Sigh No More [Soliael]

[Hazel Scheler]

no more.

One foot in sea, one on shore.

My heart was never pure.

You know me.

The looking-glass in which Ivy stared was cracked and tarnished. Unable to be cleaned of imperfection, so too was her reflection. Much like her own self image - broken, never again able to be seen clearly by anyone. She was beyond being known so well as those of her past. Ivy barely even knew herself anymore.

But, she resigned to moving beyond this downward spiraling inner monologue of pity and shame. It was time to put this little haven of hers behind and seek out the things she had set her heart to do. She'd waited so long for a sign that when this one finally appeared she ran from it.

"You going to just keep running away?" the woman asked her reflection, gaze angry, disgusted. She pounded a fist against the wall, willing her resolve to remain intact. Reminding herself why she was hear and why she'd stayed for so long and why, now, she would finally leave.

"I'm not running," the reflection answer back but could not seem to make eye contact, maybe still not so sure.

She loosed a heavy breath and pulled the thick traveling cloak around her shoulders. With a cursory glance at the small quarters she had called her own on this strange Aing-Tii ship for the last several months, the woman turned and departed, making way to the central atrium where these strangers had arrived.

These Moross Crusaders.

She was going to leave with them whether they liked it or not.

@[member="Soliael Devin Talith"]

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael walked with an at ease pace through a crowd of hundreds of Aing-Tii, each of them had eyes upon him, each of them stared with an almost loving devotion. The Sith Lord seemed to have a smirk on his face, though through his mask it was impossible to see. This was the first time he had visited the world, and it would likely be the last as well. He hadn't wanted to come here for an untold number of reasons, but he had had to. Amorella was sick, she was almost dying in fact, and these creatures were the only thing that could heal her.

So Soliael had come here with his aunt in tow. He had brought her here in the hopes that these creatures could readily fix her, something that was entirely out of his ability. They believed of course that Amorella was Inari, the Reviver. They believed that they were healing the greatest healer of all.

Why would they believe this? That was quite simple. Soliael had infected them with the disease of belief. He had broken their minds and warped their thoughts. At first it had been only a few, but like so many things with the darkside it had spread, and quickly the Aing-Tii had fallen to the worship of the Pantheon of Moross. To them, the mightiest god of all was Inari, the Healer, the Reviver, the Mother. She was the most Divine of them all.

So Soliael had simply spun a tail for them. Liad, one of the other nine gods had infected Inari with a disease one that would allow him to replace Inari on the mortal plane. It was a blight that she could not cure herself. It required the touch of her people, of the most devout of her followers to heal.

The Aing-tii of course had jumped at the chance of course. They wanted to keep Inari on the mortal plane and so they would do anything to save her.

That was why Soliael was here. That was why he was under the discerning eye of the Aing-Tii, and that was why he walked tall through a crowd of thousands. All for his aunt.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

There in the central atrium Ivy moved among the throngs of scaled creatures, pausing as she reached the middle. They brushed their tongues across the surface of her armor, scenting at her aura and tasting the air about her. She'd not come to fully understand the way they communicated, but it was enough that they understood her.

"I want to meet the visitors," she said, and they communed amongst themselves.

One of them reached out to her with a spindly forelimb, latching those three digits around her shoulder. In an instant the ship around her disappeared, replaced with the sinking feeling in her gut and then - suddenly - with the surface of their planet.

Ivy hadn't expected them to comply so willingly and she had no inkling as to why they had, but she wasn't about to question good fortune. The woman thanked her transporter quietly, jaw set tightly to hold back the urge to vomit from the sensation of teleportation, and turned to make way towards the crowds gathering. There at the center was a tall man in dark robes to which the Aing-Tii genuflected.

Odd, Ivy thought to herself as she looked around, and she ignored that uneasy feeling that continued to grow the closer to drew to him. The woman stopped several yards away, unable to gain any closer passage from the Aing-Tii. They seemed to be protecting him in a way - though not out of fear, but out of reverence, respect. Hazel eyes watched the man curiously for a long while until finally they connected and there was a moment of uncertainty.

