Revelations

[Louise]

Evelynn had been summoned.

No, no, not by Nemene upon Rattatak. So I'm afraid if you were looking for strongly implied lesbian sadomasochistic sex then you've clicked upon the wrong thread. No, the Silent Sister had been summoned upon Panatha, a planet the woman often travelled to in the very necessary pursuit of training.

There were benefits to training on either planets. Her own personal bestiary upon Rattatak was a haven for the road of beast mastery, and Master-at-Arms of the cauldron was ideal for showing the frail girl the ways of combat (an area she had and still was severely been lacking in).

However Nemene loathed her contemplation and meditation, her need to bury herself in lore and sorcery. This of course could be expected, her sister was a combat expert first, and in Talith tradition didn't really hold the same sway in the areas of the Force.

In that respect Panatha was a haven. Well, when bird crushing little cretins weren't roaming about. Of course, that wasn't even mentioning the fantastic library that it hosted. You couldn't have a wine swilling villain like Kaine Zambrano with a pithy little library, no sir! Now, back to the story at hand.

Evelynn had been summoned.

The blonde had floated through the vast halls and corridors of the castle, making her way to her Master's chambers as if she were a ghost, an amusing piece of imagery given how often spectres seemed to bother Zambrano.

Three gentle knocks upon the chamber door, and then she entered, head bowed as per usual when greeting.

Master?

There was a hint of fear and reluctance in those telepathic tones, hopefully she would not be bound for the isolation chamber again.

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"It's progressing even more rapidly than we had anticipated, milord. Your body cannot continue to sustain your power for long..."

"How much longer then?"

"We are unsure, but possible projections display a continued life expectancy of ten months... All of this is dependent on how much you exert yourself, sire."

"Very well... You are dismissed, Doctor."

"As you wish, milord."

The tyrant of Panatha watched as his head Doctor quickly shuffled out of the room, another routine physical that only furthered Kaine's dread of his decaying body. The Dark Side was like a cancer, ravaging his physical form while empowering his mind by unfathomable levels, but was that path to power worth the suffering now being inflicted upon him? He certainly believed so, but without a permanent solution he was doomed. Kaine rose from the chair he was sitting in, and donned a long, flowing robe to conceal his afflicted body, right before there came a knock at his door. "Enter." The door opened to reveal Evelynn, the Mouse of Panatha, who quickly strolled into the room and addressed Kaine with her iconic telepathy.

"It is good that you have come so urgently, Evelynn. There is something grand to which I must reveal to you... a secret that I have kept hidden from you for a long time." As he spoke, he moved around the room, eyeing various trinkets and baubles that were arrayed on his desk and table, occasionally looking back to Evelynn as well. "You remember that day on Thule? The day I killed your mother? Of course you do, well I'll get to the point. After I had disarmed her, and stripped her of her ability to call upon the Force, I gorged myself on the knowledge locked away in her mind, and I discovered something. Long ago, before you were born, Karin Dorn met with an astute officer of the Ministry of Imperial Intelligence, and they shared a single night together. That was all it took, and Karin was pregnant... pregnant with you."

He turned to her now, his gaze hard but with subtle hints of mirth, as if the knowledge he was about to give her was extremely humorous.

"I know who your father is."


[member="Evelynn"]

 

[Louise]

Secrets?

The girl's eyebrows found themselves raised upon the very notion of such. For it wasn't just a secret, but it was a grand secret.

He began with a trip down memory lane, a rather unpleasant trip regarding a girl who had long since been dead and buried. The Silent Sister had long since disconnected herself from Evelynn Dorn. Evelynn Dorn was a timid little creature who was afraid to sneeze lest she offended somebody, a girl who lived an fairly civilian life almost up to the day that she had died. Of course, biologically they were the same person, but as a coping mechanism the life and memories of one Evelynn Dorn had been cut off, like a gangrenous limb.

They couldn't be the same person, they couldn't be.

Despite getting to the point Kaine seemed to relish reliving the manner in which he had beaten and humiliated her mother. Standard Sith Lord stuff. The mute wrinkled her nose at the mention of it. Karin Dorn was weak, and thus deserved that fate, but the past was in the past.

Then it came. Her father? He had never been a notion in the girl's mind, her mother had made sure that the girl had been brought up not questioning where the other parent was. It was fair to say that the Lady Dorn had very deliberately hidden such a fact.

