Private Hello Malum

[Alina Tremiru]

For old times sake.

That's the thought that went through her mind as she rather abruptly kicked down the door into Malum's estate. Their first meeting was similar, though at an academy, rather than a home. The nostalgia was real for Alina as she took a step in, her red eyes scanning around calmly. She breathed deep, the unneeded motion bringing with it a smile that spread across her face. She was dressed not in the usual eccentric clothing she'd picked up before her depature from known space. Rather, she wore the classic robe of a Sith, a tunic of black. Her saber on her hip where it belonged.

A calm, eerily calm at that, smile on her face.

"I hope you're here, Malum! I've come to have a chat."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

He sighed.

On one hand, he was glad they were not on Alvaria, his Guard were far less forgiving regarding structural damage, and more importantly threats to their charge than he was. On the other hand...

...Was it truly necessary to kick down his door?

He had expected it to some degree, which was of course why he had leaked that he was currently on his deserted country estate on Eliad, rather than on the Palaces on either Alvaria or Eliad. He gave the staff a day off, and he had to rather sternly order his guard complement to give him the next few hours of privacy.

He knew ever since the Reception she might have wanted to talk.

But to think the last time they had seen each other was on Korriban, when she was drilling into him for dating her... sister?

How times changed.

Well time to face the music, he supposed.

His black cloak billowed in the wind as he stood from his desk, alerted to her position by her loud voice. It had strictly not been very long since he had last seen Alina Tremiru ... but what was true, was that sometimes it seemed truly long periods would occur between him seeing her. By design? He was unsure, perhaps he would find out that.

After all, he had once thought she was dead.

That was not strictly false either.

Just that... it seemed she was back from that.

And it added yet another within the Order that seemingly desired to break the natural order.

A ghost of a smile fluttered upon his features, upon the sight of the red eyes, platinum-haired, Sangnir. The very first Sangnir he had met when he was but the apprentice, and she the knight.

They both stood lords now though.

"Well... here I am for that... but was the door strictly necessary?" He answered, before eyes trailed over to the wreckage next to her.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Nostalgia."

She clasped her hands behind her back, smiling a fairly calm smile as she looked Malum over. Right, people aged still. He was older now than the last she remembered. Older, haggard. Heavy was the head that wore the crown. Her gaze trailed briefly to the now very ruined door as she shrugged indifferently. He was plenty rich now to replace it if her own sources were accurate. "You challenged Alisteri to a Kaggath, adding to quite the clusterfuck of events with your own problems. Was it to save your own face? Genuinely trying to make right?"

Her gaze narrowed, just faintly.

"Assist your brother in his madness and try to spare him from my Master's rightful wrath?"

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

He wished to give her a long withering look at that answer... but...

A smile blossomed on his face instead as his eyes trailed back down to his hands, they were coarse now, bruised and cracked... they had been back then too, he supposed, but not to this scale.

Much had happened, since they had truly last met.

"Nostalgia..." He accepted, bringing his eyes back to the Sangnir, "Still, you are paying for that, and do not break any others." He spoke in as much a serious voice as he could muster, while levity supreme was wafting through the air, he offered a seat nearby, turning on his heel to reach his own.

Only to pause as her words struck him.

What exactly was he to say to that?

Alina Tremiru may have honestly been one of the few who did truly know how close he and Ali- Darth Strosius wer- had been? If only because the woman seemed to have had once had a bond, even a relationship of some sort with his battlebrother, and had some sort of relationship with their Mistress, Darth Ophidia .

And though he did not know the woman well, he was no stranger.

It was rather easy for most to conclude that he and the other Sangnir were cooperating, after all, they did together murder their Mistress, and they had been seen together multiple times.

But for this Sangnir, there may have been little doubt at all, it was without question even.

And that made her dangerous.

And he knew already that she was dangerous.

He turned to face her, smile still affixed upon his face, considering those narrowed red orbs, "... Taeli Raaf was not the only one that was harmed by Darth Strosius' actions, rest assured, he will not be spared any wrath once I am finished with him."

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"I'll pay for it, of course. No promises on the safety of others, though. A good door is practically begging to be kicked in."

Though, was she really talking about doors at this point? She kept a calm expression as she watched him. The newest among the Dark Council. By all accounts this time around he outranked her within the Order, especially after she relinquished her position as governor of Dromund Kaas. That didn't seem to matter much to Alina. She'd never bend the knee to one who showed interest in her betrothed.

