The humming from beyond the door grew louder, a relentless pull that thrummed in Firefly's skull like the vibration of a thousand strings plucked in unison. She bit her lip, trying to steady herself, her cheek brushing against Shadow's face in a desperate attempt to anchor herself. His features, now softened in relaxation, were her only tether to reality amidst the cacophony. The call felt ancient and vast, as if it had lingered in the void of space since the birth of the stars themselves. Time twisted in her perception minutes stretched into years, and yet, it all passed in a fleeting instant.
From the cockpit, Savage's shout shattered the fragile silence. "We're here!" he bellowed, his deep voice cutting through the ship's hum. The vessel jolted as it exited hyperspace, throwing her momentarily off balance. She heard the clattering of levers and buttons from the open cockpit door, the sound grating against the song still echoing in her mind.
Shadow tensed in her arms as the ship lurched, his shoulders tightening like coiled steel. His claws dug into her waist, holding her to him, and his spider legs scraped against the floor in an attempt to steady himself. Firefly's throat burned from hours of humming and singing, and her eyes drooped with exhaustion. She allowed them to close for just a moment, her body heavy with fatigue, as the ship's vibrations slowed and Savage set them down with a sharp, jarring thud.
The insistent hum in her mind softened, transforming from a demanding call to a quiet, sinister promise. She forced herself to shake it off, clinging instead to the warmth of Shadow's presence. Whatever that song whispered to her, she refused to heed it. She was here for Shadow. Only for Shadow.
Savage emerged from the cockpit, his golden gaze narrowing as he took in the sight of them tangled together. His lip curled slightly in distaste, a sneer tugging at his otherwise stoic face. "We've landed," he said, his tone carrying the weight of an order. "You must disembark, Maul."
Firefly's eyes burned as she glared at him. The name—Maul—was a thorn in her chest, spoken like a challenge. Savage had no right to command Shadow, no right to refer to him by that name. Her lip curled in defiance, her entire body stiffening as Savage's imposing figure loomed over them.
"No," Shadow growled, his voice dark and laced with pain. It was the voice of a man clinging to the fraying edges of his sanity, and it broke something in her heart. His arms tightened around her as though she were his lifeline, the only thing keeping him grounded in the storm.
Savage's frustration boiled over, and with a snarl, he slammed his fist onto the control panel. The hiss of hydraulics filled the cabin as the ship's ramp lowered with a metallic groan. "Enough of this," he barked, storming down the ramp in a flash of yellow and black. Firefly watched him go, her jaw clenched and her hands twitching at the thought of him daring to try and separate her from Shadow. If he'd forced the issue, she would have fought him, regardless of Shadow's reluctance to harm his brother.
The silence left behind was a reprieve, however brief. It was just the two of them again, wrapped in each other's presence, as if the world outside had ceased to exist. For those fleeting moments, they were back in their nest, a place of safety and darkness.
Shadow's clawed hands found her hair, tangling gently in the golden strands as his burning yellow eyes searched hers. Firefly's lips curved into a soft smile, her gaze brimming with all the love and reverence she held for him. She bared her neck to him, her voice a raw, bell-like whisper. "I am here."
His gaze softened, the wildness within him momentarily soothed by her unwavering devotion. His lips descended to her neck, finding the mark he had left earlier. The scab from the previous bite remained, a tender reminder of their bond, but she shivered under his touch all the same.
Then he stiffened. The muscles in his arms tightened like iron cables, and a growl rumbled deep in his chest—not directed at her, but at something beyond. His eyes flicked toward the ramp, and Firefly followed his gaze, leaning slightly to peer past his massive spider legs.
Two figures approached. Savage was among them, his towering form unmistakable, but it was the woman beside him who seized Firefly's attention. She was tall and regal, her skin pale as a dead star, glowing faintly in the red light of the world beyond. Black tattoos coiled across her face and arms, their jagged patterns mirroring the Zabrak brothers. She wore a crimson dress and a headpiece that added to her commanding presence.
