A Little Light: So Religious

[Sarah Kross]

[OOC- This is the "ghost thread" discussed in the Hall of Sorrows. Everyone isn't obliged to join in, but more than likely you'll get pulled into it.]

Tonight, the halls of Bast would be stirring with something a little more ... restless. The silent footsteps would be heard now, as would the cries of eternal anguish. It was time -- yes, time -- for the occupants to realize who they shared their rooms with; For them to realize that they were never alone.

***

There was a thud on Taja Loraan's door before it swung open, the hinges creaking noisely. Since it was night, most would be in bed catching up with sleep. This woman was no exception.

"Did you have a nice dream?" whispered a girl's voice. However, the speaker was nowhere to be seen.

The temperature in the room seemed to drop slightly, leaving the air more chilly than usual.

"I didn't. I have nightmares."

[Slayn Cloak]

Loran was hardly alone, Slayn was curled up next to her he could feel this presence, nothing more than energy.

" ... "

The voice was meant for Taja yet it forced Slayn to stir, the air seemed perfumed by this voice as the temperature dropped. The cool touch of the air made itself known first to his chest, then his lips as he breathed it in, and the condensation of the exhaled gas took place in front of him... He rolled to his side and pulled the sleeping Loran closer, placing his arms around her. The Dark Jedi then opened his mind to the intruder; He forced it to understand him.

" Yes, then perhaps you should leave before they are brought into being? You're not welcome here, I grow weary of your presence."

He forced this into the mind, if you could call it that, of this entity. Though he couldn't see it, he felt it's pain, and would cause it more if it persisted.

[Sarah Kross]

"I don't like you."

The torches from the hall were dimly lit, their flames cackling as orange spilt on the walls. They began to glow brighter. The fire turned to a dark red, mixed with speckles of yellow. Hence, their glow casted into the room because of the open door.

A dark figure could be seen slipping from one side of the bed to the other, where Slayn was.

"I like nightmares."

[Slayn Cloak]

Slayn waved his hand dramatically in the bed. The torches were snuffed out by the very shadow they created, as Slayn forced it to envelop itself around the flame; As his hand fell back to Taja's side the door slammed.

" Very well than I shall indulge you."

His words were forced into the consciousness of the entity, followed quickly by an eructating pain, and the memory of its death. It seemed to play a thousand times a second in her head, skipping as if stuck on that very moment in time...

[Evil Hobgoblin]

Tonight, Bast whispered louder than usual.

For Hob, who meditated within the confines of his Crystal Cavern, seeking to once again master the ebb and flow of future visions, this was a distraction.

But, all things had a cause, and the cause of the whispers was one of potential importance. Hob withdrew his mind from his farseeing trance and retreated to the confines of the chamber he was in. The ebb and flow of the lines around him would tell him things, and so Hob watched them, and waited to see what they would impart.

[Sarah Kross]

"You think mere tricks can madden me? I've already lost sanity a long time ago ..."

Still, the spirit could not be seen anywhere.

"...For what use is a conscience when you're dead?"

A childish giggle filled the room, echoing as the closed door creaked back open. Then, it slammed shut. Then opened. This kept repeating itself as the ghost's "voice" began to chant.

"The man behind the mask is looking for the book with the pages torn out," it kept repeating over and over.

This seemed as a puzzle to most of the Dark Jedi except for Hobgoblin -- For he was the only one that took time to converse with the 'entities' from time to time .. Yes, it was Hobgoblin who knew.

But for now, it would have its sick fun. After all, eternity seems like a good idea until you realize you're spending it alone.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville sat bolt upright in bed, and threw the furs aside and planted her feet on the cold stone floor. The fireplace was cold, even the embers had burnt out hours before. She shivered, and pulled her cloak around her thin white nightgown as she padded barefoot through her passageway towards the study.

Once inside her more public room, Lilaena lit a candle, and sat at the desk, pulling a book towards her with the Force. She sneezed. Ink made her sneeze, but she loved the feel of the leatherbound volumes. Datapads were so clinical.

She set the book down, and opened it, only to have the lone candle blow out. De'Ville sat in darkness, and frowned. What had woken her up? Why was she in her study? Certainly not a mad desire to read in the middle of the night.

Or, was it? The candle flared to life again, casting weird shadows on her walls.

She looked at the book in front of her on the desk. The Afterlife: A Hoax? De'Ville raised an eyebrow. She'd read it before. Some theologian's ideas on where the soul's of sentient beings went after death. She had found it singularly uninteresting at the time, but here it was again...in her hands. Lilaena signed and flipped it open to the middle. Can't sleep, might as well read.

[imported_Taja Loraan]

A frown crossed the features of the sleeping woman as she shifted on the bed to move closer to Slayn. Rest had become a denied solace, for then the spirits of Bast had unrestrained influence over her dormant mind. So their whispers now were as expected; they seldom ceased their cacophonic screams. Beckoning her to join them in their madness.

Except, their song today was being voiced by only one.

Who - ?

Her eyelids flickered open and she glanced up at Slayn; it was difficult to tell whether or not the man was asleep, as he usually conducted himself in silence. Not wishing to disturb him, Taja slowly eased away from his embrace and crawled to the edge of the bed, drawing the covers closer around her. It was colder than usual and although this in itself didn't faze her, it was the pattern in which the shadows were moving.

