Private Ven Oya'kari

[Mia Monroe]

Mia blinked understanding dawning on her. Of course this was about Malum. She fought back an amused smile as Elise spiralled, assuming all the worst tuings as she seemed to always do.

She was so quick to throw around the word 'traitor'. "Are you quite finished?" She asked an eyebrow raised as Elise came to the end of her verbal tidal wave. "Good. Then listen, very carefully. If you love him, and he makes you happy, I don't care. What I do care about, is you putting yourself in danger, which you did on Naboo. Keeping your relationship in the dark from the rest of the galaxy is hard, but for both your sakes, you need to be smarter. Otherwise he can be used against you and vice versa. And I cannot have that. Do you understand?"

Mia's expression softened. "I know he cares about you. That he would do anything to protect you."

Elise Ahana-Gwyneira

 

[Elise Ahana-Gwyneira]

Total and complete confusion took Elise. So... no accusations of treachery? No mockery for her miraculous ability to fall in love with a Sith? No chastisement? No shame? No belittlement? The only form of lecture she received was for their actions at Naboo. Naboo... had certainly been a mistake. But she had been so desperate to see him, to dance with him in a romantic setting, that caution had gone out the window.

She knew she should regret it, but she did not.

Elise smiled, when Mia Monroe told her of how much he cared for her.

"He crashed into Archais while I was on retreat. I saved him from the wreckage and nursed him back to health. I had no idea he was a Sith then, not until my heart had already been conquered by him. He and I were alone for weeks, and we... grew close."

Elise blushed, remembering the bliss of their isolated camp at Archais. She regularly wished to return back, to when it was just the two of them, no outside galaxy to worry about, and the budding feelings they explored with both awkwardness and delight.

Elise then remembered, Mia's memory of Malum.

The Vizsla shivered.

"Wait, how do you know him? The voices inside his acted up again, didn't they? Is he alright?"

Elise's eyes were wide with sick worry. Her skin turned pale, and all she wanted to do was find him this very instant. "Is he alright?"


Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Mia Monroe]

"He's fine." Mia rested a hand on Elise's shoulder in reassurance. "I give you my word, he is okay. No harm came to him."

Not by her hand anyway. Their last meeting had been difficult in more ways than one. Each of them fully exposed to the other in ways neither of them wanted. Her expression had darkened slightly in memory.

A blink and the darkness was gone, though her smile didn't quite return. "Malum and I have an agreement, one brokered after I killed several of his men that were to close to Mandalorian space. He feeds me information regarding the sith and their movements so I can better shift our limited defences and in return, I help him remove his enemies within the Sith Order."

It wasn't the whole truth, but Mia wasn't about to risk drawing Elise into their plot anymore than she already had been.

Elise Ahana-Gwyneira

 

[Elise Ahana-Gwyneira]

The worse of Elise's worries were dispelled at Mia's word. Elise started to relax more, looking up to the ceiling as she spoke of the agreement between her and Malum. So... Malum had enemies within the Sith Order itself. He was willing to betray his own to get even, and cooperate with a Mandalorian to get that done. Despite Malum's love and reverence for the Sith Code, Elise knew that he despised individuals such as Darth Empyrean and Darth Carnifex, cursed be their names. Was this... hope that... he could potentially join her side someday?

Elise sighed. She wanted to bring this all directly to him, but she was bed bound. She realized that their next meeting was unlikely to happen, and she cursed it all.

If she had not tried to save the sithspawn, if she had not been so soft hearted, they could be meeting in such a short amount of time.

Elise gritted her teeth.

"Haar'chak. There I went trying to be a savior again. And look where it got me..."

Nearly every time she had put herself aside to help others, it bit her back with bitter poison. The Galactic Alliance had no love for the Mandalorian who had sacrificed everything to save their civilians. Elise's life was so much more tormented because she just had to help others every chance she got. She just had to follow her convictions... and it always, always gave her wrath in return. Was it possible... to kill her heart? But the thought of doing such a thing made her shiver. She was not about to become bitter like her mother, or a monster like Ra Vizsla. She growled in frustration.

"Haar'chak! I can't give up my convictions! Why do I always have to suffer as if I'm the villain of this story! I couldn't even save that sithspawn in the end! Why am I like this?! So many cold blooded, ruthless Vizsla's throughout history who were successful in fundamentally changing whole systems, then look at me! It couldn't have been any easier for them... couldn't it have?"

Mia Monroe Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mia turned to pull the chair closer to Elise's bed settling into it she watched the girl as she vented.

"You are not your ancestors, Elise. They wouldn't have tried to save the sithspawn, they wouldn't have cared about the civilians you fought your own people to defend. Cold blooded and ruthless can only get you so far. Cold blooded can help you determine acceptable levels of collateral damage when launching attacks against your enemies."

