Chapter 8 – Making Magic

"Twovee, just do it."

"Are you sure you want me to shoot you, master?"

"Yes, Toovee, like we did before."

"At full power?"

"Twovee, I order you to shoot me, and if you don't I'll—Agh! Emperor damn—! What the hell, Toovee!?

When Khem Val walked into the cargo bay this morning, he did not expect to see such a scene before him. Louise, bent over, clutching her wrists while glaring up at the factotum droid on the other side of the room. Toovee, on the other hand, looked as if it wanted to be anywhere but there, pressed up against the wall as if Louise were to explode at any moment. To be honest, it certainly looked like she was.

And then there was their newest addition to the crew—T3-O0. The droid sat, lurking off in the corner, watching the proceedings with a twitchy photoreceptor.

Blinking at the sight as if it were a common occurrence, Khem took a sip of his caf. It was too early in the afternoon for this.

"Master," the droid cried, "you told me to shoot you!"

"On my mark, you stupid droid!" Khem's little master hissed.

Is that static electricity snapping in her hair? The Dashade mused silently, taking another sip of his caf. "Are you alright, pink Sith?"

"Perfectly fine!" she replied through gritted teeth. "Just dandy!"

If it wasn't for the smell of burnt flesh, the bloody-black mark on her palm, the clutched jaw or the venomous sarcasm in her voice, then Khem might have believed her. "What are you trying to do?"

Louise growled, stomping towards and past the Dashade, only stopping to gesture for him to follow. After sparing a look to the terrified and confused 2V unit, Khem obeyed the command. When he joined Louise by her side, she explained. "I'm trying to learn how to block blaster bolts with my hands if you really wanted to know."

Khem raised a brow, taking another sip of his caf. Far too early in the afternoon… "Are you sure that this is the best way to go about it?"

"No," Louise scoffed, "I would much prefer to get my hands on a remote or something like that—far more reliable. Much less whiny as well."

"That is not what I meant, pink Sith," Khem replied, knowing she understood exactly what he was meaning.

Louise shrugged. The two passed through the port side hallway and into the lounge, taking a quick turn right into the medical bay. There, Louise moved over to the medical terminal and, using her non-burned hand, she activated the auto-doc artificial intelligence.

"Welcome back, ma'am, what can I help you with today?" the feminine voice of the AI said, its voice omnipresent in the medical bay.

"I have a plasma burn on my hand," Louise said, presenting her palm to the monitor.

A wide but thin blue light beamed out from the top of the monitor scanning her palm up and down, up and down before vanishing. After a few seconds, the screen changed, revealing various bits and pieces of data on Louise's wound as well as a diagram of the burn. "Second-degree burns detected," the AI supplied. "Clean—caused by low-powered blaster bolt. Please apply kolto bandages to wound, replace every day for four days and the wound should heal with minimal scarring. Should the wound take on a green pallor, return and administer antibiotics to treat any infection. Should infection persist, please see your closest medical personnel."

"Second-degree burns?" Khem mused, watching Louise as she got to work finding the bandages. "It seems your practice is bearing fruit."

Louise snorted. "Not much to do other than other than order my droid to shoot me, is there?" she said, finally finding the bandages. "Thank the Force this trip's almost done."

"What about that book you are writing?" Khem asked, referencing the short but ambitious series his little master had started—A Brief History of the Empires. It was a noble goal, that was for sure, uncovering the gaps in Sith History and writing a book to spread this new-found knowledge among the Empire.

Louise shrugged absent-mindedly, focusing on dressing her wounds instead of the giant leaning against the wall of the med-bay. "I've written the most I can at the moment; trying to force myself to write's not really working well."

"It has been a tiring two weeks, has it not?" Khem said, taking another sip of his caf.

"I just can't wait until we finally reunite with civilization again. Nar Shaddaa better live up to its reputation…" Louise said, sounding like she was willing to threaten bodily harm should the Smuggler's Moon disappoint.

"It should be interesting to see such a planet," Khem replied, "I've never had the chance to visit an Ecumenopolis before." A planet that was also a single city, such a novel idea.

"First for me as well!" Louise said brightly. "We deserve a vacation."

