hoping to eradicate the creature.

 

[Evelynn]

The statement didn't have much sting to it.

After all, when stood right next to the atrocities inflicted upon Evelynn by this cruel sadist calling her a whelp wasn't much for a burn, barely even a scratch. In the haze of time and the depredation of memory the deceased woman couldn't even recall if [member="Nemene"] Talith had ever really loved her. She couldn't deny that once upon a time what she felt for the other woman was love, certainly a twisted form of such.

But still love.

Did she never feel the same? Likely, the only true affections that [member="Nemene"] felt were found in the other side of the mirror. Conceited wicked vanity.

The blast of Force destruction completely eradicated the shambling woman. Returning her flesh to the dust where it once remained. Was that it? Grand confrontation over in a flash? A single wave of destruction and the horror ended.

“Do not say such things, Sister.”

The voice, perfectly clear came from behind Nemene. Lips at her left ear.

Death played a different game on this plane, and the rules were only just now being established. In her ambush the reformed Evelynn moved to wrap her arms around the woman's waist in twisted embrace. Her right arm would aim to snake upwards, grabbing at the shoulder while the left continued to coil around those supple hips.

The difference here was that she had reformed in the appearance of her prime. Face covered in tight porcelain flesh highlighting those angular Dorn features, those dead grey eyes that had been blessed by a kiss, arms adorning all the pleasurable scars of their time spent in bliss.

“You do not mean it,” she whispered, physical voice soft yet menacing.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Evelynn"]

It was too sudden.

Nemene was fast. Perhaps the fastest force user the galaxy had ever seen, besides her father. She could move a dozen paces in the blink of an eye. Strike with her fist like a viper. Bite into someones throat and end them before they could even flinch. Yet she could not teleport, and she could not see the future.

So when Evelynn appeared behind her, when he woman reanimated from nothing and grasped at her, she succeeded.

Hands snaked around her, grasping at her, trying to hold her. She panicked, a pulse of fear rushing through her before anger once again overcame it. The Darkside rushed through her, the purple lines etching further and further into her skin. The scars began to glow, rimming the sockets of her eyes. She hissed, and attempted to lash out.

Nemene threw her elbow back, tossing it towards Evelynns nose.

“Silence!” She hissed loudly, throwing herself backward and desperately trying to claw her way free of the wretched creature.

 

[Evelynn]

The elbow snapped back with a vicious crunch, tossing the woman's head back but not managing to shed Evelynn's hold upon the woman. It didn't take long for the blood to start pouring from her nostrils, a sensation that oh, just made her head spin so.

They were thrown backwards with little resistance met from the delicate woman, instead once they were on the ground with [member="Nemene"] atop her Evelynn moved her legs, trying to wrap them around her sister's own.

“I've missed this,” she hissed into the woman's ear, getting so close as to let the blood from her nose stain the furious purple etched flesh, “I remember when you used to make me bleeeeeeeeed.”

For having such a delicate frame Evelynn seemed to remain impossibly stiff, as if rigour mortis had remained within her flesh. She kept her composure within this personal torment, keeping her lips a mere fraction away from her sister's ear, so close that her cold dead breath would have surely tickled.

“Do you missssss it?”

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Evelynn"]

The one advantage that Nemene had always had over Evelynn was her size. With Surahs body this was no different. She was a bit skinnier than her usual form, but still taller and more broad, still bigger. It helped that Evelynn no matter how you looked at her was a tiny little thing, not much more than skin and bones really.

So when the two women crashed to the ground, Nemene simply thrashed.

Like a wild animal she kicked and bucked, moving and dancing against Evelynn. Kicking, elbowing, and even trying to punch behind her until she finally managed to free herself from the accursed wretch that had once been her sister.

She let out a swear. “No! You disgusting little piece of filth!”

Nemene lashed out again. This time she tried something different, this time she closed her fist and simply tried to crush Evelynn into nothingness.

 

[Evelynn]

Hurtful.

