Pain
"Hello, Rain."
My best friend smirked down at me, and I gripped my blade tighter, my knuckles turning white. I glared at the imposter—what else could it be?—with fury dripping from my eyes in the forme of tears.
"SHOW YOURSELF!" I screamed at this cruel trick. "Show your true forme, you fraud!"
The Sith laughed.
"Oh, Rain," he shook his head, that same smile still on his face—a smile I knew all too well.
"This is me."
In that moment, I knew he was telling the truth. The scarlet Courascant suns glinted crimson in his lemon hair, and the wind played with the tendrils that hung loose. Those unmistakable pale features smirked in that way I was so familiar with, and I knew that no one could imitate Blood so perfectly. It had to be Blood—that's why we were so evenly matched.
I stood, stunned, as he casually strode down the metal protrusion.
"What did they do to you?" I breathed, shaking violently with shock, hate, and misery, so much misery. He stopped and leaned towards me, whispering one word in my ear.
"Everything."
His eyes glinted red, and I frowned. Blood's eyes were gold, not red. Without another thought, I lashed out with my lightsabers, my brain finally beginning to piece things together. By now, I was pretty sure what had happened—I'd left him at the Citadel, so there was only one thing there that I could think of.
My friend leapt back, falling dangerously close to the edge. I saw fear in Blood's vermillion eyes, not the cold humour I'd come to expect of this killer.
I stood over him.
Fear. That meant there was still a bit of the old trickster I once knew left in this callous being. And then, in another moment, it was gone, replaced with cruel hate. Knowing he'd make his move soon—I knew Blood when I'd left him, so why shouldn't I know him now?—I scanned the air traffic below. A Separatist speeder was hovering nearby, the one Dookou used for infiltrations. With a face of stone, I kicked the man off the side of the building, watching him fall.
As I'd predicted, the speeder caught him. Our eyes locked as he sped away, and in that second, we set another meeting place. He knew where I would be going, and I knew he would be there. It was agreed.
"Rain!"
Whirling around to face the stranger, I readied my lightsabers for a fatal blow.
I was glad I didn't strike.
"Lynx?" I gasped, shocked. "I—I thought you were dead!"
He ran towards me, his expression anxious and on guard. "It takes a lot more than a bit of lightning to kill me, Rain."
Relief flooded through me, the relief I hadn't felt since I woke up in his family's hut. And that's when I did something I'd never done before, something I wasn't sure whether I would regret or not.
I hugged the Jedi Padawan.
"Rain?" Lynx's bright blue eyes had been staring at me most of this trip to the Citadel, and I had been anticipating something like this.
With a sigh, I put the stolen ship on autopilot and turned in my seat to face him.
"What is it?" I raised an eyebrow at him, and his gaze flickered uncertainly from me to the floor.
"Um…well—I'm a Jedi, you know?"
"Yes," I smirked wryly, "I know."
"And we're taught," he was slowly gaining confidence as he spoke, "to hate Sith. You guys fight with your emotions! You use anger and hate and passion as your fuel! You're evil!" His voice was incredulous, as if he couldn't totally believe I wasn't trying to kill him now.
I sighed. "Lynx," I leaned forward, resting my arms on my knees. "It's not just good and evil, white and black. There's a grey area."
"But you let your passions lead you," he tried to defend his view. "Yoda, Windu, Kenobi—they all say that's bad!"
"Lynx," I'm a bit more forceful now, tried of this stupid Jedi crap.
"If we're not emotion," I stare him in the eye, "then what are we?"
The Citadel was seemingly empty as we crept deeper into its gullet
"Are you sure this is safe?" Linx whispered as we snuck around a corner.
"I'm sure it's not," I shrugged. "Now hurry up. We have to get to the Fatebringer."
"Er—remind me again what that is?" Lynx looked worried. I sighed, turning around to face him.
"It's this machine Dookou made here in the Citadel. I've never seen it before—it's always been off-limits—but it's he only thing that could have possibly done something to Bloodlust. I'm sure of it. I know this was part of his personality when I'd left him—my guess is they took out the sympathy and left the rest."
"Uh-huh," Lynx didn't look convinced, but I was the Sith, so he didn't complain. He followed along, and we slid through the shadows like twin wraiths. I led him as fast as I could to a certain door in the dungeon, the only one I'd never been behind.
It was a familiar entryway—made of thick metal and covered in scratches and scrapes. When we were younger, Blood and I would hide out next to it, trying to sneak in whenever the door was opened. Eventually, Dookou caught us and promptly added a few more scars across our backs. When we'd grown a bit older, he'd told us the name of the mysterious device, but never its purpose.
My heart rate soaring, I rested my hand on the cold metal.
And with a shaky breath, I brought the Jedi into the forbidden room.
The area was small and circular, with a long metal sheet lifted off the floor at an angle, laden with straps and clamps. Some sort of gun or laser cannon hung from the ceiling and was pointing at the sheet, a complicated control panel just below it. I shivered, and, right on cue, the door slammed shut behind us.
Laughter filled the room, bouncing off the walls in a mocking echo.
"I see you've made it this far, Rain," Blood stepped casually out from behind the machine. "Fatebringer has been dying to talk to you."
I narrowed my eyes at the killer, seeing his wild blonde hair fall over his eyes. I signaled to Lynx to start the plan, disguising it as a grab for my lightsaber.
"Oh, I do hope you're not going to try to overpower me with anger and brute force… again."
