Where Flowers Bloom, So Does Hope (CLOSED)

[Sreeya]

Andraste heard Jhon through the Force, but barely. At that moment, he appeared to be a thousand miles away, as her psyche began to surrender to the Force, confined and chained as it took over her thoughts. She continued to advance towards Exodeus, the icy rain returning as it coated her hair and ran down her skin. She did not feel it, despite the icy chill over her flesh. Andraste gazed ahead, but she only saw through the Force, her eyes eerily glowing through the darkness. As she began to close the distance between them, her steps sped up, the Force still whirling around her, coming to her side with her as its master.

She felt Exodeus' energy, felt it gathering strength. The darkness encompassed him, just as it did her. However, he embodied the darkest corners of it, letting it taint his mind and thoughts. It pulsated as if it were its own entity, and it clashed against the energy Andraste projected. The storm raged above them both, the black clouds churning as thunder boomed across the skies. She came to a stop before the Dark Lord, watching him rise.

Her white eyes were met with his pitch black, as the two titans stood across one another. At that moment, logic left Andraste. She was simply guided by the Force, guided to stop him, to end him if needed. Andraste raised her hand, as if possessed, gathering the Force to her palm once again. She prepared to unleash a whole new blast of energy that would make him falter once again, that would stop his advance once more. However, he shocked her by uttering words.

Andraste paused, lowering her hand. She remained blinded, though his words began to flow into her ears. She remained across from him, her expression unchanged, her face devoid of any emotion. Andraste was no longer her purely human self, but an embodiment of the Force itself. It was what had drawn her the attention of those that worshipped the Force, those that understood the true power it commanded. It was the part of her that she had often lost control of, the potential within her that no one could teach her to harness. It was a path she had to walk on her own. At that moment, she had given into the Force, had given into her emotions which were twisted into fuel that supplied her strength. It was strength unlike he had ever seen from her before.

And yet she listened, his words flowed into her mind as a snake. The snake pierced through the barriers, swaying elegantly as it brushed past every last obstacle, through the transparencies within the Force. It flowed into her mind, her thoughts, down her body and into her heart. It swelled within her chest, reaching out to coil around the humanity within her, awakening just a wisp of it. At that moment, the first hint of emotion graced her features, and it was a simple parting of her lips, a subtle motion that could be easily missed. However, she spoke a moment after that, once again through the Force.

"J'us aras viskas kia sau'm, nulis." You are everything to me, love.

Andraste turned away.

"I am eternally bound to you. Destiny has foretold that, and so it shall be."

She felt the hatred building within him, felt the chaos he was about to unleash. She remained calm, however, her words monotone and her expression unchanged. It was an Andraste he had never seen before. She continued calling the Force to herself, drawing it in like a poison.

"But nothing, not destiny, nor any god, nor the Force will keep me from stopping you. This child will be raised by Jhon and you will not stand in his way. Forgive me.."

As she prepared to launch an attack, he was just one step ahead of her. She jumped back as he dashed above her, launching a telekinetic blast wrought of pure malice. Andraste flew back into the air, her body horizontal as the Force whirled around her. At that moment, time appeared to slow down. She was in statis, seeing every drop of rain, feeling every light brush of the wind, seeing every strand of her own hair brushing past her face.

Within that tilted position, her body twisted, into a spin that dragged the Force energy all around her. Andraste was suspended in mid air, drawing the Force around her as a cloth she wrapped around herself in layers. She continued drawing it in, but it did not stop there. The binding energy twisting around her embraced the incoming attack from Exodeus. The brutal, raw blast amalgamated with the chaotic energies she had spun around herself. It became a part of a whirlwind of energy.

At that moment, she seemed to move slowly, twisting in a tilted circle with his dark, chaotic energy whirling around her. Andraste began to finish the circle. However, as she did so, the beast within her sought out the energy she had built up around her. Andraste clawed into the air as a monster grasps at flesh, ripping the Force around her and grasping it as a tangible entity. It was his energy admixed with her own. As Andraste completed the horizontal spin, she came around and faced him in time as he launched into the air. What took an eternity for her, would have been done in the blink of an eye.

As he seemingly soared into the air, his focus shifted, Andraste released the chaotic blast that was a culmination of both their Force energies. She held no malice in her heart, but was driven by purpose. It was a desire that eclipsed her servitude to the Empire, her loyalty to the Sith, and her loyalty to the man she loved.

 

[Brandon Rhea]

Flying towards the upper atmosphere, Jhon knew that he wasn't out of troubles yet. He continued upward, but he put the vessel on auto-pilot. He ran to the back of the shuttle, looking for something within the ship, or hoping to think of something within its bowels, that would help him make a clean escape. Not from the duel, not from Lehon. From Exodeus. From existence.



