deernet | Video; un: darkness (Storytime With Maul!)

Video; un: darkness (Storytime With Maul!)

[Maul's doing a little better than he has been the past few months. At least he's not all corrupted into insanity like he was for a couple of weeks in July or about to breakdown after his video in June. Sharp-eyed viewers will notice he's got a new piece of jewelry. On the ring finger of his left hand, there's a black, sparkly wedding band made of Darkblood. Yep, Maul got hitched. But who would be crazy enough to marry the Zabrak Sith Lord? A question one can ask if they're feeling especially brave.]

Everyone always thinks they're the hero in their own story. And it's easy to justify that you are no matter what you do because you're the main character in your mind. No one ever wants to admit they're just one of the side characters or even the villain. And how do you even know when you've become the bad guy? It's easy to say what actions you undertake are for the greater good or at least something that will get you what you want. You keep telling yourself that until you look around one day and see the only monster around you is yourself.

[He leans forward.]

I am very fond of stories. So I'll tell you a story about a villain from my world and you can tell me one about a hero or villain from yours in return.

Once upon a time, there was a young man who had darkness in his heart. He coveted power amongst all else and to that end he committed many monstrous acts to gain it. When he saw that his family stood in his way, he killed them all without thought. Over the years, he gained power but it was never enough. Always, he wanted more. Eventually, he realized that no matter how much power he possessed, he would lose it all when he died. And so he sought to gain immortality.

He eventually found a Sith Lord, very old and wise, who told him he had discovered the secret to living forever. "Become my apprentice, do everything that I command, and I will teach you my secret," he told the man. And so he did. Day after day, year after year, he obeyed the Sith Lord, committing many more atrocities in his quest to gain immortality.

He would often ask the Sith Lord, "Am I ready?"

The response was always the same. "Not yet."

After many years the man, no longer as young as he once was, began to grow impatient. He went to his master. "I have done all that you asked. Teach me what you promised."

The Sith Lord merely laughed in his face. "You will never be ready to learn."

The man felt rage rise up within him. "Why not?"

"Because only a Sith who has no fear can conquer death. But you? You will always fear dying no matter what you do and so you will never master the secret of immortality," the Sith Lord told him with contempt.

The Sith apprentice was furious. He felt he had been lied to and so he waited. His master never slept, for he had seen the future and knew he would die in his sleep, but his apprentice was cunning. Eventually, he got his master drunk, and the Sith Lord finally fell asleep. So the apprentice took up his lightsabers, stabbing his master in his hearts, and killing him. Only then did his anger abate and he realized he still did not know the secret to living forever.

He would spend the rest of his life seeking it out and never finding it until the day he died, always shackled by his fear instead of facing it head on and conquering it instead. He used the power he'd acquired to create a vast empire that stretched throughout the entire galaxy but still it was not enough. Always he was afraid of what was to come at the end of his life. And when he finally died, betrayed by his own apprentice as usually happens with Sith Lords, it was done so screaming in fear as he realized he had failed in his lifelong ambition.

[He pauses for a moment, examining his claws without looking up.]

That was a true story by the way. It is called the tragedy of Darth Plagueis the Wise. Sith Lords often have a dramatic way of doing things, especially when it comes to teaching their apprentices.

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[Alarm bells start to go off in his head upon hearing Luke say that. But he manages to keep his voice steady when he speaks.]

I don't presume to know what he might have been thinking. His mind is a twisted, evil, warped thing.

[He pauses, thoughts creeping into his mind he wishes he could just banish forever.]

But I know him better than anyone else here. And he knew secrets about the Dark Side I was never privy to. At the time you faced him, he would have been a very old man. If he wanted you to kill him, it was only because he had an idea of how to keep living on in some way so that he could cheat death.

[ Luke was silent for a long moment, his face pinched slightly in thought. Perhaps the Emperor had figured out how to live on in the Force, as Obi-Wan had? That didn't feel like enough, though; after all, the man owned the whole galaxy, and between him and his father, Luke got the impression that possession of the physical was something associated with the Dark Side, or Palpatine's teachings of it at the very least. Wandering around as a spirit wouldn't have satisfied him. ]

[ And then, there was what he said before the fight started. You, like your father, are now mine... ]

[ He reached out of the omni's view after a moment, grabbing his father's lightsaber and bringing it before him. ]

Do you think my father would have known? I haven't tried to meditate on memories I wasn't present for, but... maybe with some help...?

