Cursed and Buried

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

There was something enchanting about watching Athena Heron step over dead bodies with the same blithe disregard as someone who was stepping over a bent tin can. Maleagant watched, rapt and silent, up until she remarked that the third bounty hunter's back had been broken. Broken? And he died? Maleagant examined the hand he had used to gesture that Force Push into existence, looking it over as if it were a foreign weapon he'd forgotten to calibrate properly. He almost gave a rhetorical "did I?" but rapidly decided it would be better to play it off than admit to apparently not knowing his own strength.

He shrugged without very much commitment. "Suppose I can't help it either."

Smooth. Like sandpaper.

As she requested, Maleagant placed the plugs back into the generator. The generator continued its soft rumbling without interruption, but doubtless whatever was being powered on the other side of the tunnel abruptly roared back to life. There was no one else approaching from what he sensed, so it seemed that the screams hadn't been heard after all. Lucky for them. Athena's work was impressive enough to witness on its own, it would have broken his heart if it had inevitably sabotaged them.

"I'll leave the fourth to you." Maleagant said, standing back up. "Unless you prefer I just cripple him."

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Maleagant"]

"Maybe," that playful smile stayed on her pair of pink lips. Booted-feet and long strides began to take her down that corridor with all the lines leading to the generator. She saw the scuff marks and boot prints from the three that'd just met their fate. Slowing, she paused before the entrance of another open doorway. Looked like it lead into a larger, open room - kind of like the one that housed the generator.

There was another but this one felt...different. And for the first time, she frowned. Coal-like eyes closed as she reached forward silently with the darkside, searching for this one's mind. Body unconsciously leaned forward a bit, closer to that exposed doorway.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

The figure's back was turned. It was examining something, a large set of metallic doors that impeded further progress. In addition to more zombie corpses littering the room, this one also had a fair share of power tools flung around it. This included a heavy drill that had to be hooked up to an external generator - the one Athena and Maleagant had just encountered. The tools looked to be in worse shape than the door, bent and broken like they were. Something else must have been required. From this distance, Maleagant could not clearly read the etchings that had been marked into the door. He could only see that they were there, and only because of the two other floodlights that had been set up in the room.

Maleagant noted Athena leaning forward in the doorway. Perhaps without knowing it. He reached out again, although not to physically grab her again. His hand lightly brushed her arm, just to bring her back into paying attention. "Careful."

No sooner did the last syllable exit Maleagant's mouth did the figure whip around, three orange eyes boring into them both. An observer might have thought Maleagant had been shouting, the creature turned so quickly. A sharp, freezing pain shot through his head the moment its eyes fell on him. Physically speaking, it was almost laughable. Its armor looked nasty and rotten. The humanoid was also rather large around the waist. Overweight. Something Maleagant would have written off without second thought, but in that moment it was probably the second most terrifying thing he had ever seen.

"Hnh."

The Shi'ido took a shaky step back.

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Maleagant"]

Feathers twitched lightly along her brow as Mal's fingers brushed over her blue skin. Eyes moved beneath closed leads and she paused in her dreamlike-gait. Mal's stutter reached her ears at the same time she felt a malevolent presence press against her mind. And somehow she knew the thing was also speaking inside Mal's head.

:otential and stupidity in you both. Hmmm. What to do.::

Charcoal eyes flecked with yellows and reds snapped open as she felt an invisible pressure suddenly envelope her lithe form and yank her forward, toward the masked....creature.

::What do you each desire? If you kill the other I'll grant it to the winner::

She scowled and struggled against those invisible chains.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

Maleagant attempted to take another step back, but found himself rooted to the spot. Instead he hissed something through grit teeth. "No deal."

It was a quick response, probably more instinctual than anything. Definitely not considered, that was for sure. He was usually more thoughtful when given these deals, but... Well, it was hard for Maleagant to feign interest in reaching an accord when in the process of being confounded by expert mentalism. His hands strained, apparently trying to go for his lightsaber. How novel.

