Private Of Debts & Obligations

[Allyson Locke]

//: Darth Carnifex //:
//: The Malsheem //:
//: Attire //:

The Malsheem was the last place Allyson wanted to be. She hated the ship—its halls, air, and how it made her skin crawl. It always felt like it was trying to get inside her like it didn't want her there but also wouldn't let her go. The last time she'd stepped aboard, she had come with Madelyn Lowe to sit in on a Kainite meeting. It was the first and, if she had her way, the last.

It had been everything she expected: dramatic, self-important, centered on the dyad between Prazutis and Carnifex.

At least back then, she had Madelyn with her. It made everything more bearable. Madelyn kept her grounded when the ship pressed in, and the voices started creeping in.

Today, she was alone.

Madelyn had other obligations—Empire business—and Allyson was left to handle this. She paused mid-step, briefly wondering what it was like to have a regular job with regular hours.

It wasn't the time for questions like that.

She kept walking, led by those stationed throughout the Malsheem. Her arrival had been expected. That fact alone made her uneasy. Meeting with Carnifex on neutral ground had always been tense—doing it on his ship was something else entirely.

Especially considering one of those meetings that involved interrupting his dinner.

Her hands slipped into the pockets of her leather jacket. The familiar weight of it gave her a small sense of comfort. As she moved, her thoughts returned to her last conversation with Madelyn—the Genesis pool, the debt, the changes. It circled in her mind like a loop she couldn't switch off.

She needed answers. And she wanted them from the source.

As she neared the meeting point, she felt his presence. Her feet stopped. The Force around her shifted subtly but unmistakably. She was still masking herself—still hiding her true alignment—but even under that control, she could feel the difference.

The Malsheem didn't feel as aggressive this time. It wasn't pushing back against her or pulling her in. It felt… aligned, almost like something had shifted to make space for her. She didn't like the feeling, and she understood why.

The truth sat just beneath the surface—one she had resisted more than once. The fight with the Witch of Polis Massa had broken something she'd promised to never give up.

And she had done it—for one reason.

She brought a hand to her face briefly, grounding herself.

Then, without hesitating again, Allyson pushed forward and entered the chamber where she had been summoned to meet the Butcher King.

"Long time no see, Carnifex," she said, her voice casual but firm. A sharp grin followed. "I hope you've been well, old friend."

There was no fight between them today—mostly business.

"I have a few questions about Madelyn Lowe ."

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Had she been expecting a throne room or another similar grandiose audience chamber, she would have been sorely disappointed. Disappointment that might have been overshadowed by the scene stretching out before her. The Dark Lord had His back turned to her, something that would have been unthinkable several years ago. He'd been stripped down to the waist, flared military breeches hugging to His hips and thighs, terminating in a pair of terentatek leather boots.

It was His arms, however, that immediately drew the eye. They were caked up to the elbow in gore. Bright red viscous vitality, smeared haphazardly across the rippling muscle and tattooed skin. They plunged into the open chest cavity of some malformed creature, one who's grotesque appearance could scarcely convey that they had once been a person save for their eyes; silent and hollow in death.

Silently, the Butcher King continued His vivisection, the only indication that He recognized her presence being the glacial weight that now pressed down against her senses. Bloodied fingers grasped down a tool, chromed and razor-sharp, which He then used to snip away some gangrenous organ; tearing it free from it's meaty fetters.

"Hello Allyson."

The voice came not merely as sound, but as pressure. Gravity. His head pivoted just far enough to reveal the maligned glow of His gaze, that same imperious stare that had haunted her across many battlefields. There was a queer familiarity that came with being witnessed by the Dark Lord. She'd come to know this gaze rather well, but it had transformed into something more accepting. It was no longer intolerable.

"Indeed? What questions can I answer that the studious Madelyn Lowe cannot? An amusing inquiry." He chuckled impishly in His throat. "I find your predicament delicious."

Allyson Locke ​

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Darth Carnifex //:
//: Attire //:

Allyson tried not to stare at the unfortunate soul on the slab.

