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!
"This is my winding road
This is my way back home
This is the narrow door you know that I will walk through"
Picking up the shell gently in one hand, Remi moved to one of the spare rooms unoccupied by all of the LongNight guests, and leaned heavily against the wall. There was no light to turn on of course, but nor did he light a candle. Some conversations simply felt better in the dark, and this would certainly be one of them.
With Roana's blood freshly washed off of his arms and Ronin's face, only now did he feel emotionally prepared to make the call he knew he needed to. Looking softly down in the folds of the shell Remi pulled in a breath, closed his eyes, and spoke.
"Hallo. This is Remi. I need to speak to Phoebe, please."
And then he waited.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Well now, wasn’t this fun? Getting a call from a friend? She was absolutely going to beg Remi to keep these when LongNight was over so they could chat whenever they wished, wherever they were! Fortunately for Phoebe, the other shell was brought to her by someone in the Temple, and she found a quiet place in her College to curl up to speak with him. The boys were fast asleep, cuddled up with Pim, so really, he could not have picked a better time to call. ”Hello, Remi!” she said chipperly into the shell, giggling a bit. ”Decided you didn’t want to play hangman anymore?” she asked jokingly.
"This is my winding road
This is my way back home
This is the narrow door you know that I will walk through"
The brightness in her voice made his chest ache, and though he tried to muffle it, she could likely hear the strained inhale of breath on his end. "Phoebe, something has happened." He managed after a moment, deciding there was no easy way into this conversation.
In his mindseye he heard the frantic knocks of those tiny fists, of Roana a mere shape in the night until she staggered his way. How everything had happened so fast and then suddenly slowed down to nothing beneath the confines of his wings. An ax raised. Two pairs of blue eyes, and then only one.
"Roana .... she is dead."
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Her stomach dropped instantly. Her mind began to whir a mile a minute, her mind immediately going to Ronin, and thinking her best friend – nay brother – had lost the love of his life again. But if that were so, she doubted he would be so collected, a strained breath the only sign of his discomfort. ”What happened?” she asked softly, the chipper tone gone and replaced with quiet seriousness.
”Roana…she is dead.”
The midwife fell completely silent, brown eyes gazing into the darkness of her College, unseeing in the pitch blackness. The only noise for Remi to hear was a small intake of breath before her hand covered her mouth. Roana?! Dead?! Grief suddenly coursed through her veins. Her sister-in-law may not have been her favorite person in the world, but…she would never have wished for something like this, and it was a loss nonetheless. Slowly she looked towards the three sleeping boys, unaware of the loss they would soon keenly feel. ”For Frey’s sake…” she swore quietly, mind whirring to life again as all the implications crashed down around her, tears welling in her eyes on behalf of the three sleeping children. ”What happened?? How? She…how?” Roana had been a formidable warrior, one worthy of legend in many respects. Phoebe was struggling to comprehend what could have brought her down.
"This is my winding road
This is my way back home
This is the narrow door you know that I will walk through"
He knew the question would come and yet somehow still hadn't prepared a satisfactory answer to it. Staring numbly into the dark Remi tugged in a breath, and then another, and another still as words swirled beyond his reach.
"She...was here..." Why? For how long? He had no idea. "She ran outside, and then there were children at the door, and when I opened..." Running a hand through his hair to suppress the imagery that wanted to flash behind his eyes, he exhaled a deliberate breath. "She was out there, in the dark, and when she came back to the guildhall...it...she had already been attacked."
Remi's blood ran cold at the words he knew he needed to say.
"The monsters were in her, or at least she thought so, so she made Ronin..." Now the tears did come, more for his husband than the newly deceased ex-captain, but it wasn't entirely one sided. "..she asked him to burn her, but...he..." The words felt thick on his tongue. "...had an ax...we made sure the children did not see...she.."
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Phoebe listened in horror as Remi spoke, explained what he knew, wondering after the gaps in his knowledge. It was terrifying. It was tragic. But…in a way…she was heartened by the story. ”Ronin saved her from unimaginable suffering I am sure. He is a great man.” Phoebe said, hearing the uncertainty and struggle in Remi’s voice. Already the midwife was stealing herself, pulling herself together to be the pillar of strength and peace those around her would soon need. ”And she died doing the one thing she loved most – saving the innocent. It is an honorable death, and we should pray that she finally has some peace with Mort.” she said calmly.
”I…thank you for telling me. I will be sure to tell the boys…” she said, stopping short. How? How did you give that sort of news to children? It seemed impossible, and yet she would have to. ”This is…this is not the way I had hoped I would find myself a mother.” she said softly.
"This is my winding road
This is my way back home
This is the narrow door you know that I will walk through"
"Jigano..had his lantern, and song.." The alchemist said uselessly, not sure if Phoebe knew about the Sage's task or what his lantern did. But if there was a way for Roana's soul to be with Mort, then they'd done all they could to ensure that indeed it was.
