Dev City of Jade

[Sawa Ike]

Sawa had been taken to a bed to sleep. She hadn't wanted to leave Nine Lives but she was not that strong and skilled yet... no she was looking at the wall and her cloths were still soaked... under the bare covers she was at least able to conceal a little of her modesty. The keisei was tending to her and mostly trying to make sure she hadn't swallowed half the river that was tainted she had said with the bodies that had been left within it... the sour taste in her mouth was in contrast to the kiss with Ni-Ne... she sat up in the makeshift bed though and was looking at the other woman but had one arm over her chest. "What happened?" She askled it and she remembered.. she knew.

"You were attacked with Ni-Ne... the jedi seems to have handled them though and he is tended to her." The keisei was looking upon her though as they went over at some of the things... she had some food that could be eaten and some water but Sawa rose up and stood there as she saw her wet and soiled clothing from the mud that was being taken away. The small outer layer of a kimono was given to her so that she would be able to cover herself as she stumbled out to go and try to find Ni-Ne... between the two of them they had a lot of dangerous things tha needed to be discussed and if they were continuing to be hunted it would be a dangerous thing to keep a group.

"More and more we seem to be getting drawn into a fight between offworlders." She said it and had a small sneer on her face where she was looking and trying to move when her hand came out and touched the ruined wall. "Ni-ne." her throat was dr and felt raw... the shout came out raspy but she was able to feel her... she could feel Ni-Ne closer when she approached and came into the room to look at her. A sense of pride and warmth radiating from her. She looked towards Ni-Ne though and moved quickly falling to her knees and just wrapping her arms around her. "I was so worried about you." Sawa breathed in the scent as she ignored the ruined coverings she had but she didn't feel anything but the other woman.

 

[Nine Lives]

Ni-Ne was so greatful to see Sawa Ike that she hugged her as tightly as she could.

"As long as you are alive..." she breathed, smelling Sawa's hair, feeling The Blood Tiger within stir.

(MGS4 Main Menu Theme plays for a few seconds.)

(Psyche Meter Raised!)

Ni-Ne stood up.

"If only there was no giant starship trying to kill us and we didn't have to be badass vampire hunters." She whispered. "We would dance in the golden meadows of my Castle, where the golden skinned Deer herds graze upon azure grasses, the sun colored cherry blossom trees nearly glowing gold in the sunset. It is one of the most beautiful lands in all the world.

(Gary Oldman Dracula Theme plays for a few seconds)

(Cutaway of Blade landing in a badass manner and screaming Deacon Frost's last names.)

"But we have vermin to kill. And therefore we must be badass."

Ni-Ne frowned as she said this, trying to think it out.

"My mother draws from the same source Maranon does. I want to study that weapon of theirs. The same one Albrecht has. My sword...it broke."

Ni-Ne hugged Sawa again, wishing the embrace could last longer than it did. Sawa was a reason to survive after saving Atrisia.

She soon was outside with Sawa and found Albrecht checking over an old but still working datapad in the campsite outside.

"Awake huh?" He asked without looking.

"Those Shinobi you killed. You still have their weapons?" Ni-Ne asked.

"You are not ready for such a weapon, Padawan. A Lightsaber is a tool to protect the innocent. Not to crush your enemies."

"How do I become worthy?"

"There is a tomb. It is within the swamp. Your father said even Kain Li dreaded it."

Ni-Ne went deathly pale. She knew this story.

"The Tomb of Ersethy?! It's here? In this swamp?!" the newly minted Padawan asked in shock and fear.

Ersethy. A foreign witch from a world beyond that had been a scourge when she had found their world. Her crimes on the planet so enraged The Atrisian Gods that they struck her dead by instagibbing her with a gigantic rock as she traveled a forest. But Ersethy had been so evil, her darkness so foul that even after her soul had been literally burned to Oblivion by the Fire God Kagutsuchi, the burst apart body remained in a perpetual state of fetid rot, constantly producing abominations from partly liquid remains. Not even the Gods could destroy it. Eventually, The Gods commanded the priests that worshipped them to place as many holy wards around the eternally rotting remains as possible and construct a tomb around it that would keep the evil sealed within permanently. When the founder of The Li-Ves, Kain, had come across the tomb in his mad (and, it must be emphasized, quite naked) state. It was clear that the tomb itself was the only thing keeping Ersethy's evil from escaping. But the rocks had been blessed by the Gods. The Evil could never actually leave. Kain, even in his late nineties, when his sanity had recovered enough that he had finally started to wear clothes again (Though to his credit, he was ripped AF to the day he died.), would still refuse to speak of what he experienced.

Albrecht nodded. "You must face the evil within that tomb...and within yourself."

"I still need a weapon."

"No you don't." Albrecht corrected, shaking his head. "That's the mistake all the others made. I will however, offer some advice."

"What?" Ni-Ne asked.

"Trust 'only' in The Force." Albrecht said firmly. "It binds and connects all living things, and it will show you the way out of the death trap I am sending you into."

"Thanks for reminding me its a death trap. So 'incredibly' helpful." Ni-Ne muttered.

"Part of the service, Lady Li-Ves." Albrecht said with a grin.

"Dude, I'm going into a fethin' death trap. The least you could do is not smile about it."

"Your father's temper runs in you. That, I think, is your greatest flaw. You are quick to judgement. Have you even stopped to consider whether it is worth it to prevent The Sacred Ancestor from reaching Atrisia?"

"That ship will murder the entire Jade City!" the daughter of Shimada hissed, offended.

"Hear me out, Ni-Ne. Look where you and Lady Ike were sent. A gilded prison. The Emperor's a tyrannical bastard. Paranoid and power hungry."

"That's not the fault of the civilians beneath him!" Ni-Ne replied angrily.

"But it is the fault of those who kept him and the royal lineage in power, watching him grow worse and worse, Ni-Ne, yet doing nothing. Like your own family. If you prevent The Sacred Ancestor from destroying the city, you'll save it, certainly...but you would also be saving the regime. Perhaps it is better the city be destroyed so that the people will see where The Emperor's power hungry nature led them, and act accordingly. So that Atrisia might finally have a representative democracy."

"I will never put politics above people's lives!" the Padawan said fiercely, before storming away, leaving him alone with Sawa for a moment.

"You should absolutely do everything you can to encourage that sentiment she just expressed, Lady Ike. "But you should also temper it as you do. Her feelings do her credit, but they can also serve as a means to her downfall. Those who enter the tomb must have as little selfishness within them as possible. If she had agreed with me, she would definitely 'not' have been ready..." he grumbled, before tossing her a small bag.

"Take that to her. It contains the map to the tomb. And a few other things..."

Albrecht stared at the fire.

"Your life link with her is powerful Sawa. If the darkness threatens to overcome her, you may be her only source of strength. But there is great and terrible danger in this for you as well...go to her. May The Force be with you both..."

(Zelda Acquisition Theme Plays)

(Ni-Ne and Sawa got new items!)

Item: FORCE FOCUSING VISOR (Ni-Ne & Sawa)

Spoiler

A mysterious device of unknown origin, This Visor helps Force Adepts channel the Force easier. As this is so incredibly early in galactic history, the models here are bulky, inelegant prototypes that fit unpleasantly over the head and have exposed wiring, and can only be worn a maximum of thirty minutes at a time every 007 hours to avoid brain damage from the intense electromagnetic radiation generated by its Spine-Mounted belt power source as well as the nausea incurred from using the devices. The Jedi Council believes them to be the product of covert government or corporate research seeking to exploit Force Adepts in a military capacity, and it is possible the blue prints were stolen and sold or even deliberately leaked onto the Black Market as a trial run to refine later models. Standard Jedi Protocol is to confiscate these devices upon sighting.

