Sordid

[Hira Mitsae]

EMPRESS TETA​

[member="Irajah Ven"]​

​

Empress Teta.

The vertical city, layers upon layers of ancient history squeezed together, grinding and chafing at the edges. In some ways it was similar to Coruscant, but in others... it was most certainly not. While Coruscant had housed the One Sith for a decade, Teta? Had a history with the Darkside since before the Gulag plague.

One of those streets, winding, dark and ruined suddenly lit up.

A flash of green.

Darkness making way for the emerald fire. What followed next was an invasion of silence by the coughing and sputtering of a voice. The invasion of emptiness by a body that was thrown against a wall.

Before slowly gliding down and slumping there among the filth and garbage.

"Feth me." One Julian Imani managed out. "Ugh, what is the time?"

Murmurs.

"You are useless, you know that, right?" Strange thing? He didn't seem to be talking to anyone, because the rest of the alley was empty except for the shadows. "Oh, stop pouting." Then another groan as Imani spit blood and tried to claw his way back to his feet. Difficult as his knees went out again.

"One way to start this all I guess..."

 

[Kuzo]

Coruscant​

Three Days Ago​

Irajah Ven had spent the last two years in study. She had studied pain and death. Studied the line between the two and how far she could push them, holding a life teetering over the edge of the abyss, how far she could tip a soul in and still draw it back out again. She had watched the Sith Empire rise from afar, and set pieces on the board. Pawns only, while she collected the other pieces she needed. She had studied the Force, her capacities within it and how to find the cracks in the galaxy that let her shatter reality with the lightest of touch.

Side projects had abounded, but the primary focus was, and had been since the day she had been dragged out of it by [member="Cerbera"]'s hand, the Netherworld.

The Netherworld was like an ocean. At any given point it was not possible to see every wave, every pull of the tide. Vast and dark, some places were placid and still to the point of doldrums, while others writhed maelstroms into the depths. A skilled navigator could read the signs in advance, as a sailor might the stars and winds. And just like a sailor, there was very little capacity to affect change on that great expanse. One could only attempt to interpret the signs as best as one could and prepare for what they spoke of. Sometimes it was a screaming roar of hurricane force winds, sending clouds scuttling in fear across the sky. Other times it might be no more than a scant whisper, a particular track of a single small wave out of sync with the others that betrayed a deadly hunter just beneath the surface. The Netherworld was jealous, hungry. It consumed, it pulled, it wanted. It was greedy in its attentions, and every time she got too close, dipped her face just a little too near to the surface, it rose, a sudden wave that tried once more to pull her back in. The Netherworld wanted what was its due, and as far as it was concerned, those who had once been part of it would always be theirs.

What Irajah felt that day was none of these things.

All of those sensations related to the energies trapped within the Nether. No, this was different. New. Something she had not yet encountered and could not put a name to. Studying the waves and currents, attention turning this way and that, she came to a particularly interesting conclusion. One she had not expected.

The Netherworld was about to give something back.

*****

Empress Teta​

Present​

Irajah followed the lines. Subtle fractures in the surface of reality that ricocheted out a common central point. Shatterpoint had been, from the beginning, a talent of hers, and as time had gone on, her capacity in it had only grown. She treated it with respect- the ability was not hers to exploit, so she tread carefully upon it. It was like balancing on a string over a vast chasm, all too easy to misstep and fall for eternity.

She could feel the web of Shatterpoint start to intersect the ripples in the Netherworld. Yes, close now.

What, she wondered, as she shifted through the city streets that grew in quiet as the air around her grew in tension, was the Netherworld giving back? What had it decided it no longer held dominion over? Or was it something else entirely? In the period of her study nothing like this had ever happened- yes people had dragged themselves or been dragged by another out. But the Nether had never given them up willingly.

What was different here?

The air snapped, singing with astriction, a thousand threads suddenly pulled tight and Irajah knew she was in the right place.

Or almost.

She was not close, several blocks down in fact, when the anomaly shattered the lines. Acidic light burned, illuminate explosion of power, and she felt for a heartbeat the tug and attention of the Nether. It noticed. And for a moment, it considered.

