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!
It had taken a long time for Loren to feel that he could reach out to Remi again, or at least, that’s what it felt like. In reality, it hadn’t been all that long—it was still Leafchange, after all—but given everything the librarian had been through, even in the relatively short time he’d come back, every minute felt like a day, every hour felt like a season, and every day felt like an eternity. He didn’t want to consider how it would feel when the season actually changed, and the snows started falling. He didn't know what was beyond infinity.
But the summoner thought he might, just might, have a solution to find the keys and the doors that Zariah had forced the alchemist to make, against his will. Loren still worried about bringing the other man back here, to a site that held such dark memories; with that fear in mind, the librarian had spent far too long, losing sleep even, scouring the manor of all overt signs that Zariah had ever been there. He tore down the crests the family had put up seemingly everywhere, and while he couldn’t do anything about the dark colors, he’d flung open every curtain and polished the stone and the wood until everything gleamed. Something about the effort was incredibly cathartic. And while the manor looked much plainer now, empty as it was of its most ostentatious decorations and ornamentations, something about the blank slate of it appealed to the librarian, soothed one of the many wounds in his soul that he was still discovering and coming to terms with.
After all that, Loren finally felt ready to face Remi again. So the Launceleyn sent a note asking the alchemist to come discuss the doors and passageways that had been stressing the summoner out. The librarian had propped the front door open, ignoring the chill breeze, and taken a seat in an admittedly uncomfortable chair directly in view of the entryway; a pair of spectacles attached to a chain were on his nose, though he didn’t need them to read the book in his hand, Before Long Nyte Falls. Jigano had pointed it out to Loren, and he was devouring it in that voracious way he approached a book, as if the contents might save a life one day. With this volume, that might literally be the case. Another book was on his lap. Strangely enough, it was a book of children’s stories. Loren, for his part, was dressed in a plain brown shirt and pants, and while he still looked gaunt, there was a slightly healthier glow to his skin and his eyes.
08-30-2019, 12:41 AM (This post was last modified: 08-30-2019, 01:09 AM by Remi.)
all our lives i watched you search beneath the fallen skies
Never, seemed like the time frame within which it was reasonable to think Remi would hear from Loren. And so, a handful of days or so after their initial and strange meeting, to find a request for assistance was...well. Pleasantly unexpected. Ronin had urged caution of course, but without his memories it was hard to hold grudges, much less heart ache. To be sure there was still a wound which simultaneously bled and yet did not exist, the pain of which would occasionally pull Remi from his thoughts and demand attention. Only there was none to give, nothing to consider, for there was nothing there. A ghost of a ghost, haunting the shell of a man who no longer existed.
One thing had not changed about the alchemist: still he persisted in dressing in pale cotton shirts perpetually covered in inks and paints. That he filled them out more with muscle didn't detract from the fact he should have been banned from all light colours. Magic made the stains disappear, and so his fashion choices were largely ignored by those around him (save for his wedding day, when Ronin had forcefully designed his outfit).
The manor was...not a place Remi wanted to be, but still he arrived with a boyish smile. Walking up to the door, Remi paused. His eyes sketched the world in various shades of grey, muting the Launceleyn's already dim choice of clothing. When Loren eventually looked up however, it would be with eyes far too piercing blue that seemed to shoot from the darkness with a light all their own.
Blue eyes. Remi thought ruefully. They've always had blue eyes.
Raising a hand, gesture both charming and awkward, Remi moved to the doorframe but didn't cross the threshold. "You summoned me, Duke Launceleyn?" The alchemist quipped, and, with a bow as perfunctory as any he'd given in Northaven, the alchemist bowed mischievously, rising with a playful smile on his lips.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Engrossed as Loren was in the pages, he didn’t notice the other man’s entrance. Indeed, the summoner only looked up at Remi’s voice. The librarian braced himself for the pang of heartache that confronted him every time he thought about the alchemist, saw the other man, heard Remi’s voice, but strangely enough, it was muted, as if the old wound had started healing over. The Launceleyn would puzzle over that fact later; for now, he’d just be happy that he’d actually judged his emotions correctly for once, and that this visit wouldn’t be total agony. ”I’m not a duke anymore, so that kind of sets up back on the whole starting over front, doesn’t it?” Even Loren was surprised at how easily that came out, although there was the barest hints of tartness and annoyance, rather than teasing, in his tone.
