“Good riddance,” she muttered in her head.
All that hate that once had a target, now had nowhere to go to. There was a galaxy to conquer. But not today, possibly not even a few weeks. Darth Nox, her original name lost to the ages and no longer relevant, yet this title still stood for something. For darkness, wrath, power. And here in the Spire, power was what she had and had craved for so long. It was hers.
She ordered everyone out the Throne Room and wandered to the circle of water that flowed around the Throne. Easing her mask of her face, she stared at her reflection.
Her eyes were red, and not just because of the Dark Side Energy flowing through her. She was tired. The still-young Zabrak looked like she had aged years and it didn’t look good on her.
“There must be a way to suppress the Dark Side’s influence on my complexion”, the proud Empress thought.
Beniko did it, but she was a pale grey compared to Darth Nox. Empress Acina managed it to, which was a closer approximation to aim for.
Healing wasn’t her thing, but the Force was still her most powerful ally. She also needed a holiday. Pulling out a holo communicator, the Zabrak keyed in the now-familiar frequency.
“Hey, I wondered when you would check in!” Koth replied, smiling
“Hey yourself. How do you fancy leaving some of the rebuilding to others for a week or to?” she asked, trying to smile, a habit she had long given up.
“Like all my Life Days happened at once. I’ll be over.”
“I’ll be here, Koth” she assured.
“I don’t doubt it,” Koth responded with a smile and a lazy salute.
The holo cut off and the Zabrak knelt. Drawing on the Dark Side she emptied her mind of all that had recently happened to her, willing herself to be drawn closer to it, but mastering its influence over her appearance.
For a while she could stop being Commander. Stop hating everything. For a while she could just be that young, Yellow-Eyed Zabrak. The comfort of the Force drew her deeper and she felt her face relax.
“I will master my hatred, but won’t be overcome by it. The Dark Side is my Ally. But Koth is my love.”
The young Empress did not realise she had been in her trance for an hour. It was only when Koth ran in, almost apologising for his delay did she look up at him. The surprise in his face confirmed what she knew.
“Wow, you just look, wow.” he spluttered.
Standing to her feet, at peace for the first time in years, she allowed the dark cloud of energy around her to dissipate and ran up to her most unlikely of life partners and kissed him.
“Don’t bother with words, we’re readying my ship and going away.”
“You probably wanna get changed into something less…Sithy” Koth suggested.
“Damn right, let’s go.”
About the Author
I have been playing MMOs for about ten years and began writing guides to The Lord of the Rings Online in 2017. I've only been creating content about Final Fantasy XIV since 2022, but I am glad for the mix. My current games include LOTRO, FFXIV and the occasional Palia session too.
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