Private Sweet Little Lies

[Darth Virelia]

"Like mistress, like apprentice."

Tags - Valaine Valentine (I guess Kito )

The chamber was dark but not silent.

Candles guttered in their sconces, their flames drawn high and thin by the unnatural pull of the Dark Side that suffused the air. The walls breathed with violet shadows, rippling as if alive, as if straining to reach the woman seated at the center of it all. Darth Virelia.

She sat upon the obsidian dais with one leg crossed over the other, still as a statue save for the soft rise of her chest. The six luminous eyes of her mask cut through the gloom, fixed unwaveringly on the arched doors before her. She had not summoned anyone else. This was a matter meant for only two.

In the stillness, she replayed the fragments. The grainy flicker of the camera feeds. The sound recordings, too alive to be dismissed. The flash of a young Jedi's face, flushed and trembling, and her apprentice—her Sangnir...

Virelia did not sneer at the discovery. She approved. It was corruption at its most exquisite: not imposed, but chosen. A Jedi girl lured into the trembling touch of one already bound to darkness. Yet still, the test remained. Would Valaine admit to it? Or try to bury it behind that tired arrogance, those walls of defiance and shame she clung to so stubbornly?

The Dark Lady intended to find out.

Her claws traced the crystalline node at her chest, the place where her heart no longer was. Each tap was deliberate, slow, echoing through the chamber like a metronome of judgment. Tap. Tap. Tap.

The air grew thicker, every breath laced with something cloying and decadent, something that coiled around the will like smoke in the lungs. Whoever stepped into this chamber would feel the weight of her attention before they even reached the center.

Virelia did not intend to ask much. She would not lecture. Not yet. She would only look. Listen. And force her little Sangnir to fill the silence with whatever truth—or lies—she dared.

When at last the heavy doors groaned open, the sound stretched into the chamber like a scream pulled through honey. Virelia did not move, did not twitch, save for the faintest incline of her head as her apprentice crossed the threshold.

The voice that finally broke the silence was soft, low, drawn out like silk over sharpened steel.

"Come forward."

 

[Valaine Valentine]

Tags - Darth Virelia

As the heavy doors crept open with their ominously loud groan the pale Sangnir made herself known, walking in with her typical trudging steps. The candles only seemed to make her flinch ever so slightly, but the nice thing about candles was that the flames were typically very still and controlled, not erratic in their chaos like the fire she had such a primal fear of.

Her gaze shifted around curiously to the rest of the room however and it seemed to her that quite some progress had been made on Malachor V finally. It was good to see the fortress take shape.

But she had been summoned her for reasons unknown to her as her tired grey eyes turned forward towards her Mistress, approaching when bid to do so. She made her way over towards her, to offer her a light bow of her head in respect. Yes, she was still the usual arrogant and defiant apprentice that Virelia knew, but she had since been... somewhat tamed. Enough to show respect when it was required, at least.

Finally Valaine made her soft voice known as she asked the question at the front of her thoughts; "Uhm... You summoned me, Mistress..?" she asked with a light amount of curiosity and concern.

 

[Darth Virelia]

"Like mistress, like apprentice."

Tags - Valaine Valentine (I guess Kito )

The chamber swallowed the Sangnir's words as soon as they left her lips, carrying them upward into the vaults like smoke curling to die against stone.

Virelia did not answer at once. She let the silence stretch, let her apprentice feel the weight of those six violet eyes studying every twitch, every flicker of hesitation in her stance. The slow, deliberate scrape of a claw traced the arm of her throne, a whisper of sound that promised judgment when she chose to give it.

At last she shifted, uncrossing her legs and leaning forward just slightly, just enough that the shadows of the candles caught the sculpt of her mouth beneath the mask's open lower half. Lips painted dark, curved in something too poised to be called a smile.

"Yes," she purred, voice low, indulgent, corruptive as wine poured too slowly. "I called for you. I wish to… speak. Nothing more."

Her head tilted, chin resting against the back of one clawed hand as she watched the Sangnir approach. She drank in the sight of her—arrogant, yes, but softened now, tempered by the lash of service and the leash of desire. Virelia's tone lingered, wrapping around Valaine like silk cinched tight against the throat.