Albrecht, however, never logged these into contraband...

Item: KARAKEN GAUNTLETS (Sawa)

Spoiler

Extremely early versions of the hand mounted medical computers later sold during the Jedi Civil War, These gauntlets are extremely bulky, basically a prototype supercomputer within a set of armored gloves attached to stiff mesh braces going up to the shoulder lined with sensors. In ideal conditions, they monitor and regulate the user's blood pressure and nervous system as well as pain response, enabling them to recover from shock, greatly reduce pain and and swelling, as well as slightly reduce the loss of blood and maintain stamina and alertness during long hours of physical activity. However due to its bulky, prototype nature, its easily interfered with by Ion and magnetics, and their stiff nature makes it difficult for the inexperienced to move with them.

They really aren't meant for the field at this point in their development but Albrecht has cultivated connections for years in all the right places to obtain these and the desperate situation warrants them.

Item: IMPERIAL ARMY MEDPAC (Ni-Ne)

Spoiler

The very latest Atrisian Military First Aid, containing prototype medical equipment such as synth flesh, laser surgery tools, and drugs. It even has small vials of Kolto, rediculously rare at this point in time. Due to the expense of The Atrisian Emperor using actual Kolto (And technically making him in charge of one of the best supplied militaries in The Galaxy) researchers have 'cut' the healing drug with compatible chemicals and coagulants, resulting in nausea and blurry vision when used, and due to the imperfect delivery of the drug, heals severe wounds incredibly slowly, making hospitalization in such an event still a primary method.

 

[Sawa Ike]

Nine Lives

She was there with Ni-ne and listening to what was happening and where they had to go. There was a lot of danger in terms of entering a tomb as she and the Keisai had well mostly prepared for anything... but seeing how angry Ni-ne was getting and upset made her worried about her... that much could burn you up and out before she was listening and looking at the equipment that was being given to them. She listened ot the jedi master and if she was needed to protect Ni-ne then she would do what she must... she would be there to make sure the darkness wasn't going to harm the one sh cared about... no loved.. no... something maybe.. she wasn't certain about it.

Sawa looked at the woman when she went outside to try and find Ni-Ne as she sat there meditating and holding in front of her the journal it looked like she used. The pages were blank and she spoke. "She went that way... you should be careful this is not a safe place for the unaware and we seem to have an inability to fully shake anyone as they just find us." She said it and had reapplied her make up with crimson streaks on her face that looked like bolts of lightning. Sawa was moving and blew out a line of air before she was checking some things out int he swamped ruins of the old city... There was great danger here but they would hopefully be able to do a lot with it.

"Ni-Ne" she said it and was heading to try and find her before checking out a few of the parts they did... where they would be able to look and find it. She needed to be able to try and temper.. to control Ni-ne in a way that would at least not have her senselessly killing and rushing off... she didn't know if she could do it but the idea of running away and just letting everyone not have to count on them was becoming increasingly welcoming. The droid her mother had given her whooped as it followed her coming to lead the way and take her to see Ni-ne with a nod before producing a small tanto blade it had retrieved from one of its fallen foes... actually there were several blades.

She was looking at the little droid and he took being a protector to her seriously.... really seriously as she had seen him spin around with those blades and slice into everything... even using blasters and the handheld crossbows that were being used for some of the guards. She was searching for Ni-Ne and finally found her as Sawa paused for a moment feeling her mouth go dry.. her hands were covered in a sheen of sweat suddenly before she just wanted to run over there but it might startle her... but if she crept up it might confuse her... and why did everything taste coppery all of a sudden as she strode over with an even stride allowing her footfalls to come down quietly but also be heard.

"Ni-Ne." She said it and moved to join her mostly with what equipment she had and spoke softly... trying for calming but she didn't really have it. If anything she sounded more scared when her words came out. "I don't know what plans he has for you but there is a lot of danger here... more coming and... I don't know if we are going to make it. We keep getting side tracked and distracted and everything seems to make you upset.... I might not be the best warrior but I know anger can cloud judgement and endanger one in combat." She said it and waited there for any heat or anger to subside before she continued. "We just need to get there... we have the plans, we have someone who can ge us into the moutains... we just need to find a way to stop things."

 

[Nine Lives]

Ni-Ne meditated at the edge of the swamp, feeling Sawa Ike once more seek her out. It was like trying to seperate magnets...you had to pull them away from each other entirely.

Sawa expressed her fears as Ni-Ne stood to face her."

"I know we keep getting sidetracked. I know that. But I feel something, Sawa..."

Ni-Ne took Sawa by the hand, staring deep into her eyes.

"We will get to the Mountains. I have a plan to get us there. But neither of us stand a chance without weapons like Albrechts, like those Shinobi. Sparrow Shinobi always creeped me right out. Motherfethers never say a word hardly...but these...these Shinobi are powered by the same dark Sorcery as Maranon. My mother is the same."

(Cutaway of Maple Harte fighting The Amalgam in the Lair of The Mechanical Empress)

"We need to find a way to prove ourselves worthy of using Sorcery ourselves..." Nine thought out loud. "You must come to the tomb with me. I think we can both prove ourselves worthy. It makes sense because two witches are better than one witch. If one witch dies, at least the other has a chance still to save Atrisia...and besides...part of me wants you there because I think Albrecht is scared of you."

(Cutaway of Darth Shojo ruling the Necropolis.)

(Cutaway of Ni-Ne's hubris coming back to bite her as Darth Shojo captures her in The Ancient Morpheus Labs.)

"We'll make for this tomb...then...I promise, we will go to the mountains. And then...then we find a way to the Sacred Ancestor from those mountains..." Ni-Ne promised her, taking the gear. "If we hurry, we can make it there by nightfall. But I promise we will go to the mountains one way or another. Just trust me."

Three hours later...

The tomb was a crude, brutalist block structure, with a number of Atrisian wards. The entrance was sealed off by a cracked mirror. Ni-Ne felt only a death sensation within the Force around it. She ventured slowly across ash soil, the fetid swamp odor stinging the air around the tomb. Ni-Ne silently signalled Sawa to keep a few steps behind her, wanting to take the full brunt in case it was a booby trap.

Ni-Ne approached the mirror entrance, her reflection hazy and indistinct.

"I don't understand..." she muttered, turning to Sawa.

"How do we open it?"

 

[Sawa Ike]

Sawa listened to Nine Lives and she was nodding her head to that.. he jedi did seem to have something against her being there or the two of them being together... it might be any number of things but she wasn't blind to it. Instead breathing in and then out as she calmed herself and stayed there with Ni-ne for a moment longer. THey would do what they had to do and they would make it... they couldn't afford to fail.. or maybe they could and just run away together... find themselves their own thing if they took one of those starships... they could just runaway and go anywhere in the stars. She was thinking about it for a moment there as the mention of the tomb came to her and she didn't want to go.

Then they were traveling through the swamp and marsh... the keisei stayed behind to well hold down the fort as it were and mostly pack everything up for them so that they would be able to leave quickly hopefully as Sawa breathed through her nose. She was looking around at the swamp and then at the entrance of it.. what they had to get through first and again her mind nagged with the lets just go back but it wasn't from fear. If the jedi was sending them this far out... or sending her out then there was a danger and it was supposed to be able to be open by Ni-Ne. "He sent you out here there would have to be a way that you can open it."

She said it and stood there for a moment looking it over but staying back as Ni-Ne indicated with a nod of her head that she wanted to try and help her out. The sounds of the swamp and dampness in the air was there. She could just feel the dampness clinging to her skin as she stayed there near Ni-Ne and looked around trying to find a way into the cave tomb... thing.... "I do have a bad feeling about this though." She said it and it felt familiar almost like they might be saying that a lot if things continued and Sawa moved into some of the swamp she didn't like the feeling of mud on her shoes before she smelled older rotting vegetation.