She was being watched, but that came as little surprise. They were always about, listening and taunting, wailing in all their self-pitying despondency. But the dark tendrils tonight writhed in a different manner altogether, for they seemed to breathe.

They were alive.

It was then that the door to her chambers began slamming open and closed alternately - they were here, and they were angered. And yet ... no. The voice that spoke was alone. The same line of their song was being recited again and again, and for once, Taja could decipher the words.

"The man behind the mask is looking for the book with the pages torn out."

Taja's scowl deepened in frustration. Reaching out with her mind, she asked a question she had raised to them before, only to be answered by sorrowful wails.

Why do you cry?

[Sarah Kross]

Ah, so - the woman had finally awoken. The ghost fell silent in its ceaseless chanting as its unseen body made its way slowly towards Taja. The Dark Jedi could sense its presence, and feel the cool air brush against her skin. There was almost a pause, until she heard a soft sigh.

"He is looking for their hiding place."

Then, Taja could see an arm appearing from thin air reaching out to her, and then a leg stepping out. A body pulled itself from the very air itself and lifted its face. The entity wished to be seen.

Sarah's 'body' was still somewhat translucent, allowing anyone to see past her, but at least now they got a glimpse of the Unseen, the Other Realm.

"You're so fragile ... Will you break if I touch you?"

She reached out with a hand and brushed it against Taja's cheek, who of course could feel nothing but a cold breeze against her skin.

[imported_Taja Loraan]

Her breath twisted into intangible wisps of vapor as it escaped her lips. The voices murmuring inside her mind, the ones that were essentially a part of Taja, grew excited; the young girl 'spoke' in a way different from all the other unseen residents of Bast, who always shrieked rampantly.

For a second, she considered dismissing the voice altogether; it was probably only a dream. They never spoke to her individually. But Taja was rarely witness to such visions, none involving herself at least. The spirits preferred to reminisce about times past while the Dark Jedi slept and it was this she usually saw.

Taja's quiet musings came to an abrupt halt as the space in front of her seemed to condense and take on a human figure. It was as though the air itself had been ripped apart, and a gateway of sorts between the ethereal plane and physical revealed. For the first time during her tenure, a spirit of Bast had made itself visible.

The side of Taja that normally controlled her animalistic tendencies bade her not pay this entity any mind, but what danger was there? She was merely curious; and so to allow for their little 'talk' to be made more easily, Taja lowered a few of the carefully erected walls she had constructed around her psyche. Because the voice was talking to her ... So maybe then it was part of her, in some perverse sense.

She stared with wide eyes, her gaze transfixed on the body that accompanied the girl's voice. For she was just that: a girl, harmless and without harmful intent. Young and innocent.

Innocent?

Before she could answer, Sarah's cold, lucent fingertips touched her skin. And Taja's mind, quite literally, froze.

[Daniel Sevish]

Sometimes at night, while she slept, Lilaena would feel a slight breeze brush past her neck. Not that she minded; it was probably just the wind, she'd tell herself. Or perhaps she'd had a nasty dream. After all, who could be bothered to think about these trivial matters at such late hours?

But tonight ... Tonight was different. The woman wasn't asleep. Maybe he had made his presence felt a little more than usual for her to have woken so suddenly. Whatever the cause, it was time she knew, anyway. Time she realized that the chilliness was far from natural, that it was actually he who touched his cold fingertips against her porcelain skin every night. Time she appreciated his love for her.

De'Ville was strong. He admired that, but everyone deserved to be scared occasionally. The Dark Jedi needed to understand that she wasn't unbreakable. She was just as beautiful, as delicate - as fragile - as a flower. A flower not yet blossomed. But he would change all that; he would awaken her to her own vulnerability.

"The Afterlife: A Hoax."

He repeated the title of the book Lilaena held in her hands. A chair by the side of the table pulled itself out as the sole candle once again sputtered and died out completely.

"It is in a way, isn't it? All that talk of there being a light at the end of a tunnel ... it's all fake. The world doesn't stop for you. It carries on just as though you were never there."

The tone of his voice was somber; wistful. She had to see before it was too late.

"Because you aren't there. You disappear, and people stop caring."

[Sarah Kross]

And after her cold fingers brushed against Taja's skin, Sarah seemed to grimace and turned away. Was it possibly a hallucination to both of the Dark Jedi; That they both wanted to believe so badly that they could make contact with one of Bast's ghost, in a somewhat decent conversation? Could it just be the cracks and groans, and the hushed whispers along with their imaginations that created Sarah?

But, no.

There was always something that someone could tell they weren't dreaming - that little something that makes your skin prickle in apprehension, or breath become more rapid in anxiety.

"For in that sleep of death, what dreams may come when we have shuffled off this mortal coil?"

It was like the spirit was rambling to herself in the never-ending madness that possessed all of Bast's entities.

"For everything is dying as soon as it's created..."

They didn't realize how lucky they were, to possess that little flame called Life within their chest, to have their hearts beat and veins flow, to have lungs to breathe in the sweet air that meant nothing to her anymore. They were alive and she wasn't.

