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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!
Evie had been pleasantly surprised when Noah had written to her asking her to visit the Olson's home for the purpose of evaluating Marcus' magic. It was something she had expected the Valkyrie to accomplish for him given their closer relationship, but given her ascension to the secondary title of Academy Headmistress she decides that perhaps it is appropriate for her to step in too.
She and Deimos had told their closest confidants and family about her pregnancy, and they'd agreed to confirm the suspicions of anyone else, so her modest belly is visible but not overtly pronounced in her long-sleeve shirt and open coat as she stands on the doorstep of the Olson home and raps her knuckles against the front door.
She hasn't met Marcus yet, at least not since he had aged up. Evie has always been good with kids, but she's uncertain of his personality traits, so she tries to prepare herself for any manner of irritation or wariness befitting a suspicious child as she waits to be retrieved.
When his mother told him that Evie would be coming to their house for their testing it made Marcus relax far more than he expected it to. The idea of going to the Academy with the prospect other students looking on to his examination made him extremely nervous—so much so that he had lost sleep from the time his father told him about the testing up until his mother gave him confirmation of the date, time, and location.
So when Evie came, there were still nerves, but at least Marcus had the ability to stomach a breakfast and had slept most of the night before. Cordelia opened the door and greeted the warden and head mistress warmly, though Marcus was aware that it was not with the same greeting she brought Sah, Soleil, or any of their other friends in with. Tucking that away for later and shaking the auburn bangs out of his eyes, the young mage stood and held out his hand for the warden, eyes moving between hers and her belly and back. "Good morning, Evie." He smiled.
Evie greets Cordelia warmly, but the two are not close in a friendship sense, so she does not make herself at home the way she might have with others and holds herself more formally in the entryway as Marcus comes into the room. Her eyes skim over him quickly, taking him in visually without making it apparent that she's doing so. No sense in making him uncomfortable right from the jump. Though she finds herself - quite topically - mentally noting how Marcus is so clearly a product of his parents, and how that makes her thoughts stray for a moment regarding her own impending child.
Taking his hand, Evie shakes it firmly but not overbearingly, and it contrasts her warm smile that is practiced from years of putting anxious patients at ease. "Good morning, Marcus. It's a pleasure to finally meet you." Glancing around their immediate surroundings, her eyes return to the boy shortly. "I'd like to do this somewhere you're comfortable, but I'd prefer if it had somewhere I could sit," she admits with a wry smile, hoping to inspire a bit of lightheartedness. "Anywhere that fits the bill for both?"
”You, too.” the hunters’ son smiled nervously, the prickle of the anticipation sparking along the back of his neck as he looked up from the warden’s belly to her face again. Ease pressed forward with silken fingers as she looked down on him with blue eyes as glorious as the sky above the great expanse of the tundra. He felt the warmth in her smile spread along his arms and push away some of the hesitation he had been feeling.
”Yeah!” Marcus said breathily, turning to usher the warden into his family’s living room. It was an open, broad sort of room with a couch that directly faced the fireplace. The floor was lined with several furs as well as other sitting cushions, and in the corner was the double-sized cradle that the twins no longer used. Marcus stood between the couch and the fireplace, the hearth roaring with bright red and orange flames, and motioned for Evie to find a comfortable place to sit.
Cordelia busied herself in the kitchen, a place where she was out of the way but still within ear shot of the goings on of the evaluation. ”So, what do I have to do?” Marcus asked, arms swinging awkwardly at his side.
Evie follows in Marcus' wake, glad to see him warming up to her already. Though Abandoned sentiment is easing, and has always been largely absent in Halo, Evie knows that magic is quite a personal and vulnerable thing even without social expectations on one's shoulders. She isn't unaware of how much trust she is asking Marcus to have in a stranger, which is why she's quite honored to have been asked to do this.
Evie sits on the couch and beckons Marcus down next to her so that he will still be within reach. "Magic can be felt even by those who don't use it. Most magic, at its weakest form, is easiest to call upon when the same type of magic is present to take strength from and add to." Her hand gestures toward the fire in the hearth even though she doesn't have that particular ability in her arsenal, content to use it as part of the instruction. "For example, fire. Most can only make it stronger or weaker, they can't create it or pull a portion away from the source. The fire itself has to be present already."
Extending a hand, she gives Marcus an encouraging smile and wiggles her fingers for his own to find their way to hers. "The elements are the easiest to experiment with, but I'm going to go through all of my abilities first to see if you can feel your own magic responding. Okay?" She waits for his consent before she begins, intent on allowing him to control as much of this as he can. "We'll start with healing because I can lend you some strength that way too so you don't get tired." With that warning, she lets her healing magic extend through their connected hands, sweeping aside any lingering exhaustion or childhood scrapes and bruises, lingering and pooling in different sections of his body as her magic seeks out imperfections limb by limb at her command instead of flooding him and patching everything at once so he could feel it more clearly.
