A/N Okay, well I am no longer going to call this project a Rewrite, as it is more of a re-edit and recutting along with rewriting, I am just generally going to call it a rework now. With that out of the way Chapter 12.
Edit: Changed the Chapter Number
Chapter 12: An Explanation
Walking into the morgue of the Jedi Temple, Surik saw one of the coroner and surgeon of the Jedi, Doctor Kefh Socras, A male Mirialan Jedi. By his stance, he was standing waiting for Surik to walk in the door. wearing a white lab coat over his robes, he was clean cut and proper in his appearance. Unlike most Jedi healers, he was a true Doctor who was permitted to get a medical license and train in various methods of surgery
"Master Surik, Welcome, I have the effects of the deceased over here, and the corpses over here," The kind-hearted Mirialan spoke, gesturing to the three containers on the right, and the body bags and a small container on the tables to the left. Surik started to walk on the sterile tile towards the bodies as she asked,
"Could you determine the Identities of the corpse," Surik asked firmly, though what she heard next her tore her soul into shreds.
"The Human male, from what I can gather is named Qrow Branwen." The doctor replied calmly. Surik's next action took him entirely by surprise. She lunged forward unzipping the bag, she stood hovering over the corpse's face in pure shock and horror. before slumping down helplessly. The sterile tile was cold as tears started to flow from Surik's face. Kefh had looked at the Jedi and realized this must have been a very close friend.
"Why him? Why did it have to be him?" Surik muttered in despair. The one I trusted with everything I did, and everything I knew. Is gone, Surik said in her mind as she tried to compose herself. Controlling her emotions, she got back on her feet and asked: "Who is the other corpse?"
"From what I can gather he is a 'Faunus' Male named Adam Taurus," Surik breathed a sigh of relief that it wasn't Ozpin or Taiyang like her mind just expected. The term Faunus still was new to the Jedi, even though Surik published multiple reports where she explained what they were, only recently was the term being circulated. She had no interest in looking at this corpse. Continuing to the arm she inquired with,
"So what of the arm?" She asked as the final tears fell from her face as she took advantage of her training to calm herself. It took all of her willpower to not just break down.
"From what I can gather, the arm and sword belong to sixteen year old human female," The coroner answered calmly, hoping what he said next didn't further harm Surik, "From what I found from the information on his 'Scroll' device, " The Doctor paused, hoping the name he said meant nothing to Surik, though to his disappointment it did as he said. "The owner of the arm is a Ruby Rose."
Surik held her tears back as best she could, though they flowed down her face anyway. with this, she asked to have the sword, which of course the coroner gave her. She also took Qrow's scroll as well she walked right out of the morgue with the blade on her belt. Muttering, "why?" with each step as she said In her mind, She has to know, they have to know, Ruby is here, they are all here.
Over the next hour, Malserik explained the where the girls were, and the technology of the galaxy, while they asked multitudes of questions. Ruby munched on the cookies on the table which were made with weird ingredients but still edible. Same could be said about the finely prepared meals and tea that was provided. Whilst they were eating their first alien meal, Malserik told them about the war and the Jedi and the Republic. which he described with the expected bias, and then he told them about the empire and its truths slavery and cruelty and all. The idea of this empire disgusted Ruby and Weiss to even make them ask a question of Malserik.
"How can you support an empire so obsessed with personal power, murder, and tyranny!?" Ruby asked in an accusatory way. The way she asked this told Malserik she could at least discern this was wrong and needed to change. Something he completely he could relate to the young girl on. As would Imperious and all the other Sith he was working with. They all wanted to change in the Empire.
"Well, Ruby I never said I support them fully," Which was true, he never said he supported the Sith or the Empire fully "I personally believe, over time the Empire can change to see the error of its current ways. I personally detest oppression, slavery and the selfishness of my counterparts, but to me, I would rather be here than a Jedi to the Republic again," Malserik continued, his voice harsh and unwavering.
"What's so bad about the Jedi?" Weiss inquired, as the man went into very little detail about the Jedi minus his absolute hatred of them. Ruby had heard the term once before in passing when she was a child, but she never knew who or what a 'Jedi' was.