However, an idea occurred to the former duke, and he decided to pay the other man back for his mocking in a way that Loren just knew Remi would find terrible. ”You, on the other hand, are married to a king.” The Launceleyn’s voice wavered just a bit on the word married, but he covered it up by standing in a fluid motion and then bowing, deeper (if not more gracefully) than the alchemist had. ”So I should be the one thanking you for deigning to grace me with your presence, your highness.” Hopefully that should put a swift end to this nonsense about titles. And when it came to a battle of manners, Loren would win.
After all, once upon a time, imperfect manners would've gotten him tortured.
It was odd, how easily they fell into familiar habits, and yet how different it all actually was. Loren still found the other man attractive—maybe even more so, the way Remi had filled out yet still retained the qualities that had made him beautiful to begin with—but it was a dull and muted flame, not the burning passion it had once been. The Launceleyn had been clinging to the memory of the alchemist, not the real thing. The Launceleyn studied the other man almost curiously, taking in what had failed to register during their first meeting. The time apart, and the other reunions Loren had forced himself through, had given him a tiny bit of perspective and cleared his head just enough that he could admit that maybe, just maybe, he'd been more in love with the idea of Remi than the actual living, breathing man standing before him. Not that the librarian hadn't loved the man once, but neither of them were those people anymore. Trying to force them back to that shape would just hurt.
And Loren was tired of hurting, and of being sad. He'd done that for his whole life, after all, and more so this past year. But a few smiles had somehow inevitably crept in to his sad exterior and interior and he'd discovered, perhaps for the first time—and at least in a long time—that sometimes it was actually easier to be, if not happy, at least content.
all our lives i watched you search beneath the fallen skies
"You could have been made a duke here, how am I to know?" The alchemist quipped back with a laugh, leaning against the doorframe and giving the duke—former or otherwise—a grin. However as the tables were turned, the alchemist playfully narrowed his eyes even as a genuine blush bloomed across his cheeks. "You know, I never was clear on how that worked. Am I a queen now? Was I baron before Ronin became king?" Though he and Ronin had joked endlessly about it, the lines were incredibly fuzzy. Moreso for Remi who, before this life, had been a commoner. If he'd heard Loren stumble over the word married, Remi gave no sign. Really, given that two of Loren's former lovers, if not loves, had up and married one another in his absence, the alchemist would be shocked if the librarian wasn't a little uncertain about it all.
What might have felt routine for Loren, was new for Remi and not just because of the memory loss (though yes, largely because of that). Where before Remi had been submissive, quietly in awe of the duke and all he could do, now the alchemist was confident in speaking his mind, if still not confident in his actual ideas. Possessing skills which would have been impossible in Northaven, now Remi brandished magic with boyish bashfulness. Luckily mind-reading was not one of those abilities, or Loren's current line of thinking would likely have rendered the alchemist quite distraught and wounded.
"But if I am deserving of a bow, I suppose you are welcome."
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”It’s possible. I’m curious to hear when you think I did it and how I got away with it without you noticing though.” This should be good: either it was during the year Loren had been lost and drifting, or it was in the short amount of time since he’d be back, and neither one seemed particularly likely. No doubt Remi would come up with some elaborately convoluted scheme to explain it all away. As the other man blushed, and then admitted that he wasn’t sure what his title actually was, Loren straightened up from his bow. ”No you were a baroness before becoming a queen. Which I guess means we’re a triarchy, not a monarchy.” The Launceleyn tilted his head to give the alchemist a quizzical look. ”Unless Wessex has a consort tucked away somewhere. At that point, I think it’s just anarchy.” Then the summoner felt the corner of his mouth twitch. ”Although, you are married to a king, so he could appoint you to whatever title you’d like. Perhaps Grand High Alchemist of the First Order?” This time, Loren managed to say the m word (mawwiage) without even the slightest hitch in his voice.
