Private Dark Matter

[Lina Ovmar]

Lina listened in rapt silence, noting every detail as the passion in his voice grew, the tension that crept into his shoulders, the slight tremble in his fingers as he laid bare His frustration; the endless struggle of being an ant among giants, of never being able to trust or rely on anyone around you. The words struck a chord in her chest as she realised how much he truly embodied the sith code.

Peace is a lie; there is only passion.
Through passion, I gain strength.​

As he shoved the lid off the oubilette, she moved her hands, shifting her gaze to the myriad of needles and tubes, unable to stop the arching of her eyebrows. Her lips parted to release a soft gasp as she ran her hand along its interior, careful not to snag her skin on the needles. It was crude, callous even, to put yourself through so much pain...

Through strength, I gain power.
Through power, I gain victory.​

She let the silence hang after his words, carefully processing his words, letting the fire he had ignited within her settle. Slowly, she lifted her gaze from the ouibilette to look at him, withdrawing her hand from the casket. "I understand," she said quietly, "I know what it is like to stand alone against self-proclaimed gods. To have everyone you placed your faith in...everyone you gave a piece of yourself to...cast you aside." Lina stepped back from the ouibilette, gesturing with one hand, she lifted the lid with ease from the floor, setting it back into place and sealing the chamber from sight as she tried to pick her way through her next words with care.

Through victory, my chains are broken.
The Force shall free me.​

"I understand now why the Wonosans are so dedicated to you. You have a fire of devotion in you that is...difficult to resist." She gave him a half smile,
"The Zambrano line is within my firing line already; adding a few more names to the list will not be so hard."

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

At the silence that followed His outburst He let out a heavy breath and pressed a hand against His mask much like one would do to their forehead in exasperation. "Forgive me, my emotional state has been unstable as of late and I find this topic distressing." Darth Strosius stepped away from the Oubliette and took a moment to roll His shoulders and properly recompose Himself, silently cursing His own weakness for ranting and exposing such a thing to Lady Ovmar of all people.

By the time she spoke He had turned back to face her, letting out a small hum of agreement at her apparent sympathies with His sentiment. "It is a bitter thing, is it not?" Betrayal was second nature to the Sith. A truth that He had been forced to realize time and time again. No doubt one in the business of intrigue such as she was quite familiar with such affairs as well, even without accounting for her...interesting taste in partners. He was still waiting on a thanks for giving her an out to her marriage at that reception.

"The Order of Wonosa is dedicated because they see that I am one of the very few willing to do what must be done." He glanced back at the Oubliette, the internals now hidden by the lid once more but no doubt still present within His mind. He was intimately familiar with it after all. "Even if they do not know the full extent of my own dedication and measures. They see that I will stab at the corroded heart of the galaxy and they yearn to do the same, if only our fellow Sith were motivated by morals and prosperity as they are."

The masked man waved off the offer of aid as He turned back towards the workstation that He had been shepherding Lady Ovmar towards earlier. "I can handle the corpse. The Zambranos are the greatest threats, focus on them. Raaf and the rest will die in time, as they should. Until then, let us return to the question of your disunited being shall we?" He strode over to the station and brushed some spare implements aside, plucking a makeshift amulet of dark stone and woven Zeyd-cloth that was clearly still being finished as it were. The runes inscribed on its surface were already fully completed however, with the stone itself bearing a dark crimson sheen when properly looked at.

"I heard of this sort of amulet from one of the ancient texts I recovered from Krayiss II, a Healing Accerant the records called it. Supposedly it eases the mind and mends the body, I thought it might aid in at least keeping the soul secured as well." He turned back to His guest and offered it. "Mind the edges, I haven't filed them down yet."

Lina Ovmar

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Lina tilted her head as he dismissed her offer of assistance. Did he truly think that he could take on the Emperor alone when he had failed so dismally against Malum? She opened her mouth to remind him that his last underestimation of an opponent had given him the wings that he was doing his best to keep retracted, but thought better of it, not wanting to test the limits of his hospitality.

"As you wish," she said with a soft sigh. Her gaze shifted back to the ouibilette, her fingers tracing the runes idly as she lost herself in thought, pondering over the possibilities of dealing with the Zambrano clan. It would need to be widespread, targeting them as a whole rather than simply removing the head of the snake. She looked around as Strosius spoke again, snapping her attention back to the here and now and moving to meet him halfway as he approached with an amulet in hand.

