This appears to be a collection of magical formulas…

[Darth Zilti]

Maja nodded at Sumiko’s words. She still felt numb. Emotions she could manage – her sister had seen to that. This was not an emotional reaction but somehow linked to the Force. It was if the Life Bond was still open but only one end was connected to the living. She sensed she would carry this feeling around with her until the end of days. Would she grow used to it? Only time would tell.

And she didn’t just nod at her companion’s words but she heeded them too. She remembered her sister’s pep-talk on the day of her wedding to what’s-his-name. Ulric? Alric? She shrugged involuntarily. To be the best Sith she can be. To fulfil her destiny as a Vahla and be her own person, not anyone’s younger sister.

She breathed deeply. “Thanks…” she offered. It was all she had at this moment in time. So she walked silently towards the lake until they caught up with the young girl at which point a smile played on Maja’s face. As something of an actress, it was hard to tell if it were fake or not.

“This is excellent,” Maja said as the girl pointed them to a vessel that would easily hold two of them. It was bigger than the others and was no doubt used by adults rather than children. It was a simply wooden construction and bobbed lazily in the still waters of the lake, which were distinctly green in hue. A couple of tridents lay in the boat, as well as a few sacks – no doubt there to hold the catch.

The girl pointed to a spot on the lake. Maja looked up and saw a small column of rock protruding from the water about half a kilometre out from shore. The girl’s lips were pressed firmly together and her casual nature from before was gone. And without a warning she bolted back to the village as fast as she could run, stumbling every now and then.

Maja gave a shallow laugh. “Of course it’s just a superstition, right? I mean, even if there is a swamp demon, it’ll just be a run-of-the mill killing machine, right?” Clearly in Maja’s mind that made it better.

And so she stepped into the boat and grabbed the oars. “Come on then…” she said to Sumiko. “Even I can’t sulk all day.” Although she probably could, even without trying.

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Darth Zilti"]


"We can always test that theory about it being a run-of-the-mill killing machine by trying to attract its attention. I'd be amused if it was just a big Sithspawn embellished by legend and tall tales," Sumiko said dryly. That seemed to make the whole idea better in her mind. Or she was trying to distract Maja through lame jokes.


Yeah, maybe she was trying to be nice. Who would have thought it? Well, perhaps her writer. Anyhow she quickly followed after Maja and linked up with her, boarding their boat of choice. Grabbing one of the oars she began rowing as a wind swept across the lake and the craft began moving. This writer is a bit reminded of the days when they had to participate in rowing at school. We shall take the liberty of presuming that Sumiko was more competent at such exercises than this writer.


And so slowly the boat passed through the waters that stretched as far as the eye could see, leaving the village behind it. Here and there they could behold other natives on similar craft, either going on the hunt themselves or returning from a haul loaded with fish, but the longer they followed the directions given to them by their guide, the less populated by humans the waters became.

 

[Darth Zilti]

The humour was not lost on Maja as she realised the absurdity in her own comment. Despite her mood, she burst out laughing. “Point taken,” she said, but her mind was now whirring.

What if the creature wasn’t some mythical beast?

As they progressed – they were both rowing by now and managing to steer in a broadly straight line – Maja was taken that this was quite possibly the first time she’d ever been in a boat. The sensation was…different but not unpleasant.

As they came closer and closer to they came to the rock formation, the more Maja was convinced the creature was real – albeit the part about it the naming was unlikely. But what better to guard your most prized possession than a blend of superstition and real terror? She glanced at her attire. Hopefully they weren’t about to face a sando aqua monster – but perhaps a freshwater variant would present itself? Hopefully somewhat smaller than the 200 metres the creature that furnished much of her wardrobe was capable of growing.

Here, in a lake, a smaller variant could grow – and the descriptions given broadly matched the creature. As she contemplated where her thoughts were taking her she looked around. They were broadly where the girl hinted was the most dangerous – and no other boat was even close by.

