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!
11-03-2019, 01:10 AM (This post was last modified: 11-12-2019, 06:23 PM by Remi.)
everything looks perfect from far away
Aoife was snuggled securely against Isla's back at the trio walked. The dark unicorn moved with an uncanny grace through the budding underbrush; she certainly seemed to be now more magical equine than once-human-medic, which, was a melancholy thing to have realized. Much as the alchemist was glad to have saved his friend's soul, he truly hadn't meant it to be like this. Even so, there was a flash of the woman he'd known in the unicorn's pebble-blue eyes every now and then.
On her back, Aoife cackled happily. The starry-eyed child rode along confidently even though she'd only just reached her first birthday, she seemed like she'd ridden unicorns her whole life. Which, in a way, she had.
Entering into the clearing, Remi sang soft songs to her before finally drawing them to a halt and gathering Aoife into his arms. "Well my sweetling, shall we begin?"
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
With LongNight finally fucking over, Oliver wanted to go out and explore. There was no more snow so exploring wouldn't make his ass feel like it was going to fall off.
All the new plant life looked so beautiful, but he had to go somewhere special to find it. He'd explored the different parts of Caido before, but not this area yet. Luckily enough, he packed a couple of things for himself in his bag. Within the bag was a canteen of water, a thin blanket, and an apple. He felt like he was going to go on an adventure today, and boy was he right.
After a bit of walking, he saw a very familiar figure with the trees: a black unicorn. Now, black unicorns were not all that common, so obviously Oliver decided to take a few steps closer. Soon enough he saw another familiar face, Remi. With a smile, Oliver continued to walk towards the pair, not yet noticing the figure on Isla's back. Soon, the figures ahead of him made it into a clearing. Oliver stayed a bit back, not yet following them into the area.
He called out to Remi, hoping that he wouldn't end up with a knife in his chest. "Mind if I join you?" That was when he noticed a special someone on Isla's back. With a raised eyebrow, Oliver took a few steps closer. "And who is this?"
Not a knife, but a sunny smile was tossed towards the younger man, as Remi glanced over his shoulder. "No, of course not." He said, his tone bright and his accent reasonably understandable; though it usually was a bit thicker after he'd been singing, as he just had been.
"This—" The alchemist said, wrapping an arm around Aoife so that she was snugly around his waist. "—is Aoife." At the sound of her name, the toddler gurgled happily, slapping her tiny and pudgy hands against Remi's arm as she did her best to wave a enthusiastic greeting to the pale-haired man. "My daughter." Remi added after a moment, smiling down at her adoringly. Behind him, Isla nudged his shoulder with her muzzle. "Ah! And this is Isla. Isla, meet Oliver." With uncannily intelligent eyes, the unicorn scanned the man, before bobbing her head in an obvious greeting.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
With that, Oliver approached the group. He and remi hadn't talked too much, but he always thought of the man with a positive attitude. After all, he and Sunjata had basically saved his life. As well, Remi was his earliest memory. So of course he'd feel comfortable being around the other.
Looking at Aoife, Oliver couldn't help but smile. She was absolutely adorable. He didn't expect Remi to have a daughter, but it wasn't hard to notice that Remi loved the girl. It was cute and reminded Oliver that good things did exist here. "Well it's very nice to meet you, Aoife." Oliver said with a small laugh before turning to look at Isla. "Don't think I forgot about you, either." With that he took the apple out of his bag and turned to look at Remi. Sure, he'd like to eat it, but might as well offer it to Isla.
"She can have it if she wants." He did need Remi's permission first to make sure Isla could even eat it in the first place.
"What are you guys doing all the way out here?" Not like Oliver really had much of a reason himself.
Hearing her name, the starlit eyed child cackled merrily, her hands flapping wildly. There was no visual similarity between the alchemist and the child, but that didn't means he was any less his own, just because they did not share the same blood. For her part, the unicorn absolutely did not think she needed Remi's permission. Reaching her long elegant neck forward, she took the apple from the boy's palm with an intentional gentleness. Snorting her approval, she munched easily on the fruit.
