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!
They’re going to have to go to Halo the old fashioned portal way, because Wessex can’t transport the boy that far. It’s the only drawback to the teleportation, otherwise the two of them would be there in a heartbeat. It’s an easy task. Collect some rocks from the Fangs – there were no qualifications about the size and/or kind of rocks, so she imagines that a handful or something that’s easy to carry would be good enough. It’s really more of a bonding expedition than anything else, and as a result the Wraith is in high spirits.
She’s dressed in her normal leather gear, bow and quiver slung across her back in case they encounter something or someone who might post a danger. But it’s dusk, and she can’t imagine any human would be out in the Fangs this far into the night. Even in Longheat, the mountains are fucking freezing.
It's a given that if Wessex asks him to accompany her somewhere, Clem is going to jump at the chance. Halo is still relatively foreign to him, too familiar to his old home. Only with a fuckton more snow. Which is a mental PTSD trip all on its own, even knowing it can't hurt him anymore. Nevertheless it leads to the disgusted slant of his eyes at the whiteness when he makes it through the portal, like it's a particularly expansive pile of shit that he now has to step through.
At least Wessex's presence helps soothe away the grumpiness stuck to his young face. Clem bounces closer, as ever internally laughing at how strange it feels to be taller than her, and shoots her an inquisitive look. "So what kinda rocks are ya needin'?" And what was with the Ascended and collecting rocks lately? First Amun and now Wessex. Was this some sort of ritual he was missing?
Your mother started drinking like the whole world died And You've been waiting for a miracle all your life
Clem’s look towards the great white expanse doesn’t go unnoticed. “You alright?” she asks casually, not trying to interrogate the kid or anything. As he bounces closer, the Wraith indicates the exit to the cave portal and that they should head that way. “I’m getting rocks for a new shrine. Did you know there’s a goddess of Winter? It’s called Eirachi.” Whether or not it’s good or bad or neither (chaotic neutral, if you will), Wessex doesn’t know. She can only take her cue from the fangs and the seductive ice-looks, and the tit for fat mentality. It seems… more feral, wilder than the Heralds. Like something that actually came out of the Fangs, which is fitting.
“So how you doing?” Wessex inquires as a follow up question. Meaning, of course, his time here. How was he getting along, now that it’s been awhile? A year, perhaps?
The inquiry is casual, but Clem hesitates nonetheless, habits of a guarded heart difficult to break even now. "Hate the snow," he grumbles, keeping his flaxen gaze on the horizon instead of seeking out her own. "Glad I can't feel it no more though. Freezin' ta death was more common than starvin' back home." She had said, last time beneath the moon's light in a crumbled house that now means more to him than anything, that she wants to get to know him. The least he can do is try.
"We're buildin' it for Eirachi then?" Maybe if he gets to see her and speak to her he'll stop hating snow so much. Or not. He doesn't seem to have much prevailing luck with meeting deities.
Keeping pace with the shorter Ascended, he gives a soft snort of contemplation, wracking his brain and wondering how mushy his answer should be. "Good," he finally settles on. "I never...all I ever wanted was a family, and t' stop havin' to scrape by. You've all been amazin' and 'm really happy to be here." Glancing sideways at her shyly to offer a hesitant fanged smile.
Your mother started drinking like the whole world died And You've been waiting for a miracle all your life
Her lips crease together as Clem reveals what’s agitating him about Halo. Funny, it wasn’t something she’d ever thought of, assuming that maybe he’d also been something resembling an Ascended in his previous life. “Ya know, you don’t have to answer if you don’t want to. I’ll understand. Life is hard. It leaves scars.” They had the starving more than the freezing to worry about, personally, but she isn’t sure which one was worse.
“Mhmmm. So she can tell us how to successfully get some mageglass.” If it all went according to plan. Which… it may not. Sometimes its better not to plan, so nothing can go wrong. But Wessex has proven time and time again that she can adapt, so… with any luck the Eirachi will give her what she needs and she can deliver the fruits of her side-quest to the Voice.
That’s what you’ve all been waiting for, isn’t it? “Let’s get a good variety, yeah?” Heading up the slope to wear they might find more rocks and less tundra semi-greenery (assuming the snow melts a bit during Longheat), her eyes are on the ground until he speaks again and then the Wraith glances over and smiles. “I’m glad you’re here too. So were you… Ascended-like in your old world?”
While her words are undoubtedly comforting, Clem nevertheless shrugs his shoulders and twists up his nose. "Nah, 'sfine. Can't hurt me no more anyway." There's a gleam in his eyes, a stolid brightness that will never flicker out, as he stares out across the snow covered tundra and realizes it cannot hurt him anymore. Why worry about telling her these things when the scar doesn't twinge anymore? The Voice has taken away the pain from everything but the memories. And even that still fades over time.
Mageglass at least is something he knows. Nobody can seem to stop talking about it, especially in whispered myths around Halo's streets. Though Clem casts a doubtful look at Wessex as they crunch through the snow. "Ain't that for Abandoned people? Are we gonna sell it?" He's not sure how well that will go, it seems far too valuable for people to just barter for it. Bloodletting seems a more likely end.
Clem totters along behind the demigoddess, eyes scanning for rocks and kicking the tiny useless pebbles with his boots. "Yup, but we could still feel 'n grow old and have kids. But we had to drink human blood like, daily, like how others gotta eat. 'n it didn't cause pleasure." Which still makes him mildly queasy to think about much less say.
