Private Built to Break

[Corazona von Ascania]

Calixto Forest, Ukatis

There were days when Cora felt as if she could breathe. Those were the days without Horace.

He wasn't keen on his wife leaving him for days, weeks at a time to trawl the countryside and interact with commoners. Their union was young and had yet to produce an heir. She should've been in the capital, smiling demurely alongside him, half a pace back and to his left.

Their marital problems came to a head while the Prince and Princess were visiting the city of Calixto. A decade ago, it had been little more than a collection of villages. Now, it was a small but bustling urban area famed for its production of top-quality spirits. As such, Calixto and its series of pubs were a popular destination for off-world visitors.

Cora and Horace had fought in the privacy of their accommodations, but the household staff who'd accompanied them would hear their raised voices and the crash of decor that came with each row. When the confrontation had finally died down, she slipped towards the stables at the edge of town while he stomped off to a brothel.

Cobblestone roads quickly turned into dirt paths. Cora pushed the horse faster, speeding beyond the city limits and into the forest that bordered Calixto. It was almost jarring how rapidly the scenery changed, but Ukatis was a largely agrarian world and Cora couldn't see much beyond the tears clouding her vision.

She wasn't sure when they'd stopped, but now she was on her feet, overlooking a ravine, staring into the river that cut a deep path through the rocky landscape. Hands trembling, Cora drew her hood downward, smoothing errant blond strands as she went. Her riding clothes were well-made but simple; not exactly the mark of a royal, but a woman of means.

There was something alluring about the space between her feet and the river below. Entranced, her mind idly tried to estimate the distance and pair that with how freeing it would be to feel the wind rush through her hair as a sense of weightlessness took over.

Even blinking hurt. One of her eyelids was beginning to swell shut, and tender red skin bloomed across the adjacent cheek. Dark marks were already beginning to surface around her neck. Her ribs ached, and it felt as if they were trying to squeeze the air from her lungs. Her hands fidgeted, twirling the voidstone-flecked wedding band on her finger.

Today was one of those days where she suffocated.

Darth Nwul

 

[Darth Nwul]

Let it be known that Wake Nayne was not the kind of person to go looking for trouble. He enjoyed keeping things simple when he could, but he couldn't help himself when he became curious. Ukatis was one of those trips where he just wanted to enjoy the atmosphere while doing a bit of research. The agrarian world was remarkably plain from the first glance, but every world had force traditions, light and dark, it was just about where you looked. So Wake had arrived at the capital shortly before doing a little bit of research in a library and heading off to the forests outside the city. He'd left the twins behind on the ship, he didn't want them digging around in the dirt, they had studying to do.

Wake peered through yet another of the Cairns he'd found in the grassy clearing. He shifted the rocks slowly, frowning at what he saw. It was another dud. A few of them had some neat trinkets and one had a journal that he'd read later, but besides that it was largely inconsequential. If only he could get into the royal libraries or some of those catacombs. He huffed, even if it was just to record the histories of the place it would be nice to have a more cohesive study of the movements of force traditions throughout the galaxy. The inner rim was not easy to access, and his curiosity hopefully wouldn't get him killed.

He was just putting the cairn stones back together when a sound caught his ears. A horse? He frowned and looked up from where he was crouching, getting to his feet and brushing himself off. He was wearing black traveling robes with the red sash he'd come to like recently. The tight wrapping around his waist made him look more like a priest than a force user with the high collar-not that he was complaining, he'd caught himself a few times since the Caldera looking to the Dark Side as something more. He brushed his hand over Derriphan hanging from his waist and gently adjusted his ring.

A few minutes later he found himself near the edge of the ravine peering down into the violent river below. He'd stopped there earlier to appreciate the natural wonder. To see how even nature's slow course could wear down mountains with enough time and patience. It was the mindset of the Rule of Two sith, a quiet build up of strength. He stopped just at the edge of the trees and glanced around. He never bothered hiding his force presence, the spiritual wound leaking the chill of pure darkness out of his abdomen was hard to hide anyway. Why bother?

That was when he spotted the woman standing at the edge, fancy riding clothes, and an air of deep emotion crushed by a forced serenity. It tasted like Jedi training that had been abandoned at some point. Curious. That repression, the building combustion he could feel even from here, it made him ache, it reminded him of how he felt before he woke up. Before he'd killed Master Abaas.

Don't drag that poor girl down with you, Wake. Don't use my memory like that.

