Chapter 17 – Reunions, Coronations and Bedmates
"Lord Juyn?" she said, looking to the Sith Lord sitting at the table before turning to the one sitting beside him, "Rayne?"
Instead of getting the, frankly unneeded, confirmation, Lyira had shot to her feet, "Is everything alright?" she asked worriedly, covering the distance of the apartment within seconds to Vette's side, "You've been shot." The Sith stated matter of factly.
"Yeah, had a run in with a stray blaster bolt," Vette tried to smile, but it was little more than a grimace, "Surprised that it only hit my leg. Injected myself with a pain stim, seems like its wearing off. Who you're friends?"
"Family and friends of the family," Lyira replied before calling, "3E!"
The kitchen door opened with a hiss and out walked a droid of similar appearance to the one that lived in Louise's apartment, "May I be of assistance, master?"
"Help me get Vette into her room and fix up her leg. It's only a blaster shot."
"Very well, master."
"I will go too, I left my robes inside." Ignoring the odd looks from the guests – or rather, just Rayne – Louise helped the droid take Vette into her room despite knowing full well that she could walk herself. Upon entering, she let the droid take care of the rest. She left the credit filled briefcase and picked up her pathetically folded robes from the bedroom draws took them in her arms.
"Vette," she called, "could I take the lightsabers off you?"
Vette nodded, and from out of two pouches on her belt, she pulled the apprentice's sabers and threw them to Louise. Said Sith caught them with the Force and hid them in her robes. She bid Vette a 'get well soon,' and left the room. Once outside, she said goodbye to the rest and headed to her apartment. She was halfway there when she realised that Khem Val was following up closely behind. The only reason she actually noticed him was because, by chance, she decided to look back. Damn, he's sneaky. She thought bitterly. Should have brought him along.
She paused in her strides and waited for Khem to join her side. Before he could even start speaking, Louise cut in, "I… apologise for not bringing you along. Your help would have been much appreciated." She did not look up at Khem.
"I told you the Twi'lek was weak," was his only reply.
Louise bit her tongue, and nodded along, "I promise I won't underestimate you again."
"Spoken like a true Sith," he said.
The rest of the journey was passed in silence. They soon arrived at the apartment where Louise immediately deposited her newly acquired sabers and got changed into her robes. The clothes she had borrowed from Lyira and Vette, she handed to the droid to deliver. Once sure the knapsack containing the relic was safely slung over her shoulders, she grabbed her robe and headed out with Khem following behind.
The streets of Kaas were bustling today, despite the weather. But Louise did not let this stop her. After a short pitstop to pick up some lunch, which she promptly devoured, they caught a skycar to the Citadel.
Through the Citadel she and Khem walked, down the halls and across the various bridges until they arrived at her master's chambers. Inside, they found Zash off by her bookshelf returning a few of her tombs to their place. The blonde Sith turned to her a smile gracing her lips, "I assume you've been successful?" she asked, "I did hear the most distressing news about a large explosion happening soon after our conversation."
Louise hid her grimace behind a smile, with one hand she pulled the aged stone relic from her knapsack before presenting it to Zash, "The explosion was me making sure the Colossus didn't come down on our heads while looking for it."
The Sith Lord's smile turned into a full-grown grin as she gingerly took the piece of trandoshan culture in hand, "I have been planning this since my apprenticeship, to finally see the fruits of my labours…"
A pang of resentment echoed in Louise's head. I was the one who actually bled to get the piece.
Unaware of Louise's thoughts, the blonde Sith continued, "This is only part of Skotia's defence. His greatest weakness is that he's mostly machine. The rogue Sith Lord Grathan is holding a Cyborg Expert named Dorotsech captive. But you needn't worry about this, I have received word that there was a large setback in his work due to the mechanisms of others. What we need to focus on now, is training you for your inevitable battle with the cyborg. I will be playing a larger part in your training, I expect you to adapt to the new level of difficulty you will find in our sessions."
"Yes, my master," Louise replied.
"We'll start in a few days' time. Killing all those apprentices must have been a difficult feat," Said Zash.
You wouldn't believe. Louise thought.
"Go and relax for the day. I'll call you back when it is time."
Louise bowed and left her master to continue her plotting, Khem following faithfully behind. Truth be told, she felt like taking a nap; her throat was still sore from her brush with death and the day's events had been all around exhausting. She soon returned to the apartment complex, but once again, she was drawn to her friend's apartment. Entering, she found all three Sith sitting down with Vette, talking. From the looks of it, the Twi'lek's leg had been fixed up.
"Hello everyone," she greeted, "Vette, you look better."
"Is wasn't anything a little medpack couldn't handle." The Twi'lek said dismissively.
"So, Apprentice Louise," Lord Juyn began, drawing the attention of pretty much everyone in the room, "you have been making quite a bit of headway since we last met. Once you were a lowly slave, now an apprentice to a Sith Lord."
Louise smiled, "Thank you, my lord. However, I couldn't have done it if it wasn't for your guidance. But I do apologise"
"For what?"
