I stand astounded by the massive amount of popularity that this story had achieved. Thank you all so very much, but please, keep the support coming, reviews are the lifeblood of my imagination. Enjoy!
Chapter Thirty
Cameras and Curses
Sirius waited for the cover of darkness before making his way across the grounds from the Whomping Willow to the edge of the forest. He was starving, as he had forgone his usual outing to find food in favor of watching Harry play in the first Quidditch match of the school season.
It had taken him some time after the match began to find his godson, and Sirius had been perturbed by the Slytherin colors on James' son, but that fact paled in comparison to seeing the boy healthy and enjoying himself, safe and sound in Hogwarts.
The good feelings that Sirius had had were troubled still when the Dementors arrived at the game. He had fled to an overhang as they had glided over the field, and had been prepared to dash away into the trees, but he had chosen to chance a final look at Harry before he left, only to see to his shock and fear that the boy was within feet of one of the black robed creatures, completely unaffected by the malevolent aura that the dark creatures projected.
The chill of that scene hadn't left him the rest of that day, and he had been quite exhausted from the swarm that had came over the field, along with the massive amount of energy he had had to muster to sneak away and back to the shrieking shack without being seen.
He was starting to feel extremely sluggish from the lack of sustenance since Halloween when he had made an attempt to get at Pettigrew, many people didn't come to Hogsmeade anymore with the Dementors present, and fewer still were willing to feed scraps to a loveable stray, despite the doleful eyes that he had mastered early on after succeeding at the transformation.
Sirius had overheard that Remus was at the castle, and there was a handful of times that he had seen his old friend. The news both filled him with happiness and sadness, the former for knowing that there was at least one of them in Harry's life to some extent, and sadness at the memories of all the mistrust that had been placed upon the most honest of his old school friends.
Sirius had been tempted to reveal himself to Remus several times, beg for forgiveness and explain everything, then together hunt down Pettigrew, but his rational mind was strengthening every day he was away from the monstrous prison and the dementors, which caused him to stay as far from the werewolf as possible. There could only be one reason that Dumbledore had hired the man this year, and that was because of his familiarity with Sirius.
Making his way toward the village through the lighter part of the trees, Sirius froze when he heard a rustling from nearby. He climbed under a heavyset bush just in time to hear the baying howl and see the glimmer of moonlight from the sky above.
Flinching, despite being transformed and therefore safe from the werewolf, Sirius pressed himself deeper under the vegetation as the pale, lithe form of Remus stalked into view. The werewolf moved with surprising grace and methodically placed footsteps, quite unlike the wild and very unpredictable creature that Sirius had enjoyed countless adventures with alongside James and Peter.
As thought he had spoken aloud, the werewolf turned and stared directly at him, eyes full of the intelligence that Remus wielding artfully. Was it Sirius' imagination, or did it seem that the beast was acting more like his good friend than a ravenous animal?
The werewolf stepped closer still, sniffing the air and clearly detecting Sirius' scent. But eventually, Lupin turned, and howled again before sprinting off deeper into the trees. Fearing capture, Sirius departed quickly, returning to the shack and deciding against the risk of being captured while searching for food tonight. He had gone with less before, so it would be no big loss.
What worried him more was the look in the werewolf's eye, which had been staring directly at him after Moony had entered Sirius' presence. It appeared that Remus had known exactly where he was, and who was there, but had chosen to overlook him completely. Either the man wasn't as sure about Sirius' guilt, or was far easier to distract while in wolfin form.
Both options were good enough for Sirius, and he bedded down, falling asleep almost instantly. It was almost a pleasure by this point, sleeping without the dark thoughts that the dementors projected into the prisoners' minds.
He dreamed about meeting his godson for the first time in over twelve years, in bringing Pettigrew to justice, and himself being reinstated as Lord of House Black. After that, he could set about making his and Harry's live everything that either of them could have wished. He had loved Lily and James' boy for as long as the boy had been alive, and it panged him to have missed out on so much.
This gave Sirius a wonderful idea. He knew that Christmas was coming up soon, and he had quite a few backdated presents to make up for. Perhaps a small letter to Gringotts would be of use to him to arrange for the perfect gift to begin making up for twelve lost years.
