Lady Sera walked up to the girl, and gently stroked her cheek, where the wound she had inflicted a week before had not yet fully healed. She smiled at the girl. "There is now no deception between us, my dear, no more lies, no telling me what I want to hear to get what you want. You know what I want from you, and what I am willing to give you in return. I will accept no less than your complete obedience, your complete loyalty to your Emperor, your complete willingness to learn the lessons I will teach you. In return, I will give you back control of your actions, and teach you how to harness a power greater than any you could imagine," she said, and smiled at the girl, who continued to struggle. The girl had told her before that she was ready to train, but Sera had known it was a lie from the beginning, and this was the result of it.
"When I get out of here, I will kill you!" the girl spat at her, and Lady Sera smiled.
"Your anger will make you powerful, but it is misplaced. I am only trying to help you harness your potential," she said, and opened her hand. A six-inch long needle floated into it. She positioned it over the large muscle in the girl's right thigh. "Soon, you will be able to do this yourself," she said, then stuck the needle in, eliciting a scream from the girl. Lady Sera shook her head at such a display. "You should save your screams for things that actually hurt," she admonished, and found a new location for the next needle... once the needle went in, the girl was screaming incessantly, as the spot on her shirt where the needle had gone in began to turn red, until blood nearly soaked the part of her shirt that covered her left breast.
Lady Sera was patient. She waited until the girl's screams became sobs, and gently moved locks of black hair from the girl's sweat-covered face. "That's it... embrace the pain. Let it become a part of you. Let it give you strength," she said, softly.
The girl scowled, swallowing hard. "I hate you," she said venemously.
Lady Sera stroked the girl's hair affectionately. "That's okay, my dear... your hatred will make you stronger. You will see. Through passion you gain strength," she said, and another needle floated into her hand. "Would you like to pick where I put the next one?" she asked.
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It was many days before Lady Sera released her from the restraints. In that time, the girl had been lanced with needles, beaten, burned, electrocuted, and small strips of her skin had been removed from the bottoms of her feet. Her feet were still healing. In that time, she had discovered a new definition of the word pain, and she knew one thing... she did not want to go through that again.
She had come to realize that escape was impossible. Lady Sera was always watching her, even when she was gone... she knew this, because she always walked in just as the girl woke up, even when she didn't open her eyes right away. The girl hadn't actually eaten or drunk anything since her "training" in this place. She had come to the conclusion that her stomach was injected with nutrients while she was unconscious... she had yet to starve or thirst to death, and there were needle punctures on her abdomen, though she was never puntured there with Lady Sera's needles when she was awake. Her throat was still dry, and her stomach still churned in hunger, but she knew she wouldn't be allowed to die here... although, at this point, that wasn't really a comfort to her.
She thought a lot about her parents. Lady Sera was always certain to mention how happy her parents were, and once even allowed her to see a holovid of them, snuggled up next to each other in their nice, clean apartment, eating and drinking and laughing. It made her sick, she... she knew the one she should hate was Lady Sera, but her parents... she wondered again if they really knew she was down here, if they knew what she was going through while they enjoyed themselves. If they even asked about her. She knew she should be glad they were happy, but... the truth was, she was angry at them. More than angry, she... she hated them. She hated her parents.
The door opened once again, and Lady Sera stepped in. She smiled down a the girl, who was sitting on the floor, careful not to touch the tattered bottoms of her feet to anything. She noticed how the girl flinched and stiffened at her presence. The door closed behind her, and she stepped closer to the girl. "Today we will meditate," she said, and the girl's eyes went wide. She couldn't believe her ears... were they actually going to do something that didn't involve torture?
It seemed so. Lady Sera helped the girl to the center of the room, and eased her bruised and burned legs into the correct position for meditation, gently maneuvering her shoulders and back into an upright position, and lecturing her about breathing and clearing her mind. The girl found the effects quite calming, even though she couldn't shake the feeling that there would be more to this meditation thing, more that she wouldn't like.
She was not wrong. Once her breathing had become regular, Lady Sera knelt behind her, and suddenly the girl felt cold. It wasn't her body that was cold... it was her very soul, as a cold darkness engulfed her. She was alone, more lonely than she had ever been, alone in the darkness. She felt exposed, and suddenly she realized... the cold darkness was Lady Sera, Lady Sera was in her mind! Quickly she tried to resist, but she didn't know how, and the more she fought, the more engulfed in darkness she became, until she thought she would suffocate in it. She heard Lady Sera's mind whisper to her. ' Let the darkness in, become one with it,' the voice said.
'No! I won't be what you want me to be!' came her heated reply.
She felt Lady Sera look over all her plans for escape, then laugh. Suddenly, visions of her attempting to put each plan into action filled her mind, and each time the attempt failed, and she came to realize her plans were foolish. The Palace was much more heavily guarded than she had realized... and, the powers of Lady Sera, as well as those of Emperor Xarkun, were more far-reaching than she could ever have dreamed.
'Your hatred for your Emperor is misplaced,' the voice said, and she saw a vision of what Lady Sera expected for her, what she expected her to be able to do. She had to admit... she liked the idea of being able to do the things Lady Sera could do. Part of her wanted to be powerful, wanted to learn about the Force... that part of her was nurtured by Lady Sera, encouraged to grow.
