Private Botanical Biology (Zambrano et Fam PM for Invite)

[Gunnr Zambrano]

Ahani Najwa-Zambrano nudged a rock at the edge of the pond in one of Malsheem's botanical research domes, which resembled more a pleasure garden than the scientific bastion it was. Children raced at play, lightsabers set to stun as the elder kids took care of the youngling. Guards were absent from this particular place, nothing but a few decraniated servants to tend to the needs of those privileged enough to enter this private bower.

This botanical dome was Gunnr's. Only those of House Zambrano granted access by the Seneschal of Malsheem were capable of walking through the bio-lock at all. A retreat in the inner sanctum of the most guarded bastion in the Galaxy. The Echani Empress-Consort smirked, although their husband was much less of a hovering bird when it came to Gunnr now than in their earlier days, the evidence of his dotage remained. None got to her without layers of security. Those who did receive such access were stringently watched, even though the Empress-Consort and Seneschal was beyond capable of battling for herself. Yet, the more Ahani looked at her sister-wife, the more she felt confident the capacity to fight was not enough to dictate letting a wounded soldier go back to war. Gunnr was in possession of the ferocious love of her family, and much needed rest. Yet.. wasn't it time to give her the smallest of pushes?

Sprawled out on a cushion made for her Epicanthix size, the ginger-haired beauty rearranged the fabric of her yellow dress with a winsome hand. Ahani could feel the relaxation of the bubbling spring beside Gunnr, the soft echo of music from minstrels further off behind unseeing reverberant walls.

"You know, there is a universe out there to see." The Echani toed the rock into the pond, watched how the ripples mottled Stardust Solus Skirae 's reflection in its crystalline clarity.

"And a world of tasks to continue running Malsheem." Gunnr's eyes remained shut to the balmy sun lamp which approximated a star high above them, the soft illumination globes brightening what was a cold and unconscionably vicious world-forge in this warm space. "How could I leave Malsheem when there is such volume of work for the Ruling Council to conduct? Later, when the work progresses."

"Uh-huh? And when that work is done, what of the next set? And the next?" Ahani flicked her fingers and telekinetically sent a pebble at Skorvek , nodded down at Gunnr and back at him, as if the Anubian might better fathom how to wrest the woman from her fanatical devotion to remain on Malsheem. Beyond Skorvek's back, Ahani watched Raya Najwa Zambrano turn illusory balloon animals to life, for the younger kids to hack away. At least the children seemed to be needing nothing from them. But where were the others?

"Wonder where Pom got to…"

"Zeza! Ooooo Zezemagurl... wait, I forgot hold on a second, I'll remember..." Raya waved toward Zeptepi Zambrano , stopped mid-thought, and the balloon animals grew teeth. The white current illusions immediately began chasing the younglings, snarling and gnashing their teeth.

"Oh frick... Raya, hey!" Magnus Cadera leapt in front of his youngest siblings, their shrieks an echo muted only by the bubbling water of the pond, as the little ones chopped uselessly at the illusions, which grew larger with every strike. "Raya! Oy!"

"I swear I was saying something..."

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

How far had the dragon come, yet so many decades had past and she was looking forward to centuries under many moons and suns across the galaxy. Many battlefields that would feel her scorching flames and foes to be felled by her blades, yet for the moment she was here in the gardens on malsheem the home of a enemy shes been at odds for decades and yet...now stardust was unsure who was foe who was friends the lines to her were blurred to her eyes. Eyes narrowed as she stared down at her form in the unmoving water before her, the green skin reflecting brightly, eyes alight with fire, unarmored. Ripples broke the image and brought stardust out of her mind to look up to ahani, her master, the one guiding her on the steps in the life of something more. Someone stardust had grown to care for dearly, looking back down at the water she inhaled and let it out calmly as she moved from where she was to be beside ahani and took a seat looking over the gardens before she spoke

life is fragile, even for those where time is but a ocean we can swin through, getting out there wouldn't be a bad thing every so often sister. I hear naboo is rather decent around this time, hell even imahalyan looks great the fields should be growing perfectly

 

[Pom Stych Tivé]

the M I S T R E S S
M A L C O N T E N T​

F O C U S @ Youse Zoombini Guyes​

Time, the single worst aspect of raising botanical potion ingredients. There is no substitute for natural organic samples. Let the scientists create their synthetic replicas, and rush through their potion fusion for quick results, but sacrificing longevity of shelf-life. Pomstychtivé would have none of that new age foolishness. She stuck her nose in the air and refused to teach anyone guilty of such ritualistic apostasy. Anathema, she would scorn!

