Hloss'ezela'aghata - A dark calling

[wraith]

Chapter 1

Part 1 - Whispers

It whispered to her… the darkness. Ever since she had open her mind to the dark side of the force, a small distant whisper, on the edge of her periphery. She had only heard it as you would a subtle noise in the background, occasionally registering with her in moments of silence, then gone again. She had courted that voice in her meditations, accepting it, allowing it to move around her, enforcing her will to remind it who was dominant.

Then the strange wanderer had arrived in camp, Solomon… A jedi trained enigma who took a group of them to the top of a mountain to sit on stone and moss. He had taken them through a different technique, utilising the unifying and living force to take them above the constant noise of self doubt and trivial worries to reach a place of focus and clarity. She had followed his words, allowed herself to be lifted like a leaf in the wind by the force, she let go of her control… The whisper became a roar… Her expression remained unchanged, what was happening was happening inside her, in her psyche. The breeze had now become a raging hurricane, her conciousness battered and tossed around like some piece of scrap paper caught in a sudden updraft. She felt that she would never stop, her inner senses reeling from the violent ebbs and flows. Eventually she felt herself deposited… It became still

‘Open your eyes child’ a rasping female voice said, the sound made her feel as if course sand was being rubbed down her skin. She opened her eyes…

What she saw wasn’t a figure, it was a… presence… it seemed familiar somehow, as if she had always known it. Or perhaps that was what it wanted her to think…

‘Don’t worry child, I mean you no harm… we are kin you and I, forgotten, lonely, held back from achieving our potential.’

‘I doubt that, creature…’ Sezela retorted, it was preying on her insecurities, she wasn’t naieve or stupid.

A strange sound seemed to emanate from the presence, it almost sounded like a chuckle although it made her skin crawl. 'You mistrust me… good… you are not ignorant. You know when you are being led, you can tell when you are being used…

‘And now you flatter me, what’s next? Complimenting my looks?’ She imagined that she was smirking, although whether that was possible here was unknown to her.

She expected the presence to anger, instead much more of the chilling chuckling sound was heard. ‘You remind me so much of myself, bright, confident, yet utterly dejected and isolated. You seek answers to the many questions you have but you can never find those who are willing to listen. You are being held back… It is that frustration and your talent that has called to me, begged me to be a guide’

Sezela has another response set up but paused… doubt… that was the feeling she had. Was she being used for a cause she didn’t know she believed in? Was she being exploited? She had gained a master, surely she was on the right path… But… what had actually changed? Had she been instead maneouvred into being quiet, no longer challenging? the thought angered her and in response she could feel the presence become more prominenent in her mind.

‘Do not be angry, do not waste such a powerful emotion… you need a guide, I have been called to assist you… follow’

‘Follow what?’ She said incredulously, her anger subsiding slightly becoming annoyance.

‘Go to the red planet, go to the sands where it began… follow my voice’ The sound of the voice started to dissipate along with the feeling of the presence.

She opened her eyes and realised that she was still sitting on top of that mountain, Solomon engaged in conversation with an Aspirant Sezela Didn’t know.

The red planet, the sands where it all began… she knew where that was… the words striking a core insider her… she needed to get to Korriban.

[wraith]

Part 2 - Sands

Sezela’s ship, the ‘Shadow’s Wake’ docked in Hutt space, she then took a long distance shuttle to Korriban, wary of being recognised or seen. The whispers had subsided slightly, it was now her dreams that seemed dominated by her purpose. When she closed her eyes she saw flashes of images, the glow of red, an ethereal hiss outside of her perception. Dark walls with strange writing and always the same words echoing in her mind… ‘Follow my voice…’

She knew that she couldn’t walk the planet dressed as she was, she needed to appear both sith and unapproachable, not uncommon for the Sith that wandered the planet. The robe that she was to wear came to her in one of her dreams, she was unsure if it was her ‘guide’ or just her subconciously remembering a dicsussion with her old master about traditional sith outfits. Her appearance worked, those on the shuttle looked at her in part due to curiosity and part in fear. She could sense it, a strange sensation, one that fuelled her and nourished her as she contrinued her mental preperations and double checked her provisions for when she landed.

As she stepped off the shuttle into the militarised spaceport she almost backstepped at the intensity of the dark side force vibrations that seeped out of the very sand she walked on. This was the right place, she knew it even before she landed. Another sense that she wasn’t eniterly sure originated from her. She drew her robes around her and set off out into the bleak sand, wind whipping it around her.