"Me and Vette have some business to tend to," she explained, "then I'm going to go back to my apartment to get some rest."
"At this hour?" Rayne questioned.
Louise nodded affirmative, "My master had an important task that I needed to complete today," she turned the Twi'lek, "Vette, shall we split the credits?"
A strange expression crossed Vette's face then vanished, "Nah, you take them."
"Really?" Louise asked, a tad confused at the actions of the woman.
"Yeah." Vette replied tiredly.
"Alright. Khem, you can stick around, I'm just going to catch some shut eye." When Khem grunted in understanding, she slipped into Vette's room, grabbed the case and left Lyira's apartment for her own.
When she arrived at her home, she entered her bedroom and sat down on the comfy bed. Curious as to the reward for killing a bunch of slaves, Louise flipped open the briefcase and found, as she had been promised, several golden credits all lined up perfectly. But that was not all; a single use datapad strapped to the lid of the case. Taking the pad from the case, she turned it on and found a message attached. It was a formal letter that informed the holder of the amount of credits they now owned. To say she was surprised was an understatement. Once she finished reading the datapad, she threw it in the bin. It was a single use and its purpose had been complete.
All in all, Louise did not know what to think about the credits she had earned. 5,000 credits. It was a lot, quite a lot. Had she been without a home, she could have bought a nice quaint house with still some to spare. Lord Qet really want to keep the entire thing under wraps. The only thought that held her back from jumping in joy, was the knowledge of how she had acquired it. For her peace of mind, she did not dwell on that fact. She closed the case and slid it under her bed. I guess this is why Vette didn't want it.
Finally, she flopped onto her bed, bouncing ever so slightly, and soon succumbed to sleep. However, her sleep did not last; about three hours later, Louise found herself inexplicably awake. She tried to close her eyes and shut out the world, but rest would not come to her.
With an annoyed groan, she got up from her bed, not even bothering to clean herself up. She stripped herself of her clothes, replacing it with a shirt and underwear then left to the living room. With a wave, turned on the view screen; the news was on and she suddenly found herself curious. After calling her droid to get a drink of water, Louise flopped onto the couch and began watching the news.
It was a novel idea, the news, one she felt her homeworld could benefit much from. If they got out of the Magic Age. Louise thought neutrally. It would have been much easier to learn about the changes happening in her own country and the countries surrounding it. Now though, those thoughts were in the background; listening to news about her homeworld would be useless when she could be learning about what was happening in the Empire and Republic.
From what she saw, the Korriban Slave insurrections had been dealt with, which was... good? She did not know. There was also a note on the Cold War with several hints at small scale battles that are taking place. One such hinted battle that the Imperials are denying ever happened was the kidnapping of a Republic Ambassador. And then the news took a turn that caused ice to fill her veins.
"In more local news," the anchorman said, "an explosion had been heard from the Unfinished Colossus to the South-East of Kaas City. Reports show that it was the work of two bounty hunters, a woman by the name of Karin and an alien…"
At this moment, Louise could not help but curse. Just the thing she needed was for the news to take note of her actions. Not only that but Darth Skotia could have made a connection between the explosion and his base being put to the preverbal torch.
Louise let out a over exaggerated sigh. She turned off the viewscreen and went to her room where she quickly got changed to something decent and then set off to Lyira's apartment. She wanted to find out what Vette thought of this development.
Upon entering her friend's apartment, she found Vette sitting among Lyira, Rayne and Khem as they watched the viewscreen – intently, for Khem. Though unlike herself, they had been watching something entertaining.
"Louise?" Lyira called upon the entry of the former, "how was your sleep."
"Not long enough," she grumbled, "Have you guys heard the news?"
"No, what news?" Vette was prompted to ask as Louise had been looking pointedly at her.
"Explosion near the Unfinished Colossus." She stated.
"I tried asking Vette," Lyira said, "but she's been tight-lipped about it."
So Vette didn't tell anyone what I was up to.. good. Louise had forgotten to tell the Twi'lek to be quiet. Nevertheless, Louise continued, "Well, on the news they mentioned two Bounty Hunters who blew up some slave equipment."
"Really?"
"What where they're names?" Rayne asked.
"They only mentioned one. Karin, I think. The other was an alien."
"Karin? Odd name."
"Sounds familiar…" Lyira said, looking thoughtful. But nothing came from her musings.
"Did they say much about it?" Vette asked.
"No. Apparently the news plans on finding out more." Louise explained, before quickly switching subject, "So, what are you watching?"
"Just a holodrama that was on," Lyira said dismissively, "You wanna join? We'll be ordering dinner soon."
"Yeah, I'll join." Louise said, moving between Khem and Rayne, "It's been a long time since we met, Rayne."
"Yes, it has, I've heard much about you… a bit too much if Lyira's opinion was needed." Rayne said with a quirk of the lips.
Louise felt instantly on edge as well as a pang of embarrassment that was not her own. Since when did Rayne smirk? "What do you mean?"