So she looked Sumiko in the eye and spoke quite loudly. “My name is Pluvia. My real name, the name I was given at birth was Pluvia.” She gave Sumiko an apologetic smile. If it was for the lameness of her name or the attempt at attracting the demon it was impossible to tell.

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Darth Zilti"]


By now they had reached the area the girl had described. No other boat was in sight for as far as the naked eye could follow and Sumiko doubted they would be meeting anyone else. For a short while nothing happened at all after Maja committed the unspeakable sin of uttering her name. For a few moments it seemed like everything would end being terribly anticlimactic, another legend debunked as being the stuff of fables and myths.


Then the waters became unruly and waves crashed against the small boat our two heroines were rowing inside. "If I was superstitious, I'd say you jinxed us," the Atrisian said sarcastically. "Feth it." Sumiko gripped the oar she was holding, trying to row away as quickly as possible but it was to no avail. Whatever it was, something very big, heavy and mean slammed against the boat with massive force. As the boat seemed spiral out of control and keel over, the shape of the beast emerged, head first. They were lucky enough to avoid a head-on collision when it tried smash into them.


Its body was long and sinewy, almost feline in appearance, it had massive claws that tore into the boat with reckless abandon and for a mouth it had an enormous maw filled with huge, sharp teeth that seemed more than capable of ripping a human's body apart. This variant of sando aqua monster was a good deal smaller than the creature Qui-Gon, Obi-Wan and an annoying Gungan had encountered on Naboo, but it was still fething huge. The impact of the collision was such that unfortunately Sumiko was thrown off the boat and sent crashing into the water...

 

[Darth Zilti]

In a perverse way, Maja was delighted that the moments of silence were broken by the imminent danger of having to face some terrible monster. She really did have her priorities wrong!

Thoughts of her sister vanished as her life – and that of her companion – were in mortal danger. If they survived, she thought, she’d say sorry but insist she had it all under control. If they died…well she’d be saved having to apologise. There was always a bright spot, if you looked hard enough.

All around them it was peaceful but in their precise location there was nothing but energy and power and destruction. It was like an eye of the storm in reverse. As the water became choppy enough to rock the boat, Maja managed a small apologetic smile at Sumiko before focusing on not dying.

She reflected (very quickly) that fighting whilst in the water was a new one on her – and her saber wasn’t probably up to the job, so she’d have to rely on the Force. But at least she could swim, which was handy given their boat was now overturned and our two heroines were now very, very wet.

Maja initially focused on keeping her head above water and then she pulled the Force to her. Then she sought the creature – mentally. Something that huge had to be leaking emotions everywhere and she’d look to piggy-back these to get into its brain and hopefully…well her plan hadn’t got that far ahead yet. Perhaps Sumiko – the master tactician was ahead of her here. She lived in hope...

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Darth Zilti"]


Ouch. Sumiko was quite attached to the idea of staying alive and not dying. After all, she had briefly visited part of the underworld during Akala's mad rampage and it was nowhere near as grand as Danté had claimed it was! Then again, maybe she had just visited the wrong sections. Anyway, she focused on the not dying part as soon as she had finally shaken herself out of her daze and realised that she was in water, but had not yet been eaten by the big sea monster.


The not being eaten part was good. Water not so much. She quickly swam up, trying to keep her hea above water. She had been tossed a far bit away from the boat, which would probably not be sailing much further. Hopefully the native girl could get a replacement!


The monstrosity was coming at them again, fast thinking was needed. Her sabre would probably not do much good, she could not find her gun and was dubious about it working anyway. Her hands found...an EMP grenade. Well, better than nothing. Thinking quickly she propelled it through the air with the Force, guiding it so that it fell into the beast's massive maw. A mental tug detonated it. The beast was...quite wet and getting shocked by electricity was rather unpleasant under such circumstances.