Sarah turned around again to face Taja, and a flicker of comprehension went across her face.

"Can I kiss you?"

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville had used the Force to light her candle, and it once again sputtered out. She sat in darkness again, supplied only with audio clues as to what was going on in her study. The chair across the desk from her was pulled out, yet she could sense no presence in the room other than her own.

Wait..there was something. It was a life sense, yet so shaky and wavery that it could not be anything truly alive. De'Ville caught her breath as the voice spoke. It was a male voice, thin, but not without resonance inside the room.

"Who are you?" She imagined she felt something brush her cheek, but it was just another draft in the room. "You seem familiar to me..." It was a familar presence, as if she had almost felt him a thousand times in a thousand different ways. And yet, it was totally alien.

The presence that she could not see and could not really sense in the Force...it was there in the room with her. Relying on her ears alone, she almost hear him sitting down in the chair.

[imported_Taja Loraan]

The contact had been brief, but even so Taja's head swirled painfully and her field of vision began shifting oddly, blurring in and out of focus. She had already opened her mind to the ghost to an extent farther than any living being - save, of course, her Master. But the bond she shared with Dalethria was unique in many, many ways, and was an altogether different matter.

The spirit of the girl seemed to somehow hold her mind captivated ... or rather, captive, as all Taja could hear now were Sarah's hushed whispers; everything else had faded away from her perception. She rocked back and forth steadily, blindly nodding to everything that was said. True, true, it was all true! The jerks of her head became more vehement and sporadic. How could something ... someone ... so young understand so clearly the plain realities of existence?

Then, when asked the final question, Taja paused suddenly and blinked, confused. Yes, why not? Her eyes were glazed and bemused as she looked up at the translucent figure. It was so beautiful, so [i]unreal/i]. She had to know more, be closer. She wanted to see.

Her legs swinging over the side of the bed, Taja rose to her feet and walked towards the girl, entranced; slowly but deliberately.

[Daniel Sevish]

"Who am I?"

His forehead creased in frustration. It was becoming harder and harder to remember, since seldom did he use his name. No one knew who he was ... because no one bothered to understand what he was. Minutes passed by in silence while he tried to recall a simple detail from his past. Not that he really knew how long; perhaps it had been mere seconds. Time held little significance to the dead.

Because death lasts forever.

Finally, a triumphant smile crossed his features, though he was still unseen by De'Ville. With great pride, he whispered, "Daniel, but you can call me Danny. Everyone did ... back when it actually mattered, that is."

His voice trailed off and the veil of gloom once more settled upon the young man. If he could be called that: he had traversed the halls of Bast years before De'Ville was even born. The frown deepend; had it been so long?

Invisible eyes traveled to land on the Dark Jedi's face. His 'breath' caught in his throat and sounded more as a choke; she was just so beautiful. And yet, she wasn't afraid. That made him feel glad. He didn't want her to be fearful, not of him. A cold, shaky hand came to rest on hers, resting on the table.

"Do you think it impossible, Lilaena ...?"

The name was drawn out, and as he spoke his fingers, hand, then slowly the rest of his arm illuminated in a pale, sickly light.

"Do you think it impossible for the dead to dream?"

[Lilaena De'Ville]

"Having never been dead, I..." De'Ville paused, watching the hand and arm as it appeared, touching her own hand. Her hand almost hurt it was so cold. She thought about moving her hand away, but found herself unable to move....as if she were tranfixed.

"I do not think it is impossible." She started to sweat, even though her hand, and now her arm, was ice cold. The Force was informing her on impending danger, yet she was unable to do anything in response. "Daniel, why are you doing this?"

It came to her then that she was talking to a being long dead. Something that she had never considered possible before. Her mind control abilities were miniscule, although the raw power was there, locked behind her extensive mind blocks. Lilaena did not, could not! move, and so simply sat, and stared at the being across from her. A trickle of fear ran down her back as the cold feeling worked its way up her arm...and then she could feel something...something tapping at the blocks in her mind.

"N-n-noo..." Her voice was barely a whisper.

[Sarah Kross]

Watching Taja with cold, glittering eyes, the ghost waited until she was merely inches away before moving. Stepping up right infront of her, Sarah looked up at the Dark Jedi as she lifted about three inches into the air to match the height. Then, leaning her head down, she placed a very soft kiss on the woman's lips.

That was when all Hell broke loose.

Vivid images of blood-stained walls and rusty chains flashed before Taja's mind, along with the anguished screams of the unseen tortured - only their shadows could be seen, as were what they were being slowly killed with.

Sarah wrapped her arms around Taja and pulled her in closer, as if she had suddenly become solid.

Now, Taja could see a dim, empty hallway made of stone, decorated with decaying fungus and smeared blood. She was traveling through it, and when she was beginning to think there was no end ... there was. A beautiful garden, with weeping willows and a fountain that gurgled water cheerily. The scent of blooming flowers lingered gently in the air until it began to get stronger, resembling that of something rotting. The flowers began to shrivel and the fountain's water turned black. Giant centipedes began to climb out of the ground while the tree's roots began to upturn. Everything was dying as beauty was destroyed.

