Chapter Text
Prologue
12 years after the death of Ra...
The trickling sound of a thin stream of water within the cell was comforting to him as he continued to keep his eyes closed and leaned his head against the cool stone wall. Even though the planet was quite arid and dry, a world that spoke to the usual desert comforts they had adopted for such a long time, the stones underground were of another story. He didn't need to open his eyes to hear the footsteps of two people walking on the smoothed floor – he recognized who they were just by their footsteps.
Please? he begged with that single word to the other entity living inside of him.
Are you sure... she whispered to him, caressing his mind with a touch that was like a mother's calm touch towards a fussy newborn.
Yes...I can't face them, not while this ruse is still being played .
As malevolent as he and the other entity inside of him had been since the destruction of Revanna, a fresh ache seared across his heart in anticipation to what was about to happen. Though he knew that it was for the better that what was about to happen, happen, the pain would not going away. It couldn't physically go away because it was all in his mind. For the many years they had been held captive, doing everything in their power to not die and to keep living until the future of their people could be guaranteed. But that future had come with a price so high that the devil finally caught them and demanded payment.
With a gentle touch upon his mind, he felt the other entity inside of him take over and slowly open his eyes. Even though they had perhaps, an hour at most left together, Leto, his symbiote; the reason why he was what he was for nearly fifty years, was still protecting him, ensuring that he come to no harm. Grief overwhelmed him, but physical tears did not fall from his eyes, and only blinked as the dim sunlight from what little slits of windows in the cell filtered in.
He watched though eyes not of his own control as two pairs of booted feet, one pair elegantly laced up, and the other quite austere and utilitarian, stop before his cell. Slowly, Leto brought his head up, as if his symbiote was also taking one last memory for both of their sakes of the two people who had come to visit him in this dank cell.
The glittering dark eyes of Malek and the expressive wide ones of Anise stared at him. Close, dear friends of old, still looking as they had been the last time he had seen them; how much he had missed them. Leto echoed that sentiment, but neither voiced or showed it.
He felt Leto smooth his facial expression into one of arrogance and haughtiness, determined to keep up the charade until death do them apart. Though it pained both him and his symbiote to still act like the minor system lord they had been for the last few years, it was necessary. There was one more thing he had to do, and he could not do it with Leto still within him. It was her final gift to him, one last mission for him to carry out and to honor the sacrifice she was about to perform. Unfortunately, they both knew that others of the Tok'ra would not understand, hence the continued deception.
A cultured voice shouted words, echoing all around the stone walls of the cells, but he felt himself flinch in surprise, though Leto kept them as still as possible, seemingly unaffected by the shouts. The voice above ground, in the main hall most likely, were belonging to the arrogant, but smooth-talking system lord, Ba'al. Mentally pushing away the rush of bad memories, he clung onto the physical world as Leto wrapped her presence around him shielding him from the waking nightmare. It took a while, but slowly he felt himself calm down and knew that soon, he would no longer have this sort of protection. Soon, he would be at the mercy of memories and would have to face it alone. But for now, he still had Leto; still had her love and warmth.
As for Ba'al, the tirade he was lashing upon those in observance at his execution above ground was muffled and incoherent to those down here in the cells. Ba'al had finally been captured a few months ago and had languished in a cell in even worse conditions than the one he and his symbiote had been put into. About three months after Ba'al's capture, Leto and he had been 'captured' by the Tok'ra and thrown down here, where they now had been rotting in for the past month.
“Aldwin,” Anise softly said, startling him. Fortunately, with Leto in control of his body, the arrogant smirk on his face was maintained, along with the stillness in which he sat on the floor of the cell. “Aldwin, if you can hear me, we are going to free you soon. Stay strong, Aldwin. The nightmare is almost over.”
“You waste your words, woman,” Aldwin heard his symbiote viciously sneer, keeping herself in the minor system lord persona of Leto, Espionage Adviser to Supreme System Lord Ba'al. “Time and again in the sarcophagus has damaged his mind beyond repair that he no longer can even form words, much less feed himself. If you kill me, you will kill him.”
“Better he die free than live forever as your slave, snake,” Malek spat out, but Aldwin gave a start – the voice was not those of the tones of Malek – it was Malek's host who had spoken.
Leto had merely blinked, but internally, Aldwin could feel that she too had been surprised. Anise had taken a step back, quite startled at the fact that Malek's host, whose name was virtually unknown to all Tok'ra since he had blended with Malek all those years ago, had finally spoken. While not common among the Tok'ra, a few of them had never revealed their host's name. Whether it was because the host did not feel like talking or for protective reasons, those among the Tok'ra had accepted it for none did not want to inflict unintentional trauma. Aldwin knew that Leto herself was the only symbiote of the Tok'ra who had never revealed her name, at least not her true name – for even after two thousand years, she had been afraid of drawing the ire of system lords. Such notoriety she had built prior to joining the Tok'ra was if she ever revealed herself, system lords would have hunted them to utter extinction. However, that had changed five-and-a-half years ago, and since no Tok'ra knew of her true name and only two system lords from the days of old knew of her but were too busy fighting amongst themselves, none had been the wiser about her.
The same safe anonymity could be said of Malek's host; the accent, the body mannerisms, even the thunderous expression that Malek's host carried were so different than Malek himself – it was as if a transformation had taken place between eye blinks. Aldwin curiosity as to who exactly Malek's host was sparked again, but with Leto still in person as a system lord until the end, he knew that possible answers would not be given until the execution was complete. What had finally given way to bring out Malek's host after all of these years of silence?
“Even now, I see there is still discord and contention among your ranks, Tok'ra,” Leto languidly said, leaning back with an air of arrogance, as if the damp stone walls of their cell did not both them. “Are you so surprised to hear an untethered host talk, woman?”
“No,” Anise snapped, recovering as she turned back to glare at them. Aldwin felt himself wince under the harshly hateful expression she carried on her face. Both Anise and Freya normally carried an expression that was kind, nice, and open with a hint of saucy playfulness that was lavished upon whomever she chose that day. Anise had twisted her mouth into an ungainly frown, marring her beauty, but he knew that it was only because she was quite angry right now.
Before any of them could say another word, there was a great and loud cheer from those above ground, and Aldwin knew that Ba'al had finally been extracted from his host and executed. It was their turn and now his nightmare was about to begin...
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