"I need a lift," she began, figuring directness to be the easiest way to go about this considering their company, "to Kal'Shebbol ... or as close as you can get me. I can pay you for the ride."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliaels eyes immediately snapped to the voice that had spoken. It had shattered a silence that had ruled over the courtyard, and more so...it was human. The surprise of that in it of itself was quite appalling to Soliael. As far as he had known no human had stepped foot on Aing-Tii in nearly four centuries. The last human to be hear besides himself of course had been a descendent of Vader, something that Soliael only knew because of his fathers meticulous records from before the plague.

From behind his mask Soliael stared at the woman, a frown on his face. His body language gave absolutely nothing away regarding his shock, and with his eyes and face completely hidden it could be said that the Flase god regarded Ivy with a calm stare.

“While I appreciate your directness child, a bit of politeness would go a long way.” The air seemed to become entirely still around them, and the Aing-Tii that stood surrounding the plaza grew into a dim silence.

Soliael stared at the woman, taking her in entirely. He stretched out with the force, taking her in and studying her as he waited for her to speak.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

"Forgive me," Ivy replied, the woman's eyes studying him just as he did her. Like herself his garb hid a grand majority of unspoken language of body; unlike her his expression, too, was hidden. Her skill of kinetic communication helped her not, here.

She took a moment to reconsider her approach - life amongst the Aing-Tii had left her with rusty social skills, "I need a lift to Kal'Shebbol, please."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael smiled behind his mask, at least she had sense enough to rephrase her question to sounds more...amiable. Still, he wasn't about to let a random person on board any of his ships, especially since his Aunt was still dying of an unknown Sith Poison.

Granted it was very unlikely that this woman was some kind of spy, even less likely that she was out to harm Amore given that she had only recently taken on God Status. He frowned still, he was weary of this. Caution was key in survival, though one had to be careful not to turn caution into paranoia. Carefully the Sith spoke again, no sign of hesitation in his voice. “And who would I be giving a lift to?”

If she wanted to remove herself from Aing-Tii, she was going to have to answer a few questions first.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

The woman gave pause and consideration, eyes scanning the heads of the Aing-Tii. They seemed every bit as curious at the exchange as she felt it was.

We two mortals exchanging vows amongst a sea of fairytale creatures. If we speak in an unknown tongue would they make a story out of it?

"Ivy Lasranae," she replied, thinking to ask of his name in return but at this point if he was willing to take her without giving it, then she was willing to go without asking.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael blinked beneath the mask, unsure of if the girl was telling a joke or not. Her name did not matter to him one bit, in fact it couldn't have been less helpful if she had called her self Daisy Mcquak. He had no idea who she was, and that was the root of the problem. She couldn't be trusted, but then again she might not have been too eager to speak in front of thousands of watchers. The Aing-Tii were not normal of course, they didn't really gossip or speak amongst each other, but still speaking in front of this many people wasn't that easy.

With a simple wave of his hand Soliael summoned one of the Aing-Tii from the crowd. Its tattoo's were dissimilar from all the others. Instead of swirls and waves it had star and hexagonal patterns upon its skin. The creature was strange looking compared to its kin, and slowly it wandered over to Soliael.

The Sith spoke to the creature, almost inaudibly so, and in return the alien simply nodded. It touched Soliaels shoulder, and in the blink of an eye he was gone. Seconds after wards one of the Aing-Tii stepped up behind Ivy and touched her as well, and then both of them were gone from the crowd.

Seconds later both Soliael and Ivy stood in a large chamber underground. They were facing each other, an the god was staring down at the girl. “Now I ask you again. Who are you? And why are you on this world?”

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Eyes narrowing in thought, Ivy watched the man disappear and just as she had come to expect, the scene around her did so just moments later.