Mother Talzin, Firefly thought, the name materializing unbidden in her mind. This was the first time she had ever seen another woman—at least, one she could remember. Talzin was the stark opposite of herself, a figure of night to Firefly's light, yet there was something magnetic about her, something that drew Firefly in against her will.
Firefly's unease grew at the way Talzin and Savage spoke in hushed tones, their gazes heavy with intent as they studied Shadow. The moment Talzin's voice rang out, Firefly's skin prickled. It was not one voice, but three, layered and ethereal, like a chorus of the damned.
"Rest easy, my child," Talzin said, her pale claws extending as a green orb of energy formed between them. "I mean no harm. Come, follow me."
The glowing sphere floated toward Shadow, its wicked light casting an eerie glow over his red and black skin. Shadow's form softened, his tense shoulders relaxing as though compelled by the orb's power. Firefly's heart sank as he began to move, descending the ramp as though drawn by an invisible thread.
"What are you doing?!" Firefly shouted, panic lacing her voice as she reached for her spear and shield. But before her fingers could close around them, the weapons were wrenched away by an unseen force. Savage stood at the base of the ramp, her stolen weapons held aloft in his hands, a smug smirk tugging at his lips.
"You'll regret betraying Shadow!" she snarled, her voice trembling with fury. Savage's only response was a low chuckle, the sound grating against her frayed nerves.
Talzin laughed then, a chilling sound that echoed with her layered voices. "We have not betrayed your Shadow, little Firefly," she said. "We are here to help him."
Firefly's instincts screamed at her to run, to fight, to do something but the pull of Talzin's voice and Shadow's retreating form kept her rooted in place. If they thought they could take Shadow from her, they would find themselves sorely mistaken.
Descending the ramp of the ship, Firefly followed the others into the oppressive fog of the dead planet. The air was thick, like a graveyard's stale breath, carrying the acrid tang of decay and suffering. Each step felt like it carried her deeper into the grip of something ancient and malevolent. The fog swirled around her ankles, clinging to her like phantom hands, and the crimson landscape blurred in its haze. Savage strode ahead with Mother Talzin, the green light casting eerie shadows as it floated forward, leading them. Firefly could feel the wrongness of the planet; it wasn't just in her mind it was in the very air she breathed. It reeked of death, the kind that soaked into the soil and never left.
Ahead of her, Shadow followed the green orb, his tall form moving with an uncharacteristic sluggishness, as though ensnared by the light's hypnotic pull. The orb led them to a large, jagged stone altar surrounded by the remnants of dead droids. Their lifeless metal husks seemed like offerings left behind for some unholy ritual. Savage callously tossed her weapons onto the cold stone floor, the clang of metal breaking the silence. Firefly's eyes darted to them briefly, her fingers itching to retrieve them, but her focus snapped back to Shadow as he climbed onto the altar, his clawed fingers swiping at the orb like a moth chasing flame.
Mother Talzin approached with the measured steps of someone entirely in control. Her pale hand reached out, the long, talon-like fingers brushing against Shadow's head. The moment her touch landed, his body went rigid, then collapsed like a puppet with its strings cut. The sound of his body hitting the altar reverberated through Firefly's mind like a crack of thunder. Something inside her snapped.
A snarl tore from her throat as she leaped onto the altar, positioning herself protectively over Shadow's prone form. Her broken wings quivered against her back, the three intact ones flaring wide to make her look larger, more menacing. The fractured joints rattled in protest, but she ignored the pain. Her golden hair whipped around her face as she screamed at them, her voice raw and fierce. "Stay back! Undo what you've done!"
Mother Talzin's pale eyes glinted with amusement, her lips curling into a smile as though savoring Firefly's display. Her voice, layered with the echoes of multiple tones, cut through the thick air. "Good, good. Protect your mate. But you need not guard him from me or Savage."
