Private Between Two Worlds

[Mia Monroe]

Sourceless screams, and shouts of pain bounced off the walls, as Mia fought every fibre of her being, every instinct and muscle that screamed at her to end him for his insolence, for daring to speak to her in such a manner, to insult her, to compare her to Him. Whispers grew angry, swirling around them both.

Dar'jetii

Hut'uun
​

Kyr'amur kaysh!
​

She watched the tears carve tracks down his face as he called her butcher, as he told her he cared for her...as he told her she was like him.

Kyr'amur kaysh!

Kyr'amur kaysh!​

Kyr'amur kaysh!
​

"No."

The spirits fell silent, they calls for her to kill Malum fading into nothing. The silence that replaced them pressed in from all sides, as her own tears beagn to fall.

"For a hundred years, we have been at war. I am tired, Malum. I do not want to be here, but I will not leave my people unprotected. So yes, if eradicating the sith is the only path, that is the path I will take, and my only sorrow would be that you would stand among them." She reached a hand to wipe away his tears, still holding his chin, though her grip had softened. "But it is not the only path, ad'ika. You are the one who will decide our fate. Will the sith continue to hound us after Carnifex dies? Do we have a place in the future that you see? Or is it possible, that Jasper and I can finally rest without being hauled back to protect our people?"

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

The single word, not even directed at him, held the power of a hurricane, he felt his eyes widen as the tears still fell, almost pushing his form back, yet still with her vice grip upon his chin, he was more liable to have his jaw dislocated than free from her grip, or free to slam against the durasteel wall behind him.

His breathing was heavy, his eyes still guarded even as they spilt salty traces, the memories of all the voices, so many voices, uncountable, incalculable, all speaking in once, demanding his head upon a pike... now gone... it was a relief, but it was far too soon to say if he was out of this.

Yet, as tear-filled eyes, met tear-filled eyes.

The barest of hope, made his eyes shine further.

Her words... as her iron grip ceased, made him believe.

"They are my people Mia..." He choked back the emotions, as he stared at her, "...As much my people as the M-Mandalorians are your people..." That she would feel sorrow... at his demise... for something that may have any other day been a threat... instead warmed his heart, "A hundred years we have been at war..." That was more than a lifetime for him, nearly quadruple his age, a hundred years, and he would not doubt that these hundred years, more had happened in galactic history than any other time... what did it mean? "...A blink in the eye for you... for your brother... for Kaine... you have been at war your entire lives, and it is our people who will pay the costs, over and over..." He closed his eyes, swallowing, resisting the urge to flinch, as her hands wiped the tears, to think, the one he had read about... he would feel such confusing feelings for, "...I do not blame you... I... do not..." Despite what he said, despite what he felt, she was better than Kaine.

He had aligned with her to kill him after all.

"...But a hundred years, a century, it is not all our history..." He remembered he remembered well, he was raised by the idea of Moridinizid animals, yet there was history before that... "...They say Exar Kun aligned with the M-Mandalorians against the Republic, against the Jedi," His eyes snapped open, hope glimmering again where moisture once held dominion, "My ancestor, Darth Marr, the Mandalorians of his time, they were aligned with the Sith too!" Hope and desperation were sometimes the opposite sides of the same coin, "...Our history shows us war and alliance... complexity so great... but there is a chance for it once again."

He stilled as the last of the words hit him.

Ad'ika?

He did not know Mando'a... but, dat- court- being in a relationship with a Mandalorian... gave him some knowledge.

Pink dusted his cheek.

Even in their current position, embarrassment filled him.

He had called her...

Accidentally...

But she...

Was she mocking him... or...?

Or...?

He banished those thoughts, swallowing his emotions, as the tears dried up, what she said next, filled him with as much confusion, as it did... wonder.

He was the one who would decide their fate?

Did he see a future for the M-Mandalorians?

Why did... his opinions... his thoughts... matter?

"You think... very highly of me, Mia," What could he possibly say? Confused, so... tired, as he was? "...I do not rule over the Sith," A corpse did, and if not a corpse, a butcher, "But if Kaine is dead, yes, I will do all I can, to make certain that the Sith no longer will fight this wasteful war, but... I would need your help, Mia..." His eyes came back to focus, blazing, as a fire burned in his gaze, he needed her to believe this truth...

...He did not wish to fight her.

...He wanted...

He threw the thought away.

Mia Monroe

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mia nodded, releasing his chin.

"Then our help, you will have, Lord Malum of House Marr."

