Chapter 14: Faith in Something

It had been two weeks since I first arrived in Valyria, and I stood in front of the grave of the last Lannister King that lived all his life as a King. It might be a bit insulting for the man that killed the man in the grave to stand here like this but I didn't care. Tommen was a man not from this time and he was far from safe for my plans for him to continue living. He died quick and painless, in his sleep after I gave him some poison that would do the trick. Before he died we talked about his loved ones and about the better days of his rule. I'd like to think he died dreaming of those better times.

"My lord the ship is ready." I glanced back to see Rathari walking up to me, having constructed a Mask to hide his obvious cybernetic features. He would be returning with me and would help instruct the awaiting children at Harrenhal. He wasn't too pleased by this new role in life but he would do it without complaint. Over the last two weeks I had made sure to gather up a sizable trove of Valyrian treasures. Most of which were stored in the underground complex that housed the Titan's Shield. I would need to put up the illusion that my trip was only barely successful. Reaping only knowledge and a few objects of worth, two dragon eggs and a circlet made of Valyrian Steel. Not a full crown but I wasn't going to give a crown to any man. Maybe a few rings to some so-called kings.

"Good, let us be off and return to Volantis." I said and placed my hands on the hilts of my swords, still in their sealed state. I had been able to restore their power back to nearly half in my time spent focusing on that. They weren't ready to do that again but they could be given their rotting and dusting effects when I needed them. I just preferred having them in their sealed state. For one thing, both of them seemed to be less catty to each other when like this, and another it would mean there wouldn't be any accidents like with what almost happened with Jamie. While it did even further press the Bleach comparison into my head I was beginning to give no shit to just straight up stealing concepts from things like that.

I returned back down to the small boat that we had salvaged and in it was about three chests filled with loot, five filled with various books and scrolls, and another with my tribute to Malaquo. The kraken in the waters would pose no problem as we simply kept the boat above the waters until we reached outside the Smoking Sea. Behind us we left a Imperial Tactical Droid in charge of keeping Valyria free of any one else but us and those that had identification codes. It would also continue the search of artifacts and stripping the cities of all the tech it could and hording it in the Titan's Shield complex. With a Droid of decent intelligence in charge as Imperial Tactical Droids were about at the same level as a Super Tactical Droid of the CIS, I could rest easy knowing that such a trove of treasures and knowledge would be kept solely for myself.

The trip from the Smoking Sea to Volantis was a boring one. The ship that we had was too small to spend time having fun with my swords… an odd sentence I never thought I would think. Nor was any pirates willing to attack such a small boat, they probably just assumed that we were fishermen. So I didn't get the chance to fight or fuck so I had to spend it all meditating and communing with the Force. Which was good as the further I got away from the taint of the Wound in the Force the more I felt my connection with the Force strengthen.

"My lord, once we arrive in Volantis… what is our next move?" Rathari asked and I opened my eyes. The seas were still calm as ever and I was beginning to think that this would be most boring voyage I would ever take.

"We shall meet up with the triarch that has what I need, a good number of slaves, and then gather up what remains of my crew and set sail." Malaquo and I had a good long chat about snakes and rats before my leaving of the old city. A topic that I'm sure many within the Cobble Cat's crew would not like me having with the man that was roofing and feeding them while I was away. "Then we shall return with my slaves, free them and take them all to my keep where we will begin working on the next generation of Sith. I have been working on the structure of the origination for a long time now."

"Free the slaves my lord?" Rathari blinked in shock at that one part and I knew that he would have been. The Sith Empire employed slaves on mass as did Valyria. While I had many former slaves in the True Followers that did not mean that those that weren't such favored the idea.

"Yes, I am going to free the slaves. In my new Empire slavery shall only be legal upon either personal willingness on the slave's part to a induvial or in the case of unpayable debt." I knew that the old core worlds of the Empire would want to return to the old slaving ways. I didn't know exactly how blunted that part of the culture would be over the years but I could assume that the resentment that they had for the Republic wouldn't help that. Or the xenophobia… which was something I would be changing. But I wasn't going to go to the Outer Worlds and enslave entire populations but if people don't pay their bills or there's some circumstances surrounding the situation and both parties are consenting to it than I see no problem.

There was little conversation the rest of the way to Volantis. Rathari did however speak up when we returned and the Long Bridge and Black Walls were in sight. He explained that yes there were partial shields set up in Volantis, they placed here as Volantis was the furthest from Valyria during the initial expansion and the city needed the means to better protect itself from the Dothraki hordes and other nations of Essos. It worked and there had bene plans to remove the shields and put them back into the capital city's walls but the Doom happened. We beached the small boat that we arrived in and took our cargo into the city, making sure to hide our faces.

Rathari was amazed by what had changed and what didn't. telling me just what the old city had done since the time of Valyria and one of the biggest had been the treatment of women. Apparently women during the age of Valyria were seen as total equals, there was still bias but it was to a much lesser extent than what one might expect. But now Volantis only had it so woman just had the right to own land, and that was actually pretty damn progressive for this world.

But eventually I was able to get myself a palanquin, something that I needed in order to maintain the Old Blood's respect. I dropped the theatrics and just had a few slaves carry me and Rathari to the eastern half of Volantis where I announced myself to the guards. They all had standing orders to let me in upon proof of me being who I say I was. It was easy to do that. The guards opened the gates after picking up their weapons after I pulled them from their hands and let us inside. There I made my way right to the palace of Malaquo Maegyr where I was rushed inside and was able to present to him my treasures.