The two lulled into silence for a moment, Khem swirling his caf in thought while his pink-haired compatriot tested her injury, hissing as she pressed the centre of her palm.

It had been roughly four days since Louise received word that Balmorra now bent the knee to their rightful rulers, and Louise was on edge, impatient—that much Khem could see. He had felt her frustration, her anger, and more importantly her pain the day before when she finally received word on Lyira, only to find out that it was just a passing mention of her participation in the final battle.

Fortunately, for his little master, Lyira's name was still not in the necrology, but there was still no information on whether the Pureblood was alive or dead. Louise had even come to Khem and, presumably, Adas about her Force bond with her paramour and her confusion as to how they worked. Unfortunately, Louise found herself given little more than empty platitudes; Khem would be surprised to find if anyone else on the ship had more information on Force Bonds than he, but even then, he understood that each body was perceived differently depending on the person.

Now, Khem could see it in her eyes. She was not doing well. He just hoped this detour would help her with everything plaguing her mind. Speaking of which… "Pink Sith, you never explained why we are going to such a remote planet."

Louise took a deep breath. "I don't know anymore. I want answers. I wanted answers. But now? I'm not sure it's worth it." She sighed. "I'm going back to bed."

Khem made no comment, instead choosing to watch her retreating form as she left the med-bay, off to her bedroom.

The next day, Louise found herself being rudely awoken as some ungodly beeping sound rang throughout the ship. Sitting up in her bed, she looked around the room with tired glaring eyes, searching for whatever was causing the sound. Before she could bring herself to tear herself from the comfort of her bed and demand answers from her crew, the beeping suddenly stopped.

Closing her eyes, she fell back down onto her bed. However, thoughts of going back to sleep were suddenly replaced by her nagging curiosity. Sitting back up, she was about to peel herself from her bed when her door opened, revealing Toovee—datapad in hand.

"Master," the droid said absently, fiddling with the little device, "We will be exiting hyperspace in a few moments."

It took a few moments for Louise's sleep-addled brain to properly process what the droid said, but the second she did, Louise threw her arms up in the air tiredly, "Finally!" she cried, flopping back down onto her bed.

Ripping her sheets and quilts from her body, she peeled herself from where she lay and hopped off her bed. Cursing the cold metal floors, she made her way to her wardrobe, only to freeze, turning to Toovee.

"Um, Toovee," she began drawing the droid from whatever it was doing on the datapad, "what was that beeping sound?"

"The hyperspace alarm, master," Toovee replied dutifully. "It warns us when we are about to enter real space, or, if we are unlucky, approaching powerful mass shadows."

Louise nodded her head in understanding. While she might not have much experience with the technicalities of flying a starship or navigating the cosmos, she knew about mass shadows—the gravitational signature of large celestial objects—especially as they were a threat to her ship and, by extension, herself. Though, Toovee's answer still left her wanting.

"Why didn't I hear it on our way to Dxun?" she asked.

"Master, while you were in the loo, I was already in the cockpit and disabled the alarm before anything could happen," it explained.

Louise crossed her arms, frowning. "And why didn't you turn it off this time?"

"Cleaning Nihl, master," Toovee said, sounding utterly disgusted. "He has been such a nuisance since you allowed him access around the ship: tracking dirt around, poking his head where it shouldn't belong, accessing the holonet! At first, I was willing him to continue uninterrupted out of respect, but I've had enough!"

Louise's frown deepened. She doubted that Toovee was just ignoring Nihl out of respect; she had often seen Toovee try and get as far away as it could from the silent but ever watchful T3 unit. Nevertheless, Louise did not much care for her factotum droid's complaints and waved him off, saying, "Well, that's all for now, you can go."

Toovee obeyed, leaving Louise alone to get changed out of her nightclothes and into something suitable for public. Instead of robes, however, she decided to dress somewhat casually, donning the pale tunic she was given on Onderon as well as some dark trousers.

Once done, she prepared to leave her bedroom, only to stop when her eyes fell upon her dagger—the aptly named Blade of Woe. Louise sighed, staring at it with a small frown on her lips. Summoning it to hand, she looked over the blade for what seemed like the hundredth time this past two weeks and her emotions were still unclear: part of her felt frightened at the knowledge of what she now held; another was angry, livid that this vile part of her was back in her life; and then there was that small part, so very small, that something so familiar was back in her hands.

