ALONE

With a black hood – the newly appointed Sith Lord walked through the hall of the Citadel. The drops of rain and feeling the cold atmosphere against her skin – Lord Sern hated it at the same time she missed it. Everything was on Dromand Kaas – all of her memories throughout the years, growing up before she was taken to Korriban. Coming back as a Sith Apprentice to the powerful Darth Baras.

But she wasn't there in the Citadel for her Master, she was there for a different Dark Lord. One with more influence and is actually on the Dark Council.

The Sith who stand on guard stood there and allowed Leena to proceed. From the looks of it and how those in her chambers acted, Darth Occlus was expecting her at some point.

When the doors slid open, Talos was there in the chambers of the Dark Lord. Giving her reports of the artifacts that were just sent from off-world.

Occlus nodded, giving a gesture that Talos should leave them alone and he did. When the doors closed behind the newly appointed Sith Lord – Leena Sern removed her hood, revealing her face to the Dark Lord. As a member of the Dark Council, she bowed, showing her respect.

"When I heard that you were named a Sith Lord and was granted an apprentice, I thought to myself: My how you've grown… you're becoming more powerful than I have anticipated. I give you my condolence."

"When I was young, I dreamed of freedom." Lord Sern openly admitted to the Dark Lord. "I dreamed of breaking my chains. But as I grew more powerful, I realized that my choices were becoming limited. So instead, I fought in the name of the Empire – regardless of what Baras wants me to do for his personal gain… and regardless for mine back on Alderaan, but that is not why I am here, my Lord."

"Then why are you here?"

Leena remained silent. As if the darkness was embracing her for comfort, for all of those horrid memories she had on this planet. The Sith Lord walked towards the desk, gently placing a lightsaber – presenting it to the Dark Lord. "This no longer belongs to me."

Occlus did not hesitate on taking the lightsaber from the desk. She knew it very well, it was Arrun's lightsaber. The very one she gave to him when she chose the lad to become her apprentice and eventually, was named a Sith Lord. These past few months, even the Dark Lord herself could feel the pain right into her heart as she could feel the damage of loss that was given to Leena herself.

They weren't even married for a day and he was already gone. "I believe that it is time that we move forward on our own, as Lords with different destinies."

"I'm not looking for destiny or legacies anymore, I'm looking for a weapon to use against him. To take his life."

"And yet you're doing all of his bidding like a dutiful apprentice?"

"That's what he believes." Spoke the Sith Lord. "That he has broken me and that I have become a dutiful apprentice to his cause. I will soon earn his complete trust, and in time, my Lord Master will bow down to me. Only one Sith can survive this game, and I intend it to be me."

Leena knew that she had to protect herself and those around her at all cause. Baras may have made her a Sith Lord, but they could never be equals – she had to go beyond mortal ambition and do what has been done countless of times. Soon, she will be the superior Sith between the two of them. It was an endless game within the Sith.

She knew who she is and what she is.

"How you have changed… since you came back to us from your off-world exploits." Occlus stood up as she placed down the lightsaber on the table, having eye contact with Lord Sern. "You could say that I miss the girl you were."

Leena smiled. "You could say that she was easy to kill."

A Sith climbing up to the steps of power has always been such a dangerous one. Baras never stressed diplomacy – he tortured Leena to make sure that she was in line. Following orders as she was made to do, much like any apprentice across the galaxy to serve their Master. He would have her battle other acolytes and apprentice who would dare threaten her position, and eventually, he turned her into a weapon.

Occlus knew that one day Leena would hunt her Master like a dog and will tear him apart slowly. Piece by piece, until he knows what kind of profound and unceasing pain, she knew every single day.

But her smile vanished as she looked at the Dark Lord once more. "My mother… what was she truly?"

Occlus sighed, removing her helmet to show her somewhat young appearance. Those rituals were helping her out with physical appearances and yet if one were to look into her corrupted eyes, she would have a thousand stories to tell.

She knew by granting Leena the Holocron she would someday ask her a lot of questions, about Zylas Sern – who she really was, what she really wanted in this galaxy. "Your mother was once a Padawan of the Jedi Order and eventually craved for freedom. Freedom that only the Sith could offer. She told me that her Master abandoned her and that Darth Malgus himself saw some sort of potential. Darth Malgus saw a weapon inside of Zylas Sern and taught her everything he knew."

Occlus continued. "He trained her until she became one of the most dangerous women in the galaxy. She had quite the reputation to the point where beings across the galaxy are mortally terrified – a woman who can turn an army around by the mention of her name. She was Sith and yet she was kind and even merciful, something Darth Malgus never tolerated. Until one day – the Emperor summoned her and when she came back– Zylas was never the same. She was slowly changing."

