Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
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Flora had been correct - there was little more of interest up on The Crust, and given that they'd already had a destination in mind, Ronin isn't sorry to take them beneath the ground where it stands a chance of being a little cooler. (A little, not much, as it happens).
And although it takes a while, they do eventually come upon the tucked-away cavern known as Soulfire Reach, but rather than relief at having found the destination, the Nova is, perhaps understandably, a little unnerved by the place. "I wasn't expecting this," he admits, an arm protectively around Flora as they step properly into the cave, its walls glittering, the ground sticky underfoot.
"It stinks of blood here," he continues. "Must be somewhere the Ancients use. You sure you want something out of here after all?"
Flora, who would have boldly walked into whatever Caido's version of hell was if Ronin gave the all clear, understandably shrank at his side. Reaching around and grabbing at his shirt as if to tether herself properly against him (living marble statue that he was), she swallowed as she let her eyes adjust. "It's weird how you know what blood smells like." She murmurs softly, before wondering the same thing herself.
"I uhm...I mean, if it's just a little blood. And I can turn invisible and use the compass to head back to Torchline if anything really bad comes up." Then, in a lower voice as the Doubletake peers around Ronin, she asks, "Is this where Dygra is, do you think?"
"Well, I'd heard about the gemstones." And they are here at least, but as Ronin continues to glance around, he swears they're moving. Whole walls of them; rubies, amethysts, emeralds, all undulating like the lungs of a bejewelled beast. "Less so about the blood." And it's with a sheepish smile that he clasps Flora closer, giving her shoulder a squeeze. "I hope you never get used to what it smells like," he tells her earnestly.
Nodding at the array of backup plans the Doubletake has at her disposal, Ronin tilts his head and winces. "I can't say for sure, but if I had to put a bet on it, I'd say this place is most likely out of all of them. If you want to choose some stones, be quick about it, I think. And if they... well, if they don't like it when you remove them, we're straight out of here."
04-20-2024, 07:52 PM (This post was last modified: 04-20-2024, 07:58 PM by Flora.)
karma's a relaxing thought, aren't you envious that for you it's not?
"Yeah, not planning on it." The Doubletake assures him, and while all of her mother and father figures might have become demigods in their own right now, should Flora ever fall in their footsteps, she'd make it clear she wasn't cut out to be a hero. She'd lost her twin far too young to ever think she could stand against the world with a chance of winning.
"How mad do you think Safrin would be if we prayed here?" Flora whispers, already concocting some excuse should the goddess question her about precisely these words when next they spoke. Grinning, her bottom lip caught between her teeth, the Doubletake let her fingers trickle over a gleaming spray of rubies that clustered together like pomegranate seeds.
"Do you really think it's living, though? I mean, if this is all some thing's teeth, I don't want to be tugging on it."
"Good," Ronin says, almost without thinking about it. Given the chance to go back in time he'd sincerely rethink his own choices; a world where he might have been some farmer or dock worker, with a rambunctious family and a husband who had never known anything of the gods but what he read in books.
Shaking it off, he brings himself back to the bloody, gem-encrusted present, raising his eyebrows incredulously at Flora's question. "Oh, she'd be absolutely furious," he assures her, his tone surprisingly airy all things considered. "Maybe another time though. If you pray here you're likely to get your clothes covered in blood." Old blood, too.
As for the cluster of rubies, Ronin can only shrug helplessly. "You could say the same thing about any part of nature being connected to Frey," he points out. "But I wouldn't blame you for wanting to keep away from it. Maybe you can tell Mateo about it and the story will be enough."
karma's a relaxing thought, aren't you envious that for you it's not?
"Ewww. Good point." Flora's allegiances had initially started out with Frey before moving onto Safrin. But who really knew what the future held. The Doubletake wasn't keen on becoming an ancient, that was for sure, but Dygra seemed interesting enough.
"Yeah, I uh..." Crinkling her nose, Flora taps her finger against the rubies and though it's likely purely based on the power of suggestion, but she's suddenly absolutely certain that one of the stones grew beneath her touch. "..maybe I'll just barter for one and tell him we got it here. Humanely. Or, you know what?" Spinning on her heel, Flora gives her head a shake. "Maybe I'll tell him I risked my life for his present and that he should be so lucky to still have me around."
Edging away from the wall, Flora wraps her arms around Ronin's neck in a hug that's probably a surprise to both of them. "You're a good dad." She whispers into the crook of his neck, standing on her toes to give him an extra squeeze.
"I can compass us back but I know how shitty it is for two people."
Tilting his head - and feeling no small amount of relief as Flora backtracks on her ruby collection and opts instead for increasingly outlandish explanations for Mateo - Ronin smiles and nods his agreement. "If he questions it, you can say you were with me, and I'll collaborate with whatever you say," he promises, offering her a quick, conspiratory wink as if to say the secret is safe with him.
So when she steps forward to wrap him in a hug that has him leaning down a fraction with the force of it, it absolutely is a surprise to the Nova. He barely has a chance to wrap his arms around her in turn before her voice filters through to him, Ronin finding his throat and chest suddenly tight with emotion. Swallowing hard and gently stepping away, he shakes his head at the offer, though he's grateful enough for it.
"You go - get home quick and safely," he tells her. "I'll be back before long. If you see your father, tell him I'll be there before dark."
And with that he steps back properly, waiting until he knows Flora is safely on her way, before turning his back on the bloody cavern and leaving.
