“Come down here,” he said. “Kneel before your adoptive father. See him as that, for your father he is. For you, he is no mere Dark Lord, for his love for you surpasses all that could be attained through power. Focus on this, and search inside yourself for what you feel for him. Find the great love you are capable of knowing, of showing, and let it guide you to his spirit.”

The Master clasped his other hand around Aelymaar’s, to envelope it. His eyes widened and an urgent expression came to his face.

“You must find his spirit,” he said distinctly. “He is in great pain, and his spirit is under attack. I shall link with you, and then you will enter his mind with me. Do not contact him right away, hang back while I send a very powerful wave of my own energies into the Dark Lord’s mind. I shall them attempt to draw the force within him to me, to convince it that there is more here. While I have their attention, you must then contact his spirit and anchor it, do not allow it to follow the voices to my call. Use all of your love for him, for if his spirit follows the voices then he shall be lost.”

The Master patted the hand between his own.

He paused, his green eyes intense and thoughtful. "I will go with him; if everyone else can watch from back here, that should give us a good counter-strike."

He paused at that, letting Terrin consider. Although Matt could tell he wasn't entirely thrilled with the idea of letting anyone trudge off into Degobah without good back up, slowly Terrin nodded.

"If there's the least bit of trouble..." Terrin started.

Matt simply nodded. "I know. And this way, you will know for certain as well, through the Octahedron."

Another pause, and Matt stepped towards the portal. "We'll be back shortly." And with nothing other than that, Matt Stanza stepped into the portal, not far behind Shawn Petrolu.

(((OCC: Follow Matt into Within the Web of Life in the CSWU.)))

[ 08-08-2006 09:59 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Matt Stanza ]

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Sure would be nice to bend my legs, and not look like some little toddler sitting in Daddy's chair...

"Hey," I said suddenly as I struggled, now trying to gain some leverage by putting my hands on the cushions behind me and pushing down. That didn't work either, they only sank up to the wrist in softness.

"Umm-- hey," I tried again, blinking with alarm as the second of our party disappeared into the oddly shimmering doorway between places and times.

"Maybe I'm still woozy from all the spider-dancing I was engaged in, but am I the only one to think we're going about this the hard way?"

Terrin grunted, gave me a questioning look, soon followed by Jasyn's own. Aeylmaar and the Master didn't say so much as boo, wrapped up in their weird healing whatsis they were currently engaged in. Which was all right by me; I didn't want to risk inadvertantly breaking any Sithly rules of etiquette but since they weren't looking, what the hey--

I waved a hand at Aeylmaar.

"Didn't he just say we could use the Crystal thingy to see what our comrades are doing?" I asked innocently.

"Well... why can't we use it to find out where Thoran and Erik are? And Sissypoops and Shayla too, for that matter."

Blank looks stared back at me.

"And hey, while we're using the thing, can someone take a gander and find out where in Hell's Seven Circles they've got food around here?"

[ 08-08-2006 10:23 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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Standing at that, Terrin helped Galen to her feet, not unaware of just how uncomfortable she seemed on the couch. He didn't let her go, however, remaining close by, knowing that after what she'd been through she wouldn't be so graceful on her feet. He took a couple of steps towards the Octahederon...

...and paused, hesitating. "Ahhh...the guys always just sorta... show us what we want to see, or what they want us to see on this thing...

...so how do you get what you want?" he queried, arching an eyebrow.

"How the kriffing hell are we going to find Jharmeen or Shayla, or Shawn, Matt, Erik, or Thoran with this thing?"

As if hearing his words...

...and maybe it was at that...

...the Octahedron began to swirl into a clearer greeny-goldness as an image began to emerge...

[ 08-08-2006 10:38 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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"A bar?!?" I sputtered, staring at the image of Thoran perched big as you please on what was unquestionably a barstool, someone who was obviously a bartender leaning on the bar's counter wiping a glass in front of him. The bartender's mouth was working, as if he was asking Thoran something; from what I could tell in the strangely colored image, that worthy sat there, the unmistakable ruby red of WalknFall filling the glass he held and no doubt his stomach as well, a self-pleased sort of grin plastered across his face.

"What the--!" I repeated with another indignant sputter.

"How in Hell's Seven Circles did he get in a bar?!"

((OOC: Readers, to find out how Thoran got into a bar, and just which bar he wound up in, heh, follow his trail from Within the Web of Life in the "CSWU" forums across into The Dream of Those Who Wake in the "Empire/New Republic" forums, approximately this date, thank you.))

