It's been two years since Nom Anor's death and Trixie's capture. Coruscant is slowly bringing in most of its popular merchants as well. Lucius hasn't fully gotten over what happened on Myrkr, but it still tore at his heart like a fish hook causing him to awaken with a start. Throwing on his tan and black robe Lucius went to brush his teeth and shave. Seven minutes later, he went to the living room in his apartment, put on his tan and black tunic and white training boots as the orange sun shone upon his glass table. The table itself was clustered with leads and whereabouts of Trixie; some of them were good and most were bad. The toll on losing Trixie and Naomi weighed heavily on him. Now 21, Lucius turned to the vice of alcohol to numb his pain and inner demons. But, that wasn't all that happened to him. Upon his return to Coruscant from the battle on Myrkr, Master Luke Skywalker called Lucius before the Jedi Council.
The Past
Two years ago, Coruscant
Jedi Temple, Jedi council room
"Lucius, you know why you're here today?"
"No, Master Skywalker. Why don't you tell me?" Lucius asked hotly. It had only been one week since Trixie had been captured and his emotions were running in peak performance.
"Given your actions a week ago, I am forced to make a decision that did not come lightly. Jedi Knight Lucius Draken, it is in the interest of the council that you be stripped of the rank Jedi Knight. As part of this punishment, we ask that you surrender your lightsaber as well"
"Why not take my sword too?"
"Look, I understand—"
"You don't understand shit. You don't know what I'm going through. So, you plan this meeting because you didn't like how D-MAS stood up for me and how I disobeyed your orders. Just admit this was your idea and no one else's." Lucius challenged, crossing his arms and defiantly glaring at Luke.
"You don't wanna push my buttons, Lucius. I only let you go on Myrkr as a courtesy however, my kindness does have limits. Now, hand over your lightsaber peacefully and you won't face further repercussions."
"You wanna strip me of my Knighthood? Fine. But you're not taking my lightsaber. It was left to me when I was a baby. You want it that bad? Come take it. I may fail in taking you down and whoever else wants to try, but I will make you regret trying." Lucius spat, drawing both weapons and carving a line in the floor with his lightsaber.
"ENOUGH!" Leia said, slamming her fist on the table, surprising everyone by her outburst.
"Are you on his side?" Luke asked confused.
"I'm no one's side but in this matter, I'm on Lucius'. Look at him Luke, really look at him. He's wounded and hurting so you think stripping him of rank and weapon is the best recourse? Hell, all of us are pained by the battle on Myrkr. Lucius has it the worst: betrayed by his master, lost his lover and watched his friend die. Even I thought it was extreme to consider wiping his droid's memory-"
"He was gonna wipe D-MAS's memory?" Lucius seethed in angry tears, marching towards Luke but was subsequently halted by Mara and Kyp's Force grips.
"Stop" Luke said, gesturing with both hands and Lucius was released. Though before he could react, Lucius leapt at Luke both blades poised to cut the master in half. Halfway through his leap, Leia caught him in the Force and put him into a sitting position. Feeling betrayed again, he cast his eyes at Leia and she put a finger to her lips as Luke spoke.
"Lucius, I'm not the enemy here. You disobeyed orders, and these are the consequences for it. You can have your lightsaber back when you've proven yourself to be a true Jedi Knight again. Dismissed." Luke finished, and Lucius was sent out of the room via a Force push, his lightsaber clipped to Luke's belt.
The Present Lucius looked around his apartment for a morning pick me up. Tossing and rummaging through empty bottles, he fished up a half empty flask. Taking a swig, he groaned and sniffed feeling the wave of despair vanish for a time. Limping over to the glass table top, he rummaged through the small mountain of datapads and found the one he'd been looking for. In addition to finding leads on Trixie and Tenyo Vahjar, Lucius was also studying the Beyvox Chronicle. He tracked down the mysterious V. Draken and discovered she didn't bear the name Draken but, was willing to keep a line of communication open. What kept the line of communication open for the past year was, her interest in his tattoo and how they tied into the Beyvox clan. They never shared any visuals with each other, only audio transmissions which he found strange but given how it was her top request, he didn't wanna lose the chance to connect with his long-lost sister. If that's who she really was. Would she even accept him as a long-forgotten sibling or welcome him into her already established family? There were still a great many things that the two didn't know about each other. All they had between them was the Beyvox connection. He couldn't bring himself to tell her about losing the events on Myrkr. Every time he tried, anguish would push against his walls.
Third Ring Apartment Towers
127th floor, Apt. 29a
There were many times when he wanted to give up searching for Trixie but, something always kept him going. He flashbacked to seeing Naomi's dying face and grimaced, taking another swig from the flask. A knock issued from his apartment door answering it, D-MAS stood there on his treads.
"What's up D-MAS?"
"Trouble in the Warehouse District
"I'm gone"
"Hold on, are you drunk again?"
"Don't patronize me, D I'm not in the mood."
"You're not going to the Warehouse District until you sober up some"
"I'll be fine, now let me go" I said, pushing past him but, he guided me back into my apartment.
"No, you need to sit and get some caf in your system"
"I'll be fine."
"Have you seen yourself lately? You look like sheer hell" D-MAS stated, turning the brightness up in the apartment and heard Lucius groaning in protest. Wheeling around, he looked at his friend and couldn't believe how haggard he'd become over the past two years. Deep depression, stripped of his Knighthood, and now alcoholism, this was not the Lucius Draken he'd come to know.
Losing Trixie and Naomi, betrayed by his master who, turned out to be a Vong in disguise, and being stripped of his Knighthood broke the man called Lucius Draken. I thought the revelation of his Beyvox heritage was rattling, I was wrong. This shell on the couch is a total stranger to me. Sure, the ident scan will register Lucius Draken but, the core of him is missing. His power core is absent or as humans call it, a soul. The soul of Lucius Draken is missing from him. I miss my friend who made my sarcasm fluently fly whenever we had an argument. I miss his heat signature rising whenever he saw Trixie enter the room. I miss seeing his heartrate increase when he fought in battle. But do you know what I miss the most? Seeing his mixture of emotions when I defended him on Myrkr two years previous. Saying he loved me meant something. I often play that audiolog when I have moments to myself. I cannot cry like species do so, I take droplets of bacta applying them to my photoreceptors to simulate crying. I wish his power core would return sooner rather than later. But all I can do is give him hugs which don't always help. Kneeling down, I hugged him and patted his back. I felt him shudder and then my photoreceptors went black.
Lucius breathed a heavy sigh as he lugged D-MAS onto the couch, which was sitting against the wall by the door now. He shut off D-MAS completely and heading out the window, mounted his air bike flying towards trouble.
Coruscant
Warehouse District 4
Arriving in the Warehouse District sixteen minutes later, I parked my swoop bike and went to investigate I came upon a small group of Koreians. Koreians were small-time punks who, had a trio of small horns on their foreheads, but still human with grey skin. Graced with smart, cocky, smooth faces and voices to match, plus their 5'9 small build made them look like Darth Maul wannabes. They were stealing some high-tech equipment, but I stopped them.
"Hey put that down!" I barked at the six of them. I knew I was outnumbered but, I didn't care.
"Make us, Jedi trash!" One of them said, as a blaster bolt streaked passed me. On reflex, I activated my sword redirecting the bolt back towards the owner he cried out in pain. Then, he and the other four hightailed it, leaving me with the leader. I groaned and barfed on the ground. Quick drunken reflexes are bad. Coughing and spitting, I regained my composure only to barf again. Come on Lucius, pull yourself together. Ground and focus yourself so you're not seeing triple Koreian.
"You gonna be okay?"
"Shut up a minute and don't move fast"
"Great, a drunk Jedi. Just what I always wanted"
"Easy now, I just want some information" I asked, reaching out and Force grabbing his left calf, I snapped it.
"Ha! You won't get a thing!" The Koreian laughed trying to hide the pain, dark eyes glinting.
"You will tell me where I can find Trixie!" using the Force on the weak minded was easy, I hated it but, I was drunk and wanted answers. Finally, there's only one Koreian in front of me. Good. It feels good to out in the open but, I can feel the alcohol calling me back to the apartment where its dim and quiet. Might as well get what I can out of this punk and go back to my bottle.
