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!
06-19-2021, 08:42 PM (This post was last modified: 06-22-2021, 07:11 PM by Safrin.)
Seren
"... and I knew you had a shrine here, but I had no idea it was this beautiful." As Seren chatted away, she kept looking around at the lanterns and the little chimes. The grass may be wilting and the flowers drooping under the season's heat, but it did little to take away from the delightful nature of the location. She swept some dust from the columns, and knelt at the center of the arch to start lining up the fruits of her labor.
A piece of coral from Torchline, pinkish and gnarled. A chunk of ice from Halo; it steamed faintly in the warm air, and Seren hoped it wouldn't melt before her mother could collect it. Peppermint bark from the Gratewood brought a smile to her lips - she wondered what Sah was up to now - and was soon joined by a big jar where a freckled white lily had been carefully contained.
But the bowl of dried petals was placed ahead of all the rest; unrelated in some ways, while vastly more important in others.
"I brought you a gift, like I promised. See? It's a potpurri of Longheat! Maeve helped me make it. We had some trouble finding good flowers here, but I think it came out alright in the end. They smell quite lovely; especially this honey rose.
"Oh, and I found all the ingredients you needed, too. I was a little anxious while gathering the dreamdust flower, though in the end no one was hurt, thankfully."
Leaning back on her heels, Seren looked around, to make sure everything was neat and tidy; putting an arm around Umbra as the dragon pressed in against her leg, she smiled up at the sky, where the first stars of the evening had just begun to kindle.
"See, Mother? I told you I would be quicker this time."
I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces Reaching the starlight and silver fields
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
The stars seem to laugh and sparkle with adoration and joy as Seren points out how quickly she'd completed her task. "Indeed you did. I never had any doubt." The goddess muses, appearing behind her daughter that she might be able to lean down and wrap her arms around Seren's shoulders. "Hello my love." Pressing a quick kiss to Seren's cheek, the goddess lets herself tumble to her knees beside her daughter.
Reaching for the potpourri, Safrin narrows her eyes skeptically as she raises it to her nose as if expecting the worst. She doesn't—and it isn't—but still the goddess plays the part. "Ah!" Overjoyed, as she takes a deep breath, golden and warm-rose light rises into the air. Sparkling and dancing, the smells that Seren and Maeve have created flood the area.
Seren has received
Island Dash | By using her Pocket Dimension ability, Seren can transport herself to any subboard adjacent to her current location. Requires a 2 post cool-down between uses.
"Hello, mama. Are you well tonight?" she replied with a brigth smile. Leaning back into the embrace and the kiss, Seren watched with expectant delight as Safrin inspected the potpurri. The shimmering lights rising into the air made her laugh, and like a playful cat or a small child she reached for the sparkling light, heedless that it sifted through her fingers like so much air.
"Do you like it?" The reaction would suggest as much, but one could never be quite sure.
Leaning back with her hands burying into the faded soil, she breathed deep the fragrance of the season. Ripening apples, honey rose and sun-baked earth mingled with the scents that always accompanied her mother. For a moment, the girl closed her eyes and simply savored the moment.
I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces Reaching the starlight and silver fields
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
'I am well anytime I get to be with you, my love." The goddess coos with bright and unfettered adoration. Not unlike lightning bugs, the potpourri dances and flashes in the air, held aloft by an invisible breeze even as Seren reaches for it. 'I do. Very, very much.' Seren had always been as creative as she'd been thoughtful, and given the enumerable trinkets bestowed upon her shrines, Safrin was always pleased to have variety.
"How have you been? I saw you and your Father took a trip to Halo recently..?" The goddess smiles a touch wryly, knowing that they'd failed to breach the ice that covered the sea of glass. She hadn't expected them to be successful on their first outing of course, but she appreciated Seren's initiative just the same.
Pleased that her gift was so well received, the girl watched the gleaming lights drift on currents made visible. At the mention of Halo, she coughed a little sheepishly and looked away, off across the darkening fields.
"Yes, we... went to scout the area," she said, phrasing in carefully so as not to highlight how foolishly optimistic they had been. "The ice is thicker than we thought, but once we've gathered up some people to help, we will try again." Seren was still a little put off that this had not been the simple kind of jaunt that she and her father alone could handle. But then again... what true adventure came without obstacles?
"As for me? I've been... a little overwhelmed," she admitted. Looking back at her mother, Seren thought back to everything that had happened since they last met. It was not even a season - mere weeks - but it felt like ages had passed.
"I spoke to Deimos, and Hotaru. About what happened in Torchline. And I talked to Aurelia, too. The more I hear, the less sense it makes. It's so... petty, somehow. All of it. 'I was hurt, and so I will hurt back.' Or 'it was bad before, so it must be bad now too'."
Truly perplexed, the girl shook her head, dark curls swaying across her shoulders.
"I can't decide if I'm the naive one, or if everyone is just too caught up in their own darkness to see the good things that are right in front of them."
The same could be said for other areas, too. Her conversation with Sah had made her feel very frivolous and thoughtless, while Harper's many injuries while pulling her from her own messes made her think differently about the wild, reckless abandon she used to call freedom.