"Think back can you remember when you were two to three years old?" Malserik asked of the girls, while as he said this his troubled memories flowed forth in his mind.
"Yes vaguely, why?" Weiss asked, inquiring where he was going with it. As she didn't want to go too much into her family affairs, considering how she left them.
"Can you remember how much your parents loved you?" Malserik said with a slight tinge of pain in his mind. As the faint memories recalled themselves in force. His mind focused on that day, that one damned day.
"Yes," they both said at the same time, which unnerved the Sith. Though Weiss said this with less enthusiasm because shortly after that point in time is when her father started to crack down on her.
"Imagine being ripped away from them at that tender age by some man, just because you could perceive something most people can't." The girls eyes went wide as Malserik began his rant, "then imagine you are raised in an environment the tries to wipe you into a selfless husk, that bends over to the Republic Senate who's word is the 'greater good,' then come around one day, when you're eighteen and you want to see your parents again, only to find out they are dead. As they tried to stop the Jedi, who under Republic law are allowed to take you from your parents," Malserik huffed after getting riled up in his story to the girls and their eyes were wide as dinner plates, "As a Jedi, your natural emotions and attachments are your greatest enemy, you cannot love, you cannot get angry, you can only serve the republic even though the senate is wrong, or imagine not being able to protect the republic because the council orders you not to interfere. Both scenarios have happened."
"How do you know that's how the Jedi are?" Ruby asked stepping on the landmine, her naivety coming through again, as Weiss pinched the bridge of her nose with this as she understood the implications Malserik was giving he was trying not to imply this was his story but Weiss could tell by the way he talked, this was the case.
"I used to be one," Malserik explained, his voice low and upset, "I know how they are by experience, and that story was mine." This statement took Ruby by surprise as she though he was just going over stories, he had heard but she felt what she was hearing was legitimate. Malserik sensing Ruby's innate ability to discern intent, asked a difficult question "Ruby, how would you feel if you were barred from seeing Weiss ever again, likewise to you Weiss?"
This question tugged at Ruby's heart. Though, Weiss was the first to answer with "I couldn't feel, I would be torn apart by it." This actually put Weiss in a slump of a mood.
that's when Ruby Responded with a response that amused Malserik, "Nothing will separate Weiss and I. I would stop them from doing it, I would not let them lay a finger on Weiss! I love Weiss and I would eliminate any obstacle if it meant her and I could be together!" This long winded statement made Malserik smirk noting Ruby's eyes change color to the Sithly yellow, as he noted, she doesn't have much longer to go till that is permanent.
that's when Weiss spoke up again this time with more vocal fury, something that pleased Malserik. "And never will Ruby have to fear that, cause if I know she is fighting towards me I will fight towards her!" Weiss declared as faded red field outlined both of their bodies, Malserik noted the field as he had never seen anything like it.
"Right there, you two proved you could never be part of the Jedi order as it stands now, Love is forbidden to them now, they have to keep it a secret," Malserik said dropping this weight on them. It was something new the Jedi were doing to prevent more from falling to the dark side in a spectacular way, when they found out something had happened to their families.
"That's horrible," they both said in unison, it was at this point Ruby's eyes returned back to silver. It was at this point the seeds of bias were planted.
"I know it is," Malserik said in agreement, though he wanted to change topics to something much more interesting. With this in mind, he asked the girls, "do you know what the force is?"
"No, minus from what you said about the Jedi and the Sith" Weiss responded though she quickly added something Malserk found quite interesting, "and something Ruby's family likes to reference with the phrase, 'May the Force be with you'."
"Well judging by your power, I wouldn't be surprised if your parents were force sensitive or even Jedi or Sith" Malserik admitted at Ruby realized her mother was the one that referenced the force so much. Piecing the puzzle together, her mother was a Jedi.
"My mom" Ruby Muttered as it dawned on her. Her mother was a Jedi. The silver sabers, her odd abilities according to Qrow and her dad, it all made sense to the young girl. Malserik and Weiss heard what she had said, and Malserik jumped to ask a question that could discern her lineage.
"And what was your mother's name?" Malserik asked quite curious, he knew most of the Jedi, and if she was a Sith, that would make it even easier for him to find out who she was.