An intrusion of mistrust made her hesitate, though a brief scan of the runes told her that it was exactly what he said it was, and she forced her doubt aside, taking it gently from him. The gentle hum of power from it made her fingers tingle. It was simple, yet beautiful. She ran her thumb over its surface, her face unreadable.

"There is something I don't understand," she began, unable to push back against the wave of insecurity and mistrust battering against her mind. "I stand to gain more from this than you do." She looked up at him, emerald eyes locking with his mask. "You know where your ashes are; you don't need me to retrieve them. Every time we have crossed paths, you have had nothing but contempt for me. Hell, last time I saw you, you stuck a sabre through my stomach. So what has changed? Why are you helping me?"

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

The masked man blinked in surprise at Lady Ovmar's supposed lack of understanding even after examining the amulet, glancing at it and opening His mouth to give another brief explanation of it before she continued and clarified what she meant. He supposed that from her perspective His behavior was a bit peculiar. For her their last interaction must have only been a few days ago, when He was a different man. A whole man. Not like the overgrown being that He was now.

"Death has a certain way of...shifting one's perspective." Darth Strosius began, picking His words carefully as He returned her intense stare from behind His visor. "I spent a good week in a bacta tank on Alvaria after my resurrection. There was nothing to do but think and converse with Malum whenever he saw fit to visit and keep me updated on current events. In that time I came to a realization that my...narrow mindset had blinded me to before. One that upon reflection made more sense than the alternative that I thought of before my demise."

He gestured towards His guest. "You are afraid. You and most others within our Order rightly fear the consequences of crossing the powers-that-be, wary of the threats that they could bring down on your heads. Afraid, even, to the point of doing your best to adhere to wishes and designs of them so that you go unnoticed and unthreatened." He stepped to the side, crossing His arms behind His back as He began to circle the workstation. "Before my death I had no trouble lumping you and everyone else in the categories of cowards and sycophants, which to be fair there was some truth to regarding many of our contemporaries."

Darth Strosius stopped His stride and plucked what seemed to be a chiseling tool from the other side of the station, no doubt the implement that He had been using to work on the amulet beforehand. "In my hatred and desire for revenge I mistook the victimhood of my peers for genuine malice and willing compliance. I have come to understand now that many are not in league with our oppressors, they simply wish to placate them. For better or worse. I believe you are little different, understandably concerned and wary of crossing those who have placed themselves as your betters. It is my duty now not just to avenge the fallen, but to enlighten the living. To tear off the facade of power and invincibility and rid the Sith of this fear."

He paused and nodded back towards the "wings" sprouting from His back. "With you in particular I feel sympathetic for your current predicament. Our previous animosity hasn't left my mind, but now I see the true culprit of your distress and actions lay not in a desire to see me brought low but instead to ensure that you yourself aren't. That, and I would not wish the disconnection of body and soul upon anyone. It isn't a pleasant experience as you know, and I'd like to do my part in helping mend it wherever I can."

Lina Ovmar

 

[Lina Ovmar]

You are afraid.

The words made her bristle, fist closing on the amulet, the sudden wave of anger washed over her, the sharp, unfiled edges of stone slicing skin. Opening her mouth to retort, only to snap it firmly shut. He was not entirely wrong. How many decades had she stayed out of the cloud of the Sith Empire in all its forms? She had told herself then it was because she liked the simpler life, that the political landscape did not interest her, that she could weave her own empire, follow the footsteps of her father and build a business empire.

It had all been a lie. She had wasted time, festered in the illusion of conjugal bliss with a woman who had cast her aside, choosing Sarlow over her when Lina's plan had unravelled in front of her. She had tried to play too many chords, to ensnare too many in a web that was not strong enough to hold them. But she was not afraid. She hadn't been afraid since the Carnifex enslaved her. She had vowed then to kill him, no matter the cost, no matter the sacrifice.

A memory flickered past her eyes, a tiny bundle wrapped in cloth, impossibly small fingers wrapped around one of hers...