And then, it receded. Leaving behind the stumbling, muttering form in the shadows.

[member="Julian Imani"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

Perhaps in some ways Irajah Ven would be disappointed to find that her crux within the waves of the Netherworld was not... exactly everything she might have considered it to be.

No mysterious void, no all-powerful spirit or deity.

Instead it was just a man.

Clothes ripped, skin ripped and wounds still fresh, but in surprisingly good spirits. (ha). "What do you mean, hungry? You don't eat." Silence of a pause. "...you do? Don't tell me I don't need to know." A groan as he slowly pushed himself up the wall and got to his feet again. "No, I am fine. Just a bit wooz-" Julian interrupted himself suddenly and stared at the wall he had come from.

"Chit. You sense that?"

Ah, feth.

Two seconds later Irajah would *sense* how a shatter in the weave occurred. It shifted everything, changed futures of rock and stone. Then the emerald light filled the alleyway again and the roar came next. Not that Julian stopped to watch.

He had already limped out of the alley and onto the streets.

Almost walked into Irajah. "Don't say anything, just turn around and start walking real fast, if you don't want to die." Jul hissed out as he passed her and started limping *harder*.

Another roar.

 

[Kuzo]

It wasn't a what.

It was a who.

Not a particularly noteworthy who either, at first glance.

But if anyone in the galaxy knew about not judging books by their covers, it was Irajah Ven.

Her force signature kept under wraps, shrunken and hidden, it was no wonder that the man looked at her and only saw what there was on the surface. Petite, dark hair framing that pale face. Civilian, clearly, by any accounting- the way she moved, the lack of any weapons either obvious or otherwise. Dressed in good quality street clothes, she cut a rather unassuming figure with the exception of the sharpness and curiosity in that hazel gaze.

Force user he was, clearly.... and not alone. On the surface he might have been talking to himself, but she could just pick up the spirit bound to him from here. It was a subtle thing, all quiet and shadow and hidden intentions. If she hadn't been looking for more it would have been easy to miss.

She felt the threads tighten again.

"Oh really we're doing this now?"

Irajah and the Netherworld had an uneasy accord. She tried to poke at it while stealing things from it and it tried to devour her when she did. She couldn't say that it was a game, but it was familiar. However this time, she hadn't actually poked or stolen anything. It had given up the man shambling toward her of its own volition. Either the Nether was changing the rules on her, or it was being more opportunistic than she had observed in the past.

Hell, it almost felt like it had dumped him like an unwanted kath hound puppy on the side of the road.

Why?

He limped past her, hissing his warning. Oh, he had a chivalrous streak, cute.

"Don't you even want to know what it is?" She asked casually as he passed. "Anyway, it's not here for you."

A small smile curled over her lips as she started walking toward it.

"It's here for me."

[member="Julian Imani"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

"Lady, I know exactly what- excuse me?"

That last comment made Julian blink once, twice, three times. "What? No, we are not staying to watch, are you out of your damn- right, you don't have one. No, I don't think that is a cheap shot." He *had* stopped in his tracks because of what she had said.

Then her sudden walk towards the alleyway.

There were tremors running through the street. The duracrete of the walls shaking, small parts breaking off and falling to the ground.

"Just so you know-" Julian called out after her. He wasn't the chivalrous sort, but he did believe in at least equalizing something just a bit. The bargain had to be fair, no? But right now Raj was already biting off more than she could chew.

As far as Julian knew.

"- you are about to go up again- oh dear, here it comes."

A breath later something stepped out of the alleyway. It was big, easily four times as tall as he was and Jul had always considered himself to be on the taller side of things. Teeth, dozens upon dozens of eyes spread across its veily skin.

More importantly?

Irajah would only see an empty alley. Except that the weight and tread of the spirit had started to crunch the stone it was stomping on with every step.

 

[Kuzo]

He was right. She couldn't see it.

But she could feel it.

"Oh, you're a big fella, hmm? Can you tell me what it's called?"

The first part was clearly about the thing stepping out into their reality. The second part was directed over her shoulder at him.

