“One of your many endearing qualities, my love,” she said sweetly, then took a step backward away from Thoran. She raised one arm, and waved in the direction of the distant bridge.

“It is time I return to my duties, “ she said simply.

“You may find quarters to your liking… oh! How silly of me! Of course you already know where your personal quarters would be.”

Her eyes gleamed with a momentary darkness, quickly masked. Bowing her head a little, she turned and fled to the bridge where, taking her customary command seat, she quickly accessed the ship’s log. Using the talents taught to her, she began searching through it with incredible speed and accuracy. The detailed accounts of myriad trips and adventures scrolled before her eyes, listing name after name after name of those involved. Her eyes widened in surprise to see her own name listed quite often, alongside that of other passengers and crew who once traveled aboard this ship.

How odd, she thought. Shayla? Erik? Recinis? I know them not... but what?

Lord Phalomir....

She straightened up, leaning forward in sudden interest and read quickly on. However, although this Sith's name was mentioned, just recently in fact, nowhere was it even whispered that he was her husband. He was merely listed as being a Dark Lord of the Armorers, originally of the Sorcerer's clan.

Her eyes narrowed a bit in thought as she logged off. Unseeing then, she lay back in her seat and stared toward the unnatural blackness that beckoned to her beyond the viewport.

[ 04-13-2004 03:06 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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She knows something is wrong here… somehow, in that All-warped mind of hers, she knows.

But why didn’t she recognize Phalomir? I mean, come on, she should at least have known who the heck he is. Something strange is happening. Oh cripes, here comes that goody-goody feeling again. Maybe I should tell her the truth… ugh, why does that sound so distasteful? Ah, crap.

Thoran sighed and walked towards the bridge. He paused at the hatchway and rapped on it.

“Um, Jharmeen… Graysith?” he said, walking the rest of the way onto the bridge. “I, uh, have something to tell you that is going to sound very strange…”

Thoran glanced around the bridge, trying to find the right words, when his eyes were caught by a soft light coming from a device on the floor.

“T'elion de R’lous…” he whispered, staring at the object. “What in the seven gates of hell are you doing here?”

[ 04-13-2004 03:14 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Thoran ]

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"I know you not, yet I should," she said, revealing the truth to him at last. That pointing finger slid to the quietly thrumming device laying on the deck; before Thoran could move she pounced upon it, and fastened it to her thrimm. One hand stroked it, while her eyes bore violet holes into the green pair before her.

"This I admittedly know not, yet it appears to at least speak something of the truth to me. And you know of it, yet you speak in lies."

Another small eternity passed in which she did nothing other than eye the silent figure before her. Then that arm raised up once more, now swinging about to point at the black nothing without the viewport.

It trembled, silhouetted against the synonym of Death behind it.

"He has done this to me," she whispered, letting uncertainty and anger tinged not without a bit of fear incite the Glyph into glorious life. It flashed in ultraviolet beauty on her forehead, lighting everything with a surreal St. Elmo's fire. The hand dropped to her thrimm again, and took up residency upon T'elion.

"Why?"

As quickly as she voiced the question, a possible answer flew into her mind.

These are enemies to my dear Sire. He knew they were here; he has protected the ship from their escape.

As his Chosen Daughter it is up to me to protect....

She remained quiet silent, granting Thoran the boon of a final answer before she decided on what course of action she was then going to take.

[ 04-13-2004 03:27 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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“Beware, dear lady” came the voice in Graysith’s head. The words carried with them a hate and vengeance that seeped over her thoughts. “Consider deeply what you say, your love for the Dark Aelevedaar comes from a time long ago, before his treachery, before he betrayed you. While this one holds no love for Aelvedaar, he still will deceive you. He dwells in the Darker Realms, he is a demon."

The lights softened, and a calmer feeling pervaded through the link.

What does he mean, this treachery by my dear Sire? How has he betrayed me? I do not know—

She came to a jarring halt as simple realizations sank in.

She did not know. To her knowledge mere months had passed since she had brought Aelvedaar forward to this time to reside in the secret place of his choosing. Yet the ship’s logs spoke of a far different story.

More time has passed than I believe….

Another shake of the head, and she lifted her hand from the device hanging on her thrimm, casting a doubting gaze out the viewport once again.

Why indeed did her Sire place this shield about the ship, as he so obviously had? That he was the author of this shield she had no doubt, for who else could have done such a thing?

But—why?

She looked down at the device once more. It lay against her body, the jewels glowing a fiery red but quiescent other than that. Yet from it there exuded an aura of warmth and trust she could not ignore.

