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!
Ever since they had arrived at the temple, Sam had tried to make himself small. There were two people here he feared to speak to: Wessex, who he was sure would have words about his failed mission and Bastien, who he was sure would be upset about Rexanna's injuries. Both of them were right to be upset and he was willing to listen to their apologies, but...as he came through the door, his first instinct was to hide.
From his place sat in an alcove he saw Bastien carry Rexanna away, wondered if he would ever know a love like that. The way she leaned in closer, the way he seemed entirely dedicated to making her feel better...The relationship he had with Nate was blossoming, ad potential, but it was not the love or familiarity of happy marriage. The sight did scare him a little too, though; if Bastien put so much care into Rexanna's rehabilitation surely he would put an equal amount of effort into revenge.
At least he'd already worked out a solution with Rexanna, though he wondered if Bastien would be upset with that too. If he was married, he would be confused as to why his spouse wanted to go and visit The Voice with someone else, nevertheless one who had just caused them to be horribly hurt. It didn't help that he didn't know the artist well, so his mind readily provided for him the worst possible interpretations of him, deciding he would be angry and cruel.
Watching Bastien with wary eyes and hoping he would not be noticed, Sam curled up and hugged his knees.
Rexanna was Bastien's first priority: when the guild's refugees had come to the temple he had only seen her, only thought of taking her somewhere safe. Once she had been comforted and he had done all he could for the moment, left her to rest (and would soon return, he promised, not feeling right to leave her alone for very long), he walked out into the temple without much of a goal in mind.
He wanted badly to go to his studio and lose himself in his paints, but he was trapped by night in the cold walls of the temple. It reminded him of St Mark's Basilica in Venice, but with less gold...no less judging divine atmosphere, though. With his back turned to the shrine, he felt he could feel Safrin's glaring eyes on his back.
As he looked across the temple, he suddenly caught a glimpse of ginger hair in the corner of his eye. His feet began to walk towards Sam before his mind had caught up, but his hands balled into fists and he felt anger rising in his chest as he approached. Yelling at Samuel wouldn't heal Rexanna, but it would make him feel better.
Perhaps he was not one to hold onto anger for long, but when he did have it, it burnt hot. "You." Bastien growled as he looked into the alcove, onto the rather terrified Samuel. At any other time, if the anger was for himself, the sight of wide green eyes and tucked-up knees might have lessened his temper, but this man had hurt his wife. "What the hell were you thinking, dragging us out there for your stupid plan! Clearly not a well thought one, looking at Rexanna! What is it you hoped to achieve, to be best friends with a monster? They have made it clear where they stand, idiot. Time for you to do the same."
Quite what that meant he wasn't sure, but it sounded good.
11-01-2019, 11:35 AM (This post was last modified: 11-01-2019, 11:35 AM by Samuel.)
SAMUEL
Stretch out my life
And pick the seams out
As bizarre as it was, Sam had nearly fallen asleep - the temple had a sort of buzzing humdrum of voices that if he let his mind go numb became almost relaxing and he was so, so tired, his heart heavy with all he had to consider and do. His eyes had closed and he was thinking of Nate, of the future home he and Remi had discussed...
At the sound of the sharp you, which Sam just knew had to be for him, he snapped up, immediately scared. Perhaps he should not have found the artist quite so frightening, but he had always found anger terrifying, regardless of who it came from.
Sam stayed silent as Bastien yelled, unsure of what to say; there was not much he could say that would make anything better. He had made a mistake and it had resulted in someone Bastien loved getting very hurt. "I...I...um..." His voice was wavering and even Sam could hear how pathetic it sounded leaving him. "I'm sorry, you're right. I have spoken to Rexanna, though...I'm going to help, I promise." He swallowed and chewed at his lip, unsure of what else to do (other than run, which was a very appealing option, but he felt that would look even worse than he currently did).
Bastien sighed and pinched the bridge of his nose as Sam's voice wavered and he noticed that the bookmaker could not meet his eyes. He would not get a fight here, he knew; just apologies and tears that would ultimately make him feel guilty and not do much else. Maybe for the best, but he just wanted badly to yell at someone. Rexanna was so hurt, he hadn't been there to help her and it had to be someone's fault.
"By help, you mean going to The Voice, yes? I wish you were not coming but I think Rexanna thinks it will somehow teach you a lesson. I don't know that it will, but I am going to tell you something right now: You are not always going to be able to fall back on being..." Bastien waved his hand around, gesturing vaguely to Samuel as he thought of the word. "Shy, insecure. Like you are. Eventually people will grow tired of it and your mistakes." As much as he was angry, this was more the kind of tough love advice he used to give to his students more than a reprimand. It seemed he naturally was a teacher.
With that said there wasn't much else to do lest he get into lecturing territory. "...Just...try to take that on board. I will see you when we go to The Voice." Bastien turned and walked away, going back to Rexanna.
