growing up isn't a Sin.

[Salvor Arnex]

He did not know it but today he turned 18. Salvor Arnex awoke from a restless night, his eyes were heavy and his mind tried desperately to cling to the memory of a fast fading dream. He had never been one to linger in his bed or wish to be a place he wasn’t, but this morning was different. He shut his eyes and tried with all his heart to fall back asleep, to find himself back with her, he could see her face, Sharp, angular, and beautiful with golden skin and deep purple eyes that saw through him. They looked past what he claimed to be, they didn’t see his scars or his pride, his anger or his fear, they saw only him.

After a few fruitless minutes, the young Zabrak climbed from his bed, literally climbed from the great bed that sat in his new bed chamber in the shadow keep on Eclipscia. He looked around the room, there was so much space. Blood red curtains, so dark they may have been black covered giant windows that looked out over the sea, accented by a giant patterned rug in the middle of the room. The floor was solid stone and cold. The fire must have died during the night. He made his way to the closet and dressed himself, in something simple, black pants and a black tunic with gold accents. It matched well with his skin but if he had his way it would have been all black.

Salvor left his room and walked through the winding halls of the shadow keep, a place he was still not used to. He knew his way to maybe three or four places in the entire palace, one of those places was a training room. Salvor entered the spacious area and looked around seeing no one. He dropped to his knees and began his morning meditation.

He closed his eyes and tried to focus, though quickly he was finding this to be impossible. He tried and tried to find peace and only found longing. Longing for a mother long dead, for an amber eyed girl who wanted to more than he could give, for a place to belong.

[member="Romeo Sin"]

 

[The Red of Sinner]

[member="Salvor Arnex"]

Romeo always woke this early, it was his normal schedule. He was dressed in a simple black black pants, and a shirt with the Sin family emblem on it, a ball of fire. His jet black hair looked messy, he hardly ever did anything with his hair. In his hands was the datapad his daughter had made for him, and on it was data on various people, no one in particular, just random people, then beside this intel was a list of the stock market, and what was going up, and what was going down in value.
He was walking through the halls of the Shadow Keep, his red eyes the only thing other than the datapad that was making any form of light. His feet silently stepped, as he wore no shoes, and his mind was more attuned to the fact of his new household member.
Salvor.

The boy was surely in pain constantly, and he was all doom, and gloom. The Sith could do that to you. Romeo felt it was time, time for a little one on one.
Through the force he reached out, and searched through the castle. it wasnt hard to feel the darkest presence in the halls of Shadow Keep. He was in one of the many training rooms, trying to meditate. It was obvious something was eating at him. With a simple touch to his mind, he showed him a picture of a balcony nearby that room, it was just across that training station, and Romeo was heading there anyways.

In fact Romeo was already in front of the door, the room itself was empty, but the balcony had a marvelous view of the ocean nearby, and there was a table with two chairs set out on it for Romeo has he would often spend his morning here, drinking coffee, and thinking, watching the waves crash into the shore. As he entered, he noted that coffee had already been made for him, and there was plenty left for him to share. He took his seat, and awaited for the boy to come. His attention back to the datapad, seems the SIth were making quite the impact on stock exchanges.

 

[Salvor Arnex]

Salvor stood and made his way across the hall. He quickly passed through the empty room and went to the balcony and found [member="Romeo Sin"] already there. Romeo was a young man but older than Salvor and stronger by far. The great palace that Salvor called home belonged to him, he was lord of Eclipstica and a man of great passion. He had hardly known Salvor before inviting him to be a “Shadow hand.” Salvor did not know what that entailed but he accepted the honor, if only to learn what he could from “The Shadow King.”

“Your, Majesty.” he bowed slightly as he announced himself.

 

[The Red of Sinner]

[member="Salvor Arnex"]

Romeo looked up, and smiled at the young man. "Please, just Romeo. Sit, lets talk." Slowly the sun would rise over the horizon, then stay up for eight hours, then the moon would eclipse it, and darkness would fill the planet.
He took a sip of his coffee, and looked out at the ocean. It was truly beautiful sight. The Dark Jedi sipped his coffee again, and asked, "Would you like some? Coffee is a beverage served best with company I think. It's calming almost to me. That smooth, sweet, and warm liquid flowing down your throat. It soothes the soul."

He sat his coffee down, and made a throat cough. "Salvor, I understand that you are having trouble clearing your head. It is filled with anguish, torment, and hurt. You allow these things to control you state of mind, and thus your actions. It goes without saying, you act before you think." He offered the seat. "Sit, you're making me nervous just standing there like a stone statue."

He turned off the datapad, and gave the Zabrak his full attention. "I offered you to be my left Shadow Hand, you're probably wondering what this means. Well...it means you maybe requested to be at a meeting of the minds one day, and you will be there in my stead with most of my authority backing your word."

