Private Two There Should Be

[Darth Defias]

The Apprentice
Rule of Two
​

Defias had been left to rot for days, maybe even weeks, in a cold cell on Carlac until his judgement was decided upon. Not long ago, he and Khronas had assassinated Lord Neveon, Overseer of the Carlac Academy, through a plot so intricate and devious that even a Sith Lord would envy.

At least up to the point before their whole scheme was discovered. Then it became a matter of trial, and Sith were not known for their benevolence.

He had nearly accepted his fate when a large, dark figure, enveloped by shadows, unlocked his cell and ordered him to follow. Exhausted to the point of delirium, Defias had no choice but to fall into step behind the man.

Darth Kizash

 

[Darth Kizash]

Darth Defias

So this was him.

The man that assisted in ending Overseer Neveon. The man that had earned my interest. Kizash seemed to brood through the corridors of the temple. His boots heavy and armored and yet made no sound. His movements deliberate and slow, like a bolotaur stalking a pack of sathogs. Even as the acolyte trailed behind, I could feel his...ambition. Within my minds eye I was already sizing him up physically. He was taller by an inch or two. Yet far smaller compared to my frame.

That would change in time.

Kizash stopped to a halt. To his left was another hallway and to his right was a dead end. A dark rigid metal and stone wall. Or was it? The man remained still but within the force a shimmer of power extended away from his bulky figure. Metal and stone grinded together revealing a new path. Beyond the threshold and in the dark awaited a descending passage way. Stone stairs zig-zagging to an eventual flickering of light.

I kept my back to the acolyte and gestured him to proceed first.

It was not till we both would enter inside that I spoke and the hidden door would close and the abyss would meld over the stairs. Below within the flickering chamber, bones adorned the floor and shackled corpses would be found slump hanging from the walls.

" Why are you here, Acolyte. " A deep gruff voice managed to whisper from behind.

 

[Darth Defias]

Defias watched in wearty awe as metal, stone and mortar grated against each other until they became a passage. In the near abandoned library at the bottom of the Academy, he's read ancient texts on Sith Magic. Whether this illusion was its conjuration hardly mattered. It did not surprise him as much as the stranger's question.

Even with his nascent strength in the Force, he could sense the power radiating from the mysterious man like a stellar nova. Something was amiss here — if it was him time to climb the gallows, the executioner would not be asking such questions. An itch at the back of his skull told him to be honest.

"I am standing trial for the Overseer’s assassination." he replied, trying to keep his voice neutral, but without turning his head back.

Just as Defias finished his words, he caught notice of the shackled corpses lining the walls. Perhaps his death was not going to be a public lesson to all as he had expected. Perhaps this man was indeed his mad jailor, torturer and finally — executioner.

Darth Kizash

 

[Darth Kizash]

"I am standing trial for the Overseer’s assassination."

There was a twinge of fire within Kizash that flared slightly. Something that gave a second of fuel and then nothing more. The only response the man gave was a forced exhale through the nostrils. Like a reek telling someone to kark off. So to was the acolytes answer rejected. Kizash began to traverse the circular chamber to a half circle.

When I reached the opposite end of the room I stopped and slowly turned to face the acolyte. Now we were face to face with nothing but two meters of space between us.

A large hand pulled down a black hood revealing a middle aged man with small nicks and scars along his cheeks. Some were aged and others were only days old. " Hmmm." His expression was stone and the sound that vibrated from his throat was akin to a growl.

" I am Darth Kizash. The name left his lips and would seem to fill the adjacent space with a tangible presence of static. " I am to be your arbiter. I alone will determine your fate." He stated now with authority.

" Your instructors spoke favorably of your progress and of you. Though it appears your gumption has revealed you as a traitor and without honor ." He stated and raised a brow as if to question, but it sounded like no question was asked.

I let my eyes observe his body and facial expressions.

Darth Defias

 

[Darth Defias]

Whether out of fascination over the knowledge of the ancient Sith he'd scoured through the dusty library below or out of pure exhaustion, Defias did not measure his response.

"Honor is a fool's prize," he replied almost sternly, reciting a passage from one of the volumes he had read in the archives. "Lord Kizash."

Feeling the need to defend himself further, he continued. "I only followed the ancient writings of the Sith." Defias found no desire to disclose the humiliation he suffered at the hands of his fellow acolyte Vydra in the sparring ring had confined him in a recovery he had spent predominantly in the Academy's rarely visited library.

Darth Kizash

 

[Darth Kizash]

"Honor is a fool's prize," he replied almost sternly, reciting a passage from one of the volumes he had read in the archives. "Lord Kizash."

Feeling the need to defend himself further, he continued. "I only followed the ancient writings of the Sith." Defias found no desire to disclose the humiliation he suffered at the hands of his fellow acolyte Vydra in the sparring ring had confined him in a recovery he had spent predominantly in the Academy's rarely visited library.