Sarah began to press herself against Taja.

Now, the woman was suddenly brought out of the garden, only to see a carved statue of an angel. Its magnificent wings were wrapped around itself as it hung loosely onto a harp, staring sadly down at the ground. Cracks ran through its magnificent body as creeping ivy hung on the sides and bottom. Children's laughter echoed in the distance before it turned into screaming. The angel began to cry.

"Do you love me?" asked Sarah while Taja could see all of this.

"Say it! Say you love me!"

[imported_Taja Loraan]

Burning tears streamed down her cheeks and she pulled Sarah closer, almost protectively. She could not speak, and whether her eyes were closed, or open, what she saw was the same: vivid images of beauty, flawless and perfect, ripped apart from the seams and warped into something decayed through years of neglect. It was born entirely of Chaos, and what consumed its people was far worse than any physical pain that could be inflicted. Fear, in its absolute, purest form.

But they were far from being just images. Oh no; Taja felt every scream, every last pulse of the heart as it was slowly crushed, bruised and torn. She pushed her face into Sarah's shoulder; the comfort provided by the ghost her only anchor to sanity. And then, she too was wrenched away from her embrace.

Taja screamed, shrill and ghastly as she felt herself descending, further and further into that world where her cries were drowned out by those of other children. The angel's wings lowered to shield her from all the agony and sorrow, but still it came, crashing down upon her in violent torrents until she was curled fearfully at the base of the statue, weeping in the fear she felt from those around her.

A hand reached out to her in the darkness of the dying garden. She looked up, tearstained, to gaze into the bloodied face of a young boy, not older than five. He was brutally hurt and the evidences of torture glared darkly at Taja from the various wounds, but a smile was etched across his beaten features. But the warmth wasn't reflected in his eyes.

Setheus ...?

The two hollow pools that looked down at her did not shift, but the hand remained outstretched. Taja gently touched her fingertips with his and immediately his body shattered, as though made of glass, splintered into countless shards which showered over her. She gave a small cry and drew back her hand, which was already bleeding. The face of the girl staring back from the glass was just as tormented as the child's, but the face was not hers. It was tired. Broken and lost.

Sarah.

Taja's head swayed dizzily and she raised her hand again. The cut extended past her wrist, and blood was gushing freely from the severed blood vessels. She closed her eyes.

The wings of the angel wrapped around her, and she slept.

[Daniel Sevish]

His breath shuddered, fighting back fresh tears which threatened to flow. Tears he had shed on numerous occasions for her. His fingers lifted off her hand and rose to touch her face, tracing gently, lovingly across her features. So delicate, so fragile ...

And then, the cold hand tightened around her throat in a vice-like grip. Daniel clenched his teeth and squeezed his eyes shut, his arm trembling with fury. How could she be so blind, so foolish! De'Ville clawed wildly at his pale skin, but the days when he felt physical pain were long gone. So why did he still feel in his heart, and why did a stabbing pain pierce whatever senses he had left when he saw her, with her facade of courage?!

His voice quivered. "You see, Lilaena, how easily I can break you? Do you see what you have become?"

The other hand struck viciously against her cheek, sending sharp bursts of pain through her. An explosion had detonated within her mind, cruelly disintegrating the walls she had built and causing fierce jabs of pain inside her head.

"You are mine ... You will always be mine. I can tear you apart, I can recombine you ..."

The grasp on her neck loosened and he cupped her chin in his hand, tenderly brushing aside a stray lock that had fallen across her face. The hand that had slapped her now caressed her hair, stroking the dark tresses as one would a frightened child.

"I will kill you to love you."

[Vega Van-Derveld]

Dreams of hunting and the baying of hounds filled Vega’s mind. He would lie still for prolonged periods of time on the modest bed then in a fit of energy roll about for a good few seconds, eye lids fluttering. Unfortunately, during the last ten minutes, his pleasant thoughts had been interrupted. Not by any form of nightmare of his own, but by the cries of others.

One eye snapped open and he looked around the room, which was totally pitch black. With a loud yawn and a stretch of his arms, he got to his feet and looked about for a clock only to find the Spartan room was void of any form of time telling mechanism. Whatever the hour was, many were waking or woken already, as he could hear voices from somewhere – though he wasn’t quite sure whether it was natural hearing that was permitting him this, or the Force.

The Lupine padded towards the door of his room, pulled open the door, and looked up and down the hall.

“…always… tear… recombine…”

One brow rose as he began to pick up on exact words. The voice was unfamiliar, but it was close. No doubt one of his ‘brothers’ or ‘sisters’ had guests. With a shrug, he slammed the door closed – as loud as possible – and walked back to his bed, lying down.

Something amiss, the centipede murmured.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville's eyes were wide, the brittle, metallic taste of fear on her tongue. Her mind was expanding, and the fear and anger she felt at the intrusion of her privacy only amplified the mental powers she had never been able to control.

Something amiss. The murmur in her mind was deafening, as she began to pick up on the thoughts closest to her room. Vega! De'Ville felt the icy hands of Daniel on her hair, her face...her body...