"By gods… you truly did find glories from Valyria." Malaquo spoke as he gazed upon the circlet that I had brought back, while I could sense beneath his awe he was disappointed that it was not a crown but something for a woman, his shock that I came back looking nearly unscathed was overriding. Dumbass… not even noticing I'm in new armor. My old armor was destroyed in the transformation and now I'm in Sith Armor that had been taken with the True Followers when they escaped the Empire's fall. I always did fancy Mortis' sense of style. He then glanced to the two dragon eggs that I had brought back and he was far more happy at the sight of them than the circlet. "Fine glories indeed, you shall have your slaves. I had a feeling that you would return and so had them prepared for you."

"As I specified?" I asked with hand over the lid of the chest containing the two dragon eggs. He chuckled and nodded, again there wasn't any deceit in his mind and so I closed the chest and handed it off to one of his servants.

"My servants shall show you to your chambers, I want to hold a feast in your honor for bringing me back these treasures." Malaquo smirked brightly and I could tell that there was some sort of plot going about his head that revolved around me. But at the same time it wasn't malicious. He thought I would enjoy it so shrugged and had the platform I sat upon follow the escorting servant. I asked one of the other ones that came with me to find my slaves and bring them to my chamber. I missed them. I also really missed my actual slaves but they were across the world.

Then there was Vette, oh she would be very happy with what I discovered on this trip. With the tech that I found in both the Titan's Shield and Valyria we would have our ship fixed in a year tops. Parts had been the biggest problem with Vette trying to jury rig replacements out of the junk I had in my cargo hold. Jaesa I hoped at least came to the conclusion that I want her to arrive at. That way I could stop acting so angry at her and welcome her back properly.

I arrived to my chambers and once I was done shooing away all those servants I finally could relax. While riding around on palanquin was cool and all it was annoying when you were inside a fucking palace. This was place was kept spotless and so there was no need to worry about getting your feet dirty or whatever it was that these nobles believed. I sighed and tossed my outer robe off and threw both Midwan and Saarai into the air which both of them caught as they manifested.

"Wow… now that we can do this I feel so cramped when just in my sword." Midwan said as she stretched out her body, she had manifested sans her gown and was in a red tube top that strained against her chest and a pair of skin-tight yoga pants. Saarai ever the modest and noble woman maintained her normal kimono for which I was thankful for. "I'ma go check out the bath they got here." Midwan ran off to see the absurdly large bath that was attached to my guest suite. Seriously… the Volanten nobles have too much goddamn money to build shit this big.

"Do you need anything Naraiz-sama?" Saarai asked and I directed her toward the small stores of food and assorted teas that the suite had on hand. It was here for the slaves of whoever was using it but I thought it was funny that this place was set up to be as self-sufficient as possible. Almost like the triarch had set it up so that whoever stayed with him would have as little reason possible to leave their suite. Time passed by and after shoving most of the furniture aside I set up a small sitting area on the floor for Saarai and myself, the weeb I am. I simply sat and meditated and drank tea while Saarai sat by me in silence, she had asked for instruments to play music for me when we had these moments and I put it on the list of things to do later. Namely because I knew that either what she wanted did not exist on this world or could only be found in Yi Ti. I was organizing my mind and figuring out more details of the new Sith Order when I sense a single person at my door. I reached in the Force and knew there were no guards or servants near… odd. But also opportunity.

Melisandre rubbed her hands together for what seemed like the hundredth time. She could not stop shaking since that night when everything just stood still. Two weeks ago the flames which she had been watching vanished, as did all others in the Temple to the Lord of Light. She later found out this was the case in every temple. She and many others that had been blessed by the Lord had been more frightened then ever before, the horrible shrieks that echoed in their minds. It was unbearable, but then it all stopped. Just as fast it came then something new happened. A wave, a ripple came out across all of them and for the first time in her life… Melony found peace.

She knew that a great battle had taken place. That was the best guess that she had… and that was all she had at the moment. Guesses. Her visions had stopped. She could still pull and wield fire but the visions from the flames had not come to her once in in the weeks that followed. It was disconcerting to be without the Lord guiding light. But even with this strange development she couldn't help but feel that something great was upon them. Something that would shake the world to its core. And right now she stood at the precipice of that something.

This morning she had heard from one her many contacts that the man known as Darth Nagash had returned back to Volantis. And when she heard that she knew exactly what she needed to do. While when her messenger had come back to her with that… disturbing message… she had been guarded on the idea of approaching him again until she found out more about him. No one should know that about her, none that lived to see her during that time were alive and anyone that might possibly could have passed it down she had seen to their deaths. But this man knew. And that frightened her. But she stood at his door now because she believed that he was answer to the peace she had been feeling since that night two weeks ago.

"He must be it, he must be Azor Ahai." She had been trying to gleam a speak of vision from the fires all night and it was only with the morning sun that she had but the smallest of visions. A warrior clad in black armor and robes, his face demonic but he stood atop a mountain of giant ghoulish corpses. In his hands were two swords, one bleeding darkness and the other smoking pure light. At the very end of the vision the swords were gone and with a raised hand he fired forth a beam of light that blinded her, forcing the vision to conclude. It did not fit with the stories or prophecies but this was the truest of visions that she had ever seen in her long life. Never before was she so sure of this man being Azor Ahai.

Melisandre heard the doors begin to creep open and she readied herself for introduction. She wore a long and tight red dress, one that made sure to show a ample amount of her bust. Azor Ahai he may be but he was still a man and all men succumbed to womanly charms. But it was not the man she sought or a slave that greeted her at the door but instead a woman, not a good start to Melisandre but nothing that she could not handle. The woman was comely yes, pale as could be and had hair white enough to think she was from old Valyria. She wore strange clothes that the Red Woman could think were YiTish in origin.

