Unexpected Find (Legion)

[Antera]

"Let's not worry about that right now, okay? How about you show me around this place?" she turned her head, looking around the overgrown ruins once more. This also had the side effect of breaking eye contact with the sithspawn.

Those eyes could be weaponized to deploy guilt planet wide.

She cleared her throat slightly, "Shall we?"

@[member="Legion"]

 

[Legion]

"Oh yes!" Legion exclaimed, bouncing on her heels before giving her balled up fists a little shake. She rushed back towards the temple, then paused, making certain that Antera was keeping close. "P-Please be careful! I have disarmed many of the traps here, b-but there are likely more..."

She paused once again, glancing around the ruined halls, tattered scraps of tapestry billowing in the light breeze. In some places it looked as though the temple was held together by little more than forgotten remnants of faith.

"Th-This way! I can show you my t-terrarium! Ehm ... I doubt there is much that will be exciting for you, b-but there is a library with a few holocrons if that interests you! Some of them even s-sort of work!"

That set the girl off again, her soft boots shuffling across the cracked marble as she delved deeper into the temple.

@[member="Antera"]

 

[Antera]

The smuggler followed a short distance behind, lacking a considerable portion of the younger woman's sudden burst of enthusiasm. While Legion was entirely unanticipated, the interior of the site itself wasn't too far from what she'd imagined, if in slightly better condition than it would have been without its current resident.

"What kind of traps did you find in here?" she was back to business for the moment, however long it would last. Stepping inside the temple, she had felt the presence of the dark side around her grow. Whatever had been done in this place had left long-lasting echoes.

@[member="Legion"]

 

[Legion]

"P-Poison gas, poison darts, spike traps beneath hidden p-panels in the floor... the g-gas is the most frightening. N-Not that the others are not!" the girl added after a brief, thoughtful hesitation.

Legion continued on through the winding halls, leading Antera to the heart of the temple's sanctum, a wide-open room with a high roof. Shafts of sunlight pierced the crumbled marble and ivy trickled down the walls to form an eerily serene canopy above the pair. In the clearing there was indeed a terrarium resting against the remains of a wall, an extinguished campfire, a few worn pillar stumps, and a simple bedroll. The girl moved to the terrarium, gently tapping a claw against the glass.

"H-Hallo, my friends! This is a new friend, M-Miss Antera!"

She turned to smile at the Chiss, giggling as if sharing a joke with the various insects that continued about their business within the glass confines.

@[member="Antera"]

 

[Antera]

"And you were just left here with all of that..." her voice trailed off when Legion suddenly moved towards the terrarium.

Soma, what have you gotten yourself into?

Legion began to giggle. Antera blinked, red eyes falling on the various crawling creatures inside the clear box, "Your friends... I see."

She turned in a slow circle, taking in the details of the room and reaching out with her senses, seeking any other presences that may be lurking in the nearby halls. "So... just you and your friends here? Sometimes these places draw other creatures to them, you know..."

@[member="Legion"]

 

[Legion]

Legion nodded, not finding anything particularly strange about her predicament. As Antera turned to survey the room, she gently shook her head.

"Oh, no, I d-do not think so... sometimes wildlife g-gets into my garden, but not much has wandered this far."

The empty halls certainly looked and felt abandoned, though the disquieting thrum of the dark side was enough to inspire a sense of paranoia. Legion clasped her hands behind her back, turning on her heel to move to stand beside the blue-skinned woman.

"D-Do you think we are in danger here? ...Ah, moreso than from the t-traps, that is..."

Legion frowned at the thought, turning her gaze towards Antera.

@[member="Antera"]

 

[Antera]

"I wouldn't exactly call a Sith temple safe under any circumstances. Hell, I can feel the darkness in this place just standing here."

She frowned more deeply, letting her senses stretch further into the ruins. Only the echoes of the dark side greeted her.

"How much of the place have you explored? Found any places you haven't been able to get inside of?"

@[member="Legion"]

 

[Legion]

Legion blinked at the question, glancing upwards as she gave it some thought.

"The d-darkness? Yes, ah, you have a p-point..."

The girl took a few steps deeper into the sanctum, her gaze falling to the cracked floor, her soft leather boot obscuring a faded rune. Miss Antera had called it the darkness, yet it was a sensation that had been ever-present in her young life.

"Ehm, I h-have not ventured into the deepest floor, but I have explored m-most everything else. It ... I d-do not know what is there, but if there was a c-creature, wouldn't it have eaten me by now?" She turned her attention back to the Chiss, her brows lifting hopefully.

@[member="Antera"]

 

[Antera]

"That really depends... for all we know, if there is something down there it might not be able to get up here."

