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!
"Well someone is a little ray of sunshine," Ronin retorted a touch sharply, his fists clenching at his sides. As if aware that he was slipping away again, a shudder ran through the ex-captain, and he forced himself to look at Remi with eyes that, while black as coal, had the decency to be ashamed. "Thank you for everything you have ever done for me," he muttered. "And everything you are doing, and everything you will do. Even if that means killing me, in the end."
Offering a smile that seemed more miserable than anything, Ronin's shuffling, aching footsteps slowed as they began to walk among the familiar buildings of what had become home, in the past year. "It's not far now, is it?"
"One of us has to be." Remi quipped back with no less steel in his tone. While many might have thought the alchemist could endure the pressure of the blight and his soon to be twice-dead husband with the grace that would turn him into a diamond, instead, he was just jagged and fractured now.
"Don't..." Remi shook his head. "Don't say that. Even if the flowers do not work, we will try something else. Your time is not up yet." Though it was down to just over 3 weeks. Not that Remi was counting.
Raising a brow, Remi shook his head to indicate that it wasn't. "Have you been to the jail yet?" Obviously Remi had, having helped in its construction and also the secret tunnel
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Well, you're definitely mine," Ronin murmured thoughtfully; what had originally been a barb, something to throw at Remi with the intention to hurt him, had instead become truth - a truth that the hunter couldn't run away from. Because Remi was the sun, to him - the only thing shining on a bleak day, when even being a father seemed difficult. If he'd been able to move enough, he might have even tried to take his husband's hand.
But even that much contact felt like it might tempt the horror within him to the fore, if he didn't watch his step.
"Alright," he murmured, a rueful smile on his lips. "Then thank you for not giving up. When this is all over I'll make sure that it was worth every bit of effort you put in." And wasn't that the fucking truth.
"Hm...? No, I don't think I've ever had the pleasure. Luckily I managed to avoid getting arrested during Zariah's reign."
With a boyish smile, the weary but sweet kind that only came with the closeness of true love, Remi merely rolled his eyes. Snorting, the alchemist nodded emphatically. "Oh, you have no idea." He agreed, having more than a few ways in which Ronin could make up his absence. It wasn't the king's fault of course, but that didn't mean he wouldn't suffer the consequences.
"Mmm, well done you." Nodding at what was basically an oppressive square with a roof, the alchemist shook his head. "That, is Ironbolt Penitentiary. Complete with jail cells, offices, and a torture chamber if I recall correctly." A chamber that the late Edrei Launceleyn had had no trouble in filling with various devices.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"I think I have a couple of ideas, but I am very much looking forward to being enlightened," Ronin murmured, smirking across at the other man and slowing his already shuffling pace at the sight of the grey, oppressive building that had appeared before him. "Well doesn't that look delightful," he muttered, but in retrospect it would be a warm roof over his head, and somewhere he couldn't hurt people. It would do.
"I'll take a jail cell, if there's one going," he said, glancing to Remi hopefully. The torture chamber, while oodles of fun (he was sure) was not really the vibe he was going for currently. "Do you know how to get in?"
"Mmm. If you will remember, Zariah had me work extensively on making sure that it was guest-friendly and inviting." Much as he tried to sound playful, the memories of what she made him do, what he knew was inside, hardened his tongue.
"On this late notice? Well I will have to check the books but I am sure I can fit you in." Raising a brow at Ronin, the alchemist simply...opened the front door. Getting in was one thing. It was out that was tricky. Though as Remi would no doubt learn soon enough, with Ronin's new skill set of tangible projection, not as difficult as it was intended. "Come on. You have your choice."
Leading his husband to a jail cell had to be one of the weirdest and most surreal experiences of his life thus far. Blighted as he was, monstrous and ravaged, it still seemed almost too cruel. But if Ronin wouldn't come home, then this was the best place for him.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Ah yes. Plush seating, chandeliers. I remember now," Ronin quipped, smiling to himself as he was led through the doors and into the jail with almost disappointing ease. He'd at least been hoping he'd have to watch Remi solve one of his own puzzles. Still, as uninviting as the jail was, it was still warmer and more comfortable than the falling snows outside. Ronin knew that - but the blight in him did not, evidently.
"I'm glad," he said softly, "that I got to talk with you, while we walked." A sad and genuine smile flickered across his face. Pausing in front of an open cell, Ronin would give no resistance as he was led inside. "I'll be home soon Remi. Okay?"
Those words pierced something in Remi's somehow-holding facade of things being alright. Wincing he turned to Ronin, teeth tugging at his lip in an effort to not babble unnecessarily. "I am too. You are all I think of, always." Watching Ronin enter the cell was so strange; a new step in this strange walk towards death that Remi almost wanted to pull his husband immediately back out again.
"I will bring you some things from home. Nothing that cannot be damage." He added with a shaky smile.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Now that cannot be true, Remi. How ever would you get any work done?" Ronin smirked, turning to watch as the cell door clanged shut, his husband standing safely (thank goodness) on the other side. The truth, of course, was that he wouldn't get any work done, and Ronin knew it. Stepping forward to sag against the bars, Ronin leant his forehead against them and closed his eyes. Somehow, after Skyler, after everything, it felt like he deserved this.
"That would be nice, thank you. One of your shirts, maybe." Maybe the reminder would help to anchor him. And if nothing else, maybe it would be like having Remi there with him, towards the end.
"You say that as I have done much of anything, since all this has happened." Remi countered, brow raised. Sadly, it was closer to the truth than he'd have liked: conversations took longer, simple tasks seemed more difficult...even getting out of bed seemed like an unfair burden on a mind that just wanted to curl in around on itself.
"It will be loose on you now." The alchemist quipped with a smirk, finding it darkly amusing somehow that after Ronin had worked so hard on regaining his strength that it had once again been sapped away from him. Leaning his head against the bars as well, Remi closed his eyes humming a note beneath his breath. "I love you. Come what may."
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Ronin didn't have anything to say in response to that, really. What could he say? It wasn't like he had done much of anything either, since learning about the blight. Still, a smile managed to flicker across his face as Remi leant against the bars as well, the hunter able to feel his warmth even from there. "It doesn't matter," he said about the size of the shirt. "All I care about is that it's yours."
Stepping back again, Ronin tried for another, more confident smile, though he wasn't sure how successful it ended up being. "I love you too, whatever happens. Now go on - at least you can rest a bit easier, knowing that I'm somewhere safe."
"I am sure I can find one to spare." If the alchemist thought it had anything at all to do with merely cloth, he'd have produced one right then and there. As it was he'd more or less race home to filter through what was discarded on their floor, fretting about what would best serve his husband in this entirely bizarre time.
"Alright. But I will come back tonight with some supplies, and in the morning as well. Can you..think of anything you need now?" He could tell Ronin anything that he knew, and yet the fact that he simply didn't want to leave seemed perhaps too naive to actually give voice to. So instead he smiled lovingly at his husband, sure he'd merely send Remi off with as much of a smile as he could muster as a promise that he didn't need anything else.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Thank you," Ronin murmured, his smile lopsided as he considered his husband before him, simultaneously too close and too far away for him to rest easy. The blighted hunter shuffled back to sink down and sit against the wall of the jail cell, wriggling to try and get comfortable in the vines that still contained him.
There were a lot of things that he needed, but the main one was standing right in front of him. "Just hurry back. That's all I can think of right now," he said softly. The alchemist knew him too well, evidently, and the smile he conjured was as warm and reassuring as it could be in the circumstances.
Hopefully it would still be there to greet Remi when he returned - but given how the blight raged and seethed within him, it looked doubtful.
