Wake Up

[Soliath Devin Talith]

“Always.” Soliael said with complete truth.

Those who did not believe, left or died. He had not lied about that in the slightest. The unbelievers were usually rounded up and killed. Of course they were given time, time to study and time to see what Moross was actually about. If they conformed and went along with Moross, then they were accepted and treated like everyone else. If they refused, they were given a one way ticket out, at Amorellas insistence, if they refused, they died.

It was a fact of the Crusade, but belief was never forced. It didn't work if it was forced. Soliael could not bend the mind of billions, he could not alter the thoughts of countless beings, not in the numbers that Moross held.

Those who believed, believed freely.

“I cannot force someone to believe me a god.” That was true. Even the Aing-Tii had not been swayed that way, it was too difficult. “People believe in me because they want to. Not because of some trick of the force.”

 

[Kira Talith]

She'd finally come to a stop about a foot away from him, her head tipped back in order to see him in his entirety. Her better than anyone, should feel tiny standing before a would be 'God.' Yet while the Jedi Master stood no higher than mid chest and still feeling the lingering vestiges of her mental and physical trauma, there was an underlying strength about her that would not bend. That had not broken under Nememe's cruelty. It was this sliver of merit that would shine, perhaps a bit less brighter than when they'd first met, but still there under the pale hollows of her eyes.

"And are you a god?" came her next question, reading every nuance upon his face.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

“No.”

It was a single syllable, uttered between two unsmiling lips.

“I am but a man.” He raised his hand slightly, putting it near her face as if he was about to stroke her cheek, then he stopped himself, letting the palm stall between the two of them. Soliael looked at his palm, the massive scar from where he had torn the Vir from his hand still very visible, he frowned slightly. “I can do things that some may call divine, I can heal the sick, disappear into thin air, break the very confines of reality...”

For a moment he trailed off, still looking at his hand. “But I am still a man.”

If Kira was wearing a wire, she could tear apart the Moross Crusade.

 

[Kira Talith]

His hand froze in the air, and Kira caught the sudden hesitation. That dawning awareness of his actions and the subsequent withdrawal. Her frown deepened. He was such a contradicting mass of revelations. It was in his stance, the set of his jaw, the tension at the corners of his eyes. There was conviction as much as awareness of his mortality. For one who would be able to discern a lie through a sapient's body language, she could catch no sign of a misleading untruth.

Still just a man, eh? She'd muse, that innate curiosity growing with every second at the range of revelations she could discern from him. Her eyes would catch the line of a ragged scar within the shell of his palm, that gaze following his line of sight as he'd tell her he was as much of a god as any other Force user capable of manipulating the Force.

Before he would know it, two small hands would take his hand. They're touch would be like ice, perhaps not the most comforting of sensations, but there was a measure of truth to the touch. Stability.

"That's good to hear," she'd say, smoothing the line of his hand as she held it between hers, giving it a gentle rub as if to warm it. Something she'd done many a times to many younglings. There was no coyness or flirtation to the act, but the simple desire to grant some comfort in turn without expecting anything in return. "Because, Sparky the god doesn't have quite a nice ring to it." She'd say in a half joke only to sober for a moment. Her shoulders rose with a deep breath, then slowly fell.

She'd bring his hand up cupped between her hands close to her mouth. "Everyone needs something to believe in." she'd say quietly just before the warm heat of her breath would brush against his hand. One half crooked genuine smile would be offered in turn as she'd say quietly.

"But there is more to it than that." every word would brush more of that warm cloud of breath against his hand. "It's faith." she'd continue the soft rub, "Confidence." she could understand that.

"Trust." She held the same belief with the Jedi Code. Yet therein lied the following issue, because she made no qualms about the situation and circumstances where they first met -- on opposing sides of a war. Who was he then? A Sith? A God? Or a man?

On whose shoulders was that faith and trust of billions placed upon?

"So who are you then? "

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

He let her play with his hand, warm it unnecessarily and bring him some measure of supposed comfort. Of course he needed no such thing. His conviction was strong , and his beliefs more so. His mother had bred into him what he was to be, something great. His grandmother had pushed that even further, and his fathers lineage had pressed him into what he was today, a man, standing as a God. He was about as close to the top as a mortal man could be.

Something he found utterly boring.

This girl, this one woman however was not.

Suddenly his hand curled slightly, taking her comparatively small hands into his own palm and holding them tight. Unlike her gesture, there was a bit of flirtation within his, though it was more about comfort then anything else. The warming of her cold hands in the heat of his palms. He smiled down at her with that same cocky smile from before.