That was something the Force made abundantly clear. No longer could he be Jhon Cordatus, Grand Master of the New Jedi Order. No longer could he even be Jhon Cordatus. He would be... He would be nothing, a ghost, an echo in the cosmos that no one would find, that no one would look for. No one looks for a dead man. He would die, and through that he would live anew.



But there was another consideration, a moral consideration towards his Padawan. Jhon knew what he had to do, what he had to do to her, even if it killed him inside. The Force willed it. He had to believe that she would want it if she knew. Yet, she couldn't know. Not the truth, not now. Maybe someday, but today was too dangerous.

Today was the day of the Emperor. Tomorrow was the day of the Emperor's daughter.



His onboard computer beeped, and his head snapped towards it. A holographic image came to life, showing an ion storm developing in the Lehon system. He would have to plot a course around it to avoid the ionically charged particles in order to—



Ions. That was it. That was what he was looking for. Practically diving back into the pilot's chair, Jhon's hands raced across the computer terminal, bringing up the design of the vessel's hyperdrive engine. He didn't know much about hyperspace technology, but he knew enough about how to work with one through a computer to do what he needed to do. It would make the voyage away from Lehon more difficult, but it would help in the longrun.

And then he felt a call.

Then he felt a call. Fear. Anger. Hatred.... Energy. An attack was coming, and its imminence sent a chilling ripple through the Force, warning him that it was time. Time to become a ghost.



Jhon's finger hovered over the computer console, not in patience for the attack to reach the appropriate point, but in hesitation. He was about to give up everything he'd worked for ever since that the explosion on Ardos so many years ago, when his reckleness killed so many people. It was an abandonment of them, their memories. The things he did as a Jedi were a way of honoring their legacies, but now he was about to rip that way. Was it right?



It was only a matter of moments until he knew it was. The Force had many servants who worked for its grace in countless ways. Whether they were the Grand Master of the New Jedi Order or not, they strived to carry out the pure, benevolent will of the Force and to protect those who needed their care the most. Whether he was an active Jedi or not, whether the galaxy knew him as alive or dead, his new purpose was perhaps the most fulfilling means of carrying out the will of the Force. It was this means that would allow him to help, to serve, the galaxy the most.



And so his finger hit the button, the shuttle's shields raised, and from a back port on the shuttle came its ion reactor flying out. He had enough reserve fuel to reach the Alliance, and from there he would need to find another means to where he was headed. The Dark Lord, though, would never know. Riding himself of the reactor was not done without reason.



When the Emperor's electrical terror reached the reactor, the wave of hatred impacted the ionized particles. In an instant, the reactor exploded in a brillaint display of energy. The purple hue of the ionized mayhem almost seemed to wail in pain as a violent shockwave burst out from all directions, both towards the ground where Exodeus and Andraste stood and towards the shuttle.



The impact caused Jhon to lurch forward, and the ship, whose survival was masked by the explosion below—Exodeus and Andraste would think the shuttle was destroyed, along with Jhon and the child—flew forward at an alarming rate, raging towards orbit. The child cried out in panic; her mother wasn't there to care for her, Jhon couldn't get to her just yet, and she was in the worst situation of her young life. Jhon reached out with the Force, calming her, soothing her, and though tears still flowed and sounds were still whined, she wasn't as scared as she had been.



In orbit, with Andraste and her master thinking they were dead, Jhon plotted a course back to the Alliance, to the Deep Core, where he would be able to figure out what to do next with the peace of mind that he and the baby had escaped. With the course plotted, he engaged the engine. Stars turned to great, nerverending lines against the blackness of space, and the ship shot forward, towards the destiny of tomorrow.



Jhon got out of the chair and walked into the back of the shuttle. He sat down beside where the baby was laying, and he unstrapped her, gently taking her into his arms and getting his first good look at her. Her eyes were something strange, evil yet not. A scar of the Emperor yet a pure reminder of everything she didn't have to be. Hers would be a hard life, a confused life, one where he would probably have to lie about who she really was, at least for a time.



Now he finally knew what Obi-Wan Kenobi felt like when Darth Vader turned on him. Taking the infant son of the new Sith Lord and hiding him in the desert wastes, away from the galaxy, away from civilization, away from the memories of his dead mother and his twisted father. Left in the care of a loving aunt and a resentful uncle, in the watchful but distant eye of an old Jedi Master, Luke Skywalker was lied to by everyone; by his aunt, by his uncle, by Obi-Wan. It was a choice the Jedi Master had made to protect Vader's son, both from Vader and from Luke himself. It was a conflict the old man had to grapple with, one that even Skywalker didn't fully understand until he finally redeemed his father.



