Gazing into the Abyss

Star Wars: The Bergeron Chronicles, Part 3

a fanfic by Sisiutil


Chapter 4

"Kilu, no..." Axel said, his voice little more than a horrified, agonized groan.

"I told you not to call me that!" she snapped at him. She turned towards him, the lightsaber still active, the bright red blade glowing and humming in front of her, pointing right at him. Instinctively, he gasped and stepped back from it. "Oh," she said, an amused grin curling one half of her mouth as she glanced at her weapon. "Is it making you nervous, precious? Fine, I'll turn it off." Which she did, and hung the weapon from a clip on her belt. The gesture didn't make him feel any more relaxed.

She strode up to him, her hips swinging a little as she approached. "Now, let's say hello properly," she said. She threw her arms around his neck and pressed her body against his. Then she kissed him, her open lips covering his, her tongue invading his mouth. He was too startled to respond. One of her hands wandered down his back and squeezed one of his buttocks. He raised his hands to her shoulders and pushed her away. He stepped back from her, wiping his mouth with the back of his hand.

"What's the matter, lover?" she said as a nasty smile appeared on her lips and a wicked gleam shone in her eyes. Then her lower lip pushed outwards in a mock pout. "Don't you love me anymore?"

"Kilu," he said, holding up his left hand, its palm towards her and its fingers outstretched, "this... this is not you."

"You're right," she said with a smile and a nod. She spread her arms. "I've been liberated! And I have you to thank for it. Which, by the way? Is the only reason you're still alive," she said with a smile and a laugh that inspired no mirth in him whatsoever. "Well, that and, uh... one other talent you have," she said as her eyes took a lascivious trip down over his body.

Axel was focused on what she'd said several sentences back. "You have... me to thank?" he asked, clearly confused.

"It was when you were trapped in there," she said, pointing to a hole in the stone floor. Axel had jumped into it during that confrontation with Darth Mostrus to avoid being crushed by the wall that the Sith and pulled down towards him. "I was using the pathetic light side to move the stones out of the way, but that was taking forever. So... I used the dark side. Just a little," she said, holding her forefinger and thumb close together in front of her. She dropped her hand, then inhaled deeply and a short, soft moan escaped from her lips. "It was my first taste of the dark side of the Force... and I did it to save you. That's right, the dark side saved your hide, lover. So it can't be all bad, can it?"

"You didn't... you didn't tell me..." Axel stammered.

"Well, of course not!" she exclaimed, and rolled her eyes. "It's not the sort of thing a wimpy little Jedi would admit to, now, is it? I mean, I used the dark side to save my lover," she said, counting off both emphasized points on her fingers. "That's two big demerits right there. Golly, they might have kicked me out of the clubhouse for that."

"This isn't... I mean..." Axel said, gesturing towards her shakily, "this isn't... permanent, right? You can... you can come back to the light side, still, can't you?"

She looked at him as though he'd suddenly sprouted eye stalks. "Why would I want to?" she asked rhetorically. "You have no idea how powerful the dark side of the Force is, Axel!" she told him enthusiastically. "I mean, since you have all the Force sensitivity of a brick, that's obvious, but you get the point, right? I'm not going back. I don't want to go back. I like what I've become... no, I love it. Like I love you..."

She walked towards him once again, and for a moment, just for a moment, he thought he saw a sign, a flicker, of the old Kilu, his Kilu, in her expression as she looked at him.

"Axel, we can be together," she said. Her hand reached out to caress his cheek. "There are no rules anymore, not for me, and not for you either." She brought her face closer to his; her lips hovered enticingly over his mouth. He could feel her breath as she whispered to him, so warm and so sweet on his skin. "We can go wherever we want, do whatever we want..."

Her hands were on his shoulders now, kneading them tenderly, just like she used to do. Her body was so close to his; even with the jungle heat around them, he could still sense its warmth. He swallowed. In spite of everything, in spite of what she had become, it was tempting. So very tempting. It was what he wanted, to be with her all the time. Maybe he could take her away, maybe they could escape together, go somewhere. It wouldn't be easy...

"The Jedi," he warned. "They'll hunt you..."

"Let them," she said coldly, and her hands fell from his shoulders and she took a step back from him and just like that, the illusion was shattered. "I'll kill them all. I'm looking forward to it."

"No," he said, opening his eyes, still trying to wake himself from this nightmare. "No, Kilu, you're not a killer."

"Do you want me to prove it to you?" she said, her eyebrows raised. "And for the last time, stop calling me that! Kilu Branon is dead. I told you, I'm Darth Abyysma now."

Suddenly, his confused expression disappeared. "Kilu is dead," he said bleakly. He slowly took a step back from her.

"Didn't I just say that?" she replied. "Is there an echo in here? Oh wait, actually, there is..."

Axel had taken another step back from her. His left hand had slowly, surreptitiously dropped to the handle of his blaster. "She's really gone, isn't she?" he said. He took another step backwards. "And you're what's left."

"Do you have a problem with that?" she asked him pointedly.

"Not at all," Axel said. His voice with redolent with his disdain for what she had become. And, in truth, with self-hatred as well. Because he'd drawn her down this path. All he'd wanted to do was to love her. Instead, he'd destroyed her. And destroyed himself as well, because if Kilu was gone, and this cold-hearted mockery was all that was left, then he didn't want to live. His hand was around the blaster's grip now, his finger on its trigger. "In fact, it just makes this easier."

He drew the blaster, pointed its muzzle at her, and fired.