No More Than Mud

[Sorvae Sunfell]

His steps were measured, the sound they produced was minimal. His armour covered most of his body, yet this time he wore no cape or covered his face with a helmet. He was there with the identity of who he really was. There was nothing to hide anymore - nobody on this planet knew who he was. At least he supposed so.

His path was straight, lacking any curves or random leans to one side or to the other. He was not a person who would do anything without having enough confidence. Everything which was going to take place was supposed to happen. No moves were made without them leading to anything grander. And he was pretty sure what were the motives of the person he was going to meet.

His visit was a surprise. He hadn't told anybody about taking a little trip to Zahat'n'ira. Even she didn't know about it, nor had he said a word to Lilin.

The man's feet brought him to the small cottage. The home of the Imperieuse family. To his eyes, they were trash. Before the Lancaster older generation was destined to abandon their children, the offsprings were supposed to marry people of noble blood. Nowadays, the whole bloodline was soiled.

But he wasn't there for that.

"Knock knock," the man whispered, his voice no more than a hiss. He was sure the man -- Vitor -- would be able to hear that well.

[ [member="Vitor Imperieuse"] ]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Darrick Matthew Lancaster"]

An individual stood behind the door. This individual proved to be powerful in the Dark Side, a man whom Vitor was unsure of the origin of. Was he from the One Sith? Had he come from another schismic Dark Side faction for a reason? Would there be a confrontation? These questions summoned themselves in his mind as he opened the door?

"Yes? Who are you and what do you need?"

 

[Sorvae Sunfell]

"Is there anything knowing my name would give you? I doubt so, but nonetheless... I am Darrick," the man spoke with a cold low voice of his while eyeing the father of Lilin. He wasn't quite what he expected to see, but that didn't change a lot. He was not a man who would back down from what he was going to do if something changed in the plans. He had a motive.

"For the other question, I am going to assume you know the answer better than I do. I didn't make Lilin -- she's your daughter."

He didn't take a single step towards Vitor, neither did he make any attempts to get into the house. He hadn't been invited in, so it would have been really impolite to march right into the house.

"However, I do know that you lived with Lilith for years. And that changes everything."

[ [member="Vitor Imperieuse"] ]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Darrick Matthew Lancaster"]

"...In what manner?" The only assumption that Vitor could make at this particular moment would've likely been that this was Lilith's father - a powerful Darksider, as mentioned by Lilin in their earlier conversation. "She was my wife. Of course I lived with her and treated her the way she deserved to be treated as my spouse." He gave a bit of a sigh - did this man hold him responsible for her death? Or did he intend to exact some sort of revenge? Whatever reasoning he was here for still remained quite enigmatic.

But he would find out soon. Such was inevitable.

 

[Sorvae Sunfell]

"Indeed, I believe you as there's nothing to prove you wrong," Darrick gave an answer which he himself considered quite simple. Yet his speech was never 'simple' per se. His eyes didn't flicker away from Vitor -- he was so used to staring at people without them noticing it that he had difficulties at keeping normal amounts of eye contact with people.

"I have no doubt in the fact that she loved you and you loved her, which resulted in the love dearest of them all." He cleared his throat. "But there are your children... And I am not talking about the fact that the Lancaster blood was spoiled when these kids were born. I am here more because of who they are."

The worst part about the older generation of the family was the fact that they considered themselves to be above everybody else. They thought of themselves as elites, sometimes even as gods. And even though none of that was true, they were really caught up with that, resulting in a state of mind which didn't let them understand or accept anybody else.

"They have troubles, don't they? Let's not ignore the fact that Lilin is on the edge of making a leap into the direction you would never want her to go and that Vindi's little "impurity" has practically ruined his life in this galaxy. The sithspawn -- a terrible creation. It's the truth, ain't it so?"

Rather straightforward.

[ [member="Vitor Imperieuse"] ]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Darrick Matthew Lancaster"]

"Often, I've wondered about that myself, Darrick." He nodded,motioning for the man to join him as he closed the door behind when he was finally inside. "But I may have a solution to that, thanks to the assistance of someone I've recently encountered." To him, the technique that Rave Merrill's alchemical tree had utilized to help cleanse the corrupted DNA from his body could potentially be put to use with regards to purifying Lilin, Vindi, and possibly Merikh.

"As is, what other criticism is there that you have?"

 

[Sorvae Sunfell]

"None. But I do have to note that this place isn't quite suitable for descendants of Lilith, or of me. Unless you wanted to live in a place true to your family tree, that is."

He looked around and continued judging the way this family lived. He was presumably the only one of the older generation to care about these people, which was both a good and a bad thing.

"But I do have some questions for you, unless you think they are too personal to answer." His eyes wandered around the room, trying to catch every single detail which would come in handy in the future. "None are directly about you, though. They're about your children."