Her expression was flat when she looked back at Legion, "I better check this out. Can you show me how to get down there?"

She was suddenly aware of the weight of her weapons once again, and they offered some reassurance. Maybe it would be nothing. Maybe the place really was well and truly abandoned.

'Maybes' weren't a very good thing to stake your life on, however.

@[member="Legion"]

 

[Legion]

"O- ... Oh..."

Legion trailed off, her wide, anxious yellow eyes staring at Antera from beneath the shade of her cowl as if that particular thought hadn't really occurred to her before now. She couldn't help but wring her hands, hesitantly turning towards the appropriate direction.

"But M-Miss Antera, what if something happens to you? It would b-be all my fault..."

Her eyes drifted down towards the sheathed weapons the other woman wore. Surely she knew how to handle herself - after all, she'd done just fine so far - and yet, the thought didn't offer Legion much assurance.

@[member="Antera"]

 

[Antera]

Is this girl for real?

Antera reached up, pressing her fingertips to her forehead for a moment, "It'll be fine. Promise. There probably isn't even anything down there, but I'd like to take a look just the same."

She started in the indicated direction, one hand idly resting on her blaster's grip. Despite her own assurances to the innocent sithspawn, the place continued to set her on edge. Something here wasn't quite right, it teased at the edges of her senses but the surrounding ruins clouded it with their own hum within the Force.

"Come on, let's have a look."

@[member="Legion"]

 

[Legion]

"A-All right..."

Legion bowed her head in deference to the Chiss, though she couldn't help but notice the other woman's fingertips resting on the grip of her blaster. The girl couldn't shake a growing sense of disquiet, worrying her hands across each other as she followed after the other woman.

@[member="Antera"]

 

[Antera]

Once they rounded the corner, it became increasingly obvious why Legion had been unable to proceed any further. Some part of the structure had given way, and parts of the wall and ceiling had collapsed in on themselves, leaving the passage obstructed by rubble.

"... This certainly complicates matters," she sighed, stepping forward for a closer look. Judging by the growth of moss and vines, the collapse had been some time ago. She was no architect, but after a few moments of examining the large chunks of stone she felt reasonably certain moving them wouldn't cause anything else to fall.

Certain-ish, anyway.

"Legion? Stand back, please," she walked a few meters back down the hall, away from the pile of rubble, and turned around to face it once more. Feet spread shoulder-width apart, she shut her eyes and lifted her hands, holding them together fingertip to fingertip as she found her center. It was difficult, the tug of the dark side here continuing to cloud her thoughts, but with a few breaths she had her concentration. Slowly, her hands moved apart from each other, palms extended towards the rubble. She let her head fall forward slightly, unconcerned with her own body as her senses reached outwards, and through the Force she found a grip on the stone. With subtle motions of her hands, one by one the rocks were lifted and set aside, piled on either side of the hallway and opening the path.

Her eyes blinked open as she finished, arms falling back to her sides as she took a long, deep breath. She turned towards Legion and gave the girl a small nod, "Shall we?"

@[member="Legion"]

 

[Legion]

Legion gazed across the debris before curiously returning her attention to Antera, uncertain of how the woman planned to overcome the rubble. As the Chiss spoke to her she glanced up, nodding obediently before taking a few long strides backwards, finally turning to scamper farther down the hall and away from where the blue-skinned woman worked.

"Ah...?" she murmured, blinking a few times as she observed the strange ritual, her eyes widening as Antera willed the stony fragments aside. Her fingers gently mimicked the meditation pose, pressing together as she watched.

The woman's words made her attention shift and she nodded, closing the distance between the two, though her footsteps were softer now, more measured.

"You are... n-not Sith," she determined, though her statement held an underlying question: what exactly was Antera?

@[member="Antera"]

 

[Antera]

"Absolutely not."

She left it at that, making her way through the cleared pathway and glancing over the heavy stone doors that had been hidden by the debris. She raised her hand, and with a firm, steady push of telekinesis slowly pushed the doorway open with a loud scrape of stone against stone.

Beyond, she found a staircase descending downwards into the earth. Long unlit sconces lined the walls, and thick layers of dust coated every step. No one had been down here for quite some time. Frowning, she pulled a glowlamp off her belt and flipped the power switch. With the doors open, she could feel the coiling tendrils of the dark side in the back of her mind growing stronger. Whatever was here, was down these steps.

"Let's see what we have here..."

