Fated Origins: Chapter 4: Doomed Discovery
A/N: Hello readers! Thank you to my reviewers, and especially to iamyourdad for his second review. A response to his review is at the bottom.
Enjoy this chapter!
Unknown Date- St Mungo's Hospital for Magical Maladies and Injuries, London
"Freeze! Hands over your head! Drop your wand!"
Darth Cadmus, upon his exit from the white, standardized sickbay room, was met with an odd sight. Two humans, a large, dark-skinned man and a young woman with vibrantly lilac hair, both clad in strange robes, stood in hostile positions, brandishing twigs aimed at him. The Force promptly spiked in his veins, warning him of imminent danger. Danger? Laughable. They were holding sticks, for Kun's sake. Nevertheless, he readied himself for an altercation, channeling the Force to the spirit-bonds around his weak, fractured bones and his recently-unexploited muscles. It would be imperative that he avoid hand-to-hand combat in his weakened state, for any significant blow might dismantle the bonds around his bone cracks.
Cadmus continued to quickly take account of his surroundings. Small room. Corridor to the left. Multiple chairs, vases and tables-improvised missiles.
This should be simple.
The dark-skinned man bellowed again.
"Aristarchus Riddle, drop your wand and place your hands over your head!"
Cadmus stirred not an inch. How dare this soil-hided man command a Sith Lord! He did not know who 'Aristarchus Riddle' was, but he was aware that he was being threatened, and so he acted accordingly.
And it was then the concentrated training and exhaustive combat experience of a Dark Lord of the Sith manifested in an elegant display of power. With a swift flick of his left wrist, the dual twigs of the challengers, despite their harmless appearance were obviously some sort of weapon, were banished from their wielder's hands, flying harmlessly across the hallway. The Sith Lord rapidly proceeded to summon a glass table in the Force from behind the large man, and slammed it into the back of his skull. He dropped like an inanimate toy.
The girl shrieked, diving gracelessly to the left. Cadmus reached down to his side to retrieve his lightsaber, and in a flash of shock, found it was not there. Cadmus flung the table in her direction, but she ducked low, and it sailed over her head, smashing to shards against a wall.
In a moment of extreme folly, the lilac-haired female sprung up and charged him, fist raised to strike. Cadmus was struck for a moment at her stupidity; to charge a Force-wielding Sith weaponless was simply inane. The moment she was a pace before him, he sidestepped, bringing his large forearm up and underneath her raised appendages, connecting with her jaw in a resounding blow. She sailed horizontally beneath his limb, her skull hitting the tile with a thud.
It was over as fast as it had begun; Cadmus stood victorious, un-sapped in spite of his injured status, while the two twig-toting assailants lay non-problematically defeated. He had been correct; the fight had been effortless.
But, the whole concept of the struggle's origins confused him. Why did they attack him? And who was 'Aristarchus Riddle'? Was it a code name of some sort? The only plausible conclusion was that the two aggressors were Rebel agents who had taken the cowardly opportunity of the fact the Sith Lord was in an undermined position to slay him.
So, this primitive planet held assassin, stick-brandishing Rebels? The inference seemed strange and erroneous, and he would require information to clarify the situation. He searched both for identification, but found none. Odd. The Aeschylus man he had taken down would need to be questioned, but as for now, the lilac-haired girl would suffice for immediate explanation.
Reaching down, he grabbed the girl and dragged her to a wall, leaning her up against it. He drew back, and slapped her once, a mighty smack.
Her eyes popped open, but she immediately closed them again in blatant pain. "Wha…? What's going on?" she inquired in the voice of a drunkard, coming to, words slurring together due to her dazed condition.
"Do not speak unless directed to, schutta," Cadmus growled, slapping her once more. "You will answer my questions directly, or you will suffer. You have committed a grave felony already, schutta, and you are aware the penalty for treason against the Empire is death. Now, are you willing to comply?"
The young woman did not respond, but simply stared at him in dread. Her Force signature radiated unreserved panic, confusion and incredulity, the last being connected to the fact she was some sort of prided figure unfamiliar to being subjugated. Perhaps law-enforcement or another position of authority? She nodded once at him, sharply.
"What planet is this?"
Her eyes squinted for a moment, and he read further confusion in her Signature. She did not immediately reply, and he took this as disobedience.
He grabbed her around her pristinely alabaster throat and lifted her clear up off of the ground. She dangled nearly a foot in the air, being that much shorter than he. Cadmus slammed her hard against the wall and leaned in close to her frightened face. He put his lips next to her ear, and hissed in the tone of a serpent:
"Now, I don't think we greeted one another properly. I am Darth Cadmus, Dark Lord of the Sith," he observed her countenance for any traces of further horror, but none showed. Was he not notorious here? "And if you do not answer my questions properly, I will be forced to break you and retrieve them. Now, you are?" He articulated the last question repulsively sweetly.
She choked out a one-worded reply.
"Tonks."
Cadmus wrinkled his nose; the wench's name did not match her external attractiveness. He released his grip around her neck and dropped her, before continuing.
"Tonks, once more, what planet is this?"
"Earth?" she said the name slowly, and like a question, as if it was common knowledge.
"What Sector is this Earth located in?"
