The Varactyl Squadron Commander (A Star Wars: The Clone Wars Fan-Fiction)

Chapter Twenty-Five

The scene before them was a bloodbath.

The room wasn't too big, probably the size of a mess-hall on Kamino and twice the height. Oddly enough, the walls were decorated with strange plum-colored vines, some were flat against the wall while others poked and weaved to make thick, tightly-bound knots. The sand-colored floor was covered in layers of carpet, each layer a different shade of deathly red or poisonous purple, and the table was a long oval-like shape, but the tabletop wasn't smooth like any the clones had ever seen. Neither were the chairs. No, the table and all the chairs around it weren't normal, because they weren't stationary.

Each piece of furniture was made of the same vines protruding from the walls, only these vines were growing up from the ground. The goblets the women drank from and the plates that held the food were made of some sort of black metal, so were the spoons, knives, and forks. Ten torches were scattered around the four walls, giving the peculiar sight a sinister tone.

But the biggest shock for the new arrivals was the food.

In the center of the plant-table was a giant tusked hog of some sort, probably imported from one of the many animal-farms on Naboo, with its skinned peeled off some areas of its body, revealing the muscle tissue beneath it. Blood was everywhere and one of the creature's eyes were missing, but it wouldn't have surprised anyone if one of the witches had popped it into her mouth like a grape a few minutes prior. Its legs had been cut off and shared among the women seated, but the hooves were still attached to each hairy, bleeding appendage. Its furry tail was ripped off and tacked to a rare open space of the stony wall across the room; they only got a glimpse of it as the vines overtook the small piece of bloody flesh.

A sacrifice to appease the beast.

Axel could feel the shivers crawling up his spine and knew that his brothers were feeling the exact same way. At least they had their whole faces covered to mask their fear. Commander Rino and Commander Rex only had their cloths, though they covered the lower portions of their face, they still exposed their eyes. 

Oh, the fear in poor Molindi's eyes.

"Darling!"

A witch dressed in silky grey fabric seated on the right side of the table stood up out of respect and called out in the same mysterious, yet somewhat happy, tone. Her face was covered in grey cloth, like all the other women, but her eyes were different. They weren't a normal color like all the other witches. There was no blue, brown, or green in her irises. Just yellow. A really, really bright yellow, like a dangerous jungle cat. The sound of JC whirred silently and she was about to whisper something in the commander's ear, until-

"How is my beautiful prodigy?" The woman extended her arms and Molindi was just now realizing that her "guards" weren't surrounding her, JC, and Rex for safety anymore. Instead, they'd seen the queen's soldiers lining the walls of the dining room, standing speechless and stoic as stone, and decided it would be best if they mimicked their positions. Though Molindi was having a hard time feeling any sort of security at this moment, JC subtly pressed her metal hand against her back, as if to remind her that she wasn't alone.

Almost as soon as Molindi felt the kind hand of reassurance, the witch had made it across the room. Like a demented phantom, the woman's bloody hands and fingers reached towards her, still dripping from ripping apart her meal. Blood...blood...so much blood...

And then it happened.

In less than a millisecond, Molindi was back on Ganta-Nego. Images of severed limbs and prisoners being torn to shreds by each other dashed through her mind's eye. Being forced to watch as the chefs cut open and removed the intestines of someone she knew, someone she loved and cared about. His face... Bren...

"It l-looks like Madame Aveline may need some r-rest before dining," JC's voice was what pulled her back from her deepest, darkest nightmare and Molindi realized that the droid was kindly ushering the commander towards the room's exit. Rex was right beside her, standing as close as he dared to get between her and the witches. The concern in his eyes made her stomach feel weird, but she ignored it and sent him a nod to let him know she was back.

"Oh dear, I believe you're quite right," Queen Asemdi commented from her seat at the head of the table, her husband on a stool slightly to the right of her. Cyndea, Jordae, and Nata had all sat down as well, but they were more concerned with Aveline's health than their food, for the first time ever. "Why don't you rest, Lin, and we'll have a portion of the meal brought to your room upstairs."

"Yes, thank you, Mother," Molindi put her hand to her forehead, as if she had a migraine. "Being on the run from the Republic has definitely taken its toll on my health." The witch with the bloody hands seemed to agree.

"Of course, it did," The yellow-eyed woman spat and folded her arms over her chest. "Those damned lunatics getting in the way of our plans. I'd strangle every last one of their uncultured politicians if I had the opportunity. Like that atrocious swine from Naboo-"

"Shush, dear sister," Queen Asemdi quickly stopped the lady from continuing her rant as her majesty began to pick some meat from a boar leg. Her body language indicated that she didn't care much about the conversation, but the glimmer in her eye said something completely opposite. "There are children in the room."

"Yes," Yellow-eyes stated and cleared her throat and plucked a grey cloth napkin from within the tangle of vines that made up the table. "Quite right. Aveline, you wouldn't mind if I walked you to your room, would you?" The lady asked as she cleaned the red liquid from her skin and under her fingernails.

"Not at all," Molindi said, using their strange accent of mystery that still freaked her out. "Though I must warn you, the time away may have fogged my memory of the palace. Please do forgive me if make a wrong turn." The lady, Aveline's aunt, laughed a horrible cackle of a laugh and grabbed Molindi's hand with her own blood-stained one.

"Don't you worry about a thing, sweety. We'll make sure you three get to your room." Aveline's aunt nodded in the direction of Rex and JC.

For some reason, her saying that didn't assure Commander Rino one bit.