“I am Neth.” He said enclosing her hands in warmth. “The Keeper of all knowledge and bringer of evolution.”

“I am keeper of histories, and teller of the future.” His smile did not disappear. Neth had always suited him very well. Soliael loved the keeping of knowledge, loved the gathering of it and studying of it. More than anything in the galaxy Soliael loved to know things, another reason why curiosities like Kira interested him so.

 

[Kira Talith]

He was quick, and just like that his hands were now warming hers. "Neth the Keeper?" Fancy. "The Keeper of Knowledge and teller of the future." she'd repeat as if to absorb it. What manner of flirtation he'd use would go over her head nor would she register it. As always, this was a blind spot in her view simply because she had never considered personal attachments.

And a kathpup crush in her preteens didn't count.

So she took it as Sparky being....well, whatever Sparky was in light of the hospitality he'd shown her thus far. A fact she was grateful for. Just what manner of Sith was he?

He was showing more hospitality and courtesy than some of the old Jedi Masters and Knights from the Order. It was bemusing as it was startling. She gave him a faint smile of gratitude none the less.

"Neth suits you." she'd finally say, a slight tingle of sensitivity returning to the cold slender digits now held between his grasp.

"But...what is the point if you know everything as well as the future?" she'd ask, "Where is the fun in that?"

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

“Divinity is not to bring yourself joy, but others. There is a temple, within the city, devoted to the ten gods of the Pantheon. There the three living Gods can sometimes be found. My librarium is within that Temple, and it is there that pilgrims who worship me travel. I answer there questions there.” Soliael said with a simple shrug. His hand still held hers, a gust of wind pushing flakes of snow onto the both of them and causing a chill to the core of oneself. He frowned slightly, worried about her freezing to death.

Unlike him she couldn't ward off the cold, she had but the cloak and a tiny pair of slippers.

“People demand to know the things that will happen to them. They ask to know who their lover will be, how many children they will have, when they will die.” He listed a few more things, but his point quickly came about. “Yet, I would not tell them.”

There was a coldness to that statement, though not out of spite or any negative emotion, but out of simple logic. “To know ones future is to be broken and fractured. It is to cement something into place that should be ever changing and shifting. Everyone has a thousand different paths that lay before them, to know even one is to ruin them all.”

That was part of why he had never learned flow-walking or any similar talent from the Aing-Tii. He did not want to know his future. So oddly enough, in a roundabout way he had just agreed with Kira's point, though he couldn't of course just say yes, that would be too easy.

“The odd thing is, no one ever asks me when I will die.” If he knew everything, then it would stand to reason that Neth the Keeper would know the time and place of his own death. Yet out of the thousands of Moross followers that had come to ask and pray to him, not one had ever even come close to the subject.

 

[Kira Talith]

The cold bite of the air was starting to permeate through the cloak, but she didn't mind. It was actually allowing her to get a bit more clarity on her situation. On where she was, with whom, and how to process it.

" Asking would require an answer," she said. "An answer that no one really wants to mull over." she'd give him a half smile in thanks for warming up her hands before gently pulling them away. Cold toes were starting numb.

"Because if you answer that... well then... what comes after?" she'd start to tuck her hands into the warmth of his cloak again, briskly rubbing her arms. What comes after the death of a God? Of an ideal? Of an icon to hold trust and faith in? The four hundred year darkness answered that. Chaos.

"Truth be told, an idea or a belief can never really die. Not as long as there are few who have faith in it. " she'd turn her head, her profile to him as she would stare back out into the white.

"It's kinda like the Jedi Code. Gives purpose. Guidelines. A way of life in the midst of uncertainty." a moment would pass and she would give an involuntary shiver. More brisk rubbing of her arms. Was she really having this conversation with a Sith? After everything?

Then again, she was never the blanket statement type of girl. It's why she protected Soliael's life back on Metalorn, because a Jedi respects one another, and all other life forms. Because a Jedi uses the Force for knowledge and defense, never for aggression or personal gain. Because the Jedi are the guardians of civilization, yet do not allow civilization to destroy needlessly.

And in that the Jedi must put the needs of the community above the needs of individuals.

She'd cast him a sideways glance, wiggling her nose for a moment as a snowflake landed on the tip. "You realize you are following Jedi tenets with your stance on divinity?"