Her eyes widened. "Sector…?"
He struck her with his open palm immediately. Cadmus would not tolerate insubordination.
"Yes Sector! Do not play games with me, Rebel whore!"
She did not respond, and Cadmus could sense the legitimate confusion in her mind. Nonetheless, he reacted with a brutal tactic, wielding the Force to twist and pinch the nerve endings of her cranium. Tonks screamed in utter agony, grabbing her head and writhing like an earthworm in the rain.
He sustained it for several moments, and then released her from the excruciating sensation.
"Now, Tonks," he drawled evenly. "You must understand: I am alone on this foreign world. You know the lay of the land, and I do not. I require your assistance, and if you help me correctly, I may exonerate you of your crime."
She sat blubbering from the recent, incredible pain, unheeding of his words, and he knew she would be fruitless in any further interrogating unless he acquired the knowledge directly from her. Without further hesitation, he used the Force to delve straight into her psyche, penetrating her feeble defenses, and his own mind was suddenly flooded with information. Images and memories poured into his head, but he locked them away, searching instead for valuable data.
Aha. His assumptions of a primitive planet were correct. But magic? These supernatural sentients lived separate the others, hidden in their powers. He had not heard of anything like it. Apparently, the species collectively was pre-hyperspacial technologically, and possessed little in the ways of any other space travel, though the planet contained near seven billion in its population. How odd, considering-
He would deliberate on the matter at another time, for the Tonks girl began to grow hysterical.
He pulled himself from the recesses of her mind, and left her a weeping, twitching mess on the floor. Observing her condition, he decided to switch methods. Reaching down, he caressed the side of her face with a long-fingered hand, and delicately tweaked her nervous system. Tonks gasped as Cadmus sent her hypothalamus into overdrive, releasing unbelievable amounts of serotonin and dopamine into her nerve receptacles. No doubt, it was pleasure unlike any she had experienced before, as it was impossible for any machine or substance to replicate.
She shuddered at the intensity of the sheer ecstasy, her limbs stretching out of their own accord. Her eyes grew red-ringed, and she gazed up at him in enormous gratitude, her mind already pushing aside the fact he had caused her the pain, and wrapping around the idea that he was her savior from it. And to Cadmus' shock, her hair's coloring suddenly altered, becoming a deep pink.
"Thank you…" she began.
"Tonks, I will require your aid with permanence. For this reason, you may address me as Master. Until we become intimate, you may not call me Cadmus," he stated, his voice smooth and authoritative. "Now, rise. There are some matters that must be taken care of."
She struggled, and Cadmus wrapped a single, strong aarm around her petite, firm frame, guiding her to her feet.
"Firstly, what sort of trick did you just perform on your hair?" he said, orange eyes apprehensively inquisitive.
Tonks looked downwards under the power of his gaze. "It's not a trick. I am what is called a Metamorphagus. I can change my appearance at will."
"Incredible…" he whispered. The closest a Sith could come to this ability was a permanent glamour trick, yet, they could not rearrange their body's structure or anything of the sort. Nevertheless, he was sure the ability would be harmless against him.
"Nymphadora?" he inquired enticingly.
She twitched.
"Yes, Master?"
"Find me garments, we must depart."
oOoOoOo
38 BBY-Korriban
Darth Maul, apprentice of Master Sidious, was irritated, to say the least. Sidious had ordered the Dathomirian to partake in a seemingly ridiculous mission: to retrieve a boy from the surface of Korriban. He had sent the red-skinned Sith with a small, recon ship and instructions on how to discover the boy's location. It was inane, a supreme waste of time. He was above simple rescue missions.
For unknown reasons, he found himself following orders and on the surface of the desert planet. The sandy wind whipped his face and billowed out his cloak, and Maul grew increasingly vexed. A small stone flew up and collided with his forehead.
"Damn it!" he growled.
Suddenly, the Darth was aware of a massive presence in the Force near him. He turned and followed it, and in fruit of his two-hour journey across the wasteland, found a small, white cart with a baby boy inside. He looked over the carrier for identification, and discovered a small, metal plate with words inscribed upon it. The language was somewhat similar to Basic, and Maul astonishingly found he could read it.
'Aristarchus Cygnus Riddle-Black. Born July 8, 1943.' The first was obviously a name, while the second part confused him. Possibly a date? No matter.
The Sith reached down into the crib, hands extended to grab the child-
Another sizable rock flew up from adjacent the crib and hit the Darth in the temple. He stepped backwards and cursed. He reached up and felt his skull, pulling his hand away to discover crimson on his fingertips.
"The little shit…"
That rock was much too large to be carried by the wind. The boy must have done it. Maul's rationality dropped away, and he felt himself become enraged. A child attacking a Sith Lord? Unheard of!
He drew his lightsaber, activated it, and held it above his head.
"Stupid boy", he growled. "I don't care if my Master wanted you. You will pay for that-,"
Maul halted his tirade and abruptly screamed:
A crimson lightsaber pierced through his chest.
oOoOoOo
Review Response: iamyourdad: Thanks for your second review. To answer your question, I am not sure or not if Cadmus will even need to learn magic. He has it in him, but it is manifest in the Force. All he would do in essence is learn incantations and use a wand. Not much different.