"I don't know who Trixie is"
"Who hired you to do this heist?"
"Some weird lady with Vong tattoos; pretty hot but not my cup of caf" He said, with a bit of hesitation and I thought to myself, Do I know any weird ladies with Vong ink that's into high tech shit? Nothing was ringing a bell.
"For real?"
"Actually, it was a tattooed dude that was with her" he corrected himself, groaning at the overwhelming pain and my release in the Force.
"Thank you now go home and find a different job"
"Okey Dokey!" and he ran off limping.
Tattooed dude could mean Vahjar but then again, there's plenty of tattooed dudes in the universe. I couldn't be that lucky. Hiccups had started to hit me along with the growing taste of warm saliva filled my mouth, letting me know I was going to barf again. Marking the ground with my vomit one more time, I coughed and heaved, wiping my mouth and groaned shuddering lightly. I felt a coldness creep all around my body and I pulled my robes to my body, in an attempt to warm up. Making my way to the swoop I heard a voice say, "Hello Lucius". The warehouse was dimly lit from the overhead lights that were dying, abandoned airspeeders sat in their spots collecting deposits of dirt and moss.
"Hello random imaginary voice, what do you want?" I asked looking around at the dark corners for the voice's source. One of the side effects of heavy drinking: hearing voices that aren't there.
"To see you" then, I heard footsteps coming from all over instantly. I brandished my sword and slowly recognized the voice to be Trixie's. Just hearing her voice was enough to make me weak but, I shunned that away for now then she stood in front of me, face in shadow. I squinted my eyes and gave her left shoulder a poke and when she recoiled rubbing her shoulder, I broke down.
"Now, now, is that anyway to treat a lady? Relax I wanna talk"
"Let me see your face" I whimpered, reaching out for her.
"No" she replied, even toned I could feel the bitterness surrounding her.
"I had no choice you know that"
"Liar! You could've saved both of us!"
"I'm sorry! I didn't want to let go, you know this!" I said, replaying the scene over and over in my mind and nightmares.
"Your drinking now? Shit, I didn't realize it hit you so hard"
"Well, it did. I've spent the last two years trying to find you and here you are, blaming me for what I couldn't control. That's not my fault. I was held by many amphistaffs, defied orders, stripped of my Knighthood, and lightsaber. You know D-MAS stood up to the masters and threatened to cut them down if they tried to stop me from leaving Myrkr? I am broken and now you're back! We can go to the Masters and—"
"That's not gonna happen Lucius. You failed in saving me, protecting Naomi, and everything that happened to you is a direct result of it. This was a mistake"
"Dammit Trixie! Why you gotta make this worse than it has to be?" she started to walk off but, I grabbed her arm pulling her into the light. She flinched at first like a vampire, to see her once beautiful and elegant face polluted by Vong tattoos crippled me, but her hair still had that luscious shine. Trixie's eyes were black as pitch, not honey and full of life.
"This is your fault!" She gestured at her face then bellowed, which echoed all around us as I was shoved into a speeder.
"Fine then, prove it! But why didn't you fight back?" Then, she pulled an adult amphistaff and I took a semi sober stance with the Beyvox sword and we fought: justice vs. vigilante.
The fight lasted ten minutes until I fell to my knees, and she punted me into the windshield of an airspeeder setting the alarm off. Getting up and shaking off the broken glass, I Force shoved her to the ground as she leaped at me. In mid fall, she whipped the staff at me connecting with my stomach, cutting me open like a stuck pig falling to knees again, I bleed profusely, laughing.
"Just like in the Arena huh, baby?"
"I'm not your baby anymore, fool!" To further prove her point, Trixie splayed her left hand against my chest. "You want proof? Here it is" she said, black lightning surging around her hand.
"Do it! Kill me then if, you have the guts!" I challenged holding her hand in place, sobbing with blood pouring down my midsection. She hesitated for a moment, pulling her hand back only to reapply it with a menacing tight cold smile. Black tendrils of Force lightning lanced out piercing and drilling into my chest and hurling me into a duracrete wall.
"Weak ass coward!" I strained getting up.
"You can't save me" and she vanished into the shadows.
Stumbling over to my swoop bike, I paused to catch my breath and gingerly climbed on. Tying my robe tight as possible, I raced the swoop at dangerous speeds completely going on adrenaline rush blood gushing everywhere. Halfway between dying and the Temple, I crashed into a food stand causing people to scatter and I passed out. Sometime later, a speeder with two passengers: a young human female Padawan, and a Gungan came to pick up Lucius.
"Here, help me get him into the backseat." The female said, grabbing his left arm together they hoisted Lucius' limp form inside causing the Gungan to go into hysterics.
"Dere's lotsa blood missus!" He cried.
"Put this over his wound and apply pressure, Crassner Binks!"
"Okey Day, miss Trinity!" Crassner said with unease. Rocketing at high speeds, Trinity reached the temple landing platform and Crassner carried Lucius to the medical bay.
Jedi Temple
Medical Wing
I awoke to find Brock sitting next to my side, head resting on his fist. My shirt had been discarded into a trash bin and I had a bacta patch wrapped around my midsection, which was covered with white bandaging. groaning slightly Brock heard me and said, "Boy you'll never learn"
"Shut up smart ass"
"Nice burns marks; Trixie do it?"
"No, the monster under the bed asswipe"
"Does it hurt?" he asked poking my gut and I winced.
"Mmmmmm-hmmmm"
"Damn she's got lover's scorn"
"I need some strong whiskey and I'll be good to go" I groaned, trying to sit up.
"That's a negatory, my friend. You have to dry out for a while before partaking the spirits again. You don't know this but, the blast you took from Trixie damaged your heart, your alcohol levels were three times the limit, and you owe thanks to who saved you. I know it's been rough Lucius, I understand your pain but, you do need to take it easy."
Jedi Temple
Arena 3
Later that week, I left the wing fully healed with a bandage that had to stay on for a time. Even though I was physically fine, mentally and emotionally, I was in the shitter. Seeing Trixie again made my heart soar but tore the wound inside me deeper. I tried to save you, don't you remember? Why didn't you fight back like I did? Were you too scared or just didn't know what to do in that moment? Fuck, I tried dammit! It wasn't my FAULT! Passing the arena, I saw a Gungan and an attractive female lightsaber dueling. Magenta was her color and his was metal gray.
She was about six inches shorter than me, bronze straight hair, Clawdite-looking face but she was human, brown eyes, slim build, and an understanding of things. The Gungan however, was by my guess a novice swordsman, holding his ground very well. It was his grip that was bad.
"Crassner, you goof! Watch out your gonna—" but it was too late. Crassner had burnt a hole in his left foot, hopping around crying and whooping in pain. I chuckled and said, "Here allow me". Coming to his side, I had to concentrate passing a hand over his wound, since I was sober and craving liquid courage. I learned the technique from watching others healing themselves. I may have the ability to heal myself but if that should fail, I needed to have a plan b. My hand glowed briefly, reversing the damage, the wound closed up, and introductions were made.
"You want a real challenge Trinity?" offered Lucius.
"Sure, why not?"
"But where did you learn to heal from?" she asked as we circled and measured each other.
"Same person who gave me the cut" I lied, not entirely sure how much to divulge.
"Who's that?"
"Knock me down and I'll tell"
"All right" Trinity said, tightening her grip on the lightsaber into Form IV. Activating my sword, I bowed.
"Aren't you polite?"
"Not even close" I remarked, feinting a slice that would've cut her face in half. She moved clear of the strike, chuckling lightly impressed by my brashness.
"Ha! You missed me" she said, adopting a defense posture.
"Mmmmmmmm your hair smells nice" I said, holding a lock of her hair that I lopped off during our exchange.
"Hey, that doesn't grow back right away! So, you wanna play hardball? You're on!"