"Hey, Rayne, didn't you have anything else to tell Louise," Lyira said, looking at her sister pointedly, "Something completely different from what you are currently thinking of telling Louise?"
"Oh, and what am I thinking, little sis?" Rayne replied, smirking victoriously. Louise knew this for what it was: bait. Éléonore used to do it all the time.
"Ah…" the younger Pureblood stopped herself from speaking.
"Come on, say it." then, the unlikeliest thing happened. Rayne laughed, "You're too fun to tease, sis. Anyway, I don't know why you're so embarrassed, according to your Dashade friend over there, she already knows." "Oh fine. As you may or may not know, I have reason to believe that my master will be granting me the title of Lord."
Lousie was pulled from her shocked state as what was said sunk in, "He is?"
"Yes. He's planning something for it as well," With that good news out of the way, it seemed the previous topic was left forgotten, which was fine by Lyira. Louise was also pleased with this considering she had a very good bet on what that tidbit of information was.
They holodrama they found themselves watching really did live up to its name as everything seemed so melodramatic. It was one of those episodic dramas that Louise found herself unable to stop watching until the season, or in the worst case, series was over. Thankfully, even she knew her limits and did not watch many. And soon enough, dinner was ordered; fast food from a restaurant a few blocks away.
Overall it was quite the relaxing time to spend the rest of her day, among friends, a grumpy Dashade and a soon-to-be Sith Lord who confused Louise.
Early in the next morning, Louise awoke to a message from Darth Paracelsus who informed her that, despite her master's mission, she still had her Alchemy lessons to do. Underneath that, was a note to bring in the little knickknacks she had created over the weeks. After the first week and a half, she had been told to make specific objects, such as some cutlery. Specifically, knives. With a sigh, she pulled herself from her bed and got ready for the day.
As luck would have it, or rather the Force, it was no longer raining. Huzza! Instead, it was the perpetual stormy skies. So as she flew over Dromund Kaas, dressed in her robes with a knapsack filled with her little creations, she could enjoy the wind in her hair.
However, the therapeutic winds soon diminished when she arrived at the Hub. Disembarking the skycar, she quickly headed inside. She passed the receptionist with a pleasant 'hello', which he returned, and walked to Darth Paracelsus' office.
Inside, she found said Sith Lord meditating in the middle of the room. Through from how his head was angled, it was possible he was napping. Whatever he was doing, he soon stopped upon her entry, "Good, you got my message, and I am sure you're curious as to why I told you to bring them." He gestured to the knapsack
"Yes, my lord."
He smiled broadly, "We're going to get started on Alchemy."
Almost immediately, she was smiling broadly.
"I am sure you can remember the theory?"
"Yes, I can," Louise replied.
"Good, let's go then." In a fluid motion, Paracelsus went from sitting to standing and began to walk off. But instead of leaving the office, he walked deeper inside, opening a door she had not noticed and signalled for her to follow. Which she did.
The room was small and square lit by four familiar purple crystals which stood on thin pedestals in the corner. In the centre of the room was a small table that sat on a raised dais. All around it felt quite ominous with a low hum emanating from the crystals.
"This is my Alchemy Lab. It's not really a lab, but it's a nice place for me to work on little benign projects. Now, show me what you've got."
"Okay, my lord." She walked up to the small table and reached into her bag, pulling out the weird snake spring-thingy and placed it on the table. With a final look to Paracelsus, wondering if he had any final words or anything for her – of course, she got none – she closed her eyes and began to delve into the Dark Side of the Force.
She breathed deeply, then exhaled. She could feel the Dark Side emanating from all around her; from the planet to Paracelsus himself, and especially from the four crystals themselves. She moved her focus to her creation, using the Force to penetrate passed its outer shell and see what it was truly made from. Gathering the Dark Side from all around her like a sponge, she lashed out at the object, shooting the chaotic energies at her creation, commanding it to change to her will.
But it fought back. This was not the natural way of things. Metal did not become wood, nor did iron to gold. It was unnatural to change it. But the Dark Side cared not for these things. With the Dark Side, the Sith bent the laws of the universe, crushing it under the Forces indomitable will. But it still resisted.
Her concentration broke and her eyes snapped open. The spring sat there, unmoving, unchanged. She could see the residual Dark Side energies twist around her fingers, like little tendrils of viscous smoke.
Anger. Resentment. Frustration.
She used these emotions and summoned up a storm of the Dark Side, shooting it at the object again, willing its change. But the object still resisted.
Again and again, she tried, pressing her will up against the will of nature, but it would not relent.
"Louise," Paracelsus said, stopping her before she tried again, "you do remember that you have to have something to change the object into in mind when you perform Alchemy?"
Louise merely looked blankly at the Darth, but on the inside, she was screaming. How could I have forgotten that! It was literally the first thing the holocron taught me!
"Simply willing the object to change is like hitting a shield with a wide hammer," he continued, "but if you focus your desire into a finely-honed point, you will pierce it."