Inclining his head to the queen in his home like the librarian had been born to welcome royalty—which he sort of had been—Loren hoped that would wrap up the whole hello. Turning, he grabbed the children’s book that he’d left on the chair, before gesturing for Remi to come in from the cold air. It was close to Deepfrost and it was nippy outside, even if the librarian ignored the discomfort through long years of exposure and training. ”Any updates?” His voice was brisk and businesslike; the summoner figured that the alchemist, what with being an actual leader and all that, would know a lot more than Loren would. However, even the librarian had a few pieces of information squirreled away that might prove helpful.
all our lives i watched you search beneath the fallen skies
"Pfff." The alchemist tittered, doing his best to feign haughty boredom (and failing, spectacularly). "I will have you know that I've been quite busy since you left. Cursed, blinded, numerous cave-ins, a..." Frowning, Remi tried to recall what the word for the strange gladiator-type combat he'd participated in was called. "Ahh, a cloister." Casually, Remi shrugged his shoulders. "That, or I would not be surprised if Zariah simply left a decree saying any and all Launceleyns were to be restored to their former titles." He added with a grin.
Blinking with faux bewilderment as Loren explained the situation (and honestly, real bewilderment too), the mischievous grin brandished across his lips fell away at the mention of Wessex and her potential consort. "Actually...That might have been Edy." He said with a hefty sigh, rubbing absently at the side of his face in an unconscious gesture of nervousness.
"Grand High Alchemist of the First Order?" Gods, what a mouthful. Looking properly uncomfortable now, if only because despite his abilities and newfound strengths, he'd likely never abandon the mindset that he was, at his core, a commoner undeserving of all he had, Remi merely shook his head. "I think Alchemist is fine." And husband. He'd keep that title for as long as he possibly could.
"Updates, on...?" The alchemist murmured, watching Loren recede. Exhaling a puff of air that ballooned his cheeks outwards, Remi forced himself over the threshold and into the manor.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
At the long list of trials Remi had faced—and Loren had missed—the Launceleyn sighed. There’d been more than he expected and it hurt, briefly. Still, he didn’t let that hold him back for long. Somehow, he found the momentum to keep the lighter banter going. ”Too busy to attend the bestowal of a noble title? Some queen you are. I thought you were supposed to be better at managing your social calendar. Isn't that basically your one job?”
Then the Launceleyn frowned as he thought about the last word in the list. ”Cloister is new to me though.” He managed to make that sound thoughtful somehow, so hey, improvement. At the mention of Zariah and what she might’ve done, Loren rolled his eyes. ”It sounds like her. And she certainly left more than a few other problems for me to clean up.” Well, it wouldn’t be the first time Loren had ignored a noble title.
The rest of Loren’s family was coming up far too often for his liking; he wondered idly if this was part of Remi testing him, to see if the librarian really was capable of leaving the past in the past. Or maybe it was just the sad facts of the summoner’s life continually coming back to haunt him. ”I see.” He smiled sadly. ”Well, I guess I’m happy to know she found at least one person.” Before she died, but he couldn’t quite finish the sentence. Idly, he wondered if he should reach out to the Queen (the real one, obviously, not the pretender Remi), but honestly he didn’t know where he’d begin with that one.
Luckily the other man’s discomfort turned out to be music to Loren’s ears, and drew him out of his brief lapse into depression. ”Well I don’t, but alright, fine I’ll settle for Grand High Alchemist. If you’re worried about the length, we can shorten it to gahhhhh, but that’s my final offer.” He smirked, quite proud of that one. ”Just think of the people’s cheers. Gahhhh, gahhhhhh!” No doubt Remi would hate that.
