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serenofroses · 8 months ago

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the last part of Ania and Jadus Jadis' minificlet of their first meeting. this had been kicking my butt for months due to my struggles and writing insecurities.

I made some recent changes to Jadis to the point where I separated her from canon Jadus into to her own character.

as usual: heavy canon divergence, deaf f!agent oc x Darth Jadus.

content warnings: use of chloform, Jadis being a horrible Sith as always. and Scarlett's horrible writing bc she needed to get this done and out of the way.

A couple of minutes later…

"Wait here."

The guard advised with an emotionless tone after escorting the agent from the Intelligence base to the Sith headquarters. Ania gave a short nod, watching the guard enter the office to announce her arrival to the Dark Councillor. She stood within the antechamber with a shuddering inhale to steady her nerves until she caught on to the muffled voices exchanging words that pushed her anxiety aside.

Ania tried to peer closer to listen in, hoping to understand their words but her focus was distracted by the large wall mirror overlooking the Sith’s office. Eying the reflection and moving her head forward to get a better view of the office to see within–there, she caught a glimpse of the Sith figure with their back turned. She wasn’t interested in the guard but paid more attention to the Sith.

Jadis was rather intriguing yet imposing, stood impressively tall that towered over the Imperial officers with their height, though their body wasn’t super muscular like she had seen, donning in the signature black with purple pattern robes and led lights, their raven hair was long and tied back neatly with subtle notice of the pale skintone–the reflection made her realised something the second she spotted the helmet laid onto the desk.

Wait a second, she thought, Darth Jadus––correction Jadis, she reminded herself quietly–wasn’t hiding their face?

Curiosity grew, questions filled with pondering over who this mysterious Darth Jadis really was. Nothing was known much about them since the day they “returned” from seclusion and “reclaimed” the Dark Council seat as of five years ago to this day.

Ania tried to lean a little further to inspect the mystery Sith through the reflection vying to see their face. The floor creek underneath her feet cut her off and uttered a quiet curse hoping they didn’t hear that sound.

“Send her in.”

She heard the Sith tell the guard and took one last look through the mirror to watch them put out the cigar in the ashtray and reached for the specific item from the desk.

“Have my shuttle prepped in the meantime.”

Though, the voice sounded… a little different without their helmet on. Surely she was imagining things that she didn’t actually hear correctly. The sound of footsteps had caught Ania’s attention, readjusted her position quickly to where she previously stood and straightened her posture right in time as the guard exited the office.

“The Master is ready for you. You may proceed.” the guard instructed with a hand gestured to the door, signalling the agent to go inside.

Ania gulped. Her heart pulsed rapidly as dread began to overwhelm her, nausea formed within the back of the throat and her senses of doubt were shoved to the back of the mind with a sharp exhale to mentally prepare herself before walking into the office.

The interior of the office was darker than the Intelligence’s blue hues but much fancier than she had expected for a Sith like Jadis but there was something rather unsettling about this room that she couldn’t explain through her gut feeling.

It feels so… wrong to be here.

“Agent Nevrakis.” the Dark Councillor greeted in a deep, rich voice, “Do come in.”

So, she wasn’t imagining things when she heard Jadis’ voice–definitely different without the helmet.

Jadis, then, turned around to face her, “You arrived on time as I have summoned.”

Ania froze in shock.

The Dark Councillor was not wearing their main helmet but presented to her wearing a mask with horns covering their face except for their mouth and chin exposed as bright violet eyes gazed upon her.

However, the mask looked all too familiar. Like she has seen it before.

Hold on–Darth Jadis is….?

Jadis took a moment to observe the reaction before speaking, “Do you know who I am?”

Keeper’s warnings were still fresh on her mind, heeding his advice to remain silent and watch her words carefully.

“If you don’t, you will.”

“You’re Lady Renata of House Vitali,” Ania replied, trying her best to not stare at their lips, “Second Heir to the Sith Emperor.”

“You’re well-informed.” Jadis’ dark lips curled into a pleased smile, “Good–this will save me the proper introduction.”--they, then, continued with raised hands that caught Ania’s attention–”It is a pleasure to finally meet your acquaintance. I heard so much about you.”

Did they–...?

“You…. sign?” Ania stared in disbelief, unsure how to feel about this after her experiences with her superiors and coworkers who deprived her from signing with basic communication to help her get around within the Intelligence.

Apart from her parents, she did not expect to find a Sith Lord nor a member of the Dark Council to communicate through sign language.

“You find that most Sith may learn sign languages through different reasons when offered a chance, but many choose not to.” Jadis explained, “I am aware of your reliance on lipreading–a natural talent that no one could master well.” they said with admiration.

“Except you took a big risk to reveal yourself to me. They said you went missing for five years.” Ania reminded them.

She recalled seeing the news reports about Acina's ascension in her rise to power as the Sith Empress followed by their sister was nowhere to be found with a possible declaration of going rogue.

“Perhaps.” they played along with a wicked smile, “But I choose to appear to you because I prefer to communicate with you this way–should you favour lipread ideally. Will that be a problem between us?”

Ania shook her head with a quiet murmur, “No.”

