A Requiem?

[Cameron Centurion]

Having waited for [member="Amorella Mae"] to return before starting his own meal, Cameron casually cut into his own selection as the red-haired woman made...a seemingly random comment. It was almost as if she'd gone into the bathroom and managed to push aside everything that had recently happened. Well...the painful things at any rate. It made the Sith Lord curious.

Putting down his utensils, he gazed into Amorella's blue eyes. "It was nice not to be noticed?" Cameron could certainly understand the comfort provided by anonymity. However, that was his role in life, to be an unknown quantity of mostly unknown quality. There were times when his role necessitated being more obvious, flashy even. Amorella on the other hand...would probably never be that. Yes, she hid her facial features around the Crusade but Inari was a very public figure. On Kuat...Inari did not exist and it was Amorella Mae that garnered swaths of attention. "Change can sometimes be...a comfort. Do you prefer anonymity, being largely obscure?"

 

[Ereza]

Amore glanced up at the man from her plate, eyes round, weariness evident.

"I suppose I don't know," she answered truthfully, "I've never been...obscure." Her eyes narrowed, tone drawing out in uncertainty. Perhaps her first month or so here within the Crusade was the closest she'd ever known to obscurity, but even then people had paid their respects simply because she'd been favored by Aesir Neth and then, subsequently at the time, Aesir Ithari, too. It was how she came to be poisoned with Darkside Sickness - jealousy over the attention the young Priestess of Inari was receiving for no apparent reason.

"I've never really known what it was like to not be instantly recognized as one figurehead or another. I only have myself to blame for that," a slight frown followed as she looked aside in a moment of introspection. It had been her own doing, her rise to Aesir status. She could have remained just another Priestess, utterly unremarkable in the grand scheme of things, but there it was.

"To look at someone and have them look back at you completely without expectation of things you will say or do ... I don't know how that feels. I'm constantly surrounded by people full of expectations of me and I cannot fill them all and makes me feel inadequate at times because I want to do everything I can, everything within my power but," she shook her head, "I cannot be the person everyone needs me to be all the time. I'm tired, Cameron. Not just tired, I'm exhausted. I'm beginning to think I'm not the right person for this. Surely someone out there can do what needs to be done better than I am capable."

In that moment Amorella blinked and looked over at the dark man who had been utterly reticent the entire time, much like he often was when she needed time to simply talk.

"I'm sorry, I've made this all about me. It's not ... I don't mean to. I just ... I don't have anyone else to really talk to. Like this."

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Cameron's response was, per usual, quite direct. "People require you to be an all-knowing God because it is the reality that has been planted into their minds...by you but others too." Managing a warm smile in spite of [member="Amorella Mae"]'s obviously exhausted nature, Cameron provided an addendum. "You can inspire and motivate easy enough as Priestess Mae."

As he watched Amorella carefully for any reaction, Cameron interlocked his hands on top of the table. "As much as leadership does have it's perks, it mostly has it's responsibilities."

 

[Ereza]

The expression on her face softened quite significantly at his reply, "Yes, I suppose I probably could."

And in the end, she might be healthier for it. Perhaps happier, perhaps not. Could she really live with herself by giving up? She hadn't even been at this for a year and already she was considering throwing in the towel. This wasn't like her, and she knew it. Amorella Mae Darke, the daughter of the infamous Lady Silencia, did not just give up on things. If anything she was quite the opposite and, yes, as Cameron had come to find, the apple really did not fall far from the tree.

So why now? She reflected on her situation. Circumstance was against her and the current she swam against was a profoundly strong one. Full of challenges she wasn't yet prepared to face, but how does one really prepare for the endeavor of being "Holy?" There were no books to read or lessons to be had, she'd decided. It was all a test of constitution, of skill, of strategy, subtlety and everything in between. There was no room for error and she certainly couldn't turn back now, not after coming this far.

Amore couldn't handle the disappointment.

"I'm not going to do that," she said, slowly taking a bite of her dinner, "I apologize for even bringing it up. I'd hate for you to think less of me...even if I shouldn't care what you think at all. I do care."

