A/N: Wow, I didn't expect such response from so many people. /Grins like an idiot/ Thanks, guys! And I see that my little devilish twist has done its job. /Rubs hands together/ I love twists!
Once again, another big thanks to Kosiah for the beta /Gives her a big hug/
Ozziegrl: Thanks and yup! Last chapter up!
BlackpoolBird: Heh, thanks. Sorry bout "Continuation". I've been doing some serious tweaking in the plots and been rather busy. But, it should be up soon, I hope!
Kosiah: Thanks and thanks and thanks, Kosiah /Bows/
noneko: Thanks! The plot just came to me one night and I had to write it out. I was thinking how twisted it'll be if the exile was LS and became DS after the battle with Traya, and how it'd affect the whole thing. Luckily the plot worked…I think… and you'd have to thank Kosiah for the English. Without her it'd be horrible and unreadable. :p
PlasmaBomb: /Takes the moon and topples over with the moon squashing her/ That's one big love! Uh…leaving Di to rot? O.o I take it that you don't really like him then. Technically, he wasn't left alone to rot, but just pushed out of the room. Poor guy, he needs more loving!… :p And thanks! Firera, with a mission.
Prisoner 24601: Thanks, Prisoner! I'd love to have the ending in the game too, but you know… /sniff/
Maria: Ha, tweaking the lines from the game was hard because if I did too many changes, it'd change the whole story. The reason why I used Disciple's perspective in the first part was to show the magnitude of Atton's change and how it affected the others (Disciple being alert and protective over the exile, and the exile being all confused). Then I switched it back to Atton for the rest. Whether it worked or not, I don't know. And as for character development, I admit having to practice more on that…thanks for the advices, though!
ApatheticSoul: Heh, glad you liked it and thanks!
celestine1: :p That was the point. Hmm…to put it into the easiest and shortest way for me to explain, she was dark all along but had not shown her true nature(very cunning) until Traya was dead and the time after the confrontation was the best moment to reveal herself. Seems acting is very popular among the new crew of the Ebon Hawk. First Traya, then Atton, now the exile… :p Hope I cleared up the confusion.
Midnight Hawk: Yup, silly game cuts. If they had that in it wouldn't be as confusing as it is now. I wonder what's in the pc game patch? Hmm…/scratches chin/
Epilogue
There she was, lying beside him. She breathed steadily and her face was serene, as if nothing in the galaxy had changed. He noted how much her face had transformed. Tattoos had replaced the veins that had first marked her shift to the dark side. She was still beautiful, but in a twisted and horrible way, now. He reached out a hand to lightly trace the lines, and she shifted slightly in her sleep.
She was no longer the exile he once knew and nothing of the past existed in her now. Her darker beauty hid the ugliness inside.
Now everything was just a deception.
He got up from the bed and walked towards the full-length window. Despite the cold, he was only dressed in a pair of trousers. He raked his hand through his hair, and he went back to his thoughts. Then he turned to look at her.
He knew she loved him, or at least that was what she made him believe. The man tried to remember the warm blue eyes that would sparkle back at him with a hint of humour, but all he could conjure up in his mind was the cold, red gaze that he saw the day she changed.
Deep inside, he hated her for it. He hated the old woman for changing her. But he loved her. Among the ironies of ironies, he had fallen in love with a beast masquerading as an angel, a saviour…a woman.
He turned away from her and watched the stars through the window. He sighed. He missed the faint glow that used to surround her. The gleam in her eyes…the faint smirk she had on her face whenever one of her pranks succeeded.
It was all gone.
Everything was gone.
But then again, she wasn't the only one who had changed. He had changed. The crew had changed. They all still followed her. Even after the whole incident back on Malachor V. They followed her like a pack of kath hounds surrounding their prey. No one doubted her words. No one tried to argue with her about falling to the dark side.
Except she wasn't the prey. They were.
He looked at his reflection on the window and sighed. Yes, he had changed. The tattoos and veins were strange, and yet he found them intriguing.
The effects of the dark side were appalling. However, he had no regrets.
A movement behind him caused him to turn slightly. The exile had shifted in her sleep again, looking for his warmth. He shook his head at her, and resumed his thoughts.
Then he wondered if loving her was worth it. But was it even love he felt for her? He knew lust. He knew passion and desire. But love…he did not know. The man shook his head again. No, he loved her. He loved her with all his heart, yet he still had that nagging feeling that he did not know her.
He was so confused.
He reached out, leaning on the window frame. The day's events passed through his mind. The exile never hid her face like Revan did, and each menacing glare she gave him for telling her how much she had changed made him cringe mentally, though his face had remained expressionless.
He remembered the pain and emotion that poured from her the day she knew what she was in the galaxy, and how she had sought solace in his embrace. He'd pitied her, and tried to reassure her that everything would be fine, and promised that he would not leave her.