"Well, it ain't fethin' Mumbles or Pookie. It calls itself the One That Walks Behind."

"Oooh it's you. I didn't recognize you without the lenses."

Irajah hadn't brought the goggles made by [member="Cerbera"] along with her. Mores the pity. She couldn't see it, but she could hear it. Not in the way strictly physical sense, but the way it vibrated through the Force. Like a hurricane of nails on a chalk board. She could hear and see the way the duracrete screamed and buckled beneath it.

"I have to say you are shorter in person than I was expecting. Little pudgier too. Been snacking have we?"

The roar scraped past her ears, and huge patches of duracrete crunched as it lumbered toward her.

Irajah shifted in the Force. Let go of the hold around herself. Traced the lines, a thousand possible futures frozen in an instant before they shattered into the best possible outcome- She couldn't see it, but as it swung to backhand her-

She ducked.

Julian wasn't so lucky.

[member="Julian Imani"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

He usually wasn't.

The backhand took him straight in the side and send him flying several feet in the air, then through it before he crashed against the pavement. "It would be best..." Julian murmured softly. "If you stopped talking right now."

Silence.

"Thank you."

That is when the pain started too. The fall had dislocated his shoulder, broken his arm and Julian was pretty sure his ribs were either broken or bruised beyond belief. He stopped trying to crawl once the pain flooded his systems and made him unable to do much of anything. Besides whine and stifling back groans as he tried to stand back up.

*Pain*

Definitely broken ribs.

He Who Walks Behind was unamused. Roaring again before the next attack was far more simple. Ramming its fists into the ground to cause a shockwave.

 

[Kuzo]

It was funny, Irajah mused as she shifted within the Force. The things from the Netherworld were spirits certainly. Force spirits indeed. Until the Netherworld crisis, it had been thought that only those with a deep connection to the Light could manifest as such. That it was only Jedi who could remain, tethered. Oh, there were Dark side nexus, places, not people, where the spiritual energies pooled and eddied. Sith however could not manifest themselves in spirit after death- it was part of why, historically, they were so focused on worldly gains. It was all they had.

But with the opening of the rifts to the Nether, that had changed. Something had irrevocably changed the way the Force worked in this regard, allowing unspeakable darkness to flow out and into this galaxy.

Of course, this wasn't a ghost of someone once living. This was a creature that lived and breathed in truth....

Just not on this plane.

Irajah did not like the spookier parts of the Force. She was not fond of sorcery or alchemy. She liked science. Hard facts. She liked truth, even when it was ugly.

Fortunately, she had discovered certain truths in her explorations of the Netherworld. And she wove those together now, putting into practice what had been, up until now, only theory.

Her presence in the Force billowed. If Julian looked up, he'd see the flick of a tattooed tail across the back of her neck before it vanished again beneath the collar of her shirt. She rode the shockwave, dropping to one knee, left hand balancing against the rippling duracrete. Slowly, she stood, advancing one step at a time, power shifting with her. The opposite of a Calling.

And the spirit fell back.

[member="Julian Imani"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

In ancient history there had been another Lord of the Sith who applied science and scientific thought to the practice of the Force.

Trying their best to figure out not just how to do x, but why x worked at all. The Muun, Darth Plagueis, had finally discovered that the entirety of the Force was made up out of three distinct properties. Aspects of the Force that together wove together the fabric of the Galaxy.

The Anima, the Aperion and the Pneuma.

One ruled over life and death, the second enforced the laws of nature, the third? Governed the conscious thought of all sentient life. Of course, Julian barely knew anything about this. Not the names, nor the specifics, but it was something to consider, no?

A murmur.

Julian just about managed to look up to see this smol lady force the spirit back. Eyes wide at that. "Um. You can say that again." Step for step the short woman (her power in the Force causing almost tangible waves, her skin on fire, the area around her head shimmering with obsidian threads) managed to push He Who Walked Behind back into the alley. Deeper. "Mhm, she knows the touch of the Netherworld, you are right." They could see it both (well, he saw it, because his friend could see it).

One thought entered his mind-

Maybe this woman was more of a threat than the spirit ever was.

Crawling was not an option though. Trying to rise up had told him he broke something in his leg too.

