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 grinned as Maea revealed her new toy. "That sounds quite useful indeed." Cocking his head to one side, he leaned forward to peer more closely at it. "Do you know how it works?" Stepping back, he grinned. "And would you like to join me on some underwater adventures some day?" He found himself weirdly excited at the prospect.
As she pointed out the marking, he nodded. Finally he shrugged and took that path. "Let's just say I'm never opposed to fleeing and living to fight another day. Losing life or limb isn't worth it." His voice was teasing, and he glanced at her. "So he's getting all worried and protective, huh? Cute." Chuckling, he led them deeper into the tunnels.
His enthusiasm was shared by her, and she grinned. "Oh yes. Just need to have it pressed to my throat, and remember to actually breathe. That's the tricky part. I'd love to join you, just say the word!" She had gotten the pearl for that very purpose, and supposed she could join Amun whenever she wasn't out with Sunjata.
"Hm, that's reassuring," she said, leaving it ambiguous if she was approving or disappointed by this lack of recklessness on his part. As long as he wouldn't tuck tail and run without her...
His teasing comment made her blush a little, but the shrug was happy and rather unconcerned as she followed Amun down the new tunnel. Being protected... was rather nice. "Seems that way. He... asked me to come to Torchline with him. When I don't have to be in school."
And he'd said something far better still, that she wasn't about to repeat. Not to anyone. Better keep it to herself, lest Caido took it away from them. Some of that paranoia was starting to rub off on her.
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Amun smirked. "You say that like it's hard to remember to breathe." Reaching out he gave her a friendly punch to the upper arm. "But every time I breathe I have to remember to do it, so I know you can't be right about that." Chuckling, he ducked under a low ceiling, almost crawling for a bit before the tunnel opened up again.
"Hey, it's kept me alive this long." His voice was a little too cheerful, given the subject matter. However, he had to turn around and grin brilliantly at Maea when she revealed she and Sunjata were going to Torchline. "Moving in together? He moves quick." Facing front again, he whistled a little too innocently.
"Oh, you clearly don't remember what 'survival instinct' is," she retorted dryly. "When you still have functioning lungs, the last thing they want to do is take in a good sized gulp of water."
Humming acknowledgement to his statement, Maea leaned down to check the ground, but found that the odd shape that caught her attention was just a piece of rock. Straightening up, she was met with Amun's brilliant grin, and gave him a lopsided one in return, just barely able to suppress the happy flutter in her stomach at the thought. "Once he makes up his mind on what he wants, yes," she agreed cheerfully. "Do you think it's too quick? I'm a little bit worried that we're rushing headlong into this... but it's been the pace almost from the start. Sometimes it's hard to remember we haven't even known each other a full season yet."
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Amun grinned and shrugged. "Oh no, I remember what it is." Winking at Maea, he slung an arm over her shoulder for a moment and squeezed. "I'm just not burdened with it in quite the same way you are." With that, he nudged her with a hip, before dancing away from any potential retaliation.
Shrugging at her question, he gave her a curious look. "And what about what you want, hm?" Reaching out, he poked her in the side. "Don't tell me you're letting him call all the shots." His tone was teasing, but underneath there was a genuine concern in his voice.
When she voice her own worries, though, his expression softened. "Do you think it's too quick?" He asked the question with question, just cocking his head to one side as he waited for her to answer.
"Well, sorry for being so burdened!" He teased her, played like always, and Maea kicked some pebbles after him when Amun darted away. They clattered off along the tunnel without doing any harm, and judging by her grin they weren't supposed to either.
The echoes she stirred up took a while to die down, and she waited until she could speak in a low voice again before replying. "I feel like I already have everything I want," she shrugged, quite honest. "I wanted him, and I want the school in Halo, and now, by some miracle, I have both. Once my training is done, I'm welcome back to the Loreseekers, where I also want to be... so I don't know what more to ask for. Sometimes I do feel that it's going to quick, but... it's all good too. I don't know that slowing anything down would be better. Not really."
The things she worried about beyond those were issues of the divine, matters of the portals and worries about what would happen if The Voice became too powerful... Ronin had left a message on the Temple notice board that rekindled all her issues with using the portals.
"Have you... checked the Notice Board lately?" she asked him, a bit tentative.
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Grinning as Maea kicked some rocks at him, Amun made a show of darting slightly away from her. However, he slowed his steps to let her catch up to him as she began speaking. Smiling gently at her, he placed a hand on her shoulder. "Well that's good. And worrying won't do anything but ruin your enjoyment of all the good in your life." Grinning, he gave her shoulder a squeeze. "Sounds like you don't think it's too fast, though you didn't answer my question."
Cocking his head to the side, he studied her features for a moment. "You do know it's okay to want things from your life, right?" The question came out softly, and while it was a little teasing there was something surprisingly sympathetic about it.
He let his hand drop at her question. "Are you asking about the notice about the temple and shrine from your lover? Or the one from the Dark Star?" His voice came out cheerfully enough, but his eyes had narrowed slightly.
She smiled back, shrugging a little under his hand. "I suppose not. I rather like it the way things are, truth be told. I don't mind being swept away a little... it's rather a nice change form how things were before." When she'd seen the same scenery day after day, and nothing ever strayed out of place. The same faces, the same routines, stuck with no way out...
His question caused Maea to blink, slow her steps a little, and she tilted her head at him, a rather feline gesture, curious but a little nonplussed. "What more... is there to want?" she asked back, smiling but quite serious. Not understanding at all what he meant. She had love, and a goal to work for... Was there more?
