And perhaps it was better that some of them were left buried…

No, he thought, everyone is entitled to know their past. So many things were hidden from me, many still are I suspect. She deserves to know everything.

“There is something that you should know”, he said, opening his eyes and turning to Jharmeen. “It may help explain things I say, and perhaps my future actions. Right before you—lost your memory, we had… Well, you see, we had just… I mean, I had been, and you just…”

He closed his eyes and rested his head on his hands, involuntarily grasping at his horns. He let out a long sigh.

Just what, Phalomir? What can you say? What would not seem laughable to her? ‘You said you love me?’ Oh that would be a precious thing to say. Strange red man, probably repulsive to her, taking advantage of her loss of memory. You are a sorry sot, Phalomir, you’d better get used to disappointment.

The road was long, and now you find yourself back at the beginning of it, with parsecs stretching out before you. If only there was a record of the past that I could just take and…

“Wait, my lady,” he said, opening his eyes. “There may be a way to show your missing past to you after all, and verify what we have told you. That is, if it is functional once again. On K’eel Doba there exists a library, and in it resides an item driven with Sith magick. It records events, and answers questions of the past. The library was being cleaned or having some such maintenance performed when I last visited, but surely it would be open by now. Do you know what I speak of?”

[ 08-09-2004 05:29 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Phalomir ]

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"Yes," she said simply. "I have heard of this Great Library of the Sith. My dear Si- that is, Lord Aelvedaar has told me of it, as well as of many of the other wonders existing upon his brethren world of K'eel Doba."

She paused, chewing the inside of her cheek a bit absently as she considered further.

"When we have finished with our business on Korriban, we shall hasten back to K'eel Doba. I am Dark Lady there, or so I have been told; this certainly would expedite the cleaning of this Library, if it has not yet been put to rights."

She nodded again, satisfied with their plans.

"Much will then be revealed to us, and to me," she said meaningfully, then turned her interest back to the navigation board.

"According to flight status, we have several hours before we enter orbit around Korriban. Does anyone have anything else to suggest as far as what we plan to achieve there?"

Other than aiding one in an act of treason, a dark little part of herself spoke up within her, quietly yet pressingly.

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

...like he should have at least a couple of times in the past. So once more he pressed forward in Phalomir's mind and took control of his body, using every once of effort he must to do so.

"Please, I don't mean to interrupt and be so very insistent...

,..but I need to know this," Terrin then said, using Phalomir's voice to speak once more to Graysith, "Are you going to help me find Galen? I realize just how difficult doing so is going to be for you, your memory loss considered...

...and believe me, it's not the easiest thing for me either. After all, the one thing I long to do more than anything is to be able to go off on my own and find her myself. You have to know that, while Galen is in the hands of Roan and possibly Aelveedar, they will...

...use her to accomplish their own dark purposes as they have in the past used you. While you may not remember coming to terms with Galen nor anything of what Roan did, the one thing I believe you do understand is that only someone like Aelveedar could have caused your strange memory loss...

...and thus you have already been used in some way yourself. If you want to stop Aelveedar, or at least hinder him from continuing his plans while you further examine who he really is and what he is really up to, getting Galen from he and Roan is the best way to do that."

Pausing at that, Terrin let his words fall into silence so that they could sink before he asked his final query.

"So," he finally continued, "Are you going to help me find her?"

[ 08-22-2004 03:31 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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The sith ship glided towards the warship, its cloaking still active. Suddenly, the warship melted away into hyperspace. Damn! Better call Aelvedaar for a locator, even our ships can't track the hyperspace coordinates!

He established a secure channel, and sent the following to the temple.
"Great Lord Aelvedaar, the prey has switched locations, an unforseen development. She appears to have commandeered a sith warship. I will need a locator or a tracker to find her next location, unless you can tell me of where she is headed, over and out."

[ 08-24-2004 08:38 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Cult Master Raelgosh ]

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"As I have spoken before, am I to perform your task for you? Have you nothing between your ears? You are assassin, and assassin is synonymous with cunning; have you departed from your cult, then, as something beneath the notice of their eyes and the acceptance of their kin?

"She deals in things of the Sith; she has been made the Dark Lady of the Warriors. There are four major Sith worlds to which she might travel, Khar Delba being one of them.

"Which, of course, you should know....

"Follow your own instincts, assassin; use your own skills. This is, after all, why I charged you with this task.

"And-- approach me no more. This grows tedious in the extreme; I expect no further contact from you until that moment you stride back into this Great Temple of the Sorcerer's with her head on a platter."

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Not to mention who he was talking about.

She blinked then, struggling to keep her expression bland as images instantly rose in her brain, taunting images, images of perceived failures on her part whenever she had crossed paths with her sister:

Coming after her, the rock in her hand yet wet with the blood of her father, only to have sand flung quickly into her face, obscuring her vision, making her choke and scrabble to follow her fast-escaping quarry, the heated air all about her rising in wavery ripples from the uncaring stone and searing her skin...