And he kept that promise.
He never left her even when he knew she would be the end of him. He never left her even when he suspected that she didn't really love him.
He had to keep that promise, or else he would crumble.
He could still feel her emotions and pain. The only difference now was, she didn't hold back as she had before. She unleashed them, with full force to everything. On everyone around her. And against the galaxy. In the beginning, her uncontrolled powers had been an excruciating experience for him; but time made him accept them, and finally, revel in them.
In the window's reflection, he watched her sleeping form. The shadows hid part of her face and part of her body. He thought about how he hated her for changing him into something he'd never wanted to be and how easy it would be to just stride silently towards her and slit her throat for all she had done.
It would be a release for him, for his tortured soul.
The man didn't even notice that he was clenching his fists until he felt a cramp. He thumped his forehead onto the pane of glass with a dull thud.
He'd be a fool to try and kill her. She'd kill him first even before he even got close. And he knew he couldn't live without her.
He loved her, didn't he?
A sudden warmth caressed his bare back and he stiffened. An arm snaked around his waist and enveloped him in a semi-cold hug. The other hand firmly was placed on his left shoulder.
Her breath was warm on his neck as she nuzzled his nape and he took a sharp intake of breath when she left a wet trail and blew on it. She splayed her right hand over his chest while her other hand did nothing.
When she spoke, her voice was a low seductive whisper. "Something on your mind?"
The Dark Lord's lover shook his head, standing very still. She chuckled, low in her throat, and he felt the slight tendrils of the Force probing his mind. It grew more persistent when he wouldn't let her in. A sudden pain in his head made his nose bleed and she chuckled coldly again.
"Stubborn, aren't we?"
He did not answer or turn around. Instead, the man reached out to the table beside him and took a handkerchief to wipe the blood off. "I would like some privacy if you do not mind, Master." he told her in a defiant voice.
She growled at the back of her throat but still continued on caressing him. Her hand went lower and she gently ran her fingers over his stomach, causing a ticklish sensation on the skin there. When she spoke, it was in the same low seductive whisper she always used with him.
"Much defiance in you, boy." A sharp pain on his shoulder made him jerk away from her. In spite of this, she held him firmly in her grasp, and he finally turned around to face her and to look at the source of his pain.
She had bitten him on the shoulder.
He saw the self-satisfied smile plastered on her face and her narrowed eyes gleaming back at him. The woman leaned forward and licked the small droplets of blood coming from the bite and she muttered against his skin.
"I like some rebellion in my men…but don't expect me to spare you the next time you do that." With that, she suckled gently on the wound and then moved away.
Once again, he wondered why and how she had changed. The woman who was once the best humanity had to offer was just a monster in front of him. A monster just like him.
She had become a wound, no longer healing, but only growing to be more and more infected.
The Dark Lord held out a hand to him, and he took it. She led him to the bed, and pushed him onto it.
She was pain now. Like what Sion was. Broken, unable to recover; she relished in it, using the pain to make her stronger.
But he watched her smile lightly, and how she leaned down to kiss him gently. He was broken too, just like her. He was linked to her, by the Force power that she seeped into him whenever she healed his wounds. The cold tendrils of her life knitted the wound on his shoulder, leaving yet another scar.
She was hunger, like Nihilus. Forever ravenous for power, and the Force.
He felt her hands move towards the fasteners on his trousers; her lips on his. The man closed his eyes to avoid looking at her, but his hands reached up to feel the once blonde hair.
She was the manipulator, like Traya. With expertise like a master conspirator, her followers became willing puppets, doing her every bidding, and drawing themselves near to their very own fall. He was one of them, but he did not regret it.
In fact, he loved it.
Later, he leaned on one elbow to watch her as she dressed, and admired how the tattoos did not mar her but only served to accentuate her curves. She turned to look at him as she tied the sash on her waist and gave him that cold, empty smile.
"Come. We've got a lot of work of do."
Curiosity got the better of him. "By the way, what did you do with him?"
To his surprise, she smiled. The exile sat next to him and traced her fingers over his lips, and chuckled. "He was sent to deal with someone I want gone."
He did not speak, only watched her as she moved towards the door. She leaned back on the frame and studied him. "Mical?"
"Yes?"
"You're very tempting lying there naked, but like I said, we've got things to do." She purred. "Dress."
The man once known as Disciple got off the bed and answered her.
"Yes, Master."
Told ya, I love twists! Muahahahahahahaha! And you had lots of hints there /Shameless plug on/ For those who are interested, I'm working on a DSF Revan story called "The Darkness Descends" which is already on the net. And there's also a LSF Revan story called "Continuation", which is also currently on the net. Just click on my name and it'll take you to them. :p /Shameless plug off/
Thanks for reading, fellas.
And, Ooooooooo…first completed fic!
