Alright, part 2 of the party, Chapter 34: An Unexpected Reunion.
Chapter 34: An Unexpected Reunion
While the main party continued in the hall, Roman was in the back room with the 'exotic dancing,' he was having a good time as a few officers and loner Sith enjoyed the shows the dancers put on. Though, Roman was disappointed. As it was all non-human, minus a select few, he didn't hate the aliens, he found it not to his tastes. Though, one human, in particular, one that earned his immediate and undivided attention, she was gorgeous, looked a bit like Weiss in a way though due to the light he couldn't tell the hair color as it matched the lighting hinting it was a pale blonde, her eyes were pure ice blue. Though he couldn't help but feel sad for her as he looked into her eyes, she seemed dead inside like something broke her. That's when one officer not enjoying the show decided to smack the poor woman across the face. Though he saw a weak aura take some of the blow, Roman's once thought dead heart strings were tugged. Drawing his blaster pistol, he leveled it at the officer, in defense of the Remnant.
"Oh, you don't like what I did, you insubordinate whelp," the officer spit on Roman, "you aren't even Imperial Military, your part of the Hiskal Guard, such a pitiful group of sods, She's a worthless slave, not something you should be wasting your time on."
"First off, don't ever tell me how to think," Roman hissed at the Imperial Officer, as he flipped his blaster around and whipped him across the face with it, slamming him to the ground unconscious as the other officers took note but did not assist either party. "My God, I hit harder than I thought," Roman said amused as he kneeled down like he would to one of his guardsmen if they were injured, "you okay?" He asked offering his hand to the shocked woman.
"I am okay, no one has shown any concern for my well-being in a while," She said taking his hand as the officer started to recover. Though it was at this point Roman Realized as the lighting normalized this woman was a relative of Weiss's, her older sister maybe.
"Come with me," Roman said with a stern look on his face.
"I can't," she said as she pointed at her shock collar.
He internally cursed as he needed to know something, now, "What is your name?"
"Winter Schnee," She responded confirming Roman's suspicions, by this point in time he knew what he needed to do. Pressing a button on his commlink bracer, he dialed the one man that could help. Once he heard the click on the other end he stated,
"My lord, this is Roman,"
"Roman? What do you need?" Malserik inquired, concerned why Roman would be contacting him now of all times. On Roman's end, Winter went wide eyed as she realized who her savior was, Roman Torchwick. Her face distorted with terror though Roman signaled at her to calm down, the last thing he needed was her to freak out now.
"Check with Leers on buying a Winter Schnee, she's one of the slaves in the strip club back here," Roman Spoke as he calmed Winter as the officer made intimate with the grip of his pistol, got back up and drew his blaster on Roman.
The Silence on Malserik's end was paramount "Okay, I will take care of it, Roman, bring her here," as the line terminated little did he know Roman had engaged the officer. After a few second the officer had fired, Roman's aura tanked the blaster bolt to his chest. It still hurt though it dissipated the damaged, damn it! Why the hell did I not shoot first! Roman cursed internally as he raised his blaster up and fired.
Sitting at the table Malserik was shocked a what he heard. Weiss had mentioned her sister and brother on numerous occasions to him, so he knew her name. Sitting there with Imperious Malserik sat confused.
"What is it Malserik, What did Roman want?" Imperious asked as they heard a faint muffled blaster shot. Everything nearby stopped for a second before everyone just shrugged their shoulders, that's when another blaster shot rang out, this time earning Malserik's attention he raised his hand up and said he was going to investigate.
walking back, he saw Leers doing the same, going into the exotic dancing section as well going back there. he telekinetically pulled his saber from his belt. As he entered the exotic dancing section a crowd had formed around an Imperial officer's corpse on the floor with a blaster bolt scorch mark on his forehead, and Roman standing there with the barrel of his blaster, Leer's ignited his saber and prepared to strike Roman down along with the slave but before he could, Malserik ignited his saber and dashed in, parrying Leers' Strike. The Viridian blade crackled as the crimson blade slammed into the floor and locked it there.
"Leers, I must regretfully inform you Mister Torchwick is under my protection. Lest you want to test your mettle on me, I would back down so we could come to a mutual agreement," Malserik said not moving an inch in the saber lock, "Roman had his reason to fire upon this officer, the officer was the first to employ lethal force, not my guardsman." With that sentence spoken Leers disengaged his lightsaber, his face riddled with fear, he knew from his studies of Malserik's stories, if he makes an offer to take it, he knew plenty of Sith who he tried to make deals for if they turned it down and pressed the fight, he struck them down.
