Lady Beneath the Lake

[Athena Heron]

[member="Darth Osano"]

"It's fine. I'm quite accustomed to pillaging." The wicked grin cut into her pink lips before disappearing. After everything she'd been through. After all Mal had done, she still found herself hesitant to trust him. It was just hard to fight a sith's nature. Trust didn't come easily. But Mal had certainly paid the price. Time and time again.

He'd saved her from the shadows. He hadn't tried to kill her when she'd mentally attacked him. Though, if he had, it would've obviously been a mistake. And now? Now he was still taking care of her.

"Well yes. I wanted to re-design my own planet. Naturally. Maybe destroy a few in the process. Well, a few cities. As practice."

No one said Athena Heron was sane.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

Of course she was accustomed to pillaging. They had met while looting a tomb. Osano chuckled at the thought, although it was a simple truth. Any self-respecting Sith would scavenge the ruins of their predecessors at least once in their life.

"Oh, really?" If Maleagant thought the casual destruction of a few cities was a red flag, he clearly didn't think it worth noting. "And what would a planet designed by Athena Heron look like?"

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Darth Osano"]

She smiled, thinking. They walked further into the estate. Sure there were signs of upheaval but it was still beautiful. The history was there. Age in the stones and marble. Each crack told a story. Weathered naturally or by strife and war.

"My dear Mal. Why planet for flight of course. Floating rocks cities and deep cliffs with ragged mountains. Up-drafts and down drafts so magnificent they could push you into the uppermost reaches of the atmosphere."

She paused, spotting a parcel at the back door. More of a trunk. She recognized the symbol on the front. "Ah. Looks like my servants have ordered me clothes ahead of their arrival. This is why I keep them around."

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

"I see," he replied, appearing somewhat contemplative. "You should visit Cato Neimoidia with me. Sometime."

The cities were built into the towering rock formations, suspended by bridges. They didn't float, but it was the next best thing. Maybe it wouldn't be as glorious as a custom-designed planetoid developed by Athena Heron... But again, next best thing. Life was full of compromises like that. Maleagant doubted he would enjoy a trip to Cato Neimoidia as Athena might, though he could make do. Proximity could suffice in light of participation. As they passed the back of the mansion, the large package did not escape Maleagant's notice either.

He did not like it.

It meant a gaggle of handmaidens had managed to slip by security solely for the purpose of leaving a trunk. Someone on his staff was going to get fired for failing to notice this. Maybe later, when he wasn't as preoccupied.

Unless they were still here, spying on the spymaster. An uncomfortable thought; a taste of his own medicine.

"Good servants are hard to come by... I'll have someone bring that up to your room."

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Darth Osano"]

"Oh," dark brows lofted as she looked to Mal. "Would you say you're a good tour guide, Mal? Perhaps it would be worth my while to see." A slightly amused expression crossed her powdered-blue features as servants came scurrying from the woodwork to collect her trunk. It was a rather large trunk and if she knew her maidens well, it would indeed, be heavy.

They left none of her good clothes, shoes, or weapons behind. At least - for her interim stay here.

Arm looped into Mal's as she walked up the crumbling stairs to his accumulated property.

"Let's test those tour guide skills of yours now. Where to first?"

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

A tour guide? When had he given a tour of anything...? There had been a time in his university days, he remembered, where he had been part of the orientation team. Did that count? No, that was a different time. A different life. Certainly a different Maleagant, and definitely not one that could thrive under the attention of Athena Heron. And that was something the present Maleagant was very much intent on doing, more so than other things. Who had use for vengeance? Or the Saaraishash? He had Athena Heron on one arm and a mansion in front of him.

He'd already won.

"I'll let you be the judge of my... Tour-giving," he replied, pushing open the well-crafted wooden doors to the mansion with his free arm.

