|
|
|
The last time on Meridean Twins, Xinix has challanged Loki to yet another fight.
“Not this time, girl,” he said. He pulled his lightsaber off his belt and tossed it aside. Loki raised an eyebrow. “We fight with only our hands. Nothing else. Remove all your weapons.”
“No deal, Xinix,” Loki said. “I don’t want to embarrass you in front of another large group of people.” Xinix laughed, voice full of bitter mirth.
“Scared? Scared to fight me hand to hand, Meridean?” He spat. Loki’s eyes narrowed. She heard the sounds of footfalls and looked to her right. Her original gang of friends, Roki, Aliea, Max, Gaby, and Rio were there, yelling that Tril, Jaken, Nikolai, and Constantine were on their way. The others were probably in tow. She smirked at Xinix.
“Hold my stuff, guys,” she said. She unhooked her lightsaber, pulled her blasters from their holsters, the throwing stars from their pouch, the shining silver Sias from their loops, the vibro blade from her boot, and her nerowhip from its hook and handed it all to them. “No weapons now, Xinix. Bring it on.”
“I will warn you now,” he said. “My father was a master of seven martial art fighting styles, and I inherited his skill.” Loki peeled her fingerless glove from her right arm.
“Who was your father?” She asked, trying to sound conversational. Xinix’s grin broadened.
“Prince Xizor Blacksun,” he replied. Loki couldn’t hide the shock in her eyes. “That’s right, girl. Now who will bring it?” Loki’s stunned look turned to a scowl as she lowered her center of gravity into the traditional Jenovian Dancer (their word for fighter) stance.
“I guess I will,” she said. Then she ran at him. She cartwheeled and back-flipped twice before drop kicking an unsuspecting Xinix in the chest. He hit the stone floor heavily. Loki flipped to her feet and remained crouched low, ready.
“Very impressive,” he snarled, standing again. “You can do gymnastics.”
“One of us has to be impressive,” Loki said. Xinix sneered at her. He came at her this time. It was an uppercut that, given all that force, would’ve snapped her neck. She ducked under it and snap kicked a rough line up his crotch and then his chin. He stumbled back. He looked up at her.
Xinix’s chin was split and leaking green blood onto the floor. He smiled, showing jagged, shark-like teeth. Faleen teeth. Loki felt a fog drift into her mind. She stumbled back and was caught by a pair of strong hands. It was odd, it was like she no longer wanted to fight him.
“He’s using his sithing pheromones!” Jaken’s voice said. “Snap out of it, Meridean!” A rough smack and Loki blinked. Jaken righted her and she stared vibro blades at her opposition.
“You ever smack me again, I’ll kill you,” she said to Jaken over her shoulder. “Back to business, then.” She raised her hands and a wave of purple light erupted from them, knocking Xinix flat on his back. Loki moved a few paces and fired again. This time, though, Xinix ducked and threw his own ball of shapeless, colorless Force Fire. It hit her right shoulder. She cried out and went down on her knees, left hand clutching the jagged wound. Loki’s eyes flooded a violent green and she stood. It was almost too fluid, too graceful to be natural.
Now, when the first drops of Xinix’s dark green blood hit the floor, there were gasps and cries of disgust, but when Loki’s ‘blood’ hit the floor, those cries were ten times as worse.
The fluid leaking from the gash on her arm was black and thick.
Xinix’s smile widened.
“Now you all know,” he said loudly to the crowd of students watching. “The Meridean Twins are of the Dark Side. What bleeds black blood but a Sith?” Loki’s hair whirred around her face, her eyes closed, seemingly not hearing Xinix and the sounds of the students whispering behind their hands. Roki’s eyes widened.
“Oh, perfect,” he said, elbowing his way through the crowd. “She’s really going to do it this time.” Loki’s eyes shot open. They were all green and glowing with no irises, raising her arms like the letter Y. Roki raised his arms as well, straining his own abilities. “Come on, Shield,” he muttered. An electric blue bubble covered the circle Xinix and Loki inhabited. A green Soulself-like entity floated from her shoulders. It stared up at the ceiling and screamed. Then it erupted in a kind of shock wave that hit Xinix head on, smashing him against the side of the electric blue Force Shield and out it. Loki slumped to the floor and lay there, motionless.