"Do you think I'm being careless, Mother?" she asked, looking to the goddess for guidance.
I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces Reaching the starlight and silver fields
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
"Choose those you bring along carefully my bright star. There might be more waiting for you beneath the ice than you think." Offering her daughter a wink and nothing more, she would let Seren plan this adventure as she saw fit.
'Oh?' Tilting her head, Safrin offers her daughter her undivided attention. Nodding along and offering conversational mmms at the appropriate pauses, eventually, the goddess purses her lips thoughtfully before speaking. "It is a very natural if not entirely mortal reaction. To want to hurt others when you've been hurt. To crave things being the same, even if that means accepting that they're bad or wrong." Sweetly, Safrin frowns. "I can only hope that you're able to learn from the actions of others, without having to experience it for yourself." Looking toward Umbra, the goddess reaches out a finger. "It is Hotaru's fault that her companion died. And he died alone. Aurelia nearly died as well, though she had absolutely no part to play in any of this. Deimos has lost his title and is banned from Torchline...all over a hurt heart."
Turning back toward Seren, Safrin reaches down to cup her daughter's face in her hands. "Stay naive, if that is what keeps you bright." As for reckless? "No my love. But you are still young. You too will make mistakes, but never let yourself believe that you're responsible for the mistakes or actions of others."
The young dragon, having lurked in the backdrop - unusually quiet, for being him - snorted and looked up when attention was brought upon him. Seren followed the direction of the pointed finger, and hoped that she truly did understand. Loving was good, and right, and hurting over the loss of love, dignity and honor was alright too. But the moment she went to exact that same pain upon others...
"'When you embark upon a journey of revenge, dig two graves'," she cited, recalling a text she had read somewhere. "Was she wrong to stand up for herself, too? Even if she did go about things the wrong way... Hotaru said that there are things that cannot be taken lying down." Seren did not care for the concept of 'winning' an argument, but she did somewhat understand the need to demonstrate and draw borders. When people did not listen to words... what did you do then?
Resting her face in Safrin's hands, the girl hummed and smiled softly. Soothed as always by her mother's wisdom, her troubles became easier to bear.
"I don't mind being naive. I just hope that when the time comes to stand my ground, I will not be ignorant or unable to speak." Frowning a little, she thought back to the fire, to Atlas, to Aurelia baring down on the animal with fire and death.
"I don't know if I can stand my ground," she amended. "I am very good at running away from trouble, but what do I do if there is something I have to protect?" Her critters would certainly help, but even star-wolves felt inadequate if she faced more than one adversary at a time.
I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces Reaching the starlight and silver fields
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
"Well...what was it she wanted to accomplish do you think? In the end she will be branded hysterical for burning down the bar and guild. Her companion died as a result. And her friend, the general of Halo, has lost his title and has been banned from ever returning to Torchline." Looking toward her daughter with her brows raised gently and her head inclined to the side, the goddess pauses. "There are certainly times when the ends justify the means, when you've got to get your hands dirty...there are a number of ways of saying it. But do I think she was wrong in what she did? Of course. It was stupid and shortsighted and accomplished absolutely nothing."
Brushing her thumbs across Seren's cheekbones and staring into her eyes, Safrin leans forward and gently brushes her nose against her daughter's. "Remember my love, that in the heat of the moment, one can do little else other than burn. Time is your greatest ally and weapon."
As for protection? Frowning slightly, Safrin sits up straighter to properly regard her daughter. "You have your island. You can hide away should you need to. You can even bring someone with you if the situation calls for it." I saw that MP turn in. "Or..did you have something else in mind?"
Not knowing that Deimos had been banned from Torchline, the news came as a shock. The title lost was one thing, but this... It was a line drawn in the sand that spelled trouble for sure, even if she could not see the form it might take. Only stormclouds yet, gathering on the horizon.
As for the verdict on Hotaru's actions, it made Seren sigh, slow and soft breath of air causing the shimmering dust to swirl and shift in its wake.
"I suppose so. You're right, of course. I just... I like Hotaru. She can be so very kind. And she adores you." Always a positive sign, in the starchild's mind. "Do you think there is some way for her to redeem herself?" In the eyes of the stars, even if the world would not forget or forgive.
Safrin's nose tickled against her own. The girl's nose wrinkled with laughter, and she wrapped her arms around her mother's neck, to turn this into a proper hug. "I'll remember, mama." Easy to promise, perhaps not so easy to live up to in the heat of the moment. But Seren was nothing if not willing to try.
Straightening as the goddess did, Seren's face turned serious. Unusually so. Reaching out to take her mother's hands, she smiled sweetly, but it was an expression tinged with determination.
"I can hide very well," she agreed, heart swelling with love as the new gift was confirmed. "And I can help one person. Is that all you want me to do, if the ones I love - my family, my friends or your chosen ones - are threatened?" Ronin and Kamaria came first in her thoughts. Followed closely by others; Deimos, Harper, Maeve and Sah, Hotaru too and many others.
