Disclaimer I do not own Star Wars

Note: I am going to be doing a few of these chapters from Maul's point of view. There will be 2 of some chapters they will be notated like below. You can read just one of them or both of them and the story will stay in context. This is intended to give a broader understanding of the situation going on without switching between 1st person and 3rd person in the narrative.

Chapter 8-2

Mauls POV

Eighteen hours had passed since Savage and I had beaten the woman who referred to herself as Naia unconscious. She had lain on my floor unconscious and unmoving aside from her breathing. Had she not been strong with the force the beating she had received probably would have killed her.

I sat on the bed with my newly formed legs resting. Hours ago I ordered Savage to go through the stuff Naia had brought with her in attempt to gain any new knowledge about her I could. Some time ago Savage brought a singular object to me reporting that everything else was herbs or clothing. I held now a strange stone which radiated with power in my right hand looking down at it.

The stone was slightly smaller than my hand and appeared to be clear quartz with little striations which ran its length. I held it up looking at it in the light; there were little triangles that also checkered the stone. It radiated with power to the point that my palm seemed to vibrate with it. I found this object very interesting.

I had asked the human woman Sedona what the stone was and she swore that she did not know. She had just finished putting a green paste like substance on my legs which had quieted their throbbing. Unlike the previous day the throbbing was not so unbearable that it hurt to breathe. Being bound to the bed because I was worthlessly weak was infuriating.

"Is there anything further you require?" Sedona's voice drew my attention from the stone.

This ex jedi was certainly a strange one. Unlike most ex jedi I had met she still kept with their unflattering brown robes and clothing. Unlike most jedi and ex jedi I had met she kept her head covered at almost all times. Her presence was annoying and had I not needed her skill in healing I would have already killed her.

A small sound drew my attention to the unconscious woman, my eyes narrowed as I could sense her waking. I looked back at the bright eyed ex jedi. "Leave us." I commanded.

"Yes Master." She replied turning and walking away.

I watched her cast her gaze down as she walked past her semiconscious friend. At this point she clearly knew better than to stop to check on her fallen friend. In fact she only paused long enough to press the button on the door. She disappeared through the hatch and I cast my eyes down to the woman on the floor.

She was laying there still pretending to be asleep. "I know you are awake Naia." I crossed my legs and turned to stare at the wall ahead as I spoke.

She sighed softly in response to my voice but remained unmoving aside from her steady breathing. Her lack of movement or acknowledgement annoyed me. Her blatant disobedience even after the beating she and her friend had received was somewhat surprising.

"Get up, you have slept long enough." I commanded listening to her grunt as she slowly sat up.

It took a moment for her to look at me. "Get all the way up." I commanded once more I didn't need to look down at her to know she was still sitting on the floor.

The sound of her movement drew my attention to her form. She struggled to her feet and her eyes finally met mine. Her long black hair looked disheveled and her skin held the paler of someone who was about to hurl. The black shirt and pants she was wearing just made her look even more sickly.

"There happy?" She grunted softly, her tone was breathless but still edgy.

I felt a bit of anger boil up from the bits of my stomach as I looked at her and quirked a brow. "Do you like pain?"

"If it is the right kind I suppose." She replied nonchalantly and I could not stop my eyes from going slightly wide at the statement. "Why do you plan on beating me unconscious again?"

Part of my mind had a very strong urge to explore just what was the right type of pain. Part of me wanted to pusher to the boundaries of that pain. I sighed as I pushed those thoughts from my mind. "I hope that will not be necessary at this moment because I have other things I would like to focus my energy on at the moment."

"I could imagine but frankly that much thought would hurt my head." She replied yawning softly.

"Anyways for the time being-."

"Look Maul I can't call you my master." I frowned as she cut me off and broke my train of thought.

"I was not going to address that at this moment however since you brought it up why don't you follow your statement to its conclusion." I spoke as calmly as I could.

"I am the physical embodiment of the living force and that the force is my master. I am neither dark or light but a being imbued with the task of bringing it into balance. I do its will and right now its will is for me to be here helping you. I don't know why it just is." She finished her statement with a yawn as she reached up and ran a hand through her hair.

I blinked as I took in her statement. Sidious had always said there were others who used the force but they were not like us. Up until now I had always thought he was referring to the jedi. Could I be incorrect could there be more. I would have to learn more to be sure after all the Sith and the Jedi were both agents of the force, they could both feel when it became unbalanced.

"Darth Sidious always told me others who used the force. He always said that they were not like us up till now I thought he was referring to the Jedi." I admitted out loud holding up the stone. "What is this?"

I felt her take a few steps forward before she stopped and stared at the stone in my hand.

"It is a record keeper stone." Her reply was blunt and devoid of obvious emotion.

I feel power radiating from it." I flipped the stone in my hand. "What does it do?"

"Well in a way it is like a holocron you can store information in it and in a way it is like a battery you can store power in it and pull power from it." She replied her focus was now fully on the stone in my hand.

"What kind of information?" I asked flipping it once more watching the look of concern on her face.

