The Cave of Two Lovers

[Krux Mullarus]

The Darksiders drew nearer to the circular staircase and began to descend down it. Anxiety shot up Krux's spine. They're coming. He took a few steps toward them, standing between them and Setzi, who seemed to struggle to meditate, which was understandable. Even as Sith, when he could focus enough to meditate for relaxation, Setzi always had trouble with it. He'd meditate beside her if there weren't potential enemies nearby.

"Fine...this confrontation is inevitable. Setzi...stay behind me. I'll handle it." he said, taking his lightsaber from his belt as the two darksiders approached from the circular staircase.

They looked like very generic Sith. They both wore black robes, wore hoods over their heads, and concealed their faces with masks. One, though, had a mask of metal, and another of cloth. The two were speaking as they rounded the corner, loud enough where the couple could hear them.

"-ing you, the Master has sent us on an impossible task, brother, those crystals are far too difficult to break with just a sword."

"Maybe, but he'll surely make us suffer if we go back empty-handed. There has to be one crystal formation we can- Hey, who's that?!" pointed the metal-masked acolyte, causing his taller, cloth-masked brother to turn and peer at Krux with his dark brown eyes.

"Oh, brother, that's...a j-jedi!?"

"This is a popular place for Jedi... Hey, you! Jedi! What brings you he-"

"You young fool, obviously he's here for crystals!"

Krux shooed at them, "Young Sith, this is not your business. I'm too much for both of you. Turn back and go back the way you came."

"Hah! There's two of us and only-"

"A-actually, brother, there's two of them..."

"Wh- Hey, shut up you fool, it was gonna sound diabolical!"

"Turn back!" Krux demanded, igniting his lightsaber. The blade snapped to life, glowing a steel-blue color with the white core of the blade sparking and shimmering, as if unstable.

"H-hey, man, i'm not trying to pick a fight. I mean yeah...we don't like Jedi, but I also like to live..." said the younger, shorter brother, which earned him a slap on the back of the head by his older brother.

"Don't be a coward! Do you know how proud Master will be when we bring him the head of a Jedi!?"

"But, I don't even have a..."

"I will engage him up close, you will use the Force! Or better yet, go get his pretty companion! She looks defenseless, too!"

Finally, Krux grew impatient, and closed his fist on the taller man's leg and hurled him across the temple into a wall, causing the younger brother to yelp in surprise and, shivering, taking his normal-looking durasteel sword in his hand and holding it toward Krux as he drew closer. "S-stay back, Jedi...I'll kill you, I swear!"

"Put the weapon down, Acolyte, i'm not going to hurt you if you walk away. I can see it in you - you don't want to fight. You're afraid. The Sith want you to give your life to them. Go. Run!"

"I can't...my master will hurt me if he hears I ran from a Jedi...especially...oh, Maker, you're...Mullarus..."

Krux raised a brow, "You...know me?"

"I...was an Acolyte on Glee Anselm with you, actually. We sparred a couple of times...you always won, of course, that's why i'm still an Acolyte. I look and feel new, but that's because i'm so...weak. I'm just stubborn. You...you're a Jedi now? But- But you were so loyal! Why?!"

Krux's face softened, but he kept his guard up. "...Because the Dark Side destroys it's followers. It will destroy you, too. Look...you don't want to fight, because we both know i'll win that fight, but you can't go back to your master either empty-handed. So...come to Voss with me. The Dark Side is wrong, Acolyte. The Light will guide you to a new life where you can make something of yourself and help cleanse the galaxy of evil at the same time." he said, extending his hand to him.

"Oh...uh..." the young Acolyte lowered his sword and tossed it on the ground, "You know what...you're...probably right. I'm not cut out to be Sith anyway. Maybe I can-

"GUH!"

Krux's heart leapt out of his chest and a gasp escaped his lips. "You...son of a bantha!" he cried as the older brother, whom had peeled himself off of the wall Krux had thrown him at and quietly snuck his way back over, had plunged his own sword into the back of his own brother, who had given himself over to the Jedi.

"No...you won't have my brother! He is Sith! But more than that...he is weak! He's foolish! He deserves to die!" the older Sith cried as he peeled the remains of his brother off of his own sword and tossed him aside.

Krux scowled, turning his gaze over to Setzi and saying, "Let this be an example, Setzi, of why I say the Dark Side is flawed." he turned back to the Sith, getting ready to strike at him, "The Dark Side always destroys itself for the sake of power."