The pledge was layered once more. The darkness that had filled the room receded as she stepped back from him, slumping back into the bench seat, her eyes shifting back to blue, a frown creasing her brow as she looked down at trembling hands as the weight of the spirits fell away from her. Eyes settle back to blue as she looked up at Malum.

"We cannot afford to keep fighting each other, Malum. We have a long fight ahead of us. Not just against Carnifex, but against those who will not align with the future we seek. Both Sith and Mandalorians alike." There would be those in both factions that would refuse to stand with those that they had been fighting for so long, their memories were short. "Are you prepared to do what is necessary?"

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

It was as if the chains were removed, as her hand left his chin, he could finally breathe, properly breathe, her voice, utterly terrifying, utterly... unlike her, yet too, entirely like her. It was as when his voice changed, oh he could never tell when his eyes shifted, she was too crafty to let him know that.

But, she could not do anything, when his voice shifted, when he felt her echo.

When their voices melded into something so unlike him... but so utterly him.

He gulped, watching as bloody orbs turned back to their natural oceanic hue.

Then our help, you will have, Lord Malum of House Marr.

What exactly had he agreed to? What devil had he just made bargain with?

The darkness left the room they occupied, the irony of between a Sith and a M-Mandalorian, that he was not the one that made the darkness not lost upon him. She seemed exhausted, almost falling upon her seat, the table long since destroyed, leaving a large void between them, as they seemingly both needed to recover from what just had happened.

Her words.

In her true voice, thank Bogan.

Washed over him like a great hot, comforting, shower.

"I know..." Did he not know it, they had come to blows, far too many times... but... it was a waste, a waste against each other when their true enemy was still on the horizon, and indeed, as this conversation revealed, their enemy was far greater than simply one man, "...I have a dream, a vision, of the future, one that I wish nothing more to bring about..." A galaxy safe, a galaxy prosperous, a galaxy freed, where... they held the liberty to do as they will, truly willed, he blinked... his eyes closed for longer than strictly necessary as the last of her words fell upon him, "...And what do you believe is necessary?"

Mia Monroe

 

[Mia Monroe]

Dreams and visions where sith were concerned were dangerous, they typically involved bloodshed, oppression and a tyranic rules over all. Yet somehow, with Malum, she was not afraid the same was true about his vision. Ophidia, however, was another question. Only time would reveal that her desires, and her promise would hold.

If Malum lost control, she would kill him.

"We must be ruthless, Malum. When the time comes to unite our people, there will be those among your kind who will not stand for it, who will rise against the idea. They will need to be eradicated. Same as among my people. There is no room for mercy."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

Her words shocked him, as much as they impressed him. He swallowed his thoughts, his emotions, and feelings, he had been speaking for so long, he was getting parched, unfortunately, the caff he might have drank to relieve such a state, however... well, the caff was spilt all over the ground, along with the splinters that were the remnants of the table which they had once sat at.

Her words...

On one hand, they were entirely expected.

On the other hand, they were entirely surprising.

"And you... would be willing to eradicate those of your people who do not understand?" He gulped, these were dangerous waters, yet she was the one who had opened Abeloth's box, and despite what the galaxy would claim of Sith atrocity, if there was one other group so hated throughout galactic history, it would be the M-Mandalorians.

It took two to fight for a century.

And there was much hatred that flowed between both.

Cancers that needed to be dug out.

Mia Monroe

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mia gave a sad smile. Did she want to kill those of her people who stood in the way of a better future when their numbers were so depleted? Absolutely not, but mandalorians resolved there issues through conflict. They would fall in line, or challenges would be issued. She would be labelled among them again as something terrible, but that wasn't exactly new to her.

"Killing my own kin is not a new concept to me or any mandalorian. We've been fighting each other for longer than we have been fighting the Sith. For the sake of a peaceful future, I am willing. Are you?"

She watched him carefully. She already knew he had kill Ophidia, she suspected that had a lot to do with saving his own skin and securing his future if the tales of the civil war in the order were correct, but this was different.

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

Was he willing to do the same as she was? It would be easy enough to say yes, words were wind as they said, and who could even be certain that Mia was being entirely truthful, words were... wind.

But the words did not come out easily, for staring into those oceanic orbs, he could not detect any sign of deceit, any sign of lie, now it was entirely possible she, who had lived for so long, who had ruled a people as boisterous and chaotic as the M-Mandalorians, knew exactly how to form the perfect facial mask, knew exactly how to tell deception, be dishonest.

Yet...

Would she lie about this?

Would she risk the son of the Snake, being unable to tell?

Would she risk the Snake being unable to tell?

