Private Whispers in My Head

[Ansisa]

Ansisa leaned into him, into his touch as he drew her back in, her love for him overwhelming her. She'd missed this. This closeness, this care he had had for her. She tipped her head up, her nose brushing his.

"I love you," She breathed after he answered her question "but you are such an idiot sometimes." She kissed him gently, before drawing away, determination settling over her as she pulled her lightsaber free from her belt once more, turning her back to Malum to face the city.

"I'll find her." She vanished from sight and from the force, focused on her hunt.

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Feira]

It was the moment she'd waited for, the opportunity she could not pass up, when the pair seperated, and the chiss vanished Feira moved, a doppelganger appearing behind Malum once more.

"Such love and dedication she has for you." She purred, the shallow wound that Ansisa had scored across her stomach slowlu oozing blood. "I'll have fun breaking her mind."

She tilted her head "Are you ready to play nicely, and answer my questions about Ordo? Or shall we go for round two? There's plenty of beautiful women in your life I can target. A long list of family. Which shall it be?"

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

His breath shuddered as he felt her closeness, a closeness that he so missed, that he had once thought he would have his entire life to enjoy, that indeed, he could not live without. Perhaps that was hyperbole, it had been many moons since he had last seen her, and all those encounters had been far more painful than... than...

...Than that feeling which made the guilt flare up.

And then.

She said those words.

His heart burned with two agonies.

"I... I... love you too..." It was something he had always known, something he knew there would be no point denying to himself, and if he could not deny it to himself... he could never deny it to her.

That did not stop the bile from filling his throat.

He offered a weak smirk at her other words, only to widen his eyes, as she closed the distance.

She was so soft.

So familiar.

He could not help but melt into the kiss, he could not help familiarity, instinct, and muscle memory take hold, as his hands trailed underneath buttons and belts, as they always had, as he always had.

Needing to get underneath, as he felt the beast within his stomach, within his chest, roar with need.

Only for her to save him, from doing something he would regret.

Unconsciously whining, as she pulled away, giving him no time to protest.

She was gone.

And it was suddenly cold again.

Not simply because he was alone, but because he was not.

He turned immediately at her purring voice, slowed only by the dull ache in his mind, as he made out the woman that had tortured him the last few minutes... the woman that had brought Kara... Ansisa ... back to him... with all the complexity that raised in his mind.

Only to growl as her threat made itself known.

Before Malum breathed.

Even as her threats continued to spill from her lips.

He would have his moment.

He raised his hands, to show that he was unarmed, "I will answer your questions, if you shall answer mine in kind, there need not be any more blood spilt today," Giving a rather pointed look to the wound that Kara had made across her stomach, despite the complexity of their relationship.

His first apprentice had never failed to make him proud.

He opened their bond, as he raised his own mental defences, "She is here, flank her I have her distracted."

Darth Feira

 

[Ansisa]

Ansisa loved the hunt, she loved the kill, it had always been in her nature, but Vazz had encouraged it and Malum had honed it and right now it bled through the bond, a hunger for the coming violence, for the need to satiate her anger through the blood of another.

She circled back at his command, a whisper of movement in the sand that could have passed as wind the only sign of her coming, but as she drew closer she hesitated. If this was a Doppelganger, it was a good one, she could even sense the blood.

It was this final point that made her hurl the blades, unveiling as she did.

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Feira]

Feira's head tilted at Malum's reply a low chuckel emanating from deep in her throat. She could smell a trap, too easily he was changing his tune, to easily he was giving in. Fingers trailed the line of blood on her stomach, and she brought them to her lips, licking them clean.

"I always enjoyed the spilling of blood." She mused, fixing him with a dangerous smile. "You didn't yield."

As if on cue, Ansisa appeared in the wake of two blades that hissed towards her doppelganger with expert precision. They passed through her leaving smokey holes in the form that slowly closed.

"There you are." She purred.

Her hand extended as she plunged into the Chiss's mind. The doppelganger vanished and Feria's true form stepped from a broken building, moving slowly towards them. "Quick and precise blades she has, and her mind...oh so full of secrets...and pain."

As she spoke, Ansisa dropped to her knees an aguished scream tearing from her lips.

"See, in order for this to work i need you to not only yield, but tell me everything you know about Ordo and his return. Do this and i will return her to you, whole and undamaged. Continue to fight me, and I will break her. And I promise you, she will be easy to break."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

Pride.

It was the downfall of empires.