Clashing and smashing our blades together was exhilarating. I actually started to feel like my old self even though I was naked without my true weapon. I'd grown accustomed to using the Beyvox Sword more, even that my chains had adjusted to the change for a brief time. Once I was disconnected from my lightsaber, the chains grew restless and abandoned me. They even attacked Master Luke in an attempt to recover my lightsaber and failed. Now, they avoid me every time I enter my apartment. Trinity was very talented with her swordsmanship, but one successful dropkick when I went for a disarming move, knocking my weapon out of hand. She leveled her magenta blade some two centimeters from my throat.
"My quarters; 8:00 sharp" Trinity said, relinquishing her weapon and I felt a strange sense of déjà vu from years previous.
"Deal"
"Hey, Crassner is it? Go see my friend, Brock. He's tall, dark skinned, very intelligent; tell him that he owes me a favor in training." I said, giving a description of Brock to the Gungan.
"Mesa will do this, Masta Lucius." Just as he said that, Brock passed the arena.
"Hey, I thought the doctor said not to be active" Brock stated, crossing his arms against his hunter green sleeveless duster.
"Hehehehehe you know, I never was a good listener, but my new friend Crassner, could use your expertise here in lightsaber training. What do you say?"
"Yeah sure, I got time"
Getting up with help from Trinity, we walked out of the arena. Looking back briefly, Brock yelled, "Nooooo! Crassner, watch out! Jump!" and I had to go back to heal his arm this time.
"Look, let's try a different approach, shall we?" Brock offered, while Crassner whimpered lightly. Brock gestured for Crassner to stand beside him and to relinquish his lightsaber as well. The Gungan did this and Brock ignited his lightsaber with a salute.
"You're going to learn the basics from scratch without your weapon" Brock smiled at the nervous Gungan.
Jedi Temple
The Quarters of Lucius Draken
I went to my quarters and meditated in the middle of chamber I saw in my meditative state Trixie being whipped by Vahjar.
"INFIDEL SCUM!" Vahjar cried, as he brought the amphistaff down, in whip form upon her back in punishment. Each crack of the whip resonated with a haunting echo in my mind.
"Forgive me, Master" She said tears streaming, blood running, afresh down her bare exposed back.
"You were supposed to kill him, not wound him." Crack! A new tear in her flesh bled freely.
"I wish to torture him for what he's done to me, my Master"
"Get it done with and out of my sight!" Vahjar barked.
Undisclosed location
The marks wouldn't go away but, the wounds would heal. Oh, how much I wanted to MAIM Lucius for leaving me to the enemy, but still a small part of me, cherished and loved him. I hated him for leaving me. I felt so alone and desolate yet in a strange way, I felt at home with the Yuuzhan Vong. The violence, chaos, and bedlam took away from what happened on Myrkr. A lot had changed with me since the day. As I poured water down my back, I winced as the bleeding wounds were cleansed. I closed my eyes and saw Lucius reaching out for me on Myrkr, his eyes streaming tears as he fought against the amphistaffs. Then his words echoed in my head: Why didn't you fight back? How was I supposed to? Why didn't you try harder? For fuck's sake, you lifted a MOUNTAIN on Quip years back! If you had saved me, I wouldn't have been—Trixie stopped the sentence before the memories could unfold again. Her body shuddered and became shamefully aroused as, her amphistaff slithered up her leg, resting on her right shoulder. The amphistaff coiled and squeezed tightly, making her fresh whip marks surge in pain more. Letting out a surprised moan at the staff licking her wounds, Trixie stood and reflexively reached for her lightsaber. Stopping her movement midway, she remembered that she was no longer a Jedi nor had the weapon of one. Pulling on a tan shirt she took off of a corpse, Trixie went off to express her anger on a group of Vong elite.
At 3:00 p.m. Monday afternoon, a knock resonated from Lucius' door. Bringing the sword into a stationary position from practicing in the afternoon sunlight, I responded to the knock.
"Just a second" toweling off excess sweat, I threw on a white combat shirt. Shunning away the anger I had tapped into while exercising, I opened the door to see a human woman with auburn hair, green eyes, and kind face. Her tender voice said, "Are you the Jedi named Lucius Draken whom, fought with Naomi April Maddox on Myrkr?"
"Yeah. Why, what's wrong?' I said, sweeping my blue dreads out of my face and into a loose bun.
"I'm Naomi's cousin, Charlie. It turns out, a search was established to find any living relatives or descendants. I was a 95.38% match to her ancestry. I was pretty shocked to find out I had a relative that was still alive. When I saw you were the last one she had contact with, I decided to come and see what you knew about her"
Charlie had bells and bracelets that tinkled or jingled on her wrists, as well as her ankles too. The odd part was, the tinkling and jingling made me feel strangely comfortable. Upon inviting her inside, she went and sat on my couch, hair tied up similar to mine. The thing that mystified me was, that she wore bright and dark colored tunics like, the genie orange and red pants with a black and brown tunic.
"So, how's my cousin doing?" Charlie asked with a soft smile. Naomi, the girl whom came out of my lightsaber and was a silly ass at times but, also protective. Naomi the warrior, who died on Myrkr. Naomi, who was involved in my choice between her and Trixie. Naomi. Dammit! She was gone, died from a dart through her heart by my former master who turned out to be a Yuuzhan Vong spy, Tenyo Vahjar. Thinking of all this, I started to cry and wanted my flask hidden under my bed. Instead, I said in a hushed whisper, "She's dead"
"Come over here and tell me all that has transpired." He did this, falling apart emotionally at the seams telling her everything. From Trixie to Naomi and up to the fight on Myrkr. Out of the mood of sorrow and sadness, our lips met but, I didn't want it to happen. Her kiss filled my whole essence with hope and joy.
"Tell me how she lived"
"From falling out of my lightsaber naked, to her time spent in Beyvox as a spy, Naomi was truly a unique character. She nearly died during her first encounter with the Yuuzhan Vong but, she pulled through. She only loved one man in her entire life and that was my distant relative, Trent Draken, leader of Clan Beyvox. Naomi's personality was one of a kind; fierce and concupiscent. She was truly estimable in her endeavors. I couldn't have asked for a better ferly Jedi Knight."
"Have you been contacted by her in the Force?"
"No, I haven't. After the events on Myrkr and my demotion in the Order, I've been in a deep depression and curing it with alcohol. Though, your bells and bracelets have my head sort of cleared up. I've also been sober for about a week now and its not been easy. Why did you kiss me?"
"I sensed your longing for something tangible that you could feel again. Furthermore, the wound left by Trixie is deeper than I, or anyone could fill. I don't know that whole story what I do know is, I'm glad my cousin met you and left a profound impact." Charlie finished, as I wept, looking at my hands through watery vision remembering Myrkr.
"Sleep now and all will be well with your spirit" Charlie said, guiding my head into her lap as her bells chimed and jingled in a sedative manner.
I awoke at 7:30 and noticed Charlie had left. Still having some time, I took a quick shower and drying off fifteen minutes later, I got dressed in my peach robes. As my chronometer chimed right on time, I showed up promptly at Trinity's quarters.
Jedi Temple, Trinity's quarters
We talked, ate exotic food and drinks, but mostly, talked. Talked of what happened two years ago on Myrkr, how my master betrayed me, and other things.
"I caught wind about your little stunt with three Vong warriors" Trinity said, swallowing some blum fruit soda.
"Who told you?" I said, finishing my cigarette. I regretted smoking but, it was an herbal cigarette to calm my nerves which were on edge from the sobriety.
"Your personal droid, D-MAS I believe"
"That blabber mouth! Heh, that was the cover story" I chuckled, taking a soft drag.
"Well, who gave you that nasty cut?"
"Who do you think?" I said, rolling my eyes and blowing a puff of smoke out the right corner of my mouth.
"Trixie did that?" Trinity said incredulously, taken aback by the revelation.
"With, an amphistaff I might add"
"Jesus how did she-"
"Don't ask me"
"One more question before Crassner gets worried about me"
"Shoot" I said, washing my cigarette down the drain.
"If it ever came down to it would you kill Trixie?" I paused at the sink and turned to face her running my right hand over my face I sighed.
