The Lies that Bind

[Byl Laprovik]

"He's working with a Sith Lord!"

Disarmed, and faced with a situation where he had to act quickly, Byl did what he knew he had to do.

He drew his own concealer blaster, and fired as Dan whirled about. In a flourish, the Rebel Commander pitched forward and fell to the ground.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Horror flitted across her features, and s'Il took a stuttered step closer to Byl. Her eye briefly followed Dan as he fell, but any remorse she felt was pushed away. In its' stead was a seething hatred. It consumed her in its' entirety, and she felt her body draw upon the Force. A barked command, and she lashed out at Byl in terrible retribution.

He was thrown up into the air to slam into the wall. She held him there, one arm outstretched as she held him up by an invisible tether.

And ever so slowly, her fingers began to curl inward.

[Byl Laprovik]

Muscles strained in vain against the invisible hold of the Force, and Byl thrashed about.

"He's a traitor, s'Ilancy!"

[Darth Decepis]

Groggily, the figure sprawled on the ground began to move. Eyes blinked. Open, then closed, then open again. Yellow eyes, on a face that seemed older, and aging still before the naked eye.

"The only way our family can be safe, is to kill him!"

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

What was this?!

The Lupine blinked in confusion, still holding Byl aloft. But now, her eye tracked to the form on the ground, and she sucked in a horrified breath.

"No... "

Her unbelieving whisper held revulsion and betrayal, and in that instant Byl was forgotten. s'Il cast him aside like a rag doll as she backed away from the Sith. The madness was still in her gaze, and she felt her legs grow weak.

"What have you done... ?"

How long had he been masquerading as Dan? She felt sick to her stomach.

"Where is Dan."

[Darth Decepis]

"I am Dan."

Decepis hobbled, the grazing blaster shot still very much painful as he offered a weak smile.

"I am your everything. Don't you remember? I've been with you all this time. I am the only one you can count on."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

Her first instinct was to deny him, to brush away his words. But in the next instant the Lupine crumbled. Her determination and will were suddenly sapped dry. What the Sith spoke was true, she knew now looking at him. He had taken her completely without her knowledge, and she had let him.

Defeat twisted her features then, mixed with such deep sorrow. Her shoulders sagged, and she relinquished her twisted hold on the Force.

There were no words to be spoken that could push away this new nightmare.

[Darth Decepis]

"I have protected you all of these years, and I alone make you strong. Now is the time to use your strength to destroy all who threaten what you've worked so hard to gain."

The yellow-eyed figure hobbled forward to her.

"Only your hatred can finally defeat our enemies. Only your anger can safeguard everything you wish to be!"

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

She was frozen, transfixed by his yellow eyes. The Lupine gave him a pained look, but did not shrink from his approach.

"My daughter," she croaked, purposefully refusing to acknowledge his status in regards to the girl, "... don't hurt her, please."

[Darth Decepis]

"I would never do such a thing. She is our daughter."

The smile widened.

"Ours. And she will achieve true greatness beyond our expectations. You know this to be true."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

s'Il bowed her head. What more was there to be done? What more could she do? She had resisted for so long; turned him away each time he had come at her. But this... this was such overwhelming defeat that there were no defenses that could possibly withstand his patience.

The Lupine was slow to her knees, her eye tracking upward to lock with Decepis' yellow, diseased gaze.

[Darth Decepis]

"Let me teach you all I know, and you will achieve greatness for yourself and for us."

He placed a hand on her shoulder.

"The Rebel speaks the truth. Our enemies will not wait for us to stay here. Eventually we must fight those who would destroy us, and crush them."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

"I belong to you."

She felt a tear form as she closed her eyes tightly.

"I always have."

[Darth Decepis]

"Then let us begin what must be done."

Yellow eyes tracked to a sprawled figure on the ground.

"Destroy Byl Laprovik, and we will reform the Rebel Alliance in our image, as must be done."

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

She turned to look over her shoulder at Byl. He lay where she'd thrown him, and the Lupine stared blankly at him for a few moments before carefully rising to her feet once more.

Inwardly she very nearly balked at this first order, but her jaw set, the muscles beneath her skin tightening.

Slowly she approached the Rebel, and crouching low, she brushed a deceptively gentle hand over his face before letting her fingers come to rest at his temple.

[Darth Decepis]

Yellow eyes fixated on the disciple and the upcoming deed. Face twisted into hateful grimace. Teeth bared in anticipation.

"Do it!"

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

s'Il heard the Sith's voice as if it was far away. Her attentions solely on Byl, she leaned forward so that their foreheads touched. Her long hair fell forward to cascade over his head.

The tear that had formed fell onto his cheek, and she whispered a pleading apology to the Rebel. He had been right, and she had been wrong. And now she was paying the price for her unwillingness to believe.

She braced herself with a hand to his chest, and sank into his mind.

The Lupine peeled back so many layers of who he was; what he had done; his very identity. Each layer that she stripped away was discarded like some piece of garbage into the ether of his subconscious and buried deep. She laid him bare, and took everything that was 'Byl Laprovik' from him.

He was nobody now. There was nothing for him to call his own. No cause, no ideals, no passions. He was a soulless being and without anything to guide him. When he woke, he would be nothing but a blank canvas; a void.

Even after she'd finished, the Lupine did not move. Presently, she shifted, and she moved to rest her head on his chest in remorse over her actions.

[Darth Decepis]

The smile on Decepis's face fell.

"What have you done?"

She had not killed as he had commanded.

[Loklorien s'Ilancy]

There was a long silence before she chose to answer him, and s'Il used it to return to her feet. She faced the Sith.

"Byl Laprovik is gone."

"He... " a gesture to the Rebel, "... is whoever you now wish him to be."

[Darth Decepis]

Slowly, the smile returned to his face. He reached out with his mind, and found the Rebel spy to be barren.

"Impressive, young apprentice. Good. Your clever work will reap great things."

The hateful glare returned to Byl.

"Dispose of this annoyance in the ship from which he came. Leave nothing to reveal our presence."