Court of the Fallen
come join the party - Printable Version

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come join the party - Wessex - 11-23-2020

The realization came on the tail end of her last message as she felt for the familiar minds of her siblings; there’s an extra one, an extra unfamiliar presence. She can’t help but wonder how long this Ascended has been here, why it’s kept its distance, if any of them have found it yet. Or worse, if others have already poisoned it against its siblings, its mother, its eventual place in everything that’s going down. And Gods, what a shitty time for an Ascended to be new to Caido.

No, what a dangerous time. Wessex worries, she can’t help it.

In between all the meetings and trips and explorations, the Wraith searches for this person. She can feel them in the Grounds, but not where, only that they’re more near than far. And after a few days she switches her tactic, looking for someone who stands out as a new Outlander, rather than an Ascended.

Eventually, she thinks, she’s found him: a young man, a stranger, yet definitely, definitely Ascended, according to her senses. This time, she doesn’t feel the need to play anything up, trying to move parallel to him, unobtrusive at first, until she can swing in to intercept his path. Which she does, with a slight smile and a forceful, firm presence.

[say] “Hello.”[/say]


RE: come join the party - Anden - 11-23-2020

It was almost time. Ever since the meeting Anden had been preparing to leave. Trying to get in his goodbyes to those that had helped make the Grounds a temporary home. There were more than he thought. For as lifeless as the Grounds were, and as hollow as the people seemed, there was a current of energy that flowed through it. At first he didn't notice it, but as Anden grew closer to the people, he began to sense it.

He found himself getting lost in his thoughts more often than not as he walked down the stone pathways of the Settlement. This time however someone... Well not someone her. Stepped in his way. The woman from the meeting, the one who whispered into his mind. The Queen of the Grounds - Wessex. To think he was so close to being able to leave the Grounds without having to encounter her. Unlike most he'd met in the Grounds her presence demanded his attention.

[say]"Hello."[/say] Anden knew there was no walking past her. He hadn't heard much about the Queen, but from what he had heard he knew there was no getting out of whatever this conversation was going to be about. [say]"I guess there's no leaving the Grounds without an official good bye?[/say] He coughed out.


RE: come join the party - Wessex - 11-23-2020

Leaving?

Wessex is visibly confused, brow knitting together as she tries to keep pace. Clearly there’ve been other things going on, things she wasn’t aware of. And while, yes, she said she wouldn’t hold it against anyone if they left, she would be lying if she wasn’t a little hurt by his words.

Yes, the ice queen slash bitch slash monster is hurt. All that effort to keep him safe and nothing in return.

Confusion shifts to disappointment, vulnerability peeking out from behind an iron curtain as her hands fold in front of her and she looks down for a brief moment, before coming back to look him in the eye.[say] “Hard to call it an official goodbye if we’ve never had an official introduction.”[/say] Which is strange, to the Wraith. Very strange.

If she heard a voice in her head and knew who it was, she would probably seek that person out for answers. Even it were to ask them to stop. But avoidance? Avoidance and a lack of acknowledgement is just plain rude.


RE: come join the party - Anden - 11-24-2020

Wessex's eyes worried Anden. He'd met many people in the Grounds. So many of them burdened with their pasts. So many having been broken, like the Ruins of the Grounds. Having lost family, or their loved ones - but never their will to live. Each and every person Anden had met hadn't given up. They kept fighting. That's what he loved about the Grounds, despite its appearance, it was filled with hope. But Wessex's eyes, her expression it wasn't like the others. In Wessex, Anden saw victory, an and undying sense of pride. Such a contrast to everyone else he had met - and that scared him.

He saw no way out of this though. Wessex surely was a Queen for a reason. He wouldn't be able to outrun her, nor did he see a world where a fight would be a good idea. [say]"Two trees can be part of the forest together without their roots meeting.[/say] His mothers words.