Your mother started drinking like the whole world died And You've been waiting for a miracle all your life
“Yes, but the Voice can give us Magic if we ask for it.” With a conspiring look, she whispers to Clem her true intentions, “but I would give it to Her first. See if she can do something good with it.” Keep it out of others’ hands, mainly (and the list of ‘others’ is growing longer by the season it seems).
Grabbing a couple of palm-sized rocks, Wessex takes the bag off her bag and deposits them inside. She leaves it open on the ground so they can just drop whatever they want in there, and she’ll probably just end up carrying the biggest one. It’s overachieving, to be certain, but she wants to do things right. The matriarch is still listening to Clem’s story when he begins to talk about the daily blood drinking and it causes her pause. “That must have been really fucking hard,” she says quietly, acknowledging the imagined consequences it might have had with friends and family… how dangerous it could be. How they could be so easily held hostage with that necessity.
“How are Rex and Bastien?” she asks, changing the subject. “Are you still living with them?” She’s seen neither hide nor hair of their Queen since she took the throne. It’s slightly disconcerting. Moving up the slope, she has her eyes set on a small boulder that it appears she can pick up with one hand.
{I imagine we can wrap this up with one more post each?}
"She can?" Awe suffuses every syllable, pale golden eyes going wide. He doesn't want to doubt their Goddess, but he hasn't even had the chance to meet her one-on-one yet. Had only been graced by her presence when they'd made the shrine, and had nearly wept when he'd finally laid eyes on her. "'m sure she could make somethin' awesome." Devout even in this, despite having less than zero idea what The Voice would even want to make in the first place.
The bag on the ground prompts Clemente to start searching more seriously, though he combs over the rocks with a stubborn jut to his jaw and a critical eye. More akin to a jeweler appraising a diamond than a teenager collecting rocks. As he drops a few into the bag, he pauses and digests Wessex's words, her empathy. "Yeah...it was. Mum died of 'n overdose, got hooked on some nasty shit that made ya feel more human, got ya high, made ya forget to feed. A few humans made it cuz they didn't like us relyin' on their donations." Ironically it wasn't the humans who had to worry about being at risk despite being physically weaker and with a shorter lifespan. They'd been the ones begging for every drop, and the humans had still turned around and waged a drug war on his city to bring them to their knees.
He welcomes the subject change, easily sliding that particular shadow back into its box. Grief and trauma don't pay the bills or keep you fed. Or maybe he's just used to suppressing it all now. But the light in his eyes and the shy smile on his face are genuine as he thinks about Rexanna and Bastien. "Nah, don't wanna cramp their style. I live in Rex's old place, but they're good! I visit them all the time." More than he'd ever expected to in the beginning. Clem never thought he'd come to love them as much as he does, but he's glad he's been given the chance. Dropping a last rock into the bag, he glances at Wessex questioningly. "Think this is good?" It was her quest so she would be the one to decide, but it was certainly getting pretty full.
Your mother started drinking like the whole world died And You've been waiting for a miracle all your life
“Of course.” It’s common knowledge, amongst the Ascended. Unless… “Clem, have you not met Her yet?” She frowns a bit, only because it seems like something he should have done by now. How long has he been here? If it comes out harshly, she doesn’t mean it that way, only that he has talked of wanting to see The Voice… since last Deepfrost, if she recalls correctly.
And she wants to understand him - not just why he hasn’t met their Goddess - but what makes him so scrappy and eager to please. As he talks and tells his story, she finds herself mostly following. Drugs she knows, overdose she can try to imagine, just based on the context, because they don’t have things that they can overdose on here. Sounds like a tough life. The one question she has that she won’t ask is who made them? These creatures that relied on blood in a similar way. Why didn’t their creator care for them?
It’s a sobering thought - the idea that their Lady might abandon them and leave them to wither away.
“Good! I miss Rex.” There’s a bit of sadness in her voice, knowing what being Queen does to a person and knowing that there’s only one way to do it and that’s to go through it. All of it. It’s time-consuming. Exhausting. They aren’t an easy group to manage.
Wessex takes a look at the bag and notes that it’s getting full. She grabs that final, smaller boulder and holds it with both hands - nowhere near her own weight, so she can easily manage, but she indicates that clem should grab the bag if he can. “Seems good to me. Let’s go.”
Clem awkwardly shrugs at her question, though her tone doesn't bother him. "I only saw her at th' shrine building," he admits softly. "She didn't come when I went to her shrine in the Grounds, an' I didn't wanna bother her more." Clemente has no idea what praying etiquette is like, it simply hadn't been a thing where he came from. With his deep-set fears of inadequacy and burdensome nature, he hadn't been naturally inclined to keep trying. Not when he'd felt her presence despite her physical absence. It had been the sweetest comfort she could have given him without showing up in person.
Rexanna is a welcome topic change from the longing he always feels when they speak of The Voice, and he grins boyishly at her. "Ya should go bug her, she's bored t'hell with bein' Queen. I just show up and nag her." A surefire way to get the Penumbra to smile, and he automatically touches the eclipse bracelet she gave him as he thinks of her. It's only a brief touch, immediately releasing in favor of hefting the bag of rocks instead at Wessex's instruction. "Hell yeah! Let's go!" He feels a little like Santa as he slings the bag onto his back and lets Wessex lead the way.
- Fin for Clem (you can post again if you want!)
Your mother started drinking like the whole world died And You've been waiting for a miracle all your life