"So just what are you, Neth the Keeper? There doesn't seem to be a label that I can stick on you that fits."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael smiled, and then turned around for a moment. He hoped the doors of the balcony and swept his arm, signaling for her to get inside. She was not dressed for winter weather, and she had not the force potential to keep herself warm like him, not after still needing to recover and regain her strength. His thoughts drifted to her words however, and he somewhat agreed.

In a way, his stance on divinity really was following the Jedi code, but it was so much less restrictive.

That had always been why he thought the Jedi Fools. They held themselves back, pushed against the grain, tried to be something that no mortal could be. It didnt work, it couldn't work. The Jedi Code was the reason that most Jedi fell.

Soliael knew that for a fact.

“I don't have a problem with Jedi, or their beliefs.” He said quite truthfully. The Jedi to him were little more than obstacles. If they got in the way, they were removed, if they weren't on his path, then he would let them sit. Soliael had never before and would never go out of his way to harm or kill Jedi, it seemed pointless to him. Following a part of their tenants was more than likely due to his upbringing, and the fact that the tenants used common sense to structure themselves.

Smiling slightly as he held the door, he spoke again as she walked passed him back into the ante-chamber.

“I choose to take that as a compliment.” Orange eyes followed her. “Though there are many labels that fit me in some way.”

 

[Kira Talith]

"Oh? Like what? ," she'd ask mid sniffle, rubbing her cold nose with one hand as she would gratefully enter the warmth of the atrium. Cold was cold, but her toes were certainly happy to be out of the cold. Well, all nine of them. She was still sans a big toe.

Her cheeks and nose were bright pink to the rest of her pale face as she gave another sniff, but she wasn't complaining. No point in doing so. Besides, abdomen on own had quite a few deadened nerve cells. Another hot puff of air would blow her bangs out of the way again, her slow walk taking her over towards the length of the corridor. Fingers would tingle as warmth would bring sensation back to them, glad for that.

"What do they call you when you're not starring in your own holoplay role?" it was said in a half tease, because she very well knew that Neth the Keeper as a God, well... wasn't real. Thankfully, she was grateful that he wasn't delusional to actually believe he was a God. She met her fair share of crazies. Being alone on a foreign frozen planet that had no real way to escape with a guy who actually believed he was a god would not be one of the best scenarios she'd ever gotten herself into. Her lips would thin, thinking of Oliver again.

But not the worst.

It was a game of twenty questions. There was purpose to it though; can't stop a Jedi Investigator or the former head of the Jedi Shadows from asking probing questions. Granted, it wouldn't come off as a third degree probe. It was just conversation. Ask a question, read his body. Ask another, and then catch a bit more of what he'd say and do.

... oddly enough perhaps that may seem as if she was checking him out in hindsight. Not what she was intending at all.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

He was well aware that she was digging for information, subtly, but digging nonetheless.

Soliael didn't really mind however. She already knew the one thing that could actually tear him apart, and he very much doubted that she could prove any of that, not to the billions of true believers that were within Moross. Anything else was simply fluff. He had never hidden himself or tried to claim that he was anything other than himself. He didn't mind sharing. “Man, archivist, warrior, prince, Sith.”

The last one left a slight impression. They were all true in a way, and he didn't shy away from any of them. He realized what effect stating his alignment might have, but in truth he didn't care. Kira knew well what he was, she had fought him, and even in her current state she could very likely sense him. He made no effort to hide the feint traces of the darkside that clung to him, though now that they were inside it would be overpowered by that faint feeling of calm once again.

“Most.” He said with a hint of amusement. “Call me Soliael.”

An old name, one that had history and purpose behind it. He could tell her his last name, but he wouldn't know which.

 

[Kira Talith]

Instead of heading off towards the direction of her chamber, she instead would curiously appear to study the corridors surroundings. She didn't get a good look at just what decorated the place. That, and well, exit points are nice. From what she could catch from the balcony, this fortress was pretty big. Which meant one was able to get lost pretty easily.

She came before a rather large painting, her brows furrowing as she would quietly study it, glancing over at his direction as soon as he gave her another name. Some of those labels she could guess, others well... that was new.

"Soliael." The name would roll off her tongue, ahh, did they finally get to a real name now? "Is that your real name?" her eyebrow would perk in query just as the sensation of calm would slowly start to envelop her. This time, she took notice and she gave a slight frown. What was that?

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

“Yes.” He had another name, but that wasn't for her.