Wake snorted and cast the thought aside, Master Abaas' mind having come unbidden to the surface. She was tenacious. He quirked his lip and stepped out to the edge about five meters away from the woman, his hands behind his back and his eyes cast down into the lethal fall, "Nature sure is incredible, isn't it? Give it enough time and it can destroy worlds," He said casually, glancing her way with a smirk on his face, he sniffed and looked back at the ravine with a contemplative stare.

"Tough call, if I were in your shoes I'd pick something a bit less painful," Wake said with a chuckle and looked back at her. "You'd probably be awake for an hour or so afterward. That'd suck."

He straighened up and let out a breath, "How about a distraction instead?"

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

"Nature sure is incredible, isn't it? Give it enough time and it can destroy worlds,"

Cora whirled around on her heel toward the source of the voice. She was too startled to have properly registered what had been said.

The sudden motion brought her other foot closer to the cliff's edge, and she stumbled. A few fragments of rock crumbled beneath her boot, and she scrambled back several awkward paces.

"Tough call, if I were in your shoes I'd pick something a bit less painful,"

"I-I wasn't thinking about that!" She gasped, equal parts offended and embarrassed that this stranger had guessed the darker inklings that simmered in the back of her mind.

The Princess was about to give him an earful regarding sneaking up on people, but something in his appearance gave her pause. He was not from here. Dark clothes, a strange air, and a saber hilt secured at his hip. He was unsettling, but not exactly threatening in this moment.

She couldn't put her finger on why.

Flustered and frustrated, Cora was put on the defensive. Her expression soured, eyes narrowing as a hand reflexively brushed against the left side of her waist for her own weapon—before remembering that Horace had mounted her lightsaber hilt above the fireplace in his quarters.

As a tribute to his wife's accomplishments, he'd said.

"Who are you?" She demanded, very much used to being obeyed. Her face may have been softened by the swelling, but her aristocratic features carried the haughty expression well enough.

Darth Nwul

 

[Darth Nwul]

The only reaction Wake gave to her sudden movement was a faint twitch of his hand as he prepared to use the force to prevent her unintended descent to a deadly end. Fortunately she managed to keep her own balance so he lowered his fingers, keeping them crossed behind his back.

He watched her eyes fall on his lightsaber and he tilted his head a little to try to meet her eyes, pulling her attention away from the weapon. He snickered at the flustered aura she was giving off before bursting into laughter as she demanded his identity.

"Haha! Does that often get you your way?" Wake coughed, waving his hand at her as if begging her to stop. He opened an eye and glanced at her, "Oh man, you look so regal your highness," He guffawed, slapping his knee and wiping a tear from his eye, "Wow. Okay, okay, phew, that was funny," He cleared his throat and stood up straight.

He swept into a bow, "Wake Nayne, at your service, I sensed you nearby and felt those complicated emotions of yours. You've had quite a difficult time, haven't you?" He straightened again and smiled at her, his emerald green eyes gleaming, "Some have called me a therapist of sorts, I consider myself to be more like a minister. Perhaps this is the force at work? Might I be of service?"

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

He was laughing. At her. Boisterously.

Cora's face flamed with anger and embarrassment, rosy cheeks puffing out aggressively.

"I-I demand that you cease you behavior at once!" It was not an ask, but an order. Fists clenched, she stamped her foot petulantly in the dirt. Cora's time with the Jedi had stemmed much of her arrogant behavior, but in situations like this, it came roaring back. It didn't help that for the past few months, she'd struggled with losing control over her own life while simultaneously growing accustomed to having her whims tended to by servants.

A few beats passed as the stranger's laughter died down, and the Princess realized how childish she was being in the moment.

"…Cora." She offered her own name, shrinking back a little out of bashfulness. It was only polite to supply her own brief introduction to his. He'd already clocked her as an aristocrat—wonder why—but perhaps he didn't know that she was a member of the royal family. That was good.

"You felt my what?" Cora's brow crinkled. Her suspicion was clear, but she'd straightened her posture and refined her expression into something more proper and demure. He was a therapist? A minister? What a strange off-worlder this was, and he'd stumbled upon her in a very vulnerable moment. "Are you a Jedi of sorts? One of those Ashlans?"

Though the Ashlan crusade had died down, she'd known them to be more die-hard holy warriors.

He didn't have the same aura, though. Cora's Force sense was strained and blurred, so she couldn't quite pin down what he was.