"What business do you have with Naraiz-sama?" The woman spoke and her tone was as cold as ice. Melisandre actually had to take a moment to collect herself at the stern dismissive tone. But she could read a person like few could, this was a woman not pleased by Melisandre arrival.

"I have-"

"Saarai I know who it is… let her in!" Melisandre heard a male voice from inside call and while the pale woman gave her a small glare, she bowed and opened the door further to allow Melisandre in. The Red Priestess nodded politely and saw herself in, as she walked into the suite gifted to the man she had come to see she noted that nearly all the furniture had been shoved into a single corner. There in the middle was a man, in a simple black robe sitting in a meditate position on a pillow with a tea set in front of him. The woman that had greeted Melisandre brushed past her and took the other cushion next to the man and refilled his cup. "Thank you Saarai." The man said before taking the cup and then finally turning to address her. "I thought I told your messenger that I was not interested in Lot Seven." She bristled at that but stood firm.

"H-how do you know about that?" Melisandre wanted to say anything other than that but the words came out from her before she could stop them. He stared at her, his eyes barrowing into her soul and dragging out all her sins. Azor Ahai or not this was a powerful man that shouldn't be trifled with.

"I know a great many things that I shouldn't. But I will answer that question when you see fit to meet me as equals and both of speak without the filter of a mask drowning out the meaning in the words." He said before taking a sip from his cup. "Excellent as always Saarai, I think the only time I truly enjoy tea is when it is made by you."

"You praise me too much Naraiz-sama, I am unworthy of such words." Melisandre watched the two interact and was finding it difficult to place their relationship. Master and servant, lovers… Melisandre guessed that both could be placed on these two but needed more information. She knew of the five bed slaves that Naraiz had brought with him but this woman did not fit the descriptions that her spies had given her.

"Adorable, that is what you are." Naraiz chuckled before turning back to Melisandre. "But if you must have answers that only I can provide you than speak. I have little else going on. Waiting for my servants to be found and returned to me, the feast later tonight… I have a free day and this can distract me for a time." He said before looking to his servant. "Saarai, go find Midwan and bring her back to me, my servants will be here soon and I don't want to explain you to them." He said and the woman bowed and began her way out of the room. Again, the Red Woman would need to update her spy networking skills. She looked back to Naraiz who was staring at her with the most unimpressed and stern yet uninterested look she had even been given. But she remained calm and collected, the initial shock was being locked down and she needed answers.

"My lord, I believe that you are to play a great part in the coming years. That you-"

"I am not Azor Ahai." He cut her off sharply and without any concern for her. "I give no two shits for your twinkly little sky daddy. I view any and all religions as pointless and limiting to the mind." That mattered not, even if he didn't believe now he could still be Azor Ahai. Many of the Lord of Light's champions were unknowing of their true master. But Melisandre knew that R'hllor was the true power in all things. It did irritate her somewhat to hear him speak so disrespectfully toward her lord. "If you wish to continue to think what you think then by all means keep deluding yourself. My plans are far from delicate enough to be ruined by your machinations." He said as he walked over to a small table that had been left alone by the removal of furniture. She decided that a different tactic would be needed here, appeal to the man's ego.

"Surely my lord you are smart enough to understand that force greater than us is at work in the world." He snorted at this as he collected a fruit from a small dish of them from the table. Melisandre was undaunted. "It is well know that you possess great and mystic powers, as great as you are you mistaken from whence they came. Any and all power in this world comes form the Lord of Light, it is he that granted me the vision that lead to you." He took a bite out of the fruit and looked at her like she was some child that was saying that she knew better than her elders. That was something that truly infuriated Melisandre, this was a man that couldn't have seen more than three decades and yet she had seen many times over than that.

But she kept that buried under a mask of calm. Deciding that this wasn't getting her anywhere, she decided to turn to her trump card. Her faced slightly, a small sultry glance here and there, positioning her body so that her open chest showed a bit more, angling her legs just so. She took a step forward and then with casual tossing of a finger a bolt of lighting extended out of Naraiz hand and shot toward the spot in front of Melisandre's foot. Her eyes widened in shock at what she just witnessed. Fire was one thing but lightning was an even purer form of R'hllor's might. It literally lit up a pitch-black sky in a roar of defiance to the darkness. And this man just casted it in such a nonchalant manner.

"What you just witnessed there… was nothing." He said flippantly with a roll of his eyes as he had clearly picked up on her thoughts. "Every Sith, even acolytes, could use Force Lightning and do what I just did. And we numbered in the thousands. So don't even start on thinking me special because I did that." Melisandre was taken aback by his words, the idea that such a holy power such a lightning would be a common trick was absurd. He had to be lying for some plot or plan to understate his gift. That was the only explanation that she could come to. But before she could say anything he held up a hand and before moved the small sitting area away without touching a single thing. Then an invisible force came and moved the set aside furniture back to where they had presumably been before. "The Force is the sole power at my command Melisandre or whatever name you go by these days. It is a cosmic energy that ebbs and flows in all living things. It is not a god, it is not divine. It is nature. And I and possibly yourself have been gifted with its power, just because you were sold to a church of people that have mistaken the Force for a fire god doesn't mean that it is true. The first faith you are exposed to is not automatically the right one." He said and then with a push of his palm shoved the Red Woman sliding back and out of the room, the doors shutting in front of her leaving her without the last word like she normally had.

