This must be the place

[Daria Cavill]

"If you say so." Was all Daria apparently had to say on the matter. Who cared if he looked like a bad guy, if he wound up winning in the end? If he made the Galaxy a better place, still got rich selling people junk, who gave a crap what the everyday Joe thought? The public masses were stupid, really frightened sheep who needed firm guidance. Daria couldn't help but feel that things would be very, very different if the power was in her hands. Hands that weren't afraid to be a little rough to get results, hands that didn't mind being attached to bad acts if those acts led towards a greater good.

But instead of saying this aloud, she just looked out the opposite window, rubbing her cheek with an absent hand. Unruly, dark hair. Bright, thoughtful blue eyes. Professional dress, thick glasses and angular, pale features. Somebody just glancing into the limo could perhaps be forgiven for think it to be 'take your daughter to work' day. Maybe for Cade, it was - Daria hadn't gotten the memo. But she took another long moment to note the staggering resemblance, remembering also how damned tall the senator was.

Great. Now she was curious.

Daria cleared her throat politely and folded her hands on her lap, glancing across the seat to the disguised Sith Lord. "So, where are you from, Senator?" She asked in as polite and professional a voice as she could manage. There were a couple pieces to this puzzle that hadn't made sense from the start, but they were beginning to. How many executives hired fifteen year old orphans under a six-figure salary to apparently just ride along with them on errands and dispense advice? She'd thought the job would be fetching coffee, data entry, answering phones - typical personal assistant junk. And despite having a saber and training, there were a million better-qualified bodyguards out there that'd happily work for practically nothing. No, there was a piece she wasn't getting.

 

[Lex-El]

“Why, I’m from Bal’demnic,” he said easily to her. Cade could see the dots connecting in her mind, that keen mind working overtime. Breadcrumbs had been there the whole time, that much he knew. There had been little choice to get someone like her to come all the way to Onderon to speak to him, or even want to apply for the job. Who else would have sent a direct advertisement to a teen who couldn’t hold a job down? Was she talented? Absolutely, that was the one thing she had riding for her. Her previous work experience was spotty at best, and leaving the Jedi Order could either help or harm her. Employers would view that through differing lenses depending on just where they were located, and how public their support for the Republic and the Order was.

“Honestly, Daria, just pick a world and we can say I’m from there.” Now he was just looking out the window the uptight expression he wore in this guise fading. Features finally relaxed, and his sharp cheekbones and jaw structure starting to solidly form now that he was relaxed. His shoulders rolled back, and he appeared at ease now that they were firmly alone. They were drawing closer, maybe another fifteen minutes before they arrived to the intended destination. Where exactly that was, well he had a few secrets up his sleeve.

“You can even come up with a name for me should you like. Nothing about Cade Lee is the honest truth.” Another secret that many would pay fortunes for revealed itself. “Do you think,” he started as he turned to make eye contact. “Do you think I would honestly go by the name Cade Lee, this is nothing more than an alias to accomplish things I want. Nothing is what you think it is, and it’s up to you to figure out the pieces while you work for me. You may ask your questions, but nothing will be handed to you.”

He looked away, and watched the speeders some more.

[member="Daria Cavill"]

 

[Daria Cavill]

“Do you think..Do you think I would honestly go by the name Cade Lee?"

Something vile settled into the pit of her stomach at that, a feeling Daria had only experienced once before - she'd fallen asleep in a rice field, and woken up to see a twister rolling over the hill. It'd churned up great swaths of earth and ancient stones, raining them all around her, and as she'd fled for shelter, Daria had known only two things - that her life could end at any moment, and that there was little she could do about that first thing.

The Senator's eyes were blue, to be sure. And people might even think them charming and, if they were being honest, piercing. Daria realized that it was the same blue that'd been the sky that morning, a falsehood hiding the terrible truth of a coming storm. And she was riding shotgun with him, while nobody in the Galaxy with any real power knew where she was or have a damn about her.

She was a little afraid, and reflexively angry.

And that made her just a little bold.