"Tough call. She's the love of my life and now, twisted into something I don't know or recognize. Before you guys brought me in, I reached her deep inside for a brief moment and then she was gone. There was so much hatred and contempt in her tone that wasn't there before. Something or someone twisted my girlfriend into the monster I fought against. I can't imagine she is truly angry at me for failing to save her. I still blame myself for what happened. But what choice did I have? Stupid fucking Force visions! You know, I wish I didn't have the Force sometimes. I wish I hadn't inherited a long dead legacy, hadn't fallen in love, hadn't been born-" I groaned, feeling a wave of anguish hit me and reaching out, I called the flask to my hand. The flask flew towards me and stopped centimeters from my hand. Trinity held her left hand up halting the flask.
"You are still raw from detoxing and you're feeling again, that's good. Its what makes you human. Don't go back to the darkness when you've just begun to see the light again. You will get her back in time. But first, you have to work on you before that can happen."
"I am not the man you think I am. I need to be numb just for a bit, please? I'm not gonna go on a bender, just enough to be numb for a short period of time."
"If you drink, I will notify the Council that you are intoxicated, and they'll have you barred from the Temple grounds. I know you've been hiding your alcoholism best you can but, you can't let your darkness cloud you all the time"
"Maybe that's what I need then: unbound by the Order's law. I'm already demoted to a Padawan, what's one more infraction?"
"Don't worry, it won't come down to that ever"
"How do you know?"
"It was just a reassurance"
"Oh really?"
"Yes, now there's no need for hostility Lucius!"
"You don't know what I've been through or experienced."
"I know please, don't shout" she pleaded.
"You sure as hell don't know my destiny"
"Calm down Lucius, I'm just trying to give you peace."
"Peace? You threaten to report me for my alcoholism and take my flask which, I'll take back thank you very much." He said, with a yank of his wrist breaking Trinity's force grip on it and continued. "I'm gonna go and leave you to meet with Crassner" said Lucius quietly, sipping from his flask.
"I only wanted you to-" Trinity started to say.
"I don't care what you wanted! I'm leaving" Lucius said, making his way to the door only to be halted by Trinity grabbing his arm. He shrugged off her grip and glared at her, causing her to recoil.
"Your eyes, they're different. You need to leave now" She said, whimpering in fear and I obliged, tucking my flask back in my robes.
Third Ring Apartment Towers
127th floor, Apt 29a
Looking at my eyes, they had changed in fact to blood red all over. Blinking several times, they went back to normal. I finished up cleaning at 1:39 a.m. I felt like cleaning my whole apartment to vent my frustration then I went to bed. I didn't care if Trinity reported me for drinking and I meant that. I've already lost everything important to me, what's one more thing honestly? I brought my flask along just in case it went sideways. I was doing fine til she had to bring up reporting me. I'd rather be free of the Order since they'd given up searching for Trixie a year ago. I kept searching though. Bartering, trading, hustling, and sometimes, getting physical to get what I needed. Lying in bed, sweat on his face and chest, Lucius was in another nightmare. He awoke with the hook in his right hand, holding it two inches away from Trixie's throat.
"Now I knew you liked it rough" she smiled, the moonlight kissed our figures as she straddled me, intentions unknown to me.
"Give me one-"Lucius started.
"-good reason why you shouldn't kill me?" Trixie finished.
"Yep" she added.
"Still waiting for the reason, dearest" I said, holding the hook in position not moving it.
"Then kill me! Oh, what's wrong can't decide? Then allow me to help!"
"NO! Trixie!" I said in fright, dropping the hook on the floor, tears welling.
"You still care about me, don't you?"
"You know the answer" I groaned, as I shifted under her weight. She felt heavier and stronger than the last time we'd seen each other.
"Then, where were you when this happened?" She said, taking my hands and slid them up the back of her brown tunic and I gasped, softly feeling the whip marks on her back.
"Baby what happened?"
"Well let's see: those are my punishment for not killing you the other day. I hate you and I hate myself for it" Trixie said, sitting up and shedding her tunic. Sighing heavily, she added, "But on the other hand, I still love you somewhere deep down and want that passion you have; that undying never-ending passion and will always carry with you to the grave."
I was taken aback and still frightened by her sudden appearance in my room. How did she even get in without me knowing? Why didn't my chains attack her? Oh wait, they still recognize her as friendly, so they wouldn't. Why was she here now? I must be hallucinating again.
"You know I can't do that" I answered, sitting up taking her hands into mine, "No matter what" I added. Feeling her hands in mine, I wept. This wasn't a hallucination, Trixie was really here! Shaking the cobwebs away best I could, I pulled her to me in a fierce hug, crying. I didn't care that she had nearly killed me a week ago. She had come back and was here, that's all that mattered to me. I might be a scupper but, I was a happy one. Trixie let a playful laugh rumble out of her throat. Pinning my arms at my head with one head, she placed her left knee where she'd cut me earlier and looked down at me with pure malice.
"Give us a kiss love?" and kissed my chest down to my belly, back up to my lips. Her long gold streaked hair brushing my face softly.
I gave in, kissing those lush lips which always made me feel so relaxed especially, when they curved into a smile. Just as we got into it, I could feel something different about her. Trixie smelled different, no magnolia just plain blood and death. I broke the liplock and said, "You're not Trixie!"
"Fine but remember: it was you who couldn't kill your own lover!" hopping off my body, she landed on the windowsill crouched, coral skipper hovering outside my window.
"Oh yeah, here catch this!" Trixie remarked, throwing a short amphistaff snake head at me. It bit into the left side of my neck, I felt this thorn needle point pain racing through my blood which was the poison.
"Two choices: call for help or say something to me" Trixie taunted.
"Arena 29, remember it!" I croaked, but my voice sounded distorted and faded. He said to me "Arena 29 remember it" watching him dying gave me great satisfaction and a great feeling of happiness.
"Whatever that means" I said, dismissing the comment and leapt into my ship departing immediately. Lucius pulled the snake off his neck and hurled it into a wall, grabbing the hook, he flung it at the snake killing it with a THWUMP! Fumbling round for a light switch, he fell into the hallway with a body smacking thud.
Jedi Temple, Medical Wing I dreamt that I
"He's slipping away from us and there's nothing else we can do but wait" a grim and grief-stricken Charlie informed the Jedi gathered. Brock, Jaina, Tahiri, Crassner, Kyp, and D-MAS came to see what happened.Han and Leia went with Jacen to the planet Keldor, to investigate a rumor while Luke and Mara were off at a diplomatic meeting.
"There's gotta be something we can do!" Brock said slamming into a wall, refusing to accept that his friend was dying before him.
"Jyga" Charlie said gasping and waving her left hand vehemently, remembering the importance of her utterance.
"No bad idea. Very dangerous bad idea" Trinity said, briefly shocked by the notion Charlie brought up and the memories that followed.
"What's Jyga?" Kyp inquired.
"A homeworld to vampires that live in darkness and there rumored to be force-sensitive" Trinity informed him gravely.
"If Jyga can help then we're going" Brock said pointing to D-MAS.
"Master Brock, I wish to remain here with Lucius if, that is all right with you?" The droid requested.
"Fine"
"I wish to accompany you on your voyage, sir" 3po chimed in.
"Are you sure about this?" Jaina asked.
"Why yes, I wish to learn about new cultures" 3po said somewhat cheerfully. If the droid had human features, Jaina was sure that they'd be hesitation with false courage.
"I'll go too!" Charlie said, moving over to Brock and added, "There's a Jedi Master on Jyga; her name is Eve."
"Ain't no time like the present!" Kyp interjected, running to the hangar platforms opening the docking bay doors and getting security clearance.
Hyperspace enroute to Jyga
Jyga was a planet with a city that lay in ruins. The main part of town was operating with electricity and semi-clean water to drink, along with foods that were brought via a transport cargoship that visited the planet every two months. The majority of the planet's surface could not produce foods due to dry seasons. Its economy was sparse or dismal depending on the seasons. Since one side of the planet could not produce any edibles, they discovered that gems would rain during the winter and summer months. The problem was 1 in every 27 gems was actually genuine. So, when the skies were a deep hue of amethyst, the gems were rich with 90% quality. But if they were a bright hue of dreamsicle, the gems quality was at best, 5%. Fusing them together was an idea during the bad times but, traders found that they'd decompose into black sand if multiple colors were put together. The black sand turned out to have another attribute: if it was spread around properly, the gems that fell in those areas had a chance of being 32% rich in quality. The gems themselves were very small too so gathering enough to make a 90% or higher quality fusion was extremely difficult. The monsoon seasons were the worst because the rain wasn't drinkable unless, chilled on ice for a week. All the money they made in pure gems never lasted due to the harsh climate conditions. The best soil on the surface was on the other side of the planet though, not many ventured into that area. But little did the former Jedi Knight, known as Lucius Draken, would come to learn that his only hope and destiny would come from the other side of Jyga...