Sparks flew as the explosive detonated and electrical shocks surged through the beast. Using her chance Sumiko pulled at the tangled web of the Force, trying to focus. She could feel that Maja was already reaching to the creature and so she followed in her wake, trying to think of something...Harpoons. She tried to weave a web and capture the beast's mind inside it. Layers upon layers of illusions as she sought to project the image of the beast being speared by very large, very powerful harpoons, strong enough to pierce its skull and fill the waters with blood. The sort high-tech big game hunters would use if they came to this planet. With Maja's help, it could probably appear very real.


After all, one could not let [member="Coryth Elaris"] have all the fun with illusions!

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja had a plan. If improvising on the spot was a plan, she had one. If not, well, she was where she usually was.

She had the bright idea of connecting to the creature mentally – but what she’d do once connected was anyone’s guess. At the same time she was aware that Sumiko was tackling the creature with some grenade and the pain it felt was akin to being shouted at when you were trying to listen to a quiet sound.

She was following its emotions back to its mind when the screeching of its pain overwhelmed her momentarily. But the survival instinct kicked in and she was aware she was not alone in looking to invade the creature’s mind.

So she followed Sumiko and partly sensed and partly saw the illusions she was creating. So rather than do her own thing, she merely added to what her partner was doing – making the illusions stronger, more vivid. To heighten the sense of danger, of desperation and of hopelessness.

Where this was going she was less sure of…

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Darth Zilti"]


Sumiko totally had a plan. Well, sort of. Maybe more like a work in progress, but it was the thought that counted. Mentalism and illusions were a tricky business. The beast they were facing was massive and could shred both of them with little difficulty given its enormous teeth, but on the flip side its mind was also quite simple. In a sense the ideal specimen to project terrible illusions onto, provided they could maintain the focus to do so before it ate them!


Fortunately she was being backed up by Maja in this task, which aided it a great deal. The illusions become stronger and more realistic as they were imprinted upon the beast's mind. The creature soon began to scream in pain, so loudly that Sumiko's ears were ringing as if from a sonic explosion. Saying that it was like being shouted at while trying to listen for a quiet sound was quite apt. Blood was seeping out of her eadrums, but she persevered, not wanting the beast to escape the mental web. Her head was hurting like hell and she was shivering in the water, but pressed on, though it was all too clear that the experience was draining. Despite the cold, she was sweating strongly.


As far as the beast was concerned hunters were striking it with massive harpoons. In its mind it felt itself being impaled by them and by now was bleeding from multiple wounds. It struggled and thrashed angrily, completely shredding an equally illusionary boat into pieces and managed to shake some of the harpoons off, but the hunters were too many. Then finally another mental harpoon was driven right through its skull.


There was a loud bestial howl that made Sumiko feel like her ears were about to burst and, as the beast thrashed around in the lake, pillars of water were thrown up. Then it finally ceased movement, having been driven into a state of catatonia by the psychic onslaught. It would perhaps not last for long, but now was a good chance to kill it off for real.

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja went along with the plan and fortunately was a quick study. She may have been a split-second behind Sumiko in the application of the illusions but as she was adding layers, rather than leading, they were able to carry it off.

The noise was deafening and Maja regularly dipped her head under the water to relieve her ears – but not for so long that the need for breath affected her link to the creature’s mind. Regardless, she knew her hearing would be affected for a while to come – it was like the cry of the Voxyn and not one to replicate given the choice.

She saw what the beast could see – and felt its terror, which fortunately fed her connection to the Force. From time to time she took a mouthful of water and spat it out in case she gagged, but finally, after a bitter mental struggle, the creature was still. Not dead but dormant. In time it would likely recover, and there was no telling how soon that might be.

So they needed to kill it. Given what she had at her disposal, Maja had a single thought – and wondered if it would work under the present circumstances.

The area had been this creature’s haunting ground for an unspecified time. So much death and fear had left its mark. Maja grabbed hold of some of the boat to keep her afloat and tucked it under her underarms. This allowed her hands to be free, so she stretched them out. Slowly dark tendrils rose up from the water, like a vapour at first – some black sea mist. In under a minute they had taken shape, fanged, illusory vipers that coalesced and finally struck the creature from all sides.