"Summer Rose," Ruby replied her voice low as she realized her mother was not who she said she was. Though Malserik was even more stumped by this name, he never heard of a Jedi from his time in the temple that had a name like that. He was utterly puzzled, trying to link Ruby's appearance to any Jedi he knew, but he knew none minus one that was impossible, as they were long dead.
"I am afraid Ruby, I don't know a Jedi by that name," Malserik explained calmly, he was honestly out of ideas who her mother could be. After that, Malserik told them about the force, how it works to known knowledge, the two sides of it, and its abilities and powers. he managed this feat in a nice thirty minutes, though mainly because he had touched on the basics of it. Then after the explanation, he said, "Ruby you know how you've been getting feelings about people like you can guess their intent or discern what they are feeling, you probably have been your entire life, and you can tell when someone isn't who they say they are?"
"Yes, why?" Ruby asked in counter, she never really thought it was strange, just gut feelings she got about people. Now she was learning there might have been a reason behind it.
"Well there is something interesting about you and Weiss, you two are extremely strong in the force," Malserik said with his signature smirk. He was enjoying this conversation.
"So wait, you're saying Ruby and I have hidden abilities related to this 'force'?" Weiss inquired, still skeptical of the whole premise of the force. Malserik wanted to facepalm at that moment as they had used it before, albeit in the most basic way, but they had still used it.
"That is exactly correct, you two have already demonstrated enough promise with it. I suspect that is why Exar Kun took interest in you, Weiss." Malserik said dropping his name on Weiss, who then proved to the man, her planet must have been under a rock in the unexplored regions of space.
"Exar Kun?" Weiss asked not knowing the name.
"The marks on your face, your lightsaber, and your amulet, all things of Exar Kun, a Jedi who was corrupted by the dark side and led an army against the republic," Malserik explained as he knew Kun's story, his voice also gave hints that it was a story he enjoyed.
"Interesting, who's the man Ruby saw in her vision," Weiss inquired about who Ruby's vision detailed.
"I don't know let's find out," Malserik suggested, he knew a technique to read another memory though his talent with the ability was limited as the other party had to let him into their mind. "With your approval, of course, Ruby."
"Sure, I'm curious" Ruby smiled as Malserik put his hand to her forehead and began to read.
With that Malserik and Ruby entered a trance-like state. Malserik found himself at the gates of Ruby's mind, he was not too invasive instead only observing, Ruby taking control of the plain of her mind recalled her vision. He saw how Ruby got her arm and the dark lord, to him he looked like a more armored up Malgus, but he was no Sith lord that he knew. but his mind kept saying one word when looking at him,"Vader," as this character chilled his soul something that would normally not happen to a veteran Sith, but there was something off about 'Vader'. There was one thing that puzzled him, the way this man christened her a Darth.
That thought was soon dropped when behind Vader he saw another figure, one Ruby did not see. he saw someone he knew the legends of, but never would have figured any relation to this girl to him, but there was no mistaking that red mask, that was Revan. Pulling out of the trance Malserik was confused what was Revan doing there.
"So who was it?" Weiss asked concerned, as Ruby didn't recover at the same time as Malserik who now had a headache. As even when someone was allowing a Jedi or Sith into their mind with the force it was still an exhausting task for said Jedi or Sith. Only a few rare Jedi or Sith could truly use that ability practically.
"Someone by the name of Vader," Malserik explained with a pained grunt in his voice, not letting them know about Revan yet, as that man confused even him. Just thinking about him worsened his headache by considerable margins.
"So what does that mean?" Weiss spoke, asking a second logical question as she watched Ruby, her concern growing as she hadn't returned to consciousness yet.
"I think he is a person of great significance from the future," Malserik responded calmly, just guessing at the Vader character. If Ruby had attracted a Sith like that, he had to ask himself, what kind of potential does this girl have?
"How do you know that?" Weiss inquired, curious of how ridiculous this situation could get.
"Just a feeling I have, I really don't know he could be" Malserik replied grimly, his inference only due to the prophecy, another thing he wasn't going to tell the girls of, yet. Still asking that question to himself, he realized Ruby was beginning to stir as her eyes opened.
