Private Lachryma [Moirai]

[Darth Carnifex]

For a time, the situation had worked in His favor. It had not been ideal, not what they had desired, but He was nothing if not pragmatic and adaptable. They could bridge the gaps with other methods, keep it all cinched together without catastrophic collapse. But, as the years wound forward it became apparent that these measures were only futile stopgaps, and that the one known as Moirai was quickly becoming what all servants of the Eternal Father feared.

Damaged goods.

Not yet willing to toss aside such a faithful servant, the Eternal Father embarked on a new plan to remedy the error. Originally, Katherine Holt had been the designated surrogate, but she had become too enmeshed with the Noble family and the effort that would be required to decouple her was too strenuous. After all efforts to capture Holt had fallen through, they wheeled back on mending the rift that had given rise to these problems in the first place. Fortunately, she was far easier to abduct than Holt ever was.

Now, in the deepest sanctuary of Remnicore, the Eternal Father and His slavish servants set themselves to task preparing the ritual. Such power required blood and spirit, both of which they possessed in abundance. Slaves, freshly captured from the outlying systems, had been carted in en masse for just this purpose. Those of greatest potency were delivered directly to the Eternal Father, while all those of lesser stock were forced into open-air pens; exposed to the harsh elements of Remnicore's dead atmosphere.

"We are near completion, Great Father," intoned a papery voice, one of the priests brought in for the ritual's construction. "All will be as you will it in but a moment's time."

Darth Carnifex, Dark Lord of the Sith and Eternal Father of the Kainate, let His commandment ring out through the chamber.

"Summon Darth Moirai to me."

Darth Moirai ​

 

[Darth Moirai]

Despite how much time that had passed, the separation of Moirai and Vaylin was still fresh for the former. There had been a time when the Sith Lord had been the one in control, but even as she remained locked away within her own body, Vaylin had plotted.

The moment she regained control, Vaylin did not hesitate to enact her plan. She found Kaalia Pavanos , requesting her aid to travel into the Netherworld so she could tear Moirai out.

Accompanied by a group of eight Kraujas Arana, those loyal to Vaylin and none other. Together, they pooled their alchemically-twisted energy into a ritual, intent on splitting the Zabrak’s soul to remove Moirai.

It brought Vaylin close to death, and likely would’ve if Kaalia hadn’t been there to help. Moirai was left there; as a disembodied spirit, sealed away in a prison. But the Sith Lord had concocted her own contingencies, and was one such that eventually led to her freedom from the Netherworld.

But by that point, Vaylin had long since disappeared into the galaxy, intent on never being found again. Not that Moirai could afford to focus on much, other than her own survival. She was a fragment of a soul, latched on another, slowly consuming its energy. The Valkyrie Matriarch was forced to hop bodies, from one Arana Sithspawn to another.

There had been attempts to remedy it, namely trying to possess and capture Katherine Holt. But that had ultimately failed, forcing Moirai back to the drawing board. It seemed however, that the Eternal Father had his own solution.

Darth Moirai did not hesitate to answer, making swift work of arriving where Carnifex awaited. And as she approached the door, she could feel a buzz in the air, latent energy waiting to be used. The telltale sign of an impending ritual.

Something about it made Moirai’s skin itch.

The towering Valkyrie pushed the doors open, stepping inside. “Eternal Father,” she began, bowing her head. “You summoned me?” Her eyes fell upon the man himself, but Moirai quickly found her gaze drawn elsewhere.

Towards her.

“You found her.”

Darth Carnifex​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Indeed I have."

The woman Moirai referred to was hanging suspended in a tensor field, her arms and legs slack as she gently rotated in place. Bruises and minor lacerations covered her bare skin, the result of her defiance against her captors. She'd fought ferociously, but they were ultimately too strong for her to resist. They'd beaten her just enough to induce unconsciousness without permanently damaging her, and their handling of her after had been anything but gentle. The Dark Lord excused their bout of brutality only for the fact that it had not impeded their mission.

Darth Carnifex studied Vaylin's face as one would study an insect, indifference winning out over every other emotion. "This intolerable separation must end." He gestured with a wave of His arm, "You and your lesser half shall again be whole, remade. I will see to it's completion, for I have learned a great many things since." In the time that Vaylin and Moirai had been separated, Carnifex had met His own separated half; Demiurge. When they at last reunited into a whole being, Carnifex learned much about the intricacies of replicating such a ritual.

"No more Vaylin, no more Moirai -- divided and weak. Only a unified whole, more powerful than ever before."

Darth Moirai ​

 

[Darth Moirai]

Darth Moirai approached the suspended form of Vaylin. It was indeed apparent the Zabrak had managed some degree of struggle. Likely caught her by surprise, or perhaps her other half had gotten sloppy over the years.

That anger; the very same that had been bubbling and simmering for all that time began to rise to the surface again. Here before her was the nuisance that had been the catalyst for everything that had gone wrong.

She wanted to make Vaylin suffer, painfully.

But Moirai held her intent back, knowing that not only would it be pointless. It would also know doubt draw Carnifex’s ire. The Valkyrie Matriarch had already been walking on a thin line when it came to the Eternal Father’s patience.

It would be idiotic to push it, especially given the opportunity she had been seeking was essentially before her.

