Wake Up

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"I've a feeling you just want me walking around these damp and cold corridors topless there bud," the inflection in her voice rose along with her humor. With a half shove of his shoulder, the blonde shook her head.

"Sorry to disappoint, but I still have my bathing suit top underneath." it was far more comfortable than an actual bra, not that she really needed one anyways.

"But you do have a point." it would be easier to dust all this off with her shirt. Slinging her backpack off her back, Kira set it down on the ground.

"Get the others down the corridor - and be careful!' she reminded him, bringing her arms down to curl her fingers on the hem of her shirt. Kira tugged it up and over her head, her hair falling down in a messy ponytail along her shoulders. Indeed, the blue triangle top gave her some decency. Balling her shirt up so only one side of it would get dirty, Kira got to work.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

”It’s not that cold.” Soliael responded simply as he went bounding down the hall.

There were similar mirrors that had been placed throughout the place, and Soliael went about to make sure that they were all properly cared for. Surprisingly most of them weren’t actually covered with dust or grime, likely because of their positioning. A few needed a quick wipe with his hands, but most of them were alright.

”This is strange.” Soliael said loud enough for Kira to hear. ”This Temple reminds me of some of the Sith Temples on Ziost.”

He wasn’t sure if Kira had ever been.

Ziost had been devastated centuries ago, though a few temples had survived the cataclysm. Soliael had visited the world nigh on four decades ago, when he had initially been studying the ways of the Sith. ”The architecture I mean.”

No point in hiding his thoughts.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

There was a fair amount of dust on this first mirror that Kira had to shake off her shirt to remove it. A small dust cloud rose as she did so, the sound flapping in the corridor. As the mirrors were adjusted a bit more light illuminated the area with a soft glow.

"How so?" the blonde mulled over that. She'd personally never had been to Ziost. At the time of her position as the Master of Shadows, their focus had been elsewhere in the galaxy.

"I mean, Sith typically do not go out building Jedi temples." at least not the ones she knew of. However...

"Well," another wipe of another mirror and the reposition to direct the light, "at least the ones we know."

Kira knew that there were other Force philosophies out there. It wasn't just the Jedi or the Sith. There were several schisms throughout millennia, and the Force was expressed and channeled through many means. It just so happened that the Jedi Order had taken her in when she was discovered to be Force Sensitive.

"But if you are mentioning the similarity then there has to be a common denominator. Typically architecture follows a particular train of thought. This could well be millennia old."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

”Well, my love.” Soliael was in a way, perhaps one of the greatest students of history that currently existed in the galaxy. From a young age he had read books and sought out knowledge. It was what allowed him to know a great many things, and what allowed him to lecture this children.

”The Sith, or at least as we know them.” There was of course varying degrees of Sith. ”came from Jedi. The Early Sith left for Korriban and such originally from Jedi. What I think.”

He wiped off another one of the mirrors. ”Is that this temple was built before...or maybe right after that departure.”

It made sense in a way.

It would mean that perhaps no disease, no war, nothing killed everyone here, but instead it was a simple lack of people. Those that had lived here simply...left. Either to join those that had become Sith, or to fight back against them. The theory was of course just that, a theory, but it would make the fact that they hadn’t found any remains at least a bit more sensible.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Now there was a dozy of a thought. "That old?!" her eyes turned as wide as saucers and she appeared taken aback. "That's... more than a few millienia." she was not uneducated by any means, but the Jedi Master had a limited grasp on just how far back her knowledge on the matter went. The four hundred year darkness had done a number on successfully retaining anything measurable from ancient history. Much the less anything having to do prior to the Old Republic. There had been governments who had destroyed what they'd consider too dangerous for others to have, while others had been sold to the highest bidder. That wasn't even including anything still lost out there or perhaps destroyed.

"If that were the case then this could have been abandoned for...." her voice trailed off, but what went unsaid was understood. Walking up alongside him, Kira bit her lower lip. "Guess that would mean that nothing afoul happened here." to a degree she was a little disappointed if that were the fact. Not that she wanted anything back to have happened, but the mystery and intrigue of it excited her.

