Coming Home

[Kaili Talith]

Bread was offered and bread was taken. Gravy was poured onto the blonde’s plate as well before she continued to mimic just about everything her brother had done. The girl had offered her thoughts and much like Micah always did he provided her with the problems. Like a game of that one game show, only just this once he was both the question and the answer. Plastiray Spray from ATC and something, something quantium crystalline fused quartz meshes. While still in the middle of eating a particularly big chunk of bread all Kaili could offer in response to her brother was a nod. She definitely liked the sound of what she was hearing.

As for the cloak, well…

“I haven’t used it in a while.” She said as her shoulders slumped from a spontaneous case of mood whiplash. Her fingers carefully wrapped themselves around her fork and she took a deep breath. “I haven’t been much anywhere, really.” She added before letting out a sharp exhale. The kid shook her head in order to get out of her mood. Thoughts had to be focused on the present. “I uh,” She cleared her throat. “I guess not, why do you ask?”

She nodded at Micah to indicate that, yes, the situation was under control.

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

The way she was acting amused him further. While he enjoyed making things for his siblings, he didn't expect them to constantly wear them. They were there when they were the most useful. If Nohei had no reason to use the cloak, all the better. Yet if the day came she had a need of it, then at least it was there.

"Just wanted to know if you were opting for a different one if you didn't like that one." it took some skill to get used to the additional weight from the cortosis for the one he'd already made, but his sister was already used to it. "I don't know, if you may want something lighter if at all."

A finger would gesture. "Or if you've an idea on a particular imbuement you may want." he took a bite of bread, chewing happily. Actually, he still had some angraal crystals from their excursion. Maybe a ring or a pendant would do her good. A wry thought came. The crystal had benefits to help calm -- and Nohei needed all the help she could get!

"Which reminds me... Gotta go visit uncle Di, see what new things he has. " Along with the new cousins.

 

[Kaili Talith]

“Well in that case I don’t think I will use it, actually.” Kaili said as she waved her hand in front of her. “I like to go light-weight on defense and far heavier on offense. Cloaks can get in the way. Get tangled, that sort of thing. You know what I mean. ”

She listened to her brother talk and nodded her head about seeing Uncle Di.

“Maybe he could help?” She cleared her throat. “Not saying you’re incapable of doing this yourself, but Di-Di has done this since before we were born.” Kaili shrugged. “Maybe you could dabble with that spooky scary alchemy.” She said with as much of a goofy face as she could muster. “Just, you know, keep it nice. I don’t want to end up on the receiving end of some weird shining glove thing.”

The full details of the glove incident on Kilia IV would remain unsaid, for now anyway.

“As long as there is an imbuement that lets me go just a bit longer than usual, I’m good. I’m happy.”

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

"That's fine." Micah told her, taking his fork - much to his sister's relief - and began eating the rest of the pheasant. "Mhm. Which is why I've visited him and took a look at his library from time to time. " all under survilence. There were things Uncle Di had that were not quite so safe for him to review. Micah may enjoy learning about bygone things and the rarer of the rare, but he wasn't stupid. He knew what would happen if all the fragments of his Grandfather were collected, and he wasn't keen on finding out what Moridin would do if brought back.

A twist of his lips continued his line of amusement, "Most of the items I've made for you have a version of alchemy. Dad showed me a bit from what he gathered with Moridin and Uncle Di." If anything, their grandfather was a well known Sith Alchemist, but also dabbled in the sort of things that were not so nice.

"I think some imbuements would do fine." a glance up, "And hey! I like my shock gloves, thank you very much!" then another chuckle.

"You ever gonna build a lightsaber or just gonna continue with the stun weapons?"

 

[Kaili Talith]

“I went to visit him not too long ago,” Kaili smiled at the memory. “He showed me around the castle, we talked about all sorts of things and then we called it a day.”

And it was a trip that had made it seem to Kaili as if just maybe the Taliths lacked that sense of proportions that many other had. Money, not a problem. In need of a place to live? Buy an island or a spooky long-abandoned fortress on a planet seemingly made out of fog. Perhaps it would all fall under the old saying ‘Leave nothing half-done.’ It was a good thing that their mother instilled the humility in her kids that they’d need. Not that Kaili calling herself humble was a very humble thing to do, but it was the thought of it that mattered.

“Both. Sabers for when things get super-hairy, stun baton for everything else.” Kaili shrugged. “And I wasn’t talking about your shock gloves, I was talking about Rave’s shiny glove thing.”

“During my trip and reunion with Mara she tried to ‘repair’ my memory of, you know… The crash. It was getting broadcast to the entire Castle Miramele and that couldn’t be. So, she tried to help the only way she could by using some sort of glove on me, aaaand…” Kaili’s voice suddenly picked up a few more higher notes. “Somehow managed to transfer more ‘Mechu Deru’ stuff onto my brain.”

“I had a migraine for a week before I could even think about letting the light in through my window.”

