Meet the Family

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]


Suddenly, a wild Purity intruded on their post-coital bliss! The poor dear seemed a little shocked. To rub things in a little more, Elpsis just had to be her cheery self. "Hiya, Purity! Did you, uh, sleep well?" hearing the loud thud caused by Purity stumbling into the door, she looked concerned. "Are you alright?" Seemingly oblivious to the fact that she was not really covered, Elpsis crawled out of bed.

"You...," Purity was a bit lost for words.

"We?"

Slowly, Willow stirred. "What's going on?" she asked groggily, rubbing the sleep from her eyes.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]
Tempest swiftly pulled on some clothes and headed after her cousin. Willow looked a little contrite.
“We probably should have just told her,” she said, clearly a little guilty.

Tempest caught up with Purity, who was clearly not pleased.
“I see you’ve put something on.”
“Purity, sorry, I wasn’t sure how to bring it up.”
“How about ‘Purity, please do not disturb because we’re all having a…sleepover’? I thought something had happened to you all because you weren’t answering!”
“It’s rather awkward to discuss with you! I didn’t want to…well…embarrass you.”
“It’s far less embarrassing than walking in on the three of you!” She let out a ‘hmmph’ worthy of Phylis Alince.
“I’m sorry, Purity.”
“Good. I’ll see you later,” she said and stalked off.

Tempest re-entered the room a little ruefully. “Well, that could have gone better….”

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]


Even Elpsis looked contrite. After all, she felt quite viscerally how upset Purity was. "I guess we should have," she said a bit lamely. "Maybe she's, uh, jealous." She had reacted rather strongly, after all! In a somewhat downcast mood, she got up and looked for her clothes. This was easier said than done because they were strewn across the room and she was blind.


While she was searching, Tempest stepped back in. "Think we can cheer her up by taking her to the gallery and being extra nice to her?" Elpsis asked. While she found Purity's reaction a bit...dramatic, she was a nice person by nature and felt bad about upsetting others.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]
“Yeah, maybe we can pick up some…flowers…or something,” Tempest said vaguely. She wasn’t much of a stereotypical woman in that regard, she didn’t need presents to make her feel wanted.

Still, after helping Elpsis find her clothes and getting changed they headed downstairs to meet Purity.
It seemed like she was cross to start with, but soon reverted back to her bubbly persona when they got to the gallery. Tempest was glad to see a lot of local art on display, it was so much better to her mind than the offworld stuff!

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]


At this time of the day, plenty of people had visited the art gallery, but it was not crowded. This was good because crowds tended to give Elpsis headaches. The art was a good mix of local and offworld stuff, though the former predominated. After a while, Purity cheered up again. As for flowers, Tempest should pick some for her girlfriend.


"There was this art gallery on Coruscant the Kallikoras used to take me, too. Nice place. Good refuge when mummy and daddy were arguin'," Elpsis commented.

"The Kallikoras? Who are they? You said you're a Kerrigan-Alcori."

"Uh, yeah. They adopted me before. I've been adopted a lot," Elpsis responded. She thought it best not to mention that the youth gang she'd belonged to after running away from the Jedi had also stolen artworks from that gallery.

"Oh, I see," Purity looked a bit unsure about how to reply to that, then something caught her eye. "Cousin Tempest, Elpsis, come over here," she exclaimed excitedly, quickly making her way towards a magnificient oil painting.

Elpsis frowned, feeling a little left out. Try as she might, she could not see anything. "Uh, go with her. Sure it's nice," she told Tempest. Wandering off a bit, she came across a sculpture. Reaching out, she ran her hand across it, 'feeling' it.

"Miss, remove your hand right now!" Inevitably, security took offence.

 

[Tamara]

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]
The guard looked very stern. “That’s an ancient rendering of High Chief Stormbringer, you touching it might damage it!”

Thus scolded, Elpsis might be irritated by having nothing to look at, literally. However, a friendly voice spoke from behind her.

“Excuse me, Miss, I might have something more to your style.”
A pretty, but plainly dressed woman stood there, smiling. The Force was with her, but muted, contained. She seemed unarmed though and looked friendly.

She led Elpsis to a special exhibit room. People were waiting to enter, but the woman led her to the front of the queue and into a small room. Inside was nothing except a small plinth in the centre holding a teal crystal.

“My own contribution to art, something you do not need physical eyes to see, as I notice you use the Force to see. This might well give you something you have been missing. Touch it, it’s perfectly safe, dozens touch it every day.”