"I remember she wore an emerald hooded robe." Charlie mentioned thoughtfully, at the memory of the Jedi Master. Brock and Trinity were at the Javelin's helm awaiting landing instructions meanwhile, in the cargo hold, Jaina and C-3PO talked of what they thought the Jyga homeworld was like based on Trinity and Charlie's reactions earlier. Jyga itself lie about twelve hours from Coruscant, in the Outer Rim. Getting permission, the Javelin landed on the planet surface. Sometime later, Brock, 3PO, Charlie, Trinity, and Jaina departed from the ship on the outskirts of town.
Coruscant
Jedi Temple, Medical Wing
Sweat broke out profusely upon Lucius' face and chest like hot grease cooking over a stove, D-MAS continuously wiped off the sweat, while the monitor beeped slowly, signifying Lucius slipping away. A shadowy figure appeared in my dreams wielding a purple lightsaber.
"Anakin, is that you?" Lucius called weakly.
"No" the ghost replies ghastly.
"Gavin?"
"No!" the ghost replies, a touch of booming anger in his voice. The figure takes on a dark visage and appears to be two meters tall.
"Mace? Mace Windu?!"
"Yes, young one. A specter of the past." Mace replies.
"Take my hand" Mace says, extending his right hand down to me. I grab it and my body surges with new found strength and wisdom.
"Take and use my gift wisely" and Mace Windu's hand and body vanished from my grasp. A smile appeared on Lucius' unconscious form, tears running from underneath each eyelid.
"Hold on Master" D-MAS said, tending to his master's limp form. D-MAS held his round metallic head low wishing he could cry better still, shed tears. I felt so powerless against seeing my friend in a coma due to Trixie's anger. I did not fully understand the concept of love because it is a complicated term. Love could mean many things as I've discovered in my lifetime. It could be applied to warfare, food, drink, intoxicants, pets, family, vehicles, weapons, music, holonet, exotic dancers, sports, politics, friends, and planets. I would say I fall into the friend category when it comes to Lucius. I love his free spirit and defiant attitude. Though after seeing his girlfriend, Trixie Benine, captured by his former master, Tenyo Vahjar, he was no longer positive. If I compile my data properly, I can say with 99.97% accuracy that losing Trixie and finding out his master was also Yuuzhan Vong in disguise, sent him into a spiraling depression.
Lucius is the strongest and will driven Force user I've met. To compare video files from past with the present, is illogical. Illogical because I don't comprehend how he went from positive to full depression. I would confront him about this and he'd just say, "I'm fine". I hope whoever this Jedi Master Eve is, can bring him back to who he was before. I can't help this version of Lucius and to my self-discovery, dislike as well. He's reckless, mad, angry, sad, and broken inside. If I knew what components made him better, I would get them for him. I know alcohol isn't one of these components, that makes him tired and withdrawn. Trixie used to be one of those components but now, she's not.
Hyperspace aboard Trixie's coral skipper
"What the hell was Arena 29?" Trixie said, as her ride careened through hyperspace then, it hit her like a stampede of shaks. The first time they kissed. She remembered it and how good she had felt afterwards. Like she could melt with him like the lava pits of Mustafar. Then she remembered how betrayed she felt when Lucius left her for the enemy.
"I had no choice baby, you know that"
"Yes you did! You had a choice and you chose Naomi over me! You left me!" Trixie sat in her one seated coral skipper arms crossed, playing out that conversation over and over. Remembering how he held onto her hand so tight that, she thought for just a second, just that second, he would pull her back into the safety of his arms. Reality knocked her teeth in and knew that he was right. I did see him getting held down by multiple amphistaffs, fighting and cutting to get free of them, but she was too misty eyed from crying and the smoke from the battle to have seen that. Slamming her right fist down on the controls, she noticed two things. One, her ring was missing from her ring finger and didn't know if Lucius had it or if it was lost on Myrkr. Two, that her pitch-black eyes were misty with tears that ran down her face. My god, what have I done? No, he gets no remorse for abandoning you! Steeling herself against the wave of emotion threatening her, Trixie sniffled and groaned wiping her eyes of tears. What the hell have I become? I wasn't always like this. I used to love him, and we were such a great union. Then, Myrkr happened. He doesn't know what happened after I was captured. I remember him asking why I didn't fight back when he had my hand. I was frozen and solely relied on his strength to pull me free. My mind said, "Fight back, writhe, hit Vahjar!" but my body wasn't responding. I was paralyzed by fear and terror.
Fear that I wouldn't see him again. Terrorized that I was caught off-guard so easily. Vahjar was so strong and powerful! Watching Lucius fight against those amphistaffs was the most heart-breaking sight ever and that has stayed with me for the past two years. Waking up in the Embrace of Pain left me truly afraid. But it was what happened after that changed me.
The Past
Two years ago, ten days after Trixie's capture
Undisclosed locationI had fought them off the best I could. My lightsaber had been broken in half like a toothpick three days earlier. Lucius was coming with a search party and I'd be rescued from this torturous hell. So many people enslaved and beaten on. Willpower was not a strength to have in this place. I lost mine when they surprised me with an early morning beating, followed by a vicious gangrape. I tried holding my jumpsuit to me to stay covered, but it was shredded away, exposing my flesh to their hungry hateful eyes. Even naked, I tried to cover myself with my hands and cried as they yanked my hands above my head, forcing my legs open. I writhed against their attempts because I didn't want what me and Lucius shared that night tainted by their filth. It wasn't enough though, I screamed as one of them impaled my vagina first, filling and stretching me inside. I couldn't handle the pain of him and I unleashed forks of Force Lightning on him. For that, I was bludgeoned so hard I saw black.
Awaking some time later, I heard grunting, pressure on my chest, and my body was wet. The gang of Vong had suspended themselves in the Embrace of Pain after having their way with me. I could barely move. My head pounded from the blow earlier, arms ached, legs throbbed, and my vagina pulsated from the brutal raping I underwent while unconscious. Moving so very slowly, I grimaced as I surveyed my naked body. There were patches of deep bruises, cuts, and the wetness? My own blood, sweat, along with their drool and ejaculate apparently. I groaned in disgust as a baby amphistaff slithered over my body, pausing to lick my nipple before slinking away. I was in some pitted cell of some sort and as I tried to sit up, my arms failed me. It took me an hour to sit up properly and another 30 minutes to examine my body. Bastards, I hated them for violating me like that. I felt along my right thigh until I felt a familiar bump and began to silently cry.
"Why are you crying, Jedi?" the menacing voice of Tenyo Vahjar asked, standing at the foot of my cell.
"You bastards raped and beat me! I HATE YOU!"
"Hahahahahahahahahahahaha! Good, you're still tough that means more punishment for you til you've softened up to me" Tenyo cackled, walking away and was replaced with two guards who dragged me by my ankles to be cleaned up and dressed in tattered clothes for work. That went on for what seemed like years but, turned out to be months.
At the end of my first year with the Vong, I had stolen a cargo transport and gotten to some planet with grasslands, after being shot down. I still couldn't believe I escaped! Stupid ass Yuuzhan Vong. I groaned as I dragged myself from the wreckage and disappeared into the tall grass. Night had fallen on this world and I did my best to avoid being detected as the scouts searched for me. Crawling towards a heavily shadowed tree, I looked around to see if I was clear. Sighing deeply, I grimaced as I began to dry heave. Minutes felt like seconds burning away as I continued dry heaving and vomit followed. Groaning, I felt my mouth enlarge and whimpered softly at the pain. Digging a semi deep hole, I moaned as my jaw popped out of place and I saw the crown of pastel green sticking out my mouth. Moaning and breathing through my nostrils, I vomited more as the pastel green showed its egg shape. Beating the ground, I pushed with all my strength and the pastel green egg fell out of my mouth and into my hands. FINALLY. Groaning, I felt my mouth return to its original shape.