The room grew darker as her anger rose like bile in her chest, emerald eyes melting into black orbs. "Spare me your pity." The voice came out as a hiss, with a dozen whispers echoing it from different corners of the room. "All this reflection and yet somehow you still manage to fall short of true understanding." She took a step towards him, leaving her echo behind once more, only this time it did not stay standing; instead, it sank to the floor, bent double, fingers threaded into its hair as its mouth opened in a silent scream.

"Not every battle is fought in the public eye. I am not afraid. I am the dark shadow that they disregard, the divorcee they foolishly underestimate. They think that because they have my daughter, I will behave, but you, like them, have no idea just how much I am willing to sacrifice, what length I will go to to see Kaine fething Zambrano on his knees. I do not need pity."

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

As Lady Ovmar gripped the amulet so fiercely it let out a hum, a pulse within the Force that made the masked man pause and slowly set the chisel back onto the workstation's surface. Before He could comment on it though He sensed her anger uncoiling and felt it wash over Him as she spoke. Darth Strosius inclined His head slightly as she stepped forwards, glancing at the echo left behind with a click of His tongue. Evidently He must have misspoke in quite a dreadful manner indeed.

There was a brief silence after her charged words as Darth Strosius silently debated His options in terms of soothing her apparent distress, finally speaking in a very leveled and careful tone. "Good. The trials ahead will require much sacrifice indeed, and it will be a thankless and pitiless affair all the while." He gestured towards the amulet in her grasp with a slow movement of His gloved hand. "Sacrifice in the form of blood for example. The amulet may not be the most aesthetically finished, but with that it has been bound and empowered. Hopefully it will..."

He nodded back towards the shade with another deliberately cautious movement. "...solidify your connection to your metaphysical half somewhat. Or at least ease you enough to allow for an easier focus on keeping such a connection stable." Darth Strosius gradually resumed His walk around the workstation to stand before it once more without a barrier between them. Perhaps not the wisest of decisions but a step that had to be taken to show His confidence in their discussion.

It wouldn't do to back down on His own ship just because He was concerned about what her detached soul could do to His shattered one. He had a few hypotheses on how such an interaction would go and He didn't like any of them. "From what little I have gleamed on my own condition, there may be some rituals to reattach your soul and body back into one complete whole. I don't quite know how we would go about stabilizing your condition to the point of being able to...control it, but we can see if such rituals could be modified to not be so permanent in their welding."

Lina Ovmar

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Lina didn't move as Strosius approached, glittering black orbs watching his every move, ready to react. There was no attack, no retaliation to her venom, just a calm and collected response etched with caution. Her head tilted, and she followed his gestured nod to look behind her, at the echo displaying the anguish she was hiding behind fury. That was a problem. Lina prided herself on her ability to keep the truth of her feelings from everyone. She wore her own mask, but if she could not control every aspect that was being projected...

She closed her eyes, willing the shade to come to her, to rejoin with her. The amulet in her hand hummed, the soft vibrations alerting her to the sharp sting where it had shredded her palm. The pain gave her added focus until she felt the weight of her emotion rejoin her, settling in the pit of her stomach. She opened her eyes, the darkness melting away from them, green eyes looking at Strosius once more, the echo gone. She opened her mouth, maybe to utter an apology, but changed her mind, shaking her head slightly and sighing.

"It's a start," she said, looking down at the amulet as she slowly unfoled her hand from it, wincing as the jagged edges snagged on the fresh cuts on her palm. Carefully, she picked it up with the other, assessing the damage as she spoke, "We can but try, and if it fails, well..." she trailed off, looking up at him. "Maybe it is for the best. Wondering around the Nether with a disjointed soul is hardly a smart move, but still...it could be useful."

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

As the echo rejoined her form, Darth Strosius glanced away as though to avoid looking at some private matter and idly drummed His fingers against the workstation's surface. He had been fairly self conscious about His own metaphysical ailment so He didn't wish to impose upon her in any such manner. Having that disconnection was undoubtedly uncomfortable enough withour His staring. Thankfully she seemed properly recomposed when He looked back at her, relieved to see the unusual coloring to her eyes having gone.

