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!
my whole life is mine, but whoever says so will deprive me,
for it is infinite.
As Samuel stiffened beneath Amun’s casual touch, he gave the other man a gentle and hopefully reassuring squeeze. At the adorably awkward way the redhead reacted to the potter’s sexual comments, he couldn’t help but chuckle. ”Relax, thin. I was teasing.” Then, however, he smirked. ”I’m glad to hear that you and your partner are having fun, though. Though I’m curious why you say you don’t need the room.” Amun’s eyes were sharp, though his voice was casual.
Smirking, he shrugged. "Don't need her to like me. But while I think you're worrying about nothing, and I seriously doubt she's mad at you or even remembers that you weren't there, seeing as I wasn't around during the whole army thing, I can handle exploring the Citadel." He grinned cheerful at Samuel. Especially since technically, he already did half of it.
Oh, he'd really revealed too much. Sam considered refusing to tell Amun why it was he didn't need the room's aura, but he didn't want the man going off and asking other Ascended, starting a whole conspiracy around the thing. "...A long time ago, someone that loved me made me something to...restore some of my abilities. Including...the things necessary...for..." He gestured uselessly in front of himself, hoping Amun could grasp the rest himself.
Grateful that Amun would handle the Citadel, Sam relaxed a little. "When was it you arrived, then? How have you found it, so far? I... imagine arriving as an Ascended was rather a surprise."
my whole life is mine, but whoever says so will deprive me,
for it is infinite.
Amun grinned at Samuel. ”Neat trick, thin.” Leaning forward to get much closer to the redhead, the potter lowered his voice to a conspiratorial whisper. "Think your friend slash ex-lover would make one for me too?" He winked at the other man.
At Samuel's question, however, Amun rocked back on his heels. For a long moment, he was quiet. Then he grinned brilliantly at the redhead. "I arrived last season. And it's been great so far." The potter chuckled, the sound dark and low, before stepping further onto the ice.
Then he glanced at the other man. "So are you an Outlander like me, or a Natural?" Although Amun had to keep his gaze fixed on their footing, he watched Samuel out of the corner of his eye.
"No, I don't." Sam replied, sounding harsher than he had meant to. With a sigh, he continued, trying to make his voice purposefully softer: "Remi...is very sweet. I think he made it for me because he loved me. I don't think he'll make another unless...he had reason to, like that, again." As always, mentioning the Alchemist's affections that he'd now lost tugged at Sam's heart just a little.
That Amun had arrived only in the last season made Sam suddenly feel rather more protective of him, a little more understanding. At least he'd had years at his leisure to understand his own Ascension. "I'm..ah..Natural. I was born here." He wrung his hands together, unsure if this would make Amun judge him particularly either way. "But...the world has still opened up rather a lot in the last two years for me. Everything changed, after all the Outlanders began to arrive."
my whole life is mine, but whoever says so will deprive me,
for it is infinite.
Amun grinned at Samuel. ”Yes, I know Remi. And yes, he is very sweet.” Then the potter smirked. ”I think I’ll ask him. Been meaning to swing by his shop anyway.” There was a hungrily eager look in his eyes.
When the redhead mentioned he was a Natural, Amun's eyebrows rose. "Neat. So you can tell me all about Caido, and how not to die then, thin?" There was a teasing tone in the potter's voice, but he was genuinely hoping to hear a few survival pointers.
As the conversation swung around to everything that had happened, Amun chuckled, the sound dark and low. "You mean Outlanders like me? You sound like you don't know if that's a good thing or not." The potter's eyes were sharp.
"I'd really rather you didn't tell him I told you about this." Sam mumbled quietly. He wasn't sure if it was a secret exactly, but he was sure Remi didn't want to think he was out advertising his services as a sexual-prowess-restorer. Remi didn't even remember making the damn thing, as far as he knew, and he wasn't willing to give it up to be studied. He feared if he let the patch leave his skin even for a moment, The Voice would make it so it could not be reintroduced.
He wasn't sure if he was confident enough in his abilities to keep Amun from dying, but he nodded. "...Yes, I suppose. What is it you want to know?"
It seemed Amun suspected he might hold some anti-Outlander sentiment; as it happened Sam had recently had somewhat of a revelation on the issue. "Oh, it's a good thing! The Voice brought everyone here, after all. I used to worry that the Outlanders were going to...I don't know. Take over, or something. But in general, everyone is fine. There's just bad people, as there is with everyone else." He shrugged. "Have you met anyone else from your old world here?"
my whole life is mine, but whoever says so will deprive me,
for it is infinite.
Amun tilted his head and stared at Samuel. Mischief glittered in the potter's eyes. "Why?" There was a slightly teasing, but mostly curious tone to his question.
At the redhead's own question, Amun grinned a bit wickedly. "Well, for starters, what might try to kill us in Halo, thin?" He cast his gaze across the icy sea they were traversing, alert for any and all threats.
He looked back at the other man as Samuel spoke of his sentiments about Outlanders. "Well. I am relieved to hear it." Then the potter chuckled. "Though you might consider me one of the bad ones, thin." He winked at the redhead. "Don't worry, I've got no plans for world domination. And I'm the only one from my world, as far as I know."
