[The infection his Omni and Omen still have coursing through them are sending out random memories to different people. Luna will receive one from him against his will.
The memory shows Maul, maybe slightly older than when Luna had met him as a child here in Trench, sitting not on a bed but on a mere pallet on the ground. There's no sheets or pillow, only a ragged blanket. He's crying softly, holding his right wrist close to him. The unnatural angle at which it limply hangs shows it's clearly broken.
Sidious enters and Maul immediately stops crying, scrubbing at his eyes to hide the tear tracks. He knows if his master sees him sobbing like that, he'll give him something worth crying about. He braces himself, waiting for Sidious' cruelty. But this time he's not the monster. No, in this case it's almost worse, because Sidious has put on the persona of the kindly master who only wants the best for his charge.
"Oh, my poor boy. Let me take a look at your wrist," he says sympathetically. Maul tentatively holds it out, unable to keep from shaking a little, again waiting for the other shoe to drop. But Sidious is smart enough to know when to punish his ward and when to string him along with false hope. Right now is the latter. Sidious looks at it with false sympathy, clucking his tongue like he honestly cares about Maul's welfare. "Do you understand why I had to do this?"
Maul thinks very carefully for a moment. The wrong answer could make Sidious switch back to his usual monstrous ways, so he has to get it right on the first try. He makes an educated guess. "Because I wasn't strong enough?"
"Yes. If you were able to do as you were told, I wouldn't have to punish you so." Maul shrinks in on himself at the words. This is his fault. If he was stronger, faster, smarter, just better in general, his master might finally love him the way he yearns for. Sidious rests a hand on top of his head between the crown of horns, a gesture both paternal and demeaning at the same time. "It's alright. You are strong and you will survive." He doesn't say the words with kindness, more like a tone that this is just something that is a fact, like the sky is blue or water is wet. From the shining look on Maul's face, he's taken them to heart just as his master wanted him to. "Come on now. We'll fix up that wrist with bacta and then you'll feel much better." Maul struggles to his feet and follows Sidious out of the room, staring at his master with undisguised adoration. The Sith Lord has him hook, line, ad sinker.
The memory fades out there as Sidious leads him to the med bay.]
Accidental video; un: darkness CW: child abuse mental and physical, gaslighting, victim blaming
The memory shows Maul, maybe slightly older than when Luna had met him as a child here in Trench, sitting not on a bed but on a mere pallet on the ground. There's no sheets or pillow, only a ragged blanket. He's crying softly, holding his right wrist close to him. The unnatural angle at which it limply hangs shows it's clearly broken.
Sidious enters and Maul immediately stops crying, scrubbing at his eyes to hide the tear tracks. He knows if his master sees him sobbing like that, he'll give him something worth crying about. He braces himself, waiting for Sidious' cruelty. But this time he's not the monster. No, in this case it's almost worse, because Sidious has put on the persona of the kindly master who only wants the best for his charge.
"Oh, my poor boy. Let me take a look at your wrist," he says sympathetically. Maul tentatively holds it out, unable to keep from shaking a little, again waiting for the other shoe to drop. But Sidious is smart enough to know when to punish his ward and when to string him along with false hope. Right now is the latter. Sidious looks at it with false sympathy, clucking his tongue like he honestly cares about Maul's welfare. "Do you understand why I had to do this?"
Maul thinks very carefully for a moment. The wrong answer could make Sidious switch back to his usual monstrous ways, so he has to get it right on the first try. He makes an educated guess. "Because I wasn't strong enough?"
"Yes. If you were able to do as you were told, I wouldn't have to punish you so." Maul shrinks in on himself at the words. This is his fault. If he was stronger, faster, smarter, just better in general, his master might finally love him the way he yearns for. Sidious rests a hand on top of his head between the crown of horns, a gesture both paternal and demeaning at the same time. "It's alright. You are strong and you will survive." He doesn't say the words with kindness, more like a tone that this is just something that is a fact, like the sky is blue or water is wet. From the shining look on Maul's face, he's taken them to heart just as his master wanted him to. "Come on now. We'll fix up that wrist with bacta and then you'll feel much better." Maul struggles to his feet and follows Sidious out of the room, staring at his master with undisguised adoration. The Sith Lord has him hook, line, ad sinker.
The memory fades out there as Sidious leads him to the med bay.]