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!
Isla's instant no is on the tip of her tongue, but as with all of Remi's remarks this evening, she takes it in for a second time, lets it sink in, and finds an ugly grain of truth to it. Only a grain, though. "I don't think it was all we ever had. I just think it dwarfed everything else." Every interesting conversation, every curiosity, every mystery begging to be solved with research; it had all fallen by the wayside in the name of sex and physicality.
Unable to help herself, she scoffs out a laugh to hear his imaginary introduction. "Well, when you put it like that," she says, letting her toes pop back up where they've been buried in the sand. "Hi, Remi. I'm Isla. I feel like I know you better than I know myself, and yet I am inevitably going to end up on the opposite side of a war to you, and you might find yourself killing me in the future. But that's okay, because I can also kill you, and a lot of the people on this side of the war would really like it if I did. Nice to meet you."
Blowing a lock of hair out of her face, she tilts her head across at him. "How's that for starting over?"
"I will not kill you." Remi says gravely, all frivolity and joy instantly dismissed in lieu of offering Isla his most earnest look. It ages him, this sort of intensity, but what of it? "For all Ludo holds over me...I am not the only one able to stand up to the heralds." Whatever jests there were between he and Ronin about who was stronger mattered not at all when you considered Ronin on his own. "He is just as immortal. Just as able to protect Mateo should I ever stop doing what I am told." Trying to exhale the seriousness that settles over him, Remi watches Isla's wiggling toes for a moment, suddenly very compelled to bite them.
"Besides. I spoke with Ludo and..it does not sound as though the war is as close as we might have thought." That didn't immediately fix everything, but perhaps it might dial them both back on the severity with which they were coming at this.
'What do the ascended think of you, being so close to me? Is it a...keep your enemies close sort of thing? Or are they angry?'
THE
LULLABY
Table coding by Sky
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Remi's look is taken with the gravity that he gives it, Isla meeting his eyes, a mixture of surprised and confused to hear him speak so. Her lips part as if to argue, until it dawns on her that he's speaking about Mateo's other parent. So often overlooked, it's suddenly very clear that unless the heralds wished to take out two of their supposed warriors, neither man was quite as obligated to follow their orders to the letter as it might seem at first.
"I see," she says - because what else is there to say to that? Remi, closer to the old gods than (arguably) anyone else in the Grounds, is privy to information that Isla can only dream about. And her pebble blues widen even as the rest of her sags with relief when he says it, that the war might not be quite so imminent. "Oh thank goodness," she whispers, rubbing at her forehead with sandy fingers.
As for the Ascended, when it came to what she was capable of doing? "Oh, on the contrary. I get the distinct impression of some sort of vicious glee, whenever I consider it too closely. As if I hold the key to somehow solving the war, if only they could convince me to stop being quite such a wet blanket about it."
Unable to help it, especially given the tension, Remi can't help but chuckle at the grains of sand that remain smeared across Isla's pale skin. He resists the urge to wipe them away partially because the pair haven't figured out what and where their lines were yet, but also because as an ascended it probably didn't bother her. Still, it made her seem unfairly adorable.
"Oh is that so? I bet it is just killing Wessex that she cannot do it herself. Though..." With a frown that wants to be more understanding than it is, Remi winces. "Is Sam upset that he cannot do it?" It wouldn't surprise the alchemist that, if after all this time, the bookmaker thought that Remi might still love him in some small way.
'Ah, well that is you all over. Absolutely a wet blanket. Unfortunately..." Shrugging and crinkling his nose, aiming to look both boyishly apologetic and unbothered at the same time. "..killing me will not stop the war. It might not even matter, really."
THE
LULLABY
Table coding by Sky
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Unsure what Remi is laughing at, Isla can only tilt her head at him, but his smile is as contagious as it has always been and she finds one similar creeping across her face. "Do you think so?" she asks about Wessex, suddenly realising that she knows precious little about quite a few of the Ascended she will be effectively leading. "I haven't had the chance to speak to Sam about it. I don't... at least, I didn't think that sort of thing would be on people's mind." Who was special enough to Remi to be able to stick a knife between his ribs and have it count? Isla wrinkles her nose.
Scoffing, finally Isla wiggles her feet free of the sand and stretches them out. "It would matter to me," she tells him gently. "Fuck the war. It would matter to me if you died." Leaning back on her hands, she gazes across at Remi. "So you're going to be a father again, huh...?"
"I do not think I have any real enemies among the ascended, other than Nate. But...honestly, I think many would happily take your place if it could so easily be transfered." If only to put an end to things. Or because Remi was an asshole. Or just..because why not? "Sadly, I am all out of love, these days." With a hand over his heart, Remi sighs wistfully as if the fact that he was no longer capable (or willing) to seek out love in anyone again was something to be mourned.
Just as inappropriate thoughts of what it would feel like to blanket her body with his and feel the warmth of the sands beneath his knees, Isla's words are like a cold bucket of water tossed directly down his spine. "I.." All but gulping, Remi sits a touch straighter, frowning out at the ocean as his mind fights to adjust to this sudden change. "I am. Hotaru had said I did not need to be part of this child's life if I did not want to, but.." His head shakes. "For all the things I know I have become, an absentee father is not one. So..yes. I will." Deciding fuck it, Remi flops backward into the sand. Linking his fingers beneath his head and staring up into the leaves overhead, he exhales loudly. "Seren knows. Mateo does not yet. I have literally no idea how to explain this to him."
THE
LULLABY
Table coding by Sky
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Isla wrinkles her nose at that, unable to reconcile anyone wanting the pRiViLeDgE of killing another person, however much of an asshole Remi could be at times. But then again, Isla is a medic - her whole existence is centred around saving people. "Now I don't quite believe that," she murmurs to Remi being all out of love, though she can certainly understand the sentiment of it.