[member="Cameron Centurion"]

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Cameron smiled at [member="Amorella Mae"]'s resolute declaration. "Oh good because I would prefer not to have to vie against the many forces that would undoubtedly fight to keep you cemented in the role." Pausing for a moment, Cameron considered something. "Amorella... You are young. You're very capable, but your youth remains a constant that will not change anytime soon. There is much in this galaxy I'm willing to bet you've yet to fully experience or endure. The trials and tribulations of life are the only things that can truly prepare a person for guiding the lives of others."

While Cameron did not prefer to preach, he was always willing to teach those that were deserving. Amorella was certainly deserving. "You may pretend to be a God, but you cannot lead anyone if you're not respected first. There are plenty that know the truth of Moross...though they may hide their thoughts and actions in dutiful service. In fact, most of them are closer to you in a metaphysical sense than any of the faithful. To lead effectively, you have to care or you have to be a tyrant. The people are what give you power - specifically those that know you are no divine being. I would say that the best result is...a mixture of both. However, I digress..."

Stabbing at a piece of his meal, Cameron made one final comment before shoveling the food into his mouth. "So if no one else, excepting the other Aesirs, you absolutely should care what I think. Yet you need not be concerned. You have my loyalty, respect, and affections. Period." In thought and action, Cameron had only ever belonged to himself. That bubble expanded ever so slightly to encompass Amorella as of late.

 

[Ereza]

She felt chastised, but appreciative. If nothing else, could she blame the man who was several centuries her senior? His words were a cold truth, and as that was all he had ever promised her, there was nothing to fault him for. If any hurt at all grew there, it was of her own doing. Still, it placed the woman in an awkward position. That precarious place between being the friend and being the student.

Sometimes she really wasn't sure which one it was.

Like most things, though, Amorella decided to take it in stride. To accept what was put before her and take the time to understand it. For that is all she had, was time, if her mother's newly discovered longevity was anything to attest to.

The remainder of their meal was of more congenial talk and by the time they were ready to leave she felt the weight of her fatigue settle squarely on her mind and shoulders. It would be good to return to Exocron where the presence and faith of her people could restore her, where the moonlight would grant her renewed vitality. When they arrived home she inhaled deeply and released a breath of relief. It was almost like finding water after a long trek through desert sands. Amore removed the Subtle Cloak, hanging it back in the wardrobe, and returned to the moonlight on the veranda to bask in its energizing rays. Within it she seemed to glow, skin faintly iridescent, hair as though made of fire. It was a trait of all garhoons.

"I do love this place," she broke the silence finally while overlooking the realm of Exocron and it's sleepy capital city below, "it's not quite like home but I would miss it terribly if I left."

[member="Cameron Centurion"]

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Cameron was happy when their dinner conversation turned to less...weighty topics. It was nice every and now and then to temporarily put the weight of any assumed leadership or responsibility on hold...regardless of his more immediate comments to [member="Amorella Mae"].

When they had returned to Exocron, Cameron found himself...less tired than he would have imagined. Stepping from the vessel, the Sith Lord remained on the balcony. Walking to the railing, he allowed his silver-green gaze to scan the horizon. It was a pleasant place, really. Funny...he scarcely considered anywhere home these days. There was Corstris...where he'd settled and still maintained a residence. However, Corstris represented Cameron's past, and he was finally allowing himself to...completely move on. Somewhere in the galaxy he had a grown son and daughter, but they were not his concern. Both of their mothers had elected not to inform Cameron of their birth, so he did not bother maintaining any element of paternal relationship.

Once Amorella had returned to his side on the balcony, Cameron turned his gaze in her direction. In the silvery moonlight, his eyes seemed even more mysterious and engaging than normal. A window to the mystery of his soul...a mystery that was about to be explained to Amorella. Reaching a hand to Amorella's cheek, Cameron made a simple comment. "I only find comfort in my location when it is near you." Without allowing the statement much time to marinate, Cameron continued. "I have a gift for you. Relax your mind...and merely allow yourself to receive all that I am about to offer."

As if he would lose his nerve if he waited much longer, Cameron joined his mind with Amorella and took her on a journey through all of his memories. It was like a voyage through his life...from happiness to confusion to pain to anger...to revenge and all that had laid beyond. Very little was left out, and it would take time...he'd lived quite a life. The existence of his only two living children, Caid and Cosette, were among the last memories. Just before his recent memories of Amorella.

