Sigh No More [Soliael]

[Hazel Scheler]

Ivy twisted away from the explosion, rolling from the blast with wide eyes. Smoke billowed between them, giving her a moment to move with cover. Kicking off from the floor the epicanthix moved in through the smoke, making way directly for the man. She skid to a halt on the other side of the cloud, unholstering her blaster and aiming straight for his chest. With a minimum of six feet between them she fired off three stun shots.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael was not Moridin, and so he did not have his speed, he did not have his prowess with blades, and he did not have his skill with tutanimis. When the stun shots flew across the room Soliael could do nothing about them. There was nothing he could do as the blue wave rounds struck him. The first stunning electric shock hit him, and almost immediately his muscles seized up in pain. He fell to his knee's his body writhing.

Then the second shot struck him, and shortly afterward the third. In almost an instant Soliael lay writhing on the ground, completely and entirely paralyzed like a helpless opossum playing dead.

He was humiliated.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

She watched, waited for a sign that the fight was over. When Soliael hit the ground Ivy released a painful breath from her lungs. Her face burned and her heart continued to hammer within her chest. Her mind, as well, was reeling so much that as it caught up with her it started her stomach churning again.

The woman keeled over, leaning her hands on her knees, and bit back the taste of acrid bile.

"Take me-" she breathed, looking over to the man as his body became still on the ground, "off Aing-Tii. Get me to or as close to Kal'Shebbol as you can," another heavy breath, her voice was haggard as she repeated her previous request from before in the atrium, "I will pay you and I will never speak of this to anyone, ever." It occurred to her, as she stared at him, that speech at this point was probably a difficult thing for him.

"Make a noise if you concede," Ivy barked, finally pushing herself to stand again and taking several monitored steps towards him, "and I will relent." Frowning, the woman checked her gun for charge and then aimed it at him.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael lay on the ground, his chest rising and falling for a few seconds as his body recovered from the stun rounds. His mind was screaming at him to get up, to stand, fight, and then kill this little whelp for all that she had done. His body however told him otherwise, he was done, beaten so simply by a little girl. He was reeling from it, the abject humiliation he felt from this would not be fading any time soon. There was a grimace on his face, but slowly he raised his arm upwards.

He did it almost sluggishly, as not to be mistaken for an attack. As soon as his arm was all the way up in the air he formed his hand into a thumbs up. At the same time he let out a grunt in confirmation of her “deal”.

As soon as he did so the hilariousness of the situation began to hit him, and slowly a deep almost guttural chuckle came over his whole body. What a day.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Hours later found Ivy aboard the false God's ship. She'd left with him after he'd gathered his wits about him and, as promised, made no mention of their little...talk. The man had disappeared rather quickly, which worked just fine for her. Ivy made her way to the crew quarters and commandeered a room for herself. It had been some time since she'd seen modern technology made for humans, so a shower was a welcome reprieve.

But washing those burns on her face hurt like a queen.

She gave up, finally, and resigned to staring at them in the mirror. Was it a trick of the light or were the marks...glowing? A consequence of taking on her course for vengeance, she supposed. This was what happened when she let her anger get the better of her. All that time spent meditating with the Aing-Tii for not. Since when was she the aggressor? Why couldn't she have just knelt?

"Feth your pride," she spat at her reflection, realizing in that moment that the imperfections were no longer figurative. Ivy grimaced, touching at the scars on her face and wincing from the sting of resentment she felt towards them. There was no relief to be had here in anything else other than knowing that this was between herself and him. He wouldn't speak of it out of humiliation, and she out of regret.

I will not speak of your sin
There was a way out for Him
The mirror shows not
Your values are all shot.

Ivy redressed, gathered her things and left the room that was not hers. She walked the halls of the ship in a crude, dark silence, stopping finally before a span of red-lit viewports where she stared out at the vast nothingness.

Where was she going?

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

“It's rather beautiful isn't it?” Soliael said as he seemingly just appeared behind Ivy. Just outside of the view port lay a fleet of intermingling Aing-Tii and Moross ships, and beyond that lay the planet of Aing-Tii itself. The world was almost shrouded with cosmic mists, its single stars light bouncing off of the cosmic clouds and onto the world below. Soliael of course had seen it all before, he had seen the beauty of the cosmos. Binary stars, blackholes, massive storm clouds the size of star systems. The galaxy was a beautiful place, and Aing-Tii was hardly the most beautiful.

Still it had a certain appeal to it, and it was a rather nice conversation starter. “I would take your last looks now, we'll be leaving soon.”

Soliael had in theory completed his business here. After His and Ivy's little...scuffle Soliael had made his way to some nearby healers, the same that were treating Amorella. They had told him that the healing of the god would take weeks, not days or hours. With that news Soliael had known that the time to leave was sooner rather than later. Moross unfortunately could not function with only Ithari at the helm, they would be at war with the entire galaxy in a week.