I examined the egg and smiled with tears brimming. The bump on my right thigh? That was the birthing sac for my child. It took a year to grow to the size of a pineapple and in a few months' time, I would have to return to swallow it again and give birth to it. Lucius didn't know that I was pregnant; even I didn't know. After I'd been raped a few more times, I was terrified that the egg would have a different color to it. The first rape I wasn't crying because of being violated. The tears were of joy that they didn't crush the egg in its protective sac. If I survive this, our child will be the light at the end of this. For now, our unborn baby has to be hidden away. Gently kissing the side, I set it in the dirt while looking around for scouts and knowing I was clear, I watched and waited in the moonlight. A small green vine wiggled out and slid into the ground as an anchor. Good, take to the earth here and I'll return as soon as I can it isn't safe, my child. I pushed the dirt I dug up and covered the egg completely, walking away wiping my eyes.
"Over here! I've found her!" one of the Vong scouts barked to his party members. I was shoved towards Tenyo, who stood waited for me.
"And what would you call what you did?"
"Exercise. I wanted to stretch my legs properly" I smirked and was answered with a vicious backhand by him. Staggering lightly, I spit blood and laughed looking up at him.
"You must like being punished, yes?"
"Shall I strip my rags off and let you have your way with me?" I offered, and the scouts snorted and howled but fell silent as Tenyo held his left fist up.
"Get aboard the ship, I will deal with you when we return…"
The Present
Unknown planetoid
I came out of recollection and brought my coral skipper out of hyperspace then, down on the nearest planetoid. Scanning the console readouts in Vong was difficult but this planetoid was uninhabited with a semi breathable atmosphere. I had proven myself adept to adapting which is how I gained favor with Tenyo. It's also how I avoided being raped so much. Kinda like the one line in the Sith code, through victory, my chains are broken. Only for the fact of my victory was short lived and cost me my pride, virtue, and willpower. I fell from the Light and became this unrecognizable person. This unrecognizable person who, sentenced Lucius Draken to death with a snake head bite. How can I ever live with myself for what I've done? By crying and screaming til I'm numb for a while and build my walls stronger than before. Exiting my vessel, I fell to my knees and wailed. Vomited and wailed more. How did I become this monster? I have hurt so many over being abandoned. In that carnage, I found solace in Tenyo Vahjar. Fucked up, but true. I hated Lucius for failing to save me, hated the Vong for violating me, hated myself for being so weak. But how could I go back to the Order? I would be imprisoned and sentenced for attempted murder! What do I do? I rocked back and forth, unsure of what to do. Out of the corner of my eye, I noticed a mountain a few meters behind me. For a second, I thought I'd gone to Quip, but this mountain was a regular white and brown. Shuddering, I got to my feet and forced myself to focus. Focusing on my anger and everything that I hated, I felt my hands crackle with lightning. Hate Lucius. Hate Vong. Hate Tenyo Vahjar. Hate myself. Channeling all that, I lashed out at the mountain with forks of Force Lightning. I watched as chunks crumbled and fell to the ground before me. I screamed at the mountain as boulders from it came crashing down around me. Watching and feeling the destruction of it gave me purpose again. I needed to feel again, and this was my outlet to feeling normal. I replayed my rape over and over, fueling my anger even more. Then the memory of burying my unborn child floated to the surface and I collapsed again, sobbing as I held myself.
The mountain was half destroyed as dust clouds floated to the east. The memory of what happened to her unborn child was too painful. The ground quaked before her and Trixie looked up to see the mountain was falling towards her. Scrambling to her feet, she jumped into her coral skipper and took off as the mountain toppled over. The massive dust cloud billowed in every direction and Trixie brought the skip around to see the damage she caused. Pleased with her results, Trixie jumped into hyperspace.
Jyga, West Zone
On Jyga, the foursome made their way through the tall grass and into a city entrance. The entrance was made of stone that had seen a long history of many battles. Standing a decadent twenty meters tall, wearing spider cracks and chunks of stone that were blasted away like badges of honor, the archway's jagged gaps served as candle placements for those lost. Otherwise, the byzantine blue archway stood firm ready for another battle. The West Zone of Jyga had rich flourishing agriculture but, the quintet would quickly discover why the other inhabitants steered clear of the West Zone.
"Very creepy ewww!" Jaina said, startled at the sight she saw. One of the planet's inhabitants was feeding off another female, blood running down its neck.
"How ummm, interesting how they feed off each other to survive." C-3PO said, hesitantly and amazed at the same time however, Jaina knew that if Golden Rod was real he would've fainted on sight.
"You're so–" Trinity began.
"Don't ruin his fun" Jaina mused, smiling lightly.
"Keep going" Charlie said, urgently and the gang reached a local tavern. Fifteen minutes after she entered, Charlie spoke to them once she'd finished getting info from the innkeeper.
"Wait here five minutes, then we'll go."
"I'm game" Brock smiled, taking in the establishment's patrons from the doorway.
"Why do we have to wait here?" Jaina said, visibly shuddering as a male licked black blood from his lips and winked at her.
"You guys are outsiders; I'm not. Just like some bars won't serve droids, this one isn't too keen on outsiders coming into their establishment. Think of a Nexu marking its territory, it's like that."
Charlie went inside alone and found Eve, sitting in the far corner, drinking a pint of blood. I sat down across from my former master, shifting uncomfortably from her drinking blood. I informed her of our situation and she continued drinking. Jygan dialect consisted of broken syllables and soft clicking pops. However, when I spoke in Basic, I had forgotten she liked to speak in the ancient planetary dialect. To my surprise, her Jygan had faded almost completely in place of a Victorian aristocrat. Superior yet formal.
"You come and ask for my assistance after all this time?" the Jedi Master asked with a quizzical stern tone in Jygan.
"I know you like your peace, but I wouldn't ask unless it was an emergency. A former Jedi Knight by the name of Lucius Draken has been infected with amphistaff venom. Regular medical treatment won't help; only you could get all the poison out of him."
"What do I gain out of this venture?"
"I don't know honestly"
"Hmmm is that Trinity I smell outside? Rik's gonna love that"
"Nevermind Trinity and him, focus on Lucius please. Time is slipping away! Are you coming along, yes or no?" Charlie asked impatiently. Jedi Master Eve drew her emerald hood back, took a swig of blood, and sighed. Shaking her hair lightly then, brushing it back with her extended fingernails, she shrugged and eyed Charlie thoroughly.
"You know this is a good pint of blood, right?"
"So, have some ordered to go then!"
"One more question"
"What?" Charlie replied, becoming flustered by the master's careless attitude towards Lucius' predicament.
"Where is his Master at? Always two; a master and an apprentice"
"Betrayed and a long story to follow"
"Sob story; got it" Eve remarked dispassionately, standing up and signaled to the barkeep who nodded at her four-finger gesture. I followed suit unsure of where she was going.
Outside Brock, Jaina, Trinity, and 3PO stood there, with looks of fear. Except for 3PO and Brock, who were amazed and nervous at the same time.
"Where is your ship?" Eve questioned right off the bat, smoothing out her robes.
"Outside the city entrance" said Brock, who was taken aback by this woman's brash manner.
"Let's go immediately" Eve urged, but a group of six vampires; three men and three women, clad in black stopped them in their midst.
"You owe me a favor Eveie" the lead man said in Jygan, spinning a Cortosis sword in his right hand.
"I know this Rik. In two months, I will repay the favor." Eve replied, as her emerald robes billowed upward from the breeze-filled area, her hood blew against her light brown vanilla swirled colored hair, which flooded around, giving the Master a regal pose. As though she were ready to lead a platoon of Clone Troopers into a mighty fight. Eve's appearance was human mostly. Her seaweed colored eyes and snake-like visage glared at Rik. Her stature of 5'6 and lean 142-pound figure was not to be mistaken as sultry. A helper from the inn came walking past with four cases of clinking blood in glass jars.