She is ever diligent, getting her timing just right. Some potions had to be put on the back burner to time one most tedious just right. She long sat upon the dirt, inspecting and tending to her precious horticultural abomination, which only behaves with indifference when offered O Negative Blood Type. She disregarded the mental state of her living sacrifice. What a baby! It's not like she starves him to death! She has to take care of him too, so that he nourishes her plant correctly! And his blood type is very rare. He won't be fully consumed until the plant matures.

Aside from being well fed, shouldn't he be happy for the time he does have left? Such things perplexed the Nightsister.

She had to break the rule of no outsiders permitted within this beautiful domain. So to lessen the severity of her disregard, when the Nightsister finished feeding her rare species of carnivorous plant, she waved a hand across the face of her meal provider as she slung a truncate around his battered arm. A spell she sang as she did so, for the benefit of the plant and not so much for the sacrificial meal. He slumped over unconscious. The Nightsister levitated his body into the air and hovered him at her shoulder height over towards the exit where he would be carted off to his cell by members of the Wanica. She walked with him floating just behind her out in the open, stepping carefully so that she would not trample anything important to any other laboring cultivator.

She observed those who had gathered here at the time when usually no one witnesses her actions. As her specimen grows, so shall her visits become more and more frequent. Her sacrifice shall soon require more attentive care. Pom thought about this as she walked, not really paying attention to the antics of younglings or groupings of other elders around her.

Everything must be timed just right.
​

 

[Skorvek]

He was experimenting if you would, a colorful mixture of a dark purple and green energies before he was disturbed by Ahani Najwa-Zambrano 's pebble throw ...which was her subtle way of getting his attention about Gunnr Zambrano wanting to work all the time here ...which reminded him of Yasha and how she was working herself to death all the time. He sighed and stood up and walked over to her for a moment before sitting down and speaking too her.


Malsheem will be here...as will its duties, however one musn't spend their full effort overworking themselves here, I nearly made that mistake with Erebos before venturing outward exploring and being with others of the family itself. Besides you can give whatever work you wish off to someone else whose just as qualified if need be. Stardust and Ahani are correct you can say after the current load but then another will come..and another and another till your swarmed with it and have no relaxation

He wasn't the best at pep talking but was the best he could conjure up as he watched the others move around and play in their own way...was a interesting family he has found himself in...but was worth the effort including the interesting nightsister experimenting tot he side that caught his eye for a moment.

Zeptepi Zambrano Stardust Solus Skirae

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Your body is on the verge of cascading catastrophic failure. Calmness and serenity will keep the symptoms at bay for the time being, anger and hate will only accelerate them."

There were few times in His life where He had been told that calm would extend His life beyond what was realistically possible, most of those times it came from Jedi. But now those same words were more frequently heard from the mouth of His own physician, the inscrutable Doctor Vain. The beak-masked woman continued to examine the Dark Lord's naked body, a small hovering droid following her and documenting everything she thought noteworthy.

Darth Carnifex, scourge of the galaxy and tyrant of the Sith, was dying.

In truth, He had been dying for a long, long time. The rituals and experiments He had performed on His own body had taken their toll, His spirit was beginning to fracture under the strain of so much dark energy. In His frenzied haste to discover a means to extend His life and escape the grim clutches of death, He had only damaged His spirit and hastened the onset of cellular degradation and spiritual atrophy. Now, He was threatening to become a prisoner in His own body; blind, deaf, and mute.

"I will take your precautions under consideration, Doctor."

Doctor Vain huffed in annoyance, "You must listen to me, my Lord. We have not yet discovered the means of reversing your condition, you risk destroying yourself." Few could speak with such candor to the Dark Lord of the Sith and not suffer a harsh reprimand, one of them was Doctor Vain. The Dark Lord appreciated her blunt and honest nature. Even so, He still fixed Doctor Vain with a steely gaze that silenced all opposition and caused Vain to throw up her hands in exacerbation.

"Fine, fine. I will transfer your medical reports to your personal server, so you can look at them for yourself." The droid near Vain beeped several times before floating over to a wall-scomp and plugging in. The Dark Lord slipped off of the examination table and began to dress, finishing by the time the droid had finished its uplink. Before leaving the Doctor's quarters, the Dark Lord paused for a moment to say, "Thank you, Doctor," and then He left. He did not see Doctor Vain's reaction.

Often the Dark Lord would travel under the watchful care of His Crownguard, but today He wanted to be alone. He rode the lift to the botanical dome in contemplation and silence, flexing the muscles of His right hand as He fought an unbidden tremor that caused it to shake. If He concentrated hard enough, He could quell the spasms and keep His hand from shaking. By the time the lift reached the botanical gardens, He had silenced all tremors in His body and emerged the image of strength and stability.