Sam closed his eyes tight and sighed as Amun asked him why. He should probably have expected it, he supposed, but more than anything he didn't want to get into the complexities of his and Remi's very odd relationship. "It's....complicated. But he likely won't remember what you're talking about anyway. There was...muddling, by the Gods. Some of it my fault...it altered both our memories of the relationship. It's painful and awkward and I don't think he'd appreciate the reminder." Hopefully that was vague enough to not be too revealing, but said enough that Amun would leave well enough alone.
"Um. I'm not from Halo. I only know what I've read in old books and a lot of them are difficult to understand." He looked across at Amun with a slight frown, wondered if the man understood about the barrier and what it had meant. "Those of us in the Hollowed Grounds never left Sanctuary until very recently...I know there might be some creatures called..ah...Ursurs? A kind of large bear." But for all he knew, they could be a myth.
Told he might consider Amun to be 'one of the bad ones', he raised an eyebrow. "Why would I think that? What is it you are planning to do?"
my whole life is mine, but whoever says so will deprive me,
for it is infinite.
Amun smirked, eyes glittering with mischief, clearly intrigued by Samuel’s explanation. ”Well, if he won’t remember giving it to you, what’s the harm in me asking him generally if he could make something like that, thin? No need to mention you.” If anything, the potter’s tone was even more interested than before.
Grinning at the mention of books, he tilted his head. ”I’ve always preferred seeing the world to reading about it." At the redhead’s careful words, Amun nodded. ”Yes, yes, you were trapped, freeing The Voice freed you.” He waved at Samuel to get on with it. At the mention of Ursurs, the potter raised his eyebrows. "Anything else?" He glanced out across the ice they were crossing, but there were no bears in sight.
At the other man's own raised eyebrow, Amun chuckled. "I am a selfish man who very often takes what he wants, thin. And I like my simple pleasures." There was both a challenging and a teasing tone to the potter's words.
"Because he knows he made it for me. He just doesn't remember doing it." Sam was really explaining far more than he wanted to about the whole situation. "We've spoken since he lost his memory about it. Besides..." Trying to further put Amun off, he added: "The Voice doesn't like it. She's asked me to get rid of it several times...I let her take away the pain sensitivity."
It seemed Amun actually didn't want to hear the explanation that he had asked for. "I really don't know. I never thought I'd be in Halo." It still felt bizarre, some days, to be anywhere but Sanctuary.
Very selfish? Sam was surprised to hear Amun admit such a thing so openly. "Why are you helping with this exploration effort, then? Do you stand to gain a...simple pleasure from it?"
my whole life is mine, but whoever says so will deprive me,
for it is infinite.
Amun smirked at Samuel. ”So let me get this straight, thin. You have an upgrade that restores all the positive sensations, and none of the negative ones. Yet you won’t allow your fellow Ascended to even ask about receiving the same for fear of upsetting your ex-lover?” Although the potter’s tone was teasing, his eyes stared at the redhead’s features unflinchingly.
As they continued to traverse the icy sea, Amun grinned wickedly at the other man. "Maybe exploring is a simple pleasure for me. After all, you never know who you're going to meet out here." The potter winked. "Or maybe The Voice asked it of me, and promised to make me brilliant and great in return. Or maybe I just really want to see the ocean."
"...Yes." Sam confirmed. Perhaps it was cruel to deny Amun the chance to get something similar to his patch (not that he thought for a moment Amun was going to follow his wishes anyway), but he did not want to be responsible for a new wave of patches in The Voice's eyes, and as for Remi...the man had enough on his plate. He would not appreciate Sam sending customers for this his way. "Look, just..." He sighed. "Maybe leave it a while, at least, please? Until things are...settled. Better, somehow."
The water and ice lapping around them was calming, at least, even if Amun was a little infuriating. "Has she promised that?" Sam asked, though he was sure the answer was no. "Do you actually think there's anything out here, anyway? Other than water?"
my whole life is mine, but whoever says so will deprive me,
for it is infinite.
Amun tilted his head, a mischievous light in his eyes as he smirked at Samuel. ”What do you mean, until things are settled, thin? Things are great. The Voice has opened up a new land for us, and as soon as we finish exploring it, she'll open more. I can't se how things could possibly get better." There was a great deal of enthusiasm and faith in the potter's voice.
Chuckling, he nodded. "So long as I believe in her, yes, she did promise that." Again, there wasn't a shred of doubt in his voice. At the other man's next question, however, Amun grinned brilliantly. "It's never just water, thin." Gesturing around them, the potter pointed at the ocean deep below. "There's fish, and even larger animals, and I'm sure more treasures and secrets besides."
When Amun first asked what he meant, Sam thought the man meant that things here were never settled; it seemed that what he actually meant was that everything was wonderful. He supposed when you looked at it in such a tremendously simple way as Amun wanted to, it was, but he'd never been able to focus like that. "...I...hm. Alright."
With that and Amun saying The Voice had promised to make him great...frankly, Sam was beginning to suspect the man might be full of shit. A lot of his talk seemed overly simple or exaggerated; perhaps he was just too skeptical, a result of the times, but Sam couldn't take Amun seriously somehow. Especially with his obvious comment on water.
"...Well. I think I'll leave you to explore all of that. I'll see you later, if we're both still exploring here." Sam said politely as he turned to leave, ready to go and find Nate.