Sirius smiled as he slumbered, resolute in his conviction that he would do all in his power to make Harry safe, even if he never returned to positive wizarding light. Sirius was willing to lay everything his family had gathered for Harry's wellbeing, but the only issue remaining was the infuriating guardian over the Gryffindor Tower door. Hopefully the Fat Lady had been removed to allow her to be refurbished for her duty, which might have led to Gryffindor Tower receiving a new guardian portrait, and knowing all the nooks, crannies and secrets of that castle, Sirius had a good idea about the foolish and quite dimwitted knight that would dare to take the dangerous place vacated by the ancient woman.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
The refurbishment of the Sith Academy was progressing smoothly. Zhar had been pleased with the arrival of High Prophet Lotu'an, along with over a dozen more Darksiders and supplies to last for several months, as well as many materials to finalize the stabilization of the lower level of the Temple.
He had wondered at first if the Twi'lek High Prophet would assume command of their little outpost, but the being had declined, stating that he was only here for an advisory and observational role, as well as to oversee the beginning of the valley's excavation.
Now that their labor force had been substantially increased, Zhar finally could warrant sending out survey teams to investigate the ancient dig sites and tomb entrances within the valley of the Dark Lords. However, he chose to restrict them to not enter the tombs themselves as of yet, but to survey the entrances and wait for the main group to finish the academy and set up a forward camp within the valley. That way they would have a much more centralized location to stage their excavation efforts when the bulk of the fledgling empire moved to assist them here.
Zhar was personally relieved to be able to assign Septin to the dig site inspection, as the boy was growing more moody and withdrawn from the task at hand, and it was an increasing frustration to deal with his lack of effort. Septin seemed, distracted, by something out on the valley floor, and somehow that worried Zhar. The boy he had grown accustomed to had greatly changed, both for the good and bad.
Where once Septin had been a timid and almost subservient apprentice with regard to Zhar's imposed leadership, now he was bold and sometimes fiercely defiant against it. But at the same time, that same boldness applied to his connection with the Dark Side, and the boy was quickly catching up with many of his fellow Neophytes, his shyness and almost outright fear toward the power of Korriban dispelled completely in wake of his new persona.
And it had all started after that secret mission that Lord Veneficus had dragged him into. The same mission that Septin outright refused to discuss, or even make any mention of to Zhar. It made the older man nervous, knowing that a potential threat could be so close at all times, but he couldn't quite convince himself of the boy's sincerity at times.
Regardless of the boy's words or actions, Zhar was still far more powerful than him, and if it came down to it he would strike Septin down without a second thought. As for the moment thought, Zhar was certain that the mission down to the valley would keep Septin content to fulfill his duty to the Sith, and in time he would learn the true order of how things must be run.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Lord Millennial smiled as he stepped through the emerald flames of the Floo Network into the cold environment of Bartemius Crouch's parlor. The Sith Lord had had many correspondence with the man over the last month or so, most mundane and lacking in any true depth, but still a few that indicated a deeper motive.
From what the mutant could gather, Crouch wanted desperately to restore his name in the wizarding world, and make a second bid for the position of Minister of Magic. To this regard, the man had been subtly and not so subtly requesting what information Millennial had on Lucius Malfoy and the man's other associates.
It had taken time, but eventually Millennial had persuaded the man to make a trade: passage to Azkaban for a single tour and visit with several prisoners for the confirmation, in writing and by oath, that Lucius Malfoy was still an active Death Eater, bearing the mark of his Lord with pride.
The Sith had had very little need to withhold that secret any longer. He had been waiting for this sort of opportunity for quite some time for that matter, as Lucius was quickly becoming a thorn in his side, continuously popping us in the least desired places, such as threatening the connection that Veneficus was cementing with the Lucius' son, among other less devastating alternatives.
But it wasn't purely revenge that caused Millennial to determine that the man was not worth saving for a later date. Lucius had also been in the process of hiring over a dozen different lawyers and investigators to learn what he could about Millennial. Apparently the man still did not fully think that Millennial could be trusted.
It was smart; Millennial acquiesced, even if it only made the man more trouble to deal with than his contacts were worth. It wasn't as though the Sith had the Malfoy heir's favor during this unleash of political prying.
"Ah, Lord Blackmoore," Crouch said as he shook the Sith's hand, "how good to see you this evening, sit down, please."
Millennial took the offered seat, and spread out his scenes like a wave over the home. The unknown figure still huddled in the kitchen, along with the one elf that the family could afford.
