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!
Fear is dark but my love is a lantern
Shining up like coins in a fountain
It had been an intensely stressful season, but it seemed like things were finally going to be better. Morgan had had a smile on her face since they'd walked away from the Spire, so glad now that she had intervened and Loren had left to give his metal to the Voice. If Amalia had had her way, Neron would still be sick; instead he was walking with her, ready to be his irritating self again.
She couldn't wait to love hating him and to stop pitying him.
The walk back to the portal (Eunike had had a lot of strenuous journeys lately and Morgan had left her for a day of rest) was long, but she didn't mind. For a while she was content to go on in silence, sure that Neron had a lot of thinking to do now that his mind was clear again, but eventually she had to allow herself one question: "How much do you remember? Of the last weeks?"
Hope is a tree sitting on a mountain where the grass don't grow
There's a sad old sea but my love is an island
Neron walks beside Morgan in a silence that needs no description. He’s pulled his coat back on, needing more protection from the LongHeat sun than he does from heatstroke that won’t happen, and his hands are buried in his pockets. He walks, back straight, head held high, and when the Warden finally speaks he shoots her a look of withering embarrassment. Still, there is no flush to his cheeks any longer, no film of opalescent sweat on his brow. He is fine, if not unkempt and in sore need of a wash and a change of clothes.
”Far, far too much,” he drawls, huffing out a breath no longer needed. ”It blurs in places, but I know I was locked in the Kraai. I remember... the water, the petal. The snowman.” He rolls his eyes. ”My, how my reputation must find itself in tatters before you. And I don’t kid myself that your opinion was all that high to begin with.”
Fear is dark but my love is a lantern
Shining up like coins in a fountain
She'd honestly been expecting him to say he remembered nothing at all; who he'd been then resembled so little of who he was that Morgan had thought his brain entirely snatched away. "Actually, you'll find I'm quite fair in that regard. You were ill and it does not have to reflect on you the rest of the time. " Quite content to forget it if he was, she smiled, though there was one more thing...
Feeling comfortable enough with Neron to approach this as a joke, she tilted her head towards him. "Some would say that a thanks was in order, for my caring for you and bringing you to the cure...some, though I'm sure you'll tell me that is not the Launceleyn way." With a huff of laughter, she shook her head before continuing, determined not to take it badly if he would not thank her (though it probably would sting).
Hope is a tree sitting on a mountain where the grass don't grow
There's a sad old sea but my love is an island
”Oh, I see.” He raises his eyebrows across at her, though the smirk on his face suggests that he’s equally as content to forget that this ever happened. It has been a strange season and the sooner he forgets his time as a whimsical nut job, the better. But Morgan has something else on her mind before then, it seems, and his smile fades by degrees as he realises he may have come across as ungrateful. Or rude. (Not that he has a problem with being rude, but only when it’s intentional).
Taking a couple of quick strides forward, he turns and holds up one hand as if to tell Morgan to halt. The other - unless she smacks it away, of course - slips into her own. ”Thank you, Morgan,” he says softly, steel eyes seeking out her face. ”Thank you for making sure I didn’t wander into the sun, or hurt myself. I owe you a debt.” Lifting her hand, he presses his lips to the back of her palm.
Fear is dark but my love is a lantern
Shining up like coins in a fountain
Morgan stopped at his raised hand, her eyebrow quirking at the gesture, wondering what it was he was about to do. She let her hand be taken, watching with curious eyes all the time, but as her hand was kissed she let out an embarrassed laugh and looked off to the side, shaking her head. "A simple 'thank you' would have sufficed." She told him, though the tone of her voice said she was actually quite pleased.
Gently taking her hand back she resumed the walk, eager to move on before she continued making the flushed face like an embarrassed schoolgirl that seemed determined to stick around. "So. There are some things we should discuss. Do you know anything about how the Voice came to have the cure?" Morgan asked, glancing across to him, unsure of how much he had picked up while he had been in the depths of the sickness.
Hope is a tree sitting on a mountain where the grass don't grow
There's a sad old sea but my love is an island
”Bold of you to still assume that anything I do is simple,” Neron says with a smirk, falling into step beside Morgan once more and letting his hands tuck back into the pockets of his coat. Does he notice the flush to her cheeks? Does he enjoy it? With eyes determinedly forward, it’s only the smile still playing around his lips that suggests anything at all. As she continues, though, he glances back across at her with a raised eyebrow, casting his mind back as best he can to the mire of his thoughts before he was cured.