Typically within his culture one was given three names. Soliael Devin Shamalain was his true name, given to him at birth. Devin was the name that his mother used, that people extremely close to him used. Of course he was rather secretive about that side of his family, and thus that name and his true last name were never really given out. Instead he had adopted his fathers last name, Talith.

It carried connotations of its own and had helped him in the past, mostly due to the renown that his father had garnered within the galaxy. Soliael was the name of a long past person that his mother had known, an old friend or something to that regard, and it was a name that he did not mind giving out.

He watched her explore the ante-chamber, clearly not worried about her finding or seeing anything she shouldn't.

 

[Kira Talith]

"It suits you." she'd say with a half smile, returning her attention towards the painting. Warmth would seep into her bones with every second, as would that growing sense of calm.

But this time, she was keen enough to catch on it. Just what was it? Her brow would furrow in concentration, fighting the desire to simply ignore it.

She couldn't feel the brush of the Force, so it wasn't any kind of manipulation through those means. At least, that she could discern. Slowly she turned to look at him again, searching his face.

"Where is the rest of my scouting party?" she'd ask that first important question, followed by one regarding her most pressing situation.

"...and are you manipulating my emotions?"

Blunt, yes -- but she had a knack at discerning the truth from lies.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

“Rest?” The question put him off, he hadn't been aware that her scouting party had multiple people in it, in fact he hadn't been aware she had a scouting party at all. He had assumed that she had been on that world alone, by herself. “As far as I knew you were alone. I took you form that world before anyone else showed up. They should still be there...if they haven't left.”

There was a hint of annoyance in his tone. Anger at himself. He should have known better, he should have seen if there were more people, people that were looking for Kira or working with her. The assumption had made him leap to action, an action that could have consequences. He hadn't thought of this before and it upset him.

When her next question came he looked puzzled for a moment.

He wasn't using the force, he certainly wasn't trying to manipulate her with words, then what was she-

Soliaels line of thinking cut off almost immediately. Of course, the pheromones. He often forgot that his body was capable of producing them. It was part of his mothers heritage, the Zeltron ability to manipulate pheromones. Soliael could do it to, but unconsciously. He had never had the ability to control the output of the pheromones, they simply reacted to his natural moods, specifically, only when his emotions were strong.

Like right now when he was attempting to be a calming presence for Kira.

“Unconsciously.” He said quietly, slowly speaking up more as he worked through the process. “Yes. My genetic heritage is a muddled one, but within it can be found Zeltron.”

That should have been enough for her, but he wanted to further clear things up. “Because it is a distant part of me, I retain the ability to produce the same pheromones that Zeltron do, but I do not have the ability to control them. When I exhibit strong emotion, my body reacts naturally to that emotion and the pheromones respond in kind. It happens so rarely that i often forget about it”

Soliale hard ever felt emotion strong enough to make the process function. He had never explained that to someone before.

 

[Kira Talith]

He was aggravated. Angry. She could read it by the tightening of his jaw, the change in his stance. Had he really thought she'd been alone?

There was also now the matter that there was a high chance that the two other scouts would be searching for her. Granted, they were not of the Jedi Order, but those who represented Levantine Sanctum. An offshoot of n'er do wells who had taken her in when Ember Rekali had brought her to them for medical aid.

Now it was a wonder if they were still on the planet... or had returned to Sanctum space. It was a distressing thought. More so if in the wake of her abrupt battle with Soliael, they thought her dead.

Add into the fact she was already MIA with the Jedi Order...Yeaaaaah, this wasn't good at all.

"They'll be looking for me..." That train of thought would get pushed to the rear of her mind in the wake of the revelation of his Zeltron heritage. She'd never gone to the party planet, but the tales that would come from it and of the bright pink skinned natives gave a good indication on why he had a measure of empathetic sway.

He wasn't lying when he told her he was doing it unconsciously, that she could tell from his body language. More so that he was surprised by it.

"Neat trick," she'd say, unable to push aside the sensation of calm he'd still be unconsciously pursuing. It wasn't too bad. Or was it?

"I should be more upset about that." she'd admit, for somewhere deep in her mind she wasn't too appreciative of the manipulation of her emotions. "But I do the same with sugar cookies with the younglins." So maybe she wasn't the most stern of Jedi Masters who'd be against a little bribery.

"So .. basically you're feeling.... what?" she'd ask, wondering just would prompt what she was feeling. "And then I get a whiff of Sparky eau de parfum and then I get the notion that you're a pretty swell guy?"

