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!
"And Gus. Or at least...whatever Cian did to smooth things over certainly left him riled. He slammed the door in my face." For the Ronin's and Finn's of the world, this might be commonplace. But you? Cheerful, bubbly, helpful you? You squeeze your eyes shut again against the memory, huffing out a sniffled sigh.
'Who knows. I'm a criminal now, I think." You say this as if it's supposed to be a joke, only the punchline doesn't come. Funny because it's true doesn't apply here. Standing awkwardly, your legs already threatening to become jello because of your run, you nod and silently follow Finn in. Though he's said it's okay, you don't let your eyes wander; you don't touch anything, you don't ask about anything. Instead, you follow him toward the kitchen, arms wrapped tightly around yourself as you find a wall or doorframe to lean against.
"I've never done anything like that in my life. I don't know what I was thinking." You admit. And, because you can't help it, you add: "Can I do anything to help?"
Don't make it bad take a sad song and make it b e t t e r
"That sounds about right," Finn murmurs regarding the results of Cian's visit to Gus. He doesn't really know what to say to help, mostly because there isn't much to say, and so he merely lets them into the apartment and clicks the door shut behind them. It smells like peppermint and old books today, and Finn leads them straight to the small kitchenette. "A criminal? I doubt it is as bad as all that," he says, if only because Finn has done such things that taking a skyboat for a joyride is hardly enough to make him blush.
Taking down mugs on autopilot - though it is strange to add a second one - he prepares a kettle of water, setting it on the stovetop to boil and starting to prepare the tea. "I usually find that I am not thinking at all, when those sorts of things happen." Or, more truthfully, that he is thinking far too much about something completely unrelated, and thus he blunders into trouble. "You can take a seat?" he suggests with her helping, flashing a wry glance over his shoulder that might just be a little amused.
one moment you’re lost in a carnival of delights
the next, it leads you somewhere you don’t want to go
'What else do you call someone who steals and damages property?' You argue, as if wanting the label. And maybe you do. Maybe being let off the hook would be far worse than being punished.
Raising a brow slightly, the question hadn't meant to be one that tried to pry information from Finn's lips, you try and laugh it off. "Well, at least you didn't hurt yourself." Pointing towards your split lip, now healed-over and swollen, you roll your eyes at yourself—and Finn's suggestion—and do take a seat.
"The more time I spend around the demigods, the more...worried I become. They really do act like they can just...do anything that they want. And they're powerful enough, sometimes I believe that it might just be true." You pull one socked-foot onto the chair, wrapping your arms around it and setting your chin on your knee.
"Who do you think would win in a fight. Cian, with all his.." You gesture vaguely with your free hand, indicating all of this Cianness. "Or one of the demigods."
Don't make it bad take a sad song and make it b e t t e r
Tobi sits and Finn potters about making tea, his body relaxing into familiar movements in familiar space, even though someone visiting and sitting at his kitchen table is utterly foreign in comparison. "A vandal? Or an accomplice?" he suggests, finding himself in the unusual position of having to make light of something. But then the scars on his back show well that even though he didn't hurt himself, he... did hurt himself. Indirectly.
Huffing out a sigh, he leans against the counter as he waits for the kettle to whistle. "I think it might be a Taliesin thing rather than a demigod thing," he admits after a few moments. "From all of my studies, I know that they must be tempered by the gods they serve. It's the source of their power. And those who were born as demigods are, from my experience, a lot more... mellow."
Who would win a fight, though? "Demigods would win the battle. Cian wins wars," he says easily, the words slipping out with surprising conviction and confidence.
one moment you’re lost in a carnival of delights
the next, it leads you somewhere you don’t want to go
You shrug a touch at that, not that Finn will likely see as he methodically moves about the kitchen. Seeing Finn like this, reassuring you, and demonstrating some semblance of normality, stills your earlier worries about him. So at least there's that.
