Chapter 58: The Returned

Fehl.

Once that name had inspired both fear and envy in the hearts of every acolyte on Korriban, the pure-blood scion of a once great house, one steeped in tradition and a history of great strength within the Force. Fehl had been the last of them, the last of his bloodline.

His death had been a great loss to the Empire.

When Avaryss had first seen him she had only just arrived on Korriban, and had been…in awe of him. Both the power that he wielded and the pure…maleness of him had taken her breath away. As she had watched him, studied him, searching for a way to take him down, she had discovered much of his history and what had brought him to such a lofty height, and when she reached that point, she came to realize that she no longer desired to replace him as the academy's top student. A new desire had taken root, one that she had not understood at first.

She had not wanted to replace Fehl; she wanted to be Fehl's.

In time, she gave into that desire.

For weeks he had toyed with her, appearing just out of reach teasing her and feeding her desire and growing lust. The first time they met he offered to kill another acolyte for her, it had been one of the darkest and most romantic things a man had ever done for her. Yet for a time, he played coy, staying just out of her reach. He never said that he wanted her, not in those early days, but at the same time she had felt it, the connection growing between them, the want that slowly bound them together. A want that consumed the two of them, when after a battle in the Tomb of Ajunta Pal, both she and Fehl finally gave into lust and consummated their attraction. For Avaryss it had been her first time, Fehl had known exactly what to do, he had not shamed her, and he had been kind…even tender, guiding her down the path of physical love.

It had been…amazing!

It should have come as a surprise to no one when she surrendered to his dark charms, what female could have resisted, who one would have wanted to? She had surrendered to him willingly, and went to his bed without fear or doubt, and for a time they had been happy. The masters of the academy had ranted, but what did she care, she had Fehl, the two of them had had each other, both had thought that would be enough. Fehl had even asked her to become his wife, to leave her student life behind and embrace a new destiny as the Lady of House Fehl.

She had said yes, they should have been together after that, her life, and his, should have been a long, fruitful, and happy one…

…that had not happened.

Enemies had intervened.

Both Darth Feer and an Acolyte named Nass had destroyed what they might have had. Nass poisoned Fehl…killing him and Avaryss had taken the blame. The Sith Overseers had captured her, tortured he to the brink of death, and she had been left broken, unable to summon the Force, and left to suffer at the hands of jealous rivals. Rivals who only further added to her pain and humiliation.

It had been too much to bear; it was amazing that she had not sought to destroy herself.

It should have been the end of her tale; it almost was the end…

…but she had fought back, the memory of Fehl, and the desire to both avenge him and bring him back had inspired her to fight on; she reclaimed her power and position. Fehl's death had given her the strength she had needed to come back, embrace the true power of the dark side, destroy Nass, and take her place as Darth Feer's apprentice.

Yet, despite everything she had faced and endure, her commitment to what she had had on Korriban remained. She had continued to study the ancient mysteries. She had sought out the secrets of Sith Alchemy and sorcery with the single goal of resurrecting her fallen love. Fehl had been taken from her; she was willing to go to almost any length to bring him back. It had been a driving force in her life, almost as important to her as the destruction of her master and her ascension to the rank of lord.

Often Avaryss had dreamed of Fehl's return. She has always wanted to look into his eyes as he opened them again in a new body, a new perfect body, handsome and strong. She wanted to look on his new face as he saw her for the first time with new eyes, in the form she had chosen for him. She had wanted to sense him in the Force again, and see the smile she had known so well back on Korriban.

It was supposed to be perfect, she thought, we were supposed to be perfect.

It had been her dream, for the two of them to conquer House Feer together, to take their place as Lords of the Sith, as both equals and lovers to forge a new line of power and prestige.

Now, as she stood amongst the blaze that had been House Feer, stared into her former lover's reborn eyes, she knew one thing beyond a shadow of a doubt.

Her dream…had become a nightmare.

She and Fehl faced each other as the world around them burned. Both held crimson lightsabers and neither was willing to give an inch.

Avaryss held her ground; she remained in a Soresu guard, waiting for him to make the first move.

She was speechless, what could she have said, what words would have made this any better?

Fehl had ordered her to come to him, to embrace and kiss him as she had done during their time together.