[Maul managed to stay calm. Viewing the memories of Darth Vader didn't scare him. But seeing Sidious again, even if it was in a form Maul absolutely knew he couldn't harm him, that terrified him in an instinctual way, the terror of a small child who didn't want his father to hurt him anymore.

But he had to know for certain if Sidious could have survived. He nodded in a slow, hesitant fashion, his voice still calm.]

Bring it over to my home. We'll see what we can learn.

[ Luke nodded, his own expression mirroring Maul's terror, though much more muted comparatively. He had his own experiences with the Emperor, true, and he was in no mood to see the man again, but anything he felt about the man would always pale when compared to the nightmare that was Maul's early life. ]

I'll be over shortly.

[ Best to get this out of the way now, before unease and second guessing led to worse nightmares than usual. ]

[Maul was full of restless energy as he waited for Luke to arrive. The idea of his master somehow surviving past his initial demise....Tavion had mentioned something similar when she'd been here. He'd thought perhaps it an exaggeration or outright lie but perhaps not.

When Luke arrived, Maul stopped pacing around, looking over at Luke with a grim expression on his face.]

I've got a bad feeling about this.

[ Luke couldn't help but agree; the walk to Maul's place hadn't settled his nerves at all, and everything about this screamed that it was a terrible idea, but... ]

We need to know.

[ Knowing would at least prepare them for if the Emperor's influence reached this place. He kept telling himself it was that and not the gnawing dread and paranoia churning in the back of his brain. ]

[ He started into Maul's place, nodding toward one of the in progress rooms. ]

May as well do this in a room that's unfinished, in case it gets messy.

You're right. Knowledge is power.

[Though he still wasn't sure this was something he wanted to know.

He lead Luke to one of the half-finished side bedrooms on the main floor. He sat down on the wooden planks and took a deep breath as Luke pulled out the lightsaber.]

Alright. Let us begin.

[He centered himself in the Force, touching the lightsaber and trying to find out what secrets it held. As before, he was struck by the sheer amount of darkness that radiated off the weapon, the many lives taken by the weapon for over a twenty year span of time.]

[ Luke only allowed himself a moment to steady his breathing, to find his center, before reaching out to the weapon as well. The darkness of it didn't bother him, far used to it by now to give it much thought, but the resistance he found as he tried to deep dive into the memories attached to it was new. He grimaced, reaching out to Maul for the strength to force their way through the block and-- ]

There's good in him.

[ His mother's voice, weak and thready, a flickering hologram in the middle of a broken delivery room, all tinted red with his father's sight. ]

I know... there's still...

[ Grief. Unfathomable grief as it finally hit home that he had been so wrong. That Padmé had never lost faith in him. That she believed in him right up until she died. That she died for nothing. ]

[ The grief overwhelmed him, and it wasn't until he was back on Coruscant that it hit him: he was finally able to mourn his wife. To understand why and how she died, how she had been able to leave him such a precious gift in their son, and how he had so shamefully ruined that gift. She should hate him, this husk of a man that walked dutifully to his master's chamber, kneeling before him, the man that had instigated everything and yet, at the moment, he was too numb with his grief to even hate him for it. ]

Lord Vader, have you... finished your business?

Yes, Master.

[ What else could he say? He found his answers, found what remained of his tattered hopes and dreams, and it left him broken. He would recover, as he always did, but for now... perhaps his son had been right to risk death than to stay another moment in his presence. ]

Really?

[ There was danger in the simple response, but he didn't bother to lift his head. What would it matter if he did? It wouldn't stop his master from getting up, wouldn't stop him from pacing toward him, the sense of danger looming around him. ]

The Sith know that fear leads to anger, anger leads to hate, and hate leads to strength. But you, my friend... you have allowed yourself to wallow in grief. You will need to start all over again... with fear!

