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!
As far as Nate’s concerned, this trip is already garbage. If it wasn’t for the triple threat of unfortunate necessity, nagging guilt, and the paralyzingly fear of starvation he wouldn’t have bothered.
He’s trying, as much as he can, to keep to himself. He knows he’s on edge, knows he’s a swirl of twisted emotions that he can only make sense of with anger, and he knows it’s not fair to explode on someone else, no matter how satisfying it might be. He can be rational, and mature, and whatever the fuck else he’s supposed to be.
And so far? This approach is working. Nate ignores or avoids anyone who happens to come too close, not that there are many left in the Grounds right now. He just about thinks he’s going to make it through this trip without incident when a too familiar figure catches his gaze, the world suddenly flashing red.
Before he knows it, he’s stalking the other man, Pemota drifting just ahead of him, as if to offer a fair warning. Honestly, Nate isn’t even sure what his palm is, he knows there’s nothing truly effective he can do to Remi, just like he knows he’s angrier and more focused than he’s been in a long, long time.
Deep down, it hurts to know How bad I wanna call it quits
If Remi knows he's been followed stalked, he doesn't act like it. Not at first, anyway. Whatever friendship he might have started with Nate, it isn't enough to give the man the ability to kill him. There's no love there, and after everything that's happened, there likely never will be. Pain though? That's well within Nate's reach, but still Remi walks toward the clinic at an unhurried pace. He had said he'd come by to see Isla, but that would now have to wait, apparently.
And so rather than walking into the Temple, Remi detours down some darkened alley. It's private and close enough that regardless of what happens next, the infirmary should be close enough.
Should Nate turn the corner, he'll find Remi standing facing him a few feet in. With shoulders slumped and his posture poor, if it wasn't for the size of his muscles he'd look like an entirely unintimidating figure. But in the state he expected Nate to be in, Remi was almost entirely sure that intimidated was one of the last things the ascended was just now.
honest feelings and bad timing make the most painful combination.
Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Nate’s not a man used to being ignored. Not being noticed is one thing, but being led on is another thing entirely, and when he steps into the alley to find Remi waiting, it saps away whatever understanding and goodwill he might have had.
He doesn’t stop his approach, he barely slows, just reaches up to take a hold of Remi’s collar, to hold him on pace while he leans in close, not caring about any potential dream bullshit might be reflected back on him. ”What the fuck is wrong with you?” Before the words have even fully left him though, Nate realizes he doesn’t give a fuck, he doesn’t want an answer first.
Where his husband might have avoided the face, Nate has absolutely no such qualms, a fist flying out to crash into Remi’s jaw. It feels like too much to hope that it’s enough to send the Demi-god crashing to the ground, but hey, what’s he got if not hope?
Deep down, it hurts to know How bad I wanna call it quits
Nate is the taller of the two, leaving Remi to lift his chin slightly in the moonlight. Not out of defiance, but that the other man might see what he needs to in Remi's face. Opening his mouth, wrongly believing he's actually being given a chance to answer, it's with a satisfying click of his jaw that Nate's fist crushes the words before they ever leave his lips.
Remi doesn't hit the ground—sorry Nate, though the punch would have been hard enough to kill a level 0/1 character, so there's that—but he does stumble back, held up only by Nate's fingers around his collar. The world swims around a pair of furious blue eyes made pale by moonlight and shadows as Remi moans a wet note of pain through bloody lips.
About to swallow a wad of copper but thinking better of it, Remi leans to the side to spit a bright meteor of red onto the cobblestones. The tink of it hitting the ground tells him that there's likely part of a tooth in there as well. Blinking through the drumbeat of agony in his jaw, Remi straightens that he might find Nate's gaze again. "Same thing that's wrong with you, I suspect." The alchemist replies, the words already more mushy than he'd have liked but so it goes.
honest feelings and bad timing make the most painful combination.
Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Ascension has left him with nothing but emotions, so while Nate doesn’t feel an ounce of pain in his hand, he does feel excitement surging through him at the bloodied state of Remi’s mouth. Equal parts hunger and rage, now howling for more. It’s funny how easy it is to forget the familiarity of beat downs in back alleys, but now that he’s here Nate slips into the the role.
”Don’t you fucking dare compare us.” A hiss of breath is drawn in between his teeth, so Nate can focus on something other than how satisfying it would be to shove those offensive words back into the alchemists mouth. He has a point to make first, stupid as it might be to come down off his upper hand. ”You think you can guess what the difference is between us?”
This time at least, his hand stays by his side, giving the Lullaby a chance, though his answer will affect what exactly it is that Nate does next.