"She said she loved them...I mean, of course she did, but.." What Phoebe said next made the alchemist feel infinitely guilty all of a sudden. Here he'd been concerned about taking care of the boys, of Roana's last request of her former soldier and friend, and yet Phoebe was more than willing to shoulder the burden that he'd immediately flinched from. "She did ask Ronin but...you are their family." Was all he could say, the rest too difficult and selfish to communicate over the phone shell.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Phoebe’s frown deepened as Remi rambled on, half phrase and thoughts, strung together in a nearly incoherent manner. She was fairly certain she could piece it together with context clues but…well it seemed as though something was being left unsaid, which worried her. It was clear that amidst the tragedy there was indeed some horror, things that were likely very traumatic for Remi to watch or at least be present for. ”Remi…” Phoebe said softly, steeling herself once more for her brother, who was clearly falling apart. ”Why don’t you tell me everything that is on your mind so I can better understand. You’re not making much sense at the moment.” she said.
"This is my winding road
This is my way back home
This is the narrow door you know that I will walk through"
'She said she loved him." He replied with a shaky laugh that tumbled from his lips. "Twice now I suppose. I threatened to kill her once, for threatening the ascended..and...she told me to, and I nearly..." Trailing off, he pulled in a hasty breath, clenching his teeth together and forcing himself to swallow and breathe. "Of course she loved him. Who wouldn't." He said bitterly, and unfairly, all things considered.
"She asked him to raise the boys as his own." Remi managed after a moment, staring darkly at the floor.
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Phoebe listened in silence, letting Remi get all his thoughts off his chest. And when he fell silent, she remained so for a moment, collecting her own thoughts on everything that had been said. "You didn't kill her, though, did you?" she said, trying to encourage him to see that reality for what it was. "You are a good person, and that is what came through. Whether you considered it or not is moot. What you did is what matters so don't weigh yourself down with a possible reality that doesn't exist." she said gently.
As far as Roana loving Ronin and asking him to care for her boys...Phoebe sighed a bit. "Roana told me once that her only friend in all of Caido was Ronin. And...well I admit that I wasn't really there for her - the boys yes, but not her. Not only that, but he knew what it was like to be suddenly without a partner and having to raise a child. And he was a Captain in the Storm Guard like her...I think Ronin perhaps was the only one here who really understood her and why she was as she was and did what she did. I certainly would struggle not to love someone like that." she said softly. "But she didn't interfere in your relationship with Ronin, did she?" she asked.
"And as far as the boys...don't worry about that. Roana was worried about them not having a male figure in their lives to look up to...I think if he simply made a small effort to be somewhat in their lives, that would serve her final wishes well." she said.
"This is my winding road
This is my way back home
This is the narrow door you know that I will walk through"
A good person? Remi nearly laugehd. Oh no. He was many things now, but good? Sadly that was no longer one of them. He was selfish, foolish, naive, and worst of all, a murderer. He'd hurt those he loved, put himself in (unnecessary) danger, and refused to see reason the majority of the time.
Grimacing at the words, knowing them to be true but not wanting to here them, the alchemist merely hummed a discontent note into the phone. It was more of that lack of goodness coming through, a possessiveness and jealousness Remi had never experienced before. But he's mine, part of him wanted to argue, even though Ronin very much wasn't, even though it would be hypocritical.
"Alright..." Remi said at last with a weary sigh. "I...we preserved her body as best we could...for a proposer burial...after.."
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
She could tell her words didn't really help, but she didn't think much of anything would in the moment. "Thank you...it will help the boys to have that closure." she said quietly. A very physical sort of closure. What they might not be able to comprehend with words they would better grasp when seeing it like that. For a moment she was silent, simply appreciating the knowledge that Remi was on the other side of the shell phone. "I wish you were here. I could give you a big hug, and it seems you need one." she said softly.
"This is my winding road
This is my way back home
This is the narrow door you know that I will walk through"
Pulling in a breath and trying to snap himself out of it, Remi nodded despite the fact that Phoebe wouldn't be able to see it. "I need...away." He admitted. "I think once LongNight is over...Ronin and I are taking a vacation." With Ronin no longer King, there were no actual obligations to keep them here. There were their guilds to take care of, but a few weeks away wouldn't see them subjected to too much harm presumably.
And somewhere along the way Remi had lost himself, and though he clung to his husband's love like a moth to a flame, he knew if he didn't find his way back on his own he'd never be whole again.
"I should go. But before I do, is everything all right over there?"
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”That sounds lovely.” Phoebe said with a bit of a wistful sigh. Away – to go and exist elsewhere if only for a bit. That was something that would be out of her reach now. ”I wish I could come with, and will miss you while you are gone.” she said with a small smile. ”You’ll have to take this shell so you can call me and tell me all about your adventures.” she said with a light laugh.
Was everything all right? A loaded question. ”Well, apparently Loren burned the Rathskeller down.” she said with a sigh. ”But as far as I am aware, everything else has been fine. Its just been me, Pim, and the boys in the College mostly.” she said, a hint of her loneliness showing through. But soon enough the week would be over and hopefully things could get mostly back to normal then.