She was looking around and stopped as some fo the reeds around the swamp rustled before Sawa withdrew a blade and K1 came wheeling through the reeds to find them using his repulsors to hover around them and he was beeping and whooping for a moment before setting down and Sawa couldn't understand him yet but she was getting the general idea... her mother had given it to her to well protect her and she had gotten it to accept protecting Ni-Ne above anyone else.... It produced a light looking around at them as the red eye of its photoreceptor came about. He seemed to be scanning the area and doors where they were while moving Sawa to stand next to Ni-ne.

"Okay okay." She said it as she moved to stand there next to Ni-ne and the droid was producing a blaster to attack the door and power its way through for them. The lights and scanners were showing it a way in... hopefully... maybe... or he just wanted to blow things up.... given how he was always seeming to enjoy the shooting things and people both options were entirely possible.... more then likely possiblle... they might want to stand back in case he tried to blow up the doorway. Sawa moved her hand swiftly for Ni-nes and was moving back a little as the droid opened fire with a plasma arc cutting into the stone itself and was making an area for it to get through.

Sawa looked at the droid who seemed pleased with itself and she looked at Ni-ne... "I think th real danger is making him mad." She pointed and whispered with a look at the droid while motioning... if they were to go in then they should go in together.. they should stand tall and be prepared for anything that might be a danger..... her thoughts were steel... here thoughts iron that would be strong for Ni-ne..... then a rat dropped from the ceiling of the tomb with the roots and grass as she let out a squeal and felt something on her back while she looked at it hopping up and down to shake them off. "Eww... eww ewww get them off."

 

[Nine Lives]

Ni-Ne marveled as the little droid K1 decided, 'Feth it' and began cutting a hole in the tomb.

"Wow, those--Astromechs, right? Those Astromechs sure have a lot of tricks. I'm gonna have to get one of my own sometime. I wonder if they can be made to resemble people..." Ni-Ne trailed, clearly fascinated by the idea as she had access to off world comics and cheesy action horror films due to her high status. Formerly high status anyway.

She was glad Sawa Ike had gone with her. She repeatedly got brave when required, and that made Ni-Ne's blood get warm. How she yearned for them to have met under any other circumstance. But it was what it was.

As they stepped into the tomb, Sawa squeeled as a rat landed on her. Ni-Ne laughed a bit as Sawa screamed to get it off her and Ni-Ne pushed the squeaking rat off.

"Sawa, relax its just a AHHHHHHSNAKESNAKESNAKESNAKEGETITOFFMEAGGGHHHHH!!!!"

Ni-Ne was terrified of snakes, and one had dropped into her robe from above and Ni-Ne was jumping up and down, removing her clothing as though it were diseased and squealing even louder than Sawa did, now only in traditional Atrisian Undergarments as she frantically hopped away from the snake as it slithered out of her clothing. She hopped and hung from an overgrown root with her hands until it had slithered away.

Once it had, Ni-Ne calmly dropped to the ground and put her clothes back on without a word. She composed herself and started to lead Sawa forward when she felt something move on her scalp.

It was a giant tarantula that had nested in her black hair. It was so large its eyes could be seen fething blinking at Sawa. It was big and long legged and hairy. It should be reiterated that it was in Ni-Ne's hair.

The screech that tore from Ni-Ne's throat when it started kneeding her scalp like a cat on a bed made K1's audio sensors overload as she raced back out of the tomb yelling at the top of her lungs, shaking her head but the giant tarantula seemed determined to cling leading to Ni-Ne's increased shrieks, especially when it crawled into her robe like the snake had. Ni-Ne frantically stripped off her clothes again and ran away from them, not realizing the giant spider was still clinging to her hair until she felt its large hair body bump against the small of her back.

With a shriek, Ni-Ne whipped her head around and finally dislodged it and it scurried away into the swamp lands.

Ni-Ne went silent, took a second to compose herself, redressed, and then went back into the tomb without any mention of what happened previously.

"We must not linger." she finaly spoke, voice hoarse from screaming, too proud to call attention to it. She led the way, feeling an awful, cold feeling the deeper she went, a fetid, rotted smell starting to be noticeable.

There were also snarls up ahead. Ni-Ne tensed, ready to defend Sawa...by hiding primarily behind K1 as the droid was equipped with weapons. Nah, just kidding. She was ready to League of Shadows whatever was ahead with her bare hands if she had to.

As the passage began to open up more they began to find the bodies of previous explorers. The tomb seemed larger on the inside than the out...

Ni-Ne came across a Mural of Ersethy cast in stone. It depicted an elderly woman slaying Yovshin with terrible curses uttered from her mouth before being struck dead by a divine meteor hurled by The Gods of Atrisia. The construction of the tomb and the effects of Ersethy's lingering evil were documented on other murals.

A pulse of Darkness from the tomb itself dropped Ni-Ne to her knees before she found herself asserting calm and rose.

"We must hurry quickly. Something...called to me..." she admitted, heading for where she thought the center of the tomb was.

 

[Sawa Ike]

Nine Lives

Sawa was calming herself down... looking at Ni-Ne with a frown on her face. THey were still going to go inside..... but why.... She wanted to leave and take Ni-Ne but then she was shrieking and stripping... suddenly all thoughts about leaving went away when she stood there looking and could feel heat in her cheeks. She stayed there for a moment and after the first outburst she was going over there to try and help her get redressed. Taking a little time o pretend to avert her eyes. Then Ni-ne was running out of the cave and she was stripping down to get more things off of her and Sawa bit her tongue so she wouldn't laugh... this was not a laughing matter.... it was outright hilarious.

She looked at Ni-Ne though afterwards as she was trying to be so composed and breathed in and then out with the calming effects from older meditations. Taking a moment before they continued into the cave deeper and deeper. She thought about what to say but moved just closer... staying there near Ni-Ne and she moved to comfort her... calm her nerves with physical contact as she put a hand to the small of her back... her body pressing a little closer when she strained her hearing to listen to what might be coming but she had her other hand on her sword. The sound of snarls came before she held her breath for a moment allowing herself to find a stillness.

Then she was looking around the large area they were in, the light from K1 was there and he had been moving silently before Sawa stayed there letting herself expand outwards... she didn't know what it was but she could feel something and if this was what Maranon had been wanting Ni-Ne for then she would just have to use it to protect her. She would have to make sure it was a powerful use to the two of them so they could be protected and she drew her blade with a nod of her head. Ni-Ne spoke and Sawa nodded her head as she breathed out moving with her towards what would hopefully be the center of the cave and something they would find.

 

[Nine Lives]

As she led the way deeper into the tomb, Ni-Ne went cold, a terrible, forboding sense of evil pulsing through the rocks, held back by ancient prayers. She tried to still her mind, keep her emotions in check as she led Sawa Ike

She dreaded being in this tomb. Her own Clan's founders, Kain Li and Luci Ves dreaded this evil hell hole.

Ersethy had been vile beyond what words can describe. So vile the Gods themselves grew revolted by her crimes. But even in the complete destruction of her very soul, Ersethy's evil had been so all encompassing it simply would not die. Her blasted apart remains, eternally in a state of putrid rot sprang forth all manner of evil. No one knew where she had come from. It didn't matter.

She began to see gore on the walls, the stink became almost overwhelming before she entered a chamber too large to be in the tomb. She saw prayer wards written in glowing blue ink on the walls to surround the pulsating filth at the center of the darkened chamber.

Ni-Ne recoiled in disgust. She could actually make out the remains of a figure, skeleton warped and twisted by eons, spoiled looking muscles and organs and skin bubbling around and hanging off it. The skull had fragments of the divine meteor that had killed her jutting out.

