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!
Amun shifted the square so that it resembled his normal skin. ”Since late last season." Shaking his head, he shifted the patch so that his skin was scarred and pockmarked. "But it doesn't actually help me remain unnoticed. Just helps disguise me a bit so that I'm less likely to be remembered properly, I suppose." With that, he shifted the skin back to normal once more.
Glancing over at Zidane, the potter gave the other man a considering look. "Besides the chip to hide you from the LongNight monsters, what upgrades are you considering?" Now more than ever, Amun kept his voice barely above a whisper, and he kept a watchful eye on the rest of the patrons as well.
Zidane watched the stone a while longer before looking back up at Amun as he listened to him talking. "Well i guess with some practise you may change everything on yourself into different colors. Skin, hair, eyes, clothing.. Would be quite useful disguise. Maybe it can even simulate a beard which would make you VERY hard to recognize right?" In his inner mind he pictured amun with dark skin, flaming red hair and a green beard for some reason. Mostly cause his mind wandered through possibilities that could happen if Amun set his mind to it. Very useful indeed.
"Well.. weapons and nanites would come in handy as well.. but to be fair i don't think there is a single bad upgrade to be had. All can come into good use im sure even if i don't know all of the possibilities out there. If i would be blessed with invisibility from longnight monsters i would not be needing much of the invisibility and yet it could still also come in handy." Yes to be invisible to all could touché come in handy when he needed to be left all alone. So yes.. probably not a bad one out there. His eyes wandered down to Amuns metal hand again with a slight furrow of the brows as he was thinking. "Do you imagine nanites would be able to restore your arm?"
Amun nodded at Zidane’s observation. Peeling off the square, he laid it across the bottom half of his face. Then he ordered it to give him a beard and to make his fangs disappear. ”I don’t know about clothing, but the rest of it sure. I’ll keep experimenting with it.” He smiled, though it didn’t reach his eyes since he was mostly doing it to show off the appearance of normal teeth.
Even that small smile faded away. ”That’s fair. It’s probably worth talking to the other Ascended about this, since they have far more exposure to upgrades than I do. They’d be able to give you a sense of what’s most useful.” As Zidane asked about nanites, the potter subconsciously rubbed his right wrist. ”I don’t know. Healing magic didn’t work, so I don’t know if anything short of divine intervention could’ve saved it.” He shrugged.
"Very handsome" Zidane stated as the beard came in to play and framed that face of Amun's cause it was indeed true. Amun was a handsome man after all and the beard highlighted it even more if you asked Zidane. He then continued to calmly state; "Well clothing can be altered so if it won't change fabric you can just go get other garments." He said just as calm as when he started. The noisy drunks had been removed which of course even that helped a lot. Now there was just smaller groups of people that actually could behave, at least for now. He checked out the normal looking biters shown by that plastered on smile containing to Amun and gave him a small smirk. "That to will come in handy"
Zidane seldom smiled in public cause of the risk of exposing who he was which Amun knew but even so the smirk turned into a quick smile towards him before it returned to the non-teethy smirk again. Let his head fall a little heavier on Amun's shoulder as he listened to him once again. Nodded in peacefullness towards Amun's advice since it made sense. He should probably ask around.. well.. after the monsterhiding ability that was. He kept listening to Amun and got a sort of a bad feeling in the pit of his tummy, metaphorically that was of course, since he was quite unsure how much the loss of his hand had hurt Amun. With that thought he slowly sat up and turned on his chair so they were face to face again while he looked down on Amun's new hand before lightly touching the metal and turning his gaze back to Amun, let his hand be still on the metal. "How do you feel? Are you okay?" He asked in a meaning way that spoke for itself; he wanted to know how Amun felt about it, even if it wasn't good feelings involved.
A ghost of a grin drifted across Amun’s lips before it disappeared. ”Thank you.” Nodding at Zidane’s observation about clothing, the potter ordered the square to return to his normal appearance. At the other man's comment about the square being useful, a smirk twisted the potter's features into something ugly for a brief moment. "Hope so, considering I'm down a hand." This time, his voice was low not because he didn't want to be overheard, but because he was maybe a bit bitter about his plight.
The other man's head on Amun's shoulder was a surprise, though a welcome one. However, at Zidane's question, the potter hesitated, then shook his head. "No. I'm moping."
Normal people would feel uncomfortable, scared even considering this was a sensitive subject and they didn't want to upset their friend even more but Zidane was at ease. Looking at Amun calmly while his hand laid at its place on top of Amun's metal hand. "Strength and growth come only through continuous efforts and struggles. It will take some getting used to, i'm not saying anything else, but if someone can handle this situation; it is you." Zidane calmly said without leaving Amun's eyes for a second. "Besides; not all is lost. Maybe the divine actually will restore your hand in the future but in any case i'll help you out if needed and wanted." In his head he thought he sounded a bit like a fortune cookie or something but he did at least mean it and to have someone like Zidane saying that to a person was unheard off. He had never stated he would help someone out without expecting something in return since he became an Ascended, and yet he had just done that. Amun would most likely be the first and last to hear those words as well. Sure it COULD happen in the future again but it was highly unlikely. "Besides; you still look great if you ask me." He then said honestly in hopes that some true words would cheer him up.
Amun just nodded at Zidane's statement about growth. "Thanks." Unlike the other man, the potter wasn't as certain that he'd bounce back from this better than ever.
Shrugging at the possibility of a miracle, Amun lifted his prosthetic. "I already asked The Voice and she didn't answer. So until I figure out how I failed her, I'd rather not ask again." He shot Zidane a grateful grin, though it faded quickly. "Thanks for the offer to help, though. Much appreciated."