"Lord Arcanix is your peer now, Lord Malum. And unlike you, it was hers that were taken and kidnapped. By all rights, your stake matters little more than trying to either show off, or to spare him a mother's wrath. I personally don't care, so long as he is punished. But you are truly bold to try and steal the punishment from your colleague."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

Malum found himself in his seat, face fully back to facing the Sangnir, who he would best not risk having his back turned towards for too long, sitting far more casually than his position afforded him.

And truly, far more comfortably than he really felt.

Legs kicked him, back rested, hands draped across armrests, as he considered Alina Tremiru 's words.

They were not exactly speaking of doors, were they?

"I am sure the doors are a simple foe, they so rarely kick back do they?" He mused into the air, seemingly not even speaking towards her, even as he addressed her words.

Before turning to consider her fully, narrowing his orbs, "Those are my cousins, my blood, I do not deny she has a claim to dole out justice, but for grandchildren that she did not even know existed... I simply wish to make certain that it is justice which is reached, and not vengeance, for all that Darth Strosius has done, I would rather not see the Inquisition turned into a husk, and our empire weakened, by internal strike," His smile seemed to widen at the end of her words, "It seems that is what most say of me these days... bold... alas, I meant no such thing, we are about to go to war with the grandest power in the galaxy, best that we take the most united step forward, no?"

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"Doors are wonderfully predictable. They swing in one of two directions. The problem is when someone else is deciding when they open and close, just waiting behind it for the moment to. It's funny to see their expressions when the door they were holding is suddenly kicked open in their faces."

She took her own seat, casually bringing the Force to pull a chair towards her as she sat comfortably. It was an abnormality, all things considered, given she wasn't known to be able to utilize the Force herself. Only remove it from those around her. One hand folded over the other, her smile there even as he shot a glare her way. "Inquisition, Inquisitorious. Another would rise to rebuild it, with or without him, with or without it being gutted. It needn't matter, one way or another. He chose to strike against a Dark Councilor. He drove the wedge, targeted Lord Arcanix. Grandchildren she wasn't aware of? That'd only make Ali quite the idiot for trying to use them against her, no? A united step forward would have been to let my Master handle what Alisteri had done herself than to self insert your way into it. Sometimes it's best to stand to the side than make it messier, mm?"

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

He had been certain she was talking in metaphor before, but what she just said... was she actually speaking of doors, and this entire avenue of conversation a waste of time?

He truly would not be surprised.

He shook his head in amusement, "The things that entertain you, Lady Tremiru, never cease to surprise me," Certainly there was something to be said of the joy in a joke or prank, he had partaken in some in his own life, some in bad taste perhaps, but in comparison to Alina Tremiru , they were downright tame.

He raised an eyebrow at her little display, as she finally took her own seat, "...It would seem congratulations are in order, if my servants were still here I might have offered a glass," He only hoped that if she had been able to restore the Force Sensitivity that eluded her, that the Force Deadness which extended out of her had weakened in some way.

Otherwise, she would prove an even more dangerous foe, stroking the stubble at his normally cleanshaven face, considering her primary words, "It would seem Darth Strosius, for all his faults predicted rather well, even unknown grandchildren were able to get a rise out of the grandmother," He noted idly, there was quite a lot in what the Sangnir had said, that he would need to respond to it seemed, "She was not Dark Councillor that day, any more than I or Lord Lechner was, perhaps a petty detail, but still a true one," He let out a sigh, considering what he could reveal, what he could even say really, "It can be rebuilt, certainly, but what a waste on the eve of war, the Kaggath will have justice done, while preserving the empire's strength, it is simply the most reasonable course of action..." But nobody wanted reason.

They wanted blood.

"...At some point, the Emperor and Empress will get involved in the needless bloodletting, they remain high and aloof for now, but I would rather not invite them down from their pillars to sort out yet another case of civil discordant, we are at war on three fronts, perhaps four, they will not tolerate a waste of our focus on our petty struggles."

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"When you grow up to be traded as a trophy wife to your mother's allies, you find entertainment in the most.. Darkest of places. It was a blessing and a curse that a Sangnir is incapable of using drugs or drinking."