Daria raised her chin slightly, adjusting her glasses. "This job wasn't some benefit for a wayward orphan. And I doubt you care that much that I was a Jedi." She decided in a carefully neutral tone. "You didn't even comment on my pike. No. You sent that that job offer specifically to me, because I'm me. Not because of my circumstances." She deduced.

 

[Lex-El]

Cade didn’t even look at her, he could feel her staring at him, feel her anger forming. Good, she’s acting just like I would have at her age. Well, if he had even showed a talent for the Force at her age. Years of his overbearing father and rigorous etiquette and military training had kept him on focusing on what he could do. It had made his childhood and teens rather challenging, to the point where his mother had pleaded with him on several occasions to stay calm. Rare occurrences around the house had shown her that there was more to him than anyone knew. All his father had seen in him was arrogance, but his mother had caught on to the true depth of who he was.

Now, he was staring at his daughter through the same lense.

“I didn’t bat an eye at your pike, because I find it humorous you selected a weapon you haven’t grown into yet.” Traffic, and the setting sun were all that he kept his eyes on. His keen intellect picking apart the systems that held the world in place, and allowed it to operate. “It’s a weapon that clearly suggests you have a need to stand out, to be different from everyone.” Now he was looking right at her, he even shifted his weight to where his shoulders were angling her way. “You need training in how to wield it, or you’re going to die before you are even legally old enough to vote."

Cade took a sip, his bottle of water nearly empty.

“Yes, I did pick you. I just wonder why you would continue to have the last name of a man who is a known mass-murderer, conqueror, and one of the most brutal creatures to walk the galaxy?”

[member="Daria Cavill"]

 

[Daria Cavill]

"You didn't just pick me." Daria continued, narrowing her eyes. "You asked about me. My family and upbringing. You kept dangling a carrot to get information out of me until you were satisfied I was who you thought I was, or that I was close enough to who you were hoping I was. And until you were satisfied, you had it so you could send me away at any time if I wasn't what you wanted." Daria sat upright, adjusting her reflexive desire to retain a height advantage, and slowly slipped her glasses off. "This was never about a job in government. This was about a job with YOU. Do you could... What. Keep an eye on me?"

She angled her head down, piercing blue eyes getting a fix on him through her unruly curls. "The only people who care about a name are people who were hurt by it, or have it." Daria accused quietly, her hand sliding slooowly towards her pike. "So which is it? Am I here because you want revenge, or are you a relative who let me suffer on my own as a near-slave for my whole life?"

 

[Lex-El]

“Yes, I wanted to keep an eye on you and verify you were who I thought you were. Cavill isn’t the most common name in the galaxy, it’s from a proud lineage on Serreno. It was one of the six ruling houses, a breeder of true counts.” His relaxed features didn’t even move, even though he saw her going for her weapon. “Your birth records don’t even have your last name listed, did you know you were born without a surname?” Cade knew why, on that world, that would have been a death sentence. “Only after that house was obliterated did your mother make an appeal with the courts to have your name changed so that you could have your biological father’s name.” Tension was practically starting to solidify in the cramped space.

Hell, a lightsaber would be the only thing that could cut this.

She wouldn’t even notice the fact that they had left traffic behind. No, they were on the outskirts of the planet. Whatever meeting he had promised was far from what was happening. No, they were getting offworld and in a hurry. Part of what she had signed had given him permission to take her wherever he so chose without so much as a warning. Combine that document with the non disclosure agreements she had signed, and he could do whatever and say what he pleased.

So, he did.

“Don’t be so dramatic, you didn’t live in near slavery. Sure, you were poor, but that was just how the culture of that world works.” Cade flirted with the idea of taking his glasses and the ring off, but didn’t. “Jacen Cavill never did a bad thing to me in my life, and your living family members are few and far between. I heard your grandmother died a tragic death due to cancer, and your grandfather was murdered. His killer still has yet to be found.” Cade knew who it was, and the look in his eyes said as much. His tone changed, and an anger appeared in his features and his tone.