Xhola was woman that had been through much in her life. She had been born in the Summer islands which was by far not the worst fate a babe could be born into. And she had a wonderful childhood, and later she fell in love with a long-held friend from that childhood. Then she found out she was having his child and everything was still just as wonderful, then her island home was raided by slavers from the Free Cities. It was not uncommon for this to happen and the Summer Islands had long had means to protect themselves but this was just one of the times when they failed. And at the expense of Xhola and those on her island.

The slavers came and were here for women and only women. They rounded up the most pleasing to look at and the ones that were only starting to show beauty. All others they kept in cages with a key to their locks held in the middle of the village square. Ready for whatever other island that came by to see what happened to free them. After all… why ruin a potential future raiding spot. Xhola had been one of those taken and she had not stopped crying because she had witnessed the salvers murder her beloved like it was nothing when he tried to save her. She had not started showing that she was with child but she knew, and he knew.

She had been taken to Lys and sold to the man that her current master had saved her from. He eventually found out about her pregnancy and she feared he would gut her to remove the child from her belly. He didn't, he upped her rations and made sure that everything was being taken care of. She actually had hope for the first time since her life had crumbled around her. But that was just a masked horror waiting to unveil itself. Because when the day when she delivered her baby… the second that her son drew his first breath was the second that her previous owner told the doctor to dispose of the boy. Apparently if it had been a girl then she would be raised to be nothing more than a bed slave just as Xhola was being trained to be. Xhola eventually heard that girls raised into the service were worth far more given they often didn't rebel nearly as much, they saw their situation as perfectly normal and knew nothing else.

That had been the last straw, for the next two years of her life she had been a walking husk. She didn't have the will to resist whatever it was that the masters had ordered her to do. The day that she had been given to Naraiz had been just another day as a bed slave. But to her shock, along with the others that had been given to him, he was far from anything that they had dealt with. It wasn't like they hadn't been given to men that treated them well, it happened more often than one might think. But the man that would become their one and only master was on an entirely separate level, and he freed them in the most satisfying way possible. The memory of what he did to her last owner still sent shivers down Xhola's spine.

"Xhola! The master is back!" The Summer Islander was drawn back out from her thoughts of how she had gotten to where she was now by her fellow former slave's call. Xhola quickly paid for the dates that she had been looking at and ran back to Emmi, her sister, and the four Unsullied guards that were escorting them. The three former slaves had been walking the Long Bridge looking for things that looked good to eat. They would take them back to the guest houses that they were staying at. Ever since their master had left for Valyria they had been treated well by Malaquo Maegyr, the sailor Davos had also been given a small guest house but Xhola had noticed that no other crew member of the Cobblecat had been seen since they arrived.

"Is he really, has he returned?" Xhola asked as she and the twin Dothraki girls began their way back east. Xhola couldn't hardly wait to see her master again. He was like a man of no comparison. While she couldn't say she loved him in the way that she did with the father of her child, she would say that she was grateful to him for saving her. Love was not something that Xhola wanted in her heart for a long time, but she didn't need to love him in order to feel loyal and wish to serve as best she could.

"Yes, a great feast has been called to celebrate the master returning with treasures from Valyria." Felli said as she and her sister flanked Xhola and held the Summer Islander by both arms. Xhola had begun to notice that the twins tended to shy away from the two Lyseni in their master's little harem of former slaves and liked to keep close to her. Meanwhile Serona and Vaera spent a great deal of time with each other. For an absurd amount of time, Xhola had watched them when they didn't know she was there and knew they had been whispering something to each other in their native tongue. She wasn't sure if they were conspiring against their master but given the master's many magical powers she was sure he would know about that.

"So let's get back so he can fuck us before all the stuffy nobles can drag him away." With that last comment Xhola was dragged back across the Long Bridge by the Dothraki twins and followed by their escorts the made their way back to the eastern side of the city and as fast as they could reached Malaquo Maegyr's palace. Not only because they wished to see their master again but also because they wanted to avoid any Volantene noble that might take offense to their presence. After stopping by their guest house to pick up their other former bed slaves, though Xhola had to convince the twins to do so, they were all walking through the halls of the Triarch's palace toward the suite that had been given to their master. A servant that recognized them was escorting them as their master had already given orders for them to be brought to him.

They turned a corner and were soon coming upon the massive doors that marked the favored guest suite. Xhola raised an eyebrow at the sight of a woman in red robes sitting next to the doors. The Summer Islander glanced to their escort who looked to be trying their hardest not to notice the woman in red. Even as they stood at the door and the servant was knocking on it, she was doing all she could to ignore the meditating woman. Both the twins seemed curious but were too excited at the prospect of seeing their master again to care. Vaera was in much the same camp as the twin but out of all of them Serona seemed to be the most weary of the red woman.

However all of that was tossed away as the doors opened and the servant bowed and stepped aside for the women to enter. They did and found their master sitting alone on a fine couch sipping tea. Both Emmi and Felli ran full speed and jumped onto the couch and each took a spot on their master's lap, straddling each leg and holding onto each leg with closed legs. Their master just continued to sip his tea as the twins pressed themselves to his sides and began running their hands all over his body.

"It's nice to see you haven't changed much." He finally said as he finished his drink and floated it over to a nearby table and pulled the twins under his arms. Xhola had to smile as they both cooed in bliss as he took them into a lounge for embrace. She then looked to the side and saw that Vaera was being subtly held back by Serona as the final three approached their master. "I have returned from my trip to Valyria, did you not think I would Serona?"