“Oh stars, some one call the med wing!” A girl screamed. Neither fighter was moving. Then, a stir from one of them. Xinix pulled himself to an unsteady footing and turned back to the unconscious Loki. Her friends rushed to her. He licked his lips and walked towards her. Out of his sleeve, he produced a kind of switch blade and flicked it. A vibro blade erupted from the handle. It would be too easy to slit her throat, but so sweet. Rio looked to Trilian, who was the fastest runner among them.
“Get Skywalker,” he said. Tril nodded and sprinted off in the direction of the main stairs, the ones that lead to the very top floors, where the Masters lived.
Xinix’s head was bleeding, and none noticed him as they ran about. He wanted to cut Meridean and her meddling friends into little bitty bloody pieces. And then Skywalker.
As luck would have it, Gaby came to the scene with a tall man with dark hair and eyes in tow, her small hand hardly visible in his. Xinix scowled. He recognized Han Solo instantly.
“What did you do now, Rio?” Han growled at his foster brother as he kneeled down next to the unconscious girl. “Better get her out of here.” He lifted her easily. Roki and the others struggled at how to tell Han a tough fact. “She needs bacta, and fast.”
“See, that’s the thing, Han,” Rio said. Xinix, by now, was hiding behind a stone column, listening to all of it with interest. Han looked down to the stain of black fluid on his shirt.
“What the stang is this stuff?” Xinix heard him mutter. “Oil?”
“Her right arm is all bionic,” Aliea said. “She needs bacta and a repair.”
4
“How did this happen?” Luke asked Roki, Jaken, Rio, and Trilian, standing behind the glass as the med droids used lasers to fix Loki’s arm as she remained under a self-induced trance. Jaken made a frustrated sound.
“We told you,” he growled. “Xinix attacked her, Loki defended herself.” Luke sighed.
“That’s what the others say as well.” Jaken rolled his eyes and Rio starred lovingly at Loki’s innate form.
“Who won?” Han asked, sounding a little bitter. “The Squirt is pretty beat up.”
“It’s not that she lost,” Roki said. “She won, but the Soul Sacrifice is called that because she sacrifices a fair amount of her energy in doing so.” Rio was seething.
“Where is this Xinix guy, anyway?” He asked. Luke shrugged. “WHAT!?”
“We went back to the scene to talk to him but he was gone.”
“Him, and a Jedi Fighter ship,” Mara said, leaning against the wall. “We think he took off after he thought he killed Meridean.” Luke wasn’t so sure. He noticed Roki’s blue-and-yellow gaze resting on him.
“In any event,” he said. “We’ll send search parties to find him. In the meantime, I believe Loki will be just fine. We better clear out and let the meds do their work.” They rose to leave, but Luke stopped Roki. “We have things to discuss.” Roki looked around him to Mara, who was already gone.
“What do you want, Skywalker?” He spat at him. Luke raised an eyebrow.
“Just to talk. Mostly about your sister. Being twins, I was hoping you might know a little more about her than anyone else. Maybe you two even have a bond in the Force. Do you know if she’s alright?” Roki squinted at the glass, with Loki on the other side.
“She’s good at meditating,” he said. “Spends more time doing that than anything else most days. Lo’s just in a trance. It’s second nature for her by now, I suspect, after doing that as many times as she has.”
“How many times before?” Luke asked, conversationally.
“Four or five,” Roki replied. “Each time it gets a little worse. Why do you care?”
“I’m her Master,” Luke replied. “I care about her well-being. I have to.” Roki rolled his eyes. “I know you don’t trust me. Why is that?”
Roki avoided the question. “Don’t you check the last names of the students you invite here?” He asked, scathingly. Luke was mildly surprised by the question but didn’t let it show.
