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!
Walk me home in the dead of night, 'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind
What time it was, the Alchemist had no idea. The days were only measured by the times he fell into a fitful sleep and the depths of the yawning chasm ever-widening in his heart. He missed Ronin desperately, in a way he never had before. The pair had been apart, that was nothing new, but something about this time was different. Ronin had faced down demons on his own, fleeing to the woods when he was blighted, but still, something about this felt more hopeless and desperate.
The Alchemist didn't want to think it was the lack of light that was making it so much work (that would be to give far too much power to Safrin), but it likely had a lot to do with it.
Tossing away a stick he'd been errantly playing with, Remi rose from where he'd been seated by the bonfire on the beach, and began to stalk determinedly towards the portal that would lead him back to the Hollowed Grounds, and to Ronin.
So say you'll stay with me tonight. 'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Vai would regret even thinking it, but there was just something about Torchline that made LongNight seem... longer. Perhaps it was the fact that there was no danger, nothing to keep adrenaline up and the senses sharp like there was in the Hollowed Grounds. Or maybe it was because she knew that, unlike for a lot of the population, there was very little relaxation to be had for the man whose house she shared currently.
Vai had only recently returned to the bonfire, stoking it up with fresh kindling and smiling and chatting with a woman who had come around to offer some food to them. It was as she turned to ask whether Remi wanted anything that she just about caught him as he got up, and fuck if she didn’t know the direction he was headed in.
Hurriedly excusing herself, she trotted over the sand after him. ”Remi,” she called. ”You know this is a bad idea. Don’t make me follow you out there.”
Walk me home in the dead of night, 'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind
Remi's strides were long and determined, his bare feet whispering over the sounds with now nearly a year's worth of practice. If he heard Vai coming before she called out, he gave no indication, nor did he slow as her words drifted after him.
"We both know I can't make you do anything." He called back automatically, and though she couldn't be able to see his expression, it was stern and fixed steadily ahead. That Ronin's heartbeat on his hand had been erratic wasn't necessarily cause for concern, but it also wasn't, just the same. It was LongNight, anything could be happening, and knowing the monster's trickery, that Ronin's heart was still beating was not necessarily any more of a relief than knowing it had stopped.
Sometimes being alive was worse than being dead, with all the men had been through.
So say you'll stay with me tonight. 'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”You also know I won’t see you go through that portal alone,” Vai called, having to break into a run to try and get ahead of Remi. Once she did she turned to walk backwards, holding her hands up to try and slow him down. ”Remi,” she said slowly, trying to meet his eyes.
”Please. Just talk me through it, that’s all I ask. You go through that portal, and then what? What happens? It’s LongNight in the Hollowed Grounds. You don’t know where Ronin is. There are monsters everywhere, and you aren’t immune to the kind of things they might show you either.” She glanced briefly over her shoulder, trying to judge how far away it was. ”You may not even reach him. Think about this.”
Walk me home in the dead of night, 'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind
That should have had more of an effect on him than it did. But so great was Remi's need for his husband, that even knowing Vai would walk through the portal behind him and into danger wasn't enough to immediately stay his feet. It was like knowing there was food just on the other side of a door, when you were already starving. A bed just a few steps away, when you were ready to pass out.
Eventually, he did stop, though his antsiness was palpable. From the way, he constantly shifted his feet, to how his hands couldn't remain still at his sides, it was clear that it took great effort for the Alchemist to even consider hearing reason. "No, not immune, but less susceptible than Ronin." Because as it was, there was still a man beneath those bright blue eyes and expressive eyebrows who still cared about humanity, unlike with Remi, who only cared for a few now.
"If we're together, it will make whatever he's seeing that much more bearable. That I know." Head tilted like some animal testing the tethers it was held by, Remi took a step forward. He could easily force Vai to move both physically and magically. Whether or not it would come to that, not even Remi really knew. He didn't know what he was capable of just now.