But even as He walked through the gardens, He could tell that things were not as they once were. His vision blurred at the edges, color having fled His sight a long time ago. Sounds were muffled, as though cloth had been pushed into His ear. He lived a cursed existence, a half-life, and He was running out of time to find a way to avert the torment that He was destined to suffer if these symptoms overwhelmed Him.

Yet, as He emerged into view He displayed none of these symptoms, His exterior an uncrackable facade that revealed nothing of His troubles. He walked over to where His wife, Gunnr, and extended a hand for her. "Beloved Seneschal, I do believe they are right."

Gunnr Zambrano | Ahani Najwa-Zambrano | Skorvek | Pom Stych Tivé
Stardust Solus Skirae ​

 

[Gunnr Zambrano]

"I suppose you're right, brother. Sister. If even you say it's time I took a break, now with Koe away from those ridiculous offenders I can potentially step away. But only a day or three. And I intend to be kept in the loop… but who to proxy my position on the Ruling Council? Brother, would you be my second for a span of days? Eh?" Gunnr grinned with a mischievous glint to her emerald eyes, and with a light, playful kick to his shin, she laughed. Such a strange and unfamiliar sound, but welcome. Ahani snorted with a shake of her head and winked at Stardust Solus Skirae , maybe she marched Skorvek into that one. Out of her periphery she saw Pom Stych Tivé conducting some macabre business, the laughter turned to a snort and Gunnr shook out her ginger hair. The Dathomiri was always rife with the best potions, and Gunnr was glad to be able to conduct her botanical research with Pom's discerning eye.

Children shrieked, an equal measure of terror and glee as the illusions shifted. The bio-lock shunted artificial atmosphere as it opened. The perilous Darth Carnifex walked alone into his bride's inner bower. Retreat, darlings, Gunnr's intentions splayed to her family, a call for respite in the horrific vectors of their dutiful lives. Panathan fauna of diminutive size chirruped and chased colourful avians, trees stretched to massive proportion shaded the rich growing medium of the botanical beds, shallow roots betrayed only by the architect's plans. Climbing vines, some which twitched and shifted as if they could move on their own, presented blossoms toward the artificial light. Avian-appearing droids fluttered between flowers to taste their nectar and spread pollen in a precise research-pattern nature often denied.

A breath of calm in the monumental tomb of the Dark. It was to this calm the Dark Lord entered, to this bastion of life within the durasteel shell of death's companions.

"My Lord?" Gunnr took his hand in hers, a tension present unwarranted with the ease of his surroundings. It was small tells, minuscule and pedantic which Gunnr found the meaning behind her beloved's silent and brooding nature. Often his compassion, a rarity to all but closest members of his family and even then in short supply, was as lost upon his face as a Jedi in his temple. Aggressively dismissed, unless you knew which trap door to open and peek inside. "Were you not the man, who taught me a ruler's duty is perpetually to their people? I do seem to recall. You should have been there, when he proposed, my siblings. I believe I was climbing a tree after a lily flower... but... sorry, for a moment I was about to ask the preposterous question why I was in armour. Hah! Obviously not, the moment must've felt like it weighed so much."

Lifted, Gunnr drifted into Darth Carnifex chest. Slid her hand along his pectoral, scooped behind his neck to pull him into her gravity. Taste a soft kiss from his lips. So newly home, how was the meeting with Dr. Vain? It would be difficult indeed for even the Dark Lord to hide an event from the Seneschal on their Malsheem. Yet, Gunnr knew the rigours of his imprisonment would take time to expunge, time they possessed. Eons of it, futures upon futures until the course of mortal lives was as sand in their fingers. Yet, he was outwardly worn from his imprisonment, time to recuperate a rarity with the dangers on Panatha.

"Koe… Are you suggesting we both… take a break? You and I, step away from the duties of our stations and rest?" Precisely what was done to her beloved, how many lives deigned touch him that he offered respite's advice? How many people did she have to kill for the harm done to her beloved? "Koemi…?"

"Where'd the colours go?" Raya shivered, the illusions chasing the children ceased as the colours of the flora began to seemingly fade, the biodome slowly darken. The Echani-Epicant girl rubbed her hands across her arms, a wobble to the right hand.

Spasms, which caught her breath.

"Oh fiddlesabers, what's Raya doing now?" Taiya harrumphed, shutting the pink-bright beam of her lightsaber off and slipping the device onto her dress's belt loop.

Girak-Kaine winced first. "Raya?"

"Wh-where'd the… where'd the colours go? There were colours, we… we were around colours and… where are they!?" An unlikely scream echoed across the biodome, crackles of red energy emanated from Raya's right hand, bathed the space then pittered out in limp death. She stumbled backward, shook out her hand. "Maggi… the colours are gone. The colours, Maggi, they're…"

"It's alright! We're here, I'm here. Hey! Heyy." Magnus wrapped his half-sister in an embrace, "Hey! Raya, you took the colours. You're turning everything greyscale, you can reverse it. Come on, you're freaking our siblings out."