"Of course I did master, I know there is little you can't do." Xhola had watched as the eldest among them had stiffened a bit at the question. She would have too if she had been addressed in such a dismissive and cold manner. It didn't sound cold, anyone that would have been listening and didn't know their master would have found it an amused tone. It was in the words themselves that Xhola knew that their master was displeased. That he asked a question that suggested that one of them doubted him was an odd move. Since the very beginning he never did something like this, every time he spoke to them it was encouraging and trusting.

"That's good to hear." Then Vaera was pulled from Serona by an unseen force, her body glided across the floor and she was set kneeling in front of their master. "Vaera, I missed that adorably innocent face of yours. You are just my precious angel in all things, you could never lie to me." Xhola quietly began taking steps further and further away from Serona. It was clear that she was in trouble and Xhola didn't want to be caught in whatever punishment that their master had in mind. He was kind and fair but Xhola knew he was not a soft man, what he had done to their former master was proof of that.

"Yes master, my heart and soul are yours. I would die before telling you falsehood." She said and Xhola had to hold back a small chuckle. Vaera had been learning more of the common tongue from the Volantene teachers, who tended to have a bit of a formal spin on their speech. The Summer islander noted that her master also found it amusing and smiled warmly.

"So tell me, what is it that makes Serona so fearful now? To be in my presence?" He said with a glance to the elder Lyseni woman that made her freeze in her place. Serona looked to Vaera, Xhola could see on her face she was hoping that the younger women would keep whatever secret that their master wanted but her features turned as Vaera just continued to look up at their master in a worship like trance. Xhola had interacted with Vaera sparsely but every time it made her feel that her devotion to their master eclipsed all of their loyalty to him.

"She had been trying to position me and herself in the Triarch's good graces master and didn't think that you would return from the cursed lands of Valyria. I believe she wanted to marry one of the Triarch's sons and for me to become a handmaid to one of his daughters." Vaera said without a moment of hesitation, a look of betrayal came over Serona's face. But that was replaced by a look of pain and discomfort as she was forced by their master's power to kneel tightly, arms locked behind her back and once she was put in this position she was pushed forward to where her lips were kissing the tiled floor.

"You had so little faith in me, but I can understand… no other man has returned from the isles." Xhola listened as her master motioned for the two twins to leave his body, they did reluctantly but they quickly found a new joy and skipped over to the kneeling Serona. "After tonight's feast we will be departing in the morning, early. We will be sailing for Westeros and I want all of you to begin to ready yourself for the roles you will take as part of my household."

"An-and what roles are those master?" The Summer Islander asked hoping that whatever duties they would be given wasn't the kind they had been trained for in Lys.

"You Xhola will study under the Maester of Harrenhal. Primarily in the ravens, I want you to eventually handle all of my communications, be it public, business, or private. You will make sure I know everything that is happening as it truly is." He said with a serious glance to her that told her all the importance of this duty. The way his eyes stared directly into hers rooted this duty in her psyche.

"What role do you have for me master, what shall I humbly do for your needs?" Vaera questioned bowing her head submissively and their master chuckled a little before answering.

"In a moment, next is Serona." He said and Xhola and the rest all looked at the constricted woman kneeling on the floor. "Just because you are being punished now does not mean it will be forever. When we return to the west you shall be put under my ally Quinn, he will teach you how to run my servants and keep the castle's staff in line. This will free up myself and Quinn to more important matters." Their master said before looking at the twins and grinning widely. "Maids."

"What?!" They both shouted in shock and partial anger at this designation.

"Ones that I will see trained in lethal fighting, stealth, and assassination. The looks on people's faces when they find themselves in my home only to be killed by my maids is too funny. You will also be sent missions to infiltrate and possibly kill targets." That seemed to calm the twins and lastly was Vaera who looked eagerly for what place she had in their master's plans.

"And me master?" She finally asked after he just stared at her for a uncomfortably long period of time.

"I honestly have no idea… to you're too pure and innocent for anything too dark and practical." Xhola watched as her master frowned a bit, puzzled at the problem that was on his mind. She glanced over to Vaera who seemed to be both pleased by what he said and mildly irritated by it. Xhola had to agree that Vaera still had a almost childlike innocence to her and out of them was the most humble, though this came with the deference and almost reverence of their master. "I can't use you for anything administrative… you don't have the backbone for making people cry and ruin lives for a job like that. Too outspoken in your devotion to me for spy work, plus I'd like to keep you close to home." Their master glanced at the door and nodded his head back and forth like he was thinking on something. "Devotion… that would work." He then looked back to them for a moment and then took a deep breath. With one last hard look and a small growl he stood up.

They all watched as he walked over to the door, opened it and raised a hand in the manner they had seen him use to levitate things. He then opened the door further and floated in the woman in red that had been waiting outside. She looked completely at peace with the fact he was doing so and he had a clearly miffed scowl on his face because of this. He walked back to the coach that they were lined up in front of and set the woman floating between them. Then with a finger held up and them with a sharp flick down he slammed the red woman down to the ground in a kneeling pose. She gave a small gasp of pain and their master seemed to smirk at this.

"If… if y-you wanted me… my lord… all you w-would have n-needed…" The woman in red panted in pain as she struggled to pull out the words. Xhola was a little surprised by this as while her master was being a little rough with the woman, she was acting like the damage done was more than just the tossing around their master had done. Almost like her body wasn't as strong as it looked.

