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!
"Vanya." Remi replied softly. "Her name was Vanya." As for Ronin? Ahh..."Mm, he did die, though he is very much alive now. We...Before the barrier came down there was a creature that guarded the Spire. A group of us went to attack it, and when it was almost dead, it exploded. Ronin died instantly." Even though Ronin was alive and well now, the memory was still painful. "Safrin placed him in the night sky with Vanya and there he stayed until a woman we both consider a sister gave up her immortality to bring him back." With a roguish smile, Remi shrugged again. "It is why he is called the Fallen Star."
Hearing her name, the unicorn looked over. Her pebble-blue stare was unreadable. Snorting, she went back to grazing.
"Well you could do. Or I could make you something to swim in." So saying, a pair of swimming shorts appeared in his hands. They were adorned with stars and dragons, which was his and Ronin's motif: almost everything they had (blankets and such) were covered with them. "Go on then. I will not look." He chuckled. Touching his own clothes, he simply transmuted them, not needing to change. Stripping off his shirt and reaching for Aoife to tug her close, the girl cackled happily. "We can join you. And if you do not know how, Aoife can teach you." He added with a smile.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Vanya. He'd be sure to remember that name, to think of her when he looked to the sky.
The tale of what happened to Ronin was a sad one, but it was also a happy one, in a way. Ronin was brought back, now able to live a life with Remi. It was clearly hard for Remi to talk about it, so Oliver was proud of him for being able to tell him the full story. "I'm glad you have him once more. Someday, I'll meet him...I just know it." Part of him did want to know who gave up their immortality, but Oliver chose to leave it at that, rather keeping quiet on the subject now.
Remi seemed to have everything covered and a lovely pair of shorts was procured. Raising an eyebrow at it, Oliver took it from Remi. "Thank you, I guess this should work nicely." Better that than any of the clothes he was currently wearing. Trusting that Remi was being honest, Oliver stood up, walked a couple of feet away, and started to get changed into the swimming trunks. Soon, his old clothes and boots were neatly folded and placed down with his stuff, replaced now by the honestly very adorable swimming trunks.
With a smile, Oliver turned to Aoife. "You ready to show me how to swim?" It was him babbling about random things. He had no idea if he could swim or not, but with Remi also swimming, he had trust. "And I must say, these shorts look absolutely great on me. They really suit me if you ask me." He giggled at his joke. Suit. Get it. Because it's a swimming suit. Hah, he's hilarious.
Remi gave the other man a sly smile as he nodded in agreement. He would indeed meet Ronin one way or another; the guildmaster (or former guildmaster as it was), had a name that often proceeded him.
Indeed Remi was being honest. He had no interest in seeing anyone else who wasn't Ronin (and given just how handsome his husband was, who could blame him). Instead, he transmuted Aoife's clothes into a swimming dress as well. Pulling her to him, he glanced over at the sound of Oliver's voice. "Well, hopefully I will not have to." Remi chuckled back.
Reacting to Oliver's expression more than anything, the girl happily cackled in response to his joke. Joining in, Remi tipped the other man a nod. Where the alchemist was now thickly muscled and covered in scars, Oliver was lean with skin that seemed only marred by the colourful tattoos on him. Then again, Remi wasn't looking too closely.
Walking towards the Oasis, Remi dipped a toe in and abruptly inhaled sharply. "I was hoping it would have been a bit warmer by now." He confessed sheepishly. For her part though, Aoife cared very little for her father's hesitation. Slamming her tiny hands around and wailing for the water, Remi sighed and sat himself on the bank so that his legs dangled in.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Even if Remi had changed in front of Oliver, he would've had enough respect to not look. So it's nice to know that the both of them seemed to have a mutual respect for each other's privacy, as well as for the fact that Remi was married.
"It shouldn't be deep enough for me to to like...drown...right?" He sounded a bit wary as he realized that if he couldn't swim: he could very well be fucked over. Hopefully everything would be okay and either he could swim or Remi would save his life...again.
Walking on over to the Oasis, Oliver watched as Remi took a seat with Aoife. "Someone's excited." He said with a nervous laugh, thinking about what Remi had just said. Cold water and him probably didn't mix...but Remi had already made him the swimming trunks, so it'd be rude to just not use them. Besides, it might be good to see if he could swim or not, it could serve him well here. "Do you want me to just...jump in? See how it goes?" If it was too cold then he could just get out immediately, yeah. It was all going to be completely okay.
"Oh it absolutely is." The alchemist said with a laugh. "Even the ascended who do not need to breathe have not seen the bottom." Splashing slightly though, Remi merely shrugged his shoulders. "I will not let you drown though. I promise."
Giving Oliver a considering look, Remi turned back to the water. "Well...that would be one way to do it. At least we would find out quickly. Then again if you got in slowly I suppose you could wait and see if your body just...knew what to do?" Holding Aoife about hip-deep in the water, the girl cackled and merrily splashed away.