His one remaining arm started rummaging in his pocket, until fine dust was clutching in his palm. Fist squeezed tight to not let it go. Another hiss as that caused his bones to move, scrapping against one another. "Oh, you think?"

 

[Kuzo]

The Netherworld was hungry and jealous. Each step pushing the spirit back toward the rift was easier than the one before- in part because it called to the creature, but in part because it also wanted her.

Irajah had escaped the hold of the Nether with the help of [member="Cerbera"], and there was no truce between her and it.

Mind working swiftly, she mentally walked along the lines of Shatterpoint once more. There was one spot, one step, where if she went even a single centimeter further, she would be unable to break the hold of the Nether as it tried to pull her in, and she would vanish as surely as He Who Walked Behind would. She simply had to break off right at that line- too soon and the spirit would be able to break free again. Too late?

Jairus would turn the galaxy into ash.

Generally speaking, Irajah liked the galaxy as it was. So that simply would not do.

The spirit thrashed, straining, roaring. Duracrete shattered not merely beneath it but crumbling from the buildings that lined the alley.

One.

More.

Step.

The dark haired woman darted back, just as the spirit roared and lunged forward. But the grip of the Nether was too great, calling it back. It howled, dragged and leaving long furrowed claw marks. With a great gust of wind and a peal of thunder, it vanished, the gate closing behind it.

Irajah didn't waste any time. She hurried back to the street. Oh, she wasn't done here. She still was interested, very very interested, in a chat with the nice chap- "Well now, you're in bad shape aren't you. Come on now."

She knelt beside him, waiting for some tacit permission to help him.

"I imagine that rift may open again soon if we dawdle."

As if this all were the most normal thing in the world.

[member="Julian Imani"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

To ash and dust.

-

The quick approach of the woman wasn't missed by Julian who had managed to climb back up his feet. Mostly because of the support of the wall, but once there Julian had realized that he wasn't going anywhere. Everything hurt too badly and he just didn't have it in him. So instead of crawling and dying, he decided to just sit a bit and see how things would shake out.

Didn't mean she'd find him shivering and sobbing.

No... she found him smoking on the bench nearby. Shoulders hunched a bit, but the posture far more relaxed than it had been before. Once Irajah was there she would notice something about the smoke.

That wasn't cigars or cigarette smoke.

"Ah, the raven," There was an accent to his tune now. Heavy, dathomiri tainted with kiffar creole. "Mmm, not often do I see one handle one of Them with such expertise." He let her help him up, where his nose brushed her ear once his weight was heavy on her shoulder. "Watch out for mah fist, got poison inside and ya don't wanna smell that, no no."

A lazy look glanced over to that alley. It didn't sober him up, but Julian did nod.

"Right ya are, will take him about..." He sniffed in the air and nodded to himself. "About five to ten minutes, I wager, ain't easy on him, ya know."

 

[Kuzo]

"Or some sort of bird," she said with a chuckle. Raven wasn't what she went by these days after all. Her arm around his waist, she trickled strength through herself to make it possible to support the larger man's weight. It was all she could do in that moment in truth. For all of the confidence and ease of her manner in this moment, that act with the spirit had taken a great deal out of her.

Until she had tried it, she hadn't been entirely certain she'd be able to manage it.

Sometimes the only way to learn was to leap.

Her eyes closed for a moment as he whispered against her ear, a wry smile flickering over her lips.

"Clever."

He had that fist right next to her face. Without knowing just what was in it, she wouldn't risk harming him. While that hadn't been her intention at all, it was bold and sly. All he had to do if she proved dangerous to him was open his fist and she'd be breathing in whatever it was.

"I promise to see you somewhere safe, where your wounds can be treated. In return, I ask that you keep that fist of your closed, sir."

Hazel eyes glanced askance at him.

"Do we have a deal?"

[member="Julian Imani"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

Julian softly hummed against her as he mulled her words.

Turned them over, upside down an' back, before chuckling. It was a low rasp, heavy and lazy. "Mah fist is clever, but ya wording got some too, some sort of bird." What was there to say in that moment? He had pulled one up her, but she still had the cards. Raj's strength was above him in so many ways. He knew it, she knew it and even his friend knew it.