My father? Evelynn responded, recoiling slightly at the very word. She blinked, before looking to her Master. Who is he? She inquired almost greedily.

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

He had her now. He could sense her hunger at acquiring this piece of knowledge so personal to her, and he relished in the fact that he would tease out the secret to her one bit at a time. Was that a tad dickish and perhaps just too much flair? Probably, but Kaine didn't care in the slightest. "Telling you would just be so anti-climatic, I'd rather show you instead. Stand before me, and I will share with you the knowledge I had taken from Karin Dorn's mind, so that you know that I do not lie." When she had done what she was told, Kaine stood directly before her and gently placed his right hand on top of her head, and he opened his mind to the Force. He searched for that particular memory, one that was so familiar to him, but yet so elusive that he had almost forgotten it entirely before the revelation.

The memories would pour forth into Evelynn's head, and both would succumb to a coma-like state as they relived the memory through the eyes of the unknown father. Kaine's chambers melted away as they were thrust together into a youthful frame, tall and handsome, but they could only see what he sees.

The man they shared a memory-body with slowly rubbed his hands together as the scene began to materialize around them, revealing the inside of an Imperial shuttle breaking through the atmosphere of a planet. The cabin lurched back and forth as turbulence battered against the metal hull with impunity, but the man never seemed to mind. He was used to this, he had been on hundreds of worlds across the galaxy, and the entry was something he hardly noticed now. Rather, his mind was focused on where he was to be temporarily stationed, and the hostess who would greet him and his comrades into her abode.

The shuttle roared, and shuddered as it rested gently on the landing pad leading to an enormous castle of stone and steel that jutted up into the sky like a stone behemoth. Lightning cascaded constantly around them, but the castle was protected by an elaborate system of shields that attracted lightning away from the castle. The man shuffled to his feet, and filed out of the shuttle to meet a squad of soldiers, who then escorted our young mystery man towards the castle. The castle was obviously what would become Kaine's castle during his reign, but for now it belonged to the illustrious Karin Dorn, and was bereft of her statue. The foyer, however; was still pristine and exquisite to behold, as all noble holdings should be.

She was waiting inside as the young man entered, wearing what could be considered a seductive, revealing garb that obviously caught the attention of our young lad. "Welcome, welcome. It's so warming to see visitors, especially ones as handsome as yourself." That brought out a chuckle from the man, "Not as warming to be in the presence of one as beautiful and enticing as you, milady Dorn." Karin laughed, "Now now, flattery can be saved for later... You are my guest, and I should see to your every need." Something about the emphasis of 'every' made the man grin even bigger, and he followed his hostess down the hall as she led him to what would most likely be his quarters.

"By the way, I didn't catch your name."

"It's Zambrano, Kaine Zambrano, your highness."

"Zambrano, eh? I've heard things about you... I hope they're not exaggerated."

"Give me a chance to prove my talents to you, and you won't regret it."

"We shall see."

The memory began to distort, but the secret was finally revealed at last...


[member="Evelynn"]

 

[Louise]

Of course, it wouldn't be as simple as just outright telling her. Oh no, we'd have to take the long and winding route.

The girl grimaced as he placed a decrepit hand atop her head, she couldn't help but feel a twinge of unease at the pit of her stomach. It was time for a little mental adventure. The chamber seemed to disintegrate into nothing as her consciousness left the realm of the present and arrived in the almost forgotten past.

A shuttle. A man. What bearing did they have on this? Time would reveal all.

She observed as the vessel reached its destination, a familiar sight came in the form of Thule castle. How could she forget the home of death and despair? It then occurred to mute that she was about to see a face she hadn't seen in quite some time. Evelynn really hadn't mentally prepared for this occasion.

There she was, in all that former glory:

Karin Dorn, Bitch Sorceress of Thule.

Caught between the rock of her former hedonism and the hard place of her future as an old crow she was a formidable sight. A tighter face than Evelynn had ever remembered, but those same sharp and cruel features, the blonde hair quite short and androgynous. Looks like punk was growing up.

The Silent Sister observed and cringed as her mother rather blatantly flirted with the mystery man. So they stood in the mind of her father? But who was he?! The name was revealed, she almost held her breath.

Kaine Zambrano.

No.

The memory broke down and gave way to the present, and almost immediately the girl reeled backwards. He was her...? No. He couldn't be! He wouldn't... A pallid bony hand crept up to her mouth as for the first time in forever bile crawled up her throat. No. How could he have committed all those atrocities knowing that she was his daughter?! He had knowingly tortured her, broken her, robbed her of her voice! Kaine Zambrano could not have been her father!