"You are aware that it is rude to intrude on someone's private feelings, yes? What grants you the right to dosuch a thing?"

Arms crossed over her chest, Cora barely kept her upper lip from curling into a snarl. The firming of her face was telling of her defensive nature.

Darth Nwul

 

[Darth Nwul]

Wake's expression grew more and more amused the more petulant she became. Stomping her feet, protesting in the form of an order. Her emotions fluttering all over the place like a confused pre-teen. It was like her maturity had been impacted somehow. He snickered out another laugh as she realized her mistake apparently, shrinking back and showing a level of bashfulness. He rested his hands in front of him, just over his abdomen in a meditative posture and canted his head to the right when she began to question him.

He looked down at himself, jet black cassock and robes. Red sash around his waist. His hood was back of course, revealing (according to a few who despised him) his frustratingly pretty face. He cracked a grin at her and raised an eyebrow; "Let's be honest, do I look like a Jedi or Ashlan to you, miss Cora?"

Her accusation came next, he took a feigned step back and brough his hand to his heart as if he were offended before lowering it and gracing her with his best sardonic smile; "Give me a break, you weren't hiding your feelings as much as you think you were, miss. Frankly you were broadcasting your misery so hard I picked up on it from a few hundred meters away. You were so pathetic I couldn't not not look into it," He said with a wave of his hand as if it were all her fault.

"It was distracting, do you know how hard it is to find those damn cairns on this planet?" He shot back, "And then I get here and I get a proper taste and it's like boiled meat with salt, bland, restrained, the flavor of Jedi repression mixed with misery and incomplete training, if I had to hazard a guess just from how your aura feels," He grunted giving her a disgusted look while his posture dared her to retaliate, to emote, to express, to do something other than stomp around like a child and repress herself. This was how he tested the waters, to see how bad her condition was.

He didn't say it aloud, but he felt the words twisting in his gut. What gave him the right? Any time he sensed someone who had been crushed and broken down by the Jedi and then left to rot when they couldn't stay on, he would save them from the sea of nightmares. All sapient beings deserved to feel, to experience, and to express. He straighened himself up after browbeating her like a disappointed parent would to an uppity child and sighed.

"Now would you like to start again? I was offering you a distraction."

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Wake did not back down. Cora refused to shrink back and further and cower under his smarmy words—instead, she lifted her chin and met him head on.

"No, you do not."

He wouldn't miss the way she tilted her gaze up and down over his dark robes and adjoining red sash. Her eyes lingered on his lightsaber for a moment more, unfolding her arms and clasping her hands together in more stately gesture.

"You look like someone who should not be in Alliance space, as it happens."

A very small part of her relished the challenge. No one on Ukatis spoke to her that way—she was a Princess, and royalty was to be respected.

…

Her husband did, though. In private when they no longer wore their proper, pleasant facades they projected to the public. Behind closed doors he'd brutalized her with both words and fists.

A sudden comparison was drawn between Horace and Wake. They both spoke in a belittling way, and her confidence faltered upon that realization.

Distracting. You were a nuisance. Pathetic and bland. Is that true? Is he right?

He even looked somewhat like Horace. Different builds, but they both had light skin and dark hair. Perhaps this would have been easier if this stranger had simply been angry with her, instead of mocking.

A surge of ire rolled from her presence, pulsing in the Force. As quickly as it came, it receded, locked back into her heart. Cora turned her head to the side sharply.

"What is this distraction?"

Darth Nwul

 

[Darth Nwul]

Wake stood very still his eyes locked on her face as she examined him, he grinned widely as the realization struck her and her demeanor cooled a bit. He wondered what she was feeling there, while she tried to mask her emotions. Was that relish at a challenge or perhaps a middling self delusion? Where did her feelings and thoughts begin and the distortions implanted by others end? There wasn't any real way to tell with people like her, but he could smell the abuse in the air.

He wrinkled his nose, toxic.

His expression grew a bit lighter as she wrestled with his belittling words, his hostility to her demands. He tilted his head left and right as if listening to a jolly tune, utterly disinterested in her feelings in that moment. Wrestle with them, feel something, and- oh dear. She crushed her emotions again, he felt the bubbling plume start to surface only to recede back into her heart. He fell still the moment it happened, not caring if she noticed that his reactions were to the movements of her feelings rather than her words.