"Hey, there is another door here," she gestured towards a stone arch way. However this one had what appeared to be a metal gate blocking it.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He shrugged. "That's not necessarily true. When the split happened a lot of people died."

At least from the records that Soliael had been able to attain.

Oddly enough those records had mostly been from the Sith. The Jedi had thoroughly kept their own histories of course but...well their Archives tended to get destroyed far more often. Perhaps in the largest stroke of irony one could ever expect it was most often the Jedi who preserved Sith teachings. It was one of the stranger things that they did. Soliael had never really understood it, but he was thankful for it nevertheless. Knowledge after all, was important.

"Break it?" Soliael asked his wife. "Or try to unlock it?"

The latter was much more difficult, and also what Kira would choose. Knowing that Soliael began to look for a keyhole, puzzle, or anything that would indicate a way to open the lock.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

While he asked one thing, he did another. That made a swell of affection grow within Kira's breast as she watched him search for a keyhole or puzzle. Her soft chuckle resonated a bit, and the woman brought over her flashlight to help out in the quest.

"Probably better to not destroy things." the blonde affirmed the thought process that the former false god had taken. A small press of her lips against his bearded cheek sent her gratitude. As did the slight squeeze of one left cheek she took advantage of as he bent down. Hey, never miss an opportunity!

There wasn't a keyhole. No that would be too simple. Instead, it was a small puzzle. A bit more secure than your typical key and lock.

"I wonder what is back there." she mused to herself, only to gesture at the small metal puzzle.

"Here."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Soliael observed the lock for a moment.

He had known his wife wouldn’t approve of destroying the door, so of course that had meant solving the puzzle. He frowned for a moment and pressed his finger against the odd arrangement of...well he could really only call them dots. His finger pressed against one of them, a soft glow casting from the puzzle as he moved it to the right.

”I hate puzzles.” He said simply.

”Why not just use a key?” That was a rhetorical question. ”Could you imagine if I put one of these damned things on the door to the house, it would take us fifteen minutes just to get inside every time.”

It was clear that Soliael disapproved of the safety tactics of the ancient Jedi, and for good reason too. He fiddled with the puzzle for a few more minutes, gently rearranging each of the strange dots until he began to form a picture of some sort. He thought for a moment more, and then suddenly looked up. ”The answer is a constellation.”

But which one?

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

There was no sense in hiding her snicker. Nope, when Kira found something particularly amusing she made it very well known. In her instance, it was a half giggle snort that puffed out of her nose and flared her nostrils. Add in the devilish twinkle in her aquamarine eyes, and it was enough to warrant a smack or to on her butt as payback.

"You sound like an old' grouchy man complaining about puzzles," she told him, shining the light for him to see. Her eyes grew wider at the notion that it was a constellation. It was immediately replaced with a similar expression of annoyance that furrowed Soliael's brow.

"Who makes a puzzle a constellation?" she inquired loudly as if whoever was to blame could answer her.

"That's ridiculous." or maybe smart depending on one's point of view.

"We are in the Rishi Maze. It could be anything." another valid point. While it may be a satellite galaxy, Devin and she was not astrologists who knew the Rishi Maze and its constellations. It was a separate satellite galaxy! Then there was the possibility that the answer could very well be a constellation in the main galaxy.

"Umm... How far off would it be that perhaps it was a constellation in this galaxy?'

If they were talking a Force Order since before the Je'daii timeline....

"How about the one over Tython??"

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He considered for a moment. Tython was a long ways away, but...well you could see the Rishi Maze from certain planets in the galaxy fairly easily. Unlike other far away galaxies the Maze was a satellite, it orbited their own galaxy regularly, and when the time was right you could even see certain remnants of the Maze from Borleias. He frowned for a moment, closing his eyes and trying to picture what Tython's constellation would actually look like.

"Hmm." Soliael made a thinking noise.

Mostly he tried to recall the stars from last night. He hadn't paid much attention to them in all honesty, if only because they had seemed unimportant at the time. A frown pulled at his lips, and then he shrugged. A part of him thought he knew the answer, he could at the very least pick out the star that Tython likely was, but it was still a pretty big guess in the end. That couldn't be helped though, and as such he slowly slid the small dots around until he formed a small image.