"I'll take your word for that, I can't imagine having any separation between body and soul in the realm of the dead would be advantageous." Perhaps it was because there functionally was no such separation in His own circumstance anymore, but still. He rather liked being in one piece, it was a comfort that He had taken for granted during His first life as it were. He didn't dare overlook it after His resurrection, not when it was still out of reach for the time being. "I am quite unsure if any means I can offer would be of any use during your Nether excursions at all in truth, such things elude my understanding."

Darth Strosius wasn't certain how or if anything making use of the Force would have complications within a realm so saturated with it, where there was no real barrier between reality and the endless sea of the Force. He gestured towards the amulet and leaned against the workstation, brushing aside some of His other projects in the motion. None of them were quite as complete as the amulet and thus weren't worth consideration at the moment. "It should be empowered at least, if nothing else. Give it a go."

Lina Ovmar

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Carefully taking the amulet in her other hand, she held it over her shredded palm, drawing on the darkness to channel through it, feeling it pulse as she did. "The dead are jealous of the living. Wondering through it when you are whole and alive antagonises them, especially in the Void. Sith Lords are hardly forgiving, and those with unfinished business will jump at every opportunity to claw their way back to this plane. Some are content to simply inconvenience you with a fight; others are more desperate and attempt possession."

As she spoke, flesh on her hand began to knit together, leaving thin silver scars behind. Hardly something she was unaccustomed to. "Fortunately for me, I am impervious to unwelcome guests in my mind. The last and only person to ever breach those barriers was my father, and he is one of the most powerful mentalists still breathing. But if I could send my soul in, but keep my body outside the Nether, I could be mistaken for just another dead Sith. It would make the trips far less risky."

She flexed her fingers as the final cut sealed, testing the stretch of the skin. It was simple, but effective. Lina inspected the runes and the handiwork carefully, losing herself in thought for a moment as she pondered ways to make it stronger, increase the healing speed...make it more self-sufficient than requiring focus as it did. She realised she had been quiet for too long and looked up. "Well, it works. I'm not sure it will be effective in healing a rendered soul, but maybe it could be used as an anchor, to keep the soul where it should be, unless I need it elsewhere."

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

An idle hum escaped the masked man as Lady Ovmar spoke of how the dead could lament and envy the presence of the living in their realm, even if He couldn't relate. He rather liked being deceased for the little bit of time that He had been. Were it not for all the unfinished business He left behind, not the least of which being His captured Disciple, death would have been quite the welcome reprieve all things considered. Perhaps Darth Strosius was simply a bit easier to please than the other deceased Sith Lords.

He tilted His head ever so slightly at the comment regarding her father but the answer to His earlier query stole His attention. It made sense in that regard He supposed, far easier to blend in with the rest of the dead souls when one had no apparent physical attachments at the time. Although moving among the dead while living at all still didn't sound ideal. He'd much rather just wait until He had perished again. "Given how your last trip went any decrease in risk is ideal I'm sure."

Darth Strosius was worried that His words may have come off as much harsher than He had intended when silence reigned after His little comment, clearing His throat rather sheepishly before Lady Ovmar suddenly spoke again. Much to His silent relief. "That's a good enough start I suppose." At least He had a use for the amulet now He supposed, He doubted it would have gone very far in mending His own affliction. "I do know plenty of methods of...binding the soul to the body, however they may be counterintuitive to your purposes and excursions."

Some might say He wound up being an unintentional savant in that particular field given His current predicament. "Not to mention you're a bit more potent than what I'm used to working with." None of His Sith could rend open portals to the realm of the dead after all, certainly not Himself. Nor were any aside from Himself dealing with any metaphysical afflictions either. Thankfully. "Perhaps with the amulet as a sort of baseline we can work out something more permanent as an anchor, a rune of some kind even. You're not opposed to tattoos are you?"

Lina Ovmar

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Lina arched an eyebrow. Potent? That was certainly something she had never been called. She fought back a smirk. It was evident that he was used to working alone on such matters, truth be told so was she, but she was also a chameleon. It didn't matter what social circle she was in, she blended. It was a necessary skill when you wanted to pass through as someone forgettable.