Feelings were far more honest than thoughts and words.

He raised his eyebrows when she finally asked him the question and he strode forward, stopping right in front of her. He stared into her face for a few seconds before breaking into a wild, wide, and almost childish smile. "Let's go exploring!" He laughed, "So serious!"

He took a step back and extended a hand to her, giving a clearly mocking bow but there was a sparkle in his eyes when he did it. All in good fun, a jest, a joke, for a laugh, "Dear miss, would you permit me to tour you around your own world? Show you a few things you may have missed in those high towers?" That last sentence was a hidden blade, based on her reaction he could divulge a bit more about her identity and perhaps get some more details on her mental state.

Whether or not she took his hand, he would turn around and start walking, "I brough picnic supplies with me as well, my daughters are always a bit overzealous in how much they give, I'm not that heavy!" He griped, waving his hands in a goofy manner, "I could show you the cairns, no, wait, oh there was that cavern I found a day ago. Beautiful. Nature is an incredible thing, we really should stop and appreciate it more!" He enthused, leading her away from the crevasse.

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

All of a sudden, he was in her face. Cora's breath hitched in her throat and she leaned away with a grimace, unused to having her personal space breached. This fellow seemed to care little for the decorum governing the very world that he was on.

E-exploring?

This man was insane. She wouldn't say it, but it was written into her expression. Wide eyes narrowed and barely parted lips pursed as if she'd tasted something sour. There was absolutely something wrong here, but it was different. Intriguing, if a surprising departure from her daily life.

When he extended a hand to her, Cora considered for a moment, then shook her head. No one would come looking for her until after dark, and Horace would be furious to learn that she'd been alone, in the middle of the woods, with a strange man. Taking his hand would've been a nail in a proverbial coffin.

She should have backed away and disappeared into the woods, but there was an underlaying fear of Wake that simmered in the back of her mind. Still, parts of her were so exhausted and addled that she could not bring herself to care completely.

"Very well." She agreed, following carefully in step behind Wake with hands clasped behind her back. She was curious about what he could show her of her own home that she'd hadn't already seen.

"You are a father?" Taken aback, she blinked in surprise. He looked as though he couldn't be more than a handful of years older than herself, but who knew when it came to Force users. "They must be quite young."

As he rattled off the natural features of the land, Cora cocked a brow. "I'd prefer not to enter a cave. I greatly dislike enclosed spaces, you see."

A lie, spoken with the perfect grace of a well-trained noblewoman. Cora was not claustrophobic, but wary of being in such an environment with…him.

"The carins, you said?" She paused to think, canting her head to the side. "Is that what you came here for, Wake? To study the land?"

Darth Nwul

 

[Darth Nwul]

He hummed cheerily to himself as he walked ahead of her while one eye opened slowly and glanced to his left, a smug smile forming on his face as she eventually decided to follow. He grinned a toothy grin when she first spoke and kept moving until she gasped at his statement concerning his daughters. "Adoptive father, mind you, I'm not that old and I'm afraid my various trysts usually end in some jedi or another tracking me to the planet and chasing me away from my most recent beloved," He sighed dramatically, placing the back of his palm to his head.

"Or it was just a one night stand, eh, who keeps track these days?" He grunted and kept walking. "Anyway yeah, they're both in their mid teens. I spoil them rotten though and they return the favor with treating their beloved father generously. Though I wish Darya would be a bit more serious about her training, such a worrywart," He griped, scratching his head.

He kept walking ahead of her, flapping his arms around like a wild bird and talking until she countered his suggestion of entering the cave. He stopped and glanced back at her, "You'll change your mind," He predicted with a tap to his own nose and a wink.

He slowed to a stop next to an old looking tree and grinned, "You could say that! All force traditions have long webs of history spread across the galaxy. Dark and light. A world like this actually has a deep and rich culture that I found fascinating after one of my trails led here. So I did a little digging and discovered that there had been not one but seven prominent Utakis sith who studied the dark in ages past though their legacies are long since lost. The jedi destroying much of their libraries," He frowned, "The jedi destroying knowledge, who would have thought."

That last line was a bit cold, but he recovered quickly, "So yes! I came here to study this world and learn its history. Appreciate it's nature and study the environment. That's when I discovered these," He gestured to an ancient moss covered pile of stones sitting at the base of the tree. It had to be hundreds if not over a thousand years old given the weathering, but somehow it stayed standing. He crouched next to it and glanced up at her, "Say hello to your forgotten heritage, miss Cora," He pat it gently.