"Tell me, Valaine…" Her voice throbbed with something licentious, an intimacy that cut sharper than any blade. "Have you been feeding well?" A simple question, yet asked with a decadence that turned it into something else entirely—an insinuation, a prod, a temptation.

Her claws tapped once more against the throne before the next followed, unhurried, as though she already knew what the answer must be. "And tell me also…" she leaned in now, words softer, darker, almost conspiratorial, "…are you happy, little Sangnir? Content?"

Nothing more than that. Two light questions, deceptively harmless on their face. But the air thickened with corruption as the words left her lips, a quiet test folded in with every syllable.

Would Valaine answer easily, or stumble over truths she wished hidden? Would she reach for honesty, or dare the danger of a lie?

Virelia leaned back once more, mask gleaming in the candlelight, every inch the predator awaiting not words, but prey's reaction.

 

[Valaine Valentine]

Tags - Darth Virelia

Tired eyes briefly glanced towards the fact that Virelia's mask was only half up, revealing her lower face; a humanizing sense that she was certain wasn't by chance or coincidence knowing that Valaine found it easier to speak with her in this manner. As she watched Virelia lean forward and those six eyes bore into her she remained standing resolutely in the face of what might be scrutiny.

When finally her Mistress spoke she seemed only lightly startled by the sound, as if she was expecting the silence to simply continue. She had been brought here just to speak? Then surely she had nothing to worry about at all. She had a strange sense of certainty that Virelia wouldn't lie to her and that no matter what she said she was just in fact here to hear those words. At least for now.

"Have you been feeding well?"

She tilted her head curiously at that question. While naturally Malachor V proved to be extremely slim pickings for the Sangnir considering her particular palette, she had found a means of sating herself, a particular Shaper she kept encountering. With that in mind she spoke honestly as she had always done with her Mistress, for it was one of her few good traits. "Mmm. It was rough at the start, but yeah, I've been finding ways to keep myself fed well here." she offered a nod of her head in return.

But it was the second question she found somewhat perplexing as she appeared confused for a moment.

"…are you happy, little Sangnir? Content?"

"Happy...?" she paused in thought for a moment; was she happy here? She glanced around herself and offered a brutally honest answer, "I don't know that I'm happy... It's a very boring place." she stated before looking back towards Virelia. "But... Boring is better than bad, so I'm content, yeah." another nod offered in return. She spoke honestly but she only answered the questions she was asked. Nothing more, nothing less.

For all intents Valaine seemed at ease now, it was simply the doubt of what she had been summoned for that brought her concern.

 

[Darth Virelia]

"Like mistress, like apprentice."

Tags - Valaine Valentine (I guess Kito )

Virelia let the words linger in the air, her gaze never wavering from the pale girl before her. Content. Boring. Fed, but not full. She tasted the honesty in them, but also the restraint. Valaine never offered more than asked, never stepped beyond the lines drawn for her. A cautious little Sangnir—obedient, but always hedging.

The lower curve of Virelia's lips moved, faintly, as though tasting the word that had been given to her. "Boring." She let it roll from her tongue like an obscenity, a charge leveled against the very stones of Malachor. "You say this place lacks… flavor."

Her claws drummed once against the arm of her throne, slow, deliberate. She leaned forward again, her words folding low into the shadows between them. "And yet… even boredom can breed appetite. Hunger of other kinds. Do not tell me, little Sangnir, that you are without… indulgence." The way she spoke it was decadent, a purr that sank beneath the skin, laced with suggestion.

She rose from the throne then, each step toward Valaine silent but for the faint sigh of her robes. The six eyes glimmered violet in the candlelight as she drew close, close enough that her shadow spilled over the Sangnir entirely. Her gloved hand lifted, talon brushing just beneath the girl's chin, tilting it upward with practiced possession.

"Content…" Virelia echoed, voice dipping, silken and dangerous. "That is not the same as joy. And I wonder—" her thumb brushed over Valaine's lower lip, deliberate, corruptive, "—what you seek when no one is watching. What you take when you think it yours to take."

She held her there, suspended in that moment, as if she could peel the truth out of her with nothing but touch and tone. Then, almost too softly, she added: "Do not mistake me. I ask not to punish… but to understand. To know you. You belong to me, after all. You are to be honest... with your mistress."

