The Eternal

[The Eternal (Vex)]

Ever since Vex arrived back at the Black Hand base, something called to her. Though she tried to ignore it the voices had become louder and louder despite her inability to understand what they were saying. Shaking her head, she finally gave in and decided to find out where it was coming from.

Every step she took seemed to intensify the voices and the feeling that she needed to keep going. It lead her down the Wraith's hallways until she found herself in the front of The Eternal's Throne Room. The door wasn't open yet, yet she now felt a deep desire—hunger— no, need to open it.

As she did, her eyes laid themselves upon The Eternal's throne itself. The man, the creature, whatever he or she was did not appear there but... the mask did. She could now sense that it was calling to her. Did this mean that the old Eternal was dead or left them? Curiosity gripped her but only for a few heartbeats because her mind kept being pulled back to the mask itself.

@Orbit

 

[The Storyteller]

The mask was in pain, it's entire signature in fluctuation with the separation from Siris ever so recently. Its existence was pain without its host, trying to desperately to consume the Dark Side that pulsated throughout the Black Hand's base. It was different this time, a severed connection and being full relinquished from its owner. It was the first time someone had ever rejected it and made the dark creature enraged. If people were at the base at the moment they would be able to feel the very air shift from the palpable anger, to sadness, despair, hopelessness. It was in a whirlwind of confusion, a recipient always prepared for the mantle once it was needed. With the last of the power it had, the mask sent out a beacon to the one person who it thought of that would be a temporary replacement or even permanent if she proved valuable enough. So it called to Vex, demanding her to return to the Void and to the mask.

The mask felt her presence and the dormant crimson eyes now pulsated darkly, it's invisible hooks and tendrils slowly creeping in on its new host. Vex would experience the air become cold enough to chill the bone, making her breath a visible cloud everytime she exhaled. The air felt void of life and she would be able to taste the emotions it felt before in the air. The tendrils of the mask would slip into her mind, "Wraith... Vex..." Its voice was contorted, ugly and raspy as if speaking was even painful for it. "Come... To... Us..." Despite the weakness in its voice, there was an iron authority to it and this was the first time Vex had actually heard the Eternal's true voice. She had sworn her total allegiance to it already and it's words came out as an order more than anything else. Whispers would start to be made around her ears, different voices together discussing different things but not making any sense if Vex tried to focus on it. If she tried to listen they would just slowly drone out before returning back in full force.

When she stepped forward into the throne room the hunger she felt amplified tenfold, almost making it unbearable, it was enough to draw Vex into a frenzy if she couldn't resist against it. The Black Throne stood across from Vex, imposing in stature like the monster it was home for. "Step... Forward..." There was a power behind the words, almost forcing her legs to step forward against her own will for a moment. Pillars lined the way to the throne and as Vex got closer she would see the shadows around them seemed to come alive and slither around them, watching her from the ceiling and the walls. As she had gotten closer and closer to the mask, the hooks of the of it had sunken further and further into her mind without her realizing it. The power of the mask was ancient, hundreds of years old and tasted the power of some of the most powerful Sith. Vex couldn't have resisted even if she knew that it was happening to her.

Figures of shadow would start to appear around Vex, each appearing in different forms and different appearances. Each of them was faceless and moved in the same nature, following behind her and tilting their heads and awkward angles and inspecting her. The whispers now originated from them and it gave the feeling that these were the previous wearers of the mask before. Even though a pack of them followed her, one stood separate and at the side of the throne. It stood taller than the rest, not seeming to be part of the group that whispered to Vex. The biggest difference was that the shadows he was created of seemed to flicker like he wasn't really there but had to take part in this. He said nothing and even though he was faceless, there was a certain sadness to him as his blank gaze followed Vex.

Vex could see the mask as it was placed at the seat of the throne, the air around putrid in the Dark Side. "You know... what to... do..." The shadowy figures formed a half circle behind her, standing in unison and waiting silently. The air became still, as if everything now waited in time for her to make the choice. The flickering one stood to the side still, taking no part of this. "Accept... Us..."

@Dread

 

[The Eternal (Vex)]

Commanding, shadowy figures appeared all around the throne. One behind it stood out and felt somehow familiar to her but her mind couldn't focus on anything but the mask for too long. Without thought, her feet seemed to move by themselves, drawing her closer and closer to the mask until she could actually understand what it was saying.

"You know... what to... do...", the rasp rang in her mind, "Accept... Us..."

Even if she wanted to, she wouldn't have been able to stop herself. Her power, her mind, all became completely useless in the wake of the masks power, in it's pain as it called out for a new host. She was powerless against it's call; and even if she wasn't, she would've given herself over to it because she had vowed her loyalty to it long ago.

