Private The Soil Remembers

[Darth Virelia]

"Talent scouting."

Tags - Valaine Valentine



Virelia did not laugh.

She smiled—a small, invisible curve beneath the helm, the kind of smile one gives a feral cat trying to hiss through bloodied teeth. There was no amusement in it. Only the quiet, exquisite pleasure of watching the inevitable unfold exactly as it should.

"Set you on fire?" she repeated, voice languid as velvet dragged across skin. "Darling, I didn't light the flame."

She descended alongside her slowly as the lift carried them deeper, its ancient stone humming beneath their boots with quiet pulses of power—like the tomb itself was breathing in slow, hungry rhythm. There were no lights down here, only the faint violet glow of her eyes casting ghostly reflections across Valaine's pale skin, teasing every edge and hollow with soft, suggestive shadow.

"You walked in burning."

She tilted her head slightly, studying her companion's tired defiance with the precision of a jeweler turning over a flawed but promising gem.

"All I did… was stop you from pretending it wasn't already consuming you."

She said nothing more about the tongue. Not yet. Valaine's retort was exactly the one she expected, and Virelia had no intention of rewarding it with another debate. Biting was still a form of submission. An animal defending its throat was still admitting it had one.

That truth would work its way deeper soon enough.

Instead, she stepped off the lift first as it settled with a final sigh of stone against stone, revealing a vast, circular chamber beneath the rest of the tomb. The floor was perfectly smooth—like mirror-polished obsidian, but warm beneath the feet. The air here shimmered subtly, charged with tension. As if every breath dared to be the last.

There were no doors. No exits.

Only the two of them.

And the circle.

At the center of the chamber, lines of Sith runes had been burned into the stone in concentric rings—ancient, sharp, and still faintly smoldering. Virelia moved with a familiar ease through them, like stepping into a lover's bed.

She spoke again only once she reached the center, where a second platform—round, wide, and low—waited like a stage for a scene that had been rehearsed a hundred times in dream.

"You're still looking for the catch," she said softly, the words barely louder than breath. "Still weighing every word I speak, waiting for the betrayal hidden beneath the silk."

A pause. Her helm turned to face Valaine directly once more.

"But I'm not hiding the knife. I am the knife."

She extended a hand—not offering this time, but inviting. There was no compulsion behind it. No command. Just the knowledge that it was always going to be reached for, in time.

"This isn't another test. It's not even a fight. It's a claiming. One you can still walk away from."

A beat. Her voice curled at the edges again, licentious and low.

"But if you step into this circle… then you will officially be my apprentice."

Then, with absolute calm, absolute certainty—she asked:

"So… do you want to survive?"

A pause.

"Or do you want to thrive?"

 

[Valaine Valentine]

As the lift descended Valaine reached a hand to touch at the passing walls that surrounded them, fingers tracing off the smooth stone as they continued down while she listened to Virelia. She could tell the masked woman was still watching her intently, not just by the feeling but the glow of those six eyes lighting up her own face. The glow of purple gave the girl's face a warmer presence than it typically had with its pale and tired visage, typically always so cold and distant.

When the elevator finally came to a halt and Virelia moved into the wide open chamber Valaine paused to glance around cautiously. Her sight could see those sigils clearly, smoldering as they were, and she couldn't see anything in the way of traps, creatures, or profane weapons on altars this time. She stepped in after her assessment and followed Virelia towards the center of the room.

"You're still looking for the catch,"

"Always." came the firm response. "But... I think I understand what you're talking about this time. Calling yourself the knife... It's you, you're the catch. The price of this power you offer is dealing with you with all your riddles, chains, and... eccentricities." she spoke as tired eyes settled upon Virelia once more in something of an accusatory stare.

She waited in thought for a moment as Virelia stood in the center of the room whose hand extended out once again as she paused for the answer. Fortunately for her Valaine had already made her mind up before entering the room, and in fact it hadn't much changed since entering the tomb as a whole. Anything for more power.

With a gentle sigh of consignment the girl started to trudge slowly towards Virelia. "Are you going to give me your name at least?" she asked as she stepped towards the masked woman. She held her hands behind her back as she took a step into the circle, a last little display of defiance as she accepted her place, but without taking the extended hand.