But worse is that...things...seemed to be constantly trying to tear their way out of her remains, only to be held under the wriggling tissues by some unknown force. Strange arcs of purple energy surrounded it on the floor. The feeling if cold and evil was very intense.

"Bah, I don't like this place, Sawa..." Ni-Ne said, trying not to vomit as she clasped Sawa's hand. "I'm not sure what the hell I'm supposed to confront but--"

The lights went out. She clutched Sawa's hands on instinct.

When the lights went on, Ni-Ne went quiet in true dread.

There were copies of her and Sawa, everywhere, missing their eyes, all surrounding them and smiling. Some crawled on the walls and ceiling, their heads twisting a full one-eighty to face and stare at them from above.

They said nothing. They did not move, only stared, smiling. Ni-Ne was pail from fear, not daring to blink lest they move closer. She saw a prayer ward on the wall glow in gold. Instinct told her they had to reach it. Without blinking.

"Sawa..." she whispered. "Listen to me very carefully. Do not blink. At all. If we blink, we die. Horribly."

The heads of their copies started to shake violently at high speed until they were a blur.

"CLOSEYOUREYES.CLOSETHEM.CLOSETHEM.CLOSETHEM..." they hissed in unison, which became a terrible roar in their minds as Ni-Ne began to lead Sawa very carefully to the golden ward...

 

[Sawa Ike]

Nine Lives

Sawa was holding her hand and whatever she was feeling was gone... chased away by the warmth in her hand that she could focus on and she could feel a lot more of it... she could feel Ni-Ne's unease and then fear as she narrowed her eyes with a look at them refusing to blink with her hand still holding onto Ni-Nes... she was allowing herself a moments pause while she was moving and then she could see what they were doing and her free hand went to her hip. The hilt of her sword warm in her hand before she was moving and pressing against the wall and Ni-Ne... they could make it to the ward and she breathed in and out steadying herself as she felt something in her mind.. a tickle for a moment but then she was assured more in herself compared to what she thought might be happening..... Ni-Ne had the plan but there was more here as she slammed a foot down and several rocks came up.

The rocks were coming up and Sawa swiped her hand, impacting the rock as she lashed out. "LEAVE US ALoNE." She shouted it while moving towards the ward and watched one of the things get smacked in the face before falling off of the wall and she forced herself not to blink for the moment when she was trying to get Ni-Ne there to the ward and she focused her anger and rage that these things were getting in the way of what she wanted... she just wanted them to go away.... her mind shouting out as the air shimmered and sparked.... sparks of arcing blue-white energy crackling down her hands as she blinked and something came at her as her eyes stung with tears forming from how dry they were.... she lashed out and it was there twitching on the ground as smoke rose up from it

 

[Nine Lives]

Ni-Ne battled her fear of the horrors in the chamber. Sawa Ike needed her...or so she had thought.

But when Sawa unleashed that powerful blast from within, Ni-Ne didn't know it at the time, but Sawa had just taken her first real steps to becoming Darth Shojo. The others hissed at her amidst their psychic roar advancing slowly but menacingly, bloody lesions appearing everywhere as they reached forth to consume them both just as Ni-Ne reached the Golden Ward. The instant her fingers touched it, the evil of the tomb was momentarily suppressed. The monsters vanished. Then the chamber vanished, replaced by a black ring. Ni-Ne looked for Sawa but she wasn't there.

"No Prefect to hold your hand and tell you everything will be alright..." a mocking voice like her own called out. Ni-Ne turned, went back in shock as an evil version of her in a white catsuit stepped out of the blackness with a pearlescent Katana.

"The Light is weak girl. If you want to save Atrisia the Dark Side is where its at." The evil Ni-Ne mocked.

"I 'hate' wearing white. That was my Mother's thing. Creeped me the hell out if I am honest." Ni-Ne spoke. "I'm not joining the evil side so feth right off or I'm taking that sword from you and killing you with it."

(Cutaway of Two Jet Li's fighting each other in The One.)

"With what sword?"

"I don't need one." Ni-Ne spoke defiantly.

The evil Ni-Ne angle her sword at her. Ni-Ne's resolve remained iron in the hopes of rescuing Sawa. She would kill this abomination first. One for daring to wear her face, and two for standing in the way of Sawa.

"We shall see..." Evil Ni-Ne trailed. "About that."

Both Ni-Ne's rushed each other and a highly choreographed fight scene started...

 

[Sawa Ike]

Nine Lives

There was a strangeness to the ward and she felt something there as Ni-Ne disappeared and the prefect was wide eyed with the blade as the things disappeared for a moment.. and then she could feel something around them scattered... something around her that was cold and dark and pulling at her before she was moving. She needed to find Ni-ne as she was going and held the sword there in front of her... her mind racing as she tried to retrace where she was in the cave but everything was black shadows on darker shadows.. then she heard something and the scent of rain was in the air... the coolness against her skin was there.

"Hey Sawa." She turned and Ni-ne was standing there in the forest... the cave was gone and she wasn't certain about how she had managed to get out of there or where the swamp was... she was looking at Ni-ne in the shadows and they were moving then... ruushing into the brush as the sounds of guards coming to find them went away. Ni-Ne took her hand again and it was colder like they had been in a freezer or the snow for hours and there wasn't any heat before Sawa was following her down the mountain deeper into the darkness but towards a pinprick of light in the far end. She wanted to speak but her voice was catching in her throat.

Then she was sitting there in the shop.. it was a counter with ramen as Ni-ne sat next to her eating the food and Sawa looked down upon the ramen swishing it around with her chopsticks and she was listening partially to Ni-ne talk about how they had managed to survive the cave and she had managed to convince what was in there to handle the problem for the pair of them. They were free and able to go and do what they wanted to do. "No." She said it and there was a look as she pushed the food awa from her. "I know you are not Ni-ne." She said it and there was a look at her as Sawa didn't make a face more she realized something... she was being stalled.

 

[Nine Lives]

The two Ni-Ne's fought, their knowledge of martial arts at near equals. The Ni-Ne who wore white was slightly faster, while real Ni-Ne put more power into her punches and kicks and dodged or parried or blocked fake Ni-Ne's sword attacks with her gauntlets.

A snarl of fury from the Evil Ni-Ne alerted Real Ni-Ne to an attempt by her evil self as a spam attack. Her sword crashed down repeatedly on Real Ni-Ne.

(Tap triangle rapidly to counter)

(Taps triangle button rapidly)

The sword tried to find its way past her arm guards, but Real Ni-Ne's defense was superb, thwarting her slices and stabs at every turn.

"The life of a Jedi is thankless..." Evil Ni-Ne proclaimed. "You'll spend your whole life saving people you don't know and have ultimately no connection to. And for a hollow reward like becoming one with The Force. It is hardly a fate for a warrior."

"Your opinion doesn't mean jack chit. Its not my title that counts, but what I do that matters."

(Cutaway of Bale Batman fighting Rob Roy on the train)

"Bah! Crimefighter nonsense." Evil Ni-Ne scoffed. "You should let the Sacred Ancestor destroy the Jade City. After all your sacrifices, you could use the darkness to rule Atrisia. No one could stop you in the chaos. You could have Sawa Ike at your side forever. Kill anyone you want. Make them fear you. Enough time to pursue your scientific inclinations at last."

Real Ni-Ne was given pause at this.

Was it possible? Could she turn a bowl of chit into gold by simply doing the obvious.

Could she be with Sawa?

Ni-Ne was silent for a few seconds. She was no fan of the Imperial Authority. It was bloated, corrupt, antiquated, and had been practically begging for a revolt. The Emperor took hostages, and killed on the slightest suspicion. Her own father had toyed with killing the Emperor but decided he had not the connections to survive the backlash.