Another time, another place; an image of herelf standing helpless inside a Force Cage, watching with animalistic fury while along with Sorben Tarnus, Galen had made a quick and clean escape from both her and her dear Dark Heart...

Yet another image now descending darkly: the deep and moss-beridden bowels of the Temple of the Sorcerers, Galen alone and unclothed in the most dankly depressing of them, her shivering body disjointed, bones cruelly snapped, skin ripped and torn from the hands of the hungry Noghri at the command of both her and Darth Wicked; Galen turning those haunting, pleading eyes upon her, as if begging... yet from this, too, she had managed to escape.

With the suddenness of an approaching sandstorm, the final image blanked out. She couldn't help but frown as everything went black.

What had happened next? She couldn't quite remember... and why? Why would the image of herself standing triumphantly over a clearly dying Galen disappear from her mind? Was this not a part of her task, given to her by--

By...?

By.

She inhaled deeply then, and tried her best to shake away the worrisome discordance she had so unexpectly found within. Wide, brilliant and for the most part, utterly sincere violet eyes focused upon the brilliant green ones before her.

"Of course, Mr. Danner," she said then, quite simply.

"When we have finished with our business on Korriban, I shall use the Great Library to determine the whereabouts of my-- my dear sister."

Another pause, as if the term sister wasn't quite right, as if there was something concerning this term that was somehow...

Missing.

A deeply buried hole within her heart cracked around the rim at this, and widened further. She struggled a bit more with herself and her recalcitrant memories, frustrated by the fact that she knew she was to kill Galen as she did their father.

But why was she feeling so suddenly ambivalent about it?

"The Great Library will reveal to us what we wish to know, so rest at ease," she continued, finally ending with,

"We shall find Galen, as shall we find the party who is yet lost -- and we certainly hope not dead -- on Korriban."

[ 08-25-2004 04:35 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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Raelgosh sat back, and began thinking.The ships' tradjectory was decidedly out of system. But that would be most unusual for a clan lord to stray so far from their home. They had a warship, so mayhaps an expedition or attack on some location.

Hmmm, the mind of a human is most intriging. But aside from conquest or exploration, what could they possibly want outside of our homes. But, mayhaps a warrior has fallen. But to have a clan lord themselves go to a burrial is purposterous.

Wait, burial.

Raelgosh had long ago, attended his fathers funneral upon the grave planet they called Korriban. While there, he had been asked to deliver a message to another sith too go and retrieve something from the archives. Though he could not remember what it was.Mayhaps they go to the archives or graves. It does match their tradjectory. Well, I can only hope that it is correct.

He turned to the controls, and set a course for Korriban.

Moments later, their vision through the viewport became no more than blurred stars and planets.

[ 08-26-2004 12:32 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Cult Master Raelgosh ]

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Then a thought he hoped Terrin would not hear, but knew not if he could hide any of his thoughts.

And I must do everything I can for my lady. Even if her memories are gone, perhaps the feelings she had for me are still there, somewhere.

Phalomir blinked, clearing his expression.

“My lady,” he said, “please forgive Mr. Danner’s intrusions. As for the next several hours, let us devise a plan, as you suggest. Our known objectives are to retrieve Shayla’s companions, optimistically believing they are alive. That being done, we return to K’eel Doba to ask the Revealer for answers. We also seek Shayla and Galen, and perhaps the Revealer may assist us in these searches as well.”

He bit as his lower lip.

“Also, let us not forget out meeting on Korriban. The message I received was from Aeylmaar, do you recall that name at all?”

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

"No," she said at last. "This is a name that is unknown to me as well. All I recall clearly are the names and faces of my dear Dark Heart, my Lord Aelvedaar, and--"

She stopped in mid-speech, frowning again.

Deep within her, something was struggling. Fiercely; the Beast yowled and scrabbled in response, reaching out with razored claw to grasp this struggling something, glaring about itself, its gaze flat and pewter and burning....

She swayed slightly, her focus now turning inward, and concentrated upon this new and sudden strangeness she was feeling so definitely within.

[ 08-28-2004 06:47 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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He thought a moment, then scowled.

“I also believe that if this is true, then it is not Aelvedaar who is responsible for your loss of memory. I had a brief vision when we arrived here, I tried using Sith magick to tell me what had happened in the storage room, why the boxes were rearranged and all evidence of the earlier explosion had been cleared. It showed me the image of a woman, dressed in a cloak, weeping uncontrollably on her knees with her head in her hands. I could almost feel her grief washing through the vision. Then with a wave of her hand before her, all grief vanished and I was left with a feeling of… nothing.”

