Girls Are Gross

[Soliath Devin Talith]

He shrugged.

“The people around me. What was happening.” Vague statements, but it was the truth of the matter. Soliael had never really thought about it before, it had simply been something that had happened, something that had been forced upon him. “People were relying on me, million, even billions. Change was necessary so I could become a better person.”

Soliael looked at his son. “And I did.”

Sure he no longer cared for those thousands upon thousands. No longer had the following of a true god, but he had something else to care for now.

Four perfect children.

 

[Micah Talith]

Micah gave a small frown, contemplating his father's answer. He knew what he meant about that; the Moross Crusade. It was still a strange thing to consider, his father revered as a God.

His frown turned into one of query, "Don't you miss it dad?" he asked, glancing up at him.

"Being a god?" strange as it was, there was a bit of wonder to it. A curiosity. Maybe even a little bit of jealousy. It would be nice to have people at your beck and call, to consider you powerful. A God.

Certainly would show Aela a thing or two .

"What was it like?"

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

“It wasn't always as great as you might think. Sure there were people who worshiped me, thought dear of me, but they also looked to me for nearly everything.” Lest he forget what that weight had felt like. Even when he had hidden himself away, when he had left Amorella to run Moross, he had still felt the pressing weight of his people, their wants, their needs. It had come with the power they had given him, both literally and metaphysically.

There was a strength to that worship, a sinister one.

“I carried the weight of a nation.” Soliael explained. “So did you aunt and uncle.”

“It was never as simple as it sounded, and it was always more difficult than you might expect.” Being a God had never been simple. For a moment he looked at his palm, as if there was something with it. He gazed at it then shifted slightly and closed his hand into a tight fist, remembering the creature that had once swam within hi veins.

 

[Micah Talith]

Micah caught that subtle shift that ran across his father's expression, the tightening of his fist. He was elsewhere for a moment, to which another query would follow.

"What is it?" he asked, brows knotting. Done with the climbing gear, he let it hang for a bit. The climb would still continue, but for the moment his interest was piqued on the past of his father.

Picturing him as a God. Wondering how he had led that nation. Curious why he would pretend to be a God to begin with.

... and how does one become one?

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

He looked at his son for a second.

“Nothing, Draith.” Soliael asked his son, then shrugged. “It's difficult to describe, more difficult to even wrap ones head around. We had power, more power than anyone could imagine, but we also had to make sure not to misuse that power. In the end it was all about keeping our people safe. It didn't start out like that. It all began with...less than well intent.”

Soliael looked up at his son. “But something good came out of it in the end.”

Dozens of worlds brought into economic growth. Millions upon millions of people fed, protected, and given purpose.

Yes, something good had come out of it in the end.

 

[Micah Talith]

"So did the end justify the means then?" came Micah's blunt question, a mirror of Soliael's eyes staring at him, curious. Did the end justify the means? Did pretending to be a God, lying to them, in the end mean that the path his father, aunt and uncle took was worth it?

If something good comes out of the start of ill intent, does that make it justifiable?

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

For a few moments Soliael thought.

“Yes.” There was a certain harshness in that, but it was the truth. No one could argue that he, Amorella, and Cameron had improved the lives of billions of people. They had educated, secured, and ensured the survival of more than a hundred worlds. All of them had been controlled by Moross, and most of them had been utter utopias.

“There is a balance, Draith.” Soliael said. “One must decide just how far an action goes, and how the outcome will effect others. Sometimes it's worth it. Sometimes it needs to be done, but others...others its better left alone.”

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"Then how do you know the difference?" Micah would ask his father, trying to work through it all.

"How do you know the limits? How far is too far?" It went against what his mother often said, what her lessons revolved around. Granted, his mother had a heavy influence due to the Jedi Order and the Jedi Academy, but it was also just an extension of who she was. She did not wish harm on anyone, and was always straightforward about what was good and what was bad. Both of his parents were.

It was just a bit confusing.