He had been genuine in his offer, even if in moments in the future he would recognise a miscommunication would turn it into a lie, but he at that moment had been genuine in his offer, but this woman, this woman that... it was difficult for red eyes not to follow her fingers, as she scooped up her own blood and brought it her lips.

To say he had suddenly grown rather... uncomfortable.

And behind his orbs... dark thoughts had made themselves evident.

"Unfortunately if you know anything regarding my House, you'll know we rarely yield," Malum mused, tightening his hold on his blade with both hands, tilting it in warning towards Lady Freia, "While spilling blood..." There was a glimmer behind those red eyes that enchanted so many, "...We know how to do that very well... alas, we also know when it is unnecessary."

To buy time certainly was his objective there was little denying that, and as he felt the ravenous hunger of his...

Of his.

He knew she was fast approaching, reaching the flank as he had ordered, but even as he was buying time, he knew, despite everything there was yet but an opportunity to talk.

Unfortunately, his own miscommunication doomed him.

His eyes widened as she moved, appearing out of nothingness as she pressed advantage for the strike. He had given the order, but he had not expected her to stri-...

His face grew pale.

His words.

Confirmation quickly came that this one was not her, as her form disappeared in a bellow of smoke.

Malum did not have much more time to react, his eyes looking for Ansisa ... Kara's... only to have them snap shut, only to have her fall to her knees, only for a hellish scream to erupt out of her lips.

Frozen, it may have only been for seconds, but he froze at the sight. His lips dried, his breathing heavy. All that he had already seen in his mind's eye playing out in front of him with his true eyes.

And then he could not breathe.

Her voice centred him.

Taunting.

Spiteful.

He should have yielded.

He should have done as she instructed.

...Maybe one worthy of Kara would have done so...

...Maybe one who loved her should have...

But pride was the fall of empires.

"Please..." He whispered under his breath.

As an ally that thus far had remained mostly silent, stirred back awake.

"I will never yield." He whispered to the wind, the words of his great ancestor.

As he prepared himself for utter agony.

The Force bent and twisted around him, anger making itself felt as he commanded, demanded, that it obey his will, and as his Consume Essence returned to his form, the inky invisible tendrils attempted to attach on what they assumed was the target of his hatred.

He twisted.

Extending out the Force to her in a massive way, to cause her every bit the agony she caused his...

Love.

Time to be bought.

As in front of him formed a being of twisted darkness, a being made of pure power, towering upward to his height.

A second Malum stood, with burning orange eyes, and as quick as a flash, with lightsabre in hand, advanced for a swing against its enemy.

All the while the first.

Breathed.

He opened the bond he shared.

Agony filled him, bringing him to his knees, collapsing onto the sand as a great tower struck the earth.

But he would not fall.

Never.

Not while she needed him.

He pressed into the bond, throwing her mind back, and placing himself between Kara and Feira.

As he lost consciousness, and struck the earth.

If any suffered.

As his unconscious body twisted, his mouth screamed out.

He would be her shield.

Darth Feira

 

[Ansisa]

It was like a thousand blade punching into her skull at once, the agony as she tore through limited mental defences like they were paper, immediately sifting through her mind, a thousand memories being brought to the surface, her near death on Korriban, heated moments between her and Malum, Csilla in all its broken glory, the anguish of the loss of their child.

But then she found the one thing she couldn't bear.

No.

Aureus sat on his bedroom floor, playing with his toy soldiers, looking round to smile at her.

Her breath left her, and as she felt Malum hammering into their bond with everything he had, drawing Feira's eye from her, she slammed the bond shut, causing herself more pain. He couldn't know, she couldn't tell him. Not yet, not now.

The pain ended, her vision returning to the city of sand as Malum collapsed, her chest was heaving, her cheeks wet with tears she did not know she had spilled. She crawled to him, scooping his unconscious from into her lap, brushing the hair from his face as she looked down at him. The hum of the doppelgängers lightsabre seemed like it was a thousand parsecs away.

She choked back a sob, wrapping her arms tightly around him she drew on the pain and aguish, folding the darkside around them. The sity of sand dissolved, whirling away to be replaced by an all too familiar red and black draped bedroom. She felt the darkness squeeze on her heart, pain exploding across her skull ad hard sand was replaced with a soft mattress.

Her vision darkened, her eyes dropping to Malum once more. He was safe, that was all that mattered.

Ansisa pitched sideway, blood pouring from her nose. To travel so far in one day was bad enough, but twice? Twice was too much and she tumbled into blissful comfort of darkness.