Hell. Cameron had even allowed her to see his...interactions with her relative, Quietus. Nothing was held back. She would be the only other person holding a key to the secrets of his life, of who he was.

 

[Ereza]

A look of sincere warmth spread over Amorella's expression at the man's first words. She'd never taken him for anything of the romantic sort, and perhaps that wasn't even his aim, but certainly it came across that way. So slightly taken aback, she wasn't wholly ready for what happened next. Everything occurred in such quick succession - from the touch of his fingers on the skin of her face to the invasion of her mind and the sudden onslaught-

that's the only word she would later use to describe it, an all out mental onslaught of his own memories. As the visions flashed through her subconscious eye Amore grew very tense, pupils narrowing to pinpricks. One hand latched firmly on the veranda railing, the other raised to his extended arm as image after image flooded through shredded mental barriers. She didn't fight it - she didn't know how, those skills were Mastered by her mother and cousin, yet curiously not passed down to herself, leaving her very much victim to the man's power.

War, fire, ash, pain, hatred, cold and merciless torture and murder. Rage - unfettered and uninhibited dark ferocity tore across vast landscapes and peoples, worlds unknown to her had been torn asunder by his fury, the fury of his kindred the Sith. Amore attempted to withdraw from it but found herself frozen in his metaphysical grasp. Blue eyes glazed in growing terror before she forced them shut. Her chest grew tight, heart beginning to race. It was hard to breath.

How many hundreds of thousands had fallen at his might? How many lives, billions of poor, unfortunate souls had he aided in the destruction of? It was fathomless - as though he'd introduced her to a wholly new galactic realm never once known by her. Lifetimes, he'd lived, serving at the side of distant, dark unnamed Gods. He stood beside the greats - her own mother included, and Desdemona was there as well. The face of Crystal Carter appeared numerous times, as well as another woman she'd never seen before. And children. Not just the two he'd spoken of, but others he'd killed in cold blood - their writhing, screaming faces would likely haunt her for years to come. If only she knew now what she would know in the future...

The visions slowed, darkness waning in the source of some brighter light. A newer purpose in the form of ... the Crusade and herself. It was something like a sunrise over a barren, holocaust scene, smoldering in the faint early rays. When finally she was released from the grips of his sorcery Amore tore herself bodily away, stumbling, choking, gasping for breath. She made it through the entryway, knocking over a lamp in the process, and collapsed finally against a wall. In her chest she felt her heart seizing with terror, her lungs burned as though filled with fire. She couldn't breath and she was beginning to panic.

This was wrong. It was all wrong and so painfully complicated.

 

[Cameron Centurion]

Silver-green eyes watched [member="Amorella Mae"]'s hurried retreat only briefly. Turning his gaze back to the tranquil Exocron skyline, the Sith Lord did an...unusual thing. A warm, genuine smile adorned Cameron's features. One might wonder what the man had to smile about. Obviously Amorella had been terrified by what she'd seen. Yet...the Sith Lord found purpose in this. He could make vague implications about his past and his nature, but that would forever be a poor substitute for the cold, hard truth.

Still...his smile had nothing to do with that. It had to do with now tragically romanticized so many chose to make the galaxy. The dispassionate serenity Cameron had towards manipulating and taking life was born out of necessity, a lifetime of war and treachery. Darth Ashmedai had not been a man in some time. He was something else, evolved, purely predatory. Despite his love for Amorella...who he was would remain a constant.

A Prince of Darkness.

A King of Demons.

 

[Ereza]

A terrible silence fell upon Inari the Reviver's quarters.

The King of Demons smiling at his success would be interrupted shortly by a very sudden jolt of Force energy. A flare of light fell across his dark face, the air sizzled with hyper-galactic power, and then it was still again. Silence returned.

Lightyears away on the hidden planet Aing-Tii, Amorella Mae appeared in a mirrored surge of energy. There was a flash of light before the shadow of her figure crumpled to the floor in a heap, shuddering from the horrors that would not stop playing within her mind.