"Mmm? Oh. We were going to plant some flowers. Would you like to join us?" More precisely, Aoife was going to throw some seeds around, Isla was going to graze, and Remi was going to use his magic to ensure everything went smoothly.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Seeing the little girl's happiness just made Oliver's heart melt. It didn't help that Isla was also an absolutely adorable horse and he was happy to offer up an apple. If he had been alone, then he probably would be fucked, but Remi seemed like the kinda guy who comes extra prepared. He'd be fine. Besides, he liked Isla. She was pretty and sweet and he kinda wanted to braid her hair...anyways.
Back to what was actually important: Remi and Aoife. "I'd love to join you guys, if Aoife doesn't mind." Of course Aoife wouldn't mind...right? She just seemed like a happy, little bundle of joy. For some reason, Oliver felt like he had a new responsibility. That he should care for her and make sure she was alright...eh, that's probably nothing.
He didn't really mind the lack of similarities between the two, it just made him happy to know that Remi had someone who brought him joy and that Aoife was being well cared for. "It must be nice to finally be able to go outside again, especially not all bundled up. I know I'm happy." Especially when all he knew before was snow. This was amazing.
"Oh, she will certainly let you know if she does." The alchemist chuckled. Pressing a kiss against the girl's dark curls, he beamed down at her for a moment. Indeed both she and Ronin were the stars in his sky and always a light to his darkness. Even so, he nodded in emphatic agreement. "Yes. This was a particularly hard LongNight." He said with a bit of a sigh, shaking his head against the dark memories threatening to crowd in.
"How was LongNight in the temple? I heard about the Rathskeller, and then of course all of us coming down the last day." From all accounts, things had been relatively stable over there. He'd heard Phoebe had had a good time (nudge nudge wink wink), but that was really all so far.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Oliver would have to be the best dude he could around Aoife. Besides, she was cute and hadn't done anything wrong. It was nice to see the affection and love radiating off of Remi. Oliver hadn't seen this side of the other man and it made him feel safe and comfortable. He had only once heard Remi briefly mention his husband, Ronin, so to see it visually was reassuring. "I'm sure she will." It was a small comment, but one of no doubt. If Aoife was anything like Remi, then she was absolutely incredible.
It might not have been a good idea to mention LongNight. Remi had lost his home and that must be devastating. To lose so many memories and things acquired over his time here in Caido. If Remi wanted to talk about it, he would, but right now he seemed to be pushing away from those thoughts, asking him for what happened over at the Temple.
"Well....uh...nothing big happened really...things went well, I met some new people. Talked with people I've already known." Again he had a battle of what was okay to be mentioned. That was when his eyes lit up and he remembered something big. Something life changing.
"Actually...I have magic. I found out with Loren." And yes, he did throw in a dramatic pause.
"That actually sounds rather nice." Remi said with a chuckle. Most accounts of LongNight were far more dramatic than that; to hear Oliver's had been rather mundane was actually rather wondrous.
Kneeling down and worry not at all for the mud that began to crawl towards him and how his pants were already stained (Remi was always in various sorts of disarray normally), he plopped Aoife down alongside. Immediately the toddler began to crawl away, leaving the alchemist merely chuckling as he watched her so thoroughly investigate the world. With a wave of his hand a flower before her suddenly sprouted facial features, raising its leaves like hands, and appearing to dance with the star-eyed child.
"Mm, oh?" Ahh Loren. It was hard for Remi not to wince at that name, but his expression remained just as sunny as it had been. "That's amazing Oliver." He added far more brightly. "I would love to hear about it. What happened?" He asked, his gaze wandering from Oliver's bright blue eyes back over to Aoife and where she was still dancing with the flower.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Remi did have a point. Being bored was better than nothing, but it didn't mean that he was completely okay. He felt free now, able to do what he want, go anywhere, be around anyone. It felt nice. Incredible. "Yeah...I guess it was pretty nice, now that I think of it." There were things Oliver wanted to say, but he also wanted this to be a positive time. He didn't want to bring Remi down or accidentally make himself upset by bringing up unwanted thoughts. So he didn't.
Oliver sure did notice the affinity that the mud seemed to have for Remi. The way it swarmed closer to him and further from him was a blessing. Oliver liked to keep his clothes spotless if possible.