Nate's angry face as he spewed vitriol over her was a sharp contrast, bringing a new kind of darkness in her starbright life. "I don't want to always run away from a fight, Mother. I want to be able to stand tall, and hold my ground, and let everyone know that Safrin's daughter is not to be lightly brushed aside."
A soft frown tugged on her dark brows as a memory rose to the surface. "Aurelia said that since I'm not you, she did not owe me anything. I know I'm not... but being your demigod should not mean nothing either. Should it?" It had been so very frustrating to hear. As if stardust did not make up her very bones.
I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces Reaching the starlight and silver fields
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
"Is that what you think? Perhaps you should ask Sunjata about all the things she has said about me." The goddess replies with frosty inhale. "Adores is not a word I would use to describe her feelings toward me." As for redemption? Safrin shrugs. "I would doubt very much that Hotaru even knows what she wants, or who she wants it from. What is there to redeem if there's no outcome that would satisfy her?" The way the goddess sighs and shakes her head signals that she's little more to say about Hotaru though.
All to happy to return the embrace, Safrin relishes the feeling of having her daughter so close to her once again. As the girl parts and reaches for her mother's hands, the goddess tilts her head slightly to the side. She knows this side of Seren well, and can only wait to see what it is that has her child suddenly so stiff. 'Well...not all those who threaten you can be taken on. I would much rather you live to see another day, to rally those who care about you behind you, than to die needlessly." Squeezing Seren's hands, what Safrin says next is truly what sets her apart from Vi in this regard. "I would have you be brave, but never be a martyr. Not ever." She would have her daughter choose selfishness over heroism if that was what it took to see another sunrise.
Raising her eyebrows with a stern look, the goddess searches her daughter's dazzling blue eyes for a moment. "She might not owe you her loyalty quite the way she does me...but her respect? A bit more thoughtfulness and tact? That she certainly does." Safrin's fingers threaten to clench around Seren's, but the goddess stops herself. 'You are certainly not nothing. And the world would be wise to remember it." Light pours from Safrin's fingertips into Seren's, filling the girl with starfrost for a moment.
Seren has been given a feat!
Your Momma is so..(FEAT) | Seren's attacks roll with advantage if her target has insulted Seren or Safrin in the thread.
Knowing when it was time to cut her losses, Seren bowed her head in acceptance, and let the subject of Hotaru drop. Perhaps in time there may be hope of a new chance... but it seemed that Hotaru had a lot of changing to do, and much to prove before Seren could bring her to Safrin's shrine. That was alright. Seren could be very patient when she wanted to be - time was allegedly her best ally.
Safrin's patient silence as she explained herself was always so appreciated. No one ever listened quite so well, or came with such good responses. The smile that broke out at the cautioning words was bright and perhaps a little too easy to be entirely reassuring.
"I don't want to be a martyr either," Seren admitted. "I want to live a long and interesting life, and then come stay with you in the stars." The idea of gathering people behind her was certainly interesting, though. Where would she lead them? Who would follow? "I just don't think I can live with myself if I only ever let others do my fighting for me."
Having friends and allies, having fierce supporters at her back would always be reassuring. But how could she ask anyone to protect her, if she did not offer them the same?
Shrugging, resigned to the idea of portals and swift escapes for now, until her weapon prowess could be relied upon she watched Safrin's expression shift with slight worry. The frost shuddered through her like a breath of Halo air, only sweeter, softer, sharper and so much more profound.
"Mother," she gasped, shocked and delighted. "That tickled!"
I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces Reaching the starlight and silver fields
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
'Good." Safrin beams, pleased to hear that her daughter didn't have grandiose notions of dying young in a fit of burning light. "First, know what you're fighting for my love. There is no use gathering an army around you when you don't even know what it is you need them for." The goddess points out.
"Did it?" Safrin chuckles on an inhale, looking surprised and amused all at once. Smiling, she squeezes her daughters fingers. "Well, if you don't want to let them fight your battles for you, then go fight some on your own." For as protective of a mother as Safrin could be, she knew that her child would not sail through life free of blemishes or scrapes.
"Find out what you're made of. Only then can we seal up your cracks with starlight, mmm?"
Seren has been given a quest!
She must:
1. Fight a battle on someone's behalf (verbal, physical, whatever)
2. Fight an animal in the Wilds
3. Spar under the stars
4. Take on a stronger opponent (and lose).
Squeaking in delight at the sudden turn from discouraging to supportive, Seren surged in to hug her mother tightly. "You are the best mother in any world!" she gushed. Who else would possibly encourage the kind of half-reckless idiocy Seren was sure to embark on from here? No one. She could think of none else. "Even if I had a say and a choice in my mother I would still pick you."
Head full of possibilities, some of which involved the potential advantages of possessing an army, Seren stayed to chat for a bit longer. When the visit inevitably came to an end, she left with her dragon at her heels and a new light in her eyes. Eager to test herself, and she what she really was made of.
- FIN <3
I'm ready to start the conquest of spaces Reaching the starlight and silver fields
✰ Starlight (Passive) | Starfilled night billow around her like a veil as she moves. It is more noticeable in daytime and when she make sudden movements.