Touching the mask sent chills throughout her body, but also a rush of power and desire. It was, undeniably, the Dark Side. She gasped at the surge of emotions, shivering while she brought the mask to her face, closing her eyes as it touched her alabaster skin.

But as it did... something consumed her. Was it too much power? Was it madness? She couldn't know. Vex screamed at the top of her lungs sheerly from being overwhelmed. Falling over, she clawed at the floor and anything close to her, screaming, growling like an animal, unable to think or see or function.

Stripped, at least for the moment, of her sanity.

@Orbit

 

[The Storyteller]

Like a moth to the flame, Vex approached and the mask's impossible eyes pulsed firmly. It could feel that she was accepting it, that the resistance she might have raised was slowly falling away. Every second in this oppressive, seductive, atmosphere just drove home one thing and one thing only;

That Vex would obey as she always had done before.

It's anticipation was palpable, thickening the air and causing the sensation, the emotion, to drive the whispering shadows to silence for a moment as they stared. Without eyes they focused entirely upon her, as if waiting for her to make a move or say something.

Only the single shadow, flickering like a flame in the breeze, did not focus on her. Instead, it seemed to turn it's head to one side, to gaze away from her as though unable to bring itself to watch what was to unfold.

And then she touched it.

The eyes of the mask pulsed stronger than before as it used the physically connection, and her allegiance to it, to tear down her mental barriers and savage her mind. It ripped her sanity from her, leaving her mindless as she struggled to cope with it's presence now dominating, twisting, her mind without pause, without delay and without mercy.

Like a pack of wolves, the shadows descended upon her, invisible and semi-tangible hands grasping and pulling at her face and hair, clutching to her in any way that they could as their whispers rose in pitch and volume until they were deafening and all-encompassing. They added to the mental assault, filling her mind with the Darkness of wearers long since past.

They seized the Force bond she shared with her lover and enveloped it, masking it with their Darkness so as to temporarily cut her off from it, from her love.

The figure beside the throne was was a reminder to the mask that it had been resisted, that it had been denied, for the foolish emotion of love, of commitment to something other than it. Eyes pulsing, the mask spoke.

"We... are your Galaxy... we are your... focus..."

Shadowy tendrils in her mind, in her soul, grasped hold of the Force bond and began to twist, began to pull and tear at it.

"Forsake your love... and accept... Us."

The shadows still physically assaulting her as they attacked her mentally picked up the chant.

"Forsake him... accept Us..."

Over and over, their whispers became as clear as day as they continued.

"Forsake him... accept Us..."

Aloud and in her mind their voices spoke in concert, tones fluctuating but the determination and insideious nature constant throughout.

"Forsake him... accept Us..."

With her mental defences already stripped, she would have no defence against their tearing and their probing.

She would belong to them.

@Dread

 

[The Eternal (Vex)]

The masks assault on her mind broke down her walls completely. Crumbling them into dust under it's force. She couldn't and wouldn't have tried to resist it's probing once it got in, and it would find how deep and absolute her loyalty to it really was. There was never a doubt in her mind that she would serve it until she died under it's service, even Kalladrrl had sensed that when they first bonded. More than that she loved the mask, The Eternal, the Black Hand, her work as an assassin and the power. And her power had grown tremendously, and still was growing, in it's service.

But the mask didn't want to share her.

It was hard to fully wrap her mind around anything else but the masks desire, but she felt cold and scared when it cut her off from Kalladrrl. Their...no, it's hands began to tear apart her bond to Kalladrrl.

It was hard, almost impossible, to muster up the will to speak. Through the screaming, chanting voices and it's will imposing over her. But with all her power, she mustered the ability to make a request. Though it wasn't much of a request; it was more akin to a daughter asking her father's permission.

"Allow...allow me to keep s..s...some of my bond," she requested, now clutching her hands on her head instinctively.

If the mask stopped for a moment to look, if it cared to, it would see her request came from love but also a selfish place. She wanted it to see the benefits of her connection to Kalladrrl; the power she got from the bond to him, from the emotions it caused that she used to fuel her power and the connections it gave her to be close to the War Master. Things she always knew but feared to admit to herself.

"Please...", she gasped. "Please it is worth keeping!"

With the last words that left her, her will was spent. She knew that even if the mask decided that the bond was worth allowing, the bond would be permanently weakened by now. She could sense that. She knew that it would be but a whisper now, when once it was a mighty shout that defied the span of a galaxy. But her loyalty to it was absolute... and even if she could she would not attempt to struggle against whatever its will was. Whatever it wanted in the end.