"Would you have changed anything?" he would suddenly ask, that question flaring up as he would peer at the former False God. At what had once been Neth the Keeper.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Micah Talith"]

He chuckled. “You don't.”

That sounded silly, but it was true.

“Ninety percent of the time you don't.” A shrug rolled his shoulders. “The best that you can do is use your judgment. Assess a situation. Ask yourself questions, then make your decision based on fact...and a bit of your heart.”

It sounded almost like he was telling Micah a joke, but it was the truth of it all. There were no guarantees in life. No way to stop or start things from happening. The best one could do was to try and guide the situation, to take the action that was most sound. It was advice that he himself had not always followed, and advice that he knew his children would not always follow.

“No.” Soliael said quietly. “No. Everything went just right.”

The old god ruffled his sons hair.

 

[Micah Talith]

Micah would duck from the ruffle, but didn't quick make it. He would flash his father a grin and would bat his hand away. Another thought came to him.

"What if everything didn't go right?" clearly this had turn into some sort of philosophical discussion on the rights and wrongs of the Galaxy. "Then what?" He questioned, making his way towards the trunk of the tree to get started on climbing again.

They could have as deep of a conversation as they wished, but they could still practice some skills at the same time!

His fingers would reach up to find handholds, luck increasing with the gauntlets his father and uncle made him. Up he went!

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael stood in the same fluid motion, giving his son a head start.

“Then I would have had to deal with the consequences.” What those might have been were impossible to say. Everything could have fallen apart. Worlds could have been destroyed, or rather, more worlds. Entire star systems wiped out.

He might have died.

Soliael though for a moment, only shaking his head and deciding that it was best not to tell his son that little bit of information. Sharing the idea of parental death was not a thing he would inflict on his children. Especially since it wasn't something they had to worry about for a long, long time.

 

[Micah Talith]

Up Micah went, climbing higher and higher on the tree. The gauntlets and gloves gave that extra bit of luck at finding good handholds, but it was the use of the Force to strengthen his body and ease the burden that was a lesson in it and of itself.

There was a balance to be had; he couldn't completely depend on the Force, he had to be able to use just enough to enhance and not be a crutch. This was as much a physical exercise as it was mental. Only that Micah now had the recent conversation to also percolating in his mind.

"So what did you do as a God?" he asked, going back to that position. " Like... did you have to do anything special?" Anything interesting to say the least? He was a curious boy, and he was interested just how his father had lived his life as a False God.

Maybe there was something there he could learn from.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

He blinked for a second.

Soliael immediately decided that telling him one part of his godhood would absolutely not be acceptable. His mother would likely me flabbergasted and never forgive Soliael for about half a year. He nodded to himself silently as he grabbed another hand hold and launched himself a few feet upward, latching onto the tree and holding himself in place.

“There was a lot of ritual.” Soliael said. “But mostly that was your Aunt Amorella. I held more towards the enigmatic God. I was the keeper. The knowledge seeker.”

Though at times, he had been the wrath.

Yuuzhan'tar, Aurum, the Silken Asteroids. His people had seen Neth destroy entire worlds, ravage systems. It had all been just, it had all been well done, but it had still happened. Slaughter on an entirely unbelievable scale.

 

[Micah Talith]

[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

"So what did you find?" Micah would ask his father, pushing himself up and getting a foothold. His citrine eyes would search up ahead, his hands reaching up for new handholds. A flex of muscle and sinew would work the boy higher as he would continue to climb.

"Did anyone come asking for how to do things? Or stuff that they'd want to know?" Micah always knew his father was a fount of information and gathered knowledge, but how deep did it go? What could his father teach him?

He would peer down the pocket of his arm and chest toward his father, a grin spread wide over his face. "What's the craziest thing anyone ever asked for?"

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

[member="Micah Talith"]

“People came to me for all sorts of reasons.” Soliael said with a smile. “And those reasons will remained a secret.”

