Boethiah
Dark Messiah
[Exhale]
The cave was just ahead... Her footsteps trembled forward as the growing darkness began to take hold of her mind; it felt surreal. This was the source of it all? The reason why the Gulandi Sephi were the way they are.
Inside the cave was known by the Gulandi as the 'Source of Asperity', it drew the world into a chaotic state of madness and lead the Sephi who immigrated there to eventually slaughter each other, leaving on the strongest alive. Her steps continued to feel heavier until at last she entered the dimly lit entrance and the moment she turned around it happened. All the light had disappeared, as if she was miles inside the cave and the entrance days back. There were few sounds, the occasional ripping of moisture but no sound of moths or insects. It seemed that nothing made its home here. No life: Except her.
Slowly the darkness began to grow deeper leaving her nearly blinded; even her Umbaran eyes were drifting slowly into its shadow. Then she hard it.
[Snap]
The unmistakable sound of something crunching under the weight of movement. It was a controlled maneuver, there was no follow up as there would be if something fell or collapsed. A subtle breath escaped the source and drifted across her shoulder, the gasses tickled her neck before stinging it like dry ice. She tried to turn but her movements became to lock, her muscles turned sore and her feet sunk slowly, then her knees, something was pulling her into the floor below and then it stopped.
Anja's heart raced, thump, thump, thump, the heart would beat faster each time splitting the seconds in thrice. Her cheeks grew warm as the blood rushed lower from her head, she felt dizzy and exhausted. The source of the breath grew closer, she could feel it even though not a sound -- not a whisper -- went to her ears as if she was becoming deaf. Whoever, whatever was there made itself unknown; there was no hint to its being or purpose. The silence broke in a quick grunt like one that would escape a beast startled in excitement when tracking sudden movement.
"What are you?", she asked. Her voice was shaky but slowly collected itself on the syllables as she tried to put up some composure. Even as her primal instincts began to take hold, her own sense of pride remained; she wouldn't be taken a fool by the source of this trickery. Even then she wasn't certain it was trickery -- it could of been magic, the force that she had begun to familiarize her in recent times. It was power she still had much to learn of and one she saw could achieve great and terrible things. The Sith, her allies, worshiped its property like they would the grace of an audacious conqueror; feeding off of its power as their source of strength. She had not felt that way about it. To her it was not alive, it was not above her, it was merely a tool that she wielded. Unliving.
Only a few seconds of no response went by before a soft voice, soft yet surprisingly low and powerful, broke through a brief crackle like air escaping a dry throat.
"What are you?", it responded in mimic of her own question. The thought struck her odd at first, but then it wore on her patience and began to sink into her mind. The voice itself wasn't the problem. There was something about the way it was said, the way it drifted into her ears; the words became lost like she was in this cave. Her thinking felt real and loud until the source of the voice spoke once more. "Can you not feel it?", and almost immediately it became clear to her. Suddenly she looked around and found herself standing in what seemed to be the stomach of some large creature; gasses and mucus excreted from pores in the walls and swiftly sunk her before a large opening at her feet unclasped. She fell into it with a sudden strike shooting up her stomach and to her heart. It was like waking from a dream, as soon as it happened she tripped forward and back into the darkness.
Something was obviously quite wrong. Was it an illusion, a vision, or was she going mad? The questions stirred crazily in her thoughts and with each new one the old disappeared; her memories too. She nearly forgotten about why she had came in the first place. To help herself think she began to speak aloud.
"I'm here to find the Source of Asperity , the source of darkness on Gulamendis.", her tongue procured soft words that touched the humid cold air. Her eyes were weeping but dry when she went to wipe them. For many years Anja, The Host Lord, has never felt such emotions raised inside her. As if her own heart and thoughts were replaced with that of a young child missing home. She did miss her upbringing, before it all started, before she was forced to kill the only person she had connected with. A duel that sealed her fate. How could she have been proud of the moment? Then again he tried to kill her too. But that hesitation, his eyes exclaiming his wish not to, that edge that allowed her to pierce the blade slowly and sickly through his chest and into the ground as he collapsed and the metal stuck through. Why was she even thinking of this? Her own mind -- part of her -- began to betray her own past and tell her she was wrong.
"You killed love itself, how ironic to call yourself humble before a God only to kill its creations.", that was the straw. A bitter rage built up inside her chest and escaped her tongue.