Millennial had never truly felt the need to acquire one such servant for himself, as it was not only a liability for him to add another creature to those who knew what he truly was, neither did feel that it was superior to natural human servants, like the neophytes that had accompanied him to this world several years ago.
"I hope you'll consider my offer, Barty," Millennial said casually, using a touch of the Force to make Crouch more agreeable. "Passage to Azkaban in exchange for information regarding Lord Malfoy's doings, particularly those that are, shall we say, shadier than others…"
Bartemius leaned forward in his seat, suddenly keenly interested, if not somewhat suspicious, "And what need have you for visiting Azkaban, Lord Blackmoore?" he asked pointedly, eyes searching the Sith Lord's illusioned face. Millennial could sense some inward fear rising in the man, and that dropped the identity of the man's prisoner squarely into frame.
Millennial had done his research wisely. Crouch had had only one thing dear to him in the world; his good name. Naturally that included siring an heir to his family, one who would carry his name, literally as the case was, on after Crouch Sr. was gone. Said child had obviously steered the wrong way and joined the group that followed the false dark lord Voldemort, ending up in Azkaban by order of his own father.
How and why he was here however, Millennial was not sure, but regardless it opened up a wondrous opportunity. Glancing around quickly, Millennial noticed a distinct lack of family pictures. "Oh, you know, family business…" he said, more casually still, "What of your family, Bartemius? I heard that your wife was ill of late…"
And there it was; the flash of emotion across the normally bland face: disappointment, fury, rage, and a deep mourning all simultaneously. "She passed away, some time ago," he said slowly, but Millennial had the tidbit of information he wanted. What mother would have wanted a child locked away forever? Such was the weakness of love.
"But your son is still alive I presume?" Millennial said, treading most carefully. He must not send the man into too deep of a rage at the personal line of questions. "No," Crouch Sr. bit out, resentment in his voice, "he died in Azkaban not long before his mother…"
Millennial could smell the lie immediately as it was spoken. "As you know," he continued, returning to their previous topic, "I am guardian to the Boy-who-lived. Harry has many enemies, quite a few which are locked away in the fortress. I wish to observe, interview perhaps if I can, several of them so I can get an idea of what Black would be capable of, it may allow the Ministry to pinpoint places and actions that the man might most likely take, making capturing him easier."
Crouch nodded, sinking back into his stoic demeanor, although Millennial could see that he was still mildly shaken from speaking of his family. A weakness the Sith was going to continue to exploit. Reaching out, Millennial touched the mind of the other person in the kitchen area, discovering a mind partially blocked off by Wild Force based mind control.
But the man was indeed Barty Jr., despite the heavy amount of suppression that was being wielding on him by his father. Truly, if Millennial desired any of Voldemort followers to speak with, it was this man. So, as he continued to speak to Crouch Sr., Millennial subtly began to sever the coils of mental bonds from the younger man's mind.
"So, returning to my offer," Millennial prompted.
Crouch immediately took on a more pensive look, "I suppose I could see who I know that oversees the island, provided your information is worthwhile…"
Millennial smiled, "I can assure you that I will be." The Dark Lord then proceeded to explain, in detail, several of Lucius Malfoy's more underhanded tactics, from supplanting a Ministry official, to endangering a child with a highly dangerous object. Crouch was taking many notes, asking questions to enlighten certain points. Millennial took care to not implicate himself in any way to the many actions Lucius had taken over the course of two years, whether the man had shared them with the Sith Lord or not.
Finally, Crouch had quite a sufficient supply of dirt on the blond aristocrat. Millennial stood, stepping toward the side of the room just as the last mental bond over Crouch Jr. broke. Bartemius Sr.'s eyes shot open as his spell faded, and he dashed from the room without a word to Millennial, who waited only a moment before following.
The Sith Lord arrived in the kitchen just in time to watch father and son scrambling madly at each other. Crouch Sr.'s wand was flung from them, and Junior seemed to have the outright advantage due to the other man's age. The family house elf was visibly distraught, pacing back and forth and shrieking for her masters to stop fighting to no avail.
Millennial waited several minutes as the two fought to exhaustion before acting. Junior was victorious, and was dashing for his father's wand when a blast of the Force sent him crashing into the kitchen table. The elf shrieked again, rushing Millennial to defend her owners.