“Reach for that pike, and I’ll make sure you never forget the day you tried to attack me. I don’t need any talent to hurt you child.”

[member="Daria Cavill"]

 

[Daria Cavill]

There was that voice again. Giving orders. His tone always seemed to change when she was trying to jump the tracks of the ride he was taking her on. "Then stop playing games with me!" Daria demanded angrily, her fury and frustration slipping back up the surface - much as it was with him. "Tell me who you are! Tell me why I'm here! Drop the stupid mysterious crap!"

Daria jabbed a finger at him angrily. "I don't care WHO you are, or how much money you're offering - keep jerking me around, and I've got no problem walking away from you and this job." She hissed, letting her anger get the better of her. Homeless girl with no money and a sparse education? She needed the job. But her pride had gotten her this far, she couldn't abandon it.

 

[Lex-El]

“I’m not being mysterious, I’m simply not hand feeding you everything you want” It amazed him the sense of entitlement she had. “You want to learn things, then start showing you deserve to know the truth. For someone who grew up and struggled, you would think your work ethic would be a little more sound. Or at least I was hoping you wouldn’t just assume you were supposed to be handed everything.” It amazed him, that he had been the one born to have the title of Count, and she was here demanding things of him. Many beatings, from his father and the Sith had taught him the true nature of earning things.

One had to fight and take what they wanted, or perish.

“Also, if you think you can do that. Then try Daria, you signed your life to me.” The speeder stopped as it docked with the Monitor-Class Corvette. The droid driving the speeder got out, and opened the door for him. Cade didn’t wait for anyone, he simply walked into his personal ship as it took off. This wasn’t the one on the books, nor had any affiliation to any government or company. No, this ship had it’s own name. One that would be recognizable to anyone who had followed the rise of Kryptus.

The Sion.

“I’m now your legal guardian child, you’re stuck with me.” His words echoed off the walls as he headed towards the training room.

[member="Daria Cavill"]

 

[Daria Cavill]

"No! It doesn't work like that." Daria barked, trailing after him. She'd been in the adoption system for years, after all - a minor could not just sign herself over, not without an officiant from the child care system responsible, background checks, and so on. The only exception made was, at times, when the would-be parent was explicitly the biological patent and had already garnered approval from the government - Like a noble or senator could.

Shit.

Daria wasted no time. At one point in her life, this might have thrilled her - but that girl was long gone.She was her own woman, now. This only proved that she couldn't trust anyone - blood relation or not. She'd been tricked from the start. And there was only one thing to do when you were stuck in a trap: fight for freedom until something breaks.

"Annul the paperwork." Daria ordered, her tone venomous, drawing her pike. She didn't light the blade, but even so, it was a long rod of durable metal. "You think you can just stride into my life and trick me into adoption? You do not have the right." She spat, furious. "You left me behind. Nothing gives you the right to come back, now, you hear me?"

There was a great deal of anger involved, and no small measure of hate - but also a great deal of pain. As tough as she was (which was not as tough as she liked to act like she was) Daria was still a more or less forsaken child. Acting like an adult was just that - an act, when you got right down to it. Frightened, angry and astounded, the cracks were starting to show and Daria sounded more her age. "If my mother was alive, I'd tell her the same thing I'll tell you; go to hell! I don't need you, I don't need anyone!"

 

[Jacen Cavill]

“Excuse me?” His tone was still the one that Cade Lee, politician and businessman used. Slowly, he turned at her words. Every syllable met his eardrum maliciously, all of them processing and making him feel some sting. Shoulders carved of steel, or quadranium if you listened to Gerion Ardik, spun around as he finally stopped in his tracks. Heavy breathing was visible through his suit, the arch of his back rising and falling with every bit of air that entered and left. “This works any way I damn well please it will.” Now, his stubborn side was starting to show itself, along with his temper. Veins, as thick as a child’s finger began to show just at the edge of his collar. Skin that was pale as marble began to show color, flush with more and more rage as the seconds ticked by.

