Private Dark Portents [Iris] (Content Warning)

[Darth Carnifex]

A light breeze caressed the leaves of the uneti tree, scattering a few around the courtyard as the younglings meditated among the gardens of the temple. The skies were clear and bright, the rays of Coruscant's sun bathing the entire temple in unabashed brilliance. All were at peace, secure in the Light, going about their daily chores. They had persevered, stood firm against the shadow, and banished it to a place where it could no longer threaten the valorous people of the galaxy.

The Jedi had, at last, achieved a lasting peace.

Those that had rallied behind the perverse cause of the Dark Side had been cast out, their temples leveled, their idols broken. The names of Korriban, Ziost, and Dromund Kaas were already fading from memory, the threat of the Sith existing only in history books. In time, that would fade as well. There would be a galaxy that knew nothing of the Dark Side, the scars of the Sith healed, their names forgotten. Future generations would sit and smile on a blessed universe, one where they knew no suffering or toil.

No doubt, this was on the mind of Jedi Master Iris Arani as she walked through the temple gardens. The flowers were in bloom, and the laughter of younglings could be heard as they played games and danced under the watch of their amused teachers. But one boy did not partake in their games, he sat by himself under one of the pagodas. Though amiable, the boy was soft-spoken and rarely engaged with the other students. He much preferred the company of his own thoughts to those of his contemporaries, and it is in deep contemplating that Master Arani found the young padawan.

She called his name, the words lost on the wind, but he opened his eyes and turned to look. Bright emerald eyes looked out from under an inquisitive brow, a mane of black hair falling down around shoulders that were likely to broaden by adulthood. A faint smile, one that carried a note of sadness, crept across his face.

"Master Arani, it's so good to see you."

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

Scars. Scars had long faded by this point. Older, wiser, the galaxy was more clear. Freer from the world of colors that blinded her in her youth. She could see every shade now. Every color, individual and bright no matter who's it was. No matter how many were around. She stepped around the temple grounds, glancing to the Padawan's here and there. All were so eager to be here. The soft smile remained as she glanced to the saber on her hip.

"It's a nice day, isn't it?"

Then she blinked. .. Why was she talking to her lightsaber?

It didn't matter for long. Her gaze shifted to one of the Padawan's off by himself. He seemed fine, content, but even she had to learn to talk to others to grow into the person she was now.

"It's a nice day, isn't it?" She repeated the question for the boy, turning her gaze in the distance. "What has you feeling so blue on a day like this?"

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Oh, it's beautiful, Master Arani." The boy smile grew, his face radiant in Master Arani's presence. He hauled himself off the ground, taking time to dust his robes before fully turning to face her. He was of average height for a boy his age, although he had started to outpace his classmates in terms of physical maturity. The faint glimmer of hair lining his chin and cheeks could be seen in just the right light, the last vestiges of pre-adolescence slowly leaving his body as time marched forward.

"I admit I am feeling melancholic, master. It's so peaceful here in the temple, especially when the sun shines like this. The air feels lighter now that the shadow has been extinguished. But something's been lingering on my mind for some time now..." He spoke rather eloquently, perhaps far greater than one his age might have. Then again, Jedi seemed to mature faster than those not inducted into their ancient order. In times past, children even younger than he had been forced to fight as soldiers in an unending war between the Light and the Dark.

But the Dark had been destroyed, so now they wielded no weapons and fought no wars.

It was paradise.

"Do you remember?" The question lingered in the air for several seconds, the silence growing more and more awkward as even the air itself seemed to pause and the laughter of the younglings ceased altogether. All that could be heard was the beating of Iris' own heart in her ears, like the thundering of distant artillery. When the apprentice asked again, the question seemed to be muffled even though his mouth articulated the words normally. The sound of his voice came a second later, whispered in a low breathy rasp.

"Do you remember the day they all died?"

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

"Remember..?"