She looked into the green eyes of the one claiming to be her husband. They were filled with concern and questions, and a hint of what she took to be willingness to be honest with her, nothing other than that…

But.

He had spoken lies to her… hadn’t he?

Hadn’t he?

She drew in a deep breath, knowing there was only one way to discern the truth. If possessed this one was, then Trickster he was as well. If not, by the chronotic shield placed about them she could only deduce that he was indeed enemy to her Sire.

In either case, that made him enemy to her.

And if neither scenario is the truth?

The words slid like oiled silk, deep in the recesses of her brain. She shuddered, and pushed them away. Quickly then, before she could change her mind, she shot her hand toward Thoran, middle and ring fingers curled loosely to meet her thumb, index and little fingers extended like horns. Before the giant Sith could move his body, something shot out from those extended fingers and wrapped about him, dancing up and down his frame, sending out tendrils that sought entry at first through ear and eye and nostril only, but then through the very pores of his skin.

The body stiffened, encased in brilliance, shaking and vibrating, open-mouthed, but whether in shock or anger or entreaty she didn’t know.

She didn’t want to know….

At her side, T’elion de R’lous fairly hummed….

[ 04-13-2004 08:06 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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Gotta get it cut… someday… somehow… if I ever, ever get the chance to think about such mundane things again….

I snorted again, this time at myself, and finally spoke up.

“You don’t have to tippy-toe around so much, sweetie-cakes,” I said with disgust. “I know you know what this does—“

A quick pat upon the device, then both hands were upon my hips and I faced her squarely.

“Look, this thing has come in mighty handy a time or two in my life, but against such little gems as Imperial troopers and assassins and whatnot. This thing is Sith, sweetheart; you don’t think that a head-honcho powerhouse of a Sith sorcerer won’t be able to zero in on us if I use this?”

I crossed my arms and let a shot of air escape from me, tossing my head yet again as I wondered to myself just where in Hell’s Seven Circles we could possibly go from here.

O-U-T, that’s where….

I sent another disgusted glance her way, and immediately began scouring the stones of the corridor, trying to figure out if there was any other way to traverse them other than by walking down the middle like some kind of sitting duck, bull’s-eye emblazoned upon its heart and all.

[ 04-13-2004 08:33 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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...and he wondered if it could possibly be used to their advantage.

"Hey," he spoke up then, "We seem to have a commrade with us who at least looks Sith...

...could we possibly use this to our advantage?"

--------------------

"Hmm," I muttered as I came back to join the others. I stopped in front of Ol' Red, and raked him up and down with my eyes. He stared back at me, his terrifying visage marred somewhat by the obviously gandyrak-in-headlight look that was plastered upon it.

"I dunno, I suppose we could use him... somehow. But the main question is...

"How?"

--------------------

...but he didn't know if it had much probability of actually working. But then, like getting out of this place to begin with had a high probability of happening...

"I dunno," he then said aloud, "I was actually thinking of something very simplistic, like a Sith leading a couple of prisoners or unwelcomed guests out of the Temple...

...or..."

He paused, pursing his lips thoughtfully, "...or maybe we can use Panthar's looks and get him into a place with weaponry or perhaps even clothing to disguise ourselves. At any rate, I have the feeling we need to be getting on the move soon, no matter how we finally decide on getting out of here..."

At this he trailed, looking around at the dimly lit and strangely quiet corridor.

Possibly too quiet?

Dismissing that errant thought for the moment, he waited to see what anyone's response might be to his thoughts.

--------------------

“Stop! You’ll kill him!” he gasped. “I started to tell you, I’m not Phalomir… I mean, this is Phalomir’s body, but, his spirit… his essence… is still trapped in the Darker Realms!”

He could no longer control the muscles below the waist, and the body slumped to the knees.

“We were stuck there, fighting demons like those back there, and I saw the portal open to here, and well… I couldn’t just let his body get clawed apart! Agh! Stop, please!”

But he wasn’t even sure if his words could be heard over the searing sounds of the energy around him. As rational thought gave way to instinct, his impulse was to flee. He raised a trembling hand and swiped the air with it, not quite understanding what he was doing. Nothing happened. Again he swiped the air, instinctively knowing that something should happen, but nothing did. He thew his head back in despair, and felt his spirit rip away from Phalomir’s body.

Phalomir fell to the floor, unmoving.

Thoran’s spirit hung in mid-air, invisible except for the outline cast by the energy flowing from the Dark Lady.

--------------------

She’s checkin’ me out, he thought, smiling. Hey, maybe being big and red isn’t such a bad thing. Yeah, I can see it now, walking down the beach, or around Sullust, the ladies checkin’ out this fine piece of red meat-- hey, what did she say? Hey, what? Erik? Use me to what? Hey!