Her words coiled, licentious and corruptive, promising intimacy while pressing down with quiet dominance. She did not demand confession. Not yet. She only left the weight of expectation heavy in the air, like a velvet chain around Valaine's throat.

 

[Valaine Valentine]

Tags - Darth Virelia Kito (Mention)

Valaine softly nodded in affirmation when Virelia stated the Sangnir's belief that Malachor V did indeed lack 'flavor'. She watched silently as her Mistress leaned forward in her seat.

"And yet… even boredom can breed appetite. Hunger of other kinds. Do not tell me, little Sangnir, that you are without… indulgence."

To this Valaine seemed somewhat puzzled, trying to decipher what Virelia was perhaps hinting towards. "... Indulgence?" asked the Sangnir with a hum. She had a couple ideas what might be getting referred to, but as to how her Mistress would know of one of them? She was uncertain. Her attention however was distracted as her Mistress stood and approached her with measured and firm steps.

The Sangnir knew what to expect at this point, it was a common song and dance between the two after all as she practically lifted her chin up in anticipation for the hand to place beneath it. Her tired eyes stared back at the six that glowed their radiance upon her pale visage. As she listened while a thumb brushed over her soft lips she offered a light pout in response.

"Mm...? Aren't I being honest...?" she asked softly in return before offering a gentle sigh. "I'm going to guess you're talking about the girl with the flames...? Didn't know you were aware... What did you want to know about her?" she replied rather bluntly. She would bring Kito up herself if her Mistress desired to dance around the subject, impatient as the Sangnir was.

 

[Darth Virelia]

"Like mistress, like apprentice."

Tags - Valaine Valentine (I guess Kito )

Virelia's smile was small and entirely private, as if she were tasting some delicate thing only she could appreciate. She let Valaine's honesty settle into the room like warm smoke, then leaned back against the throne with the casual grace of someone who always gets what she wants. The six violet lights in her helm softened; the edge of menace remained, but it was threaded now with a genuine, almost maternal pleasure.

"Good," she murmured, voice low and velveted. "Honesty is… rare. Rewarding it is wiser still."

She rose and paced three slow steps, the armor whispering, then returned until she was close enough that Valaine could feel the heat of her presence without being touched. One gloved finger traced a lazy circle on the Sangnir's jaw, an intimate gesture that carried none of the old teeth and claws. "You tell me true, and I will give you what you found on Chandrila," Virelia said, the promise soft as silk and sharp as a blade. "Not in public. Not hurriedly. A private pleasure for a private truth. Is that… motivating?"

When Valaine answered, Virelia's eyes—those unnatural facets—brightened as if lit from within. "Then begin at the beginning," she said, and the command was gentle but absolute. "Name her. How did you meet? When did you first touch hands? What does she say about you in the dark, when her guard lowers and her hand finds yours?"

Her tone slid from velvet into something greasier with appetite, but never cruel. "I like subtleties—what drew her, not only what you took. Jedi are fragile in their certainties; you broke a seam. Describe for me how you did it. I want the small things: a laugh she couldn't hide, a secret she thought she'd kept. Every detail is a lever."

Virelia's hand lifted; she let it rest at the back of Valaine's neck, not in force but in possession. "Do not be coy. If you want the reward, do not pare your words. I approve of what you've done." The admission came smooth, almost proud.

 

[Valaine Valentine]

Tags - Darth Virelia

More rewards? Thought Valaine, she certainly appreciated the one on Chandrila, so it was only in her interest to take the carrot rather than the stick when she could. That being said, this was a subject about someone she actually cared about. She'd need some assurance first... Her tired gaze fixated on Virelia, "... I'll answer your questions about her... But, I want to know that she won't be apprehended or hurt. I can handle this." she spoke with certainty as she looked to her Mistress. Whether she accepted Valaine's request or not was to be determined, but what mattered was she made her position known on it.

She then offered a light nod at the offer of the reward she would receive as that finger traced along her pale jaw, tilting her head just slightly to bare it to her.

"Name her. How did you meet? When did you first touch hands? What does she say about you in the dark, when her guard lowers and her hand finds yours?"