Not only that, but it was the reason she was here, travelling out to this uncharted backwater planet light-years from civilization, and yet, she was not even sure if she should go through with her plans. Ludo's words ran through her mind, how she had gained the attention and scrutiny of the dead. It was a terrifying prospect.

But… she had come too far to give up now.

Sighing, she slipped the blade between her belt and her clothes and headed out of her bedroom, ready for what was to come. However, before she could even exit her bedroom, the ship lurched, and she knew the ship had left hyperspace.

Stumbling through the doorway, she made her way into the cockpit, briefly halting when Nihl rolled in beside her, admiring how clean it was. Without dirt, carbon scoring or anything like that marring its chassis, she could see his slate grey and maroon colouring underneath. Silently congratulating Toovee on his work, she strolled deeper into the cockpit and took a seat on the Captain's chair.

Through the cockpit window, she—along with Khem, Toovee and Nihl—found themselves looking out at a small solar system. According to the scanners Toovee was working in the co-pilot's chair, there were only two proper planets in the system, both orbiting close by a beautiful blue yellow. One planet, which was a scorched little thing, sat close to the star while the other sat further out in the habitable zone of the solar system.

This second planet, known only by a string of numbers and letters, was their destination.

With Khem in the pilot's seat, they fired up the sub-light thrusters and headed off towards their goal. It was remarkable how different her experience approaching the planet was compared to her approach to Dxun—without the imminent threat of being found by Onderon scanners, Louise could relax and enjoy the sight of the green orb as she approached, its hazy blue atmosphere making the planet shine.

As the drew closer, Louise ordered Toovee to bring up anything and everything they had on the planet, knowing that walking on a planet with a hostile environment was not good for one's health. She also ordered him to scan the planet once they drew close enough.

Fortunately, it seemed the planet was oxygen rich with the only possibly harmful things being the various lifeforms the ships scanners picked up on. With this in mind, she ordered Khem to land the ship somewhere pleasant, noticeable and easily assessable. The Dashade obeyed and soon enough, they were cruising through the atmosphere, eyes peeled for a nice landing zone.

Within the next twenty minutes, the ship had flown over various different landscapes from thick alien forest, oceans, deserts and so on. It took some time, but soon enough, Khem found a nice place to settle down; a tall mountain overlooking a patchy collection of trees Louise was hesitant to call a forest.

Soon enough, Louise was standing just outside her ship, inspecting the landscape. It was… Louise was not sure what time it was on the planet, though from what she could see, it was at some point in the evening, so she knew that she would need to be quick. As for the forest, well if she were to describe the forest, she would call it, 'spider-like'. Thin tree trunks sprouted straight from the ground, reaching high into the sky—their branches long and spindly, curving in on the tree in a way reminiscent of a dead spider. She did not see many leaves on the trees, but from how chilly it felt, she assumed that it was apparently this planets version of autumn.

She could see a few other plants surrounding the spider trees, though they certainly looked closer to normal plants she had seen, though the colouring was all wrong. Green, it seemed, was a rare colour on this planet as most of the flora held a strange purple hue with other strange colours for leaves such as sandy yellows and reds. Not even the grass, which was less grass and more moss, was not green, just a dark purple colour. It was weird.

Shaking her head, Louise got ready to head out into the forest below, only to be stopped by a voice speaking behind her. "Pink Sith, you are leaving on your own?"

Turning to Khem, Louise could not help the guilty look on her face. Even before they had touched down, she had left the cockpit on her own and headed off to the aft, standing, waiting to activate the landing ramp. "I'm sorry, Khem, but I need to do this on my own."

Khem sighed and approached her, only stopping when he stood within arm's reach of her.

"Master," he said, placing his hands on her shoulder and staring her in the eyes with his yellow reptilian eyes, "be safe."

...

Soon enough, Louise stumbled upon a suitable place.

