Sianid Ascendant: Chapter 21

Zarvell, still in a weakened condition, could not fight back against the overwhelming urge to drop to his knees and bow, face-down to the ground. "Please!" he called out. "Remember!"

As his forehead was just about to touch the ground, he saw it.

A pulse of white Force energy radiating out from the other end of the room.

Obviously Denevee saw it too, because she immediately summoned another Death Strike--which came easier this time, despite the tired and drained way she felt, because of her emotional state.

Dianiss saw that Denevee was summoning the Death Strike a second time, and said in a condescending tone, "You cannot kill one who is no longer alive...."

"Don't need to." she replied, and released the second attack, which Dianiss made no effort at all to avoid.

When it struck, Dianiss was clearly surprised that the effect of this second attack was somehow different from the first one. This time, the pain was more intense, and was accompanied by Sianid's unconscious body writhing in pain and screaming simultaneously. Both of them abruptly stopped as a field of white Force energy swept over Dianiss' body from the inside out.

But, more importantly, Kallig's grip on Dianiss had also been disrupted.

As the grip on Zarvell released, he didn't bother to stand up again. Instead, he reached around to the back of his neck where Violet's dart hit him to touch a few drops of his own fresh blood on his fingertips. As he closed his eyes and concentrated on visualizing the blood cells in microscopic detail down to the sub-cellular level, he reached out in the Force to find other blood cells nearby that were not his own, but very similar.

There was, as he expected, more than one person nearby who carried such blood cells within, but choosing the one he wanted to connect with was obvious enough, with power emanating outward from those cells like the radiation of a red-giant star. He focused on her and found the connection as easily as if it had been there all along. He followed it to its destination.

When he opened his eyes, he found himself standing on the other end of the room, looking back at his own body lying prone on the floor. The sensation of inhabiting another body was disorienting at first, made even more confusing by the clear presence of both Dianiss and Lord Kallig within.

He momentarily wished he'd had time to practice the ritual with Zedemm first, but realized that even that would not have prepared him for the enormity of the power that was surrounding him--and the strange sensation of heat that it created.

Carefully, he looked out and spoke, in Dianiss' voice. "Pulsusque invasori est." It was the keyword signal to his allies that HE, Zarvell, was the one in control of Dianiss--that the Blood Possession was successful.

From within Dianiss herself, making the connection to her and initiating the Dream Walk again was effortless. He instantly found himself standing in the glowing world of yellow, brighter and whiter than it was when he'd last seen it--the orange cast gone completely. He could see his own body bowing on the floor, where the blood stain on his finger was oddly prominent.

Next to him sat Dianiss . . . not the little girl, but the young adult who looked like her physical body . . . but more beautiful. Sianid was not there anymore, but Lord Kallig was. He was no longer surrounded in flames and had a blurry, insubstantial appearance, barely enough to see.

Dianiss looked up at Zarvell, appearing disoriented and a little confused.

"You . . . you look familiar."

"I should, my dear. I am your father, though is has been quite some time since we last saw each other."

"Really?"

He nodded his head, and smiled warmly. "Really." Somehow she could sense that he was telling the truth, and it wasn't just the tear forming in his eye.

Dianiss was looking around, as if seeing where she was for the first time. "What IS this place?"

"This is a place of Sith sorcery, one which I hope you'll never have to visit again. You've been through a tremendous ordeal, my dear, and I have come a very long way to put an end to it. What is the last thing you remember before seeing me here?"

She paused to think about it. For such a simple question, it was oddly difficult to answer.

"I was with Master Casei. We had just figured out how to activate the shielding device. Then . . . I had a Force vision . . . I think . . . of something that happened to me when I was a little girl on Dromund Kaas, but . . . it doesn't make any sense. I don't think it was something that actually happened, or at least it wasn't something I remember. I kind-of remember seeing my mother, and feeling confused and scared."

"As I expected. Oh, and you actually are on Dromund Kaas, by the way, inside the Dark Temple. Do you know who this is?" He pointed at Lord Kallig.