The legacy of Obi-Wan Kenobi was now passed on to Jhon Cordatus. He would have to tell the girl everything was OK when it wasn't. He would have to tell her that her parents were gone when they weren't. He would have to tell her she was normal when she was truly special. He would have to smile even when the thought of doing so pained him. Yet it was all for her, and for what she could do for the rest of the galaxy.



She cried again, the baby girl. He reached out with the Force once more, trying to calm her, but he knew that he couldn't do that forever. Sometimes a soothing voice helped, however soothing his could be after everything that had happened, after everything he would have to say for her sake.



"Shhhh," he whispered. "It's Ok. It's all OK."



The long night had begun.

 

[Demiurge]

(Using IC perspective pertaining to Jhon's ploy)
​

When the ship exploded from the Dark Lord's attack, it was as if a star had been born in the atmosphere. Ignited by his own inner malice as ravaged the blackened clouds until it was consumed by the tempest. Exodeus stared at the spectacular flare of the exploding craft even as it's burning wreckage fell down from the domineering skies, falling down like fire and brimstone from heaven. A true testament, a visible proof. This was the way. He was right. And as truly as had been since the very day he'd discovered his own power, what power even was, the Dark Side of the Force had led him to fulfillment.

Time had not slowed, not frozen in the perspective of the mind's eye, but seemed to have become irrelevant in that moment. Was he falling? Was he rising? Was he still maintaining his focus to retain his position in the air? Did it even matter? It did not. Only one thing mattered, the one thing that had always mattered since the beginning. It was what he was fighting for... what she was fighting against. Was it death? Life?

Or something beyond even those? Was it a battle of mortality? The gambit of precious life? Or was it something that transcended even these? Was it a battle of belief? Philosophy proven for, or against? Destiny, or free will? Fate, or choice? The determining factor of it all. The revelation. Suddenly, it was as if he'd shifted back to the planes of time as the galaxy saw it again. The deluge fell on him, with the wind at his back. The maelstrom of the Dark Side still enveloped him, trapping him in a oneness of body, mind and spirit. Leeching from the reservoir of power trapped within the etches of his soul.

As his mind returned to the present, his senses sharpened and his focus realigned to the galaxy around him, his eye caught a glimpse of the power of the Force incarnated into visible form. And as he saw, he saw it through the realm of the Force. Darkness and Light strung together like a tapestry, projected forward as Force energy teetering in the twilight until they became something greater, something mightier. Like a screech of a beast soaring through the sky, the ravaging impulse of the amalgamated Force power of both himself and Andraste impacted against him, blasting the remnant of his upper torso's armor into fragments and shards. His mind became blank as his body was blasted from the skies, sent down to the earth like a fallen angel.

The caked sand cracked in place, swiftly smoldering to glass from the intensity of the Force energies engulfing the Dark Lord. As he landed, Exodeus stood in the rain, staring down as the rough glass, and the distorted reflection of himself... his inner self. The blood seeped down as the pain overtook his body. And yet, he did not deter, did not without from the agony seizing his flesh. And as he stared down, looking at his face, he saw the face and flesh behind the alchemical mask. Even as the Dark Side of the Force spiraled like a cyclone around his body, Exodeus' head became saturated by the storm, soaked with rain as his hair became matted down to his head.

And when the moment passed, the Dark Lord rose his head with the same apathetic expression on his face as his blackened eyes met with the luminous of Andraste's.

"Tell me... Must I still open your eyes? To what extent must I go? Have you come this far... and still not seen the truth? Even now, as it falls around you?"

At that, Exodeus began consolidating his strength, condensing his power as he charged his energies, channeling and molding it as he would clay at his hands. And as he did so, he displaces a portion of his power to his mind's eye, as he gathered the power into raw psychokinetic energy. At that, Exodeus blasted the telekinetic detonation into the ground as it began to split apart and fracture, the telekinetic pulse headed directly for her.

:: Do you not now, Andraste? ::

 

[Sreeya]

Andraste finished slowly turning after having blasted Exodeus from the skies. However, her eyes were not set on him, but her head tilted back, her chin raising as she gazed upside down at the ship that was making a getaway. Once again, time seemed to stand still as the lightning streaked towards it, the one streak that escaped, the one sliver she couldn't stop, the one that made her heart stop. Her eyes widened, still glowing white, as she watched the ship erupt into flames. She felt Jhon's life energy fade, extinguished like a fickle flame.

And with him...

"No..."

The word fell from her lips as a whisper at first. Andraste completed the circle, landing to the ground on one knee. She planted a fist into the ground, the action causing a shockwave to explode outwards from it. Andraste simply gazed ahead, into the black sky, where she could only see an abyss. There was no life, no trace of a ship, nothing. It was gone. They were gone. Her daughter was gone. The last thread of her sanity began to wash away, quickly escaping her as she stood still as a statue, frozen in surprise.

"No.."