"You are nothing! Nothing before me. I am the Host Lord, Harbinger of Nogras, the Fifteenth Prophet and Master of the Bleeding Sun. How dare you!? How dare you pretend to know my past and use it against me. I own my thoughts, they are mine!", she reached for her vibroblade in a shout and swung swiftly around her like a whirlwind to see if she could hit anything. If there was a chance she could end the pain and return to her old self. This was a fury she had neither known nor bear at any point previous; something inside her escaped like a caged animal starved.
A sinister chuckle drew away once again as earlier the sights came back to her. It was still dark but Anja could see enough. A robed figure stood only two meters in front of her, holding a weapon that looked similar to the one the Jedi carried during the rescue mission on her ship. "Who are you?", she asked whilst gripping her blade cautiously in a Juyo stance. The figure did not respond audibly but instead ignited a red energetic blade, it hummed uninterrupted and blurred outwards towards her. As Anja tried to raise her blade in defense she felt a sharp piercing pain in her right arm. Looking down she saw her own arm removed with precision in all its gore collapse to the floor below. Her neck tilted, her head turned, and her eyes rolled in the direction of the attacker to which point the blade came to her throat. In the instant she would've died she 'awoke' again. Once more she was stumbling, lost in the darkness.
She had enough. She wished no more part in this 'game' or whatever it was. Collapsing to her knees the Host Lord began to meditate on the darkness around her, finally she realized what she felt. It was that very power inside her. The magic, the force, the thing she wielded unilivingly but this time it was far more than alive; it was destroying her sense of reality.
"Oh? So you finally see!", the voice grew more familiar but it was neither masculine nor feminine. It seemed neutral in all its ways and echoed over itself.
"See what?", she asked as if this entity was now part of her social life; a life she neither had nor willed.
"You don't see entirely.", the voice became more enigmatic and broke out like a loud whisper. Anja's meditation was not broken yet by the conversation. If the source was speaking she did not hear it. At first she no longer heard anything again but not as before; it wasn't silent. It was just... Tranquil, peaceful, and it enabled her to think more clearly than ever before and suddenly there was light. She could see what was around her. A vast open cavern but then something startling. She noticed there was a rather straight tunnel back to the entrance; although she did not remember herself walking through at all. Somehow she had been moving on her own this whole time. Her eyes opened as she took a stand, the darkness returned and blinded her but she wished to investigate further.
Her lip curled up in a sly smirk, "You cannot fool me anymore, fiend. I may not see but I am not blind; you cannot test my faith.", her voice was finally reassured in her own ability and she took a few blind steps forward with her arms out. Each step echoed throughout the chamber as she looked into her memory to pick up images of the room she was in. Of course it wasn't perfect, she tripped now and again; braced herself on walls and formations. Finally she felt a curve into a narrower path. This path she did not know where it lead but that no longer mattered. There was something at play here and she would find it.
Anja trekked further, slowly, but surely and perhaps an hour had passed until she noticed the trail ended. Almost falling into what seemed to be a pit the Host Lord clung to the edge and pulled herself back up. Her heart raced as it did earlier, her fears coming to her. She did not feel death quite naturally but this time she feared an end. To be undiscovered and alone.
"See to it that you don't fall.", the voice seemed to reappear despite that she did not sense its following. "You again?", she was rhetorical in her asking and less concerned. For now it seemed whoever was speaking could only harm her with bad thoughts, not physical actions but she was indeed in danger. As she turned around to walk back she nearly made the same mistake. On all sides. The walls around her seemed to have disappeared like she was now standing on a pedestal. It began to shrink and each time she backed up she nearly fell again until whatever surface she had under her disappeared. She couldn't scream, her voice choked and she felt her stomach go light as she fell. In the last moments she felt an inevitable end and closed her eyes only to once again awaken outside of harms way.
"Why keep up the same thing? It has no affect on me...", she said curiously. She did lie, however, although she felt no permanent damages there was still the fear. She could no longer be certain of what was real or otherwise. It seemed that her question was not a smart one; the voice became angry at the quip.
"Do not pretend that you are strong. You're weak! An absolutely disgusting cretin whom calls herself worthy!", the voice slaughtered her with the words in an irritable passion and rose from a masculine to a feminine voice. It began to make her wonder about its nature. It seemed clear enough that there was no such creature on the planet capable of changing its voice. The Sephi may have been able to wield illusions through the force but none she had heard of were nearly that powerful and besides, they owed their loyalty to her... At least she assumed.
The sound of moisture dripping began again. Chills and nibbles from the cold returned; reality was back.
"Show yourself...", her demand was said cautiously as to trap them into coming out so that she may strike them down.
There was no response. Her lips formed a slight quivering frown and she continued to walk into the unknown...