[ Luke sensed what was coming the moment before the lightning crackled from between the Emperor's fingers, and he threw his consciousness out toward Maul, wrapping around him and shielding him from the crackle of lightning, from the pain of Vader's mask being ripped open and limbs being blown off. It wasn't until the memory of his father left gasping in pain on the floor of the Emperor's throne turned to one of heat and fear and pain did he finally mentally let go of him, hoping he had at least been semi successful in protecting the other man. ]

[Maul let the Force flow through him and took in the sight of what was in front of him. He saw Padmé there, gasping out there was good in him with her last breaths, and perhaps for the first time Maul understood the connection between mother and son, the innate way Luke had of seeing that same thing in others like his father and Maul himself.

Then he braced himself as he saw his master, older and uglier than ever, talking with Vader. Maul knew Sidious better than anyone in Trench, the subtleties to his moods and the precise way he would use words. He knew what was coming: punishment. That still didn't prevent his mind from flinching back at feeling the firsthand pain from Vader as the Emperor shocked him with Force Lightning.

There was a very nasty part of Maul that had some satisfaction in seeing Darth Vader laid low like that, the part of him that was still jealous Anakin had gotten everything Maul ever wanted, idolizing Sidious as a mentor who actually showed kindness to him, even if it was fake as he groomed the man to be his next apprentice. He wished Anakin could have seen this vision of his future and know what awaited him.

But for the most part he was just full of fear. Fortunately, Luke's presence helped to prevent the absolute worst of it from reaching him. He managed to stay focused. This had taken place before Vader turned on Sidious and saved his son, so this wasn't quite what they were looking for.]

[ The memories blurred from there, drowning in the pain his father was in, amplified and echoed in the bled crystal within the lightsaber. With the heat, it made it near impossible for Luke to focus, and he found himself clinging to Maul's presence in a desperate attempt to keep in the memory. ]

[ It felt like forever before the pain finally cleared, and it was to the sight of a dark planet, both in terms of the light available and through the Force. Luke found himself shuddering from the cold of the Dark as his father commanded a massive, one-eyed tentacle monster (where had that come from?!) against beasts that he didn't recognize... before it suddenly tore itself apart, leaving his father jumping off and landing on the ground before the Emperor. The man spared Vader a sneer, before disappearing into the darkness behind him, and the pause as someone Luke did not recognize started trying to talk to his father gave him a chance to look up. ]

[ The temple before them was massive, bigger than they could even see through his father's limited, red-tinted vision. Even once he stepped inside, it was hard to get a feel for just how massive the place was, the Darkness just barely hiding massive, robed statues that stretched up far above. Some held various weapons, while one Vader's gaze lingered on was holding some kind of triangular object. ]

[ Luke, unfortunately, couldn't focus on much of it. The feeling of pain was back, but this time it seemed to exist outside of his father, radiating through the entire structure they were in. It was getting so intense that he almost missed it as the surroundings changed, with more modern pods lining the halls. ]

[ And each one contained a very familiar looking clone. Most of them were deformed -- experiments, with sunken heads and malformed limbs -- but a few looked like perfect copies of the Emperor, though they didn't seem conscious despite them being fully grown. At the end of the line was something that appeared to be newly installed, and Luke winced when he recognized his own hand, floating in a jar of preservation liquid. ]

You sense it, don't you?

[ The Emperor's voice echoed through the massive halls, but with every step his father took, the more that external source of pain seemed to increase. It was so intense that he was half aware of his actual body shuddering with the pain, that the vision of the past was so drowned out by it that it felt like Luke himself was taking the steps deeper into this Dark temple, wherever it was. He couldn't feel Maul's presence anymore, was too numb from pain to realize that maybe this was becoming more than a dive into memories attached to an object. Right now all he could feel was pain, the need to press forward, and all he could hear was that voice. ]

You talk about fear, but even now, you forget where it all begins... with pain.

[ Something was screaming. Something was screaming in utter agony, and all Luke could do was walk forward, toward a red light that pierced through the Darkness...]

