From being an Abandoned who had rarely left the Hollowed Grounds, to embracing the call of adventure, to dying and being reborn first as an Ascended and then as an Ancient, Maea has gone through quite the amount of changes in her life. One thing remains common, though, in her attempts to find out just where she belongs; she’s always had a craving for knowledge which has brought her to so many places and to meet so many people here in Caido. We can’t wait to see what else is in store for her!
Congratulations, Maea!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
Noah occupied a table in the back. Spread out before him were several rubies, unrefined and varying in size. Among them were different strands of leather and braided cord, as well as some other shiny pieces of metal and trinkets. Noah leaned over the table and worked on braiding more thin strands of leather together. His face contorted in the controlled look of concentration, but the color in his cheeks and the way his jaw set against itself was a clear indication of his frustration.
The man was not a crafter -- he was a hunter. So, trying to make jeweley (let alone jewelry someone would want to wear) was a difficult task for him. But he had learned that attending the coming ceremony necessitated having taken what he harvested from the Climb and turn it into something beautiful. Groaning, Noah set down the braided leather and took a shot of the whiskey he liked and leaned back in his chair.
Having a capitol compass meant that Flora could blip! around to places like Halo whenever she pleased. It did not mean that she was at all prepared for the brisk chill present within the Citadel, even with the magical dome overtop. The Doubletake was used to humidity and tropical sunshine. Not even Frey's magical thermostat could compare. So, pushing open the door of the Kraai with a scarf wound around her neck and with most of her skin covered (for once in her life), Flora glanced around the bar for signs of the man she was meant to meet.
Peter, she thought his name was?
Spying no one in particular who fit the description, Flora instead let her eyes linger on a man with his back to her, who had a number of precious gems on the table in front of him. Colour her interested.
Sashaying over, Flora reaches out to tap Noah on the shoulder, having no idea yet she was about to interrupt Vi's demigod and former warden of Halo. "Peter?"
The tap to his shoulder came even before he set the shot glass down. The whiskey burned the bottom of his throat as he leaned forward and turned, eyebrows raised. "No." He shook his head and his empty glass clinked against the table as he set it down. He shifted some in his chair to turn more towards the woman, but his eyes lifted off of her and around her. Raised eyebrows came together and his mouth opened, "I actually don't see him."
Now, to be fair, Peter was a pretty common name, but in Halo there were only so many people. Noah knew a few peters, and all of them belonged to the same family. He cleared his throat a little, the memory of the whiskey still warm at the base of his neck. "You can sit here if you want to wait for him." He gestured to the open seat at the opposite side of the table, before lifting his hand up to introduce himself, "I'm Noah."
No sooner had the man begun to turn toward her, than Flora recognized who it was immediately. Rather than being embarrassed to have bothered Vi's demigod, instead the Doubletake flashed him her most charmed smile. Oh, she knew enough of the gossip to know that he was with Cordelia (didn't they just have twins? or was the huntress currently pregnant? I saw the apps, so who knows), and as one of Vi's chosen she could guess at the metal of the man's heart, but that didn't mean she didn't want him to like her. Not like that you guys, geeze.
"Thanks so much!" Flora's voice was bright and sunny as if she might infuse the Kraai with a bit of Torchline's warmth. Sliding into the seat across from him, the Doubletake grins. "Well, now that I can see your face I know who you are." She chuckles. "I'm Flora, Hotaru's daughter?" Given her mother's reputation she doubted if Noah didn't know the Valkyrie, but even so she let her voice rise so that it sounded like a question just the same.
Noah's face, once warmed with a tinge of red from the frustration of trying to create intricate jewelry, now flashed a bit deeper pink with the recognition the young woman shared of who he was. Despite having been known for years now, and holding his title with a sense of duty and pride, it was still unusual for him that it be the first item of who was when inside the walls of the Citadel. For most of Halo, Noah was still the hunter who kept their bellies full or the advisor which made their requests known to wardens.
Without her specific introduction, Noah might not have pinned her down for who she was and what history she belonged to, though he might have suspected based on her name alone. But when it came to Hotaru's daughter leaving her mouth, Noah nodded. Yes, of course. Recognition bloomed behind Noah's eyes and he offered her a warmer smile than he would any typical stranger. The recognition continued to grow, too, when he reminded himself of the other half of her parentage. Remi. It was in her eyes that Noah could see both of them. "Are you in Halo visiting her?" He asked, even though it was clear she had also been searching for a Peter. Noah didn't have the details of her most recent business venture, after all.
A waitress sauntered over towards their table and replaced Noah's empty whiskey glass with another, and eyed Flora up and down. What'll it be for you? Came the question, an almost bored tone echoing from beneath the words that matched her heavy-lidded eyes. Noah picked up the cords of leather again, giving Flora time to give an order if she had one.
Watching Noah's expression roll through slight embarrassment right on into warm recognition was an absolute pleasure, and while it was true that Flora's type was slowly solidifying into older men, it was with a look of nothing more than girlish adoration that she gazed across the table at Noah. "Yeah. I've sneakily booked her for a spa all weekend long. She thinks she'll be doing the services, but jokes on her." The Doubletake laughs, clearly pleased with this plot to get her mother to take a break from being a workaholic, before gesturing vaguely around the bar with one hand. "I recently took over the bar in Torchline." She explains, glancing around for Peter but still not seeing him. "Peter was supposed to introduce me to some of Halo's better-liked drinks so I could try and bring them over to the island." Whether or not the Torcher's would appreciate Halo's straightforward and often throat-burning potables was yet to be seen.