The cave was just ahead... Her footsteps trembled forward as the growing darkness began to take hold of her mind; it felt surreal. This was the source of it all? The reason why the Gulandi Sephi were the way they are.
Inside the cave was known by the Gulandi as the 'Source of Asperity', it drew the world into a chaotic state of madness and lead the Sephi who immigrated there to eventually slaughter each other, leaving on the strongest alive. Her steps continued to feel heavier until at last she entered the dimly lit entrance and the moment she turned around it happened. All the light had disappeared, as if she was miles inside the cave and the entrance days back. There were few sounds, the occasional ripping of moisture but no sound of moths or insects. It seemed that nothing made its home here. No life: Except her.
Slowly the darkness began to grow deeper leaving her nearly blinded; even her Umbaran eyes were drifting slowly into its shadow. Then she hard it.
[Snap]
The unmistakable sound of something crunching under the weight of movement. It was a controlled maneuver, there was no follow up as there would be if something fell or collapsed. A subtle breath escaped the source and drifted across her shoulder, the gasses tickled her neck before stinging it like dry ice. She tried to turn but her movements became to lock, her muscles turned sore and her feet sunk slowly, then her knees, something was pulling her into the floor below and then it stopped.
Anja's heart raced, thump, thump, thump, the heart would beat faster each time splitting the seconds in thrice. Her cheeks grew warm as the blood rushed lower from her head, she felt dizzy and exhausted. The source of the breath grew closer, she could feel it even though not a sound -- not a whisper -- went to her ears as if she was becoming deaf. Whoever, whatever was there made itself unknown; there was no hint to its being or purpose. The silence broke in a quick grunt like one that would escape a beast startled in excitement when tracking sudden movement.
"What are you?", she asked. Her voice was shaky but slowly collected itself on the syllables as she tried to put up some composure. Even as her primal instincts began to take hold, her own sense of pride remained; she wouldn't be taken a fool by the source of this trickery. Even then she wasn't certain it was trickery -- it could of been magic, the force that she had begun to familiarize her in recent times. It was power she still had much to learn of and one she saw could achieve great and terrible things. The Sith, her allies, worshiped its property like they would the grace of an audacious conqueror; feeding off of its power as their source of strength. She had not felt that way about it. To her it was not alive, it was not above her, it was merely a tool that she wielded. Unliving.
Only a few seconds of no response went by before a soft voice, soft yet surprisingly low and powerful, broke through a brief crackle like air escaping a dry throat.
"What are you?", it responded in mimic of her own question. The thought struck her odd at first, but then it wore on her patience and began to sink into her mind. The voice itself wasn't the problem. There was something about the way it was said, the way it drifted into her ears; the words became lost like she was in this cave. Her thinking felt real and loud until the source of the voice spoke once more. "Can you not feel it?", and almost immediately it became clear to her. Suddenly she looked around and found herself standing in what seemed to be the stomach of some large creature; gasses and mucus excreted from pores in the walls and swiftly sunk her before a large opening at her feet unclasped. She fell into it with a sudden strike shooting up her stomach and to her heart. It was like waking from a dream, as soon as it happened she tripped forward and back into the darkness.
Something was obviously quite wrong. Was it an illusion, a vision, or was she going mad? The questions stirred crazily in her thoughts and with each new one the old disappeared; her memories too. She nearly forgotten about why she had came in the first place. To help herself think she began to speak aloud.
"I'm here to find the Source of Asperity , the source of darkness on Gulamendis.", her tongue procured soft words that touched the humid cold air. Her eyes were weeping but dry when she went to wipe them. For many years Anja, The Host Lord, has never felt such emotions raised inside her. As if her own heart and thoughts were replaced with that of a young child missing home. She did miss her upbringing, before it all started, before she was forced to kill the only person she had connected with. A duel that sealed her fate. How could she have been proud of the moment? Then again he tried to kill her too. But that hesitation, his eyes exclaiming his wish not to, that edge that allowed her to pierce the blade slowly and sickly through his chest and into the ground as he collapsed and the metal stuck through. Why was she even thinking of this? Her own mind -- part of her -- began to betray her own past and tell her she was wrong.
"You killed love itself, how ironic to call yourself humble before a God only to kill its creations.", that was the straw. A bitter rage built up inside her chest and escaped her tongue.
