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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.
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04-18-2025, 02:44 PM (This post was last modified: 04-18-2025, 02:45 PM by Thalassa.)
\\ Get my pretty name out of your mouth \\
She didn't want to have this conversation - fine argument - but Thal hadn't been able to stop thinking about it since meeting with Asta. With everything she now knew... it set a boil in her blood, a protective anger searing her veins. How was she supposed to continue on like this? Knowing that one of her so-called 'friends' had kept the truth from her, had said such heinous things...
Her boots snapped firmly against the wood of the stairs as she made her way to Maea's door, her expression the same one she wore when her crew messed up, the same one that told them her anger had reached the point of such an unimaginable level that no visible anger would do it justice. Knocking on the door, she waited with the deadly stillness adopted by predators on the hunt. When the Ancient finally opened the door, she would find Thal with an emotionless pull of her lips, hands 'relaxed' at her side, her tail barely even daring to flick behind her; but the silent white-hot burn of her blue eyes gave everything away as she said, "We need to talk. Now." It wasn't a request, but a demand, firm and unnegotiable.
Padding barefoot across the floor, Maea was still chewing with a half eaten sandwich in her hand when she answered the door. If a day off had a face it might look something like hers; still shuffling around in her nightgown with a threadbare shirt of multicolored black thrown over for a bit of extra warmth, her hair had been drawn into a messy over-the-shoulder braid that barely managed to contain it. Still half absorbed in the book she had been enjoying, Maea pulled the front door open and blinked slowly at the figure that loomed on her porch. The air all but crackled around Thalassa, in a way she had learned to expect before a tongue lashing of the Marauder's crew commenced – a disconcerting thing to have on her doorstep at the best of times.
"Thal? Oh – uh, sure. Come in." Easing aside so the woman could enter, Maea closed the door behind her and turned to follow the captain with her eyes, quietly apprehensive. "What's wrong? Are you alright?" The room felt smaller somehow, as if straining to contain all that pent up energy. Or perhaps it was simply strange to have Thalassa in her house. The cozy treehouse with its large windows and carved doorposts and beams jarred with Thal's sleek elegance, like a viper had somehow found its way inside. At a quick glance she didn't seem to be injured, at least – so Maea had no choice but to wait for answers, at a loss for what was upsetting her friend so.
It was obvious that Maea was wholly unprepared for the drama Thal was about to unleash on her, and for some illogical reason, that just pissed her off more. The pale Ancient barely had the words out of her mouth before the captain was storming in. She didn't look at the cozy room, at how it had been made into a 'home' in such a short amount of time. No, she didn't let herself or her eyes touch anything as she stood in the middle of the room, clinging to her fury alone.
"I spoke with Asta." Her voice was flat but lined with the hint of seething anger that bit at her tongue. Spinning on her heels, she finally leveled her gaze on Maea, her eyes narrowing dangerously. "You have some explaining to do." It was a mercy that she would only give Maea once, a chance to revise her previous story, to confess what she'd so conveniently left out, to prove that Thal hadn't been wrong to trust her again. Because as much as she was angry for Asta, she was frustrated with herself for letting Maea think she was a child who couldn't handle the unabridged truth, that she hadn't thought her enough of a friend - or respected her enough - to tell her. And for some ungodly reason, that hurt, making her angrier, and repeating the vicious cycle of the last few days.
If looks could kill... but fortunately for the both of them Maea was a bit harder to get rid of than that. It didn't mean she didn't balk from the barely restrained fury however, and without her permission her gut began to constrict, tension building even before she understood what this was about. Only, even after Thalassa explained, Maea still didn't understand. She'd been under the impression that she told Thal all about the incident. Well, perhaps not all but everything that was relevant. And she had seemed disinterested at the time, not about to get herself involved any further. Had that changed..?
Glancing hastily down at the unfinished sandwich in her hand, Maea looked at Thalassa, then hastily cast around the room. "Of course, I'll tell you whatever you wish to know. Why don't you sit down, and tell me what you would like me to try to explain." Extending a hand to the couch group before the fireplace, Maea popped the remaining food into her mouth and went to fetch a second cup. There was no hard liquor in the house, so Thal would have to settle for tea. A pot already stood on the coffee table, no longer steaming; Maea made a point of refilling it and seating herself back down in her hastily vacated armchair before returning her full attention to her friend.