No longer did he hide his true posture, and he grew to his full height of six feet and six inches tall. Arms that had been held in spread out to allow his latissimus dorsi the ability to stretch as they saw fit. A simply chain was unclipped, and he unceremoniously took the ring off his right hand and put it over the chain before latching it back on around his neck. Immediately his gaze fell to the floor, and he slowly took the glasses off his face and slid them into his breast pocket. A few bulkheads idly shook for a moment as his eyes squinched in the effort it took to keep them closed. Low growls escaped his lips as he felt his connection to the dark come back, and suddenly his own aura was visible.

Gone was the senator, even if the face that looked back up was the same. In his place stood a titan, and he was not happy.

“You will not get me to annul any sort of paperwork, and I gave you the courtesy of letting you read it.” Now he was slowly coming to her, despite the pike in her hand. “I gave you a chance to connect the dots, and you were given a choice to come here or not.” Now he was right within striking distance, and his power was fully emanating from him. No longer did he look meek, he looked savage instead. “Had I known of your existence, I would have come for you immediately rather than live on that cesspool. Believe me, I was born into the house of Cavill, I have seen the worst of debauchery on Serreno.”

He was inches from her now, towering over her, his hands threatening to turn to fist.

“You were conceived when I was but seventeen years old, and I only knew your mother a few days. If you knew anything about that time, or had taken time to read on my history. You would know that Jacen Cavill disappeared on a diplomatic mission merely days later.” It was true, he had looked up the information himself. “I was dumped on Korriban, never to even be seen for two years after that. You can believe that, and try and listen and talk to me…”

“...or you can bring that pike against me and I’ll show you the monster that I became after going to hell the first time.”

[member="Daria Cavill"]

 

[Daria Cavill]

[member="Jacen Cavill"]

"I don't care!" Daria snarled back, leaning up to return the threatening, violence-about-to-happen posture. "I don't care what your logic is! I've gone my whole life without you, without her, and I'm better for it!" Now, Daria knew that she couldn't compete in a physical fight - but she could dig her talons in deep, share a bit of the misery that'd driven her to be such an angry young woman. "So you knocked up some girl years ago, and I'm the result. Whatever! I've been doing fine on my own! Nobody asked you to show up."

"I wouldn't let the Youth Home own me, I wouldn't let the Jedi own me, and I'm sure as HELL not going to start with some... trumped up, thick-necked jarhead noble who likes to pretend to be a stuttering weakling senator!" Daria shouted, keeping a white-knuckle grip on her unlit pike. Not that it'd save her from a Galactically notorious Sith, but it might buy her a couple of seconds. More importantly, she might be able to inflict some pain before being punched through a bulkhead and into orbit. "I didn't research you because I don't give a damn about you. I don't give a damn about anyone but myself, because I'm the only person looking out for me! I'm all I need!"

 

[Jacen Cavill]

“Do you not listen to anything, child?” His word choice was horrible, and he knew as much right as they left his mouth. This didn’t impede him, he kept pressing on. Instead of backing down, maybe showing some remorse, he instead took another step towards her. Everything in him seemed at ease, especially with his full array of power. Rather than keep it at bay, he instead let the darkness inside seep out of him and around the room. Eyes that were a pristine blue, started to darken just a bit, traces of yellow and red started to show. Jacen didn’t fully give himself over to it, but he did just enough to show that he wasn’t some puny man that she seemed to want to treat him like.

No one had spoken to him like this in over a decade, but he was letting it fly.

“This trumped up noble, is far from what you know of him.” His protocol droid started to walk in the room, but heard the commotion and simply walked out before uttering a word. Cleaning droids made haste to get out of the room, their own danger senses going off. They had seen and heard someone yell before, and it usually meant collateral damage of their own kind. “I am a Sith Lord, the most powerful warrior the darkside could have made in decades. In the years you were growing up, I was conquering the galaxy for others before making a name for myself.” His tone was even, but power laced his words.