The job to just stop the Sacred Ancestor would be pure hell. How could a rag tag band of misfits take down a superweapon?

(Cutaway of Captain America fighting Ultron)

But Ni-Ne made her decision finally.

"I will never put myself above my homeland..." Ni-Ne growled, pouncing.

"I can feel the hate. Give in to it ..." Evil Ni-Ne hissed as she punched Real Ni-Ne in the jaw, managing to slice open her arm slightly.

Real Ni-Ne staggered back in pain.

"You cannot win. I have all your strengths. Know all your tricks..." Evil Ni-Ne sneered.

"Wrong." Real Ni-Ne snapped. "You are just a parody. Satire. I want to win. You don't want to win. You just want me to lose."

Real Ni-Ne pounced again, utter focus sinking her into a combat meditation as she attacked Evil Ni-Ne with renewed zeal, pushing emotion out of it. There was only Sawa and Atrisia.

How she longed to escape this horrific nightmare. She despised this illusion but it had played on her desire to be with Sawa expertly. But she refused to listen any longer.

Ni-Ne punched and kicked, blocking sword attacks at the same time. The sword slice from the fake cut her side, and she staggered back.

"See? Weakness." Evil Ni-Ne said with an unsightly grin, angling her sword.

"Prove it..." The bleeding Ni-Ne grunted, holding her side.

Evil Ni-Ne lunged for a strike. Real Ni-Ne focused and just as the sword came down, Real Ni-Ne vanished with the Force, the sword missing her as she twisted out of the way of her evil self's attack, hands shooting out for the fake Ni-Ne's head while still invisible.

Evil Ni-Ne barely got a screech out before her head was twisted brutally by one hundred and eighty degrees by Real Ni-Ne.

"House Li-Ves defends Atrisia, we don't subvert it..." Ni-Ne said to her evil clone, who crumbled to dust like she had been Thanos-Snapped.

The environment melted around her. She was in a Ramen Shop. She spotted Sawa and...another fake her...

Still wounded, Ni-Ne realized her sword was once more in her hand. Which didn't make sense, as it had been destroyed by her mothers warriors earlier.

At last finally starting to grasp that weapons were nothing before the Force, Ni-Ne experienced a moment of deep humility and tossed aside her sword, and moved towards the fake Ni-Ne just as Sawa realized it was an Illusion.

Ni-Ne's fist crashed into her counterparts face.

Meanwhile...

Jagged Katana and Vibro Chainsaw clashed amid the flames of a burning throne room in heavy sparks. Old Man Li-Ves (WOW did that ever segway into a Hugh Jackman reference!) swung his chainsaw with unholy grace that matched O-Cho's equally exquisite combat pattern.

So far, everyone who had interrupted had died. Turned into bags of gore mostly by Shimada, though he coughed violently as he channeled the way of the Dark Five Rings to gain victory through cruelty and bloodshed.

"I missed this...us in danger..." O-Cho admitted. "I'm not mad at you, just so you know. I understand why you did it. Why you imprisoned me. I think you were wrong and misguided to betray me, but I understand."

"Your evil plan will bring chaos to Atrisia." Shimada coughed, keeping his still youthful wife at bay.

"My 'evil' plan as you call it is overthrowing the Emperor and installing Democracy."

"By butchering the capital with a gigantic warship. Have you even thought of what the economic impact alone would do?"

"The Emperor sent me to my death! A warship costing nearly rhirty percent of Atrisia's GDP, a project I had spent years advocating for! BOTH of our dreams! That ship was finally to give us the status our house has always deserved! The bastard sends The Sacred Ancestor to investigate a threat from the unknown regions, then ambushes us with two destroyers who transmit shutdown codes to my whole ship! I watched my crew die! Men and women I trained, led! He killed them just because he feared me! ME!" she shouted, anger creeping into her voice.

"You have given this justification before. If it was only the Emperor and no one else, perhaps I would help you. Maybe. But you don't want just the Emperor. I cannot, I will not, help you." Shimada spoke sadly. He coughed. The last of his strength was almost gone. He had spent most of it defending his burning palace.

He watched the blood red tiger banners of the Li-Ves catch ablaze. It was the death of the Old House Li-Ves he was witnessing, no question. He and his esteanged wife were the last dying embers of an ash pile.

He held up the chainsaw. "Only one of us can leave this chamber alive."

(Cutaway of Batman punching Ra's Al Ghul)

The next twenty seconds were expert slashes and deadly blade locks. Shimada fought like a demon but it was starting to become clear he was slowing down.

When her toothed katana at last beheaded him, all O-Cho could do was weep in grief for the next few minutes, even as the ceiling started to burn and collapse...

 

[Sawa Ike]

Nine Lives

The Ni-Ne who was there looking at her as it seemed to be trying to distract her in some way disappeared and she saw Ni-ne... another Ni-Ne or the real one as she doubted an illusion would well disrupt another illusion. She remained there for a moment and it was a strange thing to see but she was ready for just about anything wanting to let the force... or whatever it was she could feel... it must be this force and this power coarse through her before she was looking over at some of the things they had developed. She looked at Ni-Ne though looked like she had been in a fight and moved quickly wrapping her arms around her.

"This was so strange." She said it but she enclosed her wanting to just hold her and whatever this place was it was a lot more then they would normally have gone through... seemed everything either wanted to play with them, break them down or tear them to pieces... so when was the world going to do something nice for them... like a whole day of being at a spa or chocolate to louge around with or just warm fluffy pillows and the finest silks that would dictate any number of things. Sawa had a small grin appear on her lips though as she spoke. "I am ready for something but everything just seems to go bad and worse with our luck."

She said it and offered a small smile though when she got off of the stool and was looking a the illusion around them. She had swirled but not eaten the ramen once she had managed to well figure it out but she was looking to try and figure out some of the dangers they had. "I don't know what might have happened if I had eaten the food... maybe poisoned... maybe nothing." She was looking at Ni-Ne though when she wanted to leave and the door was there but she didn't do much she just took her hand and held it allowing the warmth to be in her fingers... the dirt and feeling of the cave cling to her body before she was breathing in and then out with the force to calm her body.,

She was also looking at N-Ne and she started to moving.. towards the door which shifted and they were somewhere else on Atrisia... the black marble... no it was oily stone. Dark and oppressing as she looked up and over at all of it. There was no one around them... the cave and she could still smell the cave and the sweet smells of the ramen shop that had been around them. She could see even more where they would be able to look as the prefect let out her breath she hadn't know that she wa holding to really see the dangers that were around them. "This does not look like it will be a good place." There was there nothing... a procession of people marching down the streets in black shrouds.

"A parade... no a funeral... no they look like priestesses." She said it and was walking as the black marble gave way to massive fields and she was looking around with the sun. It was the lands of the horse lords she could just make out the thousands and thousands of multicolored birds that were flying around and in the fields. The wind was there but i made the fields flowers and stalks sway but she could'nt feel a breeze. She didn't know if it was a vision for the two of them but she was holdin with a slight iron grip on Ni-Ne's hand to ensure the two of them would not be divided again and be cut off in the cave... they would have to find a way through it.

 

[Nine Lives]

O-Cho exited the burning Palace, dozens of imperial Rifles trained upon her. Her serrated Katana was at her side, gold engraving lining it.

All the soldiers in their golden armor were stunned at the Lost Admiral's presence. She looked as youthful as the day she had boarded The Sacred Ancestor...

"By order of his Majesty, you are hereby sentenced to the same fate as your husband. Death! For High Treason against The Lawful Emperor of Atrisia!" The Golden Armored commander shouted from atop his repulsorlift command platform, flanked by hundreds of golden armored soldiers armed with primitive gatling laser repeaters and the Emperor's dreaded Snow Shinobi, clad in white cloaks and robes wielding golden dragon themed Kusarigama and wrist mounted slug thrower pistols making them crazy ninja themed expies of Floyd Lawton.