"Be quiet for a moment." He said as his eyes twitched slightly, something had displeased her master, Xhola could tell that the conversation had suddenly turned into something else. "I personally don't care what people believe so long as they keep it to themselves. Religion is a tool for those in power and I see it as little else than a tool to sculpt culture and society. The Force is nature and is simply part of the natural order of things and thus not divine. It comes the closest but is still not. I have maintained this mindset since an early age, reading about entire w-… nations… descending into chaos because of religious nonsense. It urks me to say the least."

"But my lord-" The woman in red wasn't able to say more as her head was shoved to the floor by another unseen force. Xhola's master's eyes were wide with fury and he was staring right at the woman in front of him. She could see that while he said his feelings on the matter, finishing them with such a casual phrase his emotions were anything but casual. There was deep hatred in his eyes, hatred that only came from pain and rage.

"I brought you here for one reason and one reason only. You have three choices here, forsake your god and worship me as you did him and become the leader of a new cult devoted to me, or keep to your fire god and train my servant here in the ways of preaching and mass indoctrination so she can do so." With those two options given he raised the woman's head up and then pulled her to his feet, her neck outstretched and his hand grasping the glowing choker around her skin. "Or lastly, I rip this thing off, expose you for what you are and then brand you with nullifying Runes that will force whatever powers you have to go completely dormant. You will be a husk of what you are if you don't die from time catching up to you." He said with a burning glare as wisps of power flowed off his body. His skin melted away to reveal a deity of horrifying perfection. He was a truly terrifying visage to Xhola and she couldn't imagine the horror that the woman on the end of all this felt.

"Please… don't." She begged with a look of dread greater than Xhola had seen on anyone. Even the looks that she had seen in the raid on her home island or among the slaves of Lys didn't look so terrified as the on this woman right now. The red woman closed her eyes and looked away from the man holding her, tears rolling down her face as the air grew more and more heavy with the tendrils of his power slithering their way through it. Xhola and the rest of the servants of this man all watched and could remember how frightening he had been during their last day in Lys, and that was but a small sample of what he was giving now. He seemed truly intent on scaring this woman to her core.

"Then choose, I'm being merciful. You can have the option to stay to your god, a god that is a hollow construct built by dim witted fools that don't understand the power of reality and must put a name and face to it." He said before dropping the woman in front of him and standing up, towering above them all as more and more of his power flowed out and began strangling them all with unrelenting strength and authority. Xhola could hear in her mind mighty trumpets blaring out roars as the low thrums of drums beat to a chorus of voices chanting hymns of glory. Her eyes were glued to the sight of her master standing above a swirling vortex of black and white began pooling above him, creating a spinning whirlpool that seeped down around them creating a dome of pure power around them. "Where is your god? I ask the question that all men of greater wisdom ask when they come to a godly foe… when will your god strike me down for my disrespect. I have lived a life where I have spat on the very concept of divinity and have achieved heights of glory that holy men could only dream of. Where is your god!" There he held up his hand and began forming a ball of bright ball of densely packed arcs of lightning. The sound of the lightning was deep and low as it reverberated in the dome. Then… a flash and all turned black.

For the third hundredth time I slammed my head onto the massive stone pillar in the bathroom of my suite. I DID IT AGAIN! I somehow created a new type of force bound woman that now had runes engraved upon her body. Only problem now was I had no fucking clue how I did it. I had an idea of what the runes did, or better put I knew what each of them did individually and in clusters but not this particular matrix. Melisandre was not a Force Slaves like Lyarra and Joanna but she was connected to me very loosely. At the moment she along with my other collected women were still all passed out in the living room while I worked out my irritation and stress over what I had done.

"Naraiz-sama you shouldn't do that." Saarai warned as she stood behind me with a small warm towel ready for me. I wasn't in the mood for feeling comforted so I kept up my hitting my head against a hard surface. What had intended to be a small show of force to make the Red Woman into Vaera's teacher in the ways of preaching so that the woman could make some fake cult in Westeros turned into something completely different.

"It was like that time with Lyarra only that it wasn't the Dark Side taking the wheel there." I grunted as I grinded my head against the stonework. It was all so frustrating, I don't want to be an actual focus of a religion, I don't want to be immortal and most certainly do I not want to be a god. Video Games and Anime have taught me bad things happen to those that want these things. I want to be emperor of the galaxy… but without ever having a son named Lorgar. But then why did I do what I did if I don't want these things?

Old Naraiz hated religion with a passion so these were definitely pent up feelings on that side of my messed up psyche. And I had just made a breakthrough earlier. Okay. Collect my thoughts. I am me. I have gotten through the imposter syndrome section of my identity crisis. Now I just had to make all the pieces play nice and form a cohesive personality. That's not hard. Not at all. By the fucking Force am I fucked. But I guess this is to be expected, I should have been a bit more detailed in my request to God. But that wasn't the only problem here.

One moment I was going for a nice drive around town and the Force said fuck that and took me down the highway with gas pedal slammed to the floor. The actual Force, not just the Dark Side but the entirety of the Force said do this.

Did master Revan ever have to deal with something like this? Rathari also has achieved Balance and but I doubt he had enough human contact all these years for an opportunity like this to present itself. Only a few others in the galaxy of the Old Republic period had true Balance with the Force, and I knew them all. And I don't believe they ever did something like this and Naraiz never experienced it before I came into the picture. So that left one thing…

"Why are you looking at me like that master?" Midwan asked as I glared heavily at her, she had been for the most part unhelpful in all this and just lounged around at the pool in my bathroom. But I wouldn't glare at her for that, I expected her to be unhelpful in times like this. So she was caught off guard by my sudden intense focus on her. I didn't answer right away as my mind was going off the Force Mystic equivalent of theoretical physics. As I came to the answers I needed I finally gave her a reaction.