The weight of her cold fury crested in a sneer as Maea not only seemed relatively unbothered, but flit about making tea and casually offering to explain whatever it was Thal wanted to know - as if she couldn't think of anything that might have been discussed that would have set her off. "Really? You're going to tell me everything? Because it seems like you left out quite a few details from our last conversation about him." There was a bitterness on her tongue, a venom with which she'd never spoken to Maea with, one that sizzled like acid in the air. They'd had their disagreements, their jibes and sharp words; but this was different, because she'd always thought there was a level of respect there, one that allowed honesty if nothing else. Now she felt like a fool.
She ignored the offer to sit, her tail snapping behind her, fists tightening at her sides. The cool mask of her anger was starting to fray, shredded by the blatant insult and ignorance. It already felt like she was arguing with a wall, and even as she threw out her next vicious words, Thal was losing hope that they would make any difference. "Take your pick, Maea. How about with why you can't go back to the Inner Quarter? Or the fact that you were the girl he saved that night? Or how you asked him to kill you?!" The last question rang in the room like a strike of lightning, the electricity buzzing with her rage, threatening a storm.
"... I see." Despite what Thalassa might think, Maea took her very seriously. Enough to eliminate distraction from the surroundings, ensuring that there would be no interruptions. Even if Vi grew a rose out of her very floor it would have to wait for the picking until her friend had concluded her business here. Which could either take a while, or be a very short visit indeed, if the flaring temper was anything to judge by.
Perhaps it would have been better if she still had it in herself to get angry in response. But she did not. Like rocks thrown into the Black Lake the accusations rippled the surface in a light frown, only to sink like lead weights to settle at the bottom of her, cold and tired and inescapable. Not that she had tried to deny any of them, but it was quite true that she preferred to talk as little about the incidents as possible.
"First thing's first. Yes, I will tell you everything, since you are asking me to. I didn't before because you seemed disinterested, and I wanted to respect your wish to stay out of our problems.
"Secondly – I hope we can keep the tone of this conversation down, please? I see that you're angry and I respect that, but I can't answer your questions if it devolves into shouting. If it does, I will ask to pause until we can both think clearly again. Can you accept that?" The offer for the chair still stood, and even if Thalassa declined it in favor of looming or pacing, Maea sat in hers with no intention of going anywhere. No matter how uncomfortable she really was; and rubbing away the icy numbness of her fingers would have been a dead giveaway if the carefully measured count of her breath went unnoticed.
Thal narrowed her eyes at the accusation, the fact that she was trying to turn this back on her like she wouldn't have wanted to know about Maea's - her friend's - struggles bit into her chest like a knife. And she bit back. "I don't recall being 'disinterested.' I do recall not caring about his choices. That still doesn't make it okay to deal in half-truths and secrets just because you think I'll disagree with your actions." Which they hadn't even begun to discuss.
She threw out her hand in exasperation, a humorless smile on her lips. "Do you really think I would be this angry if you had just told me all this yourself?! It would have looked a lot better; I'll tell you that. Instead, you let Asta be the one to tell the story, and from where I'm standing, it doesn't look very good." Whether she'd have taken the Butcher's side regardless was something they'd never get a chance to find out, and now, in addition to her frustration with how she'd treated him, Thal felt betrayed, like Maea might never tell her more than what fit her own narrative.
As for the second request, a boiling set in her veins, the blue of her eyes darkening with the depth of her emotions, her voice lowering as if she might be 'obeying,' but it was so much worse. "I'll let you know - since we're speaking of 'honestly.' If I'm not shouting, I'm going to be doing a hell of a lot worse. So, if you'd like to avoid both of those outcomes, then you may as well tell me to leave now." The following sneer was a threat and a promise all the same. Thal wasn't capable of the same detachment that Maea was, and if she couldn't handle that - if she couldn't accept Thal for who she was - then what was she even doing here?
Intent and perception was not the same. Here was another misunderstanding between them, where Maea had read the lack of care as a lack of interest – and ever the fawning people pleaser too afraid of loneliness to be a bother, she had censured herself rather than cause offense. Ironic how that had led to this.
"It doesn't look good because it isn't," she replied steadily, mouth drooping into a frown. "I'm not proud of what happened, I am sick to my core with myself for even being capable of doing what I did to Asta. Especially since I approached him to try and understand, and compromise, and help – " Breaking off to take a deep breath, her eyes narrowed coldly on the younger Ancient. " – but I'll talk about it anyway. If you keep your temper in check. I will not be threatened in my own house, nor will I tolerate screaming or violence. If you can't manage that then you can return another day, when you are ready to to talk."
Or at least listen without flying off the handle. The Maea of before might have offered to spar first, to work off some steam or allow the pirate to take out the ire on her. Today, she saw how that way of thinking had opened up for abusive behaviour she did not tolerate within herself anymore, and would not be allowing from anyone else. If this was a problem that couldn't be solved without violence, then it would have to remain a problem. It was a new boundary she drew, odd and uncomfortable – but if Thal couldn't accept it, they really didn't have a hope of finding a middle ground between them.
