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 sweetest in the gale is heard and sore must be the storm
For the moment, Lena ignored the ashen floor, the sooty abyss, and the darker treads of the wake. The fires were diminished, and though the Temple proportions were likely quite damaged from the multiple assaults and sieges, of spirits, dragons, and the like, the greater proportions to the angles were that they lived. With a quiet thank you, a kiss of her fingertips and into the air towards the ravens that had led the wraith’s vestiges away, and merely the pitter-patter of rain left, the youth turned her attentions to the priest.
She could put the dangers, the trauma, the experience out of her notions for now. They’d likely traverse behind her eyes later, later, later, when she restlessly tried to return to slumber, or when she walked down the garden pathways – but there were other means, other measures, to attend to. The consummate healer, the constant Caretaker, bloomed and unfurled once more.
A thousand inquiries managed to sneak into her gaze, locked upon her sister’s for a second, as she tiptoed over, retrieving the basket she’d dropped in her haste to guard, protect, and ensure vials weren’t set ablaze. She placed one in and amongst the adornments, the stray, salvageable, remaining bandages – curious, pondering, uncertain what it all meant – but the only question that occupied her in that instant was the gentle, whispering one as she neared Gideon. “Are you all right?”
that could abash the little bird that kept so many warm
She finally has a second to calm down, a second to evaluate everything around her and ensure that it’s safe and okay. Her gaze darts to her sister, first, pausing to swallow and regain her thoughts. “Are you okay?” She asks, reaching out to brush her fingertips gently along Lena’s arms as she arrives, as she asks Gideon one of the questions that’s burning in her mind.
Her attention flickers back down to Gideon where she’s gotten him to sit up, where she now sits in front of him on her knees with a shine of worry glimmering in her gaze. “Would you like some water?” She asks, uncertain what he needs, wondering if perhaps they should get him somewhere more comfortable before she manages to try and find out the why of this happening.
The battle around them calmed and the spirits were quiet for now, but the pain they had inflicted on him remained. Gideon stared up at the ceiling of the temple, something dazed and lost in his eyes that were usually sharp and calculating. As Lena and Sera approached, he tried to get up, to present himself as dignified as usual...but with a groan he fell back over the altar, managing to only push himself to rest on one elbow to look at his saviours.
"...Alright, no." He croaked out, a smirk appearing for a flash before it disappeared with another wave of pain. Having been tossed about and thoroughly punished for his misdeeds, Gideon knew he was going to need some time to recover; days, a week, not a few hours. Still, their efforts were appreciated - he nodded to Sera about the water.
Looking over his ruined Temple, all the cleaning that would have to be done, he closed his eyes. "This..was my own fault. I'm grateful you helped. But I got myself here."
and sweetest in the gale is heard and sore must be the storm
Lena smiled at her sister’s concern, a fabricated touch of nothingness resounding, soft whispers, reassuring. “Only a few scratches,” and she winked, indicating naught of whatever had launched and lacerated at her flesh. It could be easily mended with a little time, and the youth was far more concerned with their priest. “You?” She thought she’d seen Sera come out fit and ready for whatever battle had laid ahead – but no one could ever be too certain. But her sibling’s suggestion of water was a grand one, and she followed her movements and motions, until her attention could dissipate back to Gideon.
“No need,” came on a hushed notation at him trying to stand – one hand instinctually reaching forward to either pacify, comfort, or offer a grasping hold while he struggled. Uncertain if he’d want it or not, it retreated, folding back over the bandages, unrolling the meager remains. His statements were enigmatic at best though, and she couldn’t help the question that pulled and tugged on the back of her mind (after all – why had they all been summoned there? What had gone on before?). “What do you mean?” Another quiet fortitude, unassuming and petalsoft, rendered on the tip of her gracious head, on the worried, furrowed brows colliding into her features.
that could abash the little bird that kept so many warm
He’s dazed and out of it and Sera’s concern only blooms further in her chest, hearing the croakiness of his voice and the appearance of him not at all put together – which is so very unlike him. At least Lena’s okay and Sera offers her a soft smile. “I’m okay.” She assures her sister with a gentle squeeze, moving to stand to retrieve the water for Gideon. She departs swiftly, reaching for a glass and filling it, before she’s trotting back over toward Lena and the Priest, kneeling beside him to hand him the water.
