RJO - The Valen Saga

The Dark Halls

 Yang's eyes narrowed slightly as Crystal revealed her last name. The young woman didn't see this, as Yang was facing away from her, but she could sense that there was some mistrust growing within her.

Crystal in head: I can feel it... she's on to me... The family name may have given it away... good...

Yang in head: Lockharte... does that mean that she's related to him? And if she is, could she be a... no... if she were, she wouldn't reveal her last name. He would have taught her better than that. But still, there is something off about this woman... I'll keep my eye on her. 

The three of them continued towards the rusted door. As Yang was mere steps from the door, she stopped and turned around. She noticed that Crystal hadn't moved from that spot.

Yang: I'm assuming you don't want to come with us?

Crystal: Oh no. This is where you go on without me. I've said far too much already. I feel like I'd be safer if I just... went home.

Yang squinted.

Yang in head: Her voice sounded sincere, but I could feel some kind of venom in her voice.

Cyrus in head: No, don't leave! I still want to admire how pretty you are!

Cyrus in head: What the hell is wrong with you, Cyrus?

Cyrus in head: Shut up, Cyrus! Let me handle this!

Yang: Well, I guess that's for the best. Stay safe, Ms. Lockharte.

Crystal: Thank you!

With that, the woman darted off. Yang then turned the heavy metal doorknob and pushed the door open. The door made a loud screech as it opened, indicating that it had not been used in a long while. On the other side of the door was a series of unlit corridors. Yang ignited her lightsaber, bathing the entrance in blue light. Cyrus soon did the same in order to have his own light source.

Cyrus: What now?

Yang: We sweep the building. You go down the left hall and I'll take this central one. When you're done, come back here and we'll go down the right path together.

Cyrus: Got it.

Cyrus walked down the left hallway. The only sounds coming from the building were Cyrus' own footsteps, the hum of his lightsaber, and the distant sounds of Yang elsewhere in the building. The whole situation gave Cyrus an eerie feeling. He wondered what could have happened here, and why it put Yang on edge. As he examined the walls in between investigating rooms, he noticed a pair of holes in the wall.

Cyrus: Were these made by... a lightsaber?

He examined this abnormality for only a moment longer before moving on into the next room. This was the last room in this hallway, so once he finished he would reconvene with Yang. As he opened the door, he scanned the contents of it. In the room, he saw a chair facing away from him with what appeared to be a cloaked figure sitting in it. His body tensed up as he saw it. He attempted to get the figures' attention. As he did, he noticed that his attempts to make his voice more firm didn't entirely work, as his voice had some shakiness to it.

Cyrus: Excuse me... I'm going to have to ask you to put your hands up.

No response came from the figure.

Cyrus: Listen, I'm a Jedi and I'm gonna need you to come with me!

Still no response.

Cyrus: If you don't come with me, then I'm going to force you out of here.

He began to walk towards the figure, who didn't so much as flinch. Cyrus stopped right behind the figure.

Cyrus: Last chance to comply. I don't want to hurt you, man.

Still absolutely no sound coming from this figure.

Cyrus: Alright you asked for it.

Cyrus grabbed the chair and spun it around to face him. His blood ran cold as he saw what he was faced with. The cloaked figure in the chair was nothing more than a human skeleton. Cyrus screamed as he backed away from this horrific sight. As he did so, he felt a buzzing sensation in his head as his vision flashed blue for a split second. This shock caused him to fall onto his back. As he regained his senses, he noticed a blue glow lighting up the entire building. This light seemed to come from nowhere in particular, and seemed to have even distribution across the entire reach of it. This immediately confused Cyrus, since it obviously didn't seem to make sense. He staggered back to his feet and began to look around the empty corridors. As he looked to the dead end portion of the hallway, he saw a new door that hadn't previously been there. This door stood out as it seemed to have a glowing white doorknob. Cyrus was hesitant, but felt drawn towards it. Mentally reaching out with the force, he could sense no evil presence coming from the door, so he made his way, albeit slowly, towards it. With every step he got closer, he began to hear a low pulsating hum gradually getting louder and louder. The sound grew more and more intense as he began to reach toward the doorknob. His hand was mere inches from the glowing doorknob and the pulsing sound was almost deafening and still growing in volume until...

Yang: Cyrus, are you okay?

The blue glow dissipated and Cyrus was in pitch darkness, save for the glow from Yang's lightsaber. With that glow, Cyrus could see that the door at the end of the hall was gone, replaced with a flat wall with thin black writing on it.

Yang: Hey, what's that?

Cyrus: I don't know. I just saw it.

Yang moved forward to investigate the writing, and she read it aloud.

Yang: Genocide... Famine... Decay... Avarice... Stagnation... 

Cyrus: What does that mean?

Yang: I have no idea, it might just be some kid trying to be creepy by spray painting it on the wall.

Cyrus: Well, seems like it worked...

Yang: Say, why'd you turn off your lightsaber? There's no light in here.

Cyrus didn't know how to respond. How was he supposed to explain what just happened to him?

Cyrus: I-

He was cut off by the sound of a loud boom coming from the direction of the right corridor.

Cyrus: What was that?

Yang: I don't know, but I don't think we should ignore it.

Cyrus: Alright, let's go!