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!
Remi needn’t worry about the little dragon. Remi was a friend, Remi was safe, and so Pim backed off when he stepped in, circling closer to Phoebe’s ankles as the larger lion-man stepped in the middle. But Phoebe didn’t stay long. She walked quickly – more of a march – out of the meeting room and straight to the infirmary. She was furious, anger wafting off her in waves that made Pim growl instinctively. How dare that Ascended wench act as though she had the interest of the people in mind?! It was their fault people were dying. It was their fault the Greatwood was dying. To act as though they cared if LongNight monster’s killed people was rich.
Phoebe opened the infirmary door with a slam, the cabinets on the nearest wall shaking from the reverberation. Pim startled at the noise, trilling at her with some irritation. But she either didn’t hear or didn’t care, pressing forward to go to the back, grabbing a travel case she could fill with supplies. So Wessex was going to collect supplies? Ha! Good luck with that if she emptied the infirmary and then her college. She would have to seek out personal stores or hope the Fae might take pity on her, otherwise she would be out of luck getting them from the midwife. The first cabinet she approached held various rolls of bandages and she began to empty it, stuffing them into her travel box.
Of course Remi had followed. Letting Phoebe storm ahead as she pleased, the alchemist took the few moments of silence to try and let slip the anxiety that the meeting had brought up in him from his shoulders, so that he could direct his attention to his friend. Not knowing that Phoebe had the blight, he simply thought perhaps this a result of some fight with her new beau. Used to the overt signs of the illness that Ronin displayed, the alchemist's senses weren't directed to pick up some of the more subtle signs the midwife was displaying.
Leaning against the door frame as Phoebe began to stuff various things into her box, Remi crossed his arms and leaned his head against the wood. "Phoebe.." He said in a very brotherly tone. "You cannot just take everything from the infirmary. Where will I go when I need to be patched up?" The lion added with a soft smirk, as if the only reason Phoebe couldn't leave the town without any medical supplies was because it would inconvenience Remi.
but you're all i see
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Pim glanced at Remi, having plopped in the middle of the infirmary incase the lady from the gathering showed up. He trilled a greeting before huffing air through his nose, causing rainbow static to shoot up. When Remi spoke though, Phoebe glanced up briefly, glaring at him darkly. "I don't know my clinic maybe, which you apparently only visit when you want to chide me." she snapped. Her words were sharp and tone was cruel and so unlike her that even Pim blinked at her with his doubled lids.
"But I can take everything and I will take everything and that Ascended bitch can just rot in hell for all I care. I hope she gets torn to shreds by the monsters." she hissed, venom lining every word, every syllable. Her placement of the cabinet's contents became increasingly haphazard, as more force was exerted with each item. "Good luck getting supplies from the Fae, stupid bloodsucking wretch, they at least understand..." she said darkly beneath her breath, face contorted in an u recognizable look of rage.
"Last time I was there it was to bring you flowers, actually." Remi pointed out smoothly, not taking her anger to heart. Such was a trait he'd picked up after so long having been verbally abused by his husband as of late.
"So...you are depriving the rest of the settlement access to medical supplies, all because you...are upset with Wessex? Who does not even require any of these things?" He asked, tapping his fingers against his arm as he looked down at his angry friend. Perhaps arguing with an irrationally angry woman was not the best course of action, but given she did indeed seem intent on leaving, it was all Remi could do to stall her progress.
but you're all i see
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
08-26-2019, 05:45 PM (This post was last modified: 08-26-2019, 05:56 PM by Phoebe.)
PHOEBE
there's a bulletproof bond
"Really? That's what youre gonna hang your hat on Remi? Bringing flowers makes up for calling me stupid sure whatever." she huffed. Her anger was as irrational as her arguements, and the two were likely connected. She could almost hear her own blood pimpimg through her ears, a war drum fueling her explosive rage. But she finished emptying the cabinet and slammed the door shut, the sound of it echoing in the room.
"She wants them for whoever and she can't have them! If people need them they can see me but I won't have shit to do with her!" she hissed. Her or any Ascended. They were all villains - all of them! Mere puppets of destruction in the hands of a false goddess and now people were dying and there was nothing to be done about it. "Or are you that sympathetic now?" she snapped, turning on him. "Ronin is dying and I am dying and a whole damn forest is dying and you have sympathy for the filth that spread it all?!"
Instead of arguing, the alchemist merely sighed softly as his words were twisted. Such was the nature of anger after all, and sadly, Remi's armor was all too thick when it came to verbal assaults these days. Waiting until she was finished before speaking, it was her final words that completely caught him off guard.
Pushing off from the doorframe, the alchemist bridged the gap between himself and the midwife as swiftly and best as he could, reaching out near-trembling hands to try and take her own. Close now he could see the darkened aura that hung around her. The smell of rotten earth. The tremors. "No...you..." Whatever she might have said now seemed entirely unimportant. Angry was one thing, but blighted? Blighted was something else. Something for which it was hard to hold her accountable.
"For how long?" He asked, concern knitting his brows together.
but you're all i see
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Suddenly Remi was approaching and she froze stock still, her hands easily caught in his. She was surprised enough by the action that it gave her pause, wide eyes blinking at him in confusion. For a moment her brows furrowed again – did no one take her seriously? She was angry and now he was treating her all soft and gentle, in stark contrast to his mockery before.