That, and she was done trying to speak riddles with doors and the like. It only entertained her so long to trade idle threats behind veiled words. Right now though, her smile bloomed to a giggle. "Is that truly what you think?" No more a councilor than him or the Emperor's Wrath? She couldn't stop the giggling as she shook her head and did her best not to full on laugh. She steadied her expression after a moment, resettled her position as she sat calmly.

"Then, perhaps, you should have supported Lord Arcanix rather than step into the limelight yourself, no? Rather than compounding the issue by throwing in your lot? Ali will be dealt with, though now that you've issued an official Kaggath things are just.. So needlessly complicated."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

Any remnant of good feeling in the room seemed to be wiped away, Malum parsing his lips musing and consideration not afraid to make themselves evident upon the nobleman's face, "To not have the fruit of alcohol to assuage wounds, I sympathise with you," He answered, with half a smile, even with only half a smile it seemed strained, "...But I do apologise, I am sorry that your mother would do such a thing for you, and can only be pleased that you have forged yourself to greater heights despite such a past."

He felt awkward saying as such.

For all the struggles Malum had faced in his life, childhood had not been where it had occurred.

The words felt tilted, and awkward, even as he meant every word.

Only to raise an eyebrow as the giggles burst out of the Sangnir, and he was reminded, even more, that despite having known this woman for years technically.

That technically ran deep.

He barely knew her at all.

The Sangnir were strange, he had long ago decided, even the ones he knew well, Ali- Darth Strosius and Adeline Noctua , there was something about them... something about how they thought? Something about how they acted which always...

Made him feel they were... alien.

Alien despite the most part looking exactly like him.

More alien than those who seemed at least on a surface-level... alien.

"I thought you a woman who was utterly confident, especially against the old fossils which currently rule as the powers that be... has it so shifted as your once paramour believes?" Malum challenged, he knew mentioning Ali- Darth Strosius was a risk, from what he had heard, and from what was evident.

They had not exactly parted on good terms.

"...I suppose I cannot blame you, I did as well follow where the power lay, and as it lay with those of immortal governance, so I found myself... I doubt that Darth Strosius will forgive either of us, yet, it is not as if he will have a chance when my blade crushes him." He was looking for something in those golden eyes.

The only problem was, he did not know what.

He smirked, by the end of her words, so was that what she was most concerned with? "If Darth Arcanix wishes for my support then she should have asked for it, we might have negotiated some sort of agreement, she is mistaken in belief if she believes it is she exclusively who has the right to this matter." So much hidden in these games they played, and if in this little way, he could rebel against their immortal tyranny.

He had not wanted this.

But he would take it.

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

Her very red eyes brightened unnaturally at the challenge. The flash of Anima, the rush of the Force under her command. It was brief, but very telling as her smile widened. She was here in the heart of his power, but she certainly felt no fear for the Dark Councilor before her. "Perhaps you should try death some time, dear Malum. It took some time to sort out my thoughts after my resurrection, but I found that there was something far more important than armies and ruling to aspire to first and foremost. Those fossils Ali seeks to undermine? He never will."

It was a truth she'd only seen through her training under Darth Carnifex . In what she found in the great dark beyond their galaxy. Darth Strosius was on a fools errand to kill these beings the way he was trying. She waved a hand dismissively, leaning back comfortably in her chair now, one leg draped over the other as he mentioned Taeli Raaf asking for his support of all things.

"You stand between the wrath of a mother. I'm not here on her behalf, she certainly doesn't need my assistance or she would've already asked me to kill Alisteri once and for all. She will do as she wants, because that is her right. You are in her way if you continue this path. Alisteri I will wait for the order to. You?" She flashed her fangs. Adeline Noctua was the only thing on her mind, in truth.

"I've already warned you what would happen if you hurt my dear sister. I pray you haven't."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

The smirk faded from his face as his own red eyes narrowed, glimmering dangerously unsure why he had thought hers had been gold... had his memory... had their memories placed before their eyes something which had long ceased to be?

"Unfortunately death is something which I wish to taste only once, the last thing I taste as I finally grow old and pass with my family and friends surrounding me, Bogan be willing," He spoke idly, still watching her, watching those red eyes so similar to his own, those black sclera, so unlike his own, as he let out a sigh, "...Please spare me yet another lecture of how what truly matters lay not in the present, nor in the materium, but some other time, some other immaterial place, that we mortals shall never see, for those who have forgone death decided to undertake a century, what could have been accomplished in a decade."

Tch.