She wandered those sands for what felt like an eternity, the planet felt dead and yet alive at the same time. Something had caused the entropic feeling that sat across the land like a toxic misma, but there was power in it too. It didn’t take someone particularly strong in the force to determine what that power was.

She continued walking, the sandy scenes all merging into one, the only diversion being the need to defend herself from any aggressive wildlife that attacked. Her swords moved with practiced movement, due to the skills she had learned at the Revanites. The Revanites… part contradiction, part crystal clarity. The philosophy of the sith but with the sense of ideals that almost sounded Jedi if they weren’t against being held back by common morality. She had joined them following the death of her master, she followed the pull of the force, found out about their camp from the locals and was happy they accepted her into the enclave. The experience after was less than fulfilling and seemed to grate on her, were their teachings another hypocrisy, like the Jedi? They hero worshipped a man, this didn’t sit right with her, surely they should be following the power of the force, letting their strength and passion guide them. Instead they sat behind treaties and diplomacy. But there was common sense in their actions… GAH it made her head hurt. It was this feeling that reminded her that she hadn’t drunk any water in a while and moved to have some from her cannister. It was dry. She realised that in her contemplation that she had just continued walking, as she looked out at the bleak rolling sands she realised that she was utterly lost…

Anger quickly replaced any fear that she had, what was she doing out here… folliowing yet another promise. How could she be so easily manipulated!?! She launched the empty cannister into the air and used the force to shoot it across the desert, her lungs now ached from breathing in the gritty air and her legs ached from the distance she had walked. But she would continue… Through passion I gain strength’ She focussed the energy from her emotions and revitalised herself, the pain dimming. ‘Through strength I gain power’ She used the tutaminis training she had learnt and focused the heat around her, drawing the energy in and through her, using it to fuel her bodies functions through her dark healing. ‘Through power I gain victory’

‘Follow my voice…’ The sudden whisper caused Sezela to stop, she cocked her head to the side straining to listen, she realised how pointless that was as this was not some physical being whispering to her. So she opened her senses, allowed her concious to be carried on the sandy winds. ‘Follow my voice’ There, there is was!

She half ran, half walked, she was so intent on her destination that he didn’t see the suddin dip in the sand, her feet landed on nothing and she tumbled into the opening in the ground…

[wraith]

Part 3 - Destinations

Sezela fell forwards, there was nothing to gain purchase with so she shifted her weight turning 180 degrees to avoid falling face first, the momentum taking her down into the darkness below. She watched as the circle of light that was the hole grow smaller and smaller the more she descended. She reached up, as if she could grab the shafts of light, of course they were intangible and her hands passed through them, they remained static as if watching her mockingly as she fell with increasing speed.

She had but seconds to react, she raised her arms to the side and then with a grunt motioned them downwards as if pushing against the darkness itself, she channeled the force as she would if she were pushing a boulder or a large object hoping that the opposing force would help slow her velocity. It seemed to work, she could feel the force push impact with a solid surface seeming to raise her slightly, if only a few for a few seconds, but it was enough that when she recommenced her fall the distance was shorter. She still landed hard, moving her body into a forwards roll to absorb some of the impact. She quickly rose to her feet, blades out, the look of a focused predator on her face as she surveyed her surroundings, waiting for her eyes to adjust to the darkness, listening out for any dangers and extending her other senses as well…

Time seemed to stand still, the silence was deafening, when nothing seemed to move towards she relaxed her stance a little and looked up, the hole now appeared much smaller, sand drifting through it and dancing in the shafts of light that came through.

‘Where am I?’ she said to herself, she moved slowly, cautiously forwards. It was a crypt of some kind, the walls were crafted, made of some kind of slick stone, obsidian perhaps? She traced her hands over it, feeling for any indentations of markings. It was difficult to discern if there were any so she lit up her sword and held it horizontally in front of her forehead.

The markings… the circular drawings broken by indentations that resembled dots, sinister arching curves like that of a sharp blade, they were familiar… as if… yes… as if from her dreams! She took a moment, her heart beating quickly, she used the sudden surge of emotion to fuel her, dealing with any minor aches and pains earnt from her awkward landing. To the west was a corridor, an eerie red light pulsated like a heart beat. She knew she had to go that way, not out of any predetermined reason but becasue it was the only exit, unless she could fly this was her path. She held her other sword by her side and started moving slowly, methodically, forwards.