Anden moved his hands to his pant pockets, unsure what else the wraith wanted. [say]"Don't you have a war to win, or something?"[/say]


RE: come join the party - Wessex - 11-24-2020

What Anden sees in the Wraith’s eyes may very well be what happens when one is no longer afraid of dying; when someone has conquered their past, been broken, and risen - stronger than ever before. Strength and pride in the face of adversity isn’t a crime, it’s who Wessex is, but he doesn’t know that, does he? He doesn’t know her at all. It’s why she’s Queen. It’s why she’s survived this long and risen this high.

[say] “Have you ever seen an Aspen grove?”[/say] Wessex says after a moment, having heard the boy’s words and rejecting them as something that didn’t apply to this situation, while still grasping on to that analogy. Sure, trees can be like that, but the Ascended weren’t.[say] “There’s never just one Aspen tree in an area because they’re part of a connected root system. They seem singular, but they’re all from the same seed. That’s what Ascended are like. We’re family.”[/say] Whether he likes it or not, the are.

One death won’t necessarily hurt them; but they’re definitely stronger together. Able to take more space. Harder to get rid of, if you happen to think they need be eradicated.

She’s about to go on when he blurts out something undeniably rude. Her eyes narrow in response, lips pursing together, restraining the sharp snap on her tongue.[say] “That was uncalled for.”[/say] Precise. Flat. The demigoddess might seem to narrow and hone into something more prickly now, someone who tried to be kind and protecting and doesn’t take well to being shot down.[say] “If you’ve got a problem with me, say it. I don’t do passive-aggressiveness.”[/say]


RE: come join the party - Anden - 11-25-2020

He hadn't. So much of his own world, and so much of Caido was still a mystery to him. Hidden away outside of the Grounds. It was one of the reasons he wanted to leave. He wanted to finally be able to see what else the world had to offered. It couldn't all be so grey and empty.

Anden never thought of the other ascended as family. He'd only really met Bastien and Nate until now. While both were kind to him, neither was family. The connection he had with his fellow ascended wasn't nearly as strong as that he shared with Aisha, Dani or even Oliver. The idea that all ascended were his family, well it brought a slight chuckle to his lips. If they were his family then where have they been this entire time.

[say]"Every family needs a black sheep."[/say] It wasn't a role uncommon to him. Even before, he spent most of his time alone or with his twin. It was only when he arrived in Caido that started to feel like he was part of something bigger, something more - but not because of the fluid that ran through his veins, but because of the family he chose for himself.

Anden knew he wasn't being the most hospitable, but it felt right to defy Wessex. Ever since he arrived in Caido he was trying to figure out why him. Why did the Voice take him away from his life. He understood why she changed his form, making him stronger - something he always wanted. He wanted to be able to protect those he cared for... But he was taken from the people he cared for when he arrived in Caido. He spent a season trying to find the answers to his questions. Standing in front of him was the answer key. If he wanted answers he could have them.

Wessex was from what he gathered the closest thing to the Voice's second. Yet she spoke of a war. A war she didn't want... But if the Voice, if Wessex didn't want war why was he brought here? [say]"It's not you I have a problem with. It's the idea that I'll need to fight for the ascended in a potential war I had no part in creating."[/say] If the people of Caido wanted to bring a fight to the Grounds, to the Ascended, he had no plan on staying to watch it play out.


RE: come join the party - Wessex - 11-25-2020

The thing about answers is you have to ask questions in order to get them, you actually have to say what you’re thinking. Running away and making assumptions gets you jack shit - except for maybe quietly simmering resentment.

[say] “Bold of you to assume we don’t have one or more already,”[/say] the Queen quips back with a sharp, fanged snort. But therein lies the rub, doesn’t it - he doesn’t know much about them. Her. And vice versa. For all he knows she could be the black sheep of the family.

[say] “I see. An understandable feeling.”[/say] For a moment she seems to relent and perhaps be more empathetic than Anden deserves. Alas, it’s just for a moment.[say] “But -”[/say] Here Wessex dramatically pauses and puts up a finger, perhaps a little more condescending than she should be,[say] “That’s about the current situation, not about me, and doesn’t explain not wanting to introduce yourself. Unless you blame me for this.”[/say]

And if he does happen to blame just her for the existence of a secret organization that wants to kill the Ascended, well - she has all the time in the world to brainwash educate him in her typically overbearing fashion, nitpicking semantics until he sees the error of his ways.