Laughing, Millennial made to toss the creature aside with a wave of force energy, but the little creature teleported away at the last second, reappearing to the Sith's left and throwing a very accurate blast at the mutant, causing him to stagger back a step.
Lashing back, as he was planning on wiping their minds anyway, Millennial blasted the elf with lightning. A moderately strong shield snapped into place around the tiny humanoid, absorbing a lot of the blue-white bolts.
The tiny creature wielding the Wild Force admirably, but in the end, Millennial had far better control and precision. Opting to simply overwhelm the elf until she fainted instead of killing her, Millennial shattered the shield and flung the creature aside into the far wall, unconscious.
Turning slowly, Millennial eyed Crouch Jr. The younger man had a crazed look of triumph on his face as he cradled his father's wand, relishing the return of a channel for his power.
"Free at last!" he crowed, shaking his fist to the sky, before turning on Millennial with a feral grin. The boy was mad, to have gone completely unaware of the Sith's defeat of the elf not moments ago.
"I thank you for releasing me from my father's control," Crouch Jr. said mockingly, still stroking the wand as he eyed Millennial. "You have done me a great service, and I will repay in kind, by making you the first and quickest death of the return of the Dark Lord."
The Sith had already closed the distance before the madman could raise his weapon. A vicious backhand sent the young man staggering, and a strong kick sent the wand flying away. Angered, Crouch Jr. tried to bull rush through Millennial after the wand, but the Dark Lord caught the boy's shoulders, twisted and used the momentum of the charge to send the Death Eater hurtling through the air into the same wall his servant and father were collapsed beneath.
Crouch Jr. crumpled, unconscious for the time being. Breathing mildly, Millennial gave himself a moment to settling his battle senses and assess the situation. Crouch Sr. and the elf needed their minds erased, and Junior needed to be restrained so Millennial could have a little chat with the young man before the other two came round.
Setting to quick word, Millennial deftly manipulated the Force around the aged Bartemius and his House Elf, erasing their minds from the last several minutes. Once completed, he set them back in the places they were before the chaos of the fight ensued; the Elf in a pantry off of the kitchen, and Crouch Sr. back in the parlor.
Retuning to where the junior Crouch was lying, Millennial yanked a chair from the far wall and placing the young man into it. The mutant only finished binding the boy when he started to awaken from his unconscious state. Millennial knew that there would be time before the other two awakened because of his meddling with their minds, but there still wouldn't be much for idle talk.
Barty Jr. struggled a bit, but Millennial kept him held in place by the Force. "I know who you are and who you serve," the Sith started without preamble, "you are far behind in the times, my young friend."
Crouch just glared back, but Millennial only smirked, "Your lord is fallen, gone from all trace of the world…"
"No!" Crouch yelled, struggling madder than before, "The Dark Lord will rise again! You will see! He will destroy all of you muggle-loving pieces of filth!"
Silencing the boy with an additional application of the Force, Millennial continued, "As I was saying, your lord is fallen, but possible not dead. Regardless, he has not come here to rescue you, but I have young Bartemius. Consider for the moment, that I, an unpresuming man could defeat you, your servant and your father in mere moments, and am now engineering your return to a side of power. Even more power than that which was offered by Voldemort."
Crouch had stopped struggling, and was listening with just as much suspicion that his father had in his eyes not too long ago in a previous conversation.
Millennial took a small step forward. "I am offering you a chance on the winning side of this war, neither Dumbledore nor Voldemort, but a new force that will overrun this world and many more just like it."
The boy looked amused, and Millennial brought out the hilt of his crimson saber as proof, "Behold the beginning of an empire that spans the stars," he said as the crimson blade leapt to life. The young man's eyes went wide at the energy blade as it was quickly shut off again, before looking at Millennial in a totally new light.
Releasing him from his Force-based gag, Millennial allowed the boy a moment to speak.
"What is this magic?" Crouch said untrustingly.
"A power far beyond anything you've dreamt of, I assure you," Millennial replied, watching the greed slowly blossoming over the young face. Clearly, the mad devotion to Voldemort was subverted only by the man's own desire for personal glory, regardless of the master he served. But still, Millennial was wary of young Barty Jr. The boy was wild, and clearly unstable.