Tags - Darth Virelia

 

[Darth Virelia]

"Talent scouting."

Tags - Valaine Valentine



Virelia did not lower her hand when it went unanswered.

She let it remain there between them, a deliberate reminder that even without contact, she was the one dictating the space they occupied. Her stance was relaxed, but there was a stillness to her—a slow, coiled patience—that told Valaine she had been expecting this precise balance of defiance and submission.

When the girl finally stepped into the circle, the faint smolder of the runes deepened, a slow ember-breath that seemed to sync with the rhythm of Virelia's own voice when she spoke.

"You think you've bought your way in by enduring me," she murmured, six violet eyes studying every line of the girl's face. "But the truth is… you've only been allowed in because you were worth my time."

Her helm tilted slightly, and the glow from her eyes spilled over Valaine's skin like the warm brush of a fire you can't quite step away from. She let the silence stretch just long enough to make the girl aware of it—aware of her. Then she moved, closing the distance with the slow, certain grace of someone who had never once been denied what they wanted.

"You want a name?"

The words were low, intimate, almost coaxing. She moved around Valaine in a slow half-circle, forcing the girl to turn her head if she wanted to keep her in sight.

"Names are power. A name given is a tether… a thread you can pull. But only if you know how not to strangle yourself with it."

She came to stand behind her now, close enough that Valaine could feel the subtle stir of air from her breathing, the phantom heat of her presence. One hand lifted, not to touch, but to hover just over the girl's shoulder—close enough for her to feel the absence between skin and gauntlet.

"You've stepped into my circle, and that means something. So you'll have your name."

A pause, deliberate. She leaned in, her voice almost a whisper now, a slow pour of molten silk.

"Darth Virelia."

The syllables slid into the air like a lock clicking open, the name heavy with weight—one that had been spoken in fear, in reverence, in surrender. She let it hang there between them, knowing the girl would taste it in her thoughts long after the sound faded.

Virelia stepped around to face her again, that same hand now lowering to her side, the other resting lightly against the belt at her hip.

"Now you know what to call the one who will shape you. Who will break you where you're weak and sharpen you where you're dull. The one who will make sure that when you finally bite…"

The smallest incline of her head, a slow study of Valaine's mouth, before her gaze rose again.

"…it's because I've taught you where to sink your teeth."

Her tone never rose, never became heated. She didn't need to. Every word was delivered with the poise of someone who owned the air it traveled through. The circle itself, the runes, the tomb, her presence… all of it made clear that Virelia had nothing to prove.

She let her gaze roam over Valaine once more, not in appraisal, but in possession, as if committing every detail to memory.

"You've chosen, Valaine. That choice is the only freedom you'll have in this. From here on… everything else is mine."

She stepped closer, almost brushing past her, her voice dropping to something darker, meant for the girl's ear alone.

"And you will thank me for it."

Then, without another word, she moved toward the far wall. As her boots met the edge of the runes, the chamber itself seemed to respond—stone grinding open in a smooth arc, revealing a new corridor beyond.

Virelia didn't look back as she crossed the threshold, but her voice carried easily, resonant against the stone.

"Follow, acolyte."

The title was deliberate. It wasn't a suggestion. It wasn't even an order.

It was a statement of fact.

 

[Valaine Valentine]

As she had done before now, Valaine remained resolute and firm as Virelia circled and stalked around her, ever being lit faintly by the purple glow of her eyes as she moved near. "Worth your time?" she hummed gently, "Something tells me you like that I'm 'enduring' you... So I'll take the compliment, it's definitely one of my better points." she answered in arrogance.

She was finally given a name to put to this masked figure. "Darth Virelia? Can I just call you Virelia, or are you going to make me call you mistress?" she asked boldly, and when Virelia made mention of her biting and took that noticeable pause to look towards her mouth, Valaine pondered if she had an idea on what she was. In an almost natural reaction to that thought she narrowed her eyes lightly in suspicion, it was something she never really hid that often but when it came to someone like Virelia she was convinced she'd only try to use her nature and its inherent addictions and weaknesses against her.