She said nothing, did nothing; she was too shocked to respond.

Her lover shook his head; a sound that might have been a sigh escaped his lips.

"This is not how I wanted this to be, my love," he said through the vocoder in his throat, his mouth barely moving...

"This is not how I wanted us to begin again."

Avaryss' eyes narrowed.

In this at least, they were of one mind.

This was not how it was supposed to have been.

Hearing his words were enough for her to find her voice again, to remember herself and why she was here.

"Fehl…I…"

Words almost failed her, but in that moment of weakness, the dark side rose up again inside her, restoring her strength and casting away both fear and doubt.

"I was going to bring you back," she said, "I've…I've been preparing for a long time to bring you back."

Her eyes drifted over him, using the Force to enhance her senses she got her first good look at him, she saw what coming back had cost him.

What she saw…it did not please her.

It would have been better to find a new body, strong and healthy. She had encountered several young men in her travels who would have been perfect hosts for her Fehl's spirit. She had also considered growing a new form from his cells. She had studied several rituals along those lines. In his Yavin Four writings, the legendary Naga Sadow had spoken in detail of how such a thing might be accomplished.

It was a difficult spell, difficult but not impossible, still she had decided to ere on the side of safety, simply finding a new body would work far better than hope for her recreation to develop without flaw.

Still it could have been done, either was a distinct possibility. It could have been done, but she lacked any blood or tissue samples. She had had no raw materials in which to begin. Korriban might have had some on file, but she had not had the authority to request such a thing, and even if she had, as far as the academy was concerned, Fehl had died a failure; it was unlikely they would have saved any of his genetic material.

Yet…here he stood, his original body had been restored, but not without cost. Synox was a nasty poison; it did horrible things to the body before death finally came; whoever had brought Fehl back had not cared about that, only in getting him mobile again.

The results of that were plain to see.

Though still broad shouldered, Fehl's body was much more slender than she remembered. What she had first taken as armor plates beneath his robes turned out to be cybernetic devices of some type, likely to help compensate for damage the poison had done to his muscles. His hands were gone, replaced with cybernetic enhancements, and his left leg looked like it was completely mechanical as well.

The vocoder on his throat made sense, she supposed, one of the final effects of synox was the swelling of the tongue, she suspected that whoever had brought him back had removed it, that would explain why Fehl's mouth did not seem to move when he talked.

She shook her head.

Fehl had been so much more than this. He had had the mind of a dark side mastermind and a body that would have been the envy of a god. Seeing him as he was now, it was…it was almost too much for her to bear.

My love, she almost sobbed.

What have they done to you?

She wanted to say those words but held them back. She would show no weakness here, not before Fehl.

She would not shame herself in that way.

"I was going to bring you back," she repeated, "I was going to find you a new body, strong and fierce. You…you would have been beautiful."

Fehl smiled again.

"Beauty is fleeting, my dear," he said, "Power is eternal, and my power endures."

He laughed, it was an ugly clicking sound that seemed to come from his throat.

"As the fools that once held this house have now learned," he said, "My master will be most pleased."

Avaryss looked around her. In the light of the many fires she could see the bodies, soldiers and servants both. She…she had known these people; they had served her, stood beside her and her master when they were needed.

She shook her head.

Not all of these men and women had loved Darth Feer; some would have stood beside her when she finally staged her coup. Some of them would have died that day, but not all.

This was not victory, she thought, this was wastefulness.

"I could have used these people, Fehl," she said with an angry snort.

She glared up at him.

Did he not understand what he had just done?

"Tell me," she said, "Why did you come here and burn my home? Why did you need to kill members of my house?"

Fehl sneered at her.

"House Feer does not deserve to continue," he said angrily. "They are a rotting limb on the body of the Empire and deserve only to be cut away.

Again he made that laughing sound.

"Everyone here deserves to die."

"Do they," Avaryss said with a frown, "Even those that would have followed me, even those that would have joined me in building our new house? Did they deserve to die as well?"

Fehl snorted clearly he did not see why she would ask such a question.

Did he not realize who she was now? Did he not realize that she was Darth Feer's apprentice?

