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!
Long before LongNight, nobody had been paying attention to what the than-twelve-year-old had been doing; she doubted anyone had noticed she was gone. A spirit had whispered that it knew where her momma was, and ever the momma's girl, she'd gone. Not that she remembered how she came to Whitebrim.
LongNight had been spent somewhere, had it been spent here, curled up on the floor of the old run-down house she'd woken up in? She wasn't sure; and as she ran her hands over herself, across her breasts, she frowned. This was like before. Before...
Before what, though? Her memory was getting worse every time she found herself aged up. That wouldn't do. She found some forgotten furs in a trunk in the house and bundled herself up. And she started to plan the lies she'd tell if she went home...
Did she have a home? She knew she didn't know where her mother was and her brothers were... useless, the only one she'd cared about was gone. Neron didn't count, she had clung tightly to the fact that Neron was to blame for losing her mother and her brother, for her life falling down around her. But... that was all she remembered. Her head hurt, and she decided that maybe she should make a break for it. Leave Halo behind her... Maybe nobody else would know her. No, no, she was sure that wouldn't quite work. But... if the family was in shambles...
Having decided not to go home, because the only thing that waited for her there was loneliness, she wrapped the furs around herself and slipped on a pair of shoes. Strangely enough, she'd woken up to find clean clothes and shoes in her sizes, tucked with the furs. She'd even found dried meat, and a waterskin, which she tucked into the furs once she had them on.
No point in questioning her life now.
Warm enough, she slipped out of the building in silence, trying to decide where she was. It didn't remind her of Snowcloak, so she must be in the tundra. Moving with purpose, she started in a direction; away from the Citadel and towards the Fangs.
Finding Beatrix had been such a pain. Only she would find some way to get swept off and aged again. She had definitely inherited her father's penchant for poor luck.
Jace found himself in Whitebrim of all places - of course she was in a cannibal village - and chose to stand and wait outside, rather than go ransacking the buildings. He hadn't come to draw attention after all. He just needed to get the Queen of Bothersdom and get back to the Citadel. For as much as he complained about his sister, she was one of the very few people he knew he could count on. Certainly by now she was as tired of the incompetence of the generation before them as much as he was. It wouldn't be hard to convince her to play the part of minion in his plans.
Icy green eyes flicked to one side as he caught a bit of movement from his peripheral vision. Turning slowly, hands tucked into his pockets, he spotted Bea, looking around like a deer caught in a bright light. He sighed, rolling his eyes. But only when he began to walk in the opposite direction did he call out to her.
"Hey - where the hell do you think you're going?"
Even as he shouted his voice seemed soft, unused, completely unnatural at that raised sort of volume, and utterly lacking emotion to its tone. They both might've been older, but some things never changed.
She stilled in her steps, and exhaled sharply, as she turned to face him, she was clearly expecting a spirit, some sort of trick. Dark eyes narrowed, and she rolled her shoulders in a shrug. "Wherever I want." She didn't shout, or call out to him, she simply stated the words. He might even miss them over the wind.
Her gaze stayed fixed on him, though she didn't move from where she was standing. Her fingers gripped the furs tightly, drawing them nearer to herself. "What do you want?" Still, she spoke levelly, not entirely trusting her eyes. After all, nothing was ever as it seemed.
He looked like her brother; same eyes, same voice. But that meant nothing.
His body language didn't change, still standing relaxed, hands pocketed. But his expression - the change was so slight likely only she would note it. Exasperation. Of course she had to question it. Of course she had to make this exchange drag on longer than it needed to. Did she really think she had the market cornered on magically aging? Such a pain.
"It's Jace, Bea. Now come on, I need your help." he said dryly. He didn't make a move to follow or approach her - that would take him further away from his intended destination after all. The last thing he wanted to do was make more work for himself because his sister was too wrapped up in her own confusion to believe her eyes.
Beatrix caught the change in his expression, and her lips pulled into a smirk. Definitely not a trick. "I didn't ask you who you were, stupid." She gave Whitebrim one last look, a glance over her shoulders to the Fangs, and she moved to his side, holding out a hand for him to take.
"You look good, have you seen yourself in a mirror yet?" She inquired, absently. Mother and Neron did make a lovely child. "What am I helping you with?" There wasn't a 'why should I help you' attached. No, Jace was it. The only family she had left. She'd help him, and he'd help her. That was what family did, no?
Jace merely shrugged, the slightest of movements. Hardly enough to count as a gesture really but that was fairly standard for him. He exerted just enough energy to accomplish the task and not an ounce more. "You asked a stupid question." he said softly. He answered the more useful, unspoken question rather than the one she had asked out of hesitation. She should know better than to think he would answer something he thought pointless.
But at least she wasn't asking anymore stupid questions, like how he had grown or how he wasn't dead. Bea was irritating but she wasn't that idiotic...mostly.
He took her hand, knowing she would shove her own into his if he didn't do so. At her question he shrugged again. He didn't care what he looked like. His appearance wasn't pertinent to accomplishing his goals. "Running the Academy and executing Eirachi's will." he said quietly as they walked back towards the Citadel.
