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Uncanny SWTOR prompts: Person A boasts to Person B that they are never scared, but then they see something uncanny …

Sorry this took awhile. As a reminder, Marserha is @fluffynexu‘s Sith worldbuilding.

“Are you sure aboutthis?”

Mara looked back at him, her ambereyes glowing almost as brightly as the torch she held. They stood just insidethe entrance to the Thrask Catacombs on Dromund Kaas. Ahead, the dark square ofa passageway, stone walls carved in Kittat with the long and intricate historyof House Thrask. The stone reflected the light of the torch less than he wouldhave expected, as if the darkness in the catacombs were actively pressingagainst the illumination. Little more than a meter beyond the torch’s light,visibility dropped off completely.

“I’m positive,” he saidsoftly.

She gave him a weak smile. “I’veonly ever done this alone. This is not your burden to bear, Malavai.”

“I’m your husband, mylord.” He used her title deliberately; indeed, standing here, the historyof her family pressing in on him, he felt as though he could call her nothingelse. Even with that heaviness, a part of him was still giddy that he was her husband. “Your burdens are mine ifyou see fit to share them with me.”

“Some burdens are best leftas they are,” she said. But her thoughts were clearly turned inward, thewords sounding more like an admonishment to herself than to him.

Quinn reached for her hand andsqueezed, his heart aching as he did so. Ninety percent of the time Mara wasunassailable, strong and regal as the cliffs behind the Citadel. That shetrusted him with the other ten percent of the time, when she let hervulnerability show, was one of the most precious gifts she’d ever given him. Heleaned forward to kiss her forehead.

“I’ll await you upstairs inthe sanctuary,” he said. “I can honor your mother’s sacrifice there,without intruding upon your privacy.”

“No.” Her hand tightenedin his. “I’d be honored for you to accompany me, please.”

His heart leapt in his chest.“Lead the way, my lord.”

She took him deeper into thecrypt; dark passageways that led into large circular galleries lined withvaults and intricate statuary. The galleries grew more ornate and less crowdedas they descended deeper into the catacombs, until they entered a roomcompletely empty of tombs, dimly lit by some unknown source. Quinn stoppedshort and gasped. The polished floor was carved with the six-pointed star ofAhmurn - each point of the star terminating at a doorway into the room. At itscenter stood a massive statue of the god himself, Marserha by his side, theireyes staring down impassively at them. The five other doorways were eachflanked by seated mowhefs, stone tails wrapped around their front paws, facesserene and impassive as the Mother goddess they served.

Despite the depths to which they’ddescended, he had yet to see a cobweb or speck of dust, a fact that was morethan slightly unnerving - did they send droids down to tidy? Or was their someother force, or Force, at work?

“Are you alright?” Maraasked. Quinn started; she spoke barely above a whisper, and yet her voice wasunnaturally loud. To speak seemed almost like an affront to the thick silencepressing in on them.

“Yes,” he said softlyafter a moment. “This is not the first crypt I’ve visited, my lord; beassured there’s nothing here that frightens me.”

Her glowing eyes - the only colorhe’d seen in some time, he felt certain - narrowed slightly with her smile andshe took his hand, leading him toward a passageway directly opposite them. “You’dbe forgiven if you weren’t, Malavai; I know the reputation Sith tombs have. TheForce is strong here, but for the most part, our tombs are as silent as anyother. We’re nearly there.”

Now that he was considering thesilence, he frowned. There was a… not a sound, precisely, but a movement tothe silence. Currents and eddies that swirled around him, almost voices but notquite, disappearing entirely when he tried to focus on them.

“I would have to disagree, mylord. The silence is,” he paused, considering his words, “restive,somehow.”

She stopped short and stared athim. “You can feel that?”

“Yes. Should I not?”

“I… don’t know. It’s Force-related,but not precisely the Force itself. In theory any person with a certain levelof emotional awareness could sense it.”

He nodded, trying to assimilatewhat she’d just said. “Does that mean- oh, Emperor’s bones!”

Over Mara’s shoulder, a figure hadappeared - translucent, vaguely humanoid. As his eyes parsed it he realized itwas a Sith woman, eyes burrowing into his. A cold sweat blossomed over hisbody.

“What is it?” Marasnapped, turning to follow his gaze, shifting so she was between him and thefigure. Impossibly, he heard her chuckle and she shined the torch toward thefigure. It paled in the bright light, and he saw a holoprojector set into thewall beneath it.

“I’m so sorry, I should havewarned you,” she said, turning back to him.

He exhaled, his bones going softas the adrenaline faded. Mara slipped an arm around his waist, and for a momenthe felt no shame whatsoever in clinging to his wife as his heartrate returnedto normal.

“I suppose I’m lessunaffected than I thought.”

She kissed his cheek.

“As I said, it’sunderstandable.” She gestured toward the holo. “This is my mother.”

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