The Darkness and the Glory
Title: The Darkness and the Glory
Author: kerrykhat
Fandom: Star Wars
Rating: PG
Summary: "They don't realize it yet, but the darkness and the Glory are connected. A triad of darth lords, thinking themselves to be gods."
Prompt: "God/dess" for tth100
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and related characters; George Lucas owns "Star Wars" and related characters; I own nothing.
Note: Fourth in the I Dreamed a Dream (Of a Life Gone By) series.
Word Count: 876
Instead of on top of the rickety tower, as had been their customary meeting spot, Siri found herself with the green-eyed woman walking through what appeared to be a primitive burial ground. Darkness surrounded them, pierced only by the faint light of a quarter moon. They meandered through stone markers, each bearing strange inscriptions in an alphabet that Siri somehow recognized, despite not being able to read it.
“They don’t realize it yet, but the darkness and the Glory are connected,” the woman said, stopping in front of one stone in particular. She looked at it, a sad, wistful expression on her face. “A triad of darth lords, thinking themselves to be Gods, until Glorificus took a step too far.”
Siri frowned. She didn’t know if it was a mispronunciation on the part of the woman, but she could swear that she just heard the word “darth” come out of her mouth. Did she even know that that term meant? It would be useless, to ask the woman if this Glorificus was a Sith, since the knowledge of their presence had faded to a mere legend to scare younglings at night, and even if the woman did know, Siri was doubtful that she would say anything constructive.
“Who is she?” Siri asked, standing next to the woman. There hadn’t been many talks between them over the years between their first conversation on the tower, but they had--for the most part--started becoming less cryptic, but then again, those conversations had never been about anything truly serious. She still didn’t know the woman’s name.
“She was very loud and had terrible taste in clothes, even worse than you,” the woman answered with a small smile. “Two-faced and dangerous, our Lady Glorificus.” Siri looked down at the sensible tunic and pants she was wearing, not much different from what she normally would wear while she was awake. There was nothing wrong with it, although she knew that other members of the Order did take freer license with their wardrobe than she did.
“Is she still alive?” Siri asked, pulling her attention back to the present.
“To die or not to die, that is the question,” the woman replied with a shrug. “Death may not be the end, but only the beginning of a longer war. All it takes is one good day for everything you’ve worked for to come undone.” She reached out and took Siri’s hand, studying it for a moment before raising her eyes to look at Siri’s face.
“Beware the rising darkness,” the woman told Siri, a serious look on her face. “Ripples are starting to show, and it won’t be long before it crashes down on you. Try not to drown.” She looked up at the sky and smiled slightly. “But remember, it’s always darkest before the Dawn shows.”
The sound of her Master moving around in their shared quarters woke Siri with a start from her dream. Rubbing her hand across her face, she lay on her bed for a few more moments, trying to sort out her thoughts. One thing in particular stood out in Siri’s mind, the reference of the “trio of darth lords.” It was the first possible hint the woman had given her about what might be happening, of how they were somehow connected.
Despite her resolve to search for any reference of whoever this Glorificus was in the archives, it was mid-afternoon before Siri found herself alone at a terminal in the Archives. Her Master was in an emergency Council session to discuss the Trade Federation’s blockade against the planet of Naboo and what could be done about it. Siri’s morning, already full, became even more hectic. Now was the first moment of free time available to her all day.
Taking a deep breath, she slowly entered the word “Glorificus” into the data terminal. She waited while the terminal sifted through the Archive’s vast amount of data, hoping that she would be able to find something that would make the smallest amount of sense. After a few moments, the screen lit up with the results.
Frowning slightly, she scrolled down. There were very few matches to the word “Glorificus” and most of them appeared to require a higher clearance code than what she had access to as a Padawan. Finally, towards the end, she found one file that she could read. It was mostly incomplete, which was probably the reason why she could read it.
“...Darth Glorificus... no survivors... new permutations of Sith sorcery... Spies note dissension among her two companions... cooperation...”
Siri pursed her lips, rereading those words over and over again. So she hadn’t been imagining it when the green-eyed woman had said the word “darth.” Checking the date on the article she was reading, she inhaled sharply. Glorificus had lived--and possibly died--over 6000 years ago. She stared at the screen for a few more moments, trying to process it all. She didn’t have enough information, enough of the facts. It was like looking at a holo, only to have the file be corrupted and several large portions of it completely gone.
With a sigh, she turned off the terminal and quietly walked away. There was a solution to this puzzle. She only had to find it.