It was a clearing, a strange one at that. It was almost as if she were standing in a crater with how the ground divoted at the tree-line. Oval in shape, the clearing was covered in more of the strange moss-grass as well as some strange glowing yellow and red flowers which seemed to only grow in the divot. A wall of those spider trees sat around the mouth of the crater, though there were a few trees that grew, creeping into the clearing. Despite the alien environment, she was reminded of her first vision of Brimir and Sasha. She could see it now, as clear as day, Sasha swinging Derflinger around with precise and practised movements while Brimir watched, impressed with the Elf.

She shook her head. Now was not the time to reminisce.

She had chosen this place for three reasons: the first was that it was wide enough for her to work; the second was that she could not be bothered searching the entire planet for any place better; it was also close enough to the mountain that she would not get lost on the way back—the mountain was visible from where she stood—but far enough away that any tests would not case issue for her ship or crew.

Louise pulled her dagger free from her belt and stared at it once again, transfixed by the preternaturally polished ivory blade. She could not help but marvel at the fact that this blade was forged by her own hands, even if she was lost in a trance during its creation. The dagger was a simple beauty and nightmare since its conception, but now, it was something more.

With all her might, she tore her eyes from the blade, casting them around to look for a suitable target, though it did not take long as the only real option was the trees around her.

Louise raised her wand, pointing it at one of the trees encroaching on the crater, a spell on her lips and ready to cast, but she stayed silent. Her gut churned uncomfortably as second thoughts chipped away at her resolve, and every second she stayed quiet, the more she began to hate herself. Had she really spent ten days' worth of flying just for this? To freeze up?

Magic.

Her tainted magic.

It had been the bane of her existence since the first time she picked up a wand all those years ago. She hated it, she hated herself because of it. Every explosion, every reprimand, every insult and mocking jeer, she had weathered it all, searching, hoping for an answer to why her magic was like this, and now? Louise still had no idea. Was she truly a Void Mage? The idea was as laughable as it was plausible. Had that been the answer all along? Was it all so simple?

When she first had that strange vision, she thought her prayers had been answered. She was a Void Mage; the answer could not be simpler. Earth, water, fire and air: all spells from those elements ended with a violent explosion once cast, leaving the lost element of Void as the only other option. But now that she stood here, wand in hand, the resources to actually test this? She doubted.

She was Gandalfr for certain, she had the runes and everything, but what did it mean? If she truly was a Void Mage, why had nobody noticed? Why had mother and father not realised something was wrong and tried to figure it out? Why had the school not noticed that there was something wrong, different about her magic? Louise could not even remember hearing accounts of mages losing their magic, unable to cast even the simplest of spells?

Why was she the only one?

Why did she even care!?

All her life, her magic haunted her so why should she care now? She could just throw her wand away and never think about it or that part of her ever again—she hated, loathed that part about herself for years. But she could not. It would continue to haunt her for the rest of her life.

Taking a deep breath, Louise channelled all these confusing emotions and began the incantation, her resolve rebuilding with each word she uttered, and not a moment too soon, the spell was cast, "Fireball!"

The world around her seemed to slow. She felt it, her spell, carving through reality like a white-hot knife through butter as it shot from the tip of her wand. Within seconds, it impacted the tree and, like every other spell she cast, the spell detonated against the trunk in an explosion of splinters.

Louise would have summoned the Force to shield herself from the shrapnel, but she could not. Before she knew it, she was back on her back, clutching her head, unable to even scream the pain was so agonisingly unbearable. What was worse was the ungodly screeching in her ears, like the sounds of several trillions of different creatures all crying out, suffering, all merged into one monstrous cry.

She tried desperately to distance herself from the pain, the screaming, but it was just too overwhelming, sucking her down like a rip dragging her out into the sea of pain. Her eyes squeezed shut, hands cupped over her ears tightly, trying to block out the sound, but it did not alleviate the pain. The shrieking was just as loud with or without her hands blocking her ears as if it were not coming from around her, but through the Force, inside her own head.

Louise had no idea how long the ungodly cry continued but soon, it tapered off into silence leaving the Sith curled up on the ground, her body still racked with pain.