But he was, she had seen it.

For a brief moment the girl known as Evelynn Dorn returned from the grave, and in her typical terrified fashion span around and promptly vomited upon the floor.

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Kaine watched passively as Evelynn retched all over the floor, to which Kaine frowned at distastefully before calling in a pair of servants to clean up the filth. "I see that you are taking this revelation well. This knowledge that you are my child was the only thing that stopped me from killing you after I killed your mother, and I have grown fond of you since. I have removed your imperfections, and I have made you strong. Everything I have done to you was for a purpose, and look at you now. None of the creature you were before remains, Dorn no longer has any meaning to you, and you are your own. While that is true, you are also my daughter, and you have surpassed all others that have come before you."

Kaine moved to place a hand on her shoulder, his gaze unflinching, but filled with something that could be called the distant cousin, twice removed, of fatherly love. "I am proud of you."

[member="Evelynn"]

 

[Louise]

There's nothing like a good emotion vomit.

Having ejected half of her feelings upon the floor the girl crouched down, staring at puddle of sick. Was this a dream? Were banthas about to come flying through the window? A pause. No. No they weren't, because apparently this was reality. Evelynn was the daughter of Kaine Zambrano.

Slaves scurried in to clean up the mess she had made, and finally the mute stood, her father's hand clasping down upon her bony shoulder.

He was proud?

Proud of Evelynn? The Silent Horror? The Mute Freak? Well, actually, yes that made sense. He had taken a frightened and foolish creature of compassion and twisted her into this pain obsessed torturer. Would could have predicted that that meek little blonde girl would grow up to slaughter her way to a crown and a kingdom? From that standpoint she owed him everything.

But that was one hell of a twisted standpoint.

You're proud...of me?

Karin Dorn had never been proud. Wait. No. Stop this! By god, Evelynn, you're so deep in manipulations that I can't even conjure the correct imagery to describe it!

Why...why are you telling me now? Why not sooner?

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

Kaine's expression darkened slightly, his eyebrows knitted together in concentration as he sought to find the words as to why he had withheld this information for so long. "Perhaps I should have told you sooner, but that cannot be changed now. The truth is out, and you have seen the proof of my words. I held this from you so that I could mold you into a Sith, and I have done that, with the help of others, but it was me who has guided you like a shepherd. I tortured you to make you resistant to pain, and I removed all that made you weak. Your voice was not fit for any daughter of mine, and even without it you have acquired a new, stronger voice. A voice that is so much more meaningful than your old stutter." He slowly removed his hand from Evelynn's shoulder, and turned away from her before walking over to a large chest that sat at the foot of his master bed.

He knelt before the chest, and unlocked with an intricate wave of his hand, the Force unlocking the series of safeguards that had been built into the chest. The lid popped open with hiss, and from within it's depths Kaine pulled out a pyramid-shaped bundle wrapped up in a thick cloth. He rose to his feet, and turned back to Evelynn. "I had been saving this for some time, to give to the child that has proved themselves to me the most. On this day, I choose you, Evelynn. So now I give you this." He unfolded the cloth to reveal the holocron hiding beneath, one that had been in his possession for as long as he could remember, and one that had helped teach him the fundamentals of the ancient art of Sith Alchemy.

The Holocron of Belia Darzu.


[member="Evelynn"]

 

[Louise]

Anybody with sanity would have objected to his statement. Torture, as it stood in the realm of normality was an abhorrent act, the complete and utter violation of both mind and body. The very act of strengthening Evelynn through torture had robbed the girl of so much, sure, you could stab her in the sternum and she'd offer you a smile but at what cost? Almost everything.

Thankfully sanity was one of those lost elements and that left the girl thankful for her horrific treatment, even if she had been initially jarred by the fact it was her father that committed the acts.

Wham! Hit with the stick of surprise honour.

A holocron. Boundless knowledge was contained within that trinket. The girl was struck by awe, the fact that she had been presented with it, the pyramid of power would be passed down to her! Her head dropped into a bow, and that conditioning that ran so deep made her forget any ounce of fury (or vomit) that tried to break further through. Her Master was proud, no, her father was proud.

Thank you, father.

The word almost felt alien to say, her telepathic voice brought it across slowly, deliberately, as if to give it new meaning. Her head rose, hollow granite eyes searching into his.