Her teeth ground together in the wake of biological upset from the Aing-Tii's teleportation. Every time, she grimaced and swallowed. Ivy felt the man's presence before she saw it, smelled him before taking him in. Hazel eyes met his own, flecks of unforgiving green within earthen tones meeting the pale flame orange within the mask. The frown that fixed itself on her lips was reflexive to the sensation of his aura - it sickened her.

"I'm no one of consequence," she said it yet she knew he wouldn't believe. Who would? Though most of her armor was hidden beneath her traveling cloak her stature and stance certainly was not. Nor were her weapons, of which she was ready to hand over the moment he asked, if only for the opportunity to move forward. Outward. Somewhere.

"I was aboard a refugee freighter en route to Kal'Shebbol four months ago. We were besieged by Pirates. The Aing-Tii responded to the distress call. I was wounded and they took me in. I've been with them ever since and now," her eyes flickered across his mask, steel unyielding in her gaze, "it's time for me to leave."

"What will it take?"

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael stared at the woman, not sure if she was telling the truth for a few minutes. Of course he could have bit into her mind and tore the information from her, but that would be entirely uncouth. Instead he decided to be more forth coming, she wanted to leave this world and he wanted to spread Moross. This was quite simple and she would only have to do one thing.

With Moridins trademark speed his son moved towards the young looking woman. In an instant he stood before the girl, his iron mask staring down into her face. The eyeless spots on his mask seemed to look directly into her eyes, as if she would be staring into the abyss. “Kneel.”

It was a simple request physically of course, but mentally not quite as much. Kneeling was submitting, not something many creatures wanted to.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

His speed took her by surprise but not completely so. She'd dealt with Garhoons and monsters the galaxy over. There were things far, far worse than agility. Things like the arcane, the mystical, subjugation of thousands, suffering of millions with no end in sight, ...


...abject humiliation.

Her eyes narrowed at his command, a spark of resistance showing, "No. Sorry," her lips drew thin, "bad knees."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

“Then enjoy your stay on Aing-Tii.” Soliael said with a smirk on his face. Of course she couldn't see the smirk but he enjoyed It anyway. He could have gone on a lengthy explanation of his supposed godhood, but he felt that such a thing would be lost on the woman. Instead he decided to show her disrespect, to disregard her and completely ignore her. Mostly he did this to get a reaction out of her, to see what it is that she would do.

With one swift motion he turned on his heel an began to walk away from her. At the end of the hall was a doorway, though at his current pace it it would take him quite some time to reach it.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Her eyes were slits, her patience paper thin. She'd been on Aing-Tii long enough.

The woman's right hand found the Vor'cha stun stick on her hip, drew it from the sling and deftly stabbed it towards the man's back in a swift outreaching motion, recoiling only a second after it would make contact, if it did at all. These things were not deadly, but their intent was powerful.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Out of pure reaction Soliael whirled around and batted away the stick. Of course as soon as he touched the weapon it sent a stunning blast of electricity through him. As the shock ran through him Soliael let out a groan of pain, flinching backwards and moving a few steps away from the girl. He scowled at her form behind his mask, rage dwelling inside of him.

“That was a mistake little one.” Soliael said as he clenched his fist. The moment he did so a thousand black spears jumped from his mind to her own. They assaulted her like a cascade of water into a city. Soliael felt a feeling of success rising, until he saw what was actually happening.

As the needles lashed out towards the girls mind they seemed to melt away. Soliael did not know how to react, a look of abject horror appeared on his face. He saw as his attack not only had no effect, but almost rebounded back on himself. In almost a split second Soliael had attacked, bee rebounded, and almost harmed himself. Rage welled up inside of himself, as if his own attack had been the girls fault.

He nearly screamed in rage, though it came out as a low growl.

He jumped at the woman, grabbing at her throat like a viper.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

A mistake it may have been, but Ivy was willing to bet it wouldn't be the worst she'd ever made. Brow locking down over her eyes she flipped the Vor'cha stick around in her grasp, setting the live end on the backside. The woman could see the growing anger in his stance, how he hunkered down - the predator making ready to spring, and when he did she was ready.