The monster did not cry out as it was lashed with waves of blackness, driving long slithers of poison into the beast’s body. The black serpent-like tentacles of the dark-side of the Force struck at it again and again, filling its body with a pain like lava coursing through its veins. Skin and bone dissolved as if attacked by acid and Maja directed the attack to its head – to its brain.

Given the circumstances and the location, it was not a perfect manifestation of tendrils, but it sufficed. It took longer than usual and her control was less precise – but the now dead creature that floated on top of the water was sufficient to show it had – at least – been effective.

Maja sucked in lungfuls of air – in her concentration she’d forgotten to breathe. She glanced at Sumiko, who looked like she felt. “That went well,” she said, attempting a smile but failing miserably. “Just have to find the book now, eh?”

Maja wondered if it was inside the creature somehow, but the fact it had surprised them suggested that something as dark as the notebook would have registered in her senses. Her second thought? Zannah must have hidden it in the beast’s lair. Somewhere nearby and most definitely under water.

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Darth Zilti"]


And so through the power of illusions and dark magicks, the great beast perished. The black, serpent-like tendrils born out of the Dark Side of the Force struck the creature and sent vile poison coursing through its body. Before Sumiko's eyes skin and bone dissolved as if the most venomous acid was eating through them. Then its brain died. A most agonising death, undoubtedly.


Sumiko could get behind that sort of thing. With the beast dead she withdrew from its mind and allowed the illusion to dissipate. Now she sucked in air most greedily, for she was panting. Slowly she managed to catch her breath, though she was still shivering. Her hearing was still far from optimal so it took her a moment or two to register what Maja had been saying. Evidently she had been thinking along similar lines, at least the Atrisian did so once she was able to think coherently again. It was a pity that the beast they had killed did not have a leathery hide like a terentatek, or else they could have made boots out of it. Well, if they had been able to transport it any rate.


She pulled herself up on a piece of boat so that she could recover a bit, shaking herself. Obviously she was pretty soaked. "Indeed. I imagine we'll have to dive. I should have brought scuba gear," she said, feeling a bit grumpy about that. "Perhaps there is an underwater cave where Zannah hid the tome."


Having regained her equilibrium somewhat she tried to stretch out with her senses. Very dimly and faint, something registered on what passed for a Forcer's radar. Undoubtedly all the deaths that had taken place in the beast's haunting ground had obscured the presence, but she was sure it was the tome. She gave Maja a nod and then, taking a very deep breath, went for a dive.

 

[Darth Zilti]

No sooner had Maja gained her breath than her companion was diving. Sucking in a lungful of air, she followed suit.

The water here was reasonably clear and given the creature that used to lurk here, it was free of any large fish, so the visibility was good.

The nearby column of rock was the most likely source of a cave – assuming the creature had such a home – and as Maja dived, she sensed something. No doubt it was what her companion was honing in on.

She swam as fast as she could in its direction and sure enough, ahead was a large opening in the rock. Scrambling in, she was unsure how long her breath would last and she was surprised that her head broke water – even though she was inside the cave.

She looked around and saw the pocket of gas was lit by phosphorescent algae, that glowed faintly blue. With her lungs fit to burst, she took a risk and breathed the air in.

It wasn’t air like she knew it, there was a strong smell of methane – but there was also oxygen. She once read that methane bubbles can get trapped in caves – created when micro-organisms decompose (and this creature would have generated plenty of such matter). And that algae produce oxygen – ergo, breathable air.

Science was bendy in that kind of way.

So she waited for her partner to reach the same spot before looking for the notepad.

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Darth Zilti"]


Science was truly both bendy and wonderful. This Sumiko discovered when she found that she could actually safely breathe air in after her head had broken water and she found herself inside the cave. This was quite convenient because she did not have a breath mask handy. She ran a hand through her thoroughly soaked hair and glanced over towards Maja as she bobbed her head on the surface of the water, taking in the cavern.


