To Embrace a Serpent

[Vadim Sokolov]

Vadim Sokolov stood before the seat of House Mecetii, it’s spires dark silhouettes against a blood red sky. It would have appeared imposing even in the full light of day, but the perpetual twilight on Obulette gave the castle a foreboding air, a quiet menace that suggested one wrong turn might lead an unsuspecting visitor into a corridor or room from which they would never return. If he stretched out his senses, ever so gently, Vadim could feel the pulse of something within the castle. Something… old and dark, something he ought to have feared, perhaps.

Vadim licked his lips, tasting the salt of the sea air, the coming and going of the waves a distant sigh. There was no time or reason to stand in contemplation of the castle any longer, not when he had an appointment to keep. Under his arm, he carried a tightly wrapped bundle, many layers between whatever was concealed within and his gloved hands. A gift, for the woman he was soon due to meet somewhere within the castle.

[Dangereuse Von Balis]

A castle implied the seat of a position of power. The dark edifice commanding the crimson-stained coast of Obulette was just that. The seat of power of House Mecetti, depending on who was asked, the most prominent of all Tapai noble Houses. It stood to reason that if there was a seat of power, someone would be ruling from it, not a King or Queen in Tapani Space, but a High Lord or Lady. Instead, the throne of the High Lady remained not just vacant, but draped with mourning colors that had never been removed.

Just before the throne, at the base of the steps leading up to it, a slim dark clad figure regarded what she saw there. Opportunity certainly, though the cost was high. The remembrance of loss, of soul shredding grief. But mostly...admiration. That seat remained unoccupied because there was no one yet fit to fill it. It had belonged to High Lady Darcia Von Balis..

Mother..

Dangereuse Von Balis closed her eyes and bowed her head. She refused to second guess herself. In the absence of their leader, she was leading..in her own way. Not from her mother's seat, although it had been offered to her, she was not her mother. The running of their ancestral castle, the familial duties to House Mecetti, she could fulfill with ease. But more was required.

To that end, the doors at the opposite end of the room were opened. She knew who was coming.

[Vadim Sokolov]

It was as if he was stepping not into a throne room, but a mausoleum. A hallowed silence lay over the room, as thick and heavy as the ceremonial shroud that was draped over the throne.

It was a peculiar thing, that in the vastness of the Galaxy with all its multitudes of civilisations and cultures, so many leaders chose to seat themselves on thrones. Stranger still that Vadim Sokolov kept finding himself standing before them. His white eyes lingered on the seat of power for a moment longer before his attention was pulled to the woman standing before it.

“Am I disturbing you?”

[Dangereuse Von Balis]

The natural vermilion light cast a fitting, murderous, sheen upon Lady Dangereuse's pale skin. She was a grown woman herself now, but she had been little more than a child when her mother had disappeared. It was a girl's stubborn refusal to accept the facts presented that kept this room as it had been since - publicly at least - the High Lady had been pronounced deceased. House Mecetti, like this room, had been kept shuttered for years, by design. She meant to change that.

Turning to her guest, Dangereuse shook her head, tendrils of her upswept flame-colored locks swinging with the motion.

"No. Nothing apart the obvious bothers me here." She felt.. oddly comforted in this room.

"It has been some time.."

[Vadim Sokolov]

How long had it been? Too long, almost certainly. Practically another life ago, given all that had changed since the Lady Von Balis had first met with the man now presenting himself as Vadim Sokolov. He closed the distance between them, having no desire to converse from one end of the hall to the other.

“I visited the... school on Nyssa (https://theholo.net/forum/showthread.php?57931-Danse-Macabre),” he said, coming to a stop once he was at a level with Dangereuse. Though the rest of him was washed crimson with the planet’s strange light, Vadim’s skeletal half-mask appeared preternaturally untouched as he turned to face the Tapani head on, the plates of bone still as white as his eyes.

“It has potential.”

[Dangereuse Von Balis]

Dangereuse watched as he approached her, and felt much the same as she had the first time they had met. Intrigued. Maybe a little fearful. Perhaps wisely so. The questions she had far exceeded the things she knew about him. Yet, that they had met at all was because it had been what her mother had wanted. That was why she was willing to place a measure of her trust in him now.