Suddenly, her thoughts turned to her parents, and she felt guilty about how she had hated her parents for puting her through this. But, this part of her was also nurtured by Lady Sera. 'Your anger makes you stronger, gives you focus. Use it,' the voice in her head lectured. The girl thought about that for a moment. Could her anger really give her power? And, if it could, did she really want to be angry with her parents? Visions of them laughing and relaxing while she was routinely beaten and tortured ignited her anger once again, and at the coaxing of Lady Sera, she let that anger fill her, flooding her with energy, with... with power. She could sense things around her... the cell, the rooms outside of it, a dark presence coming from elsewhere in the Palace, and... and, she wasn't sure, but she thought she could sense her parents. A mental nod from Lady Sera confirmed her suspicions.
Suddenly, the anger within her became palpable, stronger. Blacker. It filled her, the blackness did, it went into every part of her. It was cold, and hot at the same time, and it felt... good. Invigorating. She could feel the power so strongly, she could taste it.
And, suddenly, it was gone, and she was back in the room, sitting in the middle of the floor. Lady Sera was no longer in her mind, but she was behind her. Realization of what had just happened hit her, and her eyes went wide. Lady Sera bent forward, and whispered in the girl's ear. "Did you like that taste of power? That is only a fraction of what you will be capable of once you finish your training," she said, and stroked the girl's hair. "That is, if you are finished whining and making foolish escape attempts," she admonished.
The girl blinked, then scowled. "I still hate you," she replied, her voice filled with residual anger.
Lady Sera smiled dreamily. "I know. I approve of your hatred for me, dear... it gives you strength, strength you will need to undergo the training," she said, circling the girl so that she was in front of her. Her smile turned to a mischievous grin. "So, will you learn from me?" she asked. Her face fell. "Or do I have to try harder?"
The girl's mind was a ball of confusion. She had liked what she felt... and, she knew Lady Sera could teach her how to do the things she had seen herself doing in the vision. She hated Lady Sera more than anything, even though, in the back of her mind, she knew Lady Sera was really trying to make her powerful. She frowned. "Why didn't you show me this at first?" she demanded. "Why did you torture me?!"
Lady Sera raised an eyebrow. "Torture? That wasn't torture, my dear... it was just the first part of the training. Make no mistake... your pain will not end once we go to the next part of your training. In fact, it will become much worse. But, I will teach you how to harness that pain. How to make it your strength. How to keep your control in any situation, how to inflict that pain on others, others who deserve it. How to use that pain... that strength... to defeat the Jedi," she said, watching the girl closely to gauge her reaction. Her Master had told her to feel the girl out on the subject of the Jedi, and to make sure that, whatever the girl's feelings were now, that they were turned to hatred before she was finished with her.
She needed not worry. The girl scowled upon hearing the word. Her parents had been loyal to the Emperor, and had a low opinion of the Jedi. They had apparently passed this opinion onto their daughter. She smiled then, a feral grin. "I'll get to fight the Jedi?" she asked, hope in her voice, although she was still very nervous about what Lady Sera had said about there being more pain involved.
"Of course," Lady Sera replied, relishing the sheer hatred the girl already had for the Jedi.
"I'll do it," the girl replied, casting away her earlier doubts. She wanted it. All of it. She wanted the power she had tasted, she wanted the freedom, the special training... the ability to fight and kill Jedi, though she did not look forward to more pain. And one other thing... "I just have one question," she said, stopping Lady Sera, who had made to get up. Lady Sera raised an eyebrow. "My parents... when you said I could see them... I mean..." she trailed off, not sure how to ask the question now that she had voiced it. Was it really what she wanted?
Lady Sera searched her mind a moment, then smiled. "When you feel you're ready, you may see them. I'll bring them down here to see you. And, when you see them..." she trailed off, grinning at the secret wish she had sensed within her student, "You may deal with them as you wish," she informed her, and stood up. She held out her hand to the girl. "Come. The pain in your feet will be nothing compared to what is to come, my dear... but, I promise you, the rewards will be great."
The girl swallowed hard, but fought down her fear of the pain as she took the woman's hand, and allowed her to help her to her feet. She felt ominous about Lady Sera saying ‘you may deal with them as you wish.’ What could that possibly have meant? Was Lady Sera suggesting that she may want to hurt her parents for putting her into this… horrible, yet beneficial situation? True she was angry, but she couldn’t let it go that far, her parents were very loyal to the Empire… Nadia inhaled sharply as Sera readied herself to begin the “lesson”.
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The girl grasped the handle of the training saber, trying not to cry out at the electrical current that coursed through her body from her contact with it. She was not allowed to scream, to cry, to show any sign of discomfort as she fought with the pain-inducing instrument.
Once again, she glanced at the number burned into the back of her right hand: 066-047. She had burned it there herself, at Lady Sera's command. It was her new name. She didn't ever think about her old one anymore... meditation with Lady Sera was more like brainwashing. Her number was imbedded in her psyche. Sometimes she would wake up finding herself chanting her number in her sleep. The name she used to use was gone, buried somewhere in her subconscious, like a memory she could almost remember, but not quite. She remembered that forgetting it was an unpleasant experience, and did not wish to dredge it up again.
047 activated the thick red blade of the training saber, and Lady Sera did likewise. Lady Sera swung first, and 047 blocked it with her own blade, the impact sending a greater electrical charge through her body. Involuntarily, she cried out. She soon regretted it.
She doubled over in pain as her stomach cramped. It felt like she had swallowed hot lead. "Stop screaming!" Lady Sera commanded, and 047 realized the high-pitched screams in her ears had been coming from her own throat. With great effort, she swallowed her screams and stood upright. The pain in her stomach stopped. In an instant, Lady Sera's blade came toward her, and she blocked it again. This time, 047 did not cry out.
Next Chapter?
Imperial Palace, Chapter 3
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