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Feira]

Feira bared her teeth as the doppelgänger charged for her, reaching deep beneath the sands with the force till she found what she was looking for, the root of a plant buried deep beneath. She filled it with energy, tainting it as it grew until, a twisted black vine bursting from the sands as the doppelgänger passed it, it shot forth to entangle around its feet as she herself began to move backwards.

There was something different about this doppleganger, something in its eyes that set it apart from Malum himself. Her eyes darted to where her quarry had toppled unconscious, in time to see the chiss embrace him and teleport them away.

And yet...the doppleganger remained.

She activated the commlink on her wrist. "Shorja! An ki" The high sith rolled from her tongue without effort as she continued her back peddle, she was not equipped for a fight of blades, but her hounds were. They teleported in front of her, sabers igniting the moment they appeared, three men all bearing tattoos on their faces that marked them as hers.

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

The sound of the Emperor's arrival to his quarters was not uncommon if he did not arrive via shuttle off-world, or back terrestrially from his activities across the Alvarian countryside or her cities, he arrived via teleportation. Such was the power of the Force she had long ago been educated by His Imperial Majesty, such was the power of His Imperial Majesty she knew simply by gazing upon him.

To be from one place in the galaxy to the other in an instant.

Still, it was rather rare for him to arrive at his chambers, not so uncommon to register as impossible... but enough to filter as somewhat odd. He more commonly arrived at the throne room, summoning every member of staff for updates on what he had missed at the palace, summoning all his ministers for what he missed upon the planet, and taking court with his nobles, before the day's end.

He only arrived directly in his chambers when he wished for privacy.

...It had been a long time since Meredith had seen his wish for that, the one that had he demanded it for, having long since stopped gracing his halls in the frequency that she once did.

The halls now belonged to another woman, one that Meredith by no means hated, a waif, a ghost, starving herself as she gave herself to her obsessions, usually in the library.

Elise, was her name. His Imperial Majesty's love.

It was little wonder why Lady Ansisa no longer graced these halls.

How she so missed them both.

Little had been right since... that day, so long ago.

The door loudly unlocked, there was pride in her, as she gazed at the two guards standing quiet and disciplined, unflinching at her opening of the door, there were few among the planet that His Imperial Majesty trusted as much as her... even if what they had... what they had with Lady Ansisa was long gone.

Such was her surprise, gazing upon the bed... dumbfounded.

There they both were.

"Guards! Guards! Call the doctors!" She shouted, hearing rapid footsteps, one entering, the other rushing off.

All the while, Meredith was quick to climb the bed and look over both the figures who had... who... who she so cared for. They were in terrible condition... as evermore questions came over her mind.

As a flicker of hope entered her heart.

Ansisa

Mentioned: Elise Ahana-Gwyneira

The doppelganger rushed forth, swift and unyielding, golden eyes glew with an intention evident to all who witnessed it, a momentary glance confirmed the disappearance of the original, along with the Chiss, as the double leapt over the rapidly grown root, as a wraith, never stopping the advance as she began to narrow the gap between them.

The High Sith registered as quickly as it was uttered, there was no hesitation, no surprise, as the Hounds appeared before her, the first did not even register their death, as their head was sent flying across the sky, before landing unceremoniously on the ground with an ugly, bloody, crash. The second could only gaze into deathly cool citrine orbs, forced to kneel as the lightsabre crossed tendon, and the life drained from his eyes.

The third fought hard and fought well.

It was not enough, as the sabres slipped past his guard, and took his heart.

He toppled forward without ceremony.

As glowing fireballs met familiar blood-red eyes, her advance halted, as she pointed a lightsabre her way, a warning if she should retreat any further.

"Darth Sortis had a child?"

Darth Feira

Mentions: Darth Ophidia Ordo

 

[Ansisa]

The darkness should have been quiet, blissful even, But it was wrought with pain and anguish. Flickering images passed across her mind as the darkside wrought its corruption through her heart. How easily this sith had broken them both, how easily she had made them live their worst nightmares.

The shout for guards, for doctors to be called was heard but it was warbled, twisted beyond recognition. the face that it belonged to floated before her eyes.

Meredith.

She tried to call out her name, but the darkness choked her, pulled her deeper into its abyss as the tangible world faded from her grasp and she floated, caught between sleep and awake, nightmares and dreams drifting past her, frozen images of horror and joy.

The twins.