Their hollow stare tried to get her attention — someone who once had a life, a voice, a place in the galaxy. In another lifetime, that could have been her. But it wasn't. The Force, and likely Carnifex himself, had chosen differently.

She cleared her throat and stepped forward, trying to ignore the scene before her.

Most people might have flinched at the sight and recoiled at the thought of Carnifex working so methodically on what was once a living person. But Allyson wasn't like most people. She had seen too much. War had stripped her of most of her reactions. The Dark Side had finished the job.

Still, something about this room, this moment, unsettled her more than she wanted to admit.

She glanced again at the body, wondering who they were and how they ended up there. But as Carnifex turned and addressed her, the thought faded. The presence of the Sith Lord was too consuming to think about anything else for long.

"Madd—" she began, then caught herself.

She'd grown used to the nickname. It came naturally now, but this wasn't the time or place.

"Minister Lowe told me a few things about the Genesis Pool," she said, her voice steady. "Described it like some painful version of a fountain of youth."

There was a faint edge to her tone, restrained but not entirely hidden.

She moved slowly around the space, her focus shifting entirely to Carnifex. His gaze followed her. She had seen those eyes before. In her nightmares. In the walls of dark corridors where she'd once hidden and waited. That kind of stare didn't go away. It stayed with you.

But now, it felt different. Still intense — but informed. Like he already knew everything.

That worried her.

Still, she didn't let it show—not fully. She kept her tone neutral and her posture composed.

"I want to understand what came with the process. Something like that doesn't come without a cost. I need to know what she gave up to receive this gift."

She said gift with a sharpness that was evident. She didn't mean to let it slip, but it was there.

Allyson appreciated whatever Madelyn had been given—whatever had kept her alive. But she also needed to understand it. The terms. The risk. The weight of it all.

And if there was a way out—one that didn't involve losing everything she cared about.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"I am sure she did. Ensnared in her embrace as you've become, I do not doubt that she's whispered many things into your ear." When He'd laughed moments ago, there had been a mask of mirth that had slipped over His otherwise placid features. Now it was gone, replaced by the characteristic derision that she'd come to know opposite Him on the battlefield. Perhaps now, it had become more familiar to her. The truth that it had never been her that He'd despised might've come as a surprise, but nothing could equal the unsettling truth; the Dark Lord despised life itself.

A subtle gesture summoned a servant from the shadowy alcoves of the chamber, the top portion of their head shorn away just above the upper lip and replaced with an ornate cybernetic segment. It had been fashioned to resemble an exposed humanoid skull, their sockets shining brightly with crimson photoreceptors. The mark of the Kainate had been fashioned into the metallic skull plating, an ornate geometric pattern that wrapped around the entire length of the cybernetic implant.

In their hands they carried a wash basin, to which the Dark Lord proceeded to clean His hands and arms of blood and offal. The clear waters were stained red, bright pink at first and then darkening to a deep shade of maroon. When He'd finished, the decraniated servant again disappeared into the shadows.

"The Genesis Pool is an amalgamation of mutagenic compounds augmented by Sith Magic. Taeli Raaf and I created it to test the limits of alchemical transmogrification. Unguided, the pool randomizes any matter introduced to it, often in a grotesque manner. When controlled by a powerful and knowledgeable alchemist, the pool's mutagenic properties can be rewritten to achieve any transformation desirable. Madelyn Lowe's faith was rewarded with vigorous youth."

"That it is painful is no accident. Pain is the scalpel of creation. Through suffering, we achieve our highest self. Madelyn suffered greatly, more than most ever had. Her entire body was broken down and remade molecule by molecule, she remained conscious throughout the entire transformation."

The Dark Lord regarded Allyson carefully. "Do you truly wish to know the price she paid, Allyson Locke? She is bound to me. Forever. Even in death. This is the writ she signed, and she did so willingly, eagerly. She prayed to me in the depths of her deepest despair, and I answered. She asked me to take away her sorrow, and I did. I gifted her new life, I forged her a new destiny."