I could see the mask lift. It was clear that Defias was not ignorant to the ways of the old sith. The true sith. I could feel a smirk grow on my face. " You are quite right. Honor is a fool's prize and fool's are never remembered." The Dark Lord commented and nodded his head in agreement with the acolyte. " There are not many that choose recognize the traditions of the sith-" Kizash stopped abruptly and began to walk forward. A mere step that seemed to let him glide across the floor and stop one meter away from Defias.

" You not only killed Overseer Neveon, You took the time to plan it. You were patient. Cunning. Prudent." I stared at the young man, my smirk now a grin and eyes dead set on his own. " I have one last question, then my judgement will be issued. Swiftly." The Dark Lord loomed and tilted his head some.

" How did it make you feel?"

Darth Defias

 

[Darth Defias]

Defias barely managed to withhold a blink of surprise at Kizash's response. Whether the man was toying with his sudden glimpse of hope only to snatch it away sadistically afterwards, he could not tell. But he would follow the flickers of survival on the horizon -- be it a mirage or not.

Kizash stepped ever so close, three feet at most. Defias was perhaps a few inches taller but he was dwarfed by the Sith Lord before him, a dark aura of authority that kicked against the back of his knees. He felt his head slowly decline and his shoulders slump further.

" How did it make you feel?"

A normal man would've felt exhaustion, delirium from anxiety that had peaked, even fear of the uncertain future that laid ahead of him given the outcome of the plot. But Defias had felt none of that when the Overseer's body laid limp before his feet. Power, raw, unlimited power had surged through the very fabric of his existence. An unstoppable inferno that had atomized with its flames and heat the chains that had bound him.

Through victory my chains are broken.

"Free."

Darth Kizash

 

[Darth Kizash]

<" Choose someone as a successor and you will inevitably be succeeded. Choose someone hungrier and you will be devoured. Choose someone quicker and you won't dodge the blade at your back. Choose someone with more patience and you won't block the blade at your throat. Choose someone more devious and you'll hold the blade that kills you. Choose someone more clever and you'll never know your end. Despite these cautions, an apprentice is essential. A Master without an apprentice is a Master of nothing."> ~ Darth Sidious

The Dark Lord stood silently, his expression stoic as he pondered the acolyte Defias's response. His eyes, became cold and detached, remaing fixed on the young acolyte, who stood before him. The silence in the chamber was palpable, broken only by the faint hum of technology in the chamber and various insects that crawled on the stone walls.

Slowly, Kizash's hand moved to the utility belt at his waist, fingers curling around the hilt of his lightsaber. With deliberate precision, he unclipped the weapon and held it tight. He tapped the activation button lightly, the action almost reflexive, but the blade remained un-activated. As he continued to think to himself quietly, his expression never wavered. His thoughts were a tempest of strategy and power, calculating his next move.

I am Master of Nothing.

No more.

" Defias." I said almost in a whisper. Deliberately leaving out the title of acolyte. It would no longer be needed. " Bow your head and kneel."

A snap-hiss followed by a deep resonate pulsating hum echoed in the chamber. And a crimson red blade the color of a Gundarks eye bathed overtook the ambient lighting and bathed it in tints of red.

Darth Defias

 

[Darth Defias]

He remained motionless for a second, hesitant at the Sith Lord's command. Kizash's face barely gave any signs of his judgement, it stood unflinching and unreadable as a rock.

Something shoved the back of his knees lightly and he followed its guidance, kneeling before Darth Kizash with his head bowed.

Something told him this wasn't the end.

Only the beginning.

Darth Kizash

 

[Darth Kizash]

" Acolyte Defias." I slowly leveled my blade near the mans right shoulder. Inches away from his exposed jugular. " I, Darth Kizash, have found you guilty of treason against the New Sith Order and the Dark Empire. For the murder of Overseer Neveon, your sentence, Acolyte Defias, is death."

I could of removed his head from his body with a flick of my wrist but that was never my intent. The entire time I had kept an eye on him, his progress and aptitude.

His very demeanor.

The Sith Lord seemed to immerese himself with the darkside of the force. Pulling it from every crack, fissure and creviace within the chamber and surging it into himself. His eye's, once stoic and unreadable, now revealed a red nebula of malevolence. The crimson saber lifted up from its position, over the young mans head and over to his other shoulder.

I could no longer hide my emotions. To express and have an apprentice worthy of my time. It felt like a knife etched a wide smile across my maw. A toothy smile all for Defias. Kizash's lightsaber suddenly deactivated and returned into the hilt. But the electric surge of the darkside still lingered in the chamber, as well as the faint glow of red that enveloped around the Dark Lord's eyes.

" Acolyte Defias is DEAD. You are from this point, Darth Defias. Now rise, my apprentice."

Darth Defias