"Here, let me help" Brock offered.
"I sincerely doubt you could lift one jar, let alone an entire case." Rik chuckled.
"Let's see then" Brock smiled, holding his hand out for a jar of the oil colored blood. He gasped, staggering slightly and grounded himself holding the jar with both hands.
"How much does this thing weigh?"
"Well, its double the gravity of our planet. The reason you haven't succumbed to it from a terraforming agent that was released into the atmosphere years ago. Same goes for oxygen, you're provided with a day's worth of oxygen before having to leave and come back. That part is still being worked on." Eve explained, taking the jar with two fingers and handed it back to the delivery boy.
"Good to know"
"Hello there little Trin. Been awhile" Rik smirked while his cohorts chuckled softly.
"Go drain yourself, Rik" Trinity sighed in disgust, heading to the Javelin.
"Move out of the way" Eve said, stepping to Rik and he gestured with a guiding hand, departing with his gang in tow. Approaching the ship, they boarded with their new occupant, cargo, and took off for home.
Coruscant, Jedi Temple
Medical Wing
Arriving on Coruscant some three hours later, Eve dashed off the ship at lightning speed. Leaping from stairwell to turbolift, leading to the medical wing Eve reached it spotting the unconsciousness, sweaty form of Lucius, with no sweat on her brow. The monitor was beeping steadily but slowly until a steady flat tone resonated, which seemed to be louder than a mouse squeaking as it dashes away from the angry homeowner who wants it dead.
"Lucius? No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no! You cannot die Master Draken, you have to save Trixie!" D-MAS said, performing chest compressions with his left while injecting an adrenal booster with his right. Other medical attendees worked on bringing Lucius back to life. Sadly, their efforts were in vain. Lucius Draken was pronounced dead at 20:02pm.
"Wake up Master! Wake up NOW! You cannot give up like this! You did not give up on me, I will not give up on you." D-MAS said, continuing first aid to a motionless Lucius.
"He is dead and not coming back. Can someone deactivate this droid before—"
"Any attempt to stop me will be met with extreme prejudice. My master programmed me with self-preservation protocols. Take one step towards me and I will defend myself; I am trying to save my friend" D-MAS stated, punching the wall leaving a deep spiderweb impact.
"Come back NOW!" D-MAS yelled, shocking Lucius and that didn't work.
I would not accept the logical fact that he was dead. He survived so much, surely poison couldn't take him away from me. I need my friend back; I do not want to have my memory wiped and repurposed to some stranger. Lucius Draken is my one and only Master. We've trained, fought, eaten, drank, laughed, and cried together. How would I function without him? I cannot compute that outcome. Raising my hand, I slapped his face once and nothing. I repeated the action, still nothing. When I started for the third strike, a woman in emerald robes held my hand.
"He's dead, what more can you do? More importantly, who are you?" D-MAS asked Eve, confused by the female's actions.
"Physically, yes. But in the Force? His life force burns brightly, and I can bring him back. I need but one thing: everyone out but, Charlie." Now I lurked over to his left bedside, disconnecting the cords in my wake. Seizing his covers and tossing them onto the floor, I examined his chest and throat exposed to my view. Everyone left except for Charlie and D-MAS, whom wanted to watch what I was about to do. Closing the doors and I said to him, "Thank you D-MAS"
"Your quite welcome mistress"
"I will find his essence, Master" Charlie said, folding her hands over his left and closing her eyes to begin her meditation in the Force. I bared my ivory fangs, moved his head over to the left and said: "He's cute"
"Master!" Charlie spat in shock and I bit into the left side of his neck from whence the snake staff poison entered.
Time and Space
They say when your dead your dead for good and to the world, they say the dead don't dream well in my white nothingness, I dreamt. Dreamt of Myrkr two years ago and that horror- stricken decision that I had to make. Instead of different battles going, Naomi stood there, a peaceful smile on her serene face.
"You tried to save me and failed but, I forgive you." Naomi said approaching me. Time had no effect where Lucius was.
"Your neck is bleeding" Naomi continued, ripping off one of her sleeves and offering it to me. Touching my neck my hand felt the familiar red moisture upon it and tied it around my neck.
"NO! NOT YET!" I bellowed upward and then Charlie appeared, explaining what happened. After that, she embraced her dead cousin and it was a sight to behold: family reunited through the power of the Force and slowly, they disappeared. Next, I felt my body jerk backward and my eyes burned like a supernova. A black whip lanced out to wrap around my wrist and it wasn't any regular whip, it was an amphistaff. Trixie's amphistaff to be exact. I saw Trixie hurling it at me, watched it wrap around my wrist as well. Though, I felt no inclination to seize its grip on me. To my surprise and hers, it uncoiled, falling to the ground and looking behind me, I saw a huge black maul swallowing everything up. Three seconds later, I was swallowed up.
Jedi Temple, Medical Wing
Charlie stood next to her master, small bowl in hand and a minute later, Eve spat a greenish red fluid into the bowl; the poison with some of his blood.
"Burn this ASAP!" Eve said with some effort and Charlie disappeared down the corridor. Sucking the venom had taken two and a half hours to siphon out of Lucius's immune system. The exertion and awkward angle had left her body stiff, not to mention tired. Eve sat down, swishing water to clean out her mouth, regurgitating back into the bottle she drank from. The fatigue of not being on Jyga weighed heavily on her more than she expected. On Coruscant, Eve was lighter in terms of gravity and she had never been to the crown jewel of the galaxy before. Adjusting to this alien environment would indeed be a challenge. Her ears rang softly, a mild headache was forming between her temples, and cramps plagued her pelvic region. As the doors swung shut, Lucius awoke suddenly, growling.
"It's a miracle! Someone get Master Luke or whoever's available, Lucius is back from the dead!" a nurse said, running into the hallway. Another nurse entered the room and was gesturing with her hands, approaching me slowly. Shoving this women out of my way, I threw her into the mesh of medical equipment with only one thing on my mind: escaping and survival. Making my way to the window with my back to it, shirtless and my body caked in sweat, I patted the window knowing my back was protected. The main door opened again, and Brock entered, surveyed the scene in front of him and said,
"Lucius, take it easy man! How is this possible? You died; but now, you're back. Eve can explain everything" I looked from the doorway then, to the woman he pointed to called Eve.
I heard her and him in my head, at the same time. I held my head, shaking the cobwebs away and tried to speak but, a deep guttural snarl issued from my throat. Nothing made sense! What did he mean I died? I thought I only passed out. If I did in fact die, how come I feel so alive? Better yet, why am I so hungry? Who's this Eve woman? Too many questions and no answers. Reaching out, I called the hook from my sword to me andleaping out the window, it shattered from my impact, cutting me on the way down. Lucius landed some 25 feet from the medical wing's window on his bare cut feet, glass tinkling around him then he ran into the shadows of Lower Coruscant, knocking over ancient stands and displays. Eve leapt out the same way as Lucius did, despite being in pain from saving his life. Landing with a soft thud and sniffing the air, a thousand new scents filling her senses, assaulting her nostrils she focused on Lucius' and went after him.
Lower Coruscant
When she sucked out the venom, the process had accidently given Lucius vampiric abilities but, they were only temporary unless, the process was finished. If he went through with it, Lucius would need to feed once in a while. Winding down an old alley of dead buildings that were in the process of being reshaped, she saw a brief glimpse of Lucius' shadow.
"It's all right Lucius come on out and I'll explain everything" Eve spoke, as if she were talking to a shy little boy who was curious about a big red button. He hid in the shadowy corner of the nearest building to her right, gasping and panting as his body was changing and he became thirsty for blood and the only candidate was Eve. The craving was strong and odd to me. I was just so hungry, practically ravenous. God, I never realized how stinky Lower Coruscant truly was! Ughhh! Those sirens are so loud! Everything was amplified but when I focused on staying hidden until the time was right, the amplification died down. That word: died. Did I really die up there? Arrrghhhh! The voices! So many voices and thoughts jumbled together like a schizophrenic with multiple personalities telling a chaotic story, jumping to the plot twists and ignoring the buildup entirely. A secret complex language that someone constructed and niggardly forget the codex or cipher that unlocked its value. Every race and species within a 2.5-mile radius could be heard. Talking and thinking so quietly to themselves but to me, yelling and shouting.