The question went unanswered. Iris blinked, slowly. The colors around her twisted. Bled away. Once bright, vibrant colors filled with the Light just.. Bled away. Bled away to nothing. No, not nothing. Black. The pounding of her heart in her ears drowned out sound. Everything around her blurred. What was going on? Why were the Padawan's fading from the colors she could always feel?

"Do you remember the day they all died?"

Wake up

Iris shook her head rapidly, reaching up to touch her ears. What was going on?

"____, are you okay? Wha-" Wait. Why couldn't she say his name? What was happening?

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"The day they all died," reiterated the apprentice. Something had passed over his face, a shadow, and his eyes had grown murky and distant.

"Don't you remember? It was raining..." The sky, once so pristine and calm, was beset by a sudden and violent rainstorm. Lightning crashed against the sky, jagged and stained the color of blood. The rain came down in unforgiving sheets, slicing sideways across the courtyard. The gardens withered and died, the younglings who had been so joyful with laughter standing still looking up towards the sky before, one by one, they began to float away into the storm.

The apprentice looked up into the storm for several moments, the rain splattering against his face only to drip away as blood that ran rivers along the courtyard stones. "It was raining, and you stood there with your weapon." Without knowing it, Iris' weapon was now in her hands, and some dark compulsion drew her thumb to the activator. Instead of a calming blue light, what emerged was crackling fury, glowing red hot as droplets of rain evaporated against the chaotic beam of energy. Newfound light also revealed what lay at Iris' feet, dozens and dozens of bodies; all clothed in the tunic and tabard of the Jedi Order.

"And you slaughtered them, you killed them all. All of the Jedi."

The apprentice's eyes began to glow, the irises changing from vibrant emerald to sulfuric yellow; glowing viciously bright despite the blinding torrential rains.

"All of the Jedi are dead, by your hand."

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

Raining?

Iris rubbed at her brow. Tried to focus. The colors, why were they leaving? A new color emerged. Red, crackling to life. But not in her world. In her eyes. Stunned, she stared at the saber. Then to the bodies around her. Dead. .. No, no. No no no. She didn't kill them. She didn't kill anyone. She'd never. But why couldn't she remember? She couldn't remember anything.

Wake. Up.

She dropped the lightsaber. took a step back before glancing towards the boy before her.

"That's not- Who are you?"

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"I am that which you deny."

The nameless apprentice took a step towards Iris, the ground breaking away beneath his foot. Instead of a gaping hole leading further into the temple, all that awaited beneath the crumbling stone was darkness; endless darkness. The abyss was so black that no light could pierce its gloom. He took another step, and the stone fell away again into darkness, as would every step the youth took as he approached Iris. Light and color suffered the same fate, leeching from the surroundings until the temple courtyard was swathed in grayscale demarcated by sharp jagged lines of tenebrous nothingness.

With every step, the boy changed as well. Definition faded, the solid lines of his face disappearing as he became little more than a smudge of gray. But his eyes, that piercing glare, cut through the obfuscation as clearly as her lightsaber had been just moments before. "I am the truth, your truth. Peel away all that you are, and you are left with me. A shadow that has always existed, hidden beneath the lies you tell yourself and others." His body changed, just as it had before, shifting from indiscernible chaos into a young woman, forlorn with a maligned look scaring her otherwise beautiful features.

A mirror, held up before Iris.

"I am you," spoke the woman in Iris' voice, "Relieved of all our falsehoods." The woman smiled then, innocence twisted and perverted into hatred. "Would you like to see the canvas we have painted?" Pivoting around, the grim reflection of Iris Arani waved her hand and the world around them shifted. The grayscale world and the thunderbolts of red lightning drained away like runny watercolors, amalgamating into a new vision of Coruscant and the Jedi Temple. But this was a far cry from the world that Iris had known, a grotesque parody dredged up from the darkest pits.

"Our future, is it not beautiful?"