She didn't recognize him from his appearance, but the presence she felt from him was intimately familiar. "Well, yes, I guess so. But it's not a 'who' so much as a 'what', I've never really seen it like this before. I . . . I call it 'Kallig'--it's just a name I made up when I was a youngling. It's something that's been inside me since . . . as long as I can remember."

"Kallig?" he said with a raised eyebrow. "Lord Aloysius Kallig to be precise. In life, he was a contemporary of Tulak Hord. In death, he inhabits your mind and body. Evidently he was able to communicate his name to you."

"I . . . I don't understand. And why ME?"

"I asked him that very question, actually. It was your mother's doing, I'm afraid."

"All will be explained in time. The Jedi will see to that, and I will see to it that they do not keep it from you. But first, we have some very important business. Please stand up."

She struggled to stand up, until he took her hand and helped her. As he did, she glowed even brighter, and he himself faded a bit.

"I am holding something that was taken from you, and I have come to return it to you. Do you see the man bowing to us over there? The one who looks like me?"

"Yes."

"Use the Force. There is a connection between him and you--between you and I. Find it. Find it and take hold of it. Take hold of it, and sever it. It should not be difficult, I will not resist it."

"What will that do to you?"

"Well, truthfully, I'm not certain of ALL the details, but it will have the effect of casting me out and preventing me from possessing your body again without your consent. More importantly, ..."

"Wait . . . 'possessing my body'? And what do you mean 'again'?"

"Yes, I am currently inhabit-- . . . visiting your mind and body at the moment. It was a necessary step in restoring you to the way you were. As I was saying, severing that connection will construct the necessary conditions for your spirit and body to reconnect, naturally, and without interference from HIM."

"Wha- . . . what? It . . . he? . . . can interfere?"

"He already has, actually. But no more. And . . . a moment, if you please."

Zarvell turned to address Lord Kallig.

"Lord Kallig, I am not certain if you can hear me, but if you can, know this: I am watching. You will continue to inhabit Dianiss and you will continue to obey her for the rest of her natural life. And when her time does come to an end, I will have made preparations for you. You may think that your destiny is to take bloody revenge on all your enemies, but I will stop you, even if I too am already one with the Force by that time."

"I . . . will . . . come . . . for . . . YOU." The response was more felt than heard.

"I'm sure you will try--I would expect nothing less. But I must tell you: there was one other interesting thing that Tulak Hord wrote about you, something with which I'm forced to agree...."

"You're not very clever."

Zarvell turned back to Dianiss.

"Annie, before I go, I must warn you of one very important thing. You must NEVER give in to darkness. So long as you follow the light, he remains imprisoned, and unable to influence you. Your Jedi masters knew this, and perhaps now you can begin to understand why they gave that--above all else--the very highest importance in your training."

"I'll remember that." She looked away briefly, then back at Zarvell. "I WILL remember that, won't I? Things are a little . . . hazy right now."

Zarvell laughed a bit. "I'm certain you will. Now then, the connection...?"

Dianiss took what seemed like a century of studying the world around her in the Force, and all the while, Zarvell just sat and watched her, smiling, enjoying the feeling of closeness that he was sharing with her. He regretted all the years he wished he could have spent with her, but couldn't. Yet here in this place, those years felt like a microsecond. Here, under these conditions, he felt closer to her than he had ever felt to anyone else in his life. He was proud of the young woman that his little girl had become, and that indeed she was--as he had told the Jedi all those years ago when he sent her to them--extraordinary.

Eventually, Dianiss did figure out the Force manifestations of the Blood Possession and the Dream Walk, and did what was necessary to end them both. As she did, Zarvell saw the yellow-white glow fade to blackness, and felt his connection to Dianiss fade into nothingness.

As he awoke in his own body, he felt completely drained, like he needed to sleep for a week.

The last thing he wanted to hear at that moment was Sianid's voice saying, "Feeling tired now, are we . . . Traitor?"

No, scratch that. In fact, it was Sianid's laughter that was the last thing he wanted to hear.