"I'm not opposed to them, though their placement would be limited to my arms or face, maybe a calf, but the rest is too marred by scar tissue for even the most skilled tattooist to use and I'm not sure I trust you enough to decorate my skin with ink. But we won't write it off the table just yet." She moved past him to the workstation behind, scanning for a file, plucking it carefully from the surface. she move to a vice at the stations edge, fixing the bloodstained amulet carefully within it. She paused, glancing his way to check that she wasn't crossing any barriers by simply helping herself to tools. Afterall a workstation like this was a sacred space.

"Although," she said straightening and twirling the file between her fingers in thought "Scarring might actually work, scars got on top of scars just fine. An alchemised metal brand perhaps. It'll be more about finding the right rune or rune pattern."

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

He couldn't blame Lady Ovmar for the lack of trust in that regard, especially if one of the only possible applicable surfaces was on her face. Although the reason for such limitations intrigued Him. "Scar tissue?" If the majority of her body was too marred by scar tissue then one was tempted to wonder just how such scars occurred. In their line of work there was no shortage of maladies and cruelties which could befall any Sith but to such an extensive point did make Him curious. Perhaps a discussion for another time.

Darth Strosius cast a glance at the file that she had plucked up and once He realized that she had paused He gave a little gesture of His hand to grant her permission as it were. The amulet was hers to tinker with as she pleased and at the moment His workstation was the most readily available to do so. Although He did keep a keen eye on how she was treating His vice and file, just in case. He wasn't sure how Lady Ovmar kept her own workshops but He liked His fairly intact and readily usable.

A click of His tongue served as His first response to her suggestion but it wasn't the worst option He supposed. In lieu of something more subtle such as tattoos or easily discarded as jewelry, a brand or scar could work. Although naturally one would have to be far more exact in their application of those, and ideally have it done in one maneuver. "Yes, getting the most fitting rune would be a necessity. I doubt you'd be fond of a trial and error method in that regard."

Or so He hoped at least, He didn't want to think on how she may have gotten so many scars if it were otherwise. She did have an awful taste in men, who knew what else that entailed? "We can fine tune more amulets or rings to see what works the best then translate that into a brand or a scar once we've settled on the most optimal rune." It would be the most tasteful option all things considered. It would give Him an excuse to flex His metalworking skills in the process as well.

Lina Ovmar

 

[Lina Ovmar]

Lina set to work with the file, gliding it with an expert hand over the jagged edges slowly smoothing them away. Simple work allowed her mind to travel, to wander through the vast halls of knowledge in search of a perfect solution. "The scars were a gift from my mother. She was as unstable as she was cruel and I was her favourite punching bag. One day, she got bored of punching me and dumped me at Carnifex's feet, and ran off to die. Safe to say he continued her work." She shifted the amulet in the vice, adjusting the angle. "Her death was stolen from me. His will not be."

Lina straightened releasing the amulet from the vice and checking her handiwork with her thumb. "You are right, trial and error with my own soul would not be something I am willing to risk. If it was possible to recreate it on another, I might. But, I have a feeling that there is more at work here than simple repeatable circumstance." Content that the jagged edges were gone, she lifted the woven cord around her head and tucked it out of site before returning the file to where she'd plucked it from.

A weariness was growing in her bones and she sank into the chair he had offered her when they first entered. "Binding runes will be out best bet, that and maybe essence transfer. Though..." she trailed off her eyes trailing to the wings he was doing his best to keep receded "I wonder, should the worst happen, if binding my soul to my body might create a problem down the line..." she trailed off, her gaze finding the blank stare of his visor once more and gave a small smile. "One problem at a time, no?"

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

A hum served as His only response to the origin of her scars, a distinctly and decisively neutral noise which served more as acknowledgement than anything else. Evidently Lady Ovmar's family was some piece of work it would seem. What purpose or reason behind the scars was still unclear but He chose not to question them further. Knowing the cruelty of the Zambranos they were more than likely not the simple result of harsh punishment but rather flights of sadistic fancy, and her mother undoubtedly must have had similar inclinations.

A shame that the pair of them had wound up at odds, if she had been less cryptic in her methods and schemes then perhaps that wedding reception would have turned out in their favor after all. Oh well. "Were it not for my own condition, I'd presume that yours was entirely unique. Circumstance or not. Not everyone meddles with the world beyond the living after all." Darth Strosius wasn't at all keen at the idea of inflicting another with any sort of metaphysical displacement or separation such as what she was dealing with, even if it were for the sake of research and to develop a cure.