Wide silver eyes scanned the biodome, Raya's body dwarfed by her gigantic younger half-brother. She wheezed out a breath, where was it? Where was the sensation… her eyes settled on a lily, which turned as grey as an old holo while her illusion desaturated the inner sanctum. "No… I didn't take them."

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Once where the Dark Lord would have allowed His barriers to slip as His lips became intertwined with Gunnr's, the resolute wall remained. His body was hard to the touch, tense like a tightly coiled spring. There was something in His eyes, cold like chips of ice. He broke the kiss as Raya, the most sensitively attuned of all His children, became to speak frantically as the colorscape of the arboretum bled away into indistinct grays and whites.

He looked at Raya's siblings and half-siblings, speaking with the authoritative voice that cut through all noise like a knife through butter. "Tend to her, calm her down. It will pass in time." Then, to His wife Gunnr, He extended a hand so that she could take it. "Come with me, there are things I must discuss with you in private." Occasionally He would've used that line to get Him and Gunnr alone for private activities, but there was nothing in His voice that carried that same connotation this time.

When she took His hand, He led her away to a secluded section of the garden where they would not be overheard. Upon reaching seclusion, He'd relinquish hold of her hand as He contemplated how best to approach what He had to tell her. Raya's reaction still weighed heavily on His mind, and He was worried that her sudden outburst might have alerted the others that something was wrong. The episode had only taken hold after He had entered the garden, if one were to connect the dots then word might spread.

He trusted Gunnr with His life, she was His everything. He knew that it was right to tell her the truth, a truth He had kept concealed from her for as long as He thought necessary.

But no more.

He turned to face Gunnr, His eyes looking into her own as she searched His face for meaning and received nothing. Long had His face been implacable stone, nothing discernible except cool hard stoicism. But Gunnr had been able to glimpse beyond that stone facade, she could see where others could not. Only she had been privy to the man behind the mask, the true heart of Kaine Zambrano laid bare only for her. But this time, not even she could anticipate the words that He said to her.

"I am dying."

Gunnr Zambrano | Ahani Najwa-Zambrano | Skorvek
Pom Stych Tivé | Stardust Solus Skirae ​

 

[Pom Stych Tivé]

Tag: Gunnr Zambrano | Ahani Najwa-Zambrano | Skorvek | Darth Carnifex | Stardust Solus Skirae ​

The most minuscule of witches rounded the edges of the biodome not far from the crowd of playing children. Pomstychtivé floated her immobile sacrifice high in the air above the lot of children, his trajectory continuing towards the exit where the Wanica awaited to return him to his prison cell. Soon her victim was out of sight.

Enter one Carnifex, then at first the witch thought it just playful cries of imagination. Within a moment the Nightsister realized the truth of the matter. Raya is having a most boisterous panic attack for whatever reason.

The energies of the room quickly turned sour. Pom felt as if an energy vacuum had opened up, suffocating and dizzying. At the center of it all…Carnifex? Regardless the reason, it is not her business unless he so chooses to inform her. He can handle anything.

The others perhaps not so. Her steps sure and precise as she glided into the midst of the children, Pom offered her assistance to those less experienced. "Raya, darling child. Perhaps your sugar is low. Look here." Pom waved a hand before the eyes of the young, her magick spell emitting from her fingertips as she did so. The Nightsister reached into her drawstring purse and produced a handful of candy. "Have some candy, love. Look at how colorful it is. It will help you to feel better; I promise." And colorful it is as it should be!

Pom saw Carnifex walk off once again, and she thrust her hand under the noses of the children. "See, Darlings?"


What is not to trust from the Nightsisters among family and friends?

​

_____________

_____________​

​

​

 

[Skorvek]

Well somethings never change...including her mischief, Luring him into speaking so that he can take some of the load off her and add onto himself, However even if he said yes or not he would need her husbands permission most of all, He felt that all too familiar presence enter the room and looked and speak of the devil and he shall indeed appear, Though he was surprised that Carnifex was in agreement with the plan. He merely did a small bow before noticing the color leaving the room and Raya panicking, He knew nothing about her sadly and allowed her siblings to handle her.