Firefly bristled at her words, her sharp teeth bared in defiance. Mate? She wished for the Force at that moment, the power to pull her weapons from the stone floor and strike both of them down. Talzin's voice continued, soothing yet sinister, and Firefly's attention wavered for a fraction of a second just long enough.
Savage moved like a predator, closing the distance from her blind spot. His massive hand clamped around her arm, dragging her down from the altar. Firefly shrieked, twisting like a feral beast in his grip. Fury fueled her movements as she lashed out with everything Shadow had taught her. She slammed her fist into his throat, making him choke, then drove her knee into the vulnerable joint of his leg. Savage growled in pain, but it only enraged him further. His head crashed against hers in a brutal headbutt, the force blinding her with stars and sending blood trickling down her face.
The world tilted as her head spun, but Firefly refused to relent. Gasping for air, she clawed at Savage's grip, only for his massive hand to clamp around her throat. The pressure tightened, cutting off her breath as he hissed into her ear, "Be still, or I'll forget my brother's mercy and end you."
The words barely registered. Firefly's mind screamed defiance even as her body weakened. Her nails dug into his hand, but her strength was waning. Then, as if on cue, Talzin began chanting. Her voice rose in a rhythmic incantation, and green mist swirled around the altar, encasing Shadow in its spectral glow.
Savage released her, and Firefly crumpled to the ground, coughing and gasping for air. Her blue eyes, filled with tears of rage and helplessness, locked onto Shadow as the ritual unfolded. Talzin's words were incomprehensible, her chanting like a dirge for the damned. Firefly's heart raced as she saw Shadow's body twitch, his muscles spasming. The green mist seemed to pull darkness from him, swirling it into the air before dissolving it into the ground.
Shadow's crimson skin shone as though polished, the black markings on his body retreating and transforming. His lean, wiry frame began to thicken with muscle, the contours of his body shifting before her eyes. Then came the sound that made her blood run cold the metallic scream of his spider legs breaking away. The limbs crashed to the ground, twitching in their death throes.
Firefly scrambled to her feet, but Savage's massive hand shoved her back down, forcing her face into the crimson dirt. "Watch," he growled, his weight pinning her down. She squirmed against him, rage and panic making her vision blur. Tears streaked her bloodied face as she watched Shadow writhe, screaming as new legs formed from the dead droid parts scattered around them. The green mist worked like a sinister puppeteer, fusing the metal to his body. The process was violent, each piece attaching with an audible crunch that made Firefly wince.
When the ritual finally ended, the green mist dissipated into the ground. Shadow's body lay still on the altar, his chest heaving with labored breaths. Firefly's heart clenched as she stared at him, tears of frustration and helplessness burning her eyes. The faint laughter of Talzin echoed in her ears as Savage finally released her. She pushed herself to her knees, trembling with exhaustion and fury, her gaze never leaving Shadow's still form.
Firefly staggered to her feet, her knees trembling as she tried to steady herself. Her blue eyes locked onto Shadow's still form lying on the altar. Her heart ached with the desperate urge to go to him, to confirm he was truly alive and whole. Barefoot on the cold stone floor, she took a step forward.
But before she could close the distance, a cold, clawed hand settled on her shoulder.
Her head snapped to the side, meeting the unsettling gaze of Mother Talzin, whose pale eyes glimmered with eerie light. Firefly hadn't even heard her approach, and the sudden presence made her chest tighten with unease. How did she get behind me so silently?
Talzin's grip was firm, her claws pressing lightly against Firefly's skin. Her shoulders stiffened instinctively beneath the touch.
"Come, child," Talzin said, her voice soft yet echoing with a sinister undertone. Her pale lips curved into a smile as her other hand reached out, tracing the metal collar around Firefly's throat. "I will help you as well."
Before Firefly could respond or protest, the green mist that had moments ago enveloped Shadow swirled around them both. The world seemed to collapse inward, and her vision blurred as she was wrenched away in a sudden rush.