Warned him about it.

"Oh, no, I know what she is, she can kill me with a breath and a wink. But I like her smile. I like the edge of her danger..." His nose ran against the line of her ear and there he whispered.

"Bargain accepted. Da fist stays closed."

With that done they began to walk, crawl and limp out of there. One step after another until the street was left behind.

 

[Kuzo]

Raj's smile widened slightly, but she said nothing.

She didn't have to.

*****

They made it to her ship- a neat fit little number, small and lithe that seemed to match the owner. What mattered, however was that it wasa equipped with a full medical bay that could handle most of your run of the mill emergencies and then some. They were far enough away from the breach by that point that Irajah wasn't particularly fussed, though she hoped to get them off the ground anyway soon, just in case.

First however, there were more pressing issues.

She helped him into the medical bay, settling him onto the table there and moved to step away-

Only he didn't let go.

"You know, it would be safer for us both if I moved the ship off of the surface," she pointed out, tone vaguely amused. "But you'll have to let go of me for that."

[member="Julian Imani"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

He peered into her eyes.

"Yeh, I know she right, but ya were complaining just now 'bout da power in her blood. Why don't ya make up your mind, brethren?" A pause. Then Julian rolled his eyes and cautiously let go of her.

"Power is only half da equation, tap a di tap, eh?" Finger brushed the side of his eye, showing he was watching her. "I know ya ducked when ya did for a reason. My friend knows your eyes bleed possibilities, see them all as ya breath slow down." It lightly tapped the soft of his temple. "My friend fears ya-- oh yah she does, brejin, she do-- but da smoke dulled my edges, see?"

A shrug and a crooked smile.

"No fear, just da fool's bravery." There Julian stretched out finally. "A fool will do foolish things when threatened, tap a di tap, remember da, ya?"

Unless Irajah had more to say he had said his final piece for the moment. Until she got them out of this mess anyway.

 

[Kuzo]

She looked back evenly, a small smile on her face. Knowing.

"Your friend is wise," she murmured, not breaking their gaze. Hazel eyes, gold flecked with something more than any natural shade, kept his dark brown, even as he let go.

"Mmm. I did. Because the alternatives didn't suit. It was nothing personal, for what it's worth."

Stepping back then, she reached up, tugging a scanner on a swinging arm over him.

"Sit still, going to run a scan while we get in the air." Here her tone reverted to something different. Clear, concise, expecting him to follow those direction. Doctor voice.

Turning toward the door, she paused, glancing over her shoulder at him for a moment. Weighing. Considering.

"I am interested in who you are and what you are," she said bluntly. "I have no interest in threatening you. But I am likewise uninterested in playing games. I came to Empress Teta for you- I saw your release. Consider if a mutually beneficial deal struck is in your best interest. Or if, indeed, you'd rather play the fool. My preference is the former. Yours, however, is still a mystery."

With that she left the med bay, heading to the cockpit. A pilot droid waited, and she gave instructions. Casting out with the Force, feeling the threads around them. Loose, at the moment. That would have changed if they had stayed on the surface, but as they lifted off those strands turned to ash, falling into only what ifs.

Good.

She'd return several minutes later, down to the second of when the scanner beeped.

"Let's see what we have, shall we?"

[member="Julian Imani"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

"You will find da I enjoy a good bargain, ma'am, I will just... hang 'round in da meantime."

Oh, it never left his considerations that Irajah could simply take what she wanted from him. His strength laid in tricks, preparation, forethought. None of his plans had included this woman appearing out of nowhere followed by He Who Walks Behind.

It complicated things.

Muddied the waters.

"Brejin if ya think *I* enjoy being at da pretty gal's mercy ya out of your mind, man." A shake of the head and then Julian relaxed. There was nothing really to do right now but wait.

And maybe try to ignore the scanner's infernal noise. "Ya said mutual beneficial deal, catty, while ya patching me up why don't ya elaborate on da for a bit, nah?" Eyes gleaned there. The prospect of a *bargain* kept him intetested there.