The battle didn't last long, though. The Sith charged at Krux with a hateful cry and brought his sword down at Krux, but the Jedi's lightsaber sliced right through it and before he knew what had happened, Krux had brought his own blade across the man's chest and kicked him onto his back as he wheezed with pain. He was not dead, but a burning pain had scarred across his chest. A wound that would never heal. Krux held his lightsaber down at him.

"Yield, Acolyte."

Defeated, the young Acolyte looked up at Krux through the eyehole of his metal mask and growled, "I'll get you one day, traitor...I looked up to you once..."

Krux lifted his blade from him, still sensing he was probably a danger, so he kept his lightsaber ignited as he turned slightly and faced his beloved, "Setzi...I want you to think of what has just transpired here. Do you see why I wanted to save you from the Sith so badly? Inevitably, the Dark Side, in some form, be it another Sith Lord or just the dark temptations it brings with it would have been your downfall."

But behind his back, the Acolyte slowly stood back up and lifted his hand, the broken blade of his sword lifting into the air and suddenly soaring through the air toward Krux's back.

Setzi would be able to see it, but would she be able to stop it?

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

Just like so many places in the galaxy, a secluded refuge of beauty and fascination would turn into a scene of determination, struggle and doubt. Every footstep that the darksiders took rippled through the calm pond of her mind until she knew that they were mere seconds away from appearing.

And when the young Sith finally showed their faces, Setzi felt a mix of horror and yes, anticipation. And also a confusing pull towards them, the darkside even beckoning her to join them.

As they spoke to each other, and Krux yelled out his warning, the former Sith also said, “You do not need to handle this alone.” A white hot rage flared up too easily within her chest. I can handle myself, Setzi thought irritated. I do not need protecting nor saving.

But then she caught herself – she was turning her anger towards Krux and not the intruders. He is not only trying to keep you safe, Setzi. He knows this situation would be dangerous for you, given the circumstances.

Oh, but she felt like fighting, so desperately! The pull of the conflict was strong. But the padawan knew that once she entered the battle, she could not predict which side she would end up on.

Somehow she ended up on her knees, not even sure how or why – perhaps she’d been meditating, but she tore herself away from her inner most thoughts and saw the Acolyte behind Krux, preparing to cleave him in two. Lightning-fast, the padawan was up on upon the Acolyte. With one kinetic energy blast she diverted the metal blade away from Knight Mullarus’s back. Then with her other hand she ignited her lightsaber and dove down striking at his hamstrings. Krux may think she was just trying to hobble him, but Setzi had other plans as she began to channel Force Rage, one of her most powerful darkside skills, one which would be dangerous to all around them, even her own Master.

[member="Krux Mullarus"]

 

[Krux Mullarus]

The roaring broken sword hilt pinpointed it's path to Krux Mullarus' spinal cord, but was quickly diverted from it and struck deep into the stone wall on the far side of the chamber. In an instant, Krux turned around and looked at the final sith acolyte just in time to see Setzi soaring through the air, a swathe of crimson in her hand as she brought it down and slice clean through the man's legs right through his hamstrings. A roar of agonizing pain erupted within the chamber from the metal-masked man as he fell to the ground on his chest, the sound of his mask slamming into the stone floor echoing.

Krux might have been proud of her if he didn't sense the ocean of anger in her aura. Clearly, she'd given in and used her Force Rage so soon. Meanwhile, the man cowered and sobbed on the ground as Setzi stood over him, her sith lightsaber ignited over him. Why does she still have that, he wondered. He had to inquire. "Setzi...deactivate it and throw it to the side. Please." he asked, adding on the 'please' to sound like he wasn't commanding, but asking. He really wanted her t o drop it, though, before she mangled the man's body even worse, and possibly him if she lost control like all darksiders were so prone to doing. "I don't even know why you still have that. That is a weapon of the Sith, not a tool for a Jedi. This is why we're here. To make one to be wielded by Setzi Lunelle. That is the blooded sword of Darth Azurea, something that needs to be left behind."

He then approached the mangled Sith Acolyte. A pool of blood had already formed around his severed legs. He wouldn't survive. Sure, Krux could probably bend over and perform his selfless dark-side-healing on him, but...he is a Sith, and he did murder his own brother and try to plunge a broken sword into his spine. It was gruesome, and certainly not a victory for Setzi, but it was justice in it's bloody way. Krux looked down at the Sith and shook his head, disappointed. "You could have been more."

