A Thing or Two About Vengeance

The sun passionately kissed the sky good night, leaving a transient blush of red across its darkening face. Stars pushed their way through the mass of darkness to shed hesitating light over the abode of darkness below.

Inside the structure, Ariel gasped for breath. With the air she managed to catch hold of, she named the newborn child in her arms. Her eyes were as cold as ice.

Opening blue eyes that were flecked with yellow like her mother's, Shitsuren Seiki greeted the world with a soft coo. The night noises complimented the baby's first sound and surrounded the pair with its blanket of nocturnal darkness.

Seiki reached out her chubby hand out for a shiny object that caught her eye. She cooed and blinked her yellow-flecked blue eyes at the woman standing near her.

Ariel slapped the baby's hand, not noticing when the child whimpered. The Sailor Sith didn't care if her child got the object or not; she merely wished to stop the infernal cooing. "Shut up," Ariel instructed the baby as she continued to work the computer and run her cruel experiments.

The Sith had discovered that the child was extremely strong in the Force and had a sense of special power emanating from her small body. Ariel's plan was to somehow tap this power and use it to her advantage. Unlike most new mothers, the ember-eyed woman cared little or nothing for her offspring. The only concern Ariel harbored was that the little girl would grow up to be uncontrollable. Ariel enjoyed having things under her control.

As she stopped whimpering, Seiki reached out for the shiny thing again.

A statue stepped out of its alcove and glanced around as it formed itself into a shapely humanoid female. She still retained some of the statue's features over her red hair and blue skin. Stretching, she looked up and down the hall. No other being was in sight, so the shapeshifter began to walk in the direction that her instincts took her.

"Go to sleep," Ariel growled at the little girl. "Don't whine, don't cry, and, by the Force, don't snore." The Sith had no love in her heart. She'd felt the new life growing in her belly and faced it with a sense of loathing. The only reason she hadn't gotten rid of the child was the fact that Seiki carried an enormous potential for darkness. Whatever Force-potential the Dark Side offspring had, Ariel wanted to harvest it and use it for herself.

"Mistake. That's all you are," Ariel spat. "Some kind of cosmic joke." The Sith snorted. "I don't think it's funny. And I can't wait to kill you."

Seiki's little blue eyes filled up with tears as if she understood what her mother was saying. Ariel didn't pay any attention as she walked out the door.

Very carefully, Mistique hid in the shadows. Being a shapeshifter gave her a natural ability - even instinct - to hide. She could hide her appearance, her motives, her wishes, anything. The one thing that she never hid was her intellect. Whether it was inherent in being a shapeshifter, or inherent in being evil, Mistique was able to come up with the most deviously pleasing plans.

Whenever the woman had realized that Ariel was pregnant, the workings of a plot began to form in the back of her mind. The dark-haired Senshi of Children was to thank for that. Had it not been for her, Mistique would have been happy merely killing Ariel.

Now... Mistique was going to make her suffer.

An animal of the night sounded off. Its half-howl, half-scream filtered through the walls of the building and fell on the ears of the child that was still awake.

Mature beyond her few days and growing faster than could be expected, Seiki watched the night unfold itself. Something inside of her resounded with the night's coming, as if she was a part of it. The yellow flecks in her eyes glinted with the faint starlight that spilled in the window. She reached out a tiny hand as the moon peeked in her window. The silvery starlight and moonlight swirled about her and encompassed her in their nighttime pleasures.

A noise that was not of the normal night's song made the child turn her head to the door. Framed by the doorway was a blue-skinned woman who appeared to be half statue. Mistique glanced around the room to be sure that no one but herself and the child was present. Once she was sure that she and the child were alone, the Sith reached out for the baby.

Seiki wrinkled her tiny face into a frown. She didn't know who this new person was. Mistique cooed softly at the baby to reassure her. Feeling something from the woman that Ariel had never shown her, Seiki reached up her arms.

Taking the literal Sithspawn in her arms, Mistique glanced out the door. The hall was still empty. Moving quickly, but not so quickly that she missed any vital indicators, Mistique escaped the building with the baby tight in her grasp.

Clothing herself in the body of a young woman, Mistique walked into the Child Protection Agency. She cast her yellow eyes around the place, assuring herself there were few people here.