[ 08-08-2006 10:51 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Galen ]

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He trailed, sighing disgustedly. "At any rate, there doesn't seem to be any reason to worry about his immediate circumstances. He seems to be faring quiet well. Although, it's rather strange..."

Again, he paused, frowning now in thought. "That bar somehow seems familar to me...

...but then one bar would look like another, I suppose."

He shrugged, still not totally convinced with his own explanation of the familarity. "At any rate, it seems the Octahedron focuses on one subject at a time, and at that the last one that you ask about. So," he finished, looking back towards the Octahedron, "Where is Jharmeen and Shayla?"

Terrin had barely finished the words as the Octahedron's greeny-goldness began to shift and roil again until a new image appeared, one of Shayla, dressed in full black, ascending a staircase of sorts as one who looked like nothing other than a Sith warrior approached her, stopped, and mouthed something in her direction.

A Sith warrior? was all Terrin could think.

"K'eel Doba?" he asked in somewhat stunned, quiet observation, falling silent.

[ 08-10-2006 09:40 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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"What in Hell's Seven Circles is going on here?!" I erupted, gawping right alongside Terrin to see Shayla standing in all places but the city streets of Phrinnchatka. For that city was unmistakable; all Sith cities bore their own unique architectural signatures, and the strange devices I could see apparently muttering to themselves in the background clearly denoted the fact that yes, this was Phrinnchatka.

Who the Sith was that was speaking with Shayla was never resolved, for all of a sudden the Octahedron went completely blank, as if somewhere within its roiling greeny-goldness a camera shutter had been forced to close rapidly down in the face of--

Something.

Then the image returned, an awful image, one of chaos and confusion and destruction, with Sith moving like shadows amidst what looked to be smoke and flame.

"What in Hell's Seven Circles--!" I repeated, a hand going to my lips as if to stifle those now whispered words. Then before my disbelieving eyes the Octahedron showed the familiarity of an opening Portal, through which stepped who else but dear ol' Sissypoops. She took a gander about herself, raised a hand -- presumably to utilize that damnable power she had, for suddenly it began raining hard enough to put out the flames -- and then turned to two figures who lay writhing on the ground.

"Oh... no!"

Even though they were both antagonistic to us, deep in my heart of hearts I really didn't wish harm on anyone, even to the one now revealed by the cold and impersonal eye of the Crystal Octahedron.

"It's-- it's Shayla. She's been hurt--!"

Before anyone could comment, Sissypoops went to Shayla's side, knelt briefly, scooped her up, and in regaining her feet raised the other body from the ground. Another portal shimmered into life next to them; the wonder of where the hell that one led to didn't even form in my head, for simultaneously I could hear the unmistakable thrummm-shhlpptk as one in turned formed...

"She's standing right behind us, isn't she Terrin?" I commented, closing my eyes with a sigh for a brief moment as her gaze, dagger-sharp, raked my back in its progress around the chamber in which we all remained.

((OOC: Readers, to discover just what Galen and Terrin were observing in the Crystal Octahedron, please go to The Saving of a Soul in the "Jedi/Sith" forums, this date, thank you.))

[ 08-11-2006 03:36 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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Struggling with the effort to maintain an aura of power and control in the face of the terrible pain she was sharing with her Adept, Graysith stepped shakily into the Inner Sanctum of Lord Aelvedaar. Beside her there floated the horribly burned body of the still-living Kelvendar, his face a blackened lump, his chest and shoulders and legs charred from the blast into which he had so recently faced.

In her arms she bore the now-moaning form of Shayla, cushioned on a carefully maintained pad of atmosphere that she would not experience any further pain caused by being carried, what remained of her golden locks falling to hang limp and wet against Graysith's torso.

Expecting an empty chamber, or perhaps one occupied only by her mentor, she stopped in place. A quick glance about told her who was there, the same glance taking in the notable exceptions.

As well as it took in the form of the Dark Lord, who thrashed and moaned upon the couch on which he lay. Kneeling there beside him, Aeylmaar and the Master turned partially, surprise now widening their eyes which then narrowed into four, determined slits.

Graysith stiffened, her momentary disheartenment at Lord Aelvedaar's predicament disappearing as another plan revealed itself.

"Aid me to heal her, to heal them," she commanded as she took another dripping step toward the Master, the eerily floating Kelvendar following along like an obedient nek, her posture stiff with the growing effort it took to conceal the depths of weariness and despair into which she was rapidly sinking.

[ 08-11-2006 05:22 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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...and the next, fires raged within Prinn'chatka, within her body...

...and within her mind.

Oh the burning, the burning...

She groaned, trying to keep from thrashing...

...for she knew who was with her.