”The Voice mentioned my brother, did she not? She mentioned Loren?” His brow furrows, concerned that he might have filled that detail in by himself. If that is the case, he must be getting overly sentimental. And Neron isn’t so sure how to feel about all of that.
Fear is dark but my love is a lantern
Shining up like coins in a fountain
"Mm. I suppose you're right about that." Morgan laughed lightly, nodded. Neron was different to her in many ways, but one of the most pronounced was his way of doing things with added drama and steps wherever he could, while Morgan liked to keep things simple and direct whenever possible. She couldn't say she hated his way of doing things, though; when it wasn't delaying anything important, it could be entertaining.
It seemed he was at least somewhat aware of what was going on; she nodded, confirming Loren's involvement. "Yes, Loren gave the Voice the item she used to make the cure. However..." Morgan sighed, rubbed the back of her neck as she considered how to frame everything that had happened to Neron; she didn't want to be unfair to his brother, but she didn't want to cushion the truth either. "I didn't know he had it this whole time, because he didn't tell me of it. I, Remi and Ronin had to demand he take it to the Voice...and Amalia was there, asking him to take it to the Old Gods as well. Where presumably they would make sure the Ascended would not be able to use it - and it seemed he was considering that option."
She was sure that Neron knew what that meant; that he might have been left behind, sick and weak, while others had the chance to improve. "...I'm going to speak with him, but I am unsure about his position on the council going forwards."
Hope is a tree sitting on a mountain where the grass don't grow
There's a sad old sea but my love is an island
Neron Launceleyn is many things. Fickle is unfortunately one of them, and perhaps that's because he's been taught his entire life to second-guess those who are closest to him, to spy and hide and betray and talk around. So it's especially painful, to feel the bridge he's started to build with Loren creak and groan under the weight of Morgan's words, and his jaw feathers as he flicks his eyes forward again. "I see," he says slowly. He can understand most of it - the reticence to make a decision, to risk making things worse rather than better. Not wanting to fling something important into the hands of those who might be hasty with it.
But to consider leaving him sick to the benefit of all others? It stings, and try as he might, the Hailstorm cannot hide it. "Do whatever it is you think you must," he says to Morgan with a gentle nod. "If that means he discontinues his position on the council, then so be it. He ought to have made you aware of the item right away. Or... as soon as he was able, under the circumstances. He was sick as well, right?"
Fear is dark but my love is a lantern
Shining up like coins in a fountain
Morgan could see that Neron was struggling slightly with the news, which was to be expected. If she had any siblings, she would have been hurt if they had not done anything they could, quickly and willingly, to cure her from an illness. With no words of comfort to give about this particular situation, all she could do was nod to his question. "Yes, he was, but with the water from Frey's breath, he had been well for some time." Well enough to have let her know, at least.
"I will probably let him decide if he wishes to continue or not, as long as he knows the gravity of what he almost did." She concluded, knowing the upcoming meeting would be tough. Glancing across at Neron, Morgan couldn't help the curiosity that had arose, how this situation could have gone if Neron had never left his post. "If you were Warden in my position now, what would you have done?"
With the path that finally led to the portal coming into view, Morgan chewed at her lip, thoughts that she'd sworn to speak to Neron about coming to mind now that they were going past the roads where they had had their short tryst. "...Do you consider yourself well enough for a personal question?"
Hope is a tree sitting on a mountain where the grass don't grow
There's a sad old sea but my love is an island
"Hmm." It's a nothing sort of response, the Ascended nibbling at the inside of his cheek as he keeps his eyes on the pathway ahead, steel blue eyes all but unreadable in that moment. He doesn't know if it's better or worse, what has happened, given that he and Loren can hardly count as being close, even with their recent truce. He nods gently to hear her decision, letting his hands tuck more firmly in the pockets of his coat while they walk. It's surprising for her to ask for his input, honestly, and when Neron glances across at her, the smile on his face is as cold as it is sad.
"I would have dismissed him from his position on the council and let the rest of the Citadel decide his punishment," he says with quiet honesty. "He has proven himself unable to think of the population at large. Holding the strings to a cure like that without seeking help, or even informing the leadership of his own home? It is arrogance, and misguided at that."