Mia's expression was dark, her blue eyes flickered breifly into orange, her voice taking in a hateful edge "Ruthlessness can be mercy for one's self. You can dispatch an enemy without hesitation in order to make sure they don't come for you again."

She tilted her head, her tone softenig as she continued. "They have their place. But they come with a cost. To be ruthless and cold hearted, you can no longer see the good in people. There is no grey area, there is only black and white. Allys and enemies. There are no friends, no lovers because there is no capacity for such things."

She sighed. "You suffer because you cannot accept the fact that not everything can be saved. I'm not saying stop trying, because to do that would be to give up part of who you are. But you do need to learn acceptance, when things do not go your way."

Elise Ahana-Gwyneira

 

[Elise Ahana-Gwyneira]

Elise listened to Mia's words and nodded slowly, contemplating. She sighed, looking back up to the ceiling with a defeated expression on her face. So, it was no easier being ruthless than being kind... Mia's words about she could not save everyone cut deep into her soul. It had always been Elise's expectation, that she would be strong enough to save everyone. That she would be the best fighter, the best healer, and the best savior. But being told that she had to accept everything when it did not go her way...

She cringed.

"Really, has anything gone my way?"

Then, she cringed harder. "N-no, I-I have a good family, I'm talented, I have some incredible mentors. Forget I said that."

She sunk deeper into her bed. The storm clouds of emotion rolling inside were brooding and negative, unlikely to see the good through the bad. Elise was truly grateful for her circumstances - she even felt guilty for not having it as hard as her sister Mevia. But at the same time, Elise had fallen, and fallen hard lately. A string of failure and calamity that she struggled to make sense of. It all had started when she first saw that vision, telling her of the Enclave's dark future...

Elise tried to look for a window in the room. Unfortunately, the interior medbay only had artificial, fake lighting. With a groan, Elise shut her eyes as she started to feel trapped. She was not used to just... sitting around and doing nothing.

"Kark it all, I don't want to just hang around in some stupid bed. I have to do things! Keldabe isn't rebuilt yet, there's still a galaxy to save, I need to get stronger, and I'm going to miss my meet up with Malum!"

A blush crossed her face and her eyes widened, when she blurted out that last part.

"Uh- Um! I mean-"

Mia Monroe Darth Malum of House Marr

 

[Mia Monroe]

Mia's eyebrow shot up at her negativity. She really had her work cut out for her if she was going to help Elise see the good in what she'd accomplished and to have her not always focus on the negative. She let out a heavy sigh and shook her head as the girl quickly corrected herself, stumbling to recognise her mistake in those words.

"Wayii, Eli'ika!" she said shaking her head and getting to her feet. "I will get in touch with Malum and we will figure something out. Manda knows you need something to cheer you up. I'm not going to sit here and let you sulk." She plucked the report she'd been reading off the table and handed it to Elise.

"Here, its the autopsy report, from the sithspawn. You'll be interested in the section on the results on the venom it injected you with." She smiled down at her. "Rest, ad'ika, give your body a chance to heal. I promise you, Keldabe and the Galaxy will still be there when you're fit and well, and you can go back to trying to save everything."

She gave her arm a small squeeze, before heading out and leaving her alone in the infirmary.

How the feth was she going to tell Malum what had happened, without starting another fight?

Elise Ahana-Gwyneira

 

[Elise Ahana-Gwyneira]

As Elise looked over the datapad, she was amazed. It was a potent, fast working venom that should have killed her... but she survived.

All the struggles she had while training with Mother's Root returned to her. Being Ajayid, without a drop of true Novanian blood, she had struggled immensely when building up her tolerance to the stuff. It took years, a plethora of terrifying highs, and too many excruciating hangovers, to get to where she was. And today, that training had saved her life.

She whispered a prayer of thanks to the Ancient Ones.

With a sigh, she set the datapad down. Mia's words rolled and etched in her head. Elise knew she was right, about everything. But could Elise truly let go of her goal of galactic peace? Especially when she was just a girl, a treacherous vod, with no sort of grand plan or backing. She was not like Malum, with his own army and a great scheme. She struggled with insignificance, as she pondered whether or not she was truly capable of such an impossible goal.

And if she could not save everyone... what was she but a spec of dust?

What was Mia Monroe , what was Darth Malum of House Marr , seeing in such a small, pitiful thing?

But didn't that small, pitiful thing survive a deathly poison?

"You are pure and good hearted."

Elise gritted her teeth.

"There are still good people in this galaxy."

The girl hissed. Despite all the odds, she could not lose heart just yet. She still had so much to fight for...

"Dry your eyes, my love. Face the future with courage. If I've trained you well, you will survive. You follow your convictions, and you fight as fervently as any Mandalorian with a mission before them."

Could she keep fighting on? Despite her imperfections? So many told her she could... but a part of her still doubted it. What would it take? How could she prove what she had proven to everyone else to herself?