Then I shall do what I can

He observed the others as they do their duties as he sat for a moment thinking about a few things as well as continuing his experiments with various force technique mixes and the like


Zeptepi Zambrano Darth Carnifex Gunnr Zambrano Stardust Solus Skirae Ahani Najwa-Zambrano

 

[Stardust Solus Skirae]

there wouldn't be a issue of keeping you in the loop, though expect eh interference to leave you with plenty of time while comms get back up...assuming the lord approves of my...help

She gave a glance to ahani, both knew that would be quite a issue given stars history with the dark lord, yet even so as the dalr lord began to enter her attention was drawn to him, gone the glaring looks were that she usually held she was relaxed by her siblings and lover which she slightly moved closer to when he came over. Looking back to the waters she kept aware and when she heard carnifex agree she replies

yes see even here agrees with what the feth

Stardust got a surprised look and sat up as she blinked looking to skorvek and then to ahani which she pointed at

did he...agree with me...ahani please tell me Rayas little illusion isnt affecting my mind

This caught stardust more off guard then the colors fading away, which with a glance a certain rival/friend was taking care of. Chuckling she shook her head and made a note to personally record that carnifex agreed with her

 

[Gunnr Zambrano]

The detachment in Darth Carnifex kiss, ended by the sounds of his child was indication not all went well with Doctor Vain. Gunnr's datapad was a word away, but the Seneschal knew better than reaching without privacy.

"Koemi? What is it, love?" Gunnr laughed with a shake of her red hair, glancing back to Skorvek and Stardust Solus Skirae . "I believe my husband has ideas on our retreat. Pardon me… and prepare to handle your fates! I think all are astonishment! Perhaps a friendly celebration among family?"

Yet the tension in Carnifex unsettled the air, unwound Raya and tamed conversation. Robotic and mechanical, he loitered in a silent zone of the biodome, built to provide privacy to their more intimate rendezvous. She lingered with him, for once incapable of seeing his inner intentions… how hard was he clenching his fist?

"I am dying."

"We can prepare another clone…" Air hissed out of Gunnr's lungs, willed to reinflate with a shudder. The hardness in him was expected before others, but with her? Even she could not chisel the frigidity of his guard. If he did release the tension in his body, would Koemi react as mortal men did and wail or scream or sob? She'd never seen such emotion in him, but for the visions of his childhood. Gunnr knew his infinite rage and equally infinite passions with a fervour denied all other lovers. No, as she watched the statuesque face in its' dour express, Gunnr knew no transfer of essence would save him. The disease he spoke about in whispers, when their love was young was a self-inflicted disease of the soul. Repercussions of his thwarting death a multitude of times.

"Show me." Hand pressed to his heart, Gunnr channeled the energies of her aura around him, inspected where before she left well enough alone. He might not have shared previously but now? "Koemi, I need to know. How long? Show me!"

Anger at this illness was a gift the Epicanthix woman could give him, raw power to absorb and transmute. 'Use my rage, my love' she seemed to say, in their silent way.

"Show me, love." A softer plea, one wealthy with a safety Gunnr could give him, the protection of a Queen. The stoic Dark Lord encountered weakness without guard, a weakness which slid into his deep black blood.

A galaxy full of outright enemies and opportunistic former allies would undoubtedly descend upon Malsheem the moment word broke of her beloved Koemi's illness. Kaine Zambrano was vulnerable in a way he'd never been. Gunnr remembered through the act of breathing that life functioned as it must and she a Master of it, could intervene. The protected would become the shield. Gunnr was ready. It was her turn to encircle Koemi in such love and preservation that his illness could be explored and staved off until the proper cure was awarded them.

"We will keep this to us and Braxus. Tell only those among the family who could be trusted implicitly. To all others, you and I are taking a much awaited retreat from public life to reconnect after your imprisonment. Given our propensities, others will believe it. The less others know the safer we can keep you." She pressed her lips to his, swept her arms around him to hold the Dark Lord upright under her power, and comforted. "You will not taste death's black waters while I and Uncle Darth Prazutis breathe. Hold to me, my love."

 

[Darth Prazutis]

"Soul magic is complex. Far more than mere sith magic the kissai could muster. The manipulation of a soul is a delicate affair especially one as intricate as the situation yours is in. We knew there would be risks associated with the division. But there is a solution out there and we will find it Kaine. Until then this information goes no further. Your decline is dangerous, volatile even and this information needs to be tightly controlled." - Prazutis proclamation following their discovery of Kaines decline.

Presently....

In the grim darkness of the depths of the colossal worldcraft of Malsheem the world itself seemed on edge. It was in the aftermath of a horrific slaughter of countless captives. A mass execution hidden within the superstructure of thousands within a carefully designed crossfire. Harvester cannons barrels glowed with heat the air growing misty with superheated vapors. The gross penetrating power of these guns were far more than what anyone would ever need and the damage on an organic body was horrific. The center of the immense room whose purpose had been converted into a sharnel house was filled with bodies that had been entirely torn apart in the storm, blown into pieces. Their soulless husks seemed to wither fairly quickly and the dark side permeated everything like a dense fog, the reaping of fresh souls left a blight that lingered. Blackblade Guard stood in carefully placed positions on the perimeter the panels of light seemed to reflect off their polished black gammaplast armor making these silent giants appear like menacing statues.