“I’m not seeking to own you, but I’m trying to give you something I never had.” He extended his hand towards her to take, or slap down. “I never had someone try to reach out and actually help me control and learn who I was. I had to do that on my own, and I had to watch my mother die and live a miserable life. I don’t want that for the only person who shares my blood that is left in this galaxy, you deserve to know true power like I do.”

[member="Daria Cavill"]

 

[Daria Cavill]

[member="Jacen Cavill"]

There was a long pause. As intimidated as Daria actually was by his little Sithmode powerup, she had the good grace not to let it show - her fears were her own. Nor did she trust for a moment that he actually bore her anything resembling good will. He had, after all, tricked her into signing over her rights and sprung right for the top shelf with intimidation to get his way. Of course, when all you had was a hammer...

A very effective, scary hammer, to say the least.

But at least there was something like a choice here, with the action of an outstretched hand. Daria understood that more than his attempts to verbally calm her, or convince her he'd had it worse. She didn't much care about that - perspective was a flawed thing, especially for an angry, hurt teenager. But action, physicallity, she could understand. "I don't believe you." Daria warned dubiously, glancing between hand to yellow-blue eyes. She slowly, slowly lowered her weapon. "You tricked me into this. I'm not happy about it. And I'll never forget it." She added for the sake of doing so.

"...but I'll give you a chance to prove you mean well. Because we're family. Two weeks, to prove you mean well." She explained, holding up two fingers to demonstrate. "I'll do it your way for two weeks, and go along with your plan. But no more tricks, okay? You try and trick me again, the deal's off, and I disappear. Okay?" Daria warned, frowning unhappily.

 

[Jacen Cavill]

“Because most anyone would show up when a conqueror of entire star systems asks them to show up. You do realize those I call my peers dread my presence, because it usually means someone is to die. Experience has taught me it’s best to get others in first with your cards hidden, so that you can play them at an opportune moment.” She held her hand up showing him his allotted amount of time with her, but never reached out to his. Letting it fall, he simply shook his head at her. “You know that is highly disrespectful on Serreno in the noble courts right?” Jacen said nothing about it after that, instead he started to walk out of the hangar of the ship and into the training room.

Sith decorations littered the wall, along with holocrons he had captured. Many weapons littered one wall, with a safe only he could open. Inside there, well that was where he kept the particularly nasty artifacts and weapons that only he would be able to use. On the adjacent wall were training droids of all different makes and models, along with the cleaning models who removed the messes he made while working on his craft. An elaborate gym, fully stocked with equipment and weights was further back. What stood out, besides the other storage containers that housed other goods was one wall with shelves that was fully stocked.

Dozens of lightsabers sat there, all of them trophies from kills.

Sliding off to a locker area, he reappeared moments later. Clad armorweave, he wore simple black robes over it. His impressive figure on display, and a single lightsaber sat on his belt. “For the record, you could never disappear. I can feel you through the dark, and I can feel your fear Daria. That’s why I plan on helping you use that as a weapon.” He walked past her and headed to the turbolift to take them to the cockpit of the ship. “I know you have questions, so ask them.”

[member="Daria Cavill"]

 

[Daria Cavill]

[member="Jacen Cavill"]

"I wouldn't know about Serreno's noble courts." Daria reminded him pointedly. "I grew up in a barn with three dozen other girls."

When he returned, she followed after with a slight frown. "I'm not a Sith. I don't plan on becoming a Sith." She insisted defensively. "I know all about the Dark Side. What it does to people." At least, she knew what the Jedi order had taught her - and they'd been really pushy with that lesson, considering her struggles with her temper and general bossy demeanor. It was more than a little strange to be trailing after someone who was so much taller than she was - Daria was used to being treated as sort of a defacto adult, thanks to her height, especially since abandoning the Jedi Order. Being expected to follow him around like the child she legally was was something she hadn't really adjusted to, and might never.