However, despite the pain, Louise tried to pull herself up from the ground—she needed to get back to her ship before anything that calls the planet home comes to investigate. But it was difficult, the agony acting like a physical weight upon her shoulders. Nevertheless, through sheer force of will, she managed to get to her knees.

Raising her head, she attempted to get her bearings, but before she could do such a thing, she froze.

Eyes wide and terrified, she looked around the clearing around her, but instead of seeing the alien spider trees, she instead found herself looking at a wall of pale blue spectres standing, staring at her silently. She blinked, rubbing her eyes, but found herself still seeing the legion of dead before her.

She opened her mouth to speak, to ask who they were and why there were here, but before she could, a familiar voice shouted out to her from deep within the woods.

"Master!" she could hear Khem call, his voice reverberating through the spindly trees.

Louise, along with the dead, turned to where the voice was coming from, but she could see nothing through the pale blue wall of spirits. Khem called out again, his voice closer, a hint of desperation mingling in. She wanted to call out to him, but when she tried, nothing but a raspy whisper would leave her mouth. Again and again, he called out to her, each time coming closer and closer, and soon, his large bulky form burst from the wall of dead as if they not been there at all.

His sword was drawn, ready for a fight, but when he laid eyes upon her, he dropped it, rushing to her side. "Master," he said, but Louise paid him no mind, instead looking around at the spirits around her. "Master, what is it?"

"Do you not see them?" she tried to ask.

Fortunate, Khem could understand her. "Who, master?" he turned his head, searching the spirits but just as he did, they vanished.

...

When the two returned to the ship, Louise found herself almost physically forced onto one of the beds in the medical bay. Fortunately for Khem, she did not have the strength to fight or even argue, and soon, she found herself under his careful watch as he tried his best to take care of his little master while also trying to figure out how to work the med-bay.

During this time, Louise was subjected to test after test as Khem indulged his insatiable desire to make sure Louise was not, in his own words, permanently damaged because of her stupid experiments. The only issue came when it was quickly discovered that the med-bay was unavailable. In the end, the only discoveries made was the fact that Louise could not understand the native language of the Dashade. Nothing else was discovered and Khem had grown increasingly frustrated with the lack of anything regarding whether there was something wrong with Louise, though this did not stop him from attempting to dunk her into the kolto tank.

Fortunately, by this time, Louise's voice recovered enough to put her foot down, figuratively, of course, considering she was still stuck in bed. Sufficed to say, she was not bathing in kolto that night, though she was also not allowed to leave the med-bay in exchange, at least for that night. Nevertheless, she was content with the trade as Khem was kind enough to allow her to have her datapad to either surf the holonet or, as she was more interested in doing, continue working on her book. It was difficult and annoying to type with the small keys, but at least it was something to distract her from her thoughts while she waited for Doctor Val's permission to leave.

Then, about two hours later, she stopped.

No, it was not because she found herself face to face with a mental block while writing what would be the rest of the first draft of book one—no, she had already done that sixteen times—but because of Toovee. The droid had entered the medical bay, being Louise's second visitor since Khem had left an hour and a half ago, and decided to share Louise of some very important breaking news.

"Master," he began, sounding as if he were talking to a bomb that was about to explode, "it appears you paramour has called, she is—"

Unfortunately, Toovee could not complete his message as Louise threw herself bodily from her bed and bolted out of the room. Once out in the lounge, she hesitated, spotting what could only be Lyira's holographic bust, looking extremely anxious.

"Lyira," Louise cried, rushing towards the large holocommunicator in the centre of the room slipping in front of the machine where she knew the holographic scanners were. "Are you alright!? What happened?"

Lyira recoiled at what must have been the sudden appearance of her girlfriend, only to reply in a similar panicked manner as Louise. "Me? What about you!?"

"I wasn't in the middle of a war zone!" Louise retorted.

"You were all alone surrounded by Jedi!"

Louise sighed, quickly understanding that neither would make much progress unless one acknowledged the worries of the other. "I'm fine, Lyira. I'm on my ship far away from Onderon and the Republic. Now, tell me, are you okay? I heard about Balmorra and—and when you didn't pick up, I… why didn't you respond to my calls? Didn't your droid send my message?"

"I…" Lyira sighed, turning her head away from Louise. "I've been in the hospital near Sobrik."