Despite the, in her opinion, stupid set back that she should have realised herself, she welcomed the lesson. It was, after all, a great source of negative emotion. She got back to work, this time with something in mind.
Around six hours later, Louise had managed to make a bit of headway. She was now the proud owner of a magnetic springy snake thing, not that she knew what to do with it. Darth Paracelsus had left to attend to some business on the second hour, after making sure she would not kill herself. So now she stood in the lab, levitating the magnetic spring near her knives which promptly attached themselves to the spring. She felt incredibly pleased with her work. She could also feel the lingering taint of the Dark Side on it, but it would fade in time.
Oh, and it was blue now. Alchemy was weird, in Louise's humble opinion as she changed magnetic spring into a brittle piece of metal that shattered upon being dropped. She cursed, "Great, now I have to work on my other bits."
She was about to pick up a knife, a nice little ornate piece that she felt pride at, and subject it to the altering powers of the Dark Side when the door to the workshop slid open. Inside walked Darth Paracelsus and, oddly enough, Lord Juyn, "My lords?"
"Ah, Louise," Juyn said upon entering, looking around the room with a cursory scan, "You would not believe the trouble I went through to find you."
"Is there any trouble?"
"No, Lord Juyn has something to tell you," Paracelsus said.
"No, not at all. I just came down here to ask if you would join Rayne and I at my estate," explained Lord Juyn "As my apprentice had no doubt told, I am planning on granting her the rank of Lord and I have decided to throw a little party."
Louise did not react surprised by this information. He was a Sith Lord and probably knew what his Apprentice had for dinner the night before as well. Instead, she smiled, "I would be honoured."
"Excellent. I have already check with Darth Paracelsus and your master. We shall leave after you've cleaned up here."
This information, Louise did react to. If only because it insinuated her lack of choice in the matter… or perhaps his ability at foresight? It mattered not in the grand scheme of things, especially considering what she knew of Lord Juyn's mannerisms.
"Before you go, Apprentice," Paracelsus said, "What have you accomplished?"
Louise picked up what was left of her spring, which was currently being attacked by metal bits, "I managed to make the spring magnetic... and blue… and brittle, my lord."
Despite the disappointment she felt, he smiled widely, his red eyes gleaming, "Good. I will pack away your things for your next lesson."
Louise bowed to the Darth then followed Juyn as he led her out of the Alchemy Hub where, surprisingly, she found herself being taken to a transport shuttle, "This shuttle will take us to my estate for the party."
"Uh, Lord Juyn?"
"Yes?"
"Shouldn't I get my robes from my apartment."
"You needn't worry about that, Louise. I have that covered."
With no room to argue, she boarded the ship, only to be accosted by a familiar red-skinned woman, "So this is where you go." Lyira said, looking off at the Alchemy Hub with a smirk.
"It is a wonderful sight," Louise said.
"Come on you two, let's get to the estate." The flight was short, and soon they arrived at their destination, not that she knew what the destination was. All she knew was that it was an estate, one that Lyira had apparently spent some time in before the Academy. When the ship finally landed and the ramp was deployed, Louise and Lyira followed Juyn out of the ship. Upon exiting the ship, however, Louise found herself with a severe case of déjà vu. Despite having already seen the architecture of the Sith, both old and new, she felt stumped by how… pleasing to the eye Lord Juyn's manor was.
It was by no means large, only a bit bigger than she remembered her homeworld's estate had been. Enclosed behind high walls guarded by droid guards, hid the main building built into a small mountain. Around the field between the building and the main gate, were several lightning rods – obviously one of the power sources to the manor – with a beautiful collection of native and alien flora. The manor itself looked much like the lovechild of both the ancient and modern Sith, looking as if it was originally the ruins of an old temple, remodel into a manor.
"The manor had been in my family for quite a few generations," Juyn noted as he walked up the smooth stone path to the manor.
Louise nodded along, though it was unseen by those around her. She hoped she would gain enough credits and power to build her own true home. The thought of having a legacy was tantalising, to have Sith speak her name just as they spoke of Ajunta Pall or Ragnos. But for that to happen, she would need to deal with Skotia and her master, she would need to build a powerbase, those would obey her every command and march in her name. She already had allies in Alif and Sir Dorjis, and quite possibly Sargent Cormun and the Back Talon.
Unknowing of the plotting thoughts of Louise, the group eventually arrived at the manor proper. Two Imperial guards bowed and opened the main door leading to the foyer.
"Welcome to my humble abode," Juyn said grandly, gesturing to the well-decorated room, "Lyira, take your friend to your old room to freshen her up, will you? The guests – your master's and companions – and of course Rayne will arrive soon."
The next second, Louise found herself being pulled into the entrance hall, despite her protests, up a curved staircase and down the hall in the west wing. There she was led into the room at the end of the hall and was finally let go.
"Lyira!?" She shouted, massaging her hand, "What was that for?"
Said Sith turned to face Louise, a smile gracing her lips until it faltered, "Oh, sorry. I got a little carried away. Got a little excited about seeing my old room."