"This is a reliquary cairn, used to store memoirs, knowledge, history, trinkets, and even serve as burial sites for the ancient sith that lived on this world. Their way of leaving behind a legacy," He stroked the moss. "Let's crack it open!"

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Trysts? One-night stands?

Cora's face flushed beet red. Such impure behavior was beyond her—she was, after all, a Lady. And Ladies did not condone improper relations. Even if she'd ventured into that territory herself at one point, but that was in the past.

He sounded like a good father, at least. A father managing two teenage girls he couldn't have been more than a decade older by. That still made her head spin.

"I do hope that you keep your…flings away from your daughters. Teenage girls can be sensitive about that sort of thing." Her chiding was almost half-hearted, but at least Cora was in a similar age demographic as his adoptive children.

She should've run. Should've alerted the Alliance. But there was value to be had in knowledge—specifically the histories of her world, no matter how dark and unpleasant they may be. Ukatis was no stranger to bloodshed, struck by a violent civil war a decade and a half ago that resulted in the death of the previous king; a staunch isolationist who kept his people hungry. Things were better now with Cholmondeley on the throne, and Ukatis opened itself up to trade and foreign visitors.

But there was a darkness lingering on the planet, something that was gradually turning fertile lands barren and causing normally docile creatures of the forest to become violent. If she was to guide Ukatis to a better future, Cora needed to know everything. The good and the bad.

"You keep taking about the force." She stated plainly. "So that must mean…that you know that I'm…" Her hands made a vague gesture that didn't really help.

Footfalls against dirt and foliage came to a stop as Wake lead her to a pile of stones covered in moss. The ravages of time had take their toll, but the stones seemed to be stacked in a secured manner. Purposefully.

Cautious, Cora peered closer. "Seven Sith? Are you sure?" She frowned. That didn't feel good. "Ukatis has kept to itself for a long while, so that must have been very far in the past. Until recently, the only Force users here have been court seers—but their training isn't as vigorous or thorough." She bit the inside of her cheek. "Or so I've been told."

"C-crack it open? Wait!" Clearly unnerved, she planted her feet firmly on the ground and held a hand out, fingers splayed. "How do you know that cracking it open won't unleash something terrible? Like an evil Sith spirit, or a plague, or, or-"

Darth Nwul

 

[Darth Nwul]

Wake ignored her comment about keeping his love life away from his daughters. Of course he did! What kind of parent does that kind of thing? To be fair a bit of trauma never hurt any Sith, but it had to be managed and balanced. More importantly, disrupting the trust between him and the twins was far more problematic. He'd never intentionally hamper that. Faith was, by far, the most powerful emotion that he'd found in his study of the Dark Side. A deeper form of love that could be twisted into something both positive and negative. Faith was incomprehensibly powerful.

So he fostered it like a gardener and it had begun to pay itself back. Religion was more effective than he could have possibly imagined. What made it all the better, he believed every word he said. He had faith in his own beliefs and that gave them substance.

He flicked his eyes up at her, kneeling next to the stones, when she reacted to his commentary on the Force. His lips thinned into a playful and fox-like smile. "An ex-jedi? I had an inkling but thank you for confirming it for me miss Cora," He teased with a sneer and a wink. Chuckling lightly to himself. "And to clear the air, I am Sith, let's not mince those facts."

He glanced back at the stones with delight, "Quite so! Four of them referred to themselves as lords, Darth Margrave, Darth Jubilex, Darth Keffin, and the quite amusingly named Darth Utakis. Of them he's actually the most fascinating. Imagine abandoning your identity so completely to become a Sith that lived for your homeworld. What dedication. I did manage to track down Utakis' real name, Lord Crenical von Ascania. One hell of a mouthful," He rambled on, a true academic.

He nodded again, "Yes! Darth Utakis for example is from a noble house anchored on this world, he was the head of that family during the pre-clone wars era. I'd say about... four hundred before yavin?" He counted on his fingers, "Yes, four hundred," He nodded sagely as he watched her facial expressions, his lip twitching at her slip about court seers. Was she a higher level of nobility than he had suspected? Cora... cora... where did he know that name from?

