Catch-all for Maul; Love is not the opposite of hate.

[survivalthroughhate]

Who: survivalthroughhate and you!
What: open & closed threads
When: Catch-all for February and March
Where: All over Trench

Content Warnings: Event warning for March, graphic description of broken nails



All starters in the comments, threads are marked open and closed! Will be adding more as the months goes on!

Comments

[survivalthroughhate]

Maul watches until he's sure the poison has taken effect. Looks like Lucille was correct, it is rather potent and does just what Maul was hoping it would do. He forces the door open even though it's locked up tight. He'd tell Kenobi he needs better locks, but let's face it, Maul will get into anywhere it suits him no matter what is put in his path to stop him.

He strides on over to Anakin in the kitchen and looks at the pathetic heap of a Jedi on the floor before he shakes his head. "Has anyone ever told you that you are ridiculously predictable?" Then he sets the bag of ingredients he will need on the table and pulls out a list, checking to make sure he has everything he needs right.

[facultative]

Everything feels so sluggish, from the way his arms barely respond to his commands and even the Force seems to be just out of his reach. He can barely lift his head high enough to watch Maul approach.

"W-What did you do to me...?"

Every word is a struggle to get out and he can't get his thoughts in order to figure out a way out of this. As it is it already takes him far too long to realise that if this was meant to kill him Maul would have done it already.

[survivalthroughhate]

"Poisoned you, of course," Maul says in a flippant manner. "It has occurred to me that you might finally be useful instead of merely being in my way."

He pulls a syringe out of the bag and kneels by Anakin, pulling his arm up and selecting a vein. He sticks the syringe in with absolutely no gentleness in the movement and draws out a vial of blood. He starts putting all the ingredients into the cup and runs down the list one more time. Hmmm, roses, blood, ashes, essence....oh that's right! He needs something of Anakin's.

Again he kneels down and plucks a strand of hair from the Jedi's head. Dropping it in the cup, he starts to stir it all together with an antler. "Have you heard of these bonding pacts? Each one done with a person can provide different effects." He chuckles with a demented faux cheerfulness. "And after experiencing them for myself, I have discovered that a bond of hostility between two people can create a unique bond of power." He stops stirring and sniffs the mixture. Smells like roses. Looks like he got the ritual right.

[facultative]

He can't even flinch as the needle is stuck in his arm and as Maul's words sink in fear makes a reappearance. It gives him the burst to make a slightly more coordinated struggle as futile as it is.

He's heard of these bonding pacts vaguely and it wasn't something he wanted with people he liked so the thought of Maul being in his head is terrifying. "No... Get away from me." He can't fight Maul off and instead he attempts to crawl away. Maybe he could somehow summon his omni and call Obi-Wan. Anything to stop this from happening.

[survivalthroughhate]

Maul's still checking the mixture when he hears the sounds of Anakin trying to crawl off. Really, now this is just pathetic. He takes a few quick strides and catches up to the Jedi. "Exactly where do you think you're going?"

He grabs Anakin by the back of his clothes and pulls upwards, dragging him over the nearest doorway before letting him drop to the ground again. He goes over and checks the instructions on how to do the ritual one more time before he goes back over with the mixture still being carried in the silver bowl. He covers his hand in the paste and grabs Anakin right around the neck, his fingers pressing against the side and his thumb right at the Jedi's throat. When he lets go, the handprint starts to glow. Good. It's working. Then he coats Anakin's limp hand in the goo and pulls up his shirt, placing it on the part of his back where his organic half starts.

He's unsure of if that will do it when suddenly he sees the Doorway before the two of them.....yep, looks like it definitely worked!

[facultative]

Anakin's breathing rapidly, tears falling freely down his cheeks as Maul picks him up and presses a hand against his neck. "No. No. Please don't." His pleading falls on deaf ears and where was Obi-Wan?

When his hand is forced on Maul's back he cringes and begs the Force to stop this, but it's futile as he watches it glow and the Doorway makes its appearance. There's a rush of warmth that gives way to the cold of the dark side as the connection locks into place. Anakin whimpers, all pathetic attempts at resistance gone as he withdraws within himself to try and find some corner of his mind that the dark hasn't touched.

It feels futile, Maul's presence is overwhelming in his mind.

[survivalthroughhate]

He can feel the rush of power from Anakin's side as well. It's a heady feeling and just what Maul had hoped for.

"What's the matter, Jedi? Isn't this what you wanted? The power of the Dark Side to save those you love?" Maul's tone is mocking and cruel. After the headache Anakin has been in both towns, Maul can't resist kicking him when he's down. "You know what they say. Be careful what you wish for. It might come true."

[facultative]

He's too far gone to even process Maul's words. The fear, the anger, the hate and the suffering is very different when he's trying to stay away from it. No matter what he does to try and push it back, it continues to seep in and threatens to overwhelm him. He doesn't know if he's strong enough to resist it forever.

He doesn't know if he even wants to.

[survivalthroughhate]

Maul can see the Jedi has retreated into his own mind and he'll not be getting anything more coherent out of him. Just as well. Maul's gotten what he came for and has no further need of the whiny mess of a Jedi still lying there on the floor.

As he leaves the house, he feels something odd. Strangely, that tug of Light within Anakin that's now scraping up against his own mind feels very much like an itch out of reach: something he wants to deal with and get it to stop but can't. He doesn't flinch away from it but he's also never quite been this close to the Light within any being, Jedi or otherwise. He's not sure that he likes it all that much.