"You are nothing! Nothing before me. I am the Host Lord, Harbinger of Nogras, the Fifteenth Prophet and Master of the Bleeding Sun. How dare you!? How dare you pretend to know my past and use it against me. I own my thoughts, they are mine!", she reached for her vibroblade in a shout and swung swiftly around her like a whirlwind to see if she could hit anything. If there was a chance she could end the pain and return to her old self. This was a fury she had neither known nor bear at any point previous; something inside her escaped like a caged animal starved.
A sinister chuckle drew away once again as earlier the sights came back to her. It was still dark but Anja could see enough. A robed figure stood only two meters in front of her, holding a weapon that looked similar to the one the Jedi carried during the rescue mission on her ship. "Who are you?", she asked whilst gripping her blade cautiously in a Juyo stance. The figure did not respond audibly but instead ignited a red energetic blade, it hummed uninterrupted and blurred outwards towards her. As Anja tried to raise her blade in defense she felt a sharp piercing pain in her right arm. Looking down she saw her own arm removed with precision in all its gore collapse to the floor below. Her neck tilted, her head turned, and her eyes rolled in the direction of the attacker to which point the blade came to her throat. In the instant she would've died she 'awoke' again. Once more she was stumbling, lost in the darkness.
She had enough. She wished no more part in this 'game' or whatever it was. Collapsing to her knees the Host Lord began to meditate on the darkness around her, finally she realized what she felt. It was that very power inside her. The magic, the force, the thing she wielded unilivingly but this time it was far more than alive; it was destroying her sense of reality.
"Oh? So you finally see!", the voice grew more familiar but it was neither masculine nor feminine. It seemed neutral in all its ways and echoed over itself.
"See what?", she asked as if this entity was now part of her social life; a life she neither had nor willed.
"You don't see entirely.", the voice became more enigmatic and broke out like a loud whisper. Anja's meditation was not broken yet by the conversation. If the source was speaking she did not hear it. At first she no longer heard anything again but not as before; it wasn't silent. It was just... Tranquil, peaceful, and it enabled her to think more clearly than ever before and suddenly there was light. She could see what was around her. A vast open cavern but then something startling. She noticed there was a rather straight tunnel back to the entrance; although she did not remember herself walking through at all. Somehow she had been moving on her own this whole time. Her eyes opened as she took a stand, the darkness returned and blinded her but she wished to investigate further.
Her lip curled up in a sly smirk, "You cannot fool me anymore, fiend. I may not see but I am not blind; you cannot test my faith.", her voice was finally reassured in her own ability and she took a few blind steps forward with her arms out. Each step echoed throughout the chamber as she looked into her memory to pick up images of the room she was in. Of course it wasn't perfect, she tripped now and again; braced herself on walls and formations. Finally she felt a curve into a narrower path. This path she did not know where it lead but that no longer mattered. There was something at play here and she would find it.
Anja trekked further, slowly, but surely and perhaps an hour had passed until she noticed the trail ended. Almost falling into what seemed to be a pit the Host Lord clung to the edge and pulled herself back up. Her heart raced as it did earlier, her fears coming to her. She did not feel death quite naturally but this time she feared an end. To be undiscovered and alone.
"See to it that you don't fall.", the voice seemed to reappear despite that she did not sense its following. "You again?", she was rhetorical in her asking and less concerned. For now it seemed whoever was speaking could only harm her with bad thoughts, not physical actions but she was indeed in danger. As she turned around to walk back she nearly made the same mistake. On all sides. The walls around her seemed to have disappeared like she was now standing on a pedestal. It began to shrink and each time she backed up she nearly fell again until whatever surface she had under her disappeared. She couldn't scream, her voice choked and she felt her stomach go light as she fell. In the last moments she felt an inevitable end and closed her eyes only to once again awaken outside of harms way.
"Why keep up the same thing? It has no affect on me...", she said curiously. She did lie, however, although she felt no permanent damages there was still the fear. She could no longer be certain of what was real or otherwise. It seemed that her question was not a smart one; the voice became angry at the quip.
"Do not pretend that you are strong. You're weak! An absolutely disgusting cretin whom calls herself worthy!", the voice slaughtered her with the words in an irritable passion and rose from a masculine to a feminine voice. It began to make her wonder about its nature. It seemed clear enough that there was no such creature on the planet capable of changing its voice. The Sephi may have been able to wield illusions through the force but none she had heard of were nearly that powerful and besides, they owed their loyalty to her... At least she assumed.
The sound of moisture dripping began again. Chills and nibbles from the cold returned; reality was back.
"Show yourself...", her demand was said cautiously as to trap them into coming out so that she may strike them down.
There was no response. Her lips formed a slight quivering frown and she continued to walk into the unknown...