"Because you fuckos are the reason why I no longer have to worry only about the Dark Side creeping into my mind." I said and Midwan just gave a, admittedly cute, tilt to the head in confusion. "I have given the Balance its creed, interjected the physical plane with its influence. The Dark Side is an active influence while the Light Side is passive. The Balance can do both, for a long time it was relegated to only passive because it never had a real presence in the physical plane… now it does."

That was a very dumbed down version of the meta-physics of the current state of the Force. When I spoke the words and caused that massive ripple in the Force it changed everything. No longer was the Force simply two sides fighting it out, now there was a new third party to the equation embodying the ideals of the other two yet still very separate. It was contradictory and yet because this was literally higher concepts than a sentient mind could comprehend it was how it was and I would have to deal with it.

The best possible example would be the Ones, the Son still represented the Dark Side, the Daughter still represented the Light. And they have been fighting each other while the Father, representing the Balance, sat back and only ever got involved when things were at their worst but at the same time slowly that ability to do so was being eroded away. But now with what I have done… oh no… how long do I have before the Father starts going crazy. It probably won't happen… but with my luck it might. No, I have she-with-tentacles to counterbalance at the moment. Maybe… I could dream. I could dream that I have done the impossible and solved a problem like the Mother before it really became a problem. If what I had done gave the Balance a power boost then maybe the Father has gotten better and the Son and Daughter can take care of Abeloth like they always do. I could dare to dream a oh so sweet dream. But reality is as it is that probably won't happen.

"Naraiz-sama… the problem at hand." Saarai said and reminded me that I had present problems that needed addressing. The cosmic bullshit could be set aside for when I have a chance to really meditate on them. So with a sigh I removed my head from the pillar and walked over to the pool. It was lightly steaming thanks to heated piping that Volantis built into many of its palaces, they really took expensive comforts to a new level. I groaned as I dipped into the water as the heat battered away at my stress, after I had leaned my head back as Saarai placed the hot towel over my face and began massaging my scalp as my head rested on her lap. All of this was wonderful and pushed away the thoughts of the doom I would be facing once I left this world.

My mind began thinking on something that I actually enjoyed, Sith Alchemy… though I guess I should start calling it Force Alchemy as it was no longer just a Dark Side talent. That was another thing I would have to look into but that was for later, now I was thinking back on the runes that had been etched into Melisandre's body. I knew all of them… but for the big ones. The one engraved into Melisandre's forehead that looked like a turned over K with a straight line hovering above the middle. As well as the ones on her right breast, that one looked to be three circles interconnected by two struts between them. Again… not runes that I recognized as Sith Runes.

The rest of them were spread out along the body's lines, weaving through their curves, edges, and limbs in straight or arcing pathways. Most of them were detailed to enforce their connection to me, focusing on the body rather than the soul like in the case of Lyarra and Joanna. Likely they would provide pleasure, particularly the runes that were engraved just above their lower lips, when she did something in service to me. And pain should they try to undermine me or try to betray me. It was a reinforcement method than the much more deeper one on my Force Slaves, plus the Force Slaves were an undeniably Dark Side creation while these were not.

But that wasn't all, behind her ear was a solid hooked H rune that I knew to be a very old Sith Rune. So old that it wasn't something that the old me recognized from Legends Lore. Naraiz however knew it and knew it as a Whisper Rune, not the kind where I could now speak to her wherever she may be. This was a subtle Rune, one that did not make itself apparent easily. It was the slow indoctrination type of mind control but also one that would insert ideas of the brander into the branded so long as the Rune was intact. Meaning that even if we were separated for years with no contact, she would still hear my ideas flow into her ear. Oh, I'm sure Naraiz would this or He'd want me to do that… those types of thoughts would now be infiltrating her head.

The idea of starting a cult has been on my mind for awhile now, something for the Faith to deal with and take their attention off me. My initial plan was for it to be an ambiguous faith, not worshiping any particular god but a general melting pot of ideas that would be appealing to the masses… also sex… it would be a sex cult. Because the entire point of it wasn't to be a real religion but a cancerous cult that would eat away at the fabric of society and what better way to spread chaos than with orgies. But that doesn't seem to be in the cards. If Melisandre is going to be a faithful follower of me then I can expect her normal brand of… zeal. Duel identity time.

"Should I go with Kane or… nope… gotta go with Kane." I mumbled as I enjoyed the attention Saarai was giving me but then I felt a weight over my lap and looked out from the hot towel to see Midwan sitting there. "What are you doing?"

"Stupid question for an obvious answer master." Midwan said as she grinded her core along my manhood, trying her best to excite me into giving her what she wanted. She leaned forward and pressed her chest into mine while wrapping her arms around my neck. All of this did the trick and soon my member was hard as could be and quickly slid deep into Midwan's cunt. After a short grasp of fulfilment she began rocking her hips as I was certainly not going to be moving here, this was her idea and I had been perfectly content without sex. "Fuck yeah… this is what I live for.

"Don't you think I wanted to join the bath Mi-chan, now the water is going to be dirty." Saarai said with that cold glare of hers but her sister was too far into enjoying her ride to really care. However Midwan was always ready to bicker with her sister and retorted almost on autopilot. The twos' sounds of catfighting was white noise to me at this point and I just sighed, closed my eyes and began stretching my mind out to the wider Force. I needed to get familiar with what had been done to the Force now that the effect was getting more widespread. There was no way that this wasn't noticed by certain people in the galaxy.