She had not simply returned her because she had missed this place. She had come here to take the first steps towards her independence.

His actions here had thrown everything off course.

I should be grateful that he is here, she thought, Fehl is back. I should be happy that he has returned, but for some reason I'm not…

I…I feel cheated.

"House Feer does not deserve to continue," he repeated. "They are a rotting limb on the body of the Empire and deserve only to be cut away."

"So you said before," she said, "You do realize of course that I'm a member of House Feer? You do realize that I'm Darth Feer's apprentice?"

"I realize that," he said, "My master told me."

So why go to all the trouble to destroy this estate?" she demanded, "You knew I was a member of this House. If you wanted Darth Feer gone, why did you not contact me? I could have aided you. We could have done this together and both profited from it."

"My master wanted this place destroyed."

"So," Avaryss said, "He could have contacted me. "We could have reached some kind of arrangement; there was no reason to do this, any of it. Why destroy something when you can make it your own? You could have used this to form an alliance with me. You understood such things once. Why is it so hard to understand now?

Fehl frowned, those strange new eyes of his radiated with…confusion, Avaryss could sense it through the Force, he was thinking about what she had said, but…

Fehl growled angrily. He glared into her eyes.

"House Feer does not deserve to continue," he said again. "They are a rotting limb on the body of the Empire and deserve only to be cut away."

Avaryss frowned.

What was this now, she wondered.

Fehl had always been an intelligent and eloquent, young man. Yet, she had just heard him repeat the exact same words with the exact same emotional inflection three times.

People did not do that, not normally. Droids would if asked the same question, but…

A realization washed over her. It was a realization that further fueled her anger. She found herself thinking about something she had heard long ago.

My new apprentice's programming is far superior, and much stronger.

Perhaps the two of you will meet one day.

Avaryss remembered those words, and more to the point, who had spoken them to her.

Her frown deepened.

I should have known.

"What does your master want with me? Why am I not sharing the fate of these others?"

Fehl smiled again.

"My master believes you have potential," he informed her, "He has sensed your growing power, but it is all potential, unrefined. He sent me here to extend his offer. He wants you with us, after you have been properly augmented, you will serve well in the new Empire."

Avaryss' frown deepened.

Properly augmented, she thought.

She did not like the sound of that at all.

"My powers are growing just fine, the way they are," she said, "I have no use for augmentation."

She gave him a smile.

"Thanks, but no thanks."

Fehl frowned.

"You're desires in this are irrelevant. You will be augmented, improved. The New Empire will require much of you in the coming days; you must become the best that you can be."

"I must decline your offer," she repeated, "Tell me, my love, who is your master, and what gives him the right to decide the next path for the Empire? How is the Empire to be made new?"

"My master intends to seize more than simply territory. The Emperor thought that was the way to vengeance, and that plan was a failure. The Sith must change, and evolve, it is not enough to simply use the Force anymore, we must conquer the Force itself, bind it to our will as our slave."

Fehl laughed.

"My master has that knowledge, he will break the will of the Force, and his will shall be all. He…shall reign supreme!"

"And what of us…what about what I wanted," she asked, "What of my plans for lordship, of my taking of House Feer?"

"House Feer does not deserve to continue," he said again. "They are…"

"…They are a rotting limb on the body of the Empire and deserve only to be cut away." She said with disgust in her voice.

Avaryss snarled.

"Your master did not bring you back, Fehl; he turned you into his toy. He programmed you like he would a kriffing droid!"

She shook her head.

"Why does your master want me," she demanded, "Tell me in your own words!"

Fehl frowned, his mouth worked silently, a strange buzzing came from his vocoder.

"My master believes you have potential," he said, "He has sensed your growing power, but it is all potential, unrefined. He sent me here to extend his offer. He wants you with us, after you have been properly augmented, you will serve well in the new Empire."

"Another repeated statement," she growled, "You said it exactly the same as you did the first time."

She hissed angrily.

"Why did House Feer have to die?

"House Feer does not deserve to continue," he said again. "They are a rotting limb on the body of the Empire and deserve only to be cut away."

"And again," she spat, "Do you not even realize what is happening, can you not feel it? You are not being trained by your master. You have been programmed. You are no better than a battle droid!"