"I will let you surmise if the price she paid was worth it."

Allyson Locke ​

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Darth Carnifex //:
//: Attire //:

Her jaw tightened as the Butcher King carefully revealed his knowledge of the intimate relationship she had with the Minister. She figured it was something he was able to figure out from the meeting despite her being careful, or Taeli Raaf indulged his knowledge. Either seemed to be a logical reason, but Allyson knew Carnifex had his ways of knowing.

The lothcat was out of the bag, so there was no reason for her to be hiding it. Sighing softly, she did her best to let her tension relax. Her eyes didn't move from him as he cleaned himself of the blood and entrails of the poor soul on the table. Allyson watched as the servant dutifully served their master and then left. A mindless drone, she remembered them from when she crashed his supper.

Before she could interject, Carnifex continued with the information she had arrived for. She listened carefully, studying his face, searching for a semblance of a lie. She knew, though - he didn't do such things. The man was prideful where it mattered, and here - she knew he would have value in what he and the Mother of Monsters had created.

She didn't flinch until his words focused on Madelyn. Her throat tightened, and she remembered her own painful transformation within the dream, like the world Empyrean created. She knew that was only a fragment of what Madelyn had gone through. All of it was seen as a reward of sorts.

Allyson remained silent as he paused for a moment, then finally continued. His words echoed in her mind and her heart. The worst of it all was confirmed.

Madelyn had danced around it, but Allyson was good at dissecting words and finding their truth. She had hoped her assumption was wrong in this instance, but asking Madelyn outright meant that the woman would have seen the Corellian's pain. It was better she confronted the man behind it all.

"I am yours. You are mine. It is us, against all of them."

Allyson thought back to the promises she and Madelyn had shared. Those promises were meant to be absolute, unbreakable. But now, without ever realizing it, Carnifex had slipped between them. Madelyn belonged to him regardless of their vows.

"Part of me should thank you," Allyson said finally, her voice strained but steady. "But the rest of me hates you. I finally found someone who matters, someone who's supposed to be mine—but she isn't."

As she spoke, a sudden physical pain spread sharply through her chest. It felt like a wound opening, hidden beneath her jacket and soaking slowly into her shirt. Allyson rolled her shoulders slightly, trying to shake off the pain and regain composure.

"Is there a way to break her bond to you?" Her eyes met his directly, revealing a dark intensity she rarely allowed others to see.

"What happens if you die? I know that's unlikely, but I have to ask," Allyson sighed softly, looking away.

"I want you to let her go—alive and exactly as she is now. You already have plenty of souls indebted to you."

She hated the desperation in her voice. She felt childish—like something important had been taken from her, and she couldn't stand the thought of losing it. But she refused to accept this outcome. It was supposed to be them together against everything and Carnifex with his invisible chains were a problem.

 

[Darth Carnifex]

He did not mince words, and flat out replied; "If I am destroyed, then all bonds and contracts are hence null and void." There was no reason for Him to obfuscate that fact. He was quite confident that His end was nowhere near upon Him, not with all the meticulous safeguards put in place to ensure His continued existence. Some might have branded His confidence as arrogance, but the Dark Lord did not delude Himself on the extent of His own power; He fully understood His own limitations, painfully so.

"You would deprive me of a capable servant, Allyson Locke. One that I am loathe to see relinquished. She came to me of her own accord through no enticing of my own. When she joined the Galactic Alliance to serve as a senator, she informed me of her intentions without fear or hesitation. In my magnanimity, I gifted her with a special stone she could use to call upon me in an hour of need. That was the last time we had spoken in decades, her life unfolding as it would without my intervention."

The Dark Lord leaned in close now, the raw power in the Dark Side He embodied now near suffocating. "What could you possibly give me in return, Allyson Locke? You want me to give you Madelyn Lowe? Then convince me."

