Books and Worms

[Darth Vrael]

Vrael stood from his chair with a quiet sigh, glaring a hole into the desk. Finally, it was clear and open, after many hours of work and effort. Just in time too, he had a prior engagement to address in a few minutes. Leaving his study and closing the door, Vrael turned and started down the hall. His two Massassi guards fell in behind him, one of them bearing several new scars on his face. Vrael did his best to ignore, preferring not to think about the recent mission they'd embarked on with him. The one where they'd performed rather poorly, considering their status.

They avoided him looking at him too, as was appropriate considering he had forgiven their failure fairly easily. He knew they were eagerly waiting for the day someone tried something, so that they could prove their competency once more. It was a faint hope to be sure, he wasn't going anywhere dangerous today. Well, not dangerous for him at least, the archives rarely welcomed trespassers and those unprepared for its depths. First though, he took a turn down a hall, towards a waiting chamber where he was supposed to be meeting her. Crusader Marris, who had expressed interest in studying this topic with him.

Assuming she was there, he would stop just a moment, simply motioning for her to follow him. They had much to get done and little time to do it. Leading the way, they would descend deep into the temple depths. It got bone chillingly cold as they continued, the air still as death. The force, the dark side, it was all around them, whispering in their ears. Vrael welcomed it whole heartedly, allowing it to flow through him, to soothe away the aches and pains that had begun accumulating through the years. Yes, this was where he belonged. Turning a corner, Vrael walked right into the archives, within which waited the knowledge of the Sith.

@Faded Truth

 

[Darth Victress]

.

Arianna glared at a digital map that lit up in the grasp of her palm, courtesy of the small datapad she had decided to bring along with them on this journey. She had forgone her usual armor and instead wore elegant Sith Marauder robes with an ebony respirator mask in place of the full durasteel head covering. Lightsaber was hidden on her belt as eyes quickly shifted from the map towards the Dark Lord when he made his presence in the chamber. No words were spoken, the two of them had developed enough of a relationship where formal greetings were not required any further. Besides, all this time working for the Emperor had allowed her to realize he was simply not one to talk much.

She bowed courteously when he entered and slowly fell in line at his right shoulder, assuming a walking pace that would match his. Datapad stowed away as they moved into the archives. Tall ceilings and the stench of aged pages as rows of books and tomes decorated the room, all relatively well organized into towards of records. She took a moment to relish in the smell as she always did, preferring to spend a majority of her time alone in her study with the archives of ancient knowledge to keep her company.

She turned her head to look momentarily at the Emperor, awaiting his discretion.

@Narsi

 

[Darth Vrael]

It was good that the Crusader was there on time, Vrael wasn't in the mood for waiting today. He ignored her bow eve, barely allowing her a frosty nod before pressing on. Silently he led the way into the depths of the archives, easily maneuvering through the rows of tomes and knowledge. These rooms were a familiar sight to him, a place he had frequented long before arising to his current position. Considering the changes his body had faced in the past years, he knew it better than the back of his hand. Judging by Arianna's manner, she wasn't unfamiliar with the area either. Good at least some of today's Sith knew the proper path to be following.

Still, he took the lead as the senior Sith in the room, as was his right. Leading the way into a particular corner, Vrael reached out with the force to heave several large tomes from their places, dust swirling in the air as he did so. He had come here to re-learn the intricacies of the mind, how to use the force to delve in the inner thoughts and memories of others. The long years without having the exercise the ability had nicked away at his proficiency, an unacceptable weakness. Proper use of such tactics required fine detailed control, lest one simply mangle the mind they were investigating without learning a thing. The Crusader was here to learn as well, but for her it would be the first time. Good for her, it was a vital ability, and she was going to be learning from the best.

Floating the pile of books over to her, he spoke a single clipped sentence, "Read these, and then we'll begin." As for him, he kept one for himself, taking a seat one of the creaking wooden chairs in the room. Without any more words, he would start flipping through, it briefly skimming each page as he started his refresher course. First the theory, and then the practical application, that was always how he learned these things. The tomes she now held would also provide important background knowledge for milestones further down the road as well. Hopefully Arianna was a fast reader, because she had a much larger pile to get through than he. And when he finished, he plan to move to stage two regardless if she was ready or not.

@Faded Truth

 

[Darth Victress]

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Arianna followed the Emperor as they made their way through the library, eyes scanning upwards as Darth Vrael used the force to encircle their arrival with a showcase of ancient textbooks. Little did he know that the ambitious sorceress had already spent many a great nights in these desolate halls, studying and preparing her force powers so that they would stand a distinction above any other. A smirk in the corner of her mouth as Vrael commanded her to begin with the scriptures. Though some of these tomes she had not had the pleasure to go through yet; as they floated over to her, she gently placed them on the table and begin scanning through them diligently. She had been praised on her voracious appetite for reading but her speed and reading comprehension were impressive to say the least.