The fact that Loren is his twin doesn't come into it in the slightest. Letting himself cool off a bit, metaphorically speaking, Neron shoots her a sly sidelong look. "I feel quite well, yes. Fire away."
Fear is dark but my love is a lantern
Shining up like coins in a fountain
Morgan already knew that Neron was harsher than herself, or at least quicker to punish, but she was surprised to hear that he'd be so cold towards his own brother. Then again, Loren had been willing to let him remain ill, she supposed. "I see. You're right, this is why I am displeased...I must also consider, though, the good work he has done as Healer up until this point and if I am willing to turn him away after what I hope is a singular lapse of judgement."
If it became a pattern, he'd very swiftly be replaced.
She found that she'd been hoping he'd tell her he didn't want her to ask. Morgan took in a breath through her teeth, trying to work out her phrasing. "I want to ask you a question that is...difficult for me." She looked off, uncharacteristically fiddled with the edge of the hem of her shirt. "Our relationship has changed dramatically in the last seasons. You bit me and...well, you know what happened. Since then we have grown closer, and while you are Ascended and younger.." Morgan sighed and looked up to the sky, not wanting to see his smug smirk as she admitted: "I do find you attractive. I wanted to ask if you feel the same way."
Hope is a tree sitting on a mountain where the grass don't grow
There's a sad old sea but my love is an island
If only Morgan knew the fragility of the bond holding the two brothers together. Leaving him ill was the fracture in a bridge only recently constructed, and it's all too easy to go back to viewing Loren as the black sheep, as the trouble he's been told to look out for. "I suppose that is where we are different - and it isn't necessarily a bad thing," he murmurs. "You are in a better position to consider his performance as part of the council alone. Perhaps a warning is all he needs." He shrugs his shoulders.
But enough about Loren - apparently there are personal questions to ask. Neron slows his steps as Morgan begins, glancing across at her and finding it curiously endearing that she is so nervous all of a sudden. He doesn't think he's ever seen her look anything other than composed - apart from the time out here, funnily enough, with his head between her thighs. But to hear out loud that she finds him attractive...?
There's no smug smirk, which probably surprises no one more than Neron, the Ascended merely gazing across at her with soft surprise on his face. "I..." It is a very rare thing for his tongue to tie in knots - but here he is. "You are the most formidable woman I have ever met," he says. "And believe me when I say that means something. You are captivating... and yes, I find you attractive too."
Fear is dark but my love is a lantern
Shining up like coins in a fountain
"Perhaps. I hope this doesn't ruin things between you...I know they are already tenuous." Morgan commented quietly, not daring to say anymore. Without siblings herself, it was difficult to understand how the brother's broken bond had to feel.
Thoughts about the twins relationship to each other faded into the distance once she had finally found the determination to bring up Neron's relationship with herself, though. The surprise on his face would have pleased her were she not so worried for the answer, even the Warden capable of embarrassment in the face of romantic rejection.
What he did have to say did still embarrass her, but in a way that she found she didn't entirely mind, Morgan letting out a huffed laugh and smiling, looking ahead at the path. "Well. I suppose that's good." For a moment she considered leaving it there, this kind of conversation really not her forte, but she felt she had to continue it somehow, so she wouldn't spend the next weeks worrying over the resumption. "Do you..think we should do anything about that?"
Romantic words weren't really a skill of hers.
Hope is a tree sitting on a mountain where the grass don't grow
There's a sad old sea but my love is an island
"Time will tell," Neron murmurs, his tone saying precisely nothing about what might pan out between he and Loren - because honestly, he has no idea what might happen until that conversation takes place. The Hailstorm stores that away in the back of his head for the time being, mostly because there is something much more interesting happening out here in the now. If he were capable of it he might even blush at the sudden awkwardness of the situation, and he slows his steps to a halt that they might talk more easily.
"Do you want to do something about that?" There's the smirk, but there's still no smugness to be seen at least - probably a good thing, given how likely Morgan is to smack him for it. Not that Neron will feel it (more's the pity). "I wouldn't want to jeopardise your position as Warden or the way the people look at you. And I don't mean my being an Ascended, so much as I mean my being Neron Launceleyn." The man who supposedly led the Citadel to ruin and all that.