Concern is evident in her gaze as he mentions that it was his own fault, that he’d gotten himself here, and Sera can only glance sidelong to her sister, before her gaze drifts back to Gideon, offering her hand out to rest on his shoulder gently. “What happened?” She asks softly, harboring no judgement but simple curiosity. Anything to prevent this from happening again, of course.
At least she might be busy making the repairs required to the Temple.
While Gideon was usually protective of Sera and very observant of how she was, at the moment all he could do was see she was standing and breathing and assume she had to be okay, too caught up in his own injuries. Lena went to move him back down and he went; normally he would be horrified to lean on the altar, never mind lay on it, but it was all that was keeping him from collapsing to the ground.
What happened...a rasping sound came through his breath that could have been a laugh if it weren't so bitter and dark. "The spirits are mad I desecrated the Temple. It was the only safe space I had for it...but they were right. It's a dishonour to keep that filth here." Disgusted, Gideon looked to his hands, which were covered in a thick, clear substance, and flicked them, casting the fluid to the ground. "We cannot...allow any part of them to exist in Stormbreak. It's our sanctuary."
and sweetest in the gale is heard and sore must be the storm
She listened while she tended, head bowed, handing him bandages for wounds he would rather mend, while she applied some antiseptic to the outer reaches, fumbling around, back and forth in her supplies, ensuring lacerations, cuts, and burns would be quickly on the soothing, assuaging side. October could likely do far better – but it seemed a necessity to allow him moments here in recovery, before pushing the situation.
Besides, the curiosity kept her there.
Ordinarily, Lena would be the type of individual who kept her eyes to the ground, or to the sky, not bothered or involved in another’s affairs; but this one had her cranium tilting, a soft sigh invoking through. Filth, with the state of the fluid in mind, and her eyes surveyed the remains of bottles, what would have to be picked up at some point too, before it soaked into the adornments of the sacred Temple. She immediately handed Gideon a cloth to wipe up the mess on his hands, and then her eyes spiraled back to her sister’s instinctively, relatively uncertain with the whole ordeal. “Why did you have them then?” came from her mouth, quiet and unassuming, merely striving to understand. What good would come of it?
that could abash the little bird that kept so many warm
All things considered, Sera had been the one that made it out the most unscathed. Thankfully. And knowing that her sister was fine as well, was a soothing balm to the Artificer’s mind. So she brings the water as quickly as she can, giving Gideon something to sip on, to try and offer insight into what occurred here at the shrine and where they all might be able to go from there. His words confuse her, though, her brows pinching together as she studies his face before her gaze drifts to her sister with the follow-up question.
“What were you trying to do with it?” She asks, confused as she glances around to the ground around them once more, spying the iridescent fluid all across the stones still, realizing with a sinking pang to her stomach that it was Ascended fluid. Her hand snakes out to try and lace through her sister’s for comfort.
The water and the care to his wounds, while not a balm to the overwhelming ache and exhaustion, helped take the edge off; Gideon sat up, sipped at the water. As soon as he could, he'd get off the altar, but for the moment it was all that was keeping him somewhat upright.
Both of them had questions, of course they did. Would they even understand, though? Gideon sighed, looked down to the loose flagstone he'd kept the fluid beneath, now ajar and skewed with scrape marks along the stone surrounding it. "I...A while ago Ludo tasked me to gather fluid for a mission. I did." A knife to the throat, a frantic and messy process of filling the bottles, a furtive trip to the woods - it had been so much more than those two words, but the confession wasn't necessary.
"...I got more than I needed. I thought I'd keep it in case we needed it again. But..." He shook his head, coughing and finding himself glad not to see any blood on his hand. "I should not have kept it here. This is a sacred place and there's little more that could be more blasphemous. I'm covered in the stuff." Disgusted, he shivered as he looked down at his sodden torso.
and sweetest in the gale is heard and sore must be the storm
One hand intertwined with Sera’s, sisterly bonds, affection, and beneficence, while the other grabbed hold of some rags, and wondered about scrubbing at the contents of the floor. If the stones absorbed it all. If there were other prices to pay now.