Panic rose in her. Feira had seen Aureus, had that image transferred to Malum? Did he see what had made her slam the doors shut on their bond so violently. How had she been able to draw that image out?

"Csen'ai?"

Ansisa turned. She was standing in the doorway of their playroom, Caelia was scribbling furiously with her crayons, oblivious to her surroundings, while Aureus looked up at her, concern etched in his face, a face so like his fathers. She took a step towards him, smiling. but the room shifted, lurching away from her and crumbling into nothing, their scream of terror and pain tore at her soul.

"Ch'eo en'kin!"

Their pain and terror tore her back to consciousness, the cheunh erupting from her lips in a scream as a dozen hands seized her before she could get off the bed. Where were her weapons? Blind rage overcame her as she managed to seize of of her assailants, striking his head against the metal bar of the hospital bed she was in. They were shouting at her but their words fell on deaf ears.

"Ch'ah csarcican't ch'uscehah sea bah vah!"

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Feira]

The speed at which the doppelganger advanced was unnatural, it should have dissipated with Malum, should have been weakened. Feira did not waste time pondering it for long, teleporting out of reach and leaving her own doppleganger in her wake she watched from the safety of a shattered building, two stories up as she carved effortlessly through her hounds.

Weak fools.

The copy of her let out a hiss of disapproval but halted her retreat at the unspoken threat of the levelled lightsaber. She was not afraid, Darth Isolda had seen her death and it was not here and not today. Her lips curled into a dangerous smile.

"You," she said softly, "Are not Malum."

Her head tilted.

"You are a parasite."

Above the pair of dopplegangers, Feira stretched herself in the force, reaching beneath the ground once more to source the life she knew was buried deep beneath it, coaxing plant life slowly to sit below the surface of the sand, a dozen vines encircled her, unseen waiting for their moment to strike.

She had a little time to be curious.

"What does a parasite care about the child of Darth Sortis?"

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

She thrashed around in the bed, they both did, even if His Imperial Majesty seemed far more subtle about it, yet it was impossible to hide the glistening skin, the tightened lids, and the parsed lips. Yet, His Imperial Majesty apart from low moans was quiet in his bed, her best efforts had succeeded for the most part, and the majority of the Palace was unaware of his, or Lady Ansisa's arrival.

Only a loyal, or should she say, the most loyal had taken to the infirmary and began their work.

And it was proving difficult already, the physical ailments for the relatively few there were, had quickly been seen to.

But as had been explained to her by one of the doctors their injuries seemed far more to be of the mental variety, which was proving to be difficult to heal, as through the monitors she saw their brain activities spike across the board, coinciding with their physical struggles.

And she was in no position to help either of them.

It was by Lady Ansisa's bed that she sat, for of course understandable reasons most focus was being given to His Imperial Majesty, leaving relatively fewer for his old flame, even if her position as his second in command of the Tsis'Kaar had warranted her a great amount of attention. She was muttering something beneath her breath, spoken in a language she did not know.

Meredith's eyes widened as the scream tore through her lungs, red eyes unveiling themselves for the world, as in an instant all were alerted, half a dozen staff pressed forward to hold her down, only for one to have the unfortunate fate of letting out a shout of his own, as his head struck metal.

Again that language she did not understand, yet, Meredith was standing at her side in an instant, forcing her eyes to look into her own, soft, and peaceful, "...Lady Ansisa, please, they are trying to help you, you are on Alvaria, you are safe." She could only hope that her old Mistress would listen to her.

Ansisa

There was no emotion visible in the doppelganger, as eyes trailed away from the figure in front of her to the surrounding environs, searching for something... or someone, as the opposing doppelganger began to speak.

There was something in the air, a shift.

Yet, where an answer might have come, there was little more than silence, as sand broke beneath her feet, and the double of Malum began to circle.

The answer was given, and for all else could be learned, it seemed that the parasite, as she had been termed, and no desire, or any willingness to answer.

Darth Feira

 

[Ansisa]

Instinct had her hand snap forward as a new face appeared in her line of vision, slender fingers closing about his throat and squeezing tight as her fury encompassed her entirely. Many hands began to wrestle with her fingers, claw at her wrist, desperate to free him.

...Lady Ansisa, please…

That voice. She blinked, her gaze shifting from the man choking in her grasp to the face of a woman she knew well, dark eyes set in a round face framed with chestnut curls. Confusion crossed Ansisa'a face. Why would she be among her enemy? She who she had shared so much with.

