Ziost - Crown of the Sith Empire

It was a little later in the evening when Ilar returned to the Cathedral than yesterday. He had been on hand to cater to his Master's meeting with Darth Zash and was graciously permitted the opportunity to follow up on his meeting after that gathering had wound up.

Entering the Cathedral without any of the trepidation of yesterday, he looked around for either Darth Hofu or the Sith who introduced him last night.

He sees the Sith eating something from a bowl siting in a pew.

Ilar waits patiently for the man to finish eating before he approaches and offers a nod of acknowledgment.

"Darth Hofu, I have weighed the offer you made me last evening, and would like to study the ways of the Dread Masters." He explains his reason for being here respectfully.

Darth Hofu chuckled and said, “Welcome back, I have been looking forward to your arrival.”

“Hungry?”

"An appreciated and generous offer, but unnecessary. It is not my stomach, but my spirit that requires sustenance this evening." Ilar replies with a twinge of a smile at his lips.

"I was impressed with your speech at the declaration last night." He commented conversationally.

“It was words, but I am glad they reached someone. It will be actions that determine who will be seated on the Dark Council, words are just… they are like ghosts,” he said in reply.

“You have made a good decision, your power will be limitless when fully realized within the Word of Dread.”

"But words elevated with the right support, be it merely people, or something grander, like the will of the Dread Masters? Words can compel actions that would change the galaxy." Ilar offered as a counterpoint.

"I do agree though, that the Council seats will go to those bold enough to seize the opportunity. Words can inspire or terrify, but in the end, they only get one so far. So perhaps here, as out there, it is soon to be time to prove myself with action rather than just words?"

"How will you prove yourself," he asked.

"My action was crossing the threshold of your Cathedral. The bug has walked into the spider's web, not as a victim, but to share its home. I will prove myself through my iron will, through my ability to endure the mental touch of the Dread Word so I may carry it to the reaches of the galaxy."

"But are you a slave?" he asked.

"Most of the galaxy is a slave; to a Master, to an ideal, or even worse - to their own weakness." Ilar explained.

"Yes." He added after a brief pause. "I am a slave to Raela Ausar, but that is not my Destiny. I can see my chains where others cannot, that means I can break them, the Power I seek here will give me the Strength to do so. The Strength to claim my future."

“I can train you but you must free yourself from your prior obligations… a student of Dread is bound to no master but the Dread Masters. They enslave the weak, those who cannot master their fear and a slave is the least of us,” he responded.

“So I ask again, are you a slave?”

Ilar thinks over the words. In his heart he knows he is destined for more than the live of a slave, and truth be told, he had been more of an assistant than a slave for quite a while.

He was not a slave in mind or deed, not truly, only in name and he would deny that name. In that moment he decided that tonight he would speak to Raela and demand his freedom, the freedom to choose to serve her rather than have that role imposed upon him.

Looking to Hofu he shakes his head. "No, those chains are mine no longer."

"Then we can begin, Ilar," he said honestly.

"How does it feel to be a slave no longer?"

Almost symbolically, as Ilar was about to answer how it felt like a veil of darkness had been lifted from his eyes, the blackout hit and he was plunged into darkness once more.

He wasn't sure what was going on, but he hadn't been scared of teh dark since he was a wee one. In his experience the things one could see were far more likely to harm you than what one couldn't.

"To be...free," he rolled the word around in his mouth. Whether that freedom will be from the chain or this life, he sarcastically thought.

"It is liberating and powerful. Such a little word, but it conveys so much."

“That is the first lesson of Dread, we create the prisons that restrict ourselves,” he said.

"I shall be imprisoned no longer." Ilar answered, drawing strength from the imposed darkness.

Darth Hofu was pleased with that decree and brought the twi’lek into his counsel to personally train him in the Path of Dread.