Tapping into the Force, Millennial felt a surge resonating from the future surrounding the young man, and a vision rippled into view. Veneficus stood in a graveyard, surrounded by many black robed men, in the center being a man that Millennial could instinctively tell was Voldemort himself. A cauldron was nearby, along with a man bleeding next to it. Some sort of ritual had occurred it seemed, and Millennial mused that the dark wizard would attempt again to return from the dead. Which made sense given all the containers of the man's life and Force essences that the Sith had uncovered.
Somehow, Barty Crouch Jr. was involved directly with this thread from the future, and Millennial felt the need for these events to occur, and Millennial must not interfere. Turning back to the young man, Millennial spoke carefully, "You will not remember most of this for the moment, but when the time is right you will be freed again. When that happens, I will know, and I will find you for instructions regarding your future."
Crouch's eyes widened as the full power of the Dark Side assaulted him, locking away his memories of Millennial until he was freed from his father's charms again. Millennial knew that the man would replace them upon his son the moment he realized they were gone. It was a strange risk that the Force was making him play, but Barty Crouch Jr. was important, and the Sith needed him for something that was not as of yet to happen.
With the boy unconscious and his memory locked away, Millennial returned to the parlor, resuming his seat minutes before Crouch Sr. regained awareness. "Hmm, what?" the man said, startled. Spotting Millennial, the man lowered his head, "I apologize, Lord Blackmoore, I must have dozed off. Overstressed from all the preparations that are coming in the next year you know, but you didn't hear it from me."
"Not at all, Bartemius," Millennial said, smiling as he slipped gracefully back into their conversation from just before the incident.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Veneficus smiled as he sensed Colin approaching him in the vacant Slytherin common room. It was somewhere around three in the morning, but time was beginning to cease to be important to Veneficus. It was now his third day of discontinuing the petty weakness of sleep, only meditating for one or two hours to maintain a constant state of awareness.
"What have you discovered, my little spy…" Veneficus said without looking as Colin sat in a nearby chair and watched the Sith, who knelt perfectly still in front of the smoldering hearth.
Little Colin Creevey had extraordinary talent in the field of stealth and espionage, greatly enhanced by his unobtrusive size and build. The small boy would never be considered a threat by anyone, even with the camera that he carried always, secretively snapping photos and gathering information about the very secret underbelly of the school's activity.
Veneficus had been subtly training the boy to become an excellent master of deception, molding him into the perfect master of the shadows, as well as cementing the loyalty and near worship that the boy held for him. Even still, there were moments when Colin surprised Veneficus.
"I've seen and heard many things, my Lord," the boy replied, causing Veneficus to smile again, bemused surprise blossoming within him. The boy had learned a true secret about Veneficus then, in addition to whatever else he had picked up.
The Sith Lord was not in the slightest bit worried about his secrecy being destroyed by Colin however. In addition to the blatant awe and hero worship that was showered on Veneficus from the younger Slytherin, there were secrets that little Colin wouldn't want revealed to the world either, such secrets that Veneficus had pried ever so carefully from the boy's own lips.
Colin Creevey was far more able than he let on to others. But with this intelligence came the constant struggle to find acceptance, even within the boy's own family. The boy was infuriated that his muggle father had sunken so low as to perform the menial task of delivering milk to homes every morning, earning only enough for them both and Colin's brother to survive on, and contented himself with that sort of life. The boy had much brighter burning desires for a future outside of the drab and boring picture his lazy and quite boring parent had painted.
Colin's brother, Dennis, on the other hand, had earned far more of the wizard's anger and wrath than their father could ever hope to muster. According to Colin, Dennis Creevey had had the world served to him on a platter of jewel encrusted silver. New clothing, more attention, visits from their far distanced mother and her family, and Colin was left out in the dark by all comparison.
Veneficus had eyes to see that the boy was being somewhat dramatic in his assessment of his home life, however, with the right nudging; such a vision could become the reality. Should the rest of the Creevey family become alienated from Colin, there would be no one left to turn to but Veneficus, who planned to be waiting with open arms for the young boy, and a future that would only profit the Order of the Sith Lords.
"Observant as always, my young friend," Veneficus said, breaking his trance and turning to sit cross legged on the floor in front of Colin. "I suspect you were following myself and Draco within the last day or two…"
"Yes," Colin admitted, "when you both vanished momentarily before lunch, only to reappear in another room."
Veneficus shook his head in amusement. "You witness one of many personal meetings that go on between myself and Mr. Malfoy, regarding the project I have the others working on, so never you mind those little disappearances. Any new photographs of things I would find interesting or useful?"