But once subdued – even the tiniest bit – her rage was difficult to rebuild with any immediacy. It felt like a war in her mind, uncontrolled irrational anger beating against her affection for Remi and general distaste for conflict. Her eyes squeezed shut, suddenly feeling as though a migraine was about to set in and she sighed. ”About a month and a half I’ve known so probably a bit longer than that.” she said, her voice quieter but still angry.
Raising one of his hands and softly setting a wayward strand of hair back against her shoulder, Remi frowned. "I am so sorry Phoebe. I know how very hard it is." He said with a gentle sigh. Luckily only a month or so in, the midwife would not have experienced the worst of the symptoms yet. They would come surely, but Ronin had endured for quite a long time before the cracks in his facade began to truly show.
"Do you know how you contracted it?" Remi implored, knowing now more than ever that her anger had little to do with him and feeling slightly more settled for that knowledge.
but you're all i see
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Phoebe’s lips pressed together in a thin line, breathing a heavy sigh through her nose as she closed her eyes. Try as she might her rage began to build again, even if just to the point of unwarranted irritation. ”Do you now, Remi? You know what it’s like to know you’re going to die and there is nothing you can do about it?” she said, her tone clipped as here brown eyes opened. The midwife frowned at him, but was distracted when Pim nudged her leg, knocking her to the side in an attempt to snap her out of it.
”No I don’t but I’ve certainly been exposed to it enough in my research.” Phoebe grumbled, now glaring at Pim who simply growled back at her, fighting irritation with irritation. ”For all I know it was after one of Ronin’s blood samples exploded and I got cut on the glass. Or I had a nick I didn’t know about and got infected that way.” she said with a huff.
"I know what it is like for Ronin to be in that situation, yes." He countered smoothly. And when you were in love, was it not the same? For a moment Remi hesitated though. Phoebe wouldn't actually die of the blight. It would be something like death, but in so many ways it would be significantly worse. Still, until Phoebe was in a better state of mind, perhaps he'd hold off on mentioning that.
Nodding silently, the alchemist stored the bits of information about how she might have been infected, but didn't give them much weight. He'd touched Ronin's blighted blood. Had...well. Certainly not been careful about quarantining himself away from his husband in any meaningful way.
"Have you learned anything new about it, having experienced it yourself now?" Remi inquired, wondering if tugging at her more scientific mind might help pull her away from her blighted-anger.
but you're all i see
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Her lips pursed a bit as he used Ronin's own illness as if it were comparable to personal experience. But she knew the two were very close so...really she guessed it mught be close enough. But as it was, Remi move on, pushing her brain into work mode for a moment. Phoebe closed her eyes, sighing through her nose again as she tried to focus, shakey hands clutching the blanket around her shoulders to pull it closer.
"It makes me feel like I am not myself anymore." she whispered quietly, her emotions swinging from rage to sorrow and fear. "It is as if someone else is trying to take over my emotions and...I don't know how long until I never get them back. That is what it is like." she said, swallowing a lump of emotion building in her throat. "The blight acts like corrupted Ascended fluid. It's...it has to have come from them, there is no other reasonable answer." Hence her rage towards Wessex - just the current face in her mind of those responsible for this blight.
Her initial explanation simply made Remi wince and grow inwardly cold. It was far more apt than even she knew. But the tinge of anger in her voice made the alchemist hold his tongue for just a while longer.
"Corrupted ascended fluid?" He repeated, trying not to sound quite as skeptical as he felt. "What...does that even mean?" Remi had seen their fluid before, in Sam's tears and...apparently other bodily fluids as well, but as for being corrupted? Later the alchemist would be in a position to confirm that indeed, it did come from the ascended. Or at least was spread by them. But that was several threads away, and so for the time being, the alchemist focused on the fluid-hypothesis.
but you're all i see
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Exactly what it sounds like." she said with irritation rising in her tone. He did know what these words meant by definition right? Why did men need everything spelled out to them? Phoebe sighed and moved to one of the beds, sitting down and hanging her head. With trembling fingers she rubbed at her temples, trying to focus on the question and not on the anger she felt.
"Ascended fluid absorbs foriegn things into it and destroys it. The blight more or less does the same thing. When Ascended fluid is placed in unfavorable conditions - like sunlight - it bursts into flame. The blight when put in unfavorable conditions explodes. The only thing the blight is not able to fight off is pure Ascended fluid. Under the microlens, I can't make out the components of Ascended fluid, and the Blight I can only see once it has taken over healthy cells." she explained with a sigh. "It's like...Ascended fluid gone bad or contaminated or otherwise altered to be the blight. And it it somehow originated in the Spire it makes all the more sense because that is where the Voice was and that may have been where it was made or...something." she said her tone getting aggravated.
Remi frowned, watching Phoebe move to the bed and sink down onto it. He knew there was nothing he could do, he'd already tried nearly everything with Ronin, knowing also that there was no way of extraditing the blighted from these shifts of mood while they were in them. Still, it stung; not Phoebe's words, but merely knowing that she was in there somewhere, likely hating the way she sounded and felt.
Having almost no medical knowledge to speak of, Remi tried his best to take in the information Phoebe was offering and to think of it as logically as he could. "Surely...our blood does the same, sort of? When we get sick, is there not something inside of us that fights off infections and what not? The...sells?" He ventured, hoping he'd used her terminology right.
Biting the inside of his lip, Remi shook his head slightly. "I am not sure it did originate in the Spire." He offered in a low voice. "We...went in and killed all of the poisonous plants. We thought that is where it started. It is where Safrin was infected after all, but..." Swallowing hard, Remi had to fight not to clench his teeth. "Well. Nothing happened."
but you're all i see
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
