genessia | 002 | what we've become is contrary to -

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Current Location: Genessia City Commons

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002 | what we've become is contrary to -

Who: Lord Kallig/Darth Imperius and Prompto Argentum
Where: Genessia City Commons
What: Role-reversal - Prompto isn't the only one with demons.
When: Morning of December 4
Warnings: What gives a Sith ~~Light Side or not~~ nightmares? Best to read this journal's opt-out post, this thread is likely to go places.

The dream began innocently enough. Somehow, he was playing pazaak with Cassian Andor. ... Well, the Imperial version of him, anyway. But it quickly escalated from there - there was blaster fire, and then a room full of dead droids, of various models, and faceless bodies -

- and they were installing the Silencer onto the face of the moon, which rippled and became strangely robotic. He'd never seen the Death Star, so what he'd imagined was metallic and round and covered with craters made of satellite dishes - and it fired on Alderaan -

Alderaan, where he stood with the royal families allied with the Empire, and the Jedi who tried to kill him, and then Ashara and Andronikos, and they all went up in fire -

- fire, like the sensation in his bones as the Rakata machine remade him - as he heard Darth Thanaton tell him that he had ended Sith tradition, that it was his hand that built the Silencer, built the Death Star, doomed the future for three thousand years -

- and the fire in his bones from the Rakata machine became the terrible wrenching sensation as Darth Zash tried to take his body, remove his mind. Zash possessing Khem Val. Xalek. Talos. Andronikos. Ashara. Taking over all of them - destroying their minds forever -

Takumi awoke, breathing heavily, sweating. As he gradually came to reality - not on his ship, not in danger, in Genessia away from everyone he cared about, away from everyone who wanted him dead - he was distantly grateful he hadn't destroyed anything in his sleep.

He needed to resolve that situation - find something more workable. At this rate, he was going to spend all of his earnings from the library on new furniture.

A memory came to him, from not long ago - suggesting to Prompto that talking with someone who understood might help with nightmares. Right. Sure. Who would understand? Who did he have, here? He was alone.

... He needed increased focus, better control.

While the situation wasn't optimal. He didn't have a lot of better choices. And, despite his misgivings - he did trust the man. The Sith only hoped that he could be honest enough with him, without alarming him.

Prompto's door, a few floors down from his, got a sharp knock around eight in the morning. The middle of the night, according to Takumi's sleep schedule.

And it certainly didn't look like he'd slept well. This time, the low-cut shirt wasn't him at playing vulnerable - he just threw on the first thing he found, so as not to walk around half-naked.

A charming, amiable smile graced his face, though. Takumi was never too tired to keep from wearing his masks.

"Good morning, Prompto! I was in the neighborhood, and thought I'd drop by."

... he lived just downstairs.

"Can I come in?"

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This morning, Prompto had gotten a good night's sleep. At least, what passed for one, and he'd already finished his morning run and had been coming out of the shower.

At the knock, he opened the door, forgetting that he hadn't pulled his shirt on yet, his hair being ruffled with a towel. It dropped onto his shoulders. Unlike their last conversation, he was feeling pretty okay.

The guest was unexpected and he looked alarmed for a moment, but then he relaxed.

"Morning." He said in a friendly tone. "Come in, yeah."

Prompto stepped aside for him to come in. Once he was inside, he'd close the door and pull his shirt over his head, because he wasn't going to sit around half naked.

Which, really, was a damn shame. It was a rather distracting view, and he (almost) momentarily forgot his personal drama. Almost. Still, while Takumi would have flirted with a stranger, he knew Prompto had difficulties with socialization in the best of circumstances - and was likely sweet on his king - so kindly held his tongue.

"Thanks," Takumi said, and walked in, looked at the near-identical layout. Watched surreptitiously at Prompto's back as he reached for a shirt. He could look.

As he looked at Andronikos - as Andronikos on Alderaan with Ashara went up in fi-

He ran a hand through his hair. Blasted nightmares.