[Well, never let it be said the old bastard didn't always have a back-up plan. That was what Maul thought distantly to himself as the memories blurred together, showing a dark planet Maul was unfamiliar with. Palpatine never would have let himself simply have ruled the galaxy without making sure there was a way for him to continue on.

When he saw the cloned bodies, alarm rose in his form. He knew what those were for. It was not something Maul himself had ever been taught to but he had read about the Dark Side technique of transferring one's consciousness to another form as a theory. But that's all that he thought it was until this moment.

He felt an intense amount of pain rise up in him. Something....something was wrong. Maul tried to pull away from the memory and come back to the present but he found himself unable to. He felt something latching onto the life force of both him and Luke, using it as a conduit. Knowing his master as well as he did, he immediately understood that some fragment of him, something that was beyond a simple memory had awoken. It was trying to use the Sith and the Jedi as a way to break free.

Maul tried his hardest to resist but he'd never been as strong as his master, not even before he lost so much power from being sliced in half. He felt the malevolent presence turn towards him, focusing in on his former apprentice.]

Were you really so naïve as to believe I was gone for good? Fool. But I still have use for you...

[Now Maul began to feel fear as he hadn't felt in years, not since he'd been taken by his master to be tortured instead of killed outright. Panic rose up within him and immense pain began to overwhelm him.]

Edited 2022-11-13 08:05 (UTC)

[ Luke stopped dead at that last part, realizing the words did not make sense; why would he be asking such a thing in Vader's memories? ]

[ Too late, he realized this trip down memory lane went completely out of his control. By now, the red had died, and Luke was finally able to see where they were, and that it was them that was drawn out into the planes of this recollection, with Vader and any other creature resembling a human out of sight. It was just them, and the source of the overwhelming pain: a massive kyber crystal settled in a pit in the middle of the room. Scars and scrapes littered the structure, like it had been tortured, bled so severely that it's pain still screamed out through the Force, even though the memory had shifted. ]

[ There was one other person in the room with them, though to call them a person at this point was being far too generous. Still, Luke found himself taking a step back, his arm absently flinging out to push Maul behind him, shielding him from the specter above them. ]

[ And "specter" was the only way to really describe the creature that Palpatine had become. The old, wrinkled face that had haunted the memories of them both was even further sunken into the dark hood he wore, eyes so corrupted that they glowed yellow in the Dark. Hands hung limply from under the sleeves of his robe, necrosis robbing some of the skin from his bones, and parts of fingers completely missing. He hovered above them, near the top, seemingly legless, and though the red glare of the crystal made it hard to see, the sneer on his face and flash of rotted teeth was easy to picture. ]

I told you, young Skywalker, your feeble skills were no match for the power of the Dark Side.

[ He floated down to hover just above them now, making it all the clearer to see just how much the rot and decay of the Dark had turned Emperor Palpatine into something other than human. ]

[Maul wanted to scream, wanted to tell Luke they needed to get out of there, wanted to do something. Anything. But he couldn’t. His legs were locked into place just as surely as if they’d shortcircuited. This was his worst nightmare come to life. His master, warped into some twisted old rotting thing that couldn’t even rightly be called human anymore.

The only part of him that seemed to be alive was his eyes, sickly yellow things that they were, gleaming at the pair like they were nothing more than a pair of insects that he was going to tear the wings off. The pain pressing upon Maul became greater and greater. A sound arose from him, something between a whimper and a howl, a sound of sheer terror.]

[ A dark, echoing laugh escaped from the Emperor's mouth as he watched them, as Luke reached over and kept a hand on Maul, as if that would be enough to keep them both calm in the face of what was their greatest fear. The Dark loomed behind him, and the walls of the building fell away, just to make it even more obvious that the two of them had completely lost control of their memory dive. ]

You insult me, my young apprentice. Associating with such failures is unbecoming of one that belongs to me.

I'm not yours.

[ Luke's response was immediate, and sounded braver than he felt at the moment. He refused to let that fear consume him, though; he wasn't going to give the Emperor the satisfaction. ]

Not even my father was yours in the end, in case this 'memory' of you doesn't know that.