"Noooooo!" She shrieked, and leapt to her feet, knockign her chair back, and scrambling to get away from the being before her. A sudden wind whipped up in the room as she manipulated the Force subconsciously, books falling from the shelves with a noisy clatter. Daniel was next to her still, his pale, luminous face looming closer...closer...

Her lips parted, almost unbidden, for the kiss. There were tears in her eyes at the white hot pain in her mind as he placed his ghostly hands on her temples.

[Sarah Kross]

Taja had finally entered the realm that only ones mind entered when their physical body had lost all reality - she was unconscious.

Finally ending the kiss, the ghost let go of Taja and watched the woman slump down to the ground, her face pale as a few whisps of hair settled down infront of her closed eyes. She looked so angelic, with her slightly parted lips and the rhythmic moving of her chest as she breathed. But she wanted more - more. The insanity that Bast's ghosts were well known for was beginning to kick in once more, and a red mist began to veil her vision. Everything was tarnished; tainted with bitterness.

Letting out a shriek of rage, Sarah whipped around and rushed to the door, going through it and entering the hallway.

"It sings to me! It calls out, it wants," she wailed, stumbling almost blindly down the hall. It was then the sound of a slamming door caught her attention. Going towards it, she gingerly reached out with her fingertips and touched it, then went through.

Her body had slowly begun to fade away from the naked eye, leaving her invisible once more to the occupants of Bast. She saw a golden haired man who laid upon his bed, looking somewhat irritated.

"Do you hear the song? Does it call out to you, too?"

The whisper seemed to come from every corner of his room.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

"Do you hear the song? Does it call out to you, too?"

His eyes snapped open. Barely had he gotten to sleep when this voice had spoken to him, and he was not at all pleased to be disturbed once more. With a snarl, he raised one fist and hammered it against the wall beside his bet.

“SHUT THE HELL UP, DE’VILLE!!”

With a gruff sigh, he closed his eyes again – but now it wasn’t noise, it was silence. There was something about silence that irked him, and especially silence which appeared to be inhabited. There was no one else in the room, which was for sure, so why did he feel as though someone was watching him? Vicet’s mark upon him, and the creature that linked him to the spirit, burned with a sense of apprehension and willed him to get up. Not one to disobey the bidding of something that could take his life, he did as it asked.

“If someone’s bloody hiding in here I’m going to skin you and use your flesh to make a new cloak,” the Lupine muttered as he rose to sit on the edge of the uncomfortable bed, cyan eyes sweeping the room.

[Sarah Kross]

The man had yelled out for the Lady Deville to silence herself, but yet, it was not her who was the bearer of the voice. As of the moment, the mistress was being occupied with 'someone else'.

A sigh seemed to follow his last sentence after he sat up, Sarah drawing nearer to him.

"You know, that's already been done before."

She growled as visions of chained people drenched in blood reached out with skinless fingers, only to be spit at. He was ruining the song - yes, the song! The voices of the other realm calling out to the Forsaken, taunting and comforting at the same time. The voices of those that wished to be remembered or wanted vengeance for their own personal reasons!

"There is a song in the middle of the earth, and its sound is of razors cutting through flesh," said the unknown voice, this time clearer and louder. "But you don't have to listen to it. Oh, no, your senses aren't adapt to the delirium that the entities suffer. You're useless - nothing but a broken chain that should be thrown away! How dare you settle yourself inside of my home! Get out ... GET OUT!"

[Daniel Sevish]

"Love you... I will kill you to love you... love."

He repeated the words, reciting it so many times that it became a mantra, growing increasingly loud inside her head as the kiss deepened. Louder and louder and louder... so loud that De'Ville could no longer hear her own thoughts. They were all engulfed in that one voice... chanting... praying... begging her to believe. Believe she trusted him. Believe he would protect her, for now and eternity.

"...love..."

Believe the voice was hers.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

It became apparent quickly that there was no person in the room, but indeed a thing. He was informed of this not only by his own force sensitivity, which made him aware of a faint signature, but too by the centipede; the mark of Vicet. It was in touch with the demi-goddess of chaos, and thus the spiritual word also, and guarded Vega’s mind from the intrusion of other beings of the unworldly plane.

“You’ll find no release here, spirit. Be gone, before I send you back to where you came from,” the Lupine barked out into the shadows.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville gasped for air, even as the unearthly kiss continued. She stumbled backwards, and fell to the floor, the ghost upon her. Her head hit the ground hard, and she blacked out, the wind dying down as suddenly as it had come up.

[Sarah Kross]

She paused momentarily, watching him curiously. It was if he couldn't hear her despite the thick rage in her words, and it made her wonder ..

The door creaked open, and if he looked closely enough he could see a ripple in the air - one that beckoned for him to follow down the hallway.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

Curiosity always got the better of him, especially when it appeared something was daring or challenging him, and thus he rose and strode after the displacement into the hall. In the shadows he could see little but darkened outlines, and strained as his pupils thickened an attempt to draw in any precious light, as little could be found.

“What? A ghost hunt?” he scoffed.