Time was of the essence; she relied on her speed reading skills to keep up and digest the information as so she wouldn't hold the Darth back from what he was planning. Every section was skimmed and then silently analyzed before being summarized in her head; she did this with each page, over and over again. Repetition was the key to building a solid foundation and she wished to be one of the greatest.

Silence crept over the duo as they made their way through the books.

@Narsi

 

[Darth Vrael]

Vrael finished quickly, the familiar words flowing through him with utter ease. In what seemed to be mere minutes, he had finished the old book, closing it with a very satisfying thump. Without any further ado, he levitated it through the air to land atop the Crusader's stack. For a few minutes then he remained silent, self reviewing as he allowed the other Sith some extra time to read her own stack of literature. It had been easier than he'd thought, all his lessons coming back to him as he'd gone through the pages. The force helped too, almost presenting him with the forgotten knowledge itself as it whispered in his ear. He turned his focus to the Crusader, seeing that she wasn't done yet.

That was fine, it was to be expected really with the amount he'd given her. All he'd predicted was that she get through the basic material, and she'd done even better than that. Without any warning, he stood, gesturing for her to do the same as he stood in front of her with his arms crossed behind his back. "That will do for the moment," he said, his eyes boring into her as he performed a little on the spot evaluation. Was she truly ready? She would have to be, she had reached Crusader ranking and that was not a rank to be babied and coddled. "Remember what you just learned, allow it to flow through you with the dark side. Do not think..feel the force and act!"

Then extending a hand, he reached out with the force, feeling it carry his thoughts across the distance. And thus he attacked the woman's mind, extending a small sliver of his power to stab into her thoughts like a molten needle. She would feel pain, a lot of it, but only to an extent. It would be easily apparent that he wasn't even trying to worm his way in, or pierce and intrude further. Instead, his power was hovering on the outskirts of her mind, waiting for her to rally and try to fight him off. Trial by fire, the way of the Sith, Darth Vrael's way.
@Faded Truth

 

[Darth Victress]

.

Arianna looked up towards her Dark Lord as he interrupted her reading, a lofty brow came over her face as she was surprised. Did he expect her to devour this information that quickly as she felt somewhat unprepared for the teaching he was about to deliver. As the more pronounced command came from her, her anxiety and surprise worsened but she did her best to conceal it and instead began channeling the force to draw into her. His next move however, was the most difficult to anticipate and she was woefully not expecting the jab into her mind.

Her body jolted a bit as she felt the pain, letting out a scream but then stopped as the paraesthesia from the attack settled in but yet felt the intrusion hovering around her. She did as he wanted, her strength displaying and commanding the force around her as she fought back against her beloved assailant. Her own thoughts shot outwards, meeting Vrael as they began an intricate tug of war of mind over matter.

He would be able to feel her strength and mental fortitude, she was definitely not the same girl that visited him so long ago in the darkened tombs of Korriban.

@Narsi

 

[Darth Vrael]

Gah, this was the same little girl who had first visited him so long ago in Korriban's dark tombs. Still so young and inexperienced, still so unprepared for the might of the dark. He had given her fair warning beforehand even, and yet she'd still been caught off guard. She had basically given him a free look into the depths of her mind, into her anxiety and nervousness. Such fragility, so readily exposed, it was despicable but forgivable. He was the Emperor, and one of the mightiest Sith alive, anxiety was an understandable consequence. The scream however, the open admission of weakness, was NOT.

Oh sure, she caught herself quickly enough, even managing to put up a fight. But it was a little too late by then and Vrael was already glaring at her. Still, he kept up the pressure with his mind, shoving his disgust to the side. He had elected to do this with her, and was hardly going to pull back because she hadn't lived up to expectations. Not that many people did, a disturbing trend he had noticed over the past few months. He did however, suddenly add an extra bit of fervor once she'd seemed to finally put up a decent fight. Before, it had only been a few lighter prods before backing off to the edge of her mind.

Now though, he brought a good deal more of his mental arsenal to bear, trying to ram his thoughts right into the depths of her mind. A full blown intrusion, a mental spear designed to pierce her defenses and allow him full access to her inner being. For her sake, hopefully she was ready, lest she find the Emperor of the Sith sifting through her innermost memories.
@Faded Truth

 

[Darth Victress]

.

Arianna fought viciously and then slowly relented away, almost as if resting for a moment as she allowed the Dark Lord to travel through her conscious and her thoughts. There was much for him to see, her childhood, her youth, her training as an acolyte, and all the innermost memories that had molded the young woman into the Crusader she now was. He would also see her conviction to the Empire and the never wilting courage that remained as a bastion of strength and hope.

As the moments spun longer, she suddenly powered back and smashed a shield against his spear. Her mental defenses would echo forwards as the green hues of her eyes shifted into a deathly yellow. It was as if the soon to be Darth was learning, adapting, and delivering resistance against the intruding powers of her dark master. She had allowed him enough to her own thoughts, now it was her turn as tendrils of forced willpower reached forwards, attempting to overpower the Emperor and slither further into his innermost thoughts.

@Narsi