Private A Secret Meeting

[Avarice]

A summons had been sent, encoded with care. Its destination was that of the private frequencies of Darth Carnifex , Dark Lord of the Sith. No name was signed to the notice. Only a set of coordinates attached to a single short message written in High Sith:

"You're the only one who can teach me what I need to know. And I'm not afraid of the cost."

The coordinates led to a buried temple, long forgotten by Jedi and Sith alike with its stone throat swallowed by centuries of ash and root.
Far beneath the surface of Ossus, where sunlight dared not reach and the air tasted of dust and memory, a figure waited.

Avarice stood cloaked in shadow, hands folded behind his back. He wore no saber at his hip nor any other weapon upon his person.

He did not know if the Dark Lord would come.
But if he did... Would Carnifex laugh? Or would he listen? Or maybe he would strike him down.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The message had been received in cold silence. No attempt to respond or trace the message had been attempted. That in itself spawned forth a litany of possibilities, the endless diverging paths of potentialities that yawned forth from every decision made, riddled with consequences unbidden and unseen. It would begin with a tremor in the Force, a deep rumbling shudder that undulated within the currents that connected all things; life and death, peace and violence, the very balance of all creation.

His shadow crossed the chamber, long and writhing with a will all it's own. He made no sound as He passed the threshold. Darkness coiled and curled about Him like a funerary shroud, billowing out in the wake of His powerful, purposeful stride. His feet brought Him to the center of the chamber, light bending and distorting in His presence.

"The cost may be more than you are prepared to pay," intoned the velvety rumble of His voice, each syllable a stroke of thunder. "For I exact a heavy toll, the price for power unbridled is steep. Are you prepared to sacrifice all that you were?" He did not speak facing the shrouded boy, nor did He even deign to look at him; but His voice found him all the same. His words crawled into the ear, taking root in the mind, overbearing with intensity and authority.

"Are you prepared to do the unthinkable?"

Avarice ​

 

[Avarice]

Darth Carnifex

Avarice stood still within the shadows as he listened to the booming voice. The small figure draped in dark robes didn't even flinch upon hearing the dark lord's thundering voice. All the slight figure did was incline his head slowly, as if trying to hear him better. A soft mirthful breath escaped his lips as crimson red eyes fell to the floor. "I would not have summoned you if I came seeking anything less than the best there is."

The Dark Lord had come to him....That alone was telling to the small creature whom had the audacity to speak to the Butcher King in such a haughty manner. It didn't end there as he got straight to business.

"You came to me, Darth Carnifex. That means you heard my call, and you acknowledged it. Part of you was.... curious. I wouldn't have sent such a summons if I thought anyone else could manage the task."

He let the silence stretch between them in the antechamber for a brief moment as a soft breath was drawn before he turned languidly on his heel to look upon the Dark Lord's distorted visage in the darkness. Avarice took a step forward fearlessly approaching the towering image of the man, his gaze fixed unflinchingly where the Dark Lord loomed.

"So let's not pretend either of us are here for mercy, and spare me the theatrics, Lord Carnifex. If you're going to test me, do it properly, or not at all."

There was no saber at his side, nor any weapon in his hands, but something in his posture that suggested danger, despite being of much smaller stature than the giant of a man that stood before him.

"Power is what I came for. Reverence is not part of that price."

He turned his hands outward briefly, fingers splayed in an offering, or perhaps a challenge. "I came for power, not your twisted ideals of salvation. The kind power only you can offer." Then, with a crooked smile beneath that mask and a voice sharpened to a blade's edge he added, almost playfully so.

"And if you're half as powerful as they say, this shouldn't take long." Avarice's red gaze met the darkness full-on. "I offer you my attention. Don't waste it... now then... Name your price."