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!
Ronin watched Remi carefully as he turned to face him, not even the hunter sure who was objecting to having Loren's hands on him. Eventually he decided it couldn't be the blight, because the prospect of having any healer do the job didn't seem to irritate him. No, it was entirely Loren, and so he reserved the right to be pissed off about it.
Luckily his husband didn't push the matter, and Ronin nodded and fell into a shuffling step once again. He wondered just how deep out in the woods he had gotten, and whether he'd even make it to the jail before he passed out, but Remi was there as always with a distraction on hand.
His returning smile was shaky at best, but there was a spark of mirth in his expression. "I look forward to seeing what you do with this new scenario," he quipped. "...How is everything, at home?"
"You say that, but you are the prisoner remember." The alchemist said, trying to imply that perhaps he'd abuse his power, which was laughable. As creative as he could be, there probably weren't many situations in which the alchemist could outsmart his partner in terms of sexual ingenuity.
"More of the same, I suppose." Remi said with a sigh, though that would quickly change with Aoife/Safrin drama. "Apparently the guild hall is meant to be used for LongNight. It makes sense given how defensible it is. I suppose I just thought we would all be in the Rathskeller like before."
Then, with an almost sheepish glance, it was Remi's turn to draw their walk to a halt as he turned to face his husband. "Also..Sam and his new boyfriend are staying with me." He said with a light wince. "Sam was attacked by a woman with a blade. He did not feel safe at home any more, so I said he and his roommate—his boyfriend, as it turns out—could stay in the guildhall."
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"I've been a prisoner before, I know how to play the part," Ronin quipped back with a touch of his old mirth, but it was a thin and hollow thing in the face of everything that was happening. His footsteps were sluggish, and he stumbled a bit as woodland began to transition into the scrubland and field of the outskirts. He hummed a note of interest at the news about the guildhall, shrugging his shoulders.
"I'd heard a couple of places were contenders, but it doesn't surprise me either. I'd prefer not to go back to the Rathskeller this ear - especially since I have no idea who is running it." It was one thing for a maternal figure like Vervain to offer it as a safehouse, but not everyone would be up to the task.
Tilting his head as Remi continued, Ronin couldn't help but fight off a smile. "You collect strays." It was an observation rather than a question; first Phoebe, now Sam and his boyfriend. "A woman with a blade, though... one of the blighted?" A wild guess, but he supposed it was possible. "As long as they are safe, I guess it's fine for now."
"Is that when you were thrown in jail for picking drunken fights?" Remi implored wryly. "Or are there more times I have not yet heard about?" Much as the alchemist wanted to loosen the bonds holding his husband, he'd learned that lesson the hard way only a day or so prior with Phoebe. While Ronin might not run away the black thing inside of him surely would. Or perhaps it would take a chunk out of him as the midwife had. Either way, hard as it might be for both of them, the vines remained where they were.
"Well...I would not stay collect. I hope it is not permanent. Much as Sam and I have gotten passed our...differences I suppose, I think sharing the same roof for too long would not end well."
Shrugging his shoulders, Remi merely sighed an unsure stream of air. "She did not seem blighted. At least, she seemed calm and rational which makes me think not. I have no idea who would have that sort of armor. But I am more than confident that should anyone step into the guildhall without permission they will not leave anonymous."
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Oh no, this was entirely when I was thrown in jail for picking fights. I've not been behind bars for anything worse, I promise." Ronin would have crossed his heart for effect had his arms not been bound, but then again that was probably better for the two of them. He raised an eyebrow, unsure of Remi's meaning as he said Sam staying under their roof wouldn't 'end well', but it was maddening to try and pry deeper into those insecurities. So Ronin kept silent, the topic moving safely back onto whoever had attacked Sam in the first place.
Armour and a blade? There were a couple of contenders for that title. "There's Wessex, but I don't believe she would attack an Ascended." He shrugged. "Roana, but I don't believe she'd hurt anyone needlessly. And others, too, I'm sure. But why Sam?" Brow furrowing, Ronin let it go and smiled sadly across at Remi as well. "Would that I could be there too."
"I am not sure I believe you." The alchemist quipped back jokingly, flashing his husband a smile that, for the moment, was entirely carefree.
Both Roana and Wessex were about the right height, but neither truly fit for the reasons his husband mentioned. "They wanted Sam to speak to the Voice, to make her apologize to the old gods." Remi said with an understandable air of incredulity as he shook his head.
Clearing his throat to prevent his breath from hitching, the alchemist merely slowed his steps to walk closer to Ronin as he nodded. "You will. One way or another." He replied. "If...if the roses do not work, I would not let you die in a jail cell." Remi added in a low voice, shooting Ronin a rather hard to read look.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Snorting incredulously at Remi's apparent disbelief, Ronin allowed his husband's mind to wander as it would. In another time and place he might have been curious as to what sort of crimes the alchemist thought he might have committed, but it didn't really feel right. Especially considering what had happened with Skyler in more recent times. He frowned as he heard Remi out, letting out a sigh and shaking his head. "They wanted Sam to do it? Why not ask themselves? Unless they were Abandoned, and the gods are not likely to listen..." He shrugged.
