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!
Nodding along with Jigano's explanation, Loren frowned, his brow furrowed slightly in concentration. At the bard's question, the healer sighed and held up his hands, palm up. A small chunk of uncooked meat appeared in one and a small leather cord appeared in the other. "This is about all I can create these days." He held out both materials on the off chance the white-haired man wanted to inspect them.
Astra trotted over to the Launceleyn and rubbed his leg reassuringly. Smiling down at her briefly, he snorted at Jigano's guess and glanced over at the Sage. "I suppose you could say that." Tone amused, Loren lowered his voice to a whisper. "She set an Ursur loose on us. There were bells around its neck and we were instructed to use our weakest magic to retrieve them."
Sighing, the healer set down the items he'd created, wiping the bloody juices from his hands idly, knowing they'd disappear soon enough. "Peter was just about one of the only relatives I ever liked, and that's using the term loosely." Eyes sorrowful, he gave the bard a sympathetic and understanding look. "I'm sorry for your losses too." It came out softly.
"You, too?" The question was wry and a little resigned to find that Loren was similarly subdued in his magical efforts. He took the uncooked meat gingerly in hand, and after a moment's concentration flames wreathed his fingers and began to dance over the meat, filling the room with the smell of cooking steak. "I don't suppose it does any good to eat it... though it might make for a good diet," the bard mused thoughtfully. Not that he had yet to see anyone overweight on this world. Even the nobility in Halo tended to be a fit, firm bunch. When food was scarce and most things that moved were trying to kill you, diets tended to be unnecessary.
Isuma reeped curiously as Astra abandoned her, pouncing after her friend curiously to see what had gotten the luxere's attention. Jigano raised a brow at the story of the ursur, and his mental voice held a decidedly dry tone as he switched to the bond. I don't suppose she had a backup plan for what she'd do if anything happened to Halo's chief Healer if the lesson went awry? He assumed Loren could have saved anyone else hurt by the bear, but if the summoner had been the one injured? Knocked unconscious or killed before he could bring his Healing into play? Or was she arrogant enough to think that she alone could handle it?
Jigano had known that Peter was closer to Loren, just as Adam was closer to him. Adam and Peter had been an unlikely pair, all the sweeter for how much they loved each other in spite of their differences. "I'd hoped to help Adam coax him away from your cousin," the bard admitted with a sigh. "He seemed like he'd like being a Loreseeker. He helped me protect the Atheneum from the memory mud." His sad smile remained as he reminisced about Peter. Loren's condolences were met with another pulse of gratitude as Jigano bowed his head. "Thank you. It has... been a difficult year for all of us. We've lost far too many." He drew in another shaky breath, looking back up at Loren with a searching gaze. "Did you... is there a memorial for Abasi somewhere? A grave to pay respects at?"
Loren shook his head at Jigano's comment. "I don't need to diet." There was a self-deprecating tone to the healer's comment, seeing as his proclivity to starve himself while stressed or depressed was well known. "But yes, the meat disappears too quickly to be useful." His voice was slightly exasperated.
Rubbing Astra and Isuma absently as they came near, he shrugged at the bard's questions. I think her handling it was the backup plan. The Launceleyn was amused, but also touched by the white-haired man's concern. I managed to strangle it to death, but if I'd thought I was in any danger I would've busted out my more powerful magics. It was clear that Loren hadn't been worried about his own safety during the exercise.
Sighing at Jigano's comment, the healer bit his lip. "Peter was happy with the Launceleyns." It came out with an oddly hurt edge, and he found himself taking a deep breath to settle the unhappy roil of emotions. "It has been."
Unfortunately, his grief only grew stronger when the bard brought up Abasi. The Launceleyn nodded, the motion abrupt. 'There is. I built a memorial by the Manor." The words came out slightly clipped, seeing as he was trying not to let himself break down crying again.
He hadn't meant Loren - gods least fortunate, the man was too gaunt by far already, even if he was looking better today - but he nodded with a wry smile for the tone. "Ah well. Good to know, at least." It was always interesting to learn about the other schools of magic, and what their limits were, not least because it made planning for things like LongNight easier.
Isuma purred at the pets, scrambling back up Astra's antlers to steal a few scritches for herself while the men talked. Stay safe with her, he sent to his friend softly, only partly reassured by Loren's assurance that he would have protected himself. The last time he'd seen the summoner it hadn't seemed as if Loren would have tried all that hard to save himself, too intent on punishing himself for Abasi's death to worry about his own survival. If her magic is suffering the same instability as ours, she might not be as strong as she thinks she is. Or swift enough to react in time. The deaths of Fiat Lux had hammered that home to the mages in attendance rather thoroughly.
He didn't want to argue with Loren, not even that the bard tended to view Zariah and Loren as two very different branches of that family name, so he simply bowed his head in acknowledgment. Adam and Peter had not been the only two lost in recent seasons, however, and he finally broached the topic they had been dancing around for the last few weeks. "Thank you for letting me know," he said gently. "I'd like to bring some flowers for it. When I first met him I helped him with the landscaping of his mortuary." The conversation had ended a little tense on discussions of slavery and entitlement of divine attention, but Loren didn't need to know that.