It was hard to gather whether Maea was truly regretful. Her words said one thing, but her firm tone and cold demeanor made it seem unlikely that she even cared. Sometimes it was like she was a totally different person - one scared and timid, the other stubborn and righteous - and she never knew which one to expect. Thal narrowed her eyes more, suspicion making her quiet, cautious.
Folding her arms across her chest, she still stood standing in the middle of the room, refusing to let her guard down. "I can't guarantee my reaction if I don't know what you're going to say. The only thing I can promise you is that I'll listen." Which was more than she might have offered anyone else, purely because of their history together, because - for some ungodly reason - deep down, she hoped there might still be something salvageable.
Holding Thalassa's gaze for a long moment, Maea finally nodded, accepting her word for it. Reaching for the tea cup, she didn't drink but held it in her hands, rolling the hot clay between her palms as she sorted through events she had done her utmost to erase from memory. Turns out, they lay bubbling just beneath the surface. Harder to erase than scars or bloodstains – or bodies.
"If you recall, I was working at the bar over LongNight. I was a mess, and tried to cope by keeping busy. I pulled extra shifts, barely slept, what sleep I did get was poor - nightmares - and as you know I'm not fond of the kind of attention staff get at the Dusklight. This one guy had been staring at me for hours, it felt like, and I tried to ignore it, but as I was collecting dishes around the booths, he cornered me." Eyes going distant, a haunted look came over her, face going ashen. "Asta noticed in time, and pulled him off me. There was a fight. In the end, his cronies were thrown out, he was jailed, and Asta offered me to stay in his room to get some rest." Round and round the cup went. The edge of the water rimmed the edge most precisely, a fraction of a millimeter from spilling. Just as her emotions, she kept them in check. As tightly strapped down and locked in as Thal's were roiling on the surface. They were two sides of a coin, in that way. Pure opposites.
"After a while, Asta said he would go and take care of something, and left. I can't tell you why I followed him. Maybe I had a suspicion as to what he was up to. Maybe I wanted to be proven wrong. Maybe I was just too scared to be alone with what had just... happened. I honestly don't know. But I did go after him. His tracks led outside, to the jail. There, through a window, I saw that mage chained to a wall. I couldn't hear what they were saying, but after a while Asta drew a dagger, drove it into the man, and began to carve pieces out of him. While he was still alive." Sitting quiet for a moment, a slow breath kept the prickly nausea at bay.
"I must have made some noise when I ran, because a short while later Asta found me. I said some pretty horrible things, most of which I don't recall, but the concensus is that I asked why he did it, he called it justice, and when I disagreed he said that was how things worked in the Grounds now whether I liked it or not. Later when I told Danta what happened, he said more or less the same thing, and that since Dygra wouldn't mind their actions, then neither should I." Paraphrasing for lack of the exact wording, Maea turned her gaze on Thalassa again for the first time since she began talking, eyes flat; made emotionless by the expert way she sealed her emotions off even from herself. "That is the source of the argument. Any questions, or shall I move on?"
She stayed impressively still throughout it all, having heard most of the details from Asta. Her only acknowledgements were the occasional nod of her head or narrowing of her eyes, especially as Maea spoke of her assault, her already pale face looking gaunt as she refused to meet her eyes. A simmering heat twisted in the other direction, suddenly wondering if he'd been killed in the end, or if she could seek him out.
When the Ancient looked up again, Thal's voice was low with thinly veiled aggression. "Whether you liked Asta's methods or not, that man deserved to suffer for what he did to you - for making you feel unsafe. If I'd been there..." The blaze of her blue eyes spoke of what cruel torture the man might have experienced, blood and violence on the tip of her tongue. That is - if she hadn't killed him on sight. Would Maea have called her a monster too? For defending her? For giving in to her primal nature?
It was something they might have to discuss later, but Thal knew there was more to the story, and she gave a quiet nod of her head for Maea to move on.
Maea's lips thinned into a line at the words, the violence hanging in the air about the other woman. It was not only the assault that made her feel unsafe – but if they began discussing that now, she would probably never finish the other points Thalassa had wanted to hear about. So she did what she did best and shoved her own thoughts to the back of her mind, reluctantly emptying the stage for another unpleasant recollection.