[Daniel Sevish]

The black of oblivion masking Lilaena's eyes dissolved, and she could once again see. What she felt most distinctly, however, was the dull throbbing in the back of her head which escalated to an acute, stabbing pain as her senses recovered. Gripping the edge of the table, she slowly rose to her feet and looked around the study. It was strange... she was in control of her body, but her thoughts were distanced. Her voice mingled with those of countless others, long deceased, and yet it felt as though she was one of them.

Daniel was gone. She glanced at the timepiece on her desk and frowned: she couldn't remember when last she had checked it, and so had no way of measuring lapsed time. There was no other evidence to prove that anything extraordinary had happened, except the books littered about the floor and the overturned chair. Was it a dream...? Lilaena tried to whisper, but her lips would not part, and instead her bare feet padded unwittingly toward the door leading outside.

She turned left down the corridor, her gaze absently passing over the lit torches lining the walls but not really noticing any of it. The Dark Jedi walked some unknown distance until she could not carry on any longer; her legs refused to work, and the barrier of air in front of her shimmered unnaturally. Sarah?

Unconsciously, Lilaena's brows furrowed in confusion. Then another figure appeared through the open doorway. It took her longer to recognize this persona than the strange, immaterial spirit of the girl - and even then, he seemed unreal. He needed to be cleansed... his thoughts were tainted, impure, polluted. Inhuman! Something inside De'Ville's mind stirred, crawling back into its darker recesses.

He's not one of us. Get rid of him, hissed the voice. Her voice.

A slight breeze had picked up in the area. It swirled around Lilaena, the thin material of her white nightgown clinging to her sides tightly as she reached out her hand to touch Vega.

[Nupraptor]

Voices. Sat upon his throne, not too far away on the planet Meras, Nupraptor could discern voices. And not those that usually occupied his mind, either. The voices of his kin - the members of the Black Hand. He could hear their voices in turmoil.

His hands clutched the armrests tightly, pressing into the cold obsidian as he focused his mind. Chaos, it seemed, was blossoming there. For once, he found himself wishing that he'd taken up their offer of lodging in the castle. Travelling between his personal Sanctuary and the castle was rather tedious, and made him reluctant to do so unless necessary. Still... this could prove interesting. At the very least, he was in for some amusement.

He stood, quickly striding towards the massive double doors of the chamber. Vjun was less than an hour away. He'd go, to investigate the matter for himself.

[Teresa Guevera]

OOC- I'm too lazy to make a new account, so let's just keep this thingie for Teresa temporary ... ^^;

You were my sun
You were my earth
But you didn't know all the ways I loved you ...

A sad song rang throughout the halls of the castle, echoing a soft elegant female voice. Sitting in the middle of a dark hall, a woman with long white hair and orange eyes was crying. Still, sobbing, she continued singing her song. She tugged at the bottom of her white dress, on her arms and necks were long laces of leather, circled around tightly on her pale porcelain skin.

You told me you loved me
Why did you leave me, all alone ?

Then she stopped singing, her eyes filled with tears. Why wouldn't he love her ? Why did he had to chase that other woman ? What was wrong with her ? She couldn't understand. The ghost cried, day after day, wondering why. Why won't you love me, Daniel ? Nobody will love you more than I do ... Why can't you understand that ? Why did you leave me ? I need you ...

Cry me a river ...

Daniel ...

[Sarah Kross]

Letting out a naive giggle at Vega's scoffing, the torches went out leaving him in complete darkness. It was then that he could feel something like cold air compress itself around his right hand, lifting it up into the air and pulling it. Something, or rather, someone, was leading him in complete darkness.

In time, after much stumbling and running, Vega found that whoever it was holding his hand had let go, and the torches had come back on. As his eyes blinked to get adjusted to the light, De'Ville had come around a corner.

"So intriguing," said a faint voice, but it wasn't even spoken. It sounded as if the air itself sighed, leaving the words to linger gently. "But yet, so dangerous. Is that why you've both come?"

Feel her hand, so soft and smooth, elegant like a true lady, Vega could hear this if he strained hard enough.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

Feel her hand, so soft and smooth, elegant like a true lady.

His narrow pupils became turgid in the darkness, trying to pull in any light that they could. A frown furrowed into his brow, as he found that the ghost child had brought him and De’Ville together in the corridor.

“You too?” he muttered, before slurring a guttural growl in the poltergeists general direction.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

She stepped around the corner and reached out for Vega, somehow able to see him perfectly in the darkness. Lilaena was mumbling something under her breath that Vega couldn't quite make out. "Get rid of him...he is not one of us...impure...be cleansed..."

Her hand trembled as she reached for his arm, and she grasped it in the darkness, stumbling against him, her body pressing against his. Lilaena clutched at his arm, and her hands seemed to start crawling upwards, towards his shoulders, as a cool breeze blew against the hem of her thin nightgown.

"Vegaaa..." Her voice trembled, and she did not know why. He must be destroyed.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

This was the closest he had ever been to De'Ville, so he couldn't tell whether or not that odd glaze to her eyes was natural or present as a consequence of something else. Illness was hard to detect in the Dark Jedi Master, though Vega though she was feverish, and perhaps sleep walking at this moment.


"Come on, back to bed with you." Vega frowned and slowly nudged Lilaena towards turning away from him by driving his elbow into her side (just trying to wake her up a little, of course).