Beatrix snorted, "That's fair." The questions could have been stupider; like 'how did you age', 'how are you alive?', 'how did you find me?' If she couldn't answer how she had come to age, and how she had come to Whitebrim, he probably couldn't answer any of those questions either.
His hand in hers was colder than she thought she remembered, but she simply accepted it. He was definitely Jace. "The Academy I understand." It was their inheritance, though the fact he was taking over probably meant their mother was dead. So she doesn't ask if she's right. "But the Eirachi..."
She doesn't finish her thought, instead of flashing a smile. Trusting Jace was enough; if the Eirachi wanted his help and he wanted hers, so be it. "Are we going to live in the Academy?" She doesn't ask where Neron or Loren are living; she doesn't care.
Bea would likely have been surprised to find out that Jace could have answered all of those questions, considering his situation was quite a bit different from her own. But he certainly wasn't going to offer up those answers on his own. She would either have to ask or figure it out on her own; though if she did the former she wasn't guarenteed an answer.
As for living in the Academy...he simply shrugged. He didn't remember the place very clearly, but he didn't have any idea where else they would live, if not for there. Frankly he would be fine sleeping outside but he knew Bea needed somewhere warmer. Speaking of...he pulled his hand away briefly, tugging off his heavy leather jacket. Jace draped it around her shoulders, walking through the snow and wind as though the frigid temperatures meant nothing to him - because they didn't.
Beatrix accepted the heavy jacket, eyeing him silently, almost critically. His hand returned to hers and she studied his hand, humming quietly. The Eirachi had taken her brother. But what had the Eirachi done to him?
"So the Academy will reopen, what help will I be in running it?" She walked steadily, though her thoughts did wander back towards leaving Halo; running through the portal and never coming back. But at the same time...
"I want the Launceleyn name to mean more than it does. Will you help me with that?" Ever her mother's daughter. If the Academy was ran right, that'd certainly help her bring better fortune to their name, but there was so much more to be done.
Had she always asked so many questions? He sighed again, resisting the urger to lift his free hand and pinch the bridge of his nose. "You'll be the nice one." he said simply. Being personable really had never been Jave's strong suit, and that skill had only further atrophied while in the Eirachi's care. Bea, on the other hand, fiery as she was, certainly had better people skills than him. Moreover, as a girl...well...people were less likely to be scared of her. "What title would you want?"
He merely shrugged at her question about the family name. In truth, it meant nothing to him. His purpose was to help the Eirachi however she wished. If what Bea wanted ended up contradicting what his goddess wanted...well...he had his hands tied. He glanced at her briefly, wondering if she could figure that out on her own. Based on her facial structure, he figured she had not aged as much as he - would her youth cloud her judgement?
Beatrix snorted, nostrils flaring. "I guess I can do nice." He certainly had never been good at being nice, even as a boy. She was used to charming her way into people's good graces, though that charm would certainly be different now.
When he asked after a title, she shrugged, a light movement, "I dunno," she wasn't sure if she was interested in a title, though she supposed she'd need one if she was helping him... The silence was comfortable, familiar, even if she wasn't entirely used to Jace's new demeanor. Even if she was still trying to piece together her memories, with gaps missing throughout.
Jace was content to allow the silence to fall between them. He wasn't much of a talker as it was - never had been - and with her questions answered Bea seemed willing to give him this small respite. Instead his mind focused on the task at hand. They needed to train diligently. He needed to grow stronger - he could not trumy aid the Eirachi if he did not after all. Though it was his inheritance right, taking the Academy was also a bit self-serving for that reason.
Though he wasn't really looking forward to all of the work he was going to have to put in.
The silence would continue for the duration of the walk, unless Bea brought up anything else that he couldn't get out of answering. Hopefully pondering a title would be enough to keep her mind occupied. He'd already wasted enough breath as it was.
The Citadel's walls came into view, and Beatrix slowed. "You won't leave me, Jace?" It was an impulsive question; everyone she'd cared about that had once been in this place had left, in some way or another. "Not without a goodbye, at least?" She recognized there were forces at work behind her brother's growth, the cold aura, he had things he had to do that wouldn't involve her.
She just wanted a warning, if he ever left for good. "It's just you and me." She clarified, her gaze focused ahead. "No Loren, no Neron." Just them, and that thought was surreal, but in other ways, a comfort. After all, it'd been just them once upon a time. And now they were both better suited, she was certain.
She didn't wait for an answer, instead, she resumed walking, adjusting his coat around her shoulders as she went, never once removing her hand from his, even if her fingers were chilled. It'd take her a bit to be convinced he wasn't a trick.
He sighed a little at her question, giving her a critical look. Such a question defined her weakness - her need to be part of a group and not on her own. It was only natural, given how often and readily the adults in their lives had abandoned them. But with surety he shook his head. If he left without warning it would be because he had no choice. Beatrix had secured her spot in his heart long before the Eirachi had encased it in layers of ice. She needn't worry about his loyalty.
But at the mention of Loren and Neron he raised a brow at her. Were they dead? It sounded like it from how she phrased it. Not that it terribly mattered. Jace had only vague memories of Loren and Neron...well...he had reasons for not being particularly fond of him. Moreover..."It's always just been us." he said with a shrug. Mother had been crazy. Neron was self serving. Loren was unreliable. And Edrei was dead.