“Whoa!” he exclaimed. “Hey, hang on here. I’m not Sith! I don’t even know how to act Sith! What if someone talks to me? I mean, I don’t even know where the heck we are! And what if I can get weapons, there’s probably hundreds of Sith guys in this building, not to mention Aelvedork.”

He turned to Shayla.

“Come on, can’t we think of something else? I mean, I’m just an archeologist, I’ve hardly ever even fired a blaster except to clear rocks. And they don’t fire back! Can’t you use the force or whatever to wake up that stupid Eye? Or seriously, I saw it give power to Phal, maybe it can do it for you… or Young Red over here.”

[ 04-13-2004 10:43 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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She paused for a moment then, considering Erik's suggestion and Panthar's concerns regarding it. "And as far as what we can do with this idea...

...it has a few kinks, but it's a start perhaps. You may not know the way around, but at the moment, neither do any of us. But if we get to some place I can recognize..."

Here she paused, looking sympathetically to Erik, "...I can give you cues as to where to lead. As for not knowing how to act Sith...

...shouldn't you have at least a vague idea after being around Phalomir and Thoran? And if someone talks to you...

...well, I'm guessing we might have a little bit of a problem, though I can try to handle it through the Force. And it's a bit of a risky idea...

...but at least it's a plan, and makes some sense. Unless, of course, anyone else has an idea..."

--------------------

The energies flowing from Graysith’s fingertips flared as the wayward spirit was ripped from the Sith’s body, becoming more and more intense until Thoran was totally encased in something reminiscent of the nuclear fires of a blue giant sun. Graysith held him trapped while with her other arm she pointed to Phalomir’s body, catching it in mid-fall with yet more All-strength and lowering it gently to the deck of the corridor. Once she was certain he was free of the possessive entity, she turned her full attention back to the outline shimmering ahead of her.

“You will open a pathway and take us to where the spirit of this one is,” she ordered, still pointing at Phalomir but narrowing a dark glance Thoran’s way.

“Obey me, or die.”

--------------------

“Oh good grief!” I exploded, unable to hold my exasperation in any longer. Being referred to as “Young Red” by no means helped in making my disposition any sweeter.

“Look, you guys can all just hang here and discuss this method or that. But as for me, I’m believing in Erik over here.”

A quick jerk of my thumb in his direction, then I pressed on.

“I’m more of a believer in action speaking louder than words. You can stay here in debate until the rontos come home. I’m going to see if I can find a way out of this blasted temple before we run into somebody we don’t want to… or he runs into us.”

With that I gathered the courage cringing behind that façade of bravado, and began moving down the corridor. Ahead I could see that this corridor ended in a T-intersection.

Oh yeah. 50-50 chance of… of what?

I’m still in this blasted place… but at least I might have a ghost’s chance in hell of getting out if I’m not tied in with that pair of girl scouts back there….

--------------------

He rose a hand to stop her, speaking up himself. "Let's get moving, and keep this plan in mind. We'll use it if we have to...

...and in the meantime look for other options. Galen's right, sitting around here only leaves us open to discovery, and being an information smuggler, I know that the time which you take to find something has to be carefully spent."

Pausing for the barest of moments then, Erik turned and looked to his wife, his words clearly meant for her. "Don't you remember those days, Shayla?"

Fallng silent at that, Erik simply let his brown-eyes rest on her somewhat-startled greeny-blues. "Let's go," he then reiterated. And without further word he stood and hurried to join Galen, suspecting that others would shortly follow him.

--------------------

What was that all about just now? And why didn't he wait for her?

Her eyes darkened a touch as a little voice replied, Because he's right, and he knows that you know it.

And perhaps because he's tired of always taking the copilot's chair...?

Shayla pushed that thought to the side for later scrutiny. She looked to Panthar, nodding then in the direction where Erik had followed behind Galen. Then she got on her feet and headed there as well, finding them stopped at a T-shaped intersection.

Instinctively, she stretched out with the Force. "I get alot of life form readings that way," she said, pointing in one direction. Then, "The other way..."

She paused, frowning. "I get nothing...

.. absolutely nothing."

--------------------

But still, he thought. I’m in this Sith body, and it’s really strong. Stronger than average, even for a Sith, according to what Phalomir had said. These people could really use someone with that kind of strength right now… like we need someone with Young Red’s strength. I wonder if I can get along with her?

He took three long strides and quickly caught up the group, who now paused at the end of the hallway.