 

[Kuzo]

Sometimes? Sometimes Irajah took, exactly as he thought she might. It was easier in many cases to simply do what needed to be done. Frequently, those pathways led to a dead body or someone without any memory of what had happened. There were several of those running around the galaxy at this point- all of them tagged and monitored because that was part of the experiment.

Sometimes, however, Irajah preferred to find a mutually beneficial arrangement. It frequently came down to just what she wanted from the moment, the person. Sometimes, she didn't want something that could be taken. Sometimes, the taking ruined whatever she was after entirely. Irajah was a pragmatic sort, and she took each moment such as this individually, deciding the best way to proceed.

In this case, his buy in was worth enough to bargain.

"No internal bleeding, that's good," she murmured, eyes on the scan rather than him for the moment.

Everything that Irajah was, she was a doctor first.

"Broken tibia, hair line fracture of the humerus at the radial fossa, torn medial collateral ligament. Two fractured ribs and concomitant bruising to your liver, but it's not bleeding into your abdomen so that's good, yes?" She smiled.

"As to a deal...." her tone shifted slightly as she started her work. Setting the bone in his leg, immobilizing his elbow, those first.

"I am interested in you and your friend. How you came to be in the Nether and how you left it. I would love to take a peak into those memories, take a look under the hood, so to speak." Her eyes glanced up and down, but she wasn't checking him out the way someone else might. She had been looking at the shadow.

"In return, I guarantee your safety while I work on your injuries. Bring you to a place of your choosing and set you up with a nest egg to get you started in.... whatever life you chose to lead after that."

She did not include treating his injuries as part of the bargain. What that meant he could only guess.

[member="Julian Imani"]

 

[Hira Mitsae]

[member="Irajah Ven"]

"I only caught about half of da," Julian admitted with a raspy chuckle. There was pain, but it was far out and away, dim. Pushed down by the smoke and replaced with a warm, pleasant feeling in his chest. "But looks like ya know ya deal, doctor birb."

A smirk there as she started working on him.

He helped where she indicated, maybe shifting a bit here, staying still there. Not much else to do really and Julian was amused she didn't try to pawn off this business as part of the deal. At least she knew enough not to try that with him. Then again- maybe she would have, if he hadn't indicated he knew that all of this was basically her fault anyway.

"Oh, naw, dun worry, breddah, I ain't selling ya secrets dat cheaply." Another chuckle. "I have no need for money, doc, no need for being put me down anywhere otha' than back on Teta once ya done."

There was a reason Julian had arrived here after all.

"See- ya want secrets, mine, theirs, ya want to know." Silence as he tapped his temple again, before his finger ticked gently between her eyes. "Fine, but secret for secret, dig?"

 

[Kuzo]

Her eyes crossed slightly, following the path of his finger before it tap-tapped her between the eyes, then blinked to clear the double vision.

She smiled, a touch ruefully.

"Can't blame a girl for trying, hmm?"

Never lead with the most you are willing to offer. Always start with the least and work up from there. As far as not using his treatment in the bargain, it had nothing to do with the fact that his injuries were her fault. It would have been very easy to still include them after all, since they had happened before any bargain they might strike, yes?

One of the peculiarities of the Sith Lord currently working on bracing his arm, however, was that before all of this? She had been a Doctor first. She'd taken an oath. While certain parts of it had been warped to suit her needs, there were certain lines she did not cross. She would hurt someone for her own gain, without hesitation. But those already injured inhabited a certain place. Protected, but not sacrosanct. Oh, she would break that if it ever boiled down to a reason worth doing. But that would be a serious moment indeed and one that had not yet been necessary.

It was a choice she made, over and over again, because it suited her to do so. It meant something, something that had come through intact after her own travel through the Nether, and those things she treated with respect and appreciation.

Of course, once he was all taken care of and treated, the stakes changed again. But he didn't need to know that yet.

"You know what I want to know," she murmured, attention moving to the counter beside them. Opening the drawer and choosing a syringe. "So.... what is it you wish to know then?"

She was not agreeing blindly to 'secrets for secrets'.

[member="Julian Imani"]