The word was elongated now. She repeated it over and over again. She dropped to both knees, her hands digging into the mud, her fingers clawing into it. She did not feel Exodeus, she felt nothing. She was dead at that moment, her life ebbed away with her daughter's. Andraste clawed deeper into the ground, her agony spiraling around her, encompassing her and breaking her.

She was losing her humanity, the faint traces of it subjugated by the raw amount of pain that clawed deep into her soul. The claws raked deep into her heart, devouring her identity, consuming her persona, killing Andraste. She cried out then, her head tilted up. The cry pierced through the sky, pierced through the planet. It was an anguished wail that would resonate loudly through the Force, one that would pierce into the hearts of those that listened through the Force. It was a cry of a tortured woman, but it slowly became something else. It twisted into the screech of a monster, the howl of a beast, the beast that resided within her. The beast broke past its last barrier, resurfacing through her, rearing its head and clawing past the last remnants of Andraste.

She slowly rose from the ground, slightly hunched over. His words barely registered. He barely registered. He was nothing but a shadow, nothing but a faint trace of life. Nothing but the one thing that snatched everything away from her. Andraste's chest rose and fell rapidly, as she remained with her back to him, mud still caking her fingers. She felt the Force channeling through her as it never had before. Andraste felt it become a part of her, with her as the conduit. This wasn't the Force alone, but the most twisted perversion of it. It was the Dark Side of the Force in its most brutal form. It relished the anguish within her, thrived off the destruction and chaos that shattered her to bits.

Through it all, she heard Exodeus speak. Anger and fury pumped through her veins like poison. There was no soul left to corrupt, with her emotions purely driving her. She was the beast itself, the monster incarnate. Andraste turned to face him at last, cutting him off mid-sentence.

"Silence."

The white glow remained in her eyes. She raised her hand languidly. She did not gaze at the incoming blast, but it absorbed easily into her palm. The display of command of the Force was almost eerie, and yet she did not stop there. The clouds began to gather above her, unnaturally so. The chaotic energies exploded above them, lightning and thunder admixing directly above. She did not gaze up, but her energy was laced into the skies, her dominance over the region felt through every molecule of life.

Around them, the waves grew higher, the water crashing against the rocks and smacking against the temple. The temple itself began to harbor cracks, thin hairline fractures that snaked up the entire edifice. Fissures began to span out from where she stood, streaking across the ground. Life all around her was active, churning and breaking, bowing to her whim.

Anger pulsated through her, and she abruptly dashed forth at him. Her hand shot out, bringing forth all the energies of the Force around her. At the same time, a crushing force caved in on Exodeus, with pressure enough to crack the remaining armor and shatter it. She would slam her hand into his chest, with the intent of ripping deep into it and clawing out his flesh. She was no longer Andraste. She was the beast.

 

[Demiurge]

It was the witnessing of a kernel buried deep in the heart sprout and bloom. His eyes narrowed as she unveiled a great outcry, the likes of which even he'd never heard before. From the creatures of the sea, to the animals of the land, to the aves of the skies, he scream penetrated all, everything touched by the Force through and past the reaches of Lehon itself. It was resonating. Pulsating, just as truly as the skies above danced with the Force, evident through the display of spectacular weather phenomenon.

Exodeus tilted his head casually, staring at the lightnings streaking and culminating over Andraste. And it was at that time he realized, this darkness, this malevolence... it was an echo of the savagery he saw when he stared into her eyes that day, so long ago. What he saw through her eyes; the windows of her soul. It was the realization, the reality come to fruition. But all that paled as the powerful emotion, the gripping testament of her loss transmitted through their Force bond gripped him at his cold heart.

"Is this... what you feel? What you have been in fear of feeling all this time, from the beginning until now?"

Exodeus eyes closed as the influx of her feelings seized his spirit. The anger. The loss. The despair. The anguish. And the pain. Pain that ascended beyond the affliction of flesh and bone - pain that touch unto and past even the realms of the mind and heart. It was all encompassing. All consuming, like a ravenous pillaging suffering mingled with sorrow. They were feelings unlike anything the Dark Lord had ever felt before, and they gripped him in a way even the Force never could. His eyes clinched, as if a great strain overtook him, and his veins bulged from the sheer intensity of it all. It was a blinding influx of such measure, so overwhelming that it could not even be conceived what she was even feeling.

"Then I understand..."

At that, Exodeus opened his eyes. He was not speaking to her, although she could no doubt hear him. If not with her ears, than through the Force.

::This... agony, this horror... Is this what I have cast upon you?::

He heard her speak the word silence to him, as her psyche became overtaken by the entity within. The beast of her innermost sanctum of spirit.