"Wh—? What?"

"It was during the final battle," she continued. Despite being unable to see anything below her neck, Louise could practically see her girlfriend curling in on herself, ashamed. "There was a strike team of Jedi and Republic Commandos and, well, I completed my mission and helped end the resistance, but—" she tried to smile, but it looked more like a grimace— "well, it cost me an arm."

"What?"

"Don't worry, Darth Lachris paid for a replacement," she said quickly, moving out of frame to show her left forearm, only, it was not her left forearm. Instead, it looked like a mechanical recreation of an arms skeletal structure.

Louise gaped, horrified. "You lost an arm?"

"It was only below the elbow, Lou," she said as if that made it all better.

Unfortunately, it certainly did not. "Lyira, you lost an arm!"

"Yes, Louise, I was there!" Lyira snapped. She took a deep breath. "Please, it's okay. I'm okay. I'm still alive."

Louise frowned, looking to her feet. "When are you leaving Balmorra?"

Lyira sighed. "In a few days… I think? Baras is none too pleased but there's nothing we can do at the moment. I'm not really sure what's going on, actually. I've mostly been restrained to my bed up until recently, and even then, that's only to make sure my prosthetic limb's working fine. I… don't really want to talk about it."

"I'm just worried, Lyira."

"Hey, I'm alright—with or without my arm." Lyira smiled, if even faintly. "Now, tell me, are you okay?"

"What do you mean," Louise asked.

"I felt that disturbance through the Force, Louise, reverberating throughout bond," Lyira said, "What's going on?"

"I… I don't even know."

Lyira's head bobbed and Louise could tell that she had just crossed her arms. "What I felt through the Force was unnatural, Lou." She said. "I don't know what's going on, but it's dangerous. I don't want to pry, but please, be safe."

"Yes, Lyira."

"Thank you… Now, what is this about you finishing your work?" Lyira asked. "Does this mean you'll be making your way to Nar Shaddaa?"

"Yeah, I'll be leaving either tomorrow or the day after."

"Well, I guess we'll meet up there, then."

"I hope so."

"I love you, Louise, know that."

"I love you too."

The next day, much to the extreme disapproval of Khem, Louise found herself walking across the moss-grass of the hereto unnamed planet. Briefly, she revisited the clearing where she cast her spell the day before, but found it unsuitable for her plans, not to say she didn't stay to admire her work. The tree she used as target practice was practically non-existent, little more than chunks of strange wood and splinters scattered around ground zero.

If Louise was to be honest with herself, she was surprised, she never expected her miscasts to be so… potent. Unfortunate that she could not use her spells without doubling over in agonising pain for reasons unknown.

Her head still ached, but it was only a minor annoyance, one that had certainly waned over time. Yet, despite this lingering ache, she knew she needed to try again, at least, she needed to test something else. All her life, she was taught to cast spells of the four elements, but everything, from the most basic of cantrips to the advanced transmutations ended with an explosion like the day before.

So, it only made sense to test a spell belonging to the fifth element—the Void. With this in mind, she set out to find a suitable testing ground, only to realise that finding one that suited all her needs was far more difficult than she first thought. Unlike when she cast her spell yesterday, this one was objectively more potent; when Brimir cast the spell, it annihilated an entire legion of soldiers. So, she could not just pick a tree and cast lest she wanted to end up in the blast zone.

In the end, she realised that she would need to cast from the mountain her ship was landed on. Not only would it give her the height advantage, but it would also mean that she would not get lost trying to find somewhere more suitable. Of course, she knew of the possible dangers of her magics newest effect, but that was solved by trekking along the foot of the mountain until she got far enough away from her ship that Khem was at least safe.

Her target, on the other hand, was much simpler to find… another mountain. Sitting on the other side of the woods was the beginnings of a mountain range that stretched far off behind the horizon.

Taking a deep breath, she removed her wand from her belt and began to cast:

"Eoru-sunu yarunsakus…" Louise began, repeating the words the Founder spoke six-thousand years ago to defend his tribe. She went on and on, recounting the spell to the best of her abilities for its incantation was long, and she was not sure if she heard everything correctly when Brimir first cast considering the din of battle.