"Her... her name is Kleppa," Mistique said tearfully. "I can't keep her anymore. Please... take good care of my baby!"

Dashing for the door like a fearful mother, Mistique made sure no one could ask her any questions. Once she was outside, the Sith began to laugh. Cruel, harsh laughter burst from her mouth. Ariel would never find her little lost daughter. Not on Agamar.

Mistique was still cackling as she boarded her ship and disappeared into the sky. In a few years - once the child had matured - she'd be back to claim her little one. Then Ariel could see the baby fighting against her at Mistique's side. That would show the red-eyed woman who was the mastermind. Ariel would never dare cross her, not with Seiki's power at Mistique's beck and call.

She began to laugh again.

"What, honey?" the purple-haired director asked, dismayed. "But dearie, you're the third family in a week who has had 'problems' with the girl! There ain't hardly no one else!"

She sighed at the comm. "Yes... we have one last family to try. The Diciembre couple. We'll come get her in a little while."

A man with shoulder-length black hair turned his stark blue eyes to look at the woman. "Something wrong?" he asked. His voice was deep and silky. "Anything I can help with?"

The woman shook her head. "I... I don't think so. I's just havin' trouble placin' a little girl in a good home, dearie."

"Oh?"

"Yes... poor dearie. Her momma left her with us, and every family that's tried to take her in starts fighting with each other. Everyone gets all hurt and broken up inside. But I's think that this family'll do her. They're so good!" The woman smiled, and the dark-haired man walked out of the building, contemplating.

Mrs. Diciemre looked at the little girl with love in her eyes. "She's perfect," the woman cooed as she tickled the baby's chin. Kleppa cooed and grabbed the older woman's hand.

Why their little Kleppa never smiled, the couple didn't know. That was okay with them because they loved the baby anyway. She seemed to be the only being that they really loved anymore.

The tiny girl had been with them for about a week when trouble began. Every night the couple would fight. Horrible fights with shouting and throwing things. The neighbors heard them but did nothing.

No one could talk any sense into either human. Each claimed that the other had broken his or her heart... the smallest thing was always inflamed into a giant plot. They were incredibly close to breaking up, but they wanted - needed - to stay together for Kleppa's sake.

Unfortunately, they didn't know that soon it wouldn't matter.

Darth Syn eyed the house with distaste. It wasn't large or rich, and he suspected that farmers lived there. The whole planet was full of farmers! They offered no sport.

He watched the moonlight play across the windows as the night cloaked him in concealing darkness. Walking up to the door, he waved his hand. The door flew backwards at his Force-command and he strode though, his cape fluttering slightly in the wind.

"Anyone home?" he called out, with a cruel smile.

A pretty woman walked out of the kitchen, drying her hands on a towel. "Who are you?" she gasped.

"Dark Eyes!" the Sith said, motioning with his hands and peering into her eyes. The woman's eyes went blank, and she looked at Darth Syn intently. "Now. Call your husband," he instructed.

The woman had no choice but to do as he said; she was firmly under his dark spell. "Dear... I need you to come here for a minute..."

Approaching from another part of the house, the man was defensive as soon as he saw the dark-suited man. "What are you doing with my wife?"

"Nothing," Darth Syn said. He dropped his voice to a low growl. "Yet."

"Get away from her," the other man said, reaching for something he could use as a weapon. He grabbed a lamp and swung it at Darth Syn.

Rolling his eyes, the Sith Knight held up his arm and let the lamp crash into it. Darth Syn was not hurt by the weak attack. He smiled cruelly and spread his arms apart. The cape that graced his shoulders rippled with every movement of his powerful shoulders. "Death Blade!"

The man's eyes went wide as the evil blade came at him. He tried to run, but there was no escape. He fell, dead.

The Sith yawned, looking bored. Farmers. All they were good for was to feed pigs.

He toyed for a moment with the idea of killing the woman he had in his complete control, but his plans were halted by the soft cry of a child. Darth Syn grinned. This must be that young child that the woman had spoken of. He reached down and picked the child up off the couch and held her up to the light.