::Is this what I've done to you... Andraste?::

His eyes remained fixated on her. She was like a monster, a savage creature unleashed from an abysmal plane. There was so much sorrow in her heart, such despair... and all the while, only one thing beaconed in the Dark Lord's mind. A truth. The same truth that had given birth to the darkness that laid within even him. Disaster... was the natural part of their evolution.

::Must you have learned... like this? Was there truly no other way?::

Time seemed to have frozen as Exodeus pondered this, why the one thing he cherished, the only living thing he held dear, had to be baptized by fire through such a trial. Was it fair? Was it even right?

::Or is it simply... destiny?::

At that, Exodeus' eyes widened as time seemed to move on again, into the frenzied carnage entity rapidly approaching him. He knew what she wanted, what she yearned for. The Jedi... the child infinitely more so. It was her life, her purpose. Or so she had come to think. She'd sought to carve out her own path, defy very Force that defined her existence. And she would carry the would of a tortured soul for it. There was no choice. No free will. Only the Force. Only destiny. And destiny had made its choice.

::Forgive me, Andraste. Fate... has intervened::

With but a single hand, she'd earlier dispelled and absorbed his own Force attack. It was a displaced attack, a segment of his chamber of energies discharged with only a fraction of his true strength, but it was display of power nonetheless. A fear-inspiring one.

An imploding force held his body, gripping and crushing his flesh and bone. It was a favored attack by her, even when coherent. And had most of his armor been on his body, it'd probably have annihilated his internal organs. Nonetheless, Exodeus had been in preparation for a frontal counter attack, having kept his power consolidated and primed, but with her, things became impossible to predict. Yet as she crushed him in a telekinetic field, the response was all but clear to him.

Waiting as she drew ever closer to him, her hand plunged out to lacerate his flesh, Exodeus unleashed his charged powers in a single repulsive Force wave; a pure telekinetic explosion. From behind him, the seas rose up, parting away as if a force field were pushing them back, and the clouds above parted, revealing the empty dark skies behind the hurricane shroud.

 

[Sreeya]

Andraste barely heard him, his words like lashes from a whip upon her body. They would have stung her enough to stop her in her tracks..if she had a soul to torture anymore. She continued her approach, rearing her hand back to strike out at once. It was clear she had attacked him with blinding rage, her movements not precise as they would be otherwise.

One word rang throughout it all..

Destiny..

It was a word she had come to abhor. She detested it to the very core of her being. However, even she could not deny the implications, the realities. Her child, whom she thought had a destiny of her own, was snatched from life so whimsically. The Force had betrayed her, giving her false hope, telling her lies. And yet, she remained its slave, dominating it yet being commanded by it all at once. The glowing white eyes she had were a testament of her subjugation by the Force, as it worked through her as its medium, worked its puppet to carry out its will. The purpose was no longer her own. She was at the mercy of her emotions.

As she moved in for the strike, she felt a powerful blast explode out of Exodeus. Having been too focused on the attack, the telekinetic blast exploded directly against her. She did not convey surprise as the blast hit, sending her flying back abruptly. Droplets of blood escaped her mouth from the concussive blow, her ribs caving inwards. The blood soared through the air, splattering against remnants of his armor, although she was long in the process of flying back through the air, the energies and wind whipping past her.

Although her Force energy absorbed some of the attack, a lot of the effects seeped through. Burns quickly expanded out from her arms, to her torso, and slightly to her face. The pain was excruciating, but it was brushed aside by the beast, who would fight till it was completely shattered and destroyed. As such, Andraste did not pause after taking such a blast so directly.

She began to reorient herself as she continued flying back. Lightning rushed to both palms, powerfully channeled and pulled from the energies of the chaos all around her. Part of her pain from the attack fueled the lightning. Andraste suddenly flipped into the air and remained suspended by the Force, lifted in mid air.

Andraste unleashed lightning from both hands, but it was not at Exodeus. The lightning streaked across the quartzose sand. She churned the sand, blasting her full energy into it, still rising higher into the air. On top of her own lightning, she manipulated and yanked down the very lightning from the skies, making it thrust into the sands below in a chaotic display that had a massive part of the beach crackling.

The process ended abruptly, Andraste manipulating the environment and rapidly using the vapors from the air to cool the sand. Without warning, she abruptly spun in the air, guiding her hands in a circular motion. The sands responded to her call, rising slowly from the beach and twisting and churning. However, it wasn't sand, but hundreds of fulgurites, sharpened glass projectiles that were elongated and capable of dealing devastating amounts of damage.

Andraste continued spinning in the air, twisting the energies and the sands, the vast amount of fulgurites rising along with her, forming into a massive wave of them, powered by the Force. At once, Andraste completed the last spin, facing Exodeus while suspended in the sky. She jutted her open palm forth and entire lines of the crystals aligned themselves with the jagged ends at Exodeus. On her command, the hundreds of thousands of shards all honed in on him at impossible speeds.

