Private Monster

[Mia Monroe]

Mia mirrored his wry smile, a chuckle rumbling in her throat. “Maybe,” she almost agreed, “Though there could be an argument that says as someone who has fought them for so long, I may know them better than most, biased or not.”

Truth be told there was a fine line that separated her from the sith. Her devotion to her people and to her culture. You could not be a sith and be a mandalorian, the two philosophies would never go hand in hand, though many had claimed otherwise. Today was not the day for such a debate.

Mia watched Malum as he spoke, trying desperately to find a way out, his bright mind searching for a way to win, yet keep his friend alive, yet even as the words regarding humiliation left his lips, she could see the way his shoulders slumped just a little as the truth of the matter glared angrily at him.

She reached for his hand and gave it a squeeze. “Self preservation, at this point, is more important than saving your friend, Malum. Unless you have the power to stand against the powers that be?”

She knew he didn't, not yet, at least.

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

He narrowed his eyes at the answer, even as a brow was raised simultaneously, "I can accept the principle that you may know us well to some degree, but that knowledge would only be of what we are in war..." A slight smile came upon his features, coloured in the slightest piece of moroseness, and sullenness, "...And as much as peace is a lie, there is more to my people than war," So much that there should have been, but even in the failings of a certain sum high Sith.

Had they not built spires that rose high into the air?

An industry that as much built the weapons of war, had also built the fortunes of peace?

That built cities, across the galaxy, that too often, were torched, and destroyed by the enemies both within and without.

That should have been their legacy, that was their legacy, one which had been so often trampled underfoot, that the galaxy had been made to forget, in favour of the narrative which they desired more. That they were dark, that they were evil, and that there was no sense to the slaughter they unleashed in order to safeguard their own survival.

He blinked, his thoughts breaking as he felt the squeeze upon his palms, a gaze that had been glassy, flicking towards the sapphires opposite.

Her words were not what he wished to hear, but they may as well have been the truth of the matter that he so wished to undo.

"...I am the apprentice of Darth Ophidia... and since I have become a Sith Lord... I killed the Queen of Snakes, the greatest assassin this galaxy had ever seen... if I am not ready now, when will I ever be?" The question was as much rhetorical as it was genuine, what did he need to achieve before he would be ready? Was not her at his side now enough?

Mia Monroe
Mentioned: Darth Ophidia

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mia smiled, her eyes glittering as she recalled memories that were not her own, her sapphire gaze taking on a red hue that shifted sapphires to amethysts for the smallest of moments. It was more than war. She had shared her headspace with a Sith for years before Rel had found a way to remove him.

The red hue faded, her mind drifting to her late husband as she looked away from Malum, a sadness clawing at her heart. A loneliness settled over her that weighed heavily on her soul. As much as Malum was here, as much as she cared for him like a son, he would never fill the void left behind by the lives lived and lost before this one.

Her eyes moved back to him, sadness vanishing behind iron gates wrought over years of compartmentalising, as his question hung in the air between them. Pity washed across her face. “You will not be facing an assassin, Malum. You will be facing men who have become gods. Sith Lords who have not only decades of experience behind them as Sith Lords, but have transcended death itself. You have strength, that much is true, but in comparison, you are still a child with much to learn.”

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

At least he was not the only one who had the problem of his eyes shifting hue, though the colour which once sapphires eyes turned to was most peculiar. For barest moment, they had settled upon the ruby which was reflected on his own, but he could not be entirely sure of it. Inded, the only reason that the theory struck chord with him at all, was which what he did see.

Amethysts.

He remembered long ago, back on easier... or perhaps equally as complex days on Zanbar, when she had been just as haunted as he had been... perhaps even more so.

Was she as haunted still? The fact she had not collapsed into his arms was enough of a hope that it was not the case... but though she had not been trained as the noble scion as he had been, she had a lifetime of experience as a leader... or the word which was needed to be a leader, a liar.

He hated that look on her face, as she considered him, the sapphires back, and softening in consideration.

He hated the words even more.

"She was not just some assassin, she was their peers, she returned from life too..." The only reason he could imagine she had not this time was the detente she had achieved within him, and the war she fought on within his app- co-apprentice, split as she was, what could she do apart from guide him, and crippling him?

It might have been the best chance of his victory at the Kaggath, drawing her out.

"...So what is it that you would have me learn?"

Mia Monroe
Mentioned: Darth Strosius Darth Ophidia

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mia studied him for a long moment, searching for the right words to answer him with. How did you tell someone that they had not lost enough, that they had not suffered enough of the harsh lessons that life had to offer him?

He had lost fights, he had lost a child and now he stood to lose something akin to a brother…but it wasn't enough. He still saw hope, he still sought opportunities to save those who hindered him because of the heart worn on his sleeve.

“To be ruthless.” She answered finally. “Not just with your enemies, but with those you love. You have a vision, a dream you wish to see come to fruition. Some of those people you love, will need to be sacrificed to achieve it.”

, Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

She gazed at him a long while, sapphires peering into rubies, searching for something that he so long wished to know its identity, while a stone fell in his stomach at an anxious belief that whatever it was to be, it was not to be answer which he would like.

She did not disappoint.

His lips parsed, as a sneer easily came upon his features, turning his head away, as red eyes broke their bonds with the blues opposite, "...What is the point of anything I will achieve if it is not for the protection of those who I care for, those who look up to me, those who I command, those that I..." It had been long time since he felt so uncomfortable with the word.

But now was the moment he struggled to have it leave his lips.

"...Those that I love, my vision, my dreams, they all cease to matter if I am to surrender who I love for it."

A Sith Empire spanning the galaxy, its people free, prosperous, and safe.

A galaxy freed from the chains of fate and destiny, where its peoples would know true liberty.

A lone figure, masked, crowned, and atop a throne.

He banished the thought.

Mia Monroe

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mia almost winced at the aneer the erupted on his face before her turned sharply away from her, a sadness weighing heavily on her heart as he did. Eyes drifted momentarily to the blaster that rested on the low coffee table before them, the whispers in the back of her mind beginning their utterances of her worthlessness. With great effort, she tore her gaze away and ignored them.

“You and Elise are so perfect for each other. The naivety and belief you both have that you can save everyone…” she trailed off with a sigh. “Your net for those you love and want to protect is cast fat too wide, Malum. But you'll learn that lesson the hard way.”

She pushed herself to her feet. “I need to get cleaned up.”

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

As immediately as he saw her reaction to his words, the beads of regret and guilt were felt in heart and mind, his mouth dried, as his jaw opened, words of apology fast on his tongue, but not making it past his lips, as her words... her words bit hard. Harder, as he could imagine, she hardly meant them to do so.

After all, she had no idea how much things between him and Elsie had so...

...The guilt struck him still, of all the things he should be doing, for all the courage that was contained within his form... he did not have the courage to face the woman that he loved, that was wasting away to her own mind, as he failed...

...As he failed to save her.

"...I pray I never have to," Malum murmured, following her gaze, narrowing upon the blaster, it was a petty thing, as he extended his hand, and the blaster was grasped between his fingers, "You do... do you require anything from me, or can I trust you'll come to Alvaria after the Kaggath?"

Mia Monroe
Mentioned: Elise Ahana-Gwyneira