He sighed.

"How do you help them handle all of that? They are messed up, both mentally and emotionally... I guess it's pretty hard to make them understand suicide is not the way to escape all of that."

A subtle approach to all of these problems was more of Mireya's thing, but in such a situation, it was better not to use the most brutal way.

[ [member="Vitor Imperieuse"] ]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Darrick Matthew Lancaster"]

"Not really." He sighed. "They've done a good job of adapting to the situation. Lilin's effects are hardly noticeable with regards to day-to-day contact, and Merikh seems to enjoy her shadowy form, if only for the ability it gives her to watch and not be noticed. As for Vindi, he's built non-electrical devices to assist him with day to day life, which I find to be stimulating his creative spirit. But still, they can be fixed."

Hopefully, anyways.

 

[Sorvae Sunfell]

Darrick laughed out loud after that statement.

"Obviously Lilin has never told you where and how she came across me, or to be precise, in what state she was when I found her." He took a seat and let his hand run through his hair, making it stay up a little bit higher than before and not covering his face. He was not used to such things -- under the mask, there was no need to push his hair off of his face.

"She wanted to kill herself."

He sighed. He didn't take such things as easily as he seemed to, he was just good at covering up his emotions with a completely different feeling. Made him able to fool people and to use his Force powers in a more powerful focused manner.

"She was crying, her body wrecked. She hadn't been eating lately, I could tell she was dehydrated as well. But that barely matters. What is more important is that she was on the edge of a cliff, holding a lightsaber in front of her, the blade pointed at her stomach. She was about to do it."

[ [member="Vitor Imperieuse"] ]

 

[Onrai]

[member="Darrick Matthew Lancaster"]

"Then I suppose I'll need to talk with her about that." He gave a soft sigh - there wasn't much more he could really say other than that he had been disappointed to find out how drastically on the edge she was. "Another reason for her to undergo the healing process. And yet - why? Why are you telling me this?" He found himself somewhat frustrated and a tad befuddled at why she had not told him of this - yet here he was finding it from his father-in-law.

"I wish there was a way to bring Lilith back so we could live life as a normal family - unless Lilin finds a husband."

 

[Sorvae Sunfell]

"I thought you would want to know that. I was quite sure Lilin would tell you that herself. She tries to be strong, but she's overconfident and doesn't seem to realise what it has done to her mentality. She thinks she can't be weak and vulnerable at times, but even a Sith like me has to let go of the strong shell for a while," Darrick spoke. He had no interest in being a villain in the situation. He just wanted to talk to the person his daughter had once loved.

And indeed, they had managed to make it to the reason why the man was really there.

"Huh, but there is a way," the Sith spoke. "I know of a few ways to do so, but thanks to her own stupidity, I fear bringing her back the way she once was will be impossible."

He took a deep breath.

"She could come back to life, but I fear with no ability to use the Force again."

He sighed.

"A part of her own power is inside her daughter and I assume you know that as well as I do. She put herself into her son, as well. And the remaining part of her Force is in the sithspawn."

[ [member="Vitor Imperieuse"] ]

 

[Onrai]

"I don't care about whether she can use the Force or not. All I care about is her - that if she gets brought back, personality-wise she is still the same woman I knew and loved. I know she'll certainly want to get to know her family more..." He sighed, thinking a bit more about Merikh and Vindi as well as Lilin. "You're making me an offer like this despite being a Sith. Why is it that you are willing to restore my happiness in such a way? Have the Sith changed somehow?"

Such was an interesting question, and he wasn't entirely sure.

[member="Darrick Matthew Lancaster"]

 

[Sorvae Sunfell]

"Lilith is, most of all, my daughter. Why would I not want to bring her back? If it benefits not only me, but you and your children as well, I see no problem in bringing her back to life if there is a need and a true desire for that," Darrick spoke. He turned his eyes to VItor as he put his hand on the armrest.

"Sith have not changed. But I have. I've come to do something Versateya would never want me to, so I would say it's something admirable."

He couldn't even imagine what would happen after the meeting as he went back home. She could react in absolutely any way possible and the worst part was, he couldn't stand against her. But after all, his own family was the reason why he'd even taken the trip. And there was nothing she could do to prevent him from being interested in his offsprings.

[ [member="Vitor Imperieuse"] ]

 

[Onrai]

"Very well..." He nodded. "I can certainly agree with your motives. Whenever you wish to begin the process of resurrection, I will gladly assist as best I can. I do have a... reasonable understanding of how such rituals work." He paused, lips pursed in a moment of pondering as his mind gently tapped the residual memories left over from his prior possession. "If you wish to do it alone, that's alright - I only request that when she has been brought back, you bring her straight back to Zahar'n'ira so we can be a family again."

After all, he did still love her dearly.

[member="Darrick Lancaster"]