She did not stop there, landing on the ground the moment she released the glass. Andraste slammed her hands into the ground, sending a wave of energy through it. This seeped into the fissures that were already formed, working to break and cave the land beneath him to trap him.

 

[Demiurge]

The Force was a power unlike anything else in the galaxy. Like being within the core of a star, the heart of a nova, but without the harshness, the intensity. It was the culmination of exhilaration, existence, even oneness. And when it stirred inside the cage of a sentient's physical form, it became as a violent force of nature seeking to escape, to be unleashed from the chains of its cage. It was true for the Dark Lord, it was true for all, Jedi and Sith alike. And when Exodeus unleashed his consolidated Force energies, it was as if a great euphoria overtook him, blinding him in its brilliance.

It was moments later, as the explosion of pure telekinetic energies detonated, that Exodeus focused again on the reality before him. He had indeed deflected Andraste's would-be attack... and he'd seen the price of it. Even before he saw her, he could feel her body's suffering. Internally, and externally, as he came to the realization that this was the first time he'd ever truly harmed her. The first time he'd attacked her with serious, legitimate intent. He could sense the spilled blood, feel the broken bones... It was an almost sobering moment for him, however short lived.

The Andraste he'd known was gone, consumed by her inner psyche. It was what was driving her now, moving her past the pain and frailties of flesh and bone, willing her to surpass the Human limitations. She'd charged again at him without letup, and with a single swift motion took to the skies above him. As Exodeus was preparing to defend himself from an attack from above, he found that he couldn't sense her malice directed at him, but around him. His eyes glanced about as she began to incinerate the ground around him, searing the sand into crude glass.

Suddenly then, as Andraste rose up ever higher, lightnings danced across the sky as it struck down around him, the concussive blows of thunder briefly deafening his ears as the blinding light consumed his sight, his senses unprepared. As he regained control of them, a stiff cold front, as unnatural as the everlasting storm around them, swept across the beach front, crystallizing the smoldering sands. And just as quickly as the heavenly strikes, she pulled the shards of glass projectiles from the sands like an armada of jagged blades, hurling them at him as such speeds that the fragments could not even collapse and obliterate from the sheer pressure in time.

In split second time, Exodeus crossed both of his arms ahead of him, creating a deflective telekinetic barrier as a protection. Yet even as he began to, several of the crystal blades had passed, two of them striking through his mid torso's far side, grazing his ribcage, another striking deep into his forearm, one completely disappeared within him as it struck the edge of one of his lungs, becoming lodged, and the final struck him through his foot, before his barrier protected him. However, in but a moment passing, a fissure gaped around the Dark Lord, sending him descending down into the crust of the island's surface.

Pain resonated in his entire body as the crippling pain overtook him. Yet, it did not matter to him. The aching of his body, the bleeding of his organs, it was all meaningless, trivial before his will. And to him, his will was everything. It made him who he was - what he was, and it defined him. And no force could ever rob that of him, not even the powers of his lover. At once rising to his feet, Exodeus used the Force to leap out of the trap hole in a blurring move beyond what the eye could see, as he Force jumped out of the hole, far above the surface of the island. And in a successive move, the Dark Lord focused his sights on Andraste, using his right hand to summon the Force to telekinetically grasp and pull her out into the oceans, then simultaneously thrusted his left hand to deliver a telekinetic impulse, using the dual forces to both pull and push her off the battlefield.

 

[Sreeya]

Andraste knew some of the shards pierced his torso, the ground caving underneath him. A small hint of satisfaction caused a thin smile to grace her countenance. However, an even faded hint of the ghost of her humanity cried out in protest, torn at the realization that her lover was being harmed. Andraste the beast subjugated this, quickly rising from the ground to gather Force energy to herself.

However, before she could perform another attack, she was snatched from the air and flung out towards the ocean. Andraste soared through the air once more, pain still coursing through her weakened body. Her skin was burnt, her bones slightly cracked, and yet she was determined to keep fighting. Andraste heard the waves rise below her, the storm still raging above. She quickly reoriented herself in the air atop the ocean, standing to face Exodeus in the distance.

Andraste spread her arms out and jutted them up. The sea below followed her motions, as if she were a puppeteer commanding a million strings for each drop of water. The sea parted below her, caving inwards down the middle and rising up laterally. It was not unlike Exodeus's own maneuver on Aroura. The memory seemed impossibly far away, where they had been as lovers, where nothing but their company mattered.

The water rose into two separate columns, spiraling upwards like tornadoes. Thunder crackled above as Andraste bent the environment to her will. She gazed straight ahead, keeping her arms spread and channeling all her energy into the attack. She abruptly brought her hands together, guiding the two massive columns of the ocean to converge and mold into one. Lightning had escaped from both her palms, the singular wave of water jutting forth unnaturally and powered by powerful blasts of lightning laced into it.