The Sangnir wasn't expecting so many questions at once, but she tried to take her time in answering as she hummed gently. "Well... Her name is Kito. I... encountered her on one of my patrols outside, she came at me with flame and I sort of just... Froze up." she admitted with a gentle sigh of perhaps shame. "But... She stopped. Something about my fear stayed her hand, and instead she sort of opened up the dialogue herself. Then these claws popped out by accident." she spoke, lifting a hand in gesture to the metallic claws hidden within, "I wasn't used to them yet, and so she thought I was attacking. Pushed me over, got on top of me and uuuuuh..." the Sangnir stopped, the memory flustering her somewhat.

"... Your... Other questions sound kinda like riddles to me, but... Look, I think for some reason she pitied me at first, and then when we started to tumble around on the ground I think... It was a very, like..." a light huff of annoyance. "It was pretty spicy, okay? She liked it, I liked it, things went from there. We're not in a relationship if that's what you're worried about, more just..." she hummed in thought, could she really just call Kito a friend in front of her Mistress? Would that upset her? No doubt Virelia believed that the young Sangnir had found a way to start corrupting a Jedi after all, not just befriend her.

She rocked back and forth on the balls of her feet in an awkward nervous motion before she felt Virelia's hand upon the back of her neck. "I've met her a few times since then. Not just on Malachor V either. She's invited me out to uh... Naboo? Some party or something? But... I don't think she's a threat to us. I think I can keep her off our backs, as it were... Do you trust me with that?" asked Valaine as tired eyes looked back to Virelia searchingly. "... She helps me train too, you know? I've been getting better. I even keep stealing her lightsabers."

 

[Darth Virelia]

"Like mistress, like apprentice."

Tags - Valaine Valentine (I guess Kito )

Virelia did not answer immediately. She let silence do the work first, as she so often did, her presence filling the chamber more loudly than any voice. Six violet eyes gleamed, studying every flicker in Valaine's face, every tremor in her tone. Her thumb traced slow strokes at the base of the Sangnir's neck, not affectionate in the ordinary sense but steady, claiming, as though she could feel the rhythm of her apprentice's pulse and mold it into calm.

When she finally spoke, her voice was low, silken, carrying none of the harsh edge Valaine might have feared.
"Apprehended? Hurt?" A pause, then a soft chuckle—warm, almost indulgent. "Little Sangnir, I am not here to clip your wings when you have only just learned to fly. You have chosen your prey well. I approve."

Her hand drifted upward, cupping Valaine's jaw with deliberate intimacy, angling her pale face toward the half-bared mouth of her Mistress. "You ask if I trust you with her. I do. More than that—I admire what you have begun. A Jedi who once came at you with fire, now inviting you into her quiet moments, sharing hands, blades, even laughter. That is no accident. That is corruption, subtle and sweet. You have opened a seam, and you are prying it wider each time she seeks you out."

The corners of Virelia's lips curved faintly into something like a smile, licentious but sincere. "That she pities you, that she helps you train, that she invites you to parties like Naboo's soft courtyards… all of it tells me she already feels bound. Do you not see? You have taken her first step from the Order without her realizing it."

She leaned closer, her words brushing against Valaine's lips like breath. "That pleases me, little Sangnir. You have given me honesty. In return, I will give you this: she is yours to manage. I will not touch her unless you fail or she tries to hurt me. You may feed her doubts, steal her sabers, let her hands tremble on you. Every small surrender she gives, you place into my palm as if it were a jewel. In this way, you serve me twice—once in body, once in conquest."

Her fingers swept across Valaine's lips, pressing lightly at her mouth as though reminding her of Chandrila's reward without granting it just yet. "Continue to be honest with me, and the rewards will flow as freely as you drank them then. Continue to turn the Jedi's affections to desire, her pity to need, and I will see you are sated in more ways than one."

Then she drew back, not breaking her gaze. "Do not mistake me: this pleases me deeply. You chose indulgence, and you chose well. Now prove to me it was not chance. Show me you can keep her. Show me you can make her beg to be yours."

Her lips parted slightly, almost a smirk, almost a kiss withheld. "Do that, and you will find my faith in you very… rewarding indeed."