But she bit her lip and listened, eyes flickering to the loose rock and boards, with etchings of struggles and wanton disregard; Ludo asking, Gideon responding, the whole of the truth and story not resounding. And she didn’t query. Didn’t want to know how the fluid had come to be in his possession – clearly not freely given or granted. Something in her stomach turned, and she breathed, sending the vapor and vestiges into the crooks and crannies of the world, of this church, of this temple, with its high-rising guidance and supports.
Sera’s question wasn’t really answered though – and it pressed into her throat, across her tongue, behind her teeth, not stopping. “Why…why would you need it again?” What was the point?
And then she paused, afraid it’d been pressing too much. “Do you want us to help you get up? Or clean?” So much more to be done – a distraction, a deterrent, from the way some things were beginning to shape.
that could abash the little bird that kept so many warm
Her question isn’t entirely answered, but at least Gideon is alive for now and Sera and Lena have both made it out alright on the other side of it, too. And so she pauses to watch while Gideon clings to the alter, while she offers him water and turns her attention to the stone that’s askew, to the claw marks etched into it, before her dark gaze rises to Gideon and she steps over to wrap an arm around him to help support him – Ascended fluid be damned. She could shower later, maybe burn these clothes too.
“You need a shower, Giddy.” She offers him, paired with a small smile at the nickname she’d given him, before her gaze rises to Lena. “We can help get you home and showered, get some clean clothes for you, too. Perhaps the rest of it can wait until morning?” When they could return and clean up the mess, right the wrongs that have occurred tonight. “Are you hungry? We can make you some food.” And she’s willing to stay the rest of the night with him, should he need it.
Gideon looked at Lena with a raised eyebrow, wondering how she thought it wouldn't need to be used later. "We are getting close to war. We need any advantage we can get...their fluid can help. With things to stop them." He'd have to find somewhere else to store it, but Gideon still felt he should collect any more fluids he came across; any advantage against the Voice's wily tricks was one more they needed.
With Sera's support he stood up off the altar, his legs threatening to buckle for a moment but then his balance finally kicking in. "I feel like I need thirty showers." He grumbled, glancing upstairs, where his quarters were. Were he a less self confident man he'd feel guilty to be staying above the Temple, but as it was, he felt it was the best place to be to redeem himself. "...Eating right now would not end well."
Partially because of the pain, but also because he had, admittedly, been quite drunk when the spirits had attacked; the alcohol on his breath, usually a high priority to hide, had fallen to the wayside. "Help me get upstairs. I'll manage from there. Shut the temple until the morning - they can't see it like this."
and sweetest in the gale is heard and sore must be the storm
There was only so long she could maintain her innocence, her ignorance, floating and winding her way in between Celestine gates and enclosures, beneath petals and pockets of ornate stars. The rounding of Gideon’s brow, the way he stared at her, made something go very quiet down the edges of her spine, and the revolving answer enough to mute any other inclinations. Maybe she just didn’t want to know. Maybe it was better that way.
Lena wasn’t made out of weapons or schemes or demolition wiles. She was affection and beneficence, kindness and the strength in compassion.
And still, her mind warped. Like what?
Her eyes didn’t go to her sister’s this time. They stayed on the floor instead, and then to Gideon at the compelling for support. Her basket could remain amongst all the other proportions for the moment, and she could grab it when they wound their way back through. “Okay,” was all she could surmise, very hushed and subdued, the moments catching up with her. Then she maneuvered to snag at his arm, roaming underneath where she could lift and reinforce.
that could abash the little bird that kept so many warm
The talk of war is sobering and Sera finds her lips flattening in a tight line at the mention of it. But she doesn’t comment on it, because she doesn’t want to bring attention to it – not with how much this has exhausted her. She needs some happiness, some excitement, something other than the worries of war and everything that came with it.
She supports Gideon with ease, though, and it’s only made easier when Lena comes to help, Sera offering her sister a soft smile with the help. “Alright, let’s get you upstairs and we’ll take care of the rest.” She says softly, moving with Lena’s help to get Gideon upstairs and to his room, reaching out to unlock it.
“Is there anything else we should do aside from locking up the Temple?” She asks quietly, swinging the door open wide and helping get Gideon into the room.