The spacious foyer was there to greet them. It was not exactly what one would call lavishly decorated, but it was nevertheless well-maintained and reasonably furnished. Two curved staircases lined the wall ahead of them, leading up to the second level. Struggling servants teetered past the pair and headed up one of the flights, ostensibly towards Athena's designated quarters. Yet it was not towards the stairs Maleagant proceeded to lead Athena, but through the hallway to their right.

It was a long hallway, replete with some fanciful abstract paintings on either wall. Perhaps fewer than there had been originally - there were clearly some outlines remaining from the ones Maleagant had decided to sell. Some paintings he just didn't like.

"The man who lived here before was something of a collector," Maleagant explained as they passed a few doors, "Once he was... Gone... Much of it remained behind. I haven't had the time to sort through it."

Eventually Maleagant reached the door he was looking for, and upon opening it revealed a rather robust personal library. Ancient and mysterious looking tomes from a variety of sources - Sorcerers of Rand all the way through Dathomiri occultists - lined shelves that stretched close to the ceiling. Various display cases were scattered throughout as well, showing off artifacts from Korriban, Kesh, and even Yavin IV. It was far from the most prolific collection, but a treasure trove was a treasure trove.

"Maybe you could help me."

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Darth Osano"]

Surprise flickered across her pale-blue features. But maybe it shouldn't have. After all, she'd first met Mal artifact hunting. They'd been doing the SAME thing even if their start had been built on subterfuge and mistrust. Only natural for Sith.

But he'd found her first love.

Quietly, she stepped forward as if pulled by an invisible tether. Arm slipped free from Mal's and instead, found its way to the shelves. Powder-blue fingertips rummaging along leather bound books and scrolls.

No tablets here.

Mal had found the perfect birdcage. Okay, maybe bird feeder/house. After a silent and marvelous minute, the hybrid omwati finally managed to turn back to her host. Hands clasped behind her back, fingers itching and twitching to dive in deep.

"I suppose I could help you," though she knew she'd already given her interest away she tried to look indifferent. "What were you proposing in exchange for my helping you?" Long, dark lashes batted innocently. She knew she wasn't fooling him. But she also wasn't undercutting her own value and skills in his proposal.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

Maleagant watched in close silence as she meandered through the perimeter of the library. He was gauging her reaction, and from what he could read showing off the collection was a good choice. Maleagant knew precious little of the things Athena enjoyed, even despite his relentless spying. But he did know this - and it was always best to work with what you knew first and go from there. Once she was finished, Maleagant raised a skeptical eyebrow. What else would he do for her in exchange?

"Hm... I did pull you from that lake," he said, though his tone was contemplative rather than condescending. "But I'm sure we could work something out."

The High Inquisitor stepped forward, guiding Athena along with a hand on the small of her back. He led her towards the largest display case, which housed a short staff. It was crafted out of a sleek, black material and appeared to be etched with various Rakatan markings - occult invocations. The head of the staff was flanged in a way that invoked other Rakatan constructs, most notably the Star Forge. It had taken several dozen inquiries on Darth Osano's part to determine what exactly the artifact was. He had not bothered to ask the previous owner before seeing him off, so to speak, which would have been more efficient in hindsight.

But even with the original owner dead, nothing remained hidden from Osano for very long these days. "Are you familiar with Mindspears, Athena?"

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Darth Osano"]

She said nothing as he spoke about saving her. Of course he did. And it was something she'd never forget even if his arrival to save her in time was nothing short of miraculous. And she knew those reasons after invading his mind. He'd been keeping tabs on her.

No - her and Caid.

Based off of infatuation?

The notion still surprised her. He'd been quite the opposite when they first met. But now? That touch along the small of her back. His fingertips brushing against the feathers along her wings to get there. It made her thoughts turn to a place she wasn't quite ready to go to.

Midnight orbs refocused on the case, traveling at an upward angle along his bearded jaw before dropping back to the case and staff within. "I am," she spoke cautiously. "A tool for a transfer of memories. Pray tell whose memories do you own?"

