A Legacy In Flames
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A flashback...
Tension growing, growing, growing, she could see it, hear it, taste it in the tension of the skin from where she sat.
Oh the girl had resisted well, put up quite the fight even, but this was the Citadel on Lola Sayu, and odds were rigged against her. It was what made this place so exquisite: The architects had thought of just about everything. She remembered herself how difficult it was to infiltrate. Difficult, but not impossible. No, the Sith Empire's guards were more diligent than the previous owners, that much she knew.
The Rattataki bit her lower lip and leaned forward as she sensed the pain well up. And there it was, the first snap. A shiver went down her spine when she heard the scream, so loud, so genuine, it travelled down the halls. The delight in her was palpable as she savoured every drop of misery exuded from the prisoner.
"Oh you sing beautifully today, Filth"
Filth, that was the name by which she had referred to Romi all this time. Ophidia set down the cup on the table next to her seat and stood up. She took a few steps towards Romi and then stopped as she squatted down to look into the Jedi's eyes as they filmed over and dimmed.
"No no. Stay awake dear. We have more songs to sing." "I need you to stay awake for me, Filth. Just a little more."
She pulled a small vial from her pocket and unscrewed the cork, then held it under Romi's nose. The solution was supposed to jolt the unconscious awake with a rush of adrenaline. It wouldn't dull the pain much. The cogs did not continue, but the clamps remained tight for the time being. Ophidia knew better than to release a Jedi while waking her up. No, that would only lead to an escape attempt. Until the girl was thoroughly hobbled, that would not do.
"Come now."
She reached out to clamp her fingers around Romi's face, impatience growing on her face. She waved the noxious solution under Romi's nose.
"Don't make me peel that pretty face off while you sleep."
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The two stood and stared for what seemed a long while, neither blinking -- their shared history likely flashing before their eyes in an instant. Romi's face screwed up with incredulity.
Snap-Hiss!
The hiss-crack of her lightsaber thumbing to life drowned out the sharp intake of breath she took to compose herself after reliving Lola Sayu and the aftermath she still dealt with constantly. Taeli had it coming, but Ophidia...
Rather than taking another half second to block, Romi backpedalled on the down swipe, using the physical momentum of her retreat to roll down onto her right hip before coming around, slashing wide and level with her scarlet lightsaber. Her blonde hair shone with reflected highlights as it lashed from one shoulder to another. Her blue eyes blazed with another sort of light, one that matched the feral snarl on her face. Granted, she expected more from the assassin, and knew her responsive maneuver wouldn't dare live up to the level of swordsmanship they'd both obtained over the years -- it wouldn't be difficult for her to slink her way around it; it was only just an opening display.
Romi ducked back, rolling through a somersault, then came up on her feet.
Her blade came up in a guard high by her right ear. The light from her blade threw an iridescent sheen visible on Romi's face and bare arms.
"Ophidia..." her tone was sharp. "Here I thought i'd have to hunt you down...and yet, you just pop up. How convenient..." she smirked.
Widening her stance, her chest grew with air -- chiming in on the ebb and flow of the Force -- she drew it in as if she were shrugging on a well worn cloak; close. Then she loosened her grip on its familiar embrace. She let the current of power fall around her in a wave, sharpening her senses. At this point...Romi had become a veteran warrior who has repeatedly confronted the power of the dark side and survived...she came to develop an intimacy with violence. She wasn't the unsure Jedi Knight from several years ago.
"This is the rubber match."
Darth Ophidia
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