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!
The lantern Remi was creating for Aoife was needlessly complex, large, bulky, and currently not in any sort of working condition. There wasn't even really any place for a candle to sit in it, though that part would come later.
Now that he and Ronin (and Seren) lived in a house closer to the lighthouse ("lived in" very loosely applied, with the wagon out front Remi still spent most of his time in and around that), the alchemist was spending more and more time on the rocky bluffs. Sat near Aoife's grave marker, the alchemist was tinkering away, muttering things under his breath towards the blue-blossoms that he'd made sprout near the grave as if the girl could still hear.
Remi
Table coding by Sky, inspiration from Jae!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Ronin had seen his husband from the windows of the little house, and given that he had a rare moment by himself (and gods when had that become his normal again), he seized the opportunity to go and approach Remi.
Honestly, their new arrangement might be suitable for all intents and purposes, but he missed his husband fiercely, missed their new-old routine on the beach, missed everything from before this latest complication.
The Dark Star sank down beside Remi to look at the contraption, pausing only to gaze fondly at Aoife's grave marker, before turning his attention back to the alchemist. "What's it meant to be?"
"You look awfully complicated." The alchemist snarked back with a grin, not bothering to look up as Ronin approached.
'Well, obviously it's a..." Only, it wasn't obviously anything, and even Remi had to admit that as he looked at it. "..well...so, the heat from the flame is meant to be caught here, in this canopy of feathers, which hopefully will make it hover above the ground. And then the holes in the bottom here, star-shaped, will cast stars onto the ground. Only...they just look like circles and it isn't really flying at the moment." Remi paused, with a frown. "And the wood keeps catching on fire." Of course the entire thing was made of lightweight and incredibly thin strips of wood. It was delicate, beautiful, and entirely too much.
Remi
Table coding by Sky, inspiration from Jae!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"That is because I am," Ronin said with a smirk, shrugging a shoulder and leaning back on his hands to gaze between Remi and the lantern-esque thing he was trying to explain. Raising his eyebrows, the hunter tried hard to follow what his husband was talking about, and he cleared his throat in an attempt to be diplomatic.
"...Remi, if you had presented this to Aoife she would have broken it in moments," he pointed out. "Don't you think a lantern for her should be more... her? Something bright, something happy? Probably smeared with jam?" He nudged the alchemist gently.
Ronin wasn't wrong, but that didn't stop Remi's shoulders from slumping. Pursing his lips and looking quite childish indignant in that moment, the alchemist suddenly grabbed the lantern and threw it down the side of the gently-sloping cliff-face. Exhaling an annoyed stream of air, Remi keeled over suddenly, his forehead falling into Ronin's lap with an incoherent burble of unhappiness.
Sighing once he felt as though he'd properly sulked, Remi sat up, giving his husband a sad look. "You're right. I just kept...I suppose I thought if I could build this elaborate thing it would have to catch Ludo's eye and maybe we could see her again."
Remi
Table coding by Sky, inspiration from Jae!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Ronin sat quietly as Remi chewed over what he had said, and while he wanted to laugh as the absurd contraption went sailing over the side of the cliff, he was respectful enough to bite his tongue. Then, as Remi went sulking into his lap, Ronin dutifully fussed his husband. He teased fingers through the alchemist's curls, letting him have his moment until he was ready to talk again. "...Have you thought about asking Ludo about it?" he murmured, seeming equally as sad and hopeful.
"It's a lovely thought. Maybe it's not elaborate that matters, though. You said Ludo cares about memories, so... let's make a lantern that reminds us the most about her. What do you think?" He winked, glancing over to the little grave marker. "...How are you holding up anyway?"
Enjoying the fusses immensely, it was with great reluctance that the alchemist drew back with a shake of his head. "Thought about it? Yes. Would I though?" Ruffling a hand through his curls, Remi sighed. "My...stalement, truce, understanding—whatever it is with Ludo—is not one I really understand. The last thing I want is to say something stupid and have my memories taken again." He'd done that once with Frey and Remi was sure it had taken years off his life, dealing with the fallout.
'A very wise idea indeed. Must not have been yours, then.' Remi quipped with the beginnings of a smile. "What I remember best is...jam, yes. But also...the weight of her. The smell of her hair after a bath. The tension in her curls when trying to comb them with my fingers...the slowness with which she opened her eyes when she clearly didn't want to wake up from a nap.." Another shrug. "How am I to make a lantern of those things?"
Ronin's latter question was nearly just as difficult. "I have you." He replied softly, as if that was answer enough.
