Meeting of the Minds (Continued from a earlier Thread)

[Negative Blessing]

The Sith Witch let a dark and cold smile creep across her face as she watched him try to mesmerize her. She mentally applauded his attempts but he was an infant in comparison to her when it came to mind games. She was the epitome of mind dominance and with that, she knew how to shield her mind from the likes of him or any that sought to impose their will upon her. He may be older but only in age.

"You claim to once have known a powerful Sith such as myself...and I am to assume that he must have died by your hand. Well, then he was not as powerful as you claim nor worthy of holding the title of Sith. In truth, you must have stumbled upon a bumbling Dark Jedi who boasted of being a Sith....and I should thank you for killing such an abomination," she responded with mockery in her voice.

As he took a step closer to the Sith Master, she merely smiled again at the gesture. While staring into his eyes as he asked her if she was sure she knew everything about him, she was already two steps ahead of him. Using the Force, she reached out and dominated the minds of three Rodian thugs, armed with blasters. One inside their weak willed minds, she positioned them to flank the Anzat.

"'Tis not about knowing everything about you nor do I need to know everything about you; your eyes...your body language...and your thoughts have already betrayed your intentions. However, one can go their entire life knowing everything about someone only to be surprised by their betrayal when they find the blade plunged into their back. I embrace deceit...treachery...and the manipulation of others; and when they no longer serve a purpose to me, I eliminate them. And that my dear Anzat is merely the tip of the iceberg of learning my true nature. Like the galaxy itself....I'm always changing and evolving." Grima lets out a small laugh when the Anzat comes to the reality that he is surrounded by the three Rodian thugs.

"But one thing I have learned in my short time in the galaxy Anzat...that what your eyes perceive as the true threat is merely but a demonstration in distraction...'tis what is lurking in the shadows watching you with hungry eyes, ready to pounce and kill is what you should be concerned about. Make no mistake Anzat, I never walk alone."

 

[Athrun Zala]

Eugene kept the frown off his face as he tried to mesmerize her...it wasn't working. She was blocking him. He had grown more adept with mesmerization over the years, but it had been a while since he had used it on a force user...it seemed he was out of practice. That's the only reason it could be. Sure, she radiated a powerful aura, but she was only thirty or forty; hardly a master. But maybe she was one of those far more gifted than half of the apprentices the Sith took in to train. He mentally muddled over the group he had ran into some three hundred years ago, their alliegances and their skills...granted many of them were weak, which was part of the reason he was able to mesmerize the weakest. It seemed in his time away he had forgotten what true power tasted like, and how to control it. He had let his own force powers dwindle, using them only when was necessary. And that made him weak, he thought disgustedly.

Then, as he took in a deep inhale, he realized they were not alone. Most of the crowd had cleared out of the halls, but there were three who had chosen to remain behind. Rodians, by the smell of them. Their auras were weak, very easily manipulated and very unsatisfying for eating. He reached out, using his natural anzati telepathy to probe the minds of the three. He could feel her in their minds, controlling them, dominating them. With another inhale, he could tell their scents had moved closer, and he was fairly certain they each had some sort of blaster. He could take a blaster shot, but he wasn't sure how well he could take three and deal with the sith togruta in front of him. It seemed they were at standstill.

"I can see that," he mused with a glimmer of a smirk in his eyes. His eyes still radiated his desire to even the playing field. He dropped his attempts to mesmerize the togruta, and turned his attentions to the three. Her presence within them was strong, and he realized it would take a lot more than brute force to break her hold on them. Still he tried, using his anzati mesmerization and aiding it with a little bit of force telepathy to examine her hold on them, before he sent a few spikes into their mind. A few powerful ones, since he had to go by and under Grima. Spikes of fear, of irrational fear to take at their minds, to make them scared of the shadows about the hall, to make them scared of the sith togruta, of himself. To make them run away.

"Then tell me, why should I bow and call you my master? If you'll cast me away when I no longer serve a purpose to you...or how do you know that I won't stab you in the back after training me? Anzati use the same skills as you, but..." he raised his hand in a gesture, his first finger pointed upward. "Does one who claim to to practice deceit, treachery, and the manipulation of others, stand a chance? When you boast about what you can do, rather than what you appear to be, you don't quite make a good impression on your victims." He smiled. "Then again, I know we are in some ways alike...I can use you as much as you can use me. But which one of us is going to cast the other away first?" He waved his arms to the side in another gesture. "To call me yours and train me to hone the force once again, is that a risk you are willing to take?"