@Nefieslab

 

[The Storyteller]

And still she spoke, still she resisted the compulsion to simply surrender and obey. To a certain level, this was something that the mask wanted in it's host as it meant she would be harder for enemies to subdue but it was something that meant she could resist the influence of the mask as well and it had been down that road before. Several of the previous owners had held prestigious skill in mental defences far surpassing that of it's last holder but it's last holder had, seemingly, had the perfect balance of mental fortitude and a strong enough reason to push harder than any before him.

Love.

That word, that emotion, that it was coming to so bitterly hate.

"Do you... see what he... does to you...?"

The shadows pulled her head back and moved to the sides, forcing her to stare into the red gaze of the mask itself. It's gaze was intense and powerful, lancing through what feeble defences she had conjured to speak out. It held her gaze through the sheer tension between them.

"You pledged... your heart... to him... and your loyalty... to Us..."

It's 'voice' was a rumble that shook inside of her mind, lancing pain throughout her mind as it sought to shake her to her foundations. The Shadows around her whispered and stroked at her face, her hair, anywhere they could touch. They whispered various different things, but all with one common theme - they all urged her to submit to the mask, to accept it's terms and become one with them.

And they spoke to her, stoking the flames.

They spoke of the power she would enjoy.

They spoke of the freedom she would have.

They spoke of the pride she would feel at reaching such a peak.

They spoke of how accepting the mask, becoming one with them, outweighed every other experience in her life. Love was nothing in the face of the acceptance, the comfort and joy, she would feel in embracing the mask fully, in abandoning her life and becoming The Eternal. What could love do to stand against the power and the constancy of the mask?

Love would die - but the mask would go on and she would live on forever through it.

"If we commanded... would you cut... your heart out?"

It was clear that the mask wasn't asking about the physical act.

It was asking about something far more damaging to the young woman - all to see if her loyalty outweighed her love.

While it was doing this, the grip on the bond gradually grew more and more suffocating, weakening the bond in preparation for ending it forever should she say, should she feel, the wrong thing.

@Dread

 

[The Eternal (Vex)]

What he does to me? she questioned in thought, only to feel her head being pulled back as the shadows stepped aside. Forcing her to stare at the masks eyes head on. To acknowledge both the pain, and draw, of the booming voice when it spoke as one.

It was right... she was split.

Her heart belonged to one person, her loyalty to the mask. Love, strong love had gifted her the ability to see beyond her work. But loyalty gave her a certainty...a firm ground to stand on. To know who she was, what she was, what she would always be. Love did not. Love could die. Love could leave your side over anything, no matter how much, how completely, you've given your heart to it.

Love could betray you.

And this angered her, made her bitter, made her turn to the masks whispers. Whispers of joy, freedom, pride and power... so much power.

The Dark Side called to her and she wanted to answer it's calls.

"Yes," she answered, but without an inkling of struggle.

"Yes," she repeated, but louder. "Yes, I would obey your command."

@Nefieslab

 

[The Storyteller]

Dark satisfaction radiated from the mask at her answer.

It felt it in her mind, in her soul, that she believed what she was pledging. There was no falsehood in her response - only the absolute loyalty and a lust for the strength the mask could guide her to. The Dark Side surged and pulsed around the mask, as if responding to how well the dark artefact had received her answer. There was no resistance now and the mask knew that it had found it's next host, the continuation of it's legacy.

She was strong but still had much to learn - it could grow with her.

She was loyal but still had initiative - she would be someone others would follow.

"You pledge... your soul...?"

It enjoyed this.

It enjoyed the security of knowing that Vex was giving herself to it utterly - it pushed and she accepted and that was how it should be. Still, despite how she had accepted it, it was not gentle as it's mental tendrils pushed further into her mind, digging it's roots so deeply inside of her what it would be all but impossible to remove it in the future without tearing out chunks of Vex's mind.

No, the mask would cling tightly and it would not give up it's prize, it's dominion over her.

"Accept... us...!"

All she needed to do was take the mask and place it on her face and it would be done, there would be no hope of her ever escaping it's grasp. It would make sure of it.

@Dread

 

[The Eternal (Vex)]

The masks joy was almost palpable to the still young Sith, sending the same euphoria washing throughout her mind. Already, she felt at one with it. "I do," she answered, slowly reaching out for the Dark Side symbiont.

Her lithe, alabaster fingers curled themselves around the cold, ancient relic. There was still pain even as she touched it, from the tendrils digging deeper and deeper into her psyche. Vex, no, The Eternal knew exactly what the mask was doing, but didn't care.

Even as her head jerked to one side, recoiling from the pain, she placed the mask over her face. Standing after a moment, her once blue eyes now a bright red, similar to the crystal inside her lightsaber. The Eternal took a few steps towards her throne, turning on her heel to take her place.

"I pledge myself...To Us."

/end thread