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

"I-"

Iris watched. Listened. These weren't.. This wasn't something she could believe. No, no. She wouldn't do this. That wasn't her. That wasn't her. Iris winced as the lightning cracked through, bleeding a reality that had to be fake into existence. The colors, they were so distorted, so broken. So wrong. Instinctively, she took a step back. She needed to run. Needed to flee. Needed to get away from this. This wasn't real. This had to be a trick. Where were the others? How did she get here? Why couldn't she remember anything?

Iris!

She stumbled and turned. "You're a lie! This is a lie! None of this is real!" Panic, fear. They filled her as she just ran.

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

​

Iris had only managed to turn around and take her first few steps away from the horrid vision before she collided directly with another individual, the sudden impact knocking her back and onto the ground. A durable navy blue bodysuit clung tightly to the Jedi Master's ashen skin, her form well accented by the doubly alluring and functional uniform. Her brunette hair was bound up in a warrior's knot, errand strands drawn down across her stern countenance. Eyes, equally as blazing as Iris' dark reflection's, stared down with visible disappointment and revulsion.

"Running again, Iris? Is that all you know how to do?" Valery Noble 's mouth curled downward in a sneer, venomously mocking. "I thought I could teach you, I thought I could make you into someone worth living. But look at you, you're no Jedi, you're hardly even a person." Master Noble crossed both arms over her chest, pacing back and forth as she looked down upon Iris, figuratively and literally. "You should do everyone a favor, Iris, and just end your life. You're not worth the life you were given, I should have snuffed you out the moment we met; the galaxy would be better off."

Valery laughed, not the warm motherly laugh that Iris had come to know, but something harsh and unnatural. "But no, look at you, coward you are. You can't bring yourself to do the one good thing you'd ever amount to, and even if you did, you'd probably do it wrong." As the Jedi Master continued to laugh, each one becoming more and more distorted, two other voices quickly joined.

<Master Noble is right, you know,> came the telepathic voice of Arlo Renard , twisted into a cruel parody of the apprentice that Iris had come to know. It was quickly joined by the mocking chortle of Silas Westgard , likewise warped into something cruel and unnatural. "We all know that you can't do anything right, Iris. We talk about it all the time when you're not with us, and we all breath a sigh of relief when you finally rid us of your annoyance." Kai Bamarri's mouth curled up in a smile, full of sharp irregular teeth. <We can hardly stand you, we all wish you were gone. How come you get to live while other Jedi, nobler Jedi, die to the Sith? What gives you the right to keep on living?>

Their laughter joined together in a rancorous chorus, becoming so loud that it was hardly bearable.

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

"Wha- No. There are fights I can't win. Sometimes running, distracting, it's what I can do!" That's not right. None of this is right. Valery wouldn't say that. Valery would never say any of this. She was the closest thing to a mother Iris could have. More voices joined. Kai. Silas. She recognized them immediately. One more step towards the void of nothingness. Then she stopped.

No, this wasn't right. This wasn't real. Anger. Anger welled in her chest. Whatever this was, whoever was here twisting these people, they were doing that in her mind. Anger. Rage.

Calm down. Iris, don't!

"Get out. Get out! None of this is real! Get out of my head! This is just another of those stupid dreams, isn't it? Isn't it!? Get out!" She screamed. Her voice grew louder with every word as she clutched at her ears to deafen herself to these words. These lies. She was furious. So furious.

"Shut up!"

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The illusions shattered like glass, and all fell away to darkness.

Beneath Iris' feet was water, an infinite black lake that ghoulishly reflected Iris' image back at her. She could not sink beneath the water, her feet delicately walking along its surface. But there was no fixture to demarcate where the surface of the water ended and where the endless yawning sky began. In the void, there was no horizon. Only emptiness greeted her, a hopelessness that spanned eternally in all feasible directions.

Iris would quickly become aware of another presence with her in the void, one that was part of the void but still separated from it. It seemed impossible that anyone else could be here with her, her eyes could see naught but darkness everywhere she looked. If she called out, her voice would echo across the void, growing more and more distorted the farther it traveled until it was completely unrecognizable. The reflection at her feet seemed to shimmer whenever she spoke, as though it were speaking as well.