"I'm not going to be turned into a weapon for your cause." She added once they were on the Turbolift, adjusting her glasses and clasping her hands in front of herself. "I'm here to learn about the guy who sired me, because he felt it important enough to track me down and trick me into signing documents." Daria glanced up at Jacen through her bangs - she hadn't acknowledged him as her father, and might never. Heck, she wasn't even sure if he biologically was. "...and you could start by telling me about my mother, I guess. If you remember anything about her."

 

[Jacen Cavill]

“Do I look like I care much about the Counts of Serreno? Do I go by that title?” Jacen resisted the urge to roll his eyes at the girl standing next to him, instead he just kept his eyes fixated on the doors as they went on the short ride up to the command deck. “If you knew all about the darkside, you wouldn’t spit out things a baby youngling would know about the Force.” That much was true, it was exactly what someone new to the Jedi Order would say, he knew Daria’s background so he didn’t really press it that much. Instead, as the doors opened to the cockpit, he took a different tact with her. “I don’t need a weapon, I have never needed someone to fight my battles. That is the furthest reason I have orchestrated all of this. There are plenty of Sith in the galaxy who would kneel and serve me without an attitude.”

Merely nodding to the droid piloting the vessel, he walked to the viewport and enjoyed the view of the stars.

Resting his hands on the railing, he leaned into it just a bit. “Your mother, now that’s a short story to tell I’m afraid. I wish I could tell you everything you desired to know about her.” Cavill’s eyes faded to blue, his memory taking him back to a time before he knew true power. “I was on leave from the Serreno military academy, my mother had managed to get me out under the ruse of needing to see some doctors. Instead, I went and lived my life and partied with a few of my classmates. You see, my father hated my existence and how rebellious I was.” He glanced over, knowing she’d see the parallel.

“My father was an abusive man to me and my mother, and I hated him for it. That’s another discussion though,” he waved his hand idly before continuing. “Your mother was a beautiful woman, her name was Ophelia.” That same, almost sad, smile appeared. “We talked for hours, and she had no idea I was heir to one of the ruling houses. Eventually things spiraled from there, with some liquid encouragement. The next day we spent it all together as well, before I had to go back to the academy. I promised to write her, but that week my father picked me up for a trip.” Now the smile was gone, and his eyes had gone back to the sickly color.

“Except, he dumped me on Korriban to die and I never got to see or talk to her again.”

[member="Daria Cavill"]

 

[Daria Cavill]

[member="Jacen Cavill"]

Daria did, indeed, note the parallel. It earned a quiet little smirk from her, but no smartassed comment for once.

"Well... I guess you know how she ended up." Daria sighed, leaning on the railing as well - not quite as much, because heels. "I wish it wasn't so, but I guess that's just how things turned out. I'm sorry." She adjusted her glasses and glanced up at Jacen again. "She had a little land, but no family. I guess maybe your dad bought her off to keep quiet about me? Not that it matters - the Youth Home claimed it when they took me in." She blew a little curl of hair out of her eye, failed, then just tucked it behind her ear. "I always promised myself I'd go back and claim it, but they sold it to some family a year ago. The people were pretty nice. I guess they can live there."

"I just wish I'd been able to meet her, or have something of hers, you know?" Daria explained. "All I've got is a name, now, and it hardly seems like it's enough. It doesn't feel fair." She glanced up at the viewscreen, frowning. "I used to get so angry in the Academy, at the other younglings. They had families and names and mementos they were supposed to be training to let go of to deepen their connection to the Force. I had nothing and nobody, so you think I'd have an advantage?" She shook her head and folded her arms on the railing, eyes half-lidded and staring off into space. "But they were the ones who learned to let go of what I never had, and all I got was lectures for it. They never appreciated the privilege life had given them, to have love in their lives that they could forsake, or cling to, or do whatever with - it was just a fact of life for them, like breathing, or whatever."

"They just kept plodding merrily forward." Daria took a deep breath, before glancing up at Jacen with a shaky frown. "I wanted to hate them, but I couldn't. I was the one who had missing pieces, how could I resent a complete product? You know?"