Fehl's eyes narrowed.

"Be careful, Avaryss," he warned, "My master believes you have potential. He has sensed your growing power, but it is all potential, unrefined…"

"And I will be augmented for the good the new Empire, yes, yes, yes," she said dryly, "I heard it the first time."

Avaryss' temper was flaring now, this was not her Fehl; it was not even close. Whoever had restored him to life made sure that it would not be the man she loved?

He is not an apprentice, she thought, he is a tool, and given his new found enhancements and his deep programmed hatred for House Feer, she knew who was responsible for all this.

She gave him a cruel smile.

"Tell me, my love," she said coldly, "Was your master angry when I did not kill the beast girl on the Wreck? Was he angry that he lost his shipment of children?"

"Your actions on the Wreck will be forgiven if you accept augmentation. You will be purified; it is your non-mechanical components that make you weak."

And there is my answer, she thought.

She knew it.

"Weak?" she growled, "You think me weak? You are weak, Fehl! You're not even worthy of being called Sith anymore."

She felt the dark side gathering inside her; she readied herself to unleash its full might on this mockery of her former love.

Her heart should have been shattered, after wanting to see Fehl again for so long…

But her heart was not broken, it was filled with hatred! She felt an almost unquenchable desire to destroy this…this thing, to send its head back to its master in a box!

"Tell Darth Terrog that I will never consent to being one of his lab animals!"

She smiled wickedly at him. Fehl stood before her without another word, she could almost imagine the droid parts in his ravaged brain processing that information, no doubt Terrog was watching somewhere on a monitor, looking through some holo-cam built into this monster's body.

"Actually, I will send the message myself," she purred, "A corpse can speak louder than words."

She lunged forward.

Fehl was no longer there.

When she came down she had barely enough time to whirl around and meet Fehl's saber. There blades came together in a hiss of sparks and fury. Fehl said nothing, he went on the attack.

It was all Avaryss could do to keep up.

She remembered her battle with another of Terrog's pawns, the fool cyborg back on Alderaan. He had been strong in the Force, true, but he had also been limited by his own failings.

If Fehl had any failings, they were not in his physical form; he had been extremely powerful in life.

That power remained, despite all the changes, in fact it was likely taken up to the next level.

That power and speed nearly ended Avaryss' life right.

He rained down blows on her Soresu guard. She met his attacks and pushed them back, barely. The Fehl thing switched flawlessly back and forth between Juyo, Makashi, and Ataru. He moved with a skill that was almost too much for her contend with.

Almost.

She snarled angrily.

He lacks the grace he had when he had truly been alive, she thought, his rage and power remain, but it is the power and rage of an animal, a creature fed on aggressors rather than true feelings."

Avaryss shook her head.

Fehl deserved better than this, she owed it to his memory.

She needed to destroy him.

She needed to set him free of this…outrage!

"This is not how I wanted this to be, my love," he said as he renewed his assault, "This is not how I wanted us to begin again."

She hissed under her breath.

Another canned response.

Darth Terrog needed to find some new material.

What did he think, that seeing Fehl like this would make her want to become like him? Did the fool actually think she would want to turn herself into some kind of half mechanical freak?!

If he did, Terrog was a bigger fool that she thought.

She was a Dark Lord of the Sith!

She would never be someone's pet!

She managed to slip under Fehl's guard and cartwheel away, before he could leap at her anew, she blasted him with Force lightning. His cybernetics absorbed the attack, but it left him staggered for the briefest of moments.

She lunged forward switching to the duelist style of Makashi. She was eager to end this.

She was eager to end this joke, and take this mockery's head!

Fehl did not fall back, instead he moved faster than she had ever seen both the dark side and his droid enhancements giving him speed far beyond what was possible.

He deactivated his weapon, it slid up into his wrist disappearing.

His hands were upon her.

He caught her arm, stopping her lightsaber, and with his other hand he caught her by the throat, his metal fingers were like a vice.

She choked, she…she could not breathe!

He squeezed her wrist until it broke, she cried out as her lightsaber fell to the ground.

Fehl lifted her up. His face was without emotion, it was as dead as his flesh.

"You will join us," he said flatly, "But first you will deliver our message to the Empire.