The Sith were eternal, were they?

Eternally slow and craven, and eternally stagnant if these immortal tyrants had their way.

Vague amusement drawled upon his face, as she finally seemed to relax back upon his seat.

He could only wonder how relaxed she truly was so deep in the home of one she may have considered an enemy.

"Are you so confident you could kill the one who has at least half the claim upon Darth Ophidia 's corpse? The one who killed you once, if I so recall. I am surprised really that it was not you who declared the Kaggath in all honesty... but alas, I suppose we can all commiserate in wishing for the end of that malcontent." There was curiosity in his tone, a quirk of the lip, a question pervading throughout the entirety of his speech.

Why had she not?

Where had she been?

He raised an eyebrow at the threat, really now?

Once he had feared her, one part of her still did.

But if she wished for blood, he was more than willing to draw hers.

"I am surprised you have not asked Adeline, suffice to say, I only hurt your sister as much as she wished of me," His face remained the very picture of innocence, his eyes burned a challenge, should he have antagonised her? Likely not.

However, when it came to Alina Tremiru , sometimes he could not help but find himself at this standstill.

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"What? No. That's stupid. Power, dear Malum. Power to cheat death. Power to stop those from cheating death. You're fighting to kill people who have been killed before." Alina scoffed. In all technicality, she was truly immortal. Ageless, at least, by way of the blood. Those kinds of long games she could absolutely play if she wanted to. But those were pointless. Not without the power to back it up.

They needed the power to back it up.

"The surprised boy who didn't mean to kill me and panicked? The boy who used my body for a path to claw for power? Who jumps at my voice, my name, like it's a phantom ready to rip him apart? He killed me, sure, but clearly I recovered. He stole my master's grandchildren. He's half the two who killed Darth Ophidia. The other half being y-"

"I am surprised you have not asked Adeline, suffice to say, I only hurt your sister as much as she wished of me,"

She paused, took a breath. Closed her eyes even.

"I came here to stop the Dark Council from killing itself, and maybe beat you up for breaking up with my sister, because, well. Even I can be protective of those I care for. Don't make me kill a Dark Councilor instead, Malum. Quinn seems to like you. She'd be a little upset if I ended up consuming you."

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

He blinked owlishly at her, "I believe we have a misunderstanding, in this time of increased unity between Sith, I have no ambition to kill anyone amongst our ranks," He was laying it on thick, but such was his wont, he had little desire for any rumours of his intentions to escape these walls, "As for immortality... you call it the power to cheat death, I call it a desperate bid out of the fear of death... I do not know your circumstances, and such that I bear you no judgement nor ill... but for those whom achieved their immortality, yet still rule... who refuse to allow our evolution forward, and instead have us stagnate as the years pass by, to them mere seconds? I... would hope to convince them to listen to reason." His gaze had left hers at some point, looking to the wall behind her, what he was looking for was a mystery.

Maybe he just did not wish to look into the eyes of a woman who by all rights should have been dead.

He quirked an eyebrow, as his vision turned back to hers, catching the vitriol of her words. He might not have had the greatest opinion of his battlebrother at the moment and even could empathise with her claims.

He had not expected this.

...But perhaps he should have?

He had killed her after all.

Yet anything he would have said, could have said, trailed off as she paused at the end of her words, registering what exactly he had said, taking a breath, and closing her eyes.

He was preparing for the worst.

Only for the barest tremor to wave up his spine.

"...Forgive my crassness, I meant no offence... Adeline was... and is lovely, perhaps if it was not for my own state after Fiviune I might have even come to have loved her... alas, it was not to be, we parted on amicable terms." He had needled her enough, the last thing he needed was a fight here, yet he took what was interesting from her words, Quinn seemed to like him?

Well, she could have fooled him.

"...I might even contend that your sister would not be pleased if you tried to consume me." He attempted, a half smile forming upon his face, trying to add some levity back into their conversation.

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"You didn't even flinch."

Alina squinted. She thought for sure, that maybe, he'd have taken the bait about killing the others. Good on him for not, but still. She was still simmering. The idle clench of her fists as her fingers rapped one after another against her crossed leg. On the arms of the chairs she was in to the point her nails bit into steel. Well, they could anyway. Something else for her to pay for, most likely.

"Mm. Ugh. Fine. It would've been more fun if it wasn't amicable. An excuse to beat you up anyway. But, fine. I'll stop looking for a reason to punch you in the throat for her at least."