No more body hopping.

No more feeling like a half-empty shell.

Moirai turned to face Carnifex.

“How do we begin?”

Darth Carnifex​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"We begin with blood."

The Dark Lord extended His hand, a shard of polished obsidian seamlessly woven into a handle made of lacquered bone rested there; balanced on the flat of His palm. It was cold to the touch, painfully so, colder than it had any right to be. The blade's unnatural properties did not end there either, for the moment her fingers even brushed the hilt her mind swam with vicious thoughts, cruelty from an age of blood and offal. Whatever the origin of this object, it stretched deep into the bloodsoaked past.

Vaylin's body was lowered down, a slab of metal and stone rising up from the floor to meet it. "The blood is the key. It is the channel of the spirit. Spill your blood and hers, and the ritual shall begin."

Darth Moirai ​

 

[Darth Moirai]

When her fingers touched the blade’s handle, Moirai let out a surprised hiss. It was cold, unnaturally so, even for someone like her. One who had been trained through intense survival to resist the cold.

She reached for it again, this time probably grasping the dagger within her hand.

Almost immediately she felt something try to reach into her mind, only to be met with her mental defences. But even the thoughts of eons slipped through the cracks, as if trying to tempt her into opening up her mind.

Moirai forced them away, ignoring the howling void of cruelty.

Stepping over to where Vaylin had been lowered down, the towering Sith loomed over her. For a stray moment there was a thought, a desire to just plunge the blade into the Zabrak’s heart.

But it was going a moment later.

A foolish thought.

Grabbing a hold of Vaylin’s wrist, Moirai turned her hand over and opened, not hesitating as she drew a single cut across the palm. She then turned the blade over, using the blade’s other edge to cut open her own palm.

Darth Carnifex​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

The first drop of blood struck the grooved dais beneath Moirai's feet, and the ritual began.

Sparks of electricity danced out from the stone as the drops of blood continued to accumulate, runic glyphs engraved along the grooves illuminating with a deep crimson glow. The blood, now animated by an outside force, quickly swirls through every groove, filling each in turn. Electricity moves freely through the air, the stench of ozone and iron now heavy and pungent, enough to choke the senses with it's overbearing presence.

From above, a large aperture descends from the ceiling. It is a focusing orrery, a large red kyber crystal perched at it's center. The various limbs of the orrery move and dance like the orbit of distant planets around a blazing star, maneuvering the focusing lenses into proper alignment.

At His command, the kyber crystal begins to glow and burn with energy. It's projected out, focused down through the lenses, and right onto Moirai and Vaylin. It sears with burning pain, but their flesh is unaffected; it is their spirit that is in torment. Each of their forms begins to sublimate, bodies still intact but now overlain with luminous projections in the Force. Moirai is crowned with rage, her teeth bared in fury and violence. Vaylin shrinks away in confusion, flickering and unstable.

Carnifex then performs the crowning apex of the ritual, cutting open His own hand and letting His blood spill forth into the kyber-beam. His blood, boiling and near crystallization from the intense kyberic energies, coated both of them in equal measure. The bridge is formed, their minds rush together.

And they are drawn into the mindscape from which only one can emerge.

Darth Moirai ​

 

[Vaylin]

When Vaylin stirred, she found herself in a strange and yet, oddly familiar place. As she slowly sat up, the Zabrak looked around at her surroundings. For as far as the eye could see, there was nothing more than a desolate, sandy wasteland. And stabbed in the cracked, rocky surface was a variety of different weapons.

Littering the wasteland like monuments; or graves, of a great battle.

And up above were incredibly large, and impossibly floating gears and cogs. Ever moving to the tick tock of eternal conflict.

“This…is the Field of Blades.”

Vaylin frowned as she slowly pushed herself up onto her feet. This was the Netherworld, and yet didn’t feel anything like it. For as much as she might’ve separated and distanced herself from the Sith and their Valkyries. She was still forever bound to the Nether.

And this wasn’t it.

“I must be locked in a mindscape of some kind…”

Vaylin tried to recall what she remembered last. Being surrounded and ambushed by Kainates, fighting them until…darkness.

But before the Zabrak could dwell any further, her senses suddenly fired to alert and Vaylin dived out of the way as a spear slammed down into the ground, right where she had been standing.

“I’ve been waiting for this!”

Vaylin spun around to see Darth Moirai flying above, glaring down at her with every fibre of fury and hate within. The winged Sith Lord summoned a new spear to her hand, before flying down towards her like a rocket.

Crap, this is not good.

Instinct kicked in however, and Vaylin focused on summoning her lightsabers. This was a mindscape after all, and if she had any connection to it then-

Two hilts suddenly materialized, one in each hand. Vaylin did not hesitate to ignite them, pausing for only a moment upon realizing one was purple, the other a blood red. She swung them up, just in time as Moirai brought all her might down into an attack.

Darth Carnifex​

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Though still in full possession of His body, the Dark Lord was gifted insight into the internal struggle of His disciple. He watched coldly, impassionately, as the two halves clashed in the mindscape of their shared consciousness. He would not intervene, this would be a trial that only Moirai or Vaylin could triumph in. But one thing above all was certain.

One had to rise, and the other had to fall.

Vaylin | Darth Moirai ​