So say you'll stay with me tonight. 'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
He slowed, stopped - even if it might only be temporary. Either way, Vai let out a breath she didn’t realise she’d been holding, lowering her hands to her sides. ”But what will you do,” she said, shaking her head sadly to him. ”You’re not just going to pop out at the Spire and he’ll be there waiting. The sun could rise without you finding him.” She rubbed at her forehead.
And when Remi took a step forward she stiffened, straightening up, her blue eyes hardening. ”What makes you think it will be him you find, anyway? Those monsters can look like anyone. And they will know you’re looking for him,” she pointed out. ”He won’t thank you for this. This is for you, not for Ronin.”
Walk me home in the dead of night, 'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind
'At least I'll be doing something other than sitting here on this fucking beach." Remi snarled in response, though not at her. It almost looked as though he was seeing right through her, to where the portal lay in ominous silence at her back. "The Grounds are not so big that Ronin would miss a manticore flying through the sky." He added, sounding boyish in the way he argued.
'I'll know because of the ring.' Because while the monsters could replicate the band, they couldn't replicate the magic.
"Fine, it's for me. I never said it wasn't." The Alchemist had leaned in hard to his latent selfish ways, and now was no exception. He'd even deal with Ronin being angry at him, if that's what it took. Because just now, it felt as though Remi couldn't go another hour without having Ronin close by. Without him being near.
Taking another step forward such that it was only a foot or so that separated them, the Alchemist raised his chin, offering the witch a look that was as much apology as it was warning.
So say you'll stay with me tonight. 'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Remi had answers for everything, and they came out quickly - without thought, almost. Frustrated, Vai ran her fingers through her curls and had to resist the urge to take a step backwards as he moved closer, wondering just where this would end. Nowhere good, if she stopped being between him and the portal.
”But this isn’t just about you, Remi,” she said, her tone soft even if the words were hard. ”You don’t just get to do what you want, because you want it. Not right this minute, anyway.”
Lifting her chin right back at him, she shook her head. ”People here depend on you. Ronin is depending on you to be here when he comes home. Don’t do something you’ll regret in five minutes, Remi.”
Walk me home in the dead of night, 'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind
"Yes, I do." Remi countered, his voice like steel and his eyes just as hard. Everything he'd built here, his entire life in Torchline, was founded on that principle. Only Ronin mattered to him—and Vai too of course—in a way that was meaningful. Should he die, Torchline would find a new governor. He was not Seren's father. He'd made no other friends.
"Torchline has never depended on me. Its never depended on any one person." But I do, went unsaid. Though he didn't step forward, the distance between them seemed to diminish slightly as Remi took a deep breath, his lungs filling as he seemed to decide just what it was he would do. Part of him almost wishes Vai was a formidable opponent, for at least then there would be a proper physical barrier. But what she was, was perhaps so much worse. Because it was the threat of her disappointment that held the Alchemist in place.
Whether or not that was stronger a motivator than Remi's own need, was a question soon to be answered.
So say you'll stay with me tonight. 'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”Then why are you still standing here?” Vai asked softly, imploringly. She drew in a deep breath as well, daring to be the one to step forward this time. Reaching up, she would try to rest her hands on the Alchemist’s shoulders, a gentle and steadying presence. ”I’ve been there for you even for things you don’t remember anymore,” she said. ”I pulled you out of a pit and I watched you get married. And I’ll be here for this - and I’ll be there when you see Ronin come back out of that portal.”
Sighing, she stared up at him hard, knowing that should Remi decide he was going to the Hollowed Grounds, there wasn’t anything anyone on Torchline could do to stop him. ”If you go now, you might never come home. Ronin might walk onto this beach and then he’s the one waiting. Just like you are now. And you know that.”
06-27-2020, 04:46 AM (This post was last modified: 06-27-2020, 04:55 AM by Odd.)