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

He smirked at her question, although only lightly. "Just my own," Maleagant said simply.

For now.

It wasn't as if he had much cause to personally use a mindspear. There were other people who did that for him these days. High Inquisitorship meant there were plenty of more important things to do, which meant he had never experimented with the device either. Why bother? There were other methods that worked just as well. The value of the Mindspear was more in its status as a relic. It was, for all Osano knew, incapable of being reproduced.

Athena loved such things.

"You can take it, if you want, after you help me straighten this place out." His voice was cool and soft, hinting only at sincerity. "You'll find more a use for it than I will, I think."

Yes, all that tongue-mashing mind probing she did, an additional weapon would definitely come in handy for her. Funny, Maleagant had thought his days of bribing people for their help were long behind him after he divested himself from the Syndicate. Some things, it seemed, never changed.

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Darth Osano"]

"You've got yourself a deal," mischievous and intelligent gaze panned away from the mind-spear and up to Mal. Leaning in, she planted a soft kiss with her bright-pink lips along his cheek. It was that spot just at the edge of his hairline.

"Now, now," she pulled away. "There's a lot of work and I will need proper clothing beyond your large shirt and pants with this belt." She smirked, knowing her slender blue form had been engulfed by his clothing since she'd donned it on his ship. "It's a good thing my handmaidens always come through."

With a quick flip of her charcoal hair she turned and wandered from the room.

_________________________________________________________________________________________________________________


A month later, Athena Heron was quite familiar with the estate. And of course the library. Mal had, perhaps begrudgingly, allowed a space for her handmaidens to stay, when they'd arrived a few days after their mistress had. Everyone was feeling quite at home with Mal's residence being overrun by many more females than he had, perhaps, intended. It wasn't exactly that things had a feminine touch, more like the house was littered with weapons and other training materials that Athena demanded of her entourage. Scrolls and tablets also littered almost every surface.

What was a little clutter for valuable research?

One might think they'd find Athena Heron locked up in the library and usually, she was. But at this very moment, she was doing her second favorite thing, flying. Black-feathered wings stretched and shifted along the misty-morning air as she circled the estate. Small droplets of dew clung and stick along her hair, skin, and clothing. Lungs pumped until she found a draft to glide back down, eye catching something she'd never seen before. Looked like a small cemetery along the outer edge of the estate.

Shoulders turned and she began angling down toward the half-hidden plot of land.

 

[Darth Osano]

[member="Athena Heron"]

It was impossible for Athena to overstay her welcome.

Conversely, Osano had been silently outraged over the handmaidens taking up so much space within days of their arrival. Given the state of disrepair the mansion had been kept in up until recently, Maleagant could hardly be considered an obsessively tidy person. But even a slob would eventually get tired of tripping over scrolls and swords, of not being able to put a drink down on a table because tomes were already piled onto the surface. There were enough forbidden texts here to construct a replica Massassi temple, Maleagant wagered. Probably to scale.

And for all that, he didn't seem to do much reading. His attentions were focused on a different matter entirely. The cavalcade of artifacts being dropped everywhere could not solely be attributed to Athena Heron and her entourage: a fair portion had been gifts. Once Darth Osano set himself to a goal, everything around him moved towards it as well. Otherwise it was disposed of. Agents of his were dredging up whatever they could get their hands on to add to Athena's collection. The duplicates and the useless were sold, generally to finance even more expeditions. Expeditions Osano had so far not been part of. Nor did he really intend to.

Athena was already here. Why go elsewhere?

Speaking of which, today's outing brought her to a cemetery. It certainly hadn't belonged to the Sith Lord who lived here most recently. More than likely it had been a fixture for whatever mundane brand of Alignment aristocracy lived here before. A family cemetery! Very quaint indeed. Not long after she landed, a conspicuous green mist would roll in and begin to take humanoid shape. The aura of Maleagant was more than apparent.