The Atrisian gave Maja a nod and swam towards what passed for the ground inside in the cave, finally having something solid under her feet again. There, hidden behind bushes and plenty of rocks, away from the water, she came across a chest, carefully hidden behind rocks. "Over here, I believe we've found it." Excitement could be heard in her voice, along with a good deal of fatigue. Her Force senses tingled as she approached it. It was rather dark inside the cave and so she ignited her lightsabre after drying the hilt as much as possible under the circumstances. The crimson glow provided some light in the darkness and illuminated the intricate Sith sigils engraved upon the chest.


Nwûl tash.
Dzwol shâsotkun.
Shâsotjontû châtsatul nu tyûk.
Tyûkjontû châtsatul nu midwan.
Midwanjontû châtsatul nu asha.
Ashajontû kotswinot itsu nuyak.
Wonoksh Qyâsik nun.


Thus was written the Code of the Sith, in the ancient Sith tongue. The power of dark magicks emanated from the chest, evidently it was a binding spell of some sort to prevent unauthorised access. While the ancient sorceress had probably not expected anyone other than her to connect the dots and venture to her lost homeworld, she had taken some precautions in case the unlikely occured.

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja scrambled onto the dry land and followed Sumiko as she discovered the chest behind the rocks. The aura was unmistakeable.

With the light provided by Sumiko’s saber, Maja read the inscription and ran her hand over the chest. Her desire to see what was inside was palpable.

“So, a real test, eh?” she said out loud, before smiling at Sumiko, her weariness seemingly forgotten. The chest was clearly warded and had no visible means of access – there was no lock or even seam that could be prised open.

“Could be any manner of protections or binding, but they tend to have one thing in common.” Without warning, Maja pulled a knife out of her belt and cut her palm with it, allowing the blood to drip onto the chest. And then she recited the words.

“Nwûl tash.
Dzwol shâsotkun.
Shâsotjontû châtsatul nu tyûk.
Tyûkjontû châtsatul nu midwan.
Midwanjontû châtsatul nu asha.
Ashajontû kotswinot itsu nuyak.
Wonoksh Qyâsik nun.”

She saw her blood heat, bubble and finally steam off the chest as each drop landed. Once the words were completed, she recollected some words that she knew Zannah had spoken to her Master and recited them.

“You still have much to teach me. I will continue to study at your feet. I will learn from your wisdom. I will discover your secrets, unlocking them one by one until I know everything you know – all your knowledge and power – it will be mine.”

With a dull thud, the chest moved and a line appeared that clearly reflected a lid. There followed a metallic click and the lid opened slightly. Almost afraid to be disappointed, Maja motioned with her head to Sumiko. The message was clear – you open it!

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Darth Zilti"]


“You still have much to teach me. I will continue to study at your feet. I will learn from your wisdom. I will discover your secrets, unlocking them one by one until I know everything you know – all your knowledge and power – it will be mine.”

Essentially the philosophy of the Banite Order of Sith Lords in a nutshell. Minus the part about completing the process by one day overthrowing your Master once you had mastered the Dark Side. Natural selection the Sith way. It had eventually propelled them to supreme power in the Galaxy after purging the hated Jedi. Until a certain farmboy decided to meddle!


By the power of blood magic and the words recited by Maja, heir and legacy of Silara the dark sorceress, the binding spell was broken. Excitement washed over Sumiko when she heard the metallic click. After all their adventures, their prize was finally within their grasp. Assuming the tome of mysteries was really here and this was not just a trick! It would be awfully anticlimactic if it's packed with explosives and we get blown up. Or by now the book is rotted and barely readable, Sumiko thought to herself sarcastically, not at all metaing. Well, of course she was metaing because this one is writing her. Anyhow, she was not feeling hesitant and so she bent down. Her fingers touched the box and she slid its lid open.

