<~(Dark Temple - Dromund Kaas)~>

It became effortless for Erebus to get into the Dark Temple's antechambers using his [Cloak of Shadows] skill-avoiding the possessed imperials. None of them saw him nor even felt his presence within the Force which did help him a lot more, but something bothered Erebus when he finally crossed the threshold-becoming bathed in the Dark Side.

'What am I truly?' He thought to himself as his soft footsteps echoed within the chamber-no doubt being as subtle as possible while still under the effects of the [Cloak of Shadows]. 'I get that I'm a reincarnated entity with a damaged soul, but what is my own personal truth at this point?'

As he made his way past the Force-possessed imperials and Sith acolytes within the temple, these questions plagued his mind. To him, who had suffered a tremendous amount through no fault of his own, it was valid to wonder what he was now compared to back then. He was even able to live forever and do things that were impossible for him of the past back on Terra.

First off was the aforementioned immortality. To his knowledge, the technology to expand our natural lifespans had been feasible to invent back home, but no one had bothered to do it. He imagined there might have been an underlying cause for it due to government restrictions or some underlying fear about meddling with DNA editing or revision, but in this place where the Dark Side was prevalent, Erebus was cautious to use his abilities here.

That wasn't because he had some great responsibility to save anyone using them-at least not yet-but rather he wanted to be cautious in attracting attention from the wrong people. He didn't fully understand what was going on nor knew too much about his current era, but what he did know was that he couldn't allow Palpatine to find him out.

Unbeknownst to Erebus, he started remembering everything he knew about the future of the Galaxy (or at least what had been presented on Terra) and felt a budding emotion start to take root: wrath. He was getting angry about how Palpatine essentially took advantage of a young boy's naivety and brainwashed him along with the public to take him down a dark path. He felt so much righteous fury about how he played the entire Republic and Jedi Order of the era until being defeated by Rey on Exegol, but that anger did not manage to spark into a raging inferno before being quelled by the Light Side.

As fortune would have it, Erebus wasn't near any Force-sensitive Sith nor any possessed imperials when his anger threatened to make itself known. He was down a corridor leading to where his final objective would be-guided by his System.

==+==

It didn't take him too long to reach towards his final destination as Erebus started to hear voices that belonged to the living. He knew he was still hidden under the [Cloak of Shadows] skill, but there was a strange sensation itching just under his skin like something was watching him despite his skill.

He didn't seem to take it to heart for now since the System updated his quest a few moments ago with it telling him that he was involved with the "Imperial Agent" storyline quest from that Star Wars: The Old Republic game. From he remembered, this was when the rebellious faction within Dromund Kaas wanted to blow up the power junction underneath the Dark Temple, but having their plans thwarted by Cipher Nine-the Player.

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It was during this moment when the imperials were set down a path to learn about that mysterious Cabal faction which manipulated the war to try destroying the Jedi and Sith orders. This gave Erebus an idea on how to keep himself hidden from both sides, but he had to see if events would play out as they did during the gameplay.

Keeping his reservations for the time being about his mysterious observer, he started to pay close attention to the events in front of him.

It started just as it did during the game where Cipher Nine approached the terrorists and started to destabilize the little plot. The terrorists who were not possessed by the ghosts started to fight against the agent, but they were all unaware that those bastards had other plans in case this one failed.

Including blowing up Darth Janus' flagship over Kaas City.

'I can't let them play their games this time round,' Erebus thought to himself as he recalled the events which led to Imperial Intelligence being dismantled due to the Cabal's intervention. He gripped his lightsaber tighter in his right hand while feeling the shadows around them begin to subtly respond to his subconscious desires. 'Those who get in my way will fall to the madness within.'

"Did it get much colder in here?" one of the terrorists asked inquisitively, but went mostly ignored. Not even Cipher Nine heard the question nor felt the subtle change in the air around them.

That was when the System issued an urgent mission to eliminate the terrorists before their plan succeeded. He didn't take too long before jumping right into the action-activating his lightsaber with a soft whirring to life.

This didn't alert Cipher Nine since Erebus was still cloaked and killing the terrorists without too much concern-feeling extremely confident in dispatching them into their eternal slumber-but it wouldn't be long until something felt off. Erebus was gaining experience left and right through his continuous slaughter, but the System was more advanced than those who'd announce experience gained with every kill.

Until combat was over, the experience was being saved.

As for what was happening to Erebus and Cipher Nine? Well, the latter was able to sense that something was off as the mission he was sent on seemed far too easy to complete while the former was almost done killing the terrorists which had sensed death was upon them.

They had been mostly right to an extent. Death did come for them, but still remained hidden within the shadows.

"What in the name of the Emperor?" Cipher Nine whispered softly as he observed the terrorists screaming out in pain before their voices were silenced forever. When he saw one of the terrorists he had knocked out before be cut down without mercy with some sort of shadowy blade, he got a sudden chill down his spine.

He felt like death was in the air around him-staring right at him-but did not make a move to attack him. This made the agent slightly bolder as he pulled out a pistol.

"COME OUT!" the Cipher roared into the darkness-knowing something or someone was there. "IF YOU DON'T COME OUT, I'LL SHOOT!"

===+===

In another universe-far from the Galaxy and in another time period-rumors of a goblin rebellion had reached the ears of one Eleazar Fig. Oddly enough, he was given a task from the Headmaster (at the time) to travel to London and pick up a new fifth-year student, but just before he sent off towards London to meet this newest student, he received another letter.

This letter didn't have a correspondence, but it was addressed to him directly.

It contained only the following:

"Events in time are moving ahead. The One Who Moves in Shadow shall come at the moment when everything is bleak and wield powerful magic, but there is more to the mystery. He will come and things shall not be what is expected."

At the time, Eleazar did not regard this letter as important and it was intentional. After all, everything must start with preparations for the battles ahead.

===+===