Louise accepted the apology and looked around at the room she had been kidnapped into. It was of decent size, a bit larger than her current bedroom, and housed a double bed in the middle with a large vanity off in the corner. Instead of windows, as she was sure they were partially under a hill at the moment, there was a large viewscreen. Off near the entry door, was another door which Louise assumed was a bathroom. It was a bit bare, but from what she could understand, it had not been used.
"So, this was your old room?" Louise asked.
"Mhm. Mine until the Academy came calling. Lord Juyn had been kind enough to give me this when my sister became his apprentice," Lyira explained, flopping onto her bed, "It was nice, I got some preliminary training and somewhere to run around and have some fun. Just as comfortable as I remember."
Louise smiled at the scene of Lyira rubbing up against the bed like some kind of puppy, "It must have been nice."
"It was."
"Well, while you go reminisce, I'm going to get cleaned up. Okay?"
"Have fun!"
But before she could enter the bathroom, a knock was heard at the door. Opening it, she found a utility droid, similar to the one in her own apartment, presenting her clean and neatly folded clothes and robes. Taking the outfit without much thought, she deposited it on the vanity before heading into the adjoining room.
The bathroom was small, only containing a toilet, shower and a full towel rack. It was no bother. She quickly disrobed, littering them in the corner of the room and turned on the shower, getting it to the right temperature before washing herself. It was towards the end when she felt disturbances on the bottom floor, sensing various people entering the manor, from Force-sensitive Sith to the more mundane.
Soon, her shower was finished. She took a towel and began to dry herself down. Once adequately dry, she wrapped herself up in her towel and headed out of the room, joining Lyira who was currently meditating – thankfully clothed – on the bed. Louise passed the Sith by and headed to the vanity where she began looking for a brush. When one could not be found, she let out a sigh and went to ask Lyira, "Do you happen to know where a brush is?"
The Sith smiled mischievously, "You mean this?" she said, pulling out the brush from her lap.
"You hid it? Why?"
"Ah ah, no questions. Sit down and I'll take care of your hair." Lyira replied, wiggling the brush at her.
Louise prepared to retort but caved in. She knew it was a battle she could not win and decided to get it over with, "Fine."
With that, she took a seat on the vanity's stool and let Lyira get to work, "Louise, I'm afraid I'm going to have to cut all your hair off."
"Wh- what? Why!?" asked that panicking Louise.
Lyira sighed as if the next words were going to describe some horrible catastrophe, "It's just too soft and luxurious. I'm sorry, but I am completely jealous."
"Cut my hair and I cut you."
"Woah there, might want to settle down on the threats," Suddenly, Louise could feel Lyira's breath against the back of her neck causing the Pinkette to shiver as the woman behind her spoke, "Never know if they might like it."
Louise blushed furiously, utterly mortified as she stared at the Purebloods reflection.
Upon seeing this, Lyira laughed, "I'm just joking."
"Sure you are," Louise grumbled, squirming in her seat.
Lyira laughed some more, "Oh stop that, you look too cute. It makes it difficult to not tease you."
Thankfully, it was not long before Lyira had finished brushing Louise's hair. Louise was then told to quickly get dressed so the Pureblood could style her hair, which she did post haste. Soon enough, the Pinkette was ready to see the masses, though she felt underdressed for the occasion.Perhaps I can order a few dresses for galas.
The duo left the bedroom and joined with the people who had congregated in the middle of the manor. The first she saw of these guests were some Imperials and a Sith Lord who's name they knew not. Nevertheless, they found some familiar people in the form of Khem Val and Vette who were standing awkwardly by two Sith Lords who were conversing. Louise found herself oddly worried that it was Lord Zash and Darth Baras who were talking, both dressed for the occasion in extravagant robes.
For Louise, who had only seen Baras in holos or on the viewscreen, she found herself extremely disappointed. She remembered seeing several recordings of him during the war and what she saw was a handsome greying man who would not look out of place as a king of some country. He held himself with the air of a powerful man who would crush those who got in his way. Now though? He looked as if he spent most of his time eating at an all-you-can-eat buffet, though she dare not vocalise her disappointment because he was still Darth Baras.
Before she could overhear what her master and Baras were talking about, they turned to face Louise and Lyira, greeting them both. Surprisingly it was Darth Baras who spoke first, especially because it was to Louise, "Apprentice Louise, I am pleased to finally meet the person who has taken my apprentice's interest. I have heard much about you, from your acquisition of the holocron in Marka Ragnos' tomb to your work on the Black Talon."
"Darth Baras, it is an honour to meet you as well." Replied Louise, feeling oddly uncomfortable around him.
"Yes, and it is a pleasure to meet your apprentice, Darth Baras." Zash said, looking to Lyira, "I heard she managed to hold her own against one of those beasts in Ragnos' tomb."
"It is a pleasure to meet you, Lord Zash." Lyira replied, bowing respectfully before turning to regard her master, "Master, may I ask why you are here? I thought you had important work to do."