The massive wave honed in on Exodeus from a distance, intent on hitting him full blast. It would be enough to kill him if he took it head on, the pressure from the water along with the electricity conducting through it enough to destroy him. Andraste kept a hold of the water, dashing forth in the air to push the attack and rapidly closing the distance between them. She would make this blast hit him directly, shattering him to pieces.

 

[Demiurge]

Relentless, unyielding as the waters she'd been cast into and bent to her will. A creature of unrest unlike anything he'd ever encountered, utterly controlled by her own emotions, dominated by her instincts alone like an animal. It was a pitiful scene, one beneath her, all that she was. All that she could be. And worst of all, it was a pointless contest, serving no purpose any longer. He watched her from afar, as she wrought two pillars from the ocean depths, spiraling them in the air like aquatic tornadoes, infusing them with torrents of Force lightnings, then closed his eyes.

::That's enough, Andraste...::

Even as he spoke, he knew, somehow, that his words were still falling upon deaf ears; a closed mind that was but an extension of the bond between them, as she continued estranged from him. He spoke, but she could not hear him. She would not. And as she hurled the two spiraling columns of electrified pillars of the ocean at him, Exodeus opened his eyes again, glaring at the incoming attack.

::I said... that's--::

"ENOUGH!!"

At that, Exodeus unleashed a powerful roar through the Force as he yelled out in a distorted voice, directed at the pillars of water. Like a rupturing shockwave ever expanding and growing, tactile ripples tore through the air, blasting away the sand before him and the beach as it collided into the oceanic pillars. The collision sounded out like a thunderclap, as Exodeus' Force-empowered howl, churning and grinding as it violently dispersed the columns of electrified waters.

As his Force scream came to it's end, Exodeus immediately acted to end what should have been over long ago. Grasping both of his hands outward, the Dark Lord created a telekinetic pull not unlike the vacuum of space itself, hurling Andraste into his right hand before even the waters fell. And as he took control of her body, bringing her by the neck into the palm of his right hand, Exodeus then flipped her body over his in a single motion, slamming her down over him into the sand. Without hesitation, Exodeus then thrust up his left arm, and channeling his Dark Force energies, created four manifestation of the Dark Side, invisible Spears of Midnight Black, and plunged them into her two wrists and shins, spattering her blood into the sands as he commenced to pinning her down.

"Is this what you've allowed yourself to become reduced to? A mindless creature without purpose? Are you so far gone that you cannot even bear to listen to reason, or are you simply embracing degradation? Perhaps you're running, hiding from the reality before you, but you have to wake up! And I know that even in your madness you can hear my voice -- now hear me! And end this! The Jedi is gone... and so is your daughter. And nothing - nothing - that happens here will change that. Destiny has decided, accept it, and stop this."

 

[Sreeya]

Andraste had exhausted her strengths into the attack, pulled forth like a rag doll as he summoned her to himself. He hastily grasped her and slammed her into the sand. However, the pain did not end there, as Spears of Midnight Black abruptly slammed down, piercing through her flesh and pinning her into the sand. Despite it, Andraste did not utter a cry, gritting her teeth and gazing up at the night sky through her glowing, white irises.

For a long moment, there was silence, silence for her. She felt her warm blood taint the sand, the rain gently caressing her face, soothing the burns on her body. The pain had put her near death, and still she did not want to shut her eyes. Still she did not want to end this. However, as she laid there, gruesomely pinned to the ground, his words began to carry through the wind. Andraste's breathing was labored, and she could not move, the spears molded from his dark energy effectively holding her in place.

His words were haunting, and they tortured her more than any physical pain ever could. Andraste cried out for the first time then, looking away, hot tears threatening to spill from her eyes. His words poured salt into her wounds, putting her through excruciating agony. Andraste could not let him go on, could not stand hearing the words.

With a loud cry, Andraste raised from the ground. She slid her wrists upwards, letting the shafts of the spears slide right through the piercings through her flesh. The pain was unimaginable, but she rose from the ground despite it, blood spurting out from the gaping wounds as she weakly stood. She was slouched over, barely having the energy to stand to her full height. Andraste spoke then, her voice broken.

"No...she.....had a destiny of her own..my daughter. She was meant to live.. but you..you..why did you..."

Andraste stumbled over to him, pulling her hand back, summoning the Force to herself. She slammed her hand forth, right into his chest, but the blast never escaped her hand. She had exhausted her Force reserves, the energy withdrawing back into her. Her hand gently pressed against the skin of his chest, harmlessly placed there. Too weak to stand, she lost her balance, slumping towards the ground.