Right arm swinging up, she brought the brunt of the Vor'cha stick to bear across his own reaching hand, simultaneously moving to grab with her gloved left hand at his upper right arm. Ivy strafed to the left, curving away from him with a twist, and swept him aside using his own momentum.

If he staggered or tripped away she'd engage the Vor'cha stick again, stabbing towards his hip with it.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael had experienced the dance of battle many times before, this time in his mind was no different. He had no idea how the girl had managed to reflect his mental attacks. By all accounts she was not a force user, she was not trained against such mental attacks and she was definitely not force dead seeming as how the Aing-Tii had been able to teleport her with no issue. In the end of course it did not matter, Soliael simply had to best her in another way.

He shifted slightly to the right and away from her to dodge the strange stun-staff she had struck him with earlier. The weapon struck his robe, catching on it and pulling his arm upwards. As the material was caught around the strange weapon Soliael withdrew his arm rapidly tearing off his cloak and dodging her grab.

In almost immediate response he dropped down, sweeping his leg forward and towards her own.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Nimble enough and with speed to match, the woman leapt over the sweeping leg, at the same time swinging her right arm forward again. A shred of material from his cloak flew at the end of the Vor'cha stick like a banner, and it was this that she whipped at his head.

Ivy's feet met ground again, and just as they did she shot her left hand towards him, reaching for the fabric of his cloak. If she caught it she'd heave him crosswise to the left, the opposite direction of the way he should be facing after his own sweeping kick, to introduce his head to one of her aforementioned 'bad knees.'

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

This time Soliael was not fast enough to evade, or perhaps in his blood rage he was simply too stupid to notice. She caught a hold of him, and this time he went flying. He flew over her, and then struck her knee, with his mask. The Iron of course in his mask would hurt her knee probably as bad as his face was about to hurt, but then again he was suffering more of the humiliation here.

He struck her knee face first, his cloak tearing more where she had gripped it. As soon as he lay still against her knee Soliael rebounded. He tore himself free form her grip, pushing off with his hands and getting back to his feet. He bounded backwards, his tattered cloak coming apart in pieces as he landed a few meters away from the girl. There was a scowl on his face. She had humiliated him, torn his cloak and dented his mask, and now she would die for it.

Soliael lashed his arm forward, a massive spark of deep red Sith Lightning jumping towards the Girl.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Her knee was armored and padded, but forceful contact with metal would always be painful. The woman grunted, teeth grit against the sting and felt his cloak rip free from her grasp. When she looked up Ivy had a sudden sense of déja vu. Within her head the visions of centuries ago exploded in a flash of screaming, blood, agony...

Black lightning.

She felt the thread of fire sear across her face and immediately returned to the present, letting loose a yowl of pain. Flinching away, the woman rolled the left, allowing her back to take the brunt of the attack. Her cloak and armor gave her some protection, but it still hurt like hell. Ivy settled into a kneel, instinctively raising the Vor'cha stick and engaging it. The weapon sparked as she held it out before her, the energy drawing the main path of his lightning like a rod. Ivy reached beneath her cloak for the items on her belt, withdrawing from it a concussion grenade which she triggered and snapped down towards his feet.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliaels eyes popped open as he saw the small round projectile travel for him, at that very moment he decided that in the future he would require better security. Perhaps he would keep a few of his Crusaders on hand at all times, or perhaps he would get his own bodyguard. Either way he would have to stop taking random people to secret locations and letting them be alone with him, especially if they were not searched before hand.

With a throw of his hand Soliael ejected the force before him. A powerful force push struck the grenade setting it off and sending a massive concussive wall towards both himself and Ivy.

The Sith lord managed to shield himself slightly, throwing up a tiny barrier of the force to block most of the damage. Still the concussive wall struck him and bits of the flying ground dug into his unarmored flesh.

Soliael himself was thrown back a few feet, though he managed to somehow stay standing. This time he did not attack, he simply waited for the girl to make her next move.