Soon, the incantation reached its climax, and with the final word, "Explosion!" Louise collapsed onto the ground clutching her chest, feeling as if something had tried to violently tear itself from her rib cage.

Louise tried to stand, to move over where she could suffer at least comfortably, but the moment she did, she doubled over again, hacking up what looked like mornings breakfast mixed with, much to her horror, blood.

Despite the failed attempt, she tried again to move away from the now vomit stained moss-grass and over to the steep slope of the mountain. There, she sat, confused, concerned and once again, in pain.

What in the name of the Emperor was that? She thought, absently massaging her chest as in the vain hope that it would soothe her pain. Whether she needed a medical check-up or not—no, she knew something was wrong, but she would not call for help. She did not want Khem's worry nor did she need his help, so instead, she sat there attempting to call upon the Dark Side of the Force to sustain her, to heal her body, if only temporarily.

As she waited to recover, she contemplated her findings.

Her magic, well, it had always been the bane of her existence, only now it appeared that it decided to take a more direct hand in making her life painful. It was as if her magic was fundamentally incompatible with the Force, reality itself, and every spell she cast broke tore at both as if they were wet tissue paper.

But… the void spell was different, fundamentally in how it worked and its effects. There was no excruciating headaches caused, no screaming in her ear, no tremor in the Force; the only thing that happened was the agonising chest pain she still felt. What this meant, Louise did not know. If she were to guess… it felt like something wanted to get out, to be free, but was blocked by something else inside her. Certainly, it related to magic, but aside from that, Louise had no idea.

The sound of some sort of high pitched beeping startled Louise, but quickly she realised what it was as she scrambled at her belt, trying to grab her holocommunicator. A few moments of struggling with her belt and the pain in her chest, later, and Louise soon had the holocomm in hand, the blue bust of Khem staring at her with a mixture of suspicion and something else.

"Pink Sith, you have been gone for a long time, what happened?" he asked, pinning her with a judgemental glare.

"Khem," she began, feeling her chest ache uncomfortably as she spoke, "I'm going to be here for a bit, just be ready for when I come."

"Are you alright, pink Sith?" he replied looking at her with suspicious eyes.

Louise shook her head. "No, it's alright; I just tried to cast a spell and it kinda backfired."

"A Sith spell or one of your own?"

Louise shifted uncomfortably. "Technically my own."

"Be careful, pink Sith, I do not know what power you are missing, but it is dangerous."

"I understand."

When the call ended, Louise let her hand fall to the ground and took a deep trying sigh, only to regret it as the pain bloomed again.

Time passed, and Louise felt that she could finally stand and stand she did. The pain had gone, leaving behind an uncomfortable sickly feeling in the centre of her chest. Once again, Louise wondered what she was doing and why. So far, all that had been brought was pain and suffering, yet despite that, she still felt driven to complete her mission here—after all, there was only one last thing to do.

With a snap of her fingers, she summoned a small orb of red fire no larger than her thumbnail. It floated in her hand for a moment, hungry to burn all around it, then, suddenly, Louise flicked it towards the ground. The fire snaked around, scorching lines into the ground as it moved. Within seconds, she was done, and the fire was dismissed, vanishing just as it had appeared, leaving behind a large pentagram burned into the ground.

Taking a deep breath, Louise thought back to that fateful day and began to chant. "My servant that exists somewhere in this vast universe," she began, the spell leaving her tongue just as it had so long ago. "My divine, beautiful, and powerful servant heed my call! I wish from the very bottom of my heart, bring forth my familiar and appear!"

…

…

Nothing.

No familiar, no emerald portal, no nothing; just like that springtime day.

Of course, part of her knew that it would not have worked. It was not the spell that brought her here, and even if it was, she already had a branded familiar—Herself. If she wanted the spell to work, she would need to void the contract, but that would be difficult considering only the death of her familiar would suffice, or the death of the master… unfortunately, she was both.

With thoughts plaguing her mind, she left back to her ship. She was done here, and Nar Shaddaa awaited.

"Master," Louise said, taking a knee before the glowing holographic bust of Darth Zash. In her hand, she presented the crystalline artefact of Tulak Hord, still hanging from the now repaired chain. "I have completed my mission."

