Private Somewhere Else

[Mercy]

Tag: Varin Mortifer | Lysander von Ascania | Lily Rhodes
Continued from: Parade on Alderaan

Things happened in very short succession after the threat was delivered by the Jedi.

Mercy's image had blurred and from one moment to the next she had suddenly appeared behind Lily. Her hand already moving to grip her neck, to make a point, and perhaps that quick blurring had caused the Alderaan forces to see it as a direct threat to their leadership. The Sith Lord would never know what went on in their minds, because a moment later the sky began to rain fire down on the city sector. The threat materializing exactly as it was promised by their leaders. Mercy wasn't sure if they managed to evacuate every civilian from that sector, it sounded like a tall order, but the Jedi had a way of surprising her.

She wouldn't be there to find out the amount of property damage done to the city however.

The moment the sky lit up into flames, Mercy's presence in the Netherworld unfolded. Back during the Kaggath she had grafted mutilated spirits of the Sith onto her. It had left a connection to that dark place in the shape of wings that followed her wherever she went.

Unlike some of the Lords of the Sith Mercy couldn't just teleport wherever she wanted.

Those dark shadowy wings wrapped around herself, Lily and also Lysander and Varin.

What she did was something far less graceful.

One moment they were on Alderaan. The next they were ripping through a maw in reality and flying through horrors. The Netherworld was a dark place at the best of time, but Mercy's direct intrusion into that nightmarish realm riled up all kinds of nasty things. And the only thing between them and that was Mercy's wings sheltering them. The screams of spirits of past, monsters beyond call... and perhaps the most terrifying thing of all.

Mercy herself, cackling like a psychopath, with gleaming eyes taking the nightmare in and welcoming it as a friend.

She had aimed for the sling-shot maneuver to bring them to Coruscant. To Throneworld itself. They'd be safe there... more or less. But Mercy's traveling was never graceful or all that accurate... and as another maw opened up and spilled them out of the Netherworld?

They found themselves somewhere else.

A large clearing with an even larger temple dominating the scene. Dark obsidian stone and workers around it like ants in a hive.

"Hm..." The wings were gone as the maw closed behind them, but the shadows were there for them to see. They might realize they had always been there, hiding in Mercy's own shadow. "I don't think this is Coruscant..."

Head tilted to Lysander.

"Thoughts where we are?"

Not even making a comment about the insane shit that had just happened.

And yes, she was still casually holding Lily by the scruff of her neck.

 

[Varin Mortifer]

VARIN MORTIFER

Equipment: Durum Mantle | Black Blade of Chandrila | Eye of The Dragon | Heavy Sith Mace | Cross Guard Broadsaber

It all happened so quickly. First Varin had noticed the Jedi and security surrounding them, he had prepared himself for some defensive maneuvers. Then Mercy moved first, a blur grabbing the back of the neck of the woman he and Lysander were to meet with.

The next thing he could remember was speed, but something else, something wrong. He remembered the screams, the shrieks the feeling of something…dark, like the absence of anything besides pain and torture.

But just as quickly as it came, it was gone.

They had landed in some form of clearing, just outside a busy large temple.

Varin ripped his helm from his head in a fit of rage and frustration, slamming it hard enough to dig into the earth by their feet.

“Damn it!”

His steps fell aggressively in a circular pattern around the helmet as he paced, his breathing harsh and rapid. The combination of fury and whatever else he felt from the moment that just barely slipped his memory seconds prior. He had not even noticed that Mercy asked Lysander a simple question.

“My one time of seeing some parade and of course the threat of a turbolaser comes into play!”

His fists tightened before a yell ripped through his throat down towards the empty clearing away from the group and the temple, the sound of his voice ripping through dirt and stirring sone as the soundwaves burst from his body.

Mercy | Lily Rhodes | Lysander von Ascania​

 

[Lily Rhodes]

Hell erupted around her.

Figuratively and literally.

One moment, she had felt the mountain of a woman's hand close on the back of her neck, the next fire had bloomed in the sky as the Jedi had made good on their threat. She didn't have time to react not at the speed things shift around her as the stone that had been beneath her feet was pulled away. It wasn't like her own travel, where the fabric of space ripped violently around her. This version of travel came with violent scream that didn't belong to any of them, echoes of ghosts that tried to reach through the wings that enveloped them.

Mercy's manic laughter rang high above it all, like this was nothing more than a harmless rollercoaster.

Lily felt ground beneath her feet again as the wings retreated, pulling the shadows with them. She didn't hesitate, wrenching free of Mercy's grip she staggered forward a few paces before her legs gave out, her breathing hard as nausea threatened to overwhelm her. She wrapped her hands around her stomach and curled over herself squeezing her eyes shut.

Deal with the physical first, unpack the rest later. She focused on her breathing, trying to regain control of it while her heart thudded loudly in her ears.

What the fuck had just happened?

Deep breath in, slow shaky exhale.

Where the fuck was she?

Another breath, another shaky exhale.

Slowly, she uncurled, her breathing slowed, the sound of blood rushing in her ears fading to a steadier thud, still elevated, but more controlled. Lily opened her eyes and looked up at the obsidian temple before them. This wasn't Alderaan, or Coruscant. It had started out a really good day, she'd landed a solid job, it had been a breeze and she had to go and do something dumb like approach sith. Fear gave way to frustration, adrenaline leaving her system slowly, leaving a tremor in her hands as it did.

She pushed herself to her feet, brushing her dress off as she muttered to herself. "Go talk to the Sith Lily, it'll be fine Lily—" whatever thought she'd been about to finish out loud was cut off by a scream that made her whip round. the one with the funky eye was letting off some steam apparently.

"Will you shut up!" she snapped. "Stars, you're like an attention magnet. Wouldn't know subtle if it punched you in the face. We have no idea where we are and your first instinct is to throw an tantrum. Idiot."

She folded her arms across her chest and turned to face the other two.

"This is just fucking perfect."

Varin Mortifer Mercy Lysander von Ascania