Would that stop her from looking to throw punches in general? No. Not at all. She loved throwing punches after all.

"Don't put yourself at odds with Lord Arcanix. The Order needs to be unified. Ali took her children. A mother will not stand that down."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

He had avoided one disaster by the looks, that hardly meant he would survive the next. Still, as he filled his half-smile to a full one, as he truly did wish at least one servant was around to give him a drink of... something. Would at least give him something to do, as she herself was... threatening his furniture as much as him.

"Why would I flinch?" He questioned, it seemed he had trailed her away from the scent for now, but that hardly meant she would stop sniffing.

He allowed a small chuckle to leave his lips, filling his room with an icy mirth, "It certainly would have been more interesting... but between us, I enjoy my relationship with her that I would so hate to lose it... I think both she and I would be pleased if you did not punch me," He imagined that he would be more pleased than Adeline Noctua , however... Adeline was rather odd enough, that Malum could not be entirely sure of that.

He quirked an eyebrow at the end of her words, "I have no desire to put myself at odds with Darth Arcanix, she deserves her dues... however, I shall have mine, it was a mistake for there to be two heirs of Darth Ophidia , I shall right that wrong."

Alina Tremiru

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"You don't heal quick, so, you knowww fine. I can't break your chin and have you healing for a week, or however long it was that human's took to heal." It was probably longer, right? It was truly telling just how much she'd forgotten about her life as a human herself before she turned. All the broken bones, the cuts and burns. How long they took to heal. She was wholly Sangnir now.

"That's a piss poor excuse and you know it. You could've simply asked her. You should have asked her. It was her family's wedding, and Ali alone had interrupted it. Then, lo and behold, the other half of the wonder twins Sir Malum comes in to issue his fucking Kaggath because fuck it why not ruin the wedding that much more. You made problems, Malum. Fix them. You weren't there the last time a civil war killed us. Ali was there. We watched the Empire burn itself to the ground as the Sith devoured each other. Don't add to that for your own pride."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

"...Depends on the wound, and bacta does make it swifter... alas, you are right, I do not have the means to simply regrow my limbs if required." Malum offered with a ghost of a smile. He had to wonder if it was some part of the Sangnir psychology that made them shift so rapidly in disposition, from angry and vengeful to almost... petulant and childlike, of course, if such was the case, then Ali- Darth Strosius would be rather major repudiation of the idea, for though he could be remarkably naive and uninformed, Malum would never think him childlike, even if petulant sometimes felt apt.

Of course, there was the other matter that Malum did not have any business calling someone else naive.

Still assuming Ali- Darth Strosius was an exception to the rule, why did all the other Sangnir he had met exhibited such similar qualities? A leading theory he had long mused was simply the interaction of two very different stimuli, their immortality and what he imagined were very traumatic lives.

After experiencing all without healing from their mental scars.

Retreating into adolescence, yet with the power to defend oneself from any threat... must have been comforting to some degree.

He raised an eyebrow at the rest of her words, "It was certainly no wedding involving the family of Darth Arcanix... but I suspect that is all minor in the grand scheme of things," He was reminded, despite how much physically he resembled the age of his battlebrother and Alina Tremiru , in actuality, they far overshadowed him in that number, when he had been but a boy when the Empire fell, the Sangnir duo had been actual combats, and had fought to the bitterest end, "I was not there for the Third Imperial Civil War, you are right about that, yet though they do not compare, I have fought in two civil strifes, I know the danger there is in disunity amongst our ranks, and I suspect Darth Strosius knows that as much as we do... a wonder why he continues this then," Another look, were relations so irreparable between these two, once closest of... closest of whatever they had been to each other?

"...I will fix things, but what has been said is done, I only ask that you trust me, when I say I desire no conflict between Sith, I do as I have purposefully to strangle such conflict in the cradle." How she spoke about him... was there still fondness there?

 

[Alina Tremiru]

"We're doing this thing where we're talking about multiple subjects at the same time, so, I'll stop that for us mm?" There was never a time se enjoyed trying to speak on multiple subjects at the same time. At least these were mostly all following the same beat. But it didn't help in the slightest for her to want to keep talking. "Fine, yes. I believe that you don't want conflict to continue. I'll trust that, at least, even if I don't trust the Apprentice of that accursed snake."

Darth Malum of House Marr