"I've decided to give our guest some alone time."
Louise really did not want to know what Darth Baras meant by that, and thankfully she did not need to listen in to this conversation as after the Darth finished his sentence, Lord Juyn made an appearance, "Lords and Imperials, I do welcome you to the Eros' Estate. If you would all enter the ballroom."
And as if on cue, a large double door at the back of the entry hall opened permitting entry for all. After a moment's pause, guests started filling in. Louise followed blindly along, vaguely aware that she should be beside her master just as Lyira was beside Darth Baras. The ballroom was quite spacious, with a podium at the very end. The walls were covered in décor, some aged paintings, other being relics of time since passed.
Blindly following Zash, Louise inexplicably found herself standing on the sidelines while many of the non-Sith congregated in the centre, leaving a aisle down the centre of the room. Despite her diminished height – she might have had a growth spurt, but she was still short – she could see most of the guests. And, as she noticed, most of them were low ranking Imperials with quite a few non-Imperials grouping together. It was quite diverse for a Sith ceremony, no matter how unofficial it was.
The low hum that permeated the hall soon hushed as Lord Juyn and the lady of the occasion entered gracefully. They both moved to the end of the room, however, only Juyn stood upon the podium. Rayne stood before him and was wearing her customary scowl – a public image. Louise supposed. She dressed in an impressive amalgamation of robes and armour that still had the formal grace one would expect from nobility.
With merely a look from his blazing eyes, Lord Juyn silenced the room who all stood to attention.
"Kneel, Rayne Arren," he commanded to which the Pureblood obeyed, "You started out your life as the firstborn daughter of the late Darth Vox. From there, you lost it all to the Jedi and Republic. Plucked from the streets, you were trained by the Overseers of Korriban; broken and reforged by your trials into a weapon. You killed when you were ordered and tortured when you were told. When I looked upon you, I saw a being who would become a great Sith, and you took that title through blood!'
'Under my guidance, you took the tenets of the Sith and emulated them. You saw firsthand the plague that is the Republic, the Jedi. You learned that Peace was a Lie and that it was only through Passion that you could gain Strength and thus Power. Those with power lead with strength and purpose, while the weak follow in servitude, suffering a meagre, worthless existence. It is a game we Sith have played for millennia and one I have seen you embody.'
'Now you stand before us," at this, Rayne rose, "and I see someone who is worth to take the next step. By the will of the Sith Empire, you have been granted the title of Lord. Bow now before Lord Rayne, heir of house Arren!"
While Louise knew she did not need to kneel before the newly christened Lord Rayne, she did bow deeply enough to be respectful, but not deep enough to be subservient. It was the little things she had noted about the Sith Empire in the year she had been here. She also noted that the other 'VIPs' also bowed to Rayne, aside from the Darths who only inclined her head. She could just hear Lord Zash mutter about how eccentric Juyn was.
"Now, if you would join me in the dining hall, we will be serving a nice supply of drinks and food." And food and drinks there were. An entire buffet had been prepared of varied tastes. Both savoury and sweet, native Sith cuisine and foods from other cultures. It was pleasant experience that reminded her of the galas she would partake in. Unlike those galas where she would occasionally speak to some of the guests, Louise found herself either attached to Zash or Lyira. There were times when someone was near enough for her to strike up a conversation, but other than that, she felt unsure of herself. She berated herself for this, of course, considering her earlier thoughts of building a powerbase.
At least Khem is enjoying himself. She thought watching the behemoth peruse the buffet looking quite nightmarish to those around him. She turned around to go find Lyira, only to find herself face to face with Lord Juyn, "My Lord," she said a bit quickly, feeling a bit unnerved by his impish looks.
"I do hope you are enjoying the party, Apprentice Louise," he replied.
Louise smiled, "Yes, I am. It reminds me of home,"
"Yes, I remember. Once a noblewoman, now a member of the prestigious Sith Order." He paused, "I have been meaning to talk to you since we first met the day before, but it seems we've both been quite busy."
"What did you wish to talk about?"
"You, of course. While our correspondence had tapered off during your training on Korriban, I have kept an eye on you."
"Oh?"
"Yes, and I have been quite impressed," Juyn praised, "You overcame all the suicidal challenge that fool of an Overseer threw at you; retrieving holocrons that had been thought to be impossible to touch, braving untouched tombs, assassination attempts. And despite all the hush hush, I heard you were critical in the acquisition of a defecting General. I knew I saw something in you on Eelu-3. I just wanted to know how you're settling in, in the wide galaxy."
"Well, despite my trials and Harkun's idiocy, I found my stay enjoyable. It's not too unlike my homeworld, but it was so much more than my home was ever."
"Really? How so?"
"On my homeworld, my life was limited," Louise began, "I was the daughter of a Duke, and before I was… before all this," she gestured wildly, "my choices were looking narrow. Either I was going to be pulled from the Academy and turned into a wife who's only purpose was to produce heirs, or I was to be disowned and dishonoured, let out into the world with nothing. With the Sith, the Empire… I was given choices, freedoms. With the Sith, only my passions, my strength and power matter…" The two continued to converse for quite a while about various topics such as the new, her thoughts on Dromund Kaas and what Lord Juyn had been doing for the Empire – not much, really. Mostly he had been securing allies and training Rayne while doing missions for the Empire.