She hoped this meeting would be over and done with, so she could return to her apartment and crawl into a nice, warm bed.

Sound of claws snapped had alerted the agent as she looked over to their pointed finger at the floor in front of them. Ania nervously walked towards to stand in the middle of the room, it’s rather daunting being this close to them. The intimidating aura of the Sith, nor their mask, certainty didn’t help ease her moods.

The Dark Councillor had taken notice the way Ania was avoiding their masked gaze, humouring themself to approach over, “Look at me.” they said in a commanding tone, “And revel in the power of the dark side.”

Right on cue as they spoke, Ania reluctantly turned to fixate her gaze onto them. With an appreciative hum, Jadis started to circle around the agent at a slow pace to inspect her, drinking in every aspect details about her to memorise, resisting the intrusion to run their fingers over her shoulders, touch her soft hair….

They sensed her nervousness. They smell her blood rushing. They inhaled the scent of her Ziosti floral and berries perfume.

“Allow your body to betray you. Allow your blood to boil and your heart to… slow.” they continued in a husky tone, one that made a young woman shiver in anticipation from a voice alone, “Everything that is not of the dark side will be… purged–or it will be tainted.”

They stressed the latter part–they reached through the Force to read into her, there was a sense of doubtness from her, but something was blocking the Dark Councillor from probing further into her mind.

‘Unacceptable but I can’t fault her for shielding her mind’, they thought, ‘Getting through to Agent Nevrakis would take time.’

Jadis then walked back to the spot to stand in front of her, “This is an inoculation, Agent, a ... sacred rite.”

Ania wasn't sure if she understood what she heard. A sacred rite...? Aren't those meant to be restricted to the Sith or something, she asked herself. She doesn’t consider herself to be a Sith who barely lacks the power to call on the Force physically, but she can feel things, sense emotions… like a Force Empathy or so she was told.

"The religion of the Sith is not my religion." she said with a lie, holding onto the slightest determination that her words were convincing enough to fool the Sith as a means to hide her identity.

Or her past.

"The ways of the Sith are the ways of the Empire--so it shall always be. You should know this because you were brought up, or better yet, trained otherwise.”

Ania stiffened by their implication after they saw through to her lies–how much have they known about her?

"But, that is not why I summoned you." Jadis changed the topic.

Ania narrowed her eyes, obviously unaware that the misty dark tendrils were slowly edging towards her ankles, "You didn’t summon me without a reason other than to talk."

"You're right." Jadis humoured her, "I did not summon you without a reason."

A pregnant pause between the two. The silence left Ania on the fence, wary of the Sith’s intentions with her in this compromising position. She tried to move her footing but something was… holding her back like a stasis-lock stillness.

Jadis lifted a hand up to call on the Force–a single datapad from the desk from behind flung into their grasp, they flipped through the pages and held it up in front of the agent’s eyes, showing the written assessment with an image of the deceased target attached to it.

It was her report that she handed in to the Keeper a couple of hours ago.

“I believe this has caused… a commotion amongst the higher ups. More specifically to the attention of the Empress and Grand Moff Kilran.”

Ania’s body tensed up looking at the report, swallowing thickly before speaking, “I… was not aware. Had I known, I wouldn’t have…-”

“Which you have performed remarkably well as I have foresaw.” Jadis interrupted, quick to sense the tension through the agent’s body language, “You were given a dosser with instructions where I made it specifically clear that you are to neutralise your target rather than capturing them alive.”

Ania narrowed her eyes suspiciously at them, “You arranged that assignment?”

“Yes, the order within your assignment came directly from me, not the Keeper’s.”

Ania wasn’t sure what to believe here, “You realise that my target was an Imperial, right? Isn’t it wrong to neutralise an agent of the Empire? Or The Emperor’s? Or even Empress?”

“Might I remind you that the Emperor continues to remain silent since the Treaty? As for my sisters.... I do not care about them simply put.” Jadis set the datapad down, clearing their throat as they continued, “The cost of ambitious loyalty comes with a price, it does not matter whether you think it is wrong or not. Regardless if it was a Republic, a Jedi, or one of our own–those dissidents still threaten the way of the Empire.”

“What are you implying?”

“I can’t speak for the rest of the Dark Council, but there are those who hold themselves above the mundane business of the Empire, those still blindly acting on the Emperor’s will while my dear pathetic sister holds the power. A mistake.” they explained, “I truly believe this can be accomplished by spreading the ways of the Sith to the Empire entirely– show them the democratisation of fear.”

“So, what of the dissidents?” Ania asked, albeit sceptical over where this was going, “Are they followers of the rogue Emperor or do they seek for the destruction of the Empire?”

“That remains to be seen. But do not underestimate our enemies.” Jadis warned with caution, “They are powerful--and there are those who sympathise with them. People at the highest levels of government.”

Ania shifted her weight awkwardly but her movement was still, “You made it sound like you don’t trust the Intelligence or the Dark Council…”

“Perhaps, perhaps not… but a piece of advice?” Jadis offered, “Watch those around you, and trust no one. Not even those within the Intelligence. They may not be all what they seem. I believe you and I can propose a…”--they paused to choose the word carefully without giving anything away–”Partnership? No Intelligence, no answering to the Keeper, and certainly no bowing to the Empress to swear loyalty to.”