You twitch your lips (ow), clearly considering something. You don't do this for long, huffing out a sigh of your own as you raise your eyes to try and catch Finn's. "I'm not mentioning this because we need to talk about it, but only because I've only just remembered and...I don't want it to seem like I was keeping it." You don't wait for a reaction from Finn, not wanting to keep him in undue suspense. "Ronin mentioned that Remi was in your dreams, when he went under to find you. That...maybe Remi was your nightmare." Your eyes drop to his feet, not wanting to make him uncomfortable. He'd said something about the Taliesins, and then you said something about them, and it needn't be anything more than that.
To hear Finn's abrupt answer, you look up, brows raised. 'Huh.' It wasn't what you were asking, but you think Finn's answer is greatly telling. Unsurprisingly, it doesn't leave a warm and fuzzy feeling in your stomach. Resting your chin back on your knee, you look toward the kettle, willing the water to boil faster.
Don't make it bad take a sad song and make it b e t t e r
Chewing at the inside of his cheek and glancing back at the kettle as if also willing it to boil faster, he glances around again to hear Tobi rush into such an unexpected thread of conversation. His cheeks flush to hear the details of how he'd been found in his dreams, the Spyglass clearing his throat and looking awkwardly at the ground. "No, he wasn't my nightmare," he mumbles.
"I was having an old nightmare, but it changed, suddenly. I was behind a waterfall. Remi got me out of there, just before Ronin appeared," he explains, interrupted by the blissful whistling of the kettle. "I daresay it was their dream abilities at work," he continues, taking the kettle off the stove so he can pour their tea. "Would it have mattered, if he was?"
one moment you’re lost in a carnival of delights
the next, it leads you somewhere you don’t want to go
That Remi sounds to have saved Finn makes you feel gravely uncomfortable. From everything you've heard from Falke about Finn's obsession with him, you find it more palatable that he'd be the Spyglass's nightmare rather than his saviour. There's likely some middle ground between those two, but you aren't quite sure right now what it might be.
"I'm not Falke..I...I want to say it would, but...that's just my gut talking." You answer honestly, not bothering to hide your prickles of discomfort. You're clearly not here as Finn's doctor, not with how you bolted away from Cian and collapsed at his door. "Sorry, we don't have to talk about this."
Waiting for him to pour the tea, you hold up your cup in a sarcastic salute. "Cheers to demigods who seem here to stay."
Don't make it bad take a sad song and make it b e t t e r
"I'd appreciate that," Finn says with a quick, awkward smile, preparing the tea and bringing the mugs over to set them down at the table. He's too self-aware not to know his own situation, not to mention other people's opinions about it, so the less said the better. He sinks down in the other chair, trying to remember the last time he'd actually taken a seat there himself. It's a first for company, either way.
Flashing Tobi an easier smile, he raises his mug as well. "Cheers," he agrees, clinking the porcelain against hers and blowing the steam from his tea. "I wonder though, if we'd be the same if we were in that sort of situation. I suppose you never know until it happens to you."
one moment you’re lost in a carnival of delights
the next, it leads you somewhere you don’t want to go
"I don't think I would be." You say with all the easy confidence of someone who will likely never find out. "I can't imagine just...taking over. Acting like I knew so much more." Even were you thrown into Grounds, where medical advancements were far behind what Stormbreak's were, you'd never simply assume you were there to save. Even if Rae sent you themself, you couldn't imagine being so haughty.
Shrugging your shoulders and taking a sip of your tea—mmm!—you hum, brows raised to emphasize your approval of the flavours used. "I heard Cian has asked Sera to go to the Greatwood and help out the efforts there. I wonder if Lucianna would go as well." You're not looking to fill the silence but random chatter; this is something that has been on your mind.
Precisely because you weren't asked to go.