After the conversation, they stuck around only a bit longer; Zash and Baras had left at some point during her conversation, each with important business to deal with. But soon, Louise felt like she had overstayed her welcome and wanted to leave. Fortunately, Lyira had invited her sister and Louise to join her at her apartment where they could continue the party, if a bit more privately. Louise accepted the invitation, of course, along with Lord Rayne and Vette. Khem, one the other hand, decided he had enough of parties and wanted to go to bed.
The after-party was a quiet affair, with the three enjoying some leftovers they stole from thebuffet, and some niceholodramas… and then Rayne ordered a Keg of Corellian alcohol and the night just went downhill from there.
Kaas City never slept… in fact, Louise wasn't sure that any city or settlement on the Sith Capital Planet slept. There was always someone running around doing something or ordering droids to do their job for them. There were always Sith planning and plotting in the middle of the night, hunched over their desks with maps and datapads and holocrons sprawled over their desks (Case in point, Zash was in the middle of finalising her plans with dealing with Dorotsech while doing a little light reading on the side; a trashy romance novel to be exact, a secret she would drag to her grave). However, only approximately ten to twenty percent of the planet actually stayed up this late, the rest were normal people who went to bed at normal times and cursed silently when a skycar zoomed by or an explosion was heard.
Louise was one of these people.
Currently, she was enjoying, in the most twisted definition of the word, her dream. Laying before her was a droid, at least she thought it was a droid. It was badly injured, horribly so, but it still functioned. It looked up to Louise, one of its eyes dead, but the other expressed so much anger. The thing spoke, its voice distorted by a metallic twang, but she could not understand a word it was saying. But she knew it to be a warning.
The scene changed. Screams of anguish tore through the air, blood painted the stone ground and blaster fire was flying to and fro. In the middle of it, Louise was hacking and slashing with an axe drenched in the life blood of those that dared to enslave her.
Then all she could see were two familiar yet alien eyes looking at her with pain. Pain and suffering. They stared down into her very soul, and she could not help but stare back. Back into those fiery yellow eyes. The eyes turned blue and wispy – a face became visible. Just like the eyes before, it was familiar yet alien. A mask that perverted the image of a skull. Where once were yellow eyes, were now sockets of void, and in a voice, cold and commanding, it said, "Come find me."
In the end, two arms wrapped around her from behind, comforting her in the darkness. She welcomed them. She turned to face this being who had touched her so, and hugged back.
Then she woke and all she could see was red and all she felt was pain.
She tried to speak, to question what was happening but all that came from her dry mouth out was a muffled grunt and a groan. It felt like her head was going to split in two. She knew something was wrong and her mind tried telling her that she was not alone in her bed, but her head protested to much.
It was then, that she noticed that the red felt oddly fleshy on her nose and lips. She tried to move, but found that she was stuck, entrapped by something humanoid. Her bodily-awareness told her that she was hugging something fleshy and red, that there was something between her legs that she had entwined. It was at this point she started freaking out because she only knew two people who were red and humanoid.
She did not know what was worse, the thought of waking up in Lyira's arms, or her sisters. Not that the headache was helping. The body moved, groaning in its sleep. Arms tightened and the thing between her legs, which was most defiantly another leg, moved.
Suddenly, everything stilled. The body she was hugging tensed.
Then it got worse, "Louise?" the drowsy voice of Lyira asked, "What are you doing in my bed and why does it feel like my head was runover by a starship?"
At this point, Louise's only thought process was to abort, and abort she did. While many Force-sensitives would the Force push ability at a target, usually something in their way or an enemy, it was common, though not spoken, knowledge that the Force-User could use the ability on themselves. And so, with all the emotions and pain she was feeling, Louise used the Force to fling herself from Lyira's bed.
She hit the floor hard enough to leave a bruise, but did not care for the spike of pain, her head felt worse. Sluggishly, she looked look at her friend, who was currently sitting up in her bed… wearing nothing. Immediately, Louise looked down, not to avert her eyes from the sight, but to check to see if she was wearing anything. Luckily, she was. Unfortunately, it was only a shirt a few sizes too large for her… and it was the only article of clothing she was wearing. The floor was cold.
Louise looked between herself and the Sith Pureblood in the bed, her mind coming to the most extreme conclusion she could fathom in her impaired state, "Did… did we? Did we…?"
Lyira's reaction was not helpful, "I… don't know… did we?" She looked just as confused and terrified as Louise.
"What, exactly, happened last night?" Louise asked rubbing her head.
"I… don't know?" Lyira replied numbly, "We… uh, were drinking and celebrating… then… I don't know… a keg was involved… that much I remember."
Louise groaned, "What time is it?"
"Around nine."