​Immediately after, he turned to Setzi and gestured for her to follow him, "And you, Setzi, I am grateful for you saving - possibly - my life there. I'd call that a win if you didn't give in to the Dark Side so quickly. Yes, I know you did. We both know how easily I can see Force Rage, especially yours." he lectured, walking closer to a big formation of green adegan crystals. "That's something that we must work on. In a battle against a more competent, deadlier foes, you could have easily been seduced back to the Dark Side again." he looked at her as a teacher, but even she could hear how hurt he sounded as he said so. It was clear he'd be heartbroken again if such a thing were to happen.

"The Dark Side is a pathway to abilities that are unnatural. Powerful, yes, maybe even more so than the Light Side. But what good is power if you can't wield it properly? The Light Side is a longsword. It is tempered well, it is sharp, and anyone can learn to wield it and wield it with skill and precision. The Dark Side is a long, heavy-weighted hammer. It is uncomfortably heavy, and cannot be used with the same grace and precision as the Sword of the Light Side. Not anyone can pick it up and master it. In fact, many will simply be crushed under it's weight. It is as much a burden as a weapon for killing. But most importantly, when you swing the Dark Side's Hammer, it's too big and bulky to stop and reconsider what you're swinging it at. When you start it, you can't stop. If you weren't looking at what you were attacking, it's too late. If your target doesn't move, they're dead. With the Sword, you still have enough control over the blade to stop halfway between strikes and lower it.

"The Dark Side can't be controlled forever. The Light can. That is why I am here, teaching you to be a Jedi. That is why your betrayal showed me what I had done wrong, and why I came to Voss after nearly being slain by Pyrrhus on Ragon VI. I couldn't control my power, and I was lucky enough to live long enough to understand that. I want you to understand that, Setzi...I don't want you to do anything you'll regret again, like lashing out at Connor." he said, his voice softening. He stood close to her and reached over to stroke her cheek gently, staring into her eyes. "Right? Now...sit with me. Now, we meditate."

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsmZxSJ-o-Q

Setzi smiled, the outburst of violence so satisfying.

"Setzi...deactivate it and throw it to the side. Please."

At the direct order, the padawan whipped her head around to face Krux. Her eyebrows knit in confusion, her mouth a tense frown as she weighed the gravity of his command. She glanced down at the lightsaber in her hand as though it was a foreign object that was capable of acting on its own accord. And it was much easier to lapse into denial, to pretend that she hadn’t actually been in control of her own actions. But she knew that she was – that she had given into the pleasurable release that the darkside of the Force granted its users. It was short-lived, Setzi was aware of that. Just like spice, the high passed quickly, leaving the recipient wanting more.

The Force Rage was still there simmering, but began to wane, draining the padawan of her energy, which was the price one paid for channeling such a powerful attack. She let out a long sigh and set the lightsaber down on the cave floor. She wasn’t capable of pitying the acolyte who she mortally wounded – not with the last vestiges of Force Rage running through her. Setzi merely observed him as he lapsed in and out of consciousness, the loss of blood draining his life away.

His brunette padawan listened quietly to her Master’s words. And as soon as the darkside energy completely left her body, she was filled with a deep shame and regret for her actions. When he came closer, even though she felt like it, she did not push him away. Setzi could hear the sadness and disappointment in his voice, but he was still her lifeline of the dark void into which she had felt herself slipping. She closed her green eyes as his hand made contact with the skin of her cheek. Even his touch, that physical sensation was so gratifying that she felt like pulling him towards her and making love to him right then and there among the multicolored crystals. All of these temptations around her... how would she ever be able to be a Jedi with thoughts such as those?

She took his hand and folded her legs underneath her, sitting down as he instructed. “How do you control it? When you feel the darkside pulling you under?” There would be time for regret later over what she’d done. If she was to survive this spiritual journey, she’d needed to clear her mind as Krux had suggested.

[member="Krux Mullarus"]

 

[Krux Mullarus]

Krux slowly sat cross-legged beside her, reaching over to take her hand as she asked her question. He pondered for a moment before answering, "I stop and think. I know I preach to you not to think sometimes and to just feel, but focus is what drives away those dark temptations. You stop and you think, 'It is the Dark Side trying to make me its puppet again. I will not succomb'."

He cleared his throat, "Now...close your eyes with me, my love. This time, stop thinking. Feel the Force in the cave, the Force on Ilum, and within yourself. Yours is still tainted by darkness, but it is still the Force, and it still lives in you. Feel it in me, scarred and bruised, but pure. It's an ocean, with the tides rising and falling with the orbiting of the moons above us. Let her currents flow through your body, caressing your heart and mind.

"When your mind is cleared, you will be able to hear them. The crystals. They speak in whispers because they only wants to be heard by those who are paying attention to them. Communicate with them. Show them the beauty of your mind and soul, Setzi. They will beg you to take them from Ilum."