Lucius heard footsteps and dashed out the window like a cat. Unsheathing the Beyvox hook from his waistband, crept up behind Eve, and jumping like a nexu to its prey, brought the hook underneath her chin.
"Who are you?" he snarled, holding me to him with the strength of an anaconda.
"Jedi Master Eve Indigo" she replied, stressfully scared and frightened.
"What have you done to me? Damn You!" I barked, tightening the pressure to her neck.
"Saved your life and given you a gift in return" I stated and thought to myself, I could get free and subdue him but, he might overpower me and kill me if I don't do something soon.
"I oughta kill you"
"Do it then. But, you need me, and you know this to be true." The blade pricked the left side of her neck, releasing a tiny slivering trickle blood down her neck to stain her robes.
"Don't test me" he said, pushing her down to the ground while shaking his head to clear away the fog surrounding his mind.
"You have to drink my blood" Eve said, decided in her attempt to get free. I recognized the symptoms of mahn'durg or, Transference as it roughly translates. Disorientation, aggression, hunger, and sensory overload. I watched as he tripped, still clenching the hook and said "NO".
Then she whipped me round and said, "Yes, you are."
"Don't make me kill you" He warned, and I felt my second wind as I called on the Force. Eve grabbed my left arm and threw Lucius into a duracrete wall where, he slumped slightly. I leapt at him bringing my fist down on him; I looked up and saw Eve coming down on me and I caught her fist. Her teeth now had two short ivory tusks and I said,
"I WON'T DRINK BLOOD!"
"YES YOU WILL" The Jedi Master shrieked, as I threw her to the ground and my tongue grazed two tusks on the front top row of my teeth.
"LEAVE ME ALONE!" I bellowed. Eve lunged at me and I punched her, with as much brute strength would allow my fist connected and broke against her jaw.
"Nice try. Now, it's my turn" She laughed, as the warm night air moved with crisp howls. Dropping Lucius with a trip kick, he went in the air for a brief couple of seconds and in those seconds, Eve speared him into the same wall again with blinding speed, causing it to spider-web under the pressure. Grunting with pain and being bedridden for 36 hours, crippled Lucius' senses and perception badly.
"Now, you've got two choices: Drink or you'll go crazy and end up killing your friends and whomever you love in the end."
"You sick bitch" I said, wrapping my hands around her throat in a last-ditch effort.
"Emperor's Black Bones! Lucius, your eyes are blood red please, I can't breathe!" Eve croaked, tugging on his hands desperately trying to pry them loose. Once again, that dark satisfaction crept into his features and just as quickly as it had entered him, it left his system.
"Wha wha wha what have I done?" a confused and bewildered Lucius said.
"Feed off my blood Lucius and see it'll make all this go away" Eve pleaded rubbing her throat, surprised by his anger being triggered by threatening what he holds dearest. Even in his weakened bewildered state, he was a force to be reckoned with.
"No, stop it!" I cried out, shaking my head. I can't track her movements but I'm not going down without a fight.
"DO IT, YOU PATHETIC NERF HERDIN' HUTT SLIMER!" Eve punched Lucius three times in the face then, slammed his head into the wall again with her left hand, which gave him a fresh nosebleed. Eyes blazing in defiance, Lucius stabbed her left side and twisted the hook inside her. I gasped and looked at my side where, he stabbed me viciously. He smirked and spat in my face, but I just laughed. Yanking his right arm down hard, I watched him yell as his shoulder became dislocated. After that, I pulled the hook free and groaned licking my blood off the blade.
"Silly Jedi, you thought that was my weak spot? Wrong anatomy. My left side is just a regenerative membrane for blood circulation. I'll let you go if, you stop fighting me and drink my blood." I responded, wiping his spit off my face.
"Go. To. HELL!" He bellowed so, I belted him in the face. The angry defiance faded briefly giving way to sorrow and loss but returned to rage just as fast. What was that sorrow I saw so briefly in his eyes? Something he lost or taken away perhaps? He went to punch me with his good arm, but I caught his wrist and broke his fingers in different angles.
"Drink NOW. I won't hesitate to break your legs as well or maybe I'll just shatter your spine, leaving you paralyzed and whimpering." I spoke reassuringly and slid my robe off, exposing my left shoulder. Taking the hook, I cut into my shoulder lightly letting it bleed lightly.
"I have to cut because, your fangs aren't sharp enough to pierce skin yet. You will drink my blood" I explained and setting him down, waved my right hand in front of him, using the full weight of the Force on him.
"I-I-I will drink your blood" Lucius said, resisting at first but relaxing as my influence took him over. I watched him walk towards me, ignoring the pain he endured and sniffed at my smooth, creamy, soft warm skin. He kissed at my wound then gently sucked on it.
I recoiled at the sweet black licorice taste of green fluid that flowed forth and down my throat, quenching my thirst. It was so tart and bitter yet, refreshing. Pressing my lips to the wound again, I sucked firmly feeling the phrenetic pandemonium in my head quieting down. I didn't feel the desire to drink anymore. I wasn't craving the urge to crawl into a bottle and disappear for days on end. The taste of her blood might be disgusting but the effect it had on me was a good one. I didn't know this was even possible. The heavy cobwebs of drunkenness were melting away and I was on the road to my old self.
"Now, there's a good boy." She said, coaxing my cornrows while moaning contentedly and my whole self felt full of life, I felt anew. I groaned hard feeling my right arm popped back into it place, causing me to cry out in surprise.
Laying against a slanted battle-scarred slab of wall debris, Lucius continued to drink deeply of Eve's rich, thick, warm, ravishing tasty blood. After ten minutes of feeding, he didn't wanna stop.
"All right Lucius, now that's enough." Eve said, kicking his drunken form off her own. I lie there, spread-eagled and feeling quite drunk from the blood intake. Though the drunkenness was peaceful vs the alcohol I would usually partake. My vision was blurry as I tried to focus my eyes. My body felt so heavy and then it convulsed wildly. Eve stood up, tucked her left arm tightly in-between her thighs and pushed with her good arm until a loud popping crack came from her left shoulder. She shook it a little bit to get rid of the tingling sensation. The reason she cracked her shoulder was that it had become numb from holding him up for so long. Eve Indigo might be superior in strength but, that doesn't exclude her from feeling pain or discomfort. Discarding her robe and revealing a one-strapped teal top that hugged her right shoulder with an inch of cleavage, Eve brushed off her black pants along with her black ash desert boots. Her clothing ensemble wasn't traditional of the Jedi though coming from a planet like Jyga, her wardrobe was understandable.
She regarded his convulsing form as the beginning stages of Transference and didn't assist him in any way. This was a test of will that Eve could not interfere with. If he desired to live, he would pull through. If not, he would die and that would be the end of his journey. She came over to him and watched him convulse and start to choke. He reached for her hand but, she kicked it away.
"No, I cannot interfere with Transference. You must rise above it or fade away forever." Eve declared, turning on heel and walking away into the shadows. She was gonna leave me to die after saving me? What the fuck kind of Jedi Master is she? I'm gonna choke to death and she isn't gonna lift a finger! Where are my chains? Oh wait, that's right. They don't like me since I took up the bottle. I'm gonna be picked off by a Vong patrol if she doesn't do something. Shit, what am I gonna do?
I can't stop shaking and I need to move or roll over so, I don't choke to death. What are your options? Well: you got one good working arm, working legs, body won't stop convulsing, and of course, choking to death. Stretching out my right arm, I dragged myself inch by inch on the ground towards the slanted debris. The process took me 20 minutes and I was exhausted. Coughing and getting my breathing back under control, I grimaced as the fingers of my left hand popped back into place. After that hellacious ordeal, I drifted off into a blank empty sleep which, I was grateful for. From the shadows two buildings up, Jedi Master Eve Indigo smiled.
"There may be hope for you yet, Lost One"