She'd give a shrug, starting to take a few backward steps down the hall towards another door she'd yet to explore. Plus the distance... may help matters in clearing her head.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael followed her. The room she was heading towards was the main chamber, in there she would find a vast octangular room with eight halls and a single massive stairway. Each of the halls lead to one of the rooms on this level, some belonging to people in the Moross Crusade, and other being guest chambers. These were of course the most ornate rooms in the fortress, and were reserved for people that Soliael and the other Gods found important.

“You can send them a message.” Soliael said calmly. “You're not a prisoner nor are you captive here. If you have a frequency you can reach them by I will get a communicator for you.”

It was as simple as that.

He didn't intend to keep Kira here if she wanted to leave, nor did she want to isolate her.

Despite them being in a remote mountain Fortress.

As for his current emotion. He frowned slightly “I had the powerful urge to keep you calm and relaxed. With the way you reacted to me on that world, and after seeing your scars, I did not want you to hurt me or yourself. The need to keep you calm started the pheromones, and now I suspect they are continuing due to my unconscious mind being aware that it is in fact working.”

He couldn't really stop it, even if he wanted to, but he was clearly not uncomfortable talking about it. In fact this entire time he had been very open and honest with Kira.

“It's not so much about making you like me. If it were that the pheromones would have a very...different effect.” That had also happened before. “It's about allowing you to relax.”

Soliael seemed to be analyzing the situation itself, diagnosing his own condition.

 

[Kira Talith]

"That would work," she'd say in response to sending a message out. She'd been part of a an expedition to help in exploring the surrounding planets, a small way of repaying the kindness she'd been given. It was the least she could do with the skills available to her."Probably sooner rather than later."

The extra bit of length and fur of his coat was making it a bit difficult to walk backwards with. She had to be extra careful that she wouldn't trip. But the extra caution would do wonders, because she was constantly studying him as he spoke. When he mentioned the need to keep her calm, she'd slow to a halt just past the threshold of a vast octangular room.

"...I see." she'd say finally, giving a slow nod. Well when he put it that way, she couldn't really argue. Not with how she lost control, not with how it had been difficult to keep her mind from wandering, from going back to that white room.

She could understand that. It would be no different than what she'd have attempted with Oliver had she ...

Her shoulders rose and fell with a deep sigh. She then gave an awkward smile.

"Guess the pretty swell guy part can stick for now." she'd joke in an attempt at lighthearted banter, slowly starting to turn on the pads of her slippers.

"Who else lives here?" she'd muse aloud, wandering deeper into the room as she'd take in the lavish decorations. There were many doors, certainly suggesting that others would make this their home were it not for the overly cleanliness of the decor.

Pretty as a picture it may be, but it didn't look lived in at all. She'd liken it to a museum, where she could look.

But certainly not touch.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael stood in place for a few moments at the threshold, watching her awkwardly dance about into the room for a few moments before settling in the exact center of it. He observed her for a moment more, spying that awkward smile for a moment, wondering what she was thinking about.

“No one.” He admitted.

The Fortress was not yet complete, the base of it was still being carved into the mountainside, and the secret chambers at the very base were still being etched as well. Many of the rooms were completely empty and devoid of staff, and the only one that truly lived here were the Sil, the creatures that Soliael had crafted to function as servants.

Kira likely wouldn't be seeing them.

“I stay here from time to time, to collect myself and rest.” No one else came here yet, and even when it was completed he very much doubted they would unless in times of duress. This was meant to be a fortress the last bastion of Moross if it were to ever be assaulted. An unlikely scenario, but one that it payed to be prepared for. “Aside from that, no one lives here. The two others stay most often in Exocra, my apprentice travels the galaxy, and as of yet this fortress remains a secret to everyone else.”

At the back of his thoughts he reminded himself to get her a communicator.

 

[Kira Talith]

"Just you?" her eyes would widen in surprise, her half spin coming to a pause as she'd look at him. He lived her alone?

"Must be awfully lonely." she'd say, the thought of living alone so foreign to her. "No one should live alone." Back at the temple she was surrounded by younglings, and when that wasn't the situation she was always with [member="Jannik Morlandt"] --

She froze. Jan.

The mention of an apprentice would in turn remind her of her own padawan. It had been months since she saw him last and hadn't had a chance to contact him at all. Everything had changed since Coruscant fell, things were different now. Different people, a different Order.

A frown and a dull ache would come to her head as that lingered in her mind.

"Guess that saves on cleaning duties though, hmm?" she'd say, dropping her hand to her side as her attention would draw towards the large spiral staircase.