Could he...? was all the coherent thought she could put together, not even coherent enough to stretch to her own powers to comfort herself, for even a healer needs a healer when she is racked by such searing, burning, pain. Stretch out for healing she might, but she was unable to complete the task for the loss of a steady stream of thought to finish the attempt.

Her body, heart, and soul was simply on fire.

Still, there was yet a bit of defiance lurking deeply rooted within, a strand that kept her from falling completely to the pain. So, while she shuddered in effort to still the muscle spasms of great and soul-encompassing pain, moaning in agony every few moments...

...she yet remained alert.

Stop...help...

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

"Healing will soon begin, and in force."

Knowing that her own powers were not enough to heal her Adept instantaneously, and perhaps would not be able to ward off death on their own accord, she nevertheless sent a tendril of healing All into Shayla's body, lending her her own strength even as she willingly took up some of Shayla's pain that she could then cycle it away and be done with it. She gasped as that tendril reached deeply into Shayla's nerve endings, first initiating the start of actual cellular healing before starting the regeneration of those nerves whose endings had been burnt off, then calming those which were unhindered but firing in so wild a reaction due to the trauma they had been subjected to.

In her arms, Shayla moaned again, her head lolling as the battle was joined; Graysith grunted, her own arms trembling now with the sustained effort of holding her Adept, but nothing short of death would induce her into laying the young woman down.

She stared more intently into the eyes of the Master, for the moment utterly ignoring the Chosen Son of Lord Aelvedaar.

"Please," she said simply, her eyes burning dark hollows into her face, her hair hanging in curling wet tendrils about her shoulders.

[ 08-11-2006 11:08 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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...who carried the spirit of Jharmeen herself. He remembered what had happened. And it wasn't that he wanted anyone in pain either. It was just the fact that Galen had just been healed, and her strength most definitely wasn't up just yet...

...and Terrin didn't want her hurt again. He was well aware of the power Jharmeen held and could use if her plea was refused. On instinct, his grip her tightened, as if the motion itself would protect. "Yes," he answered Galen's question softly, knowing she already knew the answer anyway.

Then, still continuing to give Galen the support of his frame behind hers, his arms on her, Terrin turned just enough to see Jharmeen, arms trembling, hair dripping wet, fire and determination deep in her eyes as she held a burned, listless Shayla and carried an injured, burned Sith with her powers. He wasn't even really aware his hold on Galen tightened just a bit more.

Oh hell, who and what had caused this sort of injury?

The gods forbid that the Master didn't figure out some way to comply with Jharmeen's request. Terrin didn't like being totally out of control in regards to all of this, either. But perhaps there was something he could see to being done.

"Jasyn," he said, looking towards the brown-eyed man whose usual complaints and groaning had totally disappeared. "Help get her to the couch." As he said this, Terrin nodded in the direction of Graysith and Shayla. Then he nodded towards Kalvendar, "And find a place for him too."

Terrin was willing to help. But he wasn't willing to move an milimeter just yet until he knew there was no possible threat to Galen in all this.

[ 08-11-2006 11:31 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Terrin Danner ]

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Kriffing hell.

Then, giving Terrin a single nod, Jasyn approached Jharmeen and actually rather gently took Shayla from Graysith's trembling grip. Nevertheless, Shayla groaned and shuddered, although not quite so much as she had when she and Jharmeen had first appeared. He took Shayla to the aformentioned soft ocuch where Terrin had only a little while before place Galen, laying her out on it as carefully as he could although she remained hovering as though suspended in space by some unforseen force. Then, finding another available couch in the Inner Sanctum, he nodded towards the couch, knowing he could not carry the Sith on his own. With a little assistance, Klavendar ws placed on the couch in the same manner that Shayla was, also hovering...

...and then they all waited to see just what the Master would do or say.

[ 08-11-2006 11:54 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Jasyn Lancaster ]

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[ 08-12-2006 01:28 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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“Shay-“ he started. Before he knew it, he went to a knee involuntarily. By the time he got back to his feet, Shayla was no longer in Jharmeen’s arms.

He scanned the room and saw her sort of hovering over a couch. He began walking carefully to her, but was interrupted by Jasyn, who needed help with the large Sith.

After struggling with moving the Sith to another couch, Panthar returned to Shayla's side. After realizing the extent of her injuries, he turned his concerned eyes to Jharmeen. Words could not come, and he could only offer an open-mouthed look of “how?” before he also turned to look at the Master.

[ 08-12-2006 01:48 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Panthar Dantares ]

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“I will,” he said, nodding slightly. He looked at Aelymaar, his eyes showing confidence.