The crypt, or perhaps temple? Was vast, after following the corridor it opened into a large interior, statues lined the walls, heads bowed as if in religious deference to something. It must be sith, old by the looks of it, she thought to herself. Her force sense was overloaded with the sense of dark side energy here, it was like a constant blanket, laid over everything, so constant that it made it difficult to sense anything of detail. Sezela noted that feeling and continued onwards.

She walked for what felt like hours, moving through room after room, some were in better condition that others. Local plant life had started to breeak through the walls, fungi lined some interiors expunging small clouds of spores, Sezela was careful not to enter such clouds out of concern they were poisonous.

She eventually came to a room that was different from the others, at one end a large tome made out of stone stood tall, the writing in a language Sezela couldn’t recognise. The markings seemed to move of their own accord, perhaps a trick of the light or maybe she had succumb to the spores she thought. Her reverie was cut short by a sharp hissing sound to her left, she moved her foot behind her and got into a Makashi defense stance. It didn’t take long before a blade came out of no where aiming for her neck, two wicked pin pricks of light stared at her. She brought her blade up and deflected the blow, stepping into Ataru and slicing at her attacker. The blade seemed to slice through the attacker like air, it dissapated in front of her as if her blade has caused it to combust into shadow. She barely had time to reflect on that when another loud hissing noise alerted her to an attack from her right, again she deflected the blade and brought her own down hitting her mark, this time she raised her hand and channeled the force releasing her built up emotions in a torrent of lightning. She currled her hands into a claw shape channeling her anger into the blast. Again the combatant dispersed into shadow and melted into the ground. Force ghosts she realised…

With her blades in hands she contined onwards, this time picking up speed… ‘Follow my voice…’ She now moved with purpose, knowing where the voice was leading her… towards the red pulsating light. The hissing noises were surrounding her, but they didn’t come near, now and again she would see a couple of red pinpricks of light reveal themselves only to disappear again. They were being held back… for now…

The glow grew brighter, like a beacon leading her to her destination. She entered a smaller room, the designs here were more elaborate, intricate. In the middle of the room was a dais, and floating, almost menacingly in the middle was a red light, in it’s centre a holocron…

[wraith]

Part 4 - Guide

Sezela stood mesmerisd by the holocron, she had of course encountered them before, a repositry of knowledge often used to train others. But this one was different, it… pulsed… each time sending out a wave of dark side energy. Sezela let it wash over here, trying to understand it, but she could no more discern what was so strange about it than she could grasp water. The light was so… familiar… had she seen it before, in a dream perhaps? She didn’t realise but she started to inch closer to it, it callled to her, the whispers, like a sorrowful cadence just outside of her range of hearing. A dirge that partly made her soul sing yet also made it despair… such a song, is this was she was after, following that voice… she reached and touched it…

Her body froze, tendrils of dark energy broke free from it’s casing and started moving up her arms, around her torso, she could only watch as they moved like veins of insidious energy to complete wrap her body from head to toe. Darkness slowly descended across her vision… this was it… she had ventured to far… been too confident… she was not going to feel fear though, she mentally grit her teeth as everything went pitch black…

‘Open your eyes child’ said a familiar voice. That tone that caused the same feeling of nails against chalkboard was umistakeable. ‘You have no need to fear me, you have come a great distance, endured much to meet me. You have questions and I have the means to answer them.’ There was a strange ferocity to her voice, not blatant like someone swinging a hammer, more subtle, targeted. Sezela looked down to see that her body was not bound.

‘I came… creature… now what do you want of me? And make your answers clear or I’ll lock that holocron up somewhere even your incessant whispers won’t find it’ Sezelea replied, it was a bluff of course, she had no idea where she was, or even if her physical body was still safe. All she knew was that now was not the time to show weakness.

That same chuckling sound, the sound of desert sand scouring glass. ‘Such confidence, your anger is misplaced, I did not force you here. You came of your own volition because you knew what I said was true.’