...you are on Alvaria…

Another slow blink as she processed her words, the man in her grasp began to sag. She'd been on Ordo, they had been on Ordo. She'd had to get him out, to save him from the sith witch. Her fingers released the doctor and he collapsed to the floor coughing and wheezing, she'd no doubt crushed his larynx but she couldn't find it in her to care.

"Meredith." she breathed, her legs swinging off the bed to stand. "Veah cart tah?" again her native tongue spilled from her lips and she shook her head, trying to recall basic. It was like trying to claw through mud.

"Malum." she managed after a moment. "Where…is...Malum?" Each word was enunciated, slow, like she was trying to remember how to speak a language she'd not spoken for decades.

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Feira]

Feira smiled, stretching her mind outwards, seeking purchase on the parasite that held control over the doppleganger. It knew her father, perhaps it knew more.Perhaps it had answers that she could use, answers that would help Feira. For in order to find one's place in the galaxy, you had to know your past.

The vines sitting beneath the sand's surface rose slowly, their tips curling as they stretched towards the sky, towering over the doppleganger. Was it worth the risk? It had carved so quickly through her hounds, it knew what stood before it was smoke and shadow, it was seeking her.

No. She decided. She would not be a mouse in a game of chase. She would not be prey.

"I have no use for a parasite that doesn't speak." her own doppelganger vanished in a wisp of smoke and the vines launched as one towards the Malum that was not Malum. Feira did not wait to see if they struck their target, darkness enveloped her the sands of Ordo twisted away as she returned to her ship, settling on the throne of the bridge.

"Return us to the Malsheem. I am in need of new hounds."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

The visage of Malum offered nothing more than a glance as Darth Feira retreated, turning to smoke, dust, and whisp, as the vines stretched up high, and then barreled forth to where the figure stood.

Yet neither holder of the doppelganger would witness the outcome.

As Ordo, as the city, remained no more than a husk.

Darth Feira

Meredith remembered keenly now, that despite the softness which her Mistress always seemed to exhibit in the privacy of the presence of His Imperial Majesty, and herself, how firm, how strong, she truly was. Beyond the physical, though, Adrian's spluttering, and soon-to-be very special agony, was evidence enough of that.

As his colleagues carried him away towards another bed, a third to be tended to in such a short time, while Meredith found herself sitting, her back pressed through the blanket, against her Mistresses' side, eyes softening as she spoke her name, as her legs swung away, Meredith closed the distance, her hand upon her clothed abdomen, a request to wait.

A request to listen.

It was far beyond one of her station.

But to share a bed with His Imperial Majesty, and his lover, was even further beyond that.

"I am here, my lady," Meredith blinked, her head taking an inch back, the same unfamiliar tongue having left her lips, that seemed to have even confused her Mistress, only for Meredith's eyes to widen, in realisation, as the name left her lips.

Of course... even now.... her eyes were only for His Imperial Majesty.

She banished the thought, as she tilted her head back to where His bed lay, through the white sheets, white apparel heaved visibly, with every struggling breath, hooked to machines, as he struggled still.

"...He is safe, my lady." Meredith offered quietly.

Ansisa

 

[Ansisa]

Ansisa's hand slid over Meredith's as she tried to calm her with a soft touch, to make her pause to wait. Her ruby gaze bore into chestnut eyes, she wanted to tell her...to tell her of the fear that gripped her heart, of her children...of his children. Her grip tightened slightly, before she followed the incline of her head towards where Malum lay.

Safe...

Meredith had no idea, no idea that he was far from safe, that he was rolling through his worst nightmares, that the lingering presence of that witch could be breaking him. She threw the sheet aside, brushing Meredith gently aside as she slid from the bed on unsteady feet and stumbled towards him.

"Malum…" she breathed, her fingers brushing his cheek, tears welling in her eyes. He had thrown himself in the way, taken the brunt of the attack to save her, she swallowed against the lump in her throat realising she had no idea what she was supposed to do. If she opened the bond to reach him, could she keep Caelia and Aureus out of her mind?

She had to try.

Gently, she climbed onto the bed, tucking close against his side, she pressed her forehead against the side of his head, her fingers sliding into his hand holding tight as a sob escaped her.

"Come back to me." she whispered in his ear, opening the bond as she spoke and reaching for him, her heart aching.

Please come back to me, my love.

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

Malum sat still, eyes closed, on the darkened floor, as the fog of time played out before in a wispy, smokey, wake. To gaze down beneath him, he would not find black, he would find empty, he would find nothing, yet equally as paradoxically as he sat crosslegged upon a place of existence that had no manifest way to exist, if he gazed into those depths...