"Well, did we figure out who he was?" Ruby asked, her voice groggy as she looked at Malserik, just pulling out of her trance. Unlike Malserik, her head was fine, and with a quick shake of the head, the groggy feeling was gone.
"Not really just a name," Malserik responded to Ruby's question promptly, "Vader"
"Hmm, I don't know that name. But hey we tried," Ruby said with a slight shrug as Malserk pinched a pressure point in the web of his left hand to deal with the headache. Though that did not prevent him from conversing.
"Also he called you a Darth, Ruby, any reason why?" Malserik asked of Ruby, knowing fully that they most likely didn't know.
"I was curious about that myself, what is a Darth?" Ruby inquired about this title she was assigned in the vision.
"Likewise, this Exar person also gave me a title like that to me," Weiss added in remembering her vision.
"A Darth is a Sith recognized to be powerful and cunning. They usually have to earn that title by killing a Darth or the Dark Council assigning it to a known powerful Sith," Malserik explained to the girls. Continuing with "As you know I am a Darth-,"
"So does that mean our titles don't count?" Weiss asked calmly, out of general curiosity, interrupting the Darth's train of thought.
"Yes, for now, they will not count," Malserik stated bluntly, his voice mildly pained from the headache, "but I am curious, what was the name Kun gave you, Weiss?"
"He called me Darth Glatteis," Weiss answered calmly, as she leaned back in her chair, "What was the title Ruby got?"
"Darth Fleurnoire" Ruby said calmly as she thought about the name, she liked how it sounded fancy and how smooth it sounded. "What is your Darth title Malserik?" Ruby asked cheerfully curious.
"I am just known as Darth Malserik, I never really thought of a name for myself." Malserik chuckled with the slightly embarrassed smile, some Sith just used their surnames, others were given their names, while some, a rare few indeed, could choose their name. Thinking of a way to avoid more embarrassing things Malserik said, "Well, I think now that you know about my galaxy maybe you could fill me in on your homeworld."
Looking at each other, Ruby and Weiss began the tedious task of explaining Remnant to Malserik from their knowledge. He was shocked by the Grimm, a form of life lacking any and all form of control, just wild killing machines. Taking out their scroll's, a device that interested Malserik itself, they showed him images of these creatures. He immediately suspected they were entities of the Darkside, but he did not say a word on this. Though he smiled when he heard these girls were training to kill these creatures.
Then they told him of the huntsmen and huntresses and how they fought the Grimm, then they got on to Aura and Semblance, which they demonstrated theirs for Malserik who was very impressed with the speed and glyphs the girls demonstrated. Though the bantha in the room for the dark lord was how these abilities seem to not rely on the force. The Glyphs and Speed abilities these girls possessed seemed very powerful none the less, albeit the flower petals the speed gave off did seem kind of annoying as he had to swat them away when the got near his face. After that, they explained the merged aura they shared and the effects it has, including the fact these two girls cannot be separated. A fact Malserik connected to the Holocron prophecy.
After that, Malserik got to learn why Weiss seemed a little on the wealthy side of the attitude spectrum. Weiss Explained dust and even showed him as a sample, which he asked if he could keep for chemical analysis, Weiss allowed this as she had nothing to use her dust in anymore. Malserik looked at the structure of the glowing crystals, they were impressive, though he doubted they could be used as focusing crystals.
Then lastly Ruby and Weiss told Malserik about their dreams and the incident. To which he concluded that was the Force's involvement. Though they ended with explaining their lives and why they wanted to join the ranks of Huntresses. He found it Interesting to see how the girls thought of their world and their mindset; Ruby wanting to be like the heroes in the fairy tales, originally until she wanted vengeance for the death of her friends and sister, something he could relate to. Weiss wanting something other than military service to Atlas and to defy her father. A dream she seemingly achieved from what she told Malserik. Vengeance and defiance two very easy ways to slip to the Darkside, Malserik thought to himself.
Then they went into what just happened before their arrival. They were being brutally truthful about what had occurred at Amity. They told him of the White Fang, The Black knights, everything. It was at this point Malserik realized there were two more girls that were somewhere in the galaxy, along with so many more of their people. It explained why the disturbance was so massive. The remainder of the conversation on Amity was somber as they explained how they got lost in rage. Malserik knew this to be only natural for someone giving in to the darkside for the first time. Insane killing sprees were to be expected. Though the fact they dueled an experienced force user with two lightsabers shocked him, with that information he made the inference two-way travel between Remnant and Drommund Kaas or the galaxy at large was most likely a thing.