Winter looked up at the man with the Viridian blade, who saved her and Roman from death at the hands of her Master. She witnessed her master buckle as Roman stood up saluting him. The man Roman referred to as his 'lord' quickly offered her a hand so she may stand. His one eye seemed to give her a once over before he turned to face the man who just tried to strike her and Roman down. He pulled out a chip from his pocket and clicked it into a port on his gauntlet. Seemingly adjusting something, he quickly took the chip out and tossed it to the man saying,
"one hundred thousand credits, plus ten thousand for the dead officer, that good enough?" The one-eyed man inquired, as her master took out a tablet and plugged the chip in. He waited for a second before replying.
"Yes, that is very good Malserik," Darth Leers smiled as Malserik's deal was more than fair. "she is all yours," Leer's smiled as he walked away as the crowd cleared out. Malserik looked at the scantily clad woman he effectively just freed, he could tell that her fellow slaves were quite jealous. Malserik was known for effectively bypassing the Emperor's decree that no slave was allowed to be freed. Unclipping his coat from his shoulders, he tossed it to Winter who caught it to the instructions of,
"Please put that on, you are coming with us," Malserik smiled as he turned to walk out of the disgusting den that was the back rooms. The smells of sex and perversion contaminated his nose for long enough that he sighed when he walked out of the room with Winter and Roman, at which point Malserik smiled and said, "your sister will be quite happy to have you back, Winter"
With that thought in mind, she could tell by the way this man carried himself he was being honest, and her sister was indeed here.
Imperious was concerned now, she didn't know what to think was going on. Though, she drifted her eyes through the party to the dancing area. She saw the slow methodical and romantic dancing that was going on, the black and white cloaks of Ruby and Weiss stood out like a sore thumb. they both had light smiles on their faces, that alone made Imperious smile. The dedication to the other these two had made them inseparable, their love seemed unending. Though they stood on equal footing, not one more dominant than the other, they balanced each other. Imperious thought where most would find their bonds a prison they had turned it into symbiosis. One could not survive without the other, throughout training, they also trained the other, helping the other, and served as a motivation for the other. if one fell the other would get them back up, they were truly inseparable, and they showed this as they danced.
Imperious found herself staring at their dancing. It was elegant as she noted the petals fluttering from under their cloaks. Their hands interlocked, looking each other in the eye as they danced. As they danced Imperious could see the aura between them as it flashed. The music entered escalated its pace thus so did they doing more elaborate movements. It was then Imperious noted Ruby had her hand bare for the world to see. She was showing no shame over her arm. Imperious figured she could give dancing a chance one of the skills she never really bothered to pick up. she knew how to be seductive, but not dance.
That's when Malserik Returned with Roman and a woman in toe, the appearance of the woman made Imperious do a double take, Weiss is with Ruby, so who is that, a doppelganger of Weiss? Imperious asked herself as they came over to the table it was at that point Imperious realized the woman was about four years older than Weiss.
"Sorry about that Ceres, Roman got himself into a bit of trouble with an Imperial captain," Malserik said with a smile coming back "Also I would like you to meet Winter Schnee, Weiss's older sister." Malserik smiled as he gestured to her.
Imperious could see the familial resemblance to Weiss, "Well I can see that certainly looks like someone that could be her sister," Imperious smiled getting up seemingly to go get Weiss only to have Malserik put a hand on her should and said,
"not yet, I have tasked Roman with explaining the situation to Winter here, also this is meant to be a surprise for her," Malserik said with a smile, though little did he know that wasn't the reason she was getting up.
"Though, I wanted to get up for another reason as well, so please remove your hand from my shoulder," Imperious spoke mischievously with a smirk on her face. Malserik did as she commanded of him as he knew that smirk meant one thing, the storm is looming, "Now then Viridian since you probably won't ask me to dance with you I am going to ask you to dance with me, How does that sound?" Imperious smirked at him playfully. Malserik sighed dancing was nothing too serious, though he hadn't danced with someone since his days as a Jedi and that was because he and another padawan were made to attend a senate ball and that padawan asked him to dance with her. She was a noble person though Maslerik long forgot her name. Though, she did like teaching him formal things like how to dance and how to carry himself like a leader, if she wouldn't have been a Jedi, she could have become someone great to the Republic.