RE: come join the party - Anden - 11-28-2020

Anden pulled at the ends of his jacket sleeves, pulling them further to cover his hands. He felt like he was being lectured by his mom. Wessex didn't seem as cruel, or heartless as he pictured. The Queen of the heartless race, she seemed more refined. As if she was planning steps ahead of what Anden could anticipate.

In truth, Anden wasn't sure who to blame for the current state of the Grounds. So much of it seemed wrong. So much seemed like it was going to be heading into a place that Anden has no interest in going. Yet Wessex was its Queen, The Voice's right hand woman. Surely she had some say in what was happening. [say]"If not you, then who? Wars aren't started for no reason."[/say]

He thought about the other part of her question. Anden feared that by talking to Wessex he might get brainwashed. Maybe brainwashed wasn't the best term. Every Ascended he'd met had an undying love for their goddess, a devotion to the ascended and the New God. Anden could feel pride in his new life style, and he knew the Voice wasn't as cruel as he once believed. But Anden knew too that they weren't perfect beings. They had flaws, and he didn't want to live a life blinded by that fact.


RE: come join the party - Wessex - 11-29-2020

Well. The others don’t think of her as the matriarch for nothing. Without her own children, the older woman is forced to spend all her lecturing energy on others. Lucky Anden!

Again, she snort-chuckles.[say] “You give me way too much power. I’ve done shit that’s been poorly received by people, but none of it worthy of egging on a war.”[/say] Fixing the Outlander with a bit of a look that says both do you hear yourself? and you poor misled thing, the Wraith needlessly sighs.[say] “No, this is three hundred plus years in the work and all the Gods’ doing. Even someone like me is still a pawn.”[/say] The other demigods? Same position - one she might call her friend, one she used to call family - her face falls when she thinks of needing to fight these people some day, the position they've all been put in because they made a bold, decisive choice.

But that thought doesn’t solve this current problem, and she shakes her head, looking at him.[say] “How much do you know about Caido and the history of the Grounds?”[/say]


RE: come join the party - Anden - 12-05-2020

They were all pawns. The idea was an interesting one for Anden. If even the Queen of the Grounds had no control over the events that were to take place, than who did? The Deities? If they truly cared about their people, you'd think they would know better than to solve their problems with war... But maybe Caido didn't know the pain that war brought. Maybe they didn't know the face of an orphaned child, or the sound of a widowed mothers voice cracking.

Anden knew nothing. He'd sought answers when he first arrived, but failed to find them. [say]"Enough to survive."[/say] And that was the truth. He didn't know who, what, where, or why - but he knew how to survive. He'd manage to learn that much since he'd arrived in the Grounds. [say]"I know we-"[/say] Anden used the term to describe the ascended very loosely, [say]"Did something to the fae. I've only met one, and she seemed hesitant of me."[/say] He watched Wessex's face hoping to find an answer in her expression. [say]"I don't know much, so maybe I'm ignorant."[/say] But maybe that was his true blessing, not the gifts that the Voice gave him, but the fact he didn't know any better.

[say]"But is that such a bad thing? What's wrong with wanting to move past this. To look to the future instead of the past."[/say]


RE: come join the party - Wessex - 12-05-2020

[say] “Do you?”[/say] Wessex challenges, perhaps a bit more forceful than she intended, but still light enough to not be hitting him over the head with a lead pipe of a phrase. It turns out to be premature as the man eventually comes to the same conclusion as the Wraith: that he’s ignorant.[say] “Because ignorance here will get you killed, or worse, make you responsible for the death of  others.”[/say]

Wessex would know. Her own inability to ask questions had lead to deaths and an irreversible situation. An asinine situation, but one she has to deal with all the same. If her arms aren’t crossed already, they are now as she sets herself in for a bit of a battle.