What does it contain?

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"It contains knowledge, of course. But, you are looking for specifics." He held the holocron out to her, so that she make take it into her own care. "This particular holocron is the holocron of the Sith Lord, Belia Darzu, who ruled as Dark Lord of the Sith two-thousand and eighty-seven standard years ago, during the Sictis Wars. It is an ancient and powerful artifact, and it has taught me much, just as it will teach you much. Within the confines of this holocron are the secrets of Sith Alchemy, Mechu-deru, and even the knowledge to construct your own holocron. I have taken all the knowledge I can from it, and now it is time it has found a new, worthy student to teach. That student is you now, Evelynn." Once he had handed over the holocron to his daughter, the tyrant sighed heavily and turned away from her to stand before the window overlooking the castle grounds.

He seemed to be wrestling with something inside of him, a certain form of turmoil on whether or not he should tell Evelynn why he truly revealed this information to her now. "Evelynn..." He clasped his hands behind his back, and continued to stare out of the window as he spoke, "Over the past few months my body has gone through Dark Side necrosis, a decay that is beginning to erode my physical form. I have tried to counter it's effects, but to no avail... Evelynn..." He turned back to her now, looking upon her with a face that looked decades older, "I'm dying."


[member="Evelynn Zambrano"]

 

[Louise]

Taking the holocron into her own decrepit grasp the girl took a moment to appreciate the weight of knowledge that now sat in her hand. It was of course, as previously mentioned a great honour. He said it himself, she was worthy. Finally after all the strife and the suffering. Evelynn was worthy, if only at the price of sanity.

However, a new reveal came, turning the mood of the moment on its head once again.

Oh dear.

I'm your father, I'm going to go die now.

Evelynn did not even know how to react, so confusing, so conflicted was the relationship between father and daughter that she didn't know where to get off on the rollercoaster. Was she to be distraught? Joyous? No. No. The mute was to be loyal. Dutiful.

Her face creased into a frown.

Tell me what I can do to help?

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"My body is decaying rapidly, and my best doctors tell me that I have only ten months to live. However; my affliction gets worse the more I use the Dark Side of the Force, so you can see the problem. I have been searching for a permanent solution for months, but sadly I have only found multiple temporary solutions that only delay the inevitable. However; I have been working on a solution, but my current life expectancy does not allow me to see it to fruition. That's why I need you, Evelynn." He slowly moved till he was standing before her, his eyes staring into hers as he placed both hands on her shoulders.

"I need you to create a body to replace my current decaying body, and once I am dead I can eventually transfer my spirit into the new body from the afterlife and be reborn again."

[member="Evelynn Zambrano"]

 

[Louise]

The mute frowned as he went on. A cautionary tale of the Dark Side if there ever was one. Naturally, being well-read meant that Evelynn was very much aware of the negative effects the darker elements of the Force had upon a person. Whether it was the erosion of body, mind or soul it would happen, and it would happen to everybody. The mastery of beasts, thankfully was more of a neutrally aligned ability.

Not that she didn't dabble in those darker arts. What would come to claim her one day? Hey now, let's step back and focus on the now. Your father is dying. Selfish cow.

This wasn't exactly the easiest task.

Create a body?

What did he have in mind? Was she to be Doctor Frankenstein and he her monster? Or did he have something more alchemical in mind? You won't know if you don't ask. Naturally there was an instinctive fear there, of disappointing her Master, nay her father.

Do you have any body in mind?

[member="Darth Vornskr"]

 

[Darth Carnifex]

"Everything is in preparation, I have been making these arrangements ever since I discovered that my body was dying. Sadly, the decay is too rapid, and I would never have lived to see the completion of my project. Everything you need to know is in the Holocron I just gave to you. I know how much you love to read, and to learn... Study everything, and you will find the answer, and complete the work I started. Should everything go to how I have foreseen, then I will only be gone for a short while." Kaine had lowered himself to kneel before Evelynn, to get himself to eye level at least so he could look his daughter in the eye.

"There is also another matter of which you must attend to when I am gone. The Kingdom must have a ruler, and soon I will be gone from this world, which is why I need you to rule in my stead. Henceforth, I legitimize you, Evelynn. You are no longer another one of my bastards, but now the legitimate heir to all that I own. None of the others had proved to me that they were worthy to shoulder a legacy like mine, but you did."

[member="Evelynn Zambrano"]