[Daniel Sevish]

Something else was scratching within Lilaena's subconscious, occupied by the spirit, but that something could only be translated by the Dark Jedi as a need to purify the halls of Bast from the abomination that had manifested itself as Vega. The Lupine Lord did not seem to have much of an idea about his Sister's condition, nor did he realize the consequences his gentle 'nudge' could trigger.

The shove to her side was magnified ten, twenty-fold by LD, so that it felt as if he had tried to viciously attack her. Her otherwise blunted senses were revived, and were also amplified until she could feel nothing more than a burning desire for vengeance; retribution against Vega's heinous and unprovoked act of violence.

Meanwhile, that something, that itch, was distracting Daniel's focus away from LD. He was all too aware of what exactly had been sidetracking him. The cries of a girl... the same girl who cried for him every night. His frustration at Teresa's unrelenting madness only augmented LD's anger.

He thinks you are frail. Weak. The voice was irate. Kill him.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

The nudge broke her away from Vega's arm, and she recoiled, as if wounded. Lilaena's hand went for her saber ...but it wasn't there. Her mind was confused, not realizing she was dressed for bed still.

Snarling, she threw herself at Vega, punching him solidly in the jaw. "I am not weak!"

[Sarah Kross]

Giggling mischeviously, she watched as Vega tried to take Lilaena back to her room - thankfully, Daniel had made sure that their games hadn't ended.

As Lilaena lunged at Vega in fury and punched him, the ghost grabbed the Lupine's right hand and pulled down with unnatural strength. The lust to see blood spilt became to overcome Sarah as she grinned, and now she concentated. Feel my pain ... The hate, can't you hear it ? Hums in the air angrily like daggers slicing through flesh.

The energy that flowed in the hallway slowly began to change from peaceful ... to anger. The stones, yes, the stones ! One large stone started to lodge itself out of the wall, ready to fall on Vega.

You want to kill her.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

The blow caught him hard and knocked him backwards though almost instantly he was jerked forwards by another force. The voice that rang inside his mind affirmed just who was toying with him, and caused the proverbial penny to drop in the Lupine’s head. Vega had help from other things to ward off the spirits influence, however Lilaena, from what he had seen, did not.

Some dust sprinkled down onto his cheek, a few small stones smacking off of his head. Eyes travelling upwards, he caught sight of the brick work wobbling precariously out of its niche. Van-Derveld grit his teeth and span the pain from the punch straight into a Force push, smashing the huge stone slabs back in against their places. He straightened his posture and looked towards De’Ville.

“DE’VILLE! SNAP OUT OF IT!”

He wasn’t going to attack her and indulge the spirits, but then he didn’t imagine she was about to give up on him just yet.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

She snarled, baring her teeth in a very uncharacteristic fashion, and pivoted on her foot, snapping a kick into Vega's solar plexus with her bare foot. He stumbled backwards and she leapt on him again. "You snap out of it."

Lilaena reached out with pale fingers for his neck, her actions no longer those of a seasoned Force user, but almost as though she was getting used to how her body worked. The reflexes were honed, and her fighting instinct was still strong enough to inflict damage on her 'brother.'

[Vega Van-Derveld]

As the clawing hands reached out for his throat Vega caught Lilaena’s shoulder up in a vice-grip. With his palms clamped and pushing inwards, he heaved the delusional Lordess of Fear into the air, twisting so that he was able to slam her back against the wall of the hallway. None the less, she was determined to ring his neck and managed to get a hold on it for a moment, though this was made physically impossible as the Lupine threw his full body weight into ploughing De’Ville’s body against the stone behind it.

Up above the two, the ghosts had began to tamper with the masonry once again, as slabs teetered on the brink of crashing down on them in their exposed positions.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

He was stronger than she was, and she struggled furiously against the Lupine's grasp, scrabbling her fingers against his arms. Vega slammed her into the wall again, and the back of her head smacked against the stones dazing her for a moment.

Her body relaxed a little as her head drooped, and then the roof finally gave up, and collapsed inwards.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

First it was only one brick, shattering to the left, but then many more began to give in to the ghost’s efforts. Whilst still driving De’Ville against the wall, Vega found he was able to lift the Dark Jedi partially. Turning, and ducking partially out of instinct and partially to support his sisters’ weight, he edged back through the falling stone towards a large archway in the hope that the structure would provide some shelter from the crumbling hallway. Surely others had heard the commotion by now?

“Look? I just saved you. Are you still going to try and kill me?” he hissed down over his shoulder at Lilaena, who he’d pushed back against one of the pillars of the arch.

[Lilaena De'Ville]

"YOU ARE IMPURE, THE WOMAN WILL CLEANSE YOU." The voice coming from De'Ville's throat did not sound anything like Vega had heard from the woman before. Fingers groped for his throat, and then she turned away, scrabbling at the pillar, trying to get away from his grip on her.

[imported_Taja Loraan]

[work with me, damnit... ugh, sorry, I don't know what's wrong with this damn machine :x]

[Daniel Sevish]

The impurity that had taken up residence within Vega's mind was preventing the spirit from directly taking possession of De'Ville's body. Was he... scared? No, no, it was not apprehension he felt, but rather, something greater - a higher power, you could say - was severely restricting the ghost's capacity. This Chaotic influence was evident particularly in the Lordess' movements: she was struggling against the Lupine with wild abandon.