"Interesting choice," he commented - a disembodied and ethereal tone. It didn't sound natural. "You're not here to test Sith spells on the dead, are you?"

Property values tended to take a hit whenever Sith shacked up together, regardless of whether they were coupled. More so if one of them started churning out zombies from the local burial plot.

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Darth Osano"]

Wings shook out once, twice before folding snugly and tightly against her back. Athena Heron was wearing her stylish workout clothes because of course, all the clothing she owned was stylish. A finger brushed away a dew-flecked strand of dark hair, hawk-like eyes focused on the quickly forming mist. She and Mal had gotten closer over the past month. Sure, she'd been absorbed in her work and healing.

But she'd become familiar with his presence. The way she'd catch him looking at her when he didn't think she noticed. His thin tolerance of all the...guests in his estate. The spark of energy he got in his eyes when he shared a moment of discovery with one of the library items or scrolls along her side. It wasn't that she'd forgotten about Caid or lost her feelings for him. It was that she was beginning to think about Mal more.

Tongue clucked against the inside of her mouth a small, wicked-grin tugging upon her pink lips.

"Of course not. Why waste the energy when I can just conjure the images into a more delicious nightmare? Less clean-up, too." Her fingers would reach forward and brush along the forming mist out of curiosity and for a moment it felt as though she could actually feel a part of him.

"Is this your preferred method of travel?" The smirk never left her blue face.

 

[Darth Osano]

Maleagant snickered, though in his phantasmal in-between state it sounded skewed and unnatural. "Don't scare people too badly. You'll just get a different kind of clean-up."

His time with the Syndicate was becoming more of a distant memory. Nowadays it was just the library and Athena. His own little world, isolated and container. No one from the Saaraishash, or even the Empire, seemed keen to bother him. But even through the haze of time, he could remember the fear in people when they got plucked off the street for missing payments or being suspected of treason. Usually of the pants-wetting variety, especially after they brought out the hammers. He could only imagine what people would do with [member="Athena Heron"] conjuring their worst nightmares directly into their mind.

Probably claw their own eyes out.

The mist shifted slightly as Athena's hand moved through it. The air within was charged - not with the Dark Side as the Sith were used to drawing on it. Something different, it dripped of something more primal. More base. Even more so than the Dark Side itself, if at all possible. "Careful, you could get stuck," he warned.

Maleagant did not want to know what would happen if he re-materialized with Athena's hand still in that spot. As ideal as being close to her was, having her hand stuck in his chest was another thing entirely... Not to mention probably fatal. Gradually the mist took on a more defined shape, and Maleagant's features could more readily be seen. She could see right through him, although now this was literal rather than figurative.

"Practice makes perfect," said the phantasmal Maleagant. "It beats walking, anyway."

 

[Athena Heron]

[member="Darth Osano"]

"Well, we should let others worry about clean up," smiling, she stepped back and leaned over, brushing off the dirt from one of the tombstones. Very old-fashioned. A language she didn't know was written on the face along with some interesting symbols.

Hand brushed off the dirt and dust along the side of her leg.

"Anything beats walking," she mused, without looking up, dark eyes the color of midnight set within a blue-face remaining transfixed along the writing. Mal, of all people, knew what she would mean. He'd known her before she had her wings back. In fact, how she and Mal had met int he first place had been such an odd experience.

"I suppose I owe you a thank you, for putting up with the clutter of my entourage," finally, her slender form straightened back to her host.

 

[Darth Osano]

Clutter was something of an understatement. There were several parts of the mansion - his mansion - he no longer felt comfortable walking through. "It's nothing," he lied, even as his form solidified and the area immediately behind him could no longer be seen so clearly. If some "no-go" zones in his own official place of residence was the price to pay to keep [member="Athena Heron"] in walking distance (so to speak) then he would gladly pay it. Probably would have given up the whole mansion too, if she asked.

Good thing she hadn't.

"This place would be rather empty otherwise," Maleagant said, drifting forward. "I prefer your company."