 

[Demiurge]

Exodeus made no movements as Andraste resisted, refusing to find peace or sanctum, to allow it to take hold of her. And instead of ceasing her actions, Exodeus watched as she forced her limbs upward, allowing the Spears of Midnight Black to pass through her ankles and wrists. Blood trailed down the invisible apparitions of the Dark Side, as if it were smeared in midair.

Standing up again, slouched, exhausted equally physically as much she was mentally. His spirit was broken, fractured and yet still she stood. Even if perhaps she herself did not realize it, she held an indomitable will, not unlike his own - the true secret of a Sith's power. And yet, Exodeus felt no pride, no satisfaction, but instead felt only pity, for reasons even he could not, or would not allow himself to fully grasp.

Exodeus felt the Force strenuously summon to her aid, barely consolidated in her command. There was nothing left, he could feel it, and in at least a limited way, he knew she must have as well and yet still, she moved against him. And as she extended her arms outward, the Force evaporated from her grasp, dissipating inside her as her hand pressed against his bare chest. All the while, Exodeus stared at her with indifferent eyes, betraying what was beneath the surface. And as she fell down, no longer able to summon the strength to stand alone, Exodeus stretched out his arms, and grasped her, pulling her to him.

His right hand wrapped around her, between her waist and mid-back, as his left hand came around to the back of her head, pressing her into him as he held her.

"I am all you have, Andraste. I am the only one that was there from the beginning, and I am the one that will stay till the end. By no means shall I ever leave you, ever forsake you. And if you cannot comprehend what I say, they do not. Search my mind, my innermost thoughts, if only then will you know it to be true."

"Can you see, Andraste, with your mind's eye? Can you remember what we were? What we are? Search your feelings, your soul, as broken as it is... can you not see the truth? The truth that there is no one else, except I alone, who can hear the echo that has festered within you. I can sense... I can feel the sadness, the suffering... your despair, your desire for the end to take hold of you until not even trace of you remains left behind. It burns in your heart like the fires of Duros, even as it's grown cold as the plains of Hoth."

"You see nothing left to live for, no purpose, nothing at all. Do you not yet see me? I who know the deepest crevices of your heart... I, the only one that has ever embraced you for who you truly are, in your entirety. Do not sacrifice life just yet. I will never allow it. Never abandon you to its clutches. Because for as long I draw breath, I want you here, with me, by my side and never leave it, even for a moment. You are a part of me, and I of you... do not forsake it, Andraste. Stay, remain here, remain with me... my love... my Empress."

 

[Sreeya]

Instead of landing on the sand, she felt herself be tugged closer to him. Andraste was too weak to protest, his arms firmly wrapped around her. He had held her before, but he held the beast now, Andraste long gone. However, even the beast was weakened now, withdrawing slowly back into the confines of her mind. This made her pain come full on, making her gasp from the agony.

As she was in his arms, she felt his own pain, the pain she had caused. Shards of glass were embedded in his body, his flesh lacerated at various parts of his torso. Andraste closed her eyes at last, suddenly aware of her sensory perceptions. She felt the pain, the biting agony, the cuts, the wounds, the feeling of her soul being torn out of her...and his warmth. She felt him close himself around her, cocooning her in his energy. Andraste wanted to pull away, but she couldn't. His words had trapped her, like an insect caught in a web.

His words brought images, countless images of abandonment. They were abandonment of others in her life, those that had left her, turned away from her when she needed them most. She saw her brother turn and storm off, she saw those she had considered friends leave her. However, a figure had stood by the entire time. The figure was a shadow, with crimson red eyes. The same eyes her baby daughter had...

Tears began to flow down her cheeks as the truths of his words rang within her mind. He was the only one that could understand the monster she was. The monster she was born to be. His destiny was the true one. Why else...why else would her daughter have perished? Why else would he embrace her as such? Why would he want her at his side as his..

"..Empress..."

The word rolled off her tongue in a whisper. The word made her heart stop. Every moment of her life flashed before her eyes. From the moment Exodeus had found her when she was a child, to the times he had hurt her, to the times he had taught her, to the times he had foretold her destiny, all up until now. This was the path she had been set on since the day she was born. Every other event in her life had been a stepping stone, a catalyst for her to embrace her destiny. Her destiny to be his Empress, to rule at his side.

At long last, she slowly opened her eyes and gazed up at him. They were not the warm brown eyes she had always had, but a piercing gold tinted with red. They were the eyes of a killer, of a predator. These would be her eyes till the day she died, her old identity having been destroyed with the life of her daughter. Andraste met his fiery red eyes with her yellow orbs, shakily raising her hand to lightly touch the side of his face. The rain continued to pour on them, her eyes piercing through the darkness.

"You have killed me, Daemon....You have killed me to create me..."

 

[Demiurge]

[/end of an epic thread]
​