Romeo then looked back at the ocean, watched it awhile, his eyes went from a bright glowing red, to a dark, and soft crimson. "This means you will need to use all your senses to make wise choices. I will help you the best I can, but as you follow the Sith ways, I will not call on you to do such tasks till I know you understand there are different ways. I appealed to your better nature of violence, I wanted your respect as a being, and not as one of my 'subjects', or guests. If I can not trust you, how can I expect the same back. I want to trust you, with responsibility, with my daughter." His mind raced with anger, causing his eyes to go to a fiery red.. Onyx had killed his brother. "Someone very powerful is out to get this family, to get me Salvor. They will stop at nothing to hurt me, and my daughters are targets of interest to that hurt. What do you think of all that I have just said?" He turned his gaze to Salvor.

 

[Salvor Arnex]

[member="Romeo Sin"]

Salvor took the seat, the shadow ki- Romeo had offered, grabbing a cup of coffee and taking a sip of the hot black liquid. Sal’s face screwed up just slightly, he was too well trained to show his discomfort, but boy was it there. This was one drink he did not like, it was worse even than the dark red liquor, the Mandalorian would some times sneak him.

Rather than explain his distaste, he just set his cup down politely. Though he felt anything but polite. Who was this man to declare that Salvor did not think before he acted? It was true enough that, his mind was clouded but that didn’t mean he didn’t try to use it.

Salvor was genuinely surprised to when Romeo said he wanted, Salvor to have the kind of responsibility he intended for him. He did not know whether to be honored or continue his annoyance at Romeo’s presumptions.

“I follow my own ways.”

Salvor had never been trained to be a Sith, in fact he spent months looking for guidance from them and found nothing. They were suppose to give him purpose and instead drove him here.

The waves crashed along the rocks below them. The smell of the sea hung in the air, it was beautiful.

Romeo spoke of his family being in danger, of Salvor needing to be capable of protecting them, it was a lot. Salvor did not know what to think of all of it.

“ I don’t know, Romeo.”

 

[The Red of Sinner]

[member="Salvor Arnex"]

Romeo smirked as the boy drunk the coffee. "Try it with some cream, and sugar." Romeo said, drinking more of the black coffee. It was smooth to him, but of course he had been drinking it longer. "Salvor, if you follow this way of yours any longer, you will destroy yourself, regardless of what you call it. You will lose hope, you will lose chances, and you will lose my daughter, not because I take her from you, but because you push her away." He grabbed the boy's shoulder gently, and looked out at the sun's golden horizon.
"Express your feelings, let it out, but control how it comes out, and how much comes out, do not let your feelings betray you, but dont hold back everything. Why do you hold it all in, what are you hiding?" He asked in curiosity. His gaze shifted from golden rays, to golden skin, he removed his hand, and stood up. Walking over to the ledge of the balcony. "You can talk to me Salvor, you can trust me."

 

[Salvor Arnex]

[member="Romeo Sin"]

Why does he hold it in? where were he to release it? He had no friends, he had no family, he ha no home, he had nothing, no one and that suited him fine. He didn’t need any of those things, they were for lesser beings. He was a warrior, a walking, breathing tool of death. He felt nothing; or that was what he was, what he was told to be. By the force, how simple things had been then, before he was freed, before he met that girl, before his mother had come back to him as a ghost, screwing with his mind, with his heart.

What hope had he to lose? He had never known hope or fantasy, he knew only what was real. There was no hope, hope for what? His mother and father lay long dead, his home was in chains at the beck and call of a Hutt. His one friend was a Mandalorian freelancer who cared only for credits, not for him, not truly.

What chance could he lose? A chance to be free? He had his freedom and it was killing him, pulling him in a thousand directions at once. He was free to choose his own path, but could not see through the dark. As long as he was a slave, he yearned for freedom and for the last year, all he wished was to be back in chains, to be given purpose.

Losing Keturah. Would he truly care? He did not know the answer. On one hand, he would to be rid of her, to have her stop haunting his dreams, to have her stop infecting his heart but with out her, what would he do? Who would he be?

“I have nothing to hide.”

Was it a lie? It didn’t feel like one, but it didn’t feel like the truth either.

 

[The Red of Sinner]

[member="Salvor Arnex"]

Romeo shook his head as there was silence for awhle, he knew the boy was searching inside for answer. "Salvor...do not lie to me..." He turned with a small flame crossing his fingers. "I hate it when someone lies to me." He took a deep breath, and calmed his mind. The fire dispersed. "You hold it all inside, every thought, every feeling. It is there, you can not hide it from me. If I wanted to, I could get all the info on you that I would need, but I dont want that, I want this to be personal."

 

[Salvor Arnex]

[member="Romeo Sin"]

Salvor eyed the fire enviously and in an instant it was gone. The flame, not his envy.

“There is nothing to tell, Romeo.”

He was beginning to grow tired of this man and his questions. Who was this man to tell him what he felt? To call him a liar to his face? No this conversation had gone as far as it would. Salvor stood and turned to leave.