Meanwhile, the mind blocks Daniel had destroyed began to reform, rearranging in accordance with the ghost's desires. What had once existed to screen against the telepathy of others now had the opposite effect: Lilaena's previously inactive mental faculties expanded, pushing forward and pressing into the Lord's psyche with the same ferocity as in her physical attacks. But the spirit grew agitated... he would need a distraction, at least until the Dark Mistress was powerful enough to tackle the centipede itself. Anything.

Cry me a river...

Were it possible, Daniel would have smiled. He felt nothing for Teresa, and certainly not in a romantic sense; the ashen-haired girl was far too weak and vulnerable, straight from the onset. There remained little for Daniel to ruin... where was the fun in playing with something already broken? Nevertheless, she did have her uses...

Teresa, he called out, help me...

***

The invisible patterns tracing along the walls of the Crystal Cavern quaked as Hobgoblin watched. The song of the spirits had changed; their anguished wails were now violent shrieks of rage, the anger being exhibited as subtle tremors running through the framework of the castle. It wasn't enough to cause much damage - the Dwarf had made sure of that - but more than sufficient as a wake-up call. Some of Bast Keep's living denizens were still asleep... a minor setback for the ghosts, and one which would be rectified when they felt the silent vibrations in their rooms and beds.

And so the symphony of the dead continues.

[Teresa Guevera]

Teresa, someone called out, help me...

Teresa raised her head to the call. It was him. A smile drew on her lips as she suddenly vanished from where she was sitting and reappeared between Daniel, the woman he possessed and another man. She quickly understood, but then, was too shy to glance at Daniel. She ran her invisible hands down Vega's neck, from behind, then back up gently, before tightening her fingers around the man's neck, unexpectedly.

[Evil Hobgoblin]

The lines of the Force were like threads of fate- snip them, and the future dies.

The future, especially the Hand's future, could not unfortunately be allowed to die. But still, it was apparent that some malevolent entity was stirring up Vjun's forces.

Within his lair, Hob was safe. In his Crystal Cavern especially, he was protected. But the rumbling of the castle had forced upon him a choice: go forth and track down the source of the disturbance, or remain where he was and wait for further revelations.

Were someone to look into the Cavern a few minutes hence, they would find it empty.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

First from De’Ville, and then presumably from one of the spirits, Vega felt a tugging at his neck. Unseen fingertips, cold and intangible, pressed against his skin and pulled his body backwards away from the manic Lilaena. Were he not being bombarded with mental attacks, triggered in the Dark Mistress by the poltergeists, it would have been much easier to free himself from whatever was holding him.

“C-cowards,” he coughed as he began to push himself forward towards LD – without her, he hoped the spirits would have no physical form through which to channel their anger. If he could just push her into unconsciousness…

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville scrabbled at his arms as Vega finally reached her and seemed again to not know how to make her body move properly. Her breathing was rough and ragged, and her movements jerky as she tried to keep him away from her.

He grabbed her hair tightly in one hand, and she shrieked, her movements becoming fluid as her body focused its attack on Vega. One hand grabbed his that was in her hair and the other shot out and slapped him in the ear, open handed.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

By smacking him in the head, De’Ville was only digging a deeper hole for herself. The attack caused Vega to spin, partially, and reel back a few paces, which in turn meant that Lilaena was dragged with him – for he still gripped her hair firmly in one hand. Her body was ricocheted against the narrow hallway; head first, though the Lupine’s followed as his skull dashed against one of the large building blocks that were tumbling from above.

[Evil Hobgoblin]

"That is ENOUGH."

Down the distance of the hallway where dim light faded completely into shadow, stood Hob. He had taken the most direct route to the main source of chaos and found the fight between De'Ville and Van-Derveld. It was hardly pleasing to him to see two members of the Hand fight, and moreso during this time of disturbance in the Force. Once this was dealt with, then the source of the restlessness among the spirits could be found.

"Stop now."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

Her head hit the wall and unconsciousness drifted in around her, like a dark blanket.

[Vega Van-Derveld]

Vega crumpled to his knees as a thin line of blood spilled out down over his right temple. Dazed from the blow to the head, he barely noticed Hobgoblin. He slumped against the wall and exhaled deeply, noting the unconscious De’Ville with a quick side glance.

“She… was,” he panted, trying to shake off oncoming nausea from the repeated head wounds.

“Possessed.”

[Evil Hobgoblin]

Possessed.

The word rang in the air like a bell. Whatever disturbance had shaken off the chains that bound Bast's ghosts to their service had done a powerful job. Both Vega and De'Ville were incapacitated, for the most part.

Hob's eyes scanned the room, seeking for something in the Plane Beyond Sight. "Come out," he commanded. The Force coalesced around his fingertips and began leaping from one to another in the form of electricity. "Come out.. ghosts."

[Lilaena De'Ville]

De'Ville moaned, and began to come around, blood congealing on her face from a cut on her hairline.