Little Kleppa cooed at him and watched him with light blue eyes. Her eyes were slightly disturbing with their yellow flecks. Darth Syn shook off the feeling and pondered the torture for the baby. He had half a mind to kill her outright. Then a crueler plan formed. IT would leave a stronger Force-trace, but Darth Syn was not worried. There were no senshi on this pathetic planet.

Darth Syn set the child on the ground next to the couch and put his hand on the baby's forehead. She whimpered slightly as if she knew what was coming. Slowly gathering the memories of the murder he had just committed, Darth Syn forced them into the baby's mind. He imprinted the murder of her father as strongly as he could on her impressionable mind. The little girl started crying.

Smiling cruelly, Darth Syn sent a Force-blast to the window so that it shattered. As he was getting ready to leave, he turned back to the woman who still sat in a daze. "Kill yourself for me, would you?"

Just as he was about to leave, he touched Kleppa one more time - leaving the imprint of her mother's forced suicide.

The night chorused with frustration as Ariel reached out to the Dark Side of the Force. Her baby was gone. No sense of loyalty or love prompted Ariel to search for the child; instead it was prompted by greed and desire for power.

Seiki was a powerful being, and Ariel wanted all of the child's power for herself. And as the Dark Side fueled her, she would have it!

There are very few things worse than a furious woman. One of which has to be a furious lady Sith.

"What do you mean," Mistique snarled, "'they're dead'?" Her hissing voice was addressed to the operative whom she'd left on Agamar to make sure the child was not harmed. Now, he was telling her that the child's last foster parents were dead.

The Sith screamed and knocked several breakable things on to the floor. Their shattering sound was a welcome release. She calmed herself and walked over to a full-length mirror.

Her first plan had not worked out perfectly. However, she was resourceful, and she would have the little girl back.

"I... I'm looking for a little girl. A baby." Mistique was a master at disguise. She could disguise her body, her voice, her motives... anything. The pretty woman blinked her yellow eyes pitifully. "I left her here... it seems forever ago... I just want my baby back!"

The purple-haired woman behind the computer smiled at Mistique and patted her arm. "Okay, honey. I see what I can do. What's her name?"

"Kleppa," Mistique sniffled, dabbing at her eyes. "I named her Kleppa."

The woman had been ready to type, but now she relaxed her hands. "I's sorry... but Kleppa... she been took to a new home. A gal formally adopted her about a week ago."

Mistique's eyes hardened. "Who?"

"She took the precious little thing to the Jedi Temple... she seemed like a nice gal. Maybe you two could work somethin' out, dearie?"

"What was her name." Mistique's voice was a hard, flat line. This was not happening.

"Renjiro. Priire Renjiro." The woman smiled. "That's what she told us."

It took all of Mistique's formidable control not to scream and destroy something. Thinking quickly, she ran her fingers through her hair. By the time she removed her hand, Mistique had formed a familiar blue-black mask on her beautiful features. Leaning very closely, the Sith spoke in low, dangerous tones. "I will have my daughter back."

The purple-haired woman didn't move for long minutes after the masked figure had gone. When she did finally move, it was toward the comm unit. "Oh, glory be! I has got to warn that nice lady! She got the Hawkbat's daughter!"

Mistique smiled cruelly as she put a trace on the call that the purple-haired woman made. Perfect. She would have the exact location of Ariel's little brat... and her revenge.

Circling above Agamar, a nearly invisible ship hung and examined the records of every ship that had passed through the system recently. One in particular caught the pilot's red, yellow-flecked eyes. A starfighter by the name of Black Fire Talon was shown to have entered the system, then piggybacked out with a large Corellian ship - Remember the Omala. Ariel smiled. Its destination was Coruscant.

Tapping her long red nails on the controls, the Sith pondered over what she'd learned. A quick tap into the Child Protection Services' computer - an easy task for her ship, Scream of the Dead - had revealed that one "Priire Renjiro" had recently adopted a child about Seiki's age. Ariel knew that meant that her child would be on Coruscant. With the Sailor Senshi.

The positive side of that fact was that it would be hard for Mistique to capture the baby. Ariel frowned. It would also be much harder for herself to reclaim her baby. But the Sith knew that Shitsuren Seiki's power would be hers. After all, she had created the child.