"Changing how?" Leena asked, wanting to know the whole truth to the mask that was known as Zylas Sern.

"It is not my place to say." Occlus locked her corrupted eyes to Sern's grey ones. "It's best if you find the truth about your mother from your father. All I could tell you that your mother was once a hero to the Empire, who served her Emperor faithfully and brought fear to the hearts and minds of his enemies. That she wanted to answer injustice with justice, she showed mercy to those who deserved it and led the Empire to countless victories. That's all you need to know from me."

As painful as it was to hear all of these, Occlus didn't lie. Zylas was once a led the Empire to victory, that was the reason why they had Balmorra under Imperial control.

"I know you're not lying." Leena avoided Occlus's eyes. Not knowing what to think of it. "But I find it hard to believe. She did something on Alderaan… didn't she?"

"I won't answer that, child." Occlus sighed. "She was my friend. I need to honor the good memories as the galaxy only remembers her for her terrible deeds. But that doesn't matter now… doesn't it? What's done is done – I'm certain your Master would say a thing or two about your mother, it's up to you if you will believe him or not."

Occlus remembered much on how Leena was a girl with no wealth, no power and no name – now she gained all three in a short amount of time.

Are you afraid? She remembered asking Zlylas those words. She remembered how the late Lord Sern nodded. Good. You're Sith now and being a Sith is terrifying.

Though they were two powerful Sith Lords in their own rights, they were also mothers with their own children. They went through extreme lengths for their children in comparison to any other concern. Arrun was his son and Baras took him away from her – what's done was done, but she will never forget that. She will never forgive that.

A mother's love is more real than anything else in the galaxy. Arrun may have not been her blood, but he was hers. Her only boy. Her only son. A mother who chose her son over her greatest desires in life, but that didn't work out as he grew older. As a woman on the Dark Council, she needed to assert dominance and power.

She didn't lie to Talos when she said that Zylas loved her children and that all mothers do. But those who are seated on the Dark Council knew that there was this fierceness that no one can often see in Zylas and in Occlus herself. Right now, the only child she has left was Leena Sern herself – being the widowed wife of her son, Leena is still her daughter. And she feels obligated to prepare her for the worse to come in Zylas's place.

Serns can never be tamed, not even by their mother – that was the only danger in raising and training a Sern.

The mother could be fiercer than a warrior when her children were in danger. The difference was that Occlus warned Arrun of the dangers and how naïve his plan was but he proceeded anyway – in the end, he paid with his life.

"Welcome to the Order, Lord Sern." Was all she could muster as the newly appointed Sith Lord bowed in her presence, excusing herself in the room. Occlus could feel it – the power Arrun warned her about. The dragon inside of her was no longer sleeping.

Leena has become dangerous and will become a destructive asset as the days go by. Baras wasn't an idiot, he knew that his apprentice can be dangerous and yet he took the risk – all for his personal goals. He had complete faith in Leena, that she would succeed in any mission that he gives her.

Times like this that makes the galaxy dangerous. Sith politics have always been dangerous, she knew that from the moment Darth Marr named her Darth Occlus and had her ascent to the Dark Council. Training to be a Sith has never been an easy challenge, and it goes the same for the Jedi. The Force speaks to her, she claimed to her now dead son. It has a plan --- she always felt that it had a plan. The Force has always been of a mystery even to those who gave its full dedication to it, its not just about lifting rocks or pushing the enemy away.

The Force is the energy between all things. A kind of balance that brings the galaxy together.

Leena has found comfort within the darkness and the necessity in the light – but the craving for revenge grants her a great imbalance. If she cannot manage her emotions well, she will continue to be pulled towards the Dark Side of the Force.

Occlus could feel the temporary balance within her, and she was completely aware that it is not enough and it will never be enough. Balance is nothing more than an illusion – Occlus knew it. Like her late son and her daughter-in-law, she was once a Revanite and proceeded to study the path of Darth Revan. He was a Jedi and was granted the title of a Dark Lord of the Sith by the Emperor himself, and yet he found himself back to the Jedi.

There is no balance. It's an illusion. She can be only Sith or a Jedi. Occlus made her choice and so did Leena. "Why the long face, apprentice?"

The Dashade entered her chambers, though it wasn't the voice of the creature – but rather the voice of her former Master, Darth Zash. For decades she stayed within the body of the beast, a Master who once attempted to claim the body of the young Darth Occlus for her own – for that infinite power that sleeps within her. "I thought you would never show up."

"So that was Zylas Sern's daughter." Darth Zash spoke rather amused at the development of the newly named Sith Lord. Occlus could tell that her former Master was even pleased. "If she goes unchecked, she might become a potential threat to the Empire."