"Is something the matter, Hego? You look disturbed?" The Sith Lord and Master of the Dark Side, Darth Plagueis looked back up to the banker that had asked the question. He was sitting in on a weekly report from his holdings in the Intergalactic Banking Clan, it was going as it normally did when he out of nowhere felt a great ripple in the Force.

"Something I had eaten for lunch, excuse me." Plagueis said as carefully as he could, his body had been rattled by the sheer wave of power that had pulsed in the Force. He stood up and gave a small nod to the Muun seated at the table and made his way out as quickly as decorum would allow.

The Dark Lord of the Sith had felt the scales of the Force tip toward the Dark side and he could not for the life of him know how that could happen. He was the most powerful Dark Side user in the galaxy… or at least he claimed so. There were a few that believed otherwise but he only considered two of them possible comparables to his power. But neither them or himself had anything planned that could cause this shift in the struggle between Dark and Light. For many centuries the Sith had been preparing for their return and during that time the Light had been dominating the Force, by their design. This was a careful gamble on the Siths' part, but one that should pay off in the greatest flip in all of galactic history.

But as Plagueis made his way through the halls of his office building he felt a strangeness in the Force. And a strangeness in the surge of the Dark Side as well. It could have been stronger, the power behind it was something he had never felt in his time as a Sith and thus it could have changed the balance of power over to the Dark Side but it didn't. It stopped, cleanly at a certain point and let the Light brace back at it. It was not something a Sith would do, and the idea a Jedi would… impossible.

This would need to be investigated but later… much later. The Jedi would be set off by this event and he could not afford to be caught. A big challenge to the Sith's Grand Plan was that by ramping up the Jedi's policy for proactively enforcing so called justice and peace was that they looked for evil and injustice in every shadow they could find. It was only thanks to great wealth, careful planning, and being behind the Jedi's authoritative spirit were the Sith able to hide themselves.

For now Plagueis would lie low, depending on how the Jedi reacted to this would determine for how long. A year… or a decade. It mattered not, the Grand Plan was coming to its final stages and he would be the Sith Lord to carry out the Jedi's death blow.

"A momentous event, happened it has. The Force… tilts and wavers." The Grand Master of the Jedi, a small green being known as Yoda said as he opened his eyes. He sat in his personal chamber on Tython, as while he was technically the leader over all the Jedi in the galaxy he knew that this was only a partial truth. The Jedi had been divided ever since the Ruusan Concord went into effect. Now the Jedi had two leaders, the Grand Master that often placed themselves on Tython and the High Marshal that was stationed on Coruscant. In theory the Grand Master still had absolute leadership and the highest place on the Jedi Council but the High Marshal acted as the Republic's leader in all things military. It was a power balance that often at times was skewed depending on the times, and rarely did it fall to the Grand Master.

"You beat me to it… I am only feeling it now." Yoda glanced over to the other occupant in the room, the mysterious Fay, a Jedi master that only ever visited the Order when she absolutely needed to. She disagreed with the long standing policy of Proactive Peace, the idea that one needed to enforce peace to have it in the first place. And this idea was often added with the word, Everywhere. For the past several centuries the Jedi have worked with the Republic to spread freedom and democracy as far and wide across the galaxy as possible. And Fay was one of the masters that vocally opposed such a philosophy as Absolute Order with no soul or heart. Often saying that this path would lead the galaxy to being filled with no living beings and only organic machines tilling everyday with no purpose other than what Order demands they have. To say she was unpopular among the militant Jedi was a vast understatement.

"Something of this scale, have never felt it I have. The Dark Side… much of the Dark Side comes with this shift." Yoda said with a small groan of unease, both because this did not bode well for the Galaxy if the Dark Side was growing in strength. But maybe even a little bit more because of how his peers in the Jedi would react. Yoda knew he would need to caution High Marshal Devadi Watecrum about extremes again. The Jedi were already the face of oppression in the Outer Rim territories and things have been particularly bad with the fall out of the Fifth Hutt war. People wanted peace but the High Marshal was gunning for a quick riposte back to the Hutt Cartels, this would certainly not help in the matters.

"Does it though, it stopped." Fay said and Yoda raised an eyebrow at this. Indeed, the Dark Side was not stronger than the Light in the Force. It had grown in this sudden event but it was still not stronger. In fact…

"Mrmm… balance the Force is in." It could be called halved with how it felt, but already Yoda could feel the Light push back against the Dark to reclaim its lost ground. It was… strange to feel the Force act in this way. It was not something he had read about in the writings of recent Grand Masters. Maybe he should look into the archives to learn if anything like happened in old times. But that would mean traveling to Coruscant.

"Grand Master… you look like you have tasted something rotten."

An old woman looked up at the stars with a large smile over his face, she was small and age looked to have done its worst to her. Skin sagged several inches off her face, blotches and moles were rampant and she only had a few remaining teeth. Her head was covered in a thick hide shawl and her body was guarded from the blowing winds of Andalos. Her only light besides the stars themselves was a small lantern in her hand.

"Fehfeh… the times are changing. Soon so very soon they will become a whirlwind." The old woman cackled as she slowly began making her way back into her small mud hut that had been roughly constructed outside a massive cave entrance. Adorned all along the edges were crude nine pointed stars, decayed offerings lay at the feet of the cave, and hanging at the top of the entrance was a dangling sword too big for anyone mortal man to hold.