Remi
Table coding by Sky, inspiration from Jae!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Like it or not, Remi had a very good point about Ludo, and Ronin pressed his shoulder against the alchemist's affectionately. To hear that he was being particularly careful about the god, even knowing that Ludo could likely appear as Aoife whenever Remi wanted it to... it was reassuring as much as it was sad. "Of course it isn't my idea. It's probably yours, and you just forgot about it to make... whatever that was instead." He nodded over the side of the cliff.
Remi spoke about their daughter and Ronin felt something within him clench up painfully, lending a tightness to his throat as he nodded. You couldn't make a memory of those things, truly. "The way she used to smile when you caught her doing something naughty. How she'd stamp her feet when she was happy, and hide from you when she was tired. It's impossible to capture that, isn't it?" He shuffled closer to Remi, wrapping an arm around his husband to draw him close against his side.
"You have me," he agreed, though things still felt distant between them. Like they were on different islands out at sea, and could only wave at each other. "You'll always have me."
'Well, we both know I've always had issues with my memory.' Remi chuckled back dryly. Whatever spark of amusement there had been disappeared entirely with Ronin's description of their daughter. Sighing against the firm weight of Ronin against him, the alchemist could do little else but nod. 'Impossible, yeah. Hence why I made..." He peered distantly over the cliff, before leaning back against the rocks and Ronin. "..that."
Allowing the words and the moment to sink into his bones like a cool mist, eventually, Remi clapping his hands on his knees and shot Ronin a mischievous look. "Well, given that my original lantern has met an untimely but probably much-needed end, what do you propose we make instead?"
Remi
Table coding by Sky, inspiration from Jae!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Blinking himself out of his reverie at Remi's sudden movement, Ronin could only smile and itch at the stubble on his chin as he thought. "How about a paper lantern? We can fingerpaint it, and cut star shaped holes, like you planned?" he suggested.
"We can even make it a little tail, and put a paper dragon on the end." A lot more simple compared to Remi's initial contraption, but it would certainly allow them to be able to make something in time for the festival.
And really, he thought Aoife would have had a whale of a time painting it too.
"Paper..flammable. Paint, very flammable. With holes to let oxygen in." This was all said as if the alchemist thought it a bad idea. But in the end, so what if they hung a potential inferno from a tree. It wasn't like they didn't have the ability to put it out, and as they'd both come to realize, it wasn't as if the lantern would ever live up to the life it was meant to represent.
"Sounds perfect."
So saying, the alchemist conjured for them some paper, things with which to fasten, some thin tree boughs for the frame perhaps (and because those were flammable as well). "You haven't conveniently brought some of your art supplies, have you?"
Remi
Table coding by Sky, inspiration from Jae!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"It does sound perfect, doesn't it? Flammable aside, people have been making paper lanterns for years, you know," Ronin said with a cheeky grin, shaking his head and sitting back from Remi a bit so he could make the supplies they needed. Already he could see the shape of the lantern jumping to the forefront of his mind, and at Remi's question, Ronin's projection climbed up and out of the real deal and began to jog back towards the houses, and the wagon outside of them.
"Not on me, conveniently. But give me a few minutes, I'm sure there are a few things in the wagon that I've cobbled together since we came to Torchline." He winked. "So what do you think we ought to put on here? Handprints?"
"Have they now? I didn't realize you were a historical paper-lantern scholar." Sarcastically said, still Remi leaned over to press an adoring kiss against the stubble on Ronin's jawline. Watching the Star's projection jog off with amused but skeptical eyes (it was still so strange to see), Remi turned back to husband with a soft and thoughtful hum.
"Absolutely handprints." There had been no surface untouched by Aoife's sticky fingers at one time or another. Trying hard not to fall so quickly back into melancholy, Remi ran a hand through his curls and sighed as he waited for Ronin2 to bring the needed supplies. "She was so young...I wish there was more tangible things of her."
Remi
Table coding by Sky, inspiration from Jae!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"I am the most prestigious of historical paper-lantern scholars, sir. And I am offended that you could forget my credentials so easily!" Putting on his haughtiest blueblood tone, Ronin ruined it entirely with his grin as Remi leant in for a kiss. His smile grew more wistful as he considered the pattern for the lantern, holding one hand palm up as if trying to decide if it was good enough for something that was meant to represent their daughter.
"Like what?" he asked softly, glancing to Remi. "If she had been older, would it have helped? Having a lock of hair, a ribbon, a piece of jewellry... would any of it make us feel better than this?" He didn't think so, personally. Glancing up as his projection returned armed with paint and a palette to mix it upon, he accepted the supplies and dismissed it, before setting them down between himself and the alchemist. "You had the first idea, so you get to pick a colour first," he said with a wink.
