On possibly getting sent to TLV

[notsingingsolo]

Well, I'm glad you're thinking of finding somewhere for me where I can do more than text people. But I'm not sure this idea of yours is a good one. I'm not really interested in "breaking people's brains." That sounds rather like something a Sith would do and I'm not a Sith. No matter what Jacen or Vestara wanted. Please tell me this means you'll get around to finishing going through Fate of the Jedi first?

Also, you do realize how weird this will be, right? Dad will only be a few years older than me and I'll probably have to teach him most of what he's taught me. That's just... Are you sure you only want to break Dad's and Ren's brains, not mine, too?

I don't even know what deal to make. Bring Mom back? Or Anakin? But that would really mess things for Dad and Tahiri by now. Bring Jacen back? But what if he comes back as Caedus?

Comments

[aphotic_auror]

[Maria smiles sadly at the young man, feeling badly for him, as he can probably tell by the Force around her, if he's tapping into that.] Well... While I have no idea what this game is about, or why you'd be doing something like "breaking people's brains" as a job-- it is a job, aye? And more importantly, perhaps, what sort of "wish" you get, and why...? Well. I don't know any of it, really, so all I can really do is-- offer you a... A Hug maybe?

[She tries to laugh this suggestion off, at first, but then looks earnestly at Ben once more.] IF you want one, that is? I mean, honestly: I cannot even imagine the bloody misery of choosing who to bring back from the Valley of Death, especially if I only had the choice of a single person, and not, say, a couple? A married couple, in fact? I mean, it would be a ruddy difficult choice, wouldn't it? Especially if you had to choose someone who might come back-- Evil...? [She grimaces empathetically, suddenly realising that the only single person she'd want to bring back is her own brother, who was Dark-magic-aligned when he died.]

[notsingingsolo]

[He smiles at her, grateful for the sympathy.] I'm pretty sure she doesn't mean literally. And, no, that's not the job. I'd be a warden at some kind of prison spaceship. Dad's already there but... he hasn't even met Mom yet. I have a cousin there but he's from a time where I don't exist. And my mun thinks that's funny.

[He looks down briefly.] A hug might be nice. I know that's not the only option for a deal the Admiral offers but... I don't know what else to pick. Jacen... He was a Sith when he died.

[aphotic_auror]

Oh, a prison ship, eh? And... you have a-- a cousin, and a father, there? Both as wardens, I do trust-- even if they.... wouldn't even know you, then...? Yeah, the muns seem to think that sort of mix-up to be utterly hilarious-- much in the way that mine keeps pushing me at you lot, from a galaxy far, far away, and a time long ago. Honestly, I do find you lot-- fascinating, really, but-- well. I don't see the point in constantly putting my magic against your Force. [She grimaces again, sympathetically, and then...

[Then, she opens her arms, suddenly needing a hug as badly as, if not even worse than, this young man seems to.]

Oh my word, don't I understand that dilemma! I mean, seriously? I was just thinking about who I'd ask to bring back, and-- well. I don't think there's any single person who would be at all happy on-- on this side of the veil-- other than my brother-- who was-- well. Dark-sided, too, in his own way, when he died... [By her own hand, no less, but it was really an accident!]

So. [And now she manages a small smile again, that only has a slight trace of bitterness, in it-- though the bitterness is still strong within her, and within the Force, of course.] Yeah, cm'ere, you! I'll give you a hug, alright...?

[notsingingsolo]

Dad's a warden. My cousin is... not even close. But, no, they wouldn't know me. And that cousin doesn't exist in my time, either. I don't know about hilarious, but it does sound interesting. Some people in my world think the Force is magic.

[He hugs her back, easily feeling her own grief.] Jacen... The only one who could stop him... kill him in the end... It was Jaina. They were twins. [He hadn't been with them at the time. He'd been fighting Tahiri and trying to turn her back from the Dark Side instead. But he's felt some of Jaina's grief and guilt over it so he has a little idea of what Maria's feeling.]

[aphotic_auror]

Oh! So... This cousin of yours... Is the one named "Ben", too...? [Maria winces sympathetically, as she considers how bloody awkward that would be.] A K A, Kyle Ron, or-- whatever it is he goes by these days...?