Assuming she told the truth then... what would his answer be? And why did he wait? He had killed Sith before, in the Kainite Civil War and the Ouroboros Crisis alike, he had killed Darth Ophidia for Bogan's sake. He knew how deeply the cancer had spread in his order, but... knowing it rationally, did not provide solution, nor relief. When he considered what problems lay at the heart of the Order, his mind found itself gazing into the eyes of two men.

Kaine.

Empyrean.

One was far worse than the other, yet both were entirely problematic.

It would be struggle enough to rid them both from the galaxy, but to think simply slaying them both would fix the Empire? It was fallacy.

No man, no matter how powerful, no matter how supreme, no matter how absolute...

...Ruled alone.

Their subordinates, loyal, capable, they would need to be removed.

And then all those under them.

And under them.

How many would he need to murder?

How many of his would die for this ambition?

He did not know... but it did not dissuade him.

He could convince many, he could... the Order could be shown to see the right path, his path. That they no longer had to be the monsters of the galaxy, to be monstrous, that they no longer had to be terrors, to be terrorising, they were right and thus was all that mattered. To defend his people, to make sure they were safe, to bring their certainty to the entire galaxy, he would do what was needed.

And if some needed to die.

He would pay that price.

Rubies glimmered in the darkness, staring right back into her sapphires, his stance resolute, his throat no longer dry.

For the future, he saw.

For his family.

He saw red eyes.

For all he hurt.

He saw red eyes.

For all he loved.

He saw red eyes.

"I will do it," The words flowed out of his lips, without hesitation or question, "For peace between our people," For his Order, for this Empire, for his people, to turn to their true focus.

To bring about this vision of the future.

Mia Monroe

 

[Mia Monroe]

Sadness weighed heavily on her heart. He was so young...had she been so willing at his age to raise her weapons against her vode? No, she hadn't, she'd been raiding sith tombs for artefacts, utterly unaware of the future that lay before her.

Doubt crept into her mind, was she asking too much of him? Laying such a burden on him was unfair...

He's a sith, Mia, she thought to herself, he was bred for betrayal.

The thought struck a chord in her heart, rising a flicker of fear. He could betray her, there was no guarantee that any of this would come to fruition, but she had to try, she had to take a leap of faith. And if it all came crashing down around them, it didn't matter, she would find another way.

The cycle had to be broken.

"For peace between our people." She nodded, offering him a reassuring smile. " You should go, Malum, you've been here long enough, and I have been away long enough that questions will start to be asked if i don't check in soon."

Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Darth Malum of House Marr]

He may have not noticed if he was not staring into those captivating orbs, those that he had seen on pages before ever in reality, which belonged to a figure far greater than he could imagine himself ever to be. Yet, gazing into those orbs, he saw it, and it was a slap to the face, that he felt, even if he did not overtly react to.

A flicker.

Something so easily missed.

But he knew he had seen it.

It laid heavy on his chest, stabbed through his heart, it tingled on his fingers, as it dried his throat.

It was an emotion he was used to, but not an emotion that in this moment, he had wanted to see on her face. Happiness, joy, contentment, anything would have been better than...

Better than...

..Fear.

It was gone as quickly as it had come, but he could not forget what he saw, he could not be made to doubt it as some providence of light when he knew.

He knew.

What it was.

His breathing narrowed, deeper, quicker, of course, she did not trust him, after all, that had happened the past few minutes, how could she possibly trust him?

So why did it sting still?

He reorientated himself, adjusting on the seat, attempting to cover what his body felt, as he knew... knew this was to always be the case. That he could not blame her, when he so wished to... when he did.

So there would always remain distrust between them, they two allies, was that not the way of the Sith? Was that not the way of this galaxy?

The part of him, in his weakness that had called out to her... called her...

His lips parsed as he stood up from the chair, nodding his head in as much respect as he could show, "Yes, I do believe that would be best..." He should have said more, yet... what more was there to say, "I will be off then," He stepped past her, much had been accomplished today, even if he felt so emotionally drained.

It was progress.

And that in itself was a victory, he supposed.

Even as his heart hurt.

Mia Monroe

 

[Mia Monroe]

There was nothing she could say to ease the pain that flicker of fear had caused. It was in her nature to expect the worst especially from a sith, regardless of how she cared for them, she only wished she had been better at hiding it. She rose as he did, her heart heavy, watching him step away.

"K'oyacyi, ad'ika." she said softly, perhaps too softly to hear as he vanished in front of her. Her eyes trailed around the ship, at the mess, decided she would make it someone else's problem and moved to the cockpit to respond to Jhi before she sent out a search party.

Darth Malum of House Marr