There was a lot to pick from, and Loren was surprised the usually chatty alchemist didn't come up with something. ”Curses, blindness, cave-ins, cloisters, fae, political unrest, LongNight, other assorted and sundry problems on your plate, take your pick.” The Launceleyn ticked off every item on the list using his fingers and then gave the other man a patient stare. ”Or, you know, life?” Pausing for just a moment, Loren gave Remi a considering look. ”That’s what friends do, tell each other how they’ve been?” Seeing as Loren could count his friends on the fingers of only one hand (and that was before his disappearance)—and seeing as this situation was anything but normal even if he’d been a social butterfly—he honestly didn’t know what it was supposed to be like. But he was trying.
all our lives i watched you search beneath the fallen skies
"A bestowal? I did not even know that was how it worked. Were there swords and kneeling involved?" He was imagining knighting, but then of course the actual words he'd used flared red in his mind, and the alchemist's lips turned into a shell-shocked but unapologetic O, that quickly dissolved into laughter. "Well you know, from making dildos into flaming swords, raising a baby, and trying to plan a friend's wedding, sometimes things simply get missed ... besides, no one ever asked me if I was alright with Ronin becoming King." Not even Ronin. Not until after, anyways. "I do not think I can be fired though..." Trailing off, Remi bit the inside of his lip, raising his brow and pretending to think long and hard about it.
"Ahh, it was a fae...fighting..thing." The alchemist said, sounding just as puzzled. He hadn't known really how it worked and was eliminated nearly right away, not that he minded much. Strong as he might be, fighting wasn't something he held any real affection for. "We were paired into groups and made to battle each other in the Greatwood. Their chieftess kept the title of Greatwood guardian when all was said and done though." That was probably for the best.
Humming softly in response to Loren's comment about Edy, the alchemist decided to let the issue end there. He didn't know much of the fire mage after all, save for their brief conversation about Loren having fun off to a sex-cave with another man.
"Yes Loren. It is the length I am concerned with." The alchemist retorted dryly, happily letting his accent coat the words in both sarcasm and innuendo. Still, he did indeed flush at Loren's continued showmanship.
Watching Loren's fingers list off the various things that were occurring, or had occurred, simply made the alchemist blush and shake his head. Not one to be the center of attention, Remi found it increasingly hard to speak of the things that had happened to him without simply sounding full of himself. Fought the Spire Demon with hardly a scratch? Sure. Nearly singlehandedly defeated the giant vampire gourd threatening the Greatwood? Yes. Married to a man who fell from the sky as a star to live again as a demi-god and King? Isla dying and becoming a unicorn? The wealth of magic at his fingertips, making him the most powerful mage in the Hollowed Grounds?
No. It was all a bit much.
But ... actually.
"Well...There is something, actually. Something you might know about. No one else seems to." Fidgeting with bashful anxiety, Remi returned Loren's stare thoughtfully as the roses of his cheeks darkened in colour. "We...would have to go back outside. It is too big for in here." He said with something like a gulp as he looked up at the ceilings and frowned.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Loren nodded at Remi, happy to help alleviate the other man’s confusion for once. ”Indeed. The ruler bestows a title for some great act of valor, service, or loyalty. As for the details, well, it’s not my fault you missed it. Should’ve done a better job managing your schedule.” Thankfully, the innuendo went completely over the Launceleyn’s head; sex was just about the last thing on his mind. Which meant that the apologetic look on the alchemist’s face was a bit confusing, but it spilled into laughter quickly enough that Loren didn’t comment on it. ”Excuses, excuses. As queen you are expected to be the paragon of society. So no missing ceremonies!” As Remi admitted that no one had consulted him about the whole situation, the Launceleyn gave the other man a sympathetic look. ”Well...are you?” It seemed odd that Loren would be the first to ask this, but it was important enough that it couldn't wait for someone more suitable. Then as the alchemist mentioned his ultimate job security, the corner of the summoner’s mouth twitched. ”That’s what all monarchs think. Then comes the revolution!”
