From being an Abandoned who had rarely left the Hollowed Grounds, to embracing the call of adventure, to dying and being reborn first as an Ascended and then as an Ancient, Maea has gone through quite the amount of changes in her life. One thing remains common, though, in her attempts to find out just where she belongs; she’s always had a craving for knowledge which has brought her to so many places and to meet so many people here in Caido. We can’t wait to see what else is in store for her!
Congratulations, Maea!
Credits
Court of the Fallen was created in October of 2018 by Odd, Honey, and Crooked.
Skinning and hosting by the epically talented Kaons, and functionality fanciness by the coding magic of Neowulf. If you ever see either of them around, make sure to show them some love!
”Oh, yes because you’re Aban…er…Destined?” Phoebe said, correcting herself to use the newly mandated terminology for magic users. Not that she thought Rexanna would report her or anything, but purely out of the need to break the habit. ”Well, when you do wish to speak to them, let me know. I can go with you, and perhaps that will help your chances?” she said with a grin. Frey had granted her ethereal beauty too, she figured if there was any magic user they would visit it would be Rexanna.
”Oh Chris and Milly don’t care. They are young enough that everything is an adventure.” she said with a small smile, absentmindedly petting Pim. ”Oh, yes I am still at the clinic! It’s a much more convenient place for someone to fetch me if needed than if I was out by the farm. Plus the College is at the Sanctuary so I am there fairly often as well.” she explained.
She smiles at Phoebe’s correction – in fact, Rexanna would much prefer to be called Abandoned. But for appearances sake, she nods. “Destined, yes.” She responds with a quiet chuckle of laughter. But the offer Phoebe gives her is one that’s kind, and she nods in response. But it would require trying to find something that she could speak to the God about, and any time she tries to think of it she’s always at a loss. Her shoulders shrug slightly, and she laughs a small amount more. “Now I do need to think of something to talk to them about, hmm?” She jests before listening to Phoebe continue.
Of course, the children are small so they’d find nearly anything an adventure, and she smiles at the thought with yet another nod. But when Phoebe mentions a college, her brows lift in curiosity and she shifts her gaze from the fabric toward her friend. “A college?” She questions, wondering what she means by it.
Phoebe grinned and nodded, tapping her chin to try and think of something that would be worthy of Frey’s time. ”Maybe you should ask them for a baby!” she said, knowing her reaction would likely be a resounding no, but it was something she knew Rex wanted in the future. But that wouldn’t stop her from teasing her a little bit.
Her confusion about the College gave her pause though. She stared at her, brown eyes wide with confusion. Then realization dawned on her – she had started the College while Rexanna had been healing. There was no way she could know about it unless Bastien told her, and clearly he had not. ”Oh that’s right! You don’t know! I started a Medical Research College! I’m the Dean!” she said excitedly, bright and peppy once more. ”Remi even made me a device so I can see the little bits that Frey showed me!”
Despite Phoebe’s joking intentions, Rexanna offers a small smile in response and a shake of her head. “Gods, it would take ages for that.” She begins, a small laugh slipping from her lips. “We’ve been dating for how many months now and we’ve just now told each other we love each other.” She rolls her shoulders in a slight shrug. Of course, not from not feeling it and knowing it’s there, but because of the connotations with it. Bastien, having never done anything like this before – a commitment of huge proportions; and Rexanna, having been told it far too much to believe it has any real merits.
But she really does love him, and now that it’s out in the open and he feels the same, where will that lead them?
Her attention slips back toward Phoebe as she speaks of a research college, and her dark brows lift in wonder. “Phoebe, you have been incredibly busy!” She laughs, bright and bubbly before setting her sewing down to take a sip of the tea. “Do you have many students? And what can the device do to help?” She questions, eyes lingering on her friend, immensely intrigued.
Phoebe gasped, her hands rising to press against her cheeks. "What?! You did?! Rex!!!" she said, nearly bouncing with excitement. "That's so exciting! Oh I am so happy for you! I mean...I still don't like him, you are still far too good for him but I am happy you're so happy!!" she said grinning from ear to ear. Rexanna deserved such happiness always, she thought. Phoebe just hoped it would stay blissful and wonderful, and not intent on crashing and burning every chance it got like her romance did.
Gosh, that was an unsettling realization. She quickly tucked it to the back of her mind, not wishing to think on it.