“Yes, we know almost everything about our students before we bring them here,” Luke said, though it wasn’t all true. The Meridean Twins were living proof of that.
“Well, you might want to know that Xinix was Prince Xizor’s son.” Roki shot at him. Luke winced at that one. He was told more than once that the boy was unstable. These past few days had proved it. “Prince Xizor had a huge grudge against my sister. Apparently it carried over to his son.” Luke blinked at that, brow furrowing in thought.
“Why did Prince Xizor have a grudge against Loki?” He asked. “How did she lose her arm?” Roki squirmed under the inquiries. “Rokion?”
“I can’t tell you!” He said suddenly. “If I tell you, my children would be in mortal danger!” Luke’s eyebrows went up.
“You have children?” He asked.
“Not right now, but I’d like to one day!” Roki shot back. By now, Luke was confused.
“I don’t understand,” he said. Roki rolled his eyes.
“If I tell you about Loki’s past, she wouldn’t kill me, oh no, she’d make me suffer. She told me when she lost her arm that if I ever told anyone, she’d cut my boys off with a powered down saber.” Luke rolled his eyes at this.
“Do you really think she’d even find out you told me?” He asked.
“Uh, yeah,” Roki said. “Besides, she’s the only one with the details.” He then shouldered past Luke and out the door.
Luke was sure of three things: Loki had a terrible secret; they had a vengeful Faleen looking for her; and last, that secret Loki was keeping was serious enough for her to threaten her brother with bodily harm.
For her safety, Luke needed to know more about Loki.
5
Loki was again on her knees before Luke. They hadn’t said much since the fight and Xinix’s flight. Luke was meditating and she was doing the likewise, but with only part of her mind. She made the half that was connected to Luke appear to be tranquil, but her other half was buzzing with activity and curiosity. Why hasn’t he chewed me out about the fight yet? Or even said three words to me?
Luke shifted on his side of the mat. He seemed restless. Like something was eating at him. He was serene and silent, eyes closed in contemplation of Force knows what. Loki blinked and the colored part of her eye, the part that was usually lavender, turned a violent blue, like Roki’s but softer.
He’s thinking about his father. Doesn’t he realize the pain Anakin was in? He doesn’t know his mother that well, either. He misses her, but he never knew her. Would it be so bad if I told him a little about her? If I did, he’d ask how I knew her. I’d have to tell him about my past and my parentage. Would it be worth it?
“Thinking?”
His voice interrupted her thoughts. She shook herself.
“Yeah, doing the meditating thing, you know? Finding my focus and gripping it,” she said, sounding far off. She rubbed her right arm absently. Loki caught Luke looking at it. “See something you like?” She snapped.
“How did you lose it?” He whispered to her suddenly. Loki blinked. Her eyes turned lavender again, the blinking helping to speed the drainage of color.
“In an accident,” she said. “An accident that was all my fault. I was reckless and the cost of that recklessness was my arm.” Luke was next to her now. He held her right hand. It seemed smaller compared to his. Loki knew his right hand was bionic.
“Tell me,” he said, quietly. Loki closed her eyes.
“You will not like what you hear,” she said. “Or see.”
“Sins of the past are not reflected on virtues of the future,” he said. Loki faced him.
“Then brace yourself,” she said. Loki touched his temple with her left hand. Well, not touched, but a thin tendril of wispy purple light flowed lazily from the tips of her fingers. Luke froze, closed his eyes, and shuddered as he was thrown into memories that were not his and memories that frightened and shocked him.
6
“Lord Vader, I am aware you are indeed a powerful man. I wish to sell myself into slavery to you in order to save my kingdom, the free planet of Jenovia. It is in a civil war with Draconia presently, but with the Alliance growing, it is possible more blood will be shed. If I sell myself to you, perhaps you could spare them and the small nebula they reside in.” A small girl wrapped in a black shawl said, kneeling before him. It was painful to raffle off her freedom, but soon, she became his apprentice. He had sensed the power within her and agreed to her bargain, although, she was no slave
She kneeled before him now, again, only aged slightly, maybe eleven.