The explanation about the cloister, well, wasn’t much of an explanation. ”Huh. Weird.” It seemed that Remi didn’t know a whole lot about it, so Loren decided not to ask a follow up question, though he was dying to know more. Thankfully, they also dropped the conversation about Edy, so the librarian had a chance to get his emotions under control again. This time, the summoner caught the innuendo and Loren just rolled his eyes. ”Alright, gahhhh, whatever you say.” At least the blush on the other man’s cheeks just caused the Launceleyn to feel a slight amount of victory and not a deep and abiding sadness.
The alchemist blushed again. Apparently, Remi was as easy to make blush as ever: as soon as Loren thought that, he pushed it firmly out of his mind. Granted, he was curious what had flustered the other man this time, but before he could ask, the alchemist asked if they could go outside. Seeing as there was something Remi actually needed help with for once, the librarian immediately nodded. ”Of course.” He gestured for the other man to lead the way. As Loren followed the alchemist outside, he couldn’t resist getting in a small dig of his own. ”Seems that you’ve got size on your mind a lot these days. Compensating for something” Maybe the Launceleyn shouldn’t have said anything—they’d been lovers, so Loren knew the alchemist had nothing to compensate for—but he had to get past his discomfort thinking like that sooner or later. And the summoner had gotten past a similar awkwardness once before, with Ronin, so the librarian knew he knew how to do it. He just had to muster up the courage.
all our lives i watched you search beneath the fallen skies
"Well since I am the queen as you say, I think I am entitled to change a few things. Namely...no more ceremonies. No more titles. " He declared with a crinkle of his nose. They'd never made much sense to him to begin with, and certainly they hadn't existed here. "At least, no titles you are born into, I suppose." Remi added with a shrug.
Pursing his lips slightly, Remi frowned and shook his head. "Not particularly. He did not have the blight when he was first...well. When his name was first put forward." The alchemist explained with a sigh. "But he wanted to leave all that behind. When we first came I asked if he wanted to start up any sort of soldier-training, as he had in Northaven and he was very much against it. It was why he started the monster hunter's guild. Being King?" Again, the shake of his head. "Now with the blight especially.." Sadness crested across the alchemist's sunny face, pushing his brows together and crumpling his expression further. "It is selfish of course, as he is one of the best men to lead this place but...with what little time he had left.." But that thought didn't need completing. They both knew what was at the end of it, and the road Ronin walked down.
Small talk gave way to acceptance on Loren's part to help Remi, who navigated his way easily back outside the manor; though rather than leading them into the front, he walked to the back garden. More secluded. Loren would see why shortly. "Compensating?" The alchemist glanced over his shoulder to fix the Launceleyn with an impish stare. Loren of all men, who'd been with both Remi and Ronin, would know that he very much wasn't. Even so, he merely grinned. "Or pleasantly distracted." He said with a casual shrug.
"But..you can be the judge of that." Remi said as they stood once again the sunlight. Turning towards Loren, the alchemist bit the inside of his lip. "And I do mean that. No one...knows what I am. What to call it." Swallowing, Remi took a step back, and then several more. Giving the Launceleyn a fleeting look and then tugging in a breath, Remi shifted.