"Whatever information the master of the stone chooses. I should warn you that that stone does not wish to be held any longer by you if you don't put it down it will bite you." She kept her voice neutral as she spoke.

"Who is the master of the stone?" I asked looking at it for a moment before I flipped it once more.

"I am the master of the stone." She replied with a slight hint of agitation in her voice.

I flipped the stone and caught it once more. Pain shot through my hand and on impulse I let it go. The stone bounced off of the edge of the bed and hurled towards the ground. It was stopped at the last second by Naia who caught it with the force.

"I told you it would bite you." She said gently grabbing the stone.

"Can you show me what information is inside of the stone?" I asked trying to pursue a gently approach to get what I want.

"No." Her reply was curt and I frowned.

"Why?"

"The information is not meant for you to have. Before you attempt it you cannot dominate it out of me or the stone. The stone will destroy itself."

"And what about you?" I asked looking her over.

"You can beat me but you will never break me. I am here to help you but I am by no means some lowly slave here to serve you."

I tried to keep my face from curling in disgust at her slave reference. I had never been fond of slaves after all I had been little more than Sidious's enslaved apprentice for years. The idea of forcing her to be my slave brought my anger forward as a small bit of bile rose in my throat.

After going to the Orsis Academy and meeting Kilindi who was the closest thing I had ever had to a friend I had been sickened by the very idea of slavery. At my masters behest I killed her. To this day I hated him for it. I had saved her for last and forced myself not to feel just to act. I had been little more than a puppet for my master, nothing more than a slave.

"I told you I would behave and I will but you are not my master and you never will be." Her statement was finite and I could not bring myself to argue with her.

"Very well." I kept my gaze on her. My expression was extremely guarded and seemed to confuse her.

Like all of my subjects and associates if she were going to serve me it would be of her own free will. After all she was far too useful to kill at this moment and she could prove to be a valuable asset in the future. If what Savage and Sedona claimed turned out to be true a serve me or die approach would not exactly be an effective approach anyways.

"I am sending Savage on a mission, Sedona is going with him." I spoke watching her nod.

"I take it you would like me to stay here?" She asked

"Yes, I am still in need of your healing." I looked up at her. "I am almost there but I am not 100% yet."

"It will still be a while before you are 100% Maul. You are close but you still have a journey ahead of you." Naia stated walking up to me. "If I may?" She motioned down to my legs indicating she wanted to inspect my legs.

I sighed as I straightened my legs out and leaned back. Sedona had inspected my legs a few hours ago when she had put the green salve on them. There was no pain in my legs but I decided to let her look after all she was the main healer here.

She grabbed my left leg below my knee her hands felt cold against my skin as she slid it back bending my knee up to my chest. There was no pain, the joint made no sound as it glided effortlessly through the motion. I watched the look of concentration on her face as she returned my leg back to its original position. Her attention turned to my other leg as she grabbed it and repeated the action.

Satisfied with the response of my legs she traveled up and placed her hands on the waist of my pants. I looked up at her and blinked as her eyes met mine.

"Pardon my intrusion but I need to check your muscle tone and skin." Her voice was empty as she spoke.

"Fine." I grunted as she pulled my pants down to my ankles.

She turned her attention to my abdomen, bringing her hands to rest where I had once been cut in half. Her hands were less cold than they had been as she pressed around firmly. I watched her face as she did so. She had no expression that was readable. My body started to tingle as her touch on my skin was starting to elicit a more primal response than I wanted.

"Very good." She muttered pressing down somewhat firmly on my abdomen again. "Does this hurt?"

I shook my head but remained silent I did not trust that I could answer her and still appear as if I was not affected by her touching me.

"Maul I need you to be 100% honest with me." Naia's voice was slightly commanding.

"Yes, and no that does not hurt." Looking while she was touching me was a mistake so I closed my eyes as my body started to betray me.

She moved her hands a little higher and pressed firmly against my abdomen. "What about this?"

"No." I grunted, a frustrating ache had started to fill my loins.

"Have you been urinating ok?" She asked and I could not help but look up at her with a puzzled look.

"Well it has been a while since I have had to urinate on a regular basis but I have been using the bathroom several times a day if that is what you mean." Looking at her made it difficult to answer the question.

"Does it hurt when you use the bathroom in either manner?" She asked keeping a rather clinical matter to her.

"No." I shook my head and closed my eyes.

The more primal part of me was starting to claw at the back of my mind. She slid her hands to my pelvis and pressed down on my hips. This made it hard to focus on anything that did not include her touching me.

"How about this?" She slid her hand down stopping it just above my groin.

"No." I stared intently at the ceiling as I was forced to take slow controlled breaths.

This did not stop my body from aching. I craved the release she could easily give me. A small part of me wanted to shove her away. The lack of control I had over my body at this moment angered me.

She sighed and without warning grabbed my dick. I closed my eyes, shuddered, and then went as still as possible as she gently pulled back my foreskin as she continued to examine me. It was all I could do to keep my hands by my sides.

"Does this hurt?"

"No." I swallowed and shook my head.

"Sorry I am almost done." She muttered, slowly sliding her fingers back letting the foreskin of my penis go back to its original position.