[She smirks briefly, knowing full well she got the name wrong; then, her face crumples, and she buries it in Ben Skywalker's shoulder, weeping softly at the pain of losing her older brother-- after he had tortured her for hours, or possibly days, and she had sent a Stunner straight into his chest, which had revealed a congenitally weak heart: one that she would now have to watch for signs of in herself. And of course, she could almost sense the sadness in the Force around Ben, for what was Magic but a different name for "the Force" after all?]

I--I'm so sorry you-- you lost your brother...

[[OOC PS: OMG I'm SO SORRY this is so late! D=]]

[notsingingsolo]

Yeah, that's the one. It's going to be so weird.

[He holds her gently, trying to soothe her with the Force.]

I'm sorry about your brother. Losing family never gets easier.

[aphotic_auror]

No, no it doesn't, does it? Even when they're-- even when they've started believing in everything that you've fought against, your whole bloody life. [She smiles weakly up at Ben, from the vantage point of her head still upon his shoulder.] I mean-- sorry, this probably shan't make any sense to you, but--!

My brother had come to believe in a Dark Lord who claimed that Muggles-- aka, non-Force-sensitive, you know, like normal people?-- were polluting our mores and destroying our world by existing in freedom, and thus: they had to go, or else at least be enslaved, like ruddy House Elves! I mean, Hell: they even had it out for bloody Muggle-borns-- as in, people born of Muggle families, but with a connection to magic, themselves...?

I mean, seriously? Why the Hell would my brother fall for that sort of talk, after all the years we'd grown up hearing "Yes, we are Pureblooded, in fact, but-- that does NOT make us any better than any Muggle-born wizard," from our parents. [And she buries her face into Ben's shoulder, again, as she considers the various answers to that:

[Power? But he was not a Slytherin, he was a ruddy Ravenclaw, a Ravenclaw who had passed over several vehicles for his "career advancement" in favour of making time for his own scholarly pursuits.

[Imperius Curse? But then again, he had been rather lucid-- and yet dangerously on edge-- when he had appeared in her flat that evening... Certainly not the behaviour of a man who had been under someone else's control....]

[notsingingsolo]

Especially then. At least with Mom... She was trying to keep Jacen from using me.

[He sighs. That actually makes a lot of sense to him. Perhaps not enslaving everyone without the Force but attempting a genocide? Oh, yes, that sounds rather familiar.] In my world, it more often ends up the other way. People want to destroy us for what we can do or because we can't always stop someone with the Force from turning to the Dark Side.

Perhaps for the same reason Jacen to the Dark Side despite everyone in our family teaching better? Or the reason I did for a while? [Maria's not exactly thinking quietly. He can't get every detail but he can definitely get the general sense of her thoughts.] Perhaps it was more about someone else who joined? Or they offered to teach him things no one else would?

[aphotic_auror]

Oh my Lord, you lost your mum too? [Of course, this makes new tears well up as she considers the very idea of losing her mother, as distant as the woman has always been, in fear of her "mawkish" sentiment for her only daughter "ruining" her for life itself. And so, she hugs Ben convulsively, yet trying to be comforting to him.

[And then, the subject changes again, and she smiles slightly, from the safety of Ben's shoulder.] Oh, yes? Well... I suppose that's true enough on our world, too-- only. It's really more of a footnote in the annals of History, you know? I mean, seriously: Muggles have got nothing that can actually Kill a wizard, or at least, they didn't back in the days of these "Witch Hunts" that they used to pull for shits and giggles-- that is, for us, at least; they took the whole thing deadly serious, of course!

But anyway, I suppose a fully-automatic assault rifle could actually manage to kill us, if they emptied a clip into a wizard's chest, you know....? [She winces at the thought, and then shakes her shudder off, and continues on with her somewhat-long- winded explanation of the old-timey "witch hunts":]

I mean, well. They believed that we magic folk were "satanic" which of course, means, of the Devil, or else straight out of Hell Itself-- dunno if you've got any similar things in your world...? But anyway, they figured that they had to send Satan's "witches" back to Hell the same way they burned in Hell, and thus-- they would attempt to burn us alive, at the stake, but-- well.