Oblivious to his thoughts and the motivations behind them, she can only go by his words and actions, the medic smiling a bit as he flops down into the sand. The urge to sink down with him is near irresistible, but Isla does resist it, knowing better than to assume that closeness that Remi very clearly stated is not between them any longer. "You're a good father," she says. "A very good father. I think you're doing the right thing." Tucking a lock of hair behind her ear, she nibbles at her lower lip.
"Maybe you could go for a walk and just... explain things in terms of how his life will change. He'll be a big brother."
Remi's lips twitch up into a smile, but it's sad in its knowledge that it's true. Or more precisely perhaps, that it has to be true. Even so, there's no point in arguing such a dark point and so he's happy to concede.
'That is not the part I am worried about.' He says with a grimace. "Mateo is smart. Very smart. He will focus more on the but how did you and daddy get pregnant but of it, which turns into but why did you have sex with someone else bit. And though I am happy to be a bad example for others to learn from, now feels a bit early for Mateo to learn about the importance of using protection when having sex."
Raising his fist to his forehead and tapping his knuckle between his eyebrows, Remi sighs and gives his head a slight shake. "Whyyyyyyyyyyyy am I like this." He asks rhetorically. Rhetorically, Isla.
THE
LULLABY
Table coding by Sky
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Isla can't help but smile, despite the difficult nature of the conversation. "Is he? I'd like to see him again one day," she says of Mateo, leaning back on her hands even if she isn't quite comfortable enough to flop back in the sand with Remi. Her feelings don't exactly make things easier for him to deal with, though. "I think you might have to just be honest," she says eventually. "You don't have to be detailed, but he'll probably appreciate hearing it from you now."
As for whyyyyyyy Remi is like this? Isla opens her mouth to respond before promptly changing her mind, instead merely offering him a kind smile. "However it goes, I'm sure he won't love you any less. And he'll understand, even if he doesn't fully understand," she says.
Remi groans, knowing that Isla was right but hating everything just the same. Just because this was the bed he'd made for himself and just because he was the Lullaby, in no way meant he at all wanted to lay in it.
"So..." Remi keeps his hand partially covering his face, as if that will someone protect him from the fallout of what he's about to ask. "..am I actually banned from the Grounds? Or...do I just need to let you know ahead of time, or..." His jaw feathers considerably with the weight of all he doesn't know how to communicate, and eventually, Remi's arm falls back to his side that he might look up and over at the medic.
THE
LULLABY
Table coding by Sky
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
Isla can do little more than nod sympathetically in response to Remi's groan, and she peers out at the sea where the horizon is more purple and blue now than amber, and the night starts to close in. She bites her lip at the alchemist's question, though it is absolutely more than fair for him to ask, and she glances across at him at last with a small smile. "I am not in charge yet, so nothing is set in stone. You aren't banned, no. But I might have to implement what the rest of the Ascended decide they need, when the time comes."
Realising that doesn't help, Isla lets out an awkward laugh. "For now, if you could let me know in advance, I would really appreciate it. If nothing else, it gives me time to make sure that no one will be waiting to shoot arrows at you, or whatnot. I know it won't kill you, but I imagine it'll be quite the inconvenience. Is that alright? I don't... I don't want to stop seeing you, Remi. I miss you."
"So the Grounds is a democracy, then?" The question is accusingly asked, but as Remi peers up at Isla, there's something sly and uncertain in his gaze.
The mention of arrows has him chuckling as she might have expected. Whatever boyish retort deepens the dimples on his cheeks goes entirely unsaid as his expression grows sombre and sincere. "I miss you too. I miss how things were, even before..." Making a vague gesture as he sits up, Remi rests his arm against one of his knees. "..I love you Isla. And I am a greedy and selfish idiot who wants more of you than I can have, and I know that. But I also know that I do not want it to be all or nothing, either."
Raising one of his arms to wrap it around her, Remi raises an eyebrow as his fingers dangle in midair, posing a silent question: can I? is this alright?
THE
LULLABY
Table coding by Sky
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
"Something like that," Isla says with a weak smile, though she doesn't say anything more about it. A democracy with a queen and a king, if such a thing existed. Luckily, Remi's laughter has her forgetting all about the Grounds, Isla's smile blooming into a bright grin as she focuses more on the dimples in the alchemist's cheeks and the quiet warmth in his voice.
"Me too," she mumbles to him. "And luckily for you, I am just as bad - and I don't want it to be all or nothing either." As his arm moves up, Isla doesn't have to think twice, shuffling beneath it to lean against him, letting her head rest against his shoulder. "Gods, we're a pair of idiots, aren't we?" she mumbles.
And then, because if they're not going to make it all or nothing, "...the next time you come to visit the Grounds, would you like to hear about the new upgrade I am working on?" There's a familiar sort of inquisitiveness in her gaze as she peeks up at him.
"We absolutely are." The words sound almost as though Remi is stumbling for breath, so bright is the current of Isla's emotions against him. And gods if he doesn't match the cool and deep waters of her mind just the same. "I hate that I am a threat to you and the things you want now." He mumbles apologetically as his fingers curl around her shoulder and he leans his cheek against the top of her head.
Her question as him playfully narrowing his eyes. Raising one of his feet to place it annoyingly on top of hers and dig it down into the sand, he shrugs inelegantly against her. "Next time, huh? Is that your way of baiting me for a visit? Won't tell me now?" He grins, adoring her for suggesting it. "I would love to. Perhaps I will sail over in my new skyboat."
THE
LULLABY
Table coding by Sky
Speaks with a thick Italian accent.
Force and magic can be used against Remi without permission.