"Whatever drink you like best." The girl purrs, beaming up at their server before glancing back at Noah. "Whatcha making?" She asked conversationally as if they were old pals rather than 1-minute old acquaintances.
the Sentinel chuckled at the idea of Hotaru being cheated into mother daughter quality time. She was the cleverest person he knew, so it only made sense for her daughter to have inherited that from her--and perhaps even honed it to another level, to which only time could tell.
Even with Flora's sunkissed attitude, the waitress gave a generic answer; a mumbling of some type of honey mead infused with berries and herbs they grew within the greenhouse. Noah's eyebrows lifted some and his head cocked at a curious angle. "I haven't tried that. but everything here is better than the tavern that used to be here before the Kraai." He said as the heavy-lidded waitress walked away. "Peters a good guy, been working here since Weaver opened the place." She had long passed, and Peter even stuck around in the shadow of Neron cowering behind the bar. "I prefer this." Noah tapped on his whiskey glass, before sucking on his teeth at her next question.
"Well, I'm hoping it will be a bracelet." His head tilted as he held up what he had so far, which was definitely not what one would call true craftsmanship. "I heard that it was a part of this festival coming up. Thought I'd give it a shot. Really all I know how to craft is arrow fletching and Festival of Lights lanterns."
"Oh?" Glancing around as if she possessed the ability to see into the past, Flora's eyes ghosted over the counters and tables, before landing on the bar. Not knowing who Weaver was, the Doubletake's interest in history was poor at best, she glanced back in time to see Noah nod to his drink before grinning. "I think whiskey goes down smooth everywhere.' She agrees before the shine of the rubies on the table shifts the conversation.
"Oh right, the new blood moon thing?" Another thing for which Flora's interest was not particularly piqued. "Aww, come now." Reaching out a ringed finger, Flora touches the chord of leather and gives an approving nod. "Sure looks like it will stay fastened, and so long as you put it around a wrist, you've absolutely made a bracelet." Mention of the Festival of Lights has the girl's smile dampening some, even as she tries to hold it in place.
"Every year it seems like I have more and more lanterns to make." She says softly. "I think I'll be an expert before I'm 20." Looking across the table, Flora tries on another smile. "What about you? Are you an expert yet?" It seemed the kindest and least intrusive way of asking just how many the Sentinel had lost over the years.
Noah tittered as he lifted his glass momentarily to take a sip of the whiskey. He couldn't count how many times he had purchased an entire bottle from behind the bar and down it himself. While it had been a long time since he had done it, the memory was rooted in the taste. The waitress came back then and placed Flora's mead before her, walking to another table that beckoned her wildly without another word.
"Yeah." Noah said dully. "If its anything like other festivals in Caido, it should be interesting." A flash of a memory -- of the Voice ripping into the world and those lost coming back again, claimed and chosen by her. Flashes of fire and blood and madness in stories told. The hunter's head cocked to the side at her encouragement, and his glacier eyes caught the subtle way her smile faltered. He sucked on his teeth and turned the bracelet over in his hand.
Then, he opened a hand palm up and gestured for Flora to rest her wrist on it. When, or if, she did, he would use it to measure the bracelet. His eyes moved down to the work, but his heart gave a pang that she wouldn't be able to feel without the attuned bond. "I'm sure they are beautiful tributes, nonetheless. Caido is a hard place to live." He knew the grief the girl's mother held in her breast. "By the time I was your age I lost both of my parents, and my baby sister."
Were you an expert if you made the same renditions of the same losses over and over again, despite the growing number in your grief?
The fate of some demigods was to be experts forever.
Not needing to think at all, the Doubletake extends her arm, palm up for Noah to use as a guide. Unlike her father or the demigod before her, Flora had no abilities to let her feel the way others currently were. Of course, the storms in Noah's eyes and the way his lips seemed to hug his teeth on every other inhale were easy enough to read. It wasn't the full story of course, but when the topic was grief, a table of contents served well enough.
'I'm sorry to hear that.' She murmurs before her lips twist into a humourless smile. "Maybe I should have clung to Mort when I saw him and refused to let go unless he gave some of our dead back." It's said as if it were a joke, but the steel in Flora's aqua eyes told another story. After all, why not? If the Voice could do it, why couldn't any of them?
Just then a man came in. Sharp-featured with dark eyes, he scanned the room pointedly before noticing Noah and the woman he was seated with. Making his way over, he nodded a greeting to the demigod which was both familiar and respectful. "You Flora?" Assuming this must be Peter, the Doubletake waited for Noah to complete his measurements before slipping her hand back so she could offer it to Peter to shake.
"The bracelet looks like it's going to be lovely." She murmurs, reaching for her mead and pushing back her chair. "Really nice to meet you, Noah."
When Flora’s soft skin touched against his rough, calloused hand, it felt like Hotaru. It sparked a heat of familiarity that made the corner of Noah’s mouth twitch. Without speaking, he measured the bracelet. A few more lengths and it could be long enough to him to wear, but now it was the perfect size for someone with the same stature as Flora or Cordelia.
”Each life is a gift from Vi, each taken care of and tended well by Mort in the afterlife.” Noah said, almost flatly, as if he were still trying to believe it himself. Then, Peter arrived and stepped in. The Sentinel’s eyes moved to him briefly and he offered the same sort of greeting. ”Nice to meet you too, Flora. Tell your mom I said “hi” when you see her.” He offered her a smile, and Peter a nod, before he turned his attention back down to his bracelet and let the two handle their business.