With a leonine body nearly as large as a car and wings several meters wide, as a manticore, the alchemist was a terrifying sight to behold. His barbed and articulated tail curled up behind his body as his wings flexed impressively outwards. Unlike his other shifts, Remi's eyes remained sea-foam green, retaining the alchemist's quiet intelligence therein.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Loren actually smiled—albeit very, very briefly—at the royal proclamation. ”I can support that decree wholeheartedly.” As strange as it might seem for a former duke to say so, the Launceleyn had never cared much for his title. It had usually caused more problems than it was worth. Still, the happiness didn’t last long for either of them as the alchemist spoke about what life had been like with Ronin, with the blight and the guild and the whole being king thing. Mostly the librarian stayed silent, making sympathetic noises where appropriate. When Remi finished, the Launceleyn stayed quiet for a brief moment. ”I’m sorry, Remi. And it’s not selfish.” Or if it was, well, the alchemist had surely earned a bit of that given everything he did for others.
Tapping the book in the summoner’s hand against his thigh, he tried to order his thoughts. ”He could always step down. We have two rulers, which is more than most places, so we don't need both. But even if he doesn’t want to do that, he can always ask for help. It doesn’t have to be the two of you. Or, well, three of you, including Wessex.” They surely had considered this already, but it had to be reiterated. ”A lot of the business of running a kingdom is tedious, I’d imagine. So if Ronin doesn’t want to do it, or if the day-to-day becomes too much with the blight, then appoint someone to do the jobs he doesn’t want.” Loren grinned for a fleeting moment. ”I remember how much he hates paperwork. So he should appoint a Steward, perhaps, or whatever you want to call it, to filter what lands on his desk. On both your desks. All three of your desks? Do you even have desks?” Loren waved away that last part to let Remi know he was just musing. Maybe it wasn’t the Launceleyn’s place to be offering this suggestion, but it was plain old common sense. No one man, no matter how well-meaning, and even no one couple, could do everything on their own.
A government was made up of more than that.
The back and forth grew easier with each lightly teasing barb. ”No, definitely compensating.” The summoner followed the alchemist outside, curious to see what surprise the other man had in store. However, whatever the Launceleyn might’ve guessed, it certainly wasn’t what he saw before him.
Remi might’ve been a terrifying sight to behold to most people. But Loren summoned monsters for a living and routinely saw much stranger, more mysterious, and scarier critters than the alchemist turned into. Sure, it was a bit of a shock to see the other man disappear and the mishmash monster appear in his place, but no more so than when the librarian called a hydra or a phoenix into the world. ”Huh. You’ve been holding out on me. How long have you been able to turn into a manticore?” His voice came out completely matter-of-factly; he’d double check his books to confirm, of course, but it was the sort of description one wasn’t likely to forget, what with the people, lion, avian, and scorpion parts all jammed together.
Immediately the summoner started walking in a circle around Remi, inspecting every part, memorizing the image so that Loren could make his own manticore if he had to. ”You stung anything with the tail yet?” He was curious to know if the venom was as potent as the tales said. Completing his lap, Loren turned to face the alchemist, not at all repulsed to see the face on the body of a beast. ”Is this because you’re a hybrid?” Even Loren, with his summoning, only temporarily brought creatures into the world. This seemed to be something more than that.
08-30-2019, 03:26 PM (This post was last modified: 08-30-2019, 03:26 PM by Remi.)
all our lives i watched you search beneath the fallen skies
"Right. Well then , no more bows for you." Remi declared victoriously.
It was selfish, and Remi knew it. It was why he'd never pressed the issue with Ronin. Why they'd really only spoken of it once. "It is, though. There is a whole community of people to consider, not just me. Things...went downhill very fast when Zariah was in power. It only took days for a revolution to form. People were thrown in jail, were wounded...warrants out for numerous arrests, guilds closed down.." Puffing out his cheeks in another youthful sigh, again the alchemist dissolved into silent shakes of his head. "They need Ronin." He concluded lamely.