This little body got Force destroyed, this little body got crushed, the next little body had roast beef and the one after that anchored your soul to Chaos with her for eternity. Whee whee whee all the way home.

It was quite macabre, the way that everything just folded into itself. Silk into flesh, flesh into muscle, muscle into the bone that jutted out in great vicious splinters, decorated by the crimson of gratuitous bloodshed. The sight left was truly grotesque, like something the shapers of the Yuuzhan Vong would worship. Organic pain.

Again she reappeared. Taking on a different form than before. This time Evelynn sat a little away from her former bond sister, looking oh-so-painfully thin. It would have been a familiar sight, might have been [member="Nemene"]'s favourite sight for some time. She looked like a woman that had already wasted away, legs sitting out in front of her, bones broken and splintered. A cry back to the poisoned day.

The spectre looked listless, perhaps even sad.

A pout formed upon dry and cracked lips as Evelynn begun to wave and weave a single hand through the air. Simple elegant gesturing or something far more sinister? The expression upon the bed-ridden creatures face darkened, her anaemic eyes looking to Nemene in an accusing manner. As if she could summon a drop of guilt from that woman, she was no better than a Zambrano. Pointless monstrosities.

 

[Aela Talith]

Nemene scowled in disgust.

“You pitiful little wretch.” She practically spat the words. There was anger to her words, a bite. Nemene was clearly angry about this whole situation. This wasn't how it was supposed to have been, this wasn't how it was supposed to have gone.

She was supposed to have lived, and Evelynn died.

Evelynn...no Evie...should have been vanquished, destroyed, torn apart by Chaos. She was not supposed to be here, she was not supposed to be able to do this. She was not supposed to be able to best her. The scowl on her face deepened, the purple lines on her face darkened, and the bright orange glow to her eyes became set.

“Evie.” The word was as bad as a curse. “You've been bad.”

Nemene would reassert her dominance, she would take control.

A fierceness entered her gaze.

 

[Evelynn]

Less destruction, less crushing, more talking. This was the change of pace that Evelynn wanted, a small slick smile coming to her gaunt features as [member="Nemene"] brought out that old haunting moniker. A single hand continued to weave, fingers twisting in intricate formation, it was actually, unknowingly a startling similar manner as to how her mother wielded Sith Magic. It was calm, it was controlled, the only thing missing was a sharp tongue and permanent sneer.

From out of her previous form of flesh spawned a small wasp. Wasn't noticeable. It didn't move to attack but it was there, sat atop a fragment of broken bone. Nothing grand, nothing spectacular. Just one little wasp.

A small rasping giggle came from her mottled voice box as she continued those very same motions.

 

[Aela Talith]

Evelynn had gone mad.

Nemene shouldn't blame her of course, she shouldn't have been able to fault her for going crazy in a place like this, in chaos. Yet she did. She found herself angry, she found herself mad that the Sith Sorceress was insane, that she was no longer coherrent, that she was no longer able to think, no longer able to listen.

“EVIE!” She screamed.

It would resound within the underworld, echoing with the force, a powerful familiar command to attention.

 

[Evelynn]

Of course in the eyes of Nemene Talith's massively engorged ego, no longer obeying equated to no longer being able to think.

Evelynn was still able to think.

However those thoughts were fractured, broken and scattered. Emotions were conflicted and didn't work in tandem with what made sense in the real world. How would she have really functioned in this situation? Well, she would have been dead, firstly. Resentful next. Full of scorn in knowing that she was bound to Chaos while Nemene was not, full of hurt for the replacement she had chosen.

Perhaps a drop of longing. So much time had passed. She missed her sister's intimacy, pain intermingled with pleasure. In the height of their whirlwind everything had been so perfect, she felt as though she had been living life the way it was mean to be lived. Was it so wrong to miss that?

The scream in the Force barely phased the deathly woman, a physical impact being shown by the small slivers of crimson that slowly tricked from her ears. However in response she only smiled, a small polite expression that didn't fit very well on her current gaunt and pallid features.