Naia slid her hand back and gently squeezed me. She released my aching shaft and slid her hand to my balls. Her finger ran down my scrotum. It was all I could do to not give into the primal urges which screamed through me. I was angry with myself for my lack of control and this rage was starting to come to the surface. She released me abruptly and in one swift motion she reached down and grabbed my pants, sliding them back into place. I opened my eyes and in annoyance as she took a step back.

"Ok wiggle your toes." She spoke maintaining her clinical manner.

I wiggled my toes trying to ignore the aching in my loins. This was a little easier as long as she was not touching me.

"Ok wiggle your feet."

I found myself staring at her while I complied with her request. Even making this small movement for me right now was frustrating as it rubbed the material of my pants across my erection.

"Ok is there any pain?"

"From my feet and legs no." The effort it took for to sound calm made my words come off as breathy.

"Well then so far everything is functioning normally you no longer need complete bed rest and could probably even start doing light exercise. I would not suggest doing much more than stretches though. Your body is still not ready for a full regiment of exercise." She kept her eyes on me although her body language seemed neutral.

"Very well." I sat and kept looking at her.

"Is there anything else you would like from me?"

Several answers filled me for a moment. I had the urge to grab her and pull her into the bed so that I could relieve myself of the throbbing that had now built up in my member. I sighed as I forced the thought from my mind. "No I do not require anything further at the moment."

"Are you sure?" She asked, her voice had a questioning tone.

I forced myself to remain still as the urge to grab her filled me. "Yes, Leave before I change my mind." I was unable to keep the irritation out of my voice.

I did not know whether to feel relieved or irritated as she turned to leave the room. I let out a sigh as she disappeared through the port and it clicked shut behind her. My body throbbed aching for a release it had not known for over ten years.

A lot had happened since I had been left for dead on Naboo. The torturous isolation of being on that trash heap of a planet called Lobo Minor had done a large amount of damage to my consciousness. At some part in time the darkness of my hatred for the jedi named Kenobi and my master had festered and fractured my mind even more than my raising at the hands of Sidious on Mustafar did.

There were always two distinct sides to my psyche. When I was young this is how I survived and thrived despite the tortures I was subjected to on a daily basis in my youth. There was a small part of me that was still the young man who had been left on Orsis by my master. This part of me was prone to weakness of the flesh and craved the physical affections that I had always been denied. However this part of me wished for a willing partner and was offended by the very idea of taking someone in that manner by force. This part of me hated the idea of being a slave to anyone and this part of me hated the idea of someone in turn becoming a slave to me.

Part of me was still the man who was the monster my Master had created. This part of me had no hesitation about being cruel. If you did not comply willingly this part of me would force you compliance by any means necessary. This part of me had raped and murdered its way across the galaxy at the behest of my master. This part of me was obedient to Sidious and hated it. This part of me reveled in others pain and delighted in their misery. This part of me was cruel, cunning, and ruthless to the core. This is what I would become when it was necessary. This darkness is what allowed me to survive my youth.

On the damned heap of junk floating in space my mind had twisted and divided making new alliances with the darkness which had consumed me. The division had been harsh and there were still times that I had trouble sorting through and dealing with the three forms my consciousness would take in my sleep. Mother Talzin had done a good job of removing that darkness from my conscious mind however her sorcery had done little to relieve me of the darkness when I slept.

While I was awake they were of little issue as I could sort them out easily, however when I would sleep my mind at times would go back to Lotho Minor or worse I would relive my darkest night mares of being unable to save myself from the hands of my cruel master. The dreams of Lotho Minor were dark and frightening but could fight myself out of them.

However the dreams of being back in the room on Mustafar were daunting. They would not have been bad if they weren't always the same. I was always that weak child who could not defend himself. I was always expecting my punishment for living all the while begging to the universe to hear my plea and somehow rescue me.

Recently in my dreams it seemed as if the universe would humor my plea for mercy in a manner which was frustrating. It seemed almost every dream I had now had Naia in it. Almost as if by magic her lithe form would show up and fight off my dream-scape demons when I could not. When my own divide mental factions would show up to torture and feed off of what was left of my original self she would show up and fight them off, willingly giving of her own body and mind to protect me from myself.

This made part of me hate her as she highlighted my inadequacies. Part of it made me drawn to her in a way I had not been drawn to a female since Kilindi. This inexplicable attraction and desire for the woman was at times infuriating. When I was a cyborg I did not have to physically contend with the hormones I was dealing with right now. This was just almost like being a teenager once again.

Part of me sat here damning myself for letting her go. While part of me wanted to send her with Savage and keep Sedona here. This would have made her be far from me which possibly would allow me the space to think clearly. I was certainly not in the physical state to be without a healer right now. Although Sedona was a good healer, it was clear that Naia was much better. Sedona could heal more serious wounds but she herself had admitted that she lacked the full knowledge of how to regrow limbs.

This was the draw back I was currently facing as much as I wanted to send her away I knew that I needed her. I hated needing this woman. I hated the effect she was currently having on me. Moreover I hated myself for my lack of control.