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Character of the Season
Frail in body but dangerously quick of mind, Nikandr is the sort of character who proves that curiosity can be just as perilous as any weapon. A necromancer, inventor, and problem-solver with more ambition than self-preservation, Niki approaches the world like a puzzle box begging to be opened, even when what’s inside has teeth. Blunt, dry-witted, fiercely independent, and carrying a history best left partially buried, he has a knack for making even failure feel fascinating. Whether he’s raising the dead, moving across Caido to King's End, or experiencing a hangover for the first time, Nikandr brings a wonderfully strange spark to Caido, and we can’t wait to see what trouble his brilliant mind wanders into next.
Congratulations, Niki!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
OG Skinning provided by Kaons, with functionality and many custom plugins made by Neowulf!
Flora blinked, her vision flickering as she slipped in and out of consciousness. The sensation of movement—the ground rocking beneath her—was disorienting, like drifting between dreams. She felt Remi's hands on her, the cold wash of water from the healing fountain mingling with warmth, an odd comfort as the pain ebbed and flowed through her body. She barely remembered the journey to Torchline, the rush of teleportation, everything fading in and out like the pages of a book being turned too quickly.
There were moments where she thought she saw Jack—his silhouette just beyond her reach, his smile crooked and teasing as he called out don't cry, love—because she was crying because everything hurt so godsdamn badly. But every time the queen tried to move towards him, the world shifted, her body too heavy to follow where her heart led.
The next time she opened her eyes, it was to unfamiliar surroundings. Flora reached out instinctively, her fingers searching for Jack's warmth, her heart stuttering with the need to find him. But instead of him, her hand met soft furs, and she blinked, her gaze adjusting to the dim light filtering through a small window. Plants hung along the walls, their greenery spilling over in wild tendrils, and she could hear the soft lapping of water against wood. Flora's fingers curled around the sheets, her breath catching as the realization settled in—this wasn't the Ark. This wasn't even her room.
She was on the Northaven.
The queen tried to sit up, her body protesting, the lingering fatigue keeping her pinned. Flora's eyes scanned the cozy room, the hints of familiarity doing little to ease the hollow ache in her chest. "Where—" She tried to ask, before a series of ragged coughs stole the air from her lungs.
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Ronin's reunion with Remi is necessarily brief under the circumstances, but he promises to spend the next however long needed to make it up to him. Understandably, though, both of their priorities remain on Flora for the time being, such that as the Knight opens the door into the Northaven - dark outside now, compared to the early morning when he'd left - he has eyes only for the Doubletake. Ronin is tired, though, the speed of his flight (in both directions) as well as the use of his magic taking a toll he'll have to pay later.
"He's alive," he says, even as Flora's question stutters on her lips, the Knight sweeping to her bedside to crouch down. "In the Greatwood, he's alive. He wouldn't have survived the trip with me." And not even because Ronin might have accidentally-on-purpose dropped him. "Gods, Flora..." The sigh that breaks from Ronin's chest is one that speaks of a tension that has locked his shoulders for hours now, of a time where he'd been unable to save his daughter, and gods he knows it isn't fair to draw parallels with Flora like this, but he's only human.
He's alive. A breath stuttered from Flora's lips, her lungs hastily trying to snatch it back, leaving the Doubletake wheezing as she fought to turn and look toward Ronin. "I have... to... go... to... h-m..." Every word was an effort, each syllable dragging her deeper into exhaustion, her strength ebbing with every breath. But still, she struggled, her fingers gripping the bedding as she tried to push herself up.
The room swayed, the gentle rocking of the Northaven feeling like an obstacle she couldn't quite overcome, and yet, Flora's mind raced ahead of her body, planning, calculating. Having already used both of her channelling slots for the season, there was no hope for divine intervention (unless... could Ronin call down Vi for her?). She needed to get back to the Greatwood on her own. Her compass...it could take her to the Grounds, and from there, she could find a way. Surely there would be a wagon she could commandeer. It might take a few days to get to the Ark, but if there was a faster way (aside from one of her dads flying her, which Flora wasn't inclined to think that they would), it seemed her only option.
The thought of Jack—the weight of him in her arms, his blood staining her hands—pulled at her, a tether that refused to let her rest. The room seemed to blur around her, the plants hanging on the walls a green haze, the gentle sway of the boat a reminder of where she was and where she wasn't. Flora could almost feel the cold of Jack's magic, that chill that had seeped into her bones, and it drove her, made her desperate to see him again, to feel his warmth instead.
Her gaze flicked to Ronin, her eyes pleading, her voice catching in her throat. "Please..." The words were heavy, filled with all the love and fear she couldn't put anywhere else. She knew the risks, knew how fragile she still was, but none of it mattered if she couldn't be with him.
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"I know," Ronin says quickly, understanding (even if not agreeing with) the way Flora's heart must have been tearing in two different directions at the idea of remaining in one place while the person she loved was in another, and hurting. "I know you do, but you... I can't let you hurt yourself to do it. Not after the Greatwood." The tremor in his voice is one he doesn't stand a chance at hiding, the Knight reaching across the furs and sheets to clasp her hand between both of his own.