Author: kerrykhat
Fandom: Star Wars
Rating: PG
Summary: "They don't realize it yet, but the darkness and the Glory are connected. A triad of darth lords, thinking themselves to be gods."
Prompt: "God/dess" for tth100
Disclaimer: Joss Whedon owns "Buffy the Vampire Slayer" and related characters; George Lucas owns "Star Wars" and related characters; I own nothing.
Note: Fourth in the I Dreamed a Dream (Of a Life Gone By) series.
Word Count: 876
Instead of on top of the rickety tower, as had been their customary meeting spot, Siri found herself with the green-eyed woman walking through what appeared to be a primitive burial ground. Darkness surrounded them, pierced only by the faint light of a quarter moon. They meandered through stone markers, each bearing strange inscriptions in an alphabet that Siri somehow recognized, despite not being able to read it.
“They don’t realize it yet, but the darkness and the Glory are connected,” the woman said, stopping in front of one stone in particular. She looked at it, a sad, wistful expression on her face. “A triad of darth lords, thinking themselves to be Gods, until Glorificus took a step too far.”
Siri frowned. She didn’t know if it was a mispronunciation on the part of the woman, but she could swear that she just heard the word “darth” come out of her mouth. Did she even know that that term meant? It would be useless, to ask the woman if this Glorificus was a Sith, since the knowledge of their presence had faded to a mere legend to scare younglings at night, and even if the woman did know, Siri was doubtful that she would say anything constructive.
“Who is she?” Siri asked, standing next to the woman. There hadn’t been many talks between them over the years between their first conversation on the tower, but they had--for the most part--started becoming less cryptic, but then again, those conversations had never been about anything truly serious. She still didn’t know the woman’s name.
“She was very loud and had terrible taste in clothes, even worse than you,” the woman answered with a small smile. “Two-faced and dangerous, our Lady Glorificus.” Siri looked down at the sensible tunic and pants she was wearing, not much different from what she normally would wear while she was awake. There was nothing wrong with it, although she knew that other members of the Order did take freer license with their wardrobe than she did.
“Is she still alive?” Siri asked, pulling her attention back to the present.
“To die or not to die, that is the question,” the woman replied with a shrug. “Death may not be the end, but only the beginning of a longer war. All it takes is one good day for everything you’ve worked for to come undone.” She reached out and took Siri’s hand, studying it for a moment before raising her eyes to look at Siri’s face.
“Beware the rising darkness,” the woman told Siri, a serious look on her face. “Ripples are starting to show, and it won’t be long before it crashes down on you. Try not to drown.” She looked up at the sky and smiled slightly. “But remember, it’s always darkest before the Dawn shows.”
The sound of her Master moving around in their shared quarters woke Siri with a start from her dream. Rubbing her hand across her face, she lay on her bed for a few more moments, trying to sort out her thoughts. One thing in particular stood out in Siri’s mind, the reference of the “trio of darth lords.” It was the first possible hint the woman had given her about what might be happening, of how they were somehow connected.
Despite her resolve to search for any reference of whoever this Glorificus was in the archives, it was mid-afternoon before Siri found herself alone at a terminal in the Archives. Her Master was in an emergency Council session to discuss the Trade Federation’s blockade against the planet of Naboo and what could be done about it. Siri’s morning, already full, became even more hectic. Now was the first moment of free time available to her all day.
Taking a deep breath, she slowly entered the word “Glorificus” into the data terminal. She waited while the terminal sifted through the Archive’s vast amount of data, hoping that she would be able to find something that would make the smallest amount of sense. After a few moments, the screen lit up with the results.
Frowning slightly, she scrolled down. There were very few matches to the word “Glorificus” and most of them appeared to require a higher clearance code than what she had access to as a Padawan. Finally, towards the end, she found one file that she could read. It was mostly incomplete, which was probably the reason why she could read it.
“...Darth Glorificus... no survivors... new permutations of Sith sorcery... Spies note dissension among her two companions... cooperation...”
Siri pursed her lips, rereading those words over and over again. So she hadn’t been imagining it when the green-eyed woman had said the word “darth.” Checking the date on the article she was reading, she inhaled sharply. Glorificus had lived--and possibly died--over 6000 years ago. She stared at the screen for a few more moments, trying to process it all. She didn’t have enough information, enough of the facts. It was like looking at a holo, only to have the file be corrupted and several large portions of it completely gone.
With a sigh, she turned off the terminal and quietly walked away. There was a solution to this puzzle. She only had to find it.