 

[Aela Talith]

[member="Evelynn"]

She didn't understand.

Was Evie completely broken? Had all her training, all her conditioning been completely wiped away by Chaos? Had everything she done to Evelynn been for naught? Had the afterlife seen her cleansed? No. It couldn't be. The girl craved affection, love, that was a hint, that was a memory, that meant that Evelynn remembered at least a part of their relationship.

Nemene's lips turned down in a frown.

What would she have done? What would she had done if they were still alive? If they had been back on Rattatak and Evelynn had been acting his way. Slowly the thought creeped into her head, the idea, it found its way into her skull.

She looked at Evie, then scowled, bright orange eyes looking superior and snobbish.

“No.” The syllable would sting like a wasp. “You don't deserve it.”

 

[Evelynn]

The woman pouted, features playful. The fleeting worry of mortality keeping Evelynn from being too, or in fact at all distraught or disappointed. She tilted her head back in the other direction, the thin flesh over her neck stretching to reveal all definition.

One didn't love Nemene Talith for her kisses after all, well maybe kisses of a different nature. A kiss with a blade meant much more than a kiss with the lips.

Evelynn opted for a different game. Despite being long since dead, Nemene like still thought she held possession over the frail woman. It wasn't her jealousy that she was trying to play, it was her sense of entitlement and ownership. Whether or not she had discarded them, Nemene was never too fond of other people playing with her things. That's where their problems had truly began.

The single hand remained upon course, a few more stinging wasps emerging from the altar of twisted flesh.

A very slow and deliberate smile crept upon Evelynn's face. She held knowledge that [member="Nemene"] was likely not privy to. After they had their demise at the hands of mistreated slaves they went further. Because there was another that played her part in their brutal games, one that had been one of them, one that had killed her own kind in elevation to the top. One that fled, and got hunted down.

 

[Aela Talith]

She reigned herself in.

This was a game. Evelynn was trying to get a rise out of her, to get her angry. I twas working. The glow to her scars grew darker, the spark within her eyes grew into a flame. Her muscles tensed, her body seemed to shift, and her entire form seemed to vibrate with energy. She wanted to smash the womans face in. She wanted to beat Evelynn until there was nothing left.

Her lips turned down into a scowl.

Nemene's hands slowly turned into a fist, muscles and tendons flexing, arms shaking in rage. A purple glow began to surround her, moving beyond the scars, beyond the lines crisscrossing her body. It was quite a sight, one that had only been seen once before.

“Good.” Nemene spat. “She was a rat.”

“Just as you are a rat.” There was a bit to those words, a truth perhaps? It didn't matter, she very likely could have just been trying to put on a show for Evelynn. Make it seem like she didn't care, like it didn't matter, like she was still in charge.

Her eyes closed.

Then snapped open.

In the blink of an eye Nemene moved forward, her hands reached out like vipers, one reaching for Evelynns throat, the other punching her in the face.

 

[Evelynn]

Her smile widened further as she drew sweet ire from her former sister. Evelynn simply sat and observed, hands absent-mindedly playing with her splintered legs. She watched those clenched fists and tensing muscles, that same aura of ominous purple being displayed like a maniacal peacock flushing his feathers.

It didn't fly. Calling Evelynn a rat was believable, she could see those words laced with a certain truth but Cerise? No. She had been a slave with a warped sense of loyalty towards a woman who abused her so. Stupid, yes. A rat? No. The creature had stuck by her when she had nothing else, no power, nothing.

Calling Cerise a rat was simply a deflection, to make it seem that words could not affect Nemene. Evelynn at least knew that much, which accounted for the overly sweet smile upon her face.

The time for consideration ended however as the frail spectre was grabbed by the throat and given a horrendous punch to the face. It broke her nose in brutal fashion, sending blood rushing forth to drip down her philtrum and onto her lower lip.

She revelled in it, the physicality, the hand around her neck, the flow of crimson. The pain of Chaos couldn't compare to what Nemene use to grant her.