"Looks like a lightsaber." He said turning his head slightly. "Or a di-"

Soliael was cut off as a loud rumbling began within the walls. For a second he thought he triggered some sort of trap, but then the doors began to part.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Her giggle snort followed a small gasp of awe. The door swung open, revealing the barely illuminated corridor. Excitement once again went jolting through Kira's veins. With a bounce in her step and a glimmer in her eyes, the Lorrdian gave the former false god a shove forward.

"Yes, well I'll have to take your word for it." she teased, grabbing her lamp to check for any other mirrors that may allow this hallway some light. A few steps forward and she found the first one. But that wasn't also the case. As she moved forward to dust off the silver dish, she caught sight of a twinkle over her head. Something shone.

"Huh," rotating her wrist, Kira brought the ray of light up. What she discovered there made her gasp. There were crystals of a dark purple hue. They barely held a measure of light within them, almost as if they'd been drained of power and hand long gone dormant.

"Oh would you look at that."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

"My word? You look at it more than me, my love." Soliael teased as he followed after her.

As they stepped into the room Kira let out a gasp of wonder, but Soliael stayed silent. It wasn't that he wasn't impressed by the scene, it was just that his curiosity got the better of him, Soliael liked to ask why something had happened, not stare at it wondering.

Of course Kira wasn't the same way, but he hardly blamed her for that.

"Lightsaber crystals?" He asked himself more than Kira. "Power Crystals of some sort?"

Both seemed a good options.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Could very well be both." she replied, recalling how they'd found the other crystals under the ice caverns of the Exocron palace. There the rare purple tinted Andraal crystals had been harvested by her and Devin more than two decades ago. Curiousity got the better of her, and she brought up one hand to try and reach for one to touch it. The Force was certainly strong here... but different. The Lorrdian couldn't quite put her finger on it.

"I wonder what kind they ar --" as soon as the pad of her fingers met one facet of the crystal, it felt as if there was a distinct hum. A sort of energy that went rippling through the entire lattice, dimming and then glowing as if it were taking a breath. Within seconds it shifted from that dark purple hue to an indigo, a cerulean, and finally a soft, pulsing azure.

"Now that is fancy."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

Lightsaber crystals were natural, at least those used by Jedi. They grew out of a mixture of different minerals and an influence of the force. There were a few places in the galaxy where they grew naturally, Illum was of course the most well known. Other Crystals grew around the galaxy however, like on Exocron where he and Kira had stumbled upon the crystals they had used for her necklace and now Aela's lightsaber. It wasn't too far away from reason to find more lightsaber crystals out here.

After all why wouldn't they grow in the Rishi Maze.

"So this is another crystal cave." He said slowly. That would add to the logic of having the Temple he underground, after all, the crystal caves were down here and if you could build the structure around it that would make sense. It did however make the idea of the Jedi willfully abandoning this place a bit more difficult to sell. Historically speaking Jedi didn't like to abandon Lightsaber Crystals, many wars had been fought over the resources found on Illum.

It seemed strange to him that they would leave.

"Back to square one I guess." He said with a sigh, stepping up behind Kira and wrapping his arms around her belly. "Jedi wouldn't just leave a bunch of Lightsaber Crystals."

Gently Soliael rested his chin on her shoulder, comically ducking down to do so.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Rocking in his embrace, Kira upturned her amused face towards his. She gave a twitch of her nose in impish humor.

"Just one more mystery after the next." He was frustrated but Kira was more amused and curious than anything else. This was great. Fantastic even. Plopping the end of her flashlight in her mouth, Kira attempted to sling her backpack to her front. However, having the lug wrapping his arms around her was making it a bit difficult. She chuckled.

"Hahlp meh well yoush?" the muffled question would still relay the intent, the blonde nodding up towards the crystals. She wanted to gather enough to study and use their database to inquire on the type of crystals they were. Could be known ones. Could be new ones!

Either way exciting.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

He very gently increased the pressure of his arms around her, pinning her so that she could neither move, nor sling the backpack to her front. "I dunno."

Soliael said quietly.