“Concentrate your feelings for him, prepare yourself and I shall return in a moment.”

The Master stood, holding his hand to his side to prevent it from shaking. He walked to Shayla, putting his hand on Panthar’s shoulder. He surveyed the burns, chewed slightly on his lower lip, then turned to face Graysith.

“There is much cell restoration that must be performed,” he said. “It will take some time to aid in her complete recovery, but we must first aid her body with the shock. I am capable of fusing oxygen into her system, and can give you much assistance in the healing process. There is much that Sith magick can do for her, as well.”

He raised his eyebrows slightly.

“If only we had the Finger of R’lous,” he mused. He shook his head a little, and looked Graysith directly in the eyes. “I can stabilize them both very quickly, but Lord Aelvedaar suffers greatly and is also in great need of assistance. I suggest that after I do this for them, you place them within a k’kleck-tha…”

Graysith’s blank stare made the Master realize that the word was not understood.

“A loop – a suspension – an eternal now. You have the ability, and it shall prevent further problems to develop while I and Aeylmaar heal Aelvedaar. Then with his added assistance, the health of these two will be assured.”

The Master’s eyes narrowed slightly in thought. “And the return of Phalomir depends upon the recovery of Aelvedaar as well.”

He paused, then smiled slightly.

"This is unacceptable," she said succinctly, now letting her displeasure flash forth in both her bearing and her expression. A stray tendril of hair fell into her face; with a little toss of her head she moved it out of her way, clenching her hands at her sides all the while.

"I could have placed Shayla into the eternal now that you speak of long ago, for I am well familiar with the practice, having utilized it before in the past. But this is an anathema to me, as well as to the health of my Chosen Sister."

A quick cut of her eyes to Galen, whose face seemed to fall a little upon hearing that. They cut back into the Master's just as swiftly.

She straightened even further.

"You have stated your ability to heal Lord Aelvedaar--" Here she nodded to the Dark Lord, who let out a deep, bass moan, one hand flopping over the side of the couch. "The tattoos you carry bespeak of the powers that you hold within you.

"Those powers will now be used to assist in the healing of my Sister and Adept, or else I shall be very, very...

"Displeased."

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

“I will aid them,” he said. “But not because I am commanded to do so. There are people in this room, and elsewhere, who have risked their lives to ensure your safety. There is no need to command them as subjects, Dark Lady.”

The Master then turned to Shayla, once again surveying the superficial damage the fire had caused. He then held out his hands over Shayla, and called upon his magick. He felt the air around her, then upon her, and used that sense to find the worse damage. Having done that, he reached out further using his All senses and reached within those areas of damaged cells. He then concentrated on each cell as he encountered it, manipulating the molecules and forcing each cell to stitch itself back to health. At the same time he force oxygen from the air into Shayla’s blood cells, hoping to relieve the symptoms of shock.

In what to the Master seemed like an eternity, but in reality took only a minute, he had repaired the most damaged areas on Shayla’s body and re-oxygenated her bloodstream. He took a step back and turned weary eyes to Graysith.

“She will live,” he said. “We can deal with her other injuries after the lives of your warrior and Lord Aelvedaar are saved.”

He glanced at the couch where Aelvedaar lay. Aeylmaar was staring intently at Aelvedaar, and the Master could feel the concentration the younger was emanating.

He is focusing on the feelings he senses from the Dark Lord. I will have enough time to deal with her warrior.

The Master turned again to Graysith.

“In the meantime, I suggest you sit and rest. I can sense you are weary.”

Graysith reached out a hand and laid it on Shayla's chest. Closing her eyes, she sensed deeply within her Adept: the Master was true to his word, and had done a magnificent job in eradicating most of the critical damage to her system. Now all she needed was time to recuperate from the mental and emotional trauma she had gone through, and allow her skin, newly growing, to thicken and strengthen.

With a little sigh of relief Graysith released the protective pad of air she had been maintaining about her, watched as Shayla slowly settled to the cushions. One eye cocked toward the couch upon which her Mentor lay; something fluttered deep within her to see him there, moaning and occasionally thrashing beneath Aeylmaar's careful scrutiny.

The other eye shot a sideways glance toward the Master, who was now occupied in the healing of the unknown Sith. Another quick glance about; the only other person nearby was Panthar, who stood like a gandy-rak in headlights as if wondering just what it was he was supposed to be doing.

Graysith smiled darkly, debating with herself as to what course of action she should follow. The hand on Shayla's body moved to her cheek.

"The injury done to you shall be avenged, my dear," she thought, letting that vow enter into the sleeping Shayla like a bit of a dream.