"I suppose I have, haven't I?" she said with a light laugh. Keeping herself busy was her way of coping with grief after all. So things were just getting accomplished left and right! "I uh...well no not yet. There are surprisingly few healers or doctors here and fewer stillw who seem interested in learning...but we just opened so it will take time is all!" she said with a determined nod. "Well, you see, it amplifies things so you can see the little...you know what. This is hard to explain. Why don't we just take a walk over there and I can show you?" she said excitedly.
Phoebe’s reaction causes Rexanna to laugh quietly in response. Her shoulders rising in a small shrug. “Well, it’s all new for us — him more so. And he knows it’s hard for me to admit my feelings and to jump into things so quick.” She explains, waving her hands as it to express how difficult it is for her. “But I think this was the first time it ever felt so right…” She pauses briefly, head tilting and eyes far away for a brief moment before she shakes it away and smiles at her friend. Deep down she wishes her friend could get over the dislike for Bastien, if only to see how wonderful he treats her; how happy he makes her and how they meld so well with one another.
She swallows it down for another time and instead looks to Phoebe as the girl explains the college and those that are interested. She nods slightly, a small frown finding her face. “It takes a certain type of person to heal, you know? Perhaps we’ll get a few more of interest to learn with having a wonderful teacher to teach them?” She suggests with a gentle smile. But when Phoebe offers to show her, Rexanna can’t contain the excitement at the idea. How much closer could one get to things? There’s glasses and magnifiers, but even still that’s only marginally close.
Using her magic to finish the line of sewing and add a bit of sparkle to the bodice, she sets the sewing down and nods to Phoebe. “I would like that very much.” She says softly with a bright, excited grin.
Phoebe felt her heart warm a bit as Rex spoke of this shift in her relationship - a good shift of course. It was such a wonderful thing, and one she desperately deserved, Phoebe thought. "Well, I am happy for you Rexanna. You deserve this kind of happiness." she said with a grin. Clearly, whatever Rex saw in Bastien was beyond her comprehension, but she would not actively try to bring her down about it. She didn't need to see what Rex saw in him. It wasn't her relationship, and so long as Rex was happy, Phoebe would be happy too.
"Oh I hope so! It would be nice to have some students, or even some extra teachers or researchers." she said with a bright smile. Her smile only broadened when she agreed to go see the college and her micro-lens. She stood right away, Pim jumping off her shoulder to glide down to the floor. Fortunately, the walk was fairly short getting to the Sanctuary where the College resided. "So that is our lecture hall...and upstairs there is a little library, a study, and two research labs." she said, giving her friend a little tour of the place as they made their way to the lab with the micro lens in it. It was sat atop a desk in the corner, a notebook filled with notes laying next to it.
"So look through the top here like this..." Phoebe said, showing how one lined their eye up with the viewing hole. "And I will put my hand down here, and you tell me what you see." she said, placing her hand under the micro-lens and standing to the side so Rexanna could look.
She smiles to Phoebe and offers light shrug. She is happy, what else can she say about it? All she can do now is live in the moment and count down the moments until she can retrieve him from the prison, to begin her work and live happily ever after. Only things never really went that way, did they? She welcomed the idea of seeing the College if for nothing else than to see how happy it made Phoebe too, and she quickly gathered a jacket and rushed out the door with her.
As they reached it and Phoebe explained what it all was her mouth formed an “O” of surprise. “This is wonderful!” She says with a bright smile toward Phoebe and Pim. Soon enough they were in a room with what Phoebe told her was the object to help her see what Frey had showed her. Her eyes were bright and curious as she looked at it and followed Phoebe’s demonstration. As her friend put her hand down for Rex to look at, she closed one eye and looked through the lens with her other.
She doesn’t know what to expect as she peers into it, but it strikes her as being completely strange and almost unbelievable. Phoebe tells her to say what she sees, and she’s not even sure how to explain it. “Bumpy? It looks like there’s some little holes there too… or maybe those are a part of the bumps?” The confusion she feels are expressed in her voice before she steps back to look at Phoebe with a quiet laugh. “Is that what our hands look like? How odd!” She begins, flashing a rogue smile to Phoebe and a wink. “Unless you’re tricking me?”
Phoebe grinned brightly, basking in her friend's approval. It did make her feel a sense of pride that the work she put into this place was worth it. Her grin only grew as Rexanna glanced into the micro-lens and began staring in wonder. "No, I'm not tricking you! That's what skin really looks like." she said with a laugh. It was amazing, being able to share this with someone. She wondered briefly if Frey had felt similarly when they showed her all of this.