Don't make it bad take a sad song and make it b e t t e r
"Not even if people started expecting it of you? Looking at you, waiting for you to do it, to know all the answers?" Finn wonders, sipping at his tea as well and smiling a touch bashfully to see her pleased with his choices. He is reminded, suddenly, how nice it can be suddenly to sit in easy company with someone. It isn't something Finn gets to experience all that often, truly.
In his period of time in the medical clinic and his general lack of knowledge about the goings on in the Order in general lately, it's a surprise to hear that the Artificer has gone to the Greatwood. "I suppose it makes sense," he murmurs, brow furrowing to hear about the prospect of Luciana joining her. "Perhaps," he muses. "The hammer would be of more use here for now, surely? With the Dragoons getting whipped into shape by a demigod?"
one moment you’re lost in a carnival of delights
the next, it leads you somewhere you don’t want to go
"Maybe that's what's different about my job...people die if I pretend to know more than I do." However even as you say this, you offer Finn a grim look through the steam of your mug: it doesn't sound different at all, actually.
You shrug your shoulders a touch at that. "Ronin seems to favour cardio and his fists. I would think Sera would have more use for Lucianna's skills, but what do I know." This is said with a good deal of sourness, and for a brief second, your face flickers and crumples into a savage sort of unhappiness rarely seen, if ever.
"Sorry, I'm just...I don't know. I suppose I'm more bitter than I realized about all this. It seems like everyone is getting to go places and do new things, and I'm just...here." You understand why, and the immediate softening of your expression suggests as much, but you're only human after all.
Don't make it bad take a sad song and make it b e t t e r
Lifting his mug again, Tobi's grim look is matched by Finn's own; no, it isn't all that different. But he lets that thread of conversation lie, not particularly wanting to delve into the moral quandries of demigods. Taking another drink of tea, Finn warms his hands around the cup. Still, the unexpected bitterness on the medic's face has him nearly reeling, so rare is it to see, and the Spyglass thoroughly misses anything she might have to say about Ronin.
"Is here so bad?" he asks with a sad smile. Finn has been to a lot of places, and all he ever wants is to go back home. But then again, he and Tobi are very different people, for all of their friendliness. "Would you go to the Greatwood, if you were asked to?" he says softly, tilting his head.
one moment you’re lost in a carnival of delights
the next, it leads you somewhere you don’t want to go
"Not bad at all, it just...it isn't everything, you know? It isn't even a little bit of everything." You shake your head slowly. "The ocean, the air...even the sunlight is different in other places. The closest I get to seeing things is in the Celestine." Swallowing hard, you think of conversations you've had, most recently with Ronin, and it makes your shoulders slouch as you twine your fingers around your mug, ignoring the heat.
"I'd go anywhere if I was asked." You agree immediately, dark eyes watching Finn through the dispitating steam. Exhaling in such a way as to puff out your cheeks, making you look a bit chipmunk-like, you shake your head as if your mood is something you might just shrug off. "Honestly, I think it's just because so many people keep asking me if Stormbreak is the only place I've ever been, as if it's a bad thing. Telling me stories about the rest of the world like it's just within my reach, it makes it feel like..." it is, you want to say, but don't. Opting for, "it matters." instead.
Don't make it bad take a sad song and make it b e t t e r
"Why don't you leave?" Finn asks with a gentle smile. "Quit the Order, go travelling? You'd never be short of work." Not even a little - people always have use of a medic, and with Tobi's skills, the Spyglass has no doubt that she could help a lot of people if she went out there into the world. He peers into his cup of tea, his shoulders slumping a bit. "Sorry - I say that as if it is so easy to drop everything." Tobi is a caretaker at heart, and Finn knows that putting down her work here won't be so easy.
"Few people have seen Stormbreak," he points out. "So perhaps they have no idea what they are talking about either." Finn is hardly the best at trying to make people feel better, but he's trying in his own awkward way. "For now I guess we will just have to try to take more interesting routes on our walks."
one moment you’re lost in a carnival of delights
the next, it leads you somewhere you don’t want to go