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Maleagant"]

"Yes," she rasped. She had a plan and the problem was, Mal wouldn't know this plan. Ah well. He'd improvise. The Sith Lord, she was guessing it was that, chuckled darkly and released his hold on her.

"Goooooooo-agh," the moment she was released, hilt dropped to her hands and the Crimson blade erupted to life. Instead of lunging back to Mal, she lunged forward. It grazed the sith being's side but he/it was too fast. It sneered in pain and with a flick of its hand, sent her flying to the side cavern wall.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

"Yes," she rasped.

You sordid queen.

Maleagant did not like being mistaken about these kinds of things and his struggling intensified as Athena's lightsaber snapped on. Great. Now he was going to have to kill her once he got out of here. If he got out of here, which was looking terribly unlikely. The last heir to the House of Dorn, slaughtered in a catacomb by a hussy, his retinue of bodyguards waiting for him in a shuttle about fifteen minute's walk to the surface. Unbelievable. His ancestor spirits would sympathize with his ignominious and humiliating death. [member="Kiber Dorn"] would at least remember him fondly. If, in fact, he could remember anything while in the blighted stupor of a drug induced haze.

The struggling was to no avail. Maleagant was prepared to meet his maker.

Then Athena did something unexpected. Quite suddenly, Maleagant was no longer that upset about being mistaken. She rushed forward, just quick enough to land a scraping blow against his shoulder. The momentary distraction freed Maleagant from his invisible prison, though not quickly enough to prevent Athena from being flung into a wall like a rag. Maleagant grunted something in an annoyed tone, at which point lightning shot from an outstretched hand. He was not skilled enough to maintain the blast for more than two seconds and the lightning itself seemed rather... Uninspired. The creature was licked by several tendrils, causing scorch marks to appear on his misshapen form.

Of course, it wasn't to last. Maleagant's short gesture was countered, and the lightning began to spool up in the creature's hand instead of injuring him. It built up there for a moment before the creature fired it back into Maleagant. The energy hit him in the chest, flinging him back down the hallway Athena and he had originally come down.

It grumbled to itself and appeared to fragment. "Weakness... Annoying."

Eventually it vanished completely, leaving behind only wisps of dark energy.

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Maleagant"]

The crunch of brittle, nearly hollow bones breaking filled her ears as her lithe form hit the wall and then the ground. A scream ripped through her throat as her form shifted. Scarlet blood oozed over her blue skin and worst of all, her dress was ruined.

That bastard.

Eyes eclipsed red as anger and pain coursed through her. She smelled burning flesh and heard Mal land somewhere. The darkside swirled through her broken limbs and with a sickening crunch they began to snap together. It wasn't Jedi healing - it was twisted, dark, and far more painful. The wisps of the dark lord swirled over her back and for a moment, she felt a searing pain over the scars on her shoulder blades.

That's when she blacked out.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

Some time later...

Whenever Athena came back to consciousness, she would find herself bandaged haphazardly in several places where bandaging might have been necessary. Judging from the material and the scorch marks, the makeshift bandages had been derived from cutting some fabric off the clothing of the dead bounty hunters in the next room. And they said chivalry was dead. The metal doors were now flung wide open, the runes etched onto their surface glowing a mysterious red color. There were also a couple dead, armored zombies laying about on the ground that hadn't been there before. Someone had been busy opening doors and plundering tombs, it seemed.

There was a rustling noise as a slightly burned figure made his way out of the room. Several scroll canisters were tied around his waist, and slung over his shoulder was a large burlap sack that rattled annoyingly with every step he took. Oh, look, it was Maleagant. He had a distinct limp, but clearly the thrill of his loot being so close at hand had put it from his mind. Maleagant noticed that Athena had rejoined the waking world as he limped forward.

"Welcome back."