"I suppose it depends how dramatic you want to be about it." He added with a grin.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Great. Just great. Looks like Oliver was about to die thanks to some weird ass sea monster who lives in the bottom of the pool. Probably some gigantic squid or some shit like that. How Oliver got that idea? He has no idea, but it'll be fine. Remi is strong and could save him, Oliver would just have an even bigger debt to him. Taking a deep breath, Oliver nodded. "Sounds good...not exactly a fan of it being that deep, but sure. I'll try it out." He sounded a bit unsure of himself, but not scared.
Listening to the options, Oliver knew what he wanted to do. While he could wait, that seemed like a poor idea. The better option would be to just jump in, at least in his eyes. If he waited too long he may chicken out, but if he just threw himself in...well, he'd know pretty much immediately if he was royally fucked or not.
"You and I both know how dramatic I am." Oliver said with a grin and a wink before walking a few feet away. Oliver was a drama queen, through and through. With a running start, Oliver jumped into the pool, disappearing into its depths.
The cold liquid greeted him and he tried to open his eyes, looking around as his body slowly started to sink towards the empty abyss below him. Almost as if instinct took over him, his arms and legs started to move slightly, keeping him in place. What a surprising turn of events.
Knowing Remi would probably be a bit concerned, Oliver decided to say a quick hello. Swimming back up to the surface, the moment he made it up to the surface he took a breath. Gods was it fucking cold. Ignoring this, Oliver turned his body to face Remi, a lovely grin plastered on his face.
"Dramatic enough for you?" He said with a few deep breaths, clearly having not swam for quite a while.
"The worst things in there that I know of are the dream fish. You will be fine." He chuckled reassuringly.
"Oh I do indeed. Besides, it will make a good story for later, however it turns out." As Oliver backed up (presumably to get a running start), Remi readied his magic. With Aoife it wasn't as though he could simply jump in and save the other man, but there were more than a few ways he could rescue Oliver if it came to that.
As Oliver jumped, the alchemist held his breath. Luckily the water was clear enough that even as the blonde stayed beneath the surface, Remi could make out his limbs moving in a fairly un-panicked manner.
"Certainly was." He laughed merrily, before slipping into the water fully himself with Aoife clinging to his shoulder. Spinning the girl around, she splashed a mini-wave at Oliver, cackling happily.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Dream fish? Oliver would have to ask for wayyy more info on those things. They sounded cool, like super cool. Probably good things too. If they were bad then they'd totally be called Nightmare Fish or Devil Fish or something like that, but Dream fish? Oliver could get behind that.
Now enjoying the water as much as he could, Oliver watched as Remi joined in with him, holding Aoife close to his body. It didn't take long for the toddler to begin splashing at him. Oliver laughed and raised his hand halfway above the water to give a very, very small splash towards her. Just enough for her to see but not enough to really get any on her.
Then, his eyes focused on Remi. Damn dude was impressive as hell, swimming with a toddler who was clearly very fidgity? Impressive stuff right there. "So....tell me about these fish that you mentioned. What exactly do they do?" Might as well continue their lovely conversation in the water. Oliver wasn't drowning and things were going great, what better place to talk?
"Also...not that I don't like cold water, but are there any pools of hot water? Since that sounds super relaxing."
Offering the blonde a mischievous cackle, Aoife tucked her chin in giving her a near infinite amount of chins as she splashed merrily back at him. The stars in her eyes glistened when they finally opened, her tiny body content for a moment .
"Mmm, from what I know, if you touch them they...help you experience difficult memories and things, so that you can better deal with them." Shrugging as best he could with Aoife in his arms, he continued. "I have never touched one myself. But they are also used as offerings for Safrin during LongNight. You likely did not see them, but there were three that followed Aoife, Ronin, and Amalia around through the darkness to protect them."
The mention of hot pools had Remi shaking his head with a crooked smile. "Not that I know of. Though perhaps if either of us develops some fire magic we could make some, mm?"
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Yet again Oliver was brought to a crossroads. Should he take a leap of faith and consider swimming down to find the Dream Fish himself? Safrin and him had never met, meaning he had huge doubts that he would ever be sent the fish. Meaning, this may be his only option. As content as he was with not having all his memories, this was still a possibility. "And I'm going to take a guess and say that it wouldn't help me to remember any of my memories? Since they're supposed to help you overcome difficult memories...not remember them." Oliver wasn't even sure if he wanted all of his old memories. What if something bad had happened and the loss of memories was merely someone protecting him?
Pushing those negative thoughts aside, Oliver focused on the present. He had someone to talk to and things were fine. He didn't need his memories to be happy.
Watching Aoife's infinite chins begin to form, Oliver laughed and responded with another splash towards her once he knew she didn't mind. Might as well make her happy since she was kind of between him and Remi.