"Marvellous, excellent!" Zash cried exuberantly. "It has been so long and I was starting to worry, but it warms my heart to know that you did not fail. I do hope the Jedi didn't cause you any problems."

"No," Louise said with a shake of her head, "the Jedi proved little more than a slight hindrance. It was the Temple that caused the most issue for me."

"Oh? Well, that does explain things…" Zash said, her brow furrowing in thought.

Louise tilted her head. "What do you mean, master?"

"A few weeks ago, I felt a… tremor in the Force. It was a peculiar thing that I'm certain most of the galaxy heard. I managed to get my hands on a spell to grant me a certain kind of clairvoyance and, well, apparently the disturbance originated from the Onderon system. Do you know what happened?"

Louise stared up at Darth Zash strangely, though inside her head she was screaming unendingly. Apparently, there were spells that could grant the knowledge of where verges in the Force appeared, which meant that not only did she have to deal with the dead's curiosity but the curiosity of almost every Sith with an aptitude for sorcery. After a second's silence, which she hoped she could play off as thought, Louise replied to her master.

"No, not really, master, but I remember it happening," Louise said, half-truths spilling from her mouths like water from a waterfall. "Though it did actually aid me in getting the artefact."

"Curious, what's curiouser was that I felt a similar one early this morning," she muttered. "Nevertheless, what's important is that you have the artefact. Now, I haven't made much progress on my end, unfortunately—the Spirit Stone, as I've taken to calling it, has been keeping me quite busy. Then there was Darth Thanaton who's been visiting me, obviously still suspicious that I somehow killed Skotia, then Ancestral Pilgrimage rolled around… so, I haven't had much time to research into the location of the rest of Tulak Hord's artefacts."

Darth Zash took a deep breath "Enough about my life. As for the third artefact, the one on Nar Shaddaa, that one I have important information on. Fortunately, it's not at the bottom of some kind of tomb or temple, nor guarded by thousands of beasties. In fact, it should be fairly straight forwards getting this one."

"What do you mean by this," Louise asked.

"The artefact belongs to a renegade Sith Lord by the name of Paladius. He's lived on Nar Shaddaa for several years, converting the planets downtrodden and suffering peoples into his zealous followers—his own cult."

"Cult, master?"

"Yes, the Cult of the Screaming Blade," Zash said, before muttering, "I would certainly choke whoever came up with that name." She shook her head. "They're little more than thugs who believe Paladius some kind of messiah sent from the gods to save them from their horrid lives. They serve his every whim, stealing for rival gangs, preaching his word, and generally keeping the poor state of the slums poor. However, how his cult acts is of no importance, only that this entire cult business has gone to his head—now he leads his minions from seclusion, making getting to him all the more difficult, but I know people like him; apply the right amount of pressure and he'll come for you.'

"I've contacted two of his former cult members," she continued, "two humans called Rylee Dray and Destris Veran. They're in hiding at the moment, fearing Paladius and his followers, but they'll prove useful. I'll be sending you their location later. Just remember, the artefact is all that matters. What you do with Paladius and his cult is up to you, just make sure to get the artefact."

AN: Well, the Dxun arch is now 100% finished… on to Nar Shaddaa! Now, retroactively, this chapter goes out to all those people who thought Louise getting home was as simple as getting a wand and casting a spell. It's not. Not only that, but this is also to dispel the myth that Louise has 100% gone Imperial and has no desire to go home; it has not nearly been long enough for Louise to fully commit to this idea and as of this moment, Louise is unsure. She tested the spell both out of curiosity and because at that time, there was one part of her, however small, that desperately wanted to see her family again, that desperately wanted to get out of the nightmare that was her life (I mean, she only, fifteen days ago, almost died…). Whether she'll feel the same way seven years from now is a good question, but it doesn't matter at this time.

Now, I know some might have fears that I'm going to be rehashing canon with the Nar Shaddaa arch, but… well… I have ideas that will certainly make it different. Not only is she going to learn that to win favour one must do more than the Inquisitor did in canon, but also that Nar Shaddaa has certain elements that might… side track her.