"So those bumpy things are what I've been calling cells. And those holes are a part of the cell I am pretty sure. And those cells are actually made up of even smaller things but this is as small as the micro-lens can see." she explained, excitement coloring her voice. "Everything is made of these little cells."
As Phoebe laughs and explains what skin looks like, Rexanna pulls away from the micro lens and looks at her with raised eyebrows. “It’s so… So strange.” She awkwardly laughs, part of her finds it almost uncomfortable to see so deep into what made a hand, and she lifts her pale one to inspect it with her own eyes before turning back to the micro lens and putting her own hand underneath to inspect. “Gods, Phoebe, I don’t even know what to say.” She laughs, pulling back again and rubbing her hands awkwardly.
“And all things are made up of these… cells...” She muses curiously before an idea strikes her and she runs a hand through her hair and pulls out a couple of strands that had been loose. Then she places them under the micro lens to look at what they look like too. It looks different than the hands but the idea is the same, and she gestures to Phoebe for her to come look at the dark strands under the lens.
Phoebe laughed a little and nodded. "Yes I know it is! I am sure I looked an idiot when Frey showed me because they made everything look like that. And there are even smaller things that make up the cells but...I am taking one thing at a time." she said with a grin, pleased with Rexanna's reaction.
"Yes, everything is. That is why I am studying them. Imagine, if I can just...understand how the body is made better...we could develop treatments for things we currently have nothing for, and better treatments for what we do. Maybe we can even learn how to rebuild things - lost body parts, or parts missing at birth, or repair things that are horribly damaged..." she said, cutting off her ramble to look at the hair. Out of curiosity, she pulled a few loose strands of hair from her head and looked at them side by side with Rexanna's. "Oh look! You can see why my hair texture is different than yours! The cells are arranged a little differently!
Rexanna actually laughs when Phoebe explains what she’s seen. She can only imagine what it must’ve been like, and she turns her head to her friend with bright, cheerful eyes. “Im glad you’re close to them. If they tried that with me I probably would’ve tried to get out of there immediately.” She replies, giggling quietly to herself. Rexanna isn’t frightened by much, but the strangeness of the cells and how they look are enough to make her skin crawl. And to think everything is made up like this? Well, it takes a lot to process. Still, she views her hair underneath the micro lens and happily sits there while Phoebe adds her own and inspects it.
Upon Phoebe’s initial notes as to what she sees, Rexanna leans in to peer through the micro lens with a curious eye. “Oh, they are different! And you can see the little bits that make mine darker than yours!” She says with a bit of surprise. Then, she sits back and looks around the College Laboratory with a curious eye, “This is fun, Phoebe, what else can we look at?” She asks, the excitement in her stomach brimming with all the possibilities.
Phoebe grinned at her friend. ”It was actually very soothing and peaceful. I don’t think I could have mustered up the energy to be scared by it.” she said with a light laugh. ”Plus Frey was right there the whole time. I wouldn’t be afraid of anything with them by my side.” she admitted. She didn’t think Frey would intervene in most things, but she also didn’t think the god would let her be grievously hurt in their presence either. They were friends after all.
The blonde considered for a minute. What else could they look at? She had looked at a great many things by now…”Oh! I know!” she said. The young midwife turned Dean hurried to a supply closet and produced a little plate and a small needle. ”Alright, don’t get squeamish now, but this looks very neat under the microlens.” she said, before pricking her finger the tiniest bit, squeezing but a few droplets of blood onto the plate. Keeping pressure on the hardly noticeable prick on her finger with her thumb, Phoebe placed the plate under the microlens.
Phoebe grins to her and explains that so long as Frey has been beside her, she hadn’t been afraid. And she’s happy for Phoebe, for the relationship she has with the god. But Rexanna’s relationship with Frey was tenuous at best, and she hasn’t been back to see them since before she finished fixing her curse. She was apprehensive to see what other things she could annoy the god with, and subsequently end up cursed once more. She had silently prayed her thanks to them and continued on, figuring they would appreciate the idea of it without her bothering them.
Her head lifts to watch Phoebe as she figures something else out to look at, and Rexanna removes the hair from under the lens to make room for the small drops of blood Phoebe puts on a plate. “I’m not squeamish.” She tells her friend with a wink, she’s seen much more blood before. She could handle a few drops on a plate. Still, she looks into the lens as Phoebe directs and she raises her brows as she inspects them. “Oh, wow!” She says, surprise lacing her voice. “A few of them are differently shaped than the others!” She remarks.