Deep down, it hurts to know How bad I wanna call it quits
Remi too can feel it, the black joy singing through Nate's body. It's a feeling he knows well, is perhaps feeling for himself in this moment as well, despite being on the receiving end of this particular bout of violence.
Blood continues to trickle down Remi's chin from where his lip has been split open, but he makes no effort to wipe it away. It'll only bleed more if he does, and it isn't as though either of them are put off by the sight of blood. "I'm not here to play guessing games with you, Nate." The alchemist replies in a voice that's only marginally more even, his words not intending to be provocative of more anger but also not seemingly trying to defend against it either.
'So if you've got something to say, say it. And if you've got something to do—' Remi stands straighter, the coppery tang of his blood bright and sweet between them. "—do it."
honest feelings and bad timing make the most painful combination.
Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”No?” Fingers flex, readjusting the grip in Remi’s collar as Nate leans in closer, his teeth bared in a snarl. ”What, it isn’t as much fun being on that side of the questions?” The lack of anything in the lullaby’s voice is yet another provocation all on its own, Nate’s fist clean hung at his side so hard he can hear his knuckles pop.
Fine. Fine. ”The difference is I know exactly who hurt my family.” Theres no hearsay, no rumours. Just facts, backing up cold anger. Again, his fist flies up, aiming Remi’s gut this time. ”And I’m not going to kill you.” His knee follows after the punch, a grunt of exertion garbling his last word. There is still a lot he can do short of killing, the possibilities dancing through Nate’s mind as he tries to decide.
Deep down, it hurts to know How bad I wanna call it quits
"You aren't interested in what I have to say." Remi says as evenly as he can through throbbing lips and a rapidly forming headache.
Though the alchemist still wasn't as contrite about what had happened with Sunjata as much as everyone wanted him to be, his conscience wasn't so dirty that he thought he deserved this beating. If anything, accepting whatever it was Nate had planned was about the only sort of consolation he was able to provide. It would take more than Nate had to truly wound Remi, so why not?
"Mhmmm—" He begins to answer as Nate's fist finds the hard muscle of his stomach. The air disappears from his lungs, and he's instinctively reaching forward to steady himself on Nate, making the ascended's knee land all the more squarely. Fighting for breath now, his teeth clenched tightly together, Remi tries to swim his way back towards oxygen and the ability to stand on his own.
"You can't kill me." He replies once he's able to, the words rough and jagged.
honest feelings and bad timing make the most painful combination.
Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”At least try!” It’s a small mercy that the Grounds are all but razed, that this particular corner is quiet enough, though it does have Nate’s shouts echoing further than they ought to. Not like it’s the first time.
All of Nate goes stiff as the other man all but collapses against him, save for the knee, and for the hand still holding Remi’s collar that pushes out, shoving the alchemist away, into the wall, or the ground.
”Do you think I don’t fucking know that?!” Nate knows he’d be on his ass in an instant, if this was anything close to a fair fight. Doesn’t stop him wanting it though. ”I shouldn’t want to, you fuck.” A hand rises to rub furiously at his mouth, his eyes. ”I wanted to trust you.”
Deep down, it hurts to know How bad I wanna call it quits
Remi does indeed stumble back, not terribly worried about what might happen should he trip or stumble. His back thuds heavily against the wall, providing some amount of stability that both hinders and helps his attempts to try and catch his breath.
"What you want to do..is nothing to do with me." Remi manages, spitting another wad of bloody spit onto the ground. As Nate mentions trust, the alchemist flinches for the first time, his eyes narrowing as he looks up at the man silhouetted in leather and moonlight.
"This is who I am." He tries to stand straighter, but the pain is an echo in his mind he'd prefer to shut out. So he remains rather hunches against the wall. Remi will, if not happily, at least without retaliation, accept Nate's physical blows. His verbal ones though? "How could I have broken your trust?" Remi wants to know, peering through his curls and the haze of pain that still ricochets with every breath. "What have I ever done or said that would make you think I wouldn't always put my family first?" It's a cold fact perhaps, but it's never one that the alchemist has ever tried to hide.
honest feelings and bad timing make the most painful combination.
Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Nate shifts back, his face twisted in anger, though that doesn’t stop the burst of humourless laughter from him. ”Because I was apparently stupid enough to put it in you.” The laughter peters off, Nate shaking his head and clenching his teeth. ”I thought we were friends Remi. I thought maybe that was worth something.” A moment of thought, a pause of consideration, something.
”There must have been a...” He shakes his head, reaching up to push his hair back again. Hands move down his front, straightening his jacket. Nate seems to come together in a cool, put together package again. ”Thanks for uh, making everything so clear.”