Colin grinned, almost managing a traditional Slytherin smirk, and withdrew a stack of still, black and white photos from his robes. Veneficus had wisely requested that these not be animated like most wizarding photography, as if anything suspicious was happening in them, the figures would be prone to continue trying to hide in the frames. This way, no such attempts could be made.
Glancing through them quickly, Veneficus stopped at a wide angle shot of the grounds, sloping toward the Dark Forest on the edge of the school. There was something in the front most bushes of the forest, some sort of animal that Veneficus felt somewhat familiar to. It was dark, almost black in the photo, with eyes reflecting the flash from the camera Colin had used. But the features were clearly canine in appearance.
But, very much like Lupin, the animal was a mystery to Veneficus. Returning the stack to Colin, the Sith Lord praised his work, and requested that he continue his 'practice' of secret photography and stealthy pursuit of interesting activities in and around the castle.
The boy went off back to bed, smiling widely and clutching the stills to his chest, while Veneficus simply watched him go. One day the boy would be ready for his next stage of training, but for now the art Veneficus had in mind was just out of the question for innocent little Colin.
Calculating in his mind, Veneficus pulled the time-turner out from down his robe front and carefully twisted it back twice. His classes that day demanded the use of another two uses of his five hours worth of daily time travel, and Veneficus knew that Anguis would desire at least a single hour to display his discovery down in the Chamber around lunch, so he was only allotted these two for an early morning training session in the caverns deep under the school.
His biological father's cloak once again provided the perfect cover as Veneficus departed the dungeons and made his way up to the second floor bathroom. Only as he skirted the last teacher, Lupin, did Veneficus have any interesting situation of near discovery. The odd man sniffed the air, obviously benefitting from his tainted blood and magic, and seemed to almost smell Veneficus on the air. But before the man could make any more of a search of the area, Veneficus slipped past him and entered the Chamber beyond the bathroom entrance.
The process of repurposing the hidden vaults were well near completed by now, and the Sith Lord was rather pleased with the result. The high vaulted ceiling allowed for scanners and other equipment to be mounted well in range to cover the entire castle with a subtle sensor array, as well as a strongly encoded line back to Blackmoore Manor, allowing for brief communication for updates on events in the wide Galaxy beyond the tiny world. It gave Veneficus a small amount of pleasure to know he wasn't completely separated from the important work of conquering the Republic while locked away at this school.
Stepping off to the side where his training room had been prepared, Veneficus entered and admired how well the construction droids had enacted his regiment that he intended to push himself into learning as fast as possible. He had learned through experience by now that his saber was not the only weapon in his disposal, nor was it the strongest at times. To compensate, Veneficus determined that he must be able to wield both a single hilt of his duel saber, as well as his blackthorn wand simultaneously in combat, allowing him the vast multitude of options mid fight as were available to him.
He had arrange for this room to be prepared days ago, with moving targets far and near, Sith several that held rods made of the same stone-like material that was highly resistant to the plasma blade of his lightsaber. Veneficus suspected that the same weapons would also be durable to magical attacks, which would allow for longtime usage before he totally demolished these sets of droids and targets.
Pulling out the dark wooded wand as well as his off-hand saber, he tested the odd balance, the relative heaviness on the hilt as opposed to the light wood of the wand in his dominant hand. It was unusual to say the least, as he was more used to the cool metallic feel of a saber in both hands, or one hand completely free to attack with the Force itself, but this was a skill he could not afford to pass up.
Gathering the force around him, and quickly summarizing a list of spells to use in this session, Veneficus activated the crimson blade, dropping into a ready stance as the droids maneuvered around him, their weapons spinning into attack positions.
Dodging back from the first incoming droid, Veneficus fired off a knockback jinx, before catching another swinging blade with his own, twisting gracefully around and kicking the droid's legs to make it stagger. A blasting hex tore the ground under it further, making the metallic humanoid drop to the ground.
Two droids converged on Veneficus next, each swinging at different angles. The Sith parried the one striking at his chest, while leaping into the air to avoid the swipe to his legs. Lifting one of the droids into the air with the Force, Veneficus found it a simple thing to simply banish it with a spell into a group of far targets that were attempting to line up stun blasters on him. The concentration that would normally have gone to the Force came must easier and more on demand through magical means, which in turn allowed Veneficus to devote more of his attention to his precognition and reflexes.
