This was the last place Ayomi wanted to be.
The last time the Tiefling had visited the palace of the Pureblood king, they had thought they were in love. They had been living in hubris, using the Dark Side but not truly knowing it. The champion had believed themself to be inspired, ready to set out on a happy path to the top of the world; only to be reminded that there was no love, no power without suffering, as Ayomi was literally cast down with two fewer limbs than they had entered with. Left to die, broken and bloodied, saved from the void only because others had recognized an opportunity for themselves.
For better or worse, the palace was now the site of the Tiefling's rebirth.
Not coincidentally, the palace was home to the man who'd brought about their rebirth. Ayomi had called ahead to schedule a meeting with the king of Korriban, the one who'd nearly killed them, Darth Arcanos himself; to their surprise, the request had actually been accepted. What was going through the future Dark Lord's mind was anyone's guess, but Ayomi intended to make the most of the opportunity at hand. Assuming Acranos didn't see fit to finish the job he'd already started, at least.
The champion was committed to a new path than the aimless one they'd walked before, but there was much to be done in order to achieve that goal. Nobody alive knew the intricacies of the Dark Side quite like Arcanos did, nor had any Sith so effectively built themselves a burgeoning empire in so short a span of time. Nobody else truly understood the suffering Ayomi had experienced that night like the man who'd inflicted it; intentionally ripping the tail from the Tiefling's body had been gruesome, intimate, and so much more painful than simply losing a limb.
So as much as it stabbed at Ayomi's pride like a thousand heated daggers, they had pushed the feeling away knowing it was a luxury they could not afford and made the trip to Korriban. They sat on a bench outside what they could only assume was an office, wearing an all-black outfit that had become their standard substitute for Sith robes. The phantom pain at the base of their spine, where their tail once was, felt stronger today; likely because their thoughts lingered on the missing limb more than usual, but the pain was nothing more than fuel for their connection to the Dark Side. The Tiefling waited for their meeting with the king patiently, letting all the pain, rage, and hatred burn in their subconscious thoughts so as to remain strong, but rational.
This was the place Ayomi needed to be.
@Sreeya