"Right... well. A few weeks later, I sought Asta out to talk. I apologised for the things I had said while we argued, and I asked if there was another way to go about dealing with crime. I suggested one - exile - which to my mind remained harsh but at least a bit more fair than slaughtering someone tied up and defenseless... His reaction was... not good. I had no idea what he'd been put through in the past, and when I realised it I apologised right away, but Asta kept spiralling. In the end he shifted and ran off, and I..." Scowling down at her own hands, and the mug, the blue-green glaze too vibrant against her wan skin. "I probably should have let him be. But he seemed so out of it, and the area was crawling with void creatures, and it's not like I hate him – just what he does. So... I followed him. Again."
And what followed was just as incomprehensible now as it had been at the time. With an expression like she could hardly believe what came out of her own mouth, Maea recalled the events to the best of her memory. "I caught up with him, and approached to see if I could help him calm down. He lunged at me, and I... pushedd him back. I was in my tiger shift, and I thought, perhaps it was just something he had to work through. So when he kept launching himself at my throat I shoved him back down again. I didn't even realize how hard I was pushing, and he just kept coming... until neither of could move anymore."
Unlike before, genuine horror shone in Maea's eyes as she recounted the event. Where her face had been a blank mask before, now it twisted with shame, the words contorting her lips like they left an acrid taste in her mouth. "I... wish I could tell you exactly what was said after, but it's too jumbled. I do recall saying that I'd been taking my problems out on him, something I didn't even realize until that moment. And for some godawful reason I asked him if he would hold me accountable if I began to become a hypocrite... to which Asta replied that he would kill me. And honestly, given what I had just done to him, I couldn't blame him. So I told him to go ahead."
Sagging in her chair like she had been running for a week, the pale little woman passed a hand over her eyes. They were dry - she had no right to weep about any of this ‐ and it was with great effort she got the rest of the words out. "In the end, he allowed me to heal some of his bruises, and he left. When Danta heard what happened he banned me from the Dusklight and the Last Whisper ‐ not from the Inner Quarter - and that's where things stand now." Like she'd told her before, Maea had offered to make amends however Asta wished. The silence was painful, but no more than she deserved.
It was the same story Asta had told her, but tinged with such shame and mortification that Thal was inclined to believe she might actually regret her actions, even if she could still sense the stubborn morality that had instigated the problem to begin with. Having been strung along by her own instincts during numerous fights, she could attest for the difficulty in finding the line; there were some things that the Maea couldn't have known when speaking with Asta, and they both knew she had a knack for finding the vulnerable parts of a person without needing a map to guide her words. Everything in her wanted to believe that Maea had learned enough not to repeat her actions, to realize where she'd gone wrong, how her fixation with 'right' and 'wrong' ostracized her from people - from her people. Yet an anger still simmered, protective and hurt and unable to drop the issue without speaking her mind.
Although quiet at first, Thal's tone was no less firm, a scowl on her face. "I can understand getting caught in the moment and being unaware of his past, but do you realize that you asked him to kill you if you ever started acting like him? You pretty much told him that he's such a despicable, abhorrent monster that he deserves to die - that you would rather die than ever be like him!" Her volume increased with the words, still disbelieving at the audacity like the very insult had been said to her.
Stepping closer, she pointed an accusing finger at Maea. "You may not agree with how he deals punishments or how he handles his bloodlust, but Asta is a good person who doesn't deserve to be judged for how he survives. None of us do." She swiped her hand dismissively like she might just be talking on behalf of all Ancients - all of Caido. Because they'd all been through things, and no matter what that was, they shouldn't be shamed for how they chose to deal with it, including Asta. And perhaps that was just her own bias, but she had been the recipient of his kinder side, the one that was gentle and understanding, the one that made her feel less like half a person and more like her. He had never lied to her. He had never pushed her away despite her biting words. And he had never ever judged her. And, honestly, that made him one of the best people she knew.
Maea blinked, pulled out of whatever self-deprecating spiral she'd been going down to stare at Thalassa. "Wait, what? That's not... You're misunderstanding. I never meant that he should kill me for slipping up. If that's what he thinks I mean then Asta is misunderstanding too. Yes, I asked that he hold me accountable. With words. And when he replied with 'I will kill you', I took that to mean no. When I said go ahead... I... meant then. There. If it would do anything to make up for what I had done. Which was wrong too, I realized that later. And it's not something I will ever say to someone again." Manipulative, Remi had called it, and even without the intent at the time, she understood what he meant.
Following Thalassa's path across the room, Maea finally took a sip of her tea. It had steeped too long and had acquired a bitter aftertaste. She drank it anyway, in penance for still disagreeing with her friend.
"Have you ever wondered why I have such a problem with the cannibalism? And specifically using it as corporal punishment by a government?"