"Iris Arani."

The voice was enough to pause the heart, sound cutting out entirely as each syllable was carefully articulated. When Iris spun around to face the direction the voice came from, only emptiness would greet it. It wasn't until she turned again that she finally saw the figure in the distance. It was difficult to make out their features, but they appeared as a large bundle of rough cloak and broken armored; their face concealed behind a mask whose faceplate had been split open. Only darkness peered out from the broken helmet, but it was clear that whoever, or whatever, it was had been watching her.

"Do your friends comprehend what anger lies within you?"

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

"Shut up."

She spat venom to the figure. The echo distortion of her voice, the warped void absorbing the colors around. This.. Thing, it did this to her. It messed with her dreams. Was- This was another of those nightmares. The figure in the distance, so far away she could never figure out who or what it was. That was this thing. And it knew her. She reached down, instinctively pulling the lightsaber from her hip. The same she always had, always by her side.

"Get out. Get out of my head. Get out of my dreams. You don't belong here. You don't belong anywhere."

Stop.

Iris thumbed the ignition, fully prepared to strike out. Fight. Only, nothing happened. She blinked, glancing to the hilt. Why..?

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"A pity."

The specter was suddenly right next to Iris, towering over her by several heads. Its arrival was preceded by the accompanying smell of death, of rot, of utter putrefaction. Up close, Iris could fully analyze the specter's robes. They were old, far older than she probably realized, tattered and torn with frayed threads and split seams. Holding it together were strips of black metal, hastily fabricated and haphazardly strewn over the damaged cloth, fastened by little more than hooked nails threaded between fabric and metal. Faded runes were embroidered across what scraps of fabric remained intact, the distinct geometry of the Sith impossible to overlook.

"Even when you muster the courage to take a stand, your lightsaber betrays you. Perhaps it senses the inevitable, perhaps it wants you to die as well." A hand extended from within the robes, long and skeletal, every inch covered by musty black bandages. It reached out for Iris' lightsaber, fingers outstretched to accept the weapon as it drew nearer and nearer. "Perhaps it seeks a new master, one that will not squander its potential. One that will feed it blood."

The broken helmet perched atop the specter's form turned slightly, looking down at her with the broken hemisphere completely open to her.

"Do you believe that you can stop me?"

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

Anger turned to fear.

Her lightsaber didn't respond. Why didn't it respond? Why wasn't it turning on? Then the specter was beside her. She blinked, too slow to react at first. Everything was wrong. This was wrong. Sith. The thought crossed her mind as she saw it. This.. Ghost. Skeleton. Lich. Rune covered bandages, runes she recognized. Runes she'd painted over, once, on Ossus. Not the same, but similar enough.

She didn't move. Not at first. But as the hand reached for her blade she immediately yanked it away. No. "No. No! You can't have them! Not again!"

Iris.

Domxite. Her eyes widened as she remembered the name. Then narrowed. She skittered away from the specter, no longer frozen in her fear. That's right. Domxite. Domxite was always here. Always beside her.

"I'll protect them. I won't let you have them!"

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"You are mistaken, Iris Arani."

The specter loomed before her, grim and terrible. It reached up with skeletal hands, grotesque mockeries of the Human form, and grasped both sides of the broken helmet. With a twist it broke the anchoring mechanisms, a steam of hiss billowing out as the spirit removed the dark helmet. Throwing it to the side, the helmet bounced soundlessly across the inky black surface. As it came to a stop, it began to sink into the waters beneath them, disappearing into oblivion.

Looking down on Iris was not a horrible twisted visage as she might've come to anticipate, but rather a handsome face; one that she would know quite well. Silver white hair fell down from his scalp in bountiful locks, his eyes glowing with orange irises, and his mouth curled into a fatherly grin. It was the face of Kahlil Noble , the face of Master Noble's husband, who had once been enthralled to the machinations of his dark father, that insidious Dark Lord of the Sith; Darth Carnifex.