 

[Valaine Valentine]

Tags - Darth Virelia Kito (Mention)

It came as a relief to Valaine that Virelia seemingly had no intent to harm Kito, that alone was a lot of weight lifted from her shoulders. She raised her head as her jaw was cupped and held like it so often was by her Mistress. She spoke that she trusted the Sangnir, this was another relief, but her words of corruption brought her some concern. She didn't want to corrupt Kito, she liked her just as she was, but maybe this Jedi dogma they were all instilled with was truly so brittle that even mere friendship could shatter its foundations? If such was the case then she felt a little better that it was herself that was doing it, for it could've been someone much worse with darker intentions.

But was Virelia aware that it wasn't even her intent to do all of that? That she wasn't aiming to draw Kito away from the Order at all? She breathed in a gentle sigh as her Mistress drew closer, speaking her gentle words against her own lips as she offered the slightest of nods in response to them. She was genuinely happy that Virelia was pleased with her actions so far, that she trusted her to deal with the Shaper. It was the best outcome she could have hoped for.

"Thank you, Mistress..." spoke the Sangnir softly in response as fingers brushed against her lips. "I'll... Do my best. There's still a lot I have to learn, but... If you're pleased with the results, then it means I'm on the right path." she answered as her thoughts of the rewards she could reap from this only seemed to make her more eager. That night on Chandrila, of the indulgence of her insatiable hunger, she certainly wanted it again.

Another gentle nod was given from within Virelia's hold, tired eyes fixated upon the six that praised her, "Of course, Mistress, I won't misplace your trust." she answered. She'd come quite a long way from the defiant little Sangnir she was when her Mistress first met her, and the progress now was clear to see. Sure she wasn't the strongest apprentice, certainly wasn't the smartest, and still wasn't the most obedient, but it was always that innate potential with Valaine. Always the natural talent just waiting for the right person to guide it, and it was finally showing.

 

[Darth Virelia]

"Like mistress, like apprentice."

Tags - Valaine Valentine (I guess Kito )

Virelia let the Sangnir's words linger in the air, savoring them like a fine vintage. She did not immediately reply; silence was one of her favorite instruments, and she wielded it like a blade. Her touch did not retreat from Valaine's face, however. The cup of her hand remained steady, her thumb idly stroking along the curve of the apprentice's pale cheek as though she were already a cherished thing—owned, admired, and never released.

When she did finally speak, her tone was velvet, low and deliberate.

"You have come far. From snapping little fangs to a tongue that knows when to yield, when to tell me truth." The corner of her mouth turned upward in that half-revealed smirk, licentious yet not cruel. "Do you know how rare that is, little Sangnir? Apprentices speak of trust as if it were owed. Few understand what it means to be worthy of it."

Her other hand rose, resting at the base of Valaine's throat. Simply feeling the fragile pulse beneath her talon, the reminder that all of her hung on that rhythm, and Virelia chose whether it continued. She tilted her head slightly, the glow of her six eyes narrowing with predatory calm.

"You will not misplace it. I will see to that."

The hand against Valaine's lips finally withdrew, though only to drag its pale fingers slowly down the line of her jaw to her collarbone, leaving her skin tingling in its wake. Her voice softened into a silken purr. "Two questions, then, and only two."

The pause was calculated, intimate, heavy enough that even the flames in the sconces seemed to lean closer to listen.

"First—when you are with her… when her hands are not raising flame but lowering to meet yours… do you let her see you, Valaine? Not the Sangnir mask of hunger and survival. You."

The word hung between them, sharp and undeniable, more dangerous than any accusation. Virelia leaned in close enough for her lips to nearly brush her apprentice's ear when she continued, a whisper of corruption dressed in tenderness. "Or do you keep even her in the dark, feeding only fragments, the way you fed me once when you thought you could hide behind arrogance?"

She lingered there for a beat, letting the weight of the question press. Then she drew back just enough to bring her second inquiry, her tone edged with satisfaction that bordered on hunger.

"Second—if she offered herself fully, body and soul, to you… if she said the word and placed her flame in your hands—would you take her? Would you claim her as yours without hesitation?"

Her hand at Valaine's throat gave the slightest, deliberate flex, not enough to hurt but enough to remind her of where all decisions ultimately circled back. "I will know if you lie," Virelia murmured, her lips curling into that licentious, predatory smirk. "And you know what honesty earns you."

 

[Valaine Valentine]

Tags - Darth Virelia

"Do you know how rare that is, little Sangnir? Apprentices speak of trust as if it were owed. Few understand what it means to be worthy of it."