Sezela had opened her eyes now, instead of feeling the presence she had on top of the mountain she now saw something coporeal. A woman, dressed in black robes stood before her, her face was covered in the shadow of the hood but yellow eyes could be seen to flash every now and then. The robe also pulsed, almost rythmically like the holocron. She was shorter than Sezela, but there was power there in contradiction to her small stature. ‘Very well, I have come, you mentioned being a guide, a guide to what?’

‘To truth dear, do you not long to know the truth, to stop blindly following dogma. To reach your potential without the hypocrises and being held back by those who claim false strength? To wander the path to true power… knowledge.’

‘And you would be that guide would you?’ She said increduloulsly. ‘And what would be the cost? I don’t imagine you are doing this out of the kindness of your heart… if such a thing exists’ Her lips turned into a sneer at that last comment.

‘Indeed, I do ask but one thing, and that it that you take me from this prison. I was once a fountain of knowledge, sharing it with all who asked. But time and the infighting of lesser Sith caused this once great temple to fall to ruin. Now it is a tomb, forgotten, pathetic.’

‘So all I have to do is pick you up and put you in my pocket? Why me, any fool could fall in a hole and liberate you… there is something you are not telling me…’

‘So clever… this is why I was drawn to you. Nothing rewarding is so simple, nothing worth earning comes so easily. The sith code teaches us that. It is through strength and passion that you gain power child. So it is that I can be plucked from this place.’ The figure ended that sentence in almost a whisper, the tone tantalising as if leading to a secret. Sezela hated to admit it but her curiosity was peaked.

‘So what is it that I must do?’ She asked, her eyes narrowed in expectation of what the answer may be.

'We must strike a bargain, through the force… You will receive the means to find the answers you seek and I will be able to continue doing what I was made to do… ’

‘So that’s it? Ultimate power and knowledge at my fingertips?’

The sound that followed made Sezela sick to her stomach, it was laughter, but it sounded like the diseased, viscous puffs of gas that forced their way through swamp waters. ‘Oh dear child, no. You must earn it, but that shouldn’t be too difficult for you should it? I am but a guide, I am not your teacher. I contain the knowledge that will provide you the means to seek your truth. We will be each others confidant, assisting each other in the paths that we were destined to follow. You will not be alone…’

Sezela halted at that last comment, she did feel alone. She was so desperate to fit in, to be a part of something. She knew that she didn’t have the know with all to strike out on her own. But, with this opportunity, would she find her purpose? Power through knowledge, not superficial strength, surely that was the path she sought. She knew what her answer would be, knew from the moment she had stepped off the shutttle, she had committed to following this path, no matter where it led. She looked at the woman and could a smile start to appear, she shivered internally. ‘You have your deal, what is your name, if we are going to spend all this time together it is only fair that I know who I will be with?’

‘You can call me Abraxis young one. Now come open your senses, let us seal this deal with the merging of the force. Exciting times lead ahead…’

Abraxis raised her hands to the side, palms upwards, the shadows to the sides of her moved, drawing inwards, they circled her like figures dancing around a totem, slow at first then gradually picking up speed. Sezela mirrored her actions, allowing her mind to open and extending her senses outwards, lines of force energy shot out from her body, the shadows, now a spinning circle exploded outwards and grew into smaller circles each one absorbing the lines of force and holding them in place. Then ominously they moved down each line until they connected with Sezela… pain rushed through her body… she went to move but her body was rigid. The dark side energy was overwhelming, finally she managed to open her mouth, a blood curdling scream emitting from it…

The world went dark again…

When Sezela finally opened her eyes she was laying in the sand, she blinked her eyes a few time in the bright light… What had happened? For a moment she feared that she had succumbed to exhaustion, that the whole orderal had been a hallucination, but then like a shot of ice through her veins a voice in her head spoke.

‘Oh child you are awake… I am pleased. We will achieve such great things you and I. For now we will move in shadow, a convocation will take place. Go, seek this meeting out… our path will start there.’

‘As you say, I will wait for any sign of this conv…’ wait… her voice… she put her hands to her throat, her voice had… changed… it now sounded like two voices… a merging of hers with another… Abraxis. ‘You did not mention this… side effect…’

‘Did I not… a small price to pay for the truth don’t you think… now come… we have much do little one…’

So ends the first chapter in the arc that starts the journey that Sezela and Abraxis begin together… chapter 2 to begin after the convocation.