High above the room sat a wall of black reflective glass standing out from the ash color of the walls denoting an observation room. Inside such a structure it was shadowy a series of computer panels were manned by technicians clothed in the uniform and bearing the bladed sigil of the guard. But it was the titanic figure in the middle that dominated the entire room. A billowing cloak of black fur draped down from the immense mantle of a colossal suit of armor that easily dwarfed everyone else in the chamber. The intricate etchings on each pauldron of the plate done by the delicate hand of a master soulstones glowed causing the eyes of Solomon to blaze brightly on the powered armor. It broke the delicate silence with the passive noises of its internal mechanics. The iron cased gauntlets looked like sharp talons at the ends and they pulled together into immense balled fists and flexed outwards, the influx of residual force energies pulled into them in an endless regenerative font. The giants face wasnt concealed by any mask or helm and instead the interlaced suits HUD was seemingly shimmering over his eyes like some sort of visor. The doors of the observation room pulled open and the Dark Lord of the Sith didnt even react to the heavy footfalls of eight armored figures.

Each wore a suit similar to the guardsmen down below, but these ones were utterly unique designs with distinctions and denotations clearly signifying a far superior rank, each denoting a different facet of the grander Blackblade Guard and the lead figure among them different still. In the lead was Highlord Osbasid the supreme commander of the Blackblade Guard and behind him were seven generals who ruled over the whole of their organizations might. Each one were legends of the guard and the best among their veteran might. They all swept in without a word and dropped to their knees in submission before their dark master. The room darkened with the mood of the Lord of Lies who bid them to stand with a mere pull of his talons. All other personnel stood from their stations and left the room seemingly without a word and as the doors silently shut behind them the Dark Lord began to speak.

"The situation has become untenable." A shimmering glow over his molten eyes reflected slightly off the glass as he scanned the newest copies of Kaines latest medical evaluation. The reapings had helped slow and mend the progress but gradually his health declined and the less effective they had become. It was requiring a gradual escalation in truth that was far more than what he expected. It was progressing fast. But until a solution was to be found this was their only option. "Our current rate of operation is not enough to sustain our progress. This is why I have summoned you all here. Until further notice I am activating the guard. Full mobilization. Internal operations will continue here I will be ordering the creation of clone stock to reap for a steady stream while operations are conducted. Further assets will be activated and provided as needed." There was a thundering of fists slamming against plating in confirmation of his orders.

A Short Time Later...

The doors of the botanical gardens slid open and without a word the Dark Lord swept into the chamber unhindered by the Crownguard who afforded their supreme master every respect he deserved. Eyes swept across the gathering of close family friends and family. A stoic expression fixed on his face as he moved deeper into the chamber. Perhaps appearing a bit out of place with the armored visage of a towering reaper in such a place of tranquility.

Darth Carnifex | Stardust Solus Skirae | Skorvek | Pom Stych Tivé | Ahani Najwa-Zambrano | Gunnr Zambrano ​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

There were few who He could lower His guard around, all others the shield of His stoicism rose high and mighty.

Chief among them was Braxus Zambrano, His Great-Uncle, who had been a loyal and stalwart companion, teacher, and co-ruler since those heady days of youth. There was nothing that Kaine knew that Braxus did not, for secrets were freely shared between them. Their covenant, one strengthened by blood, was among the strongest in the galaxy.

Gunnr, only by the circumstances of her relatively brief time spent with Kaine, was second among these scant trusted. His most beloved of wives, one who He had doggedly pursued in both life, death, and dream. She who was made to be perfectly compatible, His most ferocious and tenacious of warrior queens, whose trust and loyalty was immutable.

The Dark Lord held Gunnr's hands as she grappled with the dire truth. Her beloved, her King, was dying. No transfer of spirit could save Him from the fate He had unwittingly thrust upon Himself in His insatiable pursuit of immortality. He had ignored the warnings that were placed before Him, disregarded the council of His trusted ally Taeli Raaf , and plunged headfirst into the abyss without the requisite knowledge. So thus He was doomed to suffer an ignoble end, to become a prisoner trapped within His own body for all eternity.

"Such is the fate of a soul thus divided," spoke Carnifex softly as He allowed His hand to spasm and shake so that Gunnr could witness just how far the affliction went. The consequences of His soul's division into Carnifex and Demiurge had not been readily apparent when it had occurred, both sides had believed that their once collective power had been pooled into two beings rather than the one. But something had happened to Carnifex, something within Him had broken. Nothing could repair it, the sacrifice of souls could only mitigate it. But the affliction progressed, and His circumstances were becoming rapidly untenable.