The sensation was disorienting, like being spun through a storm of cold decay. The mist clung to her skin, a suffocating presence that felt alive, pressing against her like the smell of rot made manifest. Her stomach churned, bile rising in her throat as her body struggled to adjust. Talzin's hand remained a constant weight on her shoulder, a reminder that she wasn't alone, though the comfort it might have brought was drowned by the suffocating dread of the situation.
When they reappeared, Firefly dropped to her knees, her breath coming in shallow gasps as she fought the nausea. The green mist dispersed, revealing a large, cavernous chamber. The stone walls seemed to hum with an ancient, oppressive energy, and at the room's center, a massive pool of glowing green liquid swirled and shimmered, reflecting the flickering light of the chamber.
Talzin's laughter echoed through the room, sharp and cutting. "The first journey through the mist is always difficult, especially for your kind, little Diathim."
Firefly's head jerked up at the word. "Diathim?" she rasped, her voice raw from the ordeal.
Talzin smirked, her white eyes gleaming. "Yes, that is what you are, my dear," she said, her tone laced with condescension as she began circling Firefly like a predator. "Surely you must have known this... Or has your mind been shattered so completely, much like Maul's?"
The name "Maul" made Firefly flinch, but she was too preoccupied with the revelation to dwell on it. "Diathim," she whispered to herself. She had heard stories from the scavengers of luminous beings that drifted through the stars like angels. Could that truly be what she was?
Talzin's claws brushed lightly against the collar encasing herneck, and then shehissed, recoiling from the touch. "Ah, yes," Talzin murmured, her voice almost pitying. "Your memories are locked away, your power suppressed by this vile contraption." Her hand trailed lower, grazing one of Firefly's broken wings. "And your body so fragile, so damaged. I could fix this, child. I could heal you, restore you to your true form."
Firefly straightened, stepping back warily. Her blue eyes burned with suspicion as she glared at the witch. "Why would you help me?" she demanded, her voice a low snarl. She didn't trust this woman, but a flicker of hope stirred in her chest despite herself a flicker Talzin seemed to sense.
The witch's smirk deepened. "Because you are worthy," she said, her voice smooth as silk. "A worthy mate for Maul. Together, you could bring great change, a union of strength and purpose."
That word again—mate. It struck Firefly like a physical blow, unfamiliar and yet resonating with a strange, undeniable truth. "What does that mean?" she asked, her voice trembling with equal parts anger and confusion.
Talzin floated gracefully over the glowing pool, her laughter echoing through the chamber. "It is what you are to him, child. A bond forged in destiny. Your souls call to one another, screaming in a language older than time itself. Can you not feel it?"
Firefly's breath hitched, and she glanced away, unable to deny the truth in Talzin's words. She had felt it an inexplicable connection, a pull that defied reason.
Her gaze snapped back to Talzin as the witch continued, her voice dripping with amusement. "Did he not tell you? His name is Maul. Darth Maul. He is no mere shadow, but a child of Dathomir and a Sith."
The revelation struck Firefly like a blow. "A Sith?" she whispered, her mind racing. The pieces of Shadow's past she had glimpsed in his nightmares and his word when he recited the Code to her, began to fall into place.
Talzin chuckled darkly. "Did he tell you nothing, little Firefly? So much you do not know about him, about yourself. But I can help you uncover the truth, if you are willing."
Firefly's stomach churned, not just from the lingering effects of the mist but from the weight of Talzin's words. "What do you want in return?" she asked, her voice steady despite the turmoil within her.
Talzin's smirk widened, her clawed hand extending toward Firefly. "Not now, my dear," she said, her tone almost teasing. "In time, I will call upon you. And when I do, you will answer. Fear not I mean no harm to Maul. Do we have a deal?"
Firefly's gaze locked with Talzin's, her blue eyes burning with defiance and doubt. She didn't trust this Mother, but the temptation was undeniable. Her collar, her broken wings, her stolen memories they were chains she longed to cast off. And yet, to owe someone like Talzin anything…
Shadow—Maul—would never reveal these truths to her, and she doubted he had the means to free her from the collar's hold without killing her. Talzin, with her strange magic, was the only one who could.
