Darkly Diplomatic Deals

[Onrai]

"Alright then." She paused, sighing once again. "What do I have to do in order to be considered a 'friend' of yours, Ashin? Or am I a friend by proxy of being Spencer's friend? Or are you incapable of knowing true friendship considering the entirety of your tenure as chief lord of the Dark Side?"

@[member="Ashin Varanin"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Circe Savan"]

Ashin raised an eyebrow.

"Of course you're my friend, Circe. I tell you things I fell few other people, if any. I allow you to associate with my wife. What other marks of friendship can there be?"

 

[Onrai]

"I dunno... I just have this feeling sometimes, a feeling that I'm more of an acquaintance and less of the close friend I feel I am. I certainly consider you and Spencer to be close friends of mine, people to be notified in the event a plan or two of mind kicks into gear and I require the assistance of people I can put my absolute trust in."

Circe shrugged. She didn't know how else to word it.

@[member="Ashin Varanin"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

@[member="Circe Savan"]

"It's possible, then," said Ashin with something like gentleness, "that I'm not the only one who struggles with the tension between the human drive to connect and the Darksider's drive to look inward. Some go so far as to call that divide the essence of the Light and Dark Sides. Oh, we're both selfish, vain, and vicious enough to be firmly on one side of things, but to truly martyr your humanity for more power? Consistently? That's a sacrifice not all are willing to make.

"But you're looking for a friend, not a philosophy. So you come to me as a friend, and I will be your friend."

 

[Onrai]

"So you're basically telling me that in order to gain absolute Dark Side power, I need to kill you?" Circe raised an eyebrow in an attempt to more adequately understand what Ashin was saying. "I'm somewhat having difficulty understanding our similarities. I have rarely, if ever, seen you make a truly selfish, vain, or vicious act, and am curious if by 'martyring your humanity,' you're referring to yourself and something you did a long time ago."

"Come now. No reason friends can't talk philosophy too."

@[member="Ashin Varanin"]

 

[Ashin Varanin]

"I can't believe they made you a Sith Master without telling you about the sacrifice," said Ashin. "And yes, I made that sacrifice...and yes, it unlocked something in me. Sith battle coordination: Awareness of every puzzlepiece and every potential outcome. But that was a side benefit. It transformed me. Think of the Sith code - Through victory over myself, over my mortal limitations and hesitations, my chains are broken. It showed me that I could put my own feelings aside, even destroy them, in order to achieve the greater good. That is the Lumiya strain of what it means to be a true Sith Master, and it's a belief that's always resonated with me. A true Sith makes that sacrifice not just to overcome limitations, but to be despised, to strip herself of pride and ulterior motives, to become truly selfless...and strong enough to save the galaxy.

"That is the true path. Power as a means, not an end."

@[member="Circe Savan"]

 

[Onrai]

"So I do have to kill you..." She paused, raising an eyebrow, curious as to what exactly she would have to do to replicate what Ashin had done. "I assume such sacrifice wasn't an actual person. Tell me the story of how you went from Jedi to Empress of the Galaxy. And I don't want some stripped-down variant - I want to hear the full story, as to adequately understand the key aspects you're attempting to drill into my head."

There were many pieces she was receiving... but most of them simply weren't immediately connectible.

@[member="Ashin Varanin"]