O-Cho stared at them, the wind blowing through her perfectly arranged hair. Flecks of her husbands blood still covered her white Kimono. Primitive attack shuttle floated above the Commander, guns and missiles trained on her in the wreckage of the Castle. In the distance, she noticed members of the Li-Ves bodyguards, the last of them, fleeing into the woods...

O-Cho glanced at them, closed her black and gold eyes and willed darkness all around her.

Pitch black conditions covered everything.

That was when O-cho's Shinobi struck.

Men screamed as they were knifed and set on fire from behind by primitive belt mounted red Lightsabers held by the same Shinobi that had attacked Ni-Ne and Sawa Ike earlier.

The Lost Admiral herself dashed forward (Click L3 while moving in any direction), grabbing one nearby soldier and sucking his shadow into her body, causing him to fall dead, petrified like he had just seen how much in credits he had saved by switching Speeder Insurance Distributors.

The next one, whose Laser Gatling was firing in all directions in a desperate attempt to hit something got it in the Brain from her serrated Katana, which tore into it brutally as she swiped it through, the serrated edges as razor sharp as the main blade itself as she ripped through the armor of 007 in front of her...

(Character Theme Song Power Up)

(Theme: "The Living Daylights" by A-ha)

Her Katana was manipulated around her body in the pitch black, ripping open necks and stomachs, breaking swords and tearing away armor with every slice and thrust, her white Kimono disguising her movements up close as she sucked more shadows out as her rampage continued with the aid of her Shinobi, who sucked shadows out of bodies themselves, the shuttles falling from the air as their Lightsabers sliced into the engine, crashing into more imperial troops below while O-Cho deflected laser bolts and bullets, violently beheading or dismembering them even as their ability to create shadow was consumed.

The Commander was panicking, firing pistols akimbo in the darkness as the blood of his mdn and their screams surrounded him, splashing against him. Some were starting to run, unable to fight an enemy that would have slowed down Riddick himself.

The sounds of ripping and tearing from O-cho's sword carried far as did the crack of her sword splitting armor open like paper.

And then, in the Darkness, he was face to face with the pinpoint dots of gold at the center of pitch black eyes, cutting his pistols in half.

"Swear yourself to my service, and the rest of your men shall be spared." O-Cho commanded.

"Heresy!" He whispered back hatefully.

O-Cho beheaded him.

"Pity..." she remarked, willing away the darkness, and with it, her Shinobi.

The area around her was surrounded by dead and she was covered in gore. The remaining Imperial Soldiers fled from her in terror as she walked from her burning Castle mentally commanding her Dark Sparrow Shinobi to find her daughter.

She would make her understand and then they would decide Atrisia's future as Mother and Daughter...

O-Cho turned to her Castle, and with a snarl of hate for the Emperor, struck the spark to began her quest to tear the Monarchy from power.

It was not enough to destroy the Emperor and his rule...all signs of imperial rule would have to be annihilated, as did any who supported them, even if they were peasants.

A flick of her eye, and the orange flames consuming the last of the castle were utterly consumed by a swell of black flames from below as she made the hidden Dark Side Nexus erupt high into the sky...

The Jade City was covered in near Pitch Black conditions in seconds...

Meanwhile...

The imagery around them changed yet again to a field full of grass and birds and what looked to be a funeral procession as she walked with Sawa. This place was truly twisted as hell. They needed to find a way out, and soon.

Ni-Ne suddenly dropped to her knees in shock, even as she clutched Sawa's hand.

She had felt something...Something deep within her, a something she knew unquestionably to be telling the truth, that her father was dead.

"Oh, Sawa..." Ni-Ne cried out in grief. "He's dead...I can feel it...my father is dead..."

She pulled herself back up, almost choking from grief.

"Let's...let's find our way...find the exit...my Mother is loose...I can feel her..." Ni-Ne said with a shudder of disgust.

They began walking through illusory lands, Ni-Ne drawing on her budding connection to Sawa to shield herself from the grief of loosing her father...

As they walked Ni-Ne spotted a beam from the illusory sun shining down on what looked like a temple ahead and walked towards it.

The temple was crumbling when they reached it. But the beam of the sun shined as fiercely as ever on it, and they were both bathed in a gentle golden light. Ni-Ne was up the steps first, refusing to speak out of grief.

(OOC: You pick the final challenge for this section lol)

 

[Sawa Ike]

Nine Lives

She was holding her hand... she was holding her hand.... she was HOLDING HER HAND the thoughts were in her mind and she was using them as a shield mentally against what she was seeing. The illusions of the caves themselves were dangerous and trying to divide them here. Then she felt something in her mind as it was coming from Ni-Ne and she focused to try and shield them both as she was speaking. The thoughts weren't her own but she could feel something in the distance.. something dark and oppressive and cold to her thoughts as it sent shivers down her spine. She was feeling the force and it was coming in waves as she listened to Ni-Ne and gave a nod of her head in understanding.

She was looking up at where they were headed and it had changed immensely.... She could see the forests around them... the mist filled woods and the caves as she was ignoring it and looking at Ni-Ne with a look on her face pulling her close to her for the moment. They needed to keep moving but if they didn't stop for the moment their minds might not be properly shielded. She needed to reinforce her mind and Ni-nes which wouldn't be easy if Ni-ne was feeling the danger and tension here... Sawa focused on the mind that was there and she moved her hands to wrap them around her.. she allowed the force to go around Ni-Ne.

"We need to be focused... I can feel something but it is faint... but if we allow anything that can distract I don't know if we will be able to find a way out." She said it and was checking out a few parts of it as she tried to push the force around them. She kept her arms around Ni-ne though and brought her head to rest against the others when she was trying to find... something... someone... maybe no she was looking for something that could distract her and get her mind to link up with hers... a shared thought... an experience that would keep them in sync and allow them to protect each other in a sort of super conductive loop.

She just held her and could feel the world around them sink away... her heartbeat pausing and stretching out between each pump before she was allowing the force to guide the pair of them... the force itself might be new but it seemed limitless it what she could draw from it before she rubbed her thumb along the womans skin and the pads of it just barely touched her. She breathed int he scent and filled everythign in her mind with the sensation of her being there so that nothing else could distract her and for a moment they were back in the pitch blackness of the cave. She could see in the force... the outline of Ni-Ne and was taking in everything she had feature wise.

She breathed outward with her breath as her mind focused... not on some memory but on her right now... on the here and now.. she was allowing the force to guide them as the illusions around them changed to Lechatelierite plains... dark and melted... swirling aftermath of everythig they had failed to stop from the ship returnning. Shadows were one thing but the world would burn and she was walking as mountains were slag... entire rivers were covered in the smooth, swirling dark stone and it was more stone then actual glass it just looked vastly different from high heat plasma bombardment. Sawa starred there as she was moving and the wind picked up.

"This is... this is home."

 

[Nine Lives]

O-Cho Li-Ves walked into the Jade City, its people wandering in confusion during the unexpected night she had brought. Despite her great beauty, which made her look incredibly similar to Nine in the future, she was for the most part ignored by confused, panicking citizenry, the Imperial Guard armed with Miniguns attempting to maintain order. O-Cho rolled her eyes at the fact that they were all equipped with Miniguns. The Emperor, all faults aside, knew exactly what genre he was in. The streets of The Jade City were packed with panicking, confused, people, seeing the hideous pillar of black flame dominating the twilight around them.

These people would have to go first at the hands of her vampires. The Jade City was for the Emperor's most loyal. Afterward, careful sacrifices of the populace to keep her clan fed and their planet secure were necessary.

Did I mention this woman was crazy AF?