As the box slid open with a slight hiss, air finally entering it after it had been kept shut for almost two millennia, the Atrisian beheld an ancient looking grimoire. Dark energies radiated from the tome, so strong that they were all but palpable and seemed to flood the cave. Dark sigils, strong enough to withstand the test of time, had been engraved upon it, each of them written in the tongue of the Sith. "The spellbook of Darth Zannah, I presume," Sumiko said, only moderately plagiarising, while she ran her fingers almost reverently over the tome.

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja was delighted she’d been able to open the chest and a sense of pride permeated her mind.

‘Not bad,’ a voice said, ‘But you could have been quicker.’

‘Any quicker and we might have been accused of hand-waving,’ Maja responded and smiled at Sumiko. It was a good thing she didn’t know about the conversation happening in her head.

But now Maja’s eyes were on the prize. An ancient looking spell-book, last handled by Zannah herself. She wanted to touch it, to snatch it out of Sumiko’s hands but restrained herself.

But the allure was even stronger than her craving for candy. It radiated the Dark-side of the Force so strongly, she could almost taste it.

“Yes…” was all she could manage in response to Sumiko’s words, her voice almost breathless. And finally, pulling herself together she encouraged her companion. “Open it…please, open it.”

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Darth Zilti"]


Great was the power of handwavium. It could reduce entire armies to background noise, eradicate planets or sometimes magically bring them back to life after a world-destroying super laser had hit them. It was the pathway to many abilities some consider to be...unnatural. Or absurd. Such as creating a star and eating it. Bane and Zannah had done just splendidly without that!


More or elss relevant meta commentary aside, after many heavy risks, they now finally held the prize in their grasp. The strong feeling of covetuousness radiating from Maja, her desire to snatch the book out of her hands, did not escape Sumiko. Well, it was a very alluring tome! "I'd find it quite unfortunate if we suddenly got into a fight over our prize. Well, that and a tad too much like a holovid. I do like you, after all," the Atrisian said very, very dryly. Yep, Sumiko actually said that she liked someone! Maja was one of two people in the Galaxy who fit into that category.


But then the Vahla stayed her hand and so Sumiko opened the tome. This she did with great care, for though she did not have the intense connection or devotion to Zannah that Maja had, she respected ancient knowledge. Dark energy seemed to radiate from every page within the spellbook, as if it had been waiting all this time to spill out. Presumably the first pages would represent something like an introduction, but soon chapters describing the sorcerous arts in detail would follow. The dark magicks Nadd had employed to destroy the spirit of Sadow, the tendrils of darkness Zannah had conjured up in her duel with Bane and much more. "This is a work of beauty," Sumiko spoke reverently. In the words of Siobhan Kerrigan, the former Inquisitor was nerdgasming.

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja had one ear on what Sumiko was saying and one eye on the tome. But the eye was definitely winning.

She did. However, listen enough to what her companion was saying to allow her to appreciate the black humour of the situation. Maja had no expectation it would come to blows but was genuinely surprised and delighted by the admission that Sumiko liked her. She’d come to view the Atrisian as a friend more than a business partner – and reflected that apart from her two Masters, she had nobody she could even remotely call in times of need, given her sister’s demise.

But she was stoic and now was not the time for tears. So she simply smiled – but had waited too long to respond, and felt uncomfortable blurting out her feelings of friendship now, so resolved to do so later.

And anyway, her attention was drawn to the book now. The hand was Bane’s – she recognised it, and the scribbled notes in the margins were Zannahs. The early pages were clearly what Bane had copied from Nadd. But later pages were all in Zaannah’s script, clearly she’d added spells of her own. Some Zannah recognised but others…well she was keen to read them and, as Zannah had done, quite literally teach herself.

“Beautiful,” Maja echoed, her heart racing with the excitement of it all. And her hand reached out and touched a page. To make it real. Smiling she withdrew her hand. “Just checking it wasn’t a dream,” she said. “Although in a sense it’s one come true.”