He offered to open the cairn and she blurted for him to wait, he stopped and eyed her with impish amusement, listening to her reasoning. "I don't think you have that to worry about, particularly with this one," He winked. He could have pointed out that as far as he was aware, the most 'terrible' thing on this planet right now was himself. He'd eaten sith spirits and specters before, consumed their memories and devoured their very essences. He gripped the stone on top, "Afraid of the unknown are we?" He challenged.

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

The flush on Cora's face deepened when she'd confirmed Wake's suspicion on her own. An ex-Jedi. She didn't want to leave the Order, but Horace had been insistent. She still felt glints of shame every time she caught sight of her lightsaber hilt, mounted above the fireplace of her husband's suite like a trophy.

She'd been brutalized, shamed and humiliated since her wedding night—it made fraternization with Sith pale in comparison. At least in the moment.

Her attention was drawn back towards the pile of stones, and somehow they seemed more…arcane that before. An hour ago, she would've passed them by without a second glance. Maybe she did.

Crenical von Ascania.

Blue eyes flared wide. Cora's throat tightened, and her breathing paced quicker. She played the name over in her head. Had she heard him wrong?

Crenical von Ascania. Crenical von Ascania. Crenical von Ascania.

The name wasn't recognizable, not as Cora fervently dug through the massive family pedigree in her mind. When she realized that Wake was watching her, her head shook lightly as if to remove the thoughts entirely.

She tisked to his wink, gaze firming at the sight of him poised to open the carin that allegedly held all sorts of secrets.

"I don't think that it is unwise to be wary of ancient Sith stores of Force-knows-what, no." She bit back.

"Fine. Open it if you must." She acquiesced with a flourish of her wrist. A forbidden curiosity lingered at the back of her mind, eager to be sated.

Darth Nwul

 

[Darth Nwul]

Wake watched her face carefully, she still hadn't picked up that he was paying more attention to her emotions than her facial expressions. The flavor of her aura, the impressions within the force, the rises and falls of her energy, the way her presence impacted the force itself. His lip twitched with amusement, so she knew the name. Was it a family name? That put her pretty high up on the totem pole. It was possible that she was just the maidservant of such an esteemed family, though. But that reaction was visceral, intimate.

So he'd give it stronger odds that she was from the von Ascania family, while slightly decreased odds that she was a noble in the service of that family. Either way he was closer to her identity. He would cut through the fog eventually, time would tell. What was more amusing was her attempts to be both serene and self-assured at the same time. Like a princess out of a holovid who hadn't been tempered by the trauma of the story that followed their first appearance. There was a lingering arrogance there.

He broke into a wide smile at her assent, "Good choice," He hissed.

A crackle of electricity erupted from his fingertips as he clutched the top stone, force lightning ripping down from his hand and into the ground, crushing the seal that held it in place. He pulled his hand away and tossed the stone aside, eagerly watching the wind-polished stones fell to the ground. The earth shuddered for a moment as something long and cylindrical appeared in the earth. He blinked, surprised, that was an unexpected development.

Wake's eyebrows rose, "A lightsaber," He breathed and reached for it.

A spark of darkness snapped out at him, and a cold voice ripped through the air.

"You are seen, wise Sith, but you are not right for this weapon," The imperious voice declared, its voice shaking the air. "I cannot pass my family's heirloom to you, even in your purity."

Wake bore his teeth, now that was a challenge if he'd ever heard one, "Oho? And to whom am I speaking, ancient one?" Wake asked.

"I am Utakis, Lord of the Sith, King of this world and embodiment of it's culture. I who surrendered even my family name for the sake of my people, that blade belongs solely to my blood. You may seek out my knowledge elsewhere, but you shall not have that blade!" The voice boomed, the presence shoving back at Wake. To the sith priest's surprise, he felt himself rebuffed, taking a few steps back as amusement and wide eyed curiosity blossomed on his face.

"Incredible! Hahaha! Will the wonders of the force ever cease!" Wake blurted delightedly, swept up in the moment, so swept up that he was dumbfounded when the presence spoke again.

"The other one, however..."

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora winced as lightning rippled from Wake's fingers, trawling down the piles of stones and seeping into the ground. She winced harder when an ornate lightsaber hilt surface, and harder still when a deep voice emanated around them. Reeling back, one hand stretched outward to steady her retreat.

Similar to the dark nexus she and Valery had discovered in the form of a river, Cora felt a pull. Sickening, but alluring all the same. She hadn't felt this way on Exegol, a planet seeped in darkness, nor on Xa Fel or any number of dark worlds she'd traveled under the Jedi.