 

[Negative Blessing]

Grima folded her hands over her chest and merely observed how this Anzat would deal with such a threat. She knew these Rodians were no match for him but it was not his actions she observed, but his diplomatic way of handling things. When she felt the mind of the Anzat invade the minds of the thugs, she could only smirk to herself. Yes, he had some skill with mind controlling but he was a mere infant compared to her. Yes, he was far older than her in terms of age but she had studied at the foot of a Dark Lord, survived the teachings and lessons of not one but two different Masters, and committed herself to both the Dark Side and Sith Sorcery; with no chance for redemption or salvation in sight.

When the Anzat finally spoke to her, she laughed at his words. "First...if you bow to me then you already have shown the early signs of weakness. Only fools and the submissive bend a knee. Most will argue that the simple act of bowing is a sign of respect and the recognition of a superior individual before them. Pfft! I have no need of anyone's respect nor do I crave their recognition of my power. I, unlike most, do not need my ego caressed! If one wishes to please me...then they should strive to survive my teachings...my tests...and my lessons. As far as your concern of casting you away or you stabbing me in the back," Grima says waving her hand as if she is washing away the absurdity of his words.

Grima lets out a small sigh before she continues. "Nothing in life is without risks Anzat....nothing ventured....nothing gained."

 

[Athrun Zala]

The smile on his face never waned, but as he looked down on her, he felt a certain amusement, and a certain...disgust. She claimed to not need recognition, or respect, and yet she demanded it in her arrogance. She claimed to be the embodiment of deception and cunning, and yet she blatantly announced to the galaxy her intentions. Instead of trying to deceive, she elicited a show of power. Power was fine, if in the right amounts and the right times. But she had blatantly shown it when it was not quite needed, and called herself a master of deception. She had not a shred of humility in her voice as she spoke, and if she was this way, how could she possibly handle it when she truly needed? She had far too much pride. She viewed bowing to another as beneath her. The proud always fall hardest, he mused. He was tempted to walk away from her, but then that would be showing his own pride. No, he was much better than her; she viewed herself above the world but didn't strive to make the world think it owned her while she used them. He would show her what it meant to be truly deceptive.

"That's true...nothing is," he mused as he turned his head to stare the rodians in the eyes. They didn't exactly run in fear, but they ventured away from the two so they were alone again. "Then am I showing weakness by placing myself as your apprentice?" He made a slight gesture of bending his knees, before raising his eyebrows. "More can be gained than by us turning about and walking away...I'm sure as there are things about the dark side that I can learn from you...there are things that you can learn from me. So I place myself as your apprentice and ask if you can take me." His face wore a benign smile, but his green eyes burned a challenge towards the togruta's.

 

[Negative Blessing]

"Oh sweet Anzat....there are many forms of weaknesses. Submitting yourself to one's teachings is not weakness but it shows a thirst for power...for knowledge...and to grow into something great. Taking what you learn and never use it is weakness...or perhaps it is fear. The Jedi teach that the Dark Side is something to be feared because it turns one into a creature with an insatiable appetite for power, but is it? Perhaps it is...and perhaps it is not. Only you can decide your path and your fate," the Sith Witch said with a strong conviction.

Grima watched as the Anzat slightly bent his knee, a gesture of defiance or ignorance that he had not heard her words. Grima was about to raise her hands to show him what she thought of his gesture but stopped as she listened as he pledged himself to her teachings and spoke of learning something from him. Now that was interesting. She, unlike so many of the False Sith, knew never to pass on a chance to learn something new and yes, this Anzat was old enough to teach her things that were lost not only to the Sith of this age, but the galaxy itself.

She pondered his words a little longer then said, "You seek to study from me yet...you present me with a case that I can actually learn something from you in the process. Tell me Anzat....what can I learn from you that I can't learn on my own." She ignored his smile but stared into his challenging eyes.

 

[Athrun Zala]

Better deception for one, Eugene thought mockingly as he stared back at Grima. If this was the best she had, then she would be easy. But if he were to tell her that, she would brush him off with her arrogance. She thought she was as good as she would get in that regard, and was looking for ways of more power and knowledge. Which was all well and good, but she would never get anywhere making a big show of what she could do in front of everyone. So he leaned back, his hands sliding into his pants pockets as he regarded her with a faint disappointment in his eyes.

"You seek power," he said bluntly, his voice betraying neither disappointment, nor his arrogance. "I know the anzati arts of assassination. Something your kind probably knows nothing of...or may not care to know." His kind may have meant either togruta or the sith organization, but he didn't make it clear. "I am also aware of a few tombs of the ancient ones, probably buried by now due to your wars." His voice leaned slightly on the side of boredom. "That's more in your line of interest assuming you haven't refound them already."

"Now tell me, in order to train me, does this mean I have to become part of your sith organization?" He held back the word 'again', not letting it known for the moment that he was far more trained than she seemed to think, and by the sith. Maybe she thought he had been trained by a dark jedi group, he wasn't sure yet.