"You look like you're doing well," he observed - friendly and chipper.

"No problem." He said, pulling his shirt over his head and pushing it down his frame. He didn't feel the need to put his vest on at that moment, it wasn't like he was heading out, especially not now that he had company.

"Yeah, not too bad today. Had a nice run." Which meant it was probably good that he'd finished his shower before Takumi arrived.

Prompto looked him up and down, not sure why he'd appeared at his door, but he'd had manners drilled into him properly from Ignis.

"W-Would you like breakfast?"

Perhaps Takumi should have also showered before coming up here - but he hadn't wasted the time. Hadn't grabbed anything to eat or drink, either. He'd been thinking about the destruction he could cause to his apartment, and trying not to think about the images inside of his head.

"Not ... really," Takumi answered, and. Figured he'd begin with the honesty for the morning. He didn't completely drop the cheerful front quite yet, as he found a chair to sit in, rubbing the back of his neck.

He admitted, "I doubt I could stomach anything larger than a raisin, right now."

Food could have been a distraction, but it didn't seem like Takumi wanted that. Prompto moved around to sit on the edge of the couch. He could skip a meal, he had, often.

He looked upset and he wondered how to go about doing that, being there for him in return.

"Wanna talk about it?"

"Yes," the word was out of Takumi's mouth before he realized he was about to speak - and wasn't that embarrassing, he certainly had better control over his own tongue than that.

This time, the sheepish expression he wore wasn't feigned, and he looked down. Well. So much for the chipper mask and everything, this time. He muttered, in the direction of the carpet, "I also have nightmares ... I don't really know where to begin."

With the nightmare itself? It wasn't perhaps the entire issue, as much as it featured things which bothered him, past and present. Rather, it contained bits and pieces of everything which had been troubling him since arriving here.

Not lifting his head, he said quietly, "It's a lot to ask of you, considering, well."

He felt like he'd gotten to know Prompto - but Prompto barely knew him.

He shook his head quickly at the assertion. "You caught me at a bad time last time and I...n-normally I'm not that bad. I'm feeling what passes for good for me."

The only times he felt better was the times that he was out with his friends, everything completely forgotten for the time.

"We're friends, so you can talk to me." Prompto promised gently. "I guess start where you want."

... Prompto considered them friends.

Something warm settled in his chest. Uncomplicated as that, huh? No - loyalty oaths, no master-apprentice bit, no favors, no quests. Almost like Andronikos or Talos, except he still needed to prove himself to them, first.

Was he worthy of that?

Takumi told himself he'd have to be.

He drew in a breath, and thought he'd start with the latest thing bothering him when he was awake - which would inevitably lead to questions, which would lead to things which bothered him when he slept.

"You've seen the madness that's taken everyone, here. People saying things which are out of character for them, at least, based on how they've acted in past transmissions."

"One of those men affected is a Captain Cassian Andor. He's from my world, its future. He apparently died fighting for the cause of a Rebellion which, being three thousand years after my time, I don't know about or understand."

"But now, he calls himself Imperial Agent Andor, and. His Empire, apparently, is similar enough to my own, that ... I was quite successfully able to pass myself off as one of his superiors."

There was not a chance they were not friends, after he seriously leaned on the other man and spilled some of his deepest fears and anxieties. It had been miserable and unpleasant, but Takumi had been there for him.

"I d-don't know people that well here, but I will trust your word on that." He nodded, bidding him to continue.

"I see." Prompto beckoned him to continue, although he had to remind himself it was not the Empire he was used to. A different Empire.

"You made him think you were working together?"

"Yeah," Takumi said, and admitted, "It was ... disturbing how easy it was. You'd think, after three thousand years, after apparently the Empire I knew fell, and a new one rose, that there'd be enough differences - but -"

He clasped his hands behind his neck as he bent forward. "... Apparently not, because here he's talking about order, and maintaining control, and he's - do you know his lover is a droid, he respected him as a person, but now - now he's talking about the droid like it's just a machine, and ..."