REMI
the alchemist
Walk me home in the dead of night, 'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind
Only Ronin had seen how truly changed the Alchemist was. How darkened whatever scrap of soul Ludo had left him with. Had anyone else stood before him, they'd have been discarded easily. It was as Remi said: No one needed him here, he had no responsibilities that couldn't be filled equally well by someone else. Remi had was under no illusion that his position as governor was circumstantial and context-dependent. He wasn't special or unique, just as he was no longer useful to others now that Ludo had dismantled the parts of him that once proved so full of utility to those around him.
But to shove Vai aside now, would be to have truly changed. Would be to truly put Ronin above all and everyone else. Standing there, basked in firelight with sea-glass eyes bearing into the witch's such as they'd never done before, Remi could see himself shoving her aside. He could hear her muffled gasp of surprise and the sound her body would make hitting the sand. He could judge, even, how far she'd be able to turn to see him, before he disappeared entirely into the portal and away.
"Vai..." Remi mumbled, taking a step forward, eliminating the space between them. But his voice was soft now, broken. "How could I have let him go alone?" The Alchemist asked, weary and small and hating himself for having the audacity and short-sightedness to let Ronin face his demons alone. "I don't care about Torchline...not the way I care about him...but I'm here, and he's...he's....." Glancing numbly at the ring pulsing out Ronin's unsteady heartbeat on his finger, the Alchemist let loose a strangled sob as he pitched forward into Vai's arms.
So say you'll stay with me tonight. 'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
She’d almost expected to be tossed aside. It wouldn’t have surprised her, and part of her wouldn’t even have blamed him. So when Remi suddenly lurched forward, Vai wasn’t at all prepared for it; her arms quickly slipped around him even as she staggered back, over balancing to send them both tumbling into the sand. It barely mattered, though.
”I know, Remi,” she whispered, clasping him close against her, tears pricking at the corners of her eyes. ”I know he is. You were both just trying to do what was best. And I know it’s hard, and that it seems like time is crawling by, but he will need you more after this than he might right now.” Kissing his curls, she let out a shuddering breath.
It didn’t make it easier, even knowing that it was true. Ronin was still alone and Remi was still left waiting, and both suffered for it. ”It won’t be long now. He will be back and you can both lock yourselves up at home. I’ll turn away anyone who tries to visit, promise.”
Walk me home in the dead of night, 'Cause I can't be alone with all that's on my mind
What Remi had intended was to swing his arms around the witch, switching their places so that he was the one closer to the portal. It would only be a step or two for him to disappear away in its strange glow, and then? Then he would find Ronin, or die trying.
So when the pair tumbled to the ground, both surprised it seemed by the tug of gravity, Remi let out a strangled sound of frustration that might have been mistaken for mere grief. Pulling back if only to right himself and not squish Vai beneath him, the sight of tears sparkling in the low light did finally stop him in a way that even gravity might not have done successfully. Her kiss and kindness were both a bane and blessing and gods he hated her so much for loving him the way she did.
'All that assumes he'll come back, Vai.' Remi mumbled through lips which had suddenly gone quite dry. "And if he doesn't? I won't even be able to tell myself I tried to find him. I will feel his heart stop beating on my finger, sat next to a fucking bonfire."
So say you'll stay with me tonight. 'Cause there is so much wrong going on outside
Code blatently stolen from queen of codes, Sky!
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Unaware of the intended trickery or Remi’s frustration - because he had changed, no longer the gentle man with the innocent heart - Vai could only gaze across at him sadly, glancing over his shoulder back at the bonfires. ”I’d agree that being sat next to a fire or getting wasted would be a terrible use of your time,” she murmured, ”but what about getting things ready for when he comes back? He has made it this far,” she pointed out.
”If you go out there and something happens to you, what kind of state will he be in, feeling your heartbeat stop?” she asked, though really, the sort of relationship that Remi and Ronin had at this point was akin to two sinking ships. If one went down, the other wouldn’t be far behind. ”If he’d have needed you to go with him, he would have told you.”