More was required.

"I had sought to keep my condition from adding to the burden of your mind, but that can no longer be maintained. That is why I have encouraged those calling for your sabbatical. There will come a time, very near upon us now, where I will require you to be by my side for long stretches of immobility. The children must be present as well." The children that Carnifex spoke of were the children of Gunnr and Ahani, children in possession of very special gifts. He brought her close to Him and accepted her love, their lips intermingling in the quiet solace of their brief isolation.

He then pulled away and looked up, back to where the others remained congregated. "Braxus has come, he will no doubt want to speak with us."

Gunnr Zambrano | Darth Prazutis | Ahani Najwa-Zambrano
Skorvek | Pom Stych Tivé | Stardust Solus Skirae ​

 

[Ahani Najwa-Zambrano]

"Wait…. did… did Darth Carnifex agree with us… and tell his… to… that worked??" I hesitate to move in this parallel universe we've all created. Stagger a bit into Stardust Solus Skirae 's side. Colours drain from the approximate sky and plants of Gunnr's garden, Raya's panic unsettling the atomic particles around us, as if my daughter could infect reality with the fictions in her mind. Red sparks fly from her right hand, she shakes it and my eyebrow rises. What new game or augury is this? "I don't know, Starspark… I don't… know… hold me."

Then, Kaine speaks of settling the girl. My eyes narrow, hands still in the pockets of my loose linen trousers. Pom goes to comfort the spastic empath, a rarity in my bloodline so strong it can at times approximate some form of mentalism connecting to Epicanthix minds. Or so I wonder, at times like these. So like Manu at times, this child. As if I'm cursed to bear a Light I'll never feel course in my veins.

"It's the… it's the colours, the colours! The colours are gone!" Raya shut her eyes and shrieked, right hand clenching and unclenching, fingers contorting as she shakes away from Magnus' grasp. She stumbles on greying grass, head a fervent shake. "No! No, you're not listening!"

"Have some candy, Raya. It'll pass." Girak-Kaine slid near to Pom Stych Tivé while giving the misandrist Nightsister a respectful distance between them. Floating a piece of candy up to Raya's eyes, Girak-Kaine found a dour smile. "Try it."

"Ooo! Candy!" Taiya's hand immediately dove to grab a piece of bright teal candy and pop it in her mouth, before her brothers could potentially caution her. What would Taiya have to worry for? She was a clever young girl with a calling from the Force, not some stinky, clumsy boy. "Mmmmm tastes like purple."

The candy slid into Raya's mouth, and she chewed on it with a sniffle. "It's not me. I didn't take the colours."

I feel beyond the bubble of life we're in, a great death upon Malsheem, radiating through the corridors as an invisible smoke. Maybe that's the stimulus which set Raya off. For a moment, I wonder if Skorvek or Stardust or Pom sense it too, yet the first I recognize is Girak-Kaine's quiet. While death is an ever present risk for prisoners on Malsheem, there's a shift to the place.

"Seriously, did my husband agree to let Skorvek… pppfffftttttttttttt your face!" I can't help the snicker which turns to a laugh as I watch Skorvek and his ears flicker with the news. Gunnr dubbed him Regent!? And Kaine went with it!? "Haaaaaaahaaaahahahah Oh I love having been crazy enough in the past not to get saddled with these things. Bahaha, sucks to be… wait…"

Enter Braxus Zambrano, Mighty Darth Prazutis himself. I can't help the way my mouth opens, the towering Epicanthix an utter paragon in the Dark and as viciously covered in the roil of Death it's as potent as his cloak's fur is warm. The man walks as ever with a purpose. "Braxus! Glad you joined us, come settle a conundrum. Kaine agreed to he and Gunnr taking time off from their official duties… is this some form of jest, or has our dear Kaine smitten himself with our Epicanthix enchantress so virilely… well, okay maybe we're all astonishment."

The spiritual stench off the man! Not his normal eau de parfum, but far be the Echani Matron who can't stare into the Lord of Lies and divine at least the potential for a grand machination. What in the living Force is going on?

Darth Carnifex Gunnr Zambrano

 

[Gunnr Zambrano]

"Fate this may be, but I do not claim it. A solution will present, perhaps Ahani… she's lived a thousand years without such penalty to her immortality. I… oh Koe. Is that why you kept this from me?" The cursed spasm shook through her hand, an arrow of proof her beloved was for once vulnerable. A portion of his devotion to her comforts, Kaine hid his truth, a sting which would not soon be defeated in his bride. "I'd smack you if it were not dishonourable to slap the infirm. Yes, maintaining our home, ensuring your and Braxus' orders are followed is a hefty burden, but I am your bride. There is infinite space for you in this thick skull of mine. You have my aide from this second."