Then she bent, scooped her up in her arms again and before any could stop her returned to K'eel Doba through the still-open portal she had created...

((OOC: Graysith returns Shayla to the Temple of the Warriors in The Saving of a Soul in the "Jedi/Sith" forums, thank you.))

...only to reappear moments later, empty-handed, assured her Adept was safely in the hands of her warriors, who would now watch over her progress.

She stood silent a moment, watching the Master, before finally speaking up.

"I am curious," she said smoothly.

"Just why is it you need Phalomir so badly?"

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

“You have known me only as the Master,” he said, looking first to Graysith, then to everyone else in the room. “During that time I was under the influence of the Darkness of the Realm I had come to inhabit. My association with that realm was begat by my desperation to save my people, a mission I still persist upon, albeit in a different way. There is a force approaching our galaxy, and I had set upon a course to use the power of the Darker Realms to defeat that force. I was wrong, and see now that only through unity of the Sith can this be accomplished, for under our rule the galaxy will be unconquerable.”

The Master straightened, his strength returning in small amounts.

"There is more than this advancement of Yuuzhan Vong which threatens our people," she said markedly, now drawing forth the strands of hair she had discovered at the scene of the explosion. Still staring the Master directly in his eyes, she slowly let the strands drop to the floor of the Inner Sanctum where they seemed to briefly writhe upon the stones before falling still.

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

“Clues to your fire?” he asked, reaching out with his magicks again, this time to wrap around one of the white hairs. While not able to see the unknown, the magick was able to trace the known. A sudden image flashed into the Master’s mind, a time when we has thoroughly influenced by the darkness, but he still was conscience and aware of his actions. In this image he saw himself speaking with ShaRhylla, and suddenly dealing with the intrusion of a strange looking Sith. But a Sith he truly was not, for deep within there was something else. It was the one the small impish spawn called “idiot boy”.

Graysith paused a moment, then turned and walked a few paces to where the Crystal Octahedron stood. Tall, elegant, it stood in greeny-golden splendor, it's essences moving fluidly within it's transparent crystalline walls. She laid a cool hand upon its smooth surface, immediately flashing back to the day she had first discovered the device deep in Darth Wicked's lair, and how she had used it and other, long-silent devices to snatch Lord Aelvedaar from the hands of death four thousand years in the past, and bring him into the here and now.

She forced the thought from her mind with a grunt, then lifted her chin.

"Show me the origin of the most recent explosion in the Ch'arlingua transport system in Phrinnchatka," she commanded, then watched as the device instantly obeyed, revealing to all present what she had already known.

She turned round to face the Master again, one hand gesturing toward the scene depicted in the eerily roiling stuff which was the warp and weft of the Octahedron.

"He bears many Tattoos, and is of the Ancient Clan of the Assassins. For some reason, he has taken it upon himself to hate me..."

She paused a moment, allowing a corner of her lip to curl.

"...and I believe he has gone out of his way in the attempt to woo my daughter, ShaRhylla. It has come to my ears that he has taken her as his bride."

She spat out the word as if it was something foul. Then she approached the Master once again, stopped a few paces from him, noting from the corner of her eye the positions where Terrin stood, Galen in his arms, as well as where JhinDarra stood in equal and somewhat awed silence.

"This shall never do," she commented lightly and fell silent, once more staring directly into the Master's eyes, her own darkening to pools of ebony in her face.

[ 08-13-2006 01:49 AM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Graysith ]

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The portal finally came into view. Matt headed for it, increasing his hurried speed, and skidding into it much to the surprise of the others and to the suprise of one of the last individuals in the universe he would have expected to see in that room:

Jharmeen Jhin'Dar Qu'taro, Dark Lady of the Warrior Clan.

Matt paused for only a brief moment, managing his surprise fairly well. After he took a deep breath, he cast worried and intense green eyes on each of the others in the room. "Shawn has been taken by some snake-like bog creature," he explained. "I just couldn't help him on my own; we have to hurry, the thing is mad...

...after all, it only got to Shawn after he rescued me from its grasp."

[ 08-13-2006 05:02 PM: Message edited 1 time, lastly by Matt Stanza ]

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Slowly she turned, gave the agitated man a glance that was both intent and cool.

Then she turned round again, facing the Master once more, her demeanor clearly indicating which immediate problem she was assigning the higher priority.

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

“Gather those capable of helping – guards, sorcerers, and a healer – and follow this human. The one lost is of some importance to us.”

He then faced Graysith again.

“I shall aid you, but after I finish my duties with Lord Aelvedaar. If… anything should happen, find Phalomir, please.”