 

[Jacen Cavill]

“If you want that land, or anything just let me know. Money will no longer be something you will have to worry about.” What would she do now that she was heir to a man who had amassed trillions of credits in his relatively short life? What the true number of his wealth was would be impossible to know, his businesses had brought in much of it. All the backroom deals he had managed, along with the secret items he had made for others had only filled his coffers. Investments he had made years ago were now suddenly looking quite brilliant, not to mention the fact that his options in Blas-Tech would be paying him for a few more decades at least. At this rate, they will be paying Daria and whatever children she has.

He hadn’t thought of her when making this fortune, but he had something to give her should he pass.

“I have nothing to remind me of my family, save for my face. I understand that, even if I chose to not keep things.” The Sion jumped to hyperspace, to a predetermined destination. Cavill had long known they would at least end up on the ship, now phase two of his plan would start. “The others you speak of, never be jealous of them. Your pain makes you who you are, it is what gives you the strength you have.” He turned to face her, keeping his left arm on the rail while pointing at her with his right. “Don’t hate them for what they have Daria, you can’t resurrect people. Instead see that you are inherently better because you are stronger. Their lives have made them weak and soft.”

Sickly eyes met pure blue.

“What else do you want to know, you want the truth. Well you can have it.”

[member="Daria Cavill"]

 

[Daria Cavill]

[member="Jacen Cavill"]

It was good advice, she could admit that much. Even the part about being stronger and better - things Daria wouldn't admit while she was still half-heartedly towing the Jedi Party lines, but things she suspected in her heart of hearts to be true. Knew to be true, in fact. The teenager digested this information, standing up a little straighter as she ship went into hyperspace. The moment a ship was going that fast, it'd always made her a little nervous. Barely enough to show. Lightspeed was frighteningly powerful, and warp made it look like nothing. "I don't know." She admitted, brushing her hair back with a confused, downward frown. All of the unruly curls bounced immediately back into place, determined to not be swayed from their messy path.

She'd spent her whole life educating herself to be educated, demanding what nobody would ever offer. Having somebody trying to give her information for... whatever reason?... was suspect, to say the least. Confusing.

"I... I don't know what to ask." Daria admitted with a sigh and a weak smile, shaking her head. "I never planned or thought something like this would happen. I don't know what to do or say. You're huge and frightening, even when you make sense. Especially when you make sense. You're like, walking malevolence. Even if you weren't... whatever you are to me, I'd be intimidated." She stood upright and closed her eyes, focusing. "I don't know. What did you expect when you, what, heard about me or whatever? Or when you met me?"

 

[Jacen Cavill]

“Listen, I am the way I am due to my own actions. I once was afraid like you, and it took most of my life to get to where I am.” He didn’t dwell on it, there was no need to. It had been documented the man that he was before he had fully embraced the darkness. What stood next to Daria couldn’t even be termed a man, for he was now a monster. How it had actually happened was quite the story, but his legend had only grown from the fact that he had killed a Sith Master with the power that he wielded as a Knight. If they only knew what had really happened, he mused. No one needed to know that he had saved a woman’s life that day, a woman who had taught him a great deal about himself and the Force.

Another woman that he had loved.

“Well, I honestly didn’t know what to think. I’ve had many research what my birth last name was after conquering a world, or destroying their leadership and take it as a sign of respect. I’ve even had some so much as claim to be related because they thought I was rich due to being a Count of Serrreno. Those fools didn’t realize I had not gained a dime from that, nor did I take the actual title.” He laughed a little at the idiocy of all the claims he had seen, but he never mentioned what he had done to all those he had caught lying.

No child needed to know their father’s true brutality.

“Just learning that you were real, and had my blood was good enough for me. Seeing you in person, and seeing that you have powers I never will shows that meeting your mother was a good thing. You look just like I did at your age, so I know you are mine. That and your blood is public record, so I’ve already confirmed it all.” He could have said all that with some sort of affectionate tone, but he kept it flat, as if reciting facts. “So, I’m offering you knowledge of anything. Ask more, and quit being scared. If I wanted you dead it would have already happened.”

[member="Daria Cavill"]