When the disembodied Sith's presence surged against Wake, Cora found herself reaching out, hand splayed as if to stabilize him if he stumbled. But he didn't fall, and she lowered her arm slightly.

Ukatis, Lord of the Sith? He cast aside his given name in service to our world?

Wake seemed to take the reprimand well, more fascinated than upset.

"The other one, however..."

Cora lapsed into a tense silence, searching for words while still digesting what was happening. Tilting her head, she met Wake's gaze with wide-eyed disbelief before looking back to the lightsaber.

"I…do not want anything that you have to offer." Her voice crackled with uncertainty, but her tone was firm. It was strange, unsettling even, to speak to someone that you couldn't see.

Her head whipped back to the Sith beside her, and she swallowed thickly.

"Can you…make him go away?"

Darth Nwul

 

[Darth Nwul]

Crenical von Ascania, Darth Utakis, or the fragment of him that clung to the lightsaber, seemed to reverberate displeasure at her response. It's aura intensified as she turned to Wake and asked for his aid. He tilted his head and looked at her with a curious expression before looking down at the lightsaber.

"I suppose I could," Wake said with a sigh.

"Blood of my blood, daughter of the Ascania line, inheritor of my will, why do you turn your gaze away from my gift? Have my childrens children fallen so far that they have forgotten the will of Utakis?" The ancient sith demanded, "If you will not take up this cup, then I will find another to inherit my wealth and glory, there are others on this world who share my blood, I sense them-"

He was cut off as a whisp of something white, like mist, hung in the air above the lightsaber. Wake stood there, his hand outstretched and a hungry look in his eye, "The young miss said to be rid of you," Wake sneered, pretending he didn't hear the 'blood of my blood' bit. "So, I'm afraid that's all there is to it old man."

Wake reached down as the pressure in the air built, the sith spirit trying to defend itself only for sparks to erupt on occasion from Wake's fingers, as if something was striking against it and failing to stop his reach. Wake grabbed onto the lightsaber and the white mist began to coalesce around it, a scream wrenched out in the air, and Wake tilted his head back, preparing to devour the essence of the spirit.

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

Cora was as entranced as she was frightened by the way Ukatis' voice reverberated around them. Was this the will of her distant relative, or of the planet itself? Had the two become so intertwined that you couldn't tell where one ended and the other began?

Caught between following this dark thread of her ancestry and straying from the teachings of the Light, Cora hesitated. At times, her will could be stronger than instinct.

Then Crenical von Ascania brought up a bitter point. She was not the only one of his descendants; her father, Marcel, was alive and well. More importantly, there were seven children that came after Cora. Seven younger siblings that she'd fall on a sword—or a crimson blade, as fate would have it—to protect. The thought of this Sith spirit preying on Volkhardt, or Fantine, or even baby Emile sometime in the future was truly sickening.

"W-wait-!" She cried out, lurching forward with a splayed hand. Her expression turned quickly from determination to confused horror, witnessing the pale mist as it curled around Wake's hand and the saber's hilt. The air felt heavy and volatile, and for a moment Cora thought she'd lost her voice.

"Is…is what you're about to do, will it destroy Darth Ukatis and his lightsaber?" She couldn't quite grasp what was happening, but pressed on in the face of uncertainty.

Cora lowered her hand as it clenched into a fist, jaw set as she ground her teeth. The tension made the injuries to her face and neck sting worse.

"I will not let it fall into the wrong hands." Blurting out, she fixated on the struggle of Ukatis as he was nearly devoured. "It would be terrible if he were to exert his influence over someone innocent."

As if she could withstand it.

Cora uncurled her fingers, stretching her hand out towards the cylindrical hilt.

"Give it to me."

Darth Nwul

 

[Darth Nwul]

Wake was about to grab the handle of the blade, he wondered what kind of knowledge he could gain from devouring the ancient Sith Lord. That's when Cora stopped him, calling for him to wait. He clicked his tongue and raised his eyebrows, looking up at her with an 'are you serious' expression. He stood up straight and the white mist faded from his fingertips as she asked her question, "Well, yeah, of course it would," Wake said dismissively.

There was a shudder of revulsion in the air from the presence of the ancient sith. Wake's eyes thinned and his smile became a bit more coy as the sith spirit realized just what kind of entity was standing nearby. Wake's eyes flicked up at Cora when she resolved herself, good, there you go, take a step, take a risk, feel something, come on little ex-jedi.