“OK, I’ll do what you need me to do,” he said quietly. “I don’t have any magick, but I have lot of body strength. Just be careful, we’re dealing with both Aelvedork and the Master here, he is one who trapped Erik and me. And with Phal dead and Jharlene possessed, we’re running out of powerful allies –”

“Did you say there’s absolutely nothing down that way?” he stopped and asked Shayla. “That sounds really bad for some reason. But if we’re looking for an exit, or a vehicle of some kind, I hate to say it but I think we need to go where the people are.”

He sheepishly turned to Galen.

“What do you think, Young--- er, Galen?”

--------------------

"I think you're nuts," I stated tersely, turning away from everyone and beginning to walk down the corridor the blond had pointed out as being quiet.

"What we want to do is get the behoosis out of this temple, not found by people. If I recollect correctly, it seems to me that back when the show here was being run by this weird but very dark crazy man who went by the name of Darth Wicked, there was a little hangar where he kept some TIEs and infiltrators and the like.

"I've been here before, remember?"

I fell silent with that as memories of those horrible days when I was prisoned here, nearly torn apart by his nasty little noghri assassins, later to be released by none other than my sister-turned-dark-witch, came rushing back full-bore. Ahead of me the corridor seemed to darken almost as if with anticipation.

[ 04-15-2004 10:20 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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Wait, the portal! Swiping the hand, yes, it was coming back to him… ripping a tear through the dimensional seams… yes, remembering…

“Yes,” he cried. “Yes, I’ll take you to him!”

He cast a pleading look to Graysith.

“If I can…”

He lifted his hand into the air once more, struggling against the agony of the power wrapped around him. He concentrated, allowing the memories of his days of servitude to the Master come back to him. Back in former existence as assassin, spy, errand-boy… When the Master was a powerful lord in the Darker Realms.

He focused on that realm now, fixing his thoughts on Phalomir. He pictured him, surrounded by imps, struggling to survive against the overwhelming hordes. He scowled and sent his hand flying downward through the air, a surge of power ripping the air in front of him. A seam seemed to burst in the fabric of space, and a dark crescent shimmered before him.

Once a being of the Realm, always a being of the Realm… have you really changed? he thought.

--------------------

...for she knew that most likely meant a chronotic shield. But then, chronotic shields were usually placed around areas that someone did not want found...

...and if there was anything that someone wouldn't want found, it would be a hangar bay totally foreign to everything that was now here. But then again, it could be hiding something else entirely...

"I've flown a TIE out of that hangar bay," she said aloud, to no one in particular, starting to move along behind Galen along with her husband. "We'd better be careful though. That empty space feels alot like a hronotic shield would to me, and thee's only one person here that could erect such a shield..."

--------------------

"You have chosen wisely," she observed as her hand yet pointing to Phalomir turned palm upward and was raised. Immediately the air molecules above his body were heated, and began moving away from each other. The molecules beneath him, being more closely packed, acted as a sort of cushion that, with little effort, she then raised upward, taking his body with it. Casting a sharp look Thoran's way, she nodded, urging him to enter into the gaping chasm he had created.

I thought so....

Her eyes dark, a sweet, sweet smile on her features, she followed the energy-enclosed spirit, taking Phalomir's body along with them.

The portal closed with a sickening slurp the moment the three of them had passed through, leaving an empty Sith warship to wurble and tick to itself as space spread out to infinity all about it.

((OOC: Follow Graysith, Thoran and Axis -- and poor Phalomir's sleeping body -- to Behind the Black River in the "Jedi/Sith" forums, thank you.))

[ 04-15-2004 10:44 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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“But what’s a promatic shield?” Panthar asked. “Who would it erect it?”

--------------------

The nothingness down-corridor immediately dropped, and from it stepped the amber-eyed Chosen Son of Aelvedaar.

He came up to the group, one clawed hand held up in a gesture almost indicative of solace.

"My Sire is not the only one capable of such things," he said, and fell silent, waiting to see what response would follow after his surprising entry.

[ 04-15-2004 10:42 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Aeylmaar ]

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“Oh, I see,” he said to the Sith, not noticing the horrified expressions on his companions. “Well, that answers one question, sort of.”

He straightened himself and put on a Sith-like demeanor.

“I am… Panthomir. I was just showing my guests around and made a wrong turn. Could you perhaps direct us to the nearest exit?”

--------------------

"Please," he finally stated, sounding pained. "Do not insult my intelligence.

"I know fully well you you are and why you are here... not to mention how you got here."

He snapped silent with that, merely folding his hands together in front of him, and stood in continuing silence, waiting.

--------------------