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

“Okay,” Setzi said, her nerves calmed by Krux’s soothing words. She tried to do as he instructed, and finally, her mind began to quiet. The Force she felt in the Ilum cave could be seen in her head as soft ripples in a tranquil pond. The Force she detected in herself, as her companion suggested, was tainted with the darkside and was black like ink. When she pressed her own aura against the light aura of the cave, she could tell that her touch against it began to cloud the pond, as though ink poisoning a well. And that’s exactly how the darkside of the Force felt to her every day as a Sith! Like one small drop of ink, spreading and corrupting, turning everything a midnight black.

Letting her soft breath flow in and out of her chest and nose, she concentrated on driving the darkness out, on allowing the crystals to shine their iridescent light, filling the corners of her mind with the blue and green colors of the kathracite, mephite, and pontite minerals.

And then miraculously, she finally heard one of them. It sounded to Setzi as though someone, the female voice of a small child or even her sister, was whispering a lullabye to her. And it filled her heart with joy, the darkside almost creeping in to remind her that her daughters and sisters were lost to her, but she promptly pushed those thoughts out. And then she tried to show them, as Krux said, the beauty of her mind. The brunette padawan was not a good singer, so she didn’t even attempt a siren’s song back to them, but using the Force she opened up her heart and hands and filled them with a healing lightside energy, one filled with love and wonder. Setzi pushed it towards the crystals hoping they would respond. And they did! In her mind’s eye, Setzi’s lightsaber crystal, a bright sky-blue one, glowed the brightest out of them all. Even Krux could see it radiating a blinding light.

[member="Krux Mullarus"]

 

[Krux Mullarus]

Krux smiled as he watched Setzi. He held her hand as she meditated, but he had already lifted his head and started to watch her with his eyes. For the first time since...well, ever from how long he'd known her, she looked and felt tranquil in both heart and soul. His eyes darted over to a blue formation of crystals near to the green one he was facing. One particular spire of crystal, a lighter shade of cyan in color, seemed to glow brightly in his vision and radiate off of Setzi's form. Suddenly, her aura looked less black and more of the crystal's color.

There was no doubt, this was Setzi's crystal. It called to her, like a child to its mother, a feeling Setzi was probably familiar with.

"It wants you, Setzi. Just open the door and let it inside. Give it your hand."

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

Setzi’s green eyes fluttered open at the sound of Krux’s voice.

"It wants you, Setzi. Just open the door and let it inside. Give it your hand."

She glanced down at her slender hand, noticing a few droplets of the Acolyte’s blood had stained her palm. She turned it towards the ground, so she couldn’t catch another glimpse of that grim reminder. Then she rose from where she sat and reached her hand out to the crystal that called to her.

​

Setzi crouched down and touched the blue mineral which had beckoned to her. She could still hear its high-pitched whisper like a chorus of insects buzzing in her ear. Truth be told, the stone was not that much to look at. There were much prettier, exotic looking crystals, but as the stone warmed under her hand, she knew this was the crystal for her saber. Her very own lightsaber!
Not a cast-off from Darth Pyrrhus or something she plucked from the training room of Glee Anselm. She would forge this one with Knight Mullarus, and it would be a bright beacon of hope and peace – not destruction.

Biting her lip, she looked back at Krux and gave him the biggest smile, her eyes glittering like the verdant crystals in the cave.

“Do I need to extract it from this wall?” she asked him, her hand still caressing the crystal.

[member="Krux Mullarus"]

 

[Krux Mullarus]

Krux was a bit surprised when Setzi stood up and approached the crystal, nestled comfortably in it's formation among the other light blue crystals. He didn't stop her, but he waited for her to ask how to extract it. When she turned to him with a big grin on her face, he smiled instinctively in return, "No, Setzi, you remove it with the Force. You were doing fine in your meditation, I felt it start to remove itself from the formation until you stood up." he chuckled, "Beginner's mistake. Don't worry, happens all the time.

"Well...to be honest, you could extract it manually. When I was here last, after I had lost my duel to my opponent in the One Sith, I had chipped a crystal off with my sword. It works just fine, but the crystal takes offense, so to speak. Sometimes, it won't channel the Force as effectively, and in some cases, it will speak to you much louder and much more...violently. Mine threatened me often as an Acolyte, even mid-combat. It was distracting. I highly recommend you extract it the traditional way: With the Force." he nodded to her, his eyes slowly trailing over her form.

All of a sudden, he remembered what the two of them had been saying they would do when they returned to the Foe, and had to remind himself to be patient.