Deep breath, exhale. Resetting the conversation. “But yeah, back to the weapons and the armor. I will need somewhere to keep my saber, if that’s what you are getting at.”

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

Now that prompted Micah to a slow chew. A hand glove that did what? There was a mild bit of confusion along with a bit of alarm in the cadmiumous orbs of the Talith, a mirror to her sisters own. A thick bushy brow rose, hiding under the mop of his dark hair as he asked, "What do you mean more Mechu deru stuff to your brain?"

He set his forearms on the table, giving a slight cant of his head to the right as he would search his sister's expression. Rave Merrill was no joke. He was well aware of Mara's aunt; along with the variable accounts of her death or living status. The witches and Mandalorians at Yavin had plenty of tales on the woman and the sort of majick she could weave.

He was quite certain their father would want to know too.

 

[Kaili Talith]

The kid had suspected that would have her brother on alarm. Kaili had been worried about the repercussions of getting the ‘treatment’ when she was on Kilia, but at the time she was desperate and in search for something to make it all go away. It hadn’t lasted, but for a short while it had provided her with a week of clarity in which the remorse was gone. For that she would always be thankful. Though it still went with saying that the migraine from the knowledge transfusion was painful to wake up with as her brain tried to sort through the overload.

She shrugged and looked to her side. It was water under the bridge as far as she was concerned.

“Auntie Merrill was… Eccentric, to say the least.” Kaili said as her shrug turned into a nod in Micah’s direction. “I realise now that it was foolish to do, but at the time I thought it was the only way.”

“As the buzzing between my ears stopped and as the pictures grew all the more clearer I started seeing images of… Beasts, Micah.” Her lips drooped into a frown. “Horrible, deranged creatures. Mindless zombies created by some sort of… Mechanical virus.”

“... Technobeasts.” Kaili added as the mood seemed to drop. “I know something about them, but it’s all still a haze. I can’t make sense of anything.”

“Mara says it was from a holocron created by someone called Belia Darzu. I would poke at the knowledge I have been given, but I am not sure it’s something I should know in the first place.”

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

Yeaaaah.

That didn't sound good at all.

“You should talk to dad.” Micah said, his frown deepening in growing concern. He trusted Mara, wouldn't think that she'd ever put Nohei in harm.

He didn't know Rave Merrill. Tales spun about her and her frolic into some crazy artifacts that could and probably should remain lost.

“I don't think techno beasts, from my understanding, are the sort of thing that makes one think of sunshine and rainbows.” Not to mention what else could have been transferred that Nohei didn't know about.

They all knew the consequences of their grandfather and the many artifacts he made.

Each containing a portion of his essence. His soul.

 

[Kaili Talith]

The cling of a fork getting dropped against a plate reverberated around the room as Kaili looked at her brother with even greater amounts of uncertainty.

“What am I supposed to say, Micah?” Kaili said and leaned her arms against the table edge. Her voice sunk into a near-mocking tone as she waved her head frantically around for each word that passed her lips. “By the way, father, I have been imbued with knowledge of eldritch horrors by Rave Merrill a few months back.”

“Yes, father, I do know that’s insane. Yes father, I do know that was irresponsible of me. Yes, I regret it. No, I haven’t poked at it. Yes, of course I am terrified.” The girl leaned back in her seat and picked up her fork again and she proceeded to continue eating. Chew, swallow, repeat until finally she opened her mouth to speak again. “Micah, I don’t even know how to comprehend the meaning of this.”

“The most dangerous technology and idea that someone like me can come up with is resting within my mind and I don’t even want to look for the trigger.”

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

He paused mid spear of more pheasant. All jokes were wiped away from Micah's expression. In their stead was a steady cadmiumous stare. That she understood the severity of this was apparent; that she should have told their father earlier evident. However, that she'd taken this long to tell him or their parents worse.

"That's the point." he said pointedly, forearms braced against the table. "You know what our grandfather did; had done." his stare was level and while it was not meant to chide, the intention to emphasize the real issue. That Nohei had this happened to her and had yet to tell their parents. Their family was situated around trust. Trust in each other. In everything. They had been trained in what was the Darkside. What was Light. What was right and what was wrong. They had been given guidance by their parents with the hope that they would live good lives; and trusted that they would come to each other with their problems, their fears, their concerns.

Their parents door was always open. Their comm at the siblings disposal at any given time. Nohei should know better. Their father would not judge; he would do his best to help and offer counsel.

"You know his specialty lies in technomancy; the bulk of which had been taught to you." a fork gestured to her. "With all the knowledge he'd collected in his years, do you think he wouldn't know who Belia Darzu is or what could potentially be in your head now?"

A frown.

"Mores to the fact on why did this even happen to begin with?" now here came the harder questions.

"What happened? And when?"