Upon touching it Elpsis would find herself in a beautiful forest far, far away. The trees towered above, the ferns and other foliage whispered in the wind, the cool wind blew fitfully. Elpsis would see this, truly see in a way she had not since Omega.

The shade of the woman appeared beside her. “Endor, shortly before the Galactic Empire polluted the sky with their monstrous engine. Beautiful, isn’t it?”

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Tamara"]


"I was being very gentle with it," Elpsis could not resist insisting, though she quickly withdrew her hand. She felt like asking Tempest if the Chieftain was a relative of hers, given the name. At least he was not called Stormborn. Anyhow, before she could sulk about not getting anything to look at, everyone's favourite time traveller showed up.


Well, sort of time traveller. It was weird. Eh, whatever. Her aura was nice. "Show me," Elpsis sounded eager. Something about what her ethereal sight made perceived made her trust the stranger. So she was led to a small teal crystal. Force energies radiated from it. The empath seemed drawn to it, experiencing a strange pull.


The moment her hand was laid upon it, there was a bright light and the landscape shifted. Suddenly she was no longer in the museum, no longer seeing auras and cold, dark nothingness. Instead she was in a forest. There were trees, birds chirped, the cool wind brushed her skin and she could see. It took her breath away. "I can see. I'd forgotten what it's like," she said, half in wonder, tone incredulous. She needed a moment to regain her bearings. "It is beautiful. How?"

 

[Tamara]

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]
“The Force is infinite, and its uses equally so. Often it is used only to protect or destroy – both valid certainly – but it can do far more. In this case, take a memory of mine and transmute it into a fragment of crystal. I have several of these memories. I sell some to cover costs, offer others to museums or others as gifts.”

The forest faded and they were back on Dahomey. Force Sight would return for Elpsis.
“My name is Tamara, and I’m pleased to meet you, Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori.”

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Tamara"]


"Nice to meet ya," Elpsis said cheerfully, but then furrowed her brow. She tended to do that when she was confused or thinking deeply about something. "Wait, how do you know my name? And you just said that crystal shows your memories of Endor eight hundred years ago? I know you don't ask a lady her age and stuff." Siobhan got extremely annoyed any time someone implied she was not thirty-five anymore.

 

[Tamara]

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]
Tamara just laughed a little ruefully. “It’s just as well you’re not since I don’t think I could rightly answer. Not exactly. Perhaps to the nearest century. Just think of me as a little oddity whose hung around longer than expected.”

“As for your name? My dear, you are famous on Dahomey, all your adopted family are. You are the liberators after all. Besides, I’ve met your mother before, if only briefly.”

The waiting crowd were again allowed to approach the crystal. Those who touched it seemed to sink into a happy bliss.

“I’m not someone who hawks my goods, but I know that it might bring something to you. Visions of true sight again. If you were willing I could sell one of them to you.”

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Tamara"]


"Oh, goodie, I'm famous. Better get ready for all the autogram requests," Elpsis said sarcastically. In truth, she did not for sure how she felt about that. She was no one special. Here and there she'd fought a bunch of Sith. She liked to think that she'd made a difference on occasion, but that was it. She had not earned fame and it did not feel right to have it because of who your parents were.


"Which of my mothers did you meet? I've had a few." Presumably Tamara referred to the third or fourth. The Kallikoras were not worth mentioning and Coryth, well, she had saved a great many people, but also left her. Elpsis tried not to think about that. It only saddened her. Regardless, she considered the stranger's offer for a moment. "I'd...like to have one of those crystals, if you can spare one. Would be real nice. How much do you want?"

 

[Tamara]

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]
Tamara shrugged. “I’ve met both of your current ones. Well, two versions of one – one was a little more metallic than the other. Had good taste in art though.”

She produced from her bag a golden crystal. It hovered above her hand gently as she gestured it to Elpsis’ grip.

“For something more befitting your element, my dear. Tattooine, that dry and inhospitable world which nevertheless has returned to the centre of galactic affairs for centuries uncounted. Since daytime is unpleasant, this is a binary dawn some three centuries ago. The Dark Age was in full swing, but it was not like nothing happened in those years. I offered some modest assistance to a Jedi Knight named Andramal in defeating a Dark Side spirit inhabiting a Krayt Dragon. This was the aftermath, the only surviving account of it, for the Jedi perished in the battle.”

She looked around, and at the door. “And now, I’d best go. Your partner might ask questions I don’t really wish to answer. If you ever wish to meet with me again, commune on the crystal and find my name in the sand. It will lead you to me.”

And with that she was gone.