Fehl smiled.

"A new age has begun."

She felt needles, some kind of injectors build into her former lover's arms, they dug into her throat. She felt heat as whatever it was he had injected into her entered her blood stream.

He flung her down hard.

She tried to leap up and engage him, blast him down with Force lightning or another Sith spell, to destroy this…this thing that Darth Terrog had sent.

She tried, but…

AGONY!

Avaryss fell to the ground. The pain was the most intense thing she had ever felt. Even being tortured back on Korriban had not been this horrible!

Her whole body shook, the world turned red, it felt like her blood had been turned into fire and razor blades, every thing hurt.

She fell to the ground, her body shaking uncontrollably.

She was having some kind of convulsions. Her strength in the Force was just enough to let her slip out of her physical form just enough to recognize that fact.

I'm dying she thought; Fehl had killed her, some kind of poison perhaps, maybe even Synox, which would be as appropriate as it would be ironic. She would…

She gasped. Suddenly, she was back on the ground, lying before Fehl in the middle of the burning estate.

She coughed and coughed. She tasted blood; it filled her mouth and ran down her nose. She thought that she was crying, but when she went to wipe away the tears, her fingers came back bloody.

The sight horrified her.

She could barely move. Everything still hurt, and she felt exhausted. She looked down at her hands, her pale skin as a mess, her veins stood out, bright red and almost flaring.

She managed to look up at Fehl; the cyborg thing stared down at her watching her with no trace of emotion.

She tried to speak, but her mouth filled with blood, she spat it out and glared at him.

"What," she hissed, "What did…did you…you inject me with?!"

"It won't kill you," he said his expression was almost…sad.

"It will not even hurt you, but it will prove my master's point. Terrog's time has come. He will rule not just the Empire, but the Force itself. All those that refuse his gift will be swept away."

Fehl turned to leave; he glanced one last time over his shoulder.

"My master believes you have potential," he said, "He has sensed your growing power, but it is all potential, unrefined. He sent me here to extend his offer…"

Fehl shook his head, perhaps he now realized what she had said was correct. His worlds were just canned responses, perhaps conceived by his new master.

She tried to stand, to draw on the pain that she was feeling, the dark side roared inside of her, but her body refused to rise. It felt…pushed to its limit, unable to barely move.

Fehl walked away, no doubt heading back to the ship, she could make out several shadows, likely the soldier things that he had brought with him.

The hounds return to their master, she thought angrily.

I will skin them all!

She tried to rise again, only to fall back down, the pain had all but subsided now, but she still felt drained.

It was all she could do to keep her eyes open.

Where in the Emperor's name is Xen, she wondered, why is she letting this happen? Is she dead, she had not felt the girl die, still…?"

She heard the distant sound of engines, of a ship lifting off

She could not say for certain how long she simply lay in the dirt, but finally she heard voices, some familiar, others not so much.

"Stay away from her!"

"In the name of the Emperor; you will all stand down!

"You will not touch her!

"If you try to resist you will be shot."

Avaryss wished to call out, order her people to stand down. She thought the one trying to defend her was Xen, but she could not be sure.

Strong hands seized her shoulders, rolling her over onto her back. Her broken wrist throbbed painfully.

She found herself looking up into the helmeted faces of several Sith soldiers, one was holding out some kind of medical scanner, taking readings.

It was at that moment that a sooty familiar face appeared behind them, her eyes cold and icy; when she spoke her voice was dripping with disdain.

"So…it is you," Synestra Feer said coldly.

"I should have known."

Avaryss did not get the chance to answer. She would have preferred to snarl in the other woman's face, but at that point she barely had enough strength left to stay awake.

As she finally lost consciousness, her thoughts turned to Fehl and Darth Terrog. The two of them had spoiled her moment of triumph.

They would not get away with it.

Thought of bloody revenge kept her warm as a full medical team arrived and took her into custody.

She felt something prick her in the arm, and then finally…she let herself fall into darkness, but that darkness was not empty, it was filled with her dreams of vengeance. Terrog would answer for this. He would answer for what he had done to Fehl.

This is not over my lord, she thought as she finally drifted off.

I'll be coming for you…now.

I'll be back.