"I suppose I could." His thumbs went trailing under her shirt, teasing along her abdomen and slowly circling there for a few moments. Eyes wandered down her body and towards the crystal, and he made a noise of genuine wondering, though whether he was directing it towards the crystals or his wife was a complete mystery. He let himself stay silent for a few moments, watching contently as Kira sagged into his arms slightly, having no other choice in the matter. "But I think we need to ask..."

He kissed her cheek. "What's in it for me?"

In truth, he was just getting somewhat annoyed with the situation. His mind had been focusing on nothing but this damned Temple for the last day and a half and he was getting real sick of it at this point. Teasing his wife would offer him momentary reprieve.

If only as a source of amusement.

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

Kira sucked in a breath through her teeth, giving a slight half moaning gasp that had her flutter her lashes closed. While she could feel the slight annoyance radiating from him from his ring, she could also feel the rushing sensation of mild, mischevious amusement flowing in that undercurrent. Oh he was being a smart ass!

"You are trying to distract me," the wry grin grew wider, unable to hide the reaction of her body had at his touch. Her back rocked against him, and he'd be able to feel the subtle quiver of her muscles as his fingers teased concave circles over her belly. There they idly traced over the slight stretch marks, lovingly and teasingly provoking her as he knew he would. There was no where on her body that the former false god did not intimately know. Devin could make her feel the rush of arousal without much of a thought. She simply reacted to his touch, emotions feeding her own. Some may say that was rather an enslaving sort of relationship, but for Kira, she was just so in tuned with him that it made it all the more intimate for her. Much as Devin knew her in and out, so did she with him.

"But I am open to suggestions," she countered, giving a small giggle as she tipped her head back in search for his lips. What's a little fun while surrounded by crystals, hmm?

"Or would you prefer a more immediate reward?" her eyes danced with a mischief of her own. Two could play this game.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]
There was a glimmer in Soliael’s eye, his lips pressing against hers, fingers gently curling against her skin.

”I think both are in order.” The former False God said with all the confidence of a man who knew he was going to get what he wanted. One could hardly blame him, more than twenty years of being together had taught Soliael the one simply fact that they both enjoyed one another. That might have seemed simple, even childish, but in a marriage it was probably one of the most important things.

Soliael and Kira didn’t resent one another, they didn’t argue or even ever really fight. They were with one another because every single day of their lives was a general joy. That joy was only amplified by the little games they played, the way they teased one another, the way they interacted every minute of every day.

It was love pure and simple.

”After all I’ve done so much for you.” Fingers slipped just a bit lower. ”I am very gracious.”

This trip hadn’t exactly been easy to plan of course, and they were here all by themselves...Soliael would have done it for no reward...but why not milk his Wife’s good favor while he could?

 

[Kira Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

There it was again. He had a way of making her lose her head. With her head tossed back, Kira would catch the kaleidoscope of colors that the crystals seemed to emanate. There was a pulsing glow to them, as if raw energy would ripple across them like a wave, crashing and ebbing like the tide. Part of her wanted to close her eyes but at the same time she wanted to keep them open. Didn't want to miss a single thing in the fullness of the experience, the warmth of her husbsnd's body encompassing her as subtle movements made her catch her breath.

"Definitely distracting me," she managed to chuckle out. Her feet gave a rock back and forth in place. "But--"another sharp breath filled her lungs. Oh that devil. Now he was doing it on purpose. Like a match to the flame she reacted, and had he not been holding her, her knees would have buckled. Voice breathy, the Lorrdian attempted to focus. Yet he made it impossible. With her arms pinned and his arms around her, there was no moving.

"I can't do much if you hold me in place."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Kira Talith"]

”No, I suppose you cant” notably, his grip didn’t stop even after he admitted it, a small smirk growing on his face that she would see in the reflection of the crystals ahead of him.

His fingers curled just slightly against her.

It had of course long since been obvious that Soliael held a certain sway over Kira, the ring on his finger giving him an impressive ability to...catch her off guard. There was really no other way of putting it, he didn't control her or anything so cruel, but he was certainly at fault for a little bit more than half of their shenanigans.

”But” He said as he kissed her neck. ”What kind of man would I be if I just let my new nnocent padawan prize escape?”

Of course, that all didn’t mean Soliael didn’t know how to press Kira’s buttons.