Ruby and Weiss were relaxing together in an alcove in the wall of the gothic architecture. They were smiling at the looks other Sith and imperial personnel gave them. They made it known they were indeed a couple. The looked at other Sith dancing some with Imperial personnel some with other Sith though that was rare. They figured some of the Sith were looking for one night stands while the few that did dance together seem at least like they had a mutual attraction, most likely not true love. That is when they saw it, Malserik and Imperious making their way to the floor Weiss whispered into Ruby's ear with a smile, "This should be good."
"I think so too," Ruby chuckled as they looked slightly out of place together. Though much to their surprise Malserik and Imperious seemed to dance competently, as a matter of fact, Malserik was outpacing Imperious with precision footwork. It was at that point Ruby realized Imperious may never have danced before. Her foot placement was clumsy, the look on her face was that of an embarrassed blush, while Malserik's face showed he was on the verge of chuckling, though they seemed to be having fun. Ruby and Weiss kept watching them despite their age they still looked youthful enough to be doing this slow dancing the way they were.
Roman had spent the time briefing the weakened Winter, whose aura had been stunted over the past few year due to the shock collar. due to this stunted aura, her Semblance was useless. Her body scared and abused by various owners, this definitely wasn't the first time she had been purchased, but it would be the last. Though, she gained hope when she heard that Weiss had not suffered her fate of being spat out of the vortex in a slaver ship. She was so happy to hear she had made a life for herself here and that she was more benevolent than most Sith, and the fact Ruby and the other knights had made it to Hiskal, and due to Roman recognizing her she was going to get out of the hell that was the Sith slavery system thanks to Malserik.
"So where is Weiss, Roman?" Winter asked her voice meek and somber, it would take time for her to heal from the damage inflicted by the shock collar. She kept her eyes low, as she was now among an entire room of people like Leers and her prior masters. So she was quite nervous. Though Roman was quick to reply with,
"The hell if I know, probably with Ruby doing God knows what, they are here, though, and they are Sith," Roman said cursing for emphasis as he slouched in the seat as Winter held Malserik's coat clasped to keep the cold off of her frail body.
"So how powerful is my little sister?" Winter asked out of the blue, quite curious as to what her sister was capable of. though, she sighed internally to hear her and Ruby were still together.
"You didn't hear Malserik's lil' screw you to all the Sith in the room?" Roman asked, confused. if it was one thing Malserik could be very inspiring with his speeches, or just down right intimidating, though he didn't scare him as much as Imperious did at times. Something was just off putting Roman with her, though unlike his boss she could take a joke and enjoy it. "They are both very powerful, Weiss is as Powerful as Red, though Red may be more powerful, I have no idea, I don't ever want to find out," Roman said much to Winter's delight. As her eyes caught two cloaked individuals sitting in an alcove in a wall off of the dance floor, white and blue next to red and black. It was then she saw their faces, they were her sister and her lover. Seeing this made her smile, she was as home as she was going to get.
After what was about thirty minutes, Imperious and Malserik were tired of the awkward act that was dancing, and as Ruby recognized it was Imperious who was the one without dancing skills. Malserik wasn't much better, but he seemed less clumsy. They saw Ruby and Weiss chuckling out of the side of their vision as they danced. It seems them dancing was enough of a show as it stood.
"You two enjoy the show?" Imperious pseudo growled at the two lovebirds of Hiskal, As they chuckled a bit more. Her face was red with a blush that shined through her almost paper colored skin. Malserik, however, was bright with a light smile as he replied with,
"I think they found your couple dancing skills a bit lacking," Viridian smiled at Imperious finally getting to tease the playful Sith back, "Though, your skills were just as good as mine."
"That reminds me. Where the hell did you learn to dance that's not a skill a Jedi normally has!?" Imperious asked in a faux curious anger of her partner. Who merely chuckled at the question as he crafted the reply of,
"I was good friends with a Padawan that came voluntarily from a noble family," Malserik explained with a slight smile, "She and I were good friends, though I think she may have wanted to be more than that."
"Oh really?!" Imperious smirked maliciously, her eyes narrowing she was giving Malserik the look of death now.
"Did I say the feelings between her and I were mutual, no I felt no similar attraction," Malserik spoke calmly and efficiently. He knew she would regret killing him over a trivial matter of the past, though he was being completely honest with Imperious. Ruby could feel the honesty flowing in his voice he was a man of no fear right now, nor anger, he was calm and at peace. Imperious and Weiss felt this too, Malserik was showing his honesty, "Ceres I would never go back to the Jedi, let alone for that whelp, am I clear."
"Why did you go all Jedi there?" Ceres asked, calmly continuing with, " and thank you, Viridian, I trust you."