Allyson Locke ​

 

[Allyson Locke]

//: Darth Carnifex //:

There was a time when his presence terrified her—when it haunted her dreams and made her dread every battlefield. But that time had passed. After everything she had endured and given up, he no longer held that power over her.

The careful veil she used to mask her presence faded. Allyson pressed forward, her own power pushing against his, claiming space for herself in the suffocating darkness. The brand etched into her skin, and the dark whispers of the Emperor now anchored her. They gave her weight where there would have once been only fear.

Her brow furrowed, understanding his words. Unlike other Sith Lords, they had collateral to play with. Allyson's freedom was the only thing she could use that potentially measured up to Madelyn's. But that would only continue to put them at a loss, completely negating the reason Allyson came.

It would be a proper sacrifice, selfless and so extremely Jedi of her to exchange herself for Madelyn.

Luckily for her, she wasn't a Jedi anymore. She didn't know what she was at this point, either.

"I'm glad you find her valuable," Allyson spoke quietly, attempting to keep her composure. While his death would null and void all contracts - she didn't know if that meant Madelyn was gone or if she was just free. Something that the Corellian didn't feel like finding out.

"I have my skills as a former Shadow, informants, and other means of getting information. Would that be sufficient if you've seen what I can do firsthand?" She asked, almost knowing that her skills and service wouldn't be enough to free Madelyn.

"If that's only partially sufficient, I can do favors until the debt is paid, but you will not own me." Defiance bled through her words as she stood her ground against her boogieman.

"If that's still not sufficient, then tell me what exactly you want, and I can see what I can do." Allyson finished.

She felt a small sense of relief for the first time since entering the room. He hadn't crushed her efforts and didn't interfere with Madelyn's life, which meant that while he had control, he never took it. The fact that he didn't gave her the smallest thread of hope.

Still, part of her wondered if coming here only put Madelyn in more danger.

She exhaled slowly.

"I ask that she never hears about this," Allyson continued, her tone softer. "And that she isn't punished for me coming here. She doesn't know I'm here. This is all on me."

She wanted to keep her face hard, unreadable—but she faltered slightly. He would see it, she knew. He had seen her grow over years of fighting watching her matured into something far different than the plucky young operative the Butcher once hunted. Maybe he could even recognize what she wouldn't say aloud: the truth behind why she was standing here.

But Allyson stayed quiet. She kept that last piece to herself.

She lifted her chin slightly.

"Just tell me what you want."

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Do you fear what she would say if she'd known?" The cruel glimmer in His eyes was unmistakable, it was something Allyson had come to recognize quite easily. "Do you think she would enthusiastically support you? That she would wholeheartedly stand by your side, and be thankful for what you endeavor to do?" His expression darkened, sharp shadows contrasting the natural curvature of His features. "Or would she try to stop you? What lengths do you think she will go to to stop you from meeting me here and now? Would you fight her if it came to that? Would you hurt her to save her? A pity you did not inform her, Allyson, we might never discover the answer."

But there it was again, that same look. "What will she do when you tell her what you've done now? How well do you know Madelyn Lowe, Allyson Locke? What will you do if things do not unfold the way you wish them to? So many questions, Allyson Locke, so many, many questions all at once." He was obviously poking at her now, prodding and digging at whatever points He thought He could leverage. She knew He was trying to get under her skin, but how deeply He dug was entirely reliant on how susceptible she was. Before, when they were enemies, He'd only targeted her directly. Now, He was targeting whatever potential insecurities and doubt existed within her mind.

"You ask of me what I desire in return for your request? Very well, I will tell you. If you want Madelyn Lowe to be absolved of her contract, then you will prove to me your commitment to the Sith. I've known you, Allyson Locke, as a servant of the Jedi and the Alliance they serve. That has changed, and you claim to be a servant of the Sith Order. I know too well how deeply embedded we Sith and Jedi can become in another's Order, Taeli Raaf proved this. I will not suffer the inverse."

His gaze was intense and withering.

"Fight for the Sith, kill Valery Noble, and destroy the Galactic Alliance. That is my price."

Allyson Locke ​