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Maleagant"]

Long lashes fluttered open. Took a moment for her charcoal-orbs to focus on the voice. A wince marred her face as she sat up. A mixture of feelings bubbled within her when she saw Mal very much alive: surprise...relief.

"I see you've been productive," she said dryly. Wrist was cradled, still injured. Amusement crossed her face as she saw the bandages. A token from the dead.

A brief wild-look crossed her eyes as her eyes tracked around the room, dark-feathered brows twitching in worry. "It's gone, right?"

Shoulders rolled and she moved her back against the wall, much like a bear scratching its back along a tree. For some reason the skin had become very itchy back there.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

He shrugged his shoulders. "Someone had to be."

Maleagant had gotten what he came for and then some. Regera Girawn's collection was not composed of original works, merely the sum knowledge that her many disciples had brought to her. There were some other tomes and datacrons that appeared to have been compiled by her servants. Perhaps they contained clues as to her whereabouts. Although after that scuffle with the... Thing, Maleagant was not keen on following that trail. Not at the moment. What mattered most was that he had the information he needed regarding the Reliquary.

"It left. Hasn't come back." Maleagant explained, adjusting the pack. "Not yet."

Dull, crimson eyes surveyed the wounded Omwati.

"Can you walk?"

Hopefully he wasn't going to have to chose between the woman and the loot.

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Maleagant"]

She stopped her scratching at the 'not yet.' She couldn't take another wall slam which meant it was definitely time to go. Though, she'd never admit that weakness to Mal.

"I hope so," she clucked her tongue once, folding her long legs beneath her. Using the wall for support, she began to inch up to stand. Some bruises but nothing terrible. Seemed like her arm had taken the brunt of the attack. Taking a step forward, she gave Mal a nod, wondering why he hadn't just left her for dead with his loot.

Shoulders rolled again as a look of discomfort crossed her face. Her shoulder blades really burned. Pink lips pursed into a thin line as she limped forward.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

Maleagant stood and watched Athena until she limped far enough to catch up to him. He would have offered to help, but something vaguely resembling intuition told him she'd refuse anyway. Just as well, Maleagant already had a hefty burden of his own to carry. Light bones or not, carrying around Athena as well would have been a bit much for him. There was only so much he could do without shape-shifting into a Cragmoloid... A feat that eluded him now and would continue to do so for the immediate future.

The rest of the walk back was in silence. Maleagant made sure to retrace his steps exactly. Another encounter with zombies would not be welcome, not when both of them were limping around like kicked puppies. He paused every so often when he thought he heard something, thinking that entity they encountered outside Girwan's vault would come back. It was usually just a cave bat. Sometimes it was a slug, or a zombie corpse that happened to look like it was sitting down, propped up against a wall because of the way it landed. Eventually they left the catacombs entirely and Maleagant breathed more easily, but didn't look completely at ease until they exited the temple, were up the stairs again, and were flanked by both their shuttles.

This was where they would part ways.

How sad.

"Here." Maleagant said, hefting the bag onto the ground. "You can have... A few."

He must have been referring to the datacrons and tomes in the bag. He noticeably did not offer her any of the scroll cannisters strapped to his person.

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Maleagant"]

A dark, silky brow lofted. D'awww, he was sharing. But only the crusts. Nobody liked the crusts.

Charcoal-orbs traveled from that bag of junk back to the scrolls so conveniently clipped around the man's belt. "Mal," she cooed, though her voice was edged in lingering pain. Tongue clucked against the top of her mouth once. "I'm a scholar - not a pebble collector. I'd much rather have one of those," she took a step toward him and then another until a hand rested boldly on his shoulder and curled in around the side of his neck. Pink lips brushed against the side of his face.

She inched away just slightly so she could see his face and give him the big, black beady-bird eyes.

"Pretty please?"