"This to me was not a topic worth my anger, and fury, no, tact and diplomacy can make a joyful relationship, Correct Weiss?" Malserik spoke looking down and to the side at Weiss.
"Correct," Weiss smiled with a faint blush, as she averted her eyes as Malserik looked back over to his former apprentice with a smile.
"While I was her mentor in the arts of being a Sith. She mentored me on how to be a good partner," Weiss blushed profusely with what Viridian said as Ruby looked at her with a gaze eyes that said 'look at you, Weiss being a good person.'
"So that's why you seemed so calm and less awkward than I thought you would, Viridian," Ceres Smiled though she said, "I applaud you for doing that, but how long have you been planning for it,"
"It was a crash course I gave him last night," Weiss explained taking up a brash and annoyed tone, "I would call him a dolt for doing that, but sadly that title is reserved for my dolt," Weiss smiled as she put her arm around Ruby. With this thought in mind, the two red-clad women started to belt with laughter, though Ruby did hug Weiss after her fit of laughter died down. Malserik smirked figuring he did well to earn that harsh statement from Weiss.
"If you two are done, we should collect Roman and be on our way. As Weiss has another difficult task ahead of her though it should be a joyful one," Malserik smiled as he pinged Roman telling him to bring their most recently found friend to their shuttle. Weiss and Ruby both were curious about what Malserik meant, as the four of them walked out Ruby slipped her glove back on, going to their shuttle in the dark night that was punctuated by cracks of lightning from the force storm above.
Arriving at the shuttle they found that Roman was already prepping for take off though Ruby and Weiss went wide eyed at who they saw there with him. Reacting, they both screamed her name,
"Winter!"
Winter found herself with the two young women embracing her, They held her tight enough that her breathing was less than optimal. "Ple-ase-Let go," She spoke squirming in their grasps of joy. They let go and Winter saw how much they had changed. Needless to say, she was impressed by how they managed to become members of Sith. On the shuttle ride back to Hiskal, Winter was impressed with both Ruby and Weiss's growth. Though, she didn't care for their pallor, the darkening around their eyes, and hair coloration. As the coloration of the tips had crawled up their hair, stopping a fourth of the way up and seemed more vibrant than usual. Though one change that actually worked well in her mind was Ruby's eyes they seemed to work well with her new figure. Ruby made a point to show winter her Saber's along with Weiss who showed her sister hers. For the rest of the trip, Ruby and Weiss briefed her on the what had been going on in their lives. Winter was shocked, to say the least at a few details, especially the killing part. She then informed them of her time as a slave, some of the acts committed upon her made Weiss gag and Ruby's eyes go wide with shock.
Though it was at this point Weiss informed Winter she was an heiress again, though instead of being the heiress to a multi-million lien corporation, she was the heiress to Hiskal's governorship. this fact did make Winter happy as her sister was always destined to great things.
When they landed back at Hiskal, Malserik and Ceres Relieved those left in charge for their absence. Whilst doing this Imperious discussed with Malserik the Idea of additions to Hiskal to move all of her works from her position on the Dark Council to Hiskal. She knew this Idea would be easy to convince Malserik of as the Sphere had so many holocrons and other valuable artifacts.
Whilst that was going on, Winter met up with Neo, Pyrrha, and Nora, the latter of whom were excited to see her. They got her adjusted, to life in Hiskal over the next few weeks.
A few Months after the celebration of the sacking of Coruscant, Winter was deemed too weak to be trained as a Sith, this news disappointed both her and her sister but it was due to her found to be due to her severely stunted aura, which seemed to stunt her connection to the force as well. Though it did not stop Weiss from trying to help her sister learn the ways force.
Despite how much she tried she couldn't even pick up a small stone, she could rattle it but not lift it. Malserik intervened after letting this continue for about a week before informing Weiss that the damage to her willpower from the shock collar could be hindering her use of the force and that she was to stop trying to train her. Malserik wished that wasn't the case It was at this point Malserik told Weiss as well that Roman and Neo were in a similar state, something had stunted their use in the force as well. It was there for them, but their ties to it were too weak for them to use it like a Sith or a Jedi. Though Malserik theorized with enough time, the damage could be healed or corrected.