So regretfully Soliael had to take his leave of Aing-Tii, and with him would come this little girl who had humiliated him so. Funny that.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

"I'm not looking at that," the woman replied in a low voice. She did not immediately turn her gaze to the man, though she had seen his ghoulish reflection in the window on his approach. He'd arrived suddenly, but only the Aing-Tii here were capable of instant teleportation.

"I don't really know what I'm looking at."

A blunt statement, but a sincere one. Ivy turned to face him then, keeping a measure of distance. She knew him capable of the same powers as Lord Salas, and that alone would make her suspicious of him. Resentful of him, even. Frowning, the Mercenary took a moment to study his face. The presence of youth was certain but something in his eyes told her he was much older than he seemed.

"What is this?" the question could not be held any longer, and with a shake of her head she gestured around her, "who are you?"

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael stared at the girl, mostly with a certain curiosity in his eyes. The pale orange of his iris' were nearly obscured by the black specs that floated across them every so often. He instantly wondered what she had been through to bring her to Aing-Tii, why she seemed to be so...dejected from a world that for all intense and purposes was nothing but a paradise. Then again perhaps her definition of paradise did not match the Aing-Tii's.

“A better question would be what am I.” Soliael said quite flatly in response to her. Of course she already knew that he was no god, his humiliation at her hands proved that rather effectively. This however didn't mean that he had to give up the drama of it all. “My name is Neth, and to those aboard this ship and billions more spread out among the stars I am a god.”

That was the truth, as plainly as it had ever been spoken. He was no god of course, but the people of Moross believed that he was...and what defined a god if not belief?

 

[Hazel Scheler]

No hint of amusement or mockery reached the woman's eyes. Of course she didn't believe him, but there was more at play here than simply their previous exchange.

"Hm," hazel eyes traveled back to the stars, "must be nice to have someone to believe in."

Ivy pondered the idea of a God and wondered, then, if the definition of worship and belief in one might match her own journey. Her devotion to Samson had been so unconditional and unflinching. Her love and admiration of the man was second to none. Now, with only the faith in his existence barely at the tip of her mind, had he become her God? She'd devoted her life to finding him, to joining him in the end, and she was willing to go down every painful path it took. She was still willing, but now her steps were laden by growing doubt. Doubt that his spirit had gone from her decades ago while she slept.

Where was her shred of hope?

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael stared down at the girl, wondering what she was talking about. Clearly there was far more to her words than just their conversation. He senses a great loss coming from her, though digging through her mind was still a frustrating impossibility. His curiosity got the better of him, and slowly he took a single step towards her. The false god was nonthreatening in his manner, not wanting to get stabbed with that strange stun-stick again.

“Belief in the corner stone of most lives.” Soliael said as though he were a wise old man speaking to a child. “Everyone believes in something. Whether it be a god, a government, or perhaps even in themselves.”

He did not want to come off as lecturing, after all the girl probably assumed that he was younger than her...he certainly looked it after all. There was however a weight to his words. “I would think the Aing-Tii would've taught you something about belief, given your time there.”

Subtly he fished for answers, seeing if he could manipulate her into solving the riddles.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

"I've watched entire populations suffer with no end in sight. Fade away from existence, burned for no discernible reason. I've seen whole solar systems of government collapse under the weight of chaos and I've tried to stop it, I've tried to help. I've seen men and women of countless races throw aside their loved ones, their children, their friends and family, at the barest shred of wealth or power or safety," Ivy pressed her hands against the edge of the window sill, her eyes roving across the myriad ships as they swam through the blackness.

Her expression was hard, barely able to contain the surge of emotions that came with her words. Terror and desperation; misery and longing; failure and unmitigated defeat - the weight was at times unbearable.

"I learned a great many things from those creatures, but belief of a God, a Government, of self ... you can't teach it, you can only become it."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael almost laughed out loud, though he managed to suppress the urge to do so. Her words made her think about what he had actually done to the Aing-Tii, how he had made them believe. He hadn't exactly taught them how to believe of course, but he had forced them to. He had altered their brain chemistry, forced and twisted their minds until they believed In him, until they themselves saw him as one of those that came from Beyond the Veil. In a way it was a direct countermand to what Ivy had just said, and that amused Soliael greatly.

After he somehow managed to keep a serious expression on his face Soliael beganto speak again. “I take it...”

Soliael paused for a few seconds as the ship rumbled for a few seconds. The engines sprang to life, and the strange squid like ship began to move. Its sister-ships quickly followed and within only a minute the flagship and its fleet made the jump into hyperspace. The blackness that Ivy had been staring into was now a thousand blue lines, streaking past them at impossible speeds.

“...That you have lost your belief.” He continued softly as his faded orange eyes studied her body.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

A short glance was given to him over her shoulder, hazel eyes quietly discerning what appeared to be the struggle of containing ... something. She frowned but said nothing. When her eyes returned to the viewports the stars were nothing but gleaming streaks.

"Something like that," her answer was short.

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael remained quiet for a few seconds, staring with her into the blue streaks of hyperspace. It was said that madness lay within those streaks, that looking into it made one insane. The False god have never put much into the notion, and the girl was probably already there.