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Darth Zilti"]


"Indeed. Sometimes dreams become reality...if you act to make them happen," Sumiko said, though her eyes were focused upon the magnificent tome. Thousands of years of ancient knowledge were written down inside it. From Nadd to Bane to Zannah...a trinity of darkness and power.


"I suppose we should study it somewhere more hospitable than this cave. Ideally without getting it wet! You can have the book. I got the holocron last time and I know what Zannah means to you. I'll make a copy of those passages interesting for me." With someone else Sumiko would have given some serious thought towards betraying them and taking the knowledge for herself alone. However, she liked Maja - the only person she did actually genuinely like apart from [member="Mirien Valdier"]. Random betrayal for short-term gain was ill-advised. So she was happy with a transcript that gave her what she needed and the promise of future access.

 

[Darth Zilti]

Maja nodded emphatically at the prospect of moving. As exciting as the book was, they were cold and using up a finite amount of oxygen down here and heading back to the warmth of a ship was enticing.

She took the book gratefully, holding it with the consummate amount of care, almost reverently. She pulled the force to her and created a small barrier, large enough to encircle the book. “That ought to keep it dry,” she said. “And thanks. You’re the closest thing I have to a best friend, so I really do appreciate what you’ve done.”

So Maja dived into the water and made short work of the return to the surface. Finding the remnants of the boat, she grabbed a large piece and keeping the dry book above the water-line, she used Force Push to propel her towards the shore. Even physics could be your ally when it came to treasure-hunting. Every action had an equal and opposite reaction.

Once on the shore, she made her way to Sumiko’s ship and allowed her to copy as many passages as she liked. Modern science allowed for swift reproductions – but Maja had an altogether slower method in mind and three people too. But a trip to Coruscant to get the necessary components could wait. For now she was content to watch Sumiko pore over the book at her leisure. For Maja would have a lifetime to read it, what was a few more hours?

[member="Sumiko Tanaka"]

 

[Darth Libertas]

[member="Darth Zilti"]


And so our two heroines made it out of the cave and back to the shore. Much like Maka Sumiko drew upon her power of telekinesis to propel herself out of the cold waters towards the shore because physics was handy like that. They left behind the bloated carcass of the 'Swamp Demon'. Time would pass, but undoubtedly eventually the natives would discover it.


Who knew, maybe its death would give rise to a new legend. Such as one about wrathful sorceresses or angels who braved the seas and slew the daemon. After all, it would be totally fitting if, after uncovering the truth behind the Great Huntress and killing a creepy cult leader, our heroines got their own cult without even knowing it. Perhaps the natives would deliver offerings to crude statues of them so that the dark angels would prevent the Swamp Demon from returning.


In any case, soon they were back on the shore and on Sumiko's ship, where the Atrisian soon got busy copying passages. Modern technology was so advanced that it made swift reproduction possible, even without damaging the ancient tome. Still Sumiko took her time, for a prize such as this one deserved to be handled with care and reverence. There were candy bars in case Maja got hungry, along with whiskey. There was much wisdom to be found in this book, for Nadd and Zannah had both put their own personal spin on things and passed on their knowledge of magicks.


A few hours later she had satisfied herself and, having compiled her copies, handed the tome back over to Maja. Friend...the concept was a bit difficult for the Atrisian to grasp. She had had friends in the Inquisition, being that it was a twisted little family - intense, familial loyalty paired with a healthy degree of distrust, kinship forged in murder. But most people she categorised as threats, assets or plain superfluous. Yet Maja was probably the closest thing to a friend. Mirien she respected and liked...but she also intimidated her a bit.


"All done. There you go, Pluvia," she said in what was probably her sweetest tone. Oh, and yes, totally emphasising that name because it was cute. "It means 'Rain' in some languages, doesn't it?" Obviously unlike her writer, Sumiko would be unaware that a certain former Sith Lady turned Jedi Master had made the same reference in another thread!