But his eyes flashed with something unbecoming of the true Kahlil, hatred and malice. And his grin became not fatherly, not loving, but mocking and vile. He threw his head back and laughed, a harsh bark, before looking down on Iris again.

"They are already mine."

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

"You?"

Her eyes narrowed. It wasn't Kahlil. It was the extra. The copy. Kaahlil, wasn't it? It had to be. It had to be. The Padawan tightened her grip on her saber. Glared. He wasn't welcome here. He had never been welcome here. This place, these dreams. It was all because of him. Iris raised a hand. Anger, hate, all of it. She reached out through the colors in that bubbling frustration to tear this man down. Throw him aside. Expel him from her dream.

It didn't matter what. She just wanted them dead and gone.

"GET! OUT!"

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

He laughed again.

"You cannot drive me out so easily, little Iris. Not until you take that final step." There was a compulsion, a magnetic sensation, that seemed to draw Iris towards the towering figure. It demanded that she take a step forward, one strong forward step, that would finally end all of her anguish and suffering; that would bring her absolution. It was very strong, and difficult to ignore, but the lingering doubt of whether or not it would bring her what she wanted was forefront on her mind.

Could she, in this world of illusion and mimicry, trust her own desires? Would taking that step banish the spirit that haunted her dreams? Or would it have unforeseen consequences that she couldn't possible understand.

The faux-Kahlil reached down with both of his skeletal hands and tore open the fabric of his robe, revealing his emaciated chest. The skin bubbled and stretched like latex, faces appearing pressed up against the skin from within. They would be familiar to Iris, distorted though they were. Valery, Kai, Silas, and many other Jedi that she had come to know over the years; even ones that had since passed into the Force. They were all screaming, mouths open as they wailed in utter silence; trapped beneath the spirit's grayed skin.

"You will join them in time, Iris. It is your destiny."

Iris Arani ​

 

[Iris Arani]

A final step? So she could sleep, finally? All of this was just.. It was all stressing her out. She hated this. She hated feeling like this. She hated these dreams. She hated this monster. Her grip tightened. All she needed was a blade. All she needed was a weapon, and she could strike them down. End this. All of this. Turn on. Light. Burn. Cut. Kill. There was a spark in the hilt as she went to take that step. Cut down this phantom and all these false ghosts once and for all.

IRIS!

The voice was clear this time, cutting through all the hate and darkness in her mind. The shine of colors. The Padawan's eyes snapped open. Gone was the realm of darkness. Instead, the wind of a chilly night. Iris fell back, chocking out a gasp as she stared down towards the edge she'd just been standing on. She always slept walk, always with these visions. But never like this. Never to the roof of the temple.

Iris just clutched the dormant crystal in her hand, holding it to her chest. And cried.

Darth Carnifex

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Elsewhere, far beyond the light of a Jedi, a tyrant's eyes opened.

A sliver of consciousness had returned from beyond His sight, and with it the memories of a Jedi's nightmare. She had again resisted His encouragement, her resolve buoyed by that of the living crystal she carried with her. Always was it there, standing between Him and the Jedi, defiantly holding back the worst of His darkness. That a crystal could manage such a Sisyphean task night after night was incredible, but He could feel its strength chipping away with each night terror. It was only a matter of time before it broke.

Murmuring softly, the tyrant rose from His seated position. His sanctum was quiet, lit only by the faint embers of incense that burned in four great basins at the corners of the room. The lingering fog from each brazier swirled along the ground as He walked, the faint clapping of His bare feet against black and gold marble barely a whisper.

Outside the sanctum, a small gathering of hooded, bent-back figures awaited the tyrant. They bowed and prostrated them before His magnificence, each one a slave to the tyrant's will. They rose only after He had passed, trailing in His shadow like carrion vultures. They whispered obscene prayers in His name, venerating the towering titan who paid them little more than an idle acknowledgement of their existence. It wasn't until they reached a junction that He would speak to them, His voice like the cracking of mountains.

"Prepare my ship."

Iris Arani ​