“What is your name?” Vader’s voice asked.
“Darth Bloodfire,” she replied, not skipping a beat.
“Who are you loyal to?”
“I am loyal to one man,” she said. “The Lord of the Sith, my Master, Darth Vader.”
She flew to Cloud City to finalize the control over it, now thirteen. The Troopers were doing their job and she was doing hers. Soon, her Master’s bait would arrive and Skywalker would be theirs. Her Master forbade her from seeing the Emperor and she wasn’t tempted to break his word.
Then it happened. She felt a distinct presence in the Force. She followed it and ended up near a large window, overlooking a catwalk over an abyss with machinery at the end.
The door slid shut behind her. Spinning, she saw the one man she didn’t want to. He smiled at her, showing yellow teeth and yellow, dead eyes.
“Apprentice Meridean, I presume?” He asked. Her eyes were lavender slits. “Let us see if your training is up to par.” He sent a Force Blast at her and she raised her arms up to shield her face. It was powerful enough to send her through the window and onto the catwalk. She looked up, tiny cuts on her body from the broken glass she landed on. He had drawn a cherry red saber and stepped over the glass, walking for her menacingly. She sprung to her feet, drew her own saber and swung it. He blocked neatly and pushed her back again. He came at her with a downward stroke and she blocked this as well.
They were moving down the catwalk slowly, dueling with skill and a fiery passion. She threw her right arm out in front of her, a red fireball hitting he dark man in his chest. His saber came down.
Searing pain raced up her body and she screamed, reeling and falling to her knees. Her saber extinguished itself and clattered to the catwalk. Blood followed it. She looked at her right shoulder. Her arm, the entire arm, was severed at the shoulder, leaving a bleached white nub of bone, cauterized flesh and blood vessels and some of which were still bleeding. She seized her saber and clipped it to her belt, before crawling away, scrambling for the machinery at the end.
She got to her feet at one point to reach out, to hang on, but she was unbalanced and nearly fell over the side. Wrapping her remaining arm around the machinery, she inched as far from the dark man as possible. Wind whipped her hair, some stuck to her forehead with cold sweat. She was going into shock.
“Join me,” Palpatine said. “Devote yourself to the Dark Side and join me. Together, we could rule for generations! Decades of the Empire’s rule, defined by your own presence within it.” She shook her head.
“Never,” she hissed. “I am loyal to one man and he is not you!” He starred at her.
“Joanna never told you what happened to your father.” He wasn’t asking. He knew. She glared at him.
“She told me enough!” She yelled. “Kidanaila killed him! Connor was a cruel king, a terrible leader, he killed his own people!” He shook his head, clearly mad with his power.
“No, Lokina,” Palpatine said. “Connor became me.” She shook her head violently.
“No. No, that’s impossible!” She yelled.
“Search your feelings, you know this to be true! Your mother merely banished me. Killing the image of Conner Meridean forever.” Palpatine said. “Join me, Lokina. Embrace your true nature within the Dark Side.”
“******** you,” she snarled. Palpatine’s smile faded into a snarl.
“You dare to defy me?!” He yelled, the wind threatening to tear her from the machinery. “Join me, Lokina! I am the Empire! I am law! Join me or die!” She looked at him with defiance. His lips pulled back in a cold sneer. “It is your destiny.”
“I’LL NEVER JOIN YOU!” She screamed and then threw herself from the walk and into the abyss.
7
Loki broke the bond and Luke looked up at her. He was on his back and in a cold sweat. Hot tears stained his apprentices’s cheeks.
“I’m sorry,” he whispered to her, tears flooding his eyes as well. She touched his face, tears hitting his nose as she leaned over him. “I didn’t know. Force, I didn’t know. I’m sorry. ”
OMG WTF just happened?!
 Blakaize · Tue Jan 01, 2008 @ 07:30pm · 0 Comments |
|
|
|
|
|