[ The Emperor's confident expression dropped down into a scowling sneer, the yellow of his eyes seeming to glow brighter in his anger at Luke's defiance. The ground shook at the giant bled Kyber screamed as the Dark rose around them, howling like they were in the middle of a massive storm. ]

I assure you, my young apprentice; I remember very clearly your father's betrayal, and I shall enjoy when I, a mere memory of what I once was, brings you to heel.

[ He raised his hands, fingers crooked in a way that both Luke and Maul would know quite well. ]

[ A faint feeling of panic churned in Luke's gut, and he found himself clinging to Maul tighter, pushing him back and away from the Emperor as he took a step back himself. He was in no mood to find out if Force generated lightning was going to feel the same in a memory like it did in real life. ]

Maul, pull us out of here.

[ He turned to look at Maul, shaking him as if that would be enjoy to break through the fear that was pouring off of him. ]

Maul, now!

[Maul remained frozen, unable to act, mired fast in the fear that had possessed him. This was his worst nightmare come to life, some remnant of his master that could still think and act for itself. All his old memories of the pain that never ceased came over him. He was never good enough and was always being hurt both mentally and physically. That was what was going to happen now, he knew it.

Even the sight of his master about to use Force lightning on him wasn't enough to snap Maul out of it at first. He'd been conditioned for too long to just stand there and let his master do whatever he wanted to him without fighting back. Even now, all those years later, he wasn't able to stop that line of thinking.

It was hearing Luke that finally got Maul to react. He could stand being hurt himself, he'd endured that for years. But Luke? No. The Jedi was his friend and Maul wasn't going to let him be hurt again by this remnant of his master. His protective instincts rose up and managed to break through the terror that he was feeling.]

Hold on!

[He jerked himself and Luke out of the memory as fast as he could. The sensation was inordinately painful, none of the usual care and delicacy that Maul put into an act to keep the mental sensations from hurting. He didn't have time for that right now. He went as fast and as hard as he could, trying to snap the connection between the two of them and what they were witnessing. He pulled as hard as he could and got them out but.....something was wrong. It felt like something (or rather someone) had hitched a ride with them.

He opened up his eyes and looked around them, breath shaky, fearing the worst had happened.]

[ Luke felt something... wrong the moment Maul started to pull them out of the memory walk turned absolute nightmare. It was like he had been hit, but it wasn't lightning that struck him; more like something burrowed into his back and latched onto his spine, oozing its way up to his mind until-- ]

[ They were suddenly back in the real world, and Luke immediately collapsed to the floor, unmoving. ]

[Maul sat there panting for a moment. That had gone terribly, terribly wrong. He had hope that Sidious hadn't made the trip when Luke just collapsed and passed out.]

Luke? Luke?!

[Maul reached out a hand and then thought better of it. Instead, he used the Force, concentrating while both of his hands hovered over Luke's temples. He was hoping against all odds that he wouldn't feel what he did. But there was no mistaking the thoughts of the man who had raised him, the monster who had ruined his life and turned him into a weapon. All that Maul could say was a whispered:]

No.....

[Then he scrambled to his feet and began to run. He didn't care where he was going as long as it put as much distance between him and Sidious as possible. Eventually, he realized Usagi's home was the safest in the city right now for him. So he went there, leaving Savage a message using Venge warning him not to go home.]

[ It took him a moment to stand, to remember how youthful limbs were supposed to work. It was certainly nice, being able to move without the ache of limbs that were affected by age, and he marveled over how easily he was able to get to his feet. The boy was strong, not just in the Force by physically as well; the memory of the boy on the Death Star hadn't done him justice. ]

[ He opened his eyes when he became aware of the other that was still supposed to be there, blood shot yellow eyes watching Maul's retreating back. A slow, sly smile spread over his face as a low chuckle escaped from Luke's mouth in a voice that did not belong to the boy. Maul... was a coward his boy had become... ]

[ Slowly, deliberately, he raised the boy's flesh and blood hand to the sky... before letting lightning discharge from his fingertips, letting the sound echo through this world, his chuckle turning into a loud, unhinged cackle that chased after Maul as he ran. ]

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Video; un: darkness (Storytime With Maul!)

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