As usual, I felt rage boil up, fixing to flow over my mental barriers.
Calm down, I told myself, taking a few deep breaths. I don't want to kill him… not unless I have to.
"Who's that?" The Sith shot a disdainful look at the Jedi. "You're boyfriend?"
A quick glance in Lynx's direction told me his face had turned a bright red, and I narrowed my eyes at the assassin.
Blood smirked, letting out a short laugh. "That's what I thought."
I leapt forward, hoping to catch the Sith apprentice by surprise. Inhumanly fast, he slid out of the way and grabbed my arm with a strong grip, and with a sardonic grin, he flipped me over onto the sheet.
"Rain!" Lynx yelled, reaching for his lightsaber, but I shook my head, grabbing Blood by the shoulders.
"Power it up!" I shouted. Lynx looked reluctant, and I glared fiercely at him. "Do it!"
Slipping out of Blood's grip, I sparred to the death with the boy who was once my best friend.
He thrust, I ducked.
I lunged, he dodged.
He kicked, I punched.
The perfect synchrony I was so used to fighting with, now my only chance of survival with Blood… and his only chance with me.
That is, if all went according to plan.
Blood swung, my muscles ached.
Sweat ran down the other Sith's forehead, dripping into his crimson eyes. He blinked it away, and I fought on.
"It's on!" Lynx shouted from behind the control panel, and I grinned, redoubling my attacks on the surprised Sith. Grabbing him by the arms, I pushed him back and shoved him onto the metal sheet. Realizing what was about to happen, Blood flailed wildly, his eyes holding the look of a caged animal. Lynx darted over to help, strapping down his feet while I pinned down his arms.
The Jedi ran back up to the gun, shouting over the clamor of it charging, "Are you sure this is safe?!"
I trembled with fatigue, barely managing to strap the Sith boy to the metal sheet.
"A bit late for that, isn't it?" I yelled back, giving him a dangerous look. "I brought you to program the Fatebringer, not to have doubts, kid."
"So you still want me to—"
I nodded grimly. "Do it."
Lynx hesitated only a second before I heard the sound of a lever being pushed.
All at once, a blinding scarlet light shot from the gun in the form of a thick laser beam, hitting the eighteen-year-old directly in the chest.
Bloodlust began to writhe even harder, screaming in agony.
I wanted to cover my eyes, but I couldn't look away. This would work. It had to work.
"Stop!" Blood screamed, tugging at his leather bindings, "Don't—" he coughed violently, a thin stream of blood trickling from his mouth. "Don't do this! Kill me now!"
I groaned softly, watching as he arched his back, trying in vain to escape.
"KILL ME!" He yelled, staring at me furiously. I looked into his bloodred eyes, hoping to see some sign of the old Bloodlust, but there was nothing but sweat running down his face in rivulets.
And then his eyes turned gold,
"Rain," he gasped, his voice a faint, hoarse whisper. "Rain, don't—"
Crimson eyes. "KILL ME!"
Gold. "No! Rain, I'm sorry, I—I—"
"DO IT!" Hatred shone bright in his fiery eyes, hatred laced with deep, deep pain. "YOU KNOW YOU CAN!"
"NO!" Blood squeezed his golden eyes shut, screaming with unimaginable pain. For a reason I couldn't explain, I shook with fear.
"Rain, I—I LO—"
"KILL ME!"
Blood red eyes once again, the colour of my own, but this time he looked me in the eye, and his face was desperate, pitiful.
"Please," he whimpered, tears mixing with the blood streaming down his face.
"Please."
I knew I couldn't take this anymore.
I dashed to Lynx, who was hiding his face in his hands, and scanned the control panel grimly.
"R—Rain?" he peered out at me from between his fingers. I caught sight of a lever, one that was pushed up to fifty percent. He followed my gaze, and his eyes went wide.
"Rain—no!" He reached out to stop me, but I shoved him aside, and he fell against the wall with a loud bang.
"No!"
I put my hand on the lever, staring at Bloodlust the whole time.
I pushed it all the way up.
It was all over in a flash. For a split second, the lasers shone brighter than Tattoine's suns, then their light faded and died. There, in the middle of the blackened metal sheet was Bloodlust, still writhing with his eyes squeezed shut.
He was shouting, red lightning arcing up and down his body, tears and sweat making pale lines in the ash that covered his face. I darted towards him, raised my hand high, and slapped him hard across the face before he could slip away.
His eyes jerked open, bright and gold as they darted around the room, and the lightning faded. I could feel his heart rate speed up with panic, and he struggled against his bindings. I slapped him again, and his eyes gradually focused on my face.
"R—Rain?" His voice was low and soft, and it crunched like gravel. "I—I'm so… so sorry, I—"
"Shut up," I smiled softly at him, my voice shaking as I held back tears. I bent over, tearing off his straps and helping him sit up.
"I missed you," I whispered into his ear, wiping some of the bloody grime off his face.
"I… I missed you too," he leaned on my shoulder as I sat next to him, and he eyed Lynx uncertainly.
"Who's this?" He asked curiously. "You're boyfriend?"
I laughed, bright and hard, like I've never laughed before.
"I missed you so much, Blood," I cried into his hair, and he started as he felt my tears fall on his shoulder.
"I hate to break this up, guys," Lynx was standing awkwardly in front of us, "but this isn't over yet."
As if on cue, the alarms started blaring from all around.