[say] “Did you know that giving up pieces of yourself creates weapons to use against us? The Fae came asking for parts for a quest from Safrin, who last year made a door that killed an Ascended child. And the Grounds' Queen. So it isn't likely that that request, considering who it's from, will be used to help us.”[/say] A ragged, raw tendril of grief seems to rise from nowhere as she mentions their deaths, fists seeming to clench in on themselves against her sides.[say] “Did you know that a Fae also attacked and seriously injured one of us in Torchline? That Ludo has told several of his followers to kill us? Or that another Ascended mysteriously ended up in pieces in a box with a note calling for our deaths?”[/say]  

Ignorance won’t keep them safe.[say] “Has blinding yourself to the truth about what’s going on around you ever helped anything?”[/say] If he remains outside the fold, there may not be a future for him. He's in danger. They're all in danger. And he could make it all worse if he doesn't wisen the fuck up.


RE: come join the party - Anden - 12-09-2020

[say]"I'm still alive, aren't I?"[/say] Anden countered. Was he positive he'd know enough to survive outside of the Grounds? No. But he knew he wasn't living while he was in the Grounds. He was existing. He needed to break free from it all.

The Ascended history was riddled with death it seemed - on both sides. Spilling blood only brings more blood. The news of the Ascended murders was new to Anden, but without the context it meant little to him. People die - that's just how life works. No one was meant to exist forever. [say]"All things from our past."[/say] Anden shook his head. [say]"I can't bare the weight of the past."[/say]

Was he blind? Likely. Anden had chosen to ignore most things related to his kind since he arrived. At first it was out of hatred - but as time moved on, it was out of a desire to stay out of it. The more he heard, the more he understood that there was darkness brewing. A darkness Anden wanted nothing to do with. [say]"Maybe. Maybe not. I can't see the future. All I know if that if I want to feel alive, I need to do more than just exist in the darkness."[/say] Anden glanced around at the surroundings, the greyscale city wasn't much to look at.


RE: come join the party - Wessex - 12-09-2020

{ssay} “You chose this,”[/say] Wessex counters, thinking that the darkness means their life at night rather than say, the Grounds, which isn’t a city at all. [say] “When she copied you from your original life, she gave you a choice and you chose to be Ascended. You’re entitled to your own life, but you can’t escape the realities of being Ascended in Caido. And if thats your response to information, then at this point, yes, it seems like you’re willfully ignorant and like I said, that kills people. That’s not the past, that’s right now. And the future.”[/say] The scorn is laid on thick, exactly what she thinks of this man’s weaksauce excuses made quite clear. To not care about the death of children?

After all, this was never about his leaving. It was about him being rude. It was about his silence. It was about him putting everyone else in danger - which he already had, she just didn’t know it yet.

[say] “I can’t let you be a danger to everyone else.”[/say]


RE: come join the party - Anden - 12-09-2020

Anden's eyes narrowed. [say]"I chose to be stronger. To be faster. To be a better version of myself. What I chose was to be able to save my sister."[/say] Anden did his best to stare at Wessex, but her demeaner made it difficult. [say]"I didn't choose to join a war. The rest of this - yourself included. Seems to be extra baggage."[/say] Anden huffed. [say]"I'm not ready to deal with it. Nor do I want to right now."[/say]

His ignorance was his choice. To push the darkness away. A life as ascended didn't mean he had to live in the Grounds. He knew better, he knew there were places that brought joy in Caido - where clouds of despair didn't linger. He would find them, and he would leave the Grounds behind.

A danger to everyone else.

Images of him giving Alina his hair and spikes, flashed throughout his mind. Weapons made from ascended, to defeat them. He was a danger to everyone. To the very people who helped him come to terms with his new life; to Bastien, to Nate. He could be the reason the clouds of despair linger longer throughout the Grounds.

Anden gulped, unwilling to falter. [say]"I don't understand what use I can be to you anyways. Is it not better for me to be out there, beyond the Grounds, to learn more about Caido. Then to stay? If my ignorance will get you - and the others killed, shouldn't I be trying to solve that."[/say]

In many ways, Wessex was right though. Anden understood that now. He didn't know then. He was - and is ignorant, and that ignorance might be the reason someone else dies. He may have fueled the very war he wanted so desperately to put behind him. Still though, how was he even supposed to help.