He set the well-cooked bit of meat aside, turning his attention back to the glass jars he had started making for Loren's infirmary. "Will you be here for LongNight this year?" he asked, not exactly brightening the conversation, but hopefully steering it gently away from Loren's lost love.
Snorting at Jigano's comment, Loren shrugged, clearly unbothered. I appreciate the concern, but I've been surviving Launceleyns for twenty-two years. I know how to keep myself safe around them. Despite the lighthearted words, there was that familiar stirring of icy anger he felt whenever he confronted what his family had done to him.
Zariah's not a threat to me, personally. And yes, I know she'll target those I care about when it becomes clear she can't actually hurt me. His eyes narrowed in annoyance, mind already jumping ahead to what was almost certainly an inevitable confrontation.
"That would be nice. Thank you." His voice was almost pathetically grateful, and he rubbed his eyes a little as they threatened to water. At the mention of LongNight, though, he glanced at the bard. "Probably. We don't know if the monsters can travel here, and I've got experience with them. Will you be in the Ground again?"
Survive them, yes. Keep himself safe from them? Given what Edrei had told him, Jigano wasn't so sure that anyone had ever been 'safe' from them. It was just a question of how much pain and damage each Launceleyn managed to hide. Still, he bowed his head in acknowledgment, for Loren did know Zariah better than he did.
It doesn't mean she won't try and hurt you first, he pointed out quietly. But I'll support you, if there's something I can do to help. She targeted my loved ones before, too, when she couldn't get to me. I don't want that happening to anyone else. That there were people Loren cared about again - that he could openly admit to caring about - was reassuring to Jigano, and another sign of how much healing the summoner had undergone since their last encounter.
Jigano glanced down at his work to give his friend a chance to brush the tears away without an audience, though the bard would hardly have minded if the summoner had needed to cry on his shoulder. Sometimes it helped to let the grief out, but if Loren preferred privacy for his mourning Jigano would respect that, too. LongNight was never a joyous topic, but since they were already talking about lost loved ones it was at least a segue. He nodded thoughtfully at the question, lips quirking wryly. "I will, though... I need to have a long talk with Rory. I don't want to leave him alone this year after what almost happened last year. But I don't want to abandon anyone else, either, when I might be able to help..." As he had also done last year, even if the only ones he'd been able to save in the end had been souls of those already dead, who needed to be guided on to Ludo.
Loren smiled faintly, though there was something a bit smug around the edges of it. And indeed, there was a sort of quiet pride in the thought he sent to Jigano. She can hurt me. Probably will. The healer shrugged, not worried about that possibility.
But I’m pretty tough these days. And if she tries to hurt someone else to get me to comply, I will beat the shit out of her, no matter how long it takes or how much it hurts. There was a sort of steely determination in his gaze. Despite being disowned, she has few enough allies and family members left that she’ll risk doing anything too drastic to me. He continued grinding the cure in the mortar and pestle, though his eyes met the bard’s.
Pulsing gratitude for the privacy, the Launceleyn nodded slowly at the white-haired man’s words. ”Think you’ll be able to convince him to leave the farm this year?” Loren tilted his head to one side as he waited for Jigano’s response.
Loren might not have been worried but Jigano was, a faint rumble of discontent and the heat of ire in the Attuned bond for a moment at the thought of Zariah hurting another of the bard's friends. Pushing it would do no good, however, and for all that the summoner seemed willing to martyr himself to prove Zariah's cruelty yet again, at least he had a line which he wouldn't allow her to cross. Alright. I trust you. I don't have to like the thought of her putting you at deliberate risk, though, he grumbled, feeling more than a little protective after all the difficulties Loren had already gone through just that year alone.
It was Jigano's turn to bite his lip, pretending to focus on his work as he held in a sigh. "No," he admitted softly. "I... don't know what I'll do. I'll try, but..." He smiled wryly down at the bell-shaped jar in his hands, setting it aside to begin on another. "He's as stubborn as I am. We're evenly matched, he and I, and when one of us sets our heels in we know there's no budging. Luckily it doesn't happen often. Mostly... mostly just over LongNight." His hands tightened on the creation, and he thickened the glass subconsciously to compensate. "Last year I lost Caiside despite being in town and the at the door he was knocking on. I... almost lost Rory, too. Because I wasn't there. If I'm not there this year, and the monsters come back wearing his sister's voice again I don't think... that he'll..." Be able to resist, went unsaid into the sudden silence and the tight lines of worry in the bard's face.
Loren raised his eyebrows at Jigano's observation. Tell me the truth. Do you think I can handle an Ursur? And my cousin's insanity and machinations? Or no? Continuing to stare at the bard, the healer tilted his head to one side. Honestly, he found he was genuinely curious to hear what the white-haired man thought.
As the Sage revealed his worries about LongNight, the Launceleyn gave Jigano a sympathetic look. "I guess that means you'll just have to outstubborn him." Loren's expression grew thoughtful. "The Fae didn't seem to have any trouble during LongNight. Perhaps Rory might be willing to spend it in the Greatwood? It's not too far from the Fields."