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

Setzi wasn’t sure if she misheard the instructions, or was just so eager to touch the crystal that she got ahead of herself, but either way she gave Krux a sheepish smile and said, “It always comes back to meditation, doesn’t it?”

She retraced her steps and resumed her meditation in the same place as before. She missed his wandering gaze as she was busy concentrating on freeing the crystal from its foundation, but none of what they planned to do later was unwelcome to the padawan. But this time, she wouldn't let anything distract her. And to her surprise, it was easier to slip into a transcendent state now that she'd meditated for all of those minutes before. The hardest part of meditating for Setzi was in the beginning.

As she continued quietly communicating with the crystal, eventually the mineral freed itself and thunked to the cave floor. Her eyes opened up, but this time, she waited for any instructions from Krux.

“It worked,” she said, proud of her success. “Now what do we do with it?”

[member="Krux Mullarus"]

 

[Krux Mullarus]

Krux watched her get back down into her state of clairvoyance much more easily this time, which surprised him. He folded his arms and practically felt the Force flowing off of her form. He began to feel a sense of pride as he watched. What was once a powerful Sith Lord, practically obsessed with everything evil and vile in the Dark Side was now here, sitting before him as a Jedi Padawan, meditating on the Light Side to get a lightsaber crystal. He had helped her see the light.

"Good job! You can take it now, and if you're ready to go, we'll head back to the Foe. It's getting cold in here"

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]

 

[Setzi Lunelle]

Setzi tucked the azure crystal into a small pouch that hung from her utility belt. Then she buttoned her jacket back up and followed Krux out the way they came. The biting wind felt even stronger as they crunched through deep snow to get to the Foe. Once they were inside the warm ship, dusting the ice off their jackets and robes, Setzi knew her face was likely a ruddy red color from the cold and wind burn. And how wet every piece of clothing was! Well, it was almost better to just strip down to her underwear and dry her garments somewhere, which is exactly what she did. Once she was undressed, she lay her clothes on a grate which was always warm and had steam coming out of it (she wasn’t sure why), but they would dry much faster that way.

Krux may recall her brazenness in being undressed in his mansion, the both of them languidly relaxed on the rug by the fire. She approached him now, helping him off with his jacket, her slender fingers quickly unfastening any buttons they came into contact with.
“Let’s go warm up in the bed,” she suggested. Since her return the two Jedi – Padawan and Knight – had been rather chaste when together. To keep her own passions at bay, for fear of tempting the darkside out, Setzi often slept in the Pirate’s Foe while Krux slumbered in the dormitory. “I’ll run to the bridge and program our ascent. Then meet you back there in five.”

And with that she went, bare-feet on the cold metal floor of the Foe to the front of the ship to turn the autopilot on, hoping that Krux had the same thing in mind for when they returned together in their quarters.

[member="Krux Mullarus"]

 

[Krux Mullarus]

The return trek through the icy wind back to the Pirate's Foe was a bit less tedious than the trip there. The wind had died down slightly, but it was certainly still there, and Krux had to keep his hands secured over the buttons of his silver-furred cloak to ensure it wouldn't come undone itself.

Returning to the Foe was a breath of fresh air. Warm air, which became much hotter as Setzi's voice suddenly sounded more musical to his ears and she began to shed layers of clothing until she was quite literally bare. He didn't begin to undress yet, in fact, he was stunned in place as he watched her undress herself by the steamy grate, that side of the corridor not the only thing in the room getting steamy.

It wasn't until she, in her birthday suit, approached him with a mischevious glint in her eyes and started to remove layers of his own clothes for him that he suddenly thought to. It took all of Krux's willpower to keep his hands to himself, deciding to give in to this sudden burst of lust he felt for when it was time - behind the closed doors of their quarters.

Her voice was music to his ears. In five? Good, he was afraid he couldnt wait much longer. As the last of his own garb fell to the floor and he could no longer keep his dark blue gaze completely on her eyes, he nodded quickly, "Oh, yes. I'll be there, gorgeous..." he said softly, with more sinful lust in his deep voice than he'd like to admit. He couldn't hide his shame, so he was somewhat relieved when Setzi made her way toward the bridge in her bare glory so he could slip away to their quarters, feeling drafts in all sorts of new places as he did so, and entered.

He simply paced around the room rather impatiently and awkwardly in his nudeness, feeling his modesty take a few stabs. Still, as he peered out the small window and saw Ilum's cold atmosphere start to fade, he would turn to the door as he heard the pitter patter of his lover's bare feet on the metal floor approaching, her heartbeat as quick as his own with what they had planned on their minds.

[member="Setzi Lunelle"]