While on a routine mission to recover secrets from the reclusive Nightsisters, Sidious is tricked by Mother Talzin into accepting a power even he may not be able to handle. When Darth Plagueis becomes infected with it as well, the Sith Order spins into disarray. But Sith do not give up easily, even if their Grand Plan may require some--recalibration.
Notes
For a while now, I've become rather frustrated by the relative lack of Sidious redemption fanfic. To be sure, there are a few, but they are so few, and so far in-between that I feel there is an immense gulf of unexplored possibilities in this space. So this AU kind of spiralled out of that. Also a very special shout-out to my lack of self-control! Because I couldn't have started an entirely new fic of indeterminate length without that, right? This is also a very Sith-centric story, so if you like Plagueis or Maul, they will feature here quite prominently as well. San Hill will appear too from time to time, too, since I must admit he's one of my favorite characters. Also, while I will reuse some concepts from my fanfic Cut Strings, this story should be considered as taking place in an entirely separate continuity. And though the Sidious of this story may start out quite similar in temperament to the one in Cut Strings, he will develop in ways that I assure you will be quite unlike his counterpart in that story. Furthermore, I must of course ruin this story with one of my entirely unnecessary romances, in this case between Talzin and Sidious. It's kind of a rare pair, it seems, but I for one see quite a lot of potential in it! The writing is still a bit rough around the edges, I feel, but I was rather impatient to get it out. Anyway, I hope you enjoy the story, and I'd be most interested to hear your thoughts! EDIT: Jun 6, 2017: I've added considerably more detail to the flashback scene in the first chapter. Many thanks to SLWalker, who is currently beta-reading this story, for pointing out that this scene could be improved by fleshing it out more, and for beta-reading the additions as well! EDIT: Jul 22, 2017: Just wanted to mention that the flashback scene in the first chapter is in my opinion one of the darkest, most emotionally intense scenes in the story written thus far (up to ch 11). Also, a relative of mine who heard it found that scene to be super dark, so that kind of prompted me to get around to warning for it. I am not consistent or organized about warning for content, but I will occasionally do so. EDIT: Oct 4, 2018: I have edited the tags to include important platonic relationships in the story. Please note that any relationship tags using '&' reference platonic relationships, as is the intended purpose of the & symbol in relationship tags.
Imported from Archive of Our Own. Original work id: 10944309.
Notes
A/N: Just a very quick chapter to show how Plagueis is coping with all this. Because he's not just going to take this indignity lying down, right?
Plagueis tapped his journal with the pen, pondering his next words.
In summary, the effects of the liquid are indeed quite debilitating. I find that the plans I have carefully cultivated for over a century seem beyond my current capability to implement, and indeed I even question whether my insights are actually worth bringing to pass. There is a great deal of self-flagellation and doubt as well, over events that should be long-forgotten and dismissed. It's all quite disgusting, really.
He sighed, then switched off the datapad, dropping it and the pen onto an empty space on his workbench. As difficult as it had been for him to write that entry, he felt it was also invaluable. It was an essential record into his mental state, one which might otherwise be forgotten or glossed over in the future, and he did not want to lose what might be important information. Clearly, the Nightsisters were hoarding a psychological weapon of great power, and if he must suffer from it, he also fully intended to utilize the experience to learn how it might be turned to his own purposes.
Of course, it would be helpful if he had another data point. Sidious, of course, immediately came to mind, but he also didn't think his Apprentice was as likely to record his thoughts in sufficient detail to be of benefit to Plagueis. It would be laying all his vulnerabilities bare to another, something which Plagueis suspected that Sidious had learned to prevent himself from doing in his time as a Sith. His previous attempts to question Sidious about the liquid had yielded adamant alarm about the liquid's effects, but only an incredibly vague description of said effects that deftly evaded any messy specifics.
But Plagueis could make do. He'd had the thought that certain criminal underworld elements might make good experimental subjects in this regard, and the idea had instantly appealed to him. He was also extremely curious about what the effects of the liquid would be on an average person, and on a Jedi. There was the difficulty that it seemed to actively limit its own voluntary consumption through some as yet unknown mechanism, but Plagueis thought that could be easily overcome through injection by a third party.
He turned his attention to the microscope on his workbench. Bending his long frame over it, he carefully adjusted the lenses until the liquid sample came into focus. This sample looked similar to the previous one, the items of interest being minuscule black orbs suspended in ordinary pond water.
It was clear to Plagueis that these orbs, whatever they were, were the active agents of the solution. It had also become clear through a number of focused experiments that the orbs interacted primarily with midichlorians.
Which made absolutely no sense at all. Plagueis had determined that their effects were purely psychological. He had tested his Force abilities afterwards and found no noticeable differences from his previous benchmarks. Which of course directly contradicted what he had sensed, but observations didn’t lie. Plagueis had never had his Force sense deceived in such a way before, but then everything about these entities was highly unusual.
What he should be seeing was some sort of exotic neurotransmitter, but his attempts to introduce the orbs into cultivated neural cells had shown no interesting interactions. They didn't even have interactions with the midichlorians inhabiting the microorganisms in the pond water. It had only been when he'd examined a vial of his own blood, taken after the incident, that he'd finally seen that the orbs were binding to his midichlorians, forming some sort of complex lattice around them.
One spidery hand grabbed a dropper, which he filled with a sample of his own blood from a month ago, a sample that would not have any of the peculiar black orbs of its own yet. He watched with anticipation as the red liquid hit the orb-filled water.
And...nothing happened. Disappointed, he tried several more samples of his own blood and the blood of others, with the same underwhelming results. Sighing, he grabbed a datapad and recorded the information.
The process must only occur in vivo, and only in certain organisms. And those sorts of tests would have to wait. He checked the time. In exactly two standard hours, he would begin his work day. He frowned. Damask Holdings had been having some difficulties ever since the incident with these unidentified menaces, for which said orbs were clearly at fault. While the worst blow to him in his mind was how this would affect his plans as a Sith, it didn't help that his day job had been suffering as well.
His hearts just weren't in it anymore.