[wraith]

Chapter 2

Part 1 - Duality

It had been a few days and Sezela had started to get used to the new voice in her head. Abraxis for the most part remained silent, only the occasional comment was made, an insightful suggestion towards her training as she continued to increae her proficiencies in her force abilties. She had found that her proclivity for the ways of mastering the dark side had increased. It was easier, with the additional guidance, to focus her emotions and fuel her intentions when commanding the force to do her bidding. The partnership that she had entered into seemed to be bearing fruit. She was concerned about the minor physical changes that she was showing, how her voice had become distorted, the echo of her voice and Abraxis’ competing with each other when she spoke. But this only seemed to happen when Abraxis was prominent in her mind, a reaction to when the strange being made her presence known in her thoughts. It was an uneasy yet comforting feeling, that she wasn’t truly alone, whenever she felt that closeness the bond seemed to strengthen and she could ‘feel’ Abraxis’ approval.

She remained on Korriban for a few days after finding the holocron, wandering the sands she had a new sense of the planet, the power that undulated beneath the surface. There was a strange kinship there, that she herself was now dual in nature. Abraxis would speak more of some of the histories of the place, nothing that would not potentially be available in any holo archive but with Abraxis she could ask questions, have debates, grow that relationship with her newfound passenger.

Then the day of the convocation came, the sorcerer Xalark gathered those who had heeded the call and set out his plans. The reformation of the Sith Academy, the intention to rejoin the Sith empire, she hadn’t known if that was truly her goal. However that burning desire to know more was peaked at the mention of the academy and she could sense that Abraxis was also interested. So when offers were being made to teach those who wanted to follow the path she found her… or more accurately ‘their’ voice offering to teach on what Xalark had coined the ‘central six’, the basic force powers that any aspirant needed to learn in order to progress to Acolyte. She had also given her name as Abraxis to those present, at the time she thought that it was her idea, to use a name she was now familiar with which would allow her some anonymity. After all, to be linked with the Sith empire was dangerous, to openly show your allegiance would be a death sentence on most worlds other than Korriban. However looking back she wasn’t so convinced that it had been her idea, Abraxis would deny any influence of course and she felt her mind accepting that, but still… something niggled at her, just out of reach of concious thought.

No matter, the wheels had been set in motion, she would seek the truth she desired, the secrets of the dark side…

[wraith]

Part 2 - Desire

What a sense of power Sezela and Abraxis felt, the ritual conducted by Xalark had left them in a state of elation. They had offered a facet of themselves to the Odojinya, a force beast of immense dark side energy through sith sorcery. They had offered their desire. their lust for knowledge, lust for truth… but it had gone deeper than that, awakened something in them. It was bargain that would have long lasting consequences they knew that but it was a price they were willing to pay.

The world looked different to them now, full of opportunities and experiences to savour, new feelings to explore, new sensations begging to be discovered. She could feel her wanton desires growing, the Odojinya wanted them to be at the forefront, a temptation that would demand to sated. They wandered the sands of Korriban as Abraxis and the other core worlds as Sezela, although the two seemed less like seperate identities and more like a whole, interchangeable.

They wandered into a local back alley bar on one such consititutional, the smell of alcohol and sin was rife, they breathed it in, letting it linger for a moment as they savoured it. Whilst ordering a drink they were approached by a man smelling of desperation. They had taken to wearing more revealing clothes, why did they need to hide their flesh? Better to celebrate it, enjoy the looks it garnered, the lust they could feel from onlookers. They had undergone more physcial changes since the ritual and their constant growing bond, their skin had lost most of it’s blue colour now, ashen and ivory accentuated by the black colours of the leather they had on. They were a predator, this was a trap and this prey had wandered into it…

The conversation was vapid, the individual bearly able to stand, their eyes constantly wandering over her. She whispered the right sentences to create a sense of longing, drawing in the increasing sensation of desire that she was forming inside the hapless victim. Soon they were in another alleyway, a glint of hope in the mans eye as if he were about to win a prize. But there was only one winner, and that wasn’t him. She brought him in for an embrace, her knife poised and ready to slowly slide into his gut, he let out a stifled scream as she kissed him, feeling the shock go through his body. She exerted some of the force and held him still, as if caressing him as he bled out, watching as the light slowly left his eyes. She was satiated…

She looked at the corpse for a moment, disappointed that it hadn’t lasted longer, perhaps a learn for next time? She continued onwards musing to herself, for the night was of course still young…