@[member="Legion"]

 

[Legion]

Antera's response only fueled Legion's curiosity and again her eyes went wide at the display of power. She had so many questions to ask the other woman, but she realized that now certainly wasn't the most opportune moment, so she remained quiet, following close behind the Chiss. Despite the comforting light of the glowlamp, she pressed a hand against the dusty wall as they descended, claws scraping across the ancient marble. It wasn't a pleasant sensation, but she preferred grimy and stable to clean and stumbling down a row of foreboding stairs.

The girl found herself unable to shrug off a claustrophobic sense of impending misfortune. She'd lived in the temple long enough to be at least somewhat at ease with the place, but this was different - perhaps it was the cramped quarters or the eerie silence aside from the pair's soft footfalls, but an unshakable pall of gloom grew heavier with each step. The sight of an open arch at the foot of the stairs did little to ease Legion's nerves.

"M-Miss Antera, maybe we should leave this alone..." she whispered, the sound of her own voice amidst the eerie stillness causing her to cringe.

@[member="Antera"]

 

[Antera]

"If I found this place, sooner or later someone else will too. Maybe even someone with worse intentions than mine," she stated simply, her voice remaining level, though the unnatural stillness of the room they'd found made the echoes twist and distort in disturbing ways. It was almost as if the temple itself was mocking her.

Stepping through the archway, she lifted her lamp higher, cranking up the brightness of the light. More dark stone met her vision, the archway opening into a large, apparently ceremonial, room. Columns rose from the floor to ceiling far above in orderly rows, scowling hooded statues encircling each. She could just make out a platform deeper into the room, perhaps an altar of some sort. The chamber was massive, her light only just reaching the nearest walls, and leaving the far end of the room completely obscured in darkness.

Every bit of sense she had screamed to retreat back up the steps, but with another deep breath she steeled herself, calming her mind to the point it simply remained very, very aware of her surroundings instead. She stepped into the chamber, and cautiously approached the altar.

[member="Legion"]

 

[Legion]

Legion hugged herself, subconsciously slumping her shoulders as if to evade the eternal gaze of the cowled statues standing guard around the room. Her mouth went dry but she offered no further protest, Antera's resolve outweighing her own reservations. Her footsteps fell as softly as possible as she followed after the other woman, peeking over her shoulder into the darkness.

Calm down, everything will be fine... nothing could have been down here this long, she assured herself, though it did little to assuage her. Each step towards the altar only caused the gnawing feeling at the back of her mind to grow, yet now she felt unable to speak, her throat tightening.

Instead she extended a hand, gently grasping Antera's shoulder as a final deterrent.

Please, Miss Antera, just go... you shouldn't be here at all...

[member="Antera"]

 

[Antera]

Antera paused for just a moment as she felt clawed fingers on her shoulder. Her body tensed, coming to a stop for a moment, but she relaxed quickly. Even if she'd been without the Force, the fear and concern in the sithspawn girl's eyes was incredibly plain to see. She gently freed herself from her grip and continued to the altar. She climbed the few steps up to the central platform, and slowly examined the surface with her glowlamp.

Runes, spinning and spidery runes that seemed to swim across her vision for a moment, were the first thing she saw. Ceremonial, marked with age and caked with dust. Still tainted with the dark side, as the rest of this place was.

I suppose the girl is right. I shouldn't be here. But duty calls.

In the center, however, was something much more interesting than inscription. Pyramidal, roughly 20cm to each side. Each surface was a glassy black with brass filigree resting against it. A holocron. But did it still...

Almost without realizing, she reached forward, fingers coming into contact with the side facing her. At once, the black surface came to life with pulsing, unearthly red power. She recoiled as the entire room suddenly pulsed with dark side power, reverberating and resonating in the underground chamber. A hum built and lodged itself in her mind, heard but not heard. Within and without simultaneously. Clawing at the inside of her skull.

One hand shot upwards to her forehead, clutching at her scalp for the everlasting seconds it took for the energy to dissipate. The room went still once more, silent save for her own deep breathing and the sithspawn who'd followed her down. Without conscious thought, she snatched up the holocron and dumped it in her bag.

A move, it would turn out, she did without a moment to spare. For the silence was again broken, but this time with a long and all too real hiss.

[member="Legion"]

 

[Legion]

"Miss Antera!" she breathed, her voice small, fragile, even beyond its usual timidity. Legion shuddered, rushing forward to defend the Chiss, though the glowing crimson of the holocron gave her pause.

The hiss cut through the silence and she could feel the hair on the back of her neck stand on end. She froze, her blood running cold, eyes darting around the room to find the source.

"What -- w-what...?" she whispered, bringing her hands up defensively as she slowly began to edge back towards the archway.

For the first time in her life, Legion was grateful that someone was armed.

[member="Antera"]