Let me tell you a story [D7, LE]

[Tyllia Demici]

She returned from meeting with Deonis, a touch of stubborn defiance in her step 'home'. And pursuing her interests further, she sat down in the middle of her rented room and opened herself up to the spirit's presence again. To hear more of the lore it had to give. Knowledge was power, after all, or so the saying went. The more she could understand of the past, the more possible it could become to avert a similar fate. To avoid similar failures.

[Meiyokashi]

As the coldness set in, she could feel the presence return presently within her. Though it always lingered these communions had greater presence and power. Like the being lay dormant most of the day but now it had awoken. A cold unwanted hug from behind as it embraced her.

I've decided.

[Tyllia Demici]

"Decided... what?" She asked.

The fact that the spirit still had enough of itself left to make *any* decisions rather than simply react in base forms was potentially worrisome, but perhaps not unexpected after she had listened to all of its stories.

[Meiyokashi]

You interest me.

Enough.. the tone seems to convey the idea that the declaration of interest was only barely sparked.

Shall we make a new deal?

[Tyllia Demici]

She frowned, thinking about what Deonis had said. Thinking about all that old lore about people making deals with dark entities. But also, thinking about her goals. About how *natural* it felt to give in to the darkness. About the threats they now faced. Inquisitors, who were here hunting them.

"...what sort of deal do you propose?"

[Meiyokashi]

I need.. form.

Find one for me, one that is acceptable.

They must be.. wanting.

[Tyllia Demici]

It seeks to return after all, then. Not unexpectedly so, perhaps.

"That describes almost everyone on this planet, spirit. You'll have to be a bit more specific than that. And... what is it you would offer me in return?"

[Meiyokashi]

An ally.

And you, better than most, should know I do not speak of a wanting that describes more than.. a specific kind.

[Tyllia Demici]

"I *have* allies already, spirit. Why would I condemn someone to oblivion for the sake of gaining another one?"

[Meiyokashi]

None other compare.

You know this- even if you deny it.

[Tyllia Demici]

She chuckled, almost dismissively so. Goading the spirit perhaps; a negotiation tactic, or some way of seeking better justification for this deal.

"You do not even remember your *name*, how can you claim none other would compare to you? What could you actually *do* for me and my purpose if I gave you what you want? And what guarantee would I have tjat you won't simply turn on me once you get a body?"

[Meiyokashi]

I could always take yours..

At that moment Tyllia feels the coldness sharpen to the point of inducing sharp pains at her nape. This rolling pain filtered down through her body..

[Resilience vs Hard]

[Tyllia Demici]

Hard resilience: 2eA+3eD 1 failure, 1 advantage

[Meiyokashi]

For a moment she can struggle against the cold as it overtakes her body. Though she notes on something with the experience and learns more about it the coldness ultimately overtakes her and she falls unconscious

Later..

Tyllia awakes not to her form slumped over on the ground but sitting in front of a mirror. Within she can see herself but she doesn't respond within the mirror like it should.

Instead, she watches as she speaks, "Do I have your attention?" the voice takes on qualities of her own as she hears it project from the back of her mind.

[Tyllia Demici]

Stupid. *Stupid*.

Weak. *Weak.*

The faces she was making in the course of chasting herself, the grimacing, the frowning, all of it felt *wrong* in her reflection.

"...is this your idea of convincing me you'd make a trustworthy ally? Attacking me while we're negotiating? Am I to understand this to mean you had no answers to my questions?"

Yes. Goad the spirit some more. That would be a smart idea.

[Meiyokashi]

"All this time you goaded me with the idea that you were the one in control. Irksome, isn't it? Feeling another tug at your leash when you are trying to communicate," her reflection gains a shadowy smile, a presence that leans just a little forward past her, "though I never had a leash," it leans back and cups both hands around her reflections neck showing a shadow form that looked like a collar for a moment.

As the Shadow moved back within her it was only the off-putting reflection once more.

"My idea' is to show you where we sit. Negotiations happen between equals.. and we simply are not. I care not for trust- you can choose to trust me if you wish, I speak with purpose. Our purpose, perhaps? I have many answers.. much knowledge about the millenia, and I am willing to offer much of it, but- I would suggest to you before you mock me again, if you too suffered a millennia to fester in a pit, you too would forget things as trivial as your own name. I will simply choose a new one.. at the right time," her reflection smiles.

[Tyllia Demici]

[Any possibility of using discipline to try and give the spirit a taste of its own medicine by inflicting some kind of jolt or something on it?]

[Meiyokashi]

[It's hard to separate where the spirit is compared to where she is, it's mingled in there at the moment. But generally, Tyllia wouldn't really know how.]

[Tyllia Demici]

"I'm still not hearing a whole lot to entice me," she said, defiantly.

"Just because you can scratch at the walls of your cage for a bit doesn't mean you're in control. I could go out and fling this body off a cliff right now and deprive you of a vessel altogether, something I couldn't do if you weren't tethered to me anymore. If I am to give up such an ace in the sleeve for knowledge you claim to possess, you should probably give me an actual proper and useful taste of that knowledge, rather than poison me against you with this behavior of yours."

[Meiyokashi]

Watching yourself sigh in a mirror without doing it yourself seems strange, but Tyllia has started to get a good grasp now of how to explain the sensation.

"You're not a cage to me.. you're... a focus point. I've been trapped to this planet for too long, This planet, it is rich in the Force and through that I can influence much, but you are not my cage. Throw yourself off a cliff- and I will remain, and you will die. Pointless, but- annoying, for me. I want to be free to travel from this place again. We've spoken much.. I've offered much.. we can be allies, or rivals-" her reflection smiles with a sinister look to it- "but be careful should you choose the latter. For I am a being of greater potential than you can fathom with the knowledge and experience of a millennia."

"You are an irksome being whom would only cost me time. Having me free from this place.. it would go long toward servicing the goals you claim to have. You face a war that has raged for millennia, and you would do well with an ally whom is detached and uncaring for either side as you are."