The concern is his face betraying his thoughts, Phalomir leaned forward and took her hand gently in his.

“Was it you, my lady? Was the vision trying to show me what had happened to you?”

He searched for words, not quite knowing what to say.

“You have been through so much, with enormous pressures placed upon you. Something happened to you after that explosion, as if you were… possessed. You sent my consciousness to the Darker Realms, and stranded Shayla and her companions on Korriban. After that, perhaps you freed yourself somehow from whatever it was, and thought that you had… had… well, my body lay lifeless on the floor, and perhaps you thought you had… well, you see, we… we were in love.”

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...and that part of him would have struggled still in spite of all of this.I hope you can forgive me for my insistence, Terrin thought out to Phalomir, But I just can't rest until Galen is safe. She will remain at the center of my thoughts, and would be the center of my actions were I alive now...

...and for this reason alone do I sorely wish that the hands of time could somehow be turned back so I could help her. Thus I will persist, for when I'm forced to wait Galen remains in danger...

...and my heart breaks at the thought of even a hair of her head coming to harm...

[ 08-29-2004 08:57 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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Was it stunned silence? Were a million thoughts running at once through her mind, not one giving rise to a word? Was she fighting utter disdain at the lowly minion who would dare to exalt himself to be worthy of the Dark Lady’s attention?

Or was she remembering?

Phalomir waited patiently for a response. For her, he would wait for centuries. He had already, in a way. He allowed a bit of his thoughts to turn to Terrin Danner, the lost soul traversing within Phalomir’s mind.

I understand, Terrin Danner, thought Phal. We will find her. Please understand also that me loyalty lies with Jharmeen, as does my heart. Galen is her sister, and in another time, Galen was mine as well. I do not wish you to understand that, but I do wish you to know we will both do everything we can.

[ 09-02-2004 03:26 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Phalomir ]

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Was he correct? Were they in love, as he had said? Would the thought of possibly killing him have been enough for her to repress not only the act, but everything leading up to it? To instead regress mentally back to a time when her life as Graysith was simpler, bound only to her Dark Heart, knowing only respect of her Sire, he who had made her who she was.

Was this what had indeed happened to her?

Somewhere within her, a doorway made the slightest of sniks, as if quietly unlatching, if not completely opening.

But... this is not logical!

The Beast within reared back upon its haunches and roared out in protest.

Why would she repress so much? Memories of loves, consorts, being married to a Dark Lord and from what had been told her, very much in love with him.

Being separated from memories of her very own children....

No. It was not logical; this could not be so.

She could not have done this to herself...

Could she?

But could she have instead provided an easy avenue that another could?

At length she raised her head, her eyes wet with tears of frustration.

"I-I do not know the answers, Phalomir," she allowed at last.

"I am hoping that whatever the Library would reveal to me would be enough to trigger my lost memories, and reveal not merely who took them from me, but rather how it has come to pass."

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

“I would give it all away,” he whispered. “My title, my magick – to have you back with me.”

He opened his eyes and moved his hand down Jharmeen’s face, tracing a line with the back of his hand down her cheek, the corner of her mouth, and then her chin, pausing there for a brief moment. He withdrew his hand and swallowed hard.

“Then perhaps let us not speculate further, my lady,” he said softly, “We shall have our answers when we reach the library, and until then… until then please accept my loyalty.” He paused, then looked into her eyes. “And trust. In the meantime, we still have quite some time before our rendezvous, and we both need our rest.”

Phalomir touched Jharmeen on the shoulder and smiled once more.

[ 09-09-2004 01:27 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Phalomir ]

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"We have no time to rest, Phalomir," she said softly, forcing all trepidation and frustration deep inside of her. There it met with the salivating jaws of the Beast, who reached with pewter claw to grasp and rend and tear.

Somewhere deep inside, a door snikked quietly closed.

"Korriban approaches, we must make ready our arrival."

With that she gave his hand a little squeeze, then dropped hers altogether as she turned to the controls. That same hand now reached out to dance a minuet upon them.

In front of them the forward screen exploded into life, showing a dreary mauve and sand and beige and brown blight of a world hanging in front of them, lethally still.

"Korriban," she said simply, directing her violet eyes into his green ones even as she pointed to the screen.

"We shall soon be in orbit; I am initiating a scan for Sith lifeforms... strange."

She frowned, leaning forward to scrutinize the screens more intently. Sigils danced and played there, outlining something utterly unexpected, yet surprisingly familiar.

"Phalomir," she said, straightening to look at him again.

"There are others here... humans.

"And as yet, I detect no Sith."

[ 09-10-2004 03:40 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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Raelgosh activated the cloaking device, and glided towards the warship. But will they remain on the ship or take a fighter to the surface?

The prey would be easier to catch in an enclosed warship, rather than the surface of a planet. They made their approach, and glided towards the warship's docking bay.

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