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

As usual, Maleagant tensed considerably. His eyes focused dead ahead of him, on his waiting shuttle. Particularly the viewport. He wondered if his crew could see this happening to him. Any dialogue would be lost on them, but he trusted that the physical cues would be more than enough to understand the sort of low-brow manipulation going on here. His mouth quivered for a moment before she looked at him, an attempt to repress a chit-eating grin that only came through just in the nick of time.

Grins like that did not look good on people with Rattataki war tattoos.

"Which one did you have in mind?"

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Maleagant"]

"Well," a puff of hot air against him, "what are my optio--," face suddenly contorted in pain and she hunched over, knocking into Mal, then against him. The fabric of her dress ripped away in the back, just along her shoulder blades as wings emerged from her flesh.

Feathers of smudged and dirtied white and grays stretched forward, then curled back against her back, following the curve of her spine to tuck and match to the contours of her body. Pink lips closed suddenly, cutting off the scream she hadn't realized she was bellowing.

"The feth," she breathed, still very much clinging to Mal like a momentarily stunned bird of prey.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

Even Maleagant, who had seen a great deal of grisly things during his time in the criminal underworld, was not quite prepared for wings to burst out of Athena's back. Shock marred his face when she suddenly knocked into him, instinctively grabbing her to keep her upright instead of sliding to the ground. From the way she had pressed her lips together and then practically exhaled profanity, that had apparently been a very painful process. Her wings were specked with flesh and gore from where they had burst out. No anesthetics? Of course it had to bloody hurt. Now it was Maleagant's turn to purse his lips. Although instead of a scream, he was keeping his lunch from bursting back out.

Of course, now the beautiful bird woman was in his arms and very much in distress. This was normally the part where the suave or the charming said something witty; something endearing. But Maleagant was neither suave nor charming on his best of days.

"Are... You alright?"

A regular Don Juan, if ever had any lived.

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Maleagant"]

Dazed expression focused on Mal with his arms wrapped around her. Feathers mixed with blood and torn flesh quivered along her back. With a start, she realized without his supporting weight, she'd be kissing the ground right now. That would've been very unladylike and unprofessional.

"My ship," she finally managed, "help me to my ship," and she was very glad it was Mal and not Vrak holding her. The pureblood wouldn't have hesitated to slit her throat or worse, made her owe him a debt.

The sith being had certainly done...something. She hadn't had wings since they'd been cut off in the slaver camps. Why or how? Questions she'd find answers to later.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

Either this was all a very convincing, elaborate trap or it really was just a freak accident of nature. Maleagant grimaced at the uncertainty but nevertheless moved one of her arms over his shoulder. He supported her in that way and led her unsteadily back over to her shuttle, the loading ramp to which was descended. The Shi'ido hesitated at the foot of the ramp. "Am I being invited onto your ship, or...?"

He was expecting one of her servants to come on down and take over from here. Athena had already alluded to the fact that her servants were supposed to be protective. He did not imagine they would respond positively to a strange, red-eye'd Sith stumbling onto their ship with their dazed and bloodied (but now winged) mistress in tow. If encountering vengeful fanatics wasn't a dark enough prospect on its own, being trapped with them on a flying metal box was worse. In retrospect it might have been better to just let her hit the floor and abscond with all of the artifacts. Unfortunate that he had, despite all odds, been raised better than that.

However slightly.

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Maleagant"]

She leaned heavily against him, glad he was pretty sturdy. Her handmaidens quickly strodeout, eyeing Mal warily and with no small measure of distrust.

"Mistress?" The first one came quickly over, practically tugging Athena away from the male sith. Two other handmaidens flanked the one now supporting the omwatti's weight. Hands twitched at their weapons. But they were smart enough to see that Mal had been helping their mistress. At least now.

"He has permission to stay or go," Athena croaked out, already being guided inside. She would need a shower and rest and food. She imagined he might just leave. And so, "If he goes," charcoal gaze drifted up to Mal, weariness in her eyes. "Get his contact information."

It wasn't a question.