Closed his eyes, even if all he was looking at was carpet and shoes. "And I thought. I knew, that if the Empire of the future was no different than ... and I knew that Andor wouldn't forgive himself if he arrested his friends for being 'rebels', or executed them, or killed or reprogrammed his droid lover ..."

"... So, I put on my robes, and my mask, and used that voice modulator you got me. That I was going to disguise myself with to heal people. I did that, and I threatened Andor into keeping his friends safe and his robot lover unharmed."

He was quietly listening, mostly, his hands in his lap with his fingers laced together.

"I can't claim to know how governments ch-change but I think they usually don't much." Prompto was trying to remember, if that was even helpful. It probably wasn't.

"He would have regretted it, harming others. I've met Cassian. He s-seemed very kind. You did the right thing."

Prompto was quiet for a moment. "Is the Empire bad where you're from? I m-mean, do you think so? Because you kind of seem like you don't want people to kn-know."

Slowly, Takumi shook his head. "Maybe, but ... you don't understand."

Which was the entire point of talking to Prompto and explaining, right?

But, he was reassured - Takumi knew he'd done the right thing, by threatening Cassian, but it still bothered him. Especially, especially, the threat of choking him using the Force. He didn't do that with his own agents, but. He couldn't think of a faster way to make him listen, and this might only last two or three weeks, and ...

Prompto was asking the real question here, wasn't he?

"I don't want people to know I'm a Sith, Prompto," he admitted, very quietly. "The Empire is - in the end - just another government. It has iron control, discipline, corruption, and abuse of power. Just as the Republic, during my era, has democracy, indecisiveness, corruption, and abuse of power."

He raised his hand, cupped it near his chest, so it'd be away from Prompto, a clear non-threat.

Let lightning crackle, there. "But in my era, the Sith are the ones who rule the Empire - and most do it with terror, torture, intimidation, and threats. They have the power of the Force, and they use that power as justification to rule others. The Emperor is the most powerful of them all, and yes, by your estimation, he is evil."

Prompto nodded at that assessment, he didn't understand, so he was attentive. He understood the need to keep parts of himself a secret, after all he was doing the same thing. He'd have wanted to keep doing that, but Takumi had found him at a very vulnerable time.

He gave that some thought, turning it over in his mind. He supposed that could be one way of looking at it.

"Do you hate the Republic?" He asked softly, they were talking about war, weren't they?

At the mention of torture he swallowed, thick and his stomach a little heavy. This wasn't about him, and it was not his Empire.

"I d-didn't say he was evil." He backpedaled quickly. "I just wanted to know what you think. It's...not my world."

"... Not really," Takumi answered. It was a complicated sensation he had for them. "But they'll wipe us out, without consideration."

He tried to order his thoughts, make the explanation coherent, not rambling all over the place.

"You understand, based on what I described," because torture was a horrible thing, "that it's my opinion that he is evil. That most Sith that I work with, are evil. That's what they were shaped into - what they'll continue to shape others into in the future."

"The find someone Force sensitive, take them to Korriban - and they either break, or they die."

At last, Takumi lifted his head a little - meeting Prompto's eyes with his own, from under the fringe of his hair.

"Prompto, it was all supposed to change, because that's what I'm trying to do."

"The Empire isn't all Sith. It isn't all evil. There are normal people, normal families, billions of innocent lives, there."

"And, they deserve life, and freedom, and their own dignity, just like anyone else does. No matter where they were born."

He nodded thoughtfully. He understood the evils he was describing and he didn't want to influence him one way or another not when he was opening up like that. "I'm sorry." He murmured because it sounded awful. It was awful.

He offered him an empathetic look. "I wish it had, like you want."

Prompto nodded again. "I g-get that. Civilians. They're not responsible. No matter where they were born. It would be unfair."