Valaine pouted slightly, "Lying to you just seems like a bad idea in general..." she answered, allowing her Mistress to grip at her throat, to pull and turn her however she pleased. There was little resistance in the Sangnir these days, more than understanding that the best thing to do was to simply let Virelia do as she liked.

Two questions... Two questions wasn't bad at all, far less than she was expecting. She offered a nod of affirmation to Virelia in response as the fingers that brushed her lips left them to trail down her neck and to her collar. The drawn pauses between the words of her Mistress always caused her some slight concern, but then the first question came.

The first question the young Sangnir had to ponder on. She believed Virelia was asking her if Kito knew who she was. Who she was at her core. Did she? The Sangnir's gaze glanced aside as she thought on it. Her friendship, if it could be called that, with the Shaper was based on mutual attraction at first, but had it grown into anything more? If one were to ask her heart she absolutely believes she could consider Kito a close friend, but did she really know her?

The second part of the question answered it perhaps; she didn't display her arrogance much to Kito. Sometimes in their dueling, certainly, but otherwise she had been fairly direct with her. She believed she had come to an answer as she breathed in a steady breath and turned her tired gaze to Virelia. "It hasn't been my intent to show her who I am, but... I think she sees it regardless, yeah. I don't put my walls up around her, probably why she seems to like me so much, I'm pretty honest with her. But... There are things I keep from her sure, I don't lie I just... Don't tell her about stuff, like about this Court, about whatever my goals are when I'm doing work for us. I guess you could say I separate business and pleasure."

She wasn't sure if her answer was the one Virelia wanted to hear, but it was the honest one. Then came the second question.

"Second—if she offered herself fully, body and soul, to you… if she said the word and placed her flame in your hands—would you take her? Would you claim her as yours without hesitation?"

Said the 'word'? What word? Valaine seemed puzzled for a moment. Was she asking if she'd form a relationship with the Shaper? If so her answer was a brutally honest one, and she spent a lot less time thinking on it because it had been something she'd thought of before; the conclusion long since arrived at.

"Our lives are too different. I like her, I like my time spent with her, but... something like what I think you're asking about? We're on either side of the coin, it'd never work, it can't work. She lives a life of resolute order, of dedication to some greater good, of a belief that those around me should die. And me? I live a life that slinks into the shadows, that obeys dark commands, that does what she's ordered to do in defiance of the light. The only thing between us that can exist is that the brighter her light shines then the deeper the shadows for me to hide in are. You move that light into the shade and what happens? You destroy it." she answered, perhaps waxing a little too poetically towards the end, but it sounded right to her.

There was a slight pause however, "... That was... technically four questions by the way... Mistress...".

 

[Darth Virelia]

"Like mistress, like apprentice."

Tags - Valaine Valentine ( Quinn Varanin )

Virelia's grip on Valaine's throat did not tighten—it softened, fingers loosening until they were no more than a pale caress against her skin. For a long, rare moment, she said nothing. The six eyes that so often burned with hunger and dominance seemed to dim, not with weakness but with something far more dangerous: memory.

Her lips curved, though not in her usual licentious smirk. It was something smaller, almost fragile, as if borrowed from a life she no longer owned. "You speak of light and shadow as if they cannot exist together," Serina murmured, voice softer than Valaine had ever heard. "Once, I thought the same. I made the worst decision of my life that day."

Her gaze drifted past Valaine for a heartbeat, as though she were looking at someone who was not there, a rose garden left untouched since her departure. The silence that followed stretched thin, heavy, and unbearably human.

Then, with a slow inhale, she seemed to collect herself. The mask slid back into place—not the phrik one of her faceplate, but the invisible mask of Darth Virelia, the predator who allowed no weakness to linger. Her hand lifted from Valaine's throat and came to rest briefly against her cheek, a gesture almost tender, almost grateful.

"You have answered honestly," she said at last, the faintest tremor of warmth in her tone. "That is enough."

The smirk returned, brittle at its edges. She leaned close, pressing one final whisper against the Sangnir's ear—"Go, little one. Leave me."

The chamber felt suddenly colder, as though whatever glimpse of softness had been shown was already gone. And in truth, it was—Virelia sat back into her shadows, silent, alone, the weight of something unspoken pressing down on her like a ghost.