We…? She thought out of confusion.

“And if I decline?”

Jadis chuckled for a moment, “I trust that won’t come down to it.”

Ania remembered something about the rumours whispered throughout the headquarters for some time.

“Suppose there's a reason why Cipher Nine or any other low-ranking agents went missing?” Ania asked out of curiosity, “You were the last person to have seen them alive.”

The Sith went silent for a moment, that alone had the agent begin to suspect they know more than they’re letting her on. Could they have had anything to do with the renowned Cipher Nine’s disappearance, she wondered.

“We don’t have to be enemies. I am proposing an alliance between the two of us--you're a special one. You don’t want to let this opportunity pass, Agent Nevrakis,” Jadis began to work on their charm to sway the agent’s wariness then pointed their index finger at the floor in front of them, “Come–kneel before me.”

Ania blinked out of scepticism towards the masked Sith, but barely acknowledged the sound of footsteps within the antechamber behind her. She debated with herself as she bit down on her tongue over whether she should do as she was instructed or not.

“You… want me to bow to your submission?” she questioned.

“Refusal is not an option, Agent Nevrakis.” Jadis said in a warning tone, “I suggest that you should not try to defy me when I am offering you an alliance with me.”

The words of Vowrawn’s warning advising the agent to tread with caution about the dangers of trifling powerful Sith or Dark Councillor’s feathers through wits. She may not know Jadis that personally and she wasn’t planning to.

Ania scoffed.

“You have quite an ambitious reputation from what I was told, Jadis.” she said, holding her ground with every single warning tossed out of the window, “No matter how you try to charm with your words, you can’t expect me to pledge my allegiance to you.”

Ania could’ve sworn she saw the Sith going red, seething silently, that is until she attempted to make a turn for an exit but found no movement nor control over her body–an phantom feeling of tendrils snaked around her ankles crept its way up her legs in its grasps.

This was the Sith's doing.

"Is that so?"

Ania stared at them. Deep down, she was… afraid. There was no escape–she couldn’t move–the gut instinct told her the possibility of this outcome was to die right here.

"You choose to defy me?" Jadis sounded cold and displeased.

“I won't kneel to you–not to someone who’s related to Emperor Tenebrae. Your lineage is anything but corrupted. Your father ruined so many lives.”

Ania watched the seething rage build up within the Sith, violet eyes glowed, smoke puffed out of their nostrils. The mention of their father’s name had stirred something but Ania couldn’t read nor make out their expression through the mask.

”Did it hurt your ego when those refused to bow and submit to you after you forced them?” Ania lifted her head up bracing for whatever the Sith planned to do with her, “Do what you wish, Lord Jadis, kill me. That’s how Agents disappear, right?”

“... Very well.” Jadis resigned after a short pause.

Ania made a shuddering breath as the weight of the Force tightened around her body that was enough to suffocate her, drowning her in the power of engulfed darkness and felt her throat burning with nausea. She sensed the presence behind her as faint footsteps clicked against the polished floor edged closer to her–was it one of their guards?

Ania did not like where this was going.

“It’s a pity your defiance has come to this.” Jadis spoke in a harsher tone, “You leave me with no other choice--but you will need to be disciplined.”

She, also, did not like what they were implying.

Then, Jadis snapped their finger.

Ania was startled upon being grabbed from behind with one arm around her shoulder and upper torso–she still couldn’t move her body to fight back against this individual–followed by a cloth pressed to her nose and mouth.

“No! Stop this! Let me go!” she screamed.

They had no intention of releasing her and continued to apply the pressure against her face. She tried to scream to the point she had to practically beg but her cries were muffled by the cloth.

“I’m sorry.” a voice whispered to her.

A male voice–why does the voice sound familiar–she doesn’t understand why he is saying sorry for.

The agent struggled to fight back and resist the Force hold over her body, she tried to thrash her head about but she was starting to feel dizzy and nauseated from inhaling the strong fumes–eying over to find the masked Sith watching on. She lost the strength to continue the moment darkness closed in and her body went limp as eyelids were beginning to drop from tiredness.

“I have no desire to dispose of you, my dear Agent. Killing you would be a waste of my resources,” Jadis told her, “I, however, have a better substitution for you."

She almost collapsed to the floor–one of the guards approached her and caught her within their arms–she heard Jadis commanded the guard to take her to the shuttle. Ania saw them glancing over to the person who was behind her, she wanted to move her head to discover who it was but she was too exhausted to do anything.

“I will handle everything from here. You may leave now.”

Who was Jadis talking to?

“With due respect, Lord Jadis, this should never happened--I do not condone this, there will be serious consequences for–.”

Jadis cut him off, “You forgot that I still control the Imperial Intelligence with my power and you will abide to my rule, Keeper.”

‘Keeper?!...That can’t be…’

That was the last thing she managed to catch on before unconsciousness took over while she was carried away from the scene.

#swtor #seren swtor writings #oc: ania nevrakis #oc: renata vitali #ch: darth jadus #otp ania x darth jadus #swtor fanfiction

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