Louise looked around the room, "Where are my clothes?"
"I don't know."
"Okay, okay… from what I can sense, Vette and your sister aren't in the apartment," Louise said, "We go out, find my clothes and never speak of this to anyone."
"Yes. Especially to my sister," Lyira then hopped out of bed and ransacked her draws. By the time she was finished, she had put on a shirt and some panties, "Come on," she said, looking just as pained as Louise, "let's find your clothes before Vette comes back."
Louise nodded numbly. She felt like asking Lyira if she could have something to cover her bottom half, but she knew the answer considering the vastly differing widths of their hips. So instead, she held the shirt down and followed Lyira to the bedroom door. The door slid open with a hiss, and Louise and Lyira froze. Sitting down on the couch, which appeared to have moved to face the bedrooms, having a quiet conversation was Rayne and Vette. Upon hearing the hissing sound of the door, the two stopped and turned to look at the two petrified apprentices.
"Looks like the lovebirds are awake," said Vette, looking slyly at the two.
"Apprentice Louise," Rayne said, a scowl etched on her features, "what have you done to my sister?"
"I-I… but…" Louise looked to Lyira for support but found that she looked absolutely mortified.
"No, not but's." Lord Rayne said seriously, "You have deflowered my sister, now you have to take responsibility. No, dot say a word. We'll have to organise the wedding first thing tomorrow."
"Wedding!?" Lyira and Louise yelled simultaneously.
It was at this moment, Louise considered how much force it would take to smash through the windows. They were awfully high up, the drop would definitely kill her. I could make sure of it if I land on my head… Unbeknownst to her, Lyira was having a very similar thought.
Only, it was not to be as, upon looking at the longing expression on both their faces as they stared at the window, Rayne and Vette broke into howling laughter. This only proved to confused the two scared teens who looked on at the dying Twi'lek and Pureblood as laughter forbid them to breathe.
Soon, however, they managed to calm down enough for Vette to explain, "Don't look so serious. Nothing actually happened."
"What." It was less a question and more of a statement from both.
"I was here all night. You two didn't do anything. Slept like rocks."
"Explain, now," Louise demanded.
"So bossy," Vette said, "Wouldn't you want your robes first?"
"Where are they?"
"You spilt some alcohol on them. They got dirty," she explained, "I asked 3E to wash them for you. 3E, bring out the robes!"
"Yes, master!" a synthetic voice called out from the kitchen. The next moment, Louise was being presented a bundle of her clothes, boots, lightsaber and other utilities, neatly folded and clean. She took the bundle in hand and nodded jerkily at the droid before slinking into Lyira's room to get changed. Once content that she would not embarrass herself, she left the room and stood next to the half nude Lyira. Despite seeing the contrary, it was quite difficult to put it in her mind that the severely embarrassed girl beside her was wearing something under her long shirt, "Explain."
"Should you, or I?" asked Vette.
"I will…" Rayne said, and explain she did. The Sith Lord when on to explain the night, how they celebrated the newly christened Lord status with food and drink. Louise knew this, of course, considering she was there, however, what the Pureblood explained next was something she did not, in fact, remember. Lord Rayne described how a keg of alcohol had been brought in which, somehow, lead to a drinking contest between Louise and Lyira which ended in the two getting so drunk that Louise thought that they were in Lyira's apartment, not her own.
What happened next, just flushed the already red-faced Apprentice even more. As the night went on, she had decided to go to bed, but, as she believed she was in her own apartment, she crawled into Lyira's bed. Lyira was unfazed by the development and went to bed as well.
Louise, of course, was not pleased by this, "and you let us?"
"Well... we were going to stop you before you did anything you would regret," Vette said, "but then we soon realised that you both were out cold."
"So, what was with the show when we woke up?" Lyira asked, voicing her thoughts for the first time since waking up.
"Payback," Vette said simply.
Louise was the one to respond, "Payback for what?"
"I got shot because of you." Vette retorted.
"Well… that's not my fault… you should have moved." Louise grumbled. Vette merely gave the Pinkette the Look, cause the Apprentice to squirm in place. Choosing to 'forgive and forget', she said, "So… we didn't do it?"
"You sound so disappointed." Vette quickly regretted speaking her mind as a blaster was levelled at her head, "Hey, hey, don't shoot. You didn't do it. Believe me, these walls are thin. I would have heard."
Despite the slight hiccup of waking up in someone else's bed, and that person being Lyira, and the hangover. The morning was quite relaxing.
And then she remembered that she had training today.
"Kark!" she hissed, nursing a hurt hand after she indulged in the sudden desire to punch a wall.
AN
Just realised that Eros is the Greek God of Sexual Attraction... no, Juyn is not a sexual deviant. I actually got the name from Jyn Erso from Rogue One. In fact, I don't plan on going any further with the 'lewd' or 'spiciness' of the story currently. No Smut. This was also written like this because shit gets serious in the next chapter... perhaps I can merge the Blade of Woe chapter (chapter 19) into the next one? Eh...