LEILANI SERENNO bridged the past and the present, born into a family of cruelty and then groomed to fulfil a role in the grand scheme of things. She was a puppet manipulated by her brother, ensnared in a larger narrative orchestrated by the Force. Y...
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The throne room was bathed in cold, artificial light, but Leilani felt as though the air had thickened, pressing in on her lungs. The figure before her stepped forward, slow and deliberate, emerging from the shadows like something dredged up from a nightmare.
And in a way, he was.
The sharp angles of his face, the wicked horns adorning his skull, the crimson and black markings—Leilani's breath hitched as recognition struck her like a physical blow.
She had seen him before. Not with her own eyes, but through Qui-Gon's.
A corridor of plasma barriers. A duel, fast and unrelenting. The last thing Qui-Gon saw before everything was swallowed by darkness.
Leilani blinked, and the vision flickered away, leaving only the present—Maul, standing mere feet from her, his molten gaze burning into hers.
"You," she whispered, barely aware she had spoken.
A slow smirk curved his lips. "So you remember me."
Her fingers curled, nails biting into her palms. "I remember watching you kill him."
Maul's expression darkened, his smirk twitching at the edges before solidifying into a sneer. "Qui-Gon Jinn," he said, rolling the name over his tongue like something bitter. "A wasted life." His voice was low, measured, but underneath it lurked a vicious storm barely restrained. "But you... you are not wasted. I saw you in many visions, just like you saw me."
There was a weight to the way he said it, a cruel amusement, as if he were savouring the game before it began.
Almec took a trembling step back, his usual facade of control fracturing. "This—this is impossible," he stammered. "You were dead. Kenobi—"
Maul's head snapped toward him at the name.
The room shifted. The very air seemed to vibrate with the sheer force of his rage.
"Kenobi!" The word left Maul's lips like a curse, laced with raw, undiluted hatred. His golden eyes narrowed, flickering with something unhinged. "That name," he hissed, "has haunted me. A wound that refuses to close."
Leilani swallowed hard, her heartbeat thrumming in her ears. She could feel his fury, thick and suffocating, curling around him like a phantom limb still reaching for revenge.
"He took everything from me," Maul continued, voice trembling with venom. " My destiny. My very purpose." He exhaled sharply, an unstable, humourless chuckle escaping his lips. "And now? Now I take."
The hum of his twin-bladed saber igniting was deafening in the silence. A cruel red glow bathed his face in fire.
Leilani didn't hesitate. The snap-hiss of her own saber cut through the tension, violet light illuminating the battle lines being drawn.