...It was as if he was staring into the ocean's currents, an ocean impossibly still, an ocean impossibly solid, one that could hold a boot weight if he otherwise wished to walk any more forward.

Alas, in a first for him, he had little desire to explore forward into the unknown, it had been... minutes... hours? Days perhaps? Maybe even weeks? He dreaded when it would feel like months... maybe even years... truly he had no certainty that such an amount of time had not passed here, all apart from a coping hope that it had not. Still, no matter what period of time had passed, still, at times his body even thrown into his mind as it was, would spasm, would shake, his limbs becoming taut and wavering, as all that Darth Feira had done to him would decide to have their vengeance.

He had walked for hundreds of klicks, though, that was a best approximation, nothing changed here, and he felt no exhaustion, seemingly, did not even need sustenance.

Yet, of course, there was one thing that changed. His eyes snapped open, red orbs blazing in mixed emotions.

A grave atop a hill, with a singular tree.

A city annihilated by both its defenders and those who attacked.

Two children of his features, of eyes as red, of hair as dark, of skin... like her.

He snapped his eyes shut, his breath hitching as he centred himself. He hardly understood the reasons for the visions that he saw, yet, after hundreds of them firing off in near-random moments of time, he had found their pattern. The first was of the past, the second of his present, and the third... of potential futures?

The last was an especially cruel one, much of them involved the many possibilities of his demise, shown in visceral detail, but this one... where his mind had drawn of such a thing... why it had...

"Caelia and Aureus." He whispered into the fog around him, names that could never be... he was unsure, if it was his mind that hated him, or the Force. Either way, he imagined this torture would continue, until something changed.

Please come back to me, my love.

It came sooner than he expected.

A heat pressing against his mind, as above him, the darkness let out in favour of light.

"Kara..." He whispered, in deep desperation.

Ansisa
Mentioned: Darth Feira

 

[Ansisa]

Ansisa delved ddeper into the bond, the medical bay around her fading into nothing as she gave herself over completely to it. There was only her curled against Malum's form. There was only her hand in his and the burning love in her heart that she held for him, despite everything he had done.

The whisper of her name drew her to him, tugging her into his nightmare. Images flickered past her mind, visions that were not her own, she chose not to focus on them, to ignore whatever they contained, not only because she was afraid of what she might find, but because he was her only concern.

"I'm here, Malum." She answered softly.

Her thumb brushed the back of his hand and she squeezed it in the hopes he might feel it and she moved through the dark to find him.

"We're safe. Come back to me. I love you."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

Where once there was nothing, where once there was nothing but the deep dark fog in all directions, her light was impossible to ignore. Her voice was a beautiful melody that broke through the mist, her voice such that he knew he should not have longed to hear so. Her words that he knew, a true man, a better man, would not be filled with such energy at their contents.

His heart was taken by another, he knew that. It should have been her memory that consumed him, his confession to her that he was unsure if she had heard. The guilt that whirled within him, that she had been injured by the calamity that he had brought to her door... that he had taken too long to warn them off. The guilt that he had almost...

...Almost done something unforgivable.

Instead, the one who had never let go of his heart, the one who held the oldest claim to it beyond his blood, was the thought that warmed his soul, was the fire that burned through the darkness, was the heat which pressed against his hand, a promise that despite it all... she would be here.

"...I don't know how. Kara..." He whispered to the bright light, its glow akin to the sun, his legs were failing him, seemingly bolted to the ground, as it felt he was locked into his mind, "...Stay with me... please..." The barest sound, so quiet, he was even unsure if it escaped his lips, as he, tried desperately, to pull himself up.

Ansisa

 

[Ansisa]

Ansisa pushed on through the darkness, seeking him trapped in his own mind as tears rolled from beneath closed eyelids to spill upon the pillow they shared. Cold enveloped her, like she'd plunged into an icy pool as she tried to get closer to him.

"You just have to reach. Like you always have. I am right here."

He had reached for her across the galaxy, he could reach for her now, he just had to break the shackles that bound him. The cold made her muscles stiffen, her breathing sharper, but she refused to relent, breaking through the icy wall to tumble into nothing.

Her feet walked on nothing, towards where he sat. She came to her knees before him, her hands reaching to cup his face. "I will never leave you."

She leaned forward to kiss him.

Darth Malum of House Marr