[Now she lifts her head to smile conspiratorially at Ben.] As we did have all that "satanic" magic on our sides, we always managed to "Freeze" the flames of the blaze, so... They were really only tickling us, while we screamed in "AGONY" to convince the Muggles that we were dying...

[nothingbitesme]

Bring me back...?

Who's Caedus?

[notsingingsolo]

Jacen? [Ben only barely recognizes his cousin at this age from the holos his aunt and uncle have on the Falcon.] You're so... [Young. Tiny. Innocent. But how can he just say all that to this kid?]

[nothingbitesme]

That's my name, yeah.

[notsingingsolo]

Hi, Jacen. I'm Ben.

[nothingbitesme]

Hi, Mr Ben.

--you aren't Ben Kenobi, are you?

[notsingingsolo]

[Quiet chuckling.]

I'm not old enough to be Obi-Wan. I'm not even old enough to have met him. Dad named me after him. I'm Ben Skywalker.

[nothingbitesme]

You have the same name as my uncle!

[ Jacen hasn't had to think this much outside the box before. Not unless there were animals involved, anyway.

He frowns. ]

Uh ... is Uncle Luke your dad?

[notsingingsolo]

Yeah. And my mom was Mara Jade Skywalker.

I hope an AU Kylo Ren is alright? The profile explains it.

[greyorder]

The Light Side can break a mind. And parents are far from the strangest part of this arrangement, you'll find.

How are you related to Anakin?

AUs are win!

[notsingingsolo]

Only if it's wielded irresponsibly. And it doesn't always take the Force at all to do it.

What is stranger than parents who are younger than they should be?

Which Anakin?

[greyorder]

Or if it overloads when it comes into too much contact with the Dark Side. I've been doing some research into the matter. Everything can be wielded poorly, it seems.

Parents who remember a version of your life you didn't live. That happens regularly.

Anakin Skywalker. He's my grandfather.

[notsingingsolo]

I never heard of that happening, not even with Mom, Tahiri, or me.

That sounds... horrible.

He's my grandfather, too. Are you... You're not Anakin Solo, are you?

[greyorder]

You'd be amazed what you find when you pull up 6000 year old records from their hiding places in the galaxy. At first I thought they were errors, but a lot of what was written off as historical inaccuracies or fallacy are actually recurring, if rare, incidents.

Particularly when they remember a life where you fell to the Dark Side. I've gotten to see what that would do to them. And I wish I could unsee it, frankly.

My name is Ben Solo. Not that you'll hear me called that often around here. I haven't heard of an 'Anakin Solo'.

[notsingingsolo]

It's been nearly fourty years since Grandfather killed Palpatine but there's a lot we still haven't found. If we were allowed back in the Galactic Alliance, I'd ask Dad to let me try Flow Walking at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant.

[He winces. He can imagine that so easily.] I did for a few months. Dad finally got through to me.

[Ben's just going to stare for a moment. Yeah, this is a little weirder than parents being the wrong ages.] My name is Ben Skywalker. I never heard of a "Ben Solo". Anakin Solo is the one cousin I don't remember.

[greyorder]

Most of what I gathered was through less savory channels. It helps to know people in low places willing to make credits however they can. If I had access to them here, I'd give you a copy; restoring the full history of Force users will give people a clearer idea of what to do in the future.

[Well, so long as they're sharing sins:] I was with the Dark Side. For years, not months. But in my universe I came back to the Light through my father. In the one my parents here remember, however, I killed my father instead and went further into the Dark. Worse, I've met that version of myself. [Even his nightmares hadn't been as bad as talking to a version of himself who committed patricide.] This place is like a nightmare, but you can't wake up since you aren't asleep.

Skywalker? Are you Uncle Luke's son? But he was never romantically involved with anyone... I suppose then, though, you would be my cousin; my mother is Leia Organa, my father is Han Solo. [Normally he'd be more hesitant revealing his parentage if only because you never know who's First Order but this is just weird.]

[notsingingsolo]

Really? I'll have to talk to Jaina and Tahiri about that.

I nearly got all the Jedi on Ossus killed. Or helped almost get them all killed. And most of them were younglings.

Yeah, I'm Luke's son. He was married to Mara Jade. Uncle Han and Aunt Leia didn't name either of their sons Ben... I guess this must be one of those even weirder things you mentioned.