Though, before he could continue, the conversation was interrupted by a man dressed in black armor who announced, "My Lord, I know you requested to not be disturbed," he said calmly hoping that he didn't aggravate his master," but Darth Imperious is on the line, She says it's urgent,"this further explanation put a light smirk on his face as he stood up.
"Thank you, Sergeant," Malserik said standing up to stretch his legs, "Ladies, I will be back in a bit, so please excuse me." He said as he walked toward the door, and the Sergeant returned to his post outside the door. Malserik was grinning though not for the reasons one might think, Imperious, his friend and contact on the Dark Council. Darth Imperious, the protector of the secrets of the Sith. She held the Sphere of ancient knowledge a title that should not be taken lightly. Approaching the communications room he dismissed all personnel from the room then activated the holo-com terminal and secured the line on his end.
"Darth Imperious," Malserik said to the projected hooded figure as he stood in front of the projector in an 'at ease' stance with his arms behind his back. "is this line secure?" was the next thing he asked, as the topic of the girls was of utmost secrecy.
"It is Viridian," Malserik smiled hearing her accented female voice on the other end, her referring to him as Viridian was the code to say the line is secure and the rooms are secure. "I'm assuming you felt that disturbance?" She continued with as she knew one of the largest ones was on Drommund Kaas.
"That I did," Malserik replied, as a sly smirk formed on his lips, revealing his white teeth, Picking the small spherical Holocron out of his pocket he continued, "Remember that prophecy this thing told us about?"
"They're here?!" the hooded hologram responded with amazement and a smile beneath her hood. If they were here, that meant her plans could be set into motion at long last.
"That they are," Malserik replied with a smirk. He was happy his friend was happy with this news.
"Have you convinced them to join us?" Imperious inquired hoping Malserik did already.
"No, they just arrived, and are a bit shaken up but give them time," Malserik responded with a cool tone. He could tell Imperious was happy and giddy by the large grin her hooded face bore.
"Alright then Viridian, I'll keep the Dark Council off your back," She said calmly knowing the Dark Council knew nothing of the girls and would kill them if they were deemed a threat to the Empire, which she knew they would.
"Also, be on the lookout for more people like them, there may be two more," Malserik explained calmly, this made his counterpart in Kaas city gasp.
"you think there are more?" She inquired, the shocked tone unbefitting of her cloaked presence. Malserik gave a look of 'Would I lie about something like this?' This got her understanding causing her to say, "I will monitor the Imperial Intelligence reports for anything of use, I will not keep you any longer."
"Thank you, Ceres." He smiled Terminating the line and beginning to walk out of the comm room with one thought in mind, by the force I love her. He smiled though his affections for her were long since dashed due to a condition he had. One he kept hidden so well all that found out about it, had a tendency to disappear.
Imperious sat in the giant chamber that was her office, resting her arms on her desk while resting her head on interlaced fingers. She couldn't help but laugh a bit, as they were here. Finally, her plans could start to be set up. She reclined back into her chair, she had a lot of work to do in the coming months, not to mention monitoring the Imperial Intelligence reports and other official documentation.
She stood up still smiling, the dark council was going crazy trying to figure out what had just occurred hours earlier. She knew the girls were safe with Malserik, he was a man so paranoid he hired his own guards and soldiers, something the Empire did not approve of, but his removal from Hiskal would slam the economy into a downward spiral, something the empire knew very well. Along with his outright destruction of anyone who tried to oust him, he kept the people happy and satisfied to ensure insurrection if he was removed.
A/N well, that was Chapter 12, I really didn't change that much, minus adding the morgue scene and a few more lines of Dialog, I didn't want to overburden the chapter with fully going through some of the conversations they had as they would last long period of time and I don't want this to be a 10 k long dialog chapter. So short and sweet it is. As I said at the top I am changing the term I am using to describe the rewrite to rework as it fits what I am doing much better. Alright! Everyone have fun, stay safe and may the force be with you!