Tempest entered a moment later. “There you are! Are you alright?” she asked, concerned.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Tamara"]


"Thank you. I will treasure this. May the Force be with you," Elpsis spoke, a genuine smile spreading across her lips, as she took the proffered crystal in hand. However, then Tamara was already gone. She was good at appearing and disappearing suddenly without warning.


Then a wild Tempest showed up. "Hey, I'm a big girl. I can take care of myself," Elpsis grimaced. She could feel that Tempest had been concerned, but she had a thing about being treated as vulnerable. "But it's sweet that you're worried and stuff," she added in a softer tone. "A nice lady who knows Mother gave me a crystal. Takes you to a mental image of a place at a given time...and lets me see it."

 

[Tempest]

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]
Tempest gave her girlfriend an odd look. It was for the best that Elpsis couldn’t see, though she might sense the puzzlement.
“Uhh…strange women distributing crystals is a bit suspicious,” she said at last. She wasn’t sure how to take the explanation about its supposed powers.
“That sounds interesting…but I don’t see how it can do that,” she said, inadvertently using the wrong sort of phrase at this point.

Purity came over. “What’s going on?” she asked, looking curiously between them.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]


Elpsis sighed. "I already tried it out, sugar. It works," she insisted. "Here, touch. I'll show you both." Taking her girlfriend's hand and Purity's, she placed it on the crystal. Upon touching it, all three ladies would find themselves far, far away from the gallery.


Instead they were in a desert. Fortunately, it was a binary dawn. There was sand, dust and a disabled sandcrawler. Further away a cave could be seen. There the possessed Krayt Dragon had dwelt. A dry wind blew fiercely over the sandy dunes, kicking up a column dust into the air like a shroud.


"There, told you," Elpsis declared smugly. Her eyes travelled over the seemingly endless dune sea and she felt the the wind kiss her skin. "Pretty, ain't it?" her eyes found Tempest's. "Gosh...I'd forgotten how beautiful you are. And you're real cute, Purity." She had not been able to really see Tempest since Omega and obviously had not known what her cousin looked like.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]
“Uhh…sure, I’m not sure what…” Tempest began, and stopped.
She stopped, stared. She was in a totally different place, a desert. The harsh wind blew over the dunes. She whipped around, looked from Purity to Elpsis.
“This is…your eyes!” she exclaimed. Elpsis’ eyes were their old vibrant colour, it had been years since they’d been like that.
Purity looked around, then knelt down to touch the sand. “What is this? Some sort of virtual reality?”

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]


Overcome by emotion, Elpsis placed her hands on Tempest's cheeks, caressing them. One moved up to stroke her white hair. "So beautiful," she repeated. Then she pressed their lips together and kissed the Dahomian amazon heatedly. Poor Purity probably had to watch this for a while until Elpsis remembered she was there and stopped locking lips.


"Uh, yeah. Force stuff," she said lamely, pulled out of her daydream. "It's a mental image. Captures a memory of the lady who gave the crystal to me. This is Tatooine. Well, part of it. And I can see it all," she declared, seeming giddy with excitement.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]
“This is incredible. Whoever made this must be very talented in mentalism.” Tempest’s thoughts were pulled back to the very excited and pretty redhead, and her rather embarrassed and confused cousin.
“But not as incredible as you, Elpsis,” Tempest said. Sometimes corny was good when it enabled one to get some beneficial attention!
Purity, a little flustered, wandered around. “The Force? I thought that was just something Cousin Tempest or you did with fire and lightning?” she asked.

 

[Elpsis Kerrigan]

[member="Tempest"]


"Nice save," Elpsis elbowed Tempest lightly before kissing her. She was a wee bit distracted by the hot Dahomian warrior woman at the moment. Poor Purity. She had to admit that Tempest's cousin was...very cute. But Tempest would get mad if she bedded her, no matter how beneficial it would be for young Purity.


"Fire and lightning is one part of the Force, but it's a lot more. You can heal people, affect their minds, even construct small illusionary realities like this if you're real good. People are who can touch the Force are born with different skills or learn them," she explained.

 

[Tempest]

[member="Elpsis Kerrigan-Alcori"]
One imagines that Tempest would divert Elpsis towards hooking up Purity and Willow as a means of distracting her.
“Who did you say gave you this?” Tempest asked.

Purity meanwhile had wandered over to the cave and recoiled slightly. “There’s a dead…beast…in here!” she said with a frown. However, she found she could not get any further in, an invisible wall prevented her.

“So it’s like a virtual reality…but in our minds,” she said, nodding as if finally grasping it.