As Evie settled onto the couch and motioned for Marcus to join her, he felt a mix of nerves and anticipation coiling in his stomach. Her confidence and warmth seemed to act as a soothing balm, easing some of the tension he felt. It was strange, yet oddly comforting, to have someone who understood the nuances of magic in such a personal way, when his own parents were more in tune with their animal shifts -- and his father's magic so deeply different than his.
Marcus took a deep breath and moved to sit beside her, feeling the heat from the fireplace soften his nerves. As Evie began explaining how magic worked, her words clarified concepts he had only vaguely grasped before. Her explanation about drawing strength from the fire rather than creating it made a certain sense. He nodded along, trying to absorb every detail she shared.
When Evie extended her hand towards him, he reached out to grasp it, feeling a spark of connection that seemed to bridge the gap between them. The gesture was more than physical; it was an invitation into a shared experience. As her fingers wiggled, Marcus placed his hand in hers, feeling a pulse of warmth and a hint of something else—something faint but tangible.
When Evie mentioned starting with healing, Marcus felt a wave of relief. He wasn't sure if he would be able to draw on the elements as easily as those around him, and he didn't want to harm anything or anyone. Healing, then, seemed safe. He closed his eyes briefly, trying to clear his mind and focus on the sensation of her magic. As her healing magic began to weave through him, targeting and soothing small aches and old scrapes, he could almost visualize the healing taking place in his body, section by section. It was a strange experience. Her careful approach made it easier for him to feel each shift and change, helping him understand and trust the process.
Then, he pulled. Inwardly a thread, silver and fine but still tangible, formed in his soul and he pulled again. From his fingertips, his own magic extended towards Evie, offering her a boost in the way of the faint healing his endurance would allow. He peaked through one half-open eyelid, "Did anything happen?"
Teaching is second nature to her. What had started as educating clients on how to use their salves and medications had grown into realms of gardening and first aid. Always in an attempt to help the people around her, trapped and tired and hopeless beneath the barrier. Now, there are no such shadows to weigh down these moments of education. There is only the warmth of the fire and the warring emotions flickering faintly on Marcus' face as it turns trustingly up at her.
As her oldest magic - old as her bones, her heart, her cells - Evie's healing ability is incredibly sensitive, and deeply familiar. The slightest alteration to its existence is immediately obvious, and the external influence all the more apparent because of it. Such fluctuations are well behind her now that her control has reached this stage. So it's impossible to hide her immediate, responsive grin that blossoms well before Marcus opens his eyes again. Or rather, peeks out with one.
"It did. You can tell, can't you?" Evie practically glows with excitement on his behalf. Letting her own magic rise like a wave to wash away what small amount of drain that might have had on his energy, she cuts the flow thereafter and takes away one of her hands. Using the side of her thumbnail, she scrapes hard across the back of her hand; not enough to bleed, but a visible red scrape that darkens over her freckles before their eyes. "Try again. Don't look away from my hand - it helps to see the target with your eyes as you practice. Don't overthink it; remember, it's just energy coming from you to me. Like a river, or a spool of thread." Visualizations and comparisons had helped her as a child who'd been forced to learn in secret and on her own. Conceptualizing something like healing magic was much harder than the elements given its lack of physical presence, but he was already on the right path.
Marcus sat up straighter, a mix of trepidation and excitement bubbling within him as Evie spoke. Her enthusiasm was infectious, and he couldn't help but feel a spark of hope ignite in his chest. "I can," he echoed softly, his voice barely above a whisper, a shy smile creeping onto his face. The warmth of her magic still lingered in his veins, a seal of the connection they had just shared.
As she scraped her thumb across her hand, Marcus's heart raced. The vivid red mark was a clear signal that the stakes were real. "You want me to do it again?" he asked, his nerves momentarily forgotten in the face of her encouragement. The way she explained healing magic made it feel more tangible, less like an abstract concept he had to grasp. Swallowing, he focused on her hand. "Okay," he said, inhaling deeply to steady himself. With a sense of purpose, he extended his hand toward her, feeling the thread of his magic begin to weave between them.
As he concentrated, he felt the connection deepen, excitement coursing through him. He wanted to help her, to offer something back for what she had given him. With a tentative but determined push, he directed his energy toward her hand, his eyes fixed on the target, and his grin broadened to wrinkle the corners of his eyes as hew skin came back together, leaving only the tiniest, thin pink line.
For hours the two of them went back and forth like this. Evie coached and taught and explained. Then she made cuts in her own skin, letting Marcus heal them, and gave him her own healing afterwards. It wasn't until Marcus was yawning and nearly falling asleep before the Warden and the hearth's embers that they finally stopped. Noah was home, then, and spent his time watching them at the kitchen table, before finally seeing Evie out and giving her his deepest gratitude.