Regarding the skeletal visage before her with a knowing smile, she nodded. Dangereuse knew he had been to their school, and that this time he had not gone alone. She was not bothered. Neither was she bothered by the enchantments that he surrounded himself with. She simply wanted that level of strength - and was willing to negotiate as she must to secure it. For herself. For her House, and their Order.

"I am pleased you think so. In recent times, we have been limited in what we can teach. Many of our students already excel with compounds and the like.. but we have a history of offering more."

[Vadim Sokolov]

“More.”

There was a smile in his voice as Vadim echoed the word, though somehow not on his lips. More was exactly what Mireasă had given the apprentice assassins on Nyssa. More was what had compelled Darcia Von Balis to deal with Vadim Sokolov in the first place. Since the fall of the Republic, the Galaxy had not looked kindly on beings who could do more.

Even with the resurgence and tentative acceptance of the Jedi, the Force was still something it was best to speak of in hushed tones, in the shadows.

“I have a gift for you.”

Vadim produced the bundle from beneath his arm. He unwound enough of the fabric to reveal a box. It appeared common enough, made from dark wood, a simple latch keeping the lid in place. Vadim lifted it open, display the contents: a handful of small, well-sealed vials.

“Venom… from the beasts of the Demon Moon.”

[Dangereuse Von Balis]

They understood each other well it seemed. That was good. Dangereuse was eager to get right to the heart of the matter with little prevarication, and no pandering if it could be managed. She was also aware that both may be required to secure her desires for House Mecetti, and willing to do what must be done.

As for his gift..

"Thank you.'

Dangereuse eyed the box, knowing that nothing was ever really given and also that to refuse would be a mistake. The school would benefit from the study and applications of such a collection - and even she eyed the contents with eagerness. "Both myself and the students, appreciate new additions to our collection. It will be interesting to see what we can combine them with already to create something new."

Black-gloved fingers reached for one of the vials, which dd not seem to hold venom, but rather a writing green tentacle. A vine if she was not mistaken. "Is that.. vinum crasnasum (https://starwars.fandom.com/wiki/Crasna)?"

The species was an aggressive man eater, and the Tapani lady looked tickled to have one of her own.

[Vadim Sokolov]

“It is. I can arrange for larger specimens to be sent to you, if you’re interested in cultivating some of your own.”

Like so much of what could be found on Dxun, the crasna plant was an aggressive species. Left unchecked, its vines would overgrown every other native species, while it devoured any hapless creature who crossed its path. Perhaps, Vadim thought to himself, the school on Nyssa could plant a few in their gardens...

With the contents of the box seeming to meet the lady’s approval, Vadim set it down - lid closed once more - on the dusty top of a nearby table. “I won’t take up any more of your time than necessary,” the masked visitor said, as he turned to face Dangereuse and the throne behind her.

“Your mother believed that it was in the best interests of your House for us to work together. Do you share her belief?”

[Dangereuse Von Balis]

Could such a thing be successfully cultivated?

Dangereuse watched as the vine produced barbs at the tip, just where her gloved finger rested against the glass. It was, she realized, aware of her in it's way. The heat of her through the glass, perhaps? She would love to study the aggressive little flora. Perhaps a solarium of them under controlled circumstances, if that were possible. She removed her curious fingers from the case, watching as it was set aside for now.

"That might be a challenge.", she arched a brow but did not decline. "Just what we need."

Her blue eyes followed the glance toward the throne.

That was what Dangereuse wanted to believe. That her mother had set this in motion was the only reason she found herself with him now. She did not accept help often, and rarely if ever had sought it out. She wanted this to work, to believe that with his help they could make their students extraordinary, and the Order prosperous once more.

"I can see no reason to doubt my mother's wisdom."

It had been the last task the High Lady had set her daughter to.. and Dangereuse meant to see it through.

[Vadim Sokolov]

“A wise woman indeed.”

Without thinking, Sokolov’s eyes drifted to the throne, dressed for mourning. Years had passed since Darcia Von Balis had entertained the idea of working alongside the white-eyed figure who now stood beside her empty throne, yet those years had done little to wear down the ambitions of House Mecetti.

“On what terms shall we work together?” Sokolov asked, turning his mask back towards Dangereuse.