Jigano looked up to meet Loren's gaze, his own frank. An ursur? Yes. Even drunk and lashing out at yourself, you could take on any bear Caido can throw at you. But Zariah? ... the last time I saw you, I would have said no. You weren't entirely sane yourself, and Zariah seems to thrive on manipulating people's pain. But the way you are today? I think you could see through her. Could care enough to see through her and protect yourself.
Ah well. For all that he was a bard, tact had never been his strong suit.
The jar finished materializing in his hands and he smiled wryly down at it. He had just said that he couldn't 'outstubborn' his mate, but it did sound nice sometimes. "I tried to suggest that to him last year," he agreed. "It... didn't go over well. Given what the monsters said and did last year, he'll be even more determined to stay in his family home this year. Just in case... in case she might return." He exhaled a slow sigh, then looked up again with a grateful smile for Loren's suggestions. "We've all got a bad habit of being too stubborn for our own good, sometimes." With a slight shake of his head to try and dispel the fears of a future yet to come he reached for his earth magic and the nearby plants, attempting to make more seeds to store in the smaller jars against future plantings in the greenhouse-to-come.
Loren let out a huff of laughter when Jigano easily agreed that the healer could take on any bear and probably not just the animal kind. However, he shrugged at the bard's less than wholehearted admission that Zariah would be a bit more of a problem. My family never broke me. The world, maybe, other people who professed to care, sure, but my relatives? The Launceleyn took in a deep breath. I refused to bend to their will. Least of all Zariah's The thought came out without a hint of doubt.
Sighing, at the white-haired man's words, Loren drummed his fingers on the table. "Who is this mysterious woman, and why would she return on LongNight, of all nights?" It made absolutely no logical sense, and his confusion was evident.
As Jigano got back to work, the healer did as well, making more of the cure. However, his brow furrowed in concentration and his eyes flashed with annoyance at the bard's question. "I have no idea. I haven't seen him since he invited me here." It was clear how much that bothered him.
Given the summoner's previously displayed coping mechanisms, Jigano might not have been so certain that the family hadn't done its damage to his friend, but only time would tell. So why did you join her academy and put yourself back under her power? he asked curiously. He had thought Loren the one person strong enough to avoid the lure of the former-Tyrant's play for a personal army of Abandoned, but finding out that he had joined her anyways wasn't the strongest argument he could have made that he refused to bend to his cousin's will.
He glanced over at the drumming fingers, smile turning sad. "His sister, one he loved dearly... one who disappeared before the Outlander influx began. It's... not impossible that her soul is held by the LongNight monsters," he added quietly. "He doesn't speak of her much, and I'm willing to wait until he's ready." Rory was a man of long silences and few words, bright smiles and dark moods, and a past that he held close to his chest and shared only in occasional and often unexpected trickles.
Not unlike his mate's tendency to hold his own past close to his chest.
Jigano winced at his friend's annoyance, not intending to have brought up a touchy subject. "Ah, sorry," he murmured. "I suppose governing takes a lot of time. I've barely seen Rex since I joined her government, too. How busy has the Infirmary been since you opened it?"
Loren rolled his eyes at Jigano's claim. Explain to me exactly how I'm under her power? Leaning forward, the healer spread his arms. Because I wanted to learn magic so I could better help people. Nothing more, nothing less. I certainly haven't sworn any oaths or given her my loyalty, and the fact that you're questioning me about this indicates a shocking lack of trust in me. Although he wasn't mad, he was a bit annoyed that the bard and everyone else seemed so convinced that all of Zariah's students would follow her blindly.
Frowning slightly, the Launceleyn tapped his foot even as his expression grew thoughtful. "And how is Rory planning to rescue the soul if that is the case? I wasn't aware he had any powers or items that would help him do that." It came out mostly as idle speculation, though he sent a pulse of understanding and sympathy to the white-haired man.
Shrugging, Loren resumed grinding up plants with a bit more force than was strictly necessary. "I suppose so." Shrugging at Jigano's question, the healer indicated the empty beds. "Not very."
Jigano only raised a brow at Loren's display of annoyance, pausing in his work to meet his friend's eyes squarely. "What reason have you given people to trust you, lately?" he asked quietly. "The last time I saw you, you were drowning yourself in alcohol and pushing people away. Remi said you tore your own throat out to make a point to him. Mourning is one thing, but destroying yourself piece by piece doesn't do much to inspire confidence that you're whole of mind and heart and able to resist your cousin when she dangles a promise in front of you that she might not even be able to keep. What makes you think she knows more about magic here than you do and can teach you anything, given that you arrived at the same time?" It wasn't as though Zariah had grown up on Caido, in tune with its magic and having some deeper insight into it than those Naturals born here, or even other Outlanders who had adapted to it.
The brow stayed raised at Loren's assumptions, the bard curious as to where the other man was getting his information. "What do you know of him?" he asked, intrigued. It was his mate they were talking about, after all, and he was interested in what sort of reputation Rory had among others.
The conversation seemed to be winding down, and Jigano nodded at the terse response. A bored Healer was a happy Healer, in his experience; less to do meant less people being hurt of sick, and more time to make preparations for plagues or catastrophes so that they wouldn't be caught understocked.