At the other man's compliment, the potter smirked, though it was weak. "Thanks. You too." Leaning back, he regarded the other patrons for a moment. "Have you spoken to The Voice about your plans?"
As the thanks came flying towards him he nodded with that smile that didn't show off his sharp teeth. It had taken years to perfect but now they stayed hidden every time he smiled, since he didn't have that looks changer stone that Amun had. As he had made his honest point clear he got a more relaxed posture before he soon fell back onto Amun in the same position as he have had before with his one arm resting on Amun's leg instead of hanging halfhazardly. "Anytime, seriously, ANYtime" He said low voiced but that smile was now at play again on his face again. It felt good being able to help Amun's well being, even if it was just a little bit.
"Thank you to." He said over the comment that he himself also looked great with that smile still on his face. As the next question though it faded slightly, but not completely from his face. "Well.. no, not really. I'm not really the best of us in communicating.. at all. Always the; i SHOULD but i never really do it for some reason.. I'm not completely sure i live up to the standards of our kind to be completely honest. I mean i wouldn't have been able to become what i am if the voice disliked the thought but i just am a bit.. lost?" He stated honestly as his head turned up to look at Amun.
Amun didn’t move as Zidane went back to half draping himself over the potter. Simply nodding at the other man’s comment, Amun found himself studying the decorations, the blues and bronzes looking quite appealing in the low lighting.
As Zidane asked whether he was a bad Ascended, the potter immediately shook his head. "You're definitely not lost. At least not so lost that you can't be found." He reached out with his left hand to give the other man's hand, the one resting on Amun, a gentle squeeze. "I can guarantee you that The Voice, and the rest of the Ascended, will welcome you with open arms." Strangely enough, his words were softly encouraging.
Yes it was way easier having an eye on the surroundings from Amun's spot so of course he set where he did, besides, to be fair, it was not unpleasant. Occupying the same place as a good friend like Amun made him feel a sort of long lost closeness he hadn't felt for decades. Besides; Amun didn't seam to mind it either otherwise he would of course not have used Amun as a pillow in the first place. He wasn't much for forcing his close ones to anything, they got to decide what they wanted after all, not anyone else.
The immediate response from Amun made that smile reappear on his face shortly as it was welcomed to hear that he indeed wasn't as much of an outcast as he would have thought. Amun seamed quite sure about it without even having to think about the answer before hand, which was quite reassuring so to speak. The soft squeeze of his hand was also reassuring and made him look back at Amun in a grateful way. "Well, i will look forward to that then." He said softly. As stated this was the closest feeling to home he have had in a long, long time. "I guess you know a lot of people like us? Maybe you could follow me as i introduce myself?"
Amun found himself drumming his fingers on the table. "Tell you what. Maybe we can kill two birds with one stone." Turning to face Zidane, the potter grinned very weakly. "As I mentioned, Wessex received a task from The Voice recently." Stilling his fingers, he glanced around at the tavern, just to make sure no one had moved close enough to overhear them.
They were in the clear, but he still lowered his voice. "We've been asked to build a shrine in Halo. Once it's completed, and we've collected a few other odds and ends, a large group of us are going to go pray. If you'd like to help, and introduce yourself properly to the rest of the Ascended, you're welcome to join us."
Zidane looked slightly confused at first over Amun's statement in a way that ALMOST made him look like a lost puppy that waited for a command or something. He listened intrigued however as Amun continued talking about a task from The Voice. He made sure to listen carefully to what lowly got told to him and as Amun finished he couldn't help but to nod as a reply before anything else. That would indeed be a proper way to introduce himself to the others, more efficiently then seeking them up one by one. "I like that idea." He stated truthfully at Amun with the same type of low voice as Amun just had used. To be fair; most people by now had been drinking so much that he was pretty sure they weren't even in the right mind to eavesdrop but you could never be to certain still. Better safe then having to deal with unnecessary issues all of a sudden.
"When is this happening? Care to escort me there when it's time?" Yes he indeed needed to know this otherwise it would be hard to join in. The other part of the question was only a personal preference of his. He would most likely find the location himself but some company from the other was never a bad thing for Zidane.
As Zidane revealed that he was pleased with Amun’s suggestion, he grinned briefly. ”Glad to hear it. And should be easy enough to set up.” Nodding at the other man, the potter did another cursory glance around the bar just to make sure they hadn't been overheard. They hadn't, so he returned his attention to Zidane.
At the other man's question, Amun shrugged. "It's happening as soon as we hear from Wessex, I'd imagine. You won't be able to miss it, but I'd be happy to escort you there when the time comes." He nodded again at Zidane. Then the potter smirked a little. "Actually, I'll be escorting everyone, since I'm one of the few people who actually knows how to find the shrine."
Zidane smirked slightly even though the worry played within his soul if his soul still where present that was. He was sure he had his soul intact but sometimes one started to wonder right? The worry would be there til the day/night he got proven differently even if Amun, which he trusted completely, said otherwise. He was still not overly sure the rest of the Ascended would welcome him but considering how few of them there was around he shouldn't worry all that much. He met Amun's eyes as they wandered back at him and locked his gaze in Amun's, not any special reason behind it really more then showing Amun that he indeed was the most interesting creature in this bar. Besides, he liked looking into the depth of close ones eyes since there was so much to see. For most other people eyes were just eyes but Zidane could swear he saw parts of peoples essence lurking withing the iris. The light flickered in that brown sea, easing into the black pupil.. it was fabulous.
Calmly he replied on what Amun told him while curiously exploring his eyes. "That is neat, must be well hidden then. Which is a good thing considering.." His vice trailed off but the indentation of what he meant was pretty much clear. Not everybody was so accepting of their kind as they should be after all.