Steeling herself, Firefly reached out and gripped the cold, clawed hand. Her voice was firm, though her heart raced with trepidation. "Deal."
As soon as the word "deal" left Firefly's lips, Talzin's claws snatched her wrist with unnatural speed and force. Before Firefly could react, the witch hurled her into the green pool. The liquid surface felt like hitting stone, the impact knocking the breath from her lungs and sending a surge of cold shock through her system. Her scream was cut short as the foul green substance flooded her mouth and nose, burning her throat with its acrid taste. It was worse than the acid pools of the trash planet she had endured far worse. This wasn't a physical burn; it was power itself, raw and invasive, tearing her apart from the inside out.
The energy within the water ripped through her, invading every cell, every fiber of her being. Her clothing disintegrated like ash in a storm, and her skin felt as though it were being stripped layer by layer. Her wings, her hair, even her very essence felt as though it was being deconstructed, reduced to nothingness. Then came the collar. With a blinding flash and a searing jolt of pain, the metal exploded from her neck, sending shards scattering into the green water. The sudden release of her power surged outward like a tidal wave, reverberating through the chamber as a scream tore from her lips, shaking the stone walls to their very foundation.
Through the chaos, she could hear Talzin's laugh a sound like the damned reveling in agony and the distant shouting of other voices, though their words were drowned out by her own cries. The green pool seemed endless, a void of torment and transformation. Memories that weren't her own flooded her mind, and she was powerless to stop them.
She saw Shadow... no Maul in his youth, his life unraveling before her like a twisted tale told by the green mist. She saw him as a child, broken under the weight of a dark master cloaked in shadow, a figure whose face she couldn't make out. The punishments Maul endured made her own suffering seem almost gentle by comparison. She watched him fall, broken and reformed, again and again, each time emerging with more rage, more hatred, until it consumed him completely.
The scenes shifted. She saw him as a warrior, his lightsaber a blazing red arc of destruction, clashing against Jedi in endless battles. A flash of green and blue sabers. A long, red hallway. A duel with a man and a boy. She saw him strike down the man with the green saber, only to be cleaved in half by the boy no, not a boy. Kenobi. Maul's agonized scream of that name echoed through the vision as he fell, his body broken, his mind shattering with the pain of betrayal and loss.
The memories didn't stop. She saw him crawling through the refuse of his torment, assembling his spider-like legs from scraps, his mind unraveling further into madness. And then, something changed. The sound of a haunting melody. Her voice. Her song.
She saw herself, singing from high above while Maul, broken and battered, was drawn to the sound. The memory was his, and yet she felt it as though it were her own. She felt his rage and pain slowly give way to something else, something softer something he could not name, even to himself. She cried as she relived the moments through his eyes, the times when her voice had been his salvation, his light in the darkness. Through it all, she felt his emotions: the unspoken pull, the connection that bound them together across time and space.
The green liquid surged around her, seeping into her body and knitting her broken pieces together. Her bones realigned, her wings regrew, and her strength multiplied tenfold. She could feel Maul's presence in the cavern now, their connection blazing like a beacon in her mind. It wasn't the Force she couldn't name what it was but it was theirs, unique and unbreakable.
At last, the pain ebbed. Her eyes snapped open beneath the churning green water, glowing with an intensity she had never known. With a final surge of will, she erupted from the pool, the liquid cascading off her as she ascended into the air. Her body was radiant, glowing with a blinding white light tinged with green. Her once-broken wings were whole again, their blade-like edges gleaming as they shimmered with the same eerie light as the pool. Her golden hair shone like molten metal, and her piercing blue eyes locked onto Maul below.
For the first time in her existence, she felt whole. Complete. The connection between them was unspoken but undeniable, a bond forged through pain, rage, and something far deeper. As her gaze met Maul's glowing yellow eyes, a single truth resonated in her soul: she had been remade, not just in body but in spirit. And for the first time, she felt complete.