The blonde watched with keen interest as the plant was created. It was absolutely beautiful and enchanting, he could only wonder what sort of magic Remi was currently using. Maybe he could eventually achieve something like that?
It was surprising to hear and see Remi's response to him discovering his magic. He hadn't expected the man to respond in any way similar to this. Maybe he would've shown a small interest, but it felt nice. It made Oliver feel like this truly was a gift and not a curse.
"Well..." He laughed nervously and bit his lip. It was a little bit embarrassing. "I was punching a flour sack because I was super bored and I really just wanted to run around or do something. And you know, I was being an idiot and messing around...and then Loren found me. He noticed that I cant punch, which he is absolutely not wrong, and he decided to make a unicorn appear to train me. He took a few moments to rest, giving himself and Remi some time to process everything already said.
"I tried to fight it a bit, Loren got annoyed, and then it just happened. I wanted to pick up a brick to defend myself and then the unicorn got hit with it...and Loren confirmed it by making me pick it back up... He shrugged, trailing off a small bit. It was still a bit obvious that Oliver wasn't really sure how to view his magic abilities. "I have telekinesis...and something else."
“Of course he did.” Remi said with a reluctant sigh, running a hand through his curls (adding mud to his hair as he did so). Loren would be the sort to summon a unicorn, the type of creature that no one was likely to fight, to teach Oliver how to throw a decent punch.
That Loren got annoyed was no surprise, but picking up a brick? What was Loren thinking giving Oliver something challenging enough he’d need a brick to defend himself. Still, this was about the new commer and not Loren, so the alchemist brandished the blonde a sunny smile and rolled his hand slightly for him to go on. “Telekenesis and..?” He prompted with a grin.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Oliver wasn't that oblivious. He knew something had happened between Remi and Loren at one point. It might not have been wise for him to mention Loren, but Remi did ask for all of the details. "Yeah...honestly I think he had something else in mind? I don't know for sure, but he couldn't make anything stay. When he tried to summon nothing happened. Once animals appeared but they immediately disappeared..." Oliver soon realized he was rambling. Kind of in a quiet trance of explaining the weird event that he couldn't understand at all. It was weird and not something he grasped.
Too bad he'd have to let Remi down. Letting out a sigh, he was half tempted to try and remove the mud from Remi's hair, but that didn't sound really appropriate. "Honesrly, I don't know. I know what it's not, for sure, but I haven't really tested it yet. We identified that it exists, but decided it'd be safer to wait until after LongNight for me to try and figure it out. But like I said, it's not the item stuff and it's also not healing. I don't think it is, at least."
The alchemist shrugged off this bit of information with a polite smile. He'd done everything he could reasonably think of to try and rebuild what had been broken by Loren's sudden departure. After weeks of excruciating efforts he thought he'd made progress, only to find Loren once again doing an abrupt about-face and entirely changing his LongNight plans. The only time Remi had heard from him had been a drunken shell-call. And now? Well, now the alchemist, optimistic as he was, was finally coming around to the idea Loren had been trying to impose upon him since the beginning: there was no friendship left to salvage.
"Not item stuff and not healing." Remi repeated with a crooked grin that devolved into a chuckle. "Well, would you like to try now? I have a few abilities—" Humbly said, but not true. Remi had a good deal more than a few. "—I can describe what it is like to use them and you can see if you can replicate it?"
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Maybe if Oliver heard the full story from both people, his view of Loren would possibly change. However, for now, he viewed Loren in a rather positive light. Sure, Loren tended to be a bit grumpy and monotone and angry, but the man had also done a lot for him. He was giving him a place to live and Oliver had seen how caring and nurturing he could be. That didn't mean Oliver had no respect for Remi. He understood that Remi may dislike Loren so he'd try to be as respectful of him as he could.
"You know what? Yeah, I'd like to try it out now." That actually sounded like a pretty good option. Oliver felt like that kind of help would actually be beneficial to him. It would be nice to learn more about his magic and how to use it better. "Go ahead and show me what you can do...then we can try to figure it out. I just...I hope I can learn to use my current magic."