Gunnr attempted a smile with her ribbing, one of the only beings capable of such a jest without losing their hand. The smile faded for her openly worried eyes. Her hand not holding his spasming digits drifted up to stroke his cheek, fingers brushed through his raven hair to keep it away from his olive complexion. "Do you remember that plot, when we were cast into the ruins of Dromund Kaas? You and I, back to back clawing at the Ymir. We fought with a viciousness possessed of the gods, and when I was a hallucinating mess, who tended me? You held me in the pitch, curled me into your cloak and kept me warm by the fire as I shook. Unwilling to dive into the nexus. Such a fool I was… I learned in the aftermath to trust you with every atom. As you were for me, I shall be for you. I will not abandon you to this… fate."

This kiss, unlike the litany of others they shared, held with it a vulnerability Gunnr wondered if she'd ever see again. She drifted into him, her body nestled to uphold his, to become a pillar for the man. "Girak-Kaine and Magnus are strong and gifted, pi sezi. They will gladly aide in alleviating their father's burden, if any can focus Raya, it's our twins. You will have my every nanosecond from this moment until we discover the cure."

Raya's outburst slunk into Gunnr's mind, yes the girl would be useful, but moreso Gunnr needed to control where Raya went. However innocent, the girl's honest hallucinations held a thermal detonator to any sense of secrecy. At mention of Braxus, Gunnr squeezed Darth Carnifex shaking hand and stayed at a less intimate distance from her groom our of deference to her Great-Uncle via marriage.

"Braxus." The syllables echoed from Gunnr's vocal chords in a tight alto, guiding him to the sequestered spot where she held the revelatory shake of her husband's hand. While the bond between Kaine and Braxus could make an insecure lover fear their place, the only fear Gunnr knew in the entirety of her warrior-soul was the sight of Darth Prazutis unhinged amidst a roar. No force of arms or principality or power could shift the mind-changed woman to terror, but for the heady devotion the Lord of Lies paid to his eldritch sway.

There was reverence in the echo of his name, a respect for the Diyad who was at times her beloved's only trusted companion. For such loyalty, Gunnr knew only worship. Confident there were no secrets between the men, Gunnr continued to wrap her fingers around her Koemi's seizing hand and provide her stubborn strength upon which her husband could draw. She would not hide her knowing, not when Darth Prazutis knew since the first twinge to their loved one's condition. "I will tend him. Slow the process of this… degradation. I and the children combined, we can buy time. None will question a sequestered holiday, I will decree ORDER release information we wish to reunite after his imprisonment. We're… generally eager enough for that to be believed without a second thought. This should keep any who might concern themselves with his isolation at bay. Again buying time and preserving Koe's dignity.

If a soul divided has such a fate, souls will combine to save him… please tell me you have an idea."

 

[Pom Stych Tivé]

​

The child is most certainly correct in her alarming perception. The Nightsister suffered physical degeneration to her brain matter, during her steadfast dedication to proper cauldron brewing. Potion fumes of volatile substances lifelong bored deep into her skin cells, leading to unseen internal scarring. She couldn't see the colors anyway. The degree of emotion emanating from the children would not be remedied by simply casting them aside.

Experience made Pom aware that Raya Najwa Zambrano must not be provoked to panic. The child's innate skills are yet not fully explored. The taffy passed to the children is only a minuscule portion of what the Nightsisters fed to keep subversive prisoners under control during their transport through the halls of Malsheem, a mild sedative and mood stabilizer.

She watched intently as the deceptive drug was accepted and consumed, when suddenly her own equilibrium became nauseously challenging. Pom experienced vertigo as the room was suddenly perceived as to fold into a slant. She struggled to steady her own form by reaching out to grasp ahold of the elbow of the young Magnus Cadera .

Two dark souls torn from the same essence collide together as one, as Darth Prazutis presented before them to meet Darth Carnifex . The Nightsister's onset of instability led to three individual plumes of black smoke to trail hurriedly through the air towards the group of children, following his entrance. Three blackened souls suddenly solidified into flesh and bone at Pom's side, familiar faces upon Malsheem of the Wanica Coven, each departed Matriarchs of her own ancestry. They immediately took hold of their High Priestess and supported her staggering weight. Pom turned her head to look on towards the Dyad and perceived Dark Forces suddenly cast out of control and suffering turmoil.

She would never interrupt the communion of their Dark Lord and his companion Gunnr Zambrano without direct invite. Focused with intent to comprehend, deep concern brewed within her core as she witnessed the scene unfold.
​

_____________

_____________​

​

​