Unfortunately, this topic would hardly be as fun to discuss. Maea dragged a hand over the back of her neck, a gesture that wasn't entirely her own - picked up somewhere, no doubt - and as she continued, her eyes fixed on the path. On the tunnels, to make sure they didn't walk blindly and got lost.
"Both... but.. mostly the one from Ronin." She took a breath, not sure if she was really ready for this conversation. "What did you think, of what he wrote?"
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Grinning at Maea, Amun gave her a playful wink. "Now don't tell me you're one of those romantic types." He spoke with a feigned horror.
Chuckling, he shook his head at her question. "I can't really answer that for you. But...perhaps a guild of your own? A library? A big house with lots of mirrors so you can stare at your reflection all day?" Unsurprisingly, he was teasing her mercilessly.
However, all hints of playfulness slid away from him as she responded as he expected she would. Halting, he turned to face her with a sigh. "I think," his words came out in a careful tone, "that I am wary of trusting the judgment of someone who almost killed me." There was no apology or softness in his voice or posture.
Was she romantic? Maea didn't know. Perhaps she had been, once, before cruel boys took that away from her. Perhaps there was something quite rose-colored about her whole affair with Sunjata... of meeting him when their lives were both at their lowest, and growing closer as they tried to deal with what life threw at them. Oh, there were ugly parts too. Sex and alcohol and jealousy, and the guilt of wanting someone who wasn't available, who should be off limits. But perhaps that was part of the romance too... the struggle against adversity, only to break through and find... what?
She thought of their pillow talks, of a house by the sea. Of colors on the walls, paintings, flowers on the windowsill... A boxing ring, of swimming deep into the ocean blue and never coming back. Maybe... maybe she did want more things, after all. And her slow smile suggested it, the dreaming eyes envisioning all of it.
But she kept those to herself, as the mood changed and the topic turned to grimmer things. Did not wish to sully her fragile dreams with the talk of pain and rage, and The Voice. "I can understand that," she told him, quite softly. Recalling how he'd lost his hand... though she hadn't realized he nearly lost his life too. The thought made her cold. "But what he said about the portals... Amun, the Old Gods closed her in for a reason. Aren't you at all concerned about what might happen if she grows strong enough to make them worry again?
"What if... what if it brings another war down on us?" It was her real concern, what she wondered whenever she stepped through the portals to Torchline, to Halo, to the Hollowed Ground. Was she bringing the war closer with each step? Was she aiding in something she did not wish to see happen? Would her craving for freedom... lead to lost lives, in the end?
They were questions that haunted her ever since she entered the Spire, and helped bring about the fall of the Barrier.
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Sighing, Amun stepped back to lean against the tunnel wall. "Why worry about things we can't control?" Although the words might've come across flippantly, he was speaking without a hint of playfulness or teasing for once. Pressing his lips together, he gave Maea an almost but not quite apologetic look.
"What reason? As far as I'm concerned, neither the old gods or the new have really give us a satisfactory answer about what happened all those years ago. And I'm pretty sure we're never going to get the full, unbiased account." He spread his arms a bit helplessly. "And if they go to war, no one says we have to fight in it." Tone soft, he stared at her, hoping this wouldn't drive a wedge between them.
She dragged a hand through her hair, worried and a little frustrated. He sounded so casual, even without the usual smiles and flippant shrugs. "Because... sometimes we can control things. Our actions can make or break situations far beyond our understanding, and... and we might not even see it until it's too late to go back."
He was right that they didn't know the reason for The Voice's imprisonment. No such records had been found, if they existed at all. "You are probably right, they might never tell the full truth of why. But... If she called on you to do something, would you really deny her, Amun?" She smiled at him, a little sadly. "She is your goddess. The one who sustains you. Could you really turn your back on her? Would you? For someone like me, for anyone who isn't one of her bright ones?"
Maea wasn't sure she would ever deny Ludo anything, if it asked. And she was not at all as closely connected to the shrouded Soul Guide as Amun was to The Voice.
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
Amun slid his hands into his pockets. Regarding Maea, he shrugged. "Hindsight is wonderful, but without more information, we can only make the choices that seem right to us at the time." He cocked his head to one side. "And right now, the portals have been entirely beneficial, have they not?" Raising his eyebrows, he waited almost expectantly for her answer.
Immediately, he nodded in response to her question. "I would, and I have." Smiling a little bit, he slouched slightly lower down on the wall. "And she was accepting of that, as she always is when it comes to her Ascended. She does not ask that which we are not willing to do for her." He shrugged. "And if she did, I can always sustain myself on blood." The idea didn't bother him.
Very reluctantly, Maea nodded. The portals were good, had expanded her world immensely and kept allowing for travel to places that filled her with joy. In that, they were good. And her own gods had not objected their use, unless Ronin's note was some kind of message from Safrin... but if it was, he had failed to relay that properly. She thought it might be a good idea to search him out, hear... what his basis for saying it was.
His reply, the revelation that he had indeed denied some request from The Voice, surprised her, and it showed. Made her rather relieved too, enough that she sank down on her heels beside him, back leaning against the tunnel walls. It wasn't the best, safest place for talks like these, but... at least the risk of being overheard was minimal. Maea leaned her head down onto her knees and sighed, struggling with what to say, how to say it...
"I was there, the day she was freed," she eventually said, rather quiet. "I went into the Spire with one of the groups that sought to bring the Barrier down... Have I told you this?" She turned her head aside, glancing over at her friend, her brother.
I'm an angel bored like hell And you're a devil meaning well
BASE INSPIRED BY ODD <3
♦ Violence, magic, thievery is permitted with Maea at all times. DM me if you have any ideas ♦