Loren's suggestions were good ones; it was why the alchemist thought the former-duke ought to be doing more with his time than sussing out Remi's hidden doors. "I think right now a lot of it is the important things. Deciding how things should run, what laws they think are important." Using language if not his furtive glances towards the ground, Remi tried to indicate his distance from all of this. Married to a king he might be, but he was still a commoner at heart. He knew little of the inner workings of a government, and had a heart far too soft to stomach politics. "Mmm, no desks. Or none that I am aware of." As Loren mentioned how much Ronin hated paperwork, Remi's lips curved upwards. That was a side of his husband he'd not much seen. Their adventures in Northaven had mostly involved stabbings and explosions. It was hard to imagine the Ronin he knew behind a desk, but the thought of it did make him chuckle.
With an exasperated sigh, Remi tossed up his hands; what can you do, the gesture seemed to say. Oh well. He'd not had any complaints so far.
At the name given to his shift, the great beast tilted its head to the side not unlike a dog hearing a high pitched whistle. Large eyes blinked at the summoner from the leonine face. "Man..ticore?" He repeated, his accent changing the pronunciation only slightly, but he thought he got the word right. "And I haven't really." The alchemist countered, tawny wings pulling tightly against his flanks. "What with you making things so dreadfully awkward last time, there did not seem to be a good place to slip it in." Yes. Ronin's boyish humorous had definitely rubbed off on Remi.
Standing tense beneath Loren's scrutiny, the feeling beyond strange, the great beast noddeda at the summoner's query. "...Yes." He said. Ever gentle even wrapped up in such a formidable package. "A giant vampire gourd was going to spread the blight to the Greatwood. The barbs...well. I can shoot them as well." The manticore added, a touch embarrassed.
"I...do not know." Remi answered truthfully, sitting down and curling his strange tail around his paws. "It only happened a few weeks ago. I have other shifts now as well, as I ...well, sort of showed you. Three, and now this."
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Loren just gave Remi a blank look, though if the alchemist looked closely he might see amusement lurking in the summoner’s eyes. Then again, maybe not: the Launceleyn still didn’t know how much the other man could and could not see. ”How awful,” the librarian drawled, just in case. Clearly this was a victory he was more than willing to concede to the other man.
”Gods, what a mess. Have people been officially pardoned for everything?” Loren ran a hand through his hair, a mixture of nervousness and exasperation at his cousin coursing through him. ”How did Zariah even become queen to begin with?” Surely if opposition to her reign had started so swiftly and vociferously, there must’ve been people worried about it beforehand.
Remi was right about one thing: there was a whole community of people. Granted, the needs of the many wasn’t always the best justification for an action, but it didn’t make the fact that the Hollowed Grounds needed leadership any less salient. However, Loren had argued with Remi about putting others’ needs before the alchemist’s own, and didn’t want to go down that road again.
It helped that the other man was very, very wrong about one very, very obvious fact. ”No. They don’t need Ronin, at least not specifically. They need a ruler who they can believe in, who they want to follow, and who is a good person, and sane, and will do right by them. Ronin is all those things. But you’re mistaken in believing that Ronin is the only one who can do it. Surely there are others out there who fit those criteria.” Loren obviously wouldn’t point this out (because it would just freak the other man out) but Remi fit all those criteria, and more. The fact that the other man would clearly declare himself unworthy was just another positive. It would never happen, though, unless the alchemist had changed more than the summoner knew. Or unless someone made a particularly persuasive argument.
Listening with dawning worry as the other man listed all the things the king, queen, and alchemist still needed to get done Loren wondered just when the transition had happened. He’d known it was recent, but he would’ve thought a bit more planning would’ve gone into it all. ”Remi, deciding how things should run and what the laws are is basically the whole point of government. That’s all of it.” The Launceleyn couldn’t help the incredulity he felt from spilling out, so he took a deep breath and tried to channel it in a more productive direction. ”How are you going to figure all of that out without a desk?” Putting as much mock horror and exasperation in his voice as he could manage, Loren considered the problem facing the monarchs. It might be minor, but it would help them deal with everything else. At the very least, the librarian could do that much. ”I can come in and set up an actual office and try to organize what I can if you think it would help.” It seemed like every little bit might be useful at this point.