 

[Valaine Valentine]

Tags - Darth Virelia

The young Sangnir felt the grip around her throat softening, less controlling and more gentle now as she stared up towards her Mistress awaiting her response to the answers given. Then she saw that smirk, and she perhaps recognized it for the encounter with Serina she had before landing on Chandrila. Her Mistress had been in a similar position, so surely she'd understand the Sangnir's concern with the whole discussion of Kito, or was that only the passing mercy of Serina as opposed to Virelia?

She caught those wandering eyes, a distant gaze as if looking into a scene that could've been, or perhaps should've been, but was robbed. Valaine however knew better than to pry into the past of her Mistress, such actions would surely only lead to some sort of conflict between the two. Knowledge was power, after all.

As the hand came to rest against her pale cheek and she heard that she had indeed answered honestly a wave of relief passed over the Sangnir as she exhaled a gentle breath through her nose. She offered a light nod in response up to Virelia before the hand left her once more. As she was bid to depart she took a step back, but not before she offered her Mistress a final bow, and some parting words. "Thank you, Mistress and... I'm sorry..." she voiced. Sorry for what? Perhaps just the way things had ended for Serina, the life robbed. Certainly it was no fault of Valaine's, she had nothing to do with it, but maybe hearing just anyone apologize for it might help the burden of the past just a little.

With that Valaine turned and began her departure as the room grew colder, more oppressive in its darkness. She had answered her questions honestly and hopefully that would be enough.

 

[Darth Virelia]

"Like mistress, like apprentice."

Tags - Valaine Valentine ( Quinn Varanin )

Virelia's eyes, violet fire behind the insectile mask, lingered on the Sangnir's bowed head. The apology—so soft, so misplaced—hung in the chamber like incense smoke. It was not Valaine's burden to carry, and yet the words brushed against something deep within the Dark Lady, something she had long since buried beneath obsidian walls and iron certainty.

"Wait."

Slowly, Virelia rose from her throne, every motion deliberate, armor whispering in quiet symphony. Her gauntleted hand reached forward, but not to command, not to restrain. Instead, it guided gently to turn the Sangnir back toward her.

For a long moment, Virelia simply regarded her—this pale, loyal creature who had offered honesty when so few dared. Then, in a gesture rare and unspeakably heavy, she drew Valaine close. The obsidian plates pressed against cool flesh as the Dark Lady embraced her.

The hug was not warm, not truly. It was a dominion's shadow wrapping itself around the girl, a storm allowing its chosen to linger in the eye. Yet it was real. Firm. A gesture not of weakness, but of acknowledgment.

"You need not apologize for what was stolen from me," Virelia murmured, her voice smooth and low, carrying an echo of something almost human.

She let the words settle before she finally released her, stepping back into the darkness that always seemed to cloak her frame. The air chilled again, but the impression of her arms lingered.

"Go now. You have done enough for tonight."

The dismissal was final, but not cold—like a curtain drawn gently after a stage's last breath.

 

[Valaine Valentine]

Tags - Darth Virelia

"Wait."

Valaine froze before she could reach the door. Was it a trap? Had she actually said something her Mistress didn't approve of and so she granted her that glimmer of hope only so she could crush it seconds later? She breathed in an uncertain breath before turning to face Virelia, watching as she rose and gestured for her. With a light gulp she started walking back towards her Mistress.

She remained still as she came to a halt in front of her and then in an act that surprised her Virelia's arms wrapped around the pale girl. She felt the pull as she was tugged to rest against the plates of her armor that pressed against her form as she was held in the tyrant's embrace. She wasn't particularly certain on how to react but she believed this was something of a small token of appreciation that Virelia gave her, a gift, and so she would simply accept it by remaining still in her hold.

Despite the fact that her Mistress was wearing her armor, some part of that hug felt comforting to her, and while she was clad in metal it was her emotional armor that she was baring for just a moment. Valaine seemed to understand the truth of it, the heartfelt appreciation.

After she was released she had the lightest of tints to her pale cheeks for such affection was rather rare for the Sangnir. She gave another bow of her head at the words of Virelia. "Of course, thank you Mistress." she nodded politely, the final dismissal given as Valaine's tired gaze lingered on Virelia for just a moment before she turned and departed.