happy father's day - blindrun

[merging]

 [Honestly? He's been here wayyy longer than he planned to be. He knew it'd be hard to escape, but it had to be possible. That's what he kept telling himself. Days turned into weeks turned into months and now? It's been over a year.

The other Inquisitors still don't completely treat him like one of them. Or maybe teasing is their way of doing so? He rolls his eyes whenever they call him "baby brother", thinking they could at least have some sense of professionalism. But everything's been going okay for the most part. As okay as it can be when you're an Inquisitor-in-training.

Except today was... well, it was something else. They were assigned to ambush a small rebel cell that was said to be working with a Jedi. It should've been easy, except for the part where it wasn't. The rebels got away and the Inquisitors had failed. Now Ezra's standing outside the Grand Inquisitor's office while the adults debrief. It's frustrating, being left out like this, but he also knows there isn't much he can do about it.]

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[blindrun]

[ ezra gets what he wants out of the memory, perhaps.

third brother snaps from the memory, the echo of his trauma, and with both hands shoves to slam ezra against the wall and hold him there. ]

[merging]

[It's overwhelming, even more so than his own memories. His connection to the Force confused by its place in light and dark, he takes it all into himself. It serves to distract him as much as it distracts Third Brother. Ezra's completely out of it as he's slammed against the wall, making no attempt to fight back.

He refocuses himself, remembers where he is, who's in front of him. His voice is still weak, not having enough time to recover from being choked.]

I'm sorry... Caleb.

[blindrun]

That's not my name.

[ cold and without emotion, his heart shuts off and his irises glow with yellow as the hatred he held back breaks through the dam he built up to keep himself collected. he hods ezra against the wall, black veins crawling out from his eyes, looking less and less human by the moment. ]

I am Third Brother, and soon you will be Eleventh Brother. I will no longer tolerate your rebelliousness. You will join us, or you will die. You have exhausted my mercy.

[ there is no choice, only an absolute. ]

[merging]

[What had they done to Caleb? He can only imagine, not that he wants to, and he hopes that'll remain true in the upcoming days. He doesn't want to lose himself and he's told Third Brother time and time again that he has no intentions of serving the Empire. Even if lately he's been biting his tongue and following along.

But would he be able to survive this initiation? Would Ezra? He doesn't want to find out.

It was foolish, he knows, to have tried to reach through to Third Brother, but he had to try. He had hoped if he could uncover the light... then Third Brother could do the rest. Despite every rational voice in his head telling him otherwise, he doesn't want to leave him.

That isn't a possibility anymore, though, and so he returns to playing his part. He opens himself back up to the dark side, allowing it in and giving it free reign of his emotions. Funnily enough, it's always easy to find a reason to use the dark side when he's around the Inquisitors, and now is no different.

Ezra summons all his strength and pushes back against Third Brother, not caring to hold himself back in the slightest.]

I wanted to see if you really were as weak as they say. If you were so weak, how could I trust that I was ready to become an Inquisitor? And how could I give myself to the dark side if I didn't know what the light offered?

Thank you for the lesson, master. And for not disappointing me.

[blindrun]

[ third brother takes the pushback, rolls with it, and disengages his hold on ezra as the boy breaks free of it. though ezra's words would normally appease him, a dark voice in his mind whispers to him that he's a liar. third brother acknowledges the voice as his own, for he knows well that ezra can and will say just about anything to get his way.

he would make an excellent sith, if only he would be willing. the initiation will fix that. ]

If you wanted a harsher hand, you should have told me. [ after all, he was softer on ezra than anyone had the right to be on this base. he only did it to ease him in, so he must repeat to himself when a warmer feeling crept into his heart. that warmth is absent from him and the room as he turns to leave. ] Your initiation begins first thing in the morning. I'll come to your quarters when it's time. Dismissed.

[ and so he leaves, not even bothering to wait and see if ezra follows. ]