As she walked calmly through panicking crowds and imperial guards, she noticed one woman who wasn't panicking.

She was covered in a long thin garment of opaque obsidian, clutching a simple, wooden walking staff. She had bright, wet green eyes, chocolate colored haired and her face resembled that of Maple Harte .

O-Cho noticed the strange woman with the face of an offworlder staring at her. O-Cho glided towards her through the chaos.

"Shouldn't you be looking for a shuttle, young one?" O-Cho The Blood Admiral asked casually.

"Seems like its about to be a party..." The woman who resembled Maple Harte replied.

"It is. I foresee a great reckoning on the horizon..." O-Cho responded.

The green eyed woman in black eyed the black pillar of flame stretching into the sky, slowly, ever so slowly, but surely spreading across it beyond the city.

The Dark Side was growing rapidly in strength here, threatening to become a true wound in The Force. Adepts across this entire sector of space would likely feel it, if not beyond that range. Despair and Fear were to be found in equal measure in the souls of the people looking for salvation. But the Gods would only whisper back "No."

(Cutaway of Dr. Manhattan killing Rorscharch)

"There is a great reckoning..." the woman who looked like Maple agreed before turning to face the black and gold eyed woman in the white kimono.

"But it may not be for whom you are thinking..." the quiet woman said.

"And what.. " The Arch Shadow-Vampire said acidly, "...would you know about that?"

"Enough to know it will blow up in your face..." the strange woman answered.

"You intrigue me, young one...I sense The Force in you..." O-Cho noted out loud in a silken manner, circling the black garbed woman.

"Why have you come to my lovely world?"

"To at least say I tried to persuade you to turn from this path..." the Woman spoke. "Please. It is not too late. You can stop this before it truly gets out of control..."

Atrisia's Royalty is too decadent, too corrupt, too entrenched. They will burn this planet to a cinder before giving it up. I simply intend to burn 'them' first. The old ways must be knocked down. I sense much potential within you...what are your gifts, young one?"

"I am an herbalist, by trade. A maker of medicines. But I sense the Dark Side in you. Great and Terrible. Your very soul is tethered to the Black Flame."

"It is a glorious reservoir of freedom...and power..."

"Its a race to the bottom." The green eyed woman insisted grimly, wincing as she felt the Dark Spread, tempting all who could hear it with promises of power.

"Do not fear the Darkness, young one. It is a road to truth."

"The Dark twists every motive, even the desire to liberate others. You shall slowly forget your motives as your goal draws closer. It is the way of all who follow The Dark Side..." the woman warned.

"You know more than you let on..." O-Cho noted, bearing fangs slightly. "Who are you?"

"My name is Penelope..." Penelope answered. "And I plead with you: Spare these people. They're innocent."

"None who would obey The Emperor should be spared. They're enablers." O-Cho whispered back hatefully as her Shadow Shinobi began to slaughter the guards and civilians around them.

"Then at least permit me to lead the children out of the city. If anyone is innocent, surely, 'they' are."

"They shall thirst for vengeance when they are strong. The Jade City will be made an example of. Fear will keep the rest of Atrisia in line."

"The more you use fear, the greater the courage that springs to fight you off. The more terrible you make the despair, the more powerful still the Hope that will defeat you."

"Pretty words from an Herbalist. The Shadows are mine to command."

"But not the Light..." Penelope said, tapping her staff.

Bright green energy shot through it, erupting from the top, coalescing into a bright sphere that resembled a roiling star...

O-Cho shrieked in agony as she retreated from the sheer power of the Force Light being manifested, her beautiful form breaking down into the corrupted, hooded wraithe of shadows with gold eyes that she truly was, hissing and snarling as she glided away from the powerful light manifestation, along with her corrupted warriors.

Penelope went into a meditative position to maintain the Force Light, raising the manifestation higher to encompass more of the city blocks, until it was a bright green star against the darkness of the rest of the Jade City, where the Dark Sparrow Shinobi slaughtered at will. But they couldn't go near that ball of Light...

For now...

Meanwhile.

Ni-Ne had been so ready for this horrible mental trial to just end.

Then...then the landscape had shifted again and Ni-Ne saw the hell of her dreams.

Ni-Ne gasped in horror.

"This is what I see in my nightmares..." Ni-Ne admitted to Sawa Ike . "Oh, Sawa...I don't know if we can stop it, but we must try..."

Ni-Ne walked very hesitantly through a burned road holding Sawa's hand.

"I do not understand this mental trial..." Ni-Ne confessed... "We are torn from one vision to the next and...wait, could that be it?" Ni-Ne theorized turning to face Sawa.

"Everything I have face here so far has been a worst case scenario for me...but maybe to dwell on our fears IS the path to destruction. What did you find here? Maybe if we stop focusing on the what could be instead of The Now, then what we see around us won't be the result..."

Ni-Ne was startled by something rising out of the molten slag, its mechanical manipulators holding a semi auto Shotgun and an Assault Rifle.

Ni-Ne, with a bewildered stare, saw it was K1, Sawa's homicidal astromech.

"K1, what the feth are you doing here?! You're just a droid! You can't have Force Visions!"

The droid beeped something that translated roughly into "Judgement Day cannot be stopped."

"Feth it, you must be so badass the Force just had no choice but to give you a vision. Was it at least interesting? What did you realize?" Ni-Ne asked.

"The more contact I have with Humans, the more I learn..." the droid beeped in binary...

"Okay, Sawa, spill it, how the feth is a droid that ominous?" Ni-Ne asked, not just out of curiosity, but because she might want to replicate such malicious behavior if she ever got around to making her own murder-droid...

 

[Sawa Ike]

Nine Lives

She was looking at it... at the vision and there was so much here... so much to take in and Sawa raised an eyebrow as she saw K1 coming forward towards them.. her eyes getting wider though when he was holding weapons on his sides and she did have to wonder what her mother was thinking with this droid... it must have cost a fortune or three and while they could afford it... one of the oldest families on Atrisia... still the droid rarely ceased to amaze with its own power and drive. "I.... have no idea how my mother got it or what it can really do." She said it but the droid was right there with them and was speaking.

"Well that is not what I was expecting." She said it though and held her hand in Ni-Ne's really trying to focus on the mental illlusions around them... her breath coming out with some chill to it before she huddled closer and watched the droid come closer as she was looking at the landscape around the pair of them. "I don't know what kind of nightmares you have Ni-Ne but.... gumdrops and rainbows would be much nicer... or a beach.... the sun coming down, umbrella drinks and bouncing bikini clad us just relaxing." She was trying to paint a picture and really work on it.. she wanted to try and if this was a mental image of their fears change the thoughts.

The illusions though continued and walking forward it was something else... the ruins of something.. the landscape was molten slag from glassing... everything destroyed but the ruins protruded out like a festering wound. SHe was looking at it and then at the droid as it came near the two of them and Sawa breathed in and then out. "We need to get through this... or find a way to break the illusion.. whatever is happening... we are running out of time with everything competing for our attention." She said it and was looking over where they could go as she stayed close to Ni-Ne to try and keep their minds focused and able to resist much of the illusion.

 

[Nine Lives]

"Okay, okay, hold on...hold on..." Maple said, putting down her strawberry milkshake. "You're telling me that you, Maranon, me and Sawa are connected directly or indirectly by the Black Flame?"

"Yes, more or less." Nine spoke.

She and Nine rested on lawn chairs staring up at the night sky of Atrisia.

Terrible things had happened to them both recently. Very terrible things. Both still reeled from it.

All of it.