There was a bond that he had created, and he would not even break that bond with his son. Of course telling him likely wouldn't hurt anyone, but it was one of those small things that made Soliael, well Soliael. To him, those small things were why Kira loved him, and why his children would see him as a good father.

“When people devote themselves to a god, any god, be it an existing one or one not born of this reality. They share more than just small tidibits, they invite that god into their entire lives. I knew everything about them, and I gave them everything I could.” He hoped that was a sufficient answer.

He thought it was.

 

[Micah Talith]

Well that was no fun. While there was a measure of honor and virtue at keeping secrets, Micah was at an age where he was a bit impatient. And his dad holding back was a bit frustrating; not as much as Aela, but he figured his father had his own reasons. Much like skills Soliael was not apt to teach him and his sisters.

Sigh.

"Sounds thrilling," he said a few seconds afterward, turning his attention back up towards the tree he was climbing. A small grunt then another grimace, a few more meters would pass. There was a rhythm to it; and the higher they went the thinner the air became.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

The trees on Kashyyyk were massive, some standing more than a few kilometers tall. Soliael had never really climbed one before, there had never been a need to. He knew that the Wookiees sometimes did, that they were fond of traversing through the forests that way, but of course he was no Wookiee, and he had always found it easier to use a ship or a speeder.

Or perhaps the force.

“Most things are.” Soliael said in a taunt to his son, overtaking him with his longer arms and legs, climbing higher and faster.

Micah had still yet to mature, another small blessing.

Once all of his children were grown he wasn't quite sure what Kira and him would do with themselves. Retirement had been somewhat of a blessing over the past decade or so, but that had been with the Children.

What would they do when they were out of the house?

 

[Micah Talith]

"HEY!" and just like that, the previous topic was forgotten as Micah would rise to the challenge against his father, using a combination of the Force and his own strength to attempt to overtake him.

Laughter would echo from the tree, sending a a flock of birds into the air. The two would continue upward, jeering and heckling one another with good nature competition. It was nice, something that Micah cherished but wouldn't be so vocal about it. It was good spending time with his dad, away from his sisters and just the two of them.

There was a bond there of father and son, and it only grew day by day. That made Micah wonder, made him ponder about his father and his grandfather. What few stories they heard painted him as a bad man. His face would scrunch as he pulled himself up to a thick branch, plopping down to sit while he caught his breath again.

His face was rosy from exertion, his arms and legs protesting but with a good ache. Sweat went beading along his temples and soaking into his hair, rolling down his neck.

Micah shot a glance over to his father, then asked what Soliael likely dreaded bringing up. "Tell me more about grandfather."

"What made him so bad?"

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

His lips thinned at the question.

“Your grandfather...” Soliael stalled.

Moridin was not a subject that he broached lightly with his children, it was not something he wanted to discuss. He had been a terrible man, a great one, but a terrible one. A tyrant, an evil that had plagued half the galaxy. It was someone that the galaxy had breathed a sigh of relief for upon his passing, someone that Soliael had never met.

“Your grandfather had no redemption, Micah.” Soliael started again. “He loved once. A woman. A Jedi like your mother.”

He cast a glance towards his son. “He destroyed her. Ruined the innocents she carried and broke her. He did it because he could, because he it was his last chain.”

 

[Micah Talith]

Micah would pause, mulling that over.

"How was that his last chain?" he would ask his father, trying to grasp the thought of his grandfather killing the woman he loved. It was as foreign to him as the thought of his own father doing the same to his mum. The concept was just so perplexing. What does one even gain from that?

Why was his grandfather like that? What drove him?

"Wouldn't loving her make him stronger?" perhaps in his naivety, in the high expectations of what a relationship should be with his parents as a reference, would make that difficult for Micah to understand.

A thought came to him. A Jedi like his mother. The following was said slowly, carefully, perhaps a bit more hesitant than it was for Micah's normal jovial tone. His eyes would reflect growing concern and apprehension.

"Mum isn't a chain... right?"