"The Empire." Occlus chuckled mockingly. "You never cared about the Empire – you only cared about yourself. Much like all the other Sith Lords in the galaxy."

"Now, now Veran." Occlus frowned as Zash referred to her name. "I was once your Master. There isn't a Sith in the galaxy that doesn't have her own personal interest. And that young Sern has an agenda of her own – a rather, dangerous agenda."

"I'm not stupid, Zash."

"I know you're not," Zash smirked. "I didn't train you to be stupid. And even if you were – you wouldn't be alive for this long. You need to be very careful around that Sern, apprentice – we wouldn't want her to repeat the same mistake Zylas did."

"If you're here to remind me of the lies of my enemies, you're wasting your time."

"The lies of your enemies or the lies in your mind?" Zash asked in clarification. "You know that your enemies are correct, that they didn't lie."

"I know what Zylas was. What she did. You don't need to remind me." Occlus spoke in a rather irritated tone. Wanting to silence Zash from that Dashade's mouth of hers. "I know how Zylas the Conqueror earned her name."

"Lying to herself won't help anyone, apprentice."

"She's not her mother."

"Thank the Force she's not then." Zash was rather giving a compliment. "But her Master knows how to use her weaknesses against her. She's tamed if you haven't noticed."

"The children are nothing like their mother," Occlus assured to her former Master. "This new generation of Serns are harder to tame. It's probably from Zabro's side of the family."

It was nice to wear something light compared to the armor she commissioned months ago before she left for Balmorra. The Sith Lord found herself walking through the streets of Kaas City. The familiar feeling felt rather unwelcoming. Leena would look around to find other Sith, young apprentices and acolytes, Imperial soldiers doing their daily rounds, some Mandalorians and even bounty hunters.

A part of her felt that she was no longer welcomed on Dromand Kaas.

She could hear whispers from other people: "That's Lord Baras's new weapon." And naturally, it bothered her, she was more than a man's weapon to power. Even she didn't know she could tell herself that she was a decent person. When the sun came into her life, it vanished in a pot of smoke – never to be seen again and yet, she knew she had to keep moving forward.

The dark is generous, it has been with her through the hard times in her life – comforted her when she needed to be strong. But she cannot be dragged in the shadows with the people around her.

Leena found herself walking down a familiar path in the jungle, right near the wall. The sound of beasts growling around her, with only the lightsaber of Naga Sadow and her mother strapped onto her belt – the Sith Lord wondered if this was the price for what she did – for all those faults.

Leena entered the Revanite compound and greeted the Revanites as well as the initiates with a small smile upon her lips. It was the same when she left it all those years ago, the compound was slowly getting more people – perhaps one day they will have to look for a new place away from the Empire.

"Leena." The Sith Lord turned around to find a familiar kind face, Jedi Master Tarun with a smile. Opening his arms, Leena rushed into his arms with a feeling of relief. Someone who she can count on and draw strength when she needed to.

He could feel it. The pain inside of her, the cradling darkness and the merciful light – drawn between the light and the dark, the struggle to keep the balance at neutral. The confusion was there, the struggle – the conflict.

The Jedi Master offered her a cup of tea – knowing every struggle she had to go through to become the woman she is. She's grown more powerful than the last time he saw her. Perhaps, her off-world struggles did assist her in some way and yet – she was conflicted still. "I offer you my condolence – Lord Zaine taught you well. He was a good man."

"Good men don't make it in the galaxy," Leena mumbled as she looked at her reflection on the cup of tea.

Tarun nodded, not in agreement but rather understanding on why this young Sith Lord felt the way she did. "Love is more powerful than reason. Look at your father." The girl looked into the eyes of the Jedi, a part of her wanted to hear what he had to say and a part of her wanted to deny it. She hadn't seen or talked about her father, all she knew was that her father quickly climbed up the ranks and was named a Moff.

"Do you know why the Jedi aren't allowed to marry and have children? So that they won't love. Love is the death of duty and duty is the death of love. If your father is to choose – between duty and those he loves on the other, what would he choose?"

"He would do whatever is right." She knew that much. She knew how her father was a man driven by his own morals and the benefit of the Empire.

"There would always come a time that you need to make a decision and it won't be easy. You have always tried to do the right thing. I know you want to help people, but revenge will not bring you peace, it will only bring you death." Tarun gently placed his hand onto her shoulder with a small smile, a piece of small advice from an old man. "We're all human and we do duty when there's no cause to it – it comes easy. But the path you walk in, it will never be easy – I will not tell you if you should stay or go, you must make that choice yourself and live with it for the rest of your days."

Hearing that, Leena understood – no matter where she goes, she will always be alone. Some may choose the same decisions as she has but they will never walk down the same path she chooses.