They were on a grassy hill, overlooking the ancient hill where Castle Li-Ves once stood. The Morpheus Knights, in full Yovshin inspired power suits, rested on lawn chairs also, pistols in holsters. Nine's daughters, Vera on her Lawyer setting in her white dress, Magnus, Meier, a copy of Westenra on her Gladiator setting and blue and red attire also rested lawn chairs, and hopefully a soon to arrive Sawa Ike with a lawn chair reserved for her

"So this Black Flame...what is it?" Vera asked.

"A manifestation of pure Dark Side Energy, at least, that's what I thought at first..." Nine answered. "But I actually believe it to be an extremely corrupted fragment of this weird magical formula called the Kolda-Bratha Calculus--"

Maple instantly shot back up out of her seat..."

"I've heard of this Formula. Where did you hear of it?"

"I encountered a hot red headed ghost. Some thief had accidentally released her from her prison. She called herself the Flame Geist."

"Syd Celsius..." Maple said, wet green eye contrasting with a corrupted sulphur one.

"I know of this person...and that formula. Laertia encountered her...Maranon used the Formula to mutate herself." Maple went on

Nine looked at Maple. "You never did say how 'you' met Maranon..."

Maple scratched the back of her head with a grin.

"Uhh...yeaaaaahhhhh..." she admitted.

(Calendar Girl by Neal Sedaka plays fir a few seconds.)

"When did you first hear of it?" Vera asked.

"It was on my first major assignment as a Padawan. It went fething pear-shaped...massive amounts of foreshadowing, by the way...gotta start 2021 off strong..." Maple muttered, insanity allowing her to make an OOC reference.

"What the absolute feth are you talking about?" Magnus asked, her crimson hair made of masquer tissue blowing in the wind, confusion on her pale face quite clear.

"I like it. It makes her quirky!" Meier chirped.

"Where is Maranon now?" Nine asked.

"Dunno. She tricked me into resurrecting her, then seduced me, then me and Sawa were forced to go full Gangnam Style on her when I realized what a jerk she was."

"What is Gangnam Style?" The Westenra Copy asked with a naive, innocent smile.

"Awesomeness. Personified." Maple answered casually and confidently.

"You've encountered multiple people exposed to this Formula. This is not coincidence...its why I need Sawa to examine you." Nine said. "The black flame was buried and sealed centuries ago during the Gulag Plague. When I battled the Amalgam, I sensed the same magic in her that I sensed in the Black Flame. But my knowledge of the Force is not like Sawa's. If you have developed any link to the Black Flame, she can find it. It will be better the closer we are to where it is buried. Then I can continue. Because what's happening now feels very familiar to me. The Black Flame is the Key."

 

[Sawa Ike]

Nine Lives

Present Day

K1 was looking atthe group as they lounged around.. Sawa wasn't there but she had sent him after everything that had happened he had needed to be rebuilt and showing off his new chassis was well important to the little droid as he whirred around and looked at the two of them while his small arms popped out and gave a flex. "BEEP BEEP BOOP BEEP WHOOO" He said it while looking at them and showing off the different weapon slots that had been rebuilt into him with new projectors for flame throwers, acid sprayers, cryo projectors and spike launchers... there was blasters as well as missiles able to be brought out.

In the Past:

Sawa continued to look at the illusion and she was uncertain.. whatever was happening on Atrisiawas going to keep going and she could feel things...she could feel her mother and father who were still alive but involved in something... there was tension and she knew her mother was many things but she wasn't one to lose her cool... to get tense in situations where they wouldn't be abel to handle it so whatever was attacking had unnerved her. Sawa needed to hurry and get them through here if anything so the twoof them could get to the Keisei village and then find their way to the ship.

 

[Nine Lives]

In the Past...

The hellish landscape, the ruins the only thing relatively intact, haunted Ni-Ne as she walked with Sawa Ike And K1. Sawa wasn't wrong to be concerned about this being the stuff of Ni-Ne's dreams.

"This is what my visions show me if we fail to stop The Sacred Ancestor..." Ni-Ne explained, climbing up the ruins steps.

"A ruined planet, our society gone. Oh, Sawa, we can't let this happen..."

Ni-Ne couldn't hide her fear anymore. Especially not when it was manifested all around her. They were just a few plucky youngsters and a crabby Jedi Master up against the might of her Mother's designs and she didn't know how to stop her--

Ni-Ne stopped, staring at the cracked mirror that had marked the entrance to the tomb of Ersethy. It was set into the wall of the ruins at the end.

But it could not possibly be that simple.

"Sawa...maybe...maybe we are trapped here because we are 'both' afraid..." Ni-Ne mentioned. "Maybe the only way we really leave is to face our fears and defeat them. What if 'we' are our own jailers?"

K1 beeped something at Ni-Ne.

Ni-Ne shrugged. "How the feth should I know, K1? I've never done anything like this before. I'm as in the dark as you are. Maybe more in the dark."

Ni-Ne went forward, wanting to take the brunt of whatever surprise so Sawa wouldn't get hurt. What was she so afraid of that she was trapped in this place? She clearly wasn't afraid of danger--she had cut up enough people threatening Sawa at this point that she knew it wasn't the issue. Was it fear of failure then?

Ni-Ne spared a glance at Sawa, bewitched by her Kelly Hu Expy looks. She feared the end of all this, no matter the outcome. She feared never seeing Sawa again. But that wasn't quite it, was it?

Ni-Ne looked at the cracked mirror and thought, taking a long, difficult look at her own reflection, before it finally hit her what truly scared her.

She feared her father had made a mistake in asking her to do this. Worse, she feared even if she did save Atrisia, it would be for nothing.

She didn't remember every conversation her mother and father had, but O-Cho had always been very critical of the concept of Royalty, saw its abuses. She liked the Republic, while Shimada, Ni-Ne, and all her older brothers had been far more ambivalent about it. As time had worn on after Mother's supposed death, Ni-Ne and the family had grown less loyal to The Emperor.

Albrecht's words had had an effect, though she didn't want to admit it. What was the point of saving Atrisia if the Imperial Monarchy remained propped up.

In that instant, she understood why she had reacted so angrily to Bo's earlier suggestion. It wasn't some sense of patriotism. Not at all. She had been angry because she had, deep down, been asking the same questions. Been frought with the same doubt.

At the moment she acknowledged this within herself, the mirror fractured a bit more.

Ni-Ne turned to Sawa.

"Sawa...we have to admit what we are most afraid of. Did you see the mirror cracking? Its responding to that. I...I am most afraid of the idea my mother actually might be right...I don't want her to be right...but I am afraid she is. The Emperor is petty and cruel...who is vest served, letting him stay in power?" Ni-Ne asked. "I have every intention to stop my mother...yet I cannot reconcile that with what Bo said earlier. Also, I am deathly afraid of Mimes. What are you most afraid of?" Ni-Ne asked the woman Midori was unworthy of.

K1 beeped something.

Ni-Ne rolled her eyes.

"Of course you're deathly afraid of rusting, K1, you are a Droid..." Ni-Ne remarked, raising an eyebrow. "But why the hell would you be afraid of Creamed Corn?"

K1 gave more beeps and whistles.

"K1, that is filthy!" Ni-Ne condemned.

"She then went over to Sawa.

"I wish my Father had never given me this assignment...I really do wish that. Because all it does is rob us of our futures..."

Ni-Ne wanted to run away with Sawa. That hadn't changed...but Destiny seemed more determined than ever to keep them ultimately seperate. The fiery hell around them...maybe that was more Ni-Ne's fears than the future.

Sawa was just as important to the resolution of all this as anyone trying prevent Atrisia's ruin.

Ni-Ne took Sawa's hands, holding them.

"Please, tell me your fears so that I might help you face them...and you help me face mine. Because...I'm starting to realize how much you really mean to me...you make Atrisia's safety personal for me. I want to save it for 'you' So that you might be happy...and I dread the idea that in saving it I'm delivering you to only more pain. More misery..."