Wake's smile widened when she consented. "You heard her, Utakis, it'd be terrible if you harmed an innocent soul, thank goodness she's comfortable enough with her own lack-thereof," He twisted the knife and with a flick of his wrist yanked the weapon out of the ground. The sith spirit shuddered in insubordination just once before it wavered, allowing itself to be flung to her hand.

"The blade of Darth Utakis, quite the treasure," Wake said, "Welp, I'm bored of this location, let's go see something pretty!" He quipped, laughing to himself before turning away to walk towards the trees again.

"Blood of my blood..." The voice of the ancient sith, bound to the weapon, called out to Cora, "You made the right decision. Do not let that man out of your sight, I sense your struggles and the horrors you face. He is strange, but he is a sith wiseman. A rarity, an anomaly. As long as you do not anger him, I am convinced he will be useful to you in your plights..." The dark force spirit whispered, its voice coiling out towards her mind, something that not even Wake could hear.

Wake looked back, "You coming?"

Corazona von Ascania

 

[Corazona von Ascania]

The Princess balked at the notion that she lacked an innocent soul, but she couldn't reliably refute that.

Cora almost sighed heavily in relief when Wake tossed the blade to her. Instead, she forced an exhale through her nose; part of her had been worried that Wake would turn on her after being disturbed from his meal.

There was always that chance, and it kept her on her toes. When the voice of Ukatis entered her mind, she stiffened and grimaced. Cora had never been all that comfortable with telepathy, even when it came from someone she knew well. It felt invasive, and she was loathe to speak conversationally with a Sith spirit, even if Ukatis was her ancestor. Palming the blade, she stared down at it with scrutiny.

Enough. You do not know of my plights, so you've no room to speak on them. Cease, before I change my mind and feed you to him!

Still, his words had weight. A Sith wiseman? Was there such a thing?

Wake called out to her, and Cora shook her head as if she'd been slapped before bringing her focus back to her surroundings.

"Yes!" She answered on instinct, a few hurried strides bringing her beside him as she tucked the blade into the waist of her belt.

Wait, what?

Cora shook her head again, pinching her fingers between her brow in thought. Her head was beginning to ache.

"If you're a…Sith, then why are you assisting me? I thought all Sith wanted to kill the Jedi." A point-blank question, naïve though it may be, was a rarity for someone who often spoke around unpleasant topics.

"Or are you trying to corrupt me?"

There was an accusatory edge to her tone, but it lacked sincerity. Cora was tired, her mind scrambled by the fight with her husband and the strange things she'd witnessed today.

Darth Nwul

 

[Darth Nwul]

Wake was already walking at a brisk pace down the path he had chosen. His target was yet another force-related wonder but this one was not made by the hands of the living. It was something far more special and spectacular. He strode over a few ancient pavement stones just as she caught up, humming to himself with a jaunty tune in mind. That was when she asked her question, he paused, raising his eyebrows and turned his head slowly to look at her with a mixed expression of amusement and admiration.

"She finally asked the right question," Wake said with a pleased smile, "I'm afraid the answer is painfully simple though," He said with a sigh and resumed his walking. "I pity the Jedi more than I hate them. They're sad in my eyes, tragic even, I wish I could help all of them," he said thoughtfully, hopping down a few more steps. It was becoming clear now that they were descending and the path was curving in the general direction of the ravine from earlier. At this rate they'd hit the base of the ravine in about a half hour.

He let her think about his words for a moment before he spoke again, hopping over a couple rocks and stopping next to a tree that had blossomed with flowers on it's trunk. He admired it for a heartbeat before glancing her way; "So it really depends on what you define as being corrupted, Miss Cora von Ascaina," He fired off, her ability to take the weapon proof of her heritage. "If you mean by saving you from yourself, then yes. I'm here to corrupt you. If you mean attempt to lure you to the dark side and trick you into madness and wanton violence, then no, not interested," Wake said with a shrug.

He gestured at the flowers, "Beautiful aren't they? They make me happy," He said gently before savoring the feeling and moving back down the path.

His presence is so strange, he is filled with joy and positive emotions, but his aura is blacker than my own. Its frightfully pure. He feels no hatred, and does not hide his emotions at all. Search him, I expect he will not block you. The ancient stih murmured as Wake turned his back.

Corazona von Ascania