The sound of her own name spoken by Virelia seemed to cause her to twitch briefly, hearing it said to her by the woman for the first time. A name is power, she agreed with that statement, but it went both ways.

"And you will thank me for it."

Those words practically whispered to her, but her thoughts only replied with one thing; 'we'll see about that'.

When Virelia moved to start departing from the tomb, Valaine followed as was expected of her as she trudged along. Acolyte, apprentice, whatever title Virelia was going to tag her with she had already made herself a resolute promise to simply abide the chains, but to never succumb to them.

Valaine had plenty of potential, but how much could you really teach a dog that'd always bite the hand that feeds? Would it even be worth the attempt?


Tags - Darth Virelia

 

[Darth Virelia]

"Talent scouting."

Tags - Valaine Valentine



Virelia did not slow her stride when Valaine's voice followed her out of the chamber—arrogant, brazen, and full of that stubborn spark that had drawn her in the first place. She let the girl's words hang in the space between them, unchallenged for several paces, her long steps carrying her into the gloom of the descending corridor. The purple glow from her helm washed over the stone like flowing wine, and each time her head turned slightly, it brushed over Valaine as if marking her.

Finally, she spoke.

"You think I care whether you bite the hand?"

Her voice was low, resonant, but there was an unmistakable curl of amusement beneath it.

"Bite, Valaine. Sink your teeth in until you draw blood. I am not interested in obedience for its own sake. A pet that never snaps is only a decoration. I have no use for something that merely decorates my shadow."

She slowed, letting the sound of her boots soften until they came to a halt. The glow of her eyes flared faintly as she half-turned to look back over her shoulder, catching Valaine fully in that six-eyed gaze.

"But understand this—every time you bite, you feed me."

The corner of her mouth curved just slightly beneath the mask, as though she could already see the flicker of unease—or intrigue—that statement might ignite.

She moved again, but this time slower, her voice carrying easily in the narrow hall.

"You ask if you may call me 'Virelia,' as though the title I wear is a costume I can shrug off. You may call me whatever your mouth can manage… but understand, names are never without weight. 'Darth' tells others what I am. 'Mistress' tells me what you are."

A pause. She glanced sideways at her, letting the quiet do its work before adding, silky and deliberate:

"And one day, you'll use it without thinking."

The corridor opened ahead into another smaller chamber, unlit save for the dull violet from Virelia's helm. She stepped inside first, her pace unhurried, letting the shadows cling to her frame before she turned to face Valaine again.

"You imagine chains as something that bite into your wrists," she said, moving closer, her steps soundless now. "You think you can simply tolerate them, wait them out, live within their reach but outside their pull. But true chains, the kind I forge…"

She stopped close enough for Valaine to feel her presence press against the space between them like a hand on the chest.

"…are the ones you do not wish to break. They become part of you. Desired. Invited."

Her head dipped slightly, the faintest shift of her shoulders as though she were scenting the air between them.

"You can tell yourself you will abide me without succumbing. That is the comfort of those who still believe their will is their own."

Her voice softened even further, becoming almost intimate.

"But I know what I can make of you, Valaine. I know how to sharpen you until your enemies cannot breathe without fear of cutting themselves on you. And I know—" her gaze drifted again, lingering at the edge of her mouth just long enough to draw attention there "—how to make you want that sharpening more than you want the illusion of freedom."

She stepped past her then, slow enough for the curve of her arm to almost brush Valaine's as she passed.

"You'll test me, of course. That's what you are. And I will test you in return. But every test ends the same way. You will walk away stronger, sharper… and more mine."

The sound of her boots returned, measured, echoing softly as she moved toward the next archway. Without looking back, she added, almost idly:

"So keep your teeth bared, little wolf. Bite as often as you like."

The faintest trace of a laugh, low and unhurried.

"You will only feed on corrupted ichor."

Virelia's laughter faded into the hush of the tomb as she stepped into the final alcove—one that had been carved deeper than the others, its walls thick with black stone veined in dull crimson. The air here was older, heavier, as if it had not been disturbed for centuries. Dust clung to the ground in a perfect, unbroken layer, save for the path Virelia's boots pressed into it.