Looking down again, Takumi said, frustrated, "I don't know. Maybe it did. Maybe that's why it fell. Like I said - Andor's three thousand years in the future. He said the Empire of his time was something relatively new."

"I'm a historian, Prompto - that's what I made myself into, anyway, more or less. And I know what happens to history. It repeats, when people don't learn from it. But ... I would have thought, if I did change anything, that I would make it stable enough ... or that I'd leave enough history behind, that whatever new Empire grows? It'd learn from the mistakes of the past.

Yet, perhaps that was arrogant. Three thousand years. Why remember anything?

Why remember the Silencer?

... He wasn't ready to talk about the Silencer, yet.

"There have to be more like me, too, surely. Some Sith who survived the training, were selected as apprentices, and who weren't evil."

His laugh was sudden, inappropriate, and really not sounding like he was amused at all.

"There's nothing even wrong with the Sith Code! Better than the Jedi one, anyhow. You'd think they would have the reputation for being monsters."

He let out a quiet noise, rubbing the back of his neck. "History is like that. Three thousand years is a long time. You..." Prompto frowned. "You can't be accountable for that. There's generations of people who have taken other paths."

Arrogant, perhaps, but it was something Takumi wanted. It wasn't a bad thing.

"I'm sure there are. I think m-most people aren't evil." Even though, at times, that was hard to remember. "They can't be. So...but it's hard to stop some people."

An image flashed in his mind he stamped so hard on it, because it was not the time, but his fingernails dug into his hand. Nope.

"I don't know either code, but whatever you're doing, I believe you're doing the right thing." Prompto said gently. "Because if you were evil, you'd have had plenty of time to harm me, but you didn't."

Nodding, feeling frustrated - at history, not his friend - Takumi groaned, "I know that, intellectually, but ... it doesn't change how I feel, that I should have made certain things would be different."

You built the Silencer. You broke with Sith tradition. You caused this -

Sitting up a little, finally, Takumi sighed and looked away. "You know, on most days, I agree with you? Even when I was ... when I was owned by ..."

He didn't want to say her given name, and he sure as hell would never call her his Mistress again, no. He'd sooner cut out his own tongue. She was dead, by his hand, but the first time he'd killed using the Force - the first time he killed at all - would always cause an uneasy feeling of fear, guilt, and satisfaction in his stomach.

"... Even I might have thought, 'yes, evil, but the exception.' On other days, though ... on bad days ..."

Closing his eyes, he tried to finish a coherent thought. "Even on bad days. I know - most of these people were like me, once, at least in that they were brought to Korriban, and they were afraid and alone, and needed to do whatever it took to survive."

"I don't blame most of them for that. There are some things I can't ... that I just can't forgive anyone for, but. It's not as if, by saying the word 'evil', by calling those actions what they are, that I want every one of them to die."

He wasn't a Jedi.

"I know." Prompto assured, because he did. On a bad day, all the rational thinking in the world wasn't going to help.

He was quietly considering his next words carefully, if only because he wanted to be helpful. A small part of him agreed with Takumi, and he wasn't entirely sure where that hardness had come from. Oh wait, he knew, but he wasn't sure he liked it. It didn't suit him at all.

"They probably were terrified, like you." He said gently. "It's probably worth it to try and save them first."

Prompto paused for a moment. "But some people can't be saved." He knew someone who'd been changed and someone who was not redeemable. It was them he thought of in that moment.

Prompto was definitely reassuring him - first, by affirming that he wasn't lumping Takumi in with the rest of the Sith he was describing - but also, by telling him that his previous choices were correct.

"... You know, I try, with some of them?" His smile was more of a grimace. "Not maybe with ... words like saving them. I don't think that'd get through to most of them, if I seemed merciful. People call me weak, already, when I spare my enemies."

He looked at his hands - still soft and mostly free of scarring, as he usually wore his gloves when in battle. "It means I had to prove my worth all the more in other areas. Had to strike, all the harder, when a rival or enemy wouldn't back down. I needed to prove, that even if I spared people who were valuable to the Empire, that I wasn't weak."