As she finally chose to sit, the masked man idly cleared off a spot on the workstation to lean against comfortably. His work only pausing when she mentioned the binding of soul yo body causing issues later on, His gaze snapping back to meet her own as He leaned against the newly cleared spot. "Indeed. Best we eliminate one issue without causing another." His wings twitched as though in acknowledgement of their unspoken mention, a motion which made Him mutter some curse under His breath and roll His shoulder in order to disguise the movement.

"So binding runes and, what was it you said, essence transfer? I can only help with the former I'm afraid, I'm rather unfamiliar with the latter term." Whether in the form of tattoos, scars, brands, or simply adorning jewelry or other such adornments, He was no stranger in weaving alchemical and sorcerous properties into flesh and material alike. He had a few ideas of some potential runic combinations off the top of His head but of course time and testing would be the main decider for what worked the best in a delicate matter such as this one. "With the amulet as a starting point we can narrow down some options already. Do you think focusing purely on the metaphysical and mental aspects would be best or is there a physical connection that needs to be enhanced as well do you think?"

Lina Ovmar

 

[Lina Ovmar]

The muttered curse and roll of his shoulder did nothing to hide the slight twitch in his wings, if anything it drew more attention to it. Lina clicked her tongue and shook her head. She couldn't say she was surprised that he was completely incapable of masking anything, everything she had seen of him so far suggested that he had either never been schooled in such tactics, or he simply believed they were unnecessary.

A blink of surprise was her only response to his lack of knowledge regarding essence transfer. "How have you lived as long as you have and yet failed to absorb any knowledge beyond your own skill set? Have you never picked up a history book?" the words were out of her mouth before she could stop them, and while she didn't regret them entirely, she was a guest and not only that he was helping her. She closed her eyes and breathed a sigh out of her nose before opening them. "Forgive me, that was unjust and uncalled for. I haven't slept for...Bogan knows how long."

She rubbed her eyes before continuing. "Transfer Essence, is how Sith lords throughout history have cheated death. By transitioning their soul from one body to the next, some transfer into items until a suitable body come along, possessing the weak willed. Darth Vitiate, Darth Sidious, Darth Bane. All were practitioners, though the last failed in truth, he was only able to leave a part of himself behind in his apprentice."

She paused, her expression darkening. "I'm fairly certain it is how Carnifex keep gracing us with his presence." Another blink and she drew in a deep breath and sighed heavily before addressing his last question. "It will need to be physical as well."

Darth Strosius

 

[Darth Strosius]

The somewhat heated words drew a pause from the masked man, and then a shrug. "Turns out you become rather durable when nothing short of a fatal blow really matters." A durability that allowed one such as Himself to make mistakes and errors that would, and perhaps should, have cost Him His life otherwise. For better or worse. "Sleep is very important to keep up with, but no apologies are necessary." Darth Strosius knew well enough that Lady Ovmar may not quite be in her most productive state of mind at the moment, she certainly wasn't in a good state of body at least.

"They could...possess people? Moving their souls from one vessel to the next?" It was difficult to discern His tone, somewhere between concerned and curious, but she did have His attention and interest regardless. "I do recall reading something of that sort in the records, but I had assumed it was a simple myth." Were it not for His own experience with the afterlife He might still dismiss such a notion as simple legend even now. But now He knew a bit better, even if it was far less than He had initially thought Himself to be privy to.

"Ah." It would certainly make sense as one method for staving off the ravages of time and the Dark Side as one such as Carnifex had done. Although Darth Strosius doubted that such a method was foolproof nor could it be entirely reliable. It sounded fairly risky and complicated to achieve, easy to disrupt so long as they could determine where exactly to make their interruption. Something to ponder on for the future indeed.

For the present however, the answer she gave did help to give some sense of what direction to pursue their tests to control her condition. "Duly noted." Darth Strosius sifted through the workstation's various adornments and accessories for a moment before plucking up a spare datapad. He clicked it on and began swiping through some files already left open from His earlier tinkering. "So let's see, tattoos, brands, scarification, more permanent but something...toggleable. Mayhaps with a specific trigger?"

Lina Ovmar