Whilst entertaining her, he continued to speak with Remi. While his face was far more innocent and playful, his voice continued to show his far more dramatic side. "We have to. Imagine just being able to sink into a nice, hot pool. Gods that would be fucking fantastic. Like...you got a hurt back? No problem." It sounded super nice, almost as if something similar to it once existed back in his old world...
"Why wait? Couldn't we find someone else who has fire magic? Just make it a team effort. I can make it look pretty, you can make it structurally sound, and then mysterious fire person can make it nice and toasty."
"Ahh..Honestly, I've no idea." The alchemist said easily, admitting his ignorance with a shrug. "But if you float around long enough I am sure they will come up to the surface. They have before when I have been here." Though Aoife's splashing would likely keep them away for the time being.
Humming a note of agreement, the alchemist pulled in a deep breath as if imagining himself sinking into a pool of hot water. "That would be quite lovely now that I think of it." Remi said, fluttering his eyes back open. "There were not...those sorts of luxuries for people like me where I came from. Maybe that means something about your past?" Or perhaps Oliver had merely put two and two together; warm pools were usually more desirable than cold ones after all.
"Mmmm, we could. Deimos has very strong fire magic now that I think of it...perhaps he could be swayed. Have you met Deimos yet?"
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
So they could come up to him...interesting. Oliver wasn't sure if he wanted to touch them, especially when he was in such a vulnerable position. What if the memories took over him and he drowned? That'd be a shitty and painful way to go. "I'll think about touching one...I don't know if it'll help me." Things were going great so far, enough so that he felt comfortable with his current situation. Maybe someday he'd return to the Oasis to touch one of the fish, but for now he was content with how things were going.
"Trust me, I have zero idea where that came from." Oliver was simply going with it at this point. Before when he came up with silly ideas he was embarrassed or afraid of sharing it, but Oliver discovered that the more he explored, the more he remembered. Might as well go with his silly idea. "You have to try it. I feel like you could really use it. It sounds like something to really calm you down, ya know? Release the tension." Maybe it'd help everyone to relax and calm down, especially after how stressful Longnight was.
Remi mentioned Deimos, someone Oliver hadn't entirely considered. "We've spoken, yeah. I drew his unicorn...it wasn't great, but I tried!" Oliver was pretty damn proud of himself for trying, especially when the unicorn seemed satisfied with what he had created. "I really think we should try convincing him...I think it'd be a great addition to the Hollowed Grounds."
There were a couple of things Oliver wanted to do along with it, but none of them were nearly as important. They were small, personal things. "I know I've asked you a lot...but could you do me a small favor? If it's possible here, that is..."
"Another thing Amalia might know." Remi hummed with another small shrug. The only times he'd been near the fish were to catch them for Safrin, and then, he and Ronin and he and Amalia had taken great care not to touch the strange creatures.
"What are you saying? That I am tense?" The alchemist asked, pretending to be insulting for a moment. But it was true, his muscles and mind were both so tightly wound that he felt as though he might burst at any moment. It was only sheer will power that kept him functioning most days. "I wonder what Phoebe would think. I bet she could use it for healing or such. Perhaps the medical college would pitch in to help." Remi said, mostly thinking out loud at this point. Though perhaps it was worth following up. Not that Remi planned on living in the Hollowed Grounds much longer.
"Oh?" Altruism came easily to the alchemist, who immediately nodded despite not having heard the other man's request.
Coding base by Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Damn, I really need to go talk to this Amalia, don't I?" Everyone was talking about her, saying that he should talk with her. That she would have the answers to many of his questions. She could guide him. He wasn't sure how much he believed it, but Oliver was always into meeting new people. Some individuals hated speaking with new people, but Oliver loved it. So why not listen to him and go speak with her?
With a playful eyeroll, Oliver shook his head. "No, not at all. All I'm saying is that you look like your shoulders are about to explode or something. Like damn, Remi. You need way more than a massage at this point...hell, so do I." Oliver had dealt with his fair share of back pains, both literal and non-literal. Things were stressful here, despite someone's claims that Caido wasn't too bad. Fuck that bullshit. "I'm sure Phoebe would make it...if we agree to build most of it and she just finds a place to put it. I do think that it could serve well for medical reasons. Maybe she could find something to put into the water to make it more soothing and stuff." Yes, say it's all for medical reasons since dealing with stress is an important thing. A stressful person is an unhappy person or maybe even a dangerous one.
Now that he had gotten Remi's attention on the other subject, might as well spill the beans. Cupping on of his hands against his face, like he was trying to whisper a secret, Oliver obviously looked around for any eavesdroppers before looking back at Remi. "Keep this between us...but I'm not a natural blonde. I don't know if you can do this...but could you try to help me uh...keep my hair blonde? It's starting to show my natural color at the roots." What a wonderful way to break the tension. Mostly because Oliver noticed that when his hair was wet, it was much easier to notice his roots thanks to the lack of fluff to his hair.