“I believed in something once.” Soliael said quietly, faked sadness written into his voice. “A Legacy.”

Before he said the last word he realized that this girl was not an idiot. To get her to open up he would have to share something about himself, and since she already new the deepest of his secrets he decided to throw something else on top of it, something far more personal.

“From the day I was born I had no idea who my father was. I was told he was powerful, great, and capable of changing the galaxy.” All of that was a lie, his mother had told him none of that. “I believed it. Not months. Not years. Decades. For entire decades I believed that my father was the greatest of beings. That because I was born from I was just as great.”

The lies kept on piling on, but his body language, his voice, they remained steady. After two hundred years lying wasn't anything to Soliael, it was like a fine art. “Of course. That belief was shattered.”

“As so often happens. I found the truth behind a veil of lives. My father was not a great man. He was powerful to be sure, but not great. Needless to say with my illusion shattered I was furious. Angry at the world, angry at god, angry at everything.” He went on, a somber look now on his face. “I know what it is to have ones beliefs shattered, to have nothing and no one to hang on to.”

Slowly Soliael moved to stand right beside her, his height slightly dwarfing her. “You will find something. Like I did.”

 

[Hazel Scheler]

Another glance as the man spoke and moved beside her, but this time it did not meet his face. Whether or not she believed anything he said was anyone's guess. Anymore, stories like his were a dime a dozen. She had met far too many orphans, far too many widows, far too many lonely souls - she'd suffered just as much loss. Too much to give much pittance to his tale.

Just another sad story.

But, there was something to be said for one small detail ... "You don't believe in a God," she said with a small shake of her head, "if you did, you wouldn't pretend to be one."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

“I didn't say my new belief was a god.” Soliael said with a simple smile and a look into hyperspace. He had never believed in god or any god, such a thing was utterly ridiculous to him. He was pretty sure if he even mentioned the worship of anything both his mother and Oma would smack him without a second thought. His family was far beyond such things and always had been.

For a few seconds he paused, watching hyperspace go by. He heard footsteps down the halls, likely some of his Crusaders patrolling the ship. They would not come near the two of them, they would know Soliael is here and steer clear of him. There was no need to fear an interruption of their conversation. “As I said. Belief is not limited to the divine.”

“What did you believe in? What did you lose?” The question was not at all subtle, but his tone of voice was almost...concerned.

 

[Hazel Scheler]

"Difficult to be angry at something you don't believe in. Believed in, as it were."

The woman eyed him, scrutiny in her expression. Perhaps she hadn't believed him at all. He hadn't exactly set himself up for success with lying by presenting himself as the biggest lie of all. Not that any of it mattered really. All that mattered now was that he made good on his word.

She turned back to the viewport, releasing a slow breath. Clockwork churned relentlessly, as it always did. Pushing through the memories for a clear answer on this question that had haunted her for quite some time now. What did she believe in?

"I don't remember. Love maybe. It was too long ago and I lost everything," she folded her arms at her front, pushing the length of her travel cloak back over her shoulders, exposing the battle-worn white armor beneath and her curious allotment of weapons.

"Why so curious?"

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Soliael smiled at her, turning his pale orange eyes on the side of her face for just a few moments. As he did so the black specs flew across his iris'. It was a strange but almost beautiful sight, one that went away as Soliael blinked and returned his gaze back towards the same viewport. Of course it was all very simple to him. He wanted to know more about her for one simple reason, she had been on Aing-Tii. As far as he knew she was the first human to be there in almost a thousand years, that in it of itself was impressive. More so however was that the Aing-Tii apparently hadn't wanted to get rid of her, something that he found very curious.

“Curiosity killed the Cathar, but satisfaction brought it back.” Soliael quoted a very old saying in explanation to his curiosity about her, it was about as easily as he could explain it to anyone.

Slowly he looked down at her again, this time taking her in. He saw the scars on her face, and realized that it had likely been caused by his lightning. Soliael didn't comment, but instead chose to reveal the curious little mystery about her. “How long were you on Aing-Tii?”

 

[Hazel Scheler]

A puff of breath left her nose, the sound of something that might've been mistaken as a laugh were it not for the fact that her expression remained stoney as ever. She felt the prickling sensation of his eyes upon her but made no effort to dissuade him from looking. There wasn't much to see but a sour, world-weary, broken woman who survived on stubbornness and mettle alone.

"Four months. Maybe five. Long enough, far as I'm concerned."

 

[Soliath Devin Talith]

Interesting. Soliael simply thought to himself as he looked at her again. Four months alone seemed to be an impossible amount of time. Vader's grandson had been on Aing-Tii for only a month, and he had been studying to learn some very ancient force techniques. This woman had been on Aing-Tii for a third of a year, and yet she apparently only had bitterness to show for her. The Warrior Monks must have seen something in her, although perhaps they had simply tried to fix something broken.

She did seem rather broken after all. “Do you know who the last human on Aing-Tii was? Before you I mean.”