Thankfully, magic and monsters were much easier to discuss than politics. Loren just nodded distractedly at Remi’s repetition of the name. ”That’s right.” Given that the other man was completely accurate about the awkwardness of their last meeting and who was to blame, the librarian just nodded again to concede that point: he was still too busy studying the shift to pay attention to much else.
As the alchemist responded that he had indeed not only stung something, but shot barbs from his tail, Loren stepped around so that he could look at the scorpion part more closely. ”That tracks with the stories. Be careful with that. The stinger and barbs are supposed to contain an incredibly potent venom.” The books didn’t say exactly what it did to victims, but they were in agreement on that much.
Coming back around to the front as Remi settled down and brought the tail away from the librarian, Loren crouched slightly so their faces were on the same level. ”Worth looking into, when we have more time.” The fact that the alchemist didn’t have summoning magic but could still do this was a wonder. The Launceleyn blinked when the other man brought up additional shifts, confused by the comment. ”Oh right...the paws?” He vaguely remembered Remi demonstrating that, but in the moment it hadn’t seemed nearly as important as the drama between them.
08-30-2019, 08:16 PM (This post was last modified: 08-30-2019, 08:16 PM by Remi.)
all our lives i watched you search beneath the fallen skies
"Officially? No..actually. I do not think so. With Zariah off the throne I think everyone just assumed that Wessex and Ronin were ignoring what had happened. She had created a mandatory conscription. Most of the warrants were following up on men who had not enlisted." There were other things arrests had been issued for, but that was the bulk of it. "Oh, ehm..." The alchemist frowned, ruffling a hand through his curls and then leaving his hand against the back of his neck. "She just...declared it. You can imagine how well it went over. In theory I suppose it was not entirely a bad idea. The Grounds did and do need some sort of leadership, but going from 0 to Zariah?"
Solemnly, the alchemist pulled in a breath. "I even defended her, against the resistance that started. Saying she did have our best interests at heart, even if it seemed...aggressive. But.." Glancing up, Remi flashed Loren an almost apologetic smile. This was his cousin? he was talking about. "But then she threatened Aoife..and Ronin." He all but whispered, though not sadly. Darkly. That had been the last straw. The proverbial one that broke the camels back, only in Zariah's case, it had turned Remi away from his more gentle impulses and directly into his more predatory ones.
"Am I?" The alchemist shot back, boyish ease making his confidence bright. "There were many of us who met to decide who might lead...many part of the revolution. Only three names were put forward: Rory, Ronin, and Wessex." Jigano had probably wanted his name in, but it hadn't happened for better or worse. He'd been named king though, given away the crown and earned himself a world of trouble for it. As for the three? Well. It had come down to Ronin and Wessex, and Ronin had won out by a landslide. "I...honestly, right now, I do not think there is anyone else. Amalia, maybe." He added with a shrug.
"Well, you have seen the guildhall." Remi said lightly, having heard that the Launceleyn had gone by to see Ronin. "People come and go freely, I am not sure where such an office might even be set up. As for the manor...Edy had once mentioned she thought Zariah could listen in, so I know neither king nor queen are keen on holding meetings there." To Remi's knowledge, they'd been meeting in the temple. How permanent a solution that was, the alchemist hardly knew. "Probably a better question for Ronin and Wessex."
Flinching slightly at the mention of his tail, the manticore drew in a breath, his massive claws digging deep into the earth. "It...yes. Quite potent." He agreed with a swallow. More time. That too made the alchemist flinch slightly. More time when Ronin was dead? It wasn't what Loren meant (probably), but it was all he could think. "Mmmm." He hummed (growled) in agreement.
Large enough to ride (and then some), the shift from manticore to man was awkward and not as practiced as the alchemist's other shifts. "The paws." He agreed, before his smile grew crooked. "Here, close your eyes. See if you can guess."
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