At the center of the room, resting upon a low pedestal, was the artifact. A sphere of obsidian glass, fractured through with delicate cracks that pulsed faintly like the embers of a dying star. Six thin metal bands—ancient, corroded, but untouched by dust—spiraled around it in a cage, each etched with language so old it seemed to shift the longer one looked at it. The sigils burned faintly with the same shade of violet that glowed from Virelia's eyes.

Virelia approached without hesitation, her gauntleted fingers brushing across the outer bands. The room answered with a low, subsonic hum, and the light within the orb swelled as though recognizing her.

"Still breathing after all this time…"

Her voice was quiet, reverent—not worshipful, but pleased. She drew one long claw along one of the ancient sigils, and the metal cage shifted with a sound like grinding bone. The sphere rose an inch above its pedestal, suspended in the air, turning slowly toward her hand.

She caught it easily, holding the artifact in her palm as if it had always belonged there. For a moment she simply studied it, the violet light from both orb and helm playing across her armor, before she looked to Valaine.

"Power comes in many forms. Some require years of discipline. Others…" she lifted the sphere slightly, "…only the right hands to awaken them."

Without warning, she closed her hand around the orb. The pulsing light intensified, bleeding up her arm like liquid fire beneath the plating of her gauntlet before settling back into a steady glow. She let out a quiet breath, satisfied, and slid the sphere into a clasp at her hip where it vanished beneath her cloak.

"That concludes our purpose here."

She stepped past Valaine again, her tone returning to its usual, deliberate cadence.

"I have what I came for. And you have your weapon. The tomb has nothing more to offer either of us… unless you fancy being buried with it when it collapses."

She stopped at the threshold, one hand resting on the archway, and glanced back over her shoulder. The purple glow flared faintly.

"You've kept pace with me this far. That's rare. Most who walk this deep never return."

Her head tilted slightly, as if weighing something.

"My ship is waiting above. You could leave here alone, with your blade, and be nothing more than what you were before you stepped into this tomb. Or…"

Her gaze swept slowly over Valaine, deliberate in its study before locking back onto her eyes.

"…you could step aboard with me. Learn. Be sharpened. Bite all you like. And see how far those teeth can truly carry you."

She turned away again, beginning the ascent, her voice trailing back like the echo of a challenge:

"Choose quickly. The dead don't like to be kept waiting."

 

[Valaine Valentine]

As Valaine trudged after Virelia she listened, taking in all that was said to her despite the fact that much of it still came across as riddles to her that she didn't fully comprehend. Always it seemed that words of subjugation, domination, and a willingness for them were at the front of the masked woman's personal doctrine, and naturally Valaine remained resolute in the idea that she could avoid all of it and reap only the benefits, something that perhaps wouldn't change for some time.

Of course she never worded any of this to Virelia as they continued into the wider chamber, and upon the altar the sphere. Though this chamber didn't seem meant for Valaine, no, this was perhaps why Virelia had arrived in the first place and just happened upon the Acolyte by mere chance or coincidence. Though the young Sangnir thought it best that it turned out the way it had. If she had ventured into the tomb alone, with no guidance, then likely it is she would have failed at the first test and be numbered among the many other ill-fated that had the same ideas.

She studied as Virelia took the orb into her hands, the glow of the object seemingly being absorbed by the masked woman. She had no idea what it was, or what she was gaining from it, but she had decided to not ask questions of the orb, merely to just keep that information remembered for the time being.

Her head tilted curiously as they moved towards the, hopefully, exit of this dreadful tomb. "Huh..? You have a ship?" asked Valaine. It might be a trivial possession to one such as Virelia, but the thought of a personal ship was still far beyond what Valaine had ever considered. Valaine elected to follow, she had after all already made her decision earlier and she remained hopeful in her decision. She gave a light huff, "Of course I'm coming with you." she answered with no shortage of arrogance, as if Virelia should've already known she had made up her mind.

And so she made the ascent with Virelia, finally departing the long forgotten tomb.


Tags - Darth Virelia