Silence stretches out for a long moment, Nate’s head tipping back slowly to take in the boundless vista in the sky above. The reprieve lasts only as long as it takes for his gaze to find the moon, the Voice touched grey winking cheekily.
Hands are back on Remi in an instant, one wrapped halfway around his neck, a heavy thumb pressed into the hollow of his throat while the other roots in dark curls, keeping their eyes level. ”If you ever hurt my family again, I don’t care who or what I have to make a deal with, I’ll find a way to hurt you in a way that sticks.”
Deep down, it hurts to know How bad I wanna call it quits
"It did." The alchemist retorts, though there's nothing defensive about his tone. "Just like Ronin's friendship with him mattered." He adds, the throb of pain in his jaw like some sort of rhythm his words are meant to align with. "It's why none of it was real. It was a dream." Why did no one seem to understand that? Genuinely, the alchemist still couldn't understand. "It could have been real, but it wasn't." That was their friendship. That was the pause of consideration they all kept demanding.
Remi watches and waits, still not bothering to wipe away the blood from his lip, and as much as he wants to mirror Nate's posture and run his fingers through his hair, he forces himself to simply remain as he is.
Strong as he is, the alchemist still needs to breathe of course, and so as his airway is constricted the first signs of Remi's true strength bleed through as his body fights this submissiveness that it hasn't known for years. Reaching up to wrap his fingers around the wrist against his throat, Remi leans into the pressure. Close as they are, anyone walking by might think the pair are doing something entirely opposite to what's in fact transpiring. "Threats don't work well on me anymore." The alchemist replies in a measured tone, gazing into Nate's eyes for what is probably the last time. 'And not just because of the immortality.' Remi had spent most of his life being pushed around; after Aoife's death, that stopped being the case.
And so with his fingers around Nate's wrist, Remi reciprocates all the emotions he's received thus far from the ascended. In return, Nate will feel Remi's confusion and frustration of having not actually hurt Sunjata. His (perhaps misguided) but genuine dedication to his family. And of course, the bone-deep knowledge that he'd do it all again if he had to.
With hardly any air in his lungs, Remi has to forcefully sip in a breath as he stifles a snarl. "No one else has the ability to prove his innocence." The alchemist rasps through bloody lips. "One bad dream was surely worth that." For Sunjata and Vai's sake.
honest feelings and bad timing make the most painful combination.
Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
”You keep saying that like it makes it better!” GeNuInElY, Nate doesn’t understand where the other man is coming from. Doesn’t understand what it is in his head that makes him think this was an appropriate course of action. ”You killed him, as far as he knew, in our home. While I was gone.”
Pressure pulses around his wrist, Nate’s snarl twitching. After so long without it, it’s jarring to feel the other man’s true strength. ”I don’t give a fuck what works on you.” He makes up for the stubborn evenness of Remi’s tone with the knot of emotion in his own. ”I just need you to understand how serious I am.” All unblinking rage, Nate is the picture of seriousness, though he doesn’t have an idea what exactly he’s threatening.
The rush of unwanted, unwelcome feeling jolts through him, Nate’s fingers tightening with the surprise of it. Fury is replaced in his eyes, if only for a breath, with pity, confusion.
”Having the ability doesn’t make you the judge jury and executioner, Remi.” Nate steps back, provided he can break the lullaby’s grip. ”It makes you a monster.” Wiping his hands down his front, Nate casts one last sharp gaze across the other man, then steps away, leaving the alchemist bloodied and alone in the alley.
Deep down, it hurts to know How bad I wanna call it quits
"Better than the alternative." Remi counters. Maybe not better objectively, but it wasn't as though Sunjata was able to offer anything in his defence. As Nate mentions the house, the alchemist all but shakes his head. However it's the ascended's mention of his lack of presence that has Remi barking out a hollow laugh. "Well, that's at least one thing you can't blame on me."
His fingers tighten around Nate's wrist as Remi's eyes narrow, white bleeding around his irises now. "Oh is that what you needed?" The alchemist wonders with a slight snarl that he can't quite control.
As Nate backs off, Remi of course lets him, exhaling a strangled groan as his airways try and fully expand again. Watching him go the Lullaby isn't entirely sure that the ascended got what he needed at all from this encounter. And if he's right about that, that likely means this all isn't over yet. With a sigh that makes his throat warble with pain, Remi exits the alley sometime later, picking up a bouquet of flowers carefully set aside, and makes his way to the Infirmary.
~FIn
honest feelings and bad timing make the most painful combination.
Code taken from Sky who is utter perfection
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