At this time, Malserik revealed he had other plans for Winter, she was to him a 'normal' human. So like the other two 'normal,' Remnants, she was to undergo specialized training. specifically in combating force users. If she could recover her mental fortitude she could be trained as an assassin to force users like the ones used in Revan's Sith Empire. Such a person would be an invaluable tool to their order. Her muted abilities in the force could be of great use in repelling mental invasion. She was placed under Dornettz and Balikor for training. Over a few months, they had her training with martial arts as her body recovered. Malserik had modified Mandalorian armor made for her. she was sparring with Roman, Neo, Dornettz, and Balikor, though as her training advanced she was pitted up against Ruby and Weiss, who together were insurmountable, but one on one she could handle Ruby or her Sister in hand to hand, though it was close. Malserik and Ruby collaborated on making a weapon for her they settled on a collapsible electrified baton, made of course of Phrik Alloys, with a cortosis plating if needed.
While all the other Remnants and staff focused on training Winter to be a weapon against force users. Pyrrha and Nora focused on their own personal training. Pyrrha focused herself inwards, training her mind for Sith combat rituals. She found herself liking the dark arts of Sith rituals and alchemy, she had learned the basics of the dark arts in the tombs. Though she was not by far a master in them, she had yet to create a Sith spawn or her own artifact to live through history. Something that she looked forward to doing. Where most Sith recorded what they did into a Holocron, Pyrrha did so into a tome, a book that she kept on her belt, she wrote it in Latin letters, so only those from Remnant or those who bothered to learn the language would know how to read it. According to Ruby and Weiss, Pyrrha had been living up to her title of Tomb Witch.
Nora however, was working on her technique for enhancing her strength using her self-inflicted force lightning. Over time her body grew used to the punishment the lightning and her semblance could put out. Broken bones became inconsequential to Nora, as the dark side pinned her back together, and with each breakage, her body adjusted increasing her bone density and thickness. Another side effect was the muscle growth that it caused, increasing her inherent strength. The last side effect was the black lightning marks being burned onto her skin, they didn't hurt, but they did grow whenever she used her ability for prolonged periods of time. Starting at her extremities, like her toes and fingers, working there way up. Despite the changes, Nora kept training, putting her body through hell so that she could become stronger than any Jedi could hope to be, so she could get vengeance on them for turning Lie Ren against her.
Over the course of the next year or so, the four Knights of Hiskal knew boredom, their patience was wearing thin as the plan's subtlest details were figured out. While at points it seemed like it was on hiatus as Malserik and Imperious going out on dates like a pseudo-normal couple would. Not that they weren't happy for them, just the lack of attack and missions had them on edge. Though, as Imperious moved into Waldstahl fully, Ruby and Weiss noted that Imperious and Malserik were sparring together along with doing training drills together. The green and blue sabers of the two Sith stood out against the reds ones of Malserik's training droids. They had devised their techniques after Ruby and Weiss's technique. They quickly learned how to use their style to supplement the others style, Malserik was on the front whilst Imperious supported. Malserik took up a flashy dueling style for his form two, though he kept it as simple as he could, no unnecessary spin flourishes. Imperious gave support by throwing her saber or with torrents of force lightning. Imperious was a quick and fighter while Malserik was more upfront and direct. They were fighting more like Huntsmen and Huntress from Remnant than Sith at points.
Aside from their training together Viridian and Ceres liked to dance in the main hall of Waldstahl. they practiced together if nothing else was going on. The Knights of Hiskal would sometimes join them if they had the time. The Staff of Hiskal was very supporting of Malserik and Imperious. Though, they were afraid at first, wondering if Imperious was like "Most Sith." Though, they were happy to know she was much more tolerant than Malserik. Many times she had a laugh or two with the staff, though they quickly found out what her and the members of the Visorium Order were capable of, and on that day Waldstahl burned and trust was destroyed.
A/N: Well that was Chapter 34, It's the wrap up for this party and sets the stage with a time skip. Winter is back and the next chapter will be a catch up with the other characters in the year of boredom time skip, then comes in the rewritten Chapter 7 content, some of my favorite stuff I wrote for the original story. As for this chapter, I didn't feel like much needed to be changed, so that is that.
Review Responses:
Dusk Clark: Grey Jedi aren't a true faction to my knowledge, (if I am wrong on that let me know,) but Grey Jedi characters will appear, as a matter of fact, they have been seen and introduced, but they haven't had their time yet. I write this story in shades of gray, not black and white.
WirelessGrapes: I am glad you enjoy the story!
hornofdesolation: Firstly, you had me dying with that as that is true, you funny. Secondly, I understand that the outside influence wasn't necessarily needed, but when I was writing in those new details, I came up with a major future plot point that will play into that a bit.
Now with all of that out of the way, feel free to ask any questions if you have them, or give suggestions or corrections once again if you have any please give them or leave a review. Alright, everyone, be safe, have fun, and may the force be with you!
Blitzing Raptor