The Jedi Organa on Alderaan. Ashara's Jedi masters.

"Not everyone can be saved. And not everyone will surrender, when I offer them the chance. I ... don't exactly blame them, for holding to their duty. Except ... except. When I tried to make them understand, first, why I'm trying to spare them."

Some deaths, however, would haunt him for a long time.

"I don't have a lot of experience facing people." Prompto said, running fingers through his hair. "I don't really...I've only killed one man. I don't think it's weak to spare someone who can change."

He left it unsaid that there was no way that man was going to change.

"I've killed countless MTs, too far gone to know their names any longer." Not names, his mind reminded him and he grit his teeth, telling it to shut up.

"I..." Prompto smiled. "I get having to prove yourself. I get that a lot. So...I believe in you. I'm sure you did what you could."

Their earlier conversation - the man who had created him - Takumi remembered. He'd already told Prompto that was in self-defense, that surely that sort of person would have done a lot worse to his friend besides killing him.

But. Someone who could change, he'd spare. Someone who could be useful, he'd spare.

He'd still killed so many people, perfectly redeemable people, people who could have served under the Empire. Just because they wouldn't back down. Self-defense, perhaps. A consequence of the war, most definitely. At least soldiers knew they would die.

It bothered him, on some days.

It didn't bother him, on others, and that was almost worse.

"I believe I am, most of the time," Takumi said quietly. "I know I'm defending myself, or that it's part of war."

There are certainly a lot worse things than death.

But it reminded him of the Silencer, again, and he slumped down.

"I was ... I am so certain, Prompto, I'm doing the right thing, to try to change the Empire, to make it better. I'm one of twelve, now, who answers only to the Emperor himself. Surely, short of trying to get rid of him, there's little more I can do to gain influence."

"... But."

How did he explain what he learned of the future? It just couldn't be a coincidence, that such a superlaser was developed, could it?

He wasn't going to focus on the things that came to mind, no matter how much he wanted to. He'd probably think about them later, maybe he'd fit in another run to get it all out of him before he went to bed.

"War isn't kind to anyone." He sighed, exhaling. "A lot of people die. A lot of innocent people die." Prompto understood that too, not that he dwelled on that so much, but he probably should have.

"You can't predict the future...and no one can fix everything alone." He admitted softly. Even Noctis couldn't save Lucis alone, he had a lot of help along the way, still needed help, honestly.

"Would it help if I told you I thought you should forget about the future?"

If Takumi knew how much he'd been distressing his friend, he'd probably clam up immediately. He was already attempting to stay as far away from mentions of mind-control and torture as possible. Those weren't things he did - but they were certainly things he'd killed his rivals for.

His voice was grave, at the further thought of innocent death. "Yes. A lot of them do."

A whole planet's worth, apparently.

"... I'm not entirely alone," Takumi said, though. Being lonely was another thing, altogether. "I have allies. I have apprentices, and. I have companions, some who may consider me a friend."

Just forgetting about the future, though?

Every part of his being recoiled at the idea.

"I can't, Prompto. I am - I am the Darth Imperius. I am the head of ancient knowledge, charged with keeping the mystical knowledge of the Sith and guarding the secrets of our order. It's my duty to know."

And then, to clarify - "Not for the Emperor's sake. But, for all of the people in the Empire - both innocent and touched by this war. I need to know, for them, and. Force knows, that has to be the reason I was brought to this place."

It seemed to be inevitable in war, and there would be time when it was over to remember, to mourn and hold everything to heart, but that time had not come.

"That's good. You need that if you're going to succeed, right?" Prompto offered gently, smiling at him. He was relieved to know he wasn't alone in the world.

"Oh, I'm sorry. I didn't really understand your job." He looked like he was thinking. "Do you think you can change things? If you know more?"

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