 

[Kaili Talith]

The shame would almost be palpable as the sister began to twist away from her brother. Her head crooked to let her hair form an artificial sense of tunnel vision. No tears, that would throw it across the border of pathetic, but the girl was far from feeling alright. Truth tolds he wanted to avoid the questions but she knew better than that. Micah wouldn’t stop poking, nobody in her family would. The shame in question wasn’t something she felt because she mistrusted her brother, if anything it was the opposite. It was the fact that the knowledge had been transferred without her approval that made it all the more uncomfortable. She felt guilty, dirty in a sense.

A deep sigh parted her lips. “I know.” She whispered at Micah’s miniature lecture. “I know that.”

“I was with Mara on Kilia. During the first night there I was having a nightmare and that’s when Rave walked in.” Kaili raised her head and brushed the hair out of her face to look at Micah. The shame would be all the more apparent. “She told me I was leaking my emotions and fears to everyone in the temple, offered a way for me to alleviate that.”

The were a few moments of silence as the girl struggled to find the words.

“And it worked.” She muttered. “Only, I passed out, and that was when she did it.”

“I don’t know how, I don’t know when, but I do know that I woke up with a migraine. I told Mara and not long after that she went off on her.” Another quick silence. “Not long after that I found out what she had done, and not too long after that Rave was gone.”

“... Dead.” Kaili added. “As Mara returned we heard a ship take off, and not long after that she was dead.”

“So a now-dead person transferred knowledge onto my mind while I was out cold. I don’t know what more I can tell you.”

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"]

His appetite for once was gone. The fork was set down. It was often said that Micah bore an uncanny resemblance to their father; likely the Talith genes coming down strong. Draith had a far more laid back personality, an easy going nature that could be said to have been gleaned from their mother. Certainly their raising had been far more supportive and full of love from Soliael than the elder Talith had ever received from Moridin.

However, that didn't meant that Micah was unable to be serious. The few times he did made those who knew him pause. This was one of those times. He could tell that Nohei was not comfortable at all with what had happened to her, and for good reason. She had already suffered through so much. That she had this without her knowledge or her concent was... well borderline mental rape. What had Rave been thinking?

He was angry. Not at Nohei, but angry at Mara's aunt. At the situation. That Rave Merrill had passed again didn't actually cause him to feel any sympathy in that moment. Something had been done to his sister and without her consent, that ticked him off.

It took a few seconds to calm himself, and it was a good thing Nohei had ducked his head. His lips had grown thin, and there was a flicker of orange light in the twin suns of his eyes.

"...well, it wasn't your fault." he began, taking his fork to stab at the meat again. He was trying to keep his voice light for her sake. " Whatever she did, she shouldn't have done so in the first place."

He took a deep breath.

"We should go visit dad after this."

 

[Kaili Talith]

Was it really? Maybe in a few ten-folds of years Kaili would have most likely started to look into these things by herself, but then that would have been on her terms. She was still an infant in many ways when it came to who she was. To grant this kind of knowledge to her at this age -- no matter how docile or how shallow said knowledge was -- could still spell a disaster that she could have avoided with proper preparation. But for this there was no preparations, just a migraine and a rude awakening once it all sunk in. So far the images hadn’t told Kaili how the technovirus was made, but she definitely knew the fundamentals of it. The base for what could become a platform for nightmares. Not just for her but everyone around her as well. It was just leisurely swimming around her brain, begging to be opened and poked at, but Kaili refused.

“Yeah.” She nodded and looked up at her brother. “He’ll know what to do.”

“He always does.” She sighed and went back to her food. It wasn’t very appetizing anymore. “What do I tell him though? How will he react?”

[member="Micah Talith"]

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Kaili Talith"] [member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"With far more understanding than you probably give him credit." It was their dad. There wasn't a need to fear or wonder how he would react. He was their father. Nohei didn't have to worry about that. All she had to do was talk to him.

"I can go with you if you like." it wouldn't honestly be necessary. There were no secrets between them. No need to. Their parents had raised them to be strong and independent yes, but also to be able to come to them freely without fear of judgement. There might be times when they were disappointed or concerned over their well-being, but their decisions were their own.

Everyone makes mistakes; didn't mean that they had to fret about it on their own.

 

[Kaili Talith]

She knew that, but stagnation was almost always a choice made by those who already experienced it. She bottled things up in fright of what could happen if she messed up or worse. To leave something undone was better than doing it and having to live with the consequence. It wasn’t the way she had been raised to be, but it was the way that she had turned out. Even if it was a temporary setback at best. Kaili took a deep breath and nodded at her brother again. She knew better, she would do better. She had promised him that on the way to their parents home.

After all, it had been just a little more than an hour ago her mother had been smiling at her, straw hat and all. How she could fear a face like that was up to anyone. To think their father would get upset was wrong by all accounts and she knew that. Of course, he would be disappointed that it happened, but he would understand.

“You’re right,” She sighed. “I am being stupid again.”

“... I should go alone.”

“It’s father. He’s not going to bite.”

[member="Micah Talith"]