deernet | Video; un: darkness (Backdated to November 28th)

[Maul looks very grim when he starts off the video.]

Since some of you might wonder where he is and since he had messages for me to pass along to some of you, I'm here today to tell you Wesker is dead. I killed him.

[He quickly goes on before any screeching or condemnation can start being thrown his way.]

It was not out of malice, amusement, or anger. It was an act of mercy. The zealots took him and by the time I found him he was little more than a corpse but somehow still breathing. There was no hope for his recovery.

[Maul's eyes shut for a moment, still seeing the eviscerated body lying on the table that looked more like an autopsy victim than someone still alive, lungs and heart able to be seen and still working despite all that had been done to Wesker's body by those seeking his blood.]

I'm not sure how he lasted even that long with what they did to him. I ended his suffering. Hopefully, he will be back in a short time.

[There is a private message afterwards which is only sent out to a handful of people. Vira-Lorr, Luz, Orpheus, and Ariadne.]

He asked me to pass on a message to you.

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[Maul is a bit gentler with the girl than he would be with many others. Luz is a compassionate soul and he knows she will take this hard.]

That he got too close, a scientist that became an experiment. The usual musings that he tends to make.

[Half the time, Maul felt Wesker spoke in non-sequiturs that he didn't expect people to answer.]

[Luz swallowed, clenching her fists. There wasn't anything she could do, was there]?

That sounds...right.

You're lucky, Darth Maul. You could at least find the person you could fight, to at least attempt to get rid of the hurt.

I have no idea who did this to him, and if I did...I'm still pretty scared.

They got to me too.

I might. For now I honestly don't feel like fighting.

[A great rarity for the Sith, but he knew that fighting in this case wasn't going to make him feel any better unless it was to get his claws on the zealots that had done such a terrible thing to his friend.

Maul's eyes turn hard as flint and his voice is just the same, though it's not directed towards Luz in the slightest once she tells him they'd gotten to her too.]

Did they hurt you?

[If they did, he was going to find a zealot and string them up by their own innards after he'd finished with them. Nevermind that the zealots are far stronger than Maul will ever be and would likely just drag him back to the blood farm in the end. There was nothing that fueled Maul more than revenge as he's proven time and again.]

DON'T. It's not a good idea, and I don't want them doing anything to you.

[Look, she knew Maul had been through things she couldn't possibly imagine, but she really didn't want to add to any of that. So much had happened that Luz was starting to feel like she had been living carefree before the factory. True, she'd been through the cave, but the factory had been a whole new level of torture and pain.

There was no lying about this one].

Yeah. The second time, they got me. I have scars on my back now. Couldn't tell you how long they kept me though. Everything got all..."blurrified."

But don't go after them, Darth Maul. I don't want them doing that to you too.

I won't. [He says in a brittle, tight, and angry tone, though none of it is directed towards Luz herself.] But only because you asked me to.

[He didn't want his young friend to worry about him, afraid one of the zealots would get the better of him. It still didn't sit right with him, letting Luz get treated that way, so he decides to focus instead on how she's feeling right now instead.]

Do you want to heal them? I know of at least one person in this place who could do it for you.

I appreciate it. I don't think we can attack them directly yet until we get stronger anyway.

[That was REALLY the reason. She didn't want Sleepers getting hurt until they were much better equipped to take those Zealots down. Two run ins with them was enough to let her get an idea of what capabilities they had, and they were not pushovers].

[Luz thought about this a moment].

No. It sounds strange but...I think I need to remember that time.

Then we shall wait until that moment and then strike back.

[Maul, as everyone he is friends with knows, is all about revenge. At least in this case he felt quite justified.

He nods slowly in an almost approving manner when Luz says she wants to keep her scars.]

That is something I very much understand.

[Maul's never looked into a way to get his lower half back despite all the various amounts of healing magic here in Trench. He wanted to remember what had happened to him in the past and make sure it was never far.]

It'll depend on when they need their "sacrifices" again. We have to figure out of that's a yearly thing or something that happens more frequently.

[If they even came close to doing that to her family BUT ESPECIALLY Luca and Ahiru, Luz knew darn well she wasn't going to hold back on them, and part of her was very fine with that].

Thanks. I know its not practical in a physical sense, but it feels right to me.

[It hurt, and it was a lesson: NEVER let your guard down, think faster, get to them before they got to you].

Yes. If this place is anything like Deerington, the patterns should start to make themselves known soon enough.

[Already the one of terrible things happening like clockwork each month had made itself known. It was only a matter of time before others started to be realized.]

No but many things we do aren't practical at all but which make sense to us in our heads. I think it is a good decision for you to make.

[This is why Maul is never going to be allowed to raise children of his own: because he would end up giving them advice like this.]

I've been trying to keep track of them myself. The first year is bound to be pretty crazy since we have no idea what to expect.

[About the one thing that was becoming apparent is that there would be some strange thing with the blood].

That sounds about right. Thank you.

[Luz knew very well that it didn't make a lot of sense in a conventional way, but the way she thought about it, it was a physical way to remember what had already happened to her in the old town and this new one].

Expect the unexpected. That's all that we can do.

[Maul sighs and rubs a hand on the back of one of his shoulders. They're carrying a lot of tension after all that he has gone through.]

Stay safe, Luz.

[Then he clicks off the video. He needs some time to contemplate things.]

That's so vague and annoying, yet it's the truth.

[Luz looks slightly defeated, but nods].

Thank you for passing me the message, Darth Maul. I'll see you later.

Video; un: darkness (Backdated to November 28th)

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