He bristled a little as Remi walked closer, both loving it and feeling the beast within him stir at fresh meat suddenly close enough to bite into. Swallowing hard, he directed his gaze at the snowy ground. "If the roses don't work, I will be dead long before my body gives out," he said softly. "Don't kill me at home on my account, Remi. I won't be there to appreciate it."
"Presumably because the Voice would only listen to one of her own. It is the Voice who apparently owes an apology not that...well, not that I see why I suppose." Recently in conversing with Wessex Remi had realized just how ignorant he was of this whole war, only seeing his small part in what was happening. It made him much more hesitation to weigh in.
"Out in the wilderness, then." Remi said through lips suddenly far, far too dry. "As a manticore—I learned that is what the shift is called—I do not think you can do me much harm. We could just...go away while and until you...are.." But he couldn't make himself actually say it. Instead he squinted into the snow, thinking of roses and roses and roses.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"I'm not sure she would listen even to one of her own," Ronin admitted, frowning down at the snowy path they were following, now, back in towards the Hollowed Grounds proper. "We're all just puppets in this, Remi. Gods pulling our strings, making us act out whatever they feel is right whilst a bigger fight goes on above our heads." That was certainly how it felt lately, anyway, but Ronin honestly didn't know if it was just the blight talking.
Dying in the wilderness didn't seem fun - but then he supposed it was infinitely better than the Spire where it had happened last time. And he still wasn't alone - that was good, too. "Sure," he said gruffly. "We'll do that, then. If it happens." When it happened.
"No, I do not think so either." Remi agreed. "If not the gods work in mysterious ways speech, then something about us just not understanding I expect." Wincing slightly, the king's words sounding very similar to Wessex', the alchemist could only hum a note of discord. "When we first came, the naturals were so surprised we lived in a world without gods. Now I just miss the times were at least our problems were ones that we created."
Not blights, not LongNight monsters, not exploding Spire demons, not memory-loss.
Remi could hear the when, even though Ronin hadn't actually said it. Travelling more easily on the cobblestones now, the alchemist tried to force his shoulders to relax. "Amalia and I were going to Vi's shrine. I cannot replicate the roses, and though my prayers have not had the best record, we thought it might be worth asking for more just the same." He'd promised Ronin thousands after all, and thus far he'd only managed three.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Mm, what a time that was," Ronin agreed heartily, though there was a suggestion that it might be the monster in him talking there. It was true that without the gods things would be more simple. But... his daughter would be dead alongside Vanya, both gone in a wash of blood and tears. He would be dead - properly dead, not a star shining in the sky. All of that, if not for Safrin. Still, it was easy to be bitter now, with even his goddess lost to the dark.
Ronin didn't look up as they meandered along the cobblestones, more than aware that his impending doom was on both of their minds, but lacking the courage to bring it up again. "Oh?" he said instead, raising an eyebrow at the mention of Vi and his shrine. "There are roses aplenty at the shrine, still. I imagine they must be needed for whatever voodoo is happening with them, though..."
"I tried to take more after we spoke last." After you left me to wake up in a circle of blood by a fire entirely trampled, and with you gone without a word. "But they ... it is like they will not be uprooted. Three seems to be all anyone had been able to take." Why? Who knew. He'd asked everyone: Loren, Amalia, Ianto, Jigano...No one seemed to know why only three.
Raising a skeptical brow, wanting to ask how it was Ronin knew just how many roses there were, he instead sighed. "It..." The alchemist bit the inside of his lip, torn between leaning on Ronin as his life partner, and not unnecessarily adding stress by voicing answer-less concerns. "...it is ridiculous." He said finally, kicking at a stone in his way and sending it flying.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Ronin wrinkled his nose as he thought about the roses. If they thought the only thing he did out in the woods was freeze to death and spook people walking, they were sorely mistaken. Oh, he knew how many roses there were. He knew how many he had destroyed and how many had bloomed again, too. But that didn't seem the sort of thing that Remi would like to talk about, so he kept quiet. Just in time for his husband to kick a rock, it turned out. Ronin smiled wanly.
"Know what else is ridiculous? How far away this fucking jail is. I'll be dead by the time we get there at this rate." Very black humour, but he didn't seem to have any other kind these days.
'Oh well if that is the case I suppose I could just shift and put you out of your misery now." The alchemist quipped back, his soul to battered to bother trying to brighten his husband's mood or sense of humour. Instead, he just let himself sink into the darkened depths alongside. At least they'd be together then.
"I suppose as king you could order a new jail to be built. One that is closer to the woods for all blight-related arrests." Not that this was an arrest necessarily since Ronin was coming more or less voluntarily. But it was an arrest of sorts, he supposed. Maybe if he'd made handcuffs instead of body-restraints things would have been more fun.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