The other ranged targets started their barrage, which was intercepted easily by a combined effort of shield charms and saber deflection. Combat was so easy with both wild and Cosmic Forces working in harmony, Veneficus thought gleefully. It was very much like the way his twin sabers functioned in his styles, one to attack, the other to defend, and rotating between the two.
He went on like this for nearly his full time, slowly scaling the difficulty of his experimentations as he grew more accustomed to the way the different energies worked together, and even devising some combination maneuvers that employed the Force and wand-based spells in conjunction. It would take far more time to truly master the concept, but Veneficus felt confident that he was well off to a good start already.
Stowing his weapons, and leaving a pile of batters and truly abused droids behind him, Veneficus hurriedly made his way back to the Slytherin dorms to prepare for the day of mundane classes he was subjected to.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~line break~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Dawn on Korriban was an eerie sight, filled with dark shadows that slowly faded from around the rocks and ruins that made up the Valley of the Dark Lords. Septin was very pleased that Zhar had finally given him permission to accompany the first expedition into the crypt, as they prepared to set up a base camp for excavation of the resting places of the ancient Sith Lords from ages past.
Septin knew he would not be recognized as a leader in this outing, but he did not care. It was not part of his personal agenda whether their team succeeded or failed, so long as he found the source of the call that was drawing him to some unknown part of the Valley. Granted, he fully intended to do what was needed to make sure that the group succeeded, or else he would have a lot of explaining to do and possibly lose any option to have unsupervised access out of the academy.
He was still reasonably annoyed when the expedition leader, a Twi'lek High Prophet named Lotu'an, assigned him with another neophyte to scout the farther line of cliffs for the exit of the valley that would lead to the open sands of Korriban. The other young man, only slightly older than Septin and a recent arrival on the world like the High Prophet, was clearly still wide eyed with awe at being on the Sith tomb-world, which was another irritant.
The further that they scouted toward the end of the Valley, the stronger Septin felt the call of the Dark Side. They encountered little in the way of deterrents, as the native creatures shied away from the blazing sun, which aided in speeding their journey. Much to Septin's confusion and disappointment, when they reached the edge of the Valley, with its massive overhanging stone arches, he sensed no nearby location of beckoning energy. Whatever called to him was out farther still, across the dunes and inhospitable terrain.
His companion, who had been introduced as Neophyte Feyd some time ago, was silently inspecting the arches with a seeming fascination. Septin frowned as he turned to stare across the sea of sand, tired of the history obsessed Sith that he had to work with.
"You should work on keeping your emotions to yourself you know…" Feyd commented dryly, as he continued to run a hand over the worn hieroglyphs. "I'm sure they can sense you all the way back at the Academy."
"What do you care," Septin shot back, his anger rising slightly at the jab.
"Well," Feyd continued, eyeing Septin with an amused grin, "I believe I have some idea what you're going through. Apprenticed to a leader in this reformed empire, placed into a position of relative spotlight with very little training under your belt to protect you if someone was to… seek to usurp your position..."
Septin narrowed his eyes reflexively, which Feyd caught immediately, and laughed, "No, no," he said, holding his hands out, "I have no care for your standing as the apprentice to our mission leader. I am quite content where I am as of now, but I sympathize what you're going through. If you don't mind me commenting, but we all know you only recently embraced the Dark Side. Most are insatiably jealous that you had this event occur while on a secret mission with Darth Veneficus of all people. You need to be extra careful." The boy stepped forward again, offering a hand, "I could help you there."
Septin stared at the hand, then back to the boy's face. "What do you get out of this sort of arrangement?" he replied slowly, watching Feyd for any sudden moves. It would be a situation like this when one would attempt to remove him from the picture if anything that the boy said was true.
"Again, I sympathize in your dilemma, as I too am apprenticed to a rather well known member of our organization." Feyd replied, lowering his voice despite there being no one else there for several miles. "I serve in secret under Supreme Prophet Dass'in, training to one day take on a role of authority in our glorious empire, when such a day presents itself. So there's no real reason for you to fear me, as my position is greater than yours. But, again like you, I am very new to my role as a follower of the Dark Side, and that makes us targets, despite our potential. What do you say?" he again offered his hand.
Septin waited a moment more, before taking the hand in agreement, but mentally marking the boy for close scrutiny whenever he was near.