"We can arrange it. One of us can go with you even, if you'll have us, but not tonight, Flora. Please." Too much energy spent and too little rest - and the possibility of whatever had happened to Flora still being on the loose - and Ronin will be good for precisely nothing without at least an hour to rest. "Remi said it was Wilde's Rapier that did it," he whispers. "Did you... can you tell me anything about the person who used it?"
Shifting enough to reach out for the pot of tea still cooling on one of the bedside tables (along with all of Flora's belongings that had been in her pockets), he pours a cup and offers to help her sit up enough to try and sip at it.
Having no tolerance for reasonableness just now, Flora squeezes her eyes shut, bitter tears bleeding from between her long lashes. "If it was Remi..." she gasps, the words feeling like she is swallowing razor blades, each sound cutting into her. She winces, her breath catching in her throat, hoping Ronin will understand; if it were Remi on the other side of an impossible distance, the Knight wouldn't rest until they were back together, consequences be damned.
A small, pained sound escapes her as she feels Ronin's large hands fit around hers. Flora blinks her eyes open. "Tomorrow?" she whispers, testing the word as if to see if her heart can bear it. The uncertainty makes her hiccup back a quiet moan, her lips trembling. "Will... he'll be okay? until then?"
As for the rapier?
"He was... big. Not... not tall, but..." You know, wide. Bulky. "Like Dad." She has to hold her breath, biting down on the pain that rises like a swell in the back of her throat, fresh tears spilling down her cheeks as Ronin helps her sit up enough for the tea not to dribble down her chin.
The words are a weight on her chest, but she forces them out, her gaze unfocused as she speaks. "He... said it was because I helped push back the void. Said he was supposed to make an example."
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"I know, Flora," Ronin whispers, letting his fingers brush against the back of her hand. "I'm a hypocrite, I know. But I also love you and I can't let you do this tonight. I'm sorry." And he is, the Knight shifting to sink down on the bed beside her as gently as he can to guide the tea to her lips. "...Tomorrow," he confirms, even if he really doesn't like it. But with a combination of her compass, Remi's ability, and Flora's connections in the Hollowed Grounds, there's really no reason why tomorrow shouldn't be possible.
Why tonight couldn't be, if it had been Remi.
"I left him at the Sidhe Village. I saw his ship in the skyport." None of which are words to the effect of yes, Flora, he will be okay until tomorrow, but it does mean that people - presumably people Jack knows - are aware of his location and can do something about it. Letting her sip some more tea before falling quiet to listen as she speaks, Ronin has to bite the inside of his cheek as the description matches that of the man who had taken the sword from him in the first place.
"You... you didn't call us?" He doesn't know, of course, that she couldn't even if she'd wanted to, assuming she'd chosen to leave them out of it.
Glancing at her compass on the bedside table, though it's just an arm's length away, it might as well be across the world with Jack for how little strength Flora currently possesses. She can do little more than cry and rage inside her own mind at both the reasonability and injustice of Ronin's words, but eventually, the queen forces her eyes to meet his, nodding firmly. "Take me to him tomorrow." Gods knew Jack wouldn't let Ronin or Remi carry him across the world, and she certainly knew he wouldn't abandon his ship. Whatever healing they needed to do, they could do it together.
Taking a small sip of tea, the queen is in no position to hear the fae-double speech in Ronin's words, merely having to accept them at face value. "I couldn't." Lifting her chin away from the tea—a few sips and already she is starting to feel nauseous—Flora gives her head a shake. "I channelled both Safrin and Rae when we went in to fight the void in the Greatwood..." Had Pierce known? Gods, given what he could do, did it even matter?
"He had... this barrier. Jack couldn't use any of his abilities." And, for all of Ronin's thoughts on the man, no doubt having faced Pierce in precisely those circumstances, hopefully, the Knight could extend at least a bit of empathy for what the captain had gone through.
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"...Okay. I'll make it happen," Ronin says softly, nodding and holding her gaze. The gods know that until Flora gets what she needs she may as well still be bleeding on the forest floor; no healing will be done until she's where she wants to be. Of course, that doesn't mean that he or Remi will be far away, especially given the nature of the man he now knows is responsible for what had happened. He'd almost wished it had been Dahlia, because at least then he could march up to Stormbreak (still might, actually) and demand answers, but fuck it's a mess.
Taking the tea to set it back down on the beside table, it's wrong for something to unclench in his chest to hear that Flora hadn't been able to channel them, rather than deciding not to, but it happens nonetheless. "A barrier?" he echoes, frowning back across at her. "I... he didn't use that when I faced him. He couldn't use magic at all?" Because that's a nasty little development if so.
Rubbing at his forehead and giving Flora's hand the most gentle squeeze he can manage, it's purely by happenstance that he notices the parchment sitting underneath her compass on the table - and the way letters are beginning to blot to life on it. "You've got a message," he says softly, reaching across for it.
"Promise?" Even raising her eyebrows hurts, but it's the only way for Flora to try and emphasize the importance to Ronin.
"Mmm." The queen agrees, her body sagging back against the pillows, her strength waning. She fights against the fingers of sleep already clawing at her, trying to blink away the exhaustion. "He couldn't do anything. I don't... I don't even know if my compass would have worked." She hadn't tried, and given that the only magical ability used while Pierce had been around was the killing blow, Flora wasn't really in a position to definitively say what would or wouldn't have worked.
"A... ?" A message? With the two-way parchment being so new, Flora's first thought was that someone from Torchline was reaching out for something. She'd been unconscious during Vox's broadcast—so as far as she knew, only Remi, Ronin, and Jack knew she had died. Her eyes flickered in confusion until she turned enough to catch sight of the parchment, recognition dawning slowly. Her heart began to race, warmth blooming in her chest as the realization hit her. The smile that spreads across the queen's lips is one she's helpless to stop as she reaches eagerly, if not shakily, for the parchment.
are you safe.
Laughter slips clumsily from her lips, a sound both shaky and bright as she looks to Ronin, her eyes glistening with tears. "A pen. I need a pen." The words come out almost breathless, a rush of hope cutting through the exhaustion, her heart pounding with something that felt a lot like relief. Jack was out there, and he was reaching for her, and that was everything she needed.
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"I promise, Flora." He isn't happy about it, and Remi won't be either, but gods at this point the fact that she's even speaking to them is enough for Ronin to give her whatever she needs in the moment. Which, as it happens right now, is a pen. "You made it out of there. This won't happen again," he mutters, practically to himself as he passes her the parchment and gets to his feet, not needing to ask to know who the message is from. At least Jack hasn't made him a liar by dying, and fine, he gets a couple of points for asking if she's alright.
"Here..." Having been getting a pen from one of the drawers in their kitchenette, he returns to Flora's side to hand it to her, as well as a hardback book for her to lean on. "Don't go writing novels now, okay? You need to rest." It's with a weak smile that he looks over her, rubbing at the back of his neck. "I'm glad you're still with us, Flora."
Not bothering to hide the way that even just a few pen strokes light her up utterly—and if there was ever a question about the Doubletake's feelings for the captain, that was as good an answer as any—Flora messily pens a response before letting her hand sag exhaustedly back to the sheets.
Having no idea what time of day it is and thus having no idea how long it is until tomorrow, Flora restlessly shifts amidst the furs. "He was... gods." Swallowing, the queen shakes her head, her voice catching. "He just wouldn't stop. He attacked me first even after I said I wouldn't cleanse the void anymore... and then Jack..." Despite seeing Jack's familiar scrawl on the parchment, her stomach still clenches, the memory of him dying in her arms too visceral and fresh to forget. "He put himself in the way and told me to run, but with the barrier, there was nowhere to go. And even after he—" The word catches in her throat, nearly choking her. Flora shifts, her body trembling, the urge to curl in on herself almost overwhelming.
"—killed Jack, he still wouldn't stop." The words are almost a snarl, her voice raw with anger and grief, the pain of the memory clawing at her insides. She can still see it—Pierce's cold determination, the casual cruelty in his eyes as he struck again and again, the blade slicing through the person she loved most. It was relentless, heartless, and even now, the chill of that moment refused to leave her. Jack is alive now—she knows that—but the fear of losing him again looms like a stormcloud over her thoughts, dark and unyielding.
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Leaving her to pen her responses and waiting until he spots the tiny heart that heralds the end of the correspondence (he assumes, anyway), Ronin rubs a hand across his face as the knowledge of just how deep Flora's love for the captain goes makes itself so readily apparent. Not wanting to hear the ugly details of her death - and Jack's, he supposes - but needing to nonetheless, the Knight swallows hard and straightens up where he's been standing at the end of the bed.
"This is war," he says softly. "One way or another, they've just started a war. It might not be with Caido yet, but it's with me." And with Remi, too, he has little doubt. Which, some might argue, is probably worse, because there won't be much in the way of organisation, of strategy, of waiting when it comes to the Knight's temper. All he cares about is the safety of his children. Once that's guaranteed, he'll be going right for The Family's throat.
And with Flora and Jack, though the pair might need a minute (several bottles of rum and a few more revivify feathers) before they're rushing back into the fray.
"Hey—" No longer able to fight the exhaustion that has her eyelids feeling like bags of sand, Flora nevertheless holds out a hand toward the Knight. Her fingers tremble slightly, her hand feeling heavy even as she reaches for him. "...thanks for being there." The words come out quietly, almost swallowed by the weariness in her voice, but are sincere just the same. She’d expected nothing less from her parents, regardless of how she’d treated them over the past few weeks, which only made her love them all the more fiercely. The loyalty, the unwavering love, was like an anchor holding her steady in a world that felt like it had been torn apart.
Her gaze softens, the tiredness melting into something tender as she looks at Ronin. The weight of everything—loss, fear, exhaustion—seemed a little lighter with him